Mandarin

I really think you're making quite a meal of this.........

Also got a good review in Time Out last week.

Sounds interesting. Has anyone been yet?

Meat pies and pavlova! Or does it have to contain cheese???????????????

Actually I think that's on the menu at Juniper! ← Nice one.

Definitely check it out - am slightly biased as the family who own it are friends of mine. Weather is supposed to be good this weekend and they have a large terrace outside as well.

Or is it Glorious? To be honest have not eaten at either Yang Sing for a long time but have always believed them to be over-rated. Do not altogether trust English critics and their palates when reviewing Chinese restaurants. Having said that, might give it a go next time I'm up and am happy to have my opinion changed, As a second generation Chinese brought up in the restaurant biz in Manchester, still have to say that I was v impressed with Glamorous/Glorious/Gorgeous. Far superior yum cha than down here in London.

Isn't it called Glamourous? In my view it's better than any of the Yang Sings - a couple of hundred Chinese clamouring to get in on a Sunday can't be wrong.

Popbitch, bollocks more like

How about Luciano? It's one of the restaurants under the MPW banner. Had dinner there about a month ago - good, clean flavours, simple Italian food although I found the service to be pretty arsey.

St George flag

gpp sorry - grease proof paper!

This is the recipe from Otto Ristorante, Sydney. A friend worked there and gleaned this recipe. Double grease about 10 dariole moulds and line with a disc of ggp. Melt 250g butter and 250g chocolate. In another bowl whisk 125g caster sugar with 8 yolks and 5 eggs. Combine the chocolate mixture with the sugar and egg mixture and fold in 65g SR flour. Cook at 180 celcius for about 12 minutes or until just set. These can be kept in the fridge uncooked or even frozen. If frozen, alter the cooking time slightly.

I was once a guest at an Australia Day lunch, in London, hosted by a Swedish company. We had crocodile, kangaroo and an enormous pavlova, supposedly made with an ostrich egg. However, because the chef was Swedish, everything (apart from dessert) was flavoured with huge amounts of dill! Not highly recommended.

Has anyone tried La Collina yet, in Primrose Hill? It seems to be getting really good reviews.

Strozzapreti - a speciality of Romagna -twisted strips of pasta about 4-5cm long. I like the name - it means strangled priest. One of the legends created to explain the origin of the name goes back to the tradition of the women from Romagna preparing this type of pasta for the local priest, while the husbands, evidently a little bit more anticlerical, wished the priest would choke while he was stuffing himself with it.

I absolutely agree with you. You can have the best chef in the kitchen, who turns out fantastic food but if he has no interest in the business then he will not be keeping an eye on GPs and the costings will go through the roof. In my experience, I also believe that if one person starts to take the piss, as Helenea mentioned, then the others merely see that as their OK to do the same. I think the reason why the percentage of places that go bust in the first year is so high is because people have a romantic dream of running a restaurant, with no actually idea of what is entailed on a day to day basis.

As long as you hire trustworthy staff that can do the job well, and that you realise/understand the job that needs to be done. Staffing was the major problem my Father had as he didn't understand how a kitchen was supposed to be run and got completely taken advantage of by everyone.

Yes, I do. My Father had two extremely successful Chinese restaurants in the North West for many years, having had no prior experience of running a restaurant. However, that was 40 years ago when there were no restaurants of this kind in the area. He simply, by his own admission, struck lucky. These days there is too much competition around for people to simply go into this business because they enjoy and have a passion for food. You need a solid working knowledge of a restaurant and also good business sense.

All the best of luck with your venture - the first thing I would advise though, is for one or both of you to get some experience in the kitchen/on the floor of a restaurant.

Forgetting tradition, I generally grab a bunch and break them before boiling. Otherwise we'd look like sloppy teenagers in a Spaghetti house! ← I think you would be lambasted by Italians everywhere if you broke with tradition, especially when it comes to cooking!

For the Chinese, the fish eye is the best part of the fish! My grandmother used to swoop in with her chopsticks, practically before the plate hit the table.

Why on earth would you want to break spaghetti in half anyway?

Is it just me, but I ate at Junipers about 2 years ago and we had one of the worst, most pretentious meals I've ever had, certainly the worst for a Michelin star restaurant. I am constantly baffled by the good press it often seems to receive. Have a great meal, where ever you choose to eat.