Afternoon Tea at Browns Restaurant and Bar

Advantages: Good value afternoon tea
Disadvantages: Slow service

...Recently one of my favourite things is afternoon tea. You would think that living in London it would be easy to find somewhere to have tea and scones. Living in London it is usually fairly easy to find whatever food I feel like eating, no matter how exotic that food is but it seems that finding somewhere where you can have afternoon tea that doesn't cost upwards of £25 is close to impossible! I was even considering paying the £38 that it costs to have afternoon tea at the ritz but fortunately before I managed to book a table a friend of mine suggested we have afternoon tea at Browns. I agreed, thinking that she meant the hotel and that I would still be paying over £30 for tea. Fortunately the place she had in mind was Browns Restaurant and Bar, not Browns hotel. It has now become a regular thing for me and my friend to meet...

Brooke3 06.07.2009 · Read review
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Review of Browns Restaurant, London

LONDON'S CALLING

Advantages: Pleasent stay, good food, central location
Disadvantages: Views from room

...were still unimpressed with the brightness. So on went the remaining five lights and it becomes an acceptable level of light to read by. The room is decorated in brown/beige striped wallpaper and as said has several lamps around the room. Sitting on the-what appeared to be nine draw side is the TV (swivels round). The TV was a story of its own? The curtains and bed covering is a pleasant blue check design, while the carpet is a brown check design and unappealing in my opinion. Let?s look out the window?.Wow what a view! Three further walls of the hotel and a load of rubbish set on a blue roof below. A total mess and this let the hotel down somewhat. The nine draw cabinet is in fact on a three draw one. Pull the top draw on either side and you reveal a cupboard, one of which holds your tea/coffee making facilities (passed criteria test 2...

dabmim 28.03.2003 · Read review
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Review of The Strand Palace Hotel, London

Michael Caine Is Harry Brown

Advantages: Gritty British thriller
Disadvantages: A bit full on at the end

...movies like Death Wish, Exterminator, Falling Down, and more recently, and perhaps more similarly Grand Torino. Harry Brown follows a pensioner as he makes the daily slog off his East London council estate past the gangs of violent youths to see his wife (terminally ill in hospital), and best friend Len. In a blink of an eye Harry?s life is torn apart, firstly his wife dies, then in a suspicious incident Len is killed by the gangs that essentially run the estate. An ex marine, Harry?s killer instinct is revived in a late night attack by the banks of a canal, having easily despatched one of these thugs, Harry is determined to take the rest down, regardless of cost. To use the term gritty would be too tame a word to describe this movie from first feature film helmer Daniel Barber. From the movies incredibly shocking opening to its brutal finale...

sghawken 03.11.2009 · Read review
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Review of Harry Brown

LUXURY IN LONDON!

Advantages: Brilliant rooms, service, food, internet etc
Disadvantages: expensive!!!

...around ten minutes in a queue to get two underground tickets, which came to a very reasonable £6. We then took the underground to Victoria, which only took around 10 minutes and didn?t require any changing of tube routes. My grandma, although having not stayed in this part of London before, had a very good idea of where the hotel was in relation to the underground. It wouldn?t have been a problem even if she hadn?t of known, as; as soon as we rose up from the underground stairs we were met by a large sign with a huge black arrow on it stating ?The Grosvenor?. We followed the sign and within literally a minute, we were outside the hotel. First impressions and checking in The hotel, from the outside was utterly huge, and extremely beautiful. It reminded me very much of a palace, it was a creamy brown colour and looked incredibly posh...

SweetTooth93 08.03.2009 (12.05.2009) · Read review
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Review of The Grosvenor, London

Stranded in London!

Advantages: Excellent central location; good bars and restaurants
Disadvantages: Rooms a bit old fashioned; a little pricey

..." - the inner courtyard of the hotel with the humming air conditioners at the bottom. I can live (or sleep) with that, but there was also an awful rattling, like pipes, coming from somewhere in the ceiling. We went back downstairs to complain, and were told there were no other rooms. After standing our ground they eventually checked us in to an alternative room on the 4th floor. A little bigger, but still not brilliant - probably "average", from past business stays down in London hotels. The reception staff weren't particularly friendly, as other reviews have mentioned. Despite being "club" rooms, all that appeared to be different was the decor. Instead of old-fashioned wall-to-wall flowerey decor and furnishings, it was plain duck-egg walls, and a "modern" bed (faux-leather headboard and plain brown and green blankets). Not worth the extra money...

tall_andy 12.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of The Strand Palace Hotel, London

Brown hasn't lost it

Advantages: Great story, flows nicely, good characters
Disadvantages: Keeps you up all night

...of the science was a little complicated (I really don't have a scientific mind at all) and I had to double read a few bit to ensure that I understood them fully. As I said, I had every intention of not reading the entire thing, but every time I started a new chapter I thought to myself 'right, this is definitely the last one', but then I'd get to the end of the chapter and I just had to find out what happened next, so then it was 'just one more chapter can't hurt'. As for the characters, well Robert Langdon is typical Robert. If you haven't read any of the other books I don't think this one would give you a real understanding of him, although it does give you some insight into his past and his days as a new lecturer. But I think Dan Brown has assumed that you know Robert and his little foibles. Although I don't believe it'd exclude anyone from...

Fiver29 16.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

THe Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

Advantages: Great story, interesting
Disadvantages: Is it true??

...The Da Vinci Code is probably one of the most controversial books of the modern day. When it was released it caused a storm. The Da Vinci code was released in 2003.It was written by Dan Brown and was an international bestseller.The book has sold 80 million copies as of 2009 and has been translated into 44 language. Most people, I know me included always thought this was his first novel. However, his first novel was actually Angels and Demons which was released in 2000. I've read the book and really really enjoyed it. It's one of those books that I think keeps you mesmerised from beginning to end. I found it hard to put down. Of course, the subject matter is very controversial and although it is meant to be somewhat fictional I can see elements of truth in it. The basic story features Robert Langdon, a professor of Symbology. He is...

Spottydog11 04.12.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

Jackie Brown Film Review

Advantages: Characters
Disadvantages: Tarantion isn't for everyone

...While at times I have found Quentin Tarantino's nonlinear storytelling quite frustrating, I do tend to enjoy his movies. Jackie Brown, his third as a director, may not seem like the most stylistic of his works within the first sitting -- especially when it has Pulp Fiction to contend with -- but it's a film that will grow on you each time you watch it. The leisurely pace is one of the main reasons why I like it so much. So, what is Jackie Brown about? Well, the title character (Pam Grier) works as a flight attendant for a small Mexican airline, who also smuggles illicit arms money into America for gun merchant Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). The FEDS soon bust Jackie and attempt to cut a deal with her to get to her boss. Feeling threatened by the law and Ordell, she hires an honest bail-bondsman, Max Cherry (Robert Forster...

andycarrington 11.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Jackie Brown (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

Golden Brown, Texture like sun

Advantages: A good read to take your mind off thinking
Disadvantages: A very similar read to his other books

...that the artist I want to do it is no longer in my city, adding travelling costs to that £500. Basically Ryan = even more depressed than he was just being bored. In a last ditch attempt to cure my boredom I decided I would go to my shelf and pick up one of the books I had not read. Luckily for me it worked. Unfortunately, I picked it up right at the start of my weekend. It is now the end of my weekend and I can't actually remember doing anything but sitting in my bed reading, which is brilliant and everything?but now I'm finished it and I'm bored again. So I figure I shall review it. A bowl full of fun For my Christmas a few years ago I was given three books by Dan Brown. From the shameless self promotion plastered over the first and last four or five pages of each of the books, I noticed there were in fact four Dan Brown...

ryanando 21.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Digital Fortress - Dan Brown

Handa's Surprise - Eileen Browne

Advantages: Very colourful with plenty to talk about
Disadvantages: Story is quite basic

...Handa's Surprise Like many people who work or live with children Eileen Browne thought that she would be able to write a successful children's book. After all, all you need to do is write a couple of lines per page, create an attractive central character and throw in some moral or life lesson and bob's your uncle, royalty cheques by the busload. The reality is somewhat different, and when something looks deceptively easy it's because it is anything but easy. Fortunately, Browne is an excellent children's author (as well as an accomplished illustrator) and has now produced several very good books. Her publications include 'Through the Window', 'Tick Tock' and 'Where's that Bus?' but probably her most famous book, and certainly her most successful, is 'Handa's Surprise'. With many years educational experience behind her she had very...

brereton66 21.12.2006 · Read review
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Review of Handa's Surprise - Eileen Browne