The Oval Lounge – Kennnington

We needed a short but satisfying meal in surroundings more salubrious than the typical burger or kebab bar which proliferate in the area. Oval has always been a difficult place to eat well with, at any given time, a few gems and a lot of dross. The Oval Lounge is one of the former. At the quiet start to what might have become a busier evening – we were due at a meeting – we were greeted amiably and quickly seated. We intended to stick to simple burger choices but were tempted too by spicy parmesan fritters with lime and soy dip. They were excellent. I chose cheddar and mushroom with my substantial burger, my partner cheddar and fried egg. The accompanying wedges could have been better but the burgers, although not noticeably seasoned, were good and the restaurant is to be congratulated on using cheese with flavour, almost unheard of these days. The service was swift and the bill reasonable.

 

Food 8 out of 10; Service 8 out of 10

Chilli & Lime, Havant

If you like your food bland you should live somewhere south of Dublin or avoid Indian restaurants. However, you might be safe at Chilli & Lime in Havant’s West Street. The Bangladeshi cuisine offered there will offend no sensitive palate nor flatter the more discerning. We dined early but had been joined by only two other diners by a quarter past seven, albeit on a Monday evening. The restaurant has an attractive exterior and decent interior but the food failed to excite. My prawn puree starter was unremarkable and my partner’s unexciting meat samosas would have benefited from a little potato. Main courses and accompaniments were equally unexceptional. I ate garlic chicken tikka with surprisingly little flavour and a gloopy sauce. My partner had a tandoori mixed grill masala in a very ordinary sauce. Saag Aloo and Tarka Dhal were also mediocre. Service was perfectly polite and two of our poppadums were ‘complimentary’ but there was nothing to make us go out of our way again to this particular restaurant.

 

Food 6.5 out of 10; Service 8 out of 10

The Real Eating Company – Lewes

A poster meets the eye in this Lewes restaurant. Quoting The Independent, it asserts ‘The Real Eating Company is shaping the way we should be eating in Britain’. In our lunchtime experience, nothing could be further from the truth. Perhaps the newspaper expects an undemanding or deluded public; I am neither. Falling at the first hurdle, the waitress informed us unapologetically that they do not serve coke, perhaps the only restaurant in the country which does not. The pleasure of terrace eating on a hot day was already fading and I was mentally removing the previewed 12.5% tip.

With considerable reservations about the inexplicably high price, I ordered a ploughmans board with cheddar. What arrived did nothing to explain the price. There was a slice of good ham and two wedges of unremarkable cheddar. A scotch egg tasted fine but the egg yolks were disturbingly orange. The addition of an apple, a pickled onion and reasonable piccalilli did not account for the £12.95 tag. I expected something much more rustic than sliced bread and certainly expected butter to arrive automatically. My partner showed little enthusiasm for his special fish stew which he described as ‘very average’ and was mysteriously priced at a couple of pound less than my mundane ploughmans.

Two dull main courses left no thought of trying otherwise enticing sounding desserts and I was not entirely surprised to see that no tip had been added to the bill. Perhaps there has been a change of policy; perhaps they are psychic.

Food 5 out of 10; Service 5.5 out of 10