Peppermint
The Gate Islington

The Gate Islington

370 St John Street Islington London, EC1V 4NN, United Kingdom

Pizza • Juice • Global • Italian


"Would like to add that all the other staff, especially our server, Fatima, were brilliant. Advised food intolerances during booking process and received great email the day before: “I have come across your booking notes and wated to share our menu with you. We have a few gluten free options for all courses and we also have a three course set menu £38pp our guests can also opt for. The Set Festive Menu does not offer GF options for starters, however we welcome our guests to choose this course from out A La Carte.” However, on ordering, the server fed back that I would not be able to choose a starter from the A La Carte and could not have the Festive Menu. She offered to bring the person who had said this to the table to explain. Oh wow bad move. This turned out to be the defensive and accusatory owner manager: This restaurant does not cater for “people like you” who “demand” things outside of what is available and “expect to get them”; and that “the system will not let him order” a starter from the A La Carte for the Festive Menu. “If I wanted to have the Festive Menu I would have to have the Aubergine starter from it”. Blah blah blah blah blah . . . The Aubergine starter was not marked GF on either menu (as per the email). I pointed out that his accusation about people like me making demands applied to him: he was “demanding” I eat the 1 item he selected for me from the menu and it was something I could not eat. Additionally, a quick estimate showed the order would come in a few pounds below the £38 for the Festive Menu. I didn’t bring up the email, because my patient companion asked if they could give their order, which included the aubergine dish. Owner Manager suddenly realised that this might work with the technology and clearly felt a need to share every step of his thinking process about swapping our starters with us. With much huffing and puffing he messed around with the order terminal for several minutes right at the table. After 2 failed attempts, he eventually muttered he’d “have to just write the order by hand” and stalked off. When the order arrived, we received a cup of salad instead of the broccoli side that had been ordered. When the broccoli arrived, it was steamed not sautéed as described in the menu so it was sent back. If having diners in your restaurant is an inconvenience for your technology, business and self, then maybe you’re in the wrong business? We didn’t need to know all the drama and detail about whether our starters can be swapped so that it can be input in the technology and we didn’t need to be party to all the huffing and puffing too. Finally the food: excellent margarita and Oyster mushroom starter. Highly recommend these. The Wild Mushroom rotolo mains was not as great as the starter but still very good. The festive snow bombe dessert presented beautifully, with the bombe melting under a pour of hot chocolate sauce, but tasted average. My take is that the pear filling was bland and didn’t complement the chocolaTe"

Buenos Aires Argentine Steakhouse - Richmond

Buenos Aires Argentine Steakhouse - Richmond

13-19 The Square Old Palace Terrace Richmond, Greater London TW9 1EA, TW9 1DT, United Kingdom

Sushi • Pizza • Seafood • Asiatic


"After I had made an appetit that runs around the kew garden, my friend and I drove to lunch after richmond. we have reviewed our options and decided to go for this restaurant./ the place is spacious. it made use of black and natural wood colors, which gave it a sophisticated yet domestic look. the outlet also uses a lot of natural light, which gives the feeling of an opener space. I liked the place. I think the interiors were tastefully finished./ it was not busy when we arrived, occupied with only one handful of tables. we need to choose our place and choose a rectangle. the personal was very nice and attentive. they made some recommendations and described the home specialties when we asked. we quickly identified our decisions. we had gamben and calamari fritti for starter and roasted pork bell and steak milanesa napolitana for our net. we agreed to share so that we can both taste more dishes./ the food was served quickly. the calamari was really nice. it was thin, slightly coated and crisp. the accompanying garlic mayo had beautiful aromen. it was a good choice. the gambas looked and tasted differently than we expected. we had the Spanish tapas version in the sense. that said it wasn't bad. it had fine aromas and light acid from the combined wine-garlic-lemon ingredients. the black bell did not see to appetize on the plate. the mushalat looked like wild leaves and the swarm looked boring. it was a thicker cut, slightly dry and a tade too salty. the Bbq sauce was mild tasting and balanced the salt on the pork. it added taste to the court, but there was not enough of it on the teller. I would suggest having it on the side and allowing the guests to determine the amount to put on the court. the sweet potato fries that came with the court were delicious. the steak milanesa napolitana looked huge on the teller. it looked delicious. the steak itself was tender, while the tomato cheese bouncing was tasteful. together, the tomato cheese aroma drowned the steak. we barely tasted the steak. it felt like we were eating margherita pizza. I would suggest the cook to recalibrate the balance. this could be a good dish./ the place looked every bit promising from beautiful interiors, chilled ambiente to good menu choices to reasonable trips, but eating was a bit down. we were underwhelmed by those who we had. I hope the place can improve and live its potential."

Electric Diner

Electric Diner

United Kingdom, W11 2ED, London

Steak • Italian • American • International


"We booked for a birthday brunch on a Sunday for 6. The place was full and we had to wait 10 mins for the table we had booked at 11. Once seated it was another 15 mins until our order was taken. 15 mins then until our drinks arrived and another 5 until the food showed up. Clearly massively understaffed and delays were not the staff’s fault although when we asked for something some fresh boiling water for the teapot and some more maple syrup we had to remind twice until they arrived. The bill took a full 15 minutes. Why do owners put staff and customers under stress only allow booking where your staff can cope? I was minded to remove the obligatory service charge but did not want to make a scene. As we had booked for brunch, we were expecting the normal things you would find on a brunch menu. There they were on the menu .. so we ordered only to be told: no sausages, no black pudding, no avocado, no French toast and, very strangely, no fried eggs but we could have poached or scrambled eggs! The food was OK except the bacon which was flabby, fatty streaky bacon that was only just cooked and not good quality. Guests at every table had left theirs on the side of the plate. For a restaurant claiming to serve an American style brunch, this was massively underwhelming. In short, we will not return and I strongly recommend that all reading this give this place a miss. There are plenty of much better places in Notting Hill."