Just like the rest of what they do then…

Bibi Persian Cuisine, 157 Heath Road, Twickenham TW1 4BH    Tel: 020 8892 1018

Dipsophile should first declare an interest. He has known the current landlord of the Phoenix for over thirty years. Last year, when the pub was refurbished, Dipsophile helped to document the project in photographs.

After extensive building work the pub reopened in March 2008. Since then we’ve been for the odd drink, but we had never eaten there. Until now – and it is a pleasure to say that we can recommend it wholeheartedly.

In the dark and gloomy days just after the New Year, we joined some friends at the Phoenix for Sunday lunch. There were seven of us.

Most of the party chose the roast (roast chicken, lamb or sirloin of beef, served with carrots, green beans, cauliflower cheese, braised red cabbage, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and gravy, £9.95).

But Dipsophile has a jaundiced view of pub roasts, having seen too many plates of wafer-thin frozen beef microwaved and served up with watery gravy. So Dipsophile chose the sausage and mash (pork and herb sausages with wholegrain mustard mash and gravy £6.95) and Dipsophile No 1 son chose ham, egg and chips (£6.95).

Just for completeness, we should mention that they also do a main course of fish and chips (haddock, chips and mushy peas £6.95). They also do starters (home made soup, garlic bread, prawns, gnocchi, terrine, priced between £2.50 and £4.00 or so) and puddings (chocolate brownie and ice cream, chocolate and orange bread and butter pudding, mulled wine poached pears, ice cream, Banoffee pie, all at £2.95).

So how was the food? Well, Dipsophile should have ignored his prejudices. The Phoenix roasts were absolutely fantastic. Thick cut, tender roast meat, served with lashings of vegetables cooked just right and roast potatoes done to a turn; Yorkshire puddings that would have made Norah Batty green with envy; and wonderful gravy.

At this point there might have been wailing and gnashing of teeth, Dipsophile and son having missed out on the roast. But our food was superb – really tasty, unctuous bangers and mash, and a large portion of proper ham, egg and chips that ultimately defeated even our seventeen year old eating machine.

The afternoon passed in a relaxed way. Several of the party had puddings and the verdict was just as good as the main course. Our drinks were an eclectic mix of gins and tonic, real ales (they keep four) and a Rioja (good and reasonably priced).

At five it was finally time to go (we’d arrived at one!). The bill including a couple of bottles of Rioja was about £95 or, including a tip, £15 a head. As the late Bill Deedes used to say “Shome mishtake shurely?” In fact there wasn’t a mistake. It’s just very good value for money.

Certainly for Sunday lunch the Phoenix is highly recommended. Do catch it while winter is still here and an extended lunch fits the bill. In summer, the garden running down to the river means the place takes on a different (but still very pleasant) atmosphere and you might want to be outside.

As for the rest of the week, we assume that the quality and the friendly service we noted on a Sunday will carry through to their weekday menus. We look forward to finding out if this is the case.

Logistics

The Sunday menu is served from 12 noon to 7pm. They do not at the time of writing operate bookings, so do get there early if you want to eat.

If arriving by car, you’ll probably be able to park in The Avenue and walk the 50 or 100 yards to the pub.

The Phoenix   26-28, Thames St, Sunbury-On-Thames, Middlesex, TW16

                        Tel: 0871 917 0007   

Bibi apparently still say it’s in order to BYO if you wish. You might wish to phone to check that before taking any wine along. Their contact details are on my post of a couple of weeks ago (click the tag “Bibi” to go straight to the earlier post)

For years Ches’s Café in Crown Road has been reliably dishing up early morning bacon sandwiches and fry-ups.

But recently the focus has changed. It’s still a very good place for an English breakfast, but it has recently adopted a different guise at lunchtime and evenings – Ches’s Trattoria.

Wikipedia states “a trattoria is an Italian style of restaurant, less formal than a ristorante. There are generally no printed menus, the service is casual, the prices low, and the emphasis is on a steady clientele…the food is modest but plentiful and is served family-style (i.e. at common tables)”.

This description is pretty much spot on for the new Ches’s Trattoria.

Ches’s is on two floors. Upstairs is the café, downstairs is a more intimate, restaurant-like room. On a recent visit, six of us were booked for 8pm, and on arrival we were shown to the downstairs room.

The choice of starters is quite extensive. Seafood salad, Parma ham and melon, mixed salami, tuna and cannellini bean salad, mushrooms with white wine and garlic are just some of the dishes on offer, all at about £6 to £8. For main course there are about a dozen different pasta dishes, and 15 or so different types of pizza, all in the £7 to £10 price range.

In the end we went straight for main courses, without having a starter. Four of us ordered pizzas and two ordered linguine. The kitchen was busy, and we waited for a while over glasses of wine (BYO, because they are not at present licenced).

 When the food did arrive, the dishes arrived all at once and piping hot. The pizzas were large, fresh and tasty, and the linguine had a wonderfully intense and genuine Italian home-cooked flavour.

A quick poll round the table for marks out of five for the food returned votes of fours and fives from everyone. And the bill, for six people? £65.50.

The Verdict

Italian home cooking served with real warmth, friendliness and pride. It gets very busy at times, so don’t expect to be in and out in twenty minutes. But for a relaxed evening out with friends at a price that won’t break the bank Ches’s Trattoria is very hard to beat. Highly recommended.

Other notes

Booking is essential on weekend evenings. They also do take-aways.

As mentioned before, they are not currently licenced so you are welcome to bring your own wine etc. No credit cards, only cash or cheques.

Ches’s Trattoria          48, Crown Road, St Margarets, TW1 3EH

                                    020 8892 4615

This Persian restaurant at the end of Heath Road is a little-known gem.

Mr and Mrs Riversniffers were tipped off by people who’d already been. So we turned up one Sunday lunchtime.

From the outside, BiBi looks like a café; the external appearance, taken with the constant traffic and the cash machine and phone box right outside do not lead one to expect much.

However, inside the décor is more like a restaurant, with large tables generously spaced.

The décor was a clue to what followed. From the moment we entered the service was attentive and courteous.

We’d been advised to go to town on the starters, so we did. Between us we had stuffed vine leaves, sliced cucumber in yoghurt, vegetable and herb frittata, feta cheese and walnut salad and Persian unleavened bread.

The starters lived up to their billing. They were all wonderfully fresh and really tasty, perfectly complemented by the Persian bread (which should not on any account be missed).

By the time we finished the starters we didn’t have much room for a main course, so we ordered one dish between two – lamb kebab with rice. After a short wait an oval plate arrived bearing two large kebabs, a huge portion of rice and a spare plate for sharing. Accompanying the lamb was mint sauce and an interesting Persian spice, which we were told was made from pomegranate seeds.

The lamb kebabs were great and the rice was fresh, fluffy and separate; but despite that we could barely finish it all. In fact, all we had room for at the end was a coffee and some Persian tea, both of which were excellent.

The bill for this wonderful, fresh and satisfying Sunday lunch for two? £22.75. When the bill came, we thought there had been a mistake. But there was no mistake in the adding up. It’s just very, very good value.

We added a good tip – the service had been faultless.

The Verdict

There aren’t many places where you can have dinner for two, including a bottle of wine (BYO, as they’re not licenced) for about £30.

Don’t be put off by the café appearance and the location at the nether end of Heath Road.

Catch it while you can.

Other Notes

Parking can be difficult around Heath Road. If you want to leave the car at home, these bus routes go past the door: 110, 267, 281, 290, 490, H22, R70

The menu is on their website here, so you can have a great time choosing what you’re going to have, even before you go.

Bibi Persian Cuisine, 157 Heath Road, Twickenham TW1 4BH    Tel: 020 8892 1018