FDE

I booked the same day for lunch. I called Monday morning and they were fully booked for lunch. I tried again on Tuesday morning (9am), and she said there're two tables available. I think there was still one empty table by the time I left at 2:30pm. For dinner, always book 2 mths in advance.

Had an average dinner there last year although Gordon was in the kitchen that night. We expected a bit more for ₤110 per head. We went back there for lunch last week, and this time, we enjoyed every course. Pressed Foie Gras with Sauternes reduction We also had a long conversation with the Executive Chef Mark afterward. Lunch is definitely good value for money! More here: www.finediningexplorer.com/ramsay

I made my booking the day before. It was for a Wednesday lunch though. Lecture Room – formal Gallery – casual

We went to Sketch for lunch last week. Pierre Gagnaire was there recording a TV show. The service was impeccable, way better than many Michelin 3-star restaurants. Lecture Room Library Considering its location in London, it is really a superb lunch deal, all these for ₤35! www.finediningexplorer.com/Sketch

Just visited Edsbacka and Operakallaren, but wow, Frantzén-Lindeberg sounds more interesting. I will definitely try it next month when I am back there again. Our meal at Edsbacka was lovely especially this “Ocean’s pleasure”: For Operakallaren, it was the slowest meal ever… the second course of our 7-course meal arrived 1.5hrs after we ordered, unbelievable!!! www.finediningexplorer.com/Rest_of_Europe

Thanks. Yes, almost every course had some sweetness to them: chestnut soup, honey dressing on crab, sweetcorn, honey wasabi with salmon, sweet caramelized crust for the foie, and even the onion puree for the pigeon. The foie ice cream before the main wasn't too rich mainly because it was chilled, actually kind of refreshing.

We finally went there last week and ordered the surprise menu. They probably improved from a few months ago as they now have a few off-the-menu items. The crab salad was superb, but the best course has to be the organic salmon, brilliant texture! www.finediningexplorer.com/Hibiscus. The whole meal was flawless, definitely one of the best meals we had in London.

I have to add my vote to Mugaritz. We also visited Mugaritz, Arzak, MB, and Akelare in 4 consecutive days, Mugaritz is by far the best, and MB was the most disappointing meal that week. www.finediningexplorer.com/Spain.

I took this photo at the corner of the dining area, right at bottom of the stairs to the mezzanine level. As you can see, it is not a big area at all… maybe about 2 more small tables on my left. Upper floor (mezzanine level) has only 2 tables with good space apart, definitely more private if that’s what you are looking for. We had our meal there few months ago. Here is their foie gras pie… hope it is still on their tasting menu. By the way, we enjoyed our meal here much more than at his master’s L’Arpege which we went the next day. The tasting menu there was double the price of L'Astrance!! www.finediningexplorer.com/Paris.

Welcome back Lorna! Glad to hear you ate well and look forward to viewing your pictures. From what you described, it sounds like you meant "Yung Kee" in Central. Right? ← The preserved egg at "Yung Kee" in Central is quite good. www.finediningexplorer.com/yungkee

Just got back from our Bordeaux/Perigord trip. Visited the Capital of Black Truffle, but not as impressive as expected. Had lots of foie gras during those few days, but this one in La Table was the best. Full report here: www.finediningexplorer.com/bordeaux

It was one of our best meals, but it was extremely expensive! This is one of their signatures for €140!!! Full report here: www.finediningexplorer.com/lambroisie

Got back from Hong Kong recently and tried a wide range of food -- from fish balls to shark’s fin. Those live seafood markets/restaurants are awesome. These jumbo-prawn-like creatures are particularly tasty: This is a bowl of USD$65 Shark’s fin soup! Full report here: www.finediningexplorer.com/HongKong

Don't worry... you didn't miss out much. We travelled East, West and North India and tried many tandoori places. To be honest, Bukhara does NOT stand out from the rest. It is famous probably because it's a hot spot for celebrities and presidents.

Just got back from India last week. Below is a quick report on Bukhara in New Delhi - rated as World's 37th Best Restaurant according to UK's Restaurant Magazine (Best in India). Here is one of their popular dishes. A whole lamb leg braised in cinnamon, black cumin, red chilli and grilled in Tandoor. Good food, but expensive even for non-locals -- each dish is about USD$35. For five of us, our total bill came to USD$265 on food and USD$100 on wine. Full report here: www.finediningexplorer.com/bukhara If you do go up north to Amritsar (near Pakistan border) to visit the Golden Temple, you must stop by Moti Mahal, a restaurant in Hotel Grand Legacy. It is one of the best curry restaurants in the region. www.grandlegacy.net

Just had our meal at Texture yesterday. All five of us enjoyed the meal, especially compared to our meal at Dorchester (Ducasse) a few weeks ago, which left us with a disappointing experience and a bill doubled yesterday’s… Here is one of my favourite dishes: Pigeon Full pictures here: www.finediningexplorer.com/texture.

We visited the Fat Duck again recently. It was our third time (pretty much once a year). I always thought going back to this kind of restaurants again would not be as good as previous times because you already knew all the surprises. I came back for the third time all because of this new creation: Sound of the Sea I first thought it was just a gimmick, but it turned out pretty well. More photos here: www.finediningexplorer.com/fatduck

Plafield, I have been to quite a few places in Europe, but in terms of lunch special, Guy Savoy offers a €100 lunch special menu with wine €10 per glass. Go to their site and you will see a pop-up window. You must specify when you make the booking. Also, Le Cinq has a light tasting menu during lunch for €120. In L’Astrance, they have a few lunch menu at various price (€70, €120, and €170). Here is one of my favourite dish in L’Astrance. Full links and photos here www.finediningexplorer.com/Paris. Take a look and see which one suits your style. Hope this helps.

I really should have listened to some of your opinions… Eight of us went there for dinner recently, and left with a big disappointment. We ordered the 7-course tasting menu, but they brought us only 3 sets of first course (a salad) to share among eight of us. This prawn course was the best of the evening. Other than that, the rest of the meal was pretty ordinary. Basically, it didn’t justify its price. More pictures here: www.finediningexplorer.com/london/ducasse.php

We went there last Friday for dinner. It was quiet though -- only four tables of 2 (including us) and one table of 4 by the time we left at 8:30pm. Upscale dining room but I really have to complain about their toilet as it became our dinner’s main topic of conservation. Both of our neighbour tables were talking about it too. Basically, you had to take this “slowest lift on earth” two floors down. I waited for more than 3 min for the lift along with the “lift operator” as she apologised repeatedly. Then she had to hold the lift to wait for me while I was in the toilet so that I wouldn’t need to wait for the lift again. I can imagine during busy time there would be a queue of people going up and another queue of people trying to go down. Anyway, a 2min toilet break turned to be more than 10min. Back to the dining room, our food had arrived but some of them already got cold. My dining companion, as well as our neighbour tables, thought I went home or something. Obviously, they fully understood the toilet issue after they visited it later themselves and it then became a topic of conversation among all of us! (Yes, 6 of us were talking about toilets while having dessert.) Back to food, it’s just another Japanese restaurant but with a more extensive menu. The menu is separated into various sections (Salad, Sashmi, Steam, Grill, Fried, Braised, Sushi, Rice, Noodle) and they expect you to order at least one item from each section as most dishes are tiny. Our food bill (exc. drinks and gratuity) already came to £90 for two of us even though we did NOT order any expensive item (e.g. £55 Wagyu rice for two, nor £70 white truffle Udon… Alan Yau must be quite confident after his success in Hakkasan and Yauatcha in order to charge this menu price.) In particular, the Chilean seabass and the pork rib pot were superb. Shiso soufflé with soya ice cream was brilliant!