CLOSED - The Ambassador

** UPDATE OCTOBER 2011 - The restaurant has closed, and a Japanese place looks set to open in its place.

Last weekend the husband was away having fun (getting bruised by paint bullets, then dulling the pain with copious alcohol), while I was home working. So I reckoned I deserved to treat myself. A lunch in the sunshine on Exmouth Market was just the ticket.
I was craving the bright green nettle soup that I'd tried in Ambassadors a year or so ago, but it wasn't on the menu. So trying to stay vaguely healthy yet colourful,



I opted for a small beetroot risotto (£6.50) instead.
The healthiness was slightly thwarted by the generous splash of olive oil and the white pool of gloriously creamy, melted goats chese topping the vibrant red rice. It was a blissful plate to nibble on while looking through their selection of weekend papers over a glass of white Abruzzo (£3.50) from the extensive wine list.
Conclusion, a fabulous couple of hours' treat for only £10 (plus service).

The Ambassador, 55 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QL; Tel. 0207 837009; Tube: Angel;
www.theambassadorcafe.co.uk; closed Sunday evening

CLOSED - LMNT II

*** UPDATE, OCTOBER 2011 - This restaurant has closed. The original LMNT in Hackney, self-billed as "London's most eccentric dining room", is still going.

The trouble with piling up lots of places to review later is my fickle memory. In this case it has erased the names of the dishes we consumed at LMNT II about a month ago. But I would still like to give a nod to this new place which has sprung up in the former home of Shakespeare's pizzeria, round the corner from our flat. Owned by the same people as Stingray cafes in north London, Shakespeare's used to offer huge pizzas and incredible value set menus. But whether it was the pricey drinks, or the side-street location amid council houses and out of sight of Clerkenwell's hot spots, the place tended to be rather empty. So we weren't surprised, after 3 years or so, to find a new sign hanging above the door. I was pleased to see that the new venture is an off-shoot of LMNT, an eccentric, well-reviewed restaurant in the depths of East London, which I had never got around to visiting. Now I was saved the trek. So far the new venture lacks the eccentric decor found in the original, although they have lightened up the place. I do not remember the food, I remember that it was a nice meal, after which we discussed going back for more. The main reason I have mentioned the place is that it was nice, but has opened so quietly that there's no mention of it yet on the mother ship website, nor anywhere else that google could find. And I think it deserves to be better known.

Edited to add that this place featured in the Metro today and I was bemused to discover that it is apparently "Marooned on a large corner site near the Brunswick Estate in deepest, darkest Islington, North London".

LMNT II, 46 Percival Street, London, EC1V OHS; Tube: Barbican

Han of Nazz

UPDATED (MARCH 2007): SADLY THIS PLACE NOW SEEMS TO HAVE SHUT. :-(

This is a fantastic new kebab/Turkish place in Shoreditch. Inside, much more attention has been paid to the decor than in the Dalston kebaberies that lie further out along Kingsland Road. They've gone for a Turkish boudoir type look, with lots of colours, drapes, cushions and curtains. We were a large group, and the place is great for groups although the rules are that everyone must have the huge-sounding £17.50 set menu. We managed to persuade them to let us and our bellies off and instead started with a few mixed hot and cold mezze (£8). The cold ones were the usual selection of things like humours and tzatziki, served with plenty of dunkable bread. The hot were nicer, including grilled haloumi cheese and freshly, lightly battered squid rings. For mains, I went for the h0use speciality, the Iskender. It was a selection of juicy, good-quality meat, including lamb and chicken, piled high on fingers of pitta bread and coated in delicious yoghurty sauce. The mixed grill looked pretty good too. And for the more adventurous (or those less keen on kebabs) there is also a wide selection of other dishes including duck and sea food, with most mains around the £10 mark. For most appetites, a main would be very filling, possibly leaving just enough room for one starter/mezze dish. We washed it all down with Effes beer. The waiters were in a good, cheerful mood, which helped make it a great night. Personally, I'd pick this place over the Dalston ones any day.

Iskander, 4 Calvert Avenue, E2 7JP; Tel 020 7033 3936; Tube Old Street; http://www.hanofnazz.com/