Newham
Pasta Remoli

Pasta Remoli

14 Fresh Food, Newham, United Kingdom

Pizza • Sushi • Pasta • European


"I discovered this venue quite by chance, more because it was in a quieter part of Westfield, away from the crazy fast-food frenzy of the food court which is menacingly dominated by now ubiquitous giants of McDonalds, KFC and Burger King. For my part I have never even heard of Simone Remoli, although I am reliably informed, according to this restaurant 's signage, that he trained in the kitchens of the finest restaurants in Rome, then decided to travel to London to 'extend his knowledge '. That strikes me as a somewhat random choice, given that he was disappointed by what he found. Apparently, that was what prompted him to open his own restaurant, which is how the company came to be. A commendable, if very unoriginal aspiration, I 'm sure. Intrigued by the 'mix match ' concept of the place, I decided to give it a try. I liked that you are able to choose your pasta and your sauce separately, and everything is neatly categorized on a set of menu boards (see pictures). In the event, to save having to make a series of choices, it was easier to order one of the special 'signature dishes ', in this case the spaghetti aglio, olio e pepperoncino (spaghetti in garlic with olive oil and chilli). I also ordered some olives and bread on the side. The bread was a selection of focaccia with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar dip (see picture), coming in at an extra £3.90. The olives were all very firm and green (see picture). also at £3.90. They were nice, but not worth the price tag. The spaghetti came with optional clams, adding another £4.90 to the £11.60 for the main dish, meaning the spaghetti alone cost £16.50! I was surprised at how quickly the pasta arrived, not having considered pasta as fast food before, but I guess it could be. To be fair the pasta was perfectly cooked (no less than I would expect) although it was only lukewarm. But it was good (see picture). The venue itself is actually quite an awkward shape, shoehorned as it is into the side of the thoroughfare, and on a kind of corner, and because of its position by the entrance it is a little drafty. Theoretically, it should be a pleasant vantage point from which to watch the passers-by, but in reality you are simply disturbed throughout your meal by an endless succession of groups of lairy and excitable youths. The chairs are all metal as well, so it isn 't an ideal venue to spend a lot of time in. With drinks, the entire bill came to £30.40 in the end. That is a lot for lunch. It is overpriced, and the portions are not overly generous, but I like the concept, so probably would return. Pass on the side dishes and extras and it would be far more palatable."

Ruskin Arms

Ruskin Arms

386 High Street North, Newham, United Kingdom

Pub • Arts • Coffee • British


"The food is great, with a decent variety of traditional English pub food as well as some Indian dishes. During our stay at the hotel we ate here twice for dinner. The first time we ordered the beef lasagne and steak pie. We ordered at...the bar and were given a number to take to our table, where our food was quickly brought out to us. Hot and tasty. We also took advantage of the deal where hotel guests receive a free drink with purchase of a main dish. An older gentleman took our order and the service was great. The second time however, was pretty awful to be honest. We went up to the bar and started to order fish chips, a beef burger, and two drinks from the younger man working. I don't know what his deal was. He interrupted us halfway through ordering, turned to the girl that was working with him, and started speaking fast and angrily in another language to her, completely ignoring us. We had to get his attention again as he showed no signs of stopping his rant to finish helping us. He entered our order into the till and tried to make us pay for the drinks too, even though we were hotel guests (even if we weren't, the deal was advertised on posters all over the pub to the public for Mon-Fri and it was a Monday anyway). He seemed pretty upset that we wanted the advertised discount. He started talking to the girl again, then stormed off without another word to us. The girl came over to continue our order, and she seemed angry as well, like we were being difficult. I felt like I was being very polite through the whole thing, and once she saw we actually had a simple order, she was much more pleasant. This time I was not given a number to take to the table, so I asked for one. They brought us the wrong food anyway and almost forgot the fish chips. The breakfast buffet was lovely. An awesome variety for the price I think, but free for hotel guests including tea, coffee, OJ, milk, cereals, toast, beans, hashbrowns (sometimes there were chicken nuggets instead, heck yeah), scrambled eggs, mystery meat sausage with the consistency of a blended gym mat, pancakes, crumpets, jams, meat and cheese, yogurt, fruit, berry scones, and even salad, cupcakes and cookies. So, good food. Good value. Good service from most of the staff. Not good service from the younger fellow working that night."

Comptoir Libanais

Comptoir Libanais

Stratford Westfield, 2, Newham, United Kingdom

Tea • Kebab • Asiatic • European


"Comptoir Libanais is a franchise which has lots of branches in UK, its everywhere from streets to airports. Kudos to their marketing team, the appearance is always attractive and presents Lebanon beautifully, unfortunately their food is usually average, the Westfield Stratford branch though is worst...of the lot. I have visited the place twice and will base my review on most recent visit. The Westfield branch of Comptoir is pay at counter and self service style, in synchrony with Westfield food court. The staff seems tired and plain but they can be given benefit of doubt because its a busy mall and food court. What can't be forgiven is what they serve to customers. We ordered their Mezze platter for 2 with Mixed grill. Both were epic fail. Hommos was pasty and bland, falafels were hard and seemed reheated rather than fresh, Cheese samboussek was only above average thing in the Mezze. The grill was equally disappointing with under-seasoned and dry meat. Lamb kofta was dry and over burned while Chicken taouk was like eating stones. Growing up in middle east and being a big craver of Labanese food, I cannot recommed Comptoir Libanais to anyone who knows the cuisine or even to introduce a lad to Labanese food. Labanese pictures and flashy colors might reflect the management and owners love for their roots, unfortunately love for Labanese food it doesn't. Head to Edgeware road instead and you might find a street full of Labanese food and its beautiful aromatic taste."

Frankie And Benny's

Frankie And Benny's

Unit E2, Greenwich Promenade, Newham, United Kingdom

Pizza • Steak • Pasta • Salads


"we spent one of the warmest and most pleasant Saturday afternoons in Greenwich and trying to find a decent ice cream parlour, but without avail. Finally, we figured out that the Italian American restaurant by the harbour might as well serve some cups with ice cream. Indeed, we were pleased that upstairs on the roof deck there was still plenty of space and the choices of ice cream looked appealing (in the menu). It took a while to attract the waitress who was very busy, but finally managed to place our order after 15 minutes. Another 15 minutes later, our ice cream (raspberry trifle and godfather) arrived. My ice cream cup should have been decorated with chocolate sauce and granulated nuts, but arrived very bland without a decoration. I sent it back to the kitchen and after this second attempt it still did not even vaguely resemble the cover photo of the menu, but at least all ingredients listed on the menu could be identified. Taste was okay but not overwhelming and my “godfather” cup was filled with soggy square brownie clumps and a great number of bullets (malt balls, also known as Maltesers). These really ruined the experience of the ice cream although the waitress assured me that these bullets are part of the original “godfather”. Technically, the Godfather movie indeed features hails of bullets, but I did not expect them to end up in my ice cream. We ordered the bill, which arrived after another 15 minutes, and as the waitress did not appear to come back with the credit card machine, went inside after further 10 minutes to pay. Inside I realised that these significant delays and poor service could be explained by the only two members of staff serving this whole floor (all the dirty dished were piling up on the bar inside). When we left the restaurant, we found however a number of staff idle on the ground floor. I think management has to improve the quality checks in the kitchen (just ensure that the appearances of their products has some likeness to the photographs on their menu) and they also need to give more support to their waiting staff. In any case, the quality of both ice creams was underwhelming and I don’t think we will come here again anytime soon."