The River Cafe - London

The River Cafe: Situated on the banks of the River Thames, The River Cafe is run by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers and has been there for over 20 years. The likes of Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Theo Randall have all trained here and so our expectations were high.

We struggled to find the place to start with, I knew that it wasnt far from Craven Cottage but couldnt quite work it out. Once in the restaurant, we were greeted by a very attractive lady who showed us to our table, near the window and with a good look at the River Thames.

I'm not sure what hit us first, the amazing atmosphere of the place or the fact that all the staff appear to be extremely good looking, both male and female, everybody was good looking! As I said the atmosphere was really good, a busy busy canteen type environment and lots going on. I really liked that about the place.

Service was great too and the staff made us feel at home, no pressure and always with a smile. I ordered the Chargrilled Squid, served with fresh chilli and a rocket salad. It was nice, just nice and nothing special but then it was exactly what I ordered. We selected a bottle of red (can't remember what) but it was nice and tucked in. The waiting staff, still attentive and making sure we had everything we needed.

Main Course for me, was Grouse. Served with pumpkin and an Amarone sauce. The Grouse was a bit fiddly to eat, nice but a bit hard work and I struggled to get all the meat off the bone. It was tasty though and the Amarone sauce was tremendous...really loved it.

Yet again we skipped desert in favour of liquers, becoming a bit of a habbit. Out came the Frangelico (a hazelnut liquer) and Strega which was great.

The whole afternoon was good, great service with a fantastic atmosphere but sadly the the food was a little short. I'd go back for sure, but next time around I would order something different.

Fifteen, Jamie Oliver - London

I visited Fifteen for lunch with a colleague and we opted eat in the Trattoria which had a really good vibe, was buzzing and very welcoming. The waiter was really laid back, made us feel very welcome and was quick to get our drinks order in. He was good with the menu, explaining all the options and making a few suggestions too.

For starters we opted for the Fifteen Signature Antipasti, a board to share with a selection of meats, vegetables, chees and olives which when it arrived at the table looked absolutely amazing. It tasted great too, fantastic fresh flavours and smells it was a great start to the afternoon.

We orderd a bottle of Chianti to wash it down with and both decided to run with the Rib Eye steak for main course. The steak came perfectly cooked and seasoned with Parmesan which was lovely and served with a rocket salad on top. It was a great piece of steak, succulent and tasy and with more of the Chianti we were having a great time!

The decision to skip desert was mine but not in favour of leaving, just to sample some of the beverages available. Frangelico, Strega and a lovely Limoncello with tiny Strawberries in it....by this point we were a tad tipsy but had a great afternoon.

Cost? I think we spent around £100 each plus a tip - a bit over the top but we only had ourselves to blame given decision to go off piste!