ajnicholls
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Posts posted by ajnicholls
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Really pleased for Marc. Fraiche was the most exciting meal in the North of England that I've ever had and I can't wait to go back.
La Becasse is richly deserved and it's a great achievement for Will Holland there and good to see Ludlow back to having 2 starred restaurants (even if Bapi hates one of them!)
On the Jem and I front, I've always loved the place and think the food's great. However, my last meal cost me the best part of £100, which isn't really within the reasonable price bracket in my opinion. The prices there rival the Lime Tree round the corner.
And yet to hear anything good about the new Juniper from people who paid for their meal. Therefore, no surprise at all.
Adam
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When we went to Marcus Wareing just before christmas and it was the opposite, they brought over the massive Petit fours chandelier we said "That whole thing looks like a challenge to me, can we eat the lot?" they said "take your best shot", I stopped after about ten, they seemed to think we were lightweights for giving up so early
Maybe they read my post and changed their ways
I tried them all, went back for seconds of the salted caramels and then they gave us more to take home. Which partially explains why it was my meal of the year
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My feelings;
2* for Hibiscus
1* for La Becasse
1* for The Walnut Tree
And if there is justice in the world, stars for both Anthony's and Fraiche. Marcus Wareing, was in my opinion, truly world class, but I can't see them giving him 3* yet. But, on the basis of my meal (and probably the only one I can ever afford to have there) he is capable of it. They just lack a maitre'd of the calibre of the food coming out of the kitchen.
I can't disagree enough with the idea of LCS losing a star. There's no way it's a 3* place in terms of the dining room or the service, but David's food is the most interesting and exciting being produced by a British chef at the current time. It's worlds ahead of most of the 1* places in the UK and is a very solid 2* restaurant. I'm there tomorrow night so will report back.
Adam
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Well, my dinner at Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley was nothing short of sublime. I'm not sure if it is 3* yet, but it is very, very close.
Amuse Bouche of confit of foie gras with blackcurrant and taramasalata with olive oil biscuits.
The foie gras was meltingly unctious and truly delicious.
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Pan fried foie gras, quince, espresso, salted caramel popcorn
This is the best foie gras dish I have ever had. A decent chunk of liver came with a sharp quince compote and a smear of heavily reduced espresso coffee. The bitter-sweet saucing, combined with a perfectly cooked foie that was melting in the centre was divine. The textural contrast of the popcorn gave the dish bite and seasoning.
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Scottish scallop, honey pork crisp, parsnip milk powder
A huge scallop, sliced into 4, was served with a crisp, near-translucent, caramelised piece of pork belly. This was served with parsnip milk powder, that as Giles Coren remarked, is a little like vegetal Coffee Mate. In a good way.
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Roasted and marinated quail, white onion fondue, butternut squash and baked potato
2 quail breasts, that were moist, tender and succulent, came with a sharp onion fondue, that achieved levels of texture and flavour that I never thought possible of an onion. The butternut squash came as a puree, griddled slice and small balls, which all had different textures. The baked potato was as a foam, which I think was an el Bulli concoction a few years back, and has been adopted by a few chefs recently. The foam actually had body and wasn't the usual insipid, airy mess that you get when this technique is done badly.
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Monkfish, parsnip, chantarelles and winter truffles
This was the only let-down dish of the evening. And that was only because the monkfish was superfluous to requirements in a dish that would have made an incredible vegetarian course. The combination of the mushroom and truffle was divine, but completely overpowered the fish. And the serving of truffle was generous to say the least.
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Saddle of venison, buttered marrow, olive oil crumbs and cooking juices
I feel the need to order venison every time I see it on the menu and this may be the best example of how to cook it perfectly. As close to raw in the centre as I've seen it cooked, thinly sliced, it was heavenly. The reduced cooking juices, with the merest hint of juniper pulled everything together.
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Cheese
Fantastic cheese board. Was unable to refuse. I have no idea what I had though. These came with baby figs cooked in Pedro Ximenez sherry.
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Pre-dessert of passion fruit jelly with lemon-vodka sorbet and a chocolate gateaux with raspberry
Jelly was a great palate cleanser. The gateaux was a dainty mille-feulle with gold leaf and raspberry coulis
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Orange creme, spiced brioche crisps, bitter chocolate sorbet
Or, the Jaffa Cake for grown-ups. This is the best dessert I've had in a UK restaurant. Bar none.
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Coffee and petit fours
The bon-bon trolley here is a joy to behold. Hand-made chocolate truffles, salted caramels, turkish delight. I was in heaven. And very full.
Service was attentive without ever being obtrusive and the staff were friendly and seemed to enjoy working there. The restaurant was full and had a lovely atmosphere. Initially, it seemed dark, but this allows for a sense of intimacy.
Some of the recent criticism seems to be that there are too many flavours going on on the plate. This didn't seem to be the case with the menu I had, and barring the monkfish dish, everything was very clean and precise. Everything was there for a reason, but nothing detracted from the main element of the dish.
Maybe things have improved, but this definitely lived up to the Harden's reputation as the best restaurant in London that I've experienced. There is some serious talent in his brigade and a pastry chef of genius.
Adam
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The Fat Duck cookbook is one of the most beautiful books I've ever own. My own obsession with cooking, fine dining and restaurants began with reading Heston's articles in the Guardian.
The book can't be compared to anything Heston's done before. It dwarfs almost anything else comparable, and although it doesn't have the number of dishes of el Bulli or Alinea, the presentation is sublime. The detail in how to execute the dishes is, should you feel the inclination, enough to make them attemptable. If you have a chemist and 42 friends to act as sous chefs.
I love the book and Amazon's price at £60, whilst dear, is exceptional value when you actually see the book. It's beautiful!
Adam
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It's already Sept 25, has anyone emailed yet?
There is no point in emailing yet. I think Duncan's advice is pretty good, though sometimes the date is a bit (but not much) earlier than the 15th. If I remember correctly it is the weekend around or just before the 15th during which they start accepting requests.
I emailed on 13th Oct and got a table. Confirmed in November. The season next year is 16 June - 20 December. Agree that there's no point in emailing early.
Adam
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Anything to drum up punters, perhaps?
Don't doubt that at all, but the quality of the main surpassed most of the meals I've had in Manchester over the last couple of years. I would go back for ALC on the basis of the lunch deal
Adam
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I went yesterday for lunch and was pleased to see the restaurant was 2/3 full; not bad for a Saturday afternoon in the wrong end of town.
Agree almost entirely with RDB's assesment of the food and wine. I had the bresola; well flavoured and a very good salad of provencal veg accompanying it. The matched wine, whilst having a good ammount of acidity, couldn't take the flavours of the dish. My partner's ravioli of goat's cheese was an excellent example. If only I didn't truly hate goat's cheese! This was accompanined with an aussie chardonnay, which worked very well.
We both had the guinea fowl with foie gras veloute and seasonal veg. Beautifully cooked and presented. The veloute had a subtle foie flavour, but not quite enough for me. Having said that, this is a cheap lunch deal. The summer veg of peas, broad beans, asparagus and baby carrot worked brilliantly. This was matched with an NZ pinot noir, that was good if not amazing.
Went for the cheese course which was served at a good temperature, allowing the flavours of the cheese to shine. A wonderful Crofton was the highlight. This came with a Portugese moscatel, which was the right side of sweet without being cloying.
Espresso came with salted caramels and a lemon sorbet with raspberry.
All the above, with a bottle of water, came to £37.
Insanely good value
Adam
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Mine was 1200 EUR at el Bulli for 4 of us. Magnificent, inspiring, mental and fun, along with the two worst dishes I have ever eaten in a restaurant.
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Insanely good value. Beats my staff canteen. Don't know if they approve of doctors drinking at lunchtime though............
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Not to mention the return of Robert Owen Brown. Now that place I'm really looking forward to.
Just been chatting to Robert. Food as of Monday. Pub's looking good. Basic but they're doing it up gradually.
FAO Bapi, RDB and Thom; we'll add it to the next pub crawl around M'cr :-)
Adam
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I'm just recovering from my trip to elBulli on Wednesday. Full write-up to follow, but it was a truly amazing experience. Some phenomenal dishes; the suckling pig tail, sea anenome with rabbit brains, spherical olives and veal tendon were amongst the best things I've ever eaten. Some truly awful dishes; one of peach stone with sherry and raspberry was hideous beyond belief and the pinenut and chocolate bon bons were vile. I'm still yet to take it all in. But incredible fun, amazing service and the most incredible location for a restaurant in the world. Terrifying drive though!
If you get the chance, go. There is nowhere quite like this place
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Heston did it too with a Kalimata olive puree on a pea and mint ice-cream cone at the Manchester festival. Seems to have made it onto the al a carte menu at the Fat Duck.
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Realised I never wrote up my meal at Fraiche the other month. Suffice to say, it was superb and I second every other person on here who says to go. And I'll be back very soon. Cheers Marc. The pork belly dish and the basil sorbet I had that night still live long in the memory!
Adam
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http://khymos.org/recipe-collection.php
This site has a recipe collection for many different hydrocolloids, which is a fantastic resource.
Adam
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How much was the kit from infusions4chefs? They have it in Harvey Nichols for £80.
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October 13th last year. My table was confirmed in November
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All looks incredible. Can't wait till my trip in June either!
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It was indeed a very fun afternoon. As Robin says, the Modern was just a small part of a very enjoyable, alcohol fuelled, afternoon. I had the tartare as mentioned - I enjoyed this more than the rest, but as said, the lack of raw egg did mean it lacked the texture I was expecting. Better was the main of monkfish and oxtail with a red wine reduction. Fine piece of monkfish tail, served on the bone. Highly enjoyable. Less good was the cheeseboard, which whilst fine, was in no way exciting. Still, you can't go far wrong with rounding off a meal with Mrs Kirkham's lancashire cheese. A decent Spanish syrah accompanied the meal from the very good value bin ends list that the Modern seems to do so well. Service was a little naive, but our waitress was trying hard.
The beer was indeed a fine addition to the afternoon, so a trip to Sinclairs (just about the cheapest pub in my fair city), Trof for the Sierra Nevada pale ale and the Marble Arch, my esteemed local, rounded off my trip.
As mentioned, I did have to leave early as had the joys of Fraiche to go to that evening. Suffice to say that eating a 4 course lunch and a 12-or-so course tasting menu in a day leaves you somewhat on the full side. Will write up the Fraiche review if I can ever remember the full list of what I ate. Suffice to say that it was superb and the pork belly dish will live long in my memory - even with all the alcohol drunk.
So thanks to Bapi, Thom and Robin for fine company on a Friday afternoon and sorry to not have been able to complete the pub crawl with you chaps. Although if I ever have to drink smoked beer again, I may vomit. How on earth you could drink a whole bottle of the stuff is beyond me!
Adam
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any recent longridge restaurant experiences? i went last may and was really impressed. my only previous visit - a sunday lunch a few years ago - was a dog. no disrespect to eric and lionel...
My last two visits to Longridge have both been extremely good. Reasonably busy dining room, excellent service and food that hits all the right notes for me. I've always been a fan of what Paul Heathcote can actually do when he is on form. The dishes were as good as things in 'Rhubarb and Black Pudding' which is as good a guide to Lancastrian cooking as I've ever found. Still surprises me that Longridge lost it's star.
Adam
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Have to agree; chorizo and iberico ham was amongst the best I've ever tried. Highly reccommend.
Adam
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When I went to Sat Bains in December, he was really excited about competing against Glyn; they're good mates who go back a long way. The whole concept of this year's series seems miles better than previous. Acknowleging the progression of modern British cookery is a great step. Having Heston to compere the event is showing how serious both the BBC and Heston see how our culinary landscape is changing. And good for both of them!
Fine Dining in Manchester
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
Lounge 10 hasn't been great for a while now.
I'd go to Harvey Nichols if I had to choose. I think the food there beats ABode and the service is better.