Fancy a curry?

I was going to blog about the 2 curry houses that face off on West End Lane- Bengal Spice, which always seems to be packed and the subterranean Spice Plaza, which generally seems empty. A fact that never ceases to amaze me as it seems conversely proportional to the quality of the food. (I have been to Bengal Spice twice in the 7 years I have lived in the area and been impressed by the consistency of the food on both occasions....)

As you may guess, I am the kind of girl who comes out of the tube and turns right, but with a friend in tow on Monday night I decided to turn left. Turns out that Monday night is not the best night to turn left, as my first two suggestions were shut. My friend however was very keen to sample the Sri Lankan restaurant that we had already passed and hence we ended up in Elephant Walk - just us two and the staff at 7.15 on a Monday night. But I am glad we did.

The staff were eager to please (not just us - but also the other clientele that arrived later!), the decor is fine in a minimal way but the food is the real highlight - which is exactly what you want in a local. I know very little about Sri Lankan food, however what we tasted was very good. Quite complex spices lead to a different taste to the usual curries that you get at an Indian. The curries we had were relatively light although the sauces were a little salty to the taste. Matched with a cabbage and cumin dish as well as lovely lemon rice and paratha, this really did not deter from the overall taste of the meal.

In fact we were so eager with the menu that we went for a full 3 courses and coffees. Maybe more places should be open on a Monday!

lovefood? Love Gustoso's?

Having long been over-endowed with estate agents, charity and coffee shops, we seem to have recently become overrun by deli's and grocers.

That Organic Place started in the unlikely position on Mill Lane and apparently does free delivery over 25 quid. The optimistically named North West Deli provides a useful array of fruit and veg, organic meat and Middle Eastern spices by the fire station.

But deli-wars seems to have come to fruition at the Dennington Park Road crossing. lovefood opened late last year in the heart of the main drag of West End Lane taking over a rather forlorn looking cafe. Green in colour and philosophy I thought it a welcome addition to the area. Then Gustoso's opened hardly a month or two later. More posh deli this time, it is a second branch to a popular Maida Vale store which provides deli delights and upmarket ready meals at Maida Vale prices. It should also be heralded for cleaning up that particular shop unit.

Numerous and loyal customers will be what will make them a success. So, go shop & support your local businesses.

lovefood does a good coffee btw!

Idea of heaven?

I went for a wander today around Hampstead Cemetery at the top of Fortune Green Road. This is often commented on as a good place to go for a walk around and it has taken me many years to get round to it. Sight of this lovely photo posted on flickr by 'outblissed' spurred me into action (and lets face it, in January - it is good to do something that doesn't cost anything!).

As I walked up the hill past the monstrous building site for the new flats, I turned into the cemetery gates. The place is - well, it is like a cemetery. But the view is significantly better if you cock your head slightly to the right.

To the left, the flats, sorry "updated mansion block" (the architects words, not mine) are even more overwhelming than they are from the road. CZWG are the architects and the flats are already up for sale with Goldschmidt & Howland although they won't be ready till September.

The website states that there will be a central pavilion "in ziggurat form to obviating the overlooking of nearby graves". Great use of the English language.

Although the cemetery is surrounded on most sides by residential housing, which to the north includes some sizable houses, nothing encroaches like the new flats. My viewpoint isn't from a dislike of modern vs 100 year old housing stock. I love modern architecture for both living and commerce, but any architecture should fit in with its surroundings - complementing rather than detracting from the area.

I'm sure the flats will do much to raise the profile and amenities of that stretch of road - for good & bad no doubt, but they aren't for me and I doubt I'm alone.

West Hampstead on eBay!

Playing around the other day, I thought I'd look up West Hampstead on eBay. Turns out there were a few items. One was an old railway ticket, another a bill from Witham & Co Ltd, Motor Engineers and Carriage Builders, 219 West End Lane (now Ladbrokes!). Quite a history lesson.

I wonder how much the whole place would go for?

Designer goodies for Christmas?

I watched with interest as The Vault, "Design Store" took shape a few months ago. It looked a little out of place to me. A wee bit too chichi for the area - and it seems that I wasn't the only one looking at this local issues website.

Apparently set up by own of the Kiwi founders of the very successful, GBK burger chain, this is the first London store of what turns out to be a NZ venture, whose motto according to its website is " the objects with which we adorn our lives are not only a reflection of ourselves but of our past, present and future culture " - this makes me think it is even more pseud than I had at first thought, but the NZ connection does explain the decor which appears to be a carbon copy of the shops on their NZ website.

But will this work in West Hampstead? I am curious. I personally think it is a little overpriced and partly this is because it has sourced much of its goods from New Zealand. Although these 'objects' are generally very nice and high quality, I wonder if this store has missed the boat? With a greater emphasis on green values permeating the country and Camden specifically, do people really want to pay 20 quid on a trinket that has travelled the world to make it into your stocking?

I'm not sure. Time will tell no doubt.

ooh la la - another chain restaurant

I see that ooh laa lla, or ooh la la, or ooooohh something or other has shut. This is a bit of a shame as they did try. I quite enjoyed the food last time I went, although the experiment that was the interior decor may well have been its downfall.

I remember looking it up when it opened and noticing that it had rooms above. These now seem to be branded as "291 Suites". They look rather nice from the website and probably a handy addition to the hotel room situation in the area.

The restaurant is to become another chain - Strada this time. Opening in Feb 08 according to their website. Probably not something we really need, but no doubt I and most of the neighbourhood will frequent this more frequently than we did the ooh la la variety.

Christmas lights on West End Lane

I quite liked the understated white lights of the last few years, so was rather put out with the brightly coloured, childlike festive lighting that Camden provided this year.

They have grown on me though - West Hampstead isn't really posh enough for the white ones.