nikkib

Anyone know how much the wne flights to match each couse are? Is there more than one option if you choose to do it this way or would i be better ordering 1/2 bottles etc...?

when is the book published and what is the title?

Gordon Ramsays Boxwood Cafe is open until 1am Monday-Friday

Shane Osbourn (Pied a Terre) a Michelin starred chef in London has a well documented shellfish allergy and it hasn't stopped him...

http://www.goodguides.co.uk/ I've used this site in the past and found it helpful

Oops! double chkd and it was £122! That sounds more like it doesn't it!

They sell a lot of the Jing Teas in Boxwood cafe in knightsbridge, drink in not by the box though.

I was also there last night with a friend who hadn't realised it was their first night until we paid the bill and left which is always a good sign. We started with the wild honey tails - (bellinis) which were delicious and set about the serious decision of what to order. I had seen the red wine, raddichio and tallegio risotto on the menu at Arbutus and asked if i could try that as a starter which they obligingly did for me. I thought it was delicious, perfectly cooked and the bitterness of the raddichio still found its way onto the palate alongside the tallegio, dotted over the top. My friend had the pigs head which was also fantastic and not as heavy as i was expecting. For mains i had the market fish - "Plaice cooked in a water bath at 45 degrees with mash potato and a caper and brown shrimp, brown butter sauce" as it was described to me another success. I'm a sucker for brown shrimps and was happy they hadn't skimped on them, the plaice was perfect and portions were spot on. My friend had the Organic Scottish salmon, braised gem, broad beans and radish which she proclaimed similarly good and beautoifully presented as always. Desserts i thought were a bit of a let down. We had the wild honey ice cream and honey comb which was fine but nothing special and my friend had the scottish raspberries and warm lemon cream which lacked any real "oomph" THe lemon tart i had last time at arbutus was 1000 times better. Again nothing was wrong just not up to the high standards of the first two courses. We drank a £29 bottle of Auntsfield Sav Blanc from Marlborough which i have been to buy a couple of bottles of today after seeing it in Harvey Nic's and a 250 ml carafe of Tokjai for about £25 i think. Total bill including the discount ( and a bottle of water) was £166 for two, very reasonable indeed. My only gripes were that the drinks service was a bit slow, the desserts weren't quite up to par and my double espresso was more like a filter coffee all very minor and ones i'm sure will be ironed out quickly - for a first night it was a resounding success. I found the staff friendly and helpful, they certainly seemed calm and the kitchen did a fantastic job, they should be very proud of a job well done. I can imagine it will be packed out at lunch with business men and will settle in nicely. I will definitely be back!

Sukho is my favourite, and its always full - booking recommended! http://www.london-eating.co.uk/7160.htm

Did anyone go to the opening day of Taste of London yesterday? Any views?

I would rather start at the bottom and work up with some of the restaurants for example, once you've eaten at RHR i'm not sure how much you'd appreciate the other Ramsay restaurants comparitively. Don't get me wrong, i have eaten at all of them and they are all fantastic restaurants but I like the idea of working up from 1star to 3 and then you can better appreciate the differences in style, service and cuisine etc You could try Theo Randall and 15 as they have both been trained by The river Cafe etc etc If you are areound this coming weekend try Taste of London in Regents Park - chefs from a lot of London's top restaurants wil be there selling sample portions of their dishes from £3- £6.00 Well worth the £20 entry fee - Tickets from Ch4 website or toptable Happy eating!!

Thai wine goes nicely with Indian food too as it tends to work well with the spices, Monsoon Valley is a very cheap and chearful easy drinking label. Interestingly i also tried some Chinese Wine recently, couldn't tell you the grape varierties unfortunately but both white and red had a weird hubba bubba after taste! An experience but not worth repeating.

jacket and ties are obligatory aren't they?

Maze is great fun and interesting cuisine - check out the thread on the restaurant on the uk and ireland page, Petrus is a more serious affair and i have eaten there twice in the last three months and it was simply breathtaking - the best meals i have eaten thus far in the uk and i cannot recommend highly enough, Have fun! T

What? Really? Even in your local you have never said "and one for yourself..." ? When i worked behind bars/in pubs 10 years ago i was tipped very well, and whilst i didn't expect to be tipped for every drink (nor was i) I used to take home tips from every service in london and elsewhere in the country. I tip in atil gbars and if i have more than one drink in a bar/pub would usually tip as well, even if it is just the change from my round.

It is pretty tight i agree but unless you put a note on the bottom of the menu showing a minimum spend or number of courses per head there is not much you can do except seethe quietly! You could even just apply it to busy services such as saturday night if this is the only time it is likely to be an issue. I have never done this in a restaurant i have managed but have seen it on many menus here in london. I would also ensure they didn't get the amuses or truffles for the extra two diners unless i was feeling generous as this is a goodwill gesture on your behalf and certainly not expected. The fact they have eaten before does complicate things i agree, but unless they were regulars or particularly high spenders when they dined before i think this would not be inappropriate behaviour.

In london i think pretty much everyone tips in bars/pubs etc, especially in coctail bars - just check that a service charge hasn't been added to your bill first (common in high end tail/hotel bars)

After having booked my table at Wild Honey (thanks Matthew!) I decided to revisit Arbutus so it would fresh in my mind and that i would be able to compare the two more accurately. I started with The Devon Crab salad which was simply outstanding - served with a cucumber, shaved fennel and micro leaf saad, lighter than light homemade garlic mayo and a bread croute with the brown crab meat. It was absolutely delicious and far superior to any crab dish i have eaten in London recently. My guest had the pea and pancetta soup with Ricotta which was similarly good. We both had sea bream with broad beans, samphire and new potatoes as a main course which was another resounding success, simple, claerly defined flavours all perfectly cooked. We finished with Matthews recommendation of the lemon tart which was a great choice. The lemon centre was so light and deliciously sharp and the wafer thin crisp pastry base was cooked perfectly. We drank a couple of Crafaes of The ABC Chardonnay (£12 for 250mls) and finished with coffees - £95.00 for two for an outstanding lunch. I found the service much improved from my previous visit, far "slicker" and attentive whilst discretely keeping their distance and not overwhelming you as can often be the case. I am very much looking forward to seeing how Wild honey compares....

Thanks!

I doubt it, TR set lunch looks remarkable value compared to the ALC tho. ← I have eaten at theo randalls a couple of times now as much as i love The River cafe it is just so much more conveniently located for me. Last time we ate off the set lunch menu which really is ridiculously good value at £18. I had a tagliatelle with Asparagus, lemon and creme fraiche and then Monkfish (roasted?) which was beautiful and worth the £18 alone. My Guests both had a ravioli filled with rabbit and then the steak which they proclaimed similarly good. I really don't think i could separate it from the River Cafe in terms of quality so have no quibbles in paying the full alc prices.

I was very disappointed by The savoy, The dorchester was very nice but i was ther before the refurb so it was a while ago. Try TEAPALACE on Westbourne grove they have an outstanding collection of teas and i wiould imagine being in Notting hill taht they would be very accomodating to your dietry requirements and Yauatcha has a good tealist too.

I would have thought Zabars would have had all o the above?

I thought it was french dignatries and politicians to try to rebutt the Chirac comments about how bad British food is - I can't imagine the chefs involved wanting to do this for other chefs?

I haven't been, though had I been more together, I'd have gone there instead of Cafe Havana when I was at the MoE. According to Time Out Dubai, they were still at the Kempinski in March 2007. Here's the review. By the way, I had some pretty mediocre meals in Dubai--the Boardwalk (at the Golf and Country Club), Cafe Havana...those are the ones I remember most. I should have tried to find the food court at MoE, but I was beat by then! ← Yes i agree bout the boardwalk, although i think "mediocre " is a bit generous

Well a Madam over here is something completely different to "madame" and Ma'am is reserved for the Queen. Simply saying "and for you..?" would be considered rude and "and for the lady..." very oldfashioned (although still very much in use over in the uk amongst more senior/wealthy diners) We would strive to use the name of a regular guest where possible but it gets cloying when repeated ad infinitum as seems to be the case stateside so "Sir" and "Madame" are the "safest" and most polite.