Bapi

I'd love to know the Palmers Green one is about five minutes drive away. Hallie forgot to say - venture up to Highagte village as well. Lots of nice pubs and a great Indian called Parsee just down the road, which I am just about to post about. B Edit - Just read your post Hallie - definitely up for meeting up and congrats on the move.

Hallie, just a quick post for now. Welcome to the area, we live over in Southgate, which is only a few short minutes away from Muswell Hill. The cheese shop you mention is very good indeed and Toffs just around the corner is an excellent Fish and Chip shop. There is also the Fine Burger Co, which I haven't been to and La Porchetta- which serves huge pizzas (and the worlds biggest Calzone). It used to be very noisy but served good reasonable food, but surly service meant that we haven't been back for nearly two years. As you can tell there is a bit of a dearth of "fine dining" establishments in the vicinity. Where is that Fishmongers you refer to? We venture up to Cockfosters to the excellent Poisson, to get our fish. Crouch End - has numerous Thai places ( Thai Café is ok) and a Loch Fyne restaurant as well. It also has a French place called Les Associes- we have never been( tried once but it was packed). But I do remember that the chap on the next table to us, on our visit to Hibiscus two years ago, talked enthusiastically about it and was taking his dining partner there the next day. Finchley has the Two Brothers - fish restaurant, which is also reputed to be good. Sorry it’s a bit sparse- if you need more information let me know.

I look forward to reading your thoughts about the Fat Duck. Have a good trip.

Bright woman - my wife, she had it written it to our pre-nuptial, that I am hence forth obligated to take her away each year for our anniversary. As Ludlow was the choice of destination for a week and as we were en-route from London, we decided to split the journey and incorporate a swift lunch at the Cotswold House. Chipping Campden is a beautiful little town, where the majority of the buildings are a deep gold coloured stone found throughout the Cotswold region. The Hotel stands just off the small main square, in the centre of the main street, but a word of warning for you, parking is a bit of a nightmare and we were there on a Monday lunchtime in March! Heaven only knows what the town is like on a busy summer weekend. I had contacted Simon Hulstone to let him know we were coming. He indicated that although he wouldn't be there himself, he kindly arranged for his Sous Chef- David to come and have a quick chat and offer to show us around the Hotel. The main restaurant was closed, so we lunched in Hick's Brasserie. A pleasant, bright busy room, which is more contemporary than the traditional main restaurant. It was surprisingly busy as they serve food till 2.30pm, which I presume accounted for the late influx of people after 2pm and the 48 covers, one waiter, proudly said they had got through. Not bad for a March Monday afternoon. The pleasant staff provided us with bread and an aperitif, whilst we perused the large A3 sized menu. Both of us thought that the menu was very impressive, with a choice of fourteen starters -five of which are vegetarian. Amongst the dishes we considered were- Cream of chestnut soup, with Roasted duck foie gras and chanterelles, or Serrano Ham, poached egg flavoured with cepe oil and foamed cepe cream. However, we both decided upon vanilla seasoned Scottish west coast scallops with bacon and a Jerusalem artichoke puree. Three accurately cooked scallops with a very crisp piece of bacon, nicely presented with a swirl of the puree and a little pile of roquet salad. The scallops had been caramelised well on top and the vanilla gave the scallops a nice sweetness, perfect with artichoke puree. For main courses Rosie had the Truffled macaroni cheese with poached haddock and baby spinach, delivered in a quirky, angled bowl. Well cooked fish resting on top of the silky macaroni flecked with truffle and mingled with the spinach. A very good dish and perfect comfort food for her. I opted for Oxtail and Pork belly faggots served on a small pile of mashed potato with shards of glazed parsnips and carrots. I was given, three well sized faggots, containing generous amounts of pork belly an oxtail, wrapped in what I presume in caul fat, and served with a fantastic, rich, gravy. A very enjoyable dish. In addition, we could have opted for a Cassoulet of Barbary duck, with pancetta and cured sausage, or perhaps a Loin of venison, sweet potato mash, Savoy cabbage and juniper jus- from what is a varied selection of well thought out and very reasonably priced dishes. Most starters are less than £6 and no main course is above £15.On reflection, we thought the choice of dishes was actually slightly better than at the Riverside Brasserie in Bray marina last December. To finish, we shared a sticky toffee pudding with a vanilla ice cream after that and then couple of teas to complete lunch. With one glass of wine and bottled water, the bill came to an incredibly reasonable £56. We then had a look around the Hotel and were shown a couple of the rooms. Our favourite was called Hidcote Cottage , which is one of the garden rooms. Nicely appointed, with a small private garden with its own hot tub. Rather expensive though, but ideal for a treat. Another nice little touch, is that they allow you to choose your own bedding and pillows from the large selection available and they will stock your mini-bar with your favourite tipple as well. Overall Hick's is excellent place to stop for lunch, and the sort of place you really wished you lived near to for a reasonable meal. The Hotel itself is definitely a place we would like to go back to, but next time, we will definitely be opting for dinner to try the full range of what Simon conjures up in the main restaurant.

God I hate infernal computers! I spent a good few minutes, finally getting round to doing a quick review of lunch, en-route to Ludlow at Hick's Brasserie in Chipping Campden. One of the operations that Simon Hulstone runs at the Cotswold House Hotel. Was it on my "C" drive when I came in this morning? Was it hell, it's somewhere out in the ether! In the mean time, my addition to the Gary's post about Ludlow. No tome this time as Gary has thankfully filled in most of the details of our Friday night meal. What a great trip though and Rosie and I were delighted that Sarah could join us (we just about tolerated Gary's presence). Even more so when Gary very kindly treated us to the Drappier to get the evening off to a fine start. Canapés were a very garlicky bruschetta with onions, tomatoes, chunks of garlic and herbs: a very fine chicken liver mousse in a pastry tart and a little blue cheese biscuits covered in sesame seeds. I opted for the same courses as Gary, the first of which was the monkfish with mustard and cucumber. If I am not mistaken this is one of the dishes that helped to get him the star at the Merchant House, but I really liked the addition of cucumber to the moist fish - it lifted the dish and gave it a nice a light crunch and a textural contrast to the fish. Rosie had the sweetbreads as mentioned, which were far better than I have ever tasted previously at both the Merchant House or at the Fat Duck -with its Hay Pollen version. As the greedy bugger said, he ordered an extra fish course of John Dory- Sarah and I shared a quarter each, whilst he demolished the other half. Delicious fish, in a creamy sauce with fantastically earthy mushrooms. The Riesling was I think from Austria wasn't it? I have not been a great fan before and thought this wine was a great choice. My lamb was fabulously tender and served with moreish dauphinoise potatoes. Gary's right, that the red wine didn't have the wow factor that we thought it would for the money, but it was perfectly serviceable. I also agree that I wish I had tried the hare as well- ho hum - there is always next time, although from what others have posted it may be some time before we get to venture back! Rosie had the cheese of which the only one I can remember was a Brillat truffe-the centre of which had a sprinkling of black truffle. I opted for the fabulous Muscat crème caramel- and happily devoured it all. I must admit that I am a mere young Skywalker to Gary's-Yoda when it comes to gluttony- but being willing students - Rosie and I also opted to go there the Tuesday before the Marshall's arrived. I must just mention the wonderful bread that Anja Hill serves up, I am not a huge fan of eating too much bread prior to a meal, but this stuff was just fantastic. On that occasion both of us had scallops with a light lentil and coriander broth. A lovely dish, which is aided to by the scallops being served very thinly sliced into almost translucent round slivers. Consumed with a half of a very unusual, but acceptable white Rioja. Rosie had the Venison with Foie Gras, which I have eulogised at length before - she absolutely loved it and polished off every morsel of it. (I thought she was going to pick up the plate and lick it clean). I had the aforementioned squab - moist and delicious served simply with a few sliced green beans, leeks and asparagus. No fuss - just bang on food with which we quaffed a fine Alion. All in, about £120 for the two of us – which needless to say, is excellent value. Service too from their one waitress in addition to Anja is spot on. Calm, friendly and very professional, especially in dealing with the poor lady who had a funny turn behind us during that first meal. Returning to the meal with Gary and Sarah – we had a really enjoyable evening (blimey can that boy can talk), followed by a pleasant chat with Shaun. I won't divulge which of our party wanted to go home via the Kebab shop following our meal - but I think you may already have a fair idea. I can't think of better place to spend a week of our lives, it’s a wonderful town and one in which I could happily live. The only downside is that it's becoming impossible to get into the restaurants- Merchant House is now booked at weekends until September and Hibiscus is heading that way as well. So please, do me a favour and ignore all of what is written above and on the Hibiscus post. Don't go to Ludlow you'll really hate it.

Come on then Moby, more details please? What number of choices per course, what did your party try etc?

The Waterside Inn is an excellent suggestion and would have been my recommendation too. A few of us are venturing to Bray for a Saturday lunch in late April. We have only ever had dinner there in the past, so I would welcome your comments about lunch Schenier. Have fun. B

You Greedy Tart. I could have placed good money on you venturing back there today.

Nice review Gary. As I said to you, this place certainly warrants a visit in the near future. In a similar vein, I was reading my GFG on the way in this morning and noticed that there is a place in Ripon (North Yorks- for you Southerners ) called Restaurant Twenty Seven. It’s the domain of a chap called John Lyons whose food is likened to that of Heston Blumenthal's and Paul Kitchin's at Juniper (Altrincham). I must admit I haven't heard much about this place and as I say, I was surprised to notice it for the first time in the Guide. The food looks very interesting though- Bresse pigeon, with langoustine, cauliflower and iced valrhona ! Have you, or anyone you know been there Gary?

To whom do you refer ? Yes Rosie and I are stopping off for Lunch en-route to a cottage in Ludlow next Monday. Very much looking forward to meeting Simon and trying his food. The dishes you mentioned sound excellent and the Hotel looks great so may well ask to have a quick look in one of the rooms too. We are away for week, so it may be a while before I post about Cotswold House and Ludlow, but I certainly will when I get back....unless I have exploded through over indulgence. Cheers Bapi

John, My wife and I "treated" ourselves to two of the Tesco "Finest" Fruits de Mer about three years ago. As you write, the seafood was fairly terrible -watery, insipid, tasteless meat- especially the crab claw, that not even aioli could salvage. One wonders how they managed so successfully managed to extract any semblance of taste from the seafood. It taught me a lesson though, as I like you, adore seafood, but will not buy such a platter from a supermarket ever again.

Rules and J Sheekey would get my vote in this category.

: They both sound good Thom- nice post. Perhaps we can finally meet up for that drink and a bite to eat when I am next up in the area?

Another excellent stay in Orford with friends, the weekend before last on Crown and Castle's "Long weekend" package. This entitles you to Dinner, B&B for Friday and Saturday, a snack lunch on Sunday and best of all, you can sleep off lunch by keeping the room till 9pm on Sunday, before venturing back home. Rosie and I had a quick lunch at the Butley Orford Oysterage, in the main square, when we arrived on Friday - Griddled prawns with Aioli (me) and Griddled Sardines(missus) followed by two smallish Dover Sole for me and Sea Bream for her. Served v simply with a few ( overdone potatoes). V austere inside, not bad food, but a dozen oysters would have been a better choice. We then pootled around the corner to the C&C and booked in to be told by David Watson, the owner, that BBC2 were filming in the restaurant that night. Something to do with Ruth Watson's new dieting book and a series about dieting now running on Tuesday nights in Feb/ March. Being woefully unphotogenic and remembering the old adage how the camera puts 15 pounds onto one's mug, this was something to make sure I cannily avoided that evening I thought. The dining room was busy and buzzy when we went through to dine and the girls chose to sit on the crimson banquette seating. In the main room, I am always fascinated by the large painting of a naked lady bending down, her arms outstretched, on a beach, which is grandly displayed on the main wall in the Trinity restaurant. She always looks to me as if she is bending down to ….. well, just go and see what you think. I started with the smoked fish panoply and followed this with, beautifully cooked pink lamb to follow with a salsa Verde and a potato and chive cake. Excellent lamb with the bare minimum of sauce, but just enough to moisten the meat. Other dishes were a, starter of excellent beef carpaccio with a light mustard dressing, spice encrusted cod in a light spicy broth and Lemon sole fillets with brown shrimps. I wasn't paying attention particularly on this occasion, as I was probably gassing too much, so apologies for the poor descriptions. This was followed by very moreish hot, runny, chocolate mousse with Jersey cream and a glass of Rasteau.(Probably went straight on to my buttocks, but who cares?). But then Ruth Watson then pitched up and asked if the film crew could film her talking to us. Er, yes we mumbled. But if this footage makes it onto your screens I will impale my self on a rusty spike- to say we were all like terrified rabbits caught in headlights is an understatement. Our friend Alan who could talk for England (and has been known to misbehave when we go away together- see later), would ususally be ideal fodder, but on this occassion became instantly mute and started sweating profusely, whilst Rosie and I just burbled some, hopefully inaudible, rubbish. The next morning was one of those quintessential British days- weather wise, which I love- bright searing blue sky, not a cloud in sight, but lord it was gonad frighteningly cold. We had a brisk walk, fighting against the wind along the coastal path and then took a quick trip to Aldeburgh, where Benjamin Britten lived for many years. We opted for a quick lunch at Regatta. Good, plump oysters and a half a kilo of Moules with a Belgian beer for £7.50.It was Moules week apparently and there were about five different ways of having the mussels served. I also noticed there was a cookery school opposite The Lighthouse restaurant( in the GFG)- which is run by Thane Prince. Her name rings a bell from a newspaper column, I think. Returned to Orford and before dinner were informed that my friend and his frumpy Spanish missus, who we took there last year and who went back and stayed at the C&C late last year, had bought us some champagne for our stay. Which was a nice surprise( bet it was her, as he is tight as hell.) But as we already had our aperitifs before us and had chosen the wine (an excellent St Veran and a meaty Barolo) we declined to save it till later (sacrilege, I know). Rosie had splendid seared scallops to start and pink lamb with an aubergine puree to follow ,after my recommendation from the night before. I had fantastic "Asian spiced griddled prawns " served with slivers of deep fried chillies and a crisp crunchy salad,(I loved this dish) followed by a excellent steak covered in Café de Paris butter with hideously naughty fat chips. Dessert was the er, um, chocolate pudding again.( Sue me) Unfortunately, things went down hill after that- quaffing champagne after a meal is not a good idea is it ? Especially as our friend Al has had it inculcated into him,( not by us) that he has to be positively the last one to get to bed when he goes away to a Hotel. He stubbornly insists on staying up everytime to see everyone elsoe off. Unfortunately, by doing so he also kept the barman up till 4am,( I left at 2am) for which the barman got unfortunately got into trouble, but the best bit was the when he got up to leave. He apparently- collapsed against the table, pirouetted like Robin Cousins, then fell back and had an altercation with a chair….. which he lost. Result - a broken chair and £50 on his bill. I would have paid a months salary to have seen it happen. Missed breakfast, but lunch was a fabulous steak sandwich for two of us and two Omelette Molieres.This was followed by another 5 mile yomp around this beautiful part of the world, before we sadly headed off. I love this place and will be returning in the Summer with any luck - very highly recommended.

It was my munchkin Mother dearest's birthday on Saturday, but having left it a tad too late and missed any sensible booking slot at the Yang Sing in Manchester, we managed to obtain the last table at the Weaver's Shed, Golcar and so we passed through Passport Control from Lancashire and ventured over to West Yorkshire instead. The restaurant stands back on the small main road through Golcar about half way up a steep hill on the outskirts of Huddersfield.( Don't drive too fast like I did as I missed it twice) It was a terribly bleak, blustery,cold northern night, so we were pleased to get inside to the warmth of the restaurant at our allotted time. As you enter the bar/lounge area is large, bright and airy and split into two; the first part having exposed stone walls and wooden seats and the second, down a further step, having more comfortable looking sofas and chairs. We opted for the former, primarily as I noticed the walls were adorned with menus from the many restaurants which the owner Chef / Stephen Jackson - has visited over the years. A fine collection including Marc Veryat, Pierre Gangaire, Le Manoir and an old Harveys one (with a rather vain and gaunt photo of MPW on the front of the menu!), amongst many others. We were taken through to the main restaurant, which has exposed stone walls, these are cleverly lit up with soft lighting,making them a feature of the room. First was an amuse of Artichoke and Ginger soup. Very velvety, but just a tiny smidgen heavy on the ginger for me. First courses were Linguine with Whitby crab for Rosie with a touch of tomato, parsley and lemon. Very light and impressively fresh tasting crab- a good dish. My mother had crispy potato and spring onion pancake. Well presented with slivers of shitake mushrooms to which the waitress then poured a wild mushroom and herb "tea" from a teapot. It was more like a potato cake than a pancake and had bits of ginger in again , but was very pleasant. My father and I had the roast thyme and shallot tart, with seared saddle of rabbit and a nutmeg and potato dressing. A really generous tart with lovely large shards of caramelised shallot, flavoured well, but not overtly with thyme, which then sat on a crisp tartlet. On top of this were two pieces of the rabbit and surrounding it was the nutmeg dressing- I didn't quite get the nutmeg flavour coming through - but a well presented dish and an enjoyable,tasty way to start. Mains were two servings of Roast sea bass with creamed puy lentils, buttered Savoy cabbage and "fluffy fish cream" which were served with crispy waffle potatoes, sat on top of the fish. Again a generous helping( we like good portions Ooop north) of two fillets of fish both of which were consumed and enjoyed by Rosie and the munchkin. My Father had the real standout dish - excellently cooked medium-rare fillet of venison, with a chestnut mash, winter greens, a roasted fig, game jus and a cocoa-pistachio crumble type creation. I had a taste and it was very moist and adroitly cooked. I thankfully managed to talk him round to having it cooked medium rare,as opposed to well done as he wanted it. It shoul as we know be served rare as they indicate it will be cooked on the menu, but noting they will cook it whichever way you wish. Glad I did so as he really enjoyed it and left nothing on his plate. I opted for slow braised belly of old breed pork, caramelised apple and and onion mash, braising juices and broccoli. I asked the Front of house who I think was Stephen's wife- but can't remember her name), whether it was Gloucester Old spot but apparently it was Saddleback- and a dammed fine piece it was to- world class crackling and moist morsels of flavoursome meat. It didn't really need the addition of the broccoli (little trees, my friend calls them) as the mash, rich juices and the excellent pork was more than enough. We didn't make to desserts ( I had gorged myself too much on my Mother's cooking that afternoon !),but they looked good as they came out of the kitchen.- A Tahitian iced vanilla lollipop with a selection of chocolate , caramel , etc dips to dunk it in and the St John -perennial favourite of Warm Eccles cake with Mrs Kirkhams' Lancashire cheese. With various teas and coffees, two course each and a bottle of 1999 Domaine de Roully- Macon Monteballet and bottled water for me, the bill came to £162 for four including service. A very pleasant place and one where you can stay at one of the well priced bedrooms. I also noticed that upstairs, outside the gent's loos, there were photographs of past Guest chef's who have visited the Weaver's Shed. These included Shaun Hill (roll on two weeks tomorrow when we are back there!!)- Brian Turner and Ready Steady Cook's very own version of Lord of the Rings "Gimli"- Anthony Worrall Thompson. I must confess that until this morning- and an e-mail from Gary M and a subsequent PM from Stephen, that I hadn't realised that he was an EGullet member. A warning for you Stephen - my Mother enjoyed it very much, so she wants venture back with a gaggle of her friends (my "Aunties" - Note- every Indian child has approximately 432 "Aunties"). I'll give you some much needed advance warning, when they do.

What do you mean soon?

Thanks Moby, I will let her know.

Oh Sweet Lord, save me from Beelzebub's progeny. I have informed the Ludlow's local hospital to have the Crash team on standy by for me and George Best's transplant specialist on standy for you Gary, where is three York Place, in relation to the Station? Rosie's friend is up on there business at least once a week at the moment, and I was going to reccomend it to her.

What ???? I have asked them to pop a couple of bottles away for us both at Hibiscus in March. I trust you will have rediscovered you taste for it by then. Good review, but blimey - 5 hours !!

My best friend (an NHS Manager no less- No booing please) was down from OOOOp North yesterday and I dragged him to NT for a quick dinner, before the 9.25 from St Pancras beckoned. Having introduced him to the delights of dimsum at Harbour City last year, which he still eulogises about; I was keen for him to try the delights of New Tayyabs. We had: Poppadums with yoghurt sauce, mango chutney, and the fiery red chilli sauce (New Tayyabs virgins beware) 3 moist and flavoursome Shami kebabs (only available on Wednesday) 3 Seekh kebabs (My favourite - try a piece of kebab wrapped in a bit of tandoori roti with a little bit of salad and spoonful of youghurt sauce- bloody sublime I tell you) Tandoori chicken (I think it’s the best I have ever tasted at any restaurant) Lamb chops (he pronounced "absolutely delicious" as he devoured them) 2 Tandoori rotis Then, Karhai Chicken Keema - moreish. Dry meat - I am delighted to say he said it was the best lamb curry he had ever eaten. I agree, it was superb last night. Eaten with two moist buttery nans. All that for about £12 pounds each, which he couldn't believe. Two things made me happy about seeing my friend last night. 1) Catching up over a beer and taking him to New Tayyabs for what he said was one of, if not the best curries he had ever eaten. 2) The fact that he is as bald as they come and I have considerably more hair than he does. In fact his 5 month old chubbly son has more than him.

Hwyel Jones is off to Lucknham Park Hotel near Bath, according to Restaurant Magazine.

Congratulations to New Tayyabs on being nominated for the best "Indian "Restaurant in the Carlton London Restaurant Awards 2004. Well deserved, although it may well make it even more impossible to get a table now.

Hibiscus get a well deserved two Star- and about bloody time too. Two new pubs get a One star as well - The Greyhound, Stockbridge and The Trouble House Tetbury. McClements in Twickenham get a *star as does Tom Aikens. Those losing their star - include Toby Hill at Lords of the Manor. I am not wholly surprised as the service was incredibly shoddy when we were there last September. A shame as the food, when it eventually arrived was good- if a little cold. See here http://news.webmichelin.com/servlet/com.sq...lementCode=7369

Yeah, but what does she know? Great list Izabel, thanks and hello. B

Chowki just of Shaftesbury Avenue on Denham Street, does reasonable Indian food for less than £10. Portions can be a little small though, but in mitigation, each main dish comes with rice, bread and dhal. It's the sister restaurant to Mela, which does very cheap Lunches called Paratha Pavillion. New Tayyabs (Whitechapel) - I have eulogised about this place often enough. Great, spicy Pakistani fare at exceptionally reasonable prices. Harbour City( Gerrard Street- China Town) for Dim sum, although I would look to spend about £12-14 per head to make sure you have enough. Porchetta in Islington for good quality pizza