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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!

Just posted in the Per Se thread, and will expand when I get back to the UK and add pics and so on, but my lunch at EMP was an amazing experience I do find the criticism of Per Se meals as being so long though. What a baffling thing to say. First of all, I felt Per Se to be a little too short if anything. Second, why would you want a $500 meal to be anything less than long. Third, what restaurants around the world at a similar level are shorter?

Interesting - I v much enjoyed Per Se, bar the cheese course, but I did have a better time at Eleven Madison Park. One odd thing was that it felt a bit too fast - we had to ask them to put the breaks on as we had done our main course in roughly 1 1/2hrs - even then we ended up out of there in roughly 2 1/2hrs which did feel a tad hurried for such a meal . On the other hand, our lunch at Eleven Madison Park - at half the price - felt a lot less rushed, we were there for nearly 4hrs in the end!

Quick note - went there the other day, had the ham buns, ramen and lime, beet and yoghurt dessert. In short, awesome - but I'm no expert on noodles With regards to the chicken dinner - yeah, it's big. I can imagine for 4 people it's quite a struggle. Turning up at lunch on Friday I didn't expect to see a couple trying to put the whole thing away though between the two of them. It was ridiculous. There's food challenges, and there's ordering way more food than you are ever going to manage. They looked about done when we left and they had barely touched half.

Wow. Only a few days til I go, slightly excited...

If you can't shoot in low light with your equipment, I think you just need to leave it be. Flash photography is going to have issues in those kinds of situations, even without the problem it causes for other customers. To get a good result, you'd need a proper flash gun or some kind of ring-flash setup. It would just end up being ridiculous in a restaurant. That said, with an SLR, you should be able to get a decent enough shot with a fast lens and steady hands. Some of the mid-high end SLRs will perform adequately at ISO 3200+ which should be plenty unless it's almost pitch black.

Finally made it to Atari-Ya last night! I don't consider myself any kind of an expert on sushi, but on the whole, i thought it was very good. Deep fried squid legs - from the specials board. Flavour was good but sadly the batter was not very crisp Sashimi marinated gurnard Chef's nigiri selection Eel, Crab and roe, yellowfin & spring onion rolls Scallop nigiri - probably my favourite dish, beautiful! The fish was very impressive quality wise, and at this price (all the above plus a large sake and a beer for £55 for 2) it's a bargain. I expect you can find sushi that is better prepared elsewhere, but it will come at a big premium, and i doubt the fish will be of any higher grade. Highly recommended

Can't seem to edit my post, but just to update - I managed to get a table, but people might want to make a note of my experience. When I tried earlier today - on opentable - I wasn't able to look at reservations past 2012/04/01 until 12am EST (5am GMT). When it struck midnight I tried and whilst 2011/04/02 became "available", I could not get a table, and 2012/04/03 was not available. I just called up at 10am EST and eventually got through, to be told there was only a 10pm table available for 2012/04/02. Dissapointed I was then told that they were currently taking reservations for 2012/04/03, for which I was able to get a table (yay!) So, to be clear - it's 30 days on opentable and 1 month on the phone, plus opentable obviously must have only a limited number of tables which I imagine could well be possible to book on the phone, so if you're trying to book during a month with 31 calendar days, opentable might well prove to be difficult! Hope that makes sense

So, bit of an update on my reservation request - first go today, getting up at 4.55 on a saturday morning. Checked bang on midnight EST and there was nothing for the whole day! Going to try and call later, this is only for a monday!

June? LOL And people complain about having to queue...

Me three

Isn't this article a bit out of date given the Hand & Flowers now has 2 stars? Seems a tad ironic to me.

One question I have for the sushi experts - do you still use chopsticks or do you go for the fingers/rotate method?

You might even want to try Dinner by Heston, I would have thought there was something on the menu that would suit a 13 year old: http://www.dinnerbyheston.com/ It's just above Bar Boulud so also has the same location benefits.

Easy on the 25-30 demographic folks, we're not all bad, honest! One thing worth pointing out is that at places like Pitt Cue Co, Meatliquor etc. you can get a good feed for a very reasonable price for the area.

Ridiculous Used to love going there - Jack is a top bloke and incredibly knowledgeable, down to earth and friendly. I think we once spent about 15 minutes discussing steak cooking techniques. Produce was always fantastic there - part of me hopes that no-one ends up in their place and people stop using the food section there.

It's good - 30 seats is a bit miss-leading, apparently downstairs seats 24 but when I went there didn't seem to be that many down there. I queued up just before 6pm opening and I had to sit at the bar to eat! It's rather frustrating having to queue but the food is worth a wait. The pickled shittake mushrooms are amazing. I didn't have any ribs but I did try the onglet on special which was good, along with the baked beans. I was actually going to go back tonight to try the ribs but my plans have changed. One thing - you might as well forget photos unless you've got a full frame sensor camera, it's very dark!

15 pieces of sushi for £60? I don't remember Roka being that expensive, I think I may give this place a miss...

Cool, fortunately i've got a few dates to pick from so should hopefully get something Don't get TOO excited. Many people's experience is that this gives you TWO chances to be told there's nothing available. Well, after scoring tickets to Next vs. El Bulli, I'm a pro I'm not going to be too distraught if I can't get a table as there's always the tasting menu EMP as backup, but I do have 10 opportunities to take advantage of Oh cool - are you going to be there in April? We'll probably be heading to WD-50 (been before and loved it!) I'll be at the restaurant from late March to late April. I have to leave my wallet locked in a cupboard until then, I'm going to be so broke, but I'm sure it will be an amazing experience, so it's worth it in the end. I had a really good meal there in August, and I love the vibe of the place. I just need to find somewhere cheap to live for a month. Anywa, back to Per Se, I hope against hope not only that they have a table for me, but that I'll be able to afford it haha. Cool, I might drop you a PM nearer the time when I know when i'm coming to warn you

Blimey - definitely not on my list then!

Those tables were made available tonight via Dutch Auction, with the starting prices in the $4-5,000 range for a table for 2. 16 of the 73 available tables have already been sold, raising $76,000 for charity. Wow! Great to see

Oh cool - are you going to be there in April? We'll probably be heading to WD-50 (been before and loved it!)

Cool, fortunately i've got a few dates to pick from so should hopefully get something

I've heard very good things about Atari-Ya, keep meaning to go as it is local enough to me. I find Kiraku a bit hit and miss, but if you pick the right things you can have a very good meal for a lot less than the posher central London Japanese restaurants.

Would someone be able to clarify something with regards to reservations? I'm coming near to when I want to make a reservation - from what I understand opentable is available from midnight 30 days prior to when I need to make a reservation, and the reservations by phone are open from 10am. I'm a bit confused by this, I understand tables are hard to secure, are the opentable reservations only for a limited number of tables? i.e. they probably fill up in the morning and then the rest are filled by the phone? Only downside with the opentable system is that I'll have to wake up before 5am UK time