tony h

Lunch at the Capital is virtually unbeatable - 2 stars for 27 quid. A bargain.

I finally made it to Borough market (london) yesterday. What a wonderful place. If you live in London & haven't made it yet - do go. Anyway - last night - fillet steak from the Ginger Pig - lighy seared. Port & Maderia reduction with homemeade lamb stock. Lots of baby veg - fennel, carrots & turnip. The baby fennel was braised in stock with cardamon, bay & thyme for 1.5 hours (a al Blanc Mange). Meltingly wonderful. I used the braising liquor from the carrot & turnip to make the couscous. Baby turnips had a bitter aftertaste - the only downside. Tonight - I have a very large bag of wild mushrooms to play with.

Does that mean you didn't score? Yes - it means he didn't score

It seems wastful - but there will be horrible musty undetaste to anything you add it to.

Can't wait

lizziee - loved the review. Looking forward to more from your enviable trip.

celeriac & pumpkin - I use them in terrines. the confit technique cooks them prefectly (goose fat).

I used to work at the V&A and had no end of wonderful places to eat for lunch (although not everyday - Museum's don't pay that well). Daphne’s is quite good (but you had to wear a dress to fit in the ladies who lunch) itsu - the first branch - serves perfectly acceptable sushi Racine - much talked about on these pages Bibendum English Garden (I think that's what its called - the Richard Corrigan place). You can even get to Aubergine & back in your lunch break Capitol is next Harrods - best lunch in town There's also a reasonably good Italian - Monsa, i think. I loved the Collection - but it doesn't do lunch anymore (although there were many occasion when I'd go to for lunch & just not return - those were the days). There are loads of other places at different ends of the scale. Now, if you want a miserable part of London in which to eat - try Elephant & Castle where I now work. I'll challenge anyone to come up more than a couple of decent places (so far - all I've found is the laughing gravy). Help appreciated.

I don't understand the difference between knife 16 & 17. Look very similar to me - what the benefit of having both? Also - no sieves?

Nope - we weren't taken care of in that sense. Price included dessert - in fact - we didn't even get a chance to see the dessert menu. It was chosen for us. I saw someone on another table have the tarte tatin (which I probably would have gone for) bit I didn't get so much as a sniff.

The 4 of us arrived at 9 last night and were brought to out table. The décor was "rich American tourist" friendly – dark wood panelling with a splash of plaid (or was it tartan) & an embossed ceiling all shiny, clean and bright from its recent revamp. The menu’s were laid out in the now familiar Ramsay style – impossibly long list of starters on side and mains on the other. Choosing was not easy as almost everything sounded good. Choosing wine was harder as there wasn’t much choice in our price range. Pre-starters was a plate of salami & parma ham with a selection of bread. A bit too 80s Marks & Sparks for my liking. A second plate was delivered as the starters were served. We chose the artichoke risotto with sweetbreads (luscious); pumpkin tortellini with bits & pieces (a fine dish) and meat paste tortellini with truffle & broth (good broth but a little salty). We also chose the scallops & shrimps but they had run out that by 9 (risotto was chosen instead). The starters were generally good if not outstanding. My risotto was wonderfully creamy & the sweetbreads added a nice contrast. The meat based tortellini were offensive and resembled shippams paste in a jar. More bread arrived. Red wine arrive half way through starters. The mains we chose were the pork belly (for me), seared tuna (x2) and lamb. The tuna had also run out by now but a red mullet substituted was available if you wanted – one said yes. My other guest chose the sea bass with fondue of lettuce. I was expecting the pork belly to be served in a similar way to RHR & Petrus but sadly no – the fat was left next to the meat and the meagre portion was delicately placed on top of a meagre portion of small roast vegetables. The red mullet dish smelled very fishy – too fishy for my liking. The lamb was easily the star dish – it looked wonderful & tasted great. It also came with truffle mashed potatoes which we shared ( they brought another helping for us). The sea bass magically transformed itself into halibut – a fish my friend has hated since her childhood. They were very apologetic when we mentioned it but we’d all finished ours by the time hers arrived. Angela Hartnett then appeared at our table to apologise for the mix up and for running out of our choice of starter and mains. She asked if it would be OK she “took care” of dessert for us. Fine we agreed. We each got a separate dessert – one of use go melon balls. Fucking melon balls! We thought she might treat us to a coupe of small desserts or do something extra – but no. Fucking melon balls. The cost – 38 pounds for the 3 courses. A fine price but I was still hungry (thank god for all that bread). When I go home my partner said – I could really go a big bag of chips. The restaurant has a appealing relaxed atmosphere and the food is good rather than great. The staff are pleasant but intrusive. There was also one moment during the evening when several orders quite literally collided with each other in the middle of the room – I suspect that’s because they are still new to working with each other. If you are planning to go – wait a few months while it settles down. Better still – go to Claridges.

Heston I was surfing Sky a couple of weeks ago, as you do, and came across a programme you were presenting relating to molecular gastronomy (one the channels above 500). I only caught the last 10 minutes. Was this a one off show or is it a series? Do you know if/when its to be repeated and on a more accessible channel? Cheers Tony

Just trying to resurrect - anything happening here yet or has the ventrue folded before it began?

I'm stunned to see Nobu there. Its just not in the same league as the rest.

whgile ... restaurnats ... contrcat its true - you really do work at the guardian

at 300 quid for the meal - I'm sure they've factored it in

It's interesting that at this late date you got a table for next Friday? What time have they 'given' you? It was done weeks ago when you could ask for any table you wanted. I kept last night's open just in case.... which reminds me - I have a phone call to make.

It was one of the first posts I did - early Ferbuary (under bluewine). The lowlights: £160 - it tasted crap - the maitre'd told it was our fault for not choosing the a la carte. I wrote complaining & was invited back as his guest. 2nd time round - it was worse. The pre-starters were ritz crackers with philadelphia cheese - it went downhil from there. Pigeon wrapped in cabbage leave - so chewy - if I hadn't spat it out I could be chewing it today. Lemon souffle with cherry sauce - cooked at you table. Its a rare gift to be able to remove all the flavour from cherries. There was nice dish but I can't remeber what it was. JBR was head chef at le manor - maybe that's what kep RB form getting his 3rd star all these years.

Sadly, I had to give up my reservation for tonight - clash of schedules. I've rebooked for next Friday. I passed my booking on my food partner in crime - she'll tell me if its worth going next week or not.

No - but I did nick Le Gavroche logo'd towels from their bathroom When in ADNY they handed be a bag with a brioche in it for breakfast the next morning. Utterly stunning.

That's an awful lot (imo). Petrus is good but not that good - its just a knocked down version of RHR.

As an aside: as we left my partner asked GS if I could tour the kitchen. He was more than delighted to oblige but by then I was a bit too pissed & had to decline. Shame.

DO NOT EAT AT JOHN BURTON-RACE Sorry for the dramatics but it truly is one the most over inflated places on earth. The food is very expensive and, in my opinion, fucking awful.

I saw it the other day when passing by in a taxi.... - oh to be in paris.... (Lucas Carton is just a few yards away - oh to be in paris.... )

Cabrales - we were seated in the middle room. We were put right next to the busiest corridor of the restaurant which my partner thought explained the "special" treatment we had (no one else seemed to get extra portions of their most expensive starter). The decor was wonderful but, perhaps, the only downside to the evening: we could have been in any great city. There was nothing to say that you were actually in Paris - a very minor point. Cabby – what did you think when you were there? My first choice would have been Grand Vefour but they aren’t open at weekends. Is it worth going to? Andy – Petrus doesn’t come close in food, décor or service. I like Petrus but its just a (slightly) cheaper carbon copy of RHR. RHR is now virtually impossible to get into – whoch is a shame & given the nonsense of faxing back acceptances & so forth – its easier to jump into a train. The sauces of RHR were probably better than GS – but the rest – nowhere near. (btw - what did you pay in Petrus?) Vivin – I’ll probably never go back to GS for that very same worry: it couldn’t possibly meet the same expectations of the first visit. If I was rich enough to call it a local – fine – but this was a treat and to be cherished. Same with RHR – up to last weekend it was the finest meal I’ve had – but that was also due to the circumstances of my visit (I took a very close friend for her 40th birthday & it was our first 3 star – it captured the moment perfectly but if I went back I know I’d less satisfied).