Bapi

Now that is funny Well ok, maybe not Burnley itself then. But just think of the fun you could have up here. Sous Vide Hot Pot has got to be a winner, or even better- Sous Vide Bury Black Pudding

What? So why are you opening a place for poncy southerners? Come back up here to Lancs immediately please.

I understand Gary provides a similar service for some of his more lucrative clients But what's this I read? You actually ordered bottled water Gary? I thought that was a complete anathema? And, eventhough I have a reverted to being a country bumpkin in the North, away from the bright lights of London; isn't £9 for a single Calva a bit naughty? Bit more detail on the Caille and what was in the £15 ravioli please?

Mmmmm, Jay's review is here. Now, note the price of a meal including wine and service for two in his review Gary. Would you care to tell the nice ladies and gentlemen here, how much you spent on your own on Friday. You greedy bastard- you must have had everything.

I had lunch here today with a school friend I haven't seen in nearly 18 years. A very pleasant and enjoyable meal over which to catch up. Like Thom, I was was a little disconcerted to be presented with a new menu but soon recognised some of the more outlandish dishes, the place is becoming famous for. First we tried the Pig's Maw slices with chilli. Slightly gelatinous in texture, spiked witha fierce chilli oil- but damm these were moreish. Followed by the Lamb Chilli Pot, which if anything was better than the first time I tried it with truly, beautifully tender lamb. My friend opted for Stir fried eel with coriander gravy. This was served with noodles and again fabulously tender pieces of eel, which is a testament to the deft skills of the chefs. I did think the eel was not as flavoursome as it should have been, but very enjoyable nonetheless. With rice, a couple of beers and bottled water we paid just £30.

Blimey- your chef Andy is doing sterling work for you there Gary. I really like the combinations of ingredients he is using and the two dishes above sound excellent. But my friend- lose the exclamation mark from the "We Hope You Enjoy Your Evening!" line

Chris, we were there this time last week. Within Boqueria- we tried Grand Central- fairly average to be honest- we tried nice sweet clams, but I thought the gambas were a tad past their best as they tasted wooly- and it was a tad over priced. Also tried the well rated El Quim- possibly bad choices on our part ( Slacker's fault)- but we chose Croquettes which were rather sadly blasted in a microwave. We also tried some squid - I liked it at first - but then Slacker pointed out it had a rather livery after taste. Much better was Cal Pep- Excellent Whitebait/ Calamares. Then razor clams and a wonderful tortilla, with slivers of jamon- but beware the over enthusiastic amount of aoili that sits on top. A great experience- make sure you do this and sit at the bar. Best thing to do is turn up for a late lunch. It's late, so sorry for being so brief- if you want anymore - please feel free to PM me. Cheers B

I haven't been for a while, as I no longer live in London. But yes- it did and I assume still does close for Ramadan. Cheers B

Oi Bapi when r u going to get them to emigrate to London so we can finally get our hands on some of this fg glace ← Well, if I had my way- never My reference above was to having a lunch where the foie ice cream pitched up. Trouble was - it was far too small for a greedy bastard like myself. So, as we were returning two days later, with the equally greedy Friars and Gary M- I asked for a larger serving. Which bless them- they were happy to do.

Adam, sorry I meant to post re your question. But it looks like you have made a great choice. Had two very good meals there a couple of weeks back. I will send you a great rec for accomodation, if you haven't already sorted that aspect out. Ask Claire to sort out an extra large portion of his Foie Gras ice cream for you

Bloody hell. I saw a copy of the new 2007 Michelin Pub Guide yesterday and you got a very good write up in that too.

I met these chaps at some so-so restaurant show in Manchester , earlier this year. I had a great chat with them and were very impressed by their passion for their product and one particular chap's love of John Campbell's food. He even tried to tempt me into buying one of their domestic units to take home, until I explained that the first thing to be cooked sous-vide, would be my knackers.

if my cunning plan comes off so might i ← On the one hand we were very lucky. The weather was superb in Ludlow all week. Two great meals at Hibiscus and one very good one at The Bell Inn at Yarpole. The Food Festival was great fun - lots of great exhibitors and plenty to try out, especially beers and perry! Our little man discovered chocolate big time, thanks to Granny joining us and was like the Tasmanian Devil on crack cocaine. Rosie broke the world record for scotch egg consumption at the Handmade Scotch Co again. Fantastic to share the fun with Scott and Sam, over the weekend. On the other hand, we were gatecrashed by the pink shirted one from ooop North. Amazing how Marshall turns up - his speciality being gatecrashing our respective wedding anniversaries He became so impatient he ended up ringing/ begging Hibiscus directly; something I have learnt those poor chaps in Cheltenham, had to put up with as well. Lovely to see the Hibiscus mob again- whilst I am slightly sad that they will no longer be be based there- they are certainly doing the right thing for them and I wish them every success. Already booked another meal for later in the year and NO Marshall - you can't bloody come along.

kropotkin, Thanks for your review and welcome on board. Sorry to hear that you also had a slightly hit and miss meal at Northcote. Like you, I think we will venture to other places before venturing back to Northcote. ( Has anyone heard/ been to Cassis at the Stanley House Hotel in Mellor- aslo near Blackburn? Chap there is ex-head chef at Northcote I believe?) In any case- I would be very interested to hear your views about Juniper, as this has been mooted for a potential boys lunch, later this year. Cheers B

Anybody off to the Ludlow Food Festival next weekend? Heading down to Ludlow tomorrow, for a weeks holiday. Bloody well hope the weather is better than it has been this last week. Just possibly may well find myself at Hibiscus at some point

That's very hurtful Gary- you said that your staff didn't mind scattering rose petals around in front of me. But - what's this special service you talk of? Last time we were there, Slacker and I had to pour our own beer at the end of the night- because you were, er, somewhat indisposed. Will get my arse over to Westow in late September to celebrate properly. A week in Ludlow to get through before then- so if you are imbued with a generosity of spirit at your good news and feeling generous. Feel free to to buy us a drink at "you know where" Oh look, a pig just flew past my window.

Congratulations mate- that's fantastic news. Although - I have to admit yours was one place I didn't write to them about. Section on knowing the owners and all that, meant I couldn't. It's called ethics dear chap- not something that I am sure you are familar with in your other profession. In any case - well done, you have worked hard or at least Chef and Sarah have.

Yes- you bloody well are. Stop it!

Give over Marshall. Of course you do sweetie- sooooo busy in fact that you both managed to post close to 10am on Monday morning. How I long to be able to sit in an "orifice" again-fart-arsing about, pretending to work and telling people what to do -whilst actually doing nothing but surfing the net. It's been too long since I had eaten at the Weaver's Shed, rather sadly the meal at the begining of his thread was the last one I had with my Father before he was taken ill. A bright man though, who did impart the odd sage-like piece of advice every now and again. One such nugget - was to always be slightly wary of Stockbrokers, especially Pink-shirted ones from Yorkshire. Why do I mention this? Because the Tight Bastard Extrodinaire- Marshall pitched up without his bloody wallet Since Thom was pretending he was very important and busy (on the phone to my Lawyer my-arse- he owes his rather fractious Bookie thousands more like ) - I had to pick up Marshall's tab and trust me - this boy can eat and lord knows he can drink. All that aside - the food and wine were fabulous. The amuse was a little soupcon of Ajo Blanco- with tiny slivers of grapes, as it should be. I am always loathed to agree with Thom- but the risotto, was stunning. Perfectly presented - and textbook texture. Just fabulous and worth the trip to Golcar alone. Loved the black olive salt too-which our lovely waitress Shirley knew the flavour of, without having to go and ask Stephen or Tracy. My Foie was lovely too- excellent components - but not sure I enjoyed the potatoes with it as much as I liked the tomato chutney. Not that I am complaining- one can never have too many and I also had some pont-neuf potatoes with my main course of Red Deer. Deer and posh chips - who can resist? Not as gamey in flavour as I expected - but hell's teeth it was pink and tender and was lovely to eat. We had a Faugeres to drink with that course and then progressed onto a Madrian(sp?) with cheese. Overall a very pleasant afternoon- despite the presence of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. And just to let you in to the abject horror that, is the ordeal of lunching with these two. The nadir of the the afternoon has to be these two smuggly jangling their Rolexs at each other- I fucking ask you. Why do I get the feeling - that in the early 1980's -- when I was having lewd and salacious thoughts about Bond girls and Madonna- Thom and Gary had laminated photographs of Maggie on their walls.

As much as I am loathed to say it- Thom does indeed know his onions when it comes to all things culinary in the fair city of Manchester. He knows bugger all else about anything mind. But I needed a good quality Indian restaurant for dinner last week and it had to be central and he came up trumps with this place. My mooted option, the Rajdoot- from my distant youth was declared to be a bit blah and so we went for his recommendation - EastZEast. It is located underneath an Ibis Hotel which is a short cab ride from the centre and at the far end of Princess Street. Now let’s be honest- the name isn’t terribly good is it? What on earth does EastZEast mean? But the slightly suspect name shouldn’t put you off. Nor should the very subdued lighting and ubiquitous black leather chairs which hinted at them trying a smidgen too hard to be trendy. What matters was the food and this was bang on. First up - were some popadams. I have to be honest - I am not a great fan - primarily because- like good bread in restaurants - I always end up eating far too much, to the detriment of my meal. My problem last night was that the pickle tray they provided was fabulous. All were home-made pickles and particular favourites including a gorgeous garlic pickle and a plum chutney. So good we refused to let them have it back and kept it for our next two courses. The missus had very good Shammi kebabs- light and moist inside-with a crispy exterior. Her boss went for Seekh kebabs or as someone I am fond calls them- “Meat Tubes”. Didn’t get to try them but will do next time. I opted for some grilled lamb chops- which were excellent , moist and tender - and not too aggressively spiced, yet still having a judicious kick of heat to them. Both of them decided upon the Karahi Fish Anari- which was pieces of cod, cooked with pomegranate, onions and garlic. Nice clear flavours and very slightly tart. I ate a delicious Karahi Ghost Dopiaza - tender pieces of lamb in rich gravy, redolent with cardamom, onions, and cumin seeds. We shared pilau rice a side of Okra and great giant naan. This was served vertically on a stand to rip bits off. I also quite like the way the chefs from the kitchen - come out to the table bringing your food with them, as opposed to the waiters who took your order. With a salt lassi, and three beers the bill for three was a mere £60. I have been longing to find a decent Indian/ Pakistani restaurant since moving back up north- to sate my cravings for the fantastic food on offer at Tayyabs in Whitechapel.- looks like this place will be my new home. EastZEast

Apologies - I haven't been on-line for a few days, as I have been in hospital. The on-set of acute deafness unfortunately- caused by the aforementioned gift from Auntie Yin. It was a slightly worrying start to the afternoon with Joe ringing to say the power was out at the Millbank and indeed, a large chunk of West Yorkshire. But as Yin was en-route already we thought we would risk it and pop over anyway. Very glad we did as we had a very pleasant afternoon sitting outside overlooking the valley. Special mention for my Rib-eye steak - fabulous crust on the outside and cooked rare as requested- and with great chips. A bargain at £12.95. Comped cheese course was very welcome, which was served as something to nibble on whilst the power was out. But which we actually ended up eating afterwards, since the power had returned. Nice gooey chocolate fondant too as Yin mentions- with knockout peanut butter ice-cream. Delighted Yin enjoyed it so much.

I think it telling that I had to find out what this was from my missus. I abhor all day time television- it is the bastion of students and dullard Sun readers alike and it is as much of an anathema to me- as is your "League of Gentlemen stylee" sartorially eclectic, dress sense. In any case- I think you are just jealous that I am no longer chained to the "orifice". Having said that- you never seem to be in yours anyway. Being either out looking for new offices, swanning off to Dublin for work (read: Guinness drinking jolly), or generally sponging meals off poor souls and tricking them into subscribing to your new venture. Sorry- I mean cogently arguing that they can increase their 2007 business projections, by coming on board. Anyway- enough of this - I look forward to our Lunch later this week, during which of course, you will be paying for the first bottle of champagne for being such a rude fuckwit . Provided of course- you can make it and Great Aunt Olivia's toenails don't need clipping again- or perhaps that unmentionable irritation will actually necessitate a trip to the STD clinic after all. As you were- let's return to talk of Lamb Chilli clay pots please........

Wholly agree- you need to go with a few people to get the best of the place and enjoy a selection of dishes. I would be happy to oblige and join you - as I am sure Thom would as well, provided he doesn't utilise one of his famous excuse lines: For example: Sorry- I am having my Gestapo-like glasses refitted, with even thicker lenses today. Sorry Bap- just booked another spray-tan at OrangefreaksRus. Maybe next time. PM me when you are next up from Hants and we can try and arrange a lunch.

Had this dish - during an unexpected late lunch today with the trollop. Loved it - and as Thom has said elsewhere, this a is served with a more unctous broth than the lamb with chilli claypot dish. Also had the stir-fried eel with chilli dish Thom had recommended too. This was astonishingly good - and at £9 - my god - the portion size was ridiculously generous. Foolishly also ordered some dim-sum size starters - now forgive me - but we had a slight communication breakdown with the rather charming staff at this point. We wanted a dish that was callled -Steamed Northern bun- or some such like - which they couldn't do. So we went with the lass serving us and her options. We got a a huge portion of 10 generous dim sum - with pork and prawn and an odd dish of huge fluffed up doughy balls, served with a condensed milk to dip in. Haven't a clue what it was- but it took the chilli heat away from my palate. With some rice -tea- two beers and a glass of wine the bill was a mere £35. And re admitting defeat -sod that - got a doggy bag to bring the rest back home.

That's odd- why do you think there was such a disparity over the two nights Bertie? Especially, if the chef and the staff were the same on the second night. Was it very busy the first night? I remember the brochure I picked up showed the bedrooms looking revamped and rather nice- any comments about yours?