sarah w

Hasnt Manoir now got alot of competition now in terms of accomodation now you have Whatley Manor, Babington, Cowley Manor etc.. Maybe more youthful & not the foodie destination but all are lovely properties with stylish rooms,spas etc. We won a stay,champagne and dinner at manoir 3 years ago, Our suite was amazing,huge..called Provence. It had a hallway, living area, massive bedroom,walk in shower & dressing room. I think it would cost over £795-875 a night We really enjoyed ourselves (i guess it being free helped) but i did think that if we had stayed in a small/er room it wouldnt have been so great as there is nothing to do at the hotel other than walk round the gardens, have a drink or eat.. We didnt find the food lived up to its reputation, nothing wrong just nothing inspiring. x

Might be off the mark but I have read there is a restaurant in London where the staff are opera singers.. often there are shows and impromtu performances I have never been so not sure what the food is like http://www.sarastro-restaurant.com/ sarah x

Crikey, seems like a pricey time kill !! Are the wine prices for the bottle, i dont understand what you mean by " from a half bottle I'd bought (£45)" had you bought them previously or on this occasion and just had a glass ? Am i dim ? sarah x

Phew, i have just discovered that Grison is air dried Beef from Switzerland- Like Bresola Not Weasel then ! x

Here is a sample menu for L'hermitage restaurant I wondered if anyone could help me with a translation, i am worried about copeaux de viande de grison et parmesan The only translation i can find is for a weasal !! Is this correct? http://www.pjc.cc.fl.us/sctag/GRISON/grisonpage.htm THE MENU Notre Chef Sébastien Blanchet vous propose : Formule à 30 € : Entrée, Plat ou Plat, Dessert Formule à 39 € : Entrée, Plat, Dessert LES ENTREES Rosace de saumon fumé « maison », riz sauvage et crabe à la crème d’épinard froide Poêlée d’asperges et girolles en vinaigrette de truffe Tourin à la tomate et basilic, Mousseline d’avocat en écailles de queue de langouste Grosse raviole de céleri et foie gras rôti au jus de mangue Cuisses de grenouille et fruits de mer, Tomates confites, feuille de chou à la tapenade vinaigrée Emincé de melon mariné à la menthe, copeaux de viande de grison et parmesan LES PLATS Ris de veau rôti, beurre de câpres citronné Noisettes de râble de lapin farci, jus au romarin Duo d’onglets de veau et bœuf, façon « Bordelaise » Filet de dorée à la graine de moutarde Queues de crevette « papillon » panées aux fruits secs Filet de turbot, Compote de poireaux marinés à l’huile d’olive et vinaigrette balsamique (supplément 15€) Tous nos plats sont accompagnés de légumes de saison et d’une purée de pommes de terre aux herbes montée à l’huile d’olive LES FROMAGES (supplément 5 €) Assiette de fromages de nos Provinces LES DESSERTS Soupe de fruits rouges au vin cuit, glace lait d’amande Pêche en deux préparations, la tarte tatin et le sorbet Dégustation de fruits frais « retour du marché » Crème brûlée au parfum du jour Assortiment de glaces ou sorbets Figues fraîches caramélisées au miel et son sorbet

It does look nice, i have booked the restaurant at hotel for the sunday night on website http://www.concierge.com/cntraveler/lists/...hotlist/gantois its says head chef trained with Guy Savoy so i thought worth a try Just the saturday to sort now ! x

Thanks Everyone for info, keep'em coming I had a look at A l'Huitriere website and it is very expensive! I will keep on hunting We are booked up now, staying at http://www.hotelhermitagegantois.com/ Anyone stayed or eaten there? I have seen some recommendations in Magazines but would rather hear from trusted egulleters ! x

Thanks guys I have found web details of A l'Huitriere & Brasserie de la Paix Do the others have websites? x

i am looking into a trip to Lille in september and wondered what recommendations people have for Restaurants, hotels, entertainments etc I have searched egullet and seen some threads but they are all quite old.. Thanks Sarah xx

we have opted for Baltic, i walk past so often and have never been.. Looking foward to it It is near to waterloo so we can run for the train if necessary Definately want to try The Anchor but the no booking policy could have spoilt our night..Meson Don felipe was ok when we last went but i have recently seen lots of greasy reports..! We had a very speedy meal in Tas on borough highstreet once, i think we were in an out in an hour, through no choice of our own.. Thanks for the help Hope everything goes to plan sarah x

Tell me more about this Macdonalds place !? All other options sounding good, is 2 hours enough in places like Baltic or the wolesey? Are baltic's portions big? What time does Anchor and Hope stop serving ? Is it best to book if they have availiabilty? x

Hi guys Looking for some ideas on where to eat Friday night, we are seeing a show until about 9.30pm in Cambridge Circus so we could either eat near there, Soho etc Or as we need to get train at midnight from waterloo we could head back there for a bite.. So we will have around 2hours So far i have been thinking of: mon Plaisair Mela - or somwhere else Indian or Oriental ? Or Baltic Any Ideas welcome Especially for after theatre meals ( Not Incognico or The Ivy as all been done b4) Thanks Sarah x

Exactly ! it takes more than saying "Oui chef" to be able to pull it off.. No one knows what the hell they are doing x

Sundays episode was really cringy. yesterdays was a bit more bearable... What we cant work out is how are the expecting these people to cook and cope with running a kitchen? what training have they had? Most people would freak if they were dumped into an enviroment they know little about? Why havent we seen them learn etc rather than just starting in this disaster situation. How can they improve? Also am i right in thinking this "restaurant" is down brick lane? The place and kitchen are Huge! What was it before? And do the customers pay? Thnks sarah xx

We finally made it to Ramsays RHR last Friday, we had an excellent night In many ways i was surprised by a few aspects, some of which we could have controlled. Firstly my original booking was for 9.15 on a Friday with 3 people for a friends 30th birthday 2 further friends asked to join us and I was able to change the table number, in hindsight this was mistake as we ended up with a table which I believe was for 4 people thus was quite cramped for this level of food and amount of glasses..Also i have never "fine" dined with more than 4 people and found this number of companions far less enjoyable Anyway enough about the social aspect, We arrived and were promptly shown to our corner table Canapés were bought quickly before aperitifs were chosen, also we asked if we required water to which i answered just one bottle (knowing some of my companions wouldn't require) 2 were promptly bought and a 3rd later during the evening (I do resent this as they were topping up the glasses of people who had only sipped their water thus allowing them to use more bottles) We chose a bottle of Boursault Rose champagne and tucked into our canapés. There were pastry cones filled with what i heard as avocado,taramsalata and a miniscule amount of caviar ontop. They were pleasant but nothing outstanding. Perhaps a little more caviar would have helped intensify the flavour Also we had very thin potato crisps with Cream cheese and truffle (the only discernable truffle all night) It was mentioned that it was my friends birthday and the maitre'd said he would give us a little something extra which we assume was the next course. We each had 3 white china spoons, one with tomato consommé and basil on..Very intense and refreshing next was a duck rilletes with some foie Gras ontop..I really enjoyed that and finally a mini Caesar salad (a'la the Ramsays nightmares maybe?) Everyone thoroughly approved We opted for the Menu Prestige and asked the Sommelier to chose 4 wines around the £30mark I have to say we found the service to be excellent if not a little more relaxed than expected for a 3* place and the sommeliers were excellent...I have never experienced English ones, they were very approachable. Bread was served, i opted for the olive bread which was excellent. My boyfriend who is the chef was not blown away by the bread i found it odd that it was sliced bread rather than rolls which i have generally eaten at other similar establishments To start was a foie Gras and smoked goose terrine with a Madeira "sticky" sauce and these most amazing teeny mushrooms that had such an intense flavour. The terrine was lovely and the smoked goose was almost like a thick,rich parma ham. The only criticism was the lack of sauce with this..We found this with the other courses also Next was the Lobster/langoustine Tortellini topped with Tomato chutney, expertly carried out and very enjoyable..Again a lack of sauce let this down, when the dish arrived the waitress explained the dish quite hastily and i missed the detail, i then asked her what the sauce was and she went off and bought a small sauce boat of extra sauce (which i think was lemongrass cream??) The fish course was an excellent piece of turbot on braised gem with caper sauce, i really enjoyed this..It was actually served warmer than dishes are often served where so much plate dressing takes place so it took a few moments before the flavour really came through.. For the meat course myself and my partner had the beef and our other guests had the lamb..The beef was delicous with a slight crust to the outside and meltingly tender inside. The lamb looked excellent, slices of best end and a doom of confit shoulder.. Things start to get hazy from here but i believe we had a coconut cream in a glass, some papaya and fruit with a caramel crisp as pre desserts. Then i shared Tarte tartin having enjoyed it so much at Petrus i was not dissapointed, and the others had a chocolate pud., My boyfriend was expecting this to be outstanding but said the filling had no definate flavour and reminded him of a walnut whip centre but less tasty..He felt the desserts let the meal down. The salted caramels are definately addictive.. I need to learn how to make them !! The wines were all excellent We started with a German resiling (vollrads riesling) which was perfect for the Foie Gras and not to sweet Then an aussie white A south African chardonnay,Linton Park, buttery and perfect with the fish- it was poured a little late into this course so we had nearly finished And a French Red for the meat, a Minervois which was very drinkable. We had a fantastic time and as previously mentioned all the food was perfectly cooked and executed. As many people on egullet know when you have enjoyed many meals in your time you do start to look for something a little bit extra which i am not sure we found here.,,,I would definately go back and would like to sample to a'la carte, dine with less people and spend more time taking in the whole experience. I found the restaurant, staff and ambience far outweighed my expectations We for the meal not incl service it was £121 ahead, for the amount of wine,Water !,4 hours and the extra items Mitis and Kiralyudvar? we found on our bill once home we were very satisfied..

Is it just my PC or is the text really unclear on the Aikens website? x

Thanks for info gary, i like the idea of split fish course and then meat main etc. My problem is i just have such trouble deciding from menus as i want so many different things. My "hubby" is infact a chef-well remembered, there will also be another chef (who's 30th bday it is) and 2 other friends (5 in total) so i guess that the splitting idea may be difficult to do on this occasion. We are taking a friend & his japanese girlfriend, neither of whom have eaten this class of food. Should be an interesting night We are going next friday... xx

Hi Guys We are going to Ramsay's next week and i know already the table is going to me divided om whether to have 3 courses or the menu prestige.. I know it depends on what dishes appeal on the night but i am curious what others have done. Having had some "prestige" menus in some top french & Uk restaurants we have found ourselves too full towards the end as often the dishes aren't that much smaller than on the 3 course menu. We have often miguidedly thought that the multi courses will just be taster dishes which hasnt always been the case. I enjoy the multi course idea as you have varierty and dont always have to make the hard decisions that often feature on the three course menu Do u normally opt for 3courses or prestige? If you have had the prestige have you had accompanying glasses of wine? If so how much was this approximately? Also i have found that once u have the amuses,pre dessert etc the 3course can be often seem as much as multicourse.. Finally Does the restaurant have a "kick" out time....? And is there a good pub nearby to have a pre dinner drink at? Thanks Sarah x

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/3714.htm caroline Timmins review is interesing (3rd entry down at present) sarah x

Thanks for info so far, we are actually staying at the drunken duck for 2 nights before bowness, looking foward to that. I have printed off some of the menus for the places you guys have recommended. Does anyone know whether we could get to L'eclume or Sharrow bay by public transport/or taxi for lunch..? Would you regard the Samling, Miller howe or Linthwaite house as fine dining? Thnks x

Hi I am looking for some rec's for a birthday lunch in the lake district in July We will be staying in Bowness on windermere, i would prefer not to have to drive anywhere so i could enjoy some vino so places that are reachable via train,bus,Taxi etc would be great Thanks sarah xx

el vergel is good, quite small. More a sandwich bar/cafe than restaurant, off the beaten track Lovely chilean village bread, Empanadas, Churrasco Queso(Steak,salsa sarnies) and specials everyday. I work about 1 minutes walk from it but can be quite pricey for regular working lunch They also do a delicious cherry cheesecake,.! Not sure its very chilean but very good... Oh and colleagues say there brekkie is very good, they shut about 3pm each day Enjoy x

Glad u enjoyed it, jealous now ! I was also impressed by the relaxed style of De Karmeliet, even Chef Geery Van Hecke was sitting down having coffee with guests afterwards And the Kafe grand was very homely and decent,traditional food sarah x

also we had reasonable pasta & salads @ http://www.saladefolle.com/ My mum & dad enjoyed a cafe/pastissere, called DETABERNIET i think, near Minnewater. We also ate at a Fondue place, near the main square. Was delicious but very filling Have fun sarah x