cachan

I know your post is almost 2 years old and there has been no comments added. I will be in Brussels in 2 weeks and I have booked CCS but not Sea Grill because of the many negative comments I have seen on other websites. Would anyone recommend it now ?

Another item from outside Europe was registered in October 2010 - Longkou Fen Si - second item after Cafe de Colombia, this is bean vermicelli made from mung beans flour from China.

B.T.W. Sushi Hiro closed in March 2010, now a Atariya Sushi. Obviously still open when this was originally posted.

No doubt a bit of undercover spying to see how he could get to 3 * ?

Those dishes from Waterside do look very much 'just slap a few things on the plate' which is surprising as Alain Roux's cousin Michel jr at the sister restaurant (with only 2 stars) puts so much emphasis on the appearance on TV. I've only been once and for the tasting menu so I initially thought the photos had been switched around. But your point in this thread is that chasing stars encourages fripperies. Maybe Alain feels so confident with his 3 stars that he concentrates on the ingredients and the cooking instead of the fancy extra ingredients.

Good point! The idea of eating a live crab does sound a bit extreme, but then we do prefer to eat an oyster 'alive'.

For a proper pizza - go to SANTA MARIA on Saint Marys Road in Ealing W5, that's the road running from Ealing Broadway down to South Ealing.

What are the menu prices ? Was it busy ?

Tonka bean is banned as food by the US FDA as it contains an anti-coagulant coumarin.

I also went in 2005, at £97.50. With some courses the same, there is little incentive to repeat soon, and there's not even a ALC to give you some consumer choice. So it's like a one-off experience. But I suppose there's still plenty of demand.

Well, I'm no expert foodie blogger like the ones we all follow, but I went to ADAD and Marcus Wareing close together. Was impressed by the former and disappointed by the latter. Food price almost the same, 85 vs 75. I have to say that one reason for my conclusions was down to the dishes I chose. So study the current menu and choose wisely beforehand. For MW, go to his own website and not the Berkeley Hotel one. But in the end, you'll indeed have to make up your own mind by going to ADAD yourself !

Pam, thanks for your news. Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb is finally registered as a PDO. http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/newsroom/en/389.htm

How much are the 5 and 7 course menus at Astrance please ?

The European Union has been compiling a list of names of agricultural products since 1996, in order to regulate and protect the usage of these names to the authorised products only. There are 3 types of product guarantees - PDO Protected Designation of Origin, PGI Protected Geographical Indication, TSG Traditional Speciality Guaranteed. There are 873 products listed so far, mostly foods, but also hay and azalea. Some well-known examples are Camembert de Normandie cheese, Kalamata olive oil, Prosciutto di Parma ham, Jamon Serrano ham, Cornish clotted cream, Lentille vert du Puy lentils, and only Cafe de Colombia from outside Europe. The list can be viewed here - http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/database/index_en.htm I've managed to try 200+ of these products. Anyone else hunting them out ?

The products range from the everyday (blackcurrant, cheddar, parsnip) to the truly esoteric (bee larva, casu marzu, giant water beetle), and some are obtainable in one place only (maid of honour, gilroy garlic, shizuoka melon). Presents a real challenge for the foodie.

It's a book published in 2008 in the UK edited by Frances Case.

At Selfridges they have Bresse chicken, and at Harrods they have Ancenis chicken.

Since obtaining this book, I've been searching out the various items. Sad, I know.

Had dinner here on 11th January. Thoroughly un-impressed. Had the rabbit n pigeon ballotine and then venison with beetroot n parsnip, ending with the lime mousse with a silly thin meringue coat. Part of my disappointment was not seeing the veal sweetbread nor the turbot with frog n snails on the menu. The venison dish was so simple. Also one of the trolley bonbon had mould inside, couldn't have been fresh... It contrasted with recent visit to Alain Ducasse. Won't be visiting here again very soon. There's plenty other fish in the sea !

How comes a wildly-oversubscribed restaurant loses 500,000 euros a year ? It should be able to charge enough to make a healthy profit, no ? Why does it not open for more months each year so that more money comes in and takes in into profit ? What is it about the dynamics of running a restaurant am I missing here which explains the losses ?

Lalala, Thanks for your report, it sounds very promising, I have booked. I live near this place but the a la carte prices mean that visits here are infrequent.

Just found out that this place has a set lunch menu for £32 running until 31st March. I've never been aware before that this place has ever had a set lunch menu, maybe they have and I did not find out. The dishes are similar to the a la carte, maybe smaller portions ? Definitely giving it a go.

Went here yesterday and the patisserie are gone! Don't know since when as my last visit was September. It appears that pastry chef Stephane Sucheta has gone and that they have become a fully 'yum cha' dim sum restaurant. But a new pastry chef called Kotesh from Nobu is arriving to revive the patisserie, when ? is that Kotesh Kumar Khandala ?

Also another (smaller) blow to GR, his pub The Narrow lost its Bib Gourmand.

I have noticed that Michelin has decided to modify it ruler over the past few years after criticism that it is too France-centric and French-cuisine-centric. It has started Guides outside of Europe and has been awarding macarons all over the place, especially in awarding the 3* prize. Non-European cuisines have been recognised both inside and outside of Europe and so many 3* ratings have been awarded in Japan (Tokyo and Kyoto) for Japanese and European cuisine, and China (HK and Macau), and the US. And then the 3* in Europe has increased yet again for 2010, in Italy 6 and Spain 7, whilst Germany already has 9. There's clearly a shift taking place in their focus. As for the UK, we'll have to wait and see if they award another 3* to our paltry 3. We can speculate and cogitate but we cannot decide for them.