Tonyfinch

How about Fri July 5th?

Roger, I've not eaten at Nahm but as I recall the Nahm thread there are others who take a less enchanted view.

If you're ever down Wapping way and fancy a Thai try Wharf in Wapping High St. It's a bit more expensive than your average Thai but it's several cuts above in terms of quality.The chef has been brought over from a Bangkok hotel (can't remember which) and in all the three meals I've eaten there every dish has been piping hot and really delicious.Decor is modern art on the walls. Service is sweet and helpful. IMO,best restaurant in Wapping by quite some way.

Yeah,of course. Wenlock is fine for me. Coupla days I can't do but name a date and lets see.

At the risk of labouring the Incognico point,once again a named restaurant where the "name" is hardly there.Seems more common than not.

Well,if you're going to venture as far as Edgware then you must visit the B&K salt beef bar which does the best salt beef in the whole of London. Also thick slices of hot tongue.

It's "the works" for breakfast English style,although come to think of it it's probably no more filling than one of those..er...hearty....American breakfasts.

I forgot to add re Andy's reccs,I've not eaten at the Savoy Grill or the Dorchester Grill (although I suspect they're heavily patronised by American tourists)but I have eaten at Simpson's in the Strand. Avoid at all costs at dinner but the Ten Deadly Sins at breakfast is something all good trenchermen (trencherpersons PC?) should try at least once in their lives. Don't plan too active a morning afterwards though,and don't plan to eat for the rest of the day.

Stella,for your British meal you might try City Rhodes or Rhodes in the Square.The food is not "traditional" British in the Rules sense,more a sort of Modern British with French touches. It's unclear how much Gary Rhodes actually cooks as both restaurants have their own "Head Chef". But they are both comfortable,classy places with lovely food. Another option might be the Butler's Wharf Chop House in Shad Thames overlooking the river and Tower Bridge.Some might revile it because it is a Conran joint but I've had a couple of fine traditional British meals in the main restaurant and the setting is lovely. I think the general consensus on the salt beef thread was that the best in Central London is to be found at the deli at Selfridges.

Of course I would. What,are we supposed to judge a country based on ALL of the people. How would we ever get round to meeting them?

Excuse me? Given the crackpot antics of some of you Americans on the Nazi thread and still carrying on in other threads that strikes me as just a tad rich-a bit like my boobahs honey cake(lovely with a slice of canteloupe and a sprig of fresh tarragon)

Stefany, Someone deep in your past subjected you to endless playings of Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey (I Miss You)",undoubtedly THE most nauseating song ever written.You have transferred this nausea onto the substance itself.It's called "Misplaced Projection". You'll be glad to know you really like honey after all but you're just a little f....d up. Got that? Then that'll be a hundred pounds please. Same time next week?

I don't actively detest any foods,though naturally I prefer some to others.However I can understand most of the loathings on "Best Food You Don't Eat Thread" in that I can see why people might hate those particular foods. However I am baffled and perplexed by three: honey,melons,fresh tarragon. The fact that there are people out there who actively loathe these foods begs the question of where does our taste come from. Is it a traumatic childhood experience with a particular food?(fresh tarragon?) or the consuming of one particularly bad example that taints the whole genre? I mean how do people come to detest melons,for goodness sake? Any ideas?

Exactly. Except on the two occasions I've eaten at the Stepney Sizzlers,the sizzle plates themselves were nowhere to be seen. When I asked the reply was that they had them but didn't use them,something to do with the smoke extraction system not being fully operational yet. They should get moving because serving up those kebabs and tandoori meats directly on the plate just isn't the same. This restaurant also has "sizzling" marinated beef steak on the menu. Unusual for an East End Pakistani place.

Kakijuro,I assume you mean the Lahore Kebab House which is not in Brick Lane but in Umberston St. off the Commercial Rd. The restaurants in Brick Lane are virtually all Bangladeshi run.The Lahore and others like it such as New Tayyab in Fieldgate St and the newly opened Sizzlers at Stepney Green are run by Pakistanis. The Lahore used to have a cult following and the food is still very good.However they were been closed down last month twice by environmental health officers and they have had ongoing problems of this nature for years.The latest incident was a mouse infestation in the freezer unit (presumably not in the freezer itself-I mean I've heard of mice taking a winter break but that would be ridiculous) I have always found the service at the Lahore to be unfriendly,not to say surly,although this might stem from years of having to contend with abusive drunken lager gits from the City-a problem that affects Cafe Spice Namaste as well,but which the New Tayyab seems to have avoided.

Near Harrod's ,on the other side of the road is Haandi ,which is run by East African Asians and features Punjabi cooking from that neck of the woods. I haven't been but my wife,who is Kenyan Asian,and her compatriot friends go there at least annually and say the food is tasty and authentic.

Cabrales,compared to the whites of the ostrich eggs you bought to the London egullet dinner,water chestnuts are mannah from heaven.

Winot,I believe you're London based. At the Viet Hoa Cafe in Shoreditch they do the most fantastic soup called Can Hua (or something like that) which contains(among other things) okra,tomatoes and pineapple.Its the best thing on the menu and guaranteed to change your mind.

Honey? What could possibly be so repulsive about honey? Most of the others I can understand,even if I don't share the loathing, but honey?

Beachfan,in the UK a few years ago a newspaper or a guide,I can't remember which,carried out the Cloudy Bay test. It compared the price of the ubiquitous Cloudy Bay NZ Sauvignon Blanc from the latest vintage on wine lists across the country. I can't remember all the deatils but you won't be overly surprised to hear that the price varied by incredible amounts-hundreds of percent. What was interesting was that it wasn't always the swankiest restaurants that were charging the most so you couldn't even point to a pattern in terms of the price level of the food. There seemed no rhyme nor reason for why one restautant charged this and the other that. Wine pricing is one of the great non-consumer friendly issues of restaurant going and I am surprised and bemused at how easily normally canny people allow themselves to be ripped off.

Aw shucks guys.....Actually,Simon,I'd reserve judgement until you've eaten the dish.It's not to everyone's taste.

The trotters eaten by Pakistanis are sheep and goats trotters.The dish they make with them is called Payahs.The trotters are braised in liquid and spices until soft and gelatinous and falling away from the bones and knuckles. The resulting dish is more like a soup than a meat dish and is eaten with rotis or naans. Simon, New Tayyab do this dish one night of the week(can't remember which) as a special.When I arrange the egullet meal there I'll ensure its one of the dishes we're served.

I think it's a real shame that the cuisine at The Connaught couldn't have a preservation order slapped on it. It was utterly unique in modern London and represented a throwback to the grand cuisine of the belle epoque which you just cannot get anywhere else.All right I know we have to move with the times and so on but Ramsey or whoever could have modernised a notch or two while still sticking to the basic culinary values that the Connaught has always espoused.He could have re-marketed the cuisine as a post-modern concept a little like Embassy has tried to do but on a grander and more luxurious scale. As it is-another high end Italian in London. I mean I like Italian food (doesn't everybody?) but it hardly fits with the ambience and history of The Connaught does it?

I've not been there but I've heard very good things about The Don which has a fine dining restaurant but also a more informal brasserie type section. I think it's in St. Swithin's Lane. I keep meaning to try it. Post about it if you go. Not a French brasserie but right on the edge of the city,near Aldgate is Adriatico-a modern Italian which is moderately priced and which features Stinco de Porco (marinated and slow cooked pork shank) on the menu. Fay Maschler has just favourably written up Aurora-one of the restaurants at The Great Eastern Hotel by Liverpool St. station.

From now through the summer the wonderful Pakistani Honey mangos are available in London. They are yellow,not green, and come with stands of silver and gold paper attached.They are only available through Asian shops and markets,never through supermarkets, and are incredibly cheap-£2 for a box of 6. By the end of August I will have gorged on them.