britcook

Just goes to prove there are no limits to disgusting. I suppose if you got bored with squeezing down your thoat you could always stick it up your a...

To get to La Terrasse you have my problem in reverse but it is well worth the trek. Overnight is around £60/room. The wine list is stunning, if you do go there ensure that you get it as early as possible because you need to read it from cover to cover, if nothing else it will improve your knowledge (mine certainly benefited). Go for one of the fixed price menus (around £40) for the best examples of M. Gicqeau's cooking and value for money. And book well in advance - small restaurant and heavy demand.

My angle of approach is irrelevant. Originally it was placed in Sussex and when I said it was tricky to get to from the east I was given instructions on how to get there from the west. Lacks a certain accuracy dontcha think? To expand on the original point, although Tunbridge Wells is a lovely town, because getting to it from East Kent involves some rather horrid roads or even worse train journeys, there has to be a good reason to go there and it sounds like the Hotel du Vin might be sufficient attraction.

It seems, unlike some people, I know exactly where Tunbridge Wells is. It is, I agree, very simple to take the A21 from the M25 if one is coming from London. If one is coming from East Kent (think Canterbury) then one would not even consider taking a severe diversion via the M25. By rail or by road T. Wells is difficult from the east, but it does seem (back to the original point) that the Hotel du Vin might well be worth making the effort. But La Terrasse (at least for me) is closer.

A mere 45 minutes away from Charring Cross/London Bridge Again for the geographically challenged T. Wells is east of London, so it's easy from the west. Still no easier from the east. A little further east is the excellent La Terrasse at the Sandgate Hotel near Folkestone, stunning food and very reasonably priced accommodation on the sea front.

Keep meaning to visit Tunbridge Wells again, but just a bit tricky getting to it from the east. And for the geographically challenged it's probably still in Kent, unless they've moved Sussex recently.

Whether the customer is right or wrong has been well debated here, but those of you who have read Bourdain's book "Kitchen Confidential" will know that kitchens have less than subtle ways of taking revenge on guests who insist on messing with the chef's ideas. Nico Ladenis is a very different case, a charming man I have had the pleasure of meeting a few times, when he started his restaurant he was determined to raise the gastronomic level above that generally prevailing in restaurants at the time (abysmal). He set out his stance very clearly, you ate his food as he intended or you dined somewhere else. Far from failing he succeeded very well and finally achieved 3 Michelin stars (the ultimate European accolade) at his restaurant on Park Lane, London. In the process he gave a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction to those who appreciate good food, and probably annoyed the h**l out of a minority who thought the customer was always right. But he and a few like minded chefs did succeed in raising the overall standard of food in Britain. In today's dining scene it might be considered too autocratic, but then it was probably necessary