Putney Area finds?

[CharityCase]

Hello all,

I'm traveling to London at the end of August, and will spend several days in the Putney Bridge area for work.

Several years ago I had some excellent Thai near there, some not so good fish and chips and some so-so sandwiches, but other than that my experience in the area is meager.

Any suggestions for a reasonable lunch or a good dinner? I'm partial to Indian but could probably find that better served elsewhere in the city (I should have some time off during the weekend for a trip further in).

Cheers and thanks!

[SBonner]

The Thai Putney Bridge Restaurant on Richmond Road has always been a favourite. Great salads for the hot weather you're experiencing now and a great Jungle curry (lots of seafood) stand out in my mind.

Cheers,

Stephen

[Stigand]

I had a really sound Italian lunch at Enoteca Turi on Putney High Street, near the bridge. This was years ago (before they expanded), and I'm afraid I've forgotten what I had, but the fact that I occasionally hear positive noises about it in the papers suggests it's still good.

They also had an interesting selection of Italian wines by the glass.

I'd go here again like a shot if I was in Putney.

[Matthew Grant]

The Thai Putney Bridge  Restaurant on Richmond Road has always been a favourite. Great salads for the hot weather you're experiencing now and a great Jungle curry (lots of seafood) stand out in my mind.

Cheers,

Stephen

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always been a favourite? It's only been there a few months (since April/May?)!

[Winot]

Is Ma Goa still in that area? Goan food, funnily enough. Used to be on Upper Richmond Rd then it moved. Anyway it was really good.

[cachan]

The 'Thai Square Putney' restaurant has now replaced the 'Putney Bridge' restaurant (Anthony Demetre) in the swanky glass-fronted riverside building on the west side Putney Bridge.

[CharityCase]

The 'Thai Square Putney' restaurant has now replaced the 'Putney Bridge' restaurant (Anthony Demetre) in the swanky glass-fronted riverside building on the west side Putney Bridge.

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Thanks all. The thai restaurant I'm thinking of was adjacent to an indian restaurant that delivers on motorbike.

Any good pubs in the area I should try? I loved the beer selections at all the locals but most of the food was piss-poor.

[curlywurlyfi]

Is Ma Goa still in that area?  Goan food, funnily enough.  Used to be on Upper Richmond Rd then it moved.  Anyway it was really good.

I second that. I live in Notting Hill, but used to live near Ma Goa, and I sometimes make the trek from NH to Putney specifically to pick up a takeaway. Coconut cabbage with mustard seeds may not sound inspiring, but trust me.

[SBonner]

The Thai Putney Bridge  Restaurant on Richmond Road has always been a favourite. Great salads for the hot weather you're experiencing now and a great Jungle curry (lots of seafood) stand out in my mind.

Cheers,

Stephen

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always been a favourite? It's only been there a few months (since April/May?)!

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I must check my sentence structure. I should have said it was a favourite on my two visits. Blame it on the 1980-1990 Bordeaux wine tasting I went to earlier in the day. Any how it's a great restaurant.

Stephen

Edited August 6, 2005 by SBonner (log)

[battleofthebulge]

Enoteca Turi is wonderful (IMHO). Food is excellent and the wine list sans pareil, or whatever the equivalent would be in Italian.

Also check out Putney Station, opposite East Putney tube. It's the newest member of the Brinkley restaurant chain. Food is simple but good (e.g. pizza, chicken caesar, lamb burger) but the main draw as with all the Brinkley's is the wine list at near retail prices.

Guy Saget Pouilly Fume at £13, Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir £25.

http://www.brinkleys.com/winelist.asp?ReturnURL=putney.htm

Sarah

[CharityCase]

There's a change in accomdation, so I'm now staying in Earl's Court.

Care to recommend anything near there? I did a search and found a number of interesting pubs nearby: The Atlas, The finborough (some sort of theatre venue?). Of course it goes without saying that most pubs near to my stay will see me once, but should any of them see me more than once?

[magnolia]

Sorry to hear it because unfortunately Earl's Court is sort of a culinary desert. You've hit the highlights gastropub scene (you can add the Ifield).

That said, I did have drinks at a very cute winebar not far from Earl's Court, that was completely booked for dinner that night, so I didn't eat there...but would have if there had been space, as the menu looked interesting and the wine list was good. I will find out the name/location as I'm drawing a blank.

By the way the good Thai place on Upper Richmond Road is Talad Thai. Worth the trip from Earl's Court I think !

Ma Goa is still open. (I passed by there in a car awhile back and almost had a heart attack because it was 'under renovation' which is usually resto-speak for 'closed' but it really was being renovated.)

There's a change in accomdation, so I'm now staying in Earl's Court.

Care to recommend anything near there? I did a search and found a number of interesting pubs nearby: The Atlas, The finborough (some sort of theatre venue?). Of course it goes without saying that most pubs near to my stay will see me once, but should any of them see me more than once?

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[battleofthebulge]

OO Earls Court a desert?? How can you say that? Earls Court Road alone has Nandos, Zizzi, Strada, Masalla Zone, Prince of Teck pub, 2 Chinese, 3 kebab shops and a souvlaki place!

BUT for serious foodies:

Tendido Cero for superlative tapas on Old Brompton Road, and The Star of India a bit further down.

And Lundums for upmarket Scandinavian and swanky decor.

Mr Wing for excellent (albeit expensive) Chinese and a nice aquarium.

If you care to walk as far as Kensington High Street there's Il Portico for Tuscan cooking. And for in-yer-face honest Italian, complete with dessert trolley, there's Bistro Benito on Earls Court Road, near Sainsbury's Local just before Cromwell Road. Great fun - you're bound to make friends with the people on the next table.

And the Atlas is EXCELLENT.

Sarah

SW5

[curlywurlyfi]

There's a change in accomdation, so I'm now staying in Earl's Court.

I definitely recommend The Atlas. The food is lovely, and there is a small outside beer garden.

Cibo (north of High St Kensington - if you carry on up the Warwick Road - parallel to Earl's Court Road - cross over HSK + go up about one block then left) is lovely proper Italian - grilled fish + seafood, pasta, bistecca.

Very nice if unlikely-ly named sushi place, The Hare & Tortoise, corner of Warwick Road + High St Ken.

Another gastropub, more resto than The Atlas which is really quite pubby - The Abingdon, near High St Ken + Earl's Court Road. Good wine list.

GREAT kebab/Lebanese-y - Al-Dar - part of a chain, most of the restaurants on the Edgware Road are Al-Dars - cheap as you like + the shish taouk (grilled chicken with tahini in a pitta) is fab.

HTH. I work in Earl's Court, so if you need a dining companion, or more suggestions, do PM me!

[Stigand]

In Earl's Court you're not far away from Mohsen. This is an inexpensive Iranian place that's wildly touted by pretty much everyone except me (it's a wild favourite on Chowhound - I thought it was a bit blah, but the rice was good). If I were you I'd give it a try on the grounds that I am, apparently, in a minority of one in not thinking it's London's best restaurant.

[Gary Marshall]

In Earl's Court you're not far away from Mohsen. This is an inexpensive Iranian place that's wildly touted by pretty much everyone except me (it's a wild favourite on Chowhound - I thought it was a bit blah, but the rice was good). If I were you I'd give it a try on the grounds that I am, apparently, in a minority of one in not thinking it's London's best restaurant. 

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i seem to think some friends were sent there on the basis they had better kebab action that tayyabs, i'm sure the verdict was they hadn't.

so you're not alone in not being excited.

[magnolia]

OO Earls Court a desert?? How can you say that? Earls Court Road alone has Nandos, Zizzi, Strada, Masalla Zone, Prince of Teck pub, 2 Chinese, 3 kebab shops and a souvlaki place! 

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Oh my, how could I forget Nando's and Prince of Teck (where is Teck, anyway?) I guess I was being a bit harsh.

Fi, I didn't realise Al-Dar XXXIII had landed in Earl's Court.

The wine bar/restaurant/off-licence empire that looks well worth a try is called Brinkley's, at 51 Hollywood Road.

http://uk2.multimap.com//clients/browse.cg...dq&siteArea=edq

[curlywurlyfi]

Fi, I didn't realise Al-Dar XXXIII had landed in Earl's Court.

hmmm, not strictly Earl's Court - it's up off High St Kensington, so approx 10 mins walk from EC tube.

The wine bar/restaurant/off-licence empire that looks well worth a try is called Brinkley's, at 51 Hollywood Road.

hmmm, not strictly Earl's Court either - this is down the Fulham, sorry, CHELSEA end of the Earl's Court Road (and a bit across) - just up from the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, if that helps. It's called The Wine Gallery, and there's a sister restaurant on Westbourne Grove called The Wine Factory. Brinkleys is the holding company. The chief draw is their extremely reasonably priced wine list. The food is really only OK - better in Westbourne Grove (sorry to tell you) - the Hollywood Road one is a bit 'deep-fried Thai fishcakes from the deep freeze with a sweet chili dipping sauce from the bottle and generic bagged leaves'.

[CharityCase]

With many thanks, here's the places I hit based on a few of your recommendations:

Atlas Pub - Everything you said was true, great atmosphere and some fine food and drink options

Ifield - nice

Tournament - the fish wasn't bad. I've still been unable to find a good fish and chips but methinks I'm looking in the wrong places for it.

Taiwan Village - So-so, I was with a large group but I found the food sub-par and way too heavy on cornstarch (so much so that I felt I was eating Hunan marmelade). Horrendously overpriced too.

I DID have to go back to Talad Thai one day for lunch, and it's as excellent as I can remember. On this side of the pond I've yet to have thai that holds a candle to this place.

One night we ate at a Pizza place on Old Brompton Road called La Papardella. Pretty good, but only one italian beer available? Troubadour's next to it looked more interesting.

I didn't have time to get to Ma Goa but did pass it and it sounded nice. On on a non-putney note I was expecting something more interesting from Brick lane than what I found, mind you I probably needed to know a specific place to try rather than my random guessing strastegy.

Thanks again everyone.

[Matthew Grant]

My drink addled brain can't remember enough detail to make it worth starting a thread but I had a decent enough meal at Enoteca Turi on Friday night. Good bread, reasonable spaghetti with crab, cherry tomato, chilli and garlic(not enough crab though). Good Rabbit (Coniglio alla stimpirata). Great wine list drank (again) Pieropan Soave La Rocca 2005 - mmmm