london restaurants

Would recommend Thai Garden next to the Florist in Bethnal Green for "non viet/indian/pakistani".

haha I live like 30 seconds from here. great restaurant tho i agree. really nice.

x-post to matt, I am totally open to going to ec1 but i'm a bit conscious of making it easier for friends. my cousin works in the anchor and hope in southwark which I really like, but figure easier to organise something for somewhere near where people live.

LG: if you're in there early evening, give me a shout, I quite often work there in the afternoons until well after opening time at 5.

Will do, are you still on the same number? I'm often in about 6 on a Friday, for a cup of tea and some food.

I meant a few cups of tea, sorry.

Tim, I'm guessing layout weirdness at M&T means it used to be Green and Red.

Another recommendation, although I haven't been to eat there yet: A Little Of What You Fancy, my friend Elaine's restaurant on Kingsland Road. It's near WAH! Nails.

heard that's good, the name really annoys me but i keep reading about it.

m&t was green and red, yep.

has anyone eaten in that v wooden bare decorated place on redchurch st? is it "the roastery" or something? and has anyone actually eaten in the new owl and pussycat?

i have eaten there, its p good

oh wait, i meant ive eaten @ 'a little of what you fancy' havent eaten at the redchurch place... is it the coffee place?

oh maybe it's a coffee place...that'd make sense.

i ate in that deli on redchurch with the black and white chessboard style tiles recently actually, it was excellent.

i'll always bear a grudge against the owl and pussycat for it being where the lovely emma b's purse was stolen, so i've not been in the new one.

i liked green and red but frankly "high end mexican" is not really a goer.

speaking of places with annoying names but good food in east london, i note with sadness that "taste of bitter love" has closed. it had the best sandwiches in london for my money (which isn't much money, so it worked).

it was in a pretty weird place tbf, not surprised it closed

Agreed about high end Mexican! Was surprised G&R lasted as long as it did. Also I don't mind the name of E's restaurant, Tracer - time to head over for Sunday roast? Elaine used to run the kitchens at Shoreditch Electricity Showrooms when it was good, plus Trafik, and she's a great chef; her bruv is one of the biggest music PRs in London OMG IT'S ALL CONNECTED...

Taste of Bitter Love is coming back at new premises, think it's further east up Hackney Road.

Totally willing to believe that Kingsland Road restaurant has great food but I'm innately suspicious about any restaurant where Google throws up more reviews from style blogs than food websites.

ooh james! the old location was kind of nowheresville so the move will be good for their business - also further east will be closer to me! seriously this is the best news i've had all day.

I've eaten Elaine's food at other locations and enjoyed it, and since I'm a good cook myself I don't just hand out recommends on a whim, but I think the high number of style-blog hits is down to them following on from Edgy Style Mag's website. We at ESM like good food A LOT.

FYI: #meateasy closes 16 April.

I haven't been for a couple of weeks! I should go by again. Hmmmm, this evenings plans have been cancelled at the last minute...

but then again I do have a pizza waiting in the fridge.

Then again... meat! Perhaps get a burger, rush home and put it on the pizza?! Oh mercy stop it.

xp/ also in between venues, E took a lot of private bookings for music and fashion people/events - buzz comes from places for good reasons and I hate it when my friends go all snap-judgement about style press like they're somehow above it all.

Edgy Style Press vs "we only communicate via Twitter", fiiiite! (Obviously Edgy Style Twitter wins) (I don't mean that...)

i can also vouch for elaine, although not to the extent that i can ever remember to pop into the new gaff.

i'll always bear a grudge against the owl and pussycat for it being where the lovely emma b's purse was stolen, so i've not been in the new one.

yeah lost a bag myself in the scolt head once. fucking hate that place tbh, i'd say the garden is all it's good for but it's packed with tossers anyway.

i've never been there when it's not rammed. the last two times i was to meet friends there we just went somewhere else.

i once saw someone try to steal a tree from the scolt head garden :(

i remember when it used to be our local alternative to the george except not packed full of wankers. then it changed

Considered Prince Arthur, good to hear a recommendation as I was unsure what it's like.

thing is it really does depend on how ur entourage is gonna roll. it's definitely a little stiffer and more gastro than most pubs per se (loads of work parties every week it seems) but if you can ensure a big table takeover (~ 10 people up to 15?) then it's good stuff. altogether i probably wouldn't totally recommend it without checking it in person first.

^ yeah that p much sums it up, ive had a few group meals there + its gone well

i don't mind the talbot down the road from the scolt, sunday roasts always look ok from afar.

yeah i hate the scolt head...reminds me of my local in dublin at christmas, awfully designed place, just has zero charm for me as a pub.

off topic but has anyone ever done viajante in bethnal green? just curious cos it's generally been well received but for one memorable aa gill beatdown.

considered it many times but never gone.

not a restaurant and also off topic, but anyone been to the fishmonger on victoria park road, near the lauriston?

xpost same, was gonna go for my b-day, then just ended up booking st john

what abt brawn on colombia rd?

We went to Viajante (for the (relatively) cheap 3-course lunch) one Saturday a few weeks ago. We were, it's fair to say, extremely impressed, not a false note in our meal(s) although some of the combinations were a little unexpected so I can see how they could go wildly wrong. But we're dead keen to go again, for the longer-form tasting menu. I would always, always take the paired wine flight because the wines they gave us were really unusual and added a great deal.

(LG I don't work Fridays but yeah, same old number, we should get together.)

xp haven't been to Brawn, I really fancy it.

not a restaurant and also off topic, but anyone been to the fishmonger on victoria park road, near the lauriston?

the fish house? i love it. the vibe is great, kinda like a diner. the staff are very friendly. the fish is good and there's a big selection.

oh wait the fish MONGER. yes i've been there. kinda pricey but not as bad as bway market obviously.

yeah i hate the scolt head...reminds me of my local in dublin at christmas, awfully designed place, just has zero charm for me as a pub.

nah i love the layout and what it innately has to offer (and the selection of wines!), the only thing wrong with it is the crowd that started packing it out all the time. if it's quiet it's a great pub to hang out in.

i forget that you lot are fond of the wenlock though :/

scolt head "garden" (it's just a patio really) is ok. quite twatty and i also had a friend who mysteriously lost a bag there. :-/

also "szechuan folk" by spitalfields market is really good

yeah i went on friday this place is good

this burrito place is great too if you're around middlesex st. at lunchtime:

http://www.theflyingburrito.co.uk/

if and (only if) the scolt's quiet the tables directly on the left are ok. but the sofa is lame and the back room has a gross vibe. the restaurant/pub division is super awkward and unchill, especially when you have to tiptoe through anyway just to get to the bogs. and the staff are generally wannabe smartarse dicks who i wouldnt be surprised had a hand in the thievings tbh. so what's that, like 10% of the whole place being acceptable? nah.

good old wenlock though, i'll be in there tonight i expect. look for a man with a beard drinking ale.

haha. love the wenlock, not been in way too long tho.

have to say the dickishness and general ineptitude of london bar staff never fails to amaze me. in dublin there are all these old codgers working in bars because the idea of the trendy pub has barely taken root, and they can serve about 5 people at once and remember everyone's order and returning change.

if the florist has three people at the bar you could be waiting ten minutes as some disinterested bloke fights his way through pouring pints one at a time. one bloke is so bad that the last time i was in there, one of the west ham guys who hangs out at the end of the bar came over and told me how useless said bar man was and then roared at him to "get a move on". which led to us getting served at least.

i hate old codger pubs like the wenlock - old men staring at you need to fuck off. always felt vaguely inhibited and uncomfortable in there, now i just insist on meeting elsewhere. it serves nothing i want to drink either

had a pretty nice sunday roast at the charles lamb pub just off city rd the other week. it's tiny though.

oh yeah i've walked past that one a few times and always thought it looked like it had potential

haha i've never suffered any starey men in the wenlock! you make it sound like the joiners.

fair enough with the booze though, i mean some of those vanilla caramel ales are just too much.

they don't stare in a pervy way, i could deal with that! it's more like "what is this person doing in my pub".

i am not really interested in ales but the wenlock serves one (1) type of wine and it's not very nice

xp/ also in between venues, E took a lot of private bookings for music and fashion people/events - buzz comes from places for good reasons and I hate it when my friends go all snap-judgement about style press like they're somehow above it all.

In fairness I was being sniffy about style blogs rather than style press. With Dalston it's usually a case of "food looks great, is the place going to be full of cocks?"

The Prince Arthur is a really nice space but TOO FVCKING CROWDED at weekends. Like, ridiculously so. If they'll let you book a table you should be okay though. Clientele is a bit tossy as well in my experience.

The times I've been in London I've always found the florist to be first choice