nickloman

Yeah, about 1" wide would be my preference.

Papardelle is my favourite pasta shape and I think I'd use it in favour of tagliatelle in any situation where you had to choose between the two. There seems to be some overlap between them actually - I've seen papardelle which is cut narrow enough to be called tagliatelle in my book. I like the really wide stuff.

Interesting to see a second opinion up here, David. Well done for making it Plates look a little more vibrant than the ones we saw, particularly the fish starter. There's a disconnect between the plating efforts and the poor seasoning. Get the taste right first, then figure out how to lay it on the plate? The chocolate moelleux looks like our one, i.e. not very good. And that duck is oozing bloody juices in a similar way. Despite your better experience, I still think it's all a bit dull though.

We went several months back. Late (9.30) on a Friday. We had to wait about 25 minutes for our table which wasn't a major problem as we were enjoying chatting with the barman and trying out some of the aperitifs (Floc de gascogne and pousse rapiere, if my memory serves me correctly). We ate that late due to circumstance but I do prefer to eat earlier, particularly big meals as I find my appetite will wane much past 10pm. Room is anonymously decorated, table was rather exposed, right in the middle and too close to other diners. Starters were OK. Mine: snails, mushrooms, garlic and mashed potato was a nicely balanced melange of comforting flavours, a tad underseasoned. Nearly very good. I remember the bread was excellent. Crab with celeriac and apple was served with an impressive crab shell which was whipped off as a reveal and a nice touch, but the contents of the plate was pretty bland despite having a decent amount of crab meat. I obviously had to sample the pigs trotter. Having read about this dish so many times (it being both Koffman and Marco Pierre White's signatures) my expectations were sky high. Unfortunately it underwhelmed majorly. Like Gareth's, mine was also not entirely unboned. The mousseline in the middle had very little flavour other than egg and had the consistency of a well done omelette. Morels and sweetbreads were hard to discern. The trotter was nice and sticky but needed a decent counterpoint that the filling couldn't offer. The sauce was rich and sticky. It came with far too many vegetables, including some extremely unimpressive, leaden mash. Much better were the fries. Hannah had calves liver which was extremely dull and not prepped correctly, with plenty of tough sinew left on the piece we were served. Pudding was ile flottante - a far far too sweet custard and meringue was rendered even sweeter by some unnecessary caramel. We were saved from bitter disappointment by being shown one of the best cheese boards I have ever seen. I remember a perfect Vacherin particularly. As I usually do I ordered a bunch of French cheese I've never had before and consequently forgot the names. The lady serving the cheese demonstrated some great knowledge of her subject and I was very impressed with the way she approached the (often fraught for both customer and server) business of serving. The bill with wine was something like £200 so I also was not happy to give this place the benefit of the doubt. Everything should have been perfect and only the cheese was.

Yeah nice photos David, looks like a nice bright day which helps. Although the food looks nice, this doesn't seem like the kind of place I'd rush to. All looks a bit like home cooking (nothing wrong with that).

Yep, I don't usually play the DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM card. Mainly because I am a nobody! A great restaurant will make the lowliest peasant feel like a king. After all, we're paying the same money! Maybe I should start calling ahead and book under the name Michel Roux Jr.

Maybe that explains it, the boss wasn't in that evening?

Amazing that Koffman's got so many mentions in that article. When we went the cooking was below-par. Hardly the revelatory experience we were hoping for. Perhaps it depends who is in the kitchen?

In terms of Birmingham, I can't see there being any change (Simpsons, Turners, Purnells, 1* each). Loves and Edmunds will both be looking for one but I don't expect they will get one. Could Lasan get one? That would be a turn-up, but certainly its better than Benares!

No chance, not based on the meal we had there!

£34.95 for 3 course dinner. Lunch is around £20 I think. Glyn wasn't in the kitchen (I don't think he ever plans to be) - but perhaps even Jason wasn't, as there was no sure touch of a Michelin chef on the dishes we tried.

Terrific, just terrific food here tonight on a £40 omakase. Lots of overlap so I won't repeat what's already been said but particular highlights for me were: razor clam sashimi with ponzu, a sublime sashimi plate including scallops with truffles, some lovely scad, sushi with o-toru, a "steamed sushi" dish with unagi (the chef was inspired to make this due to the terrible weather according to the delightful waitress), and of course the wagyu. The ice cream with sesame was also lovely. All washed down with some great cold sake. This place is a real find!

Born and bred Brummie Glyn Purnell has put his name to this new local neighbourhood restaurant just off the Hagley Road. There's some symmetry here as this was once Jessica's, Purnell's first restaurant and where he first gained a Michelin star. The manager explained that the concept was a neighbourhood restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere. They are not shooting for stars. The idea of coupling Purnell's undoubted passion and great technical skill (the halibut I had at Purnell's ranks as one of the greatest fish dishes I've ever eaten) without the Michelin fripperies is an appealing idea; sometimes you just want a good nosh-up without the fuss (or expense). And Purnell's is so popular you can hardly pitch up on a whim. Unfortunately he is not be rattling the pans, his young protege Jason Eaves is, but Glyn's reputation is on the line (as Ramsay might say) and so expectations are accordingly high. Putting his name to this establishment however, I wonder if he has made a terrible error. First impressions. The room is fine, nothing special, but the restaurant has little character. The menu is poorly presented, the text all caps and italics in a cheap plastic folder. None of this matters much if the food delivers of course (but you probably know where this is going already). At dinner you must choose from the a la carte (there is a separate lunch menu) with 4 each of starters, mains and desserts. Nothing wrong with a short menu but unfortunately nothing cried out to be ordered. We passed over smoked haddock risotto and the interesting but potentially alarming sounding cod with ham and butterbeans. An amuse of cheese gougere took me back to resort holidays in Devon as a younger man - resembling those deep-fried potato croquettes that used to be served with the roast beef. Not in a good way - they were additionally underseasoned and had no detectable cheesy taste. "Not worth the calories" in the words of my mother. A second amuse of chestnut soup and apple was garnished with ham and was also underseasoned. The apple saved the dish - without it, the dish would have been a fairly pointless exercise in consumption. Much (much) better was the wine; the 2006 Vacqueyras was replaced with a 2003 vintage thanks to the friendly manager. It was nice of her and the wine was indeed lovely. My starter of a curried kromeski of pork with pickled cauliflower was moribund. The lumpen dark brown kromeski sat ominously on the plate. Again underseasoned - the main flavour was a hit of curry powder, an aroma which is so evocative, but not pleasantly so. The pickled cauliflower had barely a hint of acidity but looked pretty. This was as far a cry from the wit, invention or taste of Purnell's curry flavoured haddock with cornflakes as you can get. OH's hen's egg (what I like to call simply an egg) with goats cheese foam and spinach was rather more successful. Rich egg, and smooth, mellow flavours were good for this cold evening. A bit of grit in the spinach hinted at careless prep and this was also underseasoned. But not a disaster and rather moreish. Ox cheek topped with toasted brioche, with "duck liver" (an obfuscation to avoid the animal rights brigade, previously seen campaigning outside Purnell's?), lentils and mashed potatoes. Had the foie gras (I'll call it by its name) been eaten alone with the toothsome lentils this would have made quite a nice starter. Unfortunately the ox cheek let the side down in a big way by tasting curiously fishy (OH could smell it from where she was sitting). Did the slow braising create some kind of nitrogenous product or was there some cross-contamination in the kitchen? It went back half-eaten but no comment was made by the waiting staff who seemed fairly uninterested generally, having announced some of the dishes but not others. OH's duck with red cabbage was underseasoned and unappealing in appearance. The meat was either poorly rested (and oozed liquid) or sous vide and seared, either way she wasn't very happy. But the main thing you could say about this dish was that it was incredibly dull. Cheese was excellent, in great condition despite being pre-plated. The dessert menu was only slightly more imaginative. OH's moelluex of chocolate was another dull concoction with no cocoa punch and a dry exterior. Overall we were disappointed. Not bitterly, apart from the ox cheek there was nothing disastrous here, but in a way this compounded the depressing blandness of both the food and the room. We wanted this to be another useful addition to Birmingham's blossoming food scene. But I can't see us rushing back on another cold night when we are in need of the services of a good old fashioned neighbourhood restaurant.

Glad to hear you enjoyed some Brummie hospitality! Simpsons is a class act and consistent.

And should you want me to expand on why: That's the reason

Pam, are you trying to be controversial these days? Anyway, I think Harden's is crap.

It's nice, yeah. And widely available.

Ooooh! Just tried again and got that date too Ah, see you there then

Book lunch March 12th for 4

Nice report David, I hadn't heard of this place. Don't you find that often the main course quality is inversely proportionate to the quality of the amuse bouche and starter? Countless times have we been really enjoying a meal until BOOM the main course hits and you want to get up and leave

Galvin La Chapelle (as an alternative to Le Gavroche)

I also agree with Prawncrackers about the food at Waterside Inn. Those plates really don't look anything special. My Sunday lunch was better presented than that lamb!

Sorry Pam, that's not a big enough sample size to justify asking the question "Michelin Stars Are they ruining good food?" Anyway, would suggest trying places like the Ledbury (2*), Turners of Harborne (1*), Northcote Manor (1*), The Sportsman (1*) as excellent ripostes to any thesis about tiny portions and style over substance.

Think about the lens rather than the camera. A high-quality, well-made lens with a wide maximum aperture (f/2.0 or better - smaller number = larger aperture) is what you want. The kit lenses that come with DSLRs, and the lenses built-in to most point-and-shoots are slow and poor quality. A fast lens will let you take pictures in low-light situations without flash, ideal for flattering food. For point-and-click cameras the Panasonic DMC-LX3 or DMC-LX5 are great bets as they have a very high quality f/2.0 Leica lens (it is essentially a rebadged Leica). For DSLR systems a prime lens (i.e. not a zoom) such as the Sigma 30mm/1.4, Nikon 50mm/1.8, Canon 50mm/1.8 etc. are good options which are both high quality and relatively inexpensive. Ensure that your settings permit a high maximum ISO to be chosen for when it is really poorly lit. Fast lenses also let you through the background out-of-focus, creating more interesting and attractive shots. Long macro lenses (say 105mm) are also great for food shots as you can really capture the finer details. Basically you are battling the low lighting conditions in most restaurants so you need as much light gathering capacity as possible. Have a read of the tutorials on http://www.photo.net/ for much more detail.

Pam, I'd say you are so off the money here it's not funny. I frequently cook steaks which I have sourced carefully (Longhorn beef from Quenby Hall or Huntsham farm, or Jack O'Sheas Irish beef) and they are often tremendous (if I do say so myself). But I'd not pass up the opportunity to visit one of these well run steak joints which offer a range of interesting breeds, usually dry-aged on premises and cooked usually on a charcoal oven. They usually have decent starters, sides and sauces, plus a nice ambience and a decent wine list. Most of which I can achieve at home but with much extra effort. Have you tried Hawksmoor or Goodman yourself? I'd recommend it.