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Tasting House

Tasting House

30A Chain Street, Reading, RG12HX, RG1 2HX, United Kingdom

Wine • Drinks • Chinese • Breakfast


"I had no idea that Reading had a wine bar this fun, it’s a very well kept secret. From the outside it looks like a shop, but inside it’s all cosy tables surrounded by walls of wine. We chose to sit upstairs, which is quieter, out of the draught from the front door and felt a lot calmer. It’s candlelit, with piles of board games and a great atmosphere. The idea is that you have a card to put in ‘The Machine’ and then select your chosen wine and the size of the glass you’d like. You then present the card and pay at the end. This worked well for us; I wanted to try a mouthful of all the different wines (red, white, rose and an Orange Wine) and my companion wanted to try a large glass of every red available. We ended up getting through a couple of cards. Originally, we’d planned to have a couple of drinks and then move on to get dinner. But then we saw the menu and the chef. The menu was an array of exciting tapas, put together by the lovely Laura. I’d been to her previous business venture (Nomad Bakery) and it had been amazing, so we stuck in and ordered most of the menu. It didn’t disappoint; in fact it elevated the evening from fun to outstanding. I loved the Halloumi Burek, I was over the moon with the orange infused rice pudding. It was some of the best food I’ve had in Reading. Worth noting that they only do food on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings; I don’t think we would have enjoyed ourselves so much with just nibbles. I’m a bit puzzled as to why some reviewers have been asked to pay up front. We definitely weren’t, we just ran a tab with a card behind the bar for food and drink. I want to give this more than 5 stars. I want to go back again and again and eat and drink and laugh. You need to book because it gets busy, but that’s because it’s so good."

Courthouse Shoreditch

Courthouse Shoreditch

335-337 Old Street, London, United Kingdom

Pizza • Vegan • British • Italian


"I have wanted to go to Homeslice for some time now, after seeing the size of huge slices from fellow bloggers on Instagram. This week, a last minute impromptu dinner date landed me here and I honestly cannot believe I haven’t been before. Stepping inside you’re greeted by a burning furnace of fire, their massive wood-fired oven. Stupidly, we decided to sit at the bar right in front of this beast. Two cold pints of beer were ordered to try and stop my face from reflecting a pizza slice and melting on the bar. The menu offers a range of different pizza toppings, and you can order three of the pizzas by slice for £4. A whole pizza will set you back £20, but trust me when you see the size of these bad boys you’ll realise the price is reasonable. A whole pizza is big enough to share between two people and you can choose two toppings and do half and half. Normally I’m a big peperoni fan, they do have a salami option and it did look pretty tasty. However, I was feeling daring, so opted for something a little different. We went for half and half and had the aubergine, cauliflower cheese, spinach and harissa and oxtail, watercress, horseradish and sorrel cream toppings. Aubergine and cauliflower cheese had a delicious sauce, cheesy and creamy. If you like a good savoury mouthful this is the one for you. The aubergine gave an added texture with the harissa giving a smoky, yet subtle kick. The oxtail had a lovely tomato base and the meat itself gave a nice depth of flavour to each bite. I’m not a fan of horseradish, so wasn’t sure what it would taste like with sorrel as a cream. It was extremely good and not overpowering and cleansing to the palate. The pizza here is colossal! Each slice was bigger than my head, the dough was salty, but in a really good way, not too much. The fact that they sell by the slice is a great idea. If I was drunk and fortunate enough to stumble across Homeslice, I’d be a very happy drunk person. I think this is possibly the best pizza in London. Anyone in disagreement, please feel free to contact me. Homeslice has a buzzy and good vibe about the place, but very chilled and relaxed. It is a great place to hang out with friends, sup some beer and demolish pizza. The waiting team were all extremely friendly and it’s cool to be able to watch your pizza get made right in front of you. If you like pizza, lots of pizza, then you need to get your teenage mutant turtle bums down here!"