Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake
Al Khayma

Al Khayma

251 Cranbrook Road, Ilford I-IG1 4TG, United Kingdom, ILFORD

Cafés • Pizza • European • Fast Food


"Al Khayma is the best hidden secret in Illford! I had been wanting to eat Lebanese food for a while and knew there were a few decent restaurants in the city but my partner convinced me that his colleagues swore by this ‘fantastic’ restaurant in Illford but I was not convinced! However since he insisted and I wanted to eat, I begrudgingly took his suggestion and he booked us in for dinner. The place was easy to find. Just 7 minutes walking from Illford train station on the newly Elizabeth Line or 2-3 bus stop if one does not fancy the walk. There we were greeted by Saad who was super friendly and accommodating. He was extremely helpful and helped us with some choices on the menu while offering excellent suggestions! The restaurant had an ambient atmosphere and the gentle traditional music playing in the background gave it a relaxing vide that travelled the mind to exotic destinations. It also had a well decorated flower wall that would look great for those #hashtags on Instagram (if anyone is up to that kind of stuff! So when the food arrived, the restaurant offered little appetising sides with Lebanese bread that was warm and homely. I ordered the Shish Tawook (charcoal grilled skewers of chicken which was juicy and cooked to perfection with a side of chips but it also came with a complimentary salad. My partner ordered a grilled boneless baby chicken that he said it was crispy on the outside with a soft interior that was super tender and flavoursome. But wait. There is more..! Since it was B.H Monday and were were out-out, we decided to do a little extra and ordered a Halloumi side and another one called Batara Harra. In one word I would describe it as mind blowing! The portion of the Halloumi was surprisingly generous and the Batara Harra was a dish of potato cubes marinated in all sorts of flavours and served on a bed of sweet peppers and chilly. It came with a quartered lemon (which I thought was odd but after a few bites I decided to drizzle some on top of the potatoes (assuming that it might serve a specific purpose and boy was I right about that! I genuinely don’t understand how a few drops of lemon can transform a dish so much but honestly if you order this food, just use the lemon! You won’t regret it. After completion of dinner we were offered free of charge a traditional Lebanese tea which unfortunately did not have the time to be taste but that was not a problem as we were already decided that we would be visiting this place again. Overall lovely staff, great food with generous portions and a relatively reasonable bill that would work out about £20-25 per person including drinks. Extra bonus is the Valentine’s Park across the street. A huge park with a central lake for an evening stroll, that also includes a large playground area if you are visiting the area with children. So yes, that was our culinary experience at the Al Khayma. Friendly service, great food, clean establishment and reasonable prices. Really nothing more to ask. Highly recommended!"

Mercat Bar And Kitchen

Mercat Bar And Kitchen

28 West Maitland Street, EH12 5DX, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Steak • Seafood • British • Scottish


"My wife and I had booked a Chinese meal on the 28th September and were looking for somewhere to have some drinks prior to the meal and my wife spotted the Mercat opposite the Chinese which was absolutely perfect for us. We ordered a Cider and a Peroni and the barmaid Stacey told us to find a table and she would bring the drinks over to us. Whilst enjoying our drinks we kept seeing lovely meals being taken to vsrious tables and they all looked exceptional, very well presented and you could clearly see that everyone was really enjoying them and the lovely background music being played. We both agreed that we would return on the followimg evening and try the food as it really looked too good to miss and we were certainly not disappointed. After a couple of drinks each we both decided to go for the fish and chips and we both agreed that it was the nicest fish and chips we had had for years, everything very fresh and so tasty. We enjoyed a lovely bottle of Sauvignon blanc with the meal and my wife chose the cheese platter with olives, girkin and biscuits and I chose the icecream for our sweets, absolutely perfect. Unfortunately the lovely Stacey was not working on the evening but we did have the lovely Scott, they are a super team, so efficient, friendly, courteous and obliging. Since returning home we have never stopped talking about this wonderful evening, we both loved Edinburgh and this restaurant really was the icing on the cake. We are already talking about returning to the City and returning to this beautiful restaurant, what a find! . Well done to you all and thankyou!"

The Rythre Arms

The Rythre Arms

Main Street, Ryther, Selby, United Kingdom, LS24 9EE

Pub • Steak • Grill • Steakhouse


"We have been before and it was brilliant. However this is the last time I will be eating there again. The waitress was very rude and dismissive the whole time we were there. We ordered the T-bone to share and weren 't given the opportunity to tell them how we prefer it to be cooked. The steak then came blue massively underdone to our liking. This is not to say it wasn 't a top quality cut of meat because it assuredly was. However I was not willing to pay £95 for a steak that wasn 't cooked to my liking. After a rather long wait for the waitress to come back and ask how our meals were I ended up having to get up and go to see the manager to tell him I was unhappy with the meal and also the service, to which he replied, I 've been down to check on you 2ce and you never mentioned it then, what 's wrong with it now ? After which I told him he hadn 't been to check on us, as we had only just received our meal and that the waitress has been abrupt and rude all evening and that she hadn 't even asked how we would like our steak cooking before she disappeared off in a hurry. The waitress then joins the conversation from over his shoulder and said, I did ask and you said medium rare , which I wouldn 't have said as I prefer medium for that cut of steak and more to the point even if i did ask for medium rare the steak was blue! The managers response to this was to tell me to just pay for the drinks and not the steak. Rather than rectifying the steak and the service problem. After realizing I wasn 't willing to finish my drink but more than happy to pay for it he told me it 's fine and to just go. Safe to say it spoilt our evening. We drove an hour that night to enjoy a nice steak but went home hungry with a bitter taste in our mouths."