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Address: 5 Prospect Street, Caversham, Reading RG4b 8JB
Telephone number: 01189463400
Website: http://www.myalacarte.co.uk/
Date of visit: 21 July 2010
Approximate cost per head: Set meal £10.50 for one course, £13.50 for 2 and £16.95 for b3 courses . Available : Mon – Sun for lunch and Mon-Wed for dinner and also Thur-Sat before 7pm. Check out the Website if you are not clear.
Comments on wine list/beer: Reasonably prices wines. Several good ones at under £20. Beer is from Loddon Brewery
Summary:
My friend A took me there as we have not met up for a long time.
Apparently, the winner of The Apprentice’s (2008) brother runs it – a bit of useless information.
As soon as we sat down, we were offered tap water – none of this sparkling or still nonsense. I was also quite impressed by the set meal which is available most of the time and it changes daily.
We ordered goat cheese salad and duck gizzard salad followed by chicken oysters with sauté new potatoes and courgette.
Let’s start with the salad, they were pretty substantial. My gizzard salad had heart, liver and kidneys in it. All very tasty but it was all cooked well done – not pink. But then this is Reading and the tastes are much more conservative.
The main course was in fact a chicken thigh with the back (oysters) attached and not morsels of chicken oyster meat. The potatoes and courgettes were more a la plancha than sautéed. It came with a thin gravy.
The meal was accompanied by a bottle of Rioja Red crianza 2005 @ £18.50.
My overall conclusion was that it was a good meal and a little gem.
By the way, the menu also offered pork scratching for £2.50 or bread. I have never ever come across this as a separate menu item anywhere in the world.
E
Address: 3 Queens Walk, Reading, RG1 7QF (Queens Walk is next to the Penta Hotel)
Telephone number: 0118 959 7700
Website: www.pepesale.co.uk
Date of visit: 10 March 2010
Approximate cost per head for 2 courses: £20
Comments on wine list/beer: Peroni on tap. Very good value Italian list with a good selection of Sicilian/Sardinian wines. The manager, Marco, is a real foodie ad he knows his wines. Ask him for a recommendation. He usually offers something around £20.
Summary:
Pepe Salle has been around for near 10 years. Its previous incarnations (different owners) were French and Portuguese. Both lasted only a couple of years.
I used to come here a lot when I was working across the road. This is my first visit in nearly 12 months.
The first impression is that there is no change. It is still brightly lit with the restaurant on 2 levels – separated by 4 feet of stairs. The “downstairs” dining room is bigger and tends to be noisier as the sound bounces off the walls and the tiled floor.
For starters, we had gamberoni arrabbiata, avacardo e fungi and the special of the day, oyster mushrooms cooked in garlic butter and served on crisp thin bread (carta de piano)
The mushroom was cooked just right – still el dente and juicy not shrivelled up or chewy.
For main course, we had ravioli ricotta, mallorreddo (small spiral pasta served in a sausage meat and spicy tomato sauce) fegato al balsamico (calves’ liver) and spaghetti bottarga (spaghetti with shaven mullet roe cooked in garlic butter).
Pepe Salle is a Sardinian Italian restaurant; their best dishes are mushrooms and pasta. When in season, Marco regularly forages for wild mushrooms. I have had great English porcini mushrooms here. Their pasta is always cooked right and comes with great sauces. My regular dishes are the ravioli and spaghetti bottarga.
The whole lot was washed down with two bottles of vermentino di gall – crisp and fresh at £18.90 a bottle.
The bill for 4 including bread and side salads came to £126.60 (excluding service). The food here is still as good as ever. They remain my favourite Italian.
Eddie
Address: 1 Forbury Square, Reading, RG 13BB
Telephone number: 0118 957 4044
Website: www.Forburys.com
Date of visit: 20 February 2010
Approximate cost per head: set meal (Lunch: £11.95 for 2 courses, £15.95 for 3 courses. Evening: £21 for 3 courses – not available after 7.15 on sat) a la carte about £40 for 3 courses.
Comments on wine list/beer: Really comprehensive and up market list. Good Sommelier (take his recommendations) be prepared to pay £50 plus for a reasonable bottle.
Summary:
This restaurant is now well established as probably the premier place to eat within central Reading. The other place being the Forbury Hotel – not related..
The restaurant is housed in a modern building that also housed the Reading Branch of IOD. The room is modern with tables well spaced apart. The walls are decorated by posters of the label of famous wines. They have a private room – a long table that can sit 20+. During the warmer days, they have outside tables.
Parking is available under the building but entrance is via Albert Square from Kings Road.
The evening we went, we started with a 1999 Rioja Blanco (Vina Gravonia) which was slightly brown in colour because of the age and still tasted very fresh and full of citrus. We then had a bottle of 2000 St Estephe – Le Tour de Pez (£65). Apparently, this is a new wine and is not on the list on the web site. This wine turned out to be an excellent wine and is without doubt the best red wine (less than £100) I had in a restaurant for many years. Forbury’s is famous for its wine list and has won many awards.
There was a choice of bread – white or walnut. The walnut was good but our first serving of it was cold. The second serving was warm. We were given a freebie of cream of orange and carrot soup. The orange taste was light and it worked well.
To start with, some of us had the scallops which were cooked just right – you get 3 scallops served on a black slate with a green pea puree as sauce and a few deep fried black pudding. The others had confit of salmon. This was cooked at probably around 40C as the texture was the same as smoked salmon. I had a taste of the salmon which was like a “rich” smoke salmon without the smoke. The starters were priced at £12 plus.
For main course, we had the chateaubriand with chips (for 2) at £63, venison stew, brill and pig’s trotters, all priced at under £20. By the way, if you like your veg, you will need to side orders in this restaurant.
The brill was pronounced as slightly on the dry side and was one small piece of fish served with small cuts of potatoes, spinach and celery – very nuevo cuisine.
The chateaubriand (medium) was pronounced as a triumph in both the state of the steak and the chips. One of the diners asked for broccoli instead of peas with her steak and they forgot that – it arrived half way through her meal.
The venison and the pig’s trotters were both served with a heavily reduced sauce. The venison was cooked more rare than pink. The trotter (de-boned) has been on their menu ever since the restaurant came into being. However, it has gone through different transformations. This version with mash potato and mushroom was the best version yet.
For desert, we had the chocolate fondant and the lemon soufflé. All deserts are priced at around £10. All proclaimed that the desert was the best dish yet – I didn’t try any as I am not into deserts.
In all we paid just over £400 (incl service) for 5 and everyone had a good time. Service was excellent without being intrusive. This place has maintained its high standard for many years.
The owner remembered me – although I have not been for at least 2 years. This is probably because when I worked in Reading, I took my whole department (around 150 people) down there for their Xmas dinner and we rang up a bar bill in excess of £5000 (thank god, the business paid). I have to admit that I was in shock for the next month.
Eddie
PS Guardian/Observer did a review on this place:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/may/01/forburys-reading-restaurant-review
Location: First Floor, The Walk, 19-23 Kings Road, Reading, RG1 2HG
Web site: http://www.mariemontirestaurant.co.uk/Home.php
Telephone number: 0118 950 0070
Date of visit: 30 January 2010
Approx. cost per head: £20
Comments on wine list/beer: A reasonable selection of mid priced red and white wines, alongside several more expensive vintages.
Media link:
Review:
Reading and the surrounding area is home to a selection of forgettable Italian restaurants. Mari e Monti is thankfully not one of these.
Ideally located in Kings Walk, just a minute’s walk from the Oracle Riverside, the restaurant enjoys a secluded and relaxing setting – ideal for a quiet or romantic meal.
The service, unlike many Italian restaurants in particular, offers the perfect combination of attentiveness and charm. And the restaurant itself is traditionally but very tastefully designed and decorated.
The a la carte menu offers a wide range of delights, and one of the best vegetarian selections in the town. The rigatoni is perhaps the pick of the pasta dishes whilst the pan-fried wild boar is arguably the best option meat-wise. A main course is priced between £7-£22, with starters averaging £6-7.
The only slight criticism one might level at Mari e Monti is the limited and slightly unadventurous desert menu. That said deserts are delicious and well priced (average £4-5).
If you’re looking for a mid priced meal, probably for two, good service and good food then you’d be hard pushed to find better.
Dave Lamont
Name of restaurant or pub: Thai Corner
Location: 47 West Street, Reading, RG1 1TZ
Web site: http://www.thaicornerreading.co.uk/
Telephone number: 0118 959 5050
Date of visit: 11 December 2009
Approx. cost per head: £25
Comments on wine list/beer: A reasonable Sancerre is perhaps the pick of a rather simplistic wine menu. An ample selection.
Media link:
Review:
A former pub, the building has been tastefully and usefully converted into Reading’s newest Thai restaurant – not something the town has an abudance of.
It’s located in the centre of town, just a 3 minute walk from the train station or the Oracle riverside.
The menu offers an excellent array of traditional Thai dishes, with a starter averaging £4 and a main course between £7-11. The restaurant appears to be very popular with both business people and couples – usually a good sign. It’s rather small, making for an intimate and relaxing meal, so best to book.
The service is not the quickest and a little tricky at times – mainly due to the occasional language barrier.
If you’re looking for well priced, well prepared Thai Food then this is arguably the best Reading has to offer.
Dave Lamont
Subject: Restaurant Recommendation
Dear Eddie
Some ex work colleagues are gathering in Reading for a meal out next month.
What would be your recommendation for a good value for money evening out. It would need to be fairly central
Look forward to hearing from you
tobymilner66@googlemail.com
Eddie replies:
Reading is fast becoming a hot spot for an evening out. The centre is now well served by restaurants. When I was a student here, there was only a choice between Berni Inn (George Hotel) and Reading Steak House (no longer exist).
For a group (say 6 to 10), I would recommend …
• Sweeney Todd (pie and beer)
• Dolce Vitae (Continental/Greek)
• Pepe Sale (Sardinian - Italian)
• China Palace (Chinese)
• La Parada (Tapas)
• A Taste of Siam (Thai)
All the above restaurants can cope with large p[arties and you would get away at under £20 a head + drinks. There are also a range of restaurants from Piri Piri chicken to sushi at the riverside (Oracle) but I am not aware that they have large tables for big crowds to sit together. There is a new LSQ2 opening near the cinema. I have not been but the old LSQ2 (Green Park) was excellent for a quick bite before football or rugby at the Madjeski.
For curry afficiandos, I recommend Bina or Standard Tandoori. Both of these are in Caversham – 20 minutes walk and if you must have pizza, try Pizza Express which has the lowest amount of saturated fat – according to the Sunday Times.
Afterwards, there are plenty of bars that stay open into the early hours in the morning – Revolution, Sakura….. However, these places seem to attract the under 30s.
Eddie