Paul Bell

In some ways I was not too concerned about spending £200 on lunch outside of London, in the sense that while London is more expensive location does not really come in to my judgement of value for money, it is solely what is on the plate and sometimes the service (usually when it is bad), there are other places as expensive e.g Gidleigh Park. I am however not certain that what was delivered was worth £200. It was good but no better than any other two star restaurant I have eaten in, oh and I forgot to mention in my earlier post, the service was abysmal, it made The Square look like the best three star in Europe, I chose the wine, the sommelier showed me the bottle then disapeared for twenty minutes I had to go and find him! we continually add to ask for our wine to be poured, we had to ask for bread twice (it appears you are only allowed bread before your starter and after the gazpacho and quail jelly). We did not have the tasting menu (that would have made it £250) we had the a la carte £60 each plus service, wine, coffee and two kirs. The set lunch menu for £30 is not available on Sundays, which is when we went. In terms of justification for the prices they charge, do restaurants, work in the way you suggest, I think the fat duck charges the prices it does because it can and because it has two michelin stars, they look at prices in London in two star restaurants and charge the same. In terms of cost of materials etc you get a lot more for your money at The Square, Capital, Gavroche etc and their rents (or whatever) must be considerably higher. We were glad we went because we wanted to try some of things on the menu, we would possibly go back because we want to try the items on the tasting the menu, however after that I suspect we would not then visit for some time, the food is good but not that good, it is however interesting and inventive, worth the money, probably not and certainly not compared to any number of other restaurants. Paul

Firstly feel free to tell me off if I am using the wrong thread but there are so many for the Fat Duck now. Final post of the week and final meal of last weekend was sunday lunch at the Fat Duck, and like so many others I am not certain I get it. the last time we went there was when it was still a 'bourgeois bistro' or whatever Heston Blumenthal called his previous style. This time we had the a la carte (preceded by the worst Kirs I have ever had, ordinary white wine with 10p's worth of Cassis in it, I know this cos it said so on the bill!). So we had lime foam (good), mustard ice cream with red cabbage gazpacho (v good) quail jelly, pea and crayfish cream (or something) (enjoyable if a little strange), starters of Crab biscuit (not my thing although the crab biscuit was technically very good) and Cuttlefish canneloni of duck (clever, tasty but not as good as a similar thing done with beef at Le Champignon Sauvage), main course of the shared pot roast best end of pork (this was very good but the problem with low temperature cooking is the food is cold before you have finished it, and it was no better in terms of quality, or size than the starter of pork belly at the Capital), desserts Chocolate delice (v good, although the popping candy didn't add anything, fun though) and tarte tatin (very good especially the almond foam). A very good bottle of alsace riesling (well priced) totalling £200 for lunch, (not so well priced). Overall we enjoyed lunch but no more than say the Capital. There was some very good cooking and some very clever cooking, but overall we felt that much of it was trying to be inventive for its own sake at our expense. (and I was still hungry so had a chinese takeaway when I got home) (Apologies for rambling, but its Friday afternoon and I have lost it) Paul

Went to Ramsomes Dock on Friday night. It was probably the first 'proper' restaurant we went to in London (about 4 years ago), but have never got back there, and after Friday I cannot think why, we had duck salad and scallops with verjus to start followed by steak with a bucket of chips (as I ordered extra which they didn't think I would eat fools) and ricotta and almond tart and raspberry sable with clotted cream. All of it was very good, perfect for a Friday night after work and having driven up from Portsmouth via Swindon. The service was informal and very good, they even offered to cook us an extra steak as ours were a little smaller than usual (although still bigger than most places offer). The wine list as noted elsewhere was excellent and very well priced, a Seresin sauvignon and a marcillac for about £40 the pair is a bargain. Paul

Went to the Capital for lunch last Saturday, result on two fronts Matthew welcomed us back, at last I am regular in a v expensive restaurant (alternatively he recognises me as the cheap git who always orders the cheap wine ), plus one of the starters was sweetcorn soup, two michelined star sweetcorn soup with bacon tortellini but sweetcorn soup nonetheless. It was excellent soup by the way, as was the whole of the lunch as always. The only problem is I always want to go here for lunch so don't get around to going in the evening very often. We also went to Le Gavroche for the first time for dinner. It was very good, very French, very formal, very expensive. The sommelier was average, he struggled when I ordered a second bottle of wine halfway through the tasting menu as he was too busy telling the table of chefs next door about his days as sommelier at the mirabelle (hardly a qualification). Having now been to Le Gavroche my order of two stars would be 1= Square and The Capital (depending on what mood I'm in) 3 Le Gavroche We enjoyed Le Gavroche a lot but it is the sort of place we would want to go back to once a year, rather than every month or couple of months like The Capital or The Square. It is also interesting bearing in mind all the comments re: Gordon Ramsay turning his tables, that Le Gavroche do the same thing, they are just more subtle about it, the table next to us finished at 9.30 and within five minutes another couple were there, similary when we had coffee the maitre'd asked if we would have it in the lounge area, which we were happy to do and within five minutes our table was occupied again. Paul

Sommelier wise The Capital easily wins, Matthew Wilkin is one of the best in London, (and never makes me feel bad when I always order the same 'cheapest' house white ). I have had difficulties with the sommelier at The Square hence I now go with a very firm impression of what I want to order. Paul

I went to The Square last week, the food was good as usual (but then I quite like the slightly simpler style, and larger portions ) although the desserts were not quite as good as the last time (they can be a little variable here), what I did find interesting was the service, as I have said before it can be very up and down, especially when they get busy after 8.00. Admittedly we went early but this time the service was a lot more professional than recent visits. They even passed the napkin test, which is not something I can ever remember them doing previously. Paul

Southampton is a food desert, possibly the only place that is worse than Portsmouth. The best food in Hampshire is probably at the Old Manor House in Romsey, but it is certainly not grand. Two other possibles would be the Old Chesil Rectory in Winchester or 36 on the Quay in Emsworth (just the other side of Portsmouth), both have Michelin stars and provide the sort of food and service you would expect (unless they have gone downhill, not been for a while). Neither are as formal/grand as Chewton Glen (which is of course one of Michael Winners favourite places, not wishing to put you off in anyway). Paul

The Champignon Sauvage is a very very good restaurant, definitely two stars for the food. I am not sure why it does not get as much attention as other restaurants, possibly something to do with Cheltenham? (The first time we went there we were hugely impressed, but it took us a couple of years to go back, since when we have been several times). It is quite small and is possibly the most relaxed two star restaurant, the service is good but more akin to a local restaurant than your usual two star establishment (Which is a good thing, I hasten to add). David Everitt Matthias is probably one of the best technical chefs in the country, the dishes tend to different from those you would find in many restaurants (lamb with cumin and a dumpling of macaroni and cauliflower, which may sound dubious but is superb). He also uses every part of the animal spread across various dishes on the menu, I believe he does a lot of the butchery work himself, unlike a lot of chefs. In terms of cost I think Jay is spot on, the last time we went we had the set menu plus two bottles of wine for £140. Depending on when you go there are I think two set menus one for £35 ish and one for £46. I believe on Saturdays (possibly Fridays only the more expensive one is available). Wine is mainly French, starts cheaply (£14ish I think) and goes as high as you want (depending what you want I guess). Paul

It appears permanently. They close for their holidays second week of October and are not re-opening after that, as they have just had a second baby and wish to concentrate on other things. Paul

Just found out that Le Terrasse is closing in the second week of October, and they are pretty much booked up from now until then. Paul

Indeed, in which case the title of the topic, should be Blinis in Bath for sale (as a going concern) . In the short-term at least this does give an opportunity to visit the restaurant while Martin Blunos is still coooking there. (As a side issue what defines the sale of the restaurant as a going concern? The only thing that makes it 'go' is the presence of Martin Blunos). Paul

Had lunch at Deca a few weeks ago (my wife and I had the restaurant to ourselves, albeit it was a Saturday). On the whole we were impressed, the style is broadly similar to Incognico (chips not as good), with the cooking being more polished and the menu slightly 'grander'. We didn't find it expensive but we did have the set lunch. It certainly has the potential to be expensive £40-50 for three courses, which would not be much for The Square, Capital etc, but might be for what they are delivering. On the whole we enjoyed it and would go back, although I think there are likely to be a number of places where you can get better food or better value, depending upon your choice.

It appears that Blinis will not be closing immediately, the intention is apparently to remain open until the restaurant is sold. (Which could of course be tomorrow or next year!). Paul

Having just returned from France I was interested to read the comments above. I confess my views regarding the Moulin de Lourmarin are broadly similar to Robert Brown's. My wife and I had lunch there last Friday and whilst enjoyable it was neither that good nor good value. The food was inventive to a certain extent but lacked substance both in terms of portion size which were some of the worst excesses of 'nouvelle cuisine' and in the way certain dishes stand out, none did particulary unlike say the Oustau de Baumaniere or the Jardin des Sens (where every dish was better than that at the Moulin). If this sounds like I regret having lunch there I do not, but I probably would not return. We found Monsieur Loubet to be charming enough, although got the impression that the waiting staff would have preferred him to be in the kitchen. He was out much of the time arranging tables, moving chairs etc, which I have a certain degree of respect for, I can't imagine Gordon Ramsay doing it, then again he is watching the food coming out of his kitchen! We did eat inside (after starting in the garden) as did a number of other people as the weather was quite humid and was affecting the herbs in the garden, to the extent that they were paticulalry pungent and attracting significant insects. It was Loubet himself who suggested we might like to move tables. We did not find inside particularly warm so maybe the air conditiong has improved. The service was OK although probably not that which would normally accompany two stars, it is always a bad sign when I have to get up and pour my own wine, which did not happen here but almost got to that point. The above points re: waiting staff being inexperienced etc were I think well made. On the whole we had a nice (no more than that) lunch which was very expensive, which was not really justified in anyway. I think comments about mean spiritidness are possibly rather too close to the mark for comfort. (I was particulary impressed when we had the lamb, two staff staggered out with a cast iron pot to show us two racks of lamb smoking in their bed of hay and only one appeared between the two of us. We could not work out whether the other one was someone else's or they have one pot that gets brought out all the time). Paul

The Square and The Capital are two of my favourite restaurants, although they are quite different in what they deliver. I can understand people who do not feel the Square has a 'wow' factor. The cooking is simpler and less 'flashy' than The Capital or many other restaurants. However a recent meal of Red mullet with fennel, Roast Wild Salmon with asparagus risotto and Apple Tart with Rosemary ice cream was fantastic, as good as anything I have had at The Capital. The service at The Square is very variable, a couple of weeks ago it was OK, they appeared to have a lot of new staff, before Xmas in December the service was awful. It appears to deteriorate as the evening progresses. Regarding non-French starred restaurants, I think one reason for the lack of comments is that there are not very many of them. Zafferano is an excellent Italian restaurant albeit very expensive for what is delivered (but then so is Locanda Locatelli). Zaika I thought was OK but have never managed to go back there, which perhaps suggests that I did not really think it was that good. (The River Cafe has a star of course, but I am not going to get started on that one).