Sea Trout
Silk & Grain

Silk & Grain

33 Cornhill City London, EC3V 3ND, EC3V 3NF, United Kingdom

Beer • Wine • Steak • British


"Located in the heart of the city near the Royal Exchange is Silk and Grain. Split over two tiers with a ground floor bar and a first floor restaurant you can drink, dine or both! Silk and Grain specialises in top quality 35 day aged Scottish steak which is supplied by East Lothian independent family run business, J. Gilmour Co Ltd. Mix the steak with an innovative cocktail menu and you have a winning combination. We loved the Panky Club Cocktail: Barrel-aged gin-based Hanky-Panky with raspberry, lemon, egg white. The staple of Silk and Grain are its cuts of Tweed Valley Steaks. However, there are a selection of other dishes on the menu ranging from Duck Confit and Rack of Lamb to Sea Trout and Smoked Haddock. We started with the Potato Gnocchi: Parmesan, girolles, truffle oil. This was one of the best gnocchi dishes I have tasted! The parmesan and truffle oil worked well and it was not as heavy as I envisaged. There are a number of steaks to choose from on the menu including Rump, Sirloin, Cote De Boeuf, Rib Eye and Fillet, as well as sharing steaks. All prices include the choice of any side (including sweet potato fries and truffle mac and cheese) and any sauce (including bearnaise and peppercorn). This makes a refreshing change from other competitor steak restaurants where you pay for the sides and sauces separately. The Fillet Steak was a fantastic cut of meat, cooked medium, with sweet potato fries – as you would expect, not fatty and all and naturally flavoursome. The Silk Grain Burger: Brioche, pulled brisket, lettuce, Swiss cheese, smoked chilli mayo, fries was also impressive. We were asked how we wanted the burger cooked which is always a good sign – it was exceptionally meaty and we added bacon for extra flavour. A fantastic steak and cocktail menu at Silk Grain restaurant in the City with reasonable prices and a good level of service. Tip: Go for the Express Menu at lunchtime. Soup and sourdough plus 200g Sirloin Steak fries and peppercorn sauce for just £25 per person."

Fire Lake Grill House and Cocktail Bar

Fire Lake Grill House and Cocktail Bar

No 1 The Light The Headrow Leeds, West Yorkshire LS1 8TL, LS2 8ES, United Kingdom

Bars • Salad • Cheese • British


"We were in Leeds celebrating our Son 's Graduation. His girlfriend had also Graduated that same week so we wanted to take them somewhere to celebrate. I chose the Fire Lake as we hadn 't been there before and it appeared to have some good reviews. I sent a message with the booking asking if it was possible to do something special celebrating two graduations. I did not receive a response prior to arriving so my husband discreetly mentioned it to the waitress. We had also purchased a Groupon deal 2 courses for 4 people including a glass of wine each. The waitress asked us if we wanted white or red wine, we asked if we could have a couple of glasses of rose instead, she disappeared and came back saying that they only have white or red with this deal! The white wine was almost yellow and did not taste good. The menu was somewhat limited and over priced. £12 for 3 scallops, £7.95 for bread with basil spread, tomatoes and mozzarella (which I assumed would be warm but was just an open sandwich). My Son ordered the crochets which were ok and his girlfriend ordered the potted pig pate which tasted like cinnamon! I was beginning to regret booking this restaurant but thankful for buying a Groupon deal. For main course I ordered rainbow trout with pea creme fraiche broth, half a gem lettuce and the handcut chips, everyone else ordered chicken or steak with an upgrade to dirty chips with jalapeños. When they arrived with a different waitress, I mentioned that we were missing the portion of handcut chips I had ordered, I was told that the chips only came with the steak and chicken not the fish dishes which wasn 't mentioned at the time of ordering. She apologised and promptly brought over the chips which were the best part of the meal. We then had a bottle of prosecco and ordered desserts and still hadn 't had a response regarding the 'something special ' to mark the occasion. Eventually we were offered a cocktail each which we didn 't all have due to being full. Disappointing"

Fredrick's

Fredrick's

Shoppenhangers Road, Maidenhead, United Kingdom

Mexican • British • Seafood • European


"I must say, I was so disappointed with my visit to Fredricks. My friend and I went for afternoon tea and were really looking forward to it. But we both found the experience really disappointing. Firstly the afternoon tea cakes looked nothing like the advert, nowhere near as fancy. The scones were lovely but we only had about a couple of tablespoons of cream between the two of us which wasn’t enough! The chap who initially gave us our tea was lovely but then once he had gone we didn’t see a soul. There was no one coming to check if we were ok or needed refills. I ended up drinking cold tea and my friend who had a coffee had nothing once that was finished. It wasn’t until we were practically finished that someone else came to have afternoon tea that we could actually grab someone to ask them for a refill! The ambiance of the afternoon tea was awful. Initially there was lovely music in the background but after about 15 mins it was turned off and we were left in silence. All we could hear were staff in the next room shouting to each other about something or other. There was no atmosphere at all and we actually felt like we shouldn’t be there! I’ve been to a number of afternoon teas and this was by far the worst one I have had. However this was my friends first afternoon tea and we thought that Fredricks would be fabulous for a first time tea..... but she was so disappointed! I felt really bad for her! : I don’t think I would come again."

The Spotty Dog Gallery Tea Room

The Spotty Dog Gallery Tea Room

39 41 Teme Street, Malvern Hills, United Kingdom

Tea • Vegan • British • Vegetarian


"We have always eaten at the Ship Inn on our way back from South Wales, because it was a lovely, typically 'rustic ' English ' pub. The former owner Mike and his Manager and Chef, Jane, new their profession and just what their customers wanted simple, very tasty English cuisine and comfort food. It has been three years since we have been and during that time it has changed hands. Oh dear, that 's where our once good experience ended. It is now described as a 'boutique ' pub ? It has been re decorated and re furnished, obviously on a restricted budget and the menu has changed. We have to say that the refurbishment, in our humble opinion, has failed dreadfully. It is cheap and tacky and we were shocked that the beautiful old English wooden beams have been painted in a mushroom coloured emulsion type paint and the new seating is a purple crushed velvet type material with a ring on the back ?? Was this to fasten your dog to? It looks really cheap and tacky. What a pity. There were four of us, one didn 't eat, two had the homemade beefburger and I had the fillet steak with peppercorn sauce. What a pity the ambience of the place didn 't match the food. My steak was perfectly cooked and tasted really delicious. The burgers were definitely home made but the 'consumers ' didn 't like the taste of a herb/ingredient in them. Personally I thought it was very nice, apart from the fact that it was served on a slate !! What is it with restaurants these days? Slates, bowls, wooden blocks ??? Why cant we just eat off a plate ?? Sadly non of the old comfort food dishes like Jane prepared (lamb shanks, steak and kidney pudding, liver and bacon etc.. but never the less, what we ate this week was quite good. However because the ambience and character of the place has been totally ruined, we will sadly not be returning. Needless to say there was not another soul in the place from start to finish. To put the final nail in the coffin for us, they no longer sell Hobson 's beers !!! Sacrilege!"