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) 

Boulevard Brasserie (London)

I was recently able to visit Boulevard Brasserie in Covent Garden, which was a nice change from the student-y meals that I've been subsisting on recently (Tesco Meal Deal, anyone?). Boulevard Brasserie is a small, simple restaurant serving your classic French-style dishes, like moulets & frites and duck confit. Quiet and candle-lit, it would be a nice place for a close gathering with friends or a relaxed date.

I personally went for the baked brie in filo to start, followed by seafood linguine with king prawns, mussels, and clams. The appetiser was absolutely delicious - I may have to go back to this restaurant just to order this again. My main course was definitely a generous serving, but the sauce was a little oily and overall was just unable to live up to how spectacular my starter was. My dining companion had the same critique for his set (he ordered grilled goat's cheese and the duck confit).

Luckily, through Top Table we were able to receive 50% off the entire meal, which made up for the relatively average food. Ultimately, I'd recommend this place if you're able to get a deal but for the full price, I'd go elsewhere in Covent Garden.

Sorry, back to the iPhone photos!

Food: B+

Ambience/Deco: A

Service: B (Took a while to get the cheque and they made an error with our reservation)

Price: $$ (Only if on deal!)

Balthazar (London)

I recently had the pleasure of sampling the French-brasserie inspired restaurant Balthazar, situated in Covent Garden. This is one of those restaurants where I can safely say that absolutely everything on the menu sounded enticing. It was so hard to choose between the dishes that even though our party was small and admittedly we were not too hungry, we ended up ordering an array of appetisers, including fresh scallop, oysters, escargot, steak tartare and onion soup. Each of these dishes arrived together promptly (a major plus for me in restaurants is always when food arrives at the same time), and were wonderfully presented - simple yet appealing. For mains, I ordered the grilled salmon, whilst the others had beef stroganoff and duck shepherd's pie. Again, the presentation was simple but the food itself spoke volumes. Everything was fresh, well-seasoned and generally delicious.

Balthazar is a more upscale restaurant. It has an intimate setting and wonderful interiors, with a luxurious, deep red colour scheme and dark furnishings. The wait staff are not only attentive, but sociable and friendly. My one complaint would be that the mains took a while to come; but ultimately they were well worth the wait. I would recommend this restaurant if you want to go somewhere for a special occasion and overall nice dining experience.

Scallops and oyster platter.

Grilled salmon on spinach with lentils and walnuts.

Beef stroganoff and duck shepherd's pie.

Sorry that these photos all have a yellow hue, the lighting in the restaurant was quite dim.

Food: A

Ambience/Deco: A
Service: A
Price: $$$$ (It is slightly expensive, but worth it)

Peyton and Byrne (London)

Covent Garden is full of cosy little cafes with an array of delicious desserts. Peyton and Byrne on Wellington Street is another one of these places. Although there are various Peyton and Byrne bakeries around London, and the company also has several restaurants under its belt, it still retains an intimate, cafe atmosphere that does not feel overly commercial. When you look upon it from the outside, it looks like a cute Parisian coffee shop. The decor inside also matches this description.

When my friends and I went, we all decided to order a different cake/pastry so we could sample a variety of their delicious-looking offerings. We ended up ordering lemon drizzle cake, carrot cake, and a chocolate cupcake (they had a different name, but that was essentially what it was). I have to say, every single one of these items were incredible. The lemon cake was fluffy and light with a strong, fresh taste of lemon - don't you hate when sometimes it seems like places have used bottled lemon juice rather than fresh lemons in their 'lemon' cakes? The carrot cake also lived up to its name, in the sense that the carrot taste wasn't overwhelmed by the creamy topping, as can usually be the case with lower quality versions of this dessert. Finally, the chocolate cupcake had an rich, intense flavour. Overall, I'd highly recommend this place for their dessert.

Food: A

Ambience/Deco: A
Service: B (Nothing spectacular)
Price: $ (Slightly expensive, but worth it)

Wahaca (London)

First of all, I know it's been a long time since I last posted and I apologise for my inconsistency. I am back in London and in university now, which means I generally eat out less because a) I have actually developed a fondness for cooking during my time at uni, and b) London can be pricey for uni students, and it's harder to maintain the same lifestyle as in Hong Kong and Manila. But in any case, I have been visiting one particular restaurant consistently this past month. I've been there three times, and I feel like when you're in London and there's so much variety,  that many times a month would make this place worthy of being dubbed a regular haunt.

The restaurant I speak of now is Wahaca. It's a Mexican chain restaurant with locations in Waterloo, Southbank, and more. I particularly like the Waterloo location as you don't have to wait as long for a table, unlike say in Covent Garden. Wahaca's decor is fun and slightly mismatched, befitting the restaurant's chilled vice. It is the kind of place you'd want to go with your friends, with food portions that are perfect for sharing and a great atmosphere for casual drinks.

The Wahaca menu will look familiar for those who enjoy Mexican food - they have the usual tacos, burritos, nachos etc. They do place their own spin on these dishes, however, by introducing new and interesting flavours. For instance, their plantain taco is not only unique, but actually incredibly tasty also. Whilst most of the dishes I've sampled on their menu are pretty good, I do have to warn you against some misses. For instance the cactus taco that I ordered featured 'grilled cheese', which in my case was really burnt cheese that added a strange flavour to the taco overall. I couldn't finish it. I would like to end this review on a sweet note though. You have to try the churros with chocolate sauce. The churros were delicate and crispy, the chocolate bitter, rich, and creamy. I know the food options here aren't particularly healthy, but most were a definite hit!

Pork taco (front) and cactus taco (back).

Thanks to my friend Alison for these photos!

Food: B+

Ambience/Deco: A
Service: B+
Price: $$