beandork

On the dragon note, they are undisputably of the lizard family (in appearance, at least) so my guess is that they'd be similar to crocodile meat. Phoenix - although they cook themselves, they cook until ash so unless you like extra-well done....

I've always struggled with this term, at home 'Gastro' is synonymous with diarrhea. Worst intrusion during a meal for me actually didn't come from a diner. I was eating at a sidewalk table for a nice restaurant in St.Kilda Australia, and had just received a side of crispy olive oil/garlic/thyme potatos. A passing bag-lady was attracted to the smell, and left her trolley to come over and attempt to dip her hand into the bowl and nick some. She was very well-spoken however and didn't mention threesomes once.

What happens if the waiter's written order is checked - once the unfortunate diner has expired due to superfluous peanut product - and there is no mention of the diner's allergy?...down this path madness lies!...

interesting to note that a similar discussion - the subjectivity of restaurant reviews - cropped up in the UK forum at recently as well. Difference being, the UK restaurant that copped the bad review DESERVED it!

Thanks Paul Beandork - I'd be interested to know if it's really that bad ← Well, looks like it's time to post my first egullet restaurant review. Yeah, I ate at sixty-one. I won't give it quite the same kicking but I was disappointed. I had looked at the menu by the door with excitement for a while as it seemed to hold a lot of promise, it certainly seemed to be aiming for a level of fine dining which doesn't really seem to be available much in this town and the prices seemed a guarantee that it would be done right. Firstly, I liked the venue. I didn't think it was grubby or tacky and found it a refreshing change to many local restaurants that all seem to have been carved from a cupboard. Any goodwill gained by the venue itself is comprehensively lost by the service however, which was shonky to the point where I'm going to have to indent and do another paragraph entirely. The first time I ever walked into the place there was a lone barman. I wasn't sure what time dinner began for that evening and wanted to make a booking in any case, so I asked him if I could have a table for two that evening. The poor chap didn't understand my oz accent, so after three tries at requesting a booking my girlfriend managed to get through to him. When we ended up dining we were served by a waiter who warned us it was his first night. He sounded fresh over from europe as well, so I don't know if they have some exchange program going on or a deal with the local english schools or what. In any case, he was perfectly pleasant but had a few mishaps. I let the waiter order a glass of red - "choose for me" - and enjoyed it, but when I asked which wine it was he'd ordered (I intended to have another) he couldn't remember which one it was. We had ordered dessert and it took so long to arrive we cancelled it and asked for the bill. That took about another 20 minutes. When we left the money I could not interest any of the waiting staff in taking it so we walked out with it left on the table, half hoping someone would nick it. We rummaged around in the reception cupboard to find our own coats and left. This seems to be a common occurrence though with restaurants down here so it doesn't stand out from others for this point alone. What really let us down was the food - it felt like a stab at fine dining by someone who wasn't really interested in fine dining in the first place. Nothing was inedible, but for the prices we expected fireworks. I had a truffle/red onion/pastry starter that used what i believe to be tasteless jar truffles, and my girlfriend had a goats cheese and fig starter that was quite nice. Main for me was woodcock with chicken liver parfait, none of it remarkable tasting and presented with no real visual aspect. Girlfriend had lamb with sweetbreads, and once again it was...nice. But the seas didn't rumble nor did the mountains roar, and once again for that price that is what we expected. I don't know about .25 out of 10. I would probably feel moved to give it a 2 or 3. But if I brought the same price/quality ratio from home over here without adjusting it to the UK standard, it would be 0. I don't know if the chef was in that night, and unless it's Pierre Gagnaire or Shannon Bennett manning the stoves, I generally don't care...the kitchen should be drilled enough to perform each night. Just the fine dining cost for this place requires better dishes (and ingredients), and requires some professional waiters...or at least a front of house that operates more effectively. If you're looking for local recommendations contact me as I'm starting to uncover some better, more low-key restaurants.

Maybe, but a good review smacks of enough impartiality to glean a useful description of the restaurant even if the reviewer doesn't like the place. No restaurant would be able to respond to a poor review with impartiality anyway. Ultimately, they have to describe the place in general and if I don't get an alternative local recommendation I don't mind. That's why god created Egullet What was the bournemouth restaurant reviewed, may I ask? I've been living here a year now and if I was reviewing the restaurants a lot of them would be collecting similar scores.

Nevertheless, another melbourne dessert must-mention is Cacao in st.kilda, fitzroy street. Got very fond memories of The Bishop *dribble*