What Sophie Said

Before moving to London, I'd never set foot in a Wahaca. After being introduced by friends, it's now reached my favourites list. The concept is Mexican street food - lots of small tapas-like dishes, which arrive to your table and and when they're ready. Always fresh, the food is of delicious quality. I've been to the Oxford Circus and Covent Garden branches, but recently headed into the Westfield Stratford branch for the first time. The Westfield branch was much quieter than the other two usually are, although it was a Friday evening, and we were seated immediately. It has the usual colourful, distinctive decor and huge menus on the table. Drinks-wise, they offer a huge range from the bar, but  personally always go for the apple juice. They juice about 5 apples there and then in front of you at the bar, and it tastes amazing. Time for what we ordered. On this trip, our list was made up of:- Grilled British steak tacos Pork pibil tacos Tender ma...

It can be easy to get stuck in a bit of a rut with restaurants, and keep returning to a place where you know the menu and you know you’ll have a good evening. A few weeks ago, Andy and I decided to swap our usual Italian choice for another Poynton restaurant, Ciao. We have eaten there before, but quite a long time ago, and we decided it was well worth another visit. It was a Saturday night, about 7pm, and it was packed. Whilst we were there, they had to turn a couple of groups away as every table was full. Despite that, it didn’t feel busy or crowded. Instead, there was a lovely atmosphere, and you could tell the restaurant owners knew plenty of their regular customers very well. The overall fell was friendly and bustling, and we settled in for some food. We had had a fairly large lunch that day, and baked cakes too, so decided to skip starters and go straight to main meals. Despite that, they actually brought over a complimentary round of bread and butter, whic...

In December, I had an evening with my friend Jen at Gusto in Cheadle Hulme. A popular chain, it’s a place we know we’ll get good food and enjoy a nice atmosphere. Cheadle Hulme’s Gusto is situated on a main road, and has a full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows, often covered in beautiful little lights. It is large, high-ceilinged, and with heavy wooden furniture. Gusto has an extensive menu, making it perfect for even the fussiest of eaters, and it means you can try something different each time. We decided to go classic on this trip – I opted for a pepperoni pizza, and Jen a Gusto burger. When it’s pouring down and freezing outside, all you want is brilliant comfort food! The food was yummy as expected, and we both jumped at the chance to check the dessert menu. Jen had the hazelnut brownie, and I had little mini donuts. They come with chocolate and cream, but I don’t like cream so was given double chocolate – I’m not complaining at that on...

In December, for our work Christmas meal, I had my first trip to Olivers , a restaurant in Woodford. They were offering a festive menu, but as I ate from the normal menu I thought it was more than worth sharing even though we’re now well into January. Olivers is tucked away, just off a fairly main road, and is quite a small place. When we were there, there were multiple Christmas parties in, which meant the place was very full and very noisy. We had a drink at the bar whilst our table was laid. I opted for J2O, as I don’t drink alcohol, and the others had wines and gin and tonics. The bar doesn’t exactly lend itself to standing for a drink, as it means you’re completely blocking the entrance, but we weren’t there for too long. We had a corner table, next to a window, and it was subtly decorated for the season. Jenny decided to jazz it up a little with her homemade decorations, which she has had in the office and was taking home for Christmas… The se...