Jump to content

circeplum

participating member
  • Posts

    572
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by circeplum

  1. Giles Coren gives St Pancras Grand quite a glowing review in todays Times, whilst Jan Moir really pans it, and then Dos Hermandos quite like it.

    We tried Jamie Oliver's new Italian in Bath and were underwhelmed, yet the critics loved the first one in Oxford (Bath is the same format and menu).

    Whose advice should I follow?

    St Pancras

    Read between the lines, it was not a glowing review. He is simply watching his back!! as the consultant to this new venture is rumored to be Fay Maschler

    not rumour, fact.

    http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/food/arti...&in_page_id=264

    though why that should have any impact on giles coren's review is beyond me.

  2. You mean the Metro where Arbutus was considered "posh"? Rather undermines the purpose of the restaurant...

    (yes I know, I know, to somebody who thinks Pizza Express is a romantic evening out, Arbutus is like a British elBulli...)

    So far the only people who I agree with are the eG posters. When I go out to try a new place it is always based on what people here have said. I think the problem is that by the time I read the reviews the restaurant has lost most of its sheen. Prefer the classics anyway.

    the metro review of arbutus: http://www.metro.co.uk/metrolife/article.h...25&in_page_id=9

    please indicate where you got 'posh' from? and your bizarre pizza-express-romantic-evening assertion?

  3. the simple answer would be to get a - genuine - satisfied customer to contact the reviewer personally. if there's no direct email address, features staff will usually forward stuff.

    i got a rec to go to 'dinings', a japanese restaurant in marylebone from a chap who raved about it. i went, he was right, it was great.

    but he'd obviously been telling everyone: fay maschler featured it last week, again, a really positive review.

    so by virtue of what i assume was simply a handful of emails - and so far as i'm aware, no official pr representation - the restaurant is getting featured in two major london papers.

    easy, huh?

    p.s. even if he was a shill, it worked...

  4. I never read to the end because I could see I wasn't going to learn anything more than 'this place sucks'...

    I was left uninformed and unentertained

    apologies. i try very hard to combine the two but i guess i missed the mark for you with this one.

    a bit of context, though - the case had no impact on me. i do always tell it like it is, good or bad (and it's been mostly good recently). i could have simply said 'this place sucks' and then moved on with what i and my pals have been up to over the weekend or the state of the nation like some of my colleagues , but i guess - restaurantwise - you'd be have been even less informed by that.

    btw, if you'd read to the end, the upshot was... the place sucked. what further information would you have liked?

    mx

  5. It is funny, but I usually tend to agree with Marina's reviews, but I think that she was off the mark on this one. 

    After lunch today I have to agree on both counts. I easily had one of the best restaurant experiences of my eating year so far. Everything from the pumpkin soup with pumpkin tortellini amuse to the excellent "mother of pearl" chocolates was outstanding. The service is, in my opinion, unmatched in the UK and I struggle to recall a better experience anywhere else in the world. There's real warmth, character and personality, particularly from maitre'd Jean Claude, which is so often missing.

    Cheapskate that I am, I had a bit of a battle with the sommelier to get the sort of affordable wines I was looking for but they are there on the list. I really like the room, although it did get a bit loud as the clock crept towards 4.00pm and the table of 8 having the tasting menu worked their way through their matched wines -but much rather that than a hushed reverance.

    but, to spookily echo jay's question from the ooze thread, were you announced or unannounced? :biggrin:

  6. Has anyone else had any experience of this place? Is it really as good as I think or has this hangover destroyed my judgement?

    tim's taste and discrimination shine through even the onslaught of the vino - went last night and agree, it was truly excellent. ravishing rabbit and fennel ravioli.

    mx

  7. Yes I hear Pearl's up and rolling again.

    Now Pearl - lovely food to be sure but does a restaurant in a cavernous ***** hotel plunked right in the in the middle of Lawyerland really count as "trendy"????  :blink:

    J

    well, last time i was there (couple of weeks ago) i ended up doing impromptu sort-of-karaoke with piano and bunch of terribly glamorous dutch types. sadly, they didn't know any country and western...

    and if that's not 'trendy', i don't know what is :biggrin::biggrin:

  8. There is only one person to answer this question......

    .....circeplum :wink:

    ok - i've bitten! :biggrin:

    recently, i've loved marco pierre white's new luciano. v. buzzy bar and good - not excessively priced - italian food. lightyears ahead of his frankies chain. and richard corrigan's bentleys is vibey in a not too blondes-with-no-sleeves way; i rated both downstairs oyster bar and upstairs 'fayn dayning'.

    or you can eat at the new cuckoo club - food is far better than you'd expect - without being a member.

    maze - whatever you think about ramsay, atherton can really, really cook - definitely amongst the best in town. and the ramsay name draws the slebs.

    also jun tanaka at pearl. seriously underrated and def high end. the bar does some first class cocktails and is rather severely beautiful.

    and the trois garcons/loungelover lot have opened a new joint in town annex 3. not what you'd call fine dining (although it sort of thinks it is) but most certainly hip in a more towny way than their other outlets.

    otherwise there's the wallet-hammering blue bar/petrus or foliage/mandarin bar combos...

    x

  9. neal st carluccio's is wildly overpriced. and underpowered...

    recently, i've really liked latium in berner's st. really good cooking at surprisingly reasonable prices. ditto camerino in percy st. both properly italian.

    for different reasons - buzz, glamour, but good food too - i also really liked marco pierre white's new luciano in st james.

    sardo: si. sardo canale: no.

    don't under any circumstances be tempted by the tourist-fleecing bollocks and ludicrous attitude of cipriani.

×
×
  • Create New...