Chu & Cho's

Chu & Cho's restaurant in Charlton Church Lane used to be the best Tapas place that I'd ever been to, and that's saying something. It's still very good, far better than the touristy places in Greenwich or Blackheath, but it's just not what it used to be.

What's happened is that they've started doing Thai food as well. I'm not sure if it's a take-over or some other business type deal but there's new people working there too. I'm fairly sure that the couple that used to run it are still there at weekends, which is pretty much the only time that is used to be open, but in the week there's a different crew there.

The new food isn't the real issue, it's the reduction in the menu of the food that they used to do. In particular the dessert section has been decimated. They used to do a fantastic creamy lemon dessert in a small cup and long doughnut style fingers served with a rich chocolate sauce to dip them in. Not any more. That's a real shame.

I was there the other night with some friends and we had a great meal. Two of us had a couple of beers each and the others had soft drinks and all for a very reasonable £17.50 or so a head. Though that didn't include dessert, for the reasons stated above.

Despite me seeming a bit down on it it's still a fantastic place to eat.

I can really recommend the fried Calamari and the Patatas 3 Salsas which have never disappointed me.

They also have occasional music or poetry evenings when seemingly local people do their thing which makes a great backdrop for a meal. Just ask about the lemon cup dessert and seem disappointed if they're not doing it, maybe it'll return.....