Prawns Prawns
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."

Rasoi at Steventon House Hotel

Rasoi at Steventon House Hotel

Milton Hill Steventon Abingdon, OX13 6AB, OX14 4DP, United Kingdom

Tea • Fish • Indian • Chicken


"This was our fourth attempt at dining at this restaurant. Despite the big sign outside saying it was open, it was closed when we came three previous occasions. The car park is dimly lit, with no marked bays, and there is no indication of where you should park. There are plant pots along one edge which you cannot see in the dark, so can easily scratch your car. The restaurant is nicely laid out but looks like a function room, waiting for the tables to be removed for the next function. On the table setting the knives faced outwards, which I had never seen in a restaurant before, but the tables looked nice. I ordered a Diet Coke, which arrived lukewarm with a single small ice cube in it and no lemon. It tasted like Coke Zero, much sweeter than Diet Coke. We started with the mini pappadums, which were not totally unlike pappadums small and crispy. They came with some sweet sauces but no achar. The chicken tikka croquettes were bright red but not very spicy, accompanied by a perfectly acceptable mango sauce. These were followed by a plate of 5 garlic prawns, which were pleasantly garlicky. The main course was a bright red 'Old Delhi Butter Chicken ' it was totally unlike any butter chicken I had ever seen. The sauce was very 'tomatoey ' and bland. The chicken had a strange mushy, pasty quality almost like it had been reconstituted or at least frozen and cooked for a long time. My wife had the kitchen curry, which was also bright red and bland. The nan was different from a normal nan thicker and more bread like. It was not what we were expecting. We often travel to India, and this was quite unlike any Indian food we have ever had before. Overall I would rate the experience as 'confusing '."