rglondon | Entries tagged with caribbean food

Sambal Kitchen & Diner, South Harrow, London HA2

Good evening friends and neighbours!

This week's featured article is Sambal Kitchen and Diner, a cozy Sri Lankan restaurant in South Harrow. The set meal sounds like a cracking bargain and our reviewer was particularly impressed by the dhal and sambal.

We've one new article - Megaro, a hotel restaurant and bar just across the road from King's Cross/St Pancras where it seems the breakfast brioche bun is a fork-and-knife affair.

Updates have been made to:

Blue Jay Cafe, a Carribbean cafe in South Norwood
Albert Tavern, a Greene King pub in South Norwood
Quaker Cafe, a cafe and bookshop directly opposite Euston Station in the Friends House
King’s Head, a pub on Essex Road in Islington
Tierra Peru, a Peruvian restaurant near Essex Road station in Islington

mrs_leroy_brown

Good morning and welcome to a bumper edition of RGLly news!

Blythe Hill Tavern, Forest Hill, London SE23

This week's featured article is Blythe Hill Tavern, a Good Beer Guide in Catford within waving distance of of Forest Hill. As would be expected from a GBG pub, there's a good selection of well-kept ale. There's also a large beer garden with a children's play area, and an Irish music session on Thursday evenings. With an atmosphere described as warm and welcoming, it sounds like a cracking good pub to quaff a beverage.

Four new articles have been added:

Oscar’s, a cafe in Ladywell serving pastries and sweets along with stew from The Soulful Food Co. in Deptford.

Rising Sun, a Sri Lankan restaurant in Sudbury, Harrow that delivers value for lunch money with its £5 set menu.

Cobb’s Corner, a cafe in Sydenham on the site of the former Blue Mountain Cafe serving British and Caribbean food.

Brown and Green, another Sydenham cafe in the local chain serving a few mains and light meals in a child-friendly setting.

Updates have been made to the White Hart pub in Harlington and the The King William pub in Sipson.

In closure news, Croydon's Brasserie Vacherin is closed for a few weeks for refurbishment, though we're unsure when or if it will reopen. We Brought Beer, a specialist beer shop in Clapham, has permanently closed, though the Balham and Tooting branches remain open for business.

katstevens

Evening readers!

This week's featured article is for Roti Joupa, a Trinidadian takeaway near Clapham North tube. I don't tend to venture to Clapham much (unless I've got on the wrong Overground train at Canada Water without realising), but I might make an exception for somewhere that sells macaroni pie. I enjoy macaroni, I enjoy pie, I also enjoy tamarind sauce - perhaps one day I will even enjoy Clapham?

Regular readers will recall last week's spoiler alert concerning a jaunt to Bromley ('the place where broom grows'), resulting in new pages for Sanxia, a Sichuan/Hubei Chinese restaurant, and the Star and Garter pub. There's also updates for the Red Lion, the Barrel & Horn, and Indian restaurant/hotel Tamasha, which has ~~mucky pictures in the loos~~ "ancient Indian artwork of an adult nature". One can only hope it's up to the standard of the infamous decor of Cafe Bangla (aka the Princess Di place) on Brick Lane.

How might one get to Bromley, I hear you ask? The direct path is unlikely to involve Cannon Street, but if you find yourself in said station you could visit the Sir John Hawkshaw Wetherspoons or nearby Japanese restaurant Koya. But where *can* you get to from Cannon Street? Douze points to whoever said Sidcup ('a flat topped hill'), where there are three pub updates, for the Hackney Carriage microbrewery, the Alma and the Hill Top Tap.

Right at the top of Green Lanes in Winchmore Hill, there's a new page for the Little Green Dragon pub, and an update for Turkish restaurant Big Seff. There's also a new page for the Temple Brew House bar and microbrewery, just off the Strand.

Finally we come back to Trigger's Bromley, where the Cineworld is temporarily closed, while it transforms chrysalis-style into a Picturehouse.

ewan

Hello welcome back to another week of Randomness. This week's featured article is Domali, SE19 3AH, a narrow cafe/bar in Upper Norwood's Crystal Palace neighbourhood, where you can find mostly vegetarian food as well as some draught beers. Expect to find our local correspondent in there for weekend brunches.

The two new articles are... Roti Joupa in sunny Clapham, a Trinidadian place, primarily a takeaway though there are a few stools from where you can view beach scenes and palm tree decals, though I suspect the food will be the main way you commune with its Trinidadian origins. Sounds like tasty good value to me.

The other new article is Craft Beer Co. in what they like to call Covent Garden. It's been recently done up, and Kake has managed to get a photo of it with no people in, which is not how you'll generally see the place (as it's quite popular).

Four reported permanent closures are for: The Sandrock in Shirley; The Castle in Holborn; the Nordic Bakery in Covent Garden; and Bread Ahead in Covent Garden.

ewan

Hello and welcome back to another week, if your week starts on a Tuesday.

The featured article is Roti Masters, CR0 1YG in Croydon, a halal Caribbean cafe. But are they truly masters of the roti? Visit our reviews to FIND OUT.

There are no new articles, but two significant updates. These are to Vanilla Black, an upscale vegetarian restaurant near Holborn, and they can sort out vegans too. It's a lengthy review, so why not dive in? There'a also an update to The Wenlock Arms in Hoxton, which still has all the real ales and some basic pub food.

Finally, Suda Thai has moved from Covent Garden to Fitzrovia.

ewan

Hello, and after a bit of seasonal break, welcome back to a new year, 2017!

Lulu's Caribbean Cuisine, Finsbury Park, London N4

This week's featured article is Lulu's Caribbean Cuisine, N4 3EN. It's pretty small and colourfully painted, and if you're there for a weekday lunchtime you may find yourself the only one. Generous portions and flavourful too, worth checking out we think.

There are three new pages: A&N Brothers Cafe in South Croydon (decent breakfast); Steakout in Norbury (neon pink, but decent steak); and The Fox pub between Coulsdon and Caterham (more a restaurant than a pub, but you can drink there, and the food is... decent).

Our two reported permanent closures are Bottledog on Grays Inn Road, and The William Jolle pub (a Wetherspoons) in Northwood Hills.

katstevens

Evening everyone!

This week's featured article is for CoffeE7 in Forest Gate, a veggie cafe with mild TARDIS-like properties. It is part of the Suspended Coffees scheme, where you can pay for an extra coffee (or tea, or a sandwich), to be claimed at some point by whoever needs it.

If you're after some quality Caribbean food in Finsbury Park, you could do worse than the subject of our newest page, Lulu's Caribbean Cuisine on Stroud Green Road. The menu has an entire 'Jerk Pit' section! I am fairly sure I saw Jerk Pit supporting my ex's mate's skatepunk band at the Bull & Gate in 1999.

The nearly-alliterative BG Zakuska Bulgarian Breakfast in Barking has had an update, as has the Mute Swan pub near Hampton Court Palace. In Angel, One and One (it's had many names over the years; I will always know it as 'the vegan buffet place') has reopened after a refurb, but is apparently not 100% vegan these days, so do make sure your mock duck is indeed mock. Finally, the Devonshire pub in Balham is also having a refurb, and is due to reopen in November.

katstevens

Evening all! A quick update tonight: our featured article is for Affogato, a cafe in Norbury that does all-day breakfasts, waffles and a range of loose leaf teas.

New to RGL is the first combination craft beer/hot sauce establishment I've ever heard of, Hop Burns & Black in East Dulwich. My workplace has an entire fridge shelf dedicated to sauce bottles with skulls and crossbones on them - I will be informing my boss about HB&B ASAP.

There are also updates for the efficient Roti Masters Caribbean takeaway in Croydon, and the newly-refurbished Bear in Camberwell, which seems to have emerged from its makeover unscathed (although it no longer has a quiz night).

ewan

A bit late this week as I couldn't log in yesterday.

Anyway, this week's featured article is Honey Hive, SE26 5EX, a Caribbean cafe in Sydenham. It's also apparently vegan, which is surprising given that honey is not, but presumably they don't use it in their food... Anyway, it's a friendly cafe in the back of a bookshop.

New articles are: Koffees and Kream, a curiously-spelled cafe ("kafe"?) and bar with semi-industrial feel in semi-industrial Woolwich; The Castle Tavern also in Woolwich, no ale but loads of tasty Ghanaian food; The Cutty Sark in beautiful Thamesmead, although a dimly-lit pub; and The Princess Alice, another Thamesmead pub, a chain built-in-the-80s pub.

So there we go. Thamesmead, people!

katstevens

Evening RGLers! I hope you enjoyed your long weekends.

This week's featured article is for Ades Cash & Carry in Charlton, an African and Caribbean grocery that is retail as well as wholesale. Apparently there's another branch downstream in Thamesmead - plenty of steamed moi moi puddings and ewedu greens for everyone.

There's a new page for the London Beer Dispensary in Brockley, home to the Late Knights Brewery and serving plenty of their own beers, as you'd expect. Also new to RGL is the Honey Hive, a vegan Caribbean cafe in Sydenham, hidden in the Calabash of Culture gift shop. I've walked past several times and didn't even realise there was a cafe inside!

Rounding up our South-East London based news this week, there's an update for Jam Circus, an Antic pub in Brockley. Is your dog or child welcome there? Go to the page and find out!

katstevens

Evening all!

This week's featured article is for the Essex Roti Hut in Rainham, serving Caribbean food for both locals and hungry travellers to sunny Rainham. (The average July rainfall in Rainham is just 40.7mm, well below the UK average of around 78mm, so I can legitimately call it sunny.) Be warned: the veggie ackee isn't veggie!

There are two new articles this week. The first is for the Blue Tree Kitchen, just off the South Bank near the Oxo Tower. I got my lunch there today - a sort of shredded courgette, roasted sweet potato and feta bake thing. It was ok, if a bit salty, but had enough veg in it to convince me I was eating something healthy. I can confirm this is par for the course. Secondly we have Xhauri, an Albanian restaurant in Walthamstow with an informal atmosphere and traditional dishes I would seek advice on how to pronounce.

There's an update to the article for the Great Northern Railway Tavern in Hornsey following a visit. The beer selection sounds great and there's free wifi. And the average July rainfall is a tiny 34.8mm! Let's all go to Hornsey for our summer hols!

katstevens

Sabor Peruano, Elephant & Castle, London SE1

Afternoon everyone! This week's featured article is for Sabor Peruano, a small Peruvian restaurant just South of Elephant & Castle. The portions are generous and the ceviche sounds worth a punt (perhaps give the roasted corn kernels a miss though).

New on RGL are articles for Ades Cash and Carry, an African/Caribbean grocery shop in Charlton, Cafe Jasmine, a servicable greasy spoon in Sydenham, and the Essex Roti Hut in Rainham, which looks to be more architecturally durable than the word 'hut' would suggest. But then again, I can't remember the last time I saw a Pizza Hut located in an actual hut? Terminology aside, if you're in Rainham and fancy some Caribbean food, the Essex Roti Hut should do nicely.

There are a few updated pub articles too: the Prince Albert in Woolwich; the Goodman's Field Wetherspoons in Aldgate and the Phoenix in Rainham, just along from the Essex Roti Hut.

ewan

This week's featured article is Natural Kitchen, W1U 5JX, an organic cafe and deli on Marylebone High Street. It also has an upstairs restaurant, which is a bit pricy but gets thumbs up. Attracts the usual upmarket Marylebone crowd.

The new article is for East Meets West, a restaurant in Croydon focusing on the cuisine of Dongbei in North-East China, and I can assure you that certain influential figures within the RGL universe are very excited about this opening. I'm sure we will hear more about this restaurant, and should book our trips to Waddon now.

There's an update to The King Edward VII pub (or "King Eddie's" to its friends) in Stratford.

Finally, two reported closures are the independent bookshop Woolfson and Tay near Southwark, and Caribbean Scene Family, a Caribbean restaurant in Stratford.

katstevens

Morning RGL! Apologies for the slight lateness of this week's post, your correspondent was out investigating the beverages and attractions of E20 (verdict: AWESOME, reasonable-sized Olympic Park latte is £2.40).

This week's featured article is the Tin Goose, TW6 1AP, a surprisingly decent pub inside Heathrow Terminal 1. Last week you could see 38 buses from the pub's window, this week you can see PLANES. Best of all it opens at 5am!

New to the site is the excellently-named Saucy Sausage, a greasy spoon in Addiscombe with a decorative flair for ketchup sachet arrangement.

Closures: Patterson's, a posh-nosh restaurant in Mayfair is having a bit of a revamp and is 'closed until further notice', while Peaches House, a Caribbean takeaway in Walworth is consigned to the folder of RIP. However rising zombie-like from the grave is Manchurian Legends! Remember we said it was closed the other week? Well, even the best London-based review blogs can jump the gun sometimes. We're sorry, still-open Manchurian Legends!

ewan

A bit of a busier week this week, and possibly our first featured Wetherspoon's is the Gatehouse, N6 4BD. Being in Highgate, it's a rather upmarket outlet for this budget chain, and has long been in use as a pub.

New additions are: Pitt Cue Co., a bbq rib outlet in Soho; and Roti Masters, a Caribbean cafe in Croydon.

There's an update to the stub entry on North Nineteen, a Good Beer Guide pub in Upper Holloway, now with a full review. I liked it there!

There's one temporary closure for refurbishment, Toad's Mouth Too Cafe in Brockley.

There are also three permanent closures: The Rugby Inn, a pub in Twickenham; Rasa Samudra, an Indian fish restaurant in Fitzrovia (moving its operation to the sister restaurant in Mayfair); and Saf, a vegan raw food restaurant in Shoreditch.

kake

Image © Kake

This week's featured article is Kazan, SW1V 1DW, a Turkish restaurant near Victoria Station. It's not the cheapest, but the quality is good.

(Apologies for the recent break in service — we're back now.)

Recent additions to RGL include Maramia Cafe in Maida Hill, Uncle Lim's Kitchen in Croydon, Spiceland in Croydon, and Royal Delight on Tower Bridge Road.

We also have several closures to report, sadly: Miso on Haymarket, More on Tooley Street, New Loong Kee Cafe in Camberwell, Kastoori in Tooting, Chakalaka in Chiswick (and probably the Putney one too), Temple Bar and Beaten Path in Walworth, and Rootmaster off Brick Lane.