Celebrity Chef's Restaurant

Advantages: Lovely place to eat and socialise
Disadvantages: None

...House. A well deserved win. So, two weeks prior to the big day The Barbican Kitchen was chosen as the "Venue" due the fact that some members of the family had previously been there and enjoyed it and that the rest of us had always fancied giving it a try . As the food is all freshly cooked there, they would be able to do a pasta dish for my niece to fit in with her dietary requirements and in no way would this be a problem for them. The Brasserie is one of two eateries in Plymouth owned by the celebrity chef brothers James and Chris Tanner who are often seen on programmes like Ready Steady Cook on the BBC. The Brasserie is situated on the upper floor (lift access available) of the Black Friars Gin Distillery building situated within the cobbled streets of the historic Barbican, Plymouth. This is the building where the Pilgrim...

Wisegirl 18.07.2007 (29.02.2008) · Read review
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Review of The Barbican Kitchen Brasserie, Plymouth

Good value, comfortable hotel.

Advantages: Service, room facilities, price
Disadvantages: Location - it is slightly out of the centre, takeaway breakfast

...I stayed here in mid August 2008 for one night. I needed a cheap room at short notice which could accommodate my wife, daughter and me and finding a match for this criteria in London wasn't an easy task! After checking for Travelodges without success I saw an offer for Thistle City Barbican on Travelzoo and phoned reservations quoting the code MMM23. The offer was for a Double Deluxe room with breakfast for £79. I was hoping that they would have a family room under this offer too so I asked the very helpful Wendy who checked for me and, although there wasn't one available, she told me that they would put a Z-bed in the room for us. All was well so far. The Thistle website says that there are three tube stations which can be used to get there and we found that the easiest was Old Street on the Northern line which is about a 10 minute...

Arboy1971 18.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Thistle City Barbican, London

Comfy, clean, costly

Advantages: really comfortable
Disadvantages: films are too mainstream

...I just love the Barbican Cinema. OK, you pay West End prices, when you're a good coupla miles from Leicester Square, but it is a classy cinema. And you're not paying over the odds every week, when it's half price all day during 'Monday Madness' (including Bank Holidays). You can get some Loseley ice cream on your way in to either Screen 1 (below ground level in the Barbican Centre) or Screen 2 (up the top near the Conservatory), which is always a treat! Screen 1 is far superior - the screen is large and the seating is sooooo comfortable. There is loads of leg room, which makes it really difficult for compulsive seat kickers to ruin my viewing! The audience is mixed, dictated to mostly by the film being screened. The mixture of the crowd is good, because you don't get a dominant behaviour - such as irritating guffawing (pompous...

faithbuck 29.08.2001 · Read review
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Review of Barbican Centre (London)

Value for money

Advantages: Something for everyone
Disadvantages:

...The Barbican is a major concert hall in the heart of London, home to the London Symphony Orchestra. It caters to all kinds of music, not only classical, though of course classical is at its fore front. The tickets prices are extremely reasonable, getting to see some of the most famous orchestras, soloists, and conductors for as little as £6.50. These cheaper seats offer an excellent view, unlike many other venues that offer "restricted" view seats for the same kind of price. The seating is both roomy and comfortable. The Barbican centre also offers a gallery and theatre, home to the Royal Shakespeare Company, cinema, as well as numerous eateries, book shops, and conservatory. The staff are pleasant and helpful, and the centre caters for disabled people also. I think the Barbican centre offers excellent value for money...

AlisonKT1 27.10.2000 · Read review
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Review of Barbican Centre (London)

So what's it actually like then

Advantages: loads of free stuff & towels provided; great facilites & variety; central location
Disadvantages: slightly pricey; can get a bit overcrowded at certain times of the year

...Well I have been going to Holmes Place Barbican now for nearly 4 years - basically not much less time than I have been in London - took me about 6 months here to realise that to keep fit in this town more of an effort is needed and that the lack of good weather made joining a gym the only option I could find to stop turning elephant shaped. Even more important I was feeling grumpy - I had not realised what a difference lack of exercise could make to my general demeanour! The reason I chose Holmes Place firstly is because it is central and we have a corporate membership - most important I didn't have to pay a joining fee (which I think should be avoided if at all possible!). However there was no reduction in the monthly cost through being a corporate member. At the time I joined in 1999 I think the cost was £52 a month. In four years...

rositabonita 23.05.2003 · Read review
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Review of Holmes Place, Barbican, London

All you need in a hotel

Advantages: central location, decent rooms
Disadvantages: none

...The Holiday Inn in Plymouth is located on Armada Way, up towards Plymouth Hoe. This is a good central location for the Hoe, the Barbican and the city centre, which are all within walking distance. There are 211 rooms in the hotel, all of which have tea and coffee making facilities, colour TV, desk, bathroom and wardrobe. Each room has individual temperature controls. Rooms available include family, wheelchair accessible ones and also non smoking rooms. If need be, there are several auxiliary aids available. These include portable induction loops, vibrating pillow and flashing light alarms, large print menus and refrigerated medicine storage. There is a car park at the hotel which is a multi story car park. There is also a small open air car park across the road which seems just as secure. When parking, my advice is to use the open...

razzer246 26.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Holiday Inn Plymouth, Plymouth

Stop Press! Fleet Street Hack in own TV Series!

Advantages: An easy-to-watch and entertaining series
Disadvantages: None in particular

...for those colleagues and friends that he obviously has some admiration for. Bowles gives a convincing performance as a Fleet Street hack and there is a good deal of location filming (the Barbican, Holland Park, the South Bank etc) which gives extra dimension to the stories. Guest stars and regulars include: Gwen Taylor, Peter Ellis (Brownlow from The Bill) John Bird and Jane Laurie (wife of Leslie Grantham). This is a slower paced drama, albeit one set in an industry that is changing fast, focussing on relationships of the central characters as they go about their professional lives. This slow pace makes it easy to watch, and the episodes present 12 almost self-contained stories, although there are various strands that recur throughout the series, notably Lytton's relationship with his estranged wife, the publishing of his first novel, (based...

raymortim 24.11.2007 · Read review
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Review of Lytton's Diary (Box Set) (DVD)

Shiver Me Timbers

Advantages: Smooth and very tasty, heaven in a glass.
Disadvantages: It is a bit expensive but worth every penny.

..., unfortunately smooth is a word that just does not go far enough. Plymouth Gin, a product established in 1793 a recipe established as a favourite then and maintained to this day. Produced at Black Friars Distillery in the Barbican area of Plymouth where surprisingly a monastery once stood. At a strength belying its smoothness of 42% by volume, be warned, tread carefully or it could be the mothers ruination of you. It contains juniper berries, coriander seeds, angelica root, orrisroot and cardamom pod. So perhaps as I love spicy food it was not a surprise for me to attach such a fondness to this bevy. It is human to err, as it is to compare. In comparison I must say that Plymouth is smoother, more fragrant and tastier that Gordons, it rates highly with Bombay Sapphire and is better tasting than Tanquery, but never as strong. Local Supermarket...

clanmac4 07.11.2001 · Read review
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Review of Plymouth Gin

Plymouth Copthore Hotel

Advantages: Great Location
Disadvantages: More of a Good 3* Hotel than a 4* Hotel.

.... There is a small charge for this (about £3 or £4 per day). I have stayed at B&B's on Plymouth Hoe, and they still charge for residential parking, so the rate at the Copthorne isn't that bad. It is located at the top end of the town. This means it is great to explore Plymouth - the shopping is on your doorstep, and Plymouth Hoe and Barbican are about a 10 minute walk away. It is also away from the bars/pubs that are at the lower end of town, so noise disturbance is surprisingly low for a town center hotel. When you check out, you are more than welcome to leave bags at reception for the rest of the day (whilst you finish shopping/sightseeing) Con's : There is a whopping great big Sainsbury's (and car park) next door. We once got given a ground floor room overlooking the sainsbury's public car park. We could have managed - but...

sbenbow 03.10.2008 · Read review
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Review of Copthorne Plymouth, Plymouth

Books, cards, the list goes on.

Advantages: See text.
Disadvantages: See text.

...person growing up, my friend was treated to a number of trips to Plymouth on holidays. He said to me that he remembers various different parts of Plymouth although he hasn't been down for quite some time due to one reason or another, so in my wisdom I decided to look for some postcards to send him. Yes, I know that it is not quite the same as the real thing but the thought is the main thing. Could I find any postcards in Plymouth city centre? No, I could not! Not without going for miiles to a gift shop on the Barbican. But Waterstones was my saving grace - you see, I told you that they sold any manner of things didn't I? The cards were easy enough to find, as they were just inside the front entrance. 35p per card, not bad but I have seen cheaper. As I was in there, I decided to take a little closer look at the rest of the shop...

dynamicnurse 11.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Waterstones.com