circeplum
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Posts posted by circeplum
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i went once and thought it much ado.
went back and absolutely loved it.
worth another try if you've made your mind up on the strength of one visit.
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sweetings in the city is about the closest you'll get to the old school oyster bar experience in london.
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That's a shame (and a bit surprising given my experience).
Were you there for lunch or dinner? What did you have?
foie with ham hock and picallili (sp?) - nice quality but not a good match. sardines with piquillo peppers - the fish were good but the peppers tasted as though they came from a bottle.
a pigs cheek with sauerkraut dish and a guinea fowl (i think, it was a while ago) with a 'onion and sage tarte' - actually a disc of prebaked pastry with some softened onions on top, really disappointing.
also, both these dishes weirdly looked and tasted the same, as though they'd been doused in the same demiglace.
anyway, i have to confess to having hijacked your thread to draw attention to tooks, sorry! their cooking is so good and their business nous so rubbish that i have developed a weird maternal concern for them. apologies again (but i still didn't rate the chancery!)
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i'm afraid i found it deeeeeeply ordinary. but i'd like to direct egulleteers to the peculiar little tooks virtually next door.
you might be put off by the diabolical decor (first thing you see when you go in is a table football game ...) but the food, from an ex-roussillon chef is astonishingly good. as is the wine list. as is the cheese board.
cheaper and better than the chancery, but you'd never know it to look at it.
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you'll be telling us next that Circeplum is Marina O'Loughlin...
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That, or she refused to have a caricature done of her.
they could've always used ros out of monsters inc
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i've been reviewing since 1998. so many dinners....
and conor:
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Yes, it was lunch. We were the first to test drive the new roof-top terrace which is highly recommend on a sunny day.
is there a shorter/cheaper menu at lunchtime?
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I think Brasserie St Qunetin is not so good anymore and Racine you need to book for.
it's actually rather marvellous. new-ish (there a year or so, i think) chef - the gorgeously monickered nana yaw nitri akuffo - gave it a real shot in the arm.
news doesn't seem to have spread to many people under pensionable age, though...
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Thanks for passing along the information. After Moby's warning about Zaika, I went back through the archives more carefully, discovering several negative reactions to the food and prices. I've ditched that plan and am now leaning more towards Mela, which seems to get widely favorable treatment on the board as better food at a better value.
or there's the newly opened rasoi vineet bhatia which is damn' fine. bhatia is the chap who earned the michelin star for zaika and has now set up on his own.
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someone new's just joined my team, she's egyptian and seems to have a fantastic knowledge of the food. she said this place isn't that great but recommended a place on Beauchamp Place the name of which escapes me but I will find out for tomorrow.
if you mean maroush, it's a pretty formulaic chain, not bad but not earth shattering.
ishbilia round the corner on william st on the other hand ....
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How about some Lebanese at Fakhreldine?
Or The White Swan which is a pub and dining room. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole if it was a gastropub, but from the website this looks to be a rather smart restaurant that happens to be above a bar in Fetter lane. The chef is Jason Scrimshaw, which is a truely marvelous name and reason enough by itself to make this place an essential visit. Add the fact that he worked at Bibendum and Chez Bruce, that the first lady of London grub Fay Maschler gave it a 2 star review and that a three course dinner is £22.00 and you'd have to think of a pretty good excuse not to go.
the white swan is very, very good indeed.
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Also, everyone stared at me, but I don't think that's because I'm a celeb.
everyone stares at you in the wolsely in case you're a celeb...
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However, if I can wind back the clock a further ten days, then at Amboisie in Paris there was a Chocolate Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream that was the only time in my entire life I have tasted a dish that was absolutely perfect in every regard. Heart-achingly good. Completely unimprovable.
you've just reminded me of another favourite: the chocolate tart with orange ice cream at the sportsman in whitstable/seasalter.
awesome. sophisticated. perfect. and astonishing in these surroundings.
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mutton pudding at rhodes twenty four.
gooooood...
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why not just go to nearby Hakkasan?
because hakkasan stops serving dim sum at conventional (early evening) times whereas yauatcha just keeps on dumpling.
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Has everyone but me had a good experience at Yauatcha??
[excerpt from something I wrote yesterday]
that was really interesting ai leen. what did you write it for?
am also interested in hearing more about the kowloon takeaway - what kind of range does it do, and why is it better than others in chinatown.
thanks.
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sunday lunch yesterday at a great wee number in chiswick, the devonshire house. (devonshire road, same one as la trompette).
food was ace - gran reserva pata negra ham, a stunning fresh pea risotto with undyed smoked haddock, roasted free range chicken, and the best sticky tarte tatin i've had ...oh, in years.
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So - I ask in all seriousness - is this a place worth dining at?
yes.
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oh, and to borrow some phraseology from our american pals:
you go, girl!
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more clearing throat.
second coco de mer. there is also a woman-only sex shop in hoxton called shhh. men only allowed in when accompanied by a gal!
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we went to casablanca too, but became paralysed in the absence of anything resembling a tapas menu (the barman smiled wryly when we asked for 'la carta'). so we left after only a drink.
the restaurant proper looked absolutely vile - like the inside of a cheap sauna. but the food must've been fabulous because the place was buzzing with wealthy-looking locals.
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are you writing a report on the awards, andy?
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just back from seville and would like to say thanks to roger for his tapas recs - really, really useful. particularly liked the atmos of rinconcillo: expected it to be hideously touristy, but there were plenty of locals.
poncio was a real experience, too. some pretty imaginative stuff going on from the classically trained chef, especially a gazpacho blanco rich with garlic and almonds, studded with cured tuna ham (mojama) and topped with melon sorbet. weird room, though - dried blood colour, like sitting inside a slice of morcilla.
yebra is totally worth a trip to the less glamourous part of town. be blown away by the gorgeousness of la macarena then hit this rather bland-looking but buzzing tapas bar. the quality of the food is what's the draw. i particularly liked a dish of boletus with goose foie gras.
thanx again.
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Harpers & Moet Restaurant Awards 2004
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
surprised - but very pleased - to see le vacherin in there.
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