Parmesan Asparagus Parmesan Asparagus

Grilled asparagus spears topped with savory melted Parmesan cheese.

Stk Steakhouse Stratford

Stk Steakhouse Stratford

18Th Floor At The Gantry HotelStratford, London, United Kingdom

Steak • Brunch • Chicken • Steakhouse


"At our table, we noticed that the adjacent table received STK's signature bread right away, while we hadn’t even been offered any. After ordering drinks, we waited about 10 minutes before our waiter came over to ask how everything was. My husband mentioned that we were still waiting for our drinks, which arrived shortly after he asked. We ordered our meals, and my husband chose the calamari starter, which was impressively large. We both opted for steaks. As we were enjoying our conversation, another couple seated nearby received their bread and dip almost immediately. This made me wonder if we had been forgotten, so I asked a staff member if we had missed out on something.... we were indeed overlooked, but thankfully the bread came shortly after. Once our food was finally ready, it was delivered by a different waiter (a runner) to a table next to us and just left there instead of being brought to us. After a while, we managed to get another waiter’s attention to bring our food over. When our meals did arrive, they were quite nice. The asparagus was good, and the truffle fries were delightful—hard to go wrong with deep-fried fries, really. After finishing our meals, we had empty plates in front of us for about 20 minutes. I wanted to order a warm cookie, but at that point, I had lost interest in what was meant to be a special meal, and we just wanted to return to our suite. When we finally asked for the bill, it seemed they were aware we weren't completely satisfied. The bill was £140 after a discount (I had opted out of the optional service fee of £17.50), but we were actually charged £152. I didn't bother to argue about it. For a restaurant that prides itself on its service, we expected much better."

Etch.

Etch.

216 Church Road, BN3 2DJ, Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom

Wine • Cheese • British • Cocktail


"What a find this place is! This is food about as good as it gets and the menu is ever changing based on what is locally available. The menu is simple and perfect, a choice of a 6 course or 8 course tasting menu; with a wine pairing option. They will happily alter to suite vegetarians etc. Everything we had, from a light broad bean and mint velouté soup, 20 minute sugar/salt cured fresh mackerel blow touched to crisp the skin, local beef and two deserts was outstanding. The staff were very professional, knowledgable and helpful. Decor is modern, clean and very attractive. There is absolutely nothing I can say negative about this place. Apparently others feel the same way, it is becoming extremely difficult to get a reservation. Interestingly the kitchen is open and a hive of activity. Steven Edwards (an award winning British chef) and his team clearly know what they are doing and are not afraid to experiment and surprise. For example; bread is a light, warmed brioche bun with a glossy Marmite glaze. Absolutely stunning, especially considering I do not like Marmite! My wife, daughter and me spent a very enjoyable 3 hours dinning at Etch and left very happy and pleasantly surprised. The 8 course tasting menu is not over indulgent, just right for anyone with a normal appetite. You may have noticed all my reviews to date on Yelp have been 5 star, this is deliberate. Life is too short to focus on that which does not make us happy. This is why I restrict my reviews to those things/places that make me happy and appreciate life. Sure, I have been to some really awful restaurants, but, like I said, life is too short to spend time thinking and writing about them"