Jon Tseng

Phew! Don't scare me Suzi!

nope f*ck do you know when its closing? J

I thought it was quite good too; having the chefs opposite taking the piss out of each other what quite fun. Starters were a bit dull. WHAT MORE GOATS CHEESE??? JBR comes off a more of a miserable git than I would have thought. Very funny to say he would have done things simpler when he used to run one of the most expensive high-end haute joints in London back in the Landmark days. Plus ca change... Good laff though. I think the quality of the chefs makes the series... I mean these are genuine premier-league names here... ta J

Dropped in late afternoon. A small shop, but claims to have a fully equipped aircon chocolate workshop in the basement. Paul Young seems a personable chap; looks younger than he is (must be) - cv includes seven years with MPW (Criterion, Titanic, Oak Room). Managed to get through a good assortment; benchmark dark chocolate truffle good texture (though from the shop so not as ice cold as I prefer with a good crisp shell outside. Some other good options - a robust fresh raspberry flavoured truffle, a zesty passion fruit filled chocolate (tart... maybe too tart?), a buttery butter praline (more like a caramel filling than a praline) and a nice sea-salt caramel which apparently has won prizes of some sort (not as gummy as some sea salt caramels I've had. Plus a marzipany saffron chocolate which was a bit wierd. Didn't try the plain bars but nothing particularly daring - chilli (hints of Mounte-"Itsu of the Chocolate World"-Zumas?), and a maldon sea salt bar. Couverture is sourced from Valhrona and Amadei. Some very accomplished pastry work on display - chocolate tart, sea salt caramel tart (other goodies listed on the list but not available alas, including macarons and a luscious-sounding chocolate-lavender millefeuille). The pate brisee on the tarts was really good - very short crumbly melting rather than hard-crisp as can sometimes be the case (cf sketch which the pastry cases are thicker and more biscuity. Apparently PY has a background in patisserie, hence... If only there was more pastry and some more fruit stuff. LONDON HAS A MASSIVE SHORTAGE OF TOP NOTCH PATISSERIEas I have said time and time again. Much to praise; few week spots (though of course this was day one... lets hope standards are maintained). Macaron in Clapham and now this place... patisserie on the Northern line is looking up! ta J PS website here.

Welcome to the wierd and economically unfeasible world of Paris Haute The oyster and sorrel dish there is a killer... pretty much the same as at Roanne, I think J

positives: cheap chicken negatives: poultry farmers going to the wall

comfort

browns used to have a good reputation but that was before the refurb aside from the classics (ritz, savoy) etc. Sketch clearly viz patisserie. I suspect Yauatcha probably has the widest selection of actual teas, although the cakes are pap (qv patissere threads) J

For high end patisserie your options are basically limited to Sketch Parlour, William Curley, Maison du Choc on Picadilly, and the Japanese place next door and Laduee in Harrods. The second tier of chainey places - Pat Val (now a burgeoning chain from the looks of it) and Paul are enjoyable but a cut below. Yautacha sits in a bizarre no-mans-land between these categories. Ravishing looking pastry, wonderful sounding combinations but the merchandise doesn't actually taste very nice. Also consider Macaron, a recently opened pastry joint in Clapham just next door to Moens. Tried it on the first day - pastry okay but not spectacular. Need to go back now they have settled in to check. Summing up recent experiences I would rank them as follows: 1) Sketch (a couple of visits recently, still comfortably the best in London) 2) Laduree (very nice cakes, esp. the millefeuille although the Ispahan is a bit thuggish. Macarons not worth the price - especially when Sketches ones are 50% cheaper) 3) William Curley (technically excellent classic stuff. I still find however the pastry doesn't have the wow factor sketch has) 4) Maison du Choc? (recently had some very fine chocolate macarons. haven't had the cakes) A final comment: All of the above get the asses royally kicked by the best of Paris. C'est la vie. ta J

If I want to be comfortable and pampered I would choose Gavroche If I wanted to *experience* something I can't get anywhere else in town I'd go for Sketch Unfortunately The Square, no slight intended, falls somewhere in between J

Think Lobster Pot still there. I live just up the Brixton Rd from Oval. Basically your options are Painted Heron, one of a bunch of random but decent Portguese places up Clapham Park Rd towards Stockwell (haven't got details on me - look up in the Time Out Guide. Lontosa (a halfway decent Malaysian/Chinesey place on the parade of shops by Oval station... the veggie mock-meat dishes are good), The Lavender (bistroish place up from Oval station. Friendly but only so-so food). Personally I'd hike across St Marks churchyard and trot two minutes up the Brixton Rd to Adulis, a cosy Eritrean joint. The Enjera (sourdough pancake things) are incredibly moreish. Food can be a bit spicy though, but its filling and very reasonably price Jay Rayner lives vaguely in the area. He may be able to add more. ta J

its the old one innit that people pay based on wot they think its worth rather than wot it takes to produce it this is why teachers and nurses get paid so little &tc J

None yet but I hear all the Gordon Ramsay websites are due for a revamp sometime soon, so presumably Maze will get done then... J

Yes I hear Pearl's up and rolling again. Now Pearl - lovely food to be sure but does a restaurant in a cavernous ***** hotel plunked right in the in the middle of Lawyerland really count as "trendy"???? J

Yup, that would be the right preparation Have had this dish in London at Chez Kristof and at the Troisgros joint in Paris and both times a traditional french tete de veau is a large piece of luke warm fat... well sort of meltingy fat and connective tissue and gelatinousness I guess... like a good pongy andouillette its something you either love or you hate J

As I said... just like a prawn wonton

The deconstructed crab ravioli at Astrance in Paris is pretty good too. ← sorry, meant in London koffmann thing sounds good. now when is he going to bloody turn up again in this town? On a philosophical note, the one problem I have with haute cuisine langoustine ravioli, however, is no matter how hard you try to tart them up with truffles an' stuff they always end up tasting like a giant overpriced prawn wonton; sometimes more flavourful; sometimes less flavourful. In fact this is precisely the reaction of my Chinese-American uncle to the Ravioli of Lobster and Langoustine at GR@Claridges "Mmmm. Tastes like a giant prawn wonton" (or words to that effect). ta J

The benchmark haute crustacean pasta thingummy still has to be the lasagne of crab with cappucino of shellfish at The Square right? (the killer ingredient is the strips of fresh basil they drop on right at the end - really makes a difference). Matt - what lead time did you need for the booking? Last time I swung by late on a Sunday afternoon they claimed they were all booked up. I get the impression now the place is taking off as a decent neighbourhood resto it will be harder to get in, esp on the weekends... J

Interesting they had poached chicken. That's a very unusual dish for London (I assume because whats basically boiled chicken is a bitch to sell to the local clientale). The only other place I've seen it is Lolas when Hywell Jones was cooking. The problem, as you correctly identified, is you need one helluva flavoursome chicken to pull it off. J

Waitrose staff noticeably more helpful and better paid Probably because JLP pays them a decent (or, at least, better) wage, and its famous profit-share

Sketch, Nobu and Nobu-alikes (Zuma, Sumosan, etc etc) one assumes...

Popped back into Mountezumas on Sunday and picked up a bar of Strawberry and Paprika milk chocolate. To be honest tastes exactly like a normal bar of milk chocolate to me... no noticeable strawberry or paprika bits. Am wondernig if I got a mis-packaged bar - the ingredients lists freeze-dried strawberry bits and paprika but no sign. ??? also have a chocolate and chilli which will report on anon. J

Flora Mikula's Flora is reasonably priced for borderline * food. The cheapo set is good value too ta J

Nah, thats just tarted-up sheep tortellini right? although the tail-fat in there does add a nice juiciness. still not as good as a crispy soup-filled shanghai dumpling, although I admit that the tandoor baked version (samsa they were called in chinese turkestan; don't know the uzbek equivalent) migth run it close... prove me wrong! J

oh i quite agree east european corner shop groceries - a happy by-product of new accessions to the EU - are one of london's hidden gems. pierogi, bigos, gulyas and chlodnik/bortsch (sp) are GREAT and wonderfully moreish, particularly in the cold months i have to say though, on the world-class dumpling front a properly done crabmeat filled shanghai soup-dumpling (or its bastard half-child crispy panfried equivalent) kicks pelmeni and ravioli ass any day l8tr J