tim young

Alison and I took our two boys for lunch at the Boxwood Cafe today. Impressive cooking, good wines (and some enterprising choices by the glass), service keen (and warm), if a little harassed and slow at times. A pleasant room, although tables are pretty close together. Warm chicken salad and loin of pork were fine. The puddings were particularly good: I liked the Ramsay take on the Knickerbocker Glory. Just about right for lunch and very good value. The balance between relaxed lunch and more ambitious dinner seems quite well-judged, to go by the posts on this board. GR will want the service to become rather slicker, I think.

Alison and I had two excellent meals in Ludlow this week, staying at no 28 (recommended, although shortly to reduce its B&B capacity as Patricia Ross sells off two of her three terraced houses). We ate at Hibiscus on Tuesday and the Merchant's House on Wednesday. Tony Finch's review of Hibiscus was spot on and enormously helpful. In fact, I suggested to Claire that she should look it up on these boards and she made a note of the website: I hope the matter of the andouillette is buried. Hibiscus is clearly humming along and the suckling pig was outstanding. We also particularly liked the starter of ravioli with white onion and bean. Claire recommended a pinot noir which was one of the cheapest wines on the list and matched our food beautifully. The breads deserve a special mention: I cannot remember better in a restaurant. The appetisers were also great, a melon soup before starting and strawberries with pepper before pudding. It is a restaurant at the top of its form, service is just right and it is remarkably reasonable. As was the Merchant's House the following night (again around £50 a head with everything), but this was a different experience. Presentation and delight in what the restaurant is doing are much more to the fore at Hibiscus, but the cooking at the Merchant's House is really distinguished by its care and focus. Simple descriptions on the menu, comparatively unadorned food, great taste. I had sauteed monkfish and roast grouse, Alison had a memorable quail risotto followed by brill. Puddings of raspberry creme brulee and apricot and almond tart maintained the standard and the apricot's flavour was superbly drawn out. Service was rather flat and low-key, particularly in comparison with Hibiscus.: the waitress had no real thoughts on suitable wine. The food was great on both nights, but the overall experience was more enjoyable at Hibiscus. For that reason, we felt we would return to one but not the other when next visiting Ludlow, particularly since the area has other possibilities. Many thanks to Tony for giving us some pointers!

Sorry not to do so at the time, Gavin: my recollection is that the 3 courses came to around £30 each. I would agree with John Whiting's comments: the integrity of the operation is particularly evident.

through egullet (to which I was steered by an article in the Telegraph magazine detailing Jay Rayner's favourite websites): invaluable!

Alison and I had an excellent meal at Racine last night (saturday). Given the recent discussion about chefs absenting themselves (to watch boxing?), it was good to see the man himself at the kitchen door as we sat down in a very Paris bistroish dining room. Two house champagnes by the glass was also a promising start, as were the very reasonable prices. Undoubted highpoints were the excellence of my poulet noir main with lentils, the anchovy sauce with my duck salad starter, Alison's fine pigeon with mushrooms in a forestier sauce, a keenly-priced Margaret River Cab.Merlot and first-class service. Areas on which to work would be the puddings: we had the vanilla ice cream with Valhrona chocolate sauce. This was very pleasant, but chosen partly because none of the other puddings really excited as menu items. We would certainly go again and wish such a thoughtful enterprise good luck.

We also went on Saturday evening to the Riverside Brasserie: a great evening for a walk along the towpath and our appetites sharpened by vast numbers of exhausted lycra-clad rowers at a regatta on the new rowing lake. It got a little cold after about 8 o'clock but the waiter switched on those brazier on lamppost style objects scattered around the deck. Over half the covers are outside, yet they are open all year, apparently. The waiter told us it was a greasy spoon until around eight months ago and then re-opened with Heston as a consultant: some of the money has been put up by Lee Dixon of Arsenal fame. Our expectations were on the high side too and I would agree with all that Adam has said. Fair but unmemorable starters (the squid and chorizo was off by the evening), decent gilthead bream and rather good ribeye, respectable chocolate tart (unadorned) and crumble. Keeping the food hot is obviously a challenge for them. The service was notably slow and the bill tried to overcharge us by £50 (charged for 2 bottles of Sauvignon, not 2 glasses)- revised bill at £78 for two not £138: they were pleasant enough and we enjoyed watching the boaties gliding up in their faintly absurd cabin cruisers. The walk and the locations were worth a journey, but the meal was probably not. It was good to try it out, but the Fat Duck associations probably do the place a disservice.

John Campbell's food at the Vineyard is excellent. He has brought the savoury ice creams with him from Upper Slaughter (sic): beef with bourguignon ice cream, a pudding of pear with roquefort (or is it parsnip) ice cream and so on. The combination of tastes is very well done tho' not cheap. Lunchtime (including Sunday) is a good deal. Service is attentive. The whole experience is an enjoyable one from the valet parking and the burning brands in the ornamental lake to the wrought iron bookcases stuffed with the owner's Californian wines (far too expensive to try). We had an excellent dinner there in March and a good-value lunch there two Sundays ago.