England, Restaurants

Rick Stein Sandbanks – Delicious Seafood in a Great Atmosphere

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During our recent visit to Sandbanks/Poole we enjoyed a lovely meal at Rick Stein Sandbanks. We had been to several of the dozen big and small places Christopher Richard Stein, CBE, owns in “Padstein” (i.e. Padstow in Cornwall). Our expectations were relatively manageable. But it turned out to be a very pleasant late lunch for a very reasonable price. Sandbanks is very expensive, local residents include several A-listers, formerly also the Beckhams. We ended up paying £54.30 for the two of us, including a bottle of sparkling water. We thoroughly enjoyed the casual, relaxed, friendly, bright, warm, stylish atmosphere and vibes of the main dining hall. It was very windy, so we were glad to be seated inside, even though on a calmer day the outside terrace would have been perfect. After short deliberation, Ms B opted for clams with XO sauce and fish & chips, I went for “fish […]

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London restaurants

M Grill Victoria

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One of my major client contracts in my day job as regulatory consultant had just been extended for another year a few days ago after 6 weeks of relative limbo and just a few days’ work here and there. So Ms B & I decided to treat ourselves to a nice meal at M Victoria’s Grill, or “M Grill.” We had visited (and blogged about) it before, so we knew that we’d enjoy it. Former thespian and current CEO of M Restaurant London, Martin Williams, founded the group in November 2014 with the opening of the first M restaurant in Threadneedle Street (followed by M Victoria in December 2015 and shortly after by M Twickenham), after having been Gaucho’s Managing Director for nine years. (He has just returned as part-time advisor to Gaucho besides his day job at M to help save the embattled steakhouse chain that has recently been […]

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London restaurants

New Street Grill, London – Great steaks.. but..

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We enjoyed the steaks at our recent visit to New Street Grill. It is located in a small alleyway just off Liverpool Street Station. Staff seemed a bit distracted and hectic from the beginning to the end, with several different waiters taking turns at our table. But we were mainly in for a quick good fill of good value steak on a school day evening, not for tittle-tattle or excellence in hospitality, so no complaints. The atmosphere is masculine, dark, with a lot of wood, leather, steel, possibly more appealing to me than to Ms B. Both of us liked the atmosphere, especially that there was a lot of space, everything looked modern, pleasant, and colours are warm and relaxing.   We decided to opt for the rather reasonably priced two-course set menu, which comes in at £25 per person, including a small glass of wine, each.   We were […]

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London, London restaurants

Lovely Dinner at Launceston Place, Kensington, the Locals’ Favourite

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Ms B and I enjoyed our recent visit to Launceston Place, one of Kensington’s most loved fine dining venues. Young and heavily tattooed head chef Ben Murphy has trained and worked at Koffmann’s at The Berkeley, the triple Michelin-starred Les Prés d’Eugénie (which is part of the ultra-prestigious Relais & Chateaux group, just like restaurant Lafleur in Frankfurt, which we reviewed here) in the south of France, as well as the equally three-starred Épicure Restaurant at Le Bristol in Paris, and London’s two-star Greenhouse Restaurant. As soon as we arrived, the friendly staff led us to our table. The atmosphere is elegant with plenty of light.     After short deliberation we decided to opt for the 3-course set menu deal for £30 per person. For starters, we chose seared tuna and pig’s head pate, for mains the grilled octopus on burnt leek with chive and chicken tarragon, and as desserts […]

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London restaurants

Applebee’s Fish Restaurant – One of the Best in Town

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We’ve just returned from our first ‘proper’ visit to Applebee’s restaurant at Borough Market (previously we had only purchased fresh fish to prepare at home). We’ve always liked the friendly, pleasant vibe of the place and the truly amazing quality of the produce. We got seated outside on the pedestrianised street. After short deliberation Ms B opted for fillet of sea bass with crushed new potatoes, bacon, and an olive oil velouté (£23.50) and I went for the mixed grill (£22.45), a selection of the catch of the day served with three dips and a rocket and tomato salad), plus an extra side of chips (£4). Our waiter was super-friendly and chatty (in a good, polite way, of course) and it turned out that he’s a member of the family of the owners, who have run this gem ever since they established it as a mere fish shop twenty years […]

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