Café 21 - The Ultimate in Celebratory Cuisine

Surrounding the festive period and New Years the majority of restaurants across the country, both good and hideous will whore themselves out with 'special' seasonal menus. Many involve feeble attempts at festive cuisine with pointless 'quirky twists' and minuscule portions, which only enrages the Fat Spoon. That said, some of the festive menus are outstanding, but there can only be one king of celebration. That is Café 21, which specializes in offering excellent yet fairly priced set menus all year round. And being part of the 21 Hospitality Group you can expect amazing dishes with a great deal of effort behind each one, made with the finest of ingredients and erupting with finesse. Café 21 is only really out shadowed by it's burly bigger brother, The Broad Chare. But when you want fine dining with all that glitz and glam guff, then Cafe 21 has to be your first choice. So break out the champagne and make your choice from the range of contemporary dishes boasting great game, rotund beef dishes and exquisite seafood. The beautiful presentation across all dishes will make your best efforts look like MasterChef gone wrong. High level food should look as good as it taste, as should the serving staff. Thankfully Café 21 doesn't disappoint. There is also a convenient Café 21 installation in Fenwicks, if MacDonald's doesn't cut it as mid-shopping bait. Definitely another big shot...94%

Za Za Bazaar - Buffet Slayer

This is definitely a first. The Fat Spoon is having to eat it's own words. In a previous review (of Flavours) it was vowed that Indian food could never be done well in a buffet format. This new restaurant from Bristol had the Fat Spoon very much mistaken. This literally dazzling restaurant is another one of those world buffets, except the interior concept is anything but bland. The interesting layout, retina-burning neon lights and beautifully aggressive colour scheme generates a very holiday-esque aura. Like all world buffet restaurants they aim to cover all bases with a vast ranges of stations such as Italian, Tex Mex, 'British' and Chinese. But these are generally tag-on cuisines with little to offer other than making you fat with carbohydrate overload. The real heavy hitters at Za Za Bazaar include the substantial Indian contingency, Thai curries and Vietnamese dishes. If you can resist the generics of the restaurant and focus on specialities of Indian and Far East Asia, then you will be in for a right treat. They've clearly sourced a large number of excellent international chefs that are not only able to produce the classics, but also rarer regional dishes such as Dosas, Amritsari machi, gulab jamun, Pad Thai, Shui Ziu fish and Nasi Goreng to name a few. This flavour explosion is as vibrant as the decor here and might leave you weak at the knees and the sheer volume will definitely result in you walking like a 30 stone gangster rapper with a peg leg. Fantastic. The service is and quality of excellent, but you would expect that from somewhere that's just opened and has put so much into their opening delivery. What will be interesting is how Za Za Bazaar deal with the test of time, that usually sees other world buffets crumble in integrity and quality, like the British transport system when we get half an hour of snow. But for now it is vigorously recommended that you give Za Za Bazaar a try. 84%

Gourmet Grub - Hangover Heaven

Many of us have been there, some more than others. Many of us are quite possibly there now, or will be soon based on it currently being Christmas party season. Yes, it's the dreaded crippling hangover that makes your brain feel like an old shriveled prune and leaves your stomach in a black-hole-like state. And providing you can face food, there is only one solution that will make it everything OK again and eliminate your feelings of self-loathing and calamity. That is of course a hefty, filthily greasy fry-up. A beautiful mountain of protein, grease and pure magic. And the Gourmet Grub cafe is the place where you can get that fatty fix. You can refill your soul with their signature "Big G" breakfast, which will satisfy even the greediest of animals. Bacon, sausages, toast, eggs, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, black pudding, hash browns and a cup of tea for less than a fiver! Even the stingiest of students cannot reject such an outstanding offer. Not only is Gourmet Grub very inexpensive, but the little Geordie lady that runs the cafe will look after you like you're one of her own. Saint. It isn't just about breakfast here either, they offer some very cost effective lunches in the form of £2.20 meal deals, free cakes on match days and hot daily specials. Brilliance doesn't always have to be extravagant, sometimes its the simplest things that work the best. 76%