The Yellow House - London Surrey Quays

A few hours later after the Scandinavian Christmas Fair, Miss Pinky, her friends, middle brother, Mr Fly (who I haven't seen for a long time) and I went out to celebrate Miss Pinky's birthday at The Yellow House in Surrey Quays. It's just opposite the Surrey Quays Overground station. However Miss Pinky didn't book a table at the restaurant part, so we had to wait... And I was starving... :( 

Outside The Yellow House

Finally after about an hour and a half when everyone arrived, I already had a bowl of handcut chips and we were all drinking we were told our table was ready. Yipee...

And now I am going to turn into The Horrible Geek. I don't want to, but I think I have to. Well first the bar and waiter were utterly nice, but I think were a bit forgetful at who ordered what (we got a few wrong orders being served at our table). I thought the chef was too over-excited to be a chef. (I am actually used to seeing head chefs who shout at their staff and will at least have a sweat on their foreheads! - My Dad used to be one!). 

Now on with the food. There were six of us. Miss Pinky was catching up with everyone, so we took a while ordering food.

The Starters

First off was my garlic and mozzarella bread. This had a really STRONG garlicky smell. (Miss Pinky told me the next day that it really stunk! Well that's what you get with garlic bread!). Since it was so strong, and I could see the others glaring thinking "get that food away from me!"... so I offered around the table. Thankfully Mr Fly took two pieces, and one of Miss Pinky's friends took a piece too! Phew! Never again! ... I did like it by the way minus the smell. ^_^""

Garlic and Mozzarella

Not many of us had starters, but had starters as their main meal. Here's another starter. Lamb Kofta. All the men at our table had this as their main and starter. They all said it wasn't bad!

Lamb Kofta

The Mains (plus Starters as Mains ¬_¬")

One of Miss Pinky's friends had two starters as her main... But I didn't catch the names of her dishes... I think this was a mixture of it all...

Don't know what this is!

I had the Steak Halibut (I was actually wanting a beef steak but forgot that halibut was fish!!! Stupid me!!). Anyway, mine was not bad! I like the sauce, the mussels, the fish didn't smell, and the mash went well with the sauce and fish. Happy Geek!

Steak Halibut

Miss Pinky had the Rib-Eyed steak... Hmmmm... It wasn't good... Too much seasoning going on in there. Too much salt. The peppercorn sauce also looked like barbeque sauce with peppercorns added in... (I'm sure peppercorn sauce isn't supposed to be that brown!!!!! I thought it was supposed to be creamy-gray looking).

Rib-eyed steak

Mr Fly had the Lamb... I didn't try this out, but he said that it was too fatty... Cooked with too much oil I guess...

Lamb

The Desserts and Coffees

I had the Pecan Brownie with Ice Cream. It was so-so. A bit sweet for my tastebuds. I also had a latte with mine. Not bad!

Pecan Brownie and Ice Cream

I like the way they made my latte!

My Fly and Miss Pinky shared the Dessert of the Day. The waiter was explaining what it was at the beginning, but I don't think any of us got what he was saying...

Dessert of the Day

I swapped my dessert with the others. Theirs wasn't too sweet and I liked the chocolate ice cream!

Finally Mr Fly had an Irish Coffee... Nice!

Irish Coffee!

Unfortunately after the dinner, my stomach didn't do so well... And I hadn't even eaten much during the day... :(

My geeky rating: 2.5/5 (I would've given this place a 3.5 but after the bad stomach and overly-friendly chef, this lowered my scores) ... it may have just been a bad day, but I would try this place again... Maybe...

Good points: 

- Nice staff

- Big restaurant area
- Pub area is ok

Bad points:

- Miss Pinky said there was no music!

- Overly-friendly chef

- The food points made above (too lazy to point this out all over again!)

Suggestions:

- Change the recipe of the Rib-eyed steak

- Make a proper peppercorn sauce

- Put some music on!
- Put some table numbers on the tables so that the staff know who ordered what!

Address: 126 Lower Road, Surrey Quays, London SE16 2UE
Tel: 0207 231 8777

Website: www.theyellowhouse.eu

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The Cherry Tree - London East Dulwich

Today my friend and work colleague Mrs Hen invited me to her colleague's leaving do, (Mrs Hen and I used to work in the same department until I left... it is a very depressing department with a very high turnover, but the gossip was great!). And with all leaving do's they always end up in a pub. The pub we went to is called The Cherry Tree, it's a few bus stops away from the workplace. Apparently it used to be called The Vale; It just got refurnished during the summer (this is according to one of my friends, who is probably I believe a regular...) and is now owned by an Irish family.

The Cherry Tree Pub

Well it seems that old English pubs are losing style and have to meet the modern society. This place is very chic and it seems like a popular place for the locals, it was not overly crowded tonight (probably because it was raining)...

Inside The Cherry Tree

The Kitchen - even the kitchen staff were friendly!!

I was very impressed by the food in particular. The food we had were like party food starters, but it was also like having tapas... and it was all very filling in the end! It cost around £19 for 4 starters. 

I loved the chunky chips with the béarnaise sauce and the mini sausages were just great - not sure what the sauce for that was... 

I looked at other people's dinners tonight, and it looked very big and tasty! A person I saw seemed to be having trouble finishing her food heheheh...!

The handcut chunky chips with béarnaise sauce - AWESOME!

Bubble and Squeak! ^^

Chorizo - I thought this was so-so

Mini Sausages - these are VERY VERY yummy!!!!!! - I recommend!!

I ended up back at the bar after all this food and took a picture of the lights which I thought were so pretty and very different for a modernized pub!

Crystal-like Chandliers

I also ended up with a Sagres Shandy after having had a G&T ^^

And I also couldn't help but take a picture of the lamp I was sitting next to!!

I definitely recommend this pub for the locals and for anyone visiting the area... It's just opposite East Dulwich Station and about 30 seconds away from the bus stop!

My geeky rating: 5/5 (the food was my weakness... so it gets full marks)

Good Points:
- Great food
- Lovely and friendly service
- Modern and very chic pub
- Not overly crowded
- Lots of seating areas

Bad Points:
- Menu was on a clipboard with several different sized sheets of paper... Very modern! This is not a particularly bad point but I think I prefer book menus - easy to clean or maybe a one sheet menu... just a suggestion.

Address: 31-33 Grove Vale, East Dulwich, SE22 8EQ
Telephone: 0208 693 9285

Website: http://www.cherrytreese22.co.uk/ - menu is not updated on here


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