London Restaurant Reviews - Tiffinbites

**THIS RESTAURANT HAS CLOSED DOWN**

Tiffinbites

My friend Uwe was in town for a few meetings, and as is customary, we decided to go out for a bite to eat at lunch time with a couple of other foodie friends, Eleni and Kayrul.

Tiffinbites was the natural choice as it is located very close to the bank we all work for. Another reason for going to Tiffinbites was to use my Taste London card which gives 50% off the food bill.

Being the newest branch of this chain of Indian restaurants, the decor is modern and largely in keeping with all the businesses in the area. I felt it rather cold and soulless with large glass windows, steel counters and plain tables and chairs.

 

We ordered 4 of their tiffins; each tiffin came with accompanying pilau rice and vegetables (potatoes & pea curry). Kayrul and I went for the Lamb Rogan Josh @ £9.95, while Eleni opted for the “Prawn Malay Curry” @ £9.95 and Uwe for the “Chicken Karahi” @ £8.95.

 

 

I was underwhelmed by my choice – there was not enough lamb in my tiffin and the meat was slightly gristley. The sauce was not nearly as spicy as it could have been and tasted rather bland. It had 3 chillies against this choice, so supposedly it was the hottest choice on the menu. I enjoyed the pilau rice and accompanying curried vegetables more than I did the lamb.

 

 

 

Eleni was, on the other hand, quite happy with her choice of prawn Malay curry – it tasted light and coconuty, and we both felt that the delicious sauce went very well with the prawns.

I didn’t get to taste the Karahi Chicken although Uwe seemed content with his choice.

We also ordered a “paneer naan” and a “minced lamb naan”. I struggle to find anything to say about them, passable I would imagine is a good description.

 

Another mistake I made was ordering the mango lassi @ £2.50. As explained by Kayrul, a lot of the less authentic Indian restaurants in London will use mango pulp rather than fresh mangoes when making their lassi. This tends to make for a very smooth and overly sweet drink – Tiffinbites’ version was unbearably sweet.

Despite being nearly empty, service was impersonal and surprisingly inattentive. They forgot to give us the 50% discount from our food bill, so I had to ask them to correct it from £59 to £34. At £8.50 per person, I still felt that Tiffinbites was not such good value considering the quality and quantity of food being served.

Verdict – Indian restaurant chain serving uninspiring food for cheap but not cheerful business lunches. A place to be avoided.

London Cooking Club - A Syrian Supper #2

"A Syrian Supper"

Our 2nd London Cooking Club evening will be on 23rd January - "A Syrian Supper".

We will be cooking recipes from one of my favourite blogs "Syrian Foodie in London", particularly from his 101 Mezze Series.

It will be held at my home in Islington, and we may have space for one or two more people.  Each person will bring a dish and accompanying wine to share - I will coordinate the dishes each person should prepare. 

Please get in touch if you would like to take part, via our London Cooking Club Facebook page or mail Luiz Hara through thelondonfoodie.co.uk.

London Restaurant Reviews - Albion @ The Boundary Project

Albion @ The Boundary Project

I had meant to come to Conran’s new eatery since Time Out awarded it 2009’s “Best Cheap Eats” in London but only made it with Dr G nearly a year later, for a late brunch last Saturday.

I was impressed by the understated elegance of the building and décor – as a former light industrial building, some of its interesting features were maintained (or sympathetically incorporated) like the refectory style cream tiles, the factory lights, and the large windows which let plenty of natural light into the Café.

I also loved their food shop and open plan kitchen – the large baskets of fresh bread, cleverly positioned at the entrance of the building, welcome you into the Café and help to draw in even the most reluctant of punters.

The menu is reassuringly simple with some British classics and “caff” style dishes that will appeal to anyone. Prices are not bad either with most dishes costing less than the £10 mark.

I was pleased to see Greenwich Meantime beers on their menu @ £3.75, one of my favourite brewers in the country. I was lucky to attend a private tasting by this fantastic,  independent beer house a couple of years ago, and was completely stunned by the quality of their beers and the passion of the founder/speaker. I always order GM beers whenever I see them available, my favourites being London Porter, Union and the coffee beer.

Dr G and I ordered a couple of staple dishes – I went for the “Full Albion Breakfast” @ £9.75 while Dr G had “Kedgeree” @ £9.50.

I would have liked to continue the complimentary tone of my review and say that our food was as great as the décor, food shop, and beers, but unfortunately both dishes were rather disappointing.

My breakfast looked great but did not taste it – the saving grace was the streaky bacon which was delicious, and the perfectly cooked eggs. With the exception of the baked beans, which were in fact not properly baked, and were very hard and nearly inedible, everything else was just passable.

discernible pieces of fish, be it smoked haddock or salmon - the fish had been I guess “pulverized” as there were no “flakes” to be seen. 
Dr G’s kedgeree was an interesting choice – I cook kedgeree at home sometimes (one of my favourite brunch dishes) but had never seen a version like Albion’s before. It was not a kedgeree, it was a risotto style dish made with basmati rice and cream. It had no

It was basically a fishy rice dish with cream, and was seriously lacking in seasoning. After the beautiful décor, the lovely bread, the charming service, expectations were high - I was gutted.

As I waited for my food to arrive, I envisaged bringing some of my overseas friends and relatives who normally visit me in London for a taste of British cuisine - but judging by these two dishes, I would rather take them elsewhere. 

Tom of TomEatsJenCooks recommends The Modern Pantry when entertaining visitors from outside London for both a good brunch and the wow factor, but I still have to try this Clerkenwell place. I will report back as soon as I do.

The total bill was £30 for two, including 12.5% service. This is not bad (£15 = main + beer) although for once I will have to disagree with Time Out as I can think of quite a few places where my 15 quid would be better spent.

Verdict – Another classic example of style over substance – great décor, efficient staff, gorgeous looking food shop but seriously mediocre food. A possible Shoreditch choice for tea, cakes, or Greenwich Meantime beer.

London Restaurant Reviews - Zengi

Zengi

After reading rave reviews by Time Out a couple of weeks ago, Dr G and I decided to visit this newly opened Turkish/Iraq restaurant on Commercial Street, E1. I normally go to Green Lanes, particularly “Antepliler” for my fix of Turkish food, but we were curious to try a local BYO place with some interesting Iraq dishes on their menu.

The entrance is not the most attractive part of this new restaurant, and I firstly wondered where we would be sitting as there is little sitting area at that level. The basement is where Ali, the owner’s son, brought us to, and we were pleased to find a warm and comfortable dining area there. 

 

The décor is simple but elegant, with white, arched alcoves furnished with colourful cushions & hanging lanterns creating a relaxed and private ambience. I don’t normally like eating at lower ground (unless it is Hakkasan) but was pleasantly surprised to find such a well furnished and cosy spot.

Ali was very attentive, and took great care and time explaining the various dishes on the menu to us. Soon after placing our order, he brought us a basket with freshly stone-baked bread which was hot and delicious. 

The first of the three mezze dishes that we ordered to arrive was “Mutabel” @ £3.50, an aubergine based dip with yoghurt, garlic and tahini. Despite the somewhat unappetising look of the dish, it tasted good and had a creamy and nutty finish from the tahini.

The second mezze was “Soudah” @ £4, a plate of fried chicken livers with onions, chopped peppers and coriander. I could also taste cinnamon and cayenne pepper in the spicy sauce although not much else. Despite loving chicken livers, I felt that this dish was a bit disappointing, good but not outstanding, and a tad dry.

 

 

The “Mosul Kibbeh” @ £3.50, a traditional dish of northern Iraq was an interesting choice. I had eaten kibbeh many times before but never in this way. Similar to a flattened stuffed croquette, a thin layer of cracked wheat had been filled with spiced meat, almonds and sultanas and fried. 

I really wanted to enjoy this dish but I was slightly underwhelmed by it – I felt that the fried cracked wheat “envelope” was hard and that there was not enough filling to justify all the chewing.

For main, I went for “Char-grilled Lamb Chops” @ £9.50 - this is my favourite dish at Antepliler, so I ordered this to find how Zengi’s version would compare. Zengi’s chops were delicious, well-seasoned, and perfectly cooked but unfortunately there was not enough meat on them. At £9.50 I felt that the quantity of meat was a bit stingy, a problem that I never encountered at Antepliler.

Serving them on a large white plate (when there is not enough food to cover it) did not help either – the accompaniments, salad and rice, were passable - the salad did not look as vibrant and fresh as it could have done but it tasted fine.

“Dr G’s “Zengi Grill” @ £11.50 was a better choice. This consisted of pieces of lamb, kufta (or kofta) lamb shish kebab, and chicken tavouk (pieces). The meat was again well seasoned, very tender and perfectly cooked. 

We were served two small sauces (one garlicky and creamy and another spicy tomato relish) which accompanied the meat well, really bringing out the lamb flavours.  Ali also brought us some delicious pickles which had been made in the premises, and refilled our bread basket at no extra charge.

I noted in their menu a “Zengi Burger” @ £6.50 which unfortunately I was too full to try. According to the menu, it is made of grilled lamb burger, with sliced falafel and halloumi cheese topped with sweet pepper sauce and pickles in a stone baked sesame roll. It sounds very yummy, and I will most certainly come back for that.

Ali brought us our bill, and I noted that he accidentally overcharged us on the lamb chops but had forgotten to add the Mosul Kibbeh or the hot bread to the list of items. The total bill was therefore £32 for two excluding service.

I enjoyed my visit to Zengi and would like to return specially for their Turkish Burger and some of the other Iraq dishes I did not try this time. Ali was knowledgeable and passionate about his food which helped me to appreciate the menu and the food on offer. 

Verdict - Despite the teething problems, in my opinion, Zengi offers good quality food at very reasonable prices. Being a BYO makes it an even more affordable option although portion sizes and quality of accompaniments should be looked at. Excellent service. Recommended.