Mark Donnelly

Many thanks Sarah. I'll report back on experience.

Off next Saturday - Thought I'd give it a go. Anyone been?

Went yesterday (24th) for dinner with my wife. Although new, the restaurant felt like an old favourite. Call me old fashoned, but but I am really tired of minimalist designer restaurants or bistro restaurants that are nothing more than poorly run family affairs. Since I work in the City, Andy's comment above is spot on: would love Galvin to be in the Square Mile. As mentioned above, the room is "L" shaped. Try to avoid the back ("_") of the room as it is very dark and seems separated from the main room. Tables are small. With a decanter, water, et al sitting on the table, there are table placements aplenty. In addition, the've taken the bistro element too far in the chairs. They're just posh versions of standard bistro-type chairs (ie not very comfortable after sitting for more than an hour). My wife and I both opted for the crab lasagne. This was superb. Etheral discs of pasta layered with flecks of white crabmeat, built up in a tower. Served in a deep bowl style plate it came with a lovely crab bisque sauce (8/10). at £9.50 I though this was good value for money in London (for example, crab salad at the New Angel in Dartmouth is £12). More please. For mains my wife opted for salmon filet while I opted for the oxtail and black pudding parmentier. The salmon was disappointing. Although a very generous sized portion, it was over cooked and lacked flavour. It sat on a bed of leeks and came with a grain mustard sauce that was over seasoned. This dish just lacks everything (5/10). My oxtail parmentier was very black and very generous. It sat on a bed of pommes puree and came with a very sticky oxtail sauce. A real winner (8.5/10). And at less than £10 very good value for money. For puddings we decided to share some cheese and a pear tart (obviously not at the same time). The cheese "tray" offers a fairly limited selection of soft, hard and blue cheeses. The waiter gave us a generous portion of each cheese, so much so that we had to ask for some to be taken back. A great way to finish off the red wine. The pear tart was nothing more than ordinary. Very ordinary frangipane and pastry of no note (5/10). Service was very friendly, if a little erratic. Bill for two came to £133 including service at 12.5%, a Margaux at £45 and two glasses of Vougnier (sic) at £11. The wine list is limited and caters to all price ranges. It seems to have a very limited selection by the glasse, though. All in all, despite a new menu with some disappointing dishes, I think/hope Galvin will be a huge success. The overal philosophy (simpler food in a comfortable avuncular setting) is one I support. It should build a loyal following very quickly.

Personally I prefer Pages on Shaftsbury Avenue. Aimed at trade sales but very happy to sell to drop in shoppers. Only place I manged to find squeezy bottles (and in differnt sizes to boot).

I'm sorry but I can't stand Rick Stein. He has none of Keith Floyd's insouciance nor demonstrates any technical cooking skills. But what really gets me is asking obvious questsions ("why can't we get fish like this in the UK?") but not bothering to even attepmt to answer them (as these can be th only point of his shows, since he can't cook and has no personality). I know the shows are unscripted, but he just doesn't have the intellectual rigor to answer his own questions.

Managed to book a table for two adults and two children during regatta week (booked in May mind you) to coincide with family holiday to Devon. The Restaurant Two smallish sized dinning rooms fairly casually laid out (towards the gastro pub end of the scale). Great views over Dart and quayside. Reasonable amount of room between tables, but not overly generous. Tables and chairs showing signs of ware and tear. Overall impression was good as it it ws relaxed and informal (just what you want when on holiday). The Menu JBR's has gone out of his way to source and use local ingredients, with an obvious emphasis on seafood (although foie gras makes it onto the menu). Menu is varied, but not extensive. My wife started with crab salad. A very generous sized quenelle arrived (with some obligatory salad leaves and grapefruit segments. It was very good, but was served too cold. However, crab salad is a safe and secure option (a recurring theme in JBR's cooking). It stands up or falls down on the quality of the crab. This crab was very, very good. I started with a scallop salad. Six of the plumpest, freshest scollaps arrived. Perfectly cooked. Salad was of imemorable leaves, but a nice verdent dressing. For main courses, my wife chose roast pork. This, again, was a very generous portion of roast pork. Flavoursome and moist on the inside, with a crispy crackling on the outside. This came with diced sauted potatoes and black pudding. A dish not for the feint hearted. I choose best end of lamb. A lot of the fat was left on, which spoiled it slightly, and it was under seasoned. It was of very high quality (in terms of plumpness and grain), but slightly lacked flavour. It came with crushed garden peas, a small fondant potatoe and jus roti. All three lacked flavour. My son had pan fried (rib) beef with pomme puree and a red wine sauce. Like the lamb, the beef was of high quality, but was under seasoned and lacked flavour. The potatoes did not have enough butter or salt to make them anything memorable. For desert we chose raspberry mousse and strawberry nougat. Both were very good. The raspberry mouse sat on a chocholate sponge base that was only a vehicle for colour. The mousse was very good and was topped with a deep red jelly film. Fresh raspberries "moistened" with some of their own coulis also came with the dish. These were the best raspberies I have ever tasted. Totally fantasitc. The children had most (if not all) of the strawberry, so I can't report on how it was. For wine we had a a couple of glasses of house Reisling and a bottle of Pasquera Ribera del Duero). This was excellent and at £35, a welcomed and reasonable appearance on the wine list. One thing to JBR's credit, the wine list covers all budgets with a fair selectio at the lower end. Service was reasonable but lacked enthusiasum. Prices for crab salad and scollaps were £12. Raost pork was £17, whilst the lamb and beef were £22. These are London prices and at the high end, especially since very little is done to them. Overall, the quality of locally sourced ingredients is what shines through. In general the food is somewhat under seasoned and is accompanied by tried-and-tested vegetables. A little more imagination please. However, I would make the detour and visit TNA again. I'd be happier if £2-£3 was shaved off of the prices of starters and £3 -£4 off of mains.

Went to Midsummer House a couple of weeks back to celebrate my wedding anniversary. The restaurant consists of a small house with a large conservatory on the bank of the Cam. We were in the conservatory which is light with very generous table spacing. The first thing to say is the staff were fantastic. Very friendly and informal, but hugely knowledgable and proud of what the restaurant had achieved. If you want stuffy, unfreiendly waiting staff, don't go to this restaurant. We opted for the Tasting Menu. To start was an amuse of pink grapefruit foam. Intense flavour, but an odd choice to start (I prefer savory amuse to start a meal). Would have been much better as a pre desert amuse. Next came another amuse and one of the highlights of the evening. This was (large) shot glass filled one half with cucumber jelly, a layer of diced smoked salmon and one half of a warm cauliflower veloute. The hot and cold sensation in the mouth was wonderful. The veloute showed real skill in keeping the cauliflower flavour fresh, but the salmon neither added or subtracted from the dish. A real winner. Up next was the first Course (well what a remember anyway). This was a a perfectly cooked, plump scallop with an apple salad and celariac puree. Again very good, but not outstanding. Course Two was a foie gras parfait "lollypop". This was sensational and demonstrated the skill of the kitchen to its fullest extent. The foie gras parfait was "stuffed" inside a sweet red pepper tube, which was a tuile. It was bright red red, sweet and broke up in the mouth like thin caramel. A coctail stick was inserted into the parfait, hence the lollypop. Course Three was a single langoustine skewered on a plastic syringe filled with a shelfish sauce. This you had to pop into your mouth and squeeze t o extract the sauce. This trying to be too clever and failing. My wife squeezed a bit too hard and expectorated over the table a bit. Hmm. Course Four was a combination of pig's trotter and smoked eel. The trotter was simply fantastic. The trotter had been braised for four hours intill meltingly tender. It had then been compressed in a terrine and left to set. Finally it was cut into oblong shaped piece, paned and deep fried. This was nothing short of sensational. The depth of flavour was fantasic. The pairing with smoked eel did not work, as the strong flavours competed with each other. Then came another amuse. This was a novelty. A very heavy bottomed shotglass witha maple syrup layer topped with some sort of chive flavoured cream (fraiche maybe). Course Five was braised beef. This was ok but lacked flavour. Finally, Course Six was a cone shaped peanut parfait topped with a thin chocholate tuile and accompanied by bananna sorbet. Again very good. We learnt that Daniel Clifford was off the following week to El Bulli. Clearly EB and Fat Duck influences were in evidence. To summarise, some clear winners showing deep skills and inventiveness. Some parings did not work, but that's the price to pay for frontier cooking. All-in-all, a fantastic experience and puts many two starred restaurants in London to shame. 9.5/10

Here's a little known secret - Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham in open for lunch on Saturdays. Its (probably) the cheapest 2 star in Europe and much much better than many a 3 star. ← ← Many thanks BLH. There was a thread about Le Champignon Sauvage in which one Member had a bad experience. Kinda put me off.

Hi everyone - new member. I've just booked my 20th wedding anniversary dinner at Midsummer House and was wondering what fellow eGulletarians views were. David Clifford has a great CV on the surface and I am keen and willing to support fine restaurant soutside London. The restaurnt called me back today to confirm my booking and was exceptionally warm and friendly. A great start. I've worked my way through most of London's one, two and only three star restaurant(s), but am finding London restaurants becoming too predictable. Thoughts welcome.