Graveyard Page

I have received several emails pointing out that some places featured on these pages have - for want of a better expression - gone tits up. I initially thought I'd leave these places up until I got an email asking for directions to Crystal's restaurant. I quickly dismissed the idea of deleting places that had closed down, because that would make this scanty site even more anorexic. Then a colleague of mine suggested sticking all the places that had closed down on a separate page. This means all my hard work (!) hasn't gone to waste, and I don't go confusing members of the public any more than necessary. Thanks Steve! (One more thing - he's the camp bloke on this site's index page, not me!)

So here we go then - a record of Hounslow past for posterity. If posterity's interested, that is... (All the reviews are as they originally appeared.)

 Crystal's:

This is a newly-opened Middle Eastern take-away/café/restaurant near what used to be C&A. It's extremely nicely done out inside - there is a café bit at the front and a posher restaurant bit at the rear. The whole place is tastefully furnished, and gleamingly clean. The menu offers a wide choice of starters, with rather fewer main courses. I enjoyed the falafel I had and also the strange things that were like miniture pasties filled with spinach. My companion who is rather better travelled than me remarked that the Arabic salad was exactly the same as the ones she enjoyed in Morocco. I ordered a mixed grill for a main course expecting a African Queen-style smoking mountain of flesh. What we got was a rather more refined dish of three kebabs (chicken, shish and lamb) with salad. And a huge nan bread. The whole lot was reasonably priced, and the waiters were friendly enough even if their attempts to explain what some of the more unusual dishes were on the menu left us none the wiser. The only drawback to this place is that they don't serve alcohol; nor do they allow you to bring drinks in with you. Call me a lager-soaked alcoholic (many do!) but it doesn't feel right sipping a coke when you're eating out. And my after-dinner coffee would have tasted much better if it had been accompanied with a large brandy. Still it's their place and their rules. Lack of booze notwithstanding I enjoyed this place and can recommend it. Certainly one of the better cafés in Hounslow and one that wouldn't look out of place in poncier parts of the borough. Yes, "ChiswickW4", I mean you!

Sandai: 

Like Musical Images this place has a wide range of top quality electrical clobber, and again, knowledgeable, non-patronising staff. I bought my DVD player here and noted that they were significantly cheaper than Dixons. They flog a lot of high end stuff - if I wasn't so self-controlled I could quite easily have splashed out £5000 on a quite amazing plasma TV and another grand or so on a very cool video camera. If you're in the market for something silver and shiny with lots of small buttons I would definitely compare this place's range and prices to those of Currys et al

 Tankerville:

Thankfully this pub has gone back to its old name after a brief period when it went by the appalling monicker of Big Hand Mos. The naff name's not all that's gone - the video games are no more and sadly if you want to use the jukebox you now have to pay. It was very quiet when I last visited early on a Friday evening - probably due to the facts that they don't sell Stella, and they seem to have a dress code that makes baseball hats mandatory. If you like pool, karaoke, and alcopops this would probably be your ideal pub.

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