Austria - Tiroler Hut

Restaurant: Tiroler Hut

Location: 27 Westbourne Grove, London, W2 4UH

Date of visit: 22 July 2011

Time of visit: 8pm

Steve and Elle ate: Holzplatte für Zwei

Blink and you'll miss it. Based in a busy part of Notting Hill, this restaurant is one that you could easily miss walking down the street. Access is from a single door at street level, which takes you below ground to a very cosy, and authentic feeling venue.

On this Saturday night the restaurant was particularly busy. On entering from outside we instantly felt the hustle and bustle, which was probably accentuated by the low ceilings, small surroundings and the live music. We were greeted by a very friendly gentleman dressed from head to toe in traditional gear. In fact, the whole experience and atmosphere was very authentic. In seconds we had travelled from a busy Notting Hill street to Tirol.

We were shown to our table, which was the only one available - the restaurant was packed. The service was extremely friendly, with the waiter cracking jokes. 10 out of 10 for effort, for sure. It was also very speedy - our food and drinks orders were taken very quickly, and shortly after that came a plate with a selection of bread and dips.

The plate was quite full, so we were almost certain that this was something that would appear on the bill at the end, despite not asking for it. In the end, we were charged. £3.60. The dips were mustard and horseradish.

The menu itself is a fascinating read. All the meal names are given in German, with English descriptions. There is a wide choice of starters, soups, mains and desserts. If seafood is your thing, though, you might be disappointed with the selection (of two meals). There is also a selection of Hungarian dishes, as the restaurant's owner hails from Hungary.

One thing on the menu jumped out at us straight away. The "Holzplatte für Zwei". If I was allowed to write the description on the menu, it would be "A massive plate of meat, basically".

In fact, it was much more than that. We didn't have to wait long before the waiter came carrying what might as well have been a table top full of meat. I reckon the "für zwei" part of the name relates to the number of days it should take to eat.

The plate consisted of another selection of breads - white, brown and a fruit loaf type - two sausage slices, black pudding, amazingly tender pork, rice, sauerkraut, mashed roast potatoes, gammon, chicken schnitzel, beef and pork belly. It was quite incredible.

What was more incredible is that we pretty much finished it all! The meat was all cooked fantastically. The bread didn't really play a huge part, but it would've been almost shameful to not have something offsetting all that meat. I can't imagine how many calories we consumed from this meal, but the grease left of the plate went some way to telling that story.

Desert was absolutely out of the question. I actually reckon the waiter asked us out of sarcasm.

It was at this point that we were left feeling a little disappointed. Not with the service, or the food, or the restaurant. Disappointed with the fact that it was over. Here we were in a lovely little cosy, packed restaurant, enjoying traditional music and singing, with great food, but now it was over. It was time to leave.

We didn't though. There was a small bar near the entrance/exit, so we relocated there for another couple of drinks. We had a good chat with the barman and another punter there. Later, shortly after the music stopped, the guy that was earlier playing the accordian and singing chatted to us, and told us more about the restaurant. It turns out he was the restaurant owner, and has been for 44 years. He told us about the restaurant, and how well it has done.

The fact that the restaurant has opened almost every day for 44 years, and is still packed out, shows that clearly.

Cost of meal: £42 for two (excluding drinks)

Australia - Jumbucks

Restaurant: Jumbuck's

Location: 24 Shepherd's Bush Green, London, W12 8PH

Date of visit: 26 March 2011

Time of visit: 8.30pm

Steve and Elle ate: Boomer Works Meal with large Aussie Rules pie

When it comes to thinking of an Australian restaurant in London, it's difficult not to instantly think of the Walkabout chain. However, chain restaurants are something I want to try and avoid during this project, as I would imagine authenticity would suffer. However, other than Walkabout, it was surprisingly difficult to track down another restaurant in London that specialised in Australian fare. Even in West London.

In the end, we opted to travel across to Australia's home from home in London - Shepherd's Bush - and to the Jumbucks pie shop. Yes, it's a national brand. But it's not Walkabout.

Jumbucks are well known where they are well known, and not where they're not. That is to say the pies are popular, but they aren't particularly easy to find. The company actually focus on distruting their pies to the likes of bingo halls, pubs and student unions. However, they do have a cafe in their own name in Shepherd's Bush - I believe their only branch.

Jumbuck's specialise in Jaffle pies, which are cooked in specalist Jaffle irons, which is a thing of outback camping origins. Their menu is pretty much made up of individual pies or meal deals.

When we walked in, it was pretty clear that this cafe was a small affair. In fact, it appeared that the main function of the cafe was actually as a takeaway, rather than a dine-in experience. Nonetheless, three tables were available.

All the pies were in a display cabinet at the main counter, with their names. It reminded me a little of a school canteen. On and behind the counter was a large variety of Australian products - sweets, crisps, drinks and other miscellaneous items that would appeal to Australians in London. Prices for these items did seem quite high.

Back to the food, and we both opted for the same thing - the Boomer Works Meal. This consisted of a pie, mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy. We also opted for the same pie, which was the Aussie Rules pie - chunky steak, bacon and cheese.

On first impression when the food arrived was that the pie was indeed quite small (it was a bit difficult to gague when they were all sitting side by side in the display cabinet). That said, the pie was actually quite good. The gravy inside was nice and rich, with a good abundance of steak and cheese sauce. However, there wasn't much sign of the bacon, other than a slight hint in the taste.

The mushy peas were extremely mushy peas. Not something to complain about though. That's just the nature of mushy peas - they're mushy. Moving on, the mashed potato was definitely mashed potato. And it was ok. But I wasn't entirely convinced that it didn't come from a packet of Smash.

Overall though, the meal was very good value, at only £4.15 each. Drinks weren't included, and came in the form of cans or bottles. There was no alcohol on sale.

It's worth noting that the gravy that the meal was served with was suitable for vegetarians. There are two pie options for veggies too.

A couple of downstairs on the night were that the front door was left open during our visit, which left the cafe quite chilly. Many people were coming in an out, so closing it each time wouldn't really have been an option. Also, there was no toilet in the cafe. I didn't think that was permissible for a venue which offers dining facilities, but what do I know?

The restaurant is open late, 1am on Friday and Saturday nights.

It was hardly a la carte dining, but it was a good, hearty, enjoyable and cheap meal

Cost of meal: Under £10 for two, including two soft drinks

Armenia - Erebuni, W2

Restaurant: Erebuni

Location: London Guards Hotel, 36-37 Lancaster Gate, London, W2 3NA

Date of visit: 21 January 2011

Time of visit: 8.30pm

Steve and Elle ate: Karmir bibar (Steve) and mushroom Julienne (Elle) to start, Dolma Echmiadzin style (Steve) and lula-kebab (Elle)

This restaurant is actually in the basement of the London Guards Hotel, and access is through the main hotel entrance, past the reception. After walking down the stairs to the restaurant, we were met straight away by a waitress who took out jackets and led us to a table. One of the first things we noticed was the young male keyboard player by the entrance to the restaurant, playing not traditional Armenian songs, but jazz! Russian TV was on the plasma screen nearby.

The menu is very extensive, with good explanations of all the dishes, including the origins of the dishes. There is a huge selection of cold starters, with a handful of hot starters and soups. The selection of main courses, including seafood dishes, is also impressive.

As for the drinks menu, this is also quite extensive, with a good selection of Georgian wines, flavoured vodkas and relevant beers. I had hoped for a bottle of Armenian lager, but unfortunately out of the list of beers they only had Baltika, a Russian lager, which I opted for. Elle, who was working through a New Year resolution of no alcohol in January, went for the Diet Coke option. And there was no chance of her overdoing it on that, as it was £1.50 per tiny glass bottle.

To the food. which arrived in good time. Unusually I opted for a cold vegetarian starter which consisted of marinated red pepper served with garlic and parsley. The red pepper slices was rather huge, as was the quantity of parsley. In fact the flavour was pretty overpowering, but not at all unpleasant.

Elle's starter was sliced mushrooms in a creamy sauce, topped with cheese. It came in a really small dish, and the portion at first appeared too small. It ended up actually being quite a substantial and very enjoyable course.

The starters came with a serving of six slices of heavy brown bread, with no butter.

Onto the mains. My main course is seen as being one of the traditional Armenian staples, and was their take on dolma - large vine leaves stuffed with minced lamb, rice and herbs, served with a creamy garlic yoghurt. I would go as far as to say this meal was stunning. The lamb meat was of the melt-in-the-mouth variety and the garlic mayonnaise type dressing was gorgeous. Also perched on the side was mesmerising side salad consisting of a structured multi-tomato creation, and a few branches of parsley. The portion was decent, but it left you wanting more simply because it was so enjoyable.

Elle's lula-kebab was as it sounds - a lamb kebab with parsley and onions oosely wrapped in a tortilla bread, served with white rice. Two cucumber-based dipping pots containing a garlic mayonnaise sauce topped this meal off. However, there wasn't a huge amount of sauce leading to a fairly dry meal.

Overall, the service was great, food was excellent and the presentation was especially memorable. Only a few downsides - the lack of beer available, the tiny and pricey bottles of Diet Coke and finding out that we had been charged for the bread that came earlier in the meal, despite not asking for it. Still, that doesn't really take away from what was a great, authentic Armenian meal. Highly recommended

Cost of meal: £45 including drinks

Argentina - El Gaucho, SW7

Restaurant: El Gaucho

Location: 30 Old Brompton Road, London, SW7 3DL

Date of visit: 13 November 2010

Time of visit: 8.30pm

Steve and Elle ate: Chorizos criollos (Steve) and empanadas Argentinas (Elle) to start, Milanesa de carne (Steve) and tira de asado (Elle) for main

We finally managed to get back out on the road for the next restaurant, and Argentina was one of the countries we were looking forward to coming up to early on. The simple reason being, like the Argentinians, we like our meat. And we knew that would be in plenty supply in any Argentinian steakhouse that we visited.

There are a handful of well-known Argentinian chain restaurants in London, which is something I wanted to avoid. One of those is Gaucho. We opted for a restaurant named "El Gaucho", which has nothing to do with the chain. However, there are two related restaurants under this name - one in Chelsea, and one in South Kensington.

We travelled down to the South Kensington restaurant on the tube and arrived to find a very pleasant, but small, "shopfront", with narrow stairs leading underground to the restaurant itself.

Saturday night in Kensington and the small restaurant was pretty packed. Still, the waitress saw us in and to a table. The interior of the restaurant struck me as very wooden, literally. The furniture was made up of large sturdy tables and benches. Oddly, Italian football was being shown in the corner, direct from an Italian TV channel. I suppose picking up Argentinian TV on satellite is a bit tricky in London, but at least something in Spanish surely?!

Time ticked on and it became clear that our waitress was overworked and was slightly distracted from serving us. The time between arriving, ordering, and particularly receiving our drinks, was quite lengthy. It was clear for us to see why this was, but it was still a little disappointing nonetheless.

I like ambiance in any social situation, and while the chatter of the many people in the restaurant was creating that, it bothered me that there was no music being played of any kind. I notice these things.

Unfortunately I had my back to it, but Elle has a good view of the open kitchen which looked right out to the eating area of the restaurant. In fact, to reach the toilet facilities of the restaurant, you more or less need to enter the kitchen to get there!

The drinks came just before the starter. I always try and go for the "local" lager, and in this case it was a bottle of Quilmes. Elle had a glass of Argentinian white wine.

Finally the food arrived, with both our starters being presented to us on a large wooden slab. My large sausage (chorizos criollos) was just lying there rather unceremoniously alongside Elle's chicken pasty (empanadas Argentinas).

I actually really enjoyed the sausage. I'm finding it hard to elaborate on that. It was a big sausage, and it was pretty much as you'd expect a big sausage to be. Elle's starter, however, wasn't quite so straight forward. We had to guess the meat, as it quite clearly wasn't chicken as she had asked for. In the end, we agreed it was beef. So they got the order wrong. Thankfully, Elle has no aversion to eating beef so she just went ahead with it. No complaint was made. We don't like to make a fuss.

Between the time of the starter plates/slab being taken away and the mains arriving, no-one had replaced the cutlery we had used. So we reused. And in true fashion, both the mains arrived on a large slab which pretty much doubled-up as a tabletop.

My main was thin steak deep fried and coated in breadcrumbs, on top of a bed of chips. Elle was presented with a vast array of ribs, again on a base of chips.

I immediately wondered how I was going to manage this. It looked immensely greasy, but then it would be, having been 100% deep fried! And eating it was some going. The steak was very easy to cut and chew, but after a while it did become hard work due to the amount of grease. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the main. Elle also did her best with the ribs, but they were also very greasy, and very fatty. I'm sure she won't mind me saying, but she is particularly fussy when it comes to fatty meat, so I was faced with watching her play around with the ribs to find the meat, and discard the rest.

Overall, it wasn't a bad experience at all, but it was always going to compare directly to our last restaurant outing, which was that amazing experience at the Angolan restaurant in East London. This was a far cry from that.

Cost of meal: £42 approx (without drinks).