nikkib

Any more recent advice on where to visit? Am moving there in April and would love some more recommendations.....

Thanks for all the advice, we had reckoned on going to the goose actually but I obviously hadn't counted on the weekends events nor had I factored in the two small children with us so in the end we stayed at my friends in Didcot and made pizza, and drank some rather nice Italian wine, so not a wasted journey afterall!

Yeah the eddie gilberts soft boiled egg with eel soldiers looks amazing!

ooh hadn't realised that - thanks

Hi all - hope someone can help? I am visiting friends in didcot parkway at the weekend and we will be stopping for lunch on the way back to another friend in hertfordshire. Probably want to stop nearer Didcot than anywhere else and this is not an area i know well - any advice from my fellow egulleters?

What about adding a seared scallop and crispy pancetta to the soup as a garnish? Or a couple of poached quail eggs would be tasty too, or even a poached quail egg and a little piece of poached salmon?

great, thanks! Really looking forward to it!

I will be moving to Beirut in 2 months from the uk, what food items should I bring with me ( either ones that are cheaper over in Europe or ones that I will struggle to find in the Lebanon) also are there any things I could bring as presents that will be particular sought after/ well received. Thanks!

Marcus warring at the berkley is quite a romantic restaurant, not sure what their valentines menu is like or even if they're open as it's a Sunday sorry! Otherwise why not try the Ledbury in nottinghill which just got it's second Michelin star, harewood arms, a pub which just got it's first Michelin star

Spinach with White fish and salmon - I serve a wilted spinach, courgette (zucchini!) lemon zest and chilli as a typical side with spinach, a cucumber salad is also good with both of those, peas - either buttered, crushed with mint or a la francaise are favourites as well. I normally have a simple salad with something like Dover sole, where as fish like john dory and monkfish hold up well to roasted or confit root vegetables such as beetroot, navet and carrots. Potato wise either boiled new potatoes or chips would be the norm for me if I was having them as a side with fish unless I was in need of some comfort food in which case something like cod with pommes mousseline and peas a la francaise is about as good as it gets for me. I also love sweetcorn with chicken and sprouts with turkey or pork - an especially tasty way is to make a gratin with plenty of cheese to go with roast pork.

We had a lovely breakfast at lantana, everything from sweetcorn fritters and good homemade porridge to poached eggs with vegemite and what my sister proclaimed to be the best bacon butty ever. Small and Cosy but well worth a trip - great coffee too

I'm pretty sure lee bennet from pont de la tour is doing it, a great young talent.

Claridges lost a star? Gosh Gordon won't be happy

i am yet to see anyone actually eating in urban turban- there is a masala zone around the corner if all else fails

I live nearby and am yet to find a good Indian in this area i'm afraid, sorry not to be of more help - does it have to be in Paddington or could you travel a bit?

Yum Yum Yum Yum!! I wish i could be more eloquent when writing here but there you go! I'm sure i've said it before and i'll say it again - if there is a better deal than the 9.50 express lunch deal i'd like to see it.... Of course 6 days into my new year "diet" I wasn't going to settle for one course, coffee and wine for 9.50 so I chose to start with the potted crab at 7.50 and a glass of the house wine at around 3.70. A generous portion of potted white and brown meat with delicious home made bread. My main was from the set menu - Roast Quail with squash and lentils and it was absolutely delicious. I added another glass of wine, a scoop of homemade rum and raisen ice cream and the set menu inclusive coffee which all came to 33.50. Hereford Road is truly a great restaurant, if you haven't been - GO!

Supper of Partridge shot by my own fair hands, roasted for 15 minutes with butter and topped with bacon. Served with Sprouts, Chantenay Carrots, Roast Potatoes and Parsnips from the local farmers market, bread sauce, toasted breadcrumbs with chopped up partridge liver. The perfect antidote to the terrible English weather at the moment

I had the 24 martini - beefeater 24 with lillet blanc and grapefruit bitters - a great start to a meal, i would struggle to even get through the starters there after a bloody mary! Bon Apetit

Kim that all looks amazing!

yes it does, it is all to do wirth where the taste buds are positioned in your mouth and where the glass directs the wine in your mouth http://growyourwinesales.com/wp-content/up...tte-diagram.png try drinking champagne in a chardonnay glass and then in a flute or try a bordeaux in a burgundy glass and a boredeaux for comparison etc. I do this with my staff as training, without telling them which is the correct glassware/which wine they are drinking and they usually all pick the correct glass - try it....

The Ostrich at castle Acre in Norfolk http://www.ostrichcastleacre.com/ A very nice lunch here yesterday. Castle acre is a pretty little town not far from Kings Lynn. I started with whitebait, crisply fried and served with tartar sauce and a wedge of lemon and then followed this up with fish cakes - two large fishcakes made from white crab meat, salmon and smoked haddock with a cucumber, radish and cornichon salad. My father had a delicious tart of tomato, feta and caramelised onion to start as well as the fishcakes and my Mother chose a crab sandwich, white and brown meat in a large granary bap with cucmber salad which unsurprisingy for this part of the world was beautiful and fresh. The two course meals were £10.95 (£13.95 if we had added treacle tart) and the sandwich was£7.95. They had a decent wine list and a couple of local beers on draught as well as the usual suspects. Worth popping in for good home cooked pub grub if you are in the area.

amazing - thanks! All the recipes look sooo good i can't wait to get started!

Does anyone know of a goiod place to buy specialist mexican ingredients (flour for making tortillas, dried chillies etc) Have a newly acquired Rick Bayless book and am desperate to get cracking but there are sooo many specialist ingredients i have no idea where i might find them? Any help would be gretaly appreciated

we really enjoyed frannys at 295 flatbush ave http://www.frannysbrooklyn.com/

taramasalata (sp?) is good as is tapenade, i like the idea of different butters - one salted, one unsalted and one with say a thin dice of anchovy or herbs, or you could do butters from different places? I wouldsecond the dukkah mix too - its delicious!