Prawns Prawns
Dalston Jazz

Dalston Jazz

4 Bradbury StreetN16 8JN, London, United Kingdom

Full • Cafe • French • Seafood


"I would recommend that everyone eat at Dalston Jazz bar for the simple reason that every terrible restaurant you visit throughout the rest of your life will seem better by comparison. We walked in and were confronted with a decor that was presumably aiming for shabby chic but had instead landed squarely on skanky tetanus. We took a table at the back after being told that the one free at the front was reserved. Fair enough. We then splashed out the eminently reasonable price of £32 for 2 pints, a single vodka and (flat) coke and a cosmopolitan so sweet I can only assume they got the cranberry juice mixed up with the Vimto. For some reason all drinks had to be paid for immediately rather than being added to your bill presumably because so many people walk out. Words cannot describe the quality of our waiter at least not words I can write here. When he eventually took our food order he explained that it was a 'pay what you want ' restaurant, before immediately contradicting himself by informing us that each dish held a minimum 'donation ' of £15. What about the foccaccia? I dared to ask. £15 I was informed. Deciding to forgo the world 's most expensive bread we went for the prawns. They had the taste and texture of rubber covered in warm sweet chilli sauce. The chef had taken the unusual step of placing these on top of the crispy salad leaves, making them somewhat less crispy. The accompanying dish of a 'fishcake ' was, in reality, a pile of overcooked mash stuffed with the sweepings of the kitchen, some of which were presumably piscine in nature. The night culminated when the waiter, despite our protests, insisted we move to the long table he had originally said was reserved. Apparently the people who had booked it had cancelled, but our table was reserved (something he hadn 't previously mentioned). We arrived at the already packed long table to find there were only 2 seats for the 4 of us. No problem for our suddenly industrious waiter, who made everyone else shove along until we were so packed that the meaning of an 'intimate dinner ' threatened to take on a whole new meaning."

Malvarosa

Malvarosa

262 Portobello High St, Edinburgh, EH152AT, EH15 2AT, United Kingdom

Tapas • Spanish • Ice Cream • Chocolate


"Malvarosa is a relatively new challenger to the Portobello High Street. It brings tapas much closer to my house, and for that I thank Malvarosa. And indeed, I thank and praise it highly, for not only does it bring tapas closer, but it brings gooood tapas closer. The service last night was excellent, great banter with the guy front of house (Vegetarian? What kind of monster are you? I think in Spain, I might be burned as a witch (I jest, I jest . You are made to feel welcome, and not rushed, even when the restaurant were heaving, we were one of the first to arrive and one of the last to leave, supping on tasty sangria and enjoying a good catchup. To the food the menu is quite small, but not in a bad way just don't go in expecting a book of tapas. Malvarosa keeps it succinct but there is still a good amount of choice across meat, fish and vegetable spectrums. Patata bravas good, smoky paprika flavour with a good kick, although could do with a bit more of a hit of the sauce on the potatoes. A warm ensalada of broad beans, artichoke and spinach was delicious (also available with meat, the Spanish vegetarian option, hur hur hur . I'm still enjoying the thought of chickpeas, spinach and sultanas a tagine y style tapas which I couldn't get enough of. I could go on I'll admit, I forgot to ask my dinner date how the meat dishes were so I can't comment on those. I was too busy enjoying mine to think of anything else. For dessert, we tucked into chocolate cake (super rich, bit too heavy for me, with a stomach already groaning from our mains and flan (I got the last one hurrah! flan had a bit of an odd texture, so a little less enjoyable than I had hoped for. Overall, Malvarosa is a lovely place to spend an evening catching up with good friends. No rush, no stress, just good food and good times."