olicollett

Odd, I just got back from here, meant to post in this thread before I went. I actually did a day trip to Wolfsburg to visit Aqua - it's not exactly in the "reasonably priced" bracket but wow is it worth it (hopefully do my writeup this weekend) TI did go to a couple of places in Berlin: Monsieur Vuong - good, reasonably priced, great spring rolls. Not afraid of spice which is good for a german restaurant! The Bird - V disappointing burger. Insufficient bun meant that it ended up everywhere before it got to my mouth, and the fries were a real let down Oh and I did go to curry 36 - If you insist on eating currywurst you could do worse than go here, and it's certainly not going to break the bank!

Tuna in spring water?

Missed last night's and probably won't have time to watch this week - but it seems a bit daft people experimenting with a lot of spherification as if it's groundbreaking! Going back a bit, I'm rather uncomfortable with what has been said of Johnnie Mountain on here. As far as I'm aware he is genuinely suffering from depression, which isn't something to be mocked.

I think we all know how Marcus' dessert will go down tomorrow!

Comes with chips and salad!

60-90mins on a Monday? Blimey, I guess I must have gone before things really kicked off! I was told there would be a 90min wait at one of the Polpo places the other week at 7pm on a Tuesday, I wish people wouldn't eat out so much!!!

The lobster is excellent, for £20 a real bargain. The burger is good, but at £20 it's a lot of money When I went we only had to wait 5 mins, was around 6.45pm on a Thursday night not long after opening, so I've not experienced any problems on that front

It's a really unusual course! A pic here might explain it better: You are told to pick 2-3 things at a time, and you're not supposed to work your way through all of it. The two of us made a good dent into that plate though (Sadly i don't have an after pic!) It's an interesting concept and good fun

I think US TV Started it

Rotovap action

Jon - As usual, very well put!

I'm convinced it will be more than five courses. If it's not, I will stamp my little feet It will be with the snacks and stuff, but honestly, why pay more for a watered down Noma experience when you can do the real thing for not much more, make a weekend of it, and visit other restaurants over there instead? I'd consider something like this if it was a more reasonable price, or if the chefs were from some far away location that isn't on my radar in the future - but I'll pass on this.

My reaction to this went as follows: 1) Oooh Rene Redzepi popup in London! 2) Oh only 5 courses 3) HOW MUCH????

Nonsense it is, not sure if it's as big a nonsense as biodynamic wine though.

It's no R8, but it's nippy enough!

I do find it hard to keep up with chef's nowadays - so James Knappett is no longer development chef and has gone to start up bubbledogs with his wife who used to work at Roganic with Ben Spalding who is now starting up a development kitchen... Anyway! Looks very interesting, bit confused though, is this going to be an eat-in type thing like they do at Sat Bains and L'Enclume? Or just an extension of the kitchen? Either way Ben's project sounds interesting

20mins is optomistic for Tuddenham Mill I think - It's only about 7-8 miles away from me but in reality it's a half hour drive!

I expect you'll still find a lot of chef's who won't touch a water bath. I'm not sure that many chef's will see a need for transglutaminase yet

Yes it was cheesy indeed! My friend who was eating with me is not a fan of blue cheese and struggled!

Well, that was epic. Pics/report to follow...

Always found Knutsford a bit of an odd spot whilst I was working there. Seemed to be a lot of money in the area, but v few decent places to eat

The service at EMP was just stunning. The most engaging staff I think I've ever come across! Can't sing their praises enough. It seemed to be the same for everyone there too

Did you still have to pay extra for the supplements? That put me off doing the extended tasting, but I'm guessing so given that you can sometimes hit $500 on the normal menu! There were no supplements that we had to pay for. We had a dish with shaved black truffles that had more black truffles than the dish on which it was being shaved. No supplement for the foie gras dishes either. To me the extended tasting menu is better value for 20 courses with no supplements than the $295 for 9 courses with supplements. Ah that's not so bad then. Next time I'm in NYC I'll probably be going to Brooklyn Fare as it seems they are a lot more "have EVERYTHING" for a similar cost. I certainly enjoyed Per Se, and knew it would be expensive, but supplements at that price level is a bit painful. It's a good job the $100 wagyu supplement wasn't on when I went!

Sukiyabashi Jiro is a 3 Michelin Star sushi meal that you eat in 15 - 30 minutes. Well yeah, but generally in non-sushi type places?

Sounds like my demographic, I'm in best get down there with my camera... It does seem a bit odd, but I guess the gourmet burger thing kicked off, maybe this is the next thing?