Andy Fenn

What did you have? How was it? I want to hear more reports! The Ramsay thing is a big divider these days. I had one of the best meals of my life there about 5 years ago. A couple of lunches soon after were similarly stupendous. So I went this year with high hopes. And was disappointed. I went again, just to be sure. And again I was disappointed. I think I posted on both the meals on this thread. Now his prices have gone up an outrageous 20%, it's unlikely I'll go back unless I receive glowing reports. I must admit, the turbot was absolutely superb. That was the standout of my first meal there this year. A 3* dish. But the terrine of trotter and ham really didn't sing for me. Likewise, scallop and beef did not produce the gushing reactions of old. And tarte tatin was just poor, iin comparison with superb specimens at the Waterside (also a poor meal though) and Midsummer House.

I'm looking forward to hearing about it too. A friend of mine went recently - the FD virgins had the tasting menu. So did he, but he swapped in a la carte dishes for the more substantial tasting dishes - the foie, the salmon, the pigeon, dessert. See if you can mine for any details on when they'll update it too. After the same menu for so long, is it now more likely that he'll completely revamp it, in one fell swoop? I guess you can't do away with snail porridge and the breakfast dessert and still be the FD people travel for...

Thank you Jon. I think I may have heard that somewhere from you before! As there are 5 of us, I think a couple of us will do the tasting. But do not fear - I will attempt to ensure I am one of the carters. The tips I was after were in relation to actual dishes - which ones hit the highs? What were the lows? By the way, will there be a game tasting menu at the moment? And white truffles? We could always mix up a couple of tasting menus as well. Gagnaire's is our oyster...

Did you go for your meal? How was it? I'm going tomorrow night - any tips? VERY excited.

After all my readings of different forms of sugars, after a few searches online, I can't find anywhere that stocks what I'm after. Does anyone have any ideas, preferably within the UK? Dextrose (actually this is easy enough to find) Invert sugar Atomised glucose Sorbet stabiliser (mentioned in Locatelli's book as a natural plant based stabiliser) He also adds milk powder to some of his ice creams. Ramsay's recipes just use liquid glucose instead. Or even the Traganth Gum mentioned by Trishg? Got the Musso as an eBay deal - £220. Risky, but it seems in good nick and worked fine last night. Fingers crossed!

I think it's very good. I haven't cooked anything from it yet (which is a common habit of mine), but I've read a lot of it. The great thing is the way he spends pages explaining a topic in great detail, explaining WHY recipes call for various steps, and then provides some excellent recipes on that topic. I think the Risotto section is about 50 pages long, for only 10 recipes or so. So it's great as an educational tool. The ice cream section seems excellent in this respect. And aside from anything else, it is a beautifully presented book, with plenty of pictures. I reckon go for it. Are there no open copies in your nearest bookshop? Bought a Musso Piccolo in the end. Bloody heavy, and enormous, but it produced a very smooth sorbet last night...

I ended up getting a Musso on eBay for £220. It seems as though the brand has now been bought by Robot Coupe? Or has this always been the case? Anyway, made strawberry sorbet last night, as the only fruit suitable at my local Sainsbury's at 10.30pm! Not very seasonal, but the texture was superb.

What happened when you used different sugars? I have just bought Giorgio Locatelli's book and he has an awesome section on ice cream. He recommends using a number of different sugars - dextrose, atomised glusose etc, as well as powdered milk. He measures everything to the nearest 5g, so is very accurate. The idea is to keep it creamy when kept in the freezer, and he explains how the other ingredients help to do this. Just bought my ice cream maker yesterday, so I will give it a try and let you know how it goes.

I reckon say something, absolutely. Once you have a relationship with a place, I believe it should be a two way process. In my experience, chefs are critical people, and self critical at times, as they have to be at this level. Any little pointers should be appreciated. Perhaps you should counteract the criticism with glowing reports of other elements of the meal! By the way, the canapes sound like those at Roussillon. Am I right?

Hello folks A well trodden path, I know... but I'm after any up to date visits or information. I'm off to Paris next weekend. We have Gagnaire booked for the Friday night. But I'd like to do another restaurant for lunch on the Saturday. Very keen for l'Ambroisie. But the price would limit my fellow travellers - I'd have to go solo. So I was thinking les Ambassadeurs instead. Anyone been for lunch recently? And would we get stung by a lack of set lunch on a Saturday like le manoir in the UK? Website doesn't clarify. Thanks a lot.

The Faberge egg was done on the Masterchef programme in the Ritz - they showed vaguely how to make it. I believe it's a staple and will always be on the menu there. Perhaps they are the people to try. And see what you can find from the BBC archives. The description given of the egg is pretty much spot on as far as I can remember from the show.

Thanks guys. Would really rather not have to take a suit bag if I don't have to, so I may risk the casual end. Glauer, we will be the scruffy table in the corner! Wish your brother in law luck.

I'm going for lunch on Monday after coming out to NY to run the marathon on Sunday. Is there a dress code of any sort? Would rather avoid bringing clothes I don't need...

So, 3 years with the girlfriend down, and a meal at the Square to celebrate. We had a wonderful evening, sat at our table for over 4 hours. However, the food lacked the sparkle we expected. Two glasses of champagne arrived moments after we did. Phil Howard came out to ask us what we fancied. There were two tasting menus available - the normal, and the "Autumn Mushroom and Truffle Menu". Both looked great. So Phil said to have both. Normal for me, mushrooms for Zoe. We were excited. Course 1 Me: Oxtail Consomme with warm winter canapes and horseradish. This was great. Intense flavour of oxtail served in a large shot glass, but with the lightness of texture and clarity one would expect from a consomme. The horseradish foam imparted a sweet heat. On the side, an egg shell filled with yolk and wild mushrooms. Promising start. Zoe: Veloute of cepes with a tortellini of lobster and white truffle from Alba Luxurious and light. Beautiful flavour and texture. Excellent. Course 2 Me: Roast Isles of Orkney Scallops with curried parsnip puree, and a vinaigrette of pomegranate, grapes, capers and lime. The scallops weren't the best, and the accompaniment felt a little disjointed. Nice textural contrast from the pomegranate seeds, but the puree overpowered a little and didn't gel that well with the lighter stuff. Zoe: Salad of cauliflower, cepes, beaufort and autumn truffle Crunchy salad, with nuts and cheese. Nice, but nothing special. Course 3 Me: Tortellini or Cornish Crab with a champagne foam You all know about this dish already. Probably my favourite of the night, it was well bound, and coated in a superb shellfish reduction. Can't compare with its layered lasagne big brother, but this was very good. Zoe: Salad of langoustines with parmesan gnocchi and white truffle from Alba The single langoustine was overcooked, and couldn't stand up to the other flavours in the dish. Disappointing. Course 4 Me: Roast foie gras with caramelised endive, sweet and sour raisins, honeycomb and orange The foie was overcooked. Spongy the whole way through, lacking any semi-molten centre. The accompaniments failed to rescue this. Honeycomb nearly did though. A glass of Tokaji was an excellent sticky orangey pairing. Zoe: Soft Boiled Egg with chanterelles and autumn truffle The egg was disappointing - the white was a little raw and the yolk failed to shine as we would have wished Course 5 Me: Fillet of Cod with truffled cauliflower puree and leek hearts Again, sounded great. Fish well timed on this occasion. But it lacked any flavour, and was slightly grainy in texture. I can't explain it. But with a watery fish, this dish failed to reach the next level. Zoe: Fillet of Turbot with vacherin creamed potato and white truffle from Alba This was more successful, and the potato was lovely. The turbot failed to wow us though. Course 6 Me: Assiette of Veal: Sweetbreads, Braised Cheek with Macaroni, Roast Sweetbread with Truffle, Confit of Liver with Onions, Croquette of Tongue with Chanterelles This was good, though probably an ill informed swap at this point, as I was pretty full. The kitchen has attracted a lot of flavour from some good pieces of meat. however, a large chunk of cepe tasted of wet flannel. This kind of thing should not happen. Zoe: Fillet of Aged Ayrshire Beef with bone marrow, wild mushrooms and autumn truffle This was very tasty. Well flavoured nicely timed meat, with an excellent reduction. Course 7 Cheese - the board seemed in pretty good nick Course 8 Me: Passion fruit souffle with lime ice cream Very good texture, tart clean flavour, light finish to the menu. Very good. Zoe: Selection of sorbets She was full, so chickened out of the roasted pear with truffled honey, toasted waffles and beurre noisette ice cream. Reading that now, I wish she'd had it. Sorbets were good though. Green apple especially (I though it was kiwi at first). So all in all, the food was good, but no course wowed us, or hit the standard we had hoped for. And we had a lot of dishes between us. You can see where the better areas were. Other dishes were slightly off in execution or in conception. Hmm. Disappointing, as everything on the menu sounded right up my street for a luxurious anniversary meal. Most of my meals at the Ledbury were better, and this was unexpected. Perhaps it was an off night, but unless I hear a good report in future, I will wait a little before venturing back. That said, we were treated extremely well, service was charming and the wine pairings excellent. For a tasting menu, I certainly didn't think portions were miserly - was even a little too full by the meat course.

Ah yes, so you did. Sorry Matt, I tend to gloss over your reviews...

Hello folks I'm off to the Square on Friday night for my 3 year (!) anniversary. Anyone been recently? Any tips? The age old debate between a la carte and tasting menu seems to be pertinent for a few people at the Square. There are plenty of lovely looking things on the menu - if I can construct a tasting menu, I will, unless I am counselled otherwise? Does anyone have a suggestion for a pre meal romantic drink nearby? I was thinking of Windows?

I was here a couple of weeks ago. Still need to post a review. But between 3 of us, we had 20 plates, I think, and we were comped a selection of tarts each on top. Ended up paying about £110 each for the food. Which is pretty expensive. Yes, I ate a little more than I needed to, as I wanted to try a lot of the menu. But I certainly wasn't stuffed. I think the best value option by far is to do the tasting menu, which is 7(?) courses for £55, and ask for substitutes of similar priced plates from the carte if something doesn't take your fancy. Kick up a fuss if they say no. If you think about it, most starred places in the city have at least one amuse, a pre dessert and a butt load of petits fours. You don't get those at l'atelier. So 6 little plates is an easy approximation to a 3 course meal at other places, with trimmings on top. So I do think it is very expensive. But I had a good time, and I would go back.

Hi Folks I'm getting an ice cream maker for my birthday over here in the UK. One with an in built freezer. I have just read through this thread, and I'm veering towards the Musso, Cuisinart or the Simac, with Musso being my number 1, depending on price. Just a couple of questions: 1. Does this pecking order seem about right to those who have used these machines? 2. Where should I look to get these cheapest? Trade sites? eBay? ANy websites would be greatly received. 3. If I do go down the second hand route, what are my chances of getting warranties etc., from your experience? Thanks very much - any answers greatly appreciated. A

It wasn't going well. My first day in a left hand drive car, having negotiated the coast road from San Sebastian at a snail's pace, we set off from our final stop on the way to Axpe. The English guy I spoke to on the phone assured me that it was only 40mins from San Sebastian. So it could only have been half an hour from Orio. And surely just west of the point where our single road map ran out. But no. We drove and drove. And got lost. A lot. When we arrived nearly half an hour late, there didn't seem to be anybody there. Downstairs deserted. Upstairs, said Englishman was nowhere to be seen. Only two other tables occupied, and a CD player booming out operatic classics. We were worried. But the concerns were misplaced. The English guy we spoke to on the phone was actually working in the kitchen and he came out to explain the degustation menu they were to put together. A glass of wine settled the post drive shakes, and the music grew on me. Most importantly, I was about to embark on the most incredible culinary journey of the trip, if not ever. The quality of the raw materials we were to experience was out of this world, and I had never fully understood why some people couldn't get enough of perfect ingredients perfectly cooked. The photos don't do justice to the flavour, due to the unadorned and unadulterated purity of the ingredient, but they at least give an insight. Course 1: Chorizo on toast They make this about 50 yards up the hill. Incredibly supple and smooth, packed with subtle flavours. The best of its kind I have ever tasted. Course 2: White Tuna (Tuna Belly) with garden tomato Perhaps it was because this was our first introduction to the seducitive subtle smokey notes of the etxebarri grill that the tuna tasted so good. Perhaps it was because our British tomatoes are so dire in comparison that the tomato tasted so rich and sweet. But this dish is wrestling with the Mugaritz vegetables for best of the trip. Combining them on the fork, you first get hit with the smokey notes of the grill, then the knock-your-socks-off sweetness of the tomato, and finally the lingering meaty taste of the fish with the simple olive oil dressing. This was absolutely spellbinding and I was grinning ear to ear with every mouthful. Course 3: Gambas Palamos These are caught below the sea at depths of up to 300ft. The chef took great pleasure in telling us that their heads exploded on the way to the surface, so it was imperative that we suck them clean. The meat was richer and sweeter than any I have tasted, dressed in nothing more than a crystal or two of sea salt. The heads were enormous, and full of things I didn't realise featured in a prawn's anatomy. You can see the colour through the translucent shell. I had a good crack at wolfing it all down, which rewarded me with an even richer, slightly saltier experience. Again, I have never tasted prawns like it. Course 4: Lightly grilled oysters with seaweed For some reason I forgot to snap these, but there is a photo on chez pim. They were great. I don't love oysters in the same way as I love other kinds of shellfish, but these were undoubtedly superb specimens. We had three each, and they tasted simply of the sea, with a faint smokey undertone, imparted by a gentle moment on the grill. Course 5: Sea Cucumber with Cannellini Beans I had never had this before, and fear I may never taste a better example again. Similar texture and flavour to squid, but slightly richer and superior in my opinion. The beans were meltingly soft, enriched with a little ham stock, and partnered the charred cucumber perfectly. Wonderful. Course 6: Mussels with Tomato Broth The mussels adopted a smokier flavour than any of the other preparations, but the mussels were sweeter than any I have tasted, and handled the influence of the grill without being overpowered. The tomato broth was magical. How could it be anything else, when using those tomatoes? Course 7: Bacalao with grilled peppers This was the other standout dish in the company of stellar performers. As you can see, it was an enormous piece of fish. It was cooked to perfection. You needed only to press the top with your fork, and the flakes would fall away, yielding moist, translucent and surprisingly gelatinous flesh. There was a hint of garlic imparted, and the peppers had reached an exquisite smokey sweetness, which provided a superb accompaniment to the fish. Course 8: Grilled Beef Chop The aroma of the beef as it sat beneath me was intoxicating. Cooked black and blue, this was the finest piece of beef I have ever tasted. Again, a simple salad and a couple of grains of rock salt were all that was required. Incredible. Course 9: Apple pastry with ice cream Not grilled, but still lovely. Excellent quality filo. The ice cream tasted a bit of bacon, which I liked. But I was assured that there was no swine in there. Bizarre. Think my senses had taken a pounding by this point, so I forgave myself. But it was a very good dessert. This was a truly fantastic meal. The only potential downside, is that ingredients everywhere else will disappoint. The next evening, at Arzak, I had crayfish, white tuna and beef. They didn't touch the quality I experienced at Etxebarri. Why don't the top places use ingredients like these? So yes, it is worth the hype it gets on the foodie boards. Simple food it may be, but it takes a master to get the best out of these ingredients, and the results were spellbinding. Michelin's loss.

Trust me, mine were ugly. You can just see one at the top left of this photo, caked in thick black sauce. I don't like vegemite, but these were a winner:

The chef I met at Mugaritz had done a stage at Arzak a couple of months before, and said his favourite dish there was the chipirones in their ink. Not on the menu, but the locals can't get enough of it. We ordered a tiny portion to go with our fish courses. Absolutely stunning. Quite sweet, which apparently comes from vegetable stock simmered for days. I had some every day for the rest of the trip, and every pintxos bar did a decent version. Definitely a convert. Ugly bugger of a dish though...

Meal number 1 on our trip to San Sebastian was at Mugaritz, and I spent all day looking forward to it. A friend of mine had a reservation last week, couldn't find the restaurant and lost his booking. Idiot. So I wasn't leaving anything to chance. We therefore arrived uncharacteristically early after a speedy cab journey. But this was no bad thing; we had the chance to wander round the property and have a glass of Cava in the garden patio. The design of the place is very impressive. Country retreat with an oriental twist, and very warm and welcoming. Only one thing went tits up - camera batteries completely dead. So I'm sorry about the lack of photos, though I imagine a lot of our meal has been seen already. We opted for the mega tasting menu (‘Naturan’), as we were always going to do. We took a trip to the kitchen before the meal began and met a chef called Izu who had been mentioned to us by Brett Graham, as an ex-colleague from the Square. He showed us the various stations in the huge kitchen, and the separate refrigerated prep room. Immaculate and huge, like nothing you could ever find in London. I told Izu we were having the 11 course menu, and he said he'd stick in his favourite dish from the restaurant, as it hadn't made it on to the tasting menu. I will be eternally grateful for this intervention. So, to the food. By now, you will know that we started with the clay potatoes and garlic mayonnaise. I really enjoyed this. The flavours weren't spectacular, but very pleasant, and with a sense of humour. The mayonnaise was superb. Second amuse: baby squid in a red pepper consomme. Two baby squid on a small square plate, with the consomme poured over. Sweet consomme, but not sickly, complemented the squid perfectly. A great start. Third amuse: A Chicken Wing. That's right, a chicken wing. Oh dear oh dear. Herein lies the mystery of Mugaritz. After two excellent amuses, we were served a plain old chicken wing, with a spoonful of chicken broth. Not dissimilar to what I've seen through the windows in Chicken Cottage. Course 1: CHILLED VEGETABLE SOUP, shrimp, herbs and fern shoots. This was a cold vegetable shrimp broth, to which was added frozen peas, which came out in a dish steaming from liquid nitrogen. The properties of this dish would be echoed in many others; beautifully presented, using edible flowers and leaves, and crystal clear consommes. I doubt even a tablespoon of cream found itself anywhere near any of our savoury courses. This made for an enjoyable light beginning. Course 2, Izu's add in: VEGETABLES, OVEN ROASTED AND RAW, SPROUTS AND GREENS, wild and cultivated, seasoned with browned butter and dusted with seeds and petals. 'Emmenthal' cheese generously seasoned. Absolutely out of this world. Nearly 50 different baby vegetables, edible flowers, herbs and leaves, gently bathed in emmenthal sauce poured at the table. Every bite was different, provoking groans and grins from my side of the table. Picked from the garden, the preparation demonstrated a superb purity of flavours. I have never before been struck by a dish composed purely of vegetables and this was somewhat of an epiphany. Last of all, a strange looking flower, which looked a little like the green head of a dandelion plant, was left on the rim of the plate. We were instructed to eat this last of all, without any sauce. I will hold back on the descriptions and explanations, so you can try for yourselves, but needless to say, it denonated a crazy reaction in the mouth. Awesome dish. Course 3: Representing baby mozzarelas: BUTTERY IDIAZABEL CHEESE GNOCCI IN SALTED IBERIAN PORK BOUILLON. Contrasting vegetables. Melting texture of the 'gnocchi', excellent bouillon. Again, this was clear and full flavoured, reminding me of plates of jabugo ham back in the old town. Each piece was adorned with a different flower or herb, though their subtlety was lost beneath the other components. Course 4: A Pasta of amaranth, sardine broth and BABY LANGOUSTINE TAILS. Tender garden leaves. I enjoyed this course. The delicately fishy amaranth was wheaty and full flavoured, and excellently paired with a glass of Hoegaarden. The langoustine flavour was a little muted by its accompaniments though, and I preferred to guzzle them on their own. Still, a very good dish. Course 5: CRUSHED POTATOES, BROKEN EGGS AND VEGETABLE COAL. Garlic 'Caesin' Dressing. Superb flavour and texture of the potatoes, enriched by the egg, which had been cooked at 65 degrees for 45 minutes. Why? Who knows. But it tasted good to me. Even after all the reports, I expected the coal to taste burnt. But it didn't, and provided an interesting textural contrast. Zoe LOVED this dish. I really really liked it. A must try. Course 6: KING CRAB MARINATED IN OLIVE OIL, bathed in gelatinous chicken broth and spiced with toasted buckwheat. This chunk of leg must have come from one enormous crab. Unctuous melting texture yielded to the fork, bolstered but not overpowered by the chicken broth (clear consomme again). Course 7: HAKE FILLET WITH BABY GARLIC, hazlenut praline, soured cream and bitter flowers. Here begins the disappointment - the fish courses were utterly forgettable. The small hunk of hake fillet tasted bland and underseasoned. The streak of garlic cream was a dubious accompaniment, but failed even more so when coupled with an ever so slightly sweet praline sauce underneath. Course 8: TUNA LOIN ROASTED and bathed in a concentrated consomme of pilchards. Clay roasted onions and sweet spices. I'm sure this was a decent piece of tuna, but when bathing in an intense fishy consomme, all its flavour was lost and its odour unpleasant. The small pieces of oven baked onion had assumed the strong taste of the aromatics with which it had been roasted, and further undermined the main event. Disappointing. Course 9: Braised IBERIAN PORK TAILS with pan fried LANGOUSTINES. Reduced braising juices infused with iberian acorn jamon. Back on form. I swapped this dish in for the pork with curry paste, which Zoe had. Mine was better, I'm happy to say. I'd never had pig tails before, and I'm a convert. Remarkably piggy, melting and tender. The sweetness of the langoustines provided a subtle addition on the palate. Of course, I couldn't resist bathing one of the tails in the juices and popping it into my mouth whole. Mmm. Course 10: Cheeses, with accompanying relishes. The little plate of relishes was well thought out and, overall, a great success. The shot glass of pear juice to cleanse the palate between each specimen was also good. However, I'm still not sure I like Spanish cheese that much. Course 11: Seeking a contrast of temperatures, textures and cultures. VIOLET ICE CREAM, hot almond marzipan, shavings of spiced bread and green tea. Without a doubt the best dessert I have ever tasted. The ice cream was fragrant and clean. However, when combined with a little of the brittle chocolate, perfumed with green tea, and the spiced gingerbread, something incredible happened. As the wanky description predicts, the contrast is a knockout, Different components hit the tastebuds at different times, before almost evaporating on your tongue, leaving you with a gentle lingering aftertaste of violet. Absolutely awesome, and everyone in the kitchen knew it, too. Course 12: CARAMELIZED FRENCH TOAST ENRICHED WITH CREAM AND EGG YOLK. With handmade raw milk and fig ice cream. I swapped this in for the milk and tapioca ice cream, which Zoe duly devoured. I wasn't going to come all this way and not have the french toast, was I? It deserves its reputation. Crisp shell giving way to a moist, eggy interior. Perfect ice cream to boot. Fantastic dessert. Course 13: FROZEN CHOCOLATE CYLINDER with almond cream, chocolate and lime. Not hitting the heights of the previous two, this was nevertheless a surprisingly light and fresh end to a wonderful meal. Apparently they separate out the albumen from egg whites, which are apparently 90% water, mix it with chocolate, whip it like mad and freeze it. To create a superfine aero which evaporates on the heat of your tongue. All in all, I thought this was an excellent meal. The high points were as high as I have experienced anywhere. Even the dishes on the next level down expressed superb clarity of flavour and quite unique combinations at the cutting edge of cuisine. The restaurant has a sense of humour, and will always amaze and dumbfound. I just find it frustrating that experimental places like Mugaritz can serve fish courses with so little going for them, not to mention the bloody chicken wing. Especially given that so much effort and meticulous preparation goes into each dish. But like golf, you forget about the forays in the rough; it is your shot of the day that you remember most vividly, and keeps you coming back for more. The vegetable dish and the violet ice cream will live long in the memory. Service was excellent, and the wine pairings were good too, and cheap. It's a shame the restaurant was so empty - only 4 tables full. Perhaps they all got lost.

You MUST go to Etxebarri. I have just come back from a trip to San Sebastian. I ate at Mugaritz, Arzak and Etxebarri, and Etxebarri has left the greatest lasting impression on me. I'm in the process of writing up reports. GO!

That's actually the standard price at the moment, which appears to be a steal. No doubt will go up soon. More details on the GR website. I'm booked in next monday, so I'll let you know how I go. Incidentally, the website also advertises a set lunch at Maze for June to August of £26.50 for 4 courses or £37.50 for 6...

I went for the set lunch earlier this year and I think it was £46. It was great fun - wonderful atmosphere. However, I would say that for all the haute cuisine places I've been to and had the set lunch, in my opinion le Gavroche was the one which dumbed down the cuisine the most. Crab gratin and garlic soup were two of the starters. Steak frites one of the mains. Prepared very well of course, and very tasty, but not real refined cooking. The a la carte is a different kettle of fish, so be careful of temptation! I think the wines they select for half bottles are often bin end and accordingly at great value, and the mineral water/coffee is another great saver. However, in terms of value, I think Foliage at £32 and Aikens at £40 for 3 courses and matching glasses of wine with starter and main is probably better value in terms of the food. But like I said, I don't think they have the buzz that le Gavroche has. Have a great time!