olicollett

Well it's made it to the good food guide! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/8225949.stm Thing is though, nearly all the food is just pre-prepared, vacuum sealed and reheated is it not? Does it send out the wrong message to some of the gastropubs out there (who i expect are doing a similar thing a lot of the time)?

Still, when you compare prices at the fat duck compared to some of the places in Paris, it doesn't seem quite so bad! I expect they could happily charge £150+/head for the tasting menu and still be full every time, but I guess they don't want to alienate everyone.

Well after an interesting weekend in Belfast I can honestly say I was impressed with the food on offer. On friday night we ate at Deane's bistro which was conveniently just down the road from our hotel. The restaurant describes the food as "Simple, stylish, elegant dishes made predominantly with locally sourced ingredients" which I think is fair, the menu comprises of the kind of comfort food that usually pleases everyone. To start, I went with the crab, feta and spring onion tart. This was nice and light with a lovely texture. My friends went for the slow braised ham hock which seemed to go down well. For mains, I went for the ribeye whilst my friends both went for the lamb rump with broth. The ribeye was nice, although strangely the cooking was uneven which I struggled to understand, because it looked fine from the outside. The accompanying frites and pea & leek fondue also went down well. My friends on the other hand were not quite so impressed with their lamb - it was overdone and apparently lacked much flavour. We also went for some triple cooked chips after I told my friends they were worth trying, however they were rather disappointing, lacking the crispness on the outside that you would expect on such chips. It seemed like they just hadn't been cooked long enough in their final stage which was odd. To finish, the chocolate tart dessert was lovely, but to be honest I do love chocolate and they would have struggled to serve me one I wasn't pleased with! Whilst the meal was nice, it was both fairly pricey for the style of food (£8 for starters, £15+ for mains) and having to pay extra for things like bread (£4.95) did make me question the value for money factor, especially considering for not much more you could instead eat at his main restaurant which we visited on the saturday. Deane's main restaurant was the only restaurant in the city to hold a michelin star. The restaurant itself is a fairly typical city style restaurant with a minimalist design, however the staff made it feel very warm and welcoming without the stiffness sometimes associated with such places. We opted for the 5 course tasting menu and were very pleased to hear that they could easily accommodate my non-meat eating friend who wanted to change the lamb main course. Bread arrived with a selection of tomato and red pepper, black pudding and more traditional white/brown options. The tomato & red pepper and black pudding breads were excellent, especially with the delicious butter provided. The first dish to arrive was a celeriac veloute with what I think was a kind of pesto drizzled through. The veloute was seasoned perfectly and had a beautiful, light flavour. It was so good in fact that I doubt they even bothered cleaning up my plate after it was mopped clean by some of the bread Next up, grilled scallops with picked carrot. The scallops were beautifully cooked and went well with the other ingredients on the plate (some of which I've managed to forget!). Excellent. The main course was "Tapenade poached Lough Erne lamb & confit lamb belly, Pissaladière & artichoke barigoule". This dish was quite honestly stunning, the lamb full of flavour and despite a large number of flavours being present, not one really overpowered. The only thing that I would have changed is the presence of the anchovy, which I didn't really feel was needed. It's also worth noting the risotto that my vegetarian friend had which was of morels and various other ingredients. It was very good indeed and he felt it was his dish of the night. Next, the pre-dessert - a small jar of vanilla custard, poached rhubarb and ginger topped with coconut ice cream. As expected, this was very good, really refreshing and perfect as a pre-dessert. Lastly, "Chocolate & peanut butter feuilletine, Raspberry & rose gel" to finish. This dish was beautifully presented and also delicious. We also went with matched wines throughout which I thought were good value at £35/head. Each wine matched very nicely and not one was a dissapointment. Deanes really was a triumph for me - if you're ever in Belfast, don't miss it!

Cheers Gary - think I'll have to try the lunch next time i'm in leeds

I couldn't find the green beans with chilli and pork

so yeah, the lamb hot pot is.. hot! It did help clear out my cold though! I wasn't exactly sure which dish it was but the waitress seemed to know what i meant. It was nice, but i think it was a little bit too much heat for me. Had some lovely dim sum too. My only "complaint" was that the portions were so big that so much food seemed to go to waste. I can see it would be best going there with a really big group of folk to sample more dishes. I'll certainly be making another visit anyway as it looks like i'll be in leeds more often

haha I think my waistline is going to regret this week, found out my local gym is closed for 2 weeks and i've got a weekend of drinking and eating in belfast coming up!

OK, quick review - Excellent. I went with the set lunch menu which was great value at £23 but I was both dissapointed and surprised by how quiet the restaurant was (only 4 other people eating from 12.30-1.30). The pigs cheek with crispy pigs ears was superb to start with, a beautiful contrast of textures to go with the rich flavour from the cheek. I went with the seared tuna with rhubarb for main - this was nice, although I think it missed that contrast of textures from the first course, and i wasn't convinced the foam was really necessary, but the presentation was fantastic. Finished off with the chocolate rice pudding with peanut ice cream - this was spot on. Quite a contrast to the main course but hit the spot for me! Service was very formal, which at times felt a bit odd because it was so quiet - it was one of those situations where it all goes really quiet when the waiter arrives at the table and you could hear a pin drop. Having said that, it was also faultless and I got the impression the restaurant would not seem any more flustered if packed to the rafters. It seems a crime that this restaurant has not been deemed worthy of a michelin star. Whilst accolades are not everything, I'm sure it would do the restaurant no harm business wise. Off to red chilli later now for yet another meal out, I think I'm turning into David Goodfellow

nice, i had the 2003 chardonnay at christmas, was very good!

Had an excellent late lunch here on saturday. Ended up going for the a la carte menu because I'd had most of the dishes on the set menu on a previous visit. I did however have a cold which hampered my experience a little so my judgement on food was a little fuzzy. I started with the Cornish crab salad with pickled mooli, avocado and Bloody Mary sorbet. This was all very nice, light and perfect as a starter, although it did seem like it needed something extra to add a bit of bite. Next up Braised octopus with ox tongue and black olive. This was very interesting, quite different but the flavours seemed to work. The meatiness of the ox tongue complemented the octopus nicely and it had a wonderful texture. The next course, red mullet with rabbit bolognese and cuttlefish was superb, probably my second favourite dish. My final savoury dish was Confit rare breed Sussex pork belly, pig's head, chinese sauce. This was the standout for me, the slice of braised pigs head was very tender and packed a massive amount of flavour and the pork belly was perfect. To finish, Pliable chocolate ganache with dehydrated lime curd and walnut ice cream. The ganache had a strange texture, pliable is quite appropriate really, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It all tasted good though which is what matters! Anthonys on tuesday should be an interesting comparison..

Well I just made a request for lunch on tues, might make it a regular thing. Hopefully they'll have a table for me..

Doesn't he just! I think he keeps this place alive!

I liked the licorice and salmon, as did everyone i ate with when we went a year ago..

Odd, was having a discussion on MSG the other day on another forum the other day - but I wouldn't worry, there's no evidence it does any harm other than anecdotes and internet scare stories! PhilD - I'm not sure about a wet brine for steak, but worth a try I guess. I doubt it would be that different to the dry salting method. I've done roast chicken before following Blumenthal's brining method which was fantastic.

Try Jack O'Sheas if you haven't already, based in Selfridges. I'm not sure they still have their store in Knightsbridge as well. Their prices are surprisingly reasonable and they do cuts like flatiron which make awesome steaks at a very affordable price. Also - my tip for steak, salt. Have a look at the guide here I found it produced amazing results.

I'm planning to try this place out next time i'm down - it was indeed recommended to me by the lads at Jack O'Shea!

So am I. If I get a whiff of info or a booking number, it will be posted on here ← Excellent I'll keep my eyes open!

I for one am looking forward to the opening

Excellent, thanks. Just had a look at Deanes' website.. looked suspiciously similar to Ramsay's!

Have any egulleteers been to anywhere nice in Belfast lately? I'm looking for somewhere towards the end of August but I can't find a lot of recommendations

I've always found booking Ramsay restaurants to be a pain, I get the impression they like to save a lot of tables for certain clientèle. I can't understand how it makes a lot of business sense, it's one thing holding back 1-2 but from the sounds of these experiences it's a lot more than that!

Can you pick me up on the way?

Unbelievable. Got a message today from a friend of mine asking about the fat duck. I said "what a coincidence, was trying to get a table this morning and had no luck". He got a bloomin table for dinner on the evening i wanted! I blame it on him for holding up the phone lines!!!

I had to wait ages for my booking but not as long as that. It was however on the first day of opening after the food scare Still Alice in Wonderland is better than musak Good luck. ← Well, ended up on the waiting list after spending 2 1/2hrs trying (seriously). Fingers crossed something will come up

Been trying to book the fat duck all morning for my birthday but after over an hour still not managed to get through! I don't remember it being this bad last year when i tried, has anyone else had a similar problem?