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Helenandchips

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  1. Hi there Helen Pidd here. I'm a journalist from the Guardian in London (www.guardian.co.uk). I'm writing an article about what "foreign" foods are most popular in other countries. Eg, Indian in Britain, Chinese in India, Italian in Japan, etc. And I am interested to hear your thoughts on what non-Italian cuisine is most popular with Italians. Our Rome correspondent tells me that Italians are generally very conservative where food is concerned and that anyone below the age of about 30 views foreign food with the deepest possible suspicion. eg For a Roman, 'foreign food' is, say, from Tuscany, which is two hours up the motorway. Is there any truth in this? All thoughts gratefully received. thanks a lot Helen
  2. Hi everyone Helen Pidd here. I'm a journalist with the Guardian in London (www.guardian.co.uk). I'm writing a feature about what "foreign" foods are most popular in various countries in the world (eg in Britain we eat Indian, in Spain they eat Turkish, in Russia they eat Georgian...) and wondered whether anyone in India would be able to talk to me about "Chindian" food, which I hear is very popular. My deadline is the end of Friday 14th June, so any responses very welcome before then. My email address is helen.pidd@guardian.co.uk I'm happy to call you if you email a number and a time to call. Hope to hear from you soon Helen
  3. I've said this before, but Maze is nice and all, if completely devoid of joy. Which is why I will never be in a hurry to go back. The cooking is accomplished, the service attentive, the room tasteful. . . but it's not fun. And as I have also mentioned before, it cost twelve quid for a cider and black.
  4. I love, love, loved the King's Arms in Stow. Apparently Jeremy Clarkson is in there all the time, but don't let that put you off. I recall great pints of prawns, amazing mushroom risotto and well nice steak. Fun wine list too: if you're sitting upstairs you can pick your own red from the big racks which fill one wall. I wasn't with kids, but it strikes me as the kind of place they'd be very welcome. http://www.greenekinginns.co.uk/gloucester...nn_01/index.htm
  5. Thank you ! Actually I was about to post another topic "recommendations for our summer holiday inScotland please" because OF COURSE we would also need to eat at least daily during our 3 weeks holiday ! ←
  6. Oh, oh, go to the secret garden at the Witchery in Edinburgh. It is *just* magnificent. Wood panelled walls, candles. . . it's magic. I had the world's best sausage and mash there for my 20th birthday, though they do a whole load of fancier stuff too.
  7. I went to Zetter a few months ago and was quite impressed. It's a bit of an expense account place - lots of deals being hatched all over the shop - but don't let that put you off. Somehow it was exciting rather than twatty. My starter was a bit disappointing (some sort of seafood puree which looked, and I'm afraid, tasted, a bit like puke on toast) but I had superb skate for mains and a top pudding. Like Moro, it's a buzzy place to be. I liked it.
  8. How did Lisa Allen do? I know she didn't win, but did she hold her own? It would be great for a woman to take home the trophy at one of these events.
  9. I went to Maze the other day expecting the moon on a stick. It was good - but not £450 for four people galactic. We had the 7-course taster menu and the 5-courser, both of which had moments of glory (the fois gras and quail, and beef cheek were, as Michael Winner would say, almost historic) but neither were consistently great. A beetroot course was particularly bland and the peanut butter and jam pud got the thumbs down from 3 of our table. But my main problem with the place wasn't the food, but the joylessness of the joint. Perhaps it's the upmarket travellodge decor, but it all felt a little staid. Where was the fun? The passion? The theatre? And what on earth they think they're doing charging a tenner for cider and black is anyone's guess (it were reet nice though).
  10. Thanks for the tips. We went to Mon Plaisir and enjoyed it a lot. The menu wasn't expansive - a choice of two starters and rather pedestrian mains - but it was good value and, importantly, the waiting staff didn't make us feel like plebs for not spending a bomb. £12.95 for celeriac soup, a mustardy chicken main and a glass of isnae bad. Really great bread was repeatedly offered and they didn't turn their noses up at the free champagne vouchers we had printed off their website either. But why they insisted on serving undercooked peas swimming in cream as a sidedish I'll never know.
  11. Has anyone ever found a good restaurant in the West End with reasonable pre or post theatre deals? £15 a head would be great. . .
  12. I only use Time Out as a guide for which restaurants are in the area I'm heading, and then cross-reference the reviews (usually with Fay Maschler, if possible). Whoever said that all the critques were too nice-nice was totally true. Unfortunately, most restaurants aren't all that, and the TO guide doesn't acknowledge this. And I've visited some places - such as Le Mercury in Islington - which were bigged up in Time Out despite having sub-mediocre food and terrible, rushed service.
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