Gareth's reviews
Review of East Dulwich Deli
05 Jun 08, 11:51
great deli, but oh those prices! 
I'm used to paying over the odds for things in East Dulwich, but this place seems to take that idea and run with it. If you compare like for like, which admittedly, you can't do with a lot of their stuff as they're the only guys stocking it, they seem to charge between 30-40% over what other people in the area might charge. OW! The staff are sometimes a bit stand-offish, despite the fact there's a lot of them standing around. On the plus side, it's like an aladdin's cave in here, so many pots and packets of things you never even knew existed. But yes, as Lorraine points out in her review, you can get stuff like salad, bread and cakes/pies on North Cross road for a realistic price if the markets on. I fear for the future of guys like this with the credit crunch kicking in.
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Review of Brindisa
05 Jun 08, 11:47
The best converted potato warehouse restaurant I've ever been to. 
All right, so it's the only converted potato warehouse I've ever been to. But the tapas here proved to be more than I'd expected. We went on a busy Friday night, as early as possible after work to snare a seat (most of the tables were reserved, but we grabbed a couple of bar seats at a big barrel by the door) and decided on a bottle of fino sherry, some toasted marcona almonds, and some fine marinated green olives while we decided what to sample from the tapas menu. If there's one thing to sample from their winter menu, it's got to be their sweet potato soup. It was perfectly smooth, balanced and delicately spiced. It was also filling, so side dishes of braised red cabbage with pine nuts and some chorizo was enough to satisfy. The atmosphere continued to grow livelier throughout the evening, and the fact that the place feels too small can only be a testament to its popularity. On weekends when the market is on, it seems similarly stuffed. I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and the service despite how busy they were. Brindisa is a good option in Borough, especially if you've had your appetite whetted after looking around the food stalls...
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.
Review of Brindisa
05 Jun 08, 11:46
Good tapas
but when it's busy you're so crammed in and it gets so loud, you have to shout across the table. Sherry - lovely, and then shed loads of ham, ham, and yet more ham. This trades on being authentic, I'm sure the ham is, some of the other dishes were decidedly under-spiced/seasoned. I need more garlic gawd-dammit!
1 out of 1 person found this review helpful.