SquareMeal event - London

 

For the second time I have attended the SquareMeal event for events coordinator.
I must say, both times – last year and this year- I have been blown away by the whole thing.
If you are an events organiser, no matter what kind of events you organise, you will need to be in contact with SquareMeal and attend this yearly event.

At the SquareMeal event which is held in the Old Billingsgate building, you will get to meet and chat to people from all types of venues from hotel to restaurants. You will get to sample at times food or baked goods from the venue’s own chef. You will get invitations to tour some venues. Other venues will even put on a 3 meals courses during your visit to give you a full view of what they can do for you.

View of the outside lunch area - 2011 picture

Visiting those venues do at time help you to determine your style and what kind of things you would like to show your guests during the event that you are hosting.

Last year after my visit to the SquareMeal event I made so many contacts and had so many invitations to come sample food and champagnes at so many venues that I could have filled my social calendar for a whole 6 months after visiting those stands.

The other great thing about this event is that it is a free event. Both times I visited I have had to book it as a day holiday from work. This is just because it is the only way can guaranty that I would attend without the pressure of thinking that I have to report back to the office. I use this to open my horizons and find how I can be better at what I do.

Sometimes we have to invest our own time into what we are getting paid for and for me this is the way I do it. Besides. I think my job gives me already the privilege to tour the UK and try hotels and food in places I would not think of visiting of my own. It also gives me the freedom to choose the venue and therefore the privilege to enter in some private clubs. Which I would not otherwise enter without a good excuse.

Food from Hatfileds venues

Other things you get to do at the SquareMeal event is, being educated about wines, fizzy drinks and cocktails during present seminar. This year I also had the privilege to be a judge for a food completion on the first day of the event. We also had the privilege to hear the creator of the Green & Blacks chocolates… One of my friends got a boat ride to the venue and I missed out on the free taxi ride.

As I went home at the end of my day at the SquareMeal event, I was reinvigorated and excited about the new venues I might be using and visiting in the next 12 months… and my bag was full of chocolates collected from various stands. My colleagues at work thought I was too I give it to them the next day… free stuff are much easier to give… ah!

One down side is that there is too much sweet stuff on display… stands should consider bringing some savoury give away.

If you are into events, I really really recommend that you head to the Squaremeal website and register your details to receive not only the free high gloss magazine, but also be au fait with what is hot in your industry.

Hopefully, I will see you at the event next year. In the meantime, thank you so much SquareMeal for such a fabulous day! You get 9/10 from me.

Voila.

Nota Bene: none of the image here were taken by me as I didn't think I was going to write about my day. here is the only photo I took that is worth sharing:

YMCA B&B - Guildford Surrey



YMCA view from the train Station side

  Did you know YMCA offered B&B for overnight stay? Me either.


View of my room from the entrance

Last week I had to stay overnight in Guildford and given how unconventional my check in and check out were, I didn’t really want to be very far away from the train station. So, I google-mapped the train station and asked the search engine to find me the closest B&B. Up pops Guildford YMCA barely a 500 metres away from the station. Bingo!
So, I checked in late Thursday night. Not impressed. At this point, I was thinking about B & B not hostel. This, I did not realise until I stated to hear some over animated youths while I was trying try to wind down and recharge my batteries.

View of the storage in the single bed room

The check in was old school… nothing pre-printed, no computer involved as far as I could see when I was checking in. I got my keys and took the lift up. I wasn’t impresses by the smells… school dorm smell.

I booked an en-suite as I couldn’t stand sharing the bathroom for the sake of £10 or less.


A very clean shower and loos area

The bedroom although very Ikea like was very nice, basic and clean. With a flat TV and telephone… and no end of storage. That reminded me of the A Board I saw outside. At YMCA a student can stay for £146.00 a week. My night there actually cost me £55 including breakfast… I’d say I’ve had better for the same in other places I’ve visited.

I’d actually recommend this place for someone with a small budget. But for comfort and for a professional looking to rest before a long day, I’d say find somewhere else as those noisy students will drive you crackers all night.  Don’t take my word for it, give it a try.
The Reviewer


TOZI Restaurant and Bar - Victoria, London

TOZI menu by the door

Few weeks ago we planned a lunch do for one of my colleagues who is about to give birth. Unfortunately Two days before the planned lunch the mother to be got sick and we cancelled lunch…

I had my heart all set to going out for lunch so I convinced two other colleagues to join me for at TOZI Victoria.

As we entered the restaurant, we were greeted and seated immediately. It was early lunch so, the restaurant was a bit empty.

Just as we sat, our waiter came to speak to us…

“Hello, I am Raphael, I am your waiter. Have you been here before?”.  Nope, we have never visited TOZI. Raphael proceeded to explain to us what the type of restaurant was, in the process we learnt that Raphael was Brazilian… All I can say is that he made us feel welcomed, he dutifully explained to us how to order the dishes on the menu, what was in each dish etc etc

We ordered our drinks as we waited for our food to arrive.

While we waited, Raphael brought us 2 baskets of bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Pizza's station

View of the main kitchen

Looking at my surroundings to my left, I could see that open kitchen and further to the side there is a pizza station… with all sorts of cured meats and chopped ingredients to make fresh pizzas live on request ( suspect their Pizza must be better than that of my previous outing)… the boys at the station kindly answered all the questions I had … I am sure they found it strange, but I just wanted to hear them roll their tongs as they spoke English in that beautifully thick Italian accent… they even posed for a photo… Ask and you shall receive. Right?


In all we must have waited 20 minutes for our meals to appear in sizzling cast iron dishes.

I had ordered some Ox Cheeks with wild mushrooms and jus with a side of buttered wilted spinach and parmesan. One of the girls ordered smoked mackerel and the other asked for the swordfish.

Add caption

My Meal

I cannot remember the last time I ate Ox cheeks … it would have been in France and not in the UK. This was the first time I was seeing this on the menu in the UK and I wasn’t disappointed. The cheeks were melting in my mouth and I could also taste some red wine in it. I would have love to order another portion of this, but we were on a timer… Next time, I should order 3 portions for myself and just have some slices of bread with it. I quiet liked the spinach too... lightly flavoured, wilted in butter and topped with parmesan cheese.

My friends’ also enjoyed their food. There is not much to say about the presentation, but the environment and the service was really and relaxed. After our meal we ordered some coffees and they came with some amoretti biscuits free of charge… Appreciated touch.

This is definitely a place for a light lunch with colleagues. My lunch cost me £20.00 included drinks and service charge. I feel the prices on the card are correct.

As we walked out I stopped to take in the entrance of the restaurant which is a bar… the black and white photographs, the chairs, the glass wall and that Chesterfield looking sofa against the far wall was screaming my name… I promised that I would be back just for that sofa and a glass or two of wine… I think I should make this appointment a Friday after work type of affair…

Friday after work hang-out! Perfect!

I really recommend TOZI if you are visiting or working near Victoria.

TOZI is in the same building as the Park plaza hotel at the bottom of Vauxhall bridge road.

For further info click or copy this link http://www.tozirestaurant.co.uk

Asked to be served by Raphael. He is great! Don’t forget to tip!

See you there. :-)

The Reviewer

Pizza Express - Langham place, London

View of Langham place on top of Regent street

So, yesterday, I went to Pizza Express with some fellow volunteers…

I volunteer for a various homeless shelters 1-3 a month and our team decided to go out for dinner…

For the first time, we saw each other in our street out fits it was quite weird….. Any ways. The Pizza Express we went to was the one off the top of Regent Street on Langham place. What a great location! I was exited bout this. And I thought that given the location I would not be disappointed… I had great expectations.

Restaurant inside

See, I am not a fan of pizzas and DO not understand why oh why people like pizza so much. I am always imagining all that bread sucking up all the saliva from my mouth and doing a seating in my stomach then, refusing to find the rear natural exit.

As I walked in some o my fellow dinners were already seated… looking around, the place was quite empty for its locations… what is happening? This is a Saturday night…! I had a quick look around and really liked the deco which was a bit IKEAish with nearly everything being coordinated; the lamp shades matched the kitchen deco and the kitchen staffs outfits (blach and white stripes like the Daltons from the Lucky Luke cartoons).

My superfoods salad

As I stated to look at the menu there was not much for me there to order. So I decided to go for the super foods salad. It seemed really healthy and wasn’t going to bloat me. When the salad came, It kind of looked good. But as I stared tucking into it, I found it really dry, there wasn’t enough lentils and other (super) stuff I expected. There WAS plenty of leaves, but the vinaigrette was barely making it moist as it was nearly invisible… I struggled to finish my salad and on the 5 people seating on my side of the table, the four who ordered pizza empty their plates before I did mine.

Conversation and company was good, but I had decided that I will not order anything else from this place and didn’t get dessert. There is a Paul bakery 2 minutes away and I made it clear to my fellow dinners that my dessert was going to come from there.

On my way home I stopped at Paul’s and got a lemon tartelette, a chausson aux pommes and a pain au sucre with raisins… oooh yummy… this was going to make it all alright!

Sweet time!

I got home and made myself this little plate of sweetness with a lemony green tea.

Thinking of the restaurant, hopefully I will never set foot in a Pizza Express again. Still don’t get the attraction!

I did visit the ladies… the walk to the loos was really great. With really cute pictograms. The cubicle I chose had ran out of loo roll and the toilet seat was broken…. Lol just my luck.

PE  cute pictograms

Well, a location and a chain reputation isn’t always all that reliable…

Hopefully by the time you go visit, they would have up their game… as for me. That was the last time I was going in that branch.

at the end of the night, I had spent £11.00 in Pizza Express and £8.00 at Paul's. Can I just mention? Some of the stuff from Paul were for breakfast this morning.  

This morning's breakfast

Thank you for readin’!
See you the next time.

The Reviewer

Dinner @Kettner's - London

 
Oh… LOOK… IS GRAHAM NORTON!!!!

View from outside

That was me nearly screaming at the dinner table as I had just seen Mr Norton entering the restaurant where we are about to finish our diner.

We were having dinner at Kettner’s… Kettner’s? I hear you ask, YES THE Kettner’s restaurant in Romilly Street.

When I was told that we were having dinner, I mentioned that to my colleagues and they thought ‘ooh haa, you will see it is really impressive’. Some thought to have seen this restaurant in Made in Chelsea…. Really? I didn’t really care I had never heard of it.

Since checking out this place, I seem to notice it mentioned everywhere I look. It is a bit like, when you decide to buy the most original pair of shoes with the weirdest colour, you start noticing everyone is wearing the same pair… So, since we had dinner at Kettner’s, I have noticed it in the Square Meal’s venues & events magazine. The very same week, I open ESmagazine and et voila! Graham Norton is there. I actually got to know what he was doing there with all those people…. An after premier’s dinner.

So, back to the mundane bits. Kettner’s is situated in Romilly street, I knew that street before, but having heard all the good things about Kettner’s, I was very disappointed by its location. See pic… someone who isn’t sure might actually walk pass the restaurant in the day time without knowing.
When we entered restaurant, we were greeted by two receptionists posted on the tiniest reception desk I’ve ever seen, and who directed us to the bar was as we were a bit too early….According to Square meals mag, Kettner’s  has  one of the best champagne bars in London town… I can see why (photo too rubbish to post).

The best mozzarella ever

When the time came, we were led to one beautiful room where the tables were laid for our group of 18 dinners… in both ends of this small room which also contained weirdly, some old wooden chairs was a white piano… Loved that detail. Each seat had a place table with the dinner’s name and preselected menu…. What a beautiful touch. I had practically forgotten what I wanted to eat.

Two waiters were allocated to our group and their politeness and great genuine smiles added to the already beautiful settings. At this point, if the food had not been up to crash, it would not have mattered, because the ambience worth the price of the dinner. As we ordered our drinks the pianist took his seat and started to play some ambiance tunes… this “in between” room was entirely allocate to us with, behind us a much bigger and much much more sophisticated room which I promised myself to go check out with a date in the future. The room seemed much more seclude, with dimmer lights, but bigger than the one we where in… It reminded me of a French restaurant near Montparnasse in Paris.

As our dinner plates started to make their appearance, we all whipped out our camera and anyone passing through could hear us ooohing and uuuhhhmmming at the beauty and taste of the fantastic mozzarella that most of us had ordered for starters.

Then, dish number two came, mine was a lemon sole. I could not taste the lemon in my dish but, the softness of the fish and the delicate julienne of vegetables covered for that minimal sin.

Then came the dessert. Mine was a pavlova with a passion fruit coulis. I usually avoid meringues, hate cheesecakes, and crème brulee which were the other desserts on offer.

This pavlova tasted great and somehow wasn’t as sugary as I remember meringue to be. The one on my plate vas delicately baked and with a chewiness once you brake in the light outside… by the way, how do you make sugar less sugary? I’ve got no idea. If I was to eat a pavlova again, it’ll be at Kettner’s definitely.

As we emptied out dessert plates and commenting joyously about the whole dinner experience, I looked out of the window and there was Graham Norton! I am a big fan! We all got distracted by the big number of the faces we could recognise from the TV… What’s going on? Someone asked… we couldn’t ask the waiters… as we were a bunch of chavs venturing out of our usual “cercle”. We didn’t want to be seen as not being in our place, so, we did not ask what was going on as we saw all that “beau monde” retiring upstairs in the function room which we imaging was much more magnificent that were we were seating.

The dinner at Kettner’s was a great experience and at on under £45pp including drinks, it was worth it.

One disappointment though the stair and the ladies loos.

Get rid or change the paint

The stairs leading to the loos and upstairs function rooms are so tiny that if you are slightly tubby, I doubt you’ll feel comfortable utilising them. I wonder if Kettner’s is in a listed building. The ladies are a bit odd and slightly out of place in my opinion… there is random boudoir like seating in ladies loos’ entre-chambre, then, the actual deco is doesn’t follow through… Sort it out boys and girls please…

I won’t let that spoil my experience. I’d give this on 4.5 stars of 5. See you there sometime.

Visit http://www.kettners.com/ for more info about Kettner's.

 

The Reviewer

Al Farid - Morrocan resto - Exeter

Our first taster selection

Exeter was by far the best outing I have had with my work. For now 4 years I have been organising small events for up to 150 people.

This means staying overnight in hotels, eating in restaurants and checking out a venue/ separated or part of the hotel we are staying in.

See previous post about the hotel we stayed in in Exeter… We had dinner at Al Farid a Moroccan restaurant tucked away behind a tree on Cathedral’s Yard in Exeter…

As mentioned on my previous post, it was too much of beautiful day not to explore Exeter while we were there. It seemed such a pity to stay in the hotel, have dinner and shuffle back to our individual room. As I arrived in Exeter few hours before the rest of the team, as usual I have a quick tour of the town we are visiting … mini tourism and spot restaurants or interesting things I might want to check out or photograph after my event.


Entrance of the restaurant

On this occasion I had spotted 3 restaurants side by side on the Cathedral’s Yard… including a pub, a tavern and a French style restaurant. I had not spotted the Moroccan tucked away. Besides, my dear colleagues have a very English palate and are hard to convince at times… as we were considering where to go for dine dine between my choices, one of us strayed and found the Moroccan restaurant. From the outside? Not very appealing.



the staircase

As we pushed the little flat like door to check the inside, we were still wondering if the place was a restaurant. The first thing we saw was a staircase going up. To the left there was a door which looked like it lead to a living room… weird. So, until we were welcomed by a very authentic looking waitress we were still wondering if it was a restaurant and if it was upstairs or to our left. The rooms and staircase were very dimly lit and it all look like what I would call mess on a normal day. But having dabbled with Persian tapestry and textiles in the past, I stared to recognise the handmade pieces. The floor seating, the hand crafted tiny tables, the embroidered pieces hanged on the walls, the authentic Moroccan jewelleries… once my eyes got accustomed to the decoration is all actually looked like a middle eastern gallery… Sort of.

Tea is serve - That is the table

As our derrieres finally got accustomed to the type of seating on offer, we started considering the menu… the names of the dishes were not familiar, but their descriptions seems to. But, we are questioning what the Moroccan twist was to them. The good thing was, all the dishes looked cheap enough to make allowances for mistakes… We went mad on the list and ended up ordering 3 rounds of food as dishes came in such tiny portions… All was very tasty… for a European palate, but something lacked… The Middle Eastern spices like cardamom, anise and others were lacking.

Being from and African background and having grown up in France where most cultures easily mix and everyone tastes what every on cooks, my only disappointment was in the spicing of the food. The decoration, ambience and the staff was authentic. It did feel as if we had stepped into Marrakesh for the duration of a dinner.

Taps in the ladies

I of course had to check out the ladies and the atmosphere there again was totally authentic… slightly dark, with a rough concrete painted walls… even the way that the tap came out of the wall reminded me of Africa… If I was to mark this place on authenticity and the deco, it will be faultless. Then again since the owners are Moroccans, they just decorated as they would do back home right?

As for the food, I suppose being based in Exeter, they had to compromise and go easy on the spices… we do not want those Western and Westernised migrants having a runny nose and eyes at every bite now do we?

I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who is looking to step in a little corner of Africa deco wise… If you are looking for your head blown away by the taste and spices, it might be a bit more challenging…

Do go check it out and make your own mind! Don’t forget to post a comment! More info on Al Farid here.

My phone was completely discharged on this occasion and I had to rely on my colleagues to take some good ones... well, they did their best. They were distracted by the food, which they really really enjoyed.

See you soon. The Reviewer


My coffee is served... and my dead phone, the best in the world

 

The Rougemont hotel - Exeter

“Hi! I am just calling to see if everything is alright in your room!” That was a call from the reception after I checked in the Rouge Mont Thistle hotel in Exeter last month…

Entrance display - 1

As I walked in the reception area, I was blown away by the decoration of the lobby of this hotel. As you walked into the hotel from the street, there is a short corridor which is about 2m long. within that 2m there are 2 gigantic ornamental flower pots on each side of the inside doors. There are also two big cast iron and beautiful finished sculptures on each side of the entrance, completed with oil paintings in gold looking frames. As this little corridor ends the visitor enters into this large and beautifully decorated reception area where all the soft furnishings call the visitors to just put their bags down and breathe all that luxury and relaxation.

Entrance display - 2

At the reception desk the staff is so relaxed and welcoming that I barely believe that I am still in the UK. The check-in is swift and you are waved to your room with a smile despite the busyness of this Friday afternoon at the reception desk.

This is all so different from my first experience in Exeter last year. I hated it completely and wasn’t looking forward to visiting. The hotel is literally opposite the Exeter Central BR station. As I went to my room, I was still expecting a draw back or a lower quality room. But it seems I had been upgrade to an executive room! I could not believe how big and beautiful my room was. My bed seemed to be able to sleep 3 grownups comfortably. There were some chocolate placed on the bed… which I endeavour to chomp on before my luggage touch the floor.

Landing & reception area

The secretary here looked like a CEO’s office I was starting to feel very small in this room and that’s when the call came; “Hi, I have just checked you in I just wanted to make sure that you are happy with your room’… I nearly replied “Hell yeah!” But I had to be like oh yes the room is fine that you… playing it cool. That has never happened before!
After my visit, I had a tour on the website and it appears that my room wasn’t even close to be the best… have look for you self on this link. Don't forget to take the 360 tour.

But this hotel? Frankly, I would recommend it to everyone who is visiting Exeter. One thing I am doubtful about is the restaurant. As I went to look around to see if the rest of my team and I could have dinner in the hotel, I found it very tucked away and not open to the street, which could have added a bit of life in this corner of the hotel. The restaurant was empty and dark. In this beautifully sunny evening, I didn’t fancy giving the restaurant a chance but,  instead ventured out where there were no end of choice in the city centre only two minutes away from the hotel. We were spoilt for choice and ended up in a Moroccan restaurant opposite the cathedral from which we did not want to depart (details in next post).

Didn't take a great pic of the room

As we came back my colleagues and I were discussing the beauty and the quality of the hotel. All three of us agreed that I was by far the best we had stayed in since we started touring last year. I of course boasted that my room topped all the others and of course my colleagues just had to have a tour… My bathroom was one of the biggest and best of all. It had enough white and bouncy towels for a family of 6. Even the toilet rolls were impressive; embossed, soft and folded in point…

The next morning the breakfast was being served from 7 am which meant that we would have the time to fully enjoy what was displayed… we copiously stuffed our faces before waddling out to our full day event… Needless to say lunch was completely unnecessary…

One thing I noted here is that all the staff at the hotel is all British, which is refreshing and makes a change. I wonder if this is due to the fact that Exeter is so far down from London.

Exterior of the hotel

This place gets a 4.5 stars from me!

See you soon!

The Reviewer

I've tried it: The SunCoast – Eastbourne

I've tried it: The SunCoast – Eastbourne: I was recently asked to organise a digital training event in Eastbourne I found this small venue away from the beach , but not too far fr...

COSMO restaurant. Eastbourne

During my resent visit in Eastbourne, I stumbled on this Pan-Asian buffet restaurant; COSMO.  Cosmo is a chain of restaurants and it is really popular amongst buffet crawlers. The chain boasts about having dishes from 10 Asian countries, a whopping 120 dishes on their menu every single day! (I doubt it). Their publicity says that more than 20000 customers visit Cosmo overall every week, I am not surprised… food is good there if Eastbourne buffet is anything to go by. See promo video from the restaurant chain below.

Apparently, in some branches they cook the meals in front of customers as they order their choices. That sounds great as this serves also as entertainment to the dinners.

I had heard about the live cooking but this in Eastbourne branch did not offer any… For the branch located in Croydon which offers live cooking, I am told that,  each group of customers can only stay and dine for 1 hour tops… because the branch has such a high turn over… I had never been interested in places like theses as, high turn around of customer’s means, careless cooking and possible indigestion for having eaten so quickly… it also means that you do not get enough time to taste their “120 dishes”.

Inside Eastboune COSMO

My teams table

On entering the restaurant, I was agreeably surprise to find that the branch in Eastbourne was much smaller and the atmosphere very mellow. Diners were quietly, milling around and making their choice on the dishes already on display on the buffet. There was no brouhaha from guests applauding the chefs at the “live cooking station”… There was no live cooking section. This branch in Eastbourne was so small there is no space to swing a cat. Having read the brochure I was excited to finally have the Cosmo’ experience just so I can be completely disappointed and very critical.

Despite not having a live cooking station, the buffet was quite good. I am not sure the food selection has 120 dishes from 10 countries… in fact I am sure there were not 50 dishes on display. I tasted most of the savoury dishes and particularly enjoyed the prawns and broccoli. The company was a great distraction from everything that was missing.

The deco was really quite modern compared to everything else in Eastbourne. The clientele, younger that expected and the staff at the restaurant were really pleasant.

My plate

Buffet area

We spent a total of 2 hours in the restaurant and all 5 of us had a great time with the boys trying to pack in as much as they could from the buffet.

At £12.99 per person this is really cheap for Eastbourne. I would have happily paid £16.99 as is the price in Croydon. I will definitely visit the restaurant again if I visit Eastbourne.

I will give 2 stars for this Branch of COSMO, just because I didn’t see the 120 dishes, the countries were not labelled on the dishes displayed and there was no live cooking station; 3 points on which the restaurant didn’t deliver in my opinion.

COSMO Eastbourne is situated 113-115 Seaside road, Eastbourne BN21 3PH. Don’t all go there at once alright?!

The Reviewer

 



I've tried it: COSMO restaurant. Eastbourne

I've tried it: COSMO restaurant. Eastbourne: During my resent visit in Eastbourne, I stumbled on this Pan-Asian buffet restaurant; COSMO.   Cosmo is a chain of restaurants and it is re...