Surely this has to be the best example I have ever seen of when to use Tiny URL for a domain name?

The restaurant has signs outside advertising it’s all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. At £6.50, it seems like a good deal. Even though the restaurant claims to be Vietnamese the lunch buffet is anything but, stocking your standard Chinese regulars: sweet & sour chicken, Beef in black bean sauce, chicken curry, egg fried rice, noodles, spring rolls, chicken in batter, chicken wings, weird tofu dish etc.

There was the regular menu with Vietnamese dishes but this is lunch club so the lunch menu overrules!

The scores
Speed of service: It was a buffet so the service was as quick as our legs wanted to move – 6
Quality:Standard Chinese dishes. Hopefully it wasn’t sitting there too long? – 6
Quantity: ALL YOU CAN EAT! – 10
Location: About 2 minutes – 8
Value:At £6.50 the food represents great value but when given the bill we had been charged service! For a buffet! – 5

No fish in the buffet no extra points. Total score: 35/55

Not impressed with the service charge for a buffet and why not consider including some Vietnamese dishes? Little Hanoi offers a haven for those struggling to overcome the night before when quantity, not quality is required.

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You must be able to to handle all aspects of WordPress theme development, from the install of the cms to the development of additional functionality. You will push WordPress to its limits and beyond.

You must have some experience in PHP web development, CSS and HTML, MySQL. Ideally you will be degree educated or have equivalent higher education standard.

This position is an office based vacancy at our east London studio. Please supply examples of your work online and a current CV with references.

Apply in writing to jobs@bythescruff.com. Application close 26/02/2010.

No agencies.

The quirky decor makes for an interesting trip whilst you roam for a seat as Zigfrid’s is a popular location any time of the day. Downstairs holds the club – the Underbelly which hosts all sorts of acts but recently the rock and indie scene have taken control.

They had a few tables towards the back of the bar so we wandered to a vacant one. Much rejoicing for their lunch time menu included fish and chips. So we ordered.

Fish and Chips £5
Pint of Grolsch

The scores:
Speed of service: More of ordering at the bar and waiting than table service – 6
Quality: Fine at £5 for the lunch deal but not worth the bumped up price otherwise – 7
Quantity: Craved extra chips! – 6
Location: About 2 minutes – 8
Value:The £5 lunch menu strikes again to our pleasure – 8

5 point bonus for fish and chips on the menu totalling Zigfrid Von Underbelly score to: 40/55

Come here for the atmosphere and and night time debauchery rather than the food.

http://www.zigfrid.com/

New website launched

The new site still uses WordPress as the publishing tool but we have completely custom designed a new template which makes for an entirley new design and layout. Stories and features have been given more space and the style has changed completely to one that really compliments the subject and the great articles that are published on this website.

WordPress is very easy for the team to update and the website can really show off the wide range of topics and advice that are offered. Pippa will be launching a shop this year as well as continuing to provide hints and tips for home owners as well as looking at new trends for interiors through this year and next.

Take a look www.pippajamesoninteriors.co.uk

The films created by By the Scruff  are used to promote Croner services and are featured on the website www.croner.co.uk/simplify

I have been using The Adobe Browser Lab for quite a while now and sincerely cannot fault it. It allows you to compare screen shots of your web sites side by side, in onion view and in plain site view. You can zoom in on the screen shots, set capture timeouts and do many other cool things.

What wins me over in this application is the ease and the speed of service. Have a look at this screen cast where I am comparing the twitter homepage. The screen shots load in a few seconds, you can easily compare the page in various browsers, it’s simple and perfect, at least for my needs, this is the ultimate cross browser testing tool.

You are free to visit the Adobe Browser Lab and sign up for a beta account.

Situated on the bustling Kingsland road you are spoilt for choice if the palate craves the far-east, with two other Vietnamese restaurants next door and many more along this stretch.

The restaurant was surprisingly quiet for a Friday lunch time. Evenings typically see the restaurant spilling out the door.

The menu looked familiar; it turns out the restaurant is an offshoot from Old street’s ‘Cay Tre’ using the same menu.

Everything looked great but we opted for the lunch time deals with dishes being reduced from around £8 to £5 until 3pm.

Pho My xao
‘Pho’ or ‘egg’ noodles wokked over a high flame and laden with fresh vegetables with chef’s special.
Asahi draught

A hearty combination of noodles, vegetables and mixed meats including calamari, pork, prawns, beef and chicken.

The scores:
Speed of service:Good service although the place was quiet – 8
Quality: Fresh ingredients, freshly cooked. Fantastic – 9
Quantity: Plenty of food – 8
Location: The furthest we had walked so far, pushing that lunch hour – 7
Value: Receiving a meal off the dinner menu for cheap – 8

Having chips on the menu at this place would be a crime and the plethora of fish dishes ensures the Friday tradition continues. Although rules are rules, so one point deducted 4

Bringing Viet Grills’ score to: 44/55

The first proper restaurant for the lunch club showing bars how it’s done and Viet Grill leads the pack.

http://www.vietnamesekitchen.co.uk/

I passed my local Fish & Chip shop last night called Victoria Fish Bar on Roman Road. This take-away restaurant is seriously stuck in a battered time warp from 1971 as are its owners. It amazes me how some businesses stay open as this is as far away from the Indian, Turkish and Lebanon take-always that crowd this part of Roman Road but I couldn’t help but fall in love with the place. It’s like a living museum and it must be funded by a local charity or trust.

Everything from the seating to the signage is preserved in a kind of yellowish film that would cost thousands to replicate on a set. As I waited for my chips I couldn’t help feel nostalgic about this era and feel a growing respect for the old couple who have probably worked these fryers every day for the last 40 years. That’s true love.

I only ordered a portion of chips this time but I do remember one hazy evening of having ordered fish. Unfortunately I’ve had better tasting food but that’s not really the point. It was more like paying for a trip down memory lane and taking part in one of those interactive museums, with warm chips.

Anyway, I will suggest the Lunch Club visit the Victoria Fish bar on one of our trips. It will be worth it.

Have a look for yourself click here

After entering through the tricky rotating door (a definite health risk come 2am) the place had a nice buzz and sat with a window view of Hoxton street. In the Summer, these windows open right up. Perhaps a better exit route than the door?

Upset at the lack of a lunch menu, we sought comfort in good ‘ol fish and chips.

Haddock and Chips w/ Tartar Sauce £7.50

The scores:
Speed of service: Standard – 7
Quality: The presentation was good as was the fish but to our HORROR the ‘Heinz’ ketchup was in fact a sub-standard tomato sauce poured into the classic Heinz bottle – 3
Quantity: A good portion – 8
Location: About 1 minute – 9
Value: Dinner time prices for lunch time? – 6

5 point bonus for fish and chips on the menu totalling Electricity Showrooms score to: 38/55

There was a chance Electricity Showrooms was going to take the lead in our lunch club until our chips were dunked in lies. Poor form.

www.electricityshowrooms.co.uk/