olicollett

OK my first meal may be beer, more beer and then a decent curry. But isn't it meant to be a celebration meal not simply a taste of home, or food I missed most whilst I was away. The "art" of the competition is to combine the two concepts....I suspect it lies somewhere in-between this weeks contestants. That said I think I would be equally happy to eat both meals (minus Danny's dessert) but I think Claire's may impress my Mum more, which would make me happy. I believe the competition is for service personnel and their families... a happy significant other is also a key consideration (wow that is a PC sentence). ← Quite agree, Phil. There's a lot to be said for good, hearty food, but at the same time, if you go too far down that route you end up just presenting them with something their mum's could have prepared for them at home. I think the person who's got the closest so far in this series to achieving the right balance was Glynn Purnell in the first series. Looking forward to tonight's just to see who they pick and how Danny gets on!

I went 2 weeks ago. We went for the 10 course menu. 3 of the dishes were superb, a couple were a bit hit and miss and the rest were good. Highlights included a very nice crab bisque, beef cheek and a lovely rhubarb desert. We didn't go for the supplement of ham, egg and peas but it was available. I think in total it came to £145 each on a table of 6 everything inc. We went for bottles of wine for the table because it didn't make a lot of sense with 6 of us going for the tasting wines at ~£65 each. I've been to Sat Bains 3 times now, I always thoroughly enjoy the experience, it's a very warm and relaxed atmosphere that's quite different to a lot of the stuffier places out there. The cooking can be quite adventurous which probably explains why there's often some dishes that miss the mark, but considering how often the menu changes that doesn't surprise me. I think if every dish was 100% on the money every time it'd definitely be a 2*. I'll certainly be going back anyway, although I don't rate the food quite up there with some of the top places in the UK, the overall experience is always fun, and it helps only living a mile away!

I've been trying to work out how the Ramsay empire works. Clare's the head chef, then Mark Askew is the executive chef and then Ramsay is Chef Patron. What input does the chef patron have?

I thought it was great too - I don't know why rare lamb should be a problem to anyone to be honest, unless it's poor lamb or they are funny about it? Danny has really impressed me - he seems to have a real natural talent, but at the same time he strikes me as the kind of chef who's never going to be very consistent because he's so disorganised. I really don't know how he's going to manage for the final. Oh - that sous-vide shin, was it just me or did that water bath look very hot?? Didn't look to me like your average 65C for 2 day job but then they do only have a few hours i guess. Also, from what Clare was saying it sounded like they didn't use sous-vide at RHR, seems to me a bit odd for a restaurant like that to dismiss such techniques.

Bet that Sea Trout and crab was the dogs goolies, taste wise, needs refining of course. Had a Sea trout from virtually out of the water on to the plate, and that was divine, best fish I've ever eaten. ← I'd have preferred the sea trout - I'm just not a massive lobster fan though. Having said that, from what I've seen so far I'd rather Clare goes through to make a change to the way the judges have gone so far. Oh and if the judges on friday say anything along the lines of "oh, well I didn't expect that" when they find out who's menu is who's, I might have to track them down and slap them.

I quite agree. I do take issue with the fact that some countries are miss-represented as I stated earlier in the thread, but I think that people worry far too much about the method of something which is clearly nothing more than a list of people's opinions. A list like this is always going to be completely subjective. We can't fairly compare the fat duck to Ramsay at RHR, there are far too many factors which blow objectivity out of the window. We only have our memories of the experience and a few notes to compare against, and no matter what you do it's never going to be "fair". You might be able to improve the method of the whole excercise somewhat, but at the end of the day it's still just going to be a list. With regards to the uncomplicated vs. complicated, for starters there's St. John right up there, and I'd imagine there's some others in there that are fairly represented too. Personally I'll just take this list on board as I do michelin, AA, Zagat and all the others - I'll use it as a rough guide to chosing restaurants to visit, but it certainly won't be gospel. Some might seek to dine in every restaurant on the list over the course of the year, others might just try and do the top 10 - good luck to them I say, because getting into a handful of them a year is enough for me!

Hearno I think what Marcus stated on video has a little more cred than something from the Daily Mail, as a journalist you should know that ← In next week's daily mail: "Gordon Ramsay causes cancer"

In ALL of the restaurants, or just a certain proportion?

Actually - going back to St John, I really can't get my head around the top 4 restaurants in the UK being: 1. The Fat Duck 2. St John 3. Nobu 4. Hakkasan Admittedly I haven't eaten at 2-4, but having just glanced at the food being served at le Champignon Sauvage.. well I'd like to know what these places are doing.

Interesting thoughts Phil and I think it would certainly make interesting reading. Also noticed Gagnaire has slipped down to 9th - not surprised after my visit there. I'm also always surprised St John is ranked so highly - I know that it influenced many chef's when it started up by introducing new ideas for offal, but is it really the 13th best restaurant in the world? It seems to get mixed reviews on here, and although I keep meaning to go there, there always seems to be somewhere that comes up instead where I would rather go first.

am I the only one who thinks she looks like she needs to put on a few pounds? She's a bit stick like for my tate, and Marco's i expect given the way he was trying to stuff desert into her mouth last night.

It's a shame it's like that, I think I'll have to be doing a lot of research before i consider a trip out there. By the way - didn't realise you had a book about your travels, I'm going to order myself a copy, looks like a good read! Alex - It sounds like Chicago is quite a destination nowadays, I'd probably consider a trip out there but I think i'd need to figure out some kind of other excuse as well to justify the cost of the whole thing!

I'm far from an expert on Japanese cuisine - but is it really as bad as people make out? Michelin seemed to get into plenty of places there, or would they not be booking as someone off the street? Either way, as you've said, it's not meant to be a complete list and you don't have to represent them fully, or is it really the case that Japan doesn't have any non-exclusive type restaurants that would make it on the list?

Here's a question - how much of the fat ducks dishes would be cooked from start to finish in their kitchen on site? I would have thought they do most of the prep in their r & d kitchen(/lab!) in another building and just finish the dishes off during service? Anyway, my point is - add a bit of media spin and you can probably turn that into a story...

Are they actually going to have a reasonable number of restaurants outside of Europe, Australasia and USA this year? I don't believe there have been hardly any restaurants in Japan featuring in previous years, but I suspect that given the results of Michelin's visit to Tokyo that might change, although it does to me make me wonder about the credibility of the whole thing in the first place.

I've been disappointed with this week as well. I was also confused as to why Marcus Wareing was in the kitchen for the "North-East" region until I remembered that the previous years just had the "North"! Gary - I quite agree with regards to Peyton, he does frustrate me. I'm sure there are better options out there to judge the competition.

Have they intentionally chosen contrasting chef's this year? Or is it just coincidence with how it's panning out... I quite liked the look of Tom's dish, but that sandwich thing on the other hand I'm not so sure..

I was quite surprised by that - I thought the dessert looked spot on but if it doesn't deliver then that's what matters.. I did laugh though when the judges got the menu at the end. "ooh that's not how i thought it would be" etc. I'm sorry, what? You know the 2 people who are cooking, are you seriously telling me you couldn't join the dots??

Just caught up on iplayer - I'm glad Jennie Bond is out of the kitchen, it's a much better format and much more informative Look forward to the rest of the week

Well leaving him to the side for a moment.. tell use more about the food

Of all the people to get a free (presumably) meal courtesy of Heston! I feel sorry for Jay Rayner though, having to sit opposite him.. how unfortunate!

Shocking - I'm rubbish at proper write ups. But I will say this. I ate at about 7-8 2*'s across Europe last year and Midsummer house was right up there as one of the best meals I had. The tasting menu was excellent, the staff were great and the whole experience was fantastic - i'd certainly recommend it! Certainly worth 2 *'s as well - The zander, pidgeon and scallop dishes were certainly memorable

According to the cook book, they use the freeze-dryers extensively for out of season produce, which explains why they are able to produce the same menu consistently all year round.

Now then, I have been on this earth long enough to be a little cynical about 400 people, suddenly and mysteriously claiming to be ill Something does not smell right here. Its so easy now for an unscrupulous individual to jump on the bandwagon,for perhaps kudos or worse still,the promise of a free meal. Stuff like this would kill most business's. ← I think there's a fair few things that probably don't smell too good here David But yes - you do wonder. The thing is, if it were an airborne virus, surely some of the staff would have caught it as well? I don't know, I just hope they get to the bottom of it ASAP (pun not intended)

The BBC is now reporting that 400 customers have reported being sick! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/berkshire/7927715.stm That's 5 days worth of bookings - sounds very worrying