Inamo review Wardour Street fusion restaurant - interactive table, yes... food, no

Address: 134-136 Wardour Street
London W1F 8ZP
Tel: 020 7851 7051
Nearest Tube station: Tottenham Court Road

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £10pp (with £8.50 bento lunch set)
Service charge: 10%
Taste: *
Service: ***
Ambience: ***
It was either Japanese or Chinese for the weekend and we decided to go for the former. Having just one more booking to be made at Toptable to be eligible for a free meal, there's some incentive to go for just that. Since we were to go for the Jan Gassaert exhibition at National Gallery Sainsbury Wing in the afternoon, it had to be either in the vicinity. After browsing for a bit, we made a booking for Inamo, which sounded remotely Japanese. With an average Toptable rating of 7.7 and the offer of a £8.50 bento lunch set, it couldn't be too bad, could it?

The warning signs were all there when we stepped in later that afternoon: loud thumping music greeted us when we pushed through the door, fusion settings with dim lights and various coloured tabletops. Driven by the fact that we had a light breakfast and a growling stomach, we persisted.

The place was almost filled when we were there. Always a good sign, I supposed. And we were led to a table sandwiched between two tables with groups of four. Instead I pointed to another table just next to the window, which was lying empty.



"Oh, but you can't order from one of the seat as it isn't working," the waitress replied. When she saw my perplexed look, she helpfully explained what she meant. Apparently, Inamo has got this nifty touch device inbuilt into their tables where customers can order dishes from. Select an item and a picture of it would be beamed down from a projector overhanging the table onto your plate. If you like what you see, click to confirm your order.



We settled for the window seat despite having my dish ordering device not working. Later on I realised that without one of those, I was literally emasculated; the same device also allows you to change the background of your table (that explained the different coloured tabletops), play interactive games with your fellow diner (no joy for our table in this case) and even call for the bill or tune in to the kitchen camera if you feel like spying on the cooks. To be honest, I am not sure what else that pointy thing can do as Wife was having all the fun after some initial difficulty getting used to it. But she did eventually order us two of the bento lunch sets.

The bento lunch set (£8.50) came quite soon after. There was a sign outside Inamo promising that it'll arrive within 15 minutes of ordering but I assure you it did feel much sooner. All along, I got this lingering feeling that Inamo was a tad gimmicky. It felt as if the flashing lights, loud music and techno vibes were to distract you from something more important - the food. When my bento set finally arrived, it confirmed my suspicion.



The bento set came in the form of tamarind duck slices, gyozas, edamame and praew salad. The slices of duck tasted not only bland but powdery to the palate, which meant that it could be fresher. There was a awfully sweet and sour sauce provided at the centre of the bento box that could only be meant to complement the duck. Even then, I cringed at its taste.

If that was bad, the gyozas were worse. Somehow along the way, someone decided that the gyozas were to be served immersed in an almost sour vinegar based sauce. The result was a burnt gyoza top and a sour dumpling bottom. It tasted like xiao long bao that has been immersed in vinegar over a period of time. Much like something that one would do to mask meat that had gone bad.

We sought solace in the praew salad, which was refreshing and edamame with sea salt halfheartedly sprinkled on it. Oh, and the accompanying sushi rice as well.

Perhaps it was only us as we couldn't help notice that the family next to us were happily lapping up whatever served to them and were praising it to high heavens. Then again, they were scooping up rice from their bowls onto their plate and using their chopsticks on it. But I must say that they were handling their chopsticks much more elegantly than me.

Anyway, if you are going for the food, give Inamo a wide berth. Otherwise, it is a great place to
- bring your teenagers (they can entertain themselves with the touch table),
- go for awkward first dates when you probably want minimal conversation,
- hang out after a few drinks when you don't really care what you eat because you know it's going to come out the same way soon after

I sent out a tweet about the same immediately after the meal. t_a_i immediately replied,"It's (Inamo) all abt the interactive table there... food? No." My thoughts exactly.

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Shanghai Blues review (High Holborn Chinese dim sum restaurant) - great ambience, decent food

Address: 193-197 High Holborn
London WC1V 7BD
Tel: 020 7404 1668
Nearest Tube station: Holborn

Ratings (out of 5 *)
Price: Below £15pp (with 50% discount)
Service charge: 12.5%
Taste: ***
Service: ****
Ambience: ****
Having been to Shanghai Blues a couple of times before, I didn't have quite a good impression of the Chinese restaurant just a short stroll of Holborn Tube station. I first visited it soon after we touched down in London some years back and I was taken aback by the fact that tea was charged per pot per person basis; each transparent pot came with a tea blossom, which opened up nicely when hot water was added (with free refills of hot water thereafter).

Not only that, I recalled that the dim sum dishes were £3.50 and above each, which is dear even by today's standard. And you would expect that given the price, the service would be at least pleasant. Well, it was perfunctory at best. I returned twice after that but it was only because my companions would like to try it out. Unfortunately, the verdict remained unchanged.

So I don't know what came over me when I turned out to be the one who suggested lunching at Shanghai Blues with CY and his family over the weekend.

The reservation was made at 1pm. While we arrived on the spot, CY was held back. On hearing that we would be waiting for someone, the staff promptly directed us to the bar area. Even before we settled down on the comfortable sofa, we were served roasted peanuts and prawn crackers. CY was later than expected and we were done with peanuts and crackers soon after. Another portion of each was served without prompting. We found out that those were complementary when the bill came at the end of the meal.

While we were somewhat relieved that CY eventually turned up 45min later, credit must be given to the staff for not rushing us throughout the wait - not a single time.

Tea at Shanghai Blues was still charged per pot person at a minimum of £3.50 per pot. Though I noticed some tables sharing an entire (large) pot of tea, that option was not apparent to us on the menu.

A smattering of dim sum dishes were ordered and among them the usual suspects: yam croquettes (£3.80), charsiew pork buns (£3.80), charsiew pork cheung fun (£4.50), har gau (£4), xiao long bao (£4) and quail egg seafood siu mai (£4.80).

What struck me was that the xiao long bao's skin was stuck onto the bamboo steamer and as a result we didn't get to taste much of the soup as the skin at its base tore. Shanghai Blues could perhaps take a page out of Imperial China's books and add a thin slice of carrot beneath its xiao long bao.

Shanghai Blues' har gau (or prawn dumplings) came with substantial fillings with fresh whole prawns to boot. Easily the best har gau I have come across in London. At one quid a piece, they were also among the most expensive. I can't say the same for its cheung fun though; its skin was too thick, which made the dish rather bland. The few accompanying strands of greens hardly made up for it.

The highlight of the dim sum dishes that we ordered must be the quail egg seafood siu mai. Came with half a quail egg perched on them, the 'siu mai' was made of reformed crab meat wrapped in seaweed. The rather odd combination worked wonders and provided a refreshing twist from the usual pork offering.

We went for the roasted duck slices congee (£5.50) and seafood rice wrapped in lotus leaves (£11.80). While I find the congee's consistency agreeable, I was a tad disappointed to find the duck slices came with bone attached. The saving grace came in the form of roasted peanuts and pickled cabbage, which came complementary with the congee. I thought that the seafood rice was forgettable and overpriced; the lotus leaves themselves didn't add much flavour to the dish. But it was an apt stomach filler.

The bill for the tea (for four) alone came up to £15. One might balk at the cost but it did come with free refills of hot water, which is not an option at Yauatcha. If you have a party of more than 10, ask for the private room Shanghai Blues offers, which sits up to 24. There's also live music at Shanghai Blues for dinners on Fridays and Saturdays. Someone was telling me that a singer sang 'Ye Shanghai' when she was there on a Friday evening.

Prices at Shanghai Blues aren't the cheapest in town. If you are on a budget, consider going there for Saturday lunch when there is a 50% discount off all food items (tea excluded). The offer is also available for the entire Sunday.

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Sichuan Folk review Hanbury Street Chinese restaurant - good food, warm service and karaoke to boot!

Address: 32 Hanbury Street
London E1 6QR
Tel: 0207 247 4735
Nearest Tube station: Liverpool Street

Ratings (out of 5 *) Price: Below £20 pp
Service charge: 12.5%
Taste: *****
Service: ****
Ambience: ***
I thought I should put way up front in case you are one of those who’ll glaze over paragraphs of words. Sichuan Folk’s food is easily the best Sichuan food I have come across in London (more on that below). We were served by two young staff in their twenties and I rarely come across such warm service. Then again, it might be that we were the only customers at Sichuan Folk that afternoon.

I was told of Sichuan Folk Chinese Restaurant by a fellow Singaporean. There’s a running joke among us: Singaporeans especially look forward to lunchtime and take great joys in discovering new eats in the vicinity. I know some people who can survive on just crisps and Pret for lunch but coming from an island where eating is the national pastime, that’s sheer torture.

Well, if you happen to work or reside in the Spitalfields area, you would be spoilt for choice when it comes to lunch. The area between Bishopgate Street and Brick Lane is crammed with restaurants and eateries and all within a ten minutes walk of each other.

According to the staff, Sichuan Folk has been in business for only ‘a couple of months’ and my sources are already giving it thumbs up. Glad to find that it’s featured on Toptable as well, we made our way down there on a Saturday afternoon.



We did a double take when we reached there. Sichuan Folk’s façade looked rather tired, hardly like a new restaurant. In contrast, the Nude Espresso (with its overpriced coffee) a few doors down looked more welcoming. In fact, I hesitated for a bit, peeked through its tinted glass to make sure that it was indeed opened for business before stepping into Sichuan Folk.



The entire restaurant was empty short of one other table (which cleared soon after). It might be the timing (2pm) but my expectations dipped by quite a bit by then. Surely, it could only get better, isn’t it? Thankfully, things did get better almost immediately when the two young friendly staff greeted us. In between chatting with the staff, I flipped through Sichuan Folk’s menu and something occurred to me. “Is Sichuan Folk in anyway related to Bar Shu?” Wife beat me to it. It turned out that Sichuan Folk has got no relationship to any other Sichuan restaurant whatsoever and that was when we were told that the restaurant was new having just opened a couple of months before.

In order not to repeat the mistake of over ordering at Hunan Xiang Cai Guan (Local Friends), we asked for only two mains - fried intestines and twice cooked pork and topped that up with a dan dan mian.



Sichuan Folk is the only Sichuan restaurant that we have come across that actually serve ‘man tou’ (or plain buns) with their twice cooked pork (hui guo rou). At a very reasonable £6.90, the ample portion of twice cooked pork came with four buns, strategically placed on four corners of the dish. The twice cooked pork at Sichuan Folk was unlike any that I have tasted; the slices though thin weren’t dried up (like Bar Shu’s) and still had a layer of fat attached thus retaining the juicy bit. Just shove in some slices and accompanying peppers into the buns and you got yourself a tasty snack.



It didn’t just stop there. The fried intestine (£8) was even better. Unlike the almost crispy version at Chilli Cool, Sichuan Folk’s still retained its suppleness and texture. It was done just right and almost addictive. Wife pointed out that the chilli base for both dishes tasted distinctly different, which was more than what we can say for the Sichuan restaurants that we come across in London thus far.



Dan dan mian (£4.50) didn’t disappoint as well. It has that sought after peppery taste without being soaked in chilli oil.

When asked for the 'dessert menu', the staff gave us an embarrassed smile, "We have but two items for dessert - sesame dumplings and pumpkin croquettes." And he went on about how the dumplings are freshly made in the restaurant itself. I would rather have a limited but proper Chinese dessert menu than one that is filled with different varieties of ice-cream and the likes of it. We went for the pumpkin croquettes in the end.



At £4.80 (five pieces), the pumpkin croquettes were a fitting end to a satisfying meal. Lightly deep fried, there was a thin ever so slightly crisped surface and a soft interior dotted with pumpkin bits.

While I didn’t mind Sichuan Folk’s dim interior lighting as much as Wife did, I thought it was a pity that the soft zither music playing in the background was drowned out by the karaoke session that was ongoing at the rear of the restaurant. Yes, Sichuan Folk does karaoke as well. Boosting two rooms that can sit ‘just under twenty’ each and with rates starting from £100 for a three hour block, Sichuan Folk is perhaps the only place offering karaoke in a mile radius.

I’m not sure whether it is a good idea for Sichuan Folk to do karaoke as well. I mean, the food’s good, no doubt about that (well, you can find out for yourself) but I would imagine that many wouldn’t fancy having their meals disrupted by budding singers screaming themselves hoarse for it does get a tad loud whenever the adjoining door was opened. All that said, Sichuan Folk is a welcome addition to the Sichuan cuisine scene in London and I do look forward to my next visit.

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Hunan Xiang Cai Guan Local Friends review (Golders Green Hunan restaurant) - good food, eerie service

Address: 28 North End Road
London NW11 7PT
Tel: 020 8455 9258
Nearest Tube station: Golders Green

Ratings (out of 5 *) Price: Below £5 pp (tea and bun)
Service charge: N/A
Taste: ****
Service: *
Ambience: ***
We met up with a Malaysian friend of ours (who has pointed us to some good eats previously) two weeks back and took the opportunity to ask her for more recommendations.

“Have you tried Hunan Xiang Cai Guan at Golders Green?” she asked. No actually. In fact, other than passing through the Northern Line station, I don’t believe we have even been to Golders Green, which is in Zone 3, before. “It’s just opposite Golders Green Tube station,” she continued, “you can’t miss it.”

While there are a number of Sichuan restaurants in central London (see Empress of Sichuan, Chilli Cool and Bar Shu), there are not many Hunanese restaurants around. Intrigued, we headed there that very afternoon.

Well, we found out later that Hunan Xiang Cai Guan is better known by its more dubious name “Local Friends”. While its façade isn’t that prominent, it’s the only Chinese restaurant among the row of shops along North End Road across the road from Golders Green Tube station.

Local Friends (let’s call it that for now) also boosts a set lunch that offers three courses for £6.95. Interestingly, the waitress brushed it off and muttering the likes of “the set meal consists of just normal Chinese dishes, not Hunanese at all” when we enquired about it later on. There is a church right opposite Local Friends and I suspect the set meal is meant to cater to the churchgoers. I was proven right; the church service ended towards the end of our lunch and many just walked in and ordered the set meal thereafter.



The interior of Local Friends relatively subdued and reminded me of a better version of Alisan with pleasant Chinese pop songs playing in the background. But unlike Alisan, the service at Local Friends was at best cold bordering on rude; there was absolutely no acknowledgement whatsoever when we thank them whenever dishes were served. Nope, it didn’t work in both English and Mandarin. There was not even a blank stare. It was as if we weren’t there. It was, for the lack of a better word, eerie.





There was some refreshing choices in Local Friends’ menu though. Wife has got a weakness for roasted peanuts (£1.90), something to do with the nasi lemak that we grew up eating. I went for sliced pigs’ ears (£2.80). The nuts while not freshly prepared remained crunchy. It would be perfect if they could just heat it up a bit. Pigs’ ears has a nice cartilage texture and the slightly spicy sauce that it was tossed in helped as well.



Mao shi hong shao rou (£7.20) or stewed pork belly came highly recommended. While it didn’t exactly “melt in the mouth” type, the dish was aromatic. But we thought that they overdid it with loads of cabbage beneath the layer of pork belly. A substantial portion for the price, rice is a must if you are going for this.



I never liked bitter gourd and have never understood why people would go for something that taste so unpleasant. For some reason, Wife went for this that afternoon. At £6.80, I thought it was a bit overpriced. That said, it had a clean aftertaste, which I took it as a sign that Local Friends did the dish pretty well.



We ordered some dumplings (£4.80) to top it up. By the time the dumplings arrived, it was quite clear that we had overdone it and were struggling to finish the meal. I blamed it on the rice really. But that didn’t prevent me from clearing the dumplings. Less starchy than Jen Café’s, Local Friends’ dumplings went well with the spicy vinegar dip that came with it. A stomach filler definitely and a tasty one at that.



Local Friends does its dishes competently. But I am not sure whether it is worth the Tube ride to Zone 3 just for it. However, if you are heading there, avoid the lunch set and go for ala carte instead to avoid ending up with some ‘normal Chinese dishes’.

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Tortilla review Canary Wharf lunch places - win a free burrito, wrap, taco or salad!

Address: 18 North Colonnade
London E14 4EU
Tel: 0207 719 9160
Nearest DLR station: Canary Wharf

Ratings (out of 5 *) Price: Below £7 pp
Service charge: N/A
Taste: ***
Service: **
Ambience: N/A (I went for takeaway)
“Totiyia”, my colleague corrected me. No, I was positive that it was Tortilla. She quickly explained that a double "L" in the Spanish language is pronounced as ‘yi’ unlike the English language. So I now go around pronouncing Tortilla the correct way and getting puzzled looks all round.

Anyway, Tortilla, which has set up shop at Canary Wharf, is the choice quick lunch option amongst the working crowd these days. In terms of location, there are few places to beat Tortilla’s current site – the ground level of Canary Wharf DLR station where the human traffic easily runs up to tens of thousands on a typical workday.

Though it has been around for some time, I have always been put off by the long snaking queue in front of it. Tortilla’s Canary Wharf branch opens at around 11am everyday and I suspect the queue just forms up quite soon after. Well, after I got an email from Tortilla on a promotion offer, I decided to check it out.



As expected, I found myself at the end of a very long queue with at least fifteen hungry souls in front of me that day. But what was unexpected was that the queue was moving really fast and I was right up front under two minutes. I found out immediately – Tortilla’s serving counter functioned like a well oiled machine with a staff heating up the tortilla, another for adding rice, beans and mains (steak, chicken, pork etc.), another to add sides (cheese, lettuce, guacamole etc.), another to wrap the resulting burrito for either eat-in or takeaway, yet another to process payment. Ford would be proud of Tortilla’s assembly line. In fact, Tortilla reminded me of Wasabi in that respect.

I felt a bit harried though. As it was my visit to Tortilla, I wasn’t quite sure about which options to go for. Obviously, I didn’t want to break the staff’s momentum and hold up the queue so I went for the basic steak burrito (£5.45) with no frills. Tortilla's interior was rightly filled with the spicy smell of Cholula and Valentina sauces but I come to realise that the sauces was only available for eat-in as there was no sachets for takeaways or I have missed that. A pity really, for burrito without a tiny splash of hot sauce just wouldn’t taste right.



On hindsight, I should have gone for some guacamole. Without anything to hold the rice and beans together, my steak burrito was all over the place once I got through the tortilla. That said, it was a generous portion and I didn’t have to hunt for any tidbits for the rest of the day. If only I’ve got some Tabasco as well.

The kind folks at Tortilla has offered four vouchers to the readers of London Chow. These vouchers can be redeem against a burrito, wrap, taco or salad at any of the five Tortilla branches in London. To win one, simply drop an email to contest@singaporeaninlondon.com with "I am hungry for Tortilla!" in the subject line. Winners will be drawn randomly and will be informed via email. Contest ends on 18th Feb 2011.

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Old Tree review - Golders Green Taiwanese bakery

Address: 105 Golders Green Road
London NW11 8HR
Tel: 020 8458 4112
Nearest Tube station: Golders Green

Ratings (out of 5 *) Price: Below £5 pp (tea and bun)
Service charge: N/A
Taste: ***
Service: ****
Ambience: ***
We were in Golders Green for lunch at Local Friends (Hunan restaurant) following a friend's recommendation. After a very filling but less than satisfying meal, we began roaming Golders Green Road to kill some calories before heading back home.

A fatal mistake. Any good intentions to walk off a heavy meal almost always certainly end up with me piling up more. It wasn't long before Wife pointed out Old Tree (老樹) to me. Located prominently at the intersection between Golders Green Road and Armitage Road, Old Tree reminded of the one of those Taiwanese cafes that popped up back home when the craze over the island's light bites hit. But unlike the cafes back home, Old Tree was not only larger but offered a wider menu as well, which ranged from, bubble tea, buns, pastries, desserts, noodles, rice dishes, not to mention the many snacks that Taiwan was known for.



Let's talk pastries and bus shall we? Because that was all we could push down out groaning stomachs that afternoon. Wife stared at me with disbelief when the orders came. It was meant to be a quick sip of tea but clearly I got over excited. As I marvelled at the display of Old Tree's offerings (roast duck and pickled buns, peanut butter buns, green bean buns, spring onion buns, cream puffs, tiramisu, simple croissant, the list just went on), I couldn't resist and any resolutions of keeping down my BMI went straight out of the window.



Wife was more taken to the salted egg puff than I did. The salted egg yolk tasted a tad bland. I thought some of the egg white, which was the really salty bit, could be added into the mix. Then again, it could very well be the way salted egg puff should be made.

I thought that the Portuguese egg tart's crust was a bit though but Wife loved the custard. If you are ordering it, always request for it to be served heated up. A minute or two in the microwave should do the trick. A warm custard is definitely more welcoming to the palate than a stone cold one.



I was evidently more of a cream and raisin bun person. Chomping on it with a silly grin, totally oblivious to Wife's glare (she thought it lacked subtlety), it was a hearty bun. Dough just dense enough to be filling, cream made it satisfying and bits of dispersed raisins sealed the deal for me.



With buns and pastries priced between £1.50 and just under £3, one could have tea at Old Tree for under a fiver. Service was delightful to boot. It was almost surreal watching the traffic went by while demolishing the last of my cream and raisin bun that afternoon with Taiwanese pop songs playing softly in the background. Pity that we didn't have the stomach for the heavier dishes at Old Tree that day.

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Louis Patisserie review Hampstead Hungarian cafe - cakes that'll keep you staring

Address: 32 Heath Street
London NW3 6TE
Tel: 020 7435 9908
Nearest Tube station: Hampstead

Ratings (out of 5 *) Price: Below £10 pp
Service charge: N/A
Taste: ***
Service: **
Ambience: ****
There are three main reasons why people would visit Hampstead. Obviously Hampstead Heath is one of them; other than Primrose Hill, Hampstead Heath is probably the only other vast open space that offers a relatively unobstructed view in central London, and Londoners just can’t get enough of it.

The other one would be the Everyman Cinema that offers Baby Cinema screenings on Thursdays. However, the tickets, at £13 each, are a bit dearer than Islington's Screen on the Green Baby Club (also of Everyman Cinema chain). And I have been told that the cakes served at the Everyman cinema at Islington Green taste better as well.

Finally, people (at least we do) make a trip down to Hampstead for La Creperie de Hampstead and Louis Patisserie. This Hungarian patisserie, which is located along Heath Street, is always packed especially in the late afternoons so much so that there are two queues – one for eat in and the other for takeaways.





Louis Patisserie is one of those cakes shops which variety of cakes, pastries and bread on display would just stop anyone walking past, even those without a sweet tooth, in their tracks. If you find yourself staring at the rows of cakes on display, you are not alone for there were quite a number of passersby whipping out their phone and begin snapping away while we were queuing up for a table.

With a relatively small seating capacity, it never ceases to amaze me how Louis Patisserie managed to squeeze in that many people. Interestingly, despite being almost seating shoulder to shoulder with total strangers, people were able to carry one having conversations with ease and lapping up the tea and cakes on saucers and plates precariously balanced on the small tables. It was as if they were somewhat relieved at finally getting a table.



One bonus for eating in is that instead of having to jostle with the takeaway queue at the display counter (since there is no menu available), a staff would be approach your table with the entire cake selection on a rectangular platter. If memory served me correct, there was easily more than twenty of them. I felt like having a go at all of them but obviously that wouldn’t do my diet any favour not to mention that it would blow a hole in my wallet too. We settled for a simple tiramisu and a walnut chocolate cake instead.



To be honest, the cakes at Louis Patisserie weren’t mind blowing. Costing around £3 upwards, they weren’t the cheapest either. But I suspect that those seated in the narrow shop chatting animatedly while taking occasional sips from their teacups weren’t really there for the cakes and tea. As I have always believed, it’s more about the entire package than the food per se. In that aspect, the dainty Louis Patisserie delivers.

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Hotel Chocolat's Valentine's Day gifts - you can't go wrong with it

It's that time of the year again where love is in the air and there's this warm and fuzzy feeling despite the cool February breeze. Yes, you made a mental note last year that you'll be better prepared this time round but there will invariably be a frantic scramble for the perfect gift for that someone special. Fear not, for help is at hand in the form of three words:



Oysters. Champagne. Chocolate.

The clever folks at Hotel Chocolat have conjured up the ultimate gift for Valentine's Day by combining these three essential ingredients in one package - praline filled milk chocolate dressed up as oysters accompanied by pearls of champagne ganache, all set in a classy black and white gift box.



The chocolate oysters and the champagne ganache were perfect bedfellows, the creaminess of the milk chocolate is perfectly set off by the depth of flavour of the ganache. Do what I did, alternate a mouthful of the chocolate oyster with the ganache. It's almost like washing down chocolates with champagne - absolutely marvellous and downright sinful.

If you are looking for your Valentines gifts, look no further - Hotel Chocolat's Oysters and Champagne is the perfect indulgent gift for that special someone this Valentine's. After all, you can never go wrong with chocolates, can you?

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The Tea Rooms review Stoke Newington - a little charming afternoon tea place

Address: 155 Stoke Newington Church St
London N16 0UH
Tel: 020 7923 1870
Nearest Train station: Stoke Newington Rail Station

Ratings (out of 5 *) Price: Below £10 pp
Service charge: N/A
Taste: ***
Service: ***
Ambience: ***
With the shops along Stoke Newington’s Church Street catering for babies/toddlers, the area is a mini nappy valley. If you are looking to have an a afternoon tea with your toddler and fellow mothers, look no further than The Tea Rooms at Stoke Newington. Unsurprisingly, Wife and I bumped into a group of NCT mums when we dropped by and suffice to say that it took a bit of an effort to hear ourselves speak.

I did a double take when I first saw the name. As far as generic names go, “Tea Rooms” clinches the prize. There was this laid back charm to the entire place; the menu was scribbled on two large chalk boards and a large counter with dainty looking cakes spread across with small tables some with crocheted tablecloth distributed across two rooms.



The Tea Rooms offers afternoon tea for one at £15 between 2-5pm. It comes with finger sandwiches, mini cakes, scones and a pot of tea. Assuming that it’s one of those full size afternoon tea set, it should be more than enough for two light eaters.





We went for some light bites instead and opted for a carrot cake and a roulade with hazelnut (£2.95 each) and topped it up with Earl Grey and English Breakfast tea (£1.90 per pot). Tea was served in coordinated teacups and saucers, and cakes with silver spoons, great if you are into presentation.



There was a green velvet sofa that was selling for the best offer just beside Tea Rooms’ toilet cubicle. It might be tempting but avoid sitting on it for you would find it difficult to get back up again. Don’t ask how I know.

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