PoppySeedBagel

I find it strange that Arbutus got a star when Anthony's didn't, having eaten at both in the last year: Anthony's seems far more assured, and 'special'. I loved Arbutus but it's more a bistro than a proper grown up restaurant IMHO.

I agree about slow-loading Flash - I don't bother about having it up to date on my work computer as none of the websites I normally go into use it. As Bacchus is in Hoxton I can only assume you're not bothered about attracting anyone who isn't cool enough to have the latest Flash as soon as it's issued.

I don't know if the private rooms would be big enough, but try Bertorelli's in Charlotte Street. They did a surprisingly good meal for 26 of us the other night. There was choice of menus - even a cut-down a la carte is available. They coped with vegetarian, muslim, and kosher requirements pretty well.

From your previous posts chefsimon, you're opening soon in Surrey - would that be in Limpsfield???

Sounds to me like the restaurant manager needs to do some managing, if the staff have been chatting round the corner since at least September!

These days I construct my own, with cheese or salami or similar from somewhere like Villandry or Selfridges, and bread from there or Paul. I've got fed up of the porr quality sandwiches on offer, and the prices charged for them. Unfortunately someone clearing out the fridge threw out some wonderful Brie de Meaux recently, as they thought it was off...

Thanks everyone - in the end I soaked it overnight, then poached in cider & water, and it was lovely & juicy when hot, and typical hammy dryness when cold. I think the soak must have got out the salt, as I could boil down the cooking liquor for a sauce until it was very well-reduced and it wasn't salty at all, and neither was the gammon. The reason for my question was that we don't poach pork, even though it has the same spread of fat. ie around the edge not marbled. Is it that the salt that makes it tougher, so we have to poach first?

I am due to cook some gammon, to serve hot on Christmas Eve, then cold on Boxing Day. All my recipe books tell me to 'boil' it first, then to glaze & roast for only about 1/2 an hour in a very hot oven. No other meat, including pork, is cooked this way, and I wonder if the preliminary boiling dates from the days when hams and bacons were very salty, so the boiling was designed to reduce the saltiness. Do we need to do this these days? Is there any other reason for doing it? Does anyone not bother to cook it in water first?

I did complain to Sainsbury's about their tasteless prawns (I did admisttedly sweeten the pill by gushing over their stocking all-butter puff pastry) and they have credited £10-worth of Nectar points to my account. I'll be doing that again...

I bought Heston's Family Cooking at the weekend - it seems very good. He recommends a probe for testing the temperature of meat. This appeals as I often get my meat timings wrong - and I don't think I'd slow-cook a chicken without one: can anyone recommend a good probe supplier? Nisbets shoot from £20 (which looks rather cheap) to about £100 - I was hoping to find something in the middle - or would the £20 job be OK?

They won an award!! Oh - it's for packaging

It's not meat that tastes a bit like butter - it's foie gras, and yes, in my opinion, for the good fresh stuff it really is worth all the fuss. Edited to ask where, in the opinion of the forum, is the bets place to buy foie gras in central London?

apshelbourne - are you going to tell Tesco? You really should. It might make you feel better, and at least you will have done something. (I'm now inspired to email Sainsbury's about the completely tasteless prawns I bought the other day.) A friend works in 'product development' for a big supplier to M&S & Waitrose. Interestingly she never eats ready meals - she knows what goes into them.

Or fruit & vegetables if you want them to taste of anything (Morrisons I'm looking at you in particular)

Tim that was a wonderfully-written review - thank you very much for taking the time. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it & I certanly want to go the FD now - I didn't before, as I thought the theme park side of it would interfere too much with my enjoyment.

I neither rate nor rate them, as they are rather tasteless, but what are the sprout things that chic chefs use as salad garnish these days - they look like enormous mustard sprouts, with round leaves about 1- .5 cm across? I've had them at the Champignon Sauvage, Antony's and now at Arbutus, in the last year. They are also rather difficult to eat as they stick together, so maybe you're not meant to eat them...

<fluff> I went for lunch to Arbutus yesterday and it does seem to be settling down very nicely. I managed to book a 1.00pm table last Friday, so wondered if only eGulleteers ever went, but in the event the place filled up - there were only places left at the bar arrangement. It has a very good buzz - they have managed to make it fashionably bare without being so echoey that you can't hear your companions. There's also a very eclectic mix of customers, so anyone who likes meat could feel at home, and it's great for people watching. The portions are pretty big so we only managed starters of 'porchetta' and smoked eel, both following with the rabbit. It was all excellent gutsy food: tasted superb, and looks good without being over the top. I would return for the rabbit dish again and again! I'd then leave room for a pudding. I also love the carafe idea - more restaurants should follow suit - though I did then drink more than I normally do at lunch... My only quibbles were that we asked for tap water - which didn't arrive until we had reminded them three times, including (time #2) the man in glasses who runs it, and the table did wobble, almost tipping over our carafe of red.

Cheltenham would be a very good choice - lovely place, no particularly touristy, and, most importantly the Champion Sausage.

I read recently that a 'banger' was so-called during WWII, when they were so full of water (and no doubt other more dubious stretchers) that they would sometimes explode in the pan. I don't think recreating bangers is necessarily a good thing...

Could you please post the book's details including the ISDN number? Cheers

Arabella Boxer published a book about 14 years ago on inter-war food as eaten in the big country houses. It won a Glenfiddich award in 1992 -and is jolly good. The food is often simpler than the grand menus mentioned above - it's Arabella Boxer's Book of English Food

Mr PSB & I had a couple of nights and a day in Cheltenham, plus a trip to le Champignon Sauvage, last November and I'd thoroughly recommend that if you can't spare much time - the Champion Sausage is quite wonderful, and Cheltenham is a lovely town with a lot of things to do and see, and it's small so you can walk everywhere. We did much of our Christmas shopping in its quirky little shops. As we were mini-PSB-free, we hada particularly relaxing time. And if you can spare the time, the surrounding countryside is lovely too.

I'm sure I'll get shot down in flames, but while that menu does sound fantastic (& I agree that it does, and it will be wonderful savoury food), I do still think that their puddings let the side down. Thepuddings on that menu are a bit samey, and not particulary refreshing. Anis & licorice are very similar flavours (and not ones I particularly like), and the coconut parfait will taste not far off the egg custard, and have a similar texture. If I had turned up and been presented with that menu, I would have been overwhelmed by the choices for the starters and mains, and would not have had a pudding.

I too have Sally Clarke's cookbokk and also like it - it's good, serious cooking - not a typical chef's cookbook at all, in that there are dishes in there that you might actually be able to cook inless than an hour, so I also recommend that you take up that offer.

We had dinner at St Ervan Manor on our recent holiday. The 2 dining rooms are tiny [and less than chic, though freshly decorated] - but my word, the food was <i>excellent</i>. There were two fixed menus - Mr PSB had the £45 one, and I went for the £65, so I could have the lobster risotto. I tasted everything he had, and it was superb. So was what I had - except that the risotto, while it tasted wonderful, wasn't sufficiently cooked. Even the coffee was excellent. There was a backbone of great techniques, and a clear passion for producing great-tasting food - my main was lamb with haricots - a daube underneath, with freshly-cooked fillet on top: Mr PSB had similar, only made with beef - it was just really enjoyable and reasonably sophisticated food - just what you want when you're on holiday. There was the odd modish flourish - foams topping off the risotti for example, but not very many. Best of all, having had too many mousse/ice cream type puddings offered on London & Leeds menus, the puddings were proper ones - I thoroughly enjoyed the baked cherry pudding. I believe it is for sale - I hope Nathan is able to keep cooking like that, if not there, then somewhere nearby.