StephenT

Oooh a triple negative that makes sense on the first reading... well done

That's what people kept saying to me when I went through a phase of doing the something similar. It drove me mad. So I changed what I said to "I don't eat mammals" instead.

I think it's a great idea, but it does mean that my wife will be even less likely to want to go to restaurants with me.

What I do generally works well, but then again I don't have any Riedel glasses to worry about! Firstly I wash them in quite hot water and them rinse them under hot running water while holding them by the base. Then I leave them to dry themselves, inverted on a dishtowel. The hotter the water is, the more quickly it'll dry and therefore there's less chance of streaks forming. I suspect that having the water too hot might not be good for very delicate glass though. I don't like washing glasses with narrow mouths - I recently broke a tasting glass trying to clean it. My hand was in it at the time and I cut myself, but I was more concerned about the glass than about my finger. Luckily not a particularly expensive glass. Perhaps my water was too hot, as I don't think I actually bumped the glass on anything.

I'm waiting for someone to invent a screwtop that makes a cork-like "pop" sound when opened instead of a boring "click"

Weight-loss diets often tell you not to skip breakfast for just that reason. Sounds a bit paradoxical but it's true.

Seems to happen often in rank and file restaurants. I expect it now, so am pleasantly surprised when it doesn't. I just put a big fat line through the tip section.

I've made Braised Iranian Style Pigeon with Rhubarb without rhubarb and using chicken thighs instead of pigeon. I really enjoyed it and have done it several times now.

I second the Mela recommendation. I've been there quite often, once in a group of about 12. As Simon said, the service can be a bit chaotic but the food is great. Sometimes I've ordered dishes that I imagined one way from reading the description on the menu and when they arrived they've been quite different, but they've always been good.

I'm keen to try this too. Are we worried about the age of the cheese? Firstly, how mature it is when it's bought, and also that it might change a bit over the week?

I'm quite a fan of New Diamond. It had a few minutes of fame a few years ago when a newspaper reported it as the place where the chefs of various fancy restaurants went to eat when they'd finished working at their own restaurants for the night. Then a year or so later there were posters all over the street telling people to boycott it because they treated their staff badly. As it turned out, we were on the way there when we saw the posters so we went anyway and were relieved not to find an angry mob outside. Service and food that night were particularly good if I remember. They do have some interesting things on their menu. Someone I was with at lunch once ordered "salted and baked pigeon" (at least I think that was it). It arrived chopped up in a bowl. Halfway through eating it he found the head, which was a bit unexpected. When the waiter came to collect our plates he exclaimed "Hahahaha you didn't eat the head. Not many people do." These days I mostly go there for lunch and haven't read the menu for a while. I usually order "soup noodles with mixed seafood" which I don't think is on the menu, but for £6.80 you get a big bowl of ho fun in a tasty broth topped with a pile of prawns, squid and sliced scallops. Tasty.

has anybody really verified this? as far as i know, the coreoli effect is only visible in large scale phenomenons like climate (wind systems, sea current systems etc.). oops, somewhat off topic... More off-topicness

I'm not particularly fond of stilton and port either and am glad to find I'm not the only one Faced with a varied selection of cheeses I much prefer a white wine than a red. I enjoy the acidity-against-creaminess battle that happens in my mouth when I drink white wine with cheese. I tried white port once too, which I quite enjoyed - it was sweet but not too sweet and was very aromatic. Tried it as an aperitif but found it far better after dinner with cheese. I can't remember the exact cheeses but I have a feeling I particularly enjoyed it with a decent mature cheddar (although I'm known to enjoy decent mature cheddar with almost anything). I'm happy to go along with the idea that the whole red wine with cheese situation arose because people happened to be drinking red wine with their main course. You know how people are with tradition - it might just have started that way and then other people carried on doing it without questioning because they thought that that was the way it was supposed to be done. No evidence to support it though I might try some of Wilfrid's suggestions to convince myself otherwise. Burgundy does sound like a good option.

Haven't heard of the phrase "rain stops play"?

Went to Prospect Grill for lunch today. Had the burger and my experience was similar to circeplum's. The burger seemed a fair size (don't know what it was like before though) and was tasty if not brilliant, but the onions that adorned it were limp, charmless and much too sweet to go well with the burger. The fries were average. Shall have something else if I go there again. Non-burger-related note on Joe Allen. Went there recently with a large number of people from work. Ordered steak rare. Got it what I'd call medium. Complained. Got another one that must have been cooked for at most a quarter of a millisecond on each side. Chef was probably trying to make a point. Ate it though. Had been warned not to order steak there by someone who'd been there a number of times but foolishly ignored the advice. Shall have something else if I go there again.

Hmm... Uncle Monte should make an appearance and teach everyone how to grow firm, young carrots.

BBC food comedy with Richard E Grant and Arabella Weir. The web site's brilliant. Pity I'm going to be on holiday and shan't be able to watch the show next week, but I have a feeling that after enjoying the web site so much, the show's unlikely to live up to expectations. Posh Nosh

Gavin, there were a number of restaurants mentioned on the "most important restaurant to open in London" thread and most of them had reasons that they might be so considered. Could be worthwhile going through that thread and seeing if there are any there that'd fit in with your ultimate purpose. Some will be extinct and/or rather expensive iirc.

I enjoy these, but not having a vast variety of bourbons at my disposal I've only tried Maker's Mark and Wild Turkey. I enjoy the muddling almost as much as the drinking. If I'm making drinks for people at my place I often make and serve all of their drinks and then sit muddling my Old Fashioned while they're already drinking. It usually takes me a while as I tend to drop a normal sugar cube into the glass and soak it in bitters. I like lots of bitters. It's never crossed my mind to add soda. The glass I use is... an old fashioned glass!

Whats the name of this lovely-sounding little delicacy? Alcohetto

Peter you're really very bad at spelling names. I suggest some sort of remedial spelling class.

I don't often eat burgers, but had one that I really enjoyed in the bar area at Christopher's (Covent Garden). Ordered it medium rare and it came sufficiently pink and juicy. It arrived with cheese and bacon (I think) and some very good "shoestring" fries. It singlehandedly made me decide that I should try burgers more often. When I tried to repeat the experience though, the burgers were overcooked and arrived with boring, tasteless fries. I blame the waitress for the burgers being overcooked though, she probably took our order incorrectly. She also thought that none of the five of us wanted cheese when just one of us asked for no cheese and then brought us the wrong wine as well.

There's a newish (opened in the last year or so) Ethiopian restaurant on Uxbridge Road in Shepherd's Bush. I haven't been there though, so don't know if it's any good. Can't even remember its name, sorry.

In America it's just called a "hot". Same with Brazil nuts in Brazil and Mexican waves in Mexico.

Erm, are we confusing Gimlets with Gibsons?