The Albion review - Islington Georgian Pub with a decent cheeseburger

Address: 10 Thornhill Road, London N1 1HW
Tel: 020 7607 7450
Nearest Tube station: Angel

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £20 pp
Service charge: 10%
Taste: ***
Service: ****
Ambience: ***I got a WhatsApp message from ZL the other day exclaiming that he is terrified of having any children after witnessing how we are literally confined to a kilometre radius of our home with the Little One in tow.

To be perfectly truthful, I am kind of glad as that restriction (if you prefer) allows us to explore the neighbourhood in earnest. Streets and more importantly, eating places (see Ottolenghi) that we probably would have never ventured into despite being in the area for the last couple of years.

A quick check online turns up The Albion – a Georgian styled pub in the heart of residential Barnsbury. Sounds like just the place for lunch. With the Little One strapped on, we were on our way.



The Albion with a couple of outdoor seats out at the front looked pleasant. Like The Canonbury, it has a sizable outdoor seating area accessible through the pub itself. That’s where the similarities end. Even though the staff were moving quickly in and out of the kitchen (we learnt that there was a birthday party going on), we were warmly greeted by a member of the staff and was quickly ushered to a table.

Absent also are the tacky leather sofas and in their place solid wooden tables and ornate chairs, which coupled with the thick wooden roof beams, added to the dining experience. There’s even a dedicated baby changing room on the ground floor. Superb.



The Albion cheeseburger (£12) that I ordered turned up exactly twelve minutes later. I started to grumble about how long a similar dish took at The Canonbury (an hour and fifteen minutes), Wife chipped that this might have been prepared beforehand. Brushing her scepticism aside, I tucked into my cheeseburger enthusiastically.

The thick patty was medium done with some pink still evident, which was perfectly fine by me. That with the melted cheese and a pickle was a treat. The triple cooked chips that I have selected as a side (you get to choose one with some mains) was crisp but not overcooked, a joy definitely.



Wife’s lamb shank shepherd pie (£12) had an interesting potato mash puff at the top. However, its lamb shank stew was rather uninspiring though that beat mince meat hands down. Even with a side portion of boiled spring greens, I thought it was a tad overpriced.



The sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream (£6) was decent. Its spongy interior was soaked with toffee syrup and this heavy concoction was well complemented by the vanilla ice cream, which was furiously melting.

For those of us who love our meat, The Albion serves 42 day aged Dexter cuts as well. A 12 ounce T-bone steak will set you back by £23 while a larger 23 ounce portion (for two) cost £40. Like St John’s, they do a whole suckling pig as well for a party of 10 at £300 (service charge exclusive). In fact, while waiting for our lunch, one of those was carted out of the kitchen. That caused quite a stir among the customers who managed to catch a glimpse of that.

Away from the busy Islington Upper Street, The Albion is the kind of family orientated pub that locals frequent and with good reasons too. A return visit is already in the books and I have proven ZL wrong – The Albion is well outside the one kilometre radius.

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Ottolenghi review - Islington Upper Street delish

Address: 287 Upper Street, London N1 2TZ
Tel: 020 7288 1454
Nearest Tube station: Angel

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £15 pp
Service charge: N.A
Taste: ****
Service: ***
Ambience: ***It must be the décor, the way food is being displayed. How else can you explain the throngs of people crowding to Ottolenghi along Islington’s Upper Street? I stubbornly refused to believe that there could be a remote possibility that the quality of the food could be a factor. I mean, who would be in the right mind to be left stranded in a poor semblance of a queue and only to leave with a small paper box of salads and £8.50 poorer?

It’s funny how we have never been to Ottolenghi for the past three years spent in Angel. I blamed it on its white façade that reminded me of Carluccio, which is about fifty metres along Upper Street towards Angel. It looks like ‘just another bakery’.



Things change when the Little One comes along. These days, our criteria for dining out has evolved quite a bit. Though price is still a factor, nothing else matters if a place is not child friendly. Does it have a toilet on the ground floor, walkways wide enough to accommodate a pram? Is it too noisy? Or even too quiet? Would the other fellow diners mind if the Little One decides to kick up a fuss? The list just go on.

Wife came across a post online (I can’t seem to locate it now) exclaiming how child friendly Ottolenghi is and that was enough for us. True enough, the staff was really helpful in guiding us the place where we can park the Little One’s vehicle. Naturally we felt much more reassured when we saw other parents struggling to have a meal with their infants and toddlers in tow as well. It’s not that bad, we’re not the only one desperate to get out of the house with a screamer.

Ottolenghi’s food displays is probably its main draw. Believe it or not, people actually walk in just to take some photographs of them. Strangely, I was actually denied permission to do the same when I checked with a waitress. Anyway, we opted for the safer breakfast menu instead.



The cinnamon french toast (£7.30) is the real deal. The one that I am more accustomed to back home is often hastily dipped in an inconsistent concoction of egg and milk before being pan fried. Ottolenghi’s version, with cinnamon sugar generously sprinkled on two thick yellow tinted toasts, complete with creme fraiche n mixed berry and Muscat compote. While I'm not a fan of creme fraiche, the compote with toast is simply out of this world.



Wife went for the salmon with scrambled eggs (£8.50) , which turned out to be a better deal. Fresh thinly sliced salmon topped with buttery scrambled eggs, a toast thrown in to add that much needed crunchiness with some salad leaves. It's literally a full meal on its own.

That breakfast, complete with drinks, cost almost as much as a dinner for two at some cheaper options along Islington’s High Street but we are thoroughly impressed. In fact, we returned the very next weekend for the £8.50 salad takeaway, which by the way tasted fabulous as well.

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Golden Hind review - Marylebone Lane's Fish and Chips institution

Address: 73 Marylebone Lane,
London W1U 2PN
Tel: 020 7486 3644
Nearest Tube station:
Bond Street, Baker Street, Regents Park

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £10 pp
Service charge: N.A
Taste: ****
Service: ***
Ambience: **This proves to be elusive as Wife and I have unsuccessfully tried to coincide our schedule with its lunch and dinner hours a couple of times before and even ended up dining elsewhere before (read Tomoe). So we were in Marylebone last week and decided to pop in Golden Hind for a quick late lunch just before it closes at 3pm for its afternoon break.

Fish n’ Chips would be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the English favourite (and some say national) dish. This dish that comprises of a deep fried battered fish fillet and some fat chips have come a long way from its humble origins. These days, it can be found in your local chippy where it’s served ‘opened’ or ‘closed’ for under a fiver, a pub where its downed with a pint of your favourite brew, chippy stands standing next to tourist attractions making a quick buck by offering visitors ‘a taste of London’ at a premium no doubt, and even fancy restaurants where a thick (and relatively tiny) battered piece goes for a whopping fifteen quid upwards.



Golden Hind is a different thing altogether. Set up in 1914 (not the most auspicious of years), it’s one of those specialist fish and chips shop that survived and became an institution in itself. Its simple décor, wooden furniture and almost grease free air (and floor too) made for the most unlikely chippy.

Expecting a less flattering pricing, I was pleasantly surprised by its rather reasonable prices. Cod, haddock and plaice fillets are unambiguously divided into small or big portions. The smaller portions costing around a fiver each do not come with accompanying chips or peas. Those have to be ordered separately.



Service was pleasant and prompt and the customers were mostly (if not all) locals rather than tourists who know exactly what they want on the menu. There was customer who got a bit difficult towards the end of our meal: “Can I have a plate?”, “Can I have a fork?”, “Can I have more sauces?” – each request made only after the waitress complied with the earlier one, without so much as a word of thanks. Credit to be given to the waitress, she responded to each promptly with a wide smile on her face. Perhaps it’s such little gestures that got people coming back again and again.



My small cod turned out to be larger than I thought. With its exterior ever so slightly crispy, the fillet tasted somewhat boiled. As a result of which, its juices was remained and that set itself apart from the fare that we are accustomed to in our local chippies.



Its chips (£1.70) came unsalted and was a bit limp with its interior slightly mushy. Its mushy peas (£1) however, was subtly minted and with good consistency.

I couldn’t help comparing Golden Hind with Sole Plaice just off Covent Garden. Sole Plaice is literally packed with tourists totting Lonely Planet. While I’m sure Golden Hind is probably featured in some travel guides, its relatively secluded location means that tourist dollars wouldn’t be its main income source. But if Sole Plaice is tourist pleasing, what Golden Hind offers is decent, honest food at a reasonable price.

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The Canonbury Pub review - not for those in a rush

Address: 21 Canonbury Place, London N1 2NS
Tel: 020 7704 2887
Nearest Tube station: Highbury & Islington

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £15 pp
Service charge: N.A (for bar service)
Taste: ***
Service: **
Ambience: **These days, The Canonbury has been designated as one of the gathering places for NCT (National Childbirth Trust) mothers staying in south Islington. The reason is simple: The Canonbury isn’t too busy during weekday afternoons, its ground floor’s disabled toilet comes with a baby changing panel and more importantly, its wide walkways within means that large prams (or ‘travel system’, which those mini tanks are called nowadays) can manoeuvre with relative ease.

Wife was suitably impressed by it and dragged me down there for lunch over the weekend. With the Little One strapped onto me, we hopped into a cab were there in a couple of minutes. The Little One is getting cranky these couple of days and we wouldn’t want to waste any precious moments trekking to our destination.



Anyway, The Canonbury boosts a huge outdoor seating space, which is perfect for a sunny summer day. Not only that, there are a couple of comfortable leather sofas dispersed in a almost haphazard manner in front of the bar counter with a couple of tall velvet benches on one side of the room. The main restaurant dining area, which can easily seat fifty, is set further into the pub.

“Did you make a reservation? Because we are packed today,” a harried looking staff told me when we finally got hold of someone. Bad news – we obviously didn’t. As we didn’t expect The Canonbury to be so popular even at around 3pm on a Sunday afternoon that we didn’t even bothered calling to check.

In an act of desperation, a sign that says “Bar food served from 3pm-5pm” caught my attention. I looked at my watch. It’s 2.49pm. Wonderful. With time to spare, we placed our orders a minute later.

Curiously, other than the mandatory burgers and Sunday roasts, The Canonbury has some pasta on its menu as well. Intrigued, Wife went for the linguine while I opted for a safe classic burger.



As we took our seats by the high benches, a guy went up to a waitress and asked about his order. Judging by his wild gestures, he must have waited for quite some time and was getting rather frustrated. Little did we know what awaited us.

Thirty minutes later, no sign of our food yet. The Little One started stirring. Wife went to check with the staff only to be told that “the food will arrive only 40-50 minutes from the time the order is placed”. Really? To think that The Canonbury wasn’t even operating at its full capacity that afternoon! I would have thought that we should be told about that when we ordered.

An hour later, still no sign with our food. I went up to counter and asked about them. Perhaps it was due the fact that I had a fidgeting infant (still) strapped in front of me, the staff was suitably apologetic and went to check with the kitchen. “Your order will be with you in 5 minutes,” came the reply thereafter.

Our burger and linguine arrive exactly one hour and twelve minutes after we placed our order, and with only a fork between us (we got hold of a staff to ask for the rest of the utensils).

I almost felt like giving up at one point in time and pop by the newspaper stand opposite for some bread only to find that it was closed on Sundays. I have trouble imagining how the kitchen would cope if the entire place was filled and I suspect it might be a ploy to get customers buy its overpriced Tyrrells crisps while they wait two hours for their burgers.



By the time burger arrived, I was absolutely famished and made a mad grab at it and almost didn’t get to taste it if you know what I mean. To give The Canonbury some credit, its classic burger (£9.95) was quite decent. The thick chips were nicely fried, not a hint of being burnt or doused with recycled oil. Patty was flavourful and my only complaint was that it’s too well done and almost rock hard. I miss my Byron.



Wife’s linguini came with flakes of fresh crab, parsley, bits of tomatoes tossed with garlic and chilli (£6.50 for half portion). I managed to wrangle some from her and thought that The Canonbury’s linguine wasn’t too bad at all. The fresh parsley did help to refresh the palate by quite a bit.

The Canonbury is about a 10min slow stroll from Islington’s Upper Street. Set in a lush residential area, its popularity could perhaps be attributed to its large sitting area, relaxed setting and perhaps the mere fact that there’s not much choice in the immediate vicinity. That probably explains The Canonbury wide menu range. It’s absolutely fantastic if you are looking for somewhere to spend your entire afternoon with a copy of the Sunday Times but give this place a wide berth if you are looking for a quick bite.

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Pearl Liang review - the dimsum and lobster noodle stop at Paddington

Address: 8 Sheldon Square, London W2 6EZ
Tel: 020 7289 7000
Nearest Tube station: Paddington

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £30 pp
Service charge: 12.5%
Taste: **
Service: **
Ambience: ***“You’re late,” she frowned. I looked down, shuffled my feet uncomfortably and mumbled some excuse about the Circle Line breaking down, which wasn’t exactly far from the truth. “We did try calling you but there was no response.” She would have made an excellent primary school head teacher.

I checked my phone and noted that she did call earlier but there was obviously there was no mobile reception in the London Underground.

To give the staff credit, they did find a table for Wife and myself after ten minutes of shuffling around in the main reception. These days, Pearl Liang is getting popular and that can be attributed to Giles Coren write-up on its lobster noodles. Apparently, the chef who was in charge of this dish at Mandarin Kitchen is currently at Pearl Liang.



We did visit Pearl Liang soon after we touched down in London a couple of years ago and weren’t too impressed by it. I vaguely recalled that its dim sum tasted like those that I could get off the Chinese supermarkets’ shelves. I gave it a wide berth after that and kept closer to central London for my dim sum fix.

Three years later, after reading Coren’s review, we decided to give Pearl Liang a go again. It sure helps that Wife adores a good lobster noodle (something that we can’t seem to find in Singapore). After being sorely disappointed by the one we had at Mandarin Kitchen, which turned out to be ‘sheng mian’ soften by gravy, we were hungry for a decent lobster noodle.

Long story short, it was so good that we dragged HP there soon after.

This time round, we made sure we aren’t late. In fact, we arrived 15min earlier, which says a lot for me. Interestingly, Pearl Liang was considerably quieter that afternoon. It might be that people home catching World Cup matches or the Coren effect has come to pass. Well, as before, we placed an order for the lobster noodles.



At £32, the dish comes with an entire lobster with enough for three of us. Of course, it’s not meant to be a meal in itself and meant to be supplemented with a couple of other dishes. Perhaps I went with too high an expectation but I found that the gravy was a tad salty, lobster too tough and the accompanying egg noodles less springy compared to the first time round. HP wasn’t impressed by it and I don’t blame her.



Its yam croquettes’ skin was surprisingly thick. Naturally, with thick skin comes thin fillings.

Pearl Liang’s Shanghai dumplings with pork weren’t too bad. Their thin skin somehow held on to the soup within - a feat indeed.



The king prawn cheongfun was fine until HP discovered that one of the prawns come with its tail shell attached. An unwarranted oversight really. That said, the freshness of the prawns was apparent. After first sampling fried dough cheongfun at Hakkasan, we made it a point to order the same dish at every dim sum meal that we had thereafter. That didn’t disappoint as well.



We made the mistake of ordering Singapore Fried vermicelli (£6.80). I should have known better. Anything with ‘Singapore’ attached to it would invariably turn out badly. I’m not sure why but I suppose it comes with certain expectations. This particular dish comprised of dried tossed fried rice vermicelli with small shrimps and bean sprouts, liberally sprinkled with a mild curry powder. Frankly it looked like an experiment went wrong. It might be the MSG in it but we did manage to finish the dish – after downing gallons of tea.

I was told that the two must try Chinese dishes in London are the roast duck (see Four Seasons) and lobster noodles. While I question whether it’s worth your while trekking all the way down to Paddington station for a dim sum cum lobster noodles feast at Pearl Liang, it should definitely be your last stop if you are heading back to Heathrow Airport via Paddington station. Well, the fact that most dim sum dishes come below £3 counts as a plus too.

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Sushi Ga Ga review (Lisle Street) - wasabi prawns and tuna tataki but not the sushi

Address: 16 Lisle Street, London WC2H 7BE
Tel: 020 7287 6606
Nearest Tube station: Leicester Square

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: below £40 pp (before discount)
Service charge: N.A.
Taste: ***
Service: ****
Ambience: **Think Ga Ga and a certain lady comes into mind. Actually sushi is the last thing on your mind, much less those served by a place that wouldn't even put up a pretense that it's operated by Japanese. Like all invitations that I have received, I looked up the recent reviews put up by fellow Londoners, and those of Sushi Ga Ga weren't exactly accolades to say the least.

"Don't expect too much," I cautioned ZL, who flew into town for the week, as we made our way to the sushi restaurant at Chinatown's Lisle Street.



We arrived an hour early. Sushi Ga Ga was full and there was a small queue building up outside. That sure didn't look like a place lambasted by the reviews that I have come across. As its press release pointed out, Sushi Ga Ga does boast some tatami seating - there are a couple of tables towards the entrance that come with sunken in seats - on a raised platform.

Jamie, whom I supposed to be the head staff, came up smiling and led us to our table next to the sushi counter. Sushi Ga Ga's setting is rather eclectic. Clean layout typical of no frills Japanese establishments, it comes with four small LCD screens set into a featured wall showing Japanese concerts in karaoke mode. Other than the tatami seats, Sushi Ga Ga has simple fixed tables that seat fours with some larger ones towards the back of the restaurant. There was soft Japanese pop songs playing in the background but that turned to English ones towards the end of our meal, something that ZL pointed out.

When asked for recommendation, Jamie initially answered that "everything's good on the menu". Sensing my hesitation, she helpfully pointed me to the Chef's specials and suggested black cod with teriyaki, tuna tataki with ponzu sauce, as well as wasabi prawns as starters. A flattering picture of the prawn tempura and grilled salmon bento caught our eyes and we asked for that to be added to the list as well.

"What about some sushi?" Jamie asked. I figured that it would be kind of odd not to have sushi at a sushi restuarant and asked for a 'Dream Team' (yes, I know) sushi set.

"Would you like some sake?"
"Er, some still water would do just fine," I replied.
"But some alcohol would go great with sushi. What about some plum wine? The one that we have is really good." We did eventually succumb and ask for some plum wine in the end, which to give Jamie some credit, turned out to be quite fine.



I am a bit undecided about black cod these days. After cautioned by TT's disappointing experience at Tsunami, the one that Wife had at Aqua Kyoto wasn't exactly out of this world, I decided to ditch the miso variety and opted for the more mundane teriyaki black cod.



Sushi Ga Ga's teriyaki black cod (£17), in my opinion, was grilled just right with the teriyaki sauce not overdone. I enjoyed the thin crispy slightly burnt skin while ZL thought otherwise. However, the soft interior was a tad mushy, a sign that the black cod could have been a bit fresher. A pity really, it could have been a real winner, this one.



Tuna tataki with ponzu sauce (£11.50) came out beautifully presented. Slices of fresh tuna seared with peppercorn with a hint of citrus sauce were laid on top of triangularly cut thin soft bread accompanied by a small cup of ponzu sauce, which added to the tanginess of the dish. As if to pander to the locals fascination in wraps, a couple of ponzu doused tuna slices wrapped in soft bread was refreshingly satisfying. This is a must order at Sushi Ga Ga.



ZL mentioned that wasabi prawns are served back home at the most unlikely eating places - the humble zi-char stalls at various coffeshops back in Singapore. But I doubt they come skewered in sticks inserted into holes drilled in thick wooden blocks. At £5.50, I can see why wasabi prawns are popular starters at Sushi Ga Ga. Six fresh horseradish battered jumbo prawns, light fried, served hot. The pungent taste was sufficiently potent. A great starter to have for two.



The Dream Team (I honestly hope that they come up with a better name for this) consisted of 6 pieces of nigiri sushi with a whole host of sashimi (£15.50) came across as quite a good deal. ZL thought that the sashimi weren't sufficiently thawed and I concurred. There was also a sprinkle of black fish roe, which added a tinge of saltiness to the spread.
 
To put things in perspective, if you happen to be looking for sushi at London's Chinatown, Sushi Ga Ga would probably be your best bet even though its sushi isn't spectacular. And you should probably stop thinking about the ones that you had at Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market.



Sushi Ga Ga is currently running a 50% discount for all bento sets and its prawn tempura and grilled salmon bento (originally priced at £12.50) is an absolute steal. Not only that, the set comes with salmon sashimi as well as a serving of salad with tomato sauce (with cut bits of tomatoes in it) and rice with pickles, and that is a full meal in itself. The discounted bento sets was probably the reason for the queue that was gradually building outside Sushi Ga Ga throughout the course of our meal. In fact, I struggle to think of a better deal in London's West End. Defintely worth considering for the budget pre-theatre dinner.



Dessert came in the form of a mochi ice-cream set. Three mochi vanilla ice-cream dipped in three different sauce - red bean, strawberry and chocolate. I thought the strawberry bit with crushed nuts was especially good. Not only that, the ice-cream filled mochi was soft and supple - a fitting end to a rather satisfying meal. A point to note though, try not to bite directly through the mochi. That could lead to some serious brain freezing especially for those of us with sensitive gums.

Though I wouldn't go so far as to say that Sushi Ga Ga is going to be the next darling of London's Chinatown, it is already making some headway despite getting some brickbats earlier on. Provided it can go beyond offering bento sets at 50% off, Sushi Ga Ga, with its clean layout and light offerings might just carve out a niche for itself.

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