Bill's (London)

In honour of pancake day, I have decided to review Bill's, where I recently caught up with a friend over brunch. I'm sure you've all heard of Bill's as it has chains scattered across London, and in other parts of England as well, I believe. However, I'm ashamed to say it's taken me three years to sample their tried and tested menu.

Breakfast is definitely my favourite meal of the day, so I felt spoiled for choice when looking at their menu. Unable to decide between sweet and savoury, my friend and I decided to split the Bill's Breakfast (cumberland sausage, fried free range eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, smoked streaky bacon & toast) and the Blueberry and Buttermilk Pancakes. Our third companion went for Egg's Benedict.

Sadly, I didn't think there was anything particularly special or exciting about our food. I could definitely have made an equally tasty English breakfast at home. If you're in London, I would say forego Bill's and check out some other places for breakfast/brunch, like the famous Breakfast Club or even L'ETO Caffe, where I've had better pancakes. It does, however, have quite a cosy and familiar atmosphere with its rustic furnishings, which is quite a nice environment to catch up with friends and have a relaxed meal.

Food: B

Ambience/Deco: A

Service: B

Price: $ (1 course breakfast) 

Simon's at Oxfords (Southampton)

As I mentioned, I recently went to Southampton to visit a friend. For her birthday lunch, she chose to go to Simon's at Oxfords, a wine bar and restaurant. I was immediately struck by the interior - dark furnishing complimented by plush, green couches, high ceilings, and big open windows. It is a lovely place to go for a more sophisticated lunch. Since our reservation was at 2pm, the place was also relatively empty, which made for a cosy environment for our party.

We pre-ordered our meals, and I chose to get the caramelised seared scallops and the pasta of the day (which in this case was bow pasta with crayfish and cream sauce). I've noticed a recent trend in my meals - the appetisers have been absolutely to die for at other recent stops, like Turtle Bay and Boulevard Brasserie. This is no different here, at Simon's at Oxfords. They gave a generous serving of thick, perfectly cooked, and juicy scallops, which were complimented by the puree and the parmesan crisp added a nice contrasting texture. Again, I would definitely return to this restaurant simply to order this starter. Unfortunately, my main couldn't quite live up to the amazing start. While the pasta was rich in flavour, the sauce became a little too sweet for me in the end and I could not finish my meal. Other downsides? My other friend reported that the fish and chips lacked salt, whilst another said that the squash risotto was a bit bland. 

Although our mains were not incredible or memorable, I would still recommend this place on the basis of it being somewhere that you can enjoy a long, relaxed sit-down lunch. The starters and desserts also picked up where the mains dropped the ball. I'd definitely recommend the scallops or the tempura of tiger prawns to start, and the dark chocolate fondant to finish (can you spot the trend with my dessert taste by now?). 

Caramelised scallops with cauliflower puree and parmesan crisp.

Bow pasta with crayfish in a cream sauce.

Food: B

Ambience/Deco: A

Service: A

Price: $$$ (A bit pricey considering the mains weren't as good as the starters/desserts.)