RDB

I wonder if Greg has any involvement then, in them slipping in constant references, in a claim that by association, he is actually viewed as somehow linked to and/or equivalent to a michelin inspector

I imagine wanting a Michelin star(s) and achieving them are two entirely different things? On one episode I watched, two of the contestants state that without a doubt they were going to get a star one day, however they all managed to over cook a basic steak dish. It made me wonder had any of these chefs actually been to many michelin restaurants?? Also if you were so keen to cook at * ** 0r *** level, there are better ways of getting the neccessary skills and experience than appearing on a cookery programme and getting 'edited' advice from Greg Wallace or Raymond and his team. To my knowledge cookery programmes are not a prerequisite for achieving a star, however a more traditional route of gaining experience at that level (Heston excluded), financial backing, ability to cook etc etc, tend to result in more chefs gaining stars.

.....but they are cooking the well known 'welsh chinese' fusion. Is there actually a known psychological condition that relates to the delusional state of thinking you can cook or run a restaurant??? It appears to manifest itself to different degrees of severity, ranging from the mild, e.g. 'My wife and friends think that the dinner I cooked the other week is amazing, therefore I should open a restaurant'; to the more chronic ' I can "artistically" arrange badly cooked food on a plate, therefore I am deserving of a michelin star'.

To counteract that one dissenting voice, Lucinda O'Sullivan gives it the thumbs up. http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/food-d...d2-1471029.html

Had another great lunch at the White Bull a few weeks back, again all the dishes were excellent, and super value for money. Enjoyed an excellent piece of calves liver, and compared to last time, the cheese board was very, very impressive. Having been there three times in a few months, I can really vouch for consistency on both cooking and FOH, I only wished I lived nearer.

Oh the shame!!!! I actually thought that would be it for Juniper, due to location etc, this is very interesting news and exciting. Its actually refreshing for someone to criticise Manchester's lack of 'fine dining' with the motivation to do something about it.

Tom Kitchin to me is one of the best young talents cooking in the UK , and I believe he will go very far.

I see Neil Soweby reviewed Red N Hot in the MEN, with 3 out of 5 overall. Within the review he actually takes time to mention a certain observer critic and passes on his blessings to said Mr Rayner. Good to see such commaradery amongst restuarant critics.

Nice one Patrick.

What do you mean 'wanna-be-critic', I hope you are not talking about Greg. He is a well respected critic in the food industry, infact he is known as a 'pro' in Olive magazine. If it wasn't for his superhuman knowledge on all things food related ( with extra special knowledge on veg and puds) we would not have Thomasina, and erm, the rest. Greg has a far superior knowledege on food than that Roux fellow, anyone can tell that,. by the difference in their physique.

Seems like some good places around in Ireland at the moment. I can't wait to try Mint, have heard very high praise about the restaurant and the chef. Also good reviews on Alexis bar and grill from some people in the industry who have been there. I am aiming to pop across the water soon and try them out. Nice to to see good old Dickie Corrigan ( a true gent) getting an award, I doubt Mr Thornton was giving him a standing ovation??? Has anyone been to Bentleys in Dublin (Corrina, Simon, Hannah,Patrick et al???) , is it as good as the one in London??

Bapi off the sauce!!!! Surely a 'nage of seafood sticks' would require a few drinks to get through

My better half's opinion entirely Bapi. The service is extremely chaotic, no one in charge, albeit they appeared to have a plinth (sp?) looking out over the dining area where a 'general' appeared from time to time, before quickly retreating. We asked for water on a few occassions which did not arrive, until the second course. The wine pairings were delivered too long before or too long after each dish. The table next to us who had ordered the tapas were missing many dishes. I was distracted by all this from the shock of eating such good high end food in Manchester

I really enjoyed Gary Rhodes recent show Rhodes around China, the show more than Gary himself, I must add. It was quite a good showcase on highlighting regional variations etc. Anyway it gave me a craving to eat some good Chinese, in particular Szechuan. Having been to Red Chilli a few times I thought I would try somewhere different, so I ended up in Red & Hot on Faulkner Street. I was really impressed with the food here, now I am no expert on Chinese food, having never been to China etc, but this was good. One of my dining friends remarked it was so unlike Chinese food, I knew what she meant. Some of the stand out dishes were the sichuan steamed spicy aubergine, which was so light and tasty. Crushed cucumber in delicious sauce, which was exactly that, I have never had a cucumber excite me much (ooh er missus). Sliced fish sichuan lavishly topped with chilli and sichuan pepper, I am not sure how they cooked this fish but it was like velvet in texture. The old favourite Pock Marked ladies Tofu with minced meat, was excellent, not a bit fan of tofu, but this made it exciting. Lots of other dishes which involved exploding kidney flowers, duck tongues, intestine, tripe and lung. Infact it would take a few visits to try all the dishes as the menu as it as long as it is exciting. One thing is the portions are massive, you really get lots of food for quite a low price. I prefered this place to Red Chilli and will definitely go again.

Your answer lies in the post above.

Went to The White Bull again on Sunday, which is strange for me to revisit a place in a matter of weeks. Often when it comes to deciding on a spare of the minute Sunday lunch, I often find it hard to generate options. Some places I have been to fail on food, but deliver on atmosphere, some almost deliver on food but lack good service etc etc. I think with the White Bull you get the full package, great food, excellent friendly service, great beer, wonderful atmosphere and very cheap prices. Six of us went on Sunday including my daughter the self proclaimed "Kid Critic", and we all followed the rule of trying not to order what anyone else does, so to get a full range of the dishes. This enabled a more detailed analysis of the cooking on offer, rather than judging a restaurant on one or two dishes. I have to say that all starters and mains were really excellent, with none (yes really) failing in any way. Sorry I have no copy of the menu so maybe bet sketchy. Some examples included a beautiful pork terrine with an apple chutney, perfect mackeral pate, a piece of salmon with med veg was divine and chilli spiked summer squash soup was elegant. There did not appear to be any starters on the specials board. Mains included an amazing belly pork, creamed cabbage and black pud mash, alright not the most summery of dishes but in deepest Lancashire summer was not apparent. A well executed Sunday roast, I think brisket of beef, with all the trimmings. Now this is the "Kid Critic's" domain, and she was very, very impressed with the dish, except there was not enough gravy. However before she could demote the dish from a five star to a four star, unprompted a little jug of personalised gravy appeared. They saved themselves culinary ruination with that foresight!!! I had roasted cod with saute potatoes, rocket, wild mushrooms and truffle, which was excellent, well cooked fish, earthy mushrooms, really good. There was a parmesan gnocchi dish which was the vegatarian option which was hailed delicious by a carnivore. Few specials which we did not try, halibut and fillet steak, I think. I would have to agree with Adey that portions have gotten a little smaller, which means they are now what would be considered normal size. Service throughout was excellent, with just two staff members, they managed a full room of diners with ease and remained appropriately conversational as one would expect from a good country pub. Googling reveals that the head front of house is the owner of the pub along with her husband, head chef Chris Bell, who has worked in Tom Aikens, L'ortolan (JBR), original Deanes and Roscoff, and head chef at Longridge. So quite a lot of experience and knowledge between the two, and it shows. Desserts were deemed very good by those that enjoy sweet things, ice creams, Eton Mess, stick toffee pud etc. I don't get to excited by desserts. I ordered the cheese which was a mixture of Irish and English varieties, e.g. Durrus, Blacksticks Blue. Unfortunately they were past there best, being a little dried out. This was dealt with and replaced, albeit with the replacements being just a little better. I remember receiving similar quality cheeses in Northcote once and was informed by a very scary German waitress that the cheeses were meant to be like that! Good coffees from exchange coffee, which were much better than our last visit, I think there was a problem with the machine. I am not sure what the final bill was, but it is £14 for two courses and £17 for three, specials may carry a supplement. I had quite a few good local Bowland Brewery ales, wine list appears short but well rounded, and modestly priced. The bar area appears very lively and has good atmosphere and I was told the beer garden is 'fun'. It manages to achieve the balance of a good pub with a good place to eat out and it definitely deserves its Bib Gourmand. Personally I am delighted I have found a place which ticks all my requirments for a spare of the moment weekend lunch. I just hope it maintains its standards or the "Kid Critic" will be down on them with more wrath than the likes of Jay Rayner or AA Gill could ever muster.

Is the whole Wareing/Ramsey not all a bit second generation Ramsey/MPW?? The protege breaks away from the mentor in a blaze of angry swear words, with the motivation to show he is just as good or even better. In ten years time Marcus Wareing will either be holding the most Michelin stars in the world or starring in Hells Kitchen 2018.

The best service I have ever experienced was at Le Bristol, quite perfect. I have no idea what is the most I have spent. I tend to remember more those meals were I actually spent little and got quite a lot ( experientially not quantity).

Funnily enough chaps I was thinking the same thing as I enjoyed the 'Amazing Grace' meal deal today, just got back!!!!. An absolute steal and some of the best food I have had in Manchester city centre for a very long time. Starters: I had 'Home cured bresoala with marinated provencale veg'. Good quality bresoala, great veg, nice parmesan and dressed beautifully'. My better half had 'Ravioli of goats cheese and basil, peppers and rosemary cream', tried a bit of course, a magic bit of pasta and perfect sauce. Mains: I had 'Roast guinea fowl, baby veg and foie gras veloute'. Sublime dish, the discs of guinea were amazing, veg seasonal and perfectly cooked, veloute a little short of full foie taste, but well rounded all the same. 'Mushroom risotto, mushroom broth and Parmesan', incredible risotto, full stop. Dessert: I had, 'Chocolate duo, dark choc mousse, white choc ice cream', was very rich, but a small enough portion not to be too much 'Strawberry parfait, with strawberry sorbet'. This was an astounding dessert, came with a basil sauce, light refreshing and a taste of summer. We got coffee and petit fours ( choc and caramel truffles and passion fruit and white choc panna cotta) which were a dessert in themselves. The bread was also top notch, really and I mean really fresh and warm. I had the matching wines which were good but not perfectly matched in my opinion ( I could be wrong). The guinea fowl came with a 'Sangoma Syrah 2005, Cape Peninsula, South Africa' which was a bit overpowering. With the bresoala a 'Zaccagnini Verdicchio dei Castelli di jesi 2006' which didn't stand up to the beef enough. The glass of ' Jurancon Moelleux 2005' was good with the choc pud, unfortunately I had drank it waiting for my dessert so they had to give me another (free of charge) to compensate Next time I would definitely do the 'tapas' as they looked pretty special. So who is organising this time?? Thom????

Bapi it was more about logistics why we choose The Stagg, we were attending a weekend festival around Eardisland (Leominster) so it fitted the bill time and travel wise. Saying that totally forgot about The Bell Inn, as it is on my list of places to visit!!!! Maybe next time

Good to see The Modern still doing well and getting praise in the nationl press. Well done!!!

Just back from a few days in Edinburgh and had the tasting menu at The Kitchin. It actually turned out to be one of the best meals I have had in a long time. Absolutely spot on in produce and cooking skill. Service flawless and wine matching unbelievable. One of the dishes really blew me away, it was 'Sea Urchin from the East Neuk of Fife served as a soup with razor fish and clams', the soup being served in the shell of the urchin with the razor clam shell as the spoon: truly sublime. I would say book The Kitchin now Che as during the festival things will be pretty booked up. I will write a full review soon.

Went to The White Bull for lunch yesterday, and was quite impressed. Nothing amazing just the cliched good food actually cooked well. Service was excellent and the pub itself is very welcoming. I agree with portion size, the table next to ours main courses came out and after seeing the amount on the plate I requested a smaller portion, which they were happy to do. Quite cheap for the quality and quantity, £14 for two courses. I think it will be a regular for me now. Interestingly for a Sunday lunchtime there was only three tables dining. Infact when we were at the Stagg on a Friday evening it was only a quarter full. Are restaurants being effected at the moment??

It was an excellent gig Thom. Yeah hope to nip into Abode soon, and give it a whirl. Are we due a little trip out soon?? I am sure Adam would enjoy making us all jealous with his El Bulli trip

Revisited the Stagg Inn with the family a few weeks back. I find this place a bit strange, and it really challenges me on how it has a star. The food is good(ish) but pretty straight forward, more classic safe bistro, than amazing bistro. Mains options included duck, steak, venison and an interesting plaice and snails dish. All dishes had the meat and sauce on a plate, and it came with a side bowl of veg, carrot, red cabbage, cauliflower, and a few broad beans. It was very Sunday lunchesque for balmy summer evening, and serving the same veg with every dish to me is a bit boring and lazy. The quality of the meat was excellent, and cooked well, although the plaice was slightly overcooked. The chips were judged worthy of a star on their own by the 'kid critic'. The service is ok, the kind you would get in any dining pub, but nothing else to set it apart. Not to go into the black hole of Michelin criteria, but compared to somewhere like The Star at Harome, The Stagg's food is very standard. Saying that I still really love visiting the place, and staying in the vicarage is a delight.