The Troubadour

The Troubadour can make a claim to be Earl’s Court most famous cafe, not that there is much to compete with in the vicinity. It was a cosy refuge on a dreary wet Wednesday night last week when I went with a few school friends. I hadn’t realised when we arranged to rendezvous there that I had been once before.

It is best known as a music venue, and I’ve heard very good things about it on this count. My singer-songwriter cousin often gigs in the basement area, where many happening artists seem to reside, chilling out with a casual beer in hand, humming through relaxed and melancholic music – well I imagine that’s what it’s like. The place has a nostalgic feel with copper pots and pans hanging lopsided from the ceiling and crooked pictures on the walls, a sort of grubby chic charm.

A troubadour was a composer-minstrel in medieval Europe and that’s where the name originates from. This venue was born in 1954 as part of the second great London coffee craze. We booked ahead to ensure we got a table; it tends to suddenly fill up around 8 pm, even midweek. Ravenous, we squeezed into our table and ordered immediately. An interesting assortment of dishes feature on the menu, from veggie burgers to steak, fishcakes to homemade pasta. We made a pact to try them all, for research! I had the ricotta ravioli, which cost a staggering £14.50, expensive despite its homemade qualities. The pasta was cooked to perfection but unfortunately covered in too much oil making it unpleasantly greasy. Luckily the kind waiter was able to meet my request for more parmesan, and brought a charming little potful free of charge. My friend’s dishes were enjoyable but didn’t quite meet expectations considering the high prices. The chips and sweet potato wedges were very good and provided us with grazing food as we continued to natter away. Alongside our meal a good bottle of white wine was reasonably priced.

This is a great little venue, and has real character. I’ll definitely be coming back for drinks and maybe a gig, but won’t be trying the food again.

Giant Robot Restaurant in Clerkenwell

Giant Robot is one of the hip huddle of cafes and restaurants in Clerkenwell. I went the other weekend for an early supper. Through the dark, snow laced streets it is quite tricky to find, but eventually I spotted the bright lettered sign, and was relieved to get inside to try out their food.

Giant Robot is a bar-café-deli-diner. There are few options on the menu, but what they do offer they promise to make well. We had a few pasta dishes: hearty beef meatballs with tomato sauce and spaghetti, and I had roast butternut squash and ricotta tortelloni with walnut, broccoli and pecorino (see image above). The food was lukewarm in temperature, but rich in flavour. Alongside our mains we tried the fried potatoes with bacon and onion, this was disappointingly greasy, and unfortunately there were no side salads available.

I had my eye on the puddings from the start... especially the ice-cream sandwich. Once it came to ordering dessert though, they had run out of the ice-cream sandwich and the indulgent cheesecake, so I sadly went without. To drink I tried one of the robot juices, which was delicious and refreshing – pineapple, orange and apple. I have heard the cocktails are really delicious at the Giant Robot, so next time I will definitely have one of those.

It was surprising to see this diner almost completely empty, especially on a weekend. It is the kind of joint that needs a crowd to create the atmosphere, and I think this lack of hubbub made our visit less exciting than perhaps it could have been.

If Clerkenwell is too far to travel, there is another branch called Tiny Robot located in Westbourne.

The Ice Bar - Below Zero

There is a lot of hype surrounding the Ice Bar (otherwise known as Below Zero) in central London, but it’s something you have to experience once. Located in the beautiful square on Heddon Street it sits next to several nice restaurants and bars, including my favourite, Piccolinos!

Winter is probably the worst season to choose to visit the Ice Bar, but it meant when I left I was pleasantly surprised by London’s temperature, which doesn’t often happen. Time slots are every 45 minutes, and it is sometimes worthwhile to book beforehand, because certain times do get busy and there are only a limited amount of spaces. There were various rules and regulations recited to us before we entered the exciting room, then we were told to put our arms down as large poncho type coats were thrown over our heads, complete with hoods and attached gloves! We looked hilarious.

It was freezing inside, really cold. Coincidentally I had my cosy Tory Burch boots with me, and for that I thanked God. All those smiling photos I had seen from friends' visits to the bar had given me a false idea! We shivered our way over to the bar where we collected our free drink, which comes complimentary with the £13.50 entrance ticket. There is a large choice of cocktails to choose from, but most seem to just be a shot of spirit with a top-up of fruit juice. The drinks arrive in delicately crafted square ice glasses, rather difficult to drink out of, but very pretty to look at. The bar itself it smaller than I expected, it is just one room with pillars and ice drawing on the wall; in one corner there is even a TV, covered over with ice, playing music videos.

After finishing our drinks and taking lots of photos to remember the occasion by, we found the comfortable ice sofa, complete with cushions which is actually quite warm. After about 20 (out of 45) minutes we were over the excitement and ready to go back to warm civilisation, but that felt like a bit of a cop out, so we found ways to keep warm. I myself did rather a spectacular little solo dance routine, that warmed my feet and raised my spirits!

We had fun but I think this is more of an experience for foreign visitors to London, we get enough cold weather as it is.