Haringey
The Queens

The Queens

26 Broadway Parade, N8 9DE, Haringey, United Kingdom

Pub • Fish • British • Vegetarian


"It's a bit worrying when you walk into a pub for lunch and the staff kind of ignore you. The manager could see we were waiting and came over and took us to a couple of reserved tables. He seemed to want us to sit next to another couple, with about a foot between the tables. We didn't and sat at the table next to that. It wasn't busy for a sunday and it was odd that he did that but whatever. Logistics? Anyway nice young woman came and took our drinks orders and was very pleasant if a bit flustered. Ordered starters and the porchetta. It's a lovely Victorian pub and we had a nice natter before the padron peppers and bao crispy beef turned up. Both were really nice, and well cooked. Then things went a bit pear shaped. Firstly my roast arrived but not my partner's as the waitress admitted she had forgotten to order it, just having asked for one main. She offered a comp dessert and was super apologetic. Mistakes happen so we were all fine with that but not so much with the porchetta. Expecting pork wrapped around a herb stuffing instead I had cremated meat next to a weird disc of paxo. The meat was so overcooked three hours later I could still taste the it and not in a good way. How the kitchen had thought it ok to send this out was beyond me. Yorkshire was also charred and the potatoes were pretty ****. I asked for more gravy and got a jug of what tasted like stock, it was so salty to be inedible. When my partner's food arrived she was already off put by the state of my plate and was massively unimpressed. Her yorkie arrived, burnt a few minutes later. We ate here a few months back and it was superb despite it being super busy, yesterday it was half empty and so not sure what was happening, there were two chefs in the kitchen and only maybe 10 tables. We complained to the manager without making a rumpus and pretty much said the above. He comped the mains without any argument which was good of him but he could see how bad it was just looking at the plates. Shame because this is a decent pub."

Salim Spice

Salim Spice

15 Turnpike Lane, Haringey, United Kingdom

Pizza • Kebab • Cafés • Fast Food


"I'm not going to say this is the best curry take away in London but it does get my full recommendation. Not really for those who don't like spicy food as all the curries have a bit of a kick. Pre-prepared curries are in trays...in the chiller and portions are individually heated, rather than each dish being cooked from scratch, if you know what I mean. I don't know if it's just because of Ramadan right now but what I like is that they change their selections so you can sometimes try something new. I had Chana Chaat today -a spicy cold salad type dish with yoghurt which was very good indeed. Fried spicy aubergine slices were something else on offer recently. Tasty. And they've done a kind of fruit salad which was refreshing in the hot weather. One favourite of mine is Masala Fish which they will serve wrapped in a bread with salad and mint/chilli sauce. Pretty hard to beat. Nice to see a good variety of veggie dishes on offer. Mixed veg chana dhal are staples and there'll be others like okra. They don't have bean curry very often, though which is a shame as they've had some ace black eyed bean curry in the past. Samosas are home made and decent. Not like the chewy ones some places sell. And they have a proper tandoor so naans come out fresh and fluffy. And they sometimes do puddings like rice pudding, semolina or those brown squidgy looking things, the shape of kiwi fruit -Galub Jamun. Staff are friendly and even pick out the cardomon pods from me pilau rice when spooning it out which is a nice touch as I can't stand it when you bite into one of those beggars! It's also right opposite a pub, if you want to build-up a beery appetite first. Not exactly Weight Watchers!"