[Red Chilli Chinese restaurant]

Dinner for one please !

Finally making it up to Manc and will try out the (in)famous Red Chilli, but will be on my tod, which means that realistically I can't order quite as much as I'd maybe like.

The hot poached lamby thing I think would leave me no space for anything else, so I'm wondering if dumplings, spring onion bread and the beans/pork/chilli dish might be (a) a good general intro and (b) not so much food that I'm going to be sick....

anyone want to agree/disagree/suggest anything different ?

ta

[Restaurants in Cambridge]

a rather old thread, but thought it worth bumping if only to show that I'm capable of using the search function.

Going to Cambridge for a wedding in April, and need to find somewhere for an early supper (have to be at the reception by 7.45).

The recommendations on this thread seem to be:

Midsummer House - opens at 7pm, no good

out of town - will have been drinking at lunch and wanting to continue, no good

ethnic - not necessarily a problem, but I think that 6.30 is a bit early for a vindaloo and a keema naan.

Is there anything else (new ?) in Cambridge that would be suitable, in a brasserie style ? Or are we going to have to go to Pizza Express ?

tia

[TN: Livin' large]

1999 Gilles Robin, Crozes-Hermitage Cuvée Albéric Bouvet:

Smokey bacon, black raspberries, garrigue and mineral nose that is so complex its hard to stop smelling it; flavors follow the nose with some depth, excellent complexity, a silken texture, a solid structure and an endlessly layered finish. No evidence of brett here and this was just singing. Côte-Rôtie, move over. Imported by Eric Solomon and about $9 on sale; worth multiples.

Best, Jim

←

Darn - reading your notes makes me thirsty, and this commendation 'Côte-Rôtie, move over' makes me want to rush out and buy some.

Sadly, a quick Google search in the UK indicates a cost, even for the 2004, of £12.95 or $25.

You would imagine that shipping from France to the UK would be cheaper than to the US.

Oh well.

[Good wines]

Jim,

I don't want to appear fawning and/or sycophantic, but you are my hero.

Every one of your tasting notes are if interest to me, and I'm delighted that you are lighting up the more obscure corners of Beaujolais and Burgundy, my personal faves.

Can I ask, do you have all your tasting notes compiled in one handy book ? Do you fancy publishing it ?

Best

Stewart

[Help - dinner near St James]

Update - couldn't get into Le Caprice or The Ivy, so ended up in the upstairs grill room at Bentley's. Couldn't find anything about it here but it had various good reviews when it opened (although several mentioned hit-and-miss service).

Upstairs is split into two dining rooms, around 30 covers in each side - quite formal, with starched tableclothes and napkins and waiters in aprons.

We'd already had a bottle of fizz elsewhere so no apertifs - three types of bread offered, two of which were dreadful semi-stale baguette. Fortunately the third was the home made Irish soda bread which was excellent (more was requested and delivered to mop up juices from the starters).

Starters chosen were baby squid stuffed with chorizo and feta, sauted and then served in a cooking juices sauce with lots of parsley (my choice and really excellent - I was the soda bread requester), duck-egg omelette with cured salmon (I got a teeny taste and it was very nice, rich but light at the same time - plate wiped clean) and a carpaccio of smoked haddock, which was a let down. We decided that it was probably an ill-conceived dish in the first place.

All stuck with fish for the main course - simply grilled dover sole (three thumbs up from the 'not sure about fish' eater), special of turbot, sea bream and royal fish pie. The three 'straight' fishes were all proclaimed great (I didn't get any), while the fish pie was a bit rich for me, consisting mostly of lobster, scallop and prawn.

Puds were sherry trifle (not very trifley, being more like an eton mess but with creme anglais instead of the meringue, but v v tasty), chocolate pot and cherry clafoutis (don't think that it was called that on the menu but that's what we got). Cheeses were unexceptional apart from Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire, although the oat cookies were excellent.

Prices were not bad considering the surroundings - around a tenner for starters, around 20 for mains and 6.50 for the puds. Unfortunately a couple of bottles of a nice Chablis doubled the bill, but I wasn't paying.

I can understand why the comments about service were made when it opened. It's bedding in now, but still a little too much standing around, and then getting in each other's way. Certainly not a downer on the evening though.

We'd go back.

[Help - dinner near St James]

Many thanks for all the comments.

Sorry, it was a crap brief to begin with, as I should have mentioned that:

a) parents are from the UK but will be 'across' from France, so not really over-interested in showing them 'trad' English stuff, and

b) they will be lunching at their club on Wednesday, so think that Wilton's might be a bit similar for the evening (nice thought for the future though).

My comments on Le Caprice were not meant to be comdemnation of the service, just that in the past I found it very 'buzzy', all hard surfaces in black and white, so not quite as intimate as I wanted. However, on reflection we're going to try either the Ivy or there, as they are spot on in terms of food/price/formality. If we can't get in either then we'll try the Wolesey.

And will post back with the experience.

[Help - dinner near St James]

Parents across for a couple of days next week, and taking us out for dinner Wednesday. They're staying in St James and had booked a table at Quaglino's, as Dad had walked past a couple of times and thought it looked small and intimate (!) and it's got two red forks in his Michelin, which apparently means that it's 'particularly welcoming'. I swiftly disabused him of its diminutive size and intimacy, to which he suggested that I book something instead.

First thought was L'Oranger, but haven't been for years and concerned that it might get a bit pricey. Second thought was Le Caprice but also haven't been for years and concerned that it's not particularly welcoming (for non-regulars).

Having been lurking for a long time, I know what an opinionated bunch you all are (although less so without Simon M's input), so can anyone either comment on the two choices noted, ideally based on recent experience, or suggest something else.

Would really like to keep it to £300-400 for dinner, with a modest attack at the wine list.

ta

[Gastropub in WC2]

Thanks to all,

Was considering the Seven Stars as being not too far away, but a quick google reveals that the Perseverance does Deuchars IPA, so I'll just have to persuade friend that a 20 minute walk will be a good way of working up an appetite for lunch

ta muchly

stewie

[Gastropub in WC2]

I have read through various threads on gastropubs ('what is a gastropub? discuss.') but they all seem to refer to pubs in Islington/Hammersmith/Shoreditch/Clapham.

I want to take an friend out to lunch on Friday, ideally somewhere:

with decent draught beer (real ale rather than lager)

walkable from Covent Garden

and with decent food.

It seems that all the pubs round here, where you can get a decent beer, have the same identikit plastic laminated menu of x/y/z and chips, pies, salads, etc, and you just *know* that it's going to be crap. And none of the hundreds of restaurants do proper beer.

Sometimes you want to sit and have a couple of nice pints and have some lunch - don't really mind too much what sort of food (really nice ham, free-range egg and proper chips would go down just as nicely as a proper Thai curry) but on a Friday lunchtime you've got to have a beer with it.

All and any suggestions welcome.

thx

Stewart