ravelda

I would second Cafe Anglais, Hereford Road and the Ledbury. Your friend would probably also like books for cooks to stock up on pretty much any cookbook she wants and have a tasty lunch!

From what I understand the 2 stars will absolutely stay with the chef, and Petrus will move to the site of la Noisette

Some of the best steaks I have had have been at Hawksmoor. They have a good range of steaks and cook them so they have a nice char on the outside but remain juicy and pink in the middle. The last few times I have been the chips were on the money, although my early experiences there left me disappointed as they lacked that crispness you would expect. Hawksmoor say that if you have a particular cut that you want, if it is not on their menu and you let them know in advance that you would like it, they will get it for you. Prices are not cheap, however much more reasonable than Maze Grill, and they have fantastic cocktails.

The Abode hotel has a fairly reasonable hotel - the exec chef is Michael Caines, so you would hope it would be of a reasonable standard. I have also been to the Brian Maule at Chardon D`Or. A couple of outstanding dishes but the rest were very average, but still above the typical standard I have had in Glasgow. He was (according to his website) head chef at le Gavroche in the past. I met him whilst we were there and he is a lovely guy, but I fear his creativity is being hindered by having to provide what the local market will sustain. The red onion is a good option for brasserie style food.

Personally I like both, although my preferance is probably towards Benares. I had a fantastic meal there a couple of weeks ago - Atul's use of spices really is second to none. He is to Indian food what Nobu is to Japanese food IMHO.

that's odd. the stands are free, they do not pay anything to exhibit. there are (high) penalties for running out of food and other conditions, and they pay 40% royalty on sales. it still adds up, with staff as you say and preparation etc. but the high prices to exhibit amount to precisely £0.00 ← not quite true - I was on a stand that was a non-restaurant stand and the cost was £2,000 for the privilege of being there. You are correct that the restaurants don't pay for their stands, but they do have to pay for the designing and fitting out of the stand and then they have to have 850 dishes for each service or they get a big old fine, so all in all, it can be pretty pricey for them!

Thanks for this Basildog - it amazes me how many scams there are out there. I continually get emails from people telling me that they have X number of employees that they wish us to feed over a number of days and that they need our bank details in order to make the payment! Do they think we are that stupid?!!

Hmm, not really non-perishable but they should certainly make the trip over to the USA and be good for some time after: Potted shrimp, Stilton, Stinking Bishop, Black Bomber Cheddar, Scottish Smoked Salmon, fantastic preserves, artisan picalilli, some cracking English sparkling wine, artisan pies (pork pies, beef and ale, etc) and top quality apple juice, such as that from Cox's apple - can't really think of anything else at the moment I'm afraid. It could be a good opportunity to stock up on some quality French procue too actually, particularly non-pasterurised cheese, although I don't think your husband will be the most popular person on the plane with them!

Tarragon is great with pretty much all shellfish, particularly prawns, lobster, crab and scallos. Whether you make a tarragon butter sauce or add it to a more creamy thermidor type sauce you are on to a winner - that anise flavour really brings out the fresh, sweet taste of it.

Thanks for all these recommendations. Ended up going to Brown's Grill (or the Albemarle as I believe it has been re-named since Hix took on his consultancy role). Overall the menu reads well, although service was very sloppy and slow, we weren't given a wine list until we requested one on ordering our starters and even then they managed to bring the wrong wine 3 times. They managed to forget to give us cutlery until we requested it and when it came to the main course they gave us completely wrong cutlery for what we ordered. I started with treacle cured salmon with pickled cucumber and fennel which was pleasant enough, albeit somewhat under seasoned. With only 3 tiny slices of the salmon however, the £12.75 price tag was rather high for what I received. My client went for pan fried Burford brown egg with baby squid and black pudding, a much better choice especially for £8.75! For mains my companion went for Rabbit cooked in cider which came in a very tasty creamy mustard and cider sauce. As there were no accompaniments with the dish he also ordered chips, purple sprouting broccoli and carrots cooked with chervil which added £12 to the dish (Which itself was around £18) I opted for a rib of beef on the bone which again was a perfectly acceptable piece of meet - albeit a tad cold and at £28.50 without any accompaniments felt a rather expensive. Again to supplement this I ordered chips (which were soggy and flaccid) and purple sprouting broccoli, taking the dish up to a whopping £40!! All in all, I don't think I will be returning any time soon. The food, whilst not bad, was not good either, with dishes tending to be rather tepid and under seasoned, sloppy service, and all rather over-priced.

I was a pastry chef for 4 years down in Sussex, have had 8 years out and am looking to get back into it. For a job which is apparently desperately underskilled adn understaffed I can't find any work within a 30 mile radius of my home apart from the job I left in 1999 which they have never managed to fill permanently ! It's very frustrating. ← If you are ever looking for a job in London in Pastry please drop me a line - we would be very keen to have a strong team in pastry. Don;t get me wrong we have good people now, but as mentioned up-thread, getting real top level quality people in pastry is pretty tricky!

Ok, I'm taking a client out for lunch tomorrow at 2.30pm (only time he can make it) but am totally out of ideas for where we can go for some good food that is relatively close to Mayfair and that serves lunch at 2.30pm. Thoughts? Thanks!

Personally I think the tasting menu at the Ledbury is one of the best value tasting menus in the capital and a good representation of the talent of the chef.

I went for dinner on Monday night and had an excellent meal - albeit with rather slow service (took them 30 minutes just to take our order and get the sommelier over to see us!). I will write a full review tomorrow, but we received canapes, amuse, pre desert and a selection of petit fours with coffee. From talking to Phil in the past I think they only do the full suite in the evening and at lunch just an amuse as many people go for the set lunch and I guess it would be quite time consuming and costly for the kitchen to send out all the lovely extras!

Right, that'ts me in for some more client dining - I knew there was a good reason for working at UBS!

Definitely not true - in fact, you will find it on many restaurant menus. Most butchers should be able to source them for you if you ask them nicely, although if they don't butcher the entire animal for their store they may ask you to buy a whole case as this will be how they have to get it. Ginger pig do sell them, but equally head down to Smithfields to the same suppliers they buy from and purchase them at a quarter of the cost!

Unfortunately I can echo your comments about the general quality of Kosher food here. Six-13 has gone bust - the only "high end" Kosher restaurant in London is now Bevis Marks, where the food varies from mediocre to quite poor. Now it has no competition in the City, things can only get worse... ← Wow - I didn't know Six-13 had gone under! Can't say I'm too surprised though - the food was pretty poor and at the prices they charge you could go for a fab meal elsewhere (albeit not Kosher). To be honest, in my opinion if you want an edible kosher meal it is best to steer away from kosher attempts at fine dining in the UK and sticking to more casual fare - less room for it being disgusting!

wasnt talking about the foie gras with tea jelly....... Anyone interested in the "Roasted potato" Consomme recipe???? I have it straight from the horses mouth, so to speak... ← Would love it mate - I'm sure there would be quite a few interested parties in seeing that!

To be honest, as Jay demonstrated by a relatively recent review of a restaurant in Golders Green, Kosher restaurants and good eating don;t often mix. In central London, tow worth trying are Reubens (fantstic salt beef!) and six-13 which is in a converted synagogue. Otherwise take a trip to Golder's Green and take your pick - it is all pretty hit and miss, but sadly, unlike in the USA, it seems people are happy to pay high prices for poor kosher food!

I have to say I have generally been disappointed by Sumosan on recent visits. Kiku could be a good option, or even better Kikuchi! You could also think about Ristorante Semplice for Italian within your budget.

I have to say, I personally do like Marina's writing - I find her witty and informative and often find her review in-line with my experiences of whichever restaurant she is writing about. I can't say I find her reviews give the impression that she has her hackles up before she even gets their either. Personally I find her to be pretty fair and she is certainly rated by most of the restauranteurs that I know as one of the best critics. Writing for the Metro also makes her reviews rather powerful as her distribution in London is massive. Whilst I find AA Gill's reviews can be amusing, I would always prefer to read Marina's or Jay's or someone like Giles Coren as there tends to be much more useful content about the restaurants and food and less witty banter about themselves and their current state of mind. IMHO only of course!

I would definitely take Foliage - I've never had a bad meal there - Chris Staines is a really excellent and rather innovative chef who takes real pride in his work and comines flavours and textures extremly well. Failing that I would consiider Pied a Terre or maybe the Greenhouse?

Oysters, Caviar and Asparagus next on the list then I guess!

"Edinburgh has a star in it's CBD. As does Dublin. London, as mentioned, has loads. Even Belfast has one! But... Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Bristol, Southhampton, Brighton and Cardiff - not one of them has a star to its name. Many of these cities have all the elements you would expect would be need to support a star (affluent populations, decent tourism, big business communities) yet don't. " Nottingham does have a Micelin star though - Sat Baines!

If you pop down to Smithfield's earlyish in the morning you can pick some up yourself - there are a few good places that will sell to individuals and import from some fantastic French artisan producers. Alternatively PM me (if you live in London).