KaffirLime

Was it very wrong of me to hope Phil's souffles would be as flat as a pancake and he'd bomb out?

Yeah Phil Howard seems just a bit full of himself. How long has Marcus been Head Chef at Hibiscus? That surprised me - it was Claude Bossi's baby and he was always a very hands on chef - surprised he's handed over the reins.

three good chefs and a fair judge, more to the point

You have a point &roid but the main argument against you is the fact that the brief does not call for pedestrian. That fact that both main courses today were and went on to get high marks just makes Marcus's judgement even more laughable. He's the guy that should be out of the competition in my books for gross incompetance. Following shortly after him should be the televison production company. Continuing to film after Johnny walked out to allow viewers to hear pots being thrown about off-set was completely unprofessional. I understand that the series is waning but to try to inject interest into it in this way has turned a so called proffesional competition into Big brother car crash TV.

Regardless of whether we agree with the brief or not, that is what it is and to my mind neither of the remaining chefs are really answering it and Marcus is guilty of very poor judging - marking highly for food that he personally likes rather than food that answers the brief. Tell me what pushed the boundaries with tonights dishes? Byrne attempted it with his spherifcation but failed and Rogan somehow thought using vegetables that had been stored in sand was ground breaking. I've yet to see Rogan do anything other conventional cooking but he can seemingly do no wrong in Marcus's eyes. Nice to see that a lot of the comments on 'Satellite Dishes' that David linked to agree with mine. Particularly liked the one that said 'hilarious that a 2* chef doesn't know anchovy is a fish' Regardless though I think the quote of the entire series must go to Aiden for "You can't stand there championing a dish with a turnip that isn't your own".

Yes but the brief is to push boundaries and I don't think they are given two years to come up with a dish. I don't want to come across as Johnny Mountain's No 1 fan but did either of the other two dishes push boundaries, or were they just safe dishes with a little tweak? Arguably Johnny Mountain is the only guy answering the brief by pushing himself beyond his comfort zone. How hot under the collar did Rogan get grilling a salad for his starter? But apart from that, the duty of a judge is surely to be even-handed and fair. Rogan bought in a miniature science lab which suceeded in adding diddly squat to his lobster and he under-cooked the beetroot yet he still got a more than decent score. Mountain's dish would have had to be gag-inducingly bad to warrant a 2 and I doubt it was that. To me it was nothing short of an unjustified kicking and I can fully understand Mountain's reaction.

Actually I think Marcus was completely out of order, heaping high praise on the other two dishes (even though the lobster dish was flawed) and then basically telling Johnny he was a silly little boy who was just playing with toys. It seemed clear thought that knew how to 'play with his toys' because the execution of the dish seemed spot on. Marcus just couldn't get his head around it because it didn't have 'fish' in it. What did he want, a lump of cod in batter? Johnny's dish certainly had shell-fish and anchovy elements anyway. I also can't believe that in all the years of Great British Menu this is isn't the first time anything like this has happened but just as surely as they have been edited out in the past, it seems this was left in for effect. From the info about tomorrows programme that I've read it seems that Johnny is back.

Well I nearly threw my ipad at trhe television last night which would have been expensive. I know they are all following scripts but Corrigan was excrutiating last night. OK Richard on the count of three we want you to squint menacingly at the camera and say something negative about each chef. Er OK.... "Does marrowbone go with skate? I don't know (why ask the question then?) "That rose petal is very strong. If gets that wrong it could be horrible" "If he gets the timing wrong it could be disastrous" So what you're basically saying is it wouldn't be very good news if they made a mistake? No Sh1t Sherlock ,thanks for your inciteful observations!

What is beginning to grate with me are all the little asinine comments like 'they've really got to be at the top of their game for this one'. When haven't they? I'd like to think the intelligence level of people who watch GBM is a cut above the average but we are treated to the same script writing standards as Come Dine With Me.

Richard Turner, Michelin starred chef Patron of Turner's in Harborne recently gave an interview to the chef's table where he admitted to only recently embracing water baths. In fact It's worth quoting him directly: "We’re starting to embrace new cooking techniques and we use water baths now where if you’d told me that two years ago that I’d be using a water bath I’d have told you fuck off out of it" Sums it up really. I think the take up of them is nowhere near as universal as we are led to believe. Having said that I've had meals in pubs where the meat has clearly been cooked sous vide and I'm like "get the feck out of here, this is a pub"

Pretty predictable result really but I am pleased for Daniel. I have to say though, Paul's presentation must have let him down as much as his cooking - did he buy all of his plates in a charity shop?

But is this television good enough for Olympians?

I think your assessment of Baltis is probably spot on. I can think of at least six restaurants that all hit the same levels and then it just comes down to personal preference.If I go for one with my regular 'curry pal' he likes to go to Shabab on the Ladypool Road. The baltis are no better than at Al Frash or Saleems but the waiter will fetch you a pint of beer from the George pub across the road and that blows up his skirt Saffron on Colmore Row is like chalk and cheese with the Wolverhampton Road branch. Sudha the head chef at the original restaurant has moved across to Colmore Row and I think its fair to say he is chasing Michelin stars. The menu is much smaller and considered and the food has been refined to within an inch of its life. I ate there shortly after it opened in January and thought the food lacked direction - too much fusion and not enough spice but I had a long chat with Sudha afterwards and he admitted that my thoughts had been echoed by several other diners. I was fortunate enough to be invited back to try some dishes after they had been tweaked and I came away a lot happier. Definitely one to try.

If anything I would say Alan was pushing the boundaries more than 'molecular' guy but maybe 'Michelin starred Molecular Murchison' was too much for the voice over guy?

No I haven't but it would be worth it just to see that trick! My current fave is Delhi 6 in Little Aston (just around the corner from the highly regarded but short lived Mint restaurant). The head Chef is Murray previously of the Mango Tree in Stonnal and its worth the trip out to Sutton for the pineapple and ginger dip that comes with the poppodoms alone. It's not really in the cheap and cheerful sector of Murghal/New Sum Ye as it's aiming at the fine-dining end of Indian cooking and charges accordingly (expect to pay about £40 per head) but I would happily rate it alongside Lasan and Saffron.

Then you will have missed out on their sublime pork chop with lemon grass - shame, it was a worthy accompaniment to a slab of crispy belly pork

Yes, read his review of New Sum Ye in today's Observer mag and nearly fell down in a faint when I read that he thought it was better than equivalent gaffs in London. The irony is, since it's recent refurb when the old menu got thrown out and a new 'westernised' menu was introduced, New Sum Ye isn't half as good as it used to be.

Anyone else get the feeling Alan is getting a bit exasperated? He seems he's completely confounded at not having won it at least twice before and should now be standing in Jeremy Lee's shoes judging the novices

Definitely a bit harsh - I'd say there is probably at least 11 minutes of watchable program

Lordy, I can't wait

Well we're all entitled to our opinion! Forgive me, I know I'm being a pedant but it just sits more comfortably with me if people say 'my favourite Indian Restaurant' rather than an unequivocal 'the best restaurant'.

I have heard that the northern branches of Akbars are very good - so maybe it's true that it just doesn't travel well. I've eaten there a couple of times and found the food ok but nothing special. You can certainly eat far better in Birmingham and not have to sit in a holding area waiting for a buzzer to call you to a table. The impression that I get with Akbar's is that food is almost a secondary consideration. It's main raison d'etre seems to be to easily accommodate very large Asian parties who are after a great sense of occasion and the wraparound bling and brusquely efficient service certainly provide that but if you are just going as a couple for good food and quiet conversation it's probably the last place you'd want to choose. I confess I have not tried Mughal E Azam yet but I'm in no hurry to as 'authentic' or not (and with some of the food in the Indian sub-continent I'm not sure thats a positive recommendation)it seems to be set up on the same model as Akbar's in catering mainly for large groups. Prawncrackers - I really don't know how you can state anywhere is the 'best curry house in Birmingham' because there are almost as many styles as there are restaurants, from Balti restaurants, South Indian dosa houses, Indian barbecue grills and traditional 'flock wallpaper' restaurants to high end fine dining places such as Lasan and Saffron. The best I could probably offer is a top ten and then I'd struggle with having to leave restaurants out.

For years Shiraz had a note in the window stating it was a 'non-alcoholic' restaurant which always made me smile. I liked to think it meant you could drink alcohol in there so long as you did it in moderation! Quite confused why this post is in a thread about Baltis though In response to your earlier post though I think I'm pretty qualified to say that Rose Muree has never been 'the place' and Akbars for all its bling serves some pretty dreadful curry

Lots of postings on Twitter yesterday with Andy Waters posting first to say that, as of yesterday he is no longer Chef Patron and will be moving 'with his team' to the Queens in Belbroughton and then Edmunds confirming he has left but offering no other information other than that a new chef will be in place in three weeks time. Don't know if it's open between now and then. Anyone know what on earth is going on? Strange to think Edmunds will not be run by Andy Waters - it was the name of his first Michelin starred restaurant in Henley (I believe named after his grandfather) and the current place in Birmingham City Centre was pretty much built around him.

Slightly off-topic so sorry. I've always wanted to visit Sat Bains but have been put off by the fact that he only does a tasting menu. Is this still true or does he offer ALC? If he does only do a tasting menu how would he accommodate my sadly delusional vegetarian partner - or wouldn't he?