ajnicholls

Roses is pretty bloody awful in terms of where you can go in Spain; packed full of British tourists! There are some decent places to stay, and if you move away from the coast, there are some decent independent hotels.

I went last night and did the tasting menu. I won't re-hash too much of the above. The food is superb and well above the quality of nearly everywhere in the locality. Mary-Ellen is a major talent and the place feels homely and welcoming. A good (if not quite as dry as I like) martini set the night off well. Home made crisps accompanying. The wine list is very fairly priced. We had a very good viognier that was £19. As it was a belated birthday present, we decided that it would only be right to do the tasting. Braised Cheshire beef and Ale was rich and warming; ideal given the weather. The mackerel was a change from the previous night. This was home-smoked and came with fennel and cranberry. The smoking was subtle and delicate. Really did love it. The only criticism was the cranberry which I still feel have no taste whatsoever and are pointless. Next was the Bury Black Pudding Scotch Egg. I'm of the firm belief that black pudding is one of the great foodstuffs of the world. It's combination with egg is divine. These were 2 very softly boiled quails eggs, rolled in black pudding that was then breadcrumbed. Served with mushroom relish and ketchup on a fried mushroom and grilled tomato. The eggs were perfect - soft yolks and firm white and I would have eaten about 20 of them. Celeriac soup was well made, if not the most exciting thing in the world. Poached fillet of sea bass was served with truffled mash and chive broth. This was an exercise in fish cooking par excellence. The mash had just the right amount of truffle oil to scent but not overpower. The roast mallard was the pan-fried breast served with the leg that had been slowly cooked and served chou farci style. The meat was pink and rich. Balanced with a pumpkin puree. Cheese was a set selection - berkswell, Kidderton Ash, Montgomery cheddar, a smoked hard cheese, a blue goats and Cropwell Bishop stilton. Not the most exciting cheeseboard, but all served at the right temperature and decent size pieces. Served with quince jelly, a too-sweet tomato chutney and a spiced chutney. Lemon posset was served with olive oil biscuits and woke the palate up again. Simple but very good indeed. Last was the hot chocolate pudding with rosemary and hazlenut. These were top-notch fondants. I couldn't get the rosemary until later as the initial heat killed it slightly. As it cooled, it was detectable and worked. I too went with the PX which worked beautifully. I really love this place. It feels right in almost every way. It is very early to be talking about stars, but the kitchen produces food of a quality that equals a lot of the 1* places in the UK. We had a long chat after dinner with Katie who runs a very friendly front of house team. As it's 10 minutes tram-ride from my flat, I can see me spending a disproportionate amount of time in this place. Manchester's been crying out for somewhere this good for a very, very long time. Adam

I'm off to the Aumbry on Friday. Everything I've heard says they could do it. Fully agree about abode. Until they sort the front of house, they're miles off

Bib listings: http://servicesv2.webmichelin.com/frontnews/servlet/GetElement?elementCode=56903

Well done to the Ledbury and to The Walnut Tree. The rest of the list didn't exactly surprise. Michelin have been gearing up to give Ducasse 3* since he opened.

If you look at the Anthony's topic on here, you'll see that most people agree with you that the overlooking of Anthony's for a star has been a continuing joke. I've eaten in many worse 1* restaurants in the UK.

News from the elBulli website: Reservations information - 2010 You can send your request to bulli@elbulli.com from the beginning of January. All the requests that we receive until the middle of January will be considered to be received at the same time. We will start reviewing reservations at that moment. We are obligated to forewarn you that, due our limited room capacity for one season, it will be impossible to fulfill most of the requests even those received at the beginning of January. We will give you an answer as soon as possible but the revision of reservation requests is a very complicated and slow moving process elbullireservations: bulli@elbulli.com Adam

The Guardian newspaper published this list of the 30 most influential, innovative and, for want of a better word, best, food books of the last 10 years. Although there is a hefty UK bias, what do people think and what did they miss out on? http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/dec/23/best-food-books-decade I was very pleased to see some of my true favourites there: Essence is a wonderful book the River Cottage Meat Book has been my go-to for all carniverous recipes, Thai Food is the bible of Thai cooking and The Big Fat Duck Cookbook is the most insane but beautiful of all my cookbook purchases. Books that I think they overlooked? The French Laundry, Alinea, Rick Stein's Seafood..... Adam

God, it's about time that there was somewhere worth eating in the vast culinary wasteland where I grew up

Loved the jumper

The last meal I had there was good. Did the tasting menu and my impression is that they were trying a little too hard to be progressive and clever in places, but everything was well cooked and the presentation was top notch. Not been in a few months though.

I had a great night at the Player a few weeks back. Excellent staff, well made drinks and surprisingly cheap prices for London

I'd be very surprised if Abode got a star. Although the food is good, they are badly let down by the front of house. Every time I've been, there's been an error (wrong starter, wrong wine twice, not bringing water) that just feels badly wrong at a restaurant aiming at these heights. It's a shame for Ian - I really do enjoy what he does and he's in a different league from most of the chefs in my fair city.

I went back in September for dinner. The meal was good; very good in places with the best pommes Anna I've ever tasted. Very solid 1* cooking. I'll try to find the details to write it up properly.

John Campbell edits the series of books that are pretty much bibles in many of the UK catering colleges. They are full of restaurant level prep and technique. Practical Cookery and Advanced Practical Cookery are all available from Amazon. Formulas for Flavour is a great book and shows how restaurant dishes can be split down into component parts. All well worth a look. Adam

Really does depend on how drunk you are. I always found the chip naan the more preferable from them. They are still going strong, with a branch next to my halls near the MRI, a massive one on Oxford Road and a few other scattered about the city. Usually at their busiest at 2am Adam

You can't go wrong with a properly made, classic champagne cocktail

So, another day, another foodie pilgrimage. Manchester to the Sportsman - 250-odd miles. A simple trip from Victoria to Faversham, as advised by Gary. Plenty of cabs at the train station and a short drive to the pub. Somewhat bracing day with the sea winds making me go inside as soon as we got there. The first impressions were of an incredibly warm and friendly place. A pint of the local Shepherd Neame ale and off we went. Much of the tasting menu has been discussed here, so I'll skate over those bits: Pork scratchings, pickled herring open sandwich with crab jelly I may never be able to eat a pork scratching again after these. A somewhat heavy night of drinking had taken place the previous night and these may be the perfect remedy. The herring was lovely too. Oysters with chorizo Served by Stephen and explained how this dish in many ways encompasses the essence of the pub. Local produce with home-made elements. The smokiness of the chorizo sets off the salty oyster perfectly. At £1.50 each, if I lived anywhere near (and sadly I don't) then I'd eat them by the bucket-load. Poached oyster with Jersey cream and apple compote The same local native oysters came this time warm with a rich Jersey cream sauce, and somewhat surprisingly, the apple compote was extremely cold. The temperature contrasts really worked and, although I prefer my oysters raw, they were very pleasant. Bread - Sourdough, onion and rosemary focaccia, rye with home-made butter Seriously, seriously good bread with the butter that has been eulogised at great length before Salmagundi Apparently a traditional name for a seasonal salad. This was great - autumn/winter on a plate. The range of textures made this dish. Parsnip crisps, onion puree, raw and cooked cauliflower, roast beetroot, turnip. And some other things that escape me right now. Slip sole with seaweed butter The small, native relative to the Dover sole was served on the bone, whole, cooked in the seaweed infused butter that they also make themselves. This was a serious piece of cooking. The fish was perfect. Firm and meaty in texture and the delicate seaweed didn't overpower it in any way. This was probably the best fish I've ever had in a restaurant. Steamed sea bass with smoked herring sauce, green beans My only fault with this meal, and it is a small one, is that no sauce should ever be grey. A beautiful fish that Stephen said had been line caught the previous evening and was "bloody massive". This was firm and sweet, in only the way that good sea bass is. The sauce, whilst looking absolutely hideous, was actually lovely, with a subtle smokiness. Sportsman ham I have a ham obsession. I have my own pata negra iberico ham at home. And this is as good as anything I've ever had. Lamb belly As discussed before. My god, it's good. Rack and shoulder of lamb This was truly incredible. The rack of lamb was pink and tender. You could cut it like butter. I can only assume it was sous-vide to get the texture they did. The shoulder had been slowly cooked and presented with a piece of the crisped skin. Served with spinach and the richest lamb jus I've ever tasted. Pear ice-lolly, Jamaican ginger cake milk This was fun. The pear lolly was in a large espresso cup filled with a sauce made with local milk and ginger cake. I felt about 6 eating this. Apple sorbet, burned cream, shortbread The apple sorbet , with a topping of sharp yoghurt was superb. The addition of space-dust was most amusing to my friend. The burned cream (creme brulee) was a classic and can't be faulted. The small square of shortbread was a nice addition Chocolate tartlet, tangerine ice-cream, jasmine tea junket with rosehip syrup, cream cheese ice cream 4 desserts in miniature. The chocolate tartlet was very, very intense. I don't think I could eat a larger portion of this. The pastry was divine and melted in the mouth. A just-churned tangerine ice cream was sweet and sharp. A fine example. The junket was a bit of a disappointment, neither tasting of rosehip or jasmine. The cream cheese ice cream was rich, served with meringue and cake crumbs. My overall impression of this place is one of superlative cooking and real respect for the ingredients used. I loved everything about the meal and the warmth of the staff was great. The cooking was faultless and well worth the trip. Adam

It was Ducasse

Couldn't agree more

The website says they don't take reservations until the season is over. As it's running until December this year, it won't be till after then. Adam

Can I add my request for a password too Marc Adam

The new branch is less convenient if you're coming in from the airport. It's by the hospital in the university end of town. There's loads of trains and it's about a 30 minute journey.

I loved my dinner at Marcus Wareing and I find Aitkens' food interesting yet sometimes flawed combinations. I much preferred Hibiscus in Ludlow. The new dining room in London just doesn't have the homely feel of the old place.