Kikujiro

Cabrales, There was quite a lengthy thread on this incident already

So Hartnett's way of making up for the problems earlier in the meal was not to allow you to choose your desserts? That's it? How utterly bizarre.

london-eating.co.uk says late Oct/early Nov. But what do they know?

What's she doing for Pret? Where's she doing it? Edit: don't worry, Google told me. She's head of food. Well, of course.

Don't sound so surprised ... Not sure I about a list, but I've certainly agreed with you on Pizza Metro in the past (and therefore I deduce you don't read everything ) Thomas, I certainly had better food in Paolo, and will return there sooner than I will to Sardo, despite agreeing with you on the room (bread was unimpressive too). An odd thing on the Paolo front -- its menu seems to be replicating across London. I walked past the Purple Sage recently (never eaten there) and it had a similar pricing structure and a lot of crossover in the dishes themselves. Someone recommended Timo to me today. Time Out 2003 thinks it's a 'sophisticated local'. Mind you, it adores Sardo. Anyone been?

Ah, fusion.

Nothing quite as dull as constantly replying to your own post, but I note that Matthew Fort had both the moscardini (a regular special?) and the spaghetti alla bottarga, and came to much the same conclusions on each. (Ciabatta still featured with the carta di musica (ignored it except to mop up the moscardini sauce) but salt and pepper grinders are now available on the table.)

Tony Everything I've heard about it has been great. Maybe it was a duff night on the pasta. Be interested to hear what you think.

Basildog, Ah, um, you got me. I had in mind the little black flecks I expect to see in a good vanilla icecream, or creme brulee, or pannacotta. I thought these were indeed vanilla. And was pretty sure it was these, vanilla or not, that were sprinkled on. Certainly wasn't cocoa powder But I may be wrong; anyone have a better idea?

Sardo is one of those restaurants I've been meaning to go to for a couple of years and been fairly certain I'd like. So when we were kicking around this evening after seeing the Steve McQueen Artangel installation at the Lumiere (which used to be my favourite cinema and is still amazing inside; Schrager should preferably reopen it, or failing that turn it into the coolest bar in London), freshly-purchased Time Out 2003 Guide in hand, looking for somewhere to celebrate the end of my carb-free week (I don't recommend it; it increased my susceptibility to alcohol to alarmingly lightweight levels), I noticed yet again Sardo had a red star and thought this would be a good moment. A quick phone call established they could accomodate us and up Tottenham Court Road we trotted. Things started very well. A pleasant, modest room (an odd thing going on on the walls with framed real flowers in test tube vases, like 3D Mapplethorpes), reasonably busy with several tables speaking Italian, friendly staff, nice olives and a big basket of incredibly moreish rosemary-oil carta di musica to start the carb intake. From the decent selection of Sardinian wines we were recommended a Cannonau at a perfectly reasonable £19. Come antipasto, I ordered the moscardini (baby octopus) from the blackboard. They were very good -- very soft indeed and with a strong flavour that the tomatoey sauce brought out rather than tried to disguise. Probably better than the baby octopus I had a week or so ago at Pizza Metro (which, as Peter will know, is a Good Sign). Friend went for carpaccio, which looked pretty decent from where I was sitting. I was already thinking about a nice brief eGullet commendation. Then the pasta courses arrived and the meal drove off a cliff. This was the last thing I was expecting; if the dam' octopus were good you can usually expect that everyone's favourite course will come through. The friend's ravioli zafferano (ricotta and aubergine; no mention of saffron in the English) had a pretty good filling, but were absolutely swamped in tomato sauce that killed the flavour and exaggerated the slight over-softness of the pasta. (Accompanying parmesan was grated by an interesting but noisy electrical device.) And my spaghetti alla bottarga was almost unpleasantly heavy, with a deadly monotonous taste that seemed an abstraction of what some people don't like about bottarga (I love it, as a rule). It went down like concrete and I probably wouldn't have finished it if I wasn't determined to mainline on carbs. After this I felt way too leaden to contemplate the mains. Some of them sounded very attractive (spigola al sale, cervo al cannonau), but then so had the pasta courses. However, I was unwilling to finish on that note so went for the pannacotta with raspberries (more accurately 'with two raspberries'). It was perfectly okay, bordering on good without being exciting. Little black specks of vanilla turned out to be sprinkled on for show rather than part of the cream itself. Coffee was good. Three courses with water, wine, one coffee and service, £80. Mains would have pushed this upwards by around £20 a head. My hopes of adding to my list of favourite London restaurants were unfulfilled.

You can't spell taleggio. You dolt! Or pancetta. You buffoon! And I've never been to Locatelli and you have three times now and it's not fair.

This is a puerile and undignified game and I will have no part of it. Canada USA Mexico Belize Cuba Guatemala Austria Belgium England Finland France Germany Greece Italy Netherlands Russia [slight cheat as I was there for one night and my hotel was so disgusting I only had breakfast in a Western chain; most other countries listed I have eaten properly in. Apart of course from Wales ] Sweden Switzerland Wales South Africa Namibia Botswana Zimbabwe China Hong Kong India Macau Turkey ---- 28 (Middle Eastern refuels not counted)

Yet another Huy Fong Sriracha user here, but also something of a fan of the Belizian Marie Sharp's, which I use as a condiment with just about anything. Looking in the cupboard just now I discovered I also have an as-yet unopened bottle of a South African hot sauce I was given, pleasingly called Dog's Bum Sauce.

Once upon a time Gary M posted a review of Locanda Locatelli which mutated into a long and fairly circular digression on Peter's views about Italian food. That was all well and good in its own terms, but now it keeps respawning in different threads on different topics. I think I understand as much as I ever will about Peter's views on the topic, and many of us have gone to some lengths to post our own thoughts. Yet it isn't stopping. And what's getting to me is that it's not a continuation, it's the exact same stuff all over again. We discussed the place of Circeplum's mother's birth in the Locatelli thread, and now it's raised again in one on Venetian restaurants. Peter told us about Italians driving to Sunday lunch and the rusticity of polenta in the Locatelli thread and has now related the exact same things in Fat Guy's discussion on the gastronomic irrelevance of Italian food. He told us a story about having fritto misto at Rome airport on the Locatelli thread and revived it in this one, at the same time taking the opportunity to repeat his news about drinking beer with pizza from, yes, the Locatelli thread. What we all forget is that towards the end of the Locatelli thread Peter revealed he was just 'winding everybody up'. In any case, as far as I can see, through all the hyping of Italian restaurants in Italy, there has been one concrete example (that self-service at Rome airport; go for the the fritto misto). Still, we're all grown ups (I think -- any kids or teenagers here?) and none of us, including me, has anyone but ourselves to blame for continuing to take up our own time with this. It's certainly a vast improvement on the dark days when Tyke and Ironbird (they were the same person, right?) kept joyriding around the site. (Matthew: sounds like fairly bad luck to me; I hope it doesn't seriously put you off another trip.)

For the record, neither was mine; not in the slightest.

edited in imitation of Circeplum below, and because I'm bored. If we all do this we could slowly erase the whole thread backwards.

Here's the link to the actual story (vs. Herald homepage), and here are the Daily Record and Scotsman articles on the same subject. May I take this opportunity to point y'all to the newish Google News Service, which scours thousands of news sources worldwide and instantly found the above from a search on 'Gordon Ramsay'? In fact, this could be an endless source of new topics; just type in your favourite chefs and restaurants and see if anywhere worldwide has some new gossip on them ... On the story itself, members will note that according to the Scotsman's rather lengthier account, the guy didn't complain about his 'undercooked' pigeon (sounds like they did it properly to me, but hey) until well after he'd polished it off and was trying to get tricky about the dessert options on the set menu. A spokesman for GR may not have commented to the Herald, but the man himself responded to the Scotsman as follows: "The question I have to ask is, if this man did not like his pigeon, why did he eat it all before making a complaint?’ "This guy, who owns restaurants I have hardly even heard of, complained that he would have to pay extra for cheese even though it was not on the set menu. Then he started getting very abusive to the maîtr d. He was upsetting other customers so David came out of the kitchen and told him to leave immediately. As far as I am concerned, we don’t ever want him back. David was right to do what he did. "This man was just trying to throw his weight around and I don’t see why my staff should put up with this." He added: "As far as calling David hot-headed is concerned, I hope he is. He works in premier restaurants and his job is to strive for excellence. "But David is from Glasgow and down to earth. My advice to Maurice Taylor is don’t mess with him." Edit disclosure: now the Scotsman link actually links to the Scotsman, and not the Record

I kind of agree on the NY front. I am much happier just walking in to a place there than here. Of course, (i) I do that less and less as I become more informed about NY dining options and build up some personal favourites; (ii) just walking in to a place isn't a real option here, as firstly one can judge an awful amount by looking at it and reading the menu, and secondly you tend to have heard something about a lot of restaurants. But take sandwiches. I will get a much better sandwich rolling in to the average diner in NYC than the average historically-Italian-immigrant-run inner city sandwich bar over here. Edit caveat: on the other hand I have been relatively unimpressed with Grammercy Tavern, so go figure.

Thomas, Sorry to hear about Al Mascaron. I ate there most recently a few times earlier this year (around Easter) and have usually found them to be friendly, and the food good (although hardly sophisticated), so I'm sad to hear you had a less than helpful experience. I generally preferred it as a lunchtime option. Maybe they're getting too popular and slipping; it does seem to happen. Re. Peter's comments -- Most of the restaurants on the list were introduced to us by Venetians. A couple came from Gambero Rosso. But none are frequented exclusively by Venetians. Hardly a city in which that's likely in good restaurants. Peter's model of course rather excludes the notion of any non-Italians (apart from him) being good enough friends with Italians to get restaurant recommendations from them ... but we've spend quite enough time on this board discussing Peter's ideas about Italian restaurants without me extending the conversation here. I've never been to Carampane so I can't compare, although I've had a look at the menu online and it is maybe a tad less interesting than Testiere. But then I'm inordinately fond of Testiere, and I know how these heartfelt recommendations can often turn in to big disappointments. (Testiere will do a great fritto misto but it's not always on the menu; you might have to request it in advance.) Have a great time. One tip: have morning coffee and little pastries at Tonolo, near Campo S Margarita. (Dorsoduro, 3764-S.Pantalon, 30123 Venezia, tel.+39-041-5237207, closed Mondays. Nearest vaporetto stop S. Tomà.)

I have no doubt that the Italian government agencies involved will carry out this project with admirable efficiency, consistency and integrity.

Went to the Sugar Club the other night with friends who had been to the theatre. Food still good but my, it was hot, crowded, loud and smoky. Tony has already listed most of the suggestions I'd make. Joe Allen sort of *is* post-theatre dining; it's what it's there for. Alistair Little has been very good on recent visits. Incognico is extremely close to the theatre. Another option would of course be Chinatown; not sure when ECapital (whoops, just typed 'eGullet' there) closes. The Shaftesbury (interesting choice of musical) is close to Hakkasan (closes midnight) and Paolo (not sure about times) as well as everywhere on Charlotte Street.

Someone should get JJS to post on this topic, but in the meantime: Alle Testiere, Harry's Dolci, Corte Sconta, Fiaschetteria Toscana, Osteria Santa Marina, Al Mascaron. Testiere above all. Luckily there are often Americans in there so not much chance of running into Peter None of the above are fantastically expensive; Al Mascaron very far from it; go for an unglamorous but good lunch.

I think that's a tiny bit unfair to Busaba

Looks like the founder of Wagamama and owner of Hakkasan and Busaba Eathai has plenty to be getting on with. I noticed last night that there's a new Busaba (presumably ... Eathai) going in on Store Street, just off Tottenham Court Road. And for some time now a place called Yauatcha has been under preparation in the Ingeni building (the Richard Rogers office block on Berwick Street). The latter's sign is reminiscent enough of the Hakkasan one that it was easy to guess at the relationship. According to Car Design News (thank you Google) it'll 'be situated over two floors, with the lower ground floor featuring an all-day Dim Sum restaurant and the ground floor housing a Tea House and Bar.' So Hakkasan without the evening menu? No news on when either of the above is scheduled to open ... anyone? [edit disclosure: seems it's Yauatcha, no Yautacha]

BLH, JBR is nominated for a family Christmas meal. Please do elaborate ...