fisherman

Went to the Raj Put in Harrogate the other day, had a very very good meal, lamb chops, potato pakoras, goan red lamb curry and nihari lamb, all of which were excellent and if I had more time I'd write something up properly. Service was pleasant but rushed, but we'll be back.

It spread as far as Yorkshire..........

I do.

So the sorbet goes from 'amazing' to 'really quite good' in the space of two sentences, how good will it be on your next post?

I'm only tickling your plums, it would be a close call for me which to eat at if I were eating out in Bradford tomorrow. Bradford is only 20 minutes from Chez Jon but I don't go there nearly enough. In fact reading Jays Mumtaz review, I might make the trip before Christmas.

As Gary says, all the curry cafes are potentially patchy, but life's about taking risks no?

Never been to Kashmir, but having googled it, the google gods seem to favour it no more than Karachi, both having good and bad reviews. I've never had a bad meal at the Karachi, but I'm sure people have. The Lamb and Spinach Stein dish is actually far far better than you'd expect, I had it there before I noticed it in my Stein Food Heroes book, now it's a regular fixture here, in fact, fuck it, why don't you come here for lunch, we offer a £4.99 all you can eat deal, including as much tap water as you can drink

Mumtaz is indeed good, a bit flashy for a Bradford curry house, but good food. The Karachi is good and dirt cheap, it was good before the Stein link, and remains good after, well most of the time that it, it can be patchy, but you can say that about most places. I used to go there regularly when I did a lot of work for YTV, good cheap lunch, but maybe not a place to take someone to impress, it really is formica tables and tap water in school canteen glasses

Still not made it to Holbeck Ghyll, but have heard nothing but good reports about it. The Drunken Duck has had some negative press lately, but as I haven't been there myself I couldn't possibly comment!

I had a very edible ham and cheese slice from Greggs today while Mrs Fisherman was buying Christmas shite in town, though to be honest I think Claude may have been able to make something a little better.

What's odd about that? Surely that's the very nature of starters and mains? The clue is in the names......

Crikey, stop to think and someone else reads your mind. I was just about to ask if throwing yourself to the lions is something you do for fun or profit!

You're quite right, if a dish attracts a supplement, it shouldn't be on a fixed price menu. I never go for a fixed price menu where some dishes have supplements, it goes against the whole idea for me.

You beat me to it Andy, I was just going to say, get your arse on a train and go to Sats in Nottingham if the London scene bores you so much, actually, get on the train and go there anyway!

But, bringing the thread back on toopic, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Fischers is a very very good restaurant, but lunch is (or was) a much better deal than dinner, I have no idea how much it costs these days as I haven't been since I was a regular visitor 3 or more years ago, but back then, it was a very good lunch at a good price, dinner was always good too, but lunch always seemed a better deal.

As far as I know Bertie, none of the League Of Gentlemen live there, they hail from all around this wonderful country of ours. The show was filmed not too far from there though.

Quite right too

Strange to some, I cook more than I eat out, so actively seek out the best tools to cook with

Wonderful, you can't beat a bit of knife porn.

I'm delighted Victorinox knives work for you, they'd probably work for me too, but I do like decent Japanese kit, and funnily enough, nobodys ever nicked one of my knives!

Hattori Santoku this time, and I love it, £52 delivered and it's the best knife I have, 100% usable. I can't see that a knife can be better than the Hattoris, unless anyone knows any better.......

OK, two years late I reply! I just ordered another knife from http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/ Ordered it Monday, they emailed me Tuesday to say it had been dispatched, it arrived today, all for the princely sum of $7 (That's just for the postage obviously the knife was a bit more than that) The Hattori knifes are amazing quality, and outshine Global, Shun etc etc, and the prices are amazing. Jon

Still haven't made it here yet, we didn't end up moving too close to Ripponden, Harrogate is our local town, and dining wise it's a constant disappointment. A place called 'The Tannin Level' offers a dish described as a 'Risotto Paella' Do the fools not realise they're two totally different things? We really must make the trip over to Ripponden.

Dare I ask what and where Magdalen is?

Thanks for those tips everyone, Le Manoir would indeed be nice, but we have to be in Oxford itself, I wish we didn't, but we do! I'm intrigued by the College idea, not something I ever would have thought of. Thanks again everyone, I'll let you know how I get on. Jon