Posts Tagged ‘UK’

Easy Hotel Lexham Gardens

Sunday, December 18th, 2005

The Joint
14 Lexham Gardens
Kensington
London
W8 5JE
United Kingdom

http://www.easyhotel.co.uk/

Cliff
I couldn’t believe the room. I don’t think I read this FAQ before we got there (I bet Sarah did, though — she’s good like that). We were exhausted, so after the marvel of the dimensions wore off, we drifted off quickly. Definitely not for the claustrophobic. Still, it was cheap, and we needed sleep. And we heard not a peep (ok, sorry, couldn’t resist).

EasyHotel Room merely the curtain separates this shower from the john


Sarah
A fun concept, but only good in practice if you’re using the hotel solely as a place to sleep, clean up and lock up your stuff. This was the last night for us in England and we only needed to stay in London to get to Gatwick early in the morning - so it was perfect for us! You can get a room with a window, but it costs a little more. The bathroom was the smallest I’ve seen in Europe, but it’s so well arranged that it doesn’t seem so tiny (despite it saying so on the door). Very clean, pretty darn cheap and centrally located. And for how shockingly expensive London is, that’s high praise.

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Azzuro

Sunday, December 18th, 2005

The Joint
145-146 Sutton Walk, Waterloo,
London, SE1 7ND
phone: +44 08713325332

Cliff
After walking around all day on our last full day in London and checking out the Salvador Dalí museum, Sarah wanted to find yet another Indian restaurant, but I just wanted to eat and we happened upon Azzuro. I was pleased with the carbonara pasta I had. It was a nice way to round out our trip to London.

Sarah
Nice little place. Right in the middle of a museum/business district, so I bet they do huge lunch business. Good pasta, good price. I was most excited to sit down and drink something!

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Masala Zone

Sunday, December 18th, 2005

The Joint
147 Earls Court Rd
London SW5 9RQ
phone: +44 20 7359 3399

Cliff
I had the Lamb Coromandel — coconut milk, fennel, and red chilies provided most of the flavors. It was simply great. It came with mushroom rice and had fresh cilantro in the sauce. I’ve been craving fresh cilantro pretty much ever since we moved away from the U.S. It was labeled as “quite spicy” or similar in the menu, and they weren’t kidding. It was pleasantly hot.

Sarah
I had the Chicken Madras noodle bowl with Udon noodles, tandoori roasted chicken, lettuce of some sort, fried onions, green onions, white onions, red chilies, bean sprouts, red and green peppers and a heavenly sauce.

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Shalimar Garden

Thursday, December 15th, 2005

The Joint
42-44 Gloucester Terrace
Paddington, London W2 3DA

http://www.shalimargarden.com

Cliff
I had Goa Chicken and pilau rice, and we split an order Sag Aloo. This little bitty place was not even really visible from the street — you can see the sign for it coming from the Paddington tube station, but you enter the restaurant after descending an external staircase. It was small and seemed almost hastily put together. But maybe that made the food all the more delightful. This was my 2nd favorite Indian restaurant in London.

Sarah
This place was a little treat. Like Cliff said, not impressive looking, but the food was pretty tasty. And it was on the walk from the tube station to our crappy hotel. So points for convenience.

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London House, Apartments Apart

Thursday, December 15th, 2005

The Joint
13 Craven Hill
London W2 3
U.K.

http://www.apartmentsapart.com/Europe/UK/London/Apartments/Detail/495

Cliff
We had a great time wtih Apartments Apart in Berlin in 2004 at a one-bedroom apartment set up for 4 guests. I was a little disappointed with the London House studio apartment - the results were better in Berlin. I was expecting a stove in our kitchenette, and the lack of one made cooking there impossible (we’d been hoping to cook a few meals in the apartment to save on restaurant expenses).

Note to self: get a clear definition of nebulous terms like “kitchenette” and “shower” (tub with a curtain? shower cabin? tub with a hose?) before you book. In this case, we got the shower all squared away before booking, but neglected to consider what might be considered a “kitchenette.” Got a little miffed about that.

Other than that, the room was a great deal and well-situated for our purposes.


Sarah
This company frustrates me. As Cliff stated, our experience with them in Berlin was outstanding - beautiful, in an interesting neighborhood and generously sized and appointed - a great value for four people. This place is something else entirely. Part hostel, part boarding house and part dumpy hotel. The desk staff was nice, but the room itself felt more like a cell. Ugly carpet, threadbare and coming up in one corner, tiny shower cabin with crappy water pressure and a small refrigerator, sink and microwave glorified into a “kitchenette.”

The location is in a very nice, quiet, safe-feeling neighborhood. It’s very close (10 minute walk) to a central tube station. That just made the condition of the accommodation all the more disappointing.

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West Cornwall Pasty Company

Wednesday, December 14th, 2005

The Joint
Cove 1
The Market
Covent Garden
WC2E 8RA
London
U.K.

Phone: +44 207 836 8336
http://www.westcornwallpasty.co.uk/

Cliff
The service was friendly enough, even though it was a bit difficult to attract the server’s attention. I had a Bacon & Cheddar pasty. Not sure on what a pasty is? Let wikipedia show and tell you. I hope that the grossly inflated prices we paid here were reflective of the locale (Covent Garden ain’t known for being cheap), and not of the chain on a whole.


Sarah
I had a traditional beef pasty and it was HUGE! The prices were atrocious, but the pasty was pretty good. Better than what I expected from a chain.

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Bhatti

Wednesday, December 14th, 2005

The Joint
37 Great Queen street
London WC2B 5AA
U.K.

Cliff
The main waiter seemed annoyed that we were there, and the entire staff seemed like they had something better to do. We got hit twice with upsell tactics and the food itself was rather weak on flavor. I had the Kabab Afghani and Funky Pie ice cream dessert, which was a joke. It was served rock-hard out of their freezer. I’d say skip this place altogether. We were only there because we wanted some Indian food close to the theater where we’d just seen The Producers.

Sarah
This place sucks. Nothing else to say about it.

But seriously, how can you resist trying something called ‘Funky Pie?’

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The Everest

Tuesday, December 13th, 2005

The Joint
41 Craven Road
London W2 3BX

Cliff
This was a little place quite near our apartment at Apartments Apart that we spotted on the way to/from Paddington Station. The staff was quite friendly and the food was good and relatively cheap. My only complaint was that the quantities were so small; especially given the fact that the portions of rice were not included in the entrée.

Sarah
The staff here was so friendly and this was my first step into London’s Indian cuisine scene. I wasn’t disappointed by the food, but I was rather shocked at the tiny portion size and the fact that rice or naan bread doesn’t come with a meal - everything is a la carte. Given how expensive London is, I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise, but I was thinking in terms of how food in restaurants is served in Germany (hugely). Just a difference we needed to note for future reference!

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