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Winot

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Posts posted by Winot

  1. I need to book somewhere for a fairly casual business lunch in Bloomsbury. My first thought was Cigala (I've been 2-3 times but not for a year); my second was The Perseverance over the road (never eaten there).

    Couldn't find any recent reviews here. There was a poor (but well-written) one of the P. from last March on London-Eating.

    Has anyone been recently? Any other suggestions?

    Many thanks,

    W.

  2. On the subject of other wine maladies, I was at a dinner in a London restaurant at the weekend and ordered a second bottle of a German Kabinett riesling. It tasted wrong compared to the first one (of which I still had some in my first glass) -- much more acidic and less fruit. To my (fairly uneducated) palate it didn't taste corked though. The waiter agreed it was "disgusting" (his words) and replaced the bottle straight away.

    Can anyone enlighten me as to what the problem was, as it doesn't seem to fit in with any of the problems highlighted on Chris's site?

  3. Six of us went on Saturday and had a thoroughly enjoyable time.  Not much to add to the comments about the food -- it was cracking.  Perfectly judged flavours which progressed throughout the menu.

    The room was comfortable and not too loud.

    On the service, our waiter (Australian but hadn't come over with CM) struck just the right note (for us) of professionalism matched with informality.  The pacing of the courses was just right.  The service did however slip for the dessert course, when inexplicably we were served by two waitresses we hadn't seen before who didn't seem to have a clue.  Also one bottle of wine was off and a younger waiter that had brought it didn't have the confidence to handle the situation; however the older waiter changed it straight away.

    My guess is that the service will inprove as it beds down and the less experienced waitstaff learn the ropes.

    how busy was it?

    It seemed to be more or less full. We were there from 8.30 till 11.30 and a couple of tables near us were occupied twice in that time.

  4. Six of us went on Saturday and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Not much to add to the comments about the food -- it was cracking. Perfectly judged flavours which progressed throughout the menu.

    The room was comfortable and not too loud.

    On the service, our waiter (Australian but hadn't come over with CM) struck just the right note (for us) of professionalism matched with informality. The pacing of the courses was just right. The service did however slip for the dessert course, when inexplicably we were served by two waitresses we hadn't seen before who didn't seem to have a clue. Also one bottle of wine was off and a younger waiter that had brought it didn't have the confidence to handle the situation; however the older waiter changed it straight away.

    My guess is that the service will inprove as it beds down and the less experienced waitstaff learn the ropes.

  5. I believe we have the aptitude to perform the packing/transporting successfully but it's always helpful to hear from someone who's done it before and has the program down :biggrin:

    I use a hard wheelable case that is the maximum size allowed for carry on. I can fit in 12 bottles of red (prob. not champagne) using the cardboard packing found in wine boxes. This usually goes as carry-on but has also survived the hold. The only difficulty is lifting it into the overhead lockers whilst maintaining a cheery grin to suggest that it's not that heavy, no not at all, and certainly not over the 7kg weight limit, persih the thought.

  6. Club Gascon has been receiving a lot of mixed reviews. It just won that award, though obviously whether you're going to listen to a bunch of professional food critics is entirely up to you. :raz:

    Another thing to bear in mind with CG is that it's a City lunch venue so you'll be surrounded by suits. Not sure how romantic this would be.

    If you do go I recommend the tasting menu -- the first time we went we tried to pick a balanced meal for ourselves and ended up with foie gras overload.

  7. Indian - New Tayyab in Whitechapel (lots about this on the board) or one of the Tooting south Indian restaurants eg Kastoori.

    South Bank - Baltic is a good choice. RSJ (French) is great for pre/post National theatre but nothing unusual. Anchor & Hope is good but the service can be a bit random.

    English - yes, go to St John Bread & Wine (the new one near Spitalfields). A good place for Sunday lunch after poking round the market.

    Interior design - Sketch is meant to be amazing.

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