Monday, October 20, 2008

The Real Greek, Bankside - 19 Oct 2008

We were trying to find somewhere after the theatre at the National on the South Bank that did some decent vegetarian food and stumbled on The Real Greek. Apparently there's another branch at Hoxton. It was good! Service was great, we asked for some comfy seats as one of our number was pregnant and her back was aching after sitting through three hours of theatre, and reserved seating was rearranged to accommodate us. Food was quick to arrive, and very tasty indeed - I can recommend the calamari (grilled) and the big cannellini beans in tomato sauce. And the food all arrives on a tiered cake stand! For someone who adores afternoon tea, this phenomenon entertained me hugely.

Bill for four of us, inc drinks, came to £62.

Units 1 & 2, Riverside House, 2A Southwark Bridge Road, London United Kingdom SE1 9HA
Tel: 020 7620 0162

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Il Bordello, Wapping High St - 20 June 2008

I seem to have turned into that sad person who never gets out for lunch any more. Work is taking over. So this business lunch was a welcome reprieve! I am obviously working for the wrong department...

We were instructed by our host, a master in old school business lunches, that this was to be a POETS day (piss of early tomorrow's saturday). So we started as we meant to go on in the Captain Kidd pub.

The last time I was in Bordello's was about six years ago when several friends lived in and around Docklands. It's hardly changed at all, still fresh and buzzy - you still get pizza the size of dustbin lids and vast troughs of pasta. As a consequence the pudding menu is a little uninspired but we were quite entertained by the crèmée brûylée or some such on the menu.

This is a very good Italian restaurant, the food is unfussy, tasty and confidently done. It seems to be the in place for City bods to escape to at the moment, but equally good for the locals in the evening and weekends. We had calzone, two seafood linguine, asparagus risotto and mushroom tagliatelle, assorted standard desserts, four bottles of wine (the house wine is very drinkable and apparently better than a lot of the other stuff on the wine list), then limoncello and grappa (don't ask). I didn't wave my company plastic but I think it was about £250 inc service.

7.5/10 - a little hard to get to, puddings need a boost, and the grappa gave me a hangover. *:) The pasta was delicious though.

75-81 Wapping High St, Wapping, London, E1W 2YG
Tel: 0871 2238032