Coconut Sorbet
Portobello Garden

Portobello Garden

269B Portobello Road, London, W111LR, W11 1LL, United Kingdom

Cafés • Pasta • Pizza • Italian


"Out and about on a lunchtime constitutional along Portobello Road last week something interesting caught my eye. Set back from the road, hiding behind vintage clothes in the arcade, was an alluringly attractive Italian restaurant. On my own, without reading material and in a hurry to get back to work, I had no intention of sitting down to eat but I was compelled to go in and investigate. I glanced at the menu and clientele, was charmed by the decor of hanging dried meat and flowers, and decided I would return imminently.<br/ <br/ Thankfully an opportunity arose this week. I had taken it upon myself to arrange a lunch for myself and nine colleagues, and presented them with an option of four restaurants (secretly hoping that democracy would work in my favour). At first, take-up was slow as the more adventurous-sounding alternatives were far more popular, but risk aversion gradually set in and the simple Italian became the winner; a culinary hare and tortoise situation, if you will.<br/ <br/ “What if they don’t cater for big groups? What if it’s awful and I’m forever ridiculed for my restaurant choice?” Such questions were running through my mind, distracting me from my morning tasks.<br/ <br/ An amiable Italian gentleman saw the first sub-group and exclaimed “group of ten, this way please!” so we followed orders and went inside to our long table, immediately looking above us at the conservatory style ceiling and feeling as though we had walked into a Tuscan summer.<br/ <br/ Our charismatic waitress brought over an alternative to a complementary bread basket; a plate of amuse-bouche sized pieces of courgette frittata served on a forest of rocket. I was very impressed by this. They have foreseen that I’m going to be ravenous, having not eaten since my 11:00 AM apple; that I may not wish to bloat up on bread; that I enjoy being surprised, which I most certainly was. I had only been there ten short minutes and these people already knew how to please me more than some people who have known me for decades. If that isn’t customer service, I really don’t know what is. <br/ <br/ The menu is slightly unusual in that there isn’t the usual long list of pizzas and pastas to choose from, instead there were a couple of al forno dishes (baked in the oven), several paninis (with pizza bread), and a list of specials, a few of which were mains. I took from this that a decision had been made to offer a limited number of dishes, but to do them well.<br/ <br/ I had top-notch, considerably portioned gnocchi with bolognese sauce for £11.50, served whilst the tomato sauce was still bubbling from the oven, with fresh basil scattered on top.<br/ <br/ To make the experience even more superior, they should consider investing in a second credit card machine to take two payments simultaneously since this was a bit slow.<br/ <br/ I was really fond of this restaurant and highly recommend it. Now I just need to think up another reason to go back next week.."

The Vanbrugh

The Vanbrugh

91 Colomb Street Greenwich London, SE10 9EZ, United Kingdom

Pubs • Meat • Beer • Cheese


"they enter the pub and so we stood at the bar and waited to be recognized. employees get drinks for customers at the bar and not even a simple “Hello” or reinsurance that they knew we were waiting. after almost minutes I asked. the barmann when we waited at the right place for the restaurant. he suddenly said, “Have you booked?” I confirmed that I and the time. we went to us and then went away. Paper menus on the table, no drinks menu at all. menus were left on the table, maybe this is a Kovid measure and they intend to throw away the paper menu, seemed just strange and no explanation given. kellnerin appeared a short time later asked what we wanted to order. I've seen it in a hurry to ask to shoot. drinks arrived, a drink was wrong, no big thing, it changed without problems. we all had the chicken roast and the meat was really delicious, no problems there. the veg consisted of less than one tablespoon of cauliflower, a single carrot strip and two small discs of papageiens. very small bratkartoffels and were tante bessies ofen ready to sort or similar certainly not a cooking quality or homemade frying. the gravure was well flavored and delicious. after the meal was laid on the table, the waitress disappeared permanently. the water that had been demanded for the table did not arrive. the waitress was not near enough to ask at any point. halfway through the meal, from us our drinks had ended and looked around again and again to order another, but no incident. No one came and asked how the meal was or whether we needed anything. who I think was the manager or owner was very attentive for two ladies sitting a few tables away and seemed to impress them. they did not seem to be aware of any other guests in the opposite and had their flashers fixed. the table next to us was a group of people, the limited space made it very loud (not really someone to blame), but it was difficult for us to talk to each other on the table when we were in the competition to hear. we finished our meals and sat for about minutes waiting for the staff to notice. the waitress catches the place of my boring expression over the room and came by and asked if we were done. at this point more drinks were offered, which we rejected. we had also removed the idea of dessert and so ordered only a child with us. ordered a cappuccino, that came and the barman asked who ordered it. when the person laid his hand, the barman leaned over the table, whereby a second person had to move her chair back, on the one hand, because it was so rude to lean so tightly and on the other hand over someone because there was the danger of having a hot drink over the head. to move the table to the person that is served, seems not to have been taught to the staff. two packs of white sugar were sat casually on the table. the drink was lukewarm and badly made. brown sugar was demanded when the dessert of the child arrived and that was given. the dessert was brought to the child (alter with the instruction “not touching the plate it is really hot” I moved the plate for him and it was tasty hot after having been whipped around in the microwave to warm the brownie I suspect. fortunately, he is a child who is not impulsive and has no special needs and therefore would not attack a plate, but much more thoughts should be given to safety, in particular safety of children. change the plate would have taken seconds before serving a child. the waitress then disappeared again and we looked at how he had to stand up and go on looking for waiting staff. we were finally asked if we wanted something else and politely said that the bill would be enough. a service fee has been added to the bill. after the discussion, we decided (for the first time in my case) to draw the complaint from the bill. I said the waitress that politely and said that unfortunately this evening did not go well. her answer was: “OK, thank you” took the payment and went away. there was no attempt to apologize or ask what made us feel like that. then we put on our hands and made us to the door. ignored by the waitress who either do not check whether we go or not interested. the manager/owner was right at the exit and did not try to say goodbye or even thank her for her need. really is a scandal and in the right hands could visit and enjoy a wonderful place."