Simon Majumdar

The Ivy over St J's is she a bit simple this pal of yours? The Ivy is Ok food with views of fading celebs St J is a truly original experience Huh? S

Had you not let me take £10 from you last night I would come round there an kick your zimmer frame away Sanatogen boy. Anyway, I am only a nipper, as you well know S

The fact that she lives South of the river would always come between us. I don't visit The Swamp. Not even for a legover. Mogsob is quite right, though. The Jerusalem is only open until last orders ( 11pm ) The Wenlock on the other hand is very likely to have some sort of lock-in going on. An experience in itself S

I am not the person to ask about Valentine's day. Love is for saps, suckers and neer do wells and was invented by the Victorians to stop the spread of Clap!!! Anyway, ay St J's you MUST have the sig dish which is the roast marrowbone salad and, if you are very lucky, it will be squirrel time and you must have that if they have it. If not there is lots of other stuff. At The Jerusalem Tavern ( on Little Britton St- I think, but I am usually there after somewhere else and am a bit "tired" shall we say ) have the porter. S

Truly British evening has to be Pub - Jerusalem Tavern/Wenlock Arms Dinner - St Johns Actually, sounds like the perfect evening all round S

In true Majumdar style, I offered to phone and then realised I did not have my mobile with me. Sorry The FG drink looked fucking disgusting and I could not force myself to pay good money for one. What was DDG thinking? What was he on Fortunately, the rest of the cocktails were Ok and the BBQ afterwards even better S

Foodman, That looks spot on. I would warn against adding any more tom's. not just, as Suvir said, the sauce should not be too bright red, but also as it would overpower with tomato flavour. One thing you can do is add a little ground Kashmiri Chilli ( only these, no other will do ) to the chicken marinade and that will give both intensity of flavour and more colour S

After hearing of Jay's comments and hearing the comments of Robin and myself the night before ( and those of a number of customers ) they reworked the pulled pork last night and added some apple juice and a little vinegar to them. It gave a moistness and a much better flavour. The Burnt Ends were very good indeed S

Gary Rhodes has a wonderful recipe for Jambonettes in one of his books I will try and dig out a link. There is no foil involved and the legs are tied when stuffed It worked really well the once I tried it S

I have had great mutton too in Alabama. is that an import? God there is so much to learn and so little time S

I had some great pork in Kentucky. Don't tell me I am wrong as Jay has put this in his review. But then as he has also misquoted me on a couple of other things, no one will notice for all the other inaccuracy S

Fat Guy has asked me to co-ordinate and call him wherever we may be if we are around. He can't call internationally on his phone ( or he is such a tight wad he wants us to pay for the call ) S

Not bananas apples would work if you sauted them a little first to soften S

1) A mixture. The Pork was dry, the Beef, wet 2) The smoker was a gas smoker with the wood burner in a side oven to the main one. It had about 10 racks which rotated. 3) Its a brand of hot sauce isn't it? Oh, and a bad band. S

Soak the cake in a little Madeira and layer with Pears ( poached ) and an egg custard flavoured with chocolate and flaked almonds and some almond extract. Top with Whipped Cream and more toasted flaked almonds Sounds a bit weird but works wonderfully S

Ribs better at Bodeans The upstairs is a cafe/take away and they do Brisket sarnies and Pulled Pork I didn't try last night, but may go back tonight when I try the burn ends post The Player S

Here is a link Basically, they are the trimmings from the end of a brisket or a slab o ribs . They are slightly tough and chewy but have huge flavour and can be drenched in BBQ Sauces BTW the sauces at BOdeans were not bad. One was a good chipotle/vinegar sauce a la the Coarolinas. The other was a hickory sauce much like the ones we had in Texas. Robin thought there should have been one a notch up on the heat scale http://bbq.miningco.com/library/weekly/aa081702a.htm S

I am not sure what the chef status is there The menu is the same as when HJ was there and I was told that Robert Ried had left. There was however no evidence that he had ever been there. So not really sure

That does seem an awful lot of money for a not great meal. Ho hum I was planning to try on Thursday but will probably give it a miss Upper st is getting depressing now for non Angel manga style eating. The Almeida is fine ( good service ) but not great food and Lola's was hugely depressing last time I was there S

Last week our own Mr Rayner ( you remember him "Blue Harbour Rocks" ) asked me to accompany him to try out a new BBQ place in D'arblay St. We met first in The Player where said hack's Martini cherry was well and truly popped and then went to Bodeans. I wont go into detail about that meal as Jay is going to put a review in The Observer Suffice to say it was good enough that Robin and I went again last night. primarily as Jay had not allowed me to order all of the menu. Tight Journo bastard or what? We replicated the previous week almost totally by starting at The Player with an exceptionally well made Old fashioned ( with Hancocks single Barrel Bourbon ) a good deal at £11 per pop The on to Bodeans The restaurant is an ersatz version of every southern BBQ joint and is run by Andre Blaise ( of the original Belgo fame ) and Jay described their menu perfectly as BBQ Esparanto. A bit of Texas here, a bit of Kentucky there. The previous week the starters had been a bit miserable, so Robin and I did not bother. Instead we went straight for the main courses and ordered 1/2 slab baby back ribs 1/2 slab pork ribs Whole slab of beef ribs 1/2 Chicken and pulled pork combo chain of four linked sausages Each came with a side of beans ( very well made indeed ) and a slightly pointess coleslaw We also ordered two bottles of Anchor Liberty Ale The ribs ( the beef in particular ) were excellent. Moist and suitably slow cooked. We went back to see the smoker ( quite a beast - the machine that is not the man who seemed perfectly charming ) The chicken remained as it had been the week before, dry and chewy and the pulled pork was awful, lacking any of the unctuousness of its southern cousins. The sausages had a great flavour but were not as dense as the links I had on my trip to Texas. They have a bit of a marketing ploy in only serving Burnt Ends on a Wednesday. But Burnt Ends are such a thing of beauty that I would rush back for them. The service is charming and helpful. The manager is a very friendly woman called Suzzanne who didn't mind our demand to "see your oven" and they aced the mint tea test Bill with us ordering far to much for normal folk was a paltry £53 inc service. Not bad at all We spoke to Andre and I think, a la Belgo, he is looking to roll out the concept ( the design is set up with the word "franchise" high on the agenda ) and people could do worse, although I am not sure if it would play in the provinces I may or may not make it to The Player tonight. If I don't you can find me round the corner looking at someone's Burnt end 6/10 S

I say we do it We storm the Clerkenwell Branch ( Kristian there is the best Barman in the whole chain anyway ) and demand they make The Flaming Gully until they rename it The Flaming Nuisance and agree to make it As Thom says " Live a LIttle People" Although he comes from Manchester so surely it should just be " Subsist a little people until you die of a bad diet, drinking bad beer and smoking too much." S

Er, or indeed just move the event to the Clerkenwell Match Bar. S

I have the unfortunate task of having to head back to this atrophied monstrosity of a city in the nexy month, so tell me where this place is and I shall give it a fair hearing, er drinking. I have me doubts though S

Er, it isn't you pratt, matt

Thanks for the report Sounds like the food is back up to snuff. I think Sebastian was overseeing both places for a while and that may have caused a problem. The food you chose looks interesting. What else was on the menu? It has always been quite pricey, but I always thought it reasonable value for that part of London. The rather hammy staff routine can be a bit grating but, it is well intentioned and the staff are genuinely nice. As for their ability to make drinks. What on earth did you expect? every experience I have had of a Frenchy making drinks has been a disaster! S