Man

The only hope is that he doesn't cook out of his book then!

No Hakkasan, Yauatcha are still top dog for getting dim sum, certainly for the non traditional sort. I haven't been to Yauatcha for a while but in the past I've never seen that much difference in standard between it and Hakkasan (although if I was splitting hairs the dollop of tobiko on the shumai looks a little more miserly than its been in the past). Nowadays I tend to prefer the Mayfair Hakkasan, if only because you can eat in the daylight rather than being shunted into a dingy basement. The menu is slightly more westernised (e.g. TCR has a lovely beef tendon dish you don't see in Mayfair) but on the dim sum section its much of a muchness. To be honest though the level of places immediately below Hak/Yau it much more interesting. I mean the level of more modernish dim sum places which don't quite have the Hakkasan quality or attitude, but are a touch better than your bog standard Royal Chinas (the fact the RC is now sort of bog standard actually says a lot about the excellent quality of London dim sum). For example I am very fond of Shanghai Blues in Holborn. The dim sum, while not quite as good as Hakkasan is excellent. However the real plus is they just don't have the arsey attitude you get at Hakkasan (viz comments about service above!). Nowadays I just can't be bothered to deal with snotty staff, prebooking credit card details, being forced onto set menus for groups more than eight, fumbling around in trendy but essentially unlit toilets and generally getting treated like a piece of livestock. Its much easier just to stroll into Shanghai Blues, grab a hassle free table and hit the dim sum. As a bonus they also have a particularly good range of choice for veggies, if you decide to consort with such people. For another shot at modish dim sum also try Grand Imperial in the big hotel bolted onto Victoria station. For a place of its size it has surprisingly slipped completely under the radar. Their beef and foie gras guotie are ridiculously delicious. Slightly more on the level of Royal China you then have Pearl Liang and perhaps Princess Garden of Mayfair. PG is quite traditional but the standard is good, the location is great and - unlike RC - they let you book on weekends. J Thanks Jon, very helpful. My only real dim sum experience was at Pearl Liang - didn't have a lot, but I wasn't particularly impressed. Might try it again as it's a v convenient location for me. It's ridiculous that I've yet to visit the likes of Yautcha or Hakkasan yet though, for some reason I've always been happy enough lumping a fair sum on a tasting menu at one of the other high end restaurants in London but less so when it comes to cuisines i'm less familiar with but should prboably make an effort to get to know better! Today I tried the Canary Wharf Royal China. I was prepared for the worst but in the end it was quite OK really. Not nearly as good as Yauatcha (especially the soups, lacking any depth), but the dim sum was of perfectly acceptable level, and for the price and with the view, good value.

And for the same reason as above, I'm out too.

I think he's being more elitist that those whom he criticises. Nowadays we have a way to see what 'the masses' really think: Tripadvisor. After careful and extensive research... I see very few complaints about the trimmings of Michelin star places, in fact it is full of 'wows!' and 'the best meal of my life' and praises for the 'incredible service, we never had to touch the bottle'. People like to be treated well and sometimes even that touch of formality (me, I beg the waiters to let me pour my wine but they always refuse).

Reliably mediocre? Just joking: whatever floats your boat.

Good point, but if you aim at fine distinctions isn't that true of all types of cuisine? For example, we Italians argue on aspects of pasta that non-Italians rarely if ever consider. I've read long and heated debates on tiny differences in surface texture, and on whether pasta Senatore Cappelli is better than pasta Cavalier Cocco. I guess it's almost impossible to be experts on many types of cuisine. That is why, incidentally, I dislike intensely the habit of giving marks to restaurants, implying some degree of objectivity and with the inevitable impression of being the 'master', instead of limiting oneself to narrative, subjective opinions. Beside, of course, the ever useful photos.

I've got to say David, this place may the the Time Out best sushi place in London but it looks totally charmless to me (unlike your report itself, of course )! Not surprising that the clientele (in your shot at least) is entirely Western, and the £1.50 is the icing on the cake on the charmlessness front. Keep trying, I'm sure you'll hit on a better place (though I'm not sure whether any offers a massage, you may be best off at home for that...).

Thanks for this report David. I immediately booked a table at Medlar, who appears to do it better and cheaper.

I skipped through this the other day and assumed the discussion was about sushi. But then I looked again and you only say 'Japanese'. If you want a wow factor, go to Roka in Charlotte Street. They have some sushi on the menu but a lot more. It was around the corner from my old work-place and I loved having a drink and a snack in the basement when I could- I never actually ate upstairs in the proper bit, but the food is the same downstairs. You get two 'wows', firstly when you eat the food and again when you see the bill. But it was great. Ah, if Yakitori, robata etc. are allowed then I've heard good things about Bincho Soho, though I've also heard it's more expensive than it looks (something to do with the concept of 'skewer'...). I haven't been myself.

I think they have sorted it out... Tried to book for next week and... Hi Marco, I'm afraid we're completely full for that day, in-fact for every lunch in February! The phones just haven't stopped ringing, would you like me to put you on our waiting list?

The title of this post seems just right...but: 1) I don't know if it is sufficiently wow for you - it is a charming and moderately sleek place, and watching Mr. Kikuchi work (if you sit at the counter) is fun, but it's not high end. 2) It may not work for you anyway as it only does dinners. Warning for Sunbeam: the link may contain photographs

Well I had to try it... Front section is 'gastronomia', you can buy Italian produce or sit for a cappuccino or glass of wine, rear section is the restaurant. When the weather allows there will also be an outside area. Open for Sunday lunch. As expected, very simple Italian cuisine, excellent ingredients, very authentic, for me personally almost moving as I found true Italian flavours combined with the professionalism of somebody who's worked in the UK for decades, the end result being (sad to say, but true) that I ate and felt better than in 90% of Italian trattorie. Kind prices: primi (e.g. artichoke tagliolni) at £8, a main of polpette (meatballs) at £5, a main of salsicce (sausage) with side vegetables £8, a generous side of sauteed sprouting broccoli at £3, desserts (tiramisu, cannolo) £3, espresso £1.60. We had: Vitello tonnato. I know that many Brits find this disgusting but if you tolerate it, be advised this is a very fine example , the veal melting in the mouth, the sauce intense but not overwhelming, the capers adding that extra dimension, a fine example of that balance which is, in spite of what some people believe, the hallmark of Italian cuisine. (£5) Tagliatelle with artichokes. Tagliatelle, like most pasta, is made at Latium and cooked similarly here. Since at Latium you eat one of the best pastas in London...and here it costs £8, draw your own conclusion. Salsiccia with sproutng broccoli. A true Italian salsiccia, aromatised with fennel, hearty and gentle. (£8). Polpette al sugo di pizzaiola. Accompanied by generous and excellent tomato sauce, I am not sure exactly what mix they put it in, certainly some pork and some cheese. Wonderful.(£5). Tiramisu and Cannoli also were as they should be and would pass grandma's test. For the bread, they imported a specialist breadmaker (a human, I mean) from Italy, and the results are apparent. The focaccia is light as air and superb, all bread in fact have great lightness and springiness, and flavour. He is still struggling with the different temperature, water, and humidity conditions so that the most sensititive type of bread, the 'rosette', still does not come out with the typical 'void' inside, but he's working on it... The wine prices, ohmygod, are simply eye-popping so low they are, completely out of line with London markups (this was the fourth day of opening and I'm not sure how long it will last!). I saw a 'Giulio Ferrari' Riserva del Fondatore Metodo Classico (Italian champagne method bubbly) at £87 when it goes for about £60 from UK distributors!! I saw Barolos and Chiantis for prices you pay in restaurants in Italy (i.e. no more than than half of what you pay in London). If you like wine and Italian wine in particular, just go, really, as the list (still under construction) is very interesting and you'll find bottles you've probably never seen before, in a price range from £15 to £150.

He might make up for it by selling, e.g., Barbera Gallina La Spinetta 2007, a wine that retails at about £30 in the UK, at £145. So I went for lunch today. To be fair, the rest of the list is not as extortionate as La Spinetta. I really don't know what to think of this place. I confess I struggle to associate the room, the atmosphere and the food with the gaiety that transpires from previous comments. Yet I ask myself: did I like everything? And the answer is yes. Not one poor dish (and by poor I mean Michelin-star standard poor). Was anything banal? You're joking. And were we well-treated? Extremely. What was memorable? Honestly, only the nibbles, notably the gougeres with Fourme d'Ambert (with a quite incredible, airy yet substantial texture, and strong flavour), and the bread. All the rest was clever, ingenious and very cleanly presented, the desserts especially (a 'walnut whip' and a Lapsang infused banana) showed exquisite technique, but for me most flavours were simply too polite. Even the temperatures were too timid (we asked regarding a langoustine in its bisque, and that's the way AW likes it). Admirable, yes; memorable, no. Only negative of the service (clearly overstaffed) was a young and clueless waitress who, when asked about the cooking of a venison, spent about ten seconds muttering 'the venison...the venison...let me think...' and then struck by a sudden inspiration came out with: 'I think it's finished sous vide'. Now that's an idea. I declined the kind offer of a kitchen tour for no other reason that I see less and less meaning in these routines (though Woman has a closer interest in inspecting the kitchen equipment). There were several empty tables and only about 12-14 customers, suggesting, in view of the relatively low prices, that something is not going quite as it should. We feel we should return to try other appealing dishes (the menu is a pleasure to read), and also to get to the bottom of why such well-crafted dishes failed to elicit screams of pleasure from us. Sometimes it happens that one only 'gets' it the second time, especially when the cooking is as subtle as this.

Briciole Ristorante Gastronomia, the new venture of Latium's chef Maurizio Morelli in partnership with maitre d' Umberto Tosi (big signor Umberto) has opened at 20 Homer St, London W1H 4NA. Expect a report soon (actually I'd be deligheted if somebody nearby tried it before I manage to go down to London!)

I too could mention...and in the future I will make a point of mentioning the most outrageous markups I manage to spot. I have started here in the thread on Alyn Williams.

He might make up for it by selling, e.g., Barbera Gallina La Spinetta 2007, a wine that retails at about £30 in the UK, at £145.

Ooh, JR had an opposite impression to mine. I went there expecting gimmicks and instead found surprising but well assorted flavours and inventive reinterpretations of popular and world cuisine. He went there expecting...well I'm not sure what but for sure came out underwhelmed. Still, one of his better reviews I thought, with descriptions that jump out of the page and killer putdowns. "Telling us that parsnips have been treated like meat doesn't make them meat, even when you serve them with smears of truffle and onion and squishy beads of vinegary tapioca. It just makes for a brown starchy plateful that looks like it's ready for the dishwasher before you've got started" Nice one. Makes me want to go back just to see if it's true.

As I was saying, a very nice discovery: Drover's Inn in Memus. This is really in the middle of nowhere in Angus, with Forfar the nearest bastion of civilisation (if you like hillwalking, however, nearby there's plenty of opportunities as we are close to Glen Clova). The Inn comprises both a pub and a slightly more formal area. What struck us from the beginning was the quality of the produce: scallops, salmon, crab were all excellent. They were also very well cooked and seasoned. Here's the crab A sirloin had really deep flavour (being in Angus we were expecting good sourcing for beef), while a roast rump of lamb was prepared with some finesse: nothing heavy, nice crust on the lamb, nice sauce. This Valrhona chocolate torte with raspberry sorbet was simple but a stunner: The flavours so clear, strong and complementary, the sponge under the chocolate showing that the chef knows his (or her, for all we know) craft well. Isn't this what simple, 'non-fine' dining should be about (in this way often being better )? A plate of cheeses was served slightly too cold, the temperature not helped by the presence of frozen grapes, but a 'Blue Monday' (which we didn't know) was particularly notable, complex. Difficult to reach, but charming all the way. And the sun always shines in Scotland. (Edited to add: three courses - including the more expensive items - plus coffee for two are less than £70 in the restaurant section, in the pub area you can spend much less).

I feel a little hesitant venturing in this thread as it's not really my 'speciality'...but I'd like to mention two recent experiences, a mediocre one and an excellent one. The mediocre one in our opinion is Morgan Arms in London. Located in the East End, a few minutes walk from the Mile End station, we found that they do the minimum above mediocrity not be considered crazy for describing themselves as 'gastro'. Nothing was particularly bad, but nothing really tasted of what it should have tasted, notably a fishcake where the cod was barely detectable and similarly a mackerel pate' that had little affinity with mackerel, and was overwhelmed by lemon anyway. When they wanted to create powerful flavours they became heavy-handed. A ribeye was covered with a mountain of a cheesy cream that we removed, to reveal a decent if unspectacular piece of beef. And a sea-bass (farmed) with chorizo was intensely greasy. We skipped desserts. Service was very good. We were by far the oldest in the room (Queen Mary College is nearby) and everybody but us seemed to be very satisfied, which led us to ask ourselves some searching questions... I want to separate this one from the good experience so I'll write a separate post.

By the way Jon, forgot to say that we liked your description above so much that we have stolen it for our report (providing credit and link, of course!)

PS: I guess everybody here knows that Mark Askew is no longer at Petrus, but just in case anybody was as tardy as me...

I don't follow their blog almost at all but I remember being quite irritated at the time by some silly, nasty comments about them on egullet which were clearly inspired by envy/jealousy (there must be some angry comment by me in an old thread, unless it has been removed). This is not to say that they cannot be criticised for their knowledge of food (I also spotted some blunders) but is it really such a big deal for non-professionals? And restaurateurs can always write in to correct factual mistakes if they wish. What harm do they do? They seem a clever, fun loving couple with a particular talent for generating publicity (fans, do not worry: they WILL be back ). I have a soft spot for people rich with money and time who put these precious resources to a noble use, i.e. eating. But I was shocked and appalled to read above that they are not Guardian readers. Maybe they really are bad people

We had a late lunch here in late December. The only bad things I can find to say about this place concern (1) the truly appalling coffee and (2) live ironing performed during service...If you don't believe it, and I myself find it hard to believe it... When we found only one table left at 2.30 on the booking system we knowingly smiled thinking, on the basis of the comments above, that we could easily find a better time on the phone. But no, the room was full to bursting point, and we just squeezed in for that last table. They were under severe pressure; they brought a wrong order but they remedied with generosity. Foodwise, we found the the dishes here sometimes complex, but always clean and coolly logical, flavours orderly working as a team and not against each other. (looking at the comments by David above: with a set lunch I guess it is unavoidable, for cost reasons, to have simpler dishes). Everything was good at more or less the same level. This loin of Highland venison with braised shin, carrot purée and juniper sauce is representative of the style: I can see that that some people can find the style here a bit 'clinical'. For us, they were just 'clean', and we were blown away by the harmony of it all. If you look for challenge stay away, but if you are content with pleasure and fine execution, you should be fine! Three courses a la carte (in fact of course quite a bit more), using top class produce, at £65 seemed a fair price for what we had, including ironing art.

I understand that the Angler's Inn has closed or is about to do so. So my recent experience above may partly reflect some degree of demoralisation on the part of the staff. Hope that if they try with a new place they will find a clear identity this time.

Yes I also like that dish very much, it encapsulates truly Italian flavours (very intense tomato, quality Taggiasche olives and fabulous olive oil) without being a stock Italian dish. Here's a truly appalling photo even by my standards, but to me the dish tastes 'red', so it gives the feel after all