PhilD
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Posts posted by PhilD
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I do feel I am so very out of step with most people regarding LCS that I need to revisit. I have a nagging concern that the food was obscured by the dire service, poor ambiance in the room (brighter lighting than a Cantonese restaurant), and the frosty welcome from Helen. Maybe FOH really was having an off night, given how many people rave about Helen's hospitality.
I am going to open negotiations with the CFO/Chauffeur for a return trip
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Hi all, I will be heading over to San Sebastian in August for the first time and I really want to try either Arzak or Mugaritz (Its one or the other), I was pretty much set on Arzak before I started doing research and found some very mixed reviews. Mugaritz, on the other hand, seemed to be more positive on the whole, even though there were still mixed reviews. I just have a couple of questions
1) Is it hard to get a reservation at Mugaritz? Assuming I have a party of four, how far in advance should I try to make a reservation?
2) Can someone clarify the menu for me? From my understanding there are 2 prix fixe menus, SUSTRAIAK and NATURAN, both consist of four main dishes, and I assume there will be several amuses?
We last visited in August and booked about a month ahead for lunch, there seemed to be some spare tables so lunch bookings may not be that tricky - can't comment on diner.
On both my visits we had the Naturan with an added cheese course. As you can see from the photos on my previous post this has about 14 courses including the amuse.
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My thoughts:
- Wishart gets a second
- Hibiscus remains a one - my experience sounds like Tony's
- Foliage gets a second
- LCS drops one
- Bath Priory loses its star as Horridge is going and Caines takes over in February
- The Walnut Tree in Abergavveny gets one recognising Shaun Hill
- Bell's Diner in Bristol gets a one star rising recognising Chris Wicks solid cooking
- The Wheatsheaf in Combe Hay fails to rise (is was a rising one star in '08)
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I suspect I need to clarify what I meant. I wasn't doing a direct comparison between Wishart and the Star, as I fully appreciate they are very different styles. I was contrasting them based on their similar level of Michelin attainment, Wishart being a very good one star, and IMO The Star being a marginal one star (If I was being really controversial I would go as far as to question whether Michelin drop their standards to allow the UK to get a respectable number of entries.
) I do recognise it is tricky to compare a pub against a true restaurant, but I was basing my view on the quality of the food on the plate and I really felt The Star, whilst good, missed in a few areas, the starter is a good example.
I have got to disagree with both Gary and Food1 about Michelin. First do they really rate Pubs and Restaurants seperately? If so it is the first I have heard of it. I had understood that they rated all restaurants/pubs etc using the same criteria. I makes a nonsense of the system if you need to factor in the type of establishment (after all it is what is one the plate that counts the most).
Second, I am not certain any allowance should be made for the type of restaurant. I want very high standards of execution in a cafe, a pub, and a traditional restaurant. The type of food, and the way it is presented will vary, but the underlying quality and execution should be constant i.e. I don't expect a restaurant to serve a decent pint, nor a pub to have an extensive wine list.....but I do expect a pub to have perfect beer, and restaurants to know their wine and serve it correctly.
I do agree that The Star is good at what it does, it is a good local restaurant (to me up to an hours journey), and if I lived in the vicinity I would be a frequent visitor. But, I don't think it is a destination restaurant, we chose our route to Edinburgh (from Bath) to eat there, and felt it probably wasn't really worth the diversion.
I love a roast, and cook a mean one myself. But one if my pet frustrations with UK pub/restaurants is the way the normal menu disapears on a Sunday to be replaced by a roast and a few other dishes. I love a good long lunch and I love to see what a restaurant can do, Sundays are perfect to do this. I have heard the arguments that "it is what the public demands" (which I suspect is a self reinforcing proposition) and the "Chef won't be in the kitchen on Sunday" and they are no doubt true. But to me it is a shame as other countries seem to do Sunday lunch so much better that we do in the UK.
The roasts at The Star are very, very good and I wasn't complaining about what was on the plate. I was simply wondering whether Sunday is a good day to go as the menu seemed to be mainly roasts of one sort or another. Thus, did I really see it in its full glory, or was my experience compromised because it was "roast day"? Is it better to have midweek or Friday/Saturday dinner rather than squeeze in for last orders at 6:00PM on a Sunday.
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Man - looking at the list on the website I believe it was the 2005 DOC Valpolicella Superiore, Ripasso, Stefano Accordini.
Here are some photos of the meal:
First amuse bouche:
Second amuse bouche:
Lobster ravioli starter:
Game pie main course:
Cheese plate:
Pineapple soufflé and granita:
Rhubarb medley:
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That is a great idea, especially if you can grab some of his great charcuterie - a small starter for a hungry man:
I have very fond memories of turning up for a weekday lunch with a friend from England, as we waited on the pavement Yves appeared with two glasses and a bottle of wine to help us survive the ten minute wait. Needless to say we had an excellent and very long lunch.
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Definitely one of our better meals in the UK during 2008, we visited for lunch between Christmas and New Year. We opted for the lunch menu at £24, which gave a few options per course. Contrary to others’ opinions I quite liked the décor in the room, and felt the earthy tones worked well together – simple and quite stylish.
To start we were served a selection of amuse bouches – a small ball of haggis, a breaded and fried olive, a small leek tart, a parmesan cheese choux bun and a pumpkin sorbet. All very good, but the leek tart was a knock-out with amazing pastry and flavour. They followed this with a second amuse of a foie gras crème caramel with apple, another really good dish.
We both chose the same starter and main. To start we had lobster ravioli, which my partner loved and I thought was OK, although the sauce had a good intense flavour. The main course was a game pie on mushrooms with cabbage and a rich jus. The pie was a little like a solid pork pie in texture, with the game minced together, however that didn’t detract from the flavour and it was a very, very enjoyable dish. We then shared a good cheese plate with some interesting French and Scottish selections; the cheese board is good and compared well to the one at Le Cinq in Paris where we had eaten just before Christmas. I chose a rhubarb based dessert and my partner had pineapple soufflé with sorbet/granite, which she wolfed down. The rhubarb dish had good flavour but was overly elaborate with a sugar spiral, a soft jelly, space rocks etc. To finish we had a good coffee and some fine petit fours.
Service was very attentive, and at times quite humorous, which made it a good fun lunch. I found it interesting that some of the previous posters felt portions sizes are small. We also thought there was lack of generosity with the meal. It is hard to pin down why we felt that: the meal in itself is fantastic value for £24, the portion sizes were fine, and the two amuse bouches were substantive and excellent. But it was little things that set a strange tone; the way the cheese board was handled is a good example. We had ordered cheese for two, but were unsure when it was served if it was for one or two (we were charged for one) and felt strangely intimidated about asking if we had been given a single serve or two portions on one plate. I think my partner joked that they should leave the board and she would finish it off, but she got the serious reply that she was only allowed six cheeses in a selection. The service of the petite fours was similar; a large slate with a good number of four types is presented for us to choose a couple each, at £4.45 for a small coffee, why not one of each? At this price you expect more – even Ramsay at Claridges is far more generous
Total bill was £178 (without service), £48 for two set meals, £11.50 for one cheese plate, and £9.90 for two coffees (and a few petit fours). Two glasses of champagne were £25, a great bottle of 2001 Auxey Duresses was £43, and a very nice bottle of 2005 Ripasso (Valpolicella) was £40, the sommelier did a very good job recommending the Ripasso to go with the cheese which worked very well indeed.
We didn’t leave hungry, we had a superb meal (and would definitely return) with great cooking and overall very good service, but still with a lingering question mark over the restaurants generosity. I am afraid it is not an uncommon feeling we get in UK restaurants, quite a contrast to the weekend we enjoyed in Paris before Christmas where restaurant seemed generous and showed real hospitality.
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sorry to perhaps go astray from the current mugaritz v. mb trend as of late...
car or no car? i think we will opt for public transit unless we decide on a day trip to the countryside (i.e. biarritz, or to vineyards), as our trip is short - less than a week.
On our last trip we used public transport, the train between Biaritz and SS is quite quick (no more than an hour), and I think the train to Bilbao is equally good. We got a taxi to Mugaritz which wasn't that expensive. On previous trips we had our car with us and didn't really use it - far to much eating and drinking to be done in the towns of Bilbao, SS and Biarritz (and a few good galleries...!).
Is the SS region good for vineyards or do you need to head over the hills to Haro and the Rioja region? If you do you will need a car.
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We stopped in on the way through Leeds. It is a very impressive building and looks like it could be the basis for a very, very good food operation. It was a bit tricky to find as it is in the "Corn Exchange" so asking locals for directions to The Piazza wasn't that successful - I recomend a visit.
We didn't want to eat so went for a coffee and a cake. Our experience illustrates one of the challenges of running a large place like this i.e. getting quality staff. We had hoped for a good coffee given the impressive set-up and obvious care that has gone into the place. However, as usual the milk was overheated, the ratio of milk to coffee was wrong, and far too foamy i.e. not correctly textured. The muffins look truly impressive but the server at the counter had no idea what was in them (important as I have a walnut allergy) which was a little disappointing and meant we didn't try them.
We wandered around the shops after coffee: the cheese room looks good although quite empty (hopefully a good sign that the good people of Leeds ate a lot of cheese at Christmas): the chocolate and fudge section had some really interesting flavours including curry and cumin (the cumin fudge was good): even though it was a Sunday a baker was working hard to turn out some fresh foccacia and Anthony was hard at work making more muffins, they are really innovative including a spotted dick and custard one. I imagine the restaurant and bar area works really well on a busy lunchtime or evening, it looks pretty stylish.
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We made it to The Star on the Sunday between Christmas and New Year, a stop-over on the way up to Edinburgh.
We headed for the old bar, but were shown through to the new cocktail bar which is between the old and new dining rooms. The old and new does work well together, we started in the old dining room, but moved to the new one for dessert as the old one was far too hot. We thought the new room suited the food slightly better than the old room, in some respects the food has a little finesse that the new dining room complements. Nothing wrong wit the old room, but it was intriguing to see how the environment altered our perception of the food.
Overall we thought the cooking was OK, not really a destination restaurant but good to have as a local (which is I suppose is the definition of a Michelin one star). It is quite worrying that it has such a good reputation, but I fear that is more about the dire state of cooking across the UK rather than the intrinsic quality of the cooking at The Star.
I started with the signature dish of black pudding and foie gras. A good concept, but not that well executed, I thought the dish was out of balance with too much black pudding and not enough foie. The pudding was slightly dry, possibly over-grilled, and neither the foie gras nor the caramelised apple giving enough moisture to balance the dish (Note: the breakfast black pudding at the The Crown Hotel in Helmsley was better the next day). For mains I had a roast goose dish, and my partner had an enormous stack of roast pork. Not certain if Sunday is the day of roasts but the menu seemed to be dominated by them. Both dishes are good, and we really enjoyed them - but I am afraid really only a good Championship performance not Premier league stuff.
The dessert tasting plate is large and quite interesting, with a good selection of puddings. The stand-out was the Parkin with Rhubarb ice cream.
Service was fine, at times a bit too fast, with only a slight pause between starter and main, and we were asked to order desserts at least three times. We understand that last orders are at 6:00 PM but a quality restaurant shouldn't make punters feel rushed.
Overall we were slightly disappointed, as we had been really looking forward to our meal. Did we miss out because we visited on a Sunday? Were standards dropped over the holidays?
By comparison a few days later we had lunch at Martin Wishart in Edinburgh, also a one star Michelin, overall a vastly superior meal, with amazing cooking. On this showing Wishart is overdue a second star. It is intriguing to see Michelin rank both as one stars.
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Just noticed this on "The Beeb" website. Very interesting. The phrase "you've come a long way, baby" comes to mind.
It is quite sad that this really merits a news article, the usual media misogyny and cultural stereotyping in action. I have been reading Andy Hayler's blog for a few years and noted how highly he rated a lot of the German Michelin starred restaurants very highly (he has just completed his quest to eat in every 3* across the world). Clearly it is time to plan a trip to Germany.
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I enjoyed a fine version of Lievre a la royale at Le Comptoir on Sunday, it was €37 probably the most expensive item on the menu.
It was interesting to re-visit Le Comptoir, it seems to have fallen from favour but our weekend lunch experience was very good. Each dish was well cooked with great quality ingredients. I think it is over hyped which tends to create a bit of a back-lash, however I much preferred it to my dinner at Le Regalade a few days earlier. Food only OK, service appalling - it felt like Doucet was trying to ram as many punters through as quickly as possible. It felt like a production line.
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Thats the one! I realise this has probably been asked a ton of times but are there ANY Michelin standard restaurants to be had in Paris, whereby one can eat for the equvelient of £50- £60 sterling, per head?
I don't know what you mean by a "Michelin standard" restaurant but the one-star Ze Kitchen Galerie is (as I said before) about 100 Euros per couple with wine and coffee.
My guess is that you will only do this at lunchtime unless they now do the menu in the evening. On both my visits it was ALC and the price climbs.
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We managed to get a cancellation for lunch last Friday. I had eaten at Spring in early '07 and so I was interested to see how it would compare to my memory.
I am glad to say we had a really good meal, the food is very good and Daniel's great personality makes it a fun experience. We shall definitely return and look forward to the new restaurant and expanded team.
We started with a red mullet served in/on an intense chicken stock with diced vegetables including radishes, and bitter greens. The fish was crispy and perfectly cooked, and the stock had a really interesting flavour.
Our main course was a duck breast, cooked sous vide? it had a really interesting texture almost like first class veal, it was served an intense jus, and amazing potato puree with spinach (I think) and a small quenelle of rough pate like meat which was very dense and unctuous.
Desert, was caramelised pineapple, with a mango and passion-fruit sauce and a sorbet (can't recall the flavour). A very refreshing end to the meal, or was until the walnut cookies and deeply bitter hot chocolate arrived and finished us off completely.
Bill for two was €142, €70 for the food and the rest on booze - a couple of champagnes, a bottle of Irancy, some Macvin de Jura, and a couple of coffees. Overall pretty good value especially compared to some of the other restaurants we tried over the weekend, although with the £/€ almost at parity it makes London seem cheap...!
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for main i had a 'posh' ham and pheasant pie with sherried cream, as well as probably being the worlds most expensive pie at £18 it was luckily one of the nicest,
We are booked in over Christmas on our way up to Scotland and I am really looking forward to it.
We had lunch at Le Cinq in Paris on Friday and they may take the crown for the most expensive pie "Pithivier de Gibiers" is on their €85 three course menu. It was fantastic....but I am hoping the Yorkshire pie bests it...!
Any other must haves on the menu - the foie and black pudding also sounds great.
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We'll be visiting Paris between the 29th of December and the 5th of January - where should we eat during that time? Are there many places still open?
We're looking for cheap, interesting stuff that we can't find in London rather than full-blown, Les Ambassadeurs/Arpege/Grand Vefour-style super-cuisine. Maybe 20 euros pp per meal max. Any cuisine from anywhere, from Lyon traditional fare to cool new things with sushi. And of course decent cocktail bars, but I'll be checking the martini thread for that.
However, we will aim to have one extremely good set lunch at one of the multi-stars. If you could only have one set lunch in Paris, and you had just under 2 weeks to book it, where would you go? Food is the only criteria. We're happy to be sardines for a night.
I've visited the other cheap good places thread and am checking the various restaurants but they don't often have a website, so any info would be much appreciated! (it will save me a few phones calls)
Thank you in advance.
R.
Roger I fear you budget will be limiting. We are heading over tomorrow so will report back on prices but I think at least €35 pp is a good target in the mid range. It is quite frightening given the €/£ exchange rate - it makes London seem like a bargain.
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didn't bother with dessert as we were keeping it light so just a coffee each........so for 4.5 pints, 2 coffees, 2 starters, 2 mains & 10% service it was £52, very good value.
I love the concept of a light meal that includes 4.5 pints....total class.
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Jacques Chirac, wife daughters and the odd husband enjoying lunch at La Veranda. A restaurant owned by an Englishman and (then) recently slated by the French media - clearly a man who makes his own mind up.
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Nothing?
Calum - Does it need to be Cardiff...?
Abergavenny isn't that far away and it is home to two great chefs: Shaun Hill at the Walnut Tree and Stephen Terry at The Hardwick. I think the Walnut tree has rooms, if not there will be plenty of cheap options in town.
I enjoyed my meals at both (after a trek from Bath). Stephen is slightly more "pubby (in a cheffy way) whilst Shaun is slightly more cheffy (in a pubby way). Go to The Hardwick for lunch then a long dinner at The Walnut Tree. Bliss.
In the past my research on Cardiff has only turned up luke warm recommendations so I stuck with Abergavenny.
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Thanks! I was looking for this following the very good "France on a Plate" programme that featured clips from it.
I also enjoyed "France on a Plate". Does anyone know much about it?
It seemed to come out of nowhere. I liked the presenter (nice to see he could speak French) and learned quite a lot. I was hoping it was a series. Maybe a pilot program?
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Well put. I never like the binary argument of traditional versus innovative, I see that there is a need, and room for a very broad range of cooking styles. When I think two of the best meals I have enjoyed I find it hard to choose between L'Auberge de L'ill and the Fat Duck. Both superb for very different and contrasting reasons. Life is so much richer for the variety.
I would argue very strongly that innovation is not a very dated phenomena, in fact I would argue that one of the problems with a lot of French cooking is the lack of innovation especially in the middle ground of cooking in cities like Paris. Is French gastronomy constrained by an inate conservatism, the sense of heritage and tradition? In Spain I see a great balance between respect for tradition and the celebration of modern innovative cooking which results in a very healthy, vibrant food culture. Do the French dining public constrain the ambitions of the truly talented and therefore snuff out the passion in young chefs?
I love France for this traditionalism and the respect for historic food culture, I love the small markets and the strict controls of production, I love classic bistros and brasseries. But is this the love of France the "museum" rather than France the vibrant, innovative nation? It is an interesting paradox that French technology is world beating in many areas, but food must be traditional.
I also disagree with Robyn's conclusion that innovative cooks are not masters of solid technique. From my experience of restaurants like Mugaritz, El Bulli, The Fat Duck and Maze, these chefs have a very strong grasp of classic techniques on which they build their innovation. A lot of the techniques these types of chefs use are extrapolations of classic techniques. They may be using different ingredients to stabilise sauces or create gels but this is only possible because the chef has a deep understanding of how all of the ingredients work together.
Maybe I have been lucky but I have never felt I had to "study to enjoy my diner". my experience has been quite the opposite, the innovative chefs have usually produced whimsical and amusing food that is designed to bring elements of surprise and fun into the meal.
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Come on everybody, wheres all the great advice/ tips to eat in Paris?!!!
Have you researched the board? Your enquiry is quite general in nature and has been answered lots of times before, you may find more targeted/explicit questions get a better response.
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I was thinking the same thing. I didn't see anything this year about Beaujolais Nouveau, no "dossiers" about where to go, no signs announcing the arrival.
Funny — I met Jérôme Moreau at Le Grand Tasting last Saturday; he immediately opened a bottle of BN and poured me a glass. From anyone else I think I'd have shrunk away... But when this man says "drink", you drink. That beaujolais nouveau was perfectly drinkable. It was really wine. Wonder why they're being so discrete about it. Not enough overripe banana? Not enough Haribo strawberry perhaps? There was a hint of candy, but good candy: Framboises de La Vosgienne, the little rasperry candy one used to find at automatic vendor machines in the métro, or pâtes de fruits à la framboise. Really nice this year. I suppose it also depends on the producer.
I generally agree that most nouveau is better used as toilet cleaner rather than drunk. However, I find that Fish and its wine shop Le Dernier Gout usually have an interesting bio-dynamic version. Sorry I can't reall the name of the producer but it hasn't been too bad in previous years ('06 and '07).
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My experience of eating in France has only be gained over the last four or five years thus I don't have any memory of how good it used to be. I may have been lucky but I tend to find I choose good restaurants (across all types/prices) approx 80% of the time in France versus a hit rate of maybe 30 to 40% in many other countries - even when using similar selection methods.
In essence I feel that the median level of cooking in France is still higher than many countries. Other countries are getting better and so it becoming easier to find good food, but remember they are coming off a very low base. As a result a few good restaurants get lionised and great trends are predicted (but we are still waiting).
The UK is a prime example: a massive increase in food literacy; lots of feted restaurants (and a few very good ones); and critics heralding the dawn of a new era. However, the reality is that outside London you need to travel a long way for good food, and need to be very wary of places with good reputations. Even London is patchy, much better than it was, but still lots of room for improvement.
One observation I would make is that the reasons cited for the decline in standards in France are exactly the same as are cited for the decline in standards in other countries i.e. lots of young British chefs are simply chasing Michelin stars and have not served apprenticeships to learn the basics.
Bocca di Lupo
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
Two contrasting reviews came out today. Andy Hayler gives it an OK review, whilst Coren thinks it is the best thing ever.