Great Nepalese, Eversholt Street: never disappoints

18th December
An old school friend came for to hang out with me in London, and the Great Nepalese was somewhere where we knew we could get an early evening meal before his train home. The restaurant is just by the side of Euston Station, which the web site at http://www.great-nepalese.co.uk/index.html somewhat amusingly calls an exotic location. We learn that the restaurant has been there since 1982, but I thought it had been there for ever (unbelievably I used to drive this way to work in the late 1970's to get to Wandsworth). It is old fashioned in many ways, and its website says that it is online by virtue of having a telephone number.
Being a week away from Christmas, London restaurants are busy, and typically taking advantage of customers' good will and desire to have a night out at any cost. This place chunks along, and they made no fuss about our coming early and said as long as we were gone by 7.30, we could take as long as we wanted.
I decided to play safe, and had my favoured starter of sheek kebab. I could have had a special Nepalese starter, but conservatism got the better of me.

Nothing extraordinary either way with this: predictable, and a CHOF of 8

Again I decided against adventure and stuck to tandoori tikka masala with some pulau rice for main

As you can see, no surprises here, but hot at a CHOF of 9, and living up to expectation. The staff are friendly but not interfering, and were clearly steeling themselves for the Xmas onslaught.

I would recommend this establishment for a fairly priced Nepalese curry option, which has never disappointed over the years. I will be returning.

Cambridge Chop House, Kings Parade, Cambridge. More for locals than tourists

17th December
Despite its location bang slap opposite Kings College, the Chop House seemed to be more full of locals than the many tourists thronging the streets. This might not be typical, as the downstairs was packed with what looked like office Xmas lunch outings, but no paper hats in sight. It is probably a bit too pricey for the day trippers, and probably eats too much into college viewing time. It was the choice of our friends and came with their endorsement.
There is a high quality set lunch at two course for £13.50 and three for £17.50. This is a bit on the dear side, and may have put off the trippers. In central London, but not necessarily of the same quality, lunch for under a tenner is the norm.
There is a useful web site, and the full menu can be seen at http://www.cambscuisine.com/menus/lunch-menu-1384533434.pdf .
I had the Game & Pistachio Terrine, Apple & Chestnut Chutney, Crispbread for starter.

As you can see this was all meat, and a decent portion size. The chutney was a little too subtle, but with a strong gamey taste, this hit the spot.
For main course I had Pan-Fried Calf’s Liver, Baby Potatoes, Red Cabbage, Port Sauce.

I asked the waiter how the liver was cooked, and he said it would be pink in the middle. It was a bit past pink, but still very acceptable. I would give this a CHOF score of 8.7, and it was otherwise well presented, with a rich sauce, tasty potatoes and sweet red cabbage.

I shared a desert: ordering a chocolate and passion fruit pot that was a rich mousse which overcame the fruit.

It was rich, heavy and a good strong chocolate flavour which met with mutual approval. I think that I could probably not have managed one on my own

you can just about see the reflection of Kings college and King Henry adjusting his clothing.

The verdict on this is excellent hot food, but at London prices. The wine list shows that they are catering to the classes that worry about those things with almost nothing under £20/bottle, and most between £20-30 per bottle. They must have done their market research well, I am sure.

Chopstix Exchange: Change from a fiver

11th December 2013
There used to be a number of Chinese buffet restaurants with this tag. My favourite was in the Japanese shopping plaza in Colindale, but that is long gone despite its apparent popularity when the plaza was bulldozed. There was also one in Whetstone which was not as good. The one in Whetstone has been resurrected in slightly downmarket North Finchley almost opposite the bus terminus

We are trying out the cheaper end of restaurants In North Finchley, and like other reviewers had previously been patrons of the one in Whetstone, and the original one in the Japanese plaza in Colindale.

If you have a need for cheap food out your domicile and are not too fussy, then this is the place to fill your face with calories. There is the opportunity to eat all you can with no apparent restrictions except they would like you to keep the same plate.

Satay chicken, prawn toast (mainly toast) and spring rolls

sweet and sour chicken and rather dried out pork ribs

More fresh satay chicken, mixed noodle, mushroom with onion

There are several catches: replenishment of the tureens is too slow and they are left deplete for long periods, and apart from chicken, the only meat available on the night we went was rather dried out pork spare ribs. You have to be prepared to jump when one of the containers is replenished which was not very often.The chips were quite good. Drink was reasonable, paying £3.20 for a large beer, and £1.80 for a small. There is a desert of ice-cream and tinned fruit.  There is no service charge as you help yourself. So a meal for two including beer came to £15 which is very cheap.

I thought the variety and quality was below average, and the temperature except for freshly delivered food was inadequate (probably about 6.8 on the CHOF scale, but the fresh food was 8.9). I do not feel ripped off, but I will not go there again. For £22 I can get a huge quantity of better quality takeaway food at the Totteridge garden which is enough for four helpings. The only advantage is eating out in a restaurant with an indifferent atmosphere (people are there because they want a cheap meal out and the price is difficult to beat), and no washing up. It closes at 2100, so you have to be sharp.

Friendly Thai (again): could this be the worst service in North London?

7th December.

SINCE THIS WRITING THIS REVIEW, THE FRIENDLY THAI HAS NOW CLOSED. THE REASON FOR CLOSURE IS NOT KNOWN
I have previously written about the Friendly Thai restaurant on Whetstone High Road. I commended the food but did not care for the service http://worldofeating.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=friendly+thai
We went there again as part of a group of 7. To make things easy we ordered one of their set meals for 3 and a set meal for 4. This could not have been simpler as the three were sat together as were the four.
What ensued was some great food as referenced in the previous note, but the service on a Saturday night is appalling. They simply cannot cope with their own success, and should consider extra staff on Saturday night when it is always full. I would guess it took about an hour from time of entry to restaurant to appearance of the first item of starter. When the order got mixed up i.e. some of the three going to the four and vice versa, they tried to blame us initially, and when we stood our ground, a heated argument, presumably in Thai, ensued between two staff members, and conducted across our table. This is a great shame as the food is great and is also hot.
When the bill arrived, it was largely uninterpretable but priced within credibility, and already had 10% added for service which I proposed was taken off. My wife pointed out that we probably would go back there again (but not on a Saturday night) and refusing to offer a tip was restaurant suicide,  but we should never had booked in the first place on a Saturday night.

Harvester, Arnos Grove: Formula food that meets expectations.

3rd December.
We had passed the Harvester just by Arnos Grove tube station so many times over the past couple of decades and always noted that there was the potential of a bargain meal out. Nothing fancy, but very fairly priced. The one we had previously patronised some twenty years ago is now a Tesco mini store, and had been somewhere we could reliably visit with children and escape with our wallets intact, and a fair feed.
I learn that Harvester is part of a crop of restaurants and pubs run by Mitchells and Butlers and includes diverse names such as Toby inns, All bar One and Browns. My take on Harvester is that it is a restaurant in a pub type venue rather than a pub with restaurant (which is how I see JD Wetherspoons) and according to their web site, they specialise in grilled food and serve 25 million meals each year. The USP for Harvester is that they have the free salad bar, and fixed price formula meals. By way of Internet vouchers, we were entitled to one free starter from a limited list or a free Sundae (which was really mostly ice cream), and a voucher for unlimited soft carbonated drink from a limited list. Other drinks are at Bar Prices.
For our starter we had spicy breaded crackerjack king prawns

We'd actually eaten most of them by the time this picture was taken, but they are a crispy fried coated prawn, not particularly spicy by our standards, but hot and tasty scoring a 7.8 on the CHOF scale. The dip is chilli, ginger and spring onion, but is not overwhelming. All meals have the calorific values stated, and this was 322 kcals (accurately presented)

For main I had an 'original combo'.

This is chicken, which is under a baby rack of pork ribs, a portion of sweetcorn and fries, coming in at 1097kcals (scary). There was also the salad cart (nothing special), rolls and butter etc included. The ribs were probably the best bit of the meal being moist, tender, well cooked and flavoured. The chicken was spit roast rather than grilled, and was properly cooked. The corn was fine, but was too cold to melt any butter.

Whilst you can see the cooks at work, I did not pay attention to the assembly of this meal, and its components had different CHOF valuse from 7.5 (corn) to 8.8 (chicken and chips). There was also a barbecue sauce, which I did not use. My wife's chicken was also cooked well, and had no adverse comments. 

The bill could not really be worked out because of the vouchers, but would probably come to about £12 without drinks per person. 

I think the Wetherspoons offering is probably a bit more edgey with a greater choice and cheaper, but here you are sat down in a proper restaurant and served (Rather than having to pick up from the bar), you don't have to pay up front, and it has a family restaurant feeling rather than a pub feeling. Take your choice for the bargain of your choice.

We felt that we had had a very competitively priced meal of good quality. With that many meals served in the whole group, I dare say that Mitchells and Butlers have figured out how to make their formula work.

Natural Kitchen, New Street Square, City: Why we need to pay bankers so much

3rd December.
A work colleague who I had not seen for some time invited me for lunch, and this was his suggestion based on suggestions received. I knew from other reports, that the most common adjective used to describe the food at Natural Kitchen was 'OK'. The company has an informative web site at http://www.thenaturalkitchen.com/cafe-restaurant.php and a glance down the menus shows that this is not for the masses and threatens style over substance. Don't get me wrong, because I was a grateful lunch guest, and I don't bite the hand that feeds me, but if I had not been a guest I would have been agreeing more vocally with the previously read comments.Most of the trade seems to come with the carry out buyers for those eating 'al desko'. No shortage of customers in suits.

To keep things simple I had the 'aged Scottish steak beefburger, which came with melted vintage cheddar, caramelised red onions, baby gem lettuce, vine ripened tomatoes and crunchy coleslaw (sic) and chips (£15.95)

The menu apologized that it only served burgers medium to well done, but it seemed that the chef had not been told this, and mine was distinctly underdone, and only warranted a 6 on the CHOF scale. However, it was perfectly tasty and seemed to be all meat. The fries were hot and tasty - no other condiments were needed. For the price, this was below expectation, and I hope that if my host ever reads this, he does not take offence as he is a friend of long standing who I would not like to criticise for his choice of venue.

In summary, more style than substance, luke-warm food and a potentially big bill. 

Durum Ockabasi, Finchley: reliable Anatolian grub

23 November 2013
The Durum has been one of my local staples for several years. It used to be an Italian called Trattoria Trevi, but that was probably 20 years ago, and this place has been a popular feeding house for the locals of Finchley and ex pats for several years. It has a lot of competition in the area, but always seems busy.
They have a web site at http://www.durumrestaurant.co.uk/websites/123reg/LinuxPackage25/du/ru/mr/durumrestaurant.co.uk/public_html/en/ which tells you quite a lot, but the prices are a bit out of date. I usually book before going, as it seems that it times there are few tables left. Having said that, I have never had trouble getting in. The staff are pleasant and service is fairly efficient. Each table is given a plate of really tasty flat bread, and I am sure that over the years there may have been olives and chilies but, like most restaurants, the covers have become more sparse. We typically start with a cold meze between two. The starter portions can be quite substantial, and we have made the mistake of ordering too much food in the past.
On this occasion I had the beyti with yogurt sauce. Yogurt sauces are a common feature, and sometimes they are flavoured or spiced, and sometimes meat is cooked in them. Beyti is like a spiced version of kofte kebab.

As you can see it is meat on a flatbread base with yogurt, and really does not need any additional accompaniment. The thing was that the hotness of the meat was dumbed down by the coldness of the yogurt, and thus lost a little bit in CHOF score which otherwise would have been good. I should have thought about this before ordering, and my wife's chicken shish was excellently hot. The food is great and I will definitely be going back. A meal for two including drink, and sharing a starter comes to about £30.