tony h

By London standards yes. I would put this on a level with Chez Bruce and the Ledbury, both of which have stars. ← it more on a par with lola's (when lola's was good) good - but not star material

the porn reminded me of the oyester in an off putting way

I hate to be the voice of dissent but my experience of Arby’s last night wasn’t’ that great. First – what’s wrong with side plates for bread? The table mats are brand spanking new but I don’t reckon they are either disposable (a tad too expensive) or easily cleanable. The bread was a bit, hmm, stale Menu is great if your not a vegetarian Waiters seemed rushed – but we initially put that down to just opened syndrome Once the opened the wine they left us alone – they got a lot of brownie point for that Starters – lamb & sweetbreads – very good but as someone pointed out – a little too strong raw potato flavour. Also – this is really a main course dish – a little too heavy for a starter. The chicken oysters – started off good & balanced but dish went cold within seconds & then the hazelnut became the dominant flavour. The macaroni didn’t really add anything to the dish. It was very pretty to look at as were most of the dishes (except the asparagus which the table next to us had - it look very grim indeed). Mains of veal & rabbit. The veal looked almost exactly like the lamb which was a bit of a shame. Tasted very good but there was a lot of fat/gristle left on the veal – not so pleasant. Also went cold in seconds. The rabbit pie was very much the star dish of the evening. The liver stuffing for the saddle was way too strong but thankfully the mustard in the sauce was kept very much under control. Cheesecake had a very unpleasant skin to it – but was surprising delicate & light. Chocolate soup was really just a warm mousse but the plate was so hot that it kept cooking the mousse & it started to split. The accompanying ice cream wasn’t particularly robust – lacked flavour & texture. Throughout the meal we felt very rushed – pestered even – to make up our minds about what to order and the courses arrived supersonically fast. Sometimes this is what you want but mostly I prefer to have an gently paced meal. Some of this is obviously down to just having opened – rushed service & cold food. The restaurant is beautifully designed except for one thing: those awful fucking Victorian porn postcards in the toilet. Please, please – some tell them to get rid! Oh - and Giles Coren was in - terrible table manners - looked like he'd never held a knife before

I was sorely dissapointed by the degustation menu at Gagnaire the one time I went. Only afterwards was I advised that alc was the better option. Drat! From what I remember of the alc menu, it's not difficult to spend 200-300 Euro/pp on food alone. ← I've had both & both were stunning- agree with jon - so much gets added on top of what you think you've ordered If going alc & there a scallops with grapefruit jam dish - don't miss the tasing menu is 11+ courses - some course have 3,4,5+ individual dishes either way - just sit back, relax & don't eat too much bread 700e for two seems about right if you don't go crazy on the wine

Excellent news - amazon are listing David's book. click here Suddenly September 1st seems like a long way off

Oh dear, the best thing about this place - and I mean this in the loosest sense - is that the engineer is allegedly robert plant's local. So if you’re into sex, drugs & curly hair, this is the pace for you. Sardo ranges for OK to truly offensive & is no improvement from the one off tot crt rd. I’m afraid NW3 (& NW1, where I now live) is a fairly sad place to be food wise & I used to live in Hackney.

you are all wrong. If doing scotland it has to be deep fried pizza followed by deep fried mars bar. It may not be haute but I'm sure you'll remember the experience for the rest of your life (which may fairly short as your arteries stiffen while you eat)

It was great seeing David EM and LeCS on last night - but no Helen? shocking.

Quite a few friends and colleagues have urged me to try Rasio Vineet Bhatia but I’ve always shied away as I have little love for Indian cuisine. I had too much exposure as a student (many, many years ago) plus I’ve found that the cuisine that developed in England is quite different to the tastes & spices of the one that evolved in my homeland Scotland. When I moved down here I just didn’t like the taste of curries and stopped going. So off went to see thought the end of miserable January with thoughts of spicy delicacies on this seriously cold winter’s night. It was 7pm & were go the booking on the strict understanding that we had to be out by 9.30. The place was virtually empty – only 2 other tables occupied. A plate of baby popadums arrived with three sauces: mint & coriander, mango chutney and spicy tomato relish. All lovely although the mango just a little too sweet & sticky for my liking. We chose the 7 course tasting menu – I was worried that the 9 course menu would kill us as my days of being to over stuff myself with curry have long since gone. The hard part: wine or beer? After looking at the wine list I was think that perhaps all we could do is afford the beer. Also – it would take quite a strong spicy wine to stand-up to curry. Anyway – we chose a Pully Fume & Pinot Noir. So – pre-starters arrive – lovely small ball of deep fried cheese with stunning hot spicy pineapple soup. Very refreshing and palate cleansing. A very god start. First was a lovely plump scallop on a bed of tiny yellow split pea and mashed potato. Absolutely superb – I thought my scallop a little rubbery but not enough to prevent my enjoyment. Next was a small mound of finely diced mushrooms (why type, dunno) mixed in with fine dice of rice. On top sat some spicy tomato ice cream sat on a mini popadum so it didn’t melt. A very good combination of hot and cold, spicy & meatiness of the mushrooms. One of the better dishes of the evening. Next was small spicy fish soup with ball of deep fried crab. Ok but a little forgettable. The fourth course was a broccoli risotto on top which sat lobster tail and claw. This was surrounded by tomato & lobster sauce. The risotto had a few large chunks of lobster meat. To stop the risotto being squashed by the weight of the meat thin disks of broccoli stem were used to spread the weight. Coco powder dusting on top. Visually stunning. This is where my unfamiliarity or lack of spice vocabulary started to become a problem – it all seemed to be “spicy” but couldn’t tell what spice was what. The lobster was lovely but tasted of spice – what spice? – “generic” spice. Thankfully not hot/chilli – but a bit of coriander seed, cumin, garam masala, ? were they all there, anything else? – dunno. The next dish was quail breast with tamarind and yogurt and the cutest little naan breads – but it all became a single taste: spice but this one a little tangier than another. The final dish was lamb korma with steam rice cakes. The rice cakes were truly offensive and the curry – well – could have done without it; it added nothing to the meal – was it the same sauce served with other dishes – could have been, looked the same colour. Very oddly, they added some truffle slices & truffle oil to the dish – just complete nonsense, really. Dessert was chocolate samosa with cardamom (I think) ice cream. Good ice cream. The other thing than happened was that held was though the meal the table next to us was filled with 4 chelsea locals who talked loudly about nothing in particular. One story forced on us was of a recent holiday to the far east that had Ruby Wax at the same resort (gosh - these people were actually impressed by ruby wax!) I also learned that goldeneye is the best playstation game & this opinion was defended quite vigorously by the vacuous loud young man. We did ask, discreetly, to be moved as the restaurant was still 2/3 empty but our requests was refused. We were told that all the tables were booked but they were still unoccupied when we left 1/2 hour later. Very poor show on their part we thought. ‘suppose, that’s the problem of eating in Chelsea – its full of chelsea-ites. Anyway – summing up – started out really well but as the spice novelty worn off I got fairly bored with the seeming repetitiveness of the food. I like the idea of “haute Indian”, not sure this is place that’s going to deliver it. Michelin star, my arse.

Sorry Andy - I eat there regularly as its just around the corner from work - should have started a post saying how good it was. I am very fond of the just seared tuna with baby roast tomatoes. Prawn tempura is also quite lovely. Warning though – its not cheap and its all too easy to arrive at £35+ for lunch & that’s without wine.

Vineyard and Greenhouse are rising stars so have still only got one star at the moment. ← Sorry - its not clear from the press release (rising star - new to me) Add Fraiche, Altalntic & The Harrow to the list: on their way to one

New Two Stars Vineyard, Newbury Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Auchterarder The Greenhouse, Mayfair New One Stars Lucknam Park, Bath Amaya, Belgravia Fraiche, Birkenhead Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge, Brockenhurst Atlantic, Channel Islands Rasoi Vineet Bhatia, Chelsea The Hare, Hungerford The Harrow, Hungerford Ynyshir Hall, Machynlleth The Hand & Flowers, Marlow Maze, Mayfair Nobu Berkeley, Mayfair The Moody Goose at the Old Priory, Midsomer Norton The Ledbury, North Kensington St Ervan Manor, Padstow The Masons Arms, South Molton Waldo’s (at Cliveden), Taplow Orestone Manor, Torquay The Elephant, Torquay Gilpin Lodge, Windermere Two to One Winteringham Fields, Winteringham Thornton’s, Dublin Lost a star The Samling, Ambleside Moody Goose, Bath The Lygon Arms, Broadway Café du Moulin, Channel Islands Merchant House, Ludlow Le Poussin at Parkhill, Lyndhurst Chewton Glen, New Milton Adlards, Norwich The Abbey, Penzance Black Pig, Rock Thackeray’s, Royal Tunbridge Wells Charlton House, Shepton Mallet Sawyards, Storrington Shanks, Bangor The Oriel, Gilford Putney Bridge, London

Gary Congratulations on the move - apologies for the delay, I didn't see earlier posts. Hope it works out really well for you (& that you dont eat/drink the profits away). Cheers Tony

if new 2* i predict Foliage (not italian) - had lunch last week to compensate for worst xmas/new year, ever - outstanding for a mere £25 just please don't let it be locatelli

The table next to me was give an special truffle menu didn;t offer this to me

I think there was pigeon - but can't really recall - didn't notice chicken full - reasonably

Roussillon, December 2005 I went mainly because I wanted to try the autumn vegetables cooked in pig’s bladder with truffle broth as included on their website menu. Sadly the pigs bladder is gone which curiously makes the dish less appealing. And after my less than delicious recent experience with scallops at Midsummer House I hesitated at choosing them here – but a sucker never learns, I suppose. First off – amuse arrive: raw baby carrots & radishes with a mustard dip; some chips (quite elegant & slightly soft) and a couple of prawns on sticks. It was fairly reminiscent of a 70s contact party – an reasonably pleasurable but the must was a bit too overpowering. Pre-starter was a blisteringly hot cup of squash soup with miniature ravioli– don’t know what the filling was it I do remember being told they were scented with ginger. This really didn’t work for me – the soup was so thick it resembled baby food – I would have preferred a much, much thinner soup where it’s the essence you get, not goo. The ravioli – damned if I could taste anything. A wee bit disappointing consider the effort that obviously went into it. Any the scallops arrived – to reasonably large specimens but not quite on the scale of MH – a bit of a relief. The sat in between some leek marmalade – almond veloute with a few toasted almond slices surround them - beautifully arranged. The scallops had been steamed then lightly seared resulting in an insipid lump of rubbery whiteness. I cursed the chef & my own stupidity. I cursed the chef again when I got to the second scallop – it was so overcooked & quite unpleasant. The leek marmalade was not a success – the almonds added nothing. Mains was old spot pig – loin & belly, rubbed with lemon, some excellent crackled skin and wilted lettuce. I dipped my finger in the reduced sauce when it first arrived – it was very good and sticky. But as soon I cut into the lettuce it release a lot of juice which watered the sauce, ruining it. The pork skin was exceptional & the belly was beautifully cooked & moist – but the lemon completely dominated the loin rendering it fairly flavorless. Pre dessert – small cup of mango sorbet & mango juice – very good. Dessert – crispy grapefruit cylinder filled with g’fruit sorbet & lemon cream. Fine but forgettable. On the plus side – the breads were exceptionally good. And the sommelier gave me two different wine by the glass to complement the food – these were stunning (wish I could remember what they were). overall, a big miss

on reflection i think the dish had bigger problems than semi-cooked scallops. First & foremost - it was dry & dry food in a no no. The celeriac puree with truffles didn't act as a sauce, it was too stiff - also - the pairing of scallops & truffles didn’t really work - i thought it was a "lets use the most expensive ingredients" dish rather than what'll make this dish interesting, fun & satisfying. By comparison, those us fortunate to have make the pilgrimage to Cheltenham & tasted the pleasure of DEM’s scallops with pumpkin, squid & squid ink can’t help but have blown away by the harmonious composition in colour, texture and taste – these two dishes are a million miles apart. (maybe we should rename the thread scallopgate)

talent... the scallops were about the same size - huge - which is why I was initially so excited when i saw they & why i was so crest fallen part way through i kicked myself afterward for not complaining

Midsummer House, November 2005 – Lunch Amuse was a small cup of grapefruit & champagne froth – the siphon was brought to your table and its lovely pure white foam dispensed in front of you. Couldn’t help thinking that it’d only be a matter time until the liquid nitrogen is brought into the equation. Anyway – it refreshed the palate which is what its supposed to do. Grapefruit & champagne – great combination. Pre-starters – powerful yellow foam of pumpkin/squash which sat on a puree of wild mushroom – small dice of pumpkin/squash & sliced wild mushroom (girolle, I think). This was just wonderful. My only quibble was that the square shape glass cup in which it was served didn’t let you dig your spoon or bread into the corners to get at every last piece. Feeling greedy – I chose two starters. First was two of the largest scallops I’ve ever seen beautifully caramelised with strands of apple & truffle on top. To accompany this was a puree of celeriac & truffle, some cubes of apple gelee and a powerfully sweet apple reduction. It looked good – the puree applied in a large energetic gesture across the plate. I bite into the scallop – it was cold & raw inside. I was a bit shocked – was this some post-modern/molecular gastro joke? Sheepishly, I cut into the other & it seemed OK – more tepid that warm but kind of worrying. Unfortunately the rest of the dish was a bit disappointing – there was no discernable taste to the celeriac puree & not a hint of truffle aroma or flavour. The apple jelly was also a bit flavourless. So what went wrong? I guess they cooked the scallops straight from the fridge rather than let them warm up a bit – or – perhaps these were unusually large and needed a heck of a lot more cooking. dunno. Second starter was pressed terrine of ox tongue layers between thin sliced of carrot. This came with a variety of carrots done in different ways – sliced, foamed etc. To accompany this was a some cured foie gras – this was rather cute: long slice of fg which was rolled and joined at each end to form a cylinder. But bugger me if could detect any flavour in anything but the foie & the accompanying capers. If was just horribly tasteless & unforgivable – the terrine was fridge cold and watery. It takes real talent to extract & remove flavour from ox tongue. At one point I looked for the salt. Around this time I’m think of paying up & leaving – yup, that bad. I’m glad I stayed though as the main met my expectations: roast monkfish with cassoulet, pumpkin puree & jus gras. Another one of the foie gras cylinders was on the plate but melted very quickly due to the heat. A much, much better dish & the jus gras was stunning - what you’d expect from a kitchen of this supposed calibre. Desserts – I couldn’t really have cared at this stage & went for one which sounded oddest:: gingerbread cheesecake with poached plums. A bit of a wreck for a dessert – stodgy cheesecake, flavourless but strikingly pretty plums & some kind of iced cream (to my mind it was more frozen & churned cream rather that eg based ice cream). I detected some popping sugar somewhere in the dish. Oh, and there were a couple of nettles for decoration & tuiles filled with more tasteless cream. (If you go – go for the soufflé – I looked much better) Anyway – a sadly disappointing visit to a place which obvious has talent but fails on the execution. Do they taste the food before it come out – dunno – but I’m sure some basic flaws could be fixed if they did.

midsummer house should lose a star afer the questionalbe lunch i had today - i was very, very unimpressed (scallops - hot on the outside, cold in the middle? watery & tastless ox tongue? hmm) will post review if i get time to write up

I would have said Tom Aikens for 2* - but he seems to have changed his style a lot in the last year & just isn't as special anymore Le CS for 3* - that would be fitting

I believe they have a special piece of software which looks for my e-mail & automatically rejects it (plus those of the dozen or so friends who tried for reservations on my behalf) Ferran - I'll happily sleep with you or your wife for reservation - come to think of it I'll sleep with you and your wife if that's what it takes

You couldn't f**kin' make it up...

I also didn't get in this year