Roger le goéland

Yes we walked past it, and maybe another 3-4 MPW restaurants! The guy has quite an empire! Are they all good?

Thanks for all your replies! The guy ended up cancelling just as we were approaching Jermyn Street. We weren't really hungry enough to try Bacchus in Hoxton (keeps being recommended as great value molecular) so we went to Tamarind, which was very nice, if somewhat rich. I'm not sure Dahl (Dal as they spell it) should have so much cream in it... But the £23 piece of lamb did give me £23 worth of enjoyment. Service was very friendly and efficient once we were sat. Despite having an electronic table management system (looked like what we call MRP) our "15 min" wait for a table turned into 45min. Maybe we should have gone to Kiku. I've made a list of your recommendations for future London visits and I'm sure this thread will be useful to others. Also, for those that may consider it, do not go to "James" ("J"?) for lunch (or dinner for that matter). The food is incredibly dull, British pub fare. Especially since the aforementioned Patterson's is just down the road for the same price...

Thanks naebody! Judging from the pictures and menus, the "classical" options don't look that appetizing, so maybe we'll look at something more non EU. Tamarind looks very good. Any other recommendations on the Indian or other front? Is there anything like Sushi Hiro that's not 45min away?

Perhaps a strange request, but I am looking for an interesting restaurant to visit in Central London (as close to Jermyn Street as possible). It's for an informal, but business-related dinner. Strange because if possible I'd like my budget to stay under £50 per person (saving up for visiting Paris next month!) The good places in that area, from my admitedly small experience, will be closer to £100-150... Any suggestions? My personal tastes are for either classical French cuisine (a la Gavroche) or very adventurous things, anything with strong taste. I'm very happy with non EU cuisine, particularly Indian, Thai and Chinese. (additional point, I'm having lunch at Sketch at 1.30pm, perhaps it is better if there are light options) Please do tell me if my quest is futile.

Also, if you are planning on organising a conference there, do NOT use Florida Park for your gala dinner. The food is atrocious. I have had better food in my College's Buttery (Clare) which is the standard by which we cantabs judge bad food. There was a (not so great) flamenco show to justify the 100 euros price tag per person (!) but I felt the canapes were distincly more satisfying than the actual meal. Just a warning for those of you who may be tempted by the history and the surroundings...

Quick note from a 5 day visit (may expand later, may not). Based on recommendations on this thread or another, we visited Gloria de Montera. A local businessman told us that it was good, but its sister restaurant Finca de Susana was better. No reservations in either. You queue up outside like everybody else, get given a time and eat. We had a half hour wait so went snacking at the sushi belt next door (it's pink). In many ways the sushi was much better. GdM is cheap, I guess, but the food is salty. They charge a euro for bread that wouldn't be out of place in a school canteen. The crab and avocado salad with red berries sauce was tasty if somewhat filling. The kebabs in Pedro Ximenez were too sweet (well I guess that's the point of using PX). The desert was a typical Spanish sponge/cream square with rasberry sauce. I liked the sauce, not so much the cake (mainly because it was served every day, break, lunch etc. at the conference I was attending). Price was fair - maybe 15-20 euros per person? We didn't have wine, but the wine was (for this London soul) extremely good value! Bottles between 5-20 euros, and considering it's not Britain, they might have tasted decent. Overall, disappointing though. I expected "amazing" and I got an average meal even if good value. The bread was definitely a let down. The Spanish guy did say FdS was better, so we went there for lunch the next day. Again, 20 min wait (for lunch!). The food was better, although nowhere near "worth the detour" (although considering we were next door, it wasn't much of a detour). We were recommended the "rice with the ink, good but it make your mouth black!" There were 2 pieces of squid the size of a finger, the rest was paella rice with ink. Tasty, but I could have made it myself at 1/10th of the price. I guess it's rare to see a restaurant that serves simple, decent food these days. But in the capital of a country renowned for (some of) its food, it was disappointing to see the "most popular" restaurants were not that brilliant. Furthermore, we waited longer for our bill at FdS than we spent eating 3 courses. Don't have the dessert with the kiwi and chocolate sauce and ice cream (Timbaon's? one of the XXX's dessert), it's revolting. Three days before, we had lunch in a place called "Ginger" next to a big 5* hotel. That was what FdS and GdM were trying to be. Simple, clean, fresh, tasty. Lunch was 9 euros for 3 courses, with wine or a half litre of mineral water, and free bread. Although the coffee was terrible (I miss Portugal!) Finally, our hotel was 2m from Casa del Abuelo. Based on this thread, we decided to go visit, but charging 9 euros for a bunch of prawns deep fried in oil, no matter how fresh the prawns and tasty the garlic, is theft, especially considering Ginger was 100m away and served you a filling three course lunch with wine for that amount. Maybe the prawns were exceptional - I'll never know. There's also Casa del AbuelA, 10m away, with same prices and same menu, but distinctly less friendly atmosphere.

However I believe (from a friend currently working in the biology dpt) that they are still going strong, they simply use the back entrance and go through 4 security layers before they can get into their lab! I guess this would be somewhat inconvenient in a restaurant. I believe the law states that the police has a duty to protect citizens from crime and harassment?

A very generous company is paying for me to go to Dubai for a 3 day conference in mid-March. It comes with a free meal at the Asado. Other than that, I'm looking at good quality places of any region of the world (although I've yet to have good Lebanese and I love Moroccan cuisine), in the region of £10-20 a meal (which my currency convertor tells me is 72-145Dhs). I'm looking at lunch only, as dinner is (again) generously provided. Out of the previous recommendations on this thread for Lebanese and Moroccan, and the Thai place, which ones still stand? Which non-alcoholic beverages are recommended apart from that ubiquitous mint lemonade? Should I learn basic Arabic to communicate with the waiters? Finally, should I negociate prices with the vendors in the spice souks, and if so, at what price are they likely to start (e.g. twice the usual final value)? Thank you in advance!

Disgusting tactics from a group of terrorists that should be imprisoned (or at least forced to pay damages + legal costs). Do you think that it may be possible to have foie gras at MH if you ask the chef nicely? You know, a special "off the record" menu (like the Chef Pork Special at Jing Ling). I will send a letter of support to the chef, and next time I'm home I'll bring back a bagful of foie gras. Mmmm. As for ethical foie gras, I believe (from a quick wiki check) that some farms use rubber tubes rather than steel tubes, which is less damaging to the neck of the goose. Best of luck to Mr Clifford and his team, and at least the articles in the Telegraph and Independant should act as consolation (similar advertising on those pages is worth about £30,000!)

Following this thread's recommendation, I went to Sushi Hiro yesterday (it was the only one whose name I remembered!). Very easy to find - about half an hour on the Picadilly Line to Ealing Common, and then it's right in front of the exit. I thought it was closed at first, as the doors and windows are made of smoked glass and you can't tell whether light is coming from behind because it's busy. After half an hour of tube + 1.5 hours of train from Cambridge, we weren't just going to give up, gave the door a little push. The very polite and nice staff gave us a table for an hour (the restaurant was mostly reserved and it wasn't in front of the chef), and we ordered off the japanese with english translation menu. We went for the deluxe and standard nigiri platters, had an eel roll, and then the chef came back with crab legs, so we just had to have a crab roll It was my first sushi experience (had gone to Teri-Aki in Cambridge, and attempted to make my own sushi but it just wasn't the same). The Wasabi was real wasabi, in fact my first experience of real wasabi, complete with "whoops I've just put far too much wasabi on that piece of fish and my nose has just gone on fire". And without that horrible smell the green stuff in tubes smell like. I found the stuff very nice, the person I was with didn't ("not tasty enough"). The best part was watching the chef make the sushi in incredibly quick and precise movements. The stuff cost us about £25 in total, so good value for London. Photos: (deluxe platter had eel and scallop) Eel rolls (by the time I got to my phone, that's what was left) Crab rolls Well, I liked it. Not really able to give more of a review - I'm no sushi expert. Hope you liked the pictures...

Fail. Oh well. Better luck next year...

Sent. Fingers crossed...

We didn't have time to visit Guincho (what a shame as it looked fantastic) but did manage a lunch at 100 Maneiras! It was pretty good, and I recon the tasting menu at 60 euros would have been fantastic value. However we only had time for a quick main and dessert - we considered a starter, decided against, which was good because we came through the plane gate a minute before it closed! Also tried out various Portuguese places. We made the mistake of following the advice of the hotel receptionist for an evening dinner which was abysmal, worse than most of what the UK has thrown at the poor Frenchman expat that I am, especially for 40 euros! Simple was best, pastelarias are awesome. Photos and more detail to come once I sort out the transfer.

I'll be visiting Lisbon in a few weeks with a friend, and was wondering whether there were any noteworthy "experimental" cocktail places there, similar to say the Lab Bar in London, or simply a place that does classics well. I am very open minded, and I'd just like a relaxed and possibly exciting experience after dinner. My Portuguese is very bad. I'm a fan of very simple, short drinks (daiquiri, old fashioned, gin martini (quite wet ), a nice scotch on its own). I also like to try something new (e.g. replacing lime with passion fruit, thyme etc.) every so often. My friend prefers less powerfully flavoured, longer drinks (Tom/Pierre Collins) although she can be convinced to try a daiquiri. We would only be around for the weekend (and in Estoril for 2 weekdays). Any ideas, both for bars/restaurants and recommended drinks at those places? Thanks in advance!

Please go for it! I am unlikely to go to Lisbon again for a while, so intend to make the most of those two days! I'm sure your advice will benefit many other members in the future.

Thanks for the tip therese, I don't know how you find all these things! Is it from a guide, or personal recommendations? PauloR, thanks for the advice. How can I get to Guincho from Estoril? I only have one night to dine in Estoril (as the conference provides a gala dinner), and one in Lisbon (but two lunches). Fortaleza do Guincho is looking very tempting.

Fantastic, therese! I loved the photos. I must confess I did read through the first page of your thread earlier, but didn't bother continuing because of the lack of delicious food in pictures. Thanks for the pointer because it was worth it. I will read up a bit more about the various places available (including those you mentioned) and come back to this thread. My only experience of Portuguese food is from a place called Cafe Tejo near Victoria station in London, where I've had an amazing seafood salad (octopus actually, but I'm a sucker for octopus cooked properly), and generally very edible fish and potato whatever it's called. The pastries were interesting, but as you say, on the sweet and heavy side (and reminded me somewhat of baklava-type Moroccan pastries). I'd like to give them a bit of an ad here because the owners are the most lovely people in the world, so if you're in London and near Victoria, and looking for cheap good quality food... As for any locals who know Lisbon quite well, we will be staying in the Mercure hotel for a night (but probably not eating there) - any places close by? Does it matter that much, if the transport system is good? Breakfast - worth a trip to a local place, or shall we not bother and have the "international tasteless hotel breakfast"?

Hello all, I'll be staying 2 days in Lisbon and 2 in Estoril in October with a friend. [edited out because we have found a hotel] More importantly, we are also looking for any recommendations for places to eat in Lisbon! Looking through the other threads I am quite tempted by Eleven. We'll be using public transport as much as possible, so that's a criteria when choosing, but we'd like to try anything between cheap traditional cooking and Michelin-starred, nouvelle cuisine extravaganza. The important thing is that the food must be interesting, and we have an enjoyable night out - not so bothered about "the most amazing foams and gels ever", so long as it's fun and relaxed. Of course, the food budget is not limited unlike the hotel. We'd also appreciate any recommendations for lunch - again, anything from "lovely fish sandwiches shop" to "the set menu at that restaurant is worth a trip". Finally, we don't speak a word of Portuguese (other than the usual words of politeness). Will this be a problem in Portugal? Should we quickly go through a week-long Portuguese crash course? How many Portuguese speak French or English? (just in case) It's also out of decency for the locals - I always feel uncomfortable speaking English abroad. Thanks in advance!

First visit (a la carte): Bad service (shortly after opening though). Food was ok, nothing spectacular, dessert was disappointing and too small. Second visit (fixed dinner): Much better service, food was also more exciting. Still not enough of it, but I caught up on the bread (baked on the premises) and the dessert ("mocha" panna cotta) was very good, if again somewhat small. I'll definitely come back. They change the fixed menu every week...