Czech Republic - Czech and Slovak Club

Restaurant:  Czech and Slovak Club

Location:  74 West End Lane, London, NW6 2LX

Date of visit:  16 October 2016

Time of visit:  6pm

The Czech Republic restaurant visit was always going to be another one of those cases where it was going to be difficult to find a restaurant dealing solely with Czech cuisine. This is fairly obvious, due to the formation of what we now know as the Czech Republic. By which, of course, I mean the breakup of Czechoslovakia. I'm sure there must be tiny differences, but generally traditional meals in Prague are almost certainly going to be the same or incredibly similar in Bratislava.

As such, the only real restaurant I could find specialising in Czech (and related) food was the Czech and Slovak Club. If we ever get to the letter "S", and the Slovak Republic, I reckon we'll be here again, eating the same thing!

On researching this restaurant, it was instantly clear that this wasn't any normal straightforward restaurant. This was more of a community centre. A meeting area for Czech and Slovak expats. All within a large Victorian house. Expecting it to be quite busy on a Sunday evening, I called the day before to book our table for two in the restaurant.

From the outside, the only sign that this wasn't another private home set back off a busy road was the Pilsner-Urquell sign next to the gate. Once you walk through the gate, and are able to see through the main front door, you can now tell that this is a different kind of establishment.

First impression: a house. Second impression, for me at least, was that this is a hotel. As soon as you walk into the building you are presented with various doors at both sides into other large rooms, and a small reception-like counter in front of you. After giving our names, I was asked if we wanted to dine in the restaurant. I wasn't really sure of the options, so I confirmed this and he led us past a clearly loud and busy room, with a real buzz, into a cold, completely empty, silent room with over a dozen "reserved" tables. Straight away we both knew this wasn't where we were going to spend the next hour or so.

I asked the waiter if we could eat next door instead, and he seemed almost relieved that I asked. We could eat there, absolutely. But we would have to order at the counter rather than at our table. And we'd have to order our drinks separately at the bar (avoiding a service charge). Sold! Into the busy room we went.

And busy it was. In fact, we couldn't find a free table. Although at the back of this room - which I discovered was the "Meeting Room" - were a few long tables which sat at least 8 people. We joined a couple at their table - those two at one end of the table, and Elle and I at the other. Neither of us imposed ourselves on the other.

The laminated menus - which we picked from up from reception on our way into the Meeting Room - was identical to that on the website. One side is in English, and the other in Czech. The menu was excellent. No starters, per se, but a selection of "bar bites". Plus main dishes, schnitzel and other fried main meals, meat salads, "floury" dishes (mostly potato pancake dishes), grilled dishes and several options in between.

We both ordered main dishes only, with Elle going for the "Czech Club" chicken schnitzel and myself choosing the traditional Czech dish of svickova - roast beef in a creamy vegetable sauce with dumplings. I ordered at the counter (£20 altogether) and then popped next door to the small bar to order our drinks. There was a handful of people in the bar, with about the same number of people outside in the garden (smoking area). The bar was more like a tuckshop that you'd find in a community centre or youth club. A little hatch in the wall. I ordered a glass of white wine for Elle (no options were offered - wine is wine here) and asked for a pint of Pilsner Urquell.

Back to the comparison with a community centre, the whole venue had that feel. Wooden floor. Wooden tables. A loud and echoey room. A pool table in the corner. But I was really relaxed. It feel like a really comfortable environment. We felt welcome. Not out of place at all. I was already really enjoying this experience.

No more than twenty minutes later, the food arrived.

My first impression when my meal came was one of lots of sauce and "bread" and not much in the way of meat. I was quite hungry and couldn't quite see how this was going to satisfy. How wrong I was. This meal was exceptionally satisfying and hugely enjoyable. The camera lies. This meal consisted of two slabs of thick, soft, tender and beautifully tasting braised beef. No fat. Just pure soft beef. The sauce was more like a wholesome, sweet cream of vegetable soup. Thick and creamy. I actually think a bowl of this alone would have filled me up, with hindsight! And the "bread" was actually dumplings. Soft but dense, sweet dumplings which were perfect for mopping up the sauce, the flavours of which really complemented that of the dumplings. Looking at the picture, there is an addition I've yet to describe. Yes, that is cream. It is indeed on a bed of jam. Which is actually sitting on a slice of lemon. I certainly didn't expect that, but I rolled with it! 

It's not very often that I don't finish a meal, but this was a tough talk. One of the most deceivingly substantial meals I've had in a long time. 

To the eye, Elle's meal was more familiar. Schnitzel is common across Central Europe, but each country adds their own unique twist. In this case, the schnitzel was topped with cheddar cheese and spicy BBQ sauce. The chicken itself was beautiful. Hot and clearly very freshly cooked. The coating was lovely and crisp. The BBQ sauce worked really well with the cheddar cheese, which in turn went perfectly with the raw onion and pickled vegetables on the side. The cheese and onion made the meal what it was. Elle wasn't too keen on the pickled veg, was was mostly small sliced gherkins, so those ended up on my plate! Elle's only other slight complaint was that it would have cost 50p extra for tomato sauce. She declined. The chips were chips. Good chips. Nothing special. Nothing unexpected. 

We started to realise that we actually appreciated the fact that, other than the food being brought to the table, there was no table service. This meant there was no waiting around for the plates to be cleared. No frustrating wait to pay for the meal. It was already paid for. Ideal.

Rather than leave the club, we decided to pop back into the bar and have another drink. This time we both opted for a pint of Budweiser. The proper Czech stuff. The bar is very decently priced, especially for the lager all being imported.

Overall, this visit was a lovely surprise and very unique. Highly worth a visit.

Cyprus - Kolossi Grill

Restaurant:  Kolossi Grill

Location:  50-60 Roseberry Avenue, London, EC1R 4RR

Date of visit:  17 September 2016

Time of visit:  7.40pm

Having just returned from a week in Corfu, we were expecting more fine Greek food during our next restaurant visit, as we headed for a Cypriot restaurant. There are a handful of Cypriot restaurants and takeaways in London, including a couple of Turkish establishments (of course the northern part of Cyprus is controlled by Turkey) but I opted for one of the higher rated and more authentic looking Greek Cypriot choices.

We arrived just after 7.40pm, without a prior booking. This didn't cause a problem as the restaurant wasn't too busy. That said, there was already a nice little bit of a buzz in the restaurant, which was helped by the cosy interior and decor.

We were seated by the waiter straight away and the menus came quickly afterwards. We didn't have to wait long at all before we were served. The menu itself is quite extensive, and reads pretty much like any Greek restaurant's menu would. Indeed, I couldn't quite be sure if there were any exclusively Cypriot dishes on the menu. Nothing stood out as such.

To drink, I opted - naturally - for a bottle of the Cypriot beer, Keo. Elle did the same.

For starters, I picked the dolmadakia - vine leaves stuffed with minced beef, tomatoes, rice, herbs and tomato sauce. Elle went for the haloumi (sliced then char grilled).

I asked for the lamb kleftiko (slow-cooked lamb shank) for my main dish, something I really enjoyed earlier in the month in Corfu. Elle opted, surprise surprise, for the mixed kebab. I might actually go back and count how many times she has gone for the "selection of mixed meats" option so far during this project. I reckon at least 40% of the time!

We were upsold some pitta bread too. Usually we would politely decline, but the waiter's upselling tactics, although subtle, were effective!

The interior of the restaurant was quite quirky. But seemingly authentic. Vines and hanging baskets adorned the walls and ceiling. Lighting inside the restaurant was modest - not invasive but also not too dark. Greek music played.

As we waited for the first of our two courses to come, a complimentary dish of carrots, green olives and green pickled chillis (like those you get on the top of a doner kebab) arrived at the table, which was a very nice touch.

The starters arrived promptly. My vine leaves were steaming hot and clearly very freshly prepared. The meat was beautiful and not too dry at all. The flavours were fantastic, as was the tangy tomato which was poured above and below the vine leaves. This was an appetiser in the truest sense, as I really anticipated the main meal as soon as I had finished the starter!

Elle's sliced haloumi was well grilled, which really added positively to the flavour. The texture of the cheese perfect. Not too rubbery or squeaky. No gimmicks or fancy stuff with this dish. Just four generous slices, and some fresh cucumber and tomato on the side.

It has to be said at this point the bread, which we were pitched earlier, was fantastic. Clearly freshly baked on the premises and a great addition to the starters.

To the mains. And one of the best lamb dishes I have ever had. And this was after saying the same about the same dish in Corfu just a few weeks prior to this. The lamb was incredible. Just fell off the bone into gorgeous melt in the mouth chunks. The shank is roasted for at least four hours, and you can tell. So amazingly tender. It didn't really come with any gravy or sauce, but the lamb was so succulent that there was nothing dry about this dish. The chipped potatoes on the side were also very enjoyable. Really tasty choice of potato and delicately salted, which went perfectly with the meat.

Elle's main was, as always is with her regular choice of grilled meats, very dry. Something which didn't help this was the fact that half the plate was rice. Dry rice. But the dish is what it is. The selection of meat was very good. The meatballs were very very tasty. The grilled pork was smoked and very flavoursome indeed. The small spicy sausages were excellent. The chicken kebab was standard. Nothing special. The slice of lemon with this dish was a good touch. It was certainly a very filling selection, with no surprises.

By the time we had finished dinner, the restaurant had filled quite nicely. Despite there only being one last table available, the waiting staff were in no real rush to clear our plates. With hindsight, they were probably being run off their feet. Otherwise, the service was generally excellent. I'll forgive the fact that they didn't wish us goodnight as we left!

Overall, this was a very good experience. One of the most pleasant restaurants we've been to recently, with friendly service and fantastic food to match.