PoppySeedBagel

This thread is ominously quiet - does it mean no-one is going, or that the food is neither so good or so bad that it's worthy of an update? Mr PSB is keen to go, as he loves Italian food, following the Harden 'Best Newcomer' gong, but it does sound expensive, and rather poky & unfriendly. We'd be taking mini-PSB who's 10, so we'd be eating at 7.00, and I don't fancy the constant reminders that we can't hang around! So would we be better going to Locanda Locatelli?

I should add, to be fair, that Viners prix fixé menu being only Tues to Fri was actually written on the sign, but in such small writing that I really had to look hard, and squint to see it as we drove by. In future I'll remember to stop, and trudge over the verge, to check on such offers. I doubt I'll be going back to Viners though - unless it changes again.

As we're down in Cornwall now, we have just been to Viners. I had been interested by the roadside signs advertising "2 courses for £13.95, 3 courses for £18.95." IME you can get more interesting food when the chef has to use the cheaper ingredients so I was looking forward to seeing what was on offer. However when we weren't given the set menu, I was told that it isn't available on a Saturday. Admittedly I didn't check when I booked, but there was no mention of this on the signs, nor was it brought up when I booked. The menu wasn't that exciting - there is a pre-printed menu with the meat dishes on it, and things like the foie gras and twice cooked soufflé mentioned above, plus a sheet of photocopying paper showing the daily specials. Nothing on the main menu really appealed to any of us, though Mr PSB, wanting no meat or fish eventually plumped for the vegetable risotto (£13.95). That was a very small portion, and had an over bearing taste of something not particularly nice so the vegetables themselves didn’t shine. It was also a bit overcooked. My turbot with grapes (£18.95) from the daily menu was delicious – perfectly cooked, and in a very simple butter sauce. Mini-PSB had to go for the steak burger from the children’s menu as nothing else appealed to him. Chips were promised with this but none appeared with the food. When they arrived after 10 minutes (a long time when you’re 10) they were also delicious – perfectly cooked (so they do have a deep fat fryer despite the comment above!). The only pudding that I fancied was the strawberry sundae from the children’s menu – which was OK (July strawberries and decent vanilla ice cream). Mr and mini-PSB shared a chocolate brownie with raspberry ripple ice cream which was fine. Overall, I would say it’s poor value. The service was good, and friendly, and some of the food was very good, but it was let down by the other things – in addition to the economy over the truth of the set menu. For example, we had the ‘marinated olives’ – they were fridge cold, and the only thing they had been marinated in was the brine in the tin – no oil herbs or anything. They were good olives but far too cold, and of course were not as ‘advertised’. The bread was served too hot, and was rather pappy and cakey – like those packs of mixed rolls from M&S. My word the main course portions were tightly controlled – the risotto would have been servied as the pasta dish in Italy, and my turbot was a very small bit though they tried to plump it out - by serving on a bed of the same vegetables that came by the side. The puddings were enormous OTOH, but expensive at £7.50. Given the excellent quality and cheapness of ingredients that I have been buying since we’ve been down here, I am surprised that it’s as expensive as it is. It was definitely better last year - I mentioned that we'd been last year, and the waiter said 'oh we've had a new managr since then, the old one left to set up his own restaurant'. Doesn't sound like it's actually run by the chef, and actually it shows... Talking of ingredients, I do recommend anyone who’s self-catering, and wants to avoid the supermarkets, to go to Kingsley Village food hall, just off the A30 at Indian Queens. It’s an awful name, and I avoided it for ages, but actually it’s like a really good old fashioned grocers – it even sells Epicure brand products, although most of what it sells is produced in Cornwall – the jams, biscuits and so on. There’s an excellent butchers, with 21 day hung local beef, a very good fishmonger which sells live crabs and lobsters, and turbot(!) and if you arrive early enough at the bakery you can buy Vicky’s organic bread which is sour dough and gloriously chewy. The rest of the bread is supermarket quality. Some of the fruit and vegetables can be a little tired as unlike supermarkets it’s not all kept in fridges, but there’s enough variety for this not to be a major problem, and when the produce is fresh, it’s excellent.

We went to the Manoir at the request of mini-PSB to celebrate his 10th birthday (he had specified any 'fancy restaurant'). It was a great success - the children's menu was, surprisingly, a little dull, so we opted to share two tasting menus between the 2 1/2 of us - but mini-PSB did get the egg mayonnaise made to look like a mouse mentioned upthread - which was beautiful. The food was very good - more inventive, and more modern, than some of the recent posts upthread had led me to think. I'm afraid I can't remember very much about it now, as it's over a month ago. The overall impression I retain is of light and very tasty food - no foams, but some unusual combinations. The bread was wonderful, as were the puddings. They were fresh, fruity and summery - just perfect. The staff were very good - they even organised a marzipan snail on the birthday boy's pudding plate - he loves snails and would otherwise have been disappointed that they weren't available.

We had a very good meal at Viners last summer and it's hard to believe it's the same restaurant from your description.

FWIW [i haven't eaten at WM, but] a friend whose opinion I trust was there last year and said the food was disappointing - too many trendy foams, and little flavour. We were eating at Sketch at the time, and she said you could see the point of the flourishes at Sketch but at WM it just came over as pretentious.

I talked the assistant into giving me a large lump of the fat from my pata negra ham today, as I love it almost as much as the meat. I am sure there are recipes in which it is the star (there are a few bits of ham still attached). I'd welcome knowing what I can do with this other than nibble bits. Would it be a waste to render it down? (I suspect so).

Strada is hit & miss too - I like the one in Market Place W1 - next door to Carluccios, and so much more fun, with far better food - and real Italian staff. However we now have a Strada in Reigate, and it's almost like Carluccios - no Italian staff, and it shows - dull, and chainy (ie the same menu everywhere)

It's OK but only Ok - it's a chain, and therefore predictable

Yes you want a recipe for tablet - which is fabulous. This link explains cooking it in all its complexity: http://scruss.com/tablet.html I don't think I beat it enough, as it was rather too grainy, so be warned! PSB, Surrey, England

I went yesterday and had lunch in The Library. I was amazed at how good an experience it was in every way. It was nothing like as cutting edge/tricksy-for-the-sake-of-it as I had feared; just tasty, very well-cooked, and beautifully-presented food. There was only one 'foam' and that was rather tasty - a bizarre-sounding combination of apricot, chicken foam and fried onion rings, that actually worked really well. All the 4 starters worked, tasted good & looked beautiful (neither tricksy, or silly). The main of hake in ginger and lemon sauce was fabulous - it looked beautiful, the vegetables were perfectly cooked, and the flavours melded together really well. The lemon flavour came from tiny cubes of intense lemon jelly. The 3 puddings were - intensely-flavoured summer berries with strawberry sorbet - simple, and classic, with an indefinable herb flavour that enhanced it beautifully; orange sorbet with orange sauce (with a faint flavour of star anise), and a chocolate cake that looked groan-inducingly rich but was actually gloriously light with a flaky wafer keeping it delicate. I had eaten too much of the [excellent] bread, so couldn't do more than nibble the petits fours. The coffee was one of the best cups of coffee I've ever had - as good at La Tante Claire in 1993... ( and served in tiny, fragile Russian china cups, so it looked wonderful, and was really hot) I had not been impressed initially, because we could only go to the restaurant if we were escorted by the maitre d' - which struck me as very pretentious. - and we therefore had to wait as well. The website is also a triumph of style over substance, soI had expected the same of the meal. However these are all part of the whole experience - and it was An Experience, the whole thing. I had expected to have an experience - what I had not expected was to relax so much and to enjoy it so much, and for the set menu to be so good. The service was immaculate, and the staff were charming.

I went to Benares recently. I love the look of the place, and some of the food was good (well OK the chutneys were delicious), but overall it was a disappointment. My starter (deep fried soft shell crab) was tasteless though well cooked and lovely and crispy. My main was lamb on a bean stew - the (nice) lamb itself was unspiced, so too much of a contrast with the beans, but they were nothing special - I could cook them at home, and in fact it didn't taste like the spices had all been fried enough - maybe it's the classic Indian way of cooking when the masala is added right at the end - or maybe not. The 'special' puddings were beautiful to look at, but very dull and bland and not in the least Indian - cheescake, sorbet (very tasteless) and brownie. I'd been hoping for a kulfi! The staff were charming mind - more than usual in central London restaurants.

Had our first trip to the Sportsman a week ago: it won’t be the last. I loved the bread and the homemade butter, though didn’t think they actually went together. The onion bread was fabulous but didn’t need any other fat, and the rye bread was too strong in flavour to let the butter sing through. I shared the antipasti platter – a lovely selection of salads, and pickled things. The smoked eel, and pickled herrings were similarly simple and very good. The mains courses were all excellently cooked. I had the roast rib of beef, which was served with the best Yorkshire pudding ever – light and crisp. I had thought my mother’s Yorkshires could not be surpassed – but sorry Mum… The meat was superb – tender and very full-flavoured. The roast potatoes were also the best – perfectly golden. The starters and mains were all extremely good, solid, but basically quite simple classic British cooking, using top-quality ingredients. The puddings however were fancier, and more modish – except the excellent rhubarb crumble. I had the blood orange lolly with cake milk, sloe gin foam, and junket topped with red fruit and breakfast cereal. I’ve moaned on this board before about how ‘claggy’ I find most high-end puddings are these days. Too many of them, I find, are creamy, with golden flavours, and not enough fruitiness to counteract the creaminess, and there aren’t enough different types of pudding – they are all creamy. Well this was a modish pudding that was extremely well balanced, with a good contrast of tastes and textures. This was the star of the meal for me, but I enjoyed everything thoroughly. The hot chocolate mousse with ice cream and caramel defeated my small son – so I had to help out, and by gosh, that was good too. We topped this off with a walk along the sea wall, in warm sunshine – smashing.

MoGa thanks for the tip - I've passed that shop a few times but didn't realise it was a teashop, as opposed to a tea shop... I haven't been recently, but in the past I've had lovely lunches at Sketch patisserie - small helpings but absolutely exquisite, and of course great for people-watching

My default for meeting girlfriends is Arbutus: although the veggie options aren't great, it fits the bill in all other ways, and has proved a hit with all of my chums.

Beard Papa's puffs are fabulous aren't they?? I've only ever had the vanilla ones - what else is good? Not a very balanced lunch thoughbut.

I love the Wolseley - it's got a great atmosphere in the evenings, & the food is good although you probabaly won't get a table at a sensible hour at short notice.

I went to the Westerly a couple of weeks ago - as you will observe I haven't rushed to report. I was disappointed - not by the food per se; for me, the restaurant just didn't live up to the reviews it has had. The food is good, well-cooked and made with very good ingredients. The stafff are friendly and service fine - though they like to serve their fino sherry warm... However with the exception of my bourride whch had superb ingredients and was beautifully cooked, I could have cooked everything on the menu myself, and possibly a little better. It's a good neighbourhood restaurant, and we don't have many of those in Uk, but you can't just pop down to it, as it's so booked up. That's not its fault, it's doing a good job. As regular posters will know I love Arbutus in London - the food is like Arbutus-lite - it does in two dimensions what Arbutus does in three.

Oh.My.God I've been to the Dining Room a couple of times, though not recently - pretentious, dull food, and patronising service. I heard Kate Moss took her mum there recently and got really fed up of the fawning.

Has anyone stayed at the Hotel Continental and can recommend it? My husband lived there when he was a student in the 1970s, before Whitstable was gentrified - it was really grotty then, judging the photos. I gather it's quite smart now & it would be fun to book in if it's worth staying at.

Not to the bit of Yorkshire where I grew up - near Wetherby

How about superfluous use of 'a' - as in "plaice with a red wine and caramelised shallot sauce"

I went last week, and liked it a lot. I too had the pigs head, and then had a thick piece of plaice in brown butter with shrimps - it was really lovely. My friend had the venison, and the duck egg and pancetta, both of which went down very well. She then had the chocolate soup, which was good & chocolatey. I had a problem with the puddings as always, as I like fruity, light puds after such rich mains, but theirs are all creamy and/or eggy. I therefore went for two servings of the cheese - perfectly kept and served. Only two portions looked a bit thin on the (large) plate but was enough for me. I approve of their charging by piece of cheese, so you don't pay for cheese you don't eat, and there's no waste. It has such a different feel to Arbutus - I almost felt back in the 1930s but in a good way, eating country house food.

I actually rather enjoyed Gilgamesh's food when I was there earlier this year. We had our firm's summer party there in July, and we had a fixed menu for a group of about 30. I don't often eat anything other than British/French/Italian/occasional Indian, so if you are more used to true eastern cooking it may be unimpressive, but it was fresh, and very enjoyable for a novice like me. They also dealt very efficiently with a relatively large party - and it is a very impressive place, except perhaps when the trains squeeze by.

I was so put out they didn't register! - the petits fours always used to be rather nice.