[L'Enclume]

well, still havent really recovered from a night at l'enclume. from the moment we arrived we knew it was going to be special. the service was just right, not too formal but attentive and all the staff seemed to have senses of humour which is something you dont see often enough. the food defies description by my meagre talents, but if i get time i will do some kind of write up. in short, if you're thinking of going, then go, if you're not thinking of going, then still go. the best meal i've ever eaten, no question. and it is worth staying there instead of a pub in the village, the eggs benedict i had for breakfast were sublime.

[L'Enclume]

i intend t eat everything they have, yes i'm going for the gourmand menu.

staying at l'eclume, wont be fit to walk after 20 courses, so i'll just get someone to hoist me to the room

[L'Enclume]

sat here gazing at the l'enclume menu while i should be working, off there tomorrow, getting very very excited!

[L'Enclume]

fantastic and well worth the wait, only 3 weeks till we go now and i cant wait. having just spent the week on the lsle of wight where i barely had a decent meal the whole week, i'm even more desperate to get to cartmel

[Convince me that London has great dining!]

far be it from me to suggest that the best dining in the UK is miles away from london............

[UK Chain restaurants]

i'd forgotten about belgo, always a reliable meal, plus good beer

[Michelin Stars]

hahahahaha now thats funny!

[Michelin Stars]

Didn't Gary Rhodes win 3 michelin stars? Where was that?

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I nearly fell off my chair when I read this post.

I know this is very wrong of me, but I always think of Gary Rhodes in the same light as Ainsley Harriot.

←

i know what you mean, they both come across as totall chumps on the box, but while i own a rhodes book (new british classics) and use it regularly, with some degree of success, i do not own any books by ainsley (not even his barbeque bible which someone was championing on here a while ago) and would never even consider looking in one, let alone using one!

[Traditional Pub Food]

workable is a good description, i rarely find any that work for me first time, but by adapting them slightly and doing things my way, i've cooked some very good things of his.

[Traditional Pub Food]

thanks for the recipe allan, i have the gary rhodes one already but i like your slant on it

jon

[Traditional Pub Food]

i'd love the recipe allan, give me a chance to flex the muscles of my new mincer

[Traditional Pub Food]

a spoonfull of mint sauce is a good addition to chipshop mushy peas....

[Baking Ingredients]

i refuse to believe you're short of such things in london! in the middle of nowhere, where we live, yes, but not in the smoke. its one thing i really miss about having a house in london, the fact that when we were there we could find whatever ingredient we wanted.

john lewis defintely sell oven thermometers, thats where mine came from.

[Traditional Pub Food]

A cold pie made of ground, herb-y pork surrounded by jelly in a pastry crust.

i find the best pies use cubed pork, ground pork give too smooth a texture

[Xmas Loot.... (merged w/ "Santa" topic)]

i got a mincer which i'll be using on the leftovers from the organic rib of beef i'm roasting at the moment. plus a chefs hat which i'm wearing now, and gets funnier the more i drink

[UK Chain restaurants]

not wanting to nitpick, but how good is that actual chicken at nandos? i would imagine its pretty dodgy battery stuff?

[Toad In The Hole]

champagne i expect as a given when travel club (whether i feel like drinking it or not is another matter) and remember, smoked salmon does not a gourmet meal make

alacarte, i bet your mom freaked at the thought of cooking you toads!

[Toad In The Hole]

its my experience that those top chefs are little more than a photo on the menu, the food still comes from alpha flight services or someone similar and has been sitting in its own sweat for a while. airline food is almost always abominable, and the food you get in first class or club has just had more money spent on the presentation to make you feel your hard earned cash (or airmiles ) have been well spent

[Confessions; where did you last eat?]

1: September Brasserie - Blackpool. terrible name, strange location, great food, well worth a visit should you ever be in Blackpool

2: The Gate - Brassington. village pub in Derbyshire, good food and beer, welcoming atmosphere, not quite near enough to be my local

3: Fischers - Baslow. needs no introduction.......

[L'Enclume]

after securing our booking for the end of next month, sara and i were looking at the menu and the only dish that left us speechless (and believe me it doesnt happen often) was 'chocolate mayhem, no more voices' and it was probably that that finally convinced me he was taking the piss.

as for jamie, less the abstract thinker and more cock with a tongue too big for his mouth

[L'Enclume]

i'd assumed (maybe wrongly) that rogan was taking the piss slightly

[L'Enclume]

we're going on the 27th january, and i cant wait. tried to book this month but i've been too busy. had to settle for a couple of nights at our local, fischers in baslow which as usual was excellent, but its not l'enclume is it?

[Gentlemans Relish....]

spread thinly on toast its the thinking mans marmite

[Victor Lewis-Smith]

'marcus garvey, he's a er black gentleman'

the highlight of his career, shame it was about 15 years ago, i couldnt agree more with the two posts above, if he was actually funny then the column would work.

i hope he reads this forum, maybe we should email him

[Victor Lewis-Smith]

Could you please clarify for me what you mean by 'substandard rubbish'. I also read the review and do not feel I wasted my time. VLS spoke as he found. What more do you want?

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by substandard rubbish i mean a review catering more to the reviewers ego and sense of self worth than the poor souls who have to read it. i dont care if he missed his flight due to behaving like a child, i do care about what the food was like.