Shayan "Gourmet Man" S.'s Profile

Another gem of a coffee house that's sprouted in Hoxton. I Made It for You serves some pretty wholesome pies, gienormous croissants and pain au chocolats, and these beautiful, artisan crafted sandwiches, chocolate guiness cake, and so on and so forth. Mean coffee, my mocha was good. The gin and juniper cake looks wicked. I love the free book swap, it adds to the charm and atmosphere of the place. The only snafu I'd say was that when I ordered my sandwich, it didn't come with a salad (which the menu says that it does)... but I wasn't told until after I got it and inquired about the salad.

Easy mistake, but so easy to manage from a customer experience perspective.

Apart from that, I love this place, and I will definitely be coming back.

Love this place - Maison d'etre is going to be become my local coffee shop... nice, homey feel, good coffee (the affogato is insanely great... served with what seems to taste like clotted cream ice cream). The have soy milk, which is great for my wife, and they'll take orders 'extra hot'.

The food looks good although I didn't have it, but the atmosphere is excellent. Much better (of course) than the Starbucks 200m down the road on Upper Street.

Free wifi, good music, great atmo, minted water, very, very nice.

It seems that there's more of these places starting to pop up nowadays... like "I made it for you" in Hoxton which has a similar vibe.

WIN.

Went here for a quick snack before seeing a place that we were looking to rent near Angel. Looks like the core business is Teppenyaki which really isn't our thing... the service was meh, the sake sashimi was pretty decent, and the dragon roll was satisfying. But in a city that has plenty of choice for Sushi, this place doesn't really stand out.

This place is friggin' fantastic - amazing food, great service, and they're about to open a Karaoke room downstairs (whoohooo!).

We ordered a ton of stuff; it was great that we had a Chinese friend with us, who helped us order the good stuff :)

What he had:

Appetizers:

Crispy Pork Belly
If you order anything in this place, it has GOT to be the crispy pork belly. OMG. I died. The plate lasted less than 5 minutes... addictive, perfectly crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and full of delectable smoky flavour. This is like crack to me.

Smacked Cucumbers Hunan Style (vegan), £5.90
These were absolutely delicious, surprisingly spicy, and an ode to garlic lovers; it's one of those dishes that is highly addictive and makes you keep eating... loved it.

Dried Bean-Curd in Spring Onion and Oil (vegan), £6.90
This dish was so popular that we ordered it twice ! It is so much more than tofu, and infused with subtle flavours. Highly recommended, especially if you're with a vegetarian/vegan crowd.

Spiced Fungus (vegan), £4.90
WOW !!! This one had a true kick in good ol' fashion Hunan style. It was absolutely divine; great texture, served cold, and the chopped chillies will 'blow you away'. For spice lovers only though.

Blanched Spinach in Sesame Sauce (vegan), £5.90
Tame dish, but delicious... the Spinach tasted earthy in a kind of organic way. Enjoyed this a lot.

They were out of the Northern Sichuan Pea Jelly, which the vegetarians at the table were keen on tasting... but next time will be the one :). So many more appetizers to choose from, we'll have to come back!

From the mains, we had:

Deep Fried Beef with Cumin, £9.90
My least favourite dish, ordered by a friend of mine; I'm not too keen on cumin as I find it overpowers a lot of the meat and is hard to be subtle with; if you like cumin though, this will be a hugely satisfying dish... the beef is cooked to perfection, and tender.

Gong Bao Prawns with Cashew Nuts, £12.90
Didn't have a taste of this one, but it was gone in less than 5 mn; I think that it might have been *that* good !

Sliced Sea Bass in a Soup of Pickled Mustard, £12.90
This was one of the highlights for me (I ordered it, so it had better be the best tasting dish for me ;-). Served in a great tasting broth (not too salty), the sea bass melted in your mouth, and the flavour profile was out of this world. Slightly mustardy, delicately spiced, a hint of anis seed... yum, yum yum!!!!

Dry-fried Green Beans (fresh runner beans, minced pork and Sichuan bean sprouts), £7.90
Another surprising banger ! There's some serious chilli in this, so be prepared to cool this off with some Tsing-Tao or Tiger beer :) But very, very good.

Stewed Beef Brisket in Five Spiced Sauce, £9.00
Another one of my favourites of the night, ordered by my friend John (who did the review below). Very tender, not too fatty, the sauce was not too hot, subtle, but with strong flavour profiles. Highly recommended.

Bitter Melon, £10.90
I hate that stuff by default, so I'm not in a good place to review it.

All in all, Yipin China is one of those places that you very much hope will succeed. It's pretty unique in its offering of traditional Hunanese and Sichuanese as well as Cantonese food; and it offers a menu that caters for gung ho risk takers (Swan feet, duck tongue, offal) as well as adventurers (the sliced sea bass, or the beef in extremely spicy sauce)... as well as the more conservative, risk averse diners (the bean curd, aromatic crispy duck, etc.). Great options for vegans and omnivores alike, and they are fully licensed.

I really want to keep this place a secret, but I want it very much to survive... which in Islington is touch and go, especially since it's not on Upper Street per se, but on the road less traveled of Liverpool Road. That being said, given the quality of the food, the fact that the Chef has been part of some pretty famous restaurants in  mainland China, and that they're opening up a Karaoke downstairs, they've got a lot going for them. I just hope it won't become too popular so that we can selfishly walk in whenever we want to have some soft shell crab or 5 spice beef !!!

Went here last week for a customer dinner (at his suggestion). I struggled getting in at first... as I kept trying to open the wrong door (duh, it's the one on the left).

Had the mackerel burger with razor clams, which this place is famous for... and god that was actually damn good... it's not really a burger, more like a fish cake, but man was it yummy. I half expected the razor clams to be squishy and rubbery, but they were extremely subtle to the palate... and worked very well with the mackerel burger.

We then attacked the scottish beef fillet; we told the waiter to hold the salsify, but we ordered the gratin dauphinois and mash instead. The gratin was TO DIE FOR... and definitely had some serious dosage of creme fraiche, but it was melt in your mouth gorgeous. The beef was perfectly cooked (I had mine medium rare, my customer had his rare)... and we drowned our entrees with a beautiful bottle of Barabarela.

For dessert we ordered the Pear Clafoutis... being French, we have pretty high standards for clafoutis; this really wasn't one, but it was an absolutely delicious pear tart with a frangipane base.

Great place for a business dinner... or dinner with friends... the atmosphere isn't exactly romantic, so I wouldn't come here on date night... but the food is absolutely excellent.

130£ for 2 with wine.

Disclaimer: the owner is a friend of my parents

Went there as my father had a work dinner scheduled there and he wanted me to come along. The restaurant is nicely decorated, although there is a large flat screen TV in the back of the restaurant playing bollywood soap operas which I thought was a bit kitsch.

The service is very friendly, and the house wines (18 euros) are delicious.

The prices are good all around, with a 24 euro 3 course prix fixe with more than enough choice to keep people happy:

starters include smoked salmon (generous portions), 6 x snails, foie gras, etc. The snails were delicious and already out of their shells, the smoke salmon was also very good as was the duck foie gras.

For mains, the 'Bar' looked amazing; grilled whole fish which looked cooked to perfection, my mom liked it. I had the duck magret, which was perfectly cook as well, and tasted excellent.

The moelleux au chocolat was soft on the inside, but not as runny as I like it, and served a bit to cold. They can improve on this.

All in a all a good place in an area that doesn't have that many great bistros (mostly known for cheap sushi and kebab joints), so it's good to see a place like this open up and do well.

Came here on a top table deal (16.50£ for 2 courses, selection from a la carte), so this may be a biased review based on a slightly more limited selection that you would otherwise get here.

I remember coming here for drinks with my friend Sean a while ago, and remembering that if you're not here during a happy hour or some special evening, the drinks can get pretty steep.

In any case, it was Hallow's Eve (or Halloween), and we popped in, everyone was dressed in Western/Cowboy/Cowgirl gear... as this warranted a free drink... we went for Saw Bone, a combination of apple juice, lemon juice, and gentleman jack's... so so combo, but I should have known better.

The pork ribs were excellent and succulent... and were a big success... the duck confit in a laksa noodle curry... less so; i like my confit to be crispy, and fall of the bone... effortless to eat... this wasn't the case.

The chilli con carne was very good, just needs a little more kick and it will be spot on.

All in all, a good place, the service staff are super friendly and nice, and the food is a-ok. Some things are hit or miss; but the ambience is hot, loud, and busy, which, if that's what you're looking for, will hit the spot.

Came here after a 3.5 week trip away to the US and the Carribeans. Reserved through Top Table; we came here largely for the decor and atmosphere.... i didn't have high expectations of the food basd on past reviews, etc.

The decor is fantastic; combination steam punk, jules verne, and bioshock with a twist of turkish. There's opera in the background...Cheesy ? Sure. Fun ? Absolutely.

Service was very friendly, and apologetic; and they needed to be. Everything went well on the whole, but there were so many different details that went wrong: delivering the wrong bottle of wine, overselling an entree to my spouse, etc.

I had the veal cutlet, and recommend it. The borek is so-so, but when you've had those in Turkey it's hard to go back.

We had a glass of the Argentinian chenin blanc, and shared a botttle of the Stellenbosch chenin blanc as well. Both are pretty good, but I think I preferred the South American white to the South African white.

I'd recommend coming here, if only for the decor. The food is ok, the wine is ok value, but the attention to detail is sometime lacking, despite the friendly service.

I think I'm just simply sentimental about this place. My cuz lives in Astoria, and this is pretty much his local. They do care if you come back, and they take care of locals pretty well... we had great, attentive service... and you should come here at an off peak time, like 2pm.

The roasted baby lamb is delicious, and the tzatziki... well, you have to try it to believe it; just be careful... no dates after this starter... the garlic density per milliliter of yoghurt is one of the highest in the world... just wished they'd drop the dill.

The saganaki is always good, and impressive when ordered (flambeed in front of your very eyes, then generously sprinkled with lemon juice).

Their house white is palatable, but should be served a bit colder (make sure you ask your server).

Will I come back to Uncle George ! For sure. If only because they are super nice, and the food is pretty good.

Went to the cafe this evening for a bout of supper. On the menu... the famous mac and cheese, followed by a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

The mac and cheese was good, but it wasn't "out of this world" good. I agree with one of the reviewers... I like my mac and cheese with some breadcrumbs, oven finished with a bit of crisp and bite. This one wasn't like so, but it was still pretty good.

The grilled cheese sandwich was delicious, however; the ham was slight crispy on the edges, and they put in a touch of garlic or something in the sandwich... it was yummy, and was devoured in 2 shakes of a lamb's tail.

Washed down with some green tea/mint ice tea, it was a perfect supper... for $13.75. Nice.

Atmo-wise the cafe is nice enough, with a view on the cheese making factory downstairs... (which was closing up when I got there).

Will definitely make this a fave for me in the flat iron district.