Cecilia L.'s Profile

Quick glance:
+ 50% off deal - bargain meal
+ large portion
+ good range of Italian wines
+ friendly staff
- subpar risotto

I came here with my friend for dinner after booking via Toptable's 50% off offer, which made the meal an absolute bargain. For two mains, one shared side, and two glasses of wine, the bill came to just over £20.

The waiters and waitresses were friendly and provided excellent service, accommodating to our indecisiveness (when we couldn't decide on what to eat) and our demands (when we requested a change to the pizza) with warm smiles. I was also impressed that the wine list listed only Italian wines.  

Portion size was generous, and my friend thoroughly enjoyed her pizza. My king prawn and vegetable risotto was disappointingly soggy (with a puddle at the bottom of the plate), but it was flavoursome and the prawns big, juicy, and freshly prepared.

Although the restaurant was packed full of tables and chairs, they were arranged cleverly so you don't feel like you are eavesdropping on your neighbouring patrons' conversations.

Overall, given the generous discount we received on the bill via the Toptable, and the great ambiance for catching up, I would definitely come back again for more meals with friends, although I will skip the risotto next time!

Quick glance:
+ delicious bánh mì (Vietnamese baguettes)
+ low-priced hot sandwiches
+ decent sized bánh mì
- waiting time
- small menus (physically!)

When I first moved to London seven years ago, I remember wandering along Kingsland Road in London looking at the menus of every Vietnamese restaurant, disappointed I couldn't find one that served Vietnamese sandwiches (as it was called in California).

Fast forward all these years, Londoners seem to have picked it up as a new craze. (I mean, sandwich chain Eat is offering chicken bánh mì these days!). A colleague said she read that Cà Phê was listed as one of the best coffee shops in passing, so I thought I would give it a go today.

The shop itself is intimate and the counter looked quite bare when I entered. There were blackboards everywhere - on the walls and under the counter - but I couldn't seem to find a menu! In the end I asked for a Vietnamese sandwich hesitantly, thinking that surely, they must do it if there are French baguettes on display.

The guy behind the counter helpfully pointed to one of the four A4 pieces of paper plastered on blackboard behind his head, on which were the choices of sandwich filling available. Ah ha, just what I was after, although it also made me think maybe I need new glasses... (Why didn't they just write it on the blackboard...?)

I had the BBQ pork with pate, which amounted to £4.50. I then had to wait about 5 minutes for my bread to toast, filling to heat up, and sandwich assembled (oh, plus two other sandwiches to be meticulously put together for the two patrons before me). I was slightly disappointed by the wait time since I was hoping to take it back to the office fairly soon to join my colleagues for lunch. But perhaps I was also spoiled by the volume of Vietnamese sandwiches sold in California, where the turnaround of an order can come in at, impressively, under 30 seconds.

When the bánh mì was complete, it did look and smell scrumptious. I took a couple of bites while it was hot, and took the rest back to the office and joined my colleagues for lunch. By then, after the five-minute walk, my sandwich was getting cold but the deliciousness remained. It was very filling too, for £4.50, representing great value for 'hot' food on a cold, spring day.

I'm not usually the one for posh bars and clubs for drinks, so I was really excited but a bit intimidated about what it would be like.

It was a great treat to meet other Yelpers, but the venue didn't live up to my expectation. Given its location in Soho and its "private member" status, I had expected something more grand. Maybe I have unreasonably high expectation (despite, or maybe in spite, of my inexperience), because I had pictured in my head a swanky club like Studio Valbonne which I went to a few years ago, but the decor at Kingly just didn't do it for me.

The staff didn't appear particularly enthused about our presence either, and I wasn't enamored with the two cocktail on offer either. So, five-star for the event and not so many for the venue give a 3-star a-ok rating this time around!

Quick glance:
+ great ambiance for meals with family and friends
+ beautiful food
+ good selection of ales and wines
+ big portion sizes...
- ... make up for some dishes that lack in oomph

I came here for a family meal and really appreciated the great ambiance afforded by the warm decorations in and around the premise, including the ladies. The staff are friendly although sometimes not the sharpest (for example, brought water to the wrong table, took awhile to tidy away our empty dishes), but these fairly minor things that don't detract much from the pleasure of the meal.

The food were beautifully prepared and presented, using very fresh ingredients. I had the crayfish salad to start which was dressed in a thai-chilli mixture that wasn't particularly spicy but quite flavoursome, colourfully presented which really whetted my appetite. My main of seabass and prawns in a white wine cream sauce was delicious, although the baby prawns were slightly disappointing (but that was partly my fault as I had envisioned a couple of large tiger prawn swimming with my filet of sea bass). I also had the chocolate roulade to finish, which was light and fluffy (and very naughty for lunch!).

One of us had the beef stroganoff and the portion size was absolutely huge, but we felt it might have been compensating slightly for the lack of 'oomph' (although we all have a slightly different expectations of what a beef stroganoff should be like as there are so many variations!). The beef was very tender though and it was certainly a pleasant dish. Another one of us had the venison wellington that was perfectly cooked.

All in all, the Grumpy Mole was nice pub for a (rainy) day to have a drink (or few) and food as it was so warm and welcoming inside. There were also some outside seating immediately in front of the pub, but we'll have to come back on a sunny day for that!

Quick glance:
+ very close to Earl's Court exhibition centre
+ great value for money
+ quirky mugs
- a bit crowded on space

I came here for an early lunch with a colleague when we were visiting an exhibition at the nearby Earl's Court. For just over £10, my colleague had a burger and a soft drink, while I had an English breakfast with a coffee. What an awesome price for London anywhere, let alone near an exhibition centre where food and drinks could easily double in price (and  expensed on business accounts).

The food itself was nothing amazing - usual cafe food like sandwiches, pastries, English breakfast, etc., but portion size was generous and represents great value for money. The cafe seems to have a random collection of mugs for the coffees which made me smile.

The only downside is that it's pretty crowded inside the cafe so if you are carrying a lot of bags and documents on a cold, winter day, you may have to do a bit of juggling act to get yourself seated.

Overall, Zamazingo Cafe is a lovely little joint offering honest prices for filling food, nice coffee and tea, yummy cake, all served up with a smile from the staff.

Quick glance:
+ no fill, cafetaria-style
+ good value and filling
- little flexibility in your orders

I used to live around Elephant and Castle so the shopping centre in which Mamuska is located in is a familiar place to me, and consequently it's not as terrifying as everyone else have made it sound!

A Polish colleague brought me here for lunch so he knew the score, which I was grateful for because I would have been very lost on my own! For the uninitiated, you order and pay at the counter, sit down at any of the empty tables, wait for your order number to be called, retrieve your food from where you ordered, eat your meal, and when you finish bring your tray and rubbish to the rack by the front door.

I gave the dumplings a try. Initially I thought 10 for £5 was going to leave me hungry, but half way through my meal I realised how dense the fillings were and appreciated that £5 is a great value for that amount of food. I particularly enjoyed the rushkie pierogi, or the potato and cheese dumplings, although I found the chicken dumplings too dry.

The downside to the 10-for-£5 dumplings is that you can't mix and match the different flavours, instead you have to buy half portions (five of each flavour) at £3 per half-portion.

Quick glance:
+ generous portion size
+ fresh fish and crispy batter
+ great deals for pensioners
- pricey drinks

Every time I pass by Kingfish there is at least one pensioner sat on his or her own, tucking into a large plate of fish-and-chip, sausage-and-chip, or some variety thereof. It's particularly enticing for pensioners since there are special meal deals for them. One Saturday lunch time, I finally decided to ignore the age difference and join in.

Once seated, a waitress came over to take our order. We went for a large fish and chip with mushy peas. It took about ten minutes for our food to arrive but the wait was worthwhile. The fish was fresh (not chewy nor previously frozen) and moist, the batter was crispy, and chips were satisfactory. The fish-and-chip was also accompanied by a fresh, albeit small portion, of salad, while the mushy peas were flawless. Everything was slightly under-seasoned, but that's where the lemon, tartar sauce, ketchup, vinegar, salt, and pepper come in handy.

The only downside was the price of drinks, where £1.10 get you only a small tumbler of soft drink.

My first Elite event and I really enjoyed all that was on offer, including the chocolate macchiato (pure chocolate drink without any sugar), the hot chocolate with chilli, the prosecco, the different chocolates, everyone's company and the fantastic atmosphere. Thank you so much for having me!

Quick glance:
+ friendly, knowledgeable guide
+ a great airboat experience
+ chance to see alligators and other everglades wildlife
+ sample alligator and frogs at the restaurant
- restaurant can do with a clean

We went on the normal Coopertown Airboats tour where we shared with a few others and were very happy with the overall experience. A small hint: they tend to have coupons available on their website as well as local guidebooks for a small saving.

The first part of the tour was about the thrill of riding an airboat, as our guide/driver showed off his impressing hovering skills across an open stretch of the everglades. It was also during this time he explained some of the safety measures so we don't get ourselves in trouble. The second part consisted of driving through the more densely populated parts of the park where the alligators were.

Our guide was very knowledgeable not only about the alligators but also the local wildlife. He had a good idea where the alligators were resting so he would stop as we approached their usual hangouts, and he knew about the local birds and fauna too, as well as the history of the "canal ways" in the everglades.

There were lots of opportunity to spot alligators and other local birds, and our guide made sure we all had a chance to take photos or look at the specimen before moving off to the next spot. When we returned, he let us all pet and hold a baby alligator for a photo opportunity with our own cameras, not pushing to sell us any photos at all. Afterwards, he also recommended us to try the local alligators and frogs at the attached restaurant allegedly cooked by his wife.

We entered the building marked the restaurant (which also doubles as a gift shop selling t-shirts magnets, alligator claws, and more) and had to wait a good 20 minutes before the food (sampler of deep fried frogs and alligators) arrive. The pricing veered towards the expensive side given the small portion, but it was a fun experience and was cooked well, not dried or burnt. The only down side was that the building had seen better days and could do with a top-to-bottom clean, as the chairs were starting to break and windows were quite filthy.

Coopertown Airboats is definitely worth the visit!

Everyone says Joe's Stone Crab is the place to go in Miami, so for the one evening we had in the city, we visited Joe's Stone Crab for dinner.

Because we read on the website that dress code is "casual but neat", we attended in jeans and t-shirt as we've spent the day exploring the Florida Keys earlier in the day. However, as we approached the establishment I felt underdressed, as there were women in cocktail dresses and men in suits queuing for dinner.

Nevertheless, the maitre d' took our details with charms and after a drink at the bar/waiting area and about 25 minutes wait, we were seated.

We had to try the stone crabs, of course, and the waiter recommended the biggest size (jumbo), but we opted for 'large' (second largest) since the price does go up exponentially. We also ordered conch fritters as appetisers to share, and the snapper for mains to go with the stone crabs, as well as skinny fried sweet potatoes on the recommendation from the waiter as he thought we wouldn't have enough food.

Perhaps I visited Miami out-of-season for the prime specimen of crab claws, but I didn't find them as flavoursome as I had envisioned or read about. Consequently I felt they were unjustifiably expensive.

As for the conch fritters, they looked a bit over-cooked, but it was hard to tell in the dim lighting. The snapper was decent, but I was very disappointed by the skinny sweet potato fries. Maybe it's the Britishness in me, but why would you add sugar to sweet potato after you have deep fried them, as a side dish to your dinner? We had a handful between the two of us and could suffer no more.

I also felt that because we were "underdressed" by comparison to other patrons (despite the smart casual dress code), the waiter didn't treat us with as much respect as he, or other waiters, treated the other customers. Perhaps the restaurant knows that tourist trade is an easy one, and with a strong, historical reputation as Joe's Stone Crab, they know they need to keep the locals happy while the more transient population will come and go without much grumbles.

Despite the grand settings and beautiful decor, I feel that if I had been offered an alternative for stone crab elsewhere in Miami or surrounding area, I would opt for the alternative in a less grand settings because of Joe's attitude and service.