Restaurant
Name: | Cafe Tiffin | |
Area: | Clerkenwell | |
Address: | 69 Compton Street | |
London EC1V 0BN | ||
Phone: | 020 7490 2883 | |
Website: | www.cafetiffinlondon.co.uk |
Visits to this restaurant ...
1. 30 Aug 2018 | | | 2. 31 Jan 2019 |
Visit Report
Visit Number: | 220 (visit 1 of 2 for this restaurant) | |
Date of visit: | 30 Aug 2018 | |
Cost per head: | £22.50 (1.5 beers) |
Serv | Amb | Beer | Start | Nan | Rice | Main | Veg | VFM | Score | Comments | |
Overall | 6.3 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 6.3 | 7.1 | 6.6 | 7.6 | 6.83 | ||
John | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 5.1 | See John's comments | |
Jon | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8.1 | See Jon's comments | ||
Alex | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7.9 | See Alex's comments | ||
Jeff | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7.0 | See Jeff's comments | |
Tim | 6 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7.6 | See Tim's comments | |
Neil | 6 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6.4 | See Neil's comments | ||
Dominic | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6.4 | See Dominic's comments | |
Graeme | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5.8 | See Graeme's comments | ||
Mark | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 7.3 | See Mark's comments | |||
All Comments
John - Very average. King prawn purree had about 3 prawns in it. Main course (chicken shashlik bhuna) featured very rubbery chicken. Rest ok. BYO great. BO not so.
Jon - Other than the lack of a licence, this place has the potential to be the new Herb & Spice. Small but perfectly formed with great service and great food. I thoroughly enjoyed my salmon tikka starter and the lamb dansak was excellent. The time to the first course was, perhaps, a little longer than we would have liked, but it was well worth the wait. Great pub beforehand, handily-located supermarkets to stock up on the BYO booze – all in all a good find that I hope we return to.
Alex - Nice little place but a bit slow on the delivery of food, service was pleasant but I guess kitchen wasn't keeping up. Starter was very nice, as sizzling, tasty sheek kebab. Main was a bit of a variation, a mildly citrusy sauce that complemented the heat. Garlic nan was suitably garlicky and fresh.
Jeff - A pleasant August evening spent in the increasingly trendy and busy Clerkenwell area. Good beer in the Jerusalem followed by a 5 minute walk to the un-licensed Cafe Tiffin. A small and smart restaurant with pleasant service and an ungimmicky menu at reasonable prices. Portions were a good size and spiciness was about right too. I had lamb chops and Achaari Lamb - both tasty, although the chop was a little tough. I would be happy to come again.
Tim - Cafe Tiffin is quite small, and was completely full when we sat down. It took a while for the starters to arrive - nearly an hour after we sat down. I had the monkfish tikka - the texture was good as was the flavour. The main course of badami saag gosht - lamb with spinach and cashew - featured plenty of tender meat in a robustly flavoured sauce. I was less impressed with the keema nan - it was ok but a bit bland. Being able to bring your own drinks was a real bonus - cheaper and a much larger selection at the nearby supermarket. The BYOB and some Tastecard discounts meant the overall price was excellent, even after allowing for the cost of the drinks.
Neil - Something different from Tim this month. Very small, with only 24 covers, and bring your own bottle. Quite artisan/hipster in presentation, I think. I even saw cushions somewhere but may have imagined it! Starter (veggie samosa) was small and the main (Tikka Paneer Biryani) unusual but average in the end. Service was ok, a slow start but not much delay between courses. Not sure if we will go back but a good evening none the less.
Dominic - After drinks at the old-worldly boozer that is the Jerusalem Tavern it was off to a first visit at the Cafe Tiffin. The place is very small (I thought that was "my thing"!!) with one wall covered in wood while a mural adorned the other. Service was generally ok all evening despite the place filling up quickly. I chose the Meat Starter consisting of lamb tikka, chicken tikka and lamb chop which was quite good. For main I went for a Salmon Naga which was generally ok and nicely presented although nothing extraordinary. The rest was fine as well. Which tended to sum up the meal for me: fine but nothing extraordinary as reflected in my VFM. Notwithstanding, another enjoyable evening and well done Tim for finding this BYO venue.
Graeme - It was good to try a new (to us) restaurant in this nice, trendy area. Unfortunately, it didn't really deliver for me as I thought the food was all a bit boring. My Monkfish Tikka starter was just OK and quite a small portion while my Garlic Chilli Chicken main was certainly garlicky but lacked any 'sophistication'. The service was slow - we were seated for a while before things got underway with the poppadoms being brought and our orders taken and we had a very long wait for the starters to be served. The lack of an alcohol licence meant that we had to take our own beverages and, while this meant that the actual meal cost was quite low, this did not mean for me that it was particularly good value for money. Most of the others probably enjoyed the quirky craft beer pub that we visited beforehand but this type of place doesn't really work for me - as a drinker of either lager or Guinness, I am generally not well catered for in these establishments. However, the "Golden Shower" or whatever I was drinking was pleasant enough if one ignored the fact that it was probably made from cow's urine!
Mark - According to the bill my Tastecard allowed my Starter and Main as free items which means I paid £20 for 1 poppadum and my Pilau rice – no wonder I still have to go out to work rather than eek out a living on my pension. I'm sure I have the President role wrong and should be siphoning off millions to an offshore account or something. Good boozer to meet in, helped by the good weather, lots of holiday conversations, BYOB to make it a cheap evening (even cheaper for some!) and some reasonable food in an offbeat location that was ideal for my travel for once. Café Tiffin is a small place the serves locals rather than your City hotshots, West End mugs or Brick Lane tourists and therefore struggled to deliver a bit with a group of 9 which meant we had a long wait before starters eventually arrived. However, the overall turnaround time was fairly reasonable and the general level of service acceptable. A breaded mushroom starter was tasty and full flavoured although not very spicy. Main of Chicken Achari was very good with some large fillet-like slices and pleasant pickle spice that had a subtle kick. Rice was a bit dry but better than the oily versions you sometimes get with pilau. An enjoyable visit and I would be happy to return.