We had wine, coffee and pudding and the bill was about £20 each. The place was rammed, the place is obviously popular. It is the sort of restaurant you don’t get in London anymore really, except perhaps in the villagey bits like Stoke Newington (although I haven’t been there for a while). It’s not remotely trendy and it might not stand up to the food twitterati but people like eating there and the staff look like they enjoy working there, the rest doesn’t really matter.

The menu is simple and reasonably proved, starters are around the £4-£5 mark and include fish fingers and the now ubiquitous beets. There are six varieties of pizza but you can choose a Margaret for £6.50 and add your own toppings, so really the menu is unlimited.  This was our second visit, Joff had the Woodman, £11, both times, which is covered in meaty looking mushrooms on top of a ground mushroom base, he loved it, or I presume he did as he had it twice. The first time I had the Chilli Freak, which was fantastically hot, the second time I had a Margaret with added chillis, onions and rocket (less chilli tastic than the Chilli Freak). The Pizzas are, to my mind, perfect. They have the right amount of slightly burnt crust, with bubbles and cracks on the chewy and crispy crust and the cheddar works well, adding a salty tang which I love. The proportion of topping to crust is also just right and so is the size as I didn’t have much trouble finishing my pizza either time. The salads again play on the British theme, salad cream instead of french dressing, baby gem lettuce in the salad and red russets in the coleslaw.  I love baby gem lettuce. And salad cream.

The wine list serves British wine and the drinks list includes perry and British vodka. I had Bacchus from the whites and Joff had  Union from the reds, both were good. There is not a huge choice of wines but it is not that sort of place.  The pudding list is short and includes Arctic Roll. I had marathon (snickers) ice cream which was definitely home made and not as good as the pizzas, it was a little too crumbly and not quite smooth enough, but not disastrous.

It would be all too easy to knock this place, it is relentlessly cheery and harks back to a type of Britishness which undoubtedly didn’t exist. However, the food is great and reasonably priced, it is not subtle but it does make you feel good and the atmosphere is infectious; if everyone around you is perky and jolly, serving you good food and treating you well, it is hard to remain cynical and picky. I liked it unashamedly.

The decor is indeed opulent, you get a blue leather booth to your self, they don’t squeeze the tables in too close or move you to a smaller table if there are only two of you, it doesn’t feel squeezed if you know what I mean (unlike Kopapa, but that’s another story). The staff were attentive and yes, they mentioned a 2 hour window only after I had booked the table which is a little irritating and service was perhaps a touch quick but otherwise it was perfect for the occasion. There was slightly less champagne button fueled hedonism than I had hoped for but the bean burger was beany and carby and topped with crispy onion and served with a delicate dish of ketchup. I really did enjoy eating this kind of food in proper restaurant surroundings and Joff’s tray of curries was pronounced delicious and  served in a range of small dishes which kept him interested.

We had ice cream to finish, I had peanut butter and banana which didn’t quite work but I ordered it more out of curiosity and a nostalgic fondness for American peanut butter ice cream than with the expectation that it was going to be a winner. They did the cheesy Happy Anniversary decoration on the plate which always pleases me. It was an enjoyable evening and I will go back, perhaps when I am feeling particularly flush and in the mood for champagne.

The decor is relaxed, a sort of cafe style, with brisk and friendly service and it was busy enough to create a buzzy atmosphere. It is also one of the increasing breed of small plates restaurants, there is 1 main dish in each category (meat, vegetarian etc) and the rest are tapas size. They recommend you to order 3 of these each. And this is when the doubts started to creep in. If you order three each it is going to cost over £18 for the equivalent of a main course, which is pretty hefty seeing as it seems to present itself as a ‘casual’ all day dining place. On top of that you can’t specify the order they come in, so I had soup and croquettes and they both came at once. Eating soup at the same time as anything else doesn’t really work, and it doesn’t really make sense either. Being contrary I only ordered two dishes, Joff ordered the main, a risotto. A lot of the other tapas dishes were fritters of one kind or another and he didn’t fancy a fritter. The fritters were nice, stodgy but tasty, the soup was fine, but  not hot enough and the risotto was also a bit lukewarm and a little meagre. In fact if you look at the picture on the left you will see the sum total of our main courses, add a banana tarte tatin between us and two glasses of Prosecco and that was it. The bill came to £50, and we were both still hungry. £50 for soup, risotto and 4 croquettes! No salad, no bread and no sides. I don’t mind spending money on food and have happily spent more than this and felt as if it was worth every penny but I have to say I felt a little cheated, and that tends to sour a dinner a little.  The food was ok, but nothing more than that and for the price it should have been. Maybe I don’t really get Kopapa and am starting to resent the small plates shtick which mean you get less food, order more dishes, pay more and don’t always get what you actually want to eat.

Open Sandwiches.

Scandinavian kitchen is in Great Tichfield Street, which is looking increasingly good for food (Salt Yard, Riding House Cafe, Kaffeine). I am not going to give an in depth review here (tired and weary), however we had open sandwiches, good coffee and lovely, sticky banana cake. And there were fairly good veggie choices. There is also a shop to peruse as you wait. Splendid.

Slow roasted pork belly and the artichoke dip with crostini

We went to the Riding House Cafe for Joff’s birthday at the end of June, we live near the Garrison and Village east, both owned by the same people and were curious to try their new venture. The Garrison is beautifully styled to appeal to the fashionable media, faux boho type but the food often doesn’t live up to the atmosphere, nevertheless we keep going back as it is close by and lovely to sit in with fairly enthusiastic service. Village East is not quite as achingly stylish but the food is better, even though sometimes it is a little bit pre clubby for someone of my advanced years.

The Riding House cafe seems to have corrected both errors. It is absolutely gorgeous, in a kind of purposely scuffed and mismatched way, even the Dyson air blades has distressed metal coverings. The chairs were pale green leather and very comfy and the service perky from the start. There is a bar area with stools so you can eat while you perch and a lounge area with sofas and armcharis as well as private rooms available. The whole set up is to encourage you to drop in whenever you like, it is open from 8 or 9 am until 11pm, and is part of the now fashionable all day menu, small plates brigade. However if choosing form a large menu of small plates makes you anxious they still have main courses and puddings and a small plate serves as a starter.

As soon  as we arrived I knew it was all going to be alright, no anxious waiting to be served moments or sitting too close to rowdy guests. There are good vegetarian

Heritage tomato and pesto tart.

choices, including a delicious, hot artichoke dip with home made crostini. I had the tomato tart which is enough to make a vegetarian nervous as it often turns out to be incredibly dull. I needn’t have worried,  ’heritage’ tomatoes sat on top of some fantastic mozzarella and puff pastry. Joff has chickpea cake and halloumi which I didn’t get  a chance to taste as he ate it so quickly. Owen had the seared sea trout with crab and leek salad which I didn’t taste needless to say but it looked very pretty and he enjoyed eating it. We had starters, or small plates, main courses, sides and puddings as well as 3 glasses of Prosecco and 3 individual glasses of wine and the whole lot came to about £30 each which I think is not bad value for good food in stylish surroundings. Oh, and they also do that 2 or 3 chocolate truffles for £2 thing which I love if you crave chocolate but don’t want a huge pudding.

Seared sea trout with crab and leek salad.

Bea’s of Bloomsbury

Bea’s is dominated by the large kitchen, given over to baking, at the back and as a result it lacks a little in atmosphere. I do like being able to see kitchen action and it is reassuing to see them baking the bread and cakes but somehow it is almost too dominant and the grey decor doeasn’t help with cosiness, or the lack of it. However the cakes are wonderful, I had a sticky cup cake with buttercream icing and pears poached in brandy and it was excellent, a grown up cake with the pears balancing the icing perfectly.

 On weekends they do a limited lunch menu as they concentrate mostly on afternoon tea, but we had three mini baguettes for £3 (3 each that is) and they were indeed mini. You can choose from a selection and we had courgette and hummus and mozarella, tomato and pesto. The bread was wonderfully chewy and the filling tasty. It is not quite enough for lunch which leaves plenty of room for cake but if you have a fairly healthy appetitie you might need 3 plates full for 2 people.

Our lunch cost £15 for 2 coffees, 2 baguette plates and 2 cakes. I would probably go back but personally think that the Fleet River Bakery, also in the area, has a better atmosphere and does equally good coffeee, although perhaps comes second in the cake department.