Mamma Niamh's Reviews

The best tortilla I've eaten in London.
You could easily spend, spend, spend here
but if you order carefully you can eat really well
without giving the bank manager a heart attack
The wine list looked amazing but we had cava cocktails to start
and then enjoyed some spanish beer.
pimientos de padron, courgette flowers, cod cheeks,
jerusalem artichoke puree with porcini mushrooms was so flavoursome I almost had a vegetarian conversion moment – ALMOST!

Dos and donts

Do come here on a sunny day
Do get good service from very smiley waiters
Do use the nice and clean loos

Don't drive here you will have to park in Victoria practically
Don't come here if you are in a hurry – food takes forever to come
Don't expect value for money

The food was ok – nothing to get excited about, service was good but it had to be – food took so long it was embarrasing – I wouldnt recommend this place for an evening out (we had come for my mother's birthday) they were holding a large office party at the same time – they should have closed it for the office event as they couldnt cope with the party and the private diners.

Great location, lovely building – so much potential but just let down by the food – which is the whole reason you visit a restaurant, right?

The new pizzeria on Portobello Road is causing a stir. It's been packed out every day since opening. The only slow service (according to the waiter) is breakfast (served from 8am)
We were told that garlic bread was ‘instantaneous’ however it took a while to arrive and when it did – it was burnt. Once this was pointed out to the waiter it was replaced in an instant and removed from the bill. Hence the marking of 9/10 for service. The pizzas were good – not outstanding. The lasagne was really good and the roasted meats and fish which were displayed openly infront of teh wood fire oven looked incredible. My husbands pork belly pizza had more pork on it than a city farm – he was positively oinking about it. I will be back.

I love Galicia. The waiters are old school, its a bit of a step back in time and you can sit at the bar drinking sherry and eating tapas and pretend you are in Spain. There are no foams or reductions served here just good honest grub in man sized rations. They are always welcoming (in their own peculiar way). Its the neighbourhood local and it's guarunteed to always stay that way – no chance of expanding this tiny place

a group of 8 of us came for a bite to eat after a show. the waiters were jolly (considering it was a monday night)
the food was really good – vegetable tart was outstanding
great lighting and good clean loos. I'll be back

This restaurant feels like a special occassion but dont just wait for one of those to come along, go and eat there soon. My first impressions of the dining room were excellent – I couldnt wait to sit down and enjoy it but we were early for our reservation so we were invited to take a seat in the bar downstairs. A rush of excitement as pre-dinner drinks at the bar means cocktail or champagne or…an unmanned bar where we sat for 10 minutes waiting for someone to appear and offer us a drink. Noone came so we went back upstairs and asked to be seated. The manager immediately offered us 2 glasses of champagne, these later turned up on the bill but all we had to do was point this out and it was removed straight away. Good service means correcting mistakes in a way that doesnt make you feel uncomfortable. They were very good at this on a busy Friday night. A dozen snails, half a dozen Oysters, more champagne and a bottle of quite the most delicious bordeaux. After our mains of Liver and Venison we were very happy. Warm bread was brought to the table several times and we were offered tap water. All in all I will be recommending this place but be prepared to push the boat out a little as it was more than £45 per head however that may have been down to the alcohol consumption.

This review is a dissapointment to write.
I really like Julies and I often have a great evening snug in the bar with some fab wine and a warming pie or a steak. Its a great place to watch people go by and it can be so very romantic. So I relished the idea of a cosy dinner with my husband in the lull that is Carnival weekend. No need to make a reservation – there's noone around. So we decided to ‘splash out’ and eat in the restaurant.

On arrival the meet and greet girl at the front desk was so informal I wondered what the hell she was doing there, it was like a disinterested shoe shop assistant. complete waste of time.

We ordered some very nice wine which was served chilled and the waiting staff were excellent. It was quiet, as previously mentioned, so the dining roomwas quieter than usual. However we orded soem olives and crudities to share. Appalling! Almost £9 for a sad carrot that had been sliced quite some time ago, some bad tinned olives the olive ciabatta was ok but it really was a bit of an insult.
Good news came with the mains. A really good lobster spaghetti lifted my spirits and my husband's lamb was terrific. We decided against coffee or pudding and asked for the bill.
While we waited the front of house girl loitered by our table rearranging her hair and asking if we ‘wanted a cab or something?’
Unfortunately/fortunately we live a 5 minute walk away. I wish I had better things to say about the restaurant but I don't. Next time we go we'll be in the bar.

On a hot friday night we descended into the cool and serene dining room.
We had gone for the pre-theatre menu so the room was half full, my husband was the only man in the dining room. The service was impeccable. Smiling and attentive but not over bearing. The food was good and flavoursome, but it was the service that made it such a good meal. Tap water was brought tot he tabel without issue. The staff were so accomodating – I will go back.