nikkib

I was once in a (now thankfully closed) restaurant in Londonwhen jjust after ordering our drinks we noticed a mouse running along the floor and under a door in the back of the room... Not quite sure we had really witnessed this we carried on looking at the menu when another two or three mice scurried along too. I beckoned over the waitress and told her they had mice to which she replied "yeah i know.." as we stood up and made our way to the door, declining the drinks which had by this point arrived only to see the door at the back open behind which was the kitchen where all the mice had been heading!!!! Seriously we couldn't get out of there quickly enough UUURRGGHHHH!

Nikki I think you failed to pick up that my tongue was firmly rooted in my cheek.................... Hope you have a good time. ← No i got that part i'm just not overly keen on the idea - i could have picked sooo many other places and was just hoping for some reassurance it wasn't going to be (too) terrible! At the end of the day we'll have fun anye=where and i can continus my gastronomic adventures elsewhere, I'm taking her to Petru sthe week after so at least we are guarenteed an amazing meal there... ← (sic) better lay off the wine for a bit - sorry for the appalling typos there!

Nikki I think you failed to pick up that my tongue was firmly rooted in my cheek.................... Hope you have a good time. ← No i got that part i'm just not overly keen on the idea - i could have picked sooo many other places and was just hoping for some reassurance it wasn't going to be (too) terrible! At the end of the day we'll have fun anye=where and i can continus my gastronomic adventures elsewhere, I'm taking her to Petru sthe week after so at least we are guarenteed an amazing meal there...

Anyone else.................................................................................................... Preferably about the food/service etc and not how hot (seriously you need to get out more) or rich (who cares) the chef is? Have booked in for mothers day as it is my mothers restaurant of choice and am keen to make sure she enjoys everything.

For history try the Mitre on Ely place just off charter house st in farringdon. One of oldest pubs in london dating back to 16th century (i think) v. quaint and worth stopping off for a pint in.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Buttermilk-Scones/Detail.aspx or even better http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...lks_67262.shtml mmmmmmmmmmm!

Mozzarella topped Bison burger with a pear and red onion compote( pear, red wine, red wine vinegar, brown sugar, clove of garlic and a sliced red onion reduced in a hot pan for about 15mins) You could either serve the Parsnips as chips with the burger or as a mash or try a curried parsnip soup? I've made curried parsnip and apple soup before - maybe it would also work with the pear?

Giraffe is about as child friendly as it gets and can be very enjoyable for Mums and dads too - breakfast is particularly good www.giraffe.net

If thats all you are not leaving me full of hope for a good meal!

Has anyone eaten at 15 recently and if so could you fill me in on your experience, I'm off there in a couple of weeks and was wondering what the general feeling was as i have never got too excited about the idea of visiting and needed some feedback...

I could easily believe that Emett will be an improvement on Ferguson. My real question is whether anyone will pay attention. The media have, in a sense, "moved on," and it will be hard to overcome the spate of bad publicity that attended the launch (much of which was probably not Ferguson's fault). ← Most of the reviews i saw were more than favourable about the food, it was the toilets/bread/"celebrity chef bashing" that seemed more negative? I agree that most of the hype will obviously have died down now but i don't see that this will either stop people going in future or suddenly make them express a desire to visit if they haven't already been...

Josh Emett was previously the head chef at The savoy grill, having worked for Ramsay at both Claridges, Maze and his 3 michelin starred Chelsea restaurant and is an outstanding chef whos appointment i'm sure can only viewed as a positive.

If your husband is snotty about glitz, he will probably have zero tolerance for Cafe Gray. (I should note, though, that Cafe Gray isn't really "New York-style" glitz. I'd say it's more Akron-style glitz.) River Cafe is surprsingly good but, at least at this point, not particularly inventive. ← Ooh thats interesting you talk about the "glitz of Cafe Gray - do you mean decor or cuisine wise? I find the room quite understated and thought it was a delicious meal - as a Brit it seemed very "New York" to me if that makes sense? My sister who is not into "fancy" but loves eating well was also a huge fan. The river cafe again was very enjoyable. The views were outstanding and cuisine wise i thought everything was beautifully prepared, I had Crab stuffed shrimps with a tangerine hollandaise and Seabass with confit tomatoes, and fennel i think. Desserts were outstanding - a salted caramel and espresso concoction and everyone in my party enjoyed their food - even the notoriously fussy eaters in our group. Either would be great for a "destination" restaurant for a big birthday do but were unstuffy enough to be fun. I hope you have a great time wherever you choose

You do know Heston isn't involved any more? Is it even still operating? ← it is closed over winter for about 5 months i believe, its now owned by Garrey Dawson and partners ← Yeah, i thought it was closed at the moment too..

Cafe Gray? I've always eaten very well there, and we had a lovely meal at the river Cafe as well.

I don't know, but it reminds me of James Thurber's line, "One martini is alright, two is too many, three is not enough." ← Which is like the Dorthy Parker line. I like too have a martini, two at the very most. After three I'm under the table, after four I'm under my host. ← I know what she means

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...rib_81804.shtml Try this - it should work now ← That doesn't look like an egg custard tart you find in Chinatown. Nice recipe, though! Here's a Gothamist.com dan tat photo ← Wow! That would be considered practically sacreligious over here in the UK, try making the recipe i posted - it really is awesome, you'll never want to eat one of those pink "egg custard tarts" again!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database...rib_81804.shtml Try this - it should work now

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/custardtartwithgaribaldi This is the custard tart recipe 2 michelin starred chef Marcus Wareing ( a colleague of Gordon Ramsay) cooked for the Queen for her 80th birthday banquet last year.....

Yes, I had seen this thread. It looks really good and I'd probably try it back home, but as I hail from Barcelona I don't really want to eat tapas when I'm in Ireland... However, thanks ← Ah! Didn't spot that one

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=99674 This restaurant had some good reviews from egulleters

See hint here I was sworn to secrecy However, I can tell you that it isn't likely to be open until June. Still waiting to hear what the name is, they've discarded the first idea. Does anyone else think London could support several restaurants like Arbutus? I think it could survive very well in some suburbs as well as central London. If only he wuold come to Croydon ← No. 17 times no. ← Any particular reason why?

Thats more like it...

Can i come and work for you?

I did a great roast chicken the other night by spatchcocking it (taken out the back bone and breaking the breast bones) and stuffing under the skin a fresh ricotta with fresh chives, chervil and lemon zest. A splash of olive oil and salt over the top and blasting for about 20 mins at 300 degrees then down to 150 for about an hour - the skin was a very dark brown and crispy and the ricotta became more solid like a stuffing but the meat was delicious and moist. The recipe was a Bill granger one and canb be found on the bbc food website, i'd recommend giving iot a go if you fancy something a little different.