‘afternoon’ tea, drink shop & do

Drink, Shop & Do

It was my mate’s birthday on Sunday, and as she is ‘the woman who has everything’, I actually resorted to ASKING her what she wanted.  “Afternoon Tea” was the reply.  I had already booked one afternoon tea that I had a Groupon voucher for, but that isn’t until 1st July!  That seemed an absolute age away, so I thought it might be nice for us to go out with our other best mate for one in the mean time.

This is the same friend that I went with for the TLSee Afternoon Tea before.  So, I started looking for somewhere that we could go for ‘afternoon tea for dinner’ again.  The problem is that she works late *shakes fist*.  So, I resorted to asking the general public via the wonderful @Secret_London as to where we could go that would serve from around 7pm.

I had three or four recommendations for Drink, Shop & Do in Caledonian Road, just a couple of minutes from King’s Cross station.  As the July tea I’ve booked is quite posh, I thought this looked great as it was really quirky and cool.  And they serve their ‘afternoon’ tea until closing. At 11pm Mon-Thurs!

So last night we went along.

It was a really fabulous evening!  As you walk in, the front shop is full of quirky cards, designery / handmade bits and pieces and old-fashioned sweets that you can buy by the quarter.

You go upstairs into the cafe & craft area which had a tantalising display of homemade cakes on show.  It was pretty busy (they wont take bookings for parties of fewer than 5), but we managed to find a table out the back which was a fantastic little room with a domed ceiling and loads of retro furniture and bric-a-brac. (I especially liked the 70s style furry baby deer picture).

Afternoon Tea Menu – May 12

We went for the ‘tea with a twist’ which came with a choice of cocktail from their very appealing menu, along with an extensive choice of speciality teas.

Mrs Pepper Pot

I went for a Mrs Pepper Pot, which I can’t remember exactly what was in it apart from basil and pepper and the fact that it was totally scrummy.  One friend went for what she described as tasting like ‘a kind of hot chai latte with amaretto’ and the other went for something that had a choice of lime, raspberry or lemon sherbert in it.  They were all great!

Yummy stuff! (And cute mismatched china)

The actual food itself is definitely not what you would describe as traditional – there was not a scone in sight (can you actually call it afternoon tea if there are no scones? Perhaps that is up for debate!)  However, it was wonderful and fresh, the sandwiches were simple but tasty (and the bread was fresh and not refrigerated, which in some places it is!).

Our cake tier had a macaroon (we had three different ones), a piece of lemon drizzle cake and the gooiest, richest slice of chocolate brownie I have ever tasted – they were all delicious.  And then the top tier was all retro sweets, which we happily picked at for the rest of our time there.

Look at all those sweeties

They have loads of board games available and so we ordered another pot of Assam and settled down to play Yahtzee for a while.  In the comforting surroundings, with 80s tunes playing and the whole place in low light with candles on every table, we had a brilliant time.

They have a while calendar of activities that you can take part in, from Rude Scrabble to making papier mache monsters or clay Star Wars figures,  vintage hair and make up or porn dot-to-dot!

We will definitely be going back some time – had a totally lovely evening, am so glad that it was recommended to me and think everyone should give it a try!

afternoon tea, bea’s of bloomsbury (mar 11)

Bea's of Bloomsbury

I took The Girl on a rather decadent day out last month, and it included our favourtie Sunday past time – afternoon tea!

This time, I had booked up at Bea’s of Bloomsbury.  I had heard great things about them, but never been myself.  We went to what  (I assume) is their original branch in Theobald’s Road.

It’s a lovely little place, but IS very ‘compact and bijou’, especially if you are sat near the counter as we were.  Luckily, on a Sunday in that part of London, there isn’t much passing trade, so we weren’t disturbed.  The décor is contemporary and sophisticated and a little quirky.  It comes across very much as a cake shop rather than a ‘tea room’ if that makes sense.

We were given a choice of teas and brought our selection of savoury baguettes.  These were 3 each of a third of 3 different baguettes.  They were very nice, but a little more ‘trendy’ than the traditional finger sandwiches that you get, so The Girl wasn’t quite as keen.  They did tell me what they were, but i can’t for the life of me remember – but *I* liked them. One had chorizo and peppers in, and as far as I’m concerned, chorizo makes everything better!

Then came the exciting stuff.  the scones and cakes!

Cakes!! (And scones)

Oh my – this was an absolute treat, and my hips expanded about 2″ just looking at the serving plate.

Of course, there were the obligatory scones, jam and clotted cream.  These were lovely and light, but obviously not the intended stars of the show.  Bea’s has a display absolutely bursting at the seams full of cakes, cupcakes and other glorious baked treats, and this is where they excel.

We had 2 cupcakes – one vanilla & raspberry and one chocolate fudge.  They were light, full of flavour with beautiful frosting.  We then had a selection of mini meringues, marshmallows, brownies, blondies, chocolate & almond biscuits and killer brownies.

What a glorious sight!

If you like your cakes, this is the place for you – they were all so well made, so full of flavour.  The marshmallows were a welcome addition too – I loved those as they’re not something you usually see with an afternoon tea.  however, the sheer amount of ‘cake’ became a bit much after a while, and felt a little heavy.  We couldn’t finish and ended up taking some little biscuits and a brownie home for The Man.  I think that a little fruit pastry or a lighter more mousse-like cake would’ve been a relief.

However, at just £17 each you can’t really complain – and if you go prepared there really isn’t anything not to like. It was all top-notch!

rhodes w1, marble arch (1 feb)

Huge sculpture in the foyer of The Cumberland Hotel

I have been so behind on my posts for so long, with everything that has been going on, but I am determined to get some posts down.

On my 40th birthday, I took my parents for a gorgeous lunch at Gary Rhodes’ restaurant, Rhodes W1 Restaurant in Marble Arch, which was actually their Christmas present from me.  So, we met in the foyer of the Cumberland Hotel which the restaurant (and the brasserie) are part of.

It was a Wednesday lunchtime and unfortunately there were only 4 other diners the entire time we were there.  even so, the service was attentive without being at all intrusive, the waiting staff were friendly, we felt very looked after.  the restaurant itself seemed possibly slightly dated, but also slightly grand without making us feel uncomfortable or out of place.  My parents LOVED it – it’s not the kind of place they would usually go to.

The lunch deal I got was £25 for three courses.  we had looked at the menu before I booked, but when we got there, the menu was completely different, and at first I think all of us felt a little concerned that we didn’t particularly like the sound of anything on the menu – we were rather dubious.  We couldn’t have been more wrong!

Mushroom puree, chestnut mousse & maple jelly

Our ‘pre-starter’ that we were given after ordering, together with a selection of homemade breads and flavoured, whipped butters (plain, parmesan and sundried tomato).  As soon as we had this unexpected course, our minds were put at rest as it was absolutely delicious!

Slow cooked egg, artichoke veloute and hazelnut

This was the starter choice for both me and my dad, and it was absolutely delicious – surprisingly, the artichoke veloute was the star of the show – smooth, velvety and packed full of flavour.

Rabbit rilette, black pudding, prune and onion soubise

This was my mum’s choice which she was totally blown away by – said it was delicious and she could have eaten a main course of it!  It also came with the cutest tiniest slice of brioche in the world!

Everybody say "Aaaah" at the dinky little brioche!

By this time, the wine was flowing, we were relaxed and totally happy with our choice of restaurant!  So, onto mains.

Roast cod, cavolo nero, garlic and quinoa

Mum’s choice – she totally loved it, and was especially impressed with the crispy fish skin.

Ravioli of butternut squash, ox cheek, beurre noisette and sage

Me and my dad went for the same main again and OMG was it a good one!  I love the combination of butternut squash and sage at the best of times, but in beautifully thin pasta and nestling on a tender, meaty, flavour-packed, melt-in-the-mouth braised ox cheek, this was one of my favourite dishes EVER!

Oops!

I was so excited by our unexpected ‘intercourse’ that I forgot to take a photo! It was an amazing rhubarb compote with vanilla rice-pudding and buttermilk ice cream.  Totally refreshing and I left what I didn’t like…

Parsnip custard, honeycomb, orange ice cream & blood orange

Yes, I know what you’re probably thinking – I couldn’t decide whether to go for this one or not, but convinced myself that I really like carrot cake, so why would parsnip for dessert be unacceptable.  It…was…fabulous!!  Especially with the honeycomb!

Peanut butter parfait, salted caramel, lime and banana sorbet

The parentals both opted for this – I had been put off as I really hate banana…but I had a taste and it was all absolutely delicious.  The parfait was smooth and creamy, there were caramelised peanuts on top and it was in crisped thin slices of banana bread.  Totally scrummy.

We finished with coffee and gorgeous petit fours, and came away extremely happy – and my mum and dad couldn’t stop raving about how lovely it was and made me send all the photos for them to show their friends.  Would definitely go again!

Passion fruit jellies, raspberry & chocolate macaroons, mini blueberry & white choc muffins

the driver, king’s cross

The Driver, King's Cross

Last night, I went along to The Driver with a friend to use my last outstanding Groupon voucher.  Considering my recent groupon experience at The English Pig, I was slightly nervous of what may lay in store for us.

I really needn’t have worried as we had a fantastic time.  The complete polar opposite of the service that I had received then.

Our waitress (Marta/Martha?) was absolutely outstanding.  She welcomed us warmly to the gorgeous dining room on the first floor, knew that we were on the Groupon deal and asked us for the voucher so she could see what the deal was (two courses with cocktail and coffee for £26 for the two of us – BARGAIN!), supplied us with our menus and then explained that we could have a starter OR a dessert as well as our main, it was our choice (or both if we wanted to pay the extra), that our included cocktail was a bellini but we could just have Prosecco if we liked and that we could have any of the coffees or tea.

She then told us which dishes were new on the menu, which she recommended, which had gone down well at lunchtime and was just very attentive and friendly without being OTT.  It wasn’t like we were the only diners, but we certainly felt that way

Antelope 'pattie' on lentil and chorizo cassoulet with red onion jam

Yes, my main was really just a ‘burger’.  I have never had antelope before, but it was extremely nice.  lean and meaty with a beefish texture, very slightly gamey but very subtle.  The cassoulet was fabulously flavourful, but then I am very much a chorizo fiend and think it can enhance nearly every dish

Braised rabbit with celeriac mash and savoy cabbage

I had a taste of my mate’s rabbit, and it was beautifully tender and delicately flavoured with a smooth, creamy sauce and crispy cabbage (which wasn’t the best looking but tasted scrummy!).

Pear and chocolate shortbread with blackcurrant sorbet

This was SO scrummy!  The shortbread was crumbly and moreish and not too sweet, and the pear was tender and peary!  It was slightly warm which I hadn’t been expecting, and was perfectly balanced with the slightly sharp sorbet!

Chocolate pecan brownie with champagne ice cream

This was rich and gooey without being sickly, and the champagne ice creamwas smooth and luxurious.  I only had one bite as I was happy with my own dessert!

All in all, The Driver is a lovely pleace with an unusual and varied menu and absolutely fantastic service, thanks to Marta/Martha!

indian supper club with alex & salim, e17

Alex (and Salim) made us feel SO welcome in their home!

I have been extremely slack about updating recently – mainly because I have had SO much to post about – and therefore been out when I should’ve been posting!

Last week, The Man and myself were lucky enough to find out about a new pop-up Indian Supper Club in Walthamstow.  It was the very first one, and although we thought all the places would have been filled, Alex managed to squeeze as in and we happily trotted down the road to a brand new experience!

Unbeknown to me, as it was their very first try, they had actually had all the places snapped up by people that they already knew – so we were ‘the outsiders’!  But considering my usual ‘Stranger Danger’ worries, this was not a problem in the slightest.  We were made to feel so welcome in their beautiful home, and Alex and Salim were so relaxed, that we forgot that we hadn’t known them for years!

We were served a gorgeous homemade lemon & mint soft drink on arrival, along with little homemade bags of indian-spiced popcorn, which was so simple but totally more-ish.  We were then given an indian twist on a mojito, which was wonderful and refreshing – and WAY too easy to go down.

On top of the very easy conversation, we were invited into the kitchen where Salim invited us to taste all of the dishes, and prod his bread dough that was on one side rising.

After trying the dishes, actually sitting down to eat couldn’t come around fast enough!  With a table of 6, one of 4 and two of 2, me and The Man got our own table, but the other diners were turning around to chat to us, giving it a real party feel

Our pretty table, mojitos and the peanut masala

We had a gorgeous, fresh peanut masala and crackers on the table ready to tuck into which was fantastic.  More mojitos were sent our way, and then a bottle of wine appeared.  We felt very looked after!

The main  meal consisted of cumin rice, a huge fresh salad, chicken dopiaza, moong dal and muttar paneer.  I have always kept away from paneer in restaurants as I’d had it a couple of times and it hadn’t been quite ‘right’ for me.  however, when I’d tasted Salim’s ‘cheesey peas’ straight out of the saucepan, it was like a completely different experience.

Everything was absolutely wonderful, light but rich in flavour, perfectly spiced, and all the individual elements complimented each other whilst tasting very different.  And it was all accompanied by Salim’s freshly made bread which we were in the perfect vantage spot to witness him preparing and cooking!

Don't be fooled - we ate about five times this amount!

Although our initial portions were of a fair size, we didn’t realise that the seemingly never-ending bowls would be brought around continuously!  We were STUFFED by the end of it (I had MANY heaps of muttar paneer!).

When I say stuffed, we did indeed manage to fit in our chocolate and cardamon mousse with a coffee cream made by Alex, which was also very scrummy.  After finishing with freshly brewed coffee (The Man) and fresh mint tea (me), we rolled ourselves out of our chairs to walk home.

They don’t present a bill (!) but have a discreet contribution box with a suggested £20/head to cover their costs – more than reasonable, I think you’ll agree.

They are going to be running the supper club on the first Friday of every month, and me and a few friends have already booked ourselves in for the next one (yes, I have been spreading the word!) which will be concentrating on street food. I plan not to eat for a week beforehand!

If you are interested you can see their website or contact Alex on Twitter.

Salim is also available for cookery lessons – I am planning to send The Man to learn bread, kebabs, dal and of course the muttar paneer!

Can’t wait to post about it again next month!

the english pig, barbican

The English Pig

Once again, I had a Groupon voucher that is due to expire soon, so booked a ‘Date Night’ with my lovely mate on Monday.

Neither of us had been to The English Pig before, but I believe it has only been open a few months, so that is hardly surprising.  our best mate actually lives in Barbican, so he was extremely keen to hear how our experience was.

I have actually decided to break this review into two parts to highlight the different aspects of our experience  and I will start with the food.

As you may have guessed, The English Pig specialises in all things piggy, and with both me and my mate being happy piggy eaters, we knew we would be sampling the best the menu had to offer!

Parma ham with goats cheese and pickled cucumber

The starters were nice and light, not too large and nothing really heavy – just how you want a starter when you’re planning on a three course meal!

Pig's cheek broth with root vegetables and broad beans

My broth was full of flavour, meaty and with lovely little bursts of freshness from the veg – especially the broad beans!

21hour braised pork belly with mustard mash and savoy cabbage

My date was blown away by her main – she said that it was THE best pork belly she had EVER had.  The crackling had somehow rendered down and was extremely crisp but still attached to the meat.  the cabbage was hiding in this photo, and I think her only criticism was that she could have done with more apple sauce!

Pan roast loin with carrot, kale and pickled apple

My loin was beautifully tender, the kale was fresh and retained bite and my carrot puree was smooth and rich.  My only criticism was that the pickled apple seemed a little too vinegary for my tastes and slightly overpowered the gravy.

Spiced panacotta with orange & rosemary shortbread

My date said that the panacotta was a little more ‘solid’ than usual for a panacotta, but that the flavour was absolutely delish – however, the shortbread, although a nice texture wasn’t very orangey or rosemary-ey!

Tiramisu?

My dessert was billed as ‘Tiramisu’ but most definitely wasn’t.  There was a some choaolte sauc eon the bottom, then a light milk coffee ‘jelly’ and a kahlua cream with some biscuity crumbs on the top.  It was absolutely gorgeous, but most definitely not a tiramisu. Considering my luck having one at Jamie’s Italian recently, I think tiramisu is avoiding me!

So food was GREAT – we enjoyed every mouthful!  Which brings me onto the other aspect of the evening – the service.  OK, we were on a Groupon deal. The deal was £29 for two courses for 2 people with a bottle of house wine.  I am not sure whether this had an impact on our treatment, but I certainly hope not – it’s not something that’s happened with a Groupon deal before!

My friend doesn’t drink much, and hadn’t realised wine was included in our deal, and had ordered drinks before I got there, so before we sat down I asked whether it would be possible to ‘swap’ our wine for dessert at all and was told no, which was fair enough  I could totally understand that, but you have to ask these things.

There was oil and balsamic on our table when we sat down but we weren’t given any bread, although we noticed our neighbours receiving it automatically later on through our meal.

Noone actually brought us our wine.  When we ordered our mains, I asked the waiter if we could have our ‘inclusive’ wine and he said he’d get the wine list, which I thought was slightly odd.  He brought the list just after we’d received our mains and I asked which wine was included and he said “I don’t know, I’m the wrong person to ask!”…and said that he would send someone over to help us.

Noone came.  When he eventually came to collect our plates, about 10 minutes after we’d finished he asked if someone had been over and I said they hadn’t and that we didn’t really want to open a bottle just to have with our dessert.  He said that we could take a bottle of house wine away with us ‘if we wanted to’.  As it had been included in our deal and it wasn’t our fault we’d not had a chance to have it, I said yes please and he brought it over.

We then sat there for about 10-15 minutes with noone bringing us a dessert menu, even though my friend kept trying to catch the eye of various waiting staff.  The table behind us then left without ordering desserts and my mate spotted that their menus were still on their table (don’t know if they’d had the same problem!), so she grabbed their menus, and we chose, and then waited again to order.  Eventually someone took our order, and the desserts arrived pretty quickly (the kitchen are obviously a lot more efficient!).

Then eventually we were able to catch another waiter’s eye and ask for the bill.  10-15 mins later AGAIN, we still hadn’t received it, so, knowing that the desserts were £5 each, we just left a tenner on the table and left – there was no way we were paying any of the optional 10% service charge after we had been what seemed like purposefully ignored for so long!

As we left, we said “The money is on the table” and the guy said “OK!”…that was it, not even sorry for the wait or anything.

It’s a real shame as we enjoyed the food so much and our experience was just completely tainted by the service.  Not sure if I will be recommending on this basis

This picture was above my mate's head, which amused us greatly!

 

le bouchon breton, old spitalfields market (2)

We went to Le Bouchon Breton to use an accumulation of TopTable points last October, and I had a Groupon voucher to use, so we happily skipped along to spend it.

Sauteed Mushrooms &Parsley Butter in a Puff Pastry case

I have to admit, the look wasn’t what I was expecting, but there was a bit of the happy 70′s in me as the presentation of a huge vol-au-vent pleased me immensely!  And it was totally yummy, rich in flavour, creamy but still light.

Foie Gras Terrine Served with Mango Compote

The Man had decided to go for the most expensive items on the menu, just to really get our money’s worth   He melted at the first taste of his foie gras and said that the mango compote shouldn’t have worked but really really did!

'Le Baron' rib eye steak

The Man went for a rather large steak  it really, really was massive. However, he did order it blue, and to be quite honest, it was probably to thick to have blue as (to me) it just looked like a big bit of slightly warmed raw beef.  I didn’t try any!

French Trimmed Rack of Lamb served with Darphin Potatoes, Spinach and Baby Onions

I have to admit, I went for exactly the same as I had before. Predictable, I know, but it was such gorgeous lamb – and I love lamb, it’s my favourite meat of all!  And once again, I wasn’t disappointed – it was absolutely melt in the mouth delicious!

The restaurant is pretty well known for its cheese trolley, so The Man decided to give that a go…I tried hard not to wince as the lid was lifted and the waft of rather ripe cheeses drifted across.  I like cheese, but I hate the smell of the smelly ones!

Tarte Tatin

Oh yes, I had the tarte tatin!  Well, actually I had half a tarte tatin as I simply couldn’t eat any more!  It was one of the best I have had  but then you would expect that from a french restaurant, wouldn’t you!

All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable meal.  And if you like seafood, we saw a couple of the seafood platters come out and they were ENORMOUS!  This is definitely a restaurant that you need to come to hungry as they definitely like to feed you!

 

jamie’s italian, angel

Not exactly the prettiest of buildings!

A couple of years after I left Cancer Research, they moved to this huge, shiny, posh, soulless building just opposite Angel station.  A new branch of Jamie’s Italian has recently taken half of the ground floor of the same building – so new that the website actually still says ‘Coming Soon in Summer 2011′ as they haven’t officially launched yet.

As part of the soft launch and to help train the staff, they have been offering 50% off food deals to the staff in the same building, so I went along last week with one of my best mates and four others.  I have never been to a Jamie’s Italian (or any other Jamie Oliver restaurant come to think of it) so wasn’t at all sure what to expect.

We met up with another couple of my ex-colleagues for a quick drink beforehand as half of the area is set aside as ‘Jamie’s Bar’.  This sis definitely NOT somewhere I would go again.  There are a vast array of pubs and bars in Islington, and some of them are fantastic!  This however wasn’t.  This is a very new building and the ceiling is really high.  there was an industrial theme to the space and it meant that everything was hard surfaces.  The background noise was terrible!!  When we first arrived, there couldn’t have been more than 10 people in the pretty large bar area, and yet I could barely hear what the person next to me was saying…when more people arrived, we had to break into smaller groups to talk as it was impossible to hold a group conversation.  It also cost me well over a tenner for two vodka and diet cokes!!!!!!  Shocking from such a bland environment!

Anyway, we were shown to our table, and the actual restaurant area is a far nicer space (although did get VERY dark later on).  It was still quite hard to hear what was being said the other side of the table, but we fell into part-shouting and listening VERY closely, so it got easier over time.

The menu actually reads really nicely, with nibbles, antipasti, pasta (available as small or main course) and mains.  There were quite a few dishes that I would have been very happy to order.  We ordered some breads to nibble on, and they were really nice – all diferent types of artisan breads that I believe are baked on the premises.

I plumped for the Risotto Milanese.  I have never had bone marrow before, so thought I’d give it a bash. (Excuse the dark photo – didn’t realise the flash didn’t work, and as I said, it was VERY dark in there!)

Creamy saffron and Parmesan risotto with herby roasted bone marrow and lemon & parsley gremolata

It wasn’t too bad I guess.  I couldn’t really taste the saffron very much, and I couldn’t spot the gremolata to be honest.  The fried leaves I was expecting to be crispy, but they were rubbery, and I wasn’t altogether sure I was supposed to be eating them.  The bone marrow was disappointing – it was grainy and didn’t have much flavour…and there wasn’t a lot of it.  However, I have never had it before, so I wasn’t sure if this was to be expected!  I was definitely expecting more herbs though – they seemed non-existent.  However, the risotto itself was very creamy and it was a good sized portion.  I had also ordered a rocket and raddichio salad as a side – and this was absolutely gorgeous – fresh, crisp, large and very well dressed!

I took pics of everyone else’s food, so might as well show them (as the flash worked too!).

Black, creamy rice with hand-picked Start Bay Devonshire crab and crunchy herb breadcrumbs

West Country fish of the day with clams, mussels, fennel, chilli, anchovies and Sicilian cracked wheat

Tubular spaghetti with crispy fried smoked pancetta and ribbons of leek, tossed with free range eggs and Parmesan

Squid ink linguine and Brixham scallops with chilli, parsley, anchovies, wine and capers

Everyone seemed to enjoy what they had – and they were all decent sized portions.

When it came to dessert, two of were disappointed as they had run out of tiramisu.  An Italian that has run out of tiramisu?  That was outrageous! (Although I wasn’t altogether sure that the orange mascarpone and the coffee would go together, but was willing to give it a try!)  So, I instead went for the Amalfi lemon curd with toasted pistachios and English raspberries, which was quite nice – but not as sharp as I had thought it might be.

Between 4 of us (one wasn’t drinking) we got through a bottle of passable Prosecco and two bottles of decent enough white wine (I am so spoiled by my gorgeous Naked Wines that it feels like a decent bottle to me costs a fortune in restaurants these days!) and including service, we paid £23 each (between the drinkers).  So I certainly can’t grumble!  For that price, it was a pretty outstanding meal – however, I think I may have felt a little cheated at full price.

It was nice enough food, of good enough quality, cooked pretty well, but I would in no way think of it as ‘a destination’.  Somewhere to pop in to catch up with a friend perhaps, but nothing very special.

la hacienda, e17 (part 2)

La Hacienda, Hoe Street, E17

Further to my previous post, I have had a proper review from the lovely Kate Bod for the surprising number of people coming here after searching for reviews for newly opened restaurant La Hacienda on Hoe Street in Walthamstow.

I didn’t have high hopes for the new Mexican, La Hacienda, on Hoe Street. Local rumour about its previous incarnation as an Indian restaurant put paid to that. Nevertheless, I’m keen to patronise (and boy can I patronise) local eateries so I booked a table with four friends, one who had come from Crouch End (ouch).

We were shown a table “for five” but an unfortunately-placed table leg at the end would have meant an uncomfortable sit down for one of us. We moved to another table.

La Hacienda is small and cramped and every time a bus goes by, the room is plunged into darkness. “It feels like the end of the world is nigh” observed one of our group.

The lack of tablecloths, placemats, glasses and cutlery, means it feels more like a café than restaurant. Knives and forks were in a basket at the end of the table and there were too few napkins so I had to pinch from other little baskets on other tables.

This is also fashioned as a ‘cocktail bar’ but one look at the bright blue drinks with Del-Boy style brollies and wedges of melon making their way to tables encouraged me to opt for wine. One of our table is with child and opted for a non-alcoholic passion-fruit cocktail which was so sugary it remained intact for fear of her unborn baby’s health.  It may have been Sunny Delight.

The service is chaotic. We had to ask for more menus and attempts to order a vodka lime and soda proved futile. Drinks were placed in front of anyone irrespective of who had ordered them as was the food, which meant a vegetarian was presented with a steaming plate of steak. Not good.

Ah the food, I almost forgot. Hilariously, the waitress only knew the dishes by number, which gave it the whiff of a Chinese takeaway. One of us ordered a 69 and then we fell about laughing (word of warning: if you are thinking of ordering a 69 later that night, La Hacienda will not get you in the mood) .

To be fair, the food was the best bit but it took so long to come that we had to wolf it down in 20 minutes (we were heading to the comedy at the Rose and Crown and missed the beginning). Most of us chose fajitas and they came with cheese sour cream, beans and all the trimmings. Mine was steak (£10.95) and the portions were large and could have served two. Although my meat was tougher than I would have liked, it was tasty. While I have a feeling the seasoning was shop bought, the food was the highlight of the night. Most of my group had ordered vegetarian and said the food was not bad but I think that was more in surprise than anything.

So, if they sorted out the lighting, spaced out the tables, learnt the menu, improved the service, asked how the diner liked their meat cooked, it would be a step in the right direction. And I would give it another go.  The place was busy so they obviously have the market for it but for it’s got its work cut out if it’s going to attract returning customers.

Thanks so much to Kate for the review – and what a shame that it couldn’t have been a better experience.

la hacienda, e17

La Hacienda, Hoe Street, E17

Dear ‘People coming to my blog after searching for La Hacienda restaurant in Walthamstow’,

There seem to have been rather a lot of you, so I feel compelled to tell you that I have not been there and so I have not got a review of the place.  To be quite honest, I don’t actually intend to go there.

If you would like to see a review, you can find one by somebody I know by looking here on Qype.

Thanks for visiting though, I appreciate the stats

If you’re looking for somewhere to eat in Walthamstow, I can thoroughly recommend Windmill or Le Delice or Orford Saloon or Peking Chef.

If you were thinking of opening a Mexican in Walthamstow, please please do because there are loads of us who would frequent it!

Love Sonia x

***UPDATE:  There is now a review here from a friend of mine who visited***