Telephone: 0118 527 770

Website: http://www.theforburyhotel.co.uk/

Date of visit: 1 February 2012

Costs: Set lunch £15 for 2 courses, £15 for 3 courses. A la carte: around £30 for 2 courses

Wines and beer: Longish wine list but most wines (except champagne) between £30-£60. Nothing stands out as good or bad value.

Likes and dislikes: Very modern restaurant under Reading’s most expensive hotel.

Cuisine: Modern European

Summary:

Cerise is the house restaurant of The Forbury Hotel.

The building was once a  court house. It is a majestic building unlike the current court house sited on top of Marks and Spencer in Friar Street.

The inside has been thoroughly modernised – about 10 years ago – with the reception and a foyer dotted with settees upon entry. The rest of the ground floor has been turned into meeting rooms. Parking (garage) is via the back of the hotel.

I was meeting my ex-colleagues for lunch.

Cerise – housed in the basement – offered a value for money set lunch. This was surprising as  the rooms –which did not have air con – starts at around £200 per night .

The set lunch offered several choices. I had crab cake followed by vegetable risotto. Both were nicely presented as well as decent size portioned. The crab cake was golf ball size, nesting on a bed of celeriac with a few streaks of green sauces on the edge of the plate. The cake was full of crab and not potato – top marks.

The risotto was bits of green vegetable with rice cooked just right. It wasn’t all that flavoursome – this suggested that the stock was a bit light. Maybe it is because it was because the stock was vegetable and not meat! A few mushrooms would have added more umami to the taste.

The others had the pavie of fish. This was a nice tower of shell and white fish at the end of an oblong plate with streaks of green and orange sauce across the rest of the plate. I assume that it was all right because the food was all devoured.

The tables were well spaced apart and there were also a lot of self contained areas. This is definitely a good place for a business lunch – reasonable food and prices, discrete sitting and little noise. As some of my ex-colleagues were still working, we didn’t have wine. I had a look at the list – nearly all grape type generic wines at around £30-£60 a bottle.

An interesting fact is that the waitresses all wore synchronised nail vanish – it was a black streak across the front with glitter on it. Well ………….

E

Web site: http://www.chinapalacereading.com/

Telephone number: 0118 959 6683

Previous report:  27 October 2011

New visit: 31 January 2012

Approx. cost per head: £15 plus

Cuisine: Chinese – Cantonese

Likes and dislikes: Probably one of the the best authentic Cantonese restaurant in the UK if you stick to the dim sum and main a la carte menu. Avoid the all you can eat and set meals.

Beers and wines: £3.20 for Tiger and Tsing Tao. Mediocre wine list.

Cuisine: mainly cantonese chinese food.

Summary:

China Palace always has special dishes on offer for the Chinese New Year and the subsequent weeks.

I thought that I should try it.

In fact special 2 menus are on offer – all written in Chinese. You need to ask for it if you are non Chinese and get it translated. The “New Year” menu has a dozen dishes all in good luck and rhyming words. For example eight in Chinese has a very close sound to “make” as in “fat” (make/eight) choi (money). One of the dishes on the menu was East West in harmony which in fact is Tong Pao meat. This is Chairman Mao’s favourite dish. It is belly of pork marinated in a sugar and soy mixture then steamed over a long time until the meat nearly falls apart. This was priced at £16.50. In fact all the dishes on this menu are around £20. It was excellent.  You get four large pieces of pork with broccoli. It was worth risking a heart attack to eat this. The other dishes on this menu were various seafood and to my surprise, a few elaborate vegetables dishes.

I also ordered the sweet and sour fish fillets. Cantonese call this koo loo. This was from the other special menu. This was cooked more Chinese style than the a la carte version – less fruity, less sugar and vinegar. On this menu, you can get eels etc.

In total we ordered 3 dishes ((plus salt and pepper squid) and the usual dry fried ho fun. In total the bill came to nearly £65 – with only 2 tiger beers – for 2 people.

If you want to try these special dishes – very different from the usual crispy duck, chow mein etc, you will need to go soon. The menu is only on offer for a maximum of 4 weeks – depending on demand – in the evening.

E

PS Reading is now a pain to park. Meters everywhere. Its 8am to 8pm, 7 days a weeks. They have also taken away the single yellow lines. It all meters or double yellow lines

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Telephone number: 0118 959 7700

Website: www.pepesale.co.uk

Date of visit: 9 November 2011

Previous report: 12 March 2010

Approximate cost per head for 2 courses: £20 plus. Set Lunch: £9 for a main course or £13.40 for 2 courses.

Wine list: Short at reasonable mark up. Trust Marco the Maitre D’ when ordering wine. He will get you a decent bottle at around £20 – £30.

Cuisine: Sardinian (Italian)

Likes and dislikes: Excellent food, brilliant service.

Summary:

This is a restaurant tucked away between The West Street Mall (Butts Centre) and the Penta Hotel. Park in the West Street Mall. It has been around for over 10 years.

For various reasons, I have not been for nearly a year but the same old people (Marco – Maitre D’;Tony – chef, owner) is still there. The menu is about the same with little change and the food – as good as ever.

First of all, I would like to report that the “fresh” pasta – especially the various stuffed pasta – is still the best around this part of the world.

Pasta making is now in a corner at the front of the restaurant to attract passers by.

I went with N, a newly appointed Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal Berks. We both had the set lunch (£13.40) with identical courses – tagliatelli with  ham in a cream sauce to start with and Sardinian sausage (meat balls) with beans in a tomato sauce. This came with salad or vegetables – carrots and sauté potatoes We also ordered the bread basket (£2.80) – sliced baguette with carta musica. The bread came with a wonderful olive oil for dipping in.

The wine was a 2005 Tanca Farra (£29.50) which according to Marco was 50% cabernet and 50% nebbiolo. It was very drinkable. Unfortunately, N only had a glass which meant that I hadn to consume the rest – not good at lunch time.

Because of its location – you have to look for it, the restaurant has never been popular – it served local business, the law courts and the hotel. However, take my word; it is one of the best around. Stay off the fish unless it is on the specials board

E

Web site: http://www.chinapalacereading.com/

Telephone number: 0118 959 6683

Date of last report 6 October 2009 (several)

Date of this visit: 27 October 2011

Approx. cost per head: £15 plus

Cuisine: Chinese – Cantonese

Likes and dislikes: Probably one of the the best authentic Cantonese restaurant in the UK if you stick to the dim sum and main a la carte menu. Avoid the all you can eat and set meals.

Beers and wines: £3.20 for Tiger and Tsing Tao. Mediocre wine list.

Summary:

I haven’t been to this restaurant for well over 6 months. It was doing very well and on a weekday lunch was about half full.

The menu is always the same and prices are the same as last year.

The dim sum starts at £2.70 a dish.

We had char sui chung fun, prawn dumplings (har gaw), char sui puffs, char sui buns – yes char sui in 3 different ways – dry fried beef hor fun , yam croquets and garlic pea shoots. They were all good. The total bill including drinks – coke, tiger beer – and service came to £60.

Since the redecoration 4 years ago, the place is beginning to look a bit worn but the food is still good. Compared to my recent Chinese encounters (Princess Garden and Wing Tai), this place is definitely superior in terms of the standard of cuisine and service. Prices are about the same. Parking is in West Street Mall – beware of narrow lanes leading up to the car park – just wide enough for a MPV.

E

Telephone: 0118 9722140

Website: http://www.homecountiespubs.co.uk/packhorse/

Date of visit: 14 September 2011

Costs: Around £20 for 2 courses, set lunch £12.95 for 2 courses, £16.95 for 3 course. Most main courses around £10 with steak the most expensive at £19.95

Wines and beer: London Pride (£3.30 a pint), wines available – low to medium end list

Likes and dislikes: Excellent food but service a bit poor.

Cuisine: Modern British

Summary:

This is a pub I used to frequent regularly in the 70s. It has changed hands several times. A few years ago, it became a Bluebecker Pub, it is now part of the Home Counties Group. They use to serve Gales –now part of Fullers – and non grape wines – elderberry etc. The wines were still available when I came here in the early 2000s. The wines are no longer there and the serving area is now twice the size it was. There is a 50 seat restaurant, very tastefully decorated with demi  johns and old prints. The building is several centuries old and there is a massive car park at the front.

The day I went, I ordered a pint of London Pride. It was probably a new barrel or the pipes have just been flushed – it was all head, the man eventually sorted it out and bought me my pint – it did not taste right and I suspect that part of the beer was from the frothy pint – when the froth died down.

The menu is one of these modern British ones. However they do a set lunch – £12.95 for 2 courses.

I settled for the set lunch with tempura squid as a starter, followed by liver and smashed potato.

Service was very poor as the waitress prefered to stay in the kitchen rather than manage the floor. You more or less have to catch her attention when she brings the food out. I waited 15 minutes between receiving the menu and ordering the food. Nearby two old ladies talked in a loud voice about deaths and illness – you can hear every word.

The tempura squid was excellent. It was very nicely presented with a small pot of chopped chillies and onions. The plate had a smear of tempura soya sauce to augment the presentation. The lambs liver was also very nicely presented with the liver and bacon sitting on top of a pile of smashed potato in a pool of gravy. The potato was a smashed baked potato with grainy mustard. All very pleasant and edible.

The truth is that it is very good value food presented in a pleasant dining room. Service will be better if the waitress stays in the restaurant rather than the kitchen.

E

Web site: http://www.askitalian.co.uk/#!/

Telephone number: 0118 9574850

Date of visit: 11/08/11

Approx. cost per head: £15 full price but vouchers available

Comments on wine list/beer: Standard selection for a chain restaruant. Fairly nice.

Cuisine: Italian

Review:

Ask almost always have vouchers online (vouchercodes.co.uk) so is brilliant for a good but very reasonable priced meal. We had a voucher which was “buy one main meal get another for £1″. There was also a “buy two main meals for £12″ voucher. (Sundays to Thursdays)

Service was extremely friendly and reliable.

I had butternut squash ravioli in a white wine and butter sauce which was absolutely delicious. It was one of the tastiest meals I have had in a long time and was the perfect size- very filling but not overly huge. My friend ordered a meat calzone which he loved as well. I could not fault the food on any level. We also ordered a £14 bottle of wine.

I’ve eaten in many Ask restaurants in the chain and have always been extremely happy with my meal.

Alex

Telephone number: 0118 9588966

Website: http://www.ninos-restaurants.co.uk/

Date of visit: 15 August 2011

Approximate cost per head: Less than £10 per head with the lunch menu. A la Carte around £17 for a main course

Comments on wine list/beer: A “medium” size list with mainly Italian wines. House wine is drinkable

Likes and dislikes: Too many tables in too small a place – ok when the place is half full. Very reasonable food and wine price – especially at lunch time.

Cuisisne: Italian

Summary:

When Nino first opened in 1980, Reading was a bit of a dessert for Restaurants. There were also The George – Berni’s Inn, Mama Mia and The Hungry Daine. Nino expanded very quickly with a branch (Nino 2) in Caversham and Nino 3 on Duke Street. The one in Caversham changed hands in the 90s and Nino 3 didn’t survive.

The Market Place is just off Broad Street and is a bit of a dead end of Reading ever since Marks and Spencer closed the Butter Market entrance.

I stopped going in the early 90s when I was served tinned peas with my steak. As it is 30 years old, I thought that I should try it again..

The inside is as cramped as ever – tables spaced next to each other – with room for 40 diners. The a la carte menu has stood the test of time and is very similar to the one they offered 30 years ago. They still do veal and Nino still serves and takes the money.

In addition, they now offer Italian tapas – small dishes around £3/4 a plate and a light lunch menu.

I started off with Focaccia (£3.10). Their version is a light thin pizza bread. This is really good. Mama Mia (closed – now a fried chicken place in The Butts (West Street Mall) used to do a version like this. I am not into the thick bready version which is more authentic.

I then had the Calamari alla  Romanna (£5.90). Squid deep fried with a crumbly texture with a nice garlic mayonnaise and a bit of a salad. This was fine but not great.

All this was washed down with half a bottle of house red (£5.95) which was quite drinkable.

It’s not a bad place. I must come back and try the veal to see if it is rose veal or Dutch veal.

E

Telephone number: 0118 9590093

Website: http://www.standardtandoori.co.uk/

Date of visit: 10 July 2011

Approximate cost per head: Less than £20 for main course, rice and starter. Sunday buffet £7.95

Comments on wine list/beer: Large Gurkka £4.25. Wines available

Cuisine: Nepalese

Likes and dislikes: Nothing to complain about re the restaurant- decent food, good service and very reasonable prices. Parking could be difficult.

Summary:

Yes, it is absolutely true. The Dali Lama ate here in 1993 when he visited Reading. Another interesting fact is that he is not a vegetarian.

Some years ago, I bought a few Americans here for a business dinner. One of them wanted to kneel down and kiss the floor but we persuaded him that it is not normal in the UK to go “celebrity mad”. In fact if the Dali Lama turned up, autograph hunting is definitely out.

Very little has changed in this place since they introduced the “tandoor” to Reading in the early 80s. The menu is nearly the same except for the Sunday Buffett and the lunch time thalli. Before this place, Indian food in Reading was confined to Rogan Ghost, Chicken Madras or Biriani.The curries werealso more yellow and watery. In the past 10 years, curries seemed to be moving to a sweeter and thicker sauce – everywhere!

In terms of structure, they bought out next door and double the size of the place in the late 90s. Recently, they have redecorated the place.

I went on a Sunday at 1.30 and the place was nearly empty. I don’t know why, because it was the best Indian  (Nepalese) Buffet I have eaten for a long time. There was a big salad bar, all the fried stuff – onion bargee, samosas, mushroom and okra, spinach, nans,bombay alll, aloo gobi, rice and 6 other hot meat dishes. The food here has improved since I last ate here some 5 years ago. In those days, they had a master sauce and the dishes were differentiated by the addition of tomatoes, onions, cream and chillies. The different dishes now taste very different.

As with all buffets, the nans and the tandoori chicken and all the deep fried bits were not quite at their best after they have been left on the heat for an hour plus. Go there at 12 and it will be perfect.

This is one of the few restaurants in the Reading area that have been around for 30 years and the food has improved.

E

Telephone number: 0118  987 1481

Website: http://www.greeneking.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=4

Date of visit: 8 July 2011

Approximate cost per head: Around £5 for a main course

Comments on wine list/beer: only Greene King IPA on tap, wines are available. In fact, Greene King house winbes are very drinkable.

Cuisine: Pub grub

Likes and dislikes: Greene King Pubs offer value and quality eating at the budget end of the market. The top end of The Greene King range – Abbotts is drinkable but the normal Greene King IPA is a dreadful pint – taste of nothing

Summary:

I went to my dry cleaners (Polar) to pick up some dry cleaning.

Polar has been taken over by a Polish gentleman – it used to be managed by Larry who was Irish. I am pleased to say that it is as good as ever. In fact, under the new owners, they have increased their range of services. They now do shirts as well as leather cleaning.

As I always park in The Maidens car park, I felt that I should offer them my custom.

At that end of the Shinfield Road, there are two pubs – The Sportsman and The Maidens. The Sportsman used to serve Morlands  and The Maidens used to be part of the Courage Empire. They are now  part of the Greene King empire.

The Maidens have always been a bit of a working class pub. In the old days, they use to have strippers in for Sunday lunch – so I was told. Apparently, all the old boys would be reading their News of the World whilst the dancing was going on. They would only lower their papers to have a look in the last minute.

The pub is a pretty large and one corner has been taken over by a pool table with the usual large flat screen for showing “live” sports.

I had a pint of Greene King IPA as it was the only bitter on offer. At £2.30 a pint it is nearly a £ cheaper than any other bitter on the market but it is tasteless. The only good thing is that it is at the lower end of the alcohol scale so you can have a pint and stay well within the limit of the breathalyser.

The menu offered the normal pub range – burgers, steak, fish and chips, curry etc.

I had the fish and chips (£3.79).  It came on a large plate with tartar sauce, chips, peas and a large piece of battered fish. This is one of the best fish and chips at £10 and under anywhere. In fact, I have to say that I have never had a bad meal in a Greene King Pub – Air Balloon, Wee Waif, Elephant and Castle etc. They were all inexpensive. So, if you are in a rush and just want to stop somewhere for lunch, you can’t go wrong with a Greene King Pub.

By the way, the table tops of The Maidens were not sticky, another plus point.

E

Telephone number: 0118 987 3702

Website: www.lsq2.co.uk

Date of visit: 7 May 2011

Approximate cost per head:  Up to £10 for a breakfast dish.

Comments on wine list/beer: Bottle beers. Peroni at £3.65 a bottle. Wine list is OK but nothing special and although an average bottle is around £25, it is still with around 300% mark up plus.

Previous Reviews: 22nd of May 2010 and 6th March 2011

Cuisine: Normal breakfast items

Opening times: weekdays only. They will also open up when there is a rugby or football match on at the Madjeski Stadium.

Summary:

On the last day of the Championship season (playoffs to come), I came with my friend M for breakfast at 11am as the game kicks off at 12.45. Unlike the Green Park branch, the LSQ2 in the Oracle serves breakfast every day.

There were only 3 tables occupied (the car park was full – it is free for diners). Apparently there is a sitting at 3pm for a late lunch.

The breakfast menu has the usual egg benedict etc. M and I both had the English breakfast £9.95 which came with fried bread, a large field mushroom, sausage, bacon, 2 fried eggs and baked beans. It was very enjoyable. We also downed nearly £30 worths of Peroni with our breakfast.

I have to admit that this is the first time I have had a drinks bill larger than the food bill when wine has not been involved. We must have been quite thirsty as it had been raining and I had my wet weather Rohans trousers on which made me sweat quite a bit.

E

May 2011