PhilD

I agree with Ptipois the article is very simplistic and draws a conclusion from a simple correlation without really looking for any other factors. McDonalds, and local French fast food operations (and I include Paul in that) have been popular for a long time, it is probably more of a generational shift than economics. The young are adopting different lifestyles and have different pressures on their time. I also wonder about the stats - France is the "biggest earner" (Revenue? Profit?) Outside the US, but Japan has three times the number of restaurants (3,598) maybe not as profitable in percentage terms but they must generate more revenue. Are we seeing some selective stats from the journalist in order to justify an article and all those expenses incurred in sampling the declining restaurant scene in Paris? What you won't have seen at La Defense is that all the offices have staff restaurants where food is subsidised and probably 70/80% of people will eat. The quality isn't the best but they will generally serve a full three course meal with 3 or 4 choices per course. So the vast majority are still sitting down to "real " food at lunchtimes. I must refute your comment about service in restaurants. From my experience French service is very good. It is different to a lot of countries and, takes a little time to understand, and thus you may not have understood how to get the best out of it. The social norms and manners in France are different to the US in some subtle and important ways and this will effect your experience. There will be good and bad service experiences in any trip but I believe it is wrong to generalise and continue with stereotypes.

It seems the general consensus is to listen to those you respect, and probably rely on passionate bloggers more than the entertaining professionals in the nationals (Rayner being the exception). So last Wednesday Dos Hermandos, a reliable source, visit Avista the new Italian in Grosvenor Square. Hermano hated it. Today I read Andy Haylers review. He liked it (or at least the cooking). Interesting - I can only think it took a week or so for the place to settle in.

“My favorite Italian cuisine in London is PizzaExpress. That's where I eat with my family at weekends from time to time. That's where I'm teaching my children to eat properly in restaurants. For all the years I've been eating at PizzaExpress, it's probably the most consistent restaurant I've been to in my entire life.'' - Marcus Wareing ← Cancel the reservation at the River Cafe. Where is the nearest Pizza Express? He must be right he is a chef...! (PS my local McDonalds is also pretty consistent)

I sadly lacked the funds to visit many good restaurants. But wasn't the '80's the time when quite a few chefs were making names for themselves. MPW at Harveys, had Gordo opened Aubergine? (or was it early '90's), Simon Hopkinson at Bibendum, Koffman at La Tante Claire, and the River Cafe had opened. Does anyone remember any classics that came from them?

....after eating in a lot of British restaurants and watching Masterchef Professional it doesn't surprise me, and it probably explains a lot.

You forgot the gooseberry sauce - it makes the dish. I also remember it was the age of the wine bar, quiche and "interesting salads".

All cabs in Paris put the meter on from the point they are called, this happens if you, your hotel or a restaurant call them. Cabs are tricky to hail in Paris, and one of the reasons is that they can't/won't pick up from the street if they are near a cab rank. There are quite a lot of cab ranks around Paris, and good maps have them marked. Even if the rank has no cabs waiting they are usually the best place to stand to get a cab. One word of caution, drivers park their cabs overnight on the ranks so what looks like a full rank may simply be a line of parked cars...! I would recommend getting buses. They are fast and frequent (take the same tickets as a metro so buy a carnet) and of course you see a lot of the town. Many stops have electronic signboards that show when the next one will arrive (which are accurate). The RATP website can be useful for route planning - http://www.ratp.info/touristes/ When we went out for meals, especially on a Saturday when cabs seem to disappear, we found buses to be very reliable mode of transport.

You eat Dolphin in Florida? Where is Carl Hiaasen when you need him?

Giles Coren gives St Pancras Grand quite a glowing review in todays Times, whilst Jan Moir really pans it, and then Dos Hermandos quite like it. We tried Jamie Oliver's new Italian in Bath and were underwhelmed, yet the critics loved the first one in Oxford (Bath is the same format and menu). Whose advice should I follow?

Jamie Oliver has just opened his second "authentic italian" in Bath. We went last night and had a mixed experience which we will put down to teething problems during the first week. We are going to give it another go, but it needs to get a lot better even at this price point. Hopefully it does because it has the makings of a cheap place for some simple food. Generro (Jamie's mentor) was superviseing but the kitchen stumbled a few times. First a very heavily salted truffle pasta with a watery sauce, second a burnt bitter sausage swimming in polenta, and finally a carpaccio of beef made with Bresola rather than raw beef (are the punters scared of raw meat?) We had soldered on with the pasta rather than send it back, but the sausage did go back, and the manager said the carpaccio title was misleading (although he seemed to think carpaccio means "sliced thinly"). We did let the staff know about the problems and they seemed OK about the complaints. The sausage was replaced without to much fuss - although they did start to tell me it was simply what chargrilled was like. They promised to check the pasta cooking water, so it will be interesting to see if it improves, although I think there was poor cooking as well as the sauce was so thin. The one thing we will avoid is the wine. We tried four, the cheapest and most expensive) and all were dire. Not much fun to drink and a banging headache (reminiscent of student excess) the next day. One comment: the Oxford branch opened to universal approval from all the usual critics. Is the Bath branch less good, or is there something wrong with their critical skills? Anyone else tried the Bath, or the Oxford branch? (Kingston opens next then Brighton).

Quite a weird list. Anyone know what the criteria are. For example #36 Porthminster cafe is a fantastic location with good food, whilst #58 The Walnut Tree is very good food in quite an austere dining room. I love them both, but would go to The Walnut Tree for the food, but Porthminster for the views and a bottle of wine on the deck. Is it a list that gives as much weighting to the ambience etc as it does to the food? #3 is interesting - especially given the panning the FOH service received on the board over the last few days.

Tighter budgets will be one factor, but this may well be driven more strongly by the high profile campaigns by the likes of The Evening Standard (the local paper in Padstow?) to get restaurants to serve tap water, and how bottled water has featured in the "food miles" debate.

I noticed that Charlton House is advertising a new chef (didn't catch the name I was leafing through the paper at my local takeaway), the menu seems to have changed, and all mention of Elisha Carter has gone from the website. Anybody any insight? Who is the new chef? Will it be worth a trip?

I am told by my butcher (in the UK) that it is best to buy game a couple of weeks after the season begins as it is generally best to hang the meat for a little while to let it relax and soften. Maybe this is the reason the hotel hasn't started serving it yet. A question. Is the "game season" in France for all game or do different species have different seasons? In the UK Hare starts on 1st August, Grouse 12th August (The Glorious Twelfth), Partridge 1st September, and Pheasant 1st October.

Visited for Saturday lunch yesterday. The menu is great, there is a set lunch with two choices per course or al a carte, it is one of those menus where I could happily order every dish, and so choosing was a challenge. The amuse bouche was served as we sat down, cheesy bread with sesame seeds, and fried cannelloni filled with spinach and Parmesan. The freshly made bread, which followed, was good with a white roll that separated into slices and a very tasty multi-grain roll. We started with crab cakes served with a tomato salsa, and a parsnip pudding with girolles and walnuts. The crab got a little lost with the tomatoes but it was all crab with no potato filler. The parsnip pudding was like a twice-cooked soufflé and was very tasty, although the walnuts tended to dominate and masked the distinctive flavour of the girolles. For mains we had a wild duck with morels and a selection of pork – loin, belly, confit and black pudding. Both dishes were lovely, very well flavoured, precise cooking but with a rustic edge. We followed with the cheese board which is served to share, five good sizes portions, of Gorgonzola, Reblochon, Etorki, Saint- Marcellin and Cerney served with walnut bread and a good selection of biscuits. The cheeses were all in tip top condition apart from the Saint-Marcellin that had gone past its best. We finished with the liquorice parfait, with poached pear and lemon/honey sauce/marmalade. Perfect. We drank a decent bottle of Gigonadas (£28) from a good list, had a glass of house Shiraz and finished with coffee. The total bill was £107.50 excluding service. Overall it was a really enjoyable meal. If this were local to me I would eat here on a regular basis, but it’s probably not really worth the long drive to get there. For a weekend Abergavveny would be good – The Hardwick for a more casual Friday dinner, followed by The Walnut Tree for a slightly more up market Saturday night out.

Yup. ← Hotel restaurant economics are different from high street restaurant economics. The Renaissance Hotel "needs" a good restaurant to position as a luxury hotel, and as one of Marriott's premium brands it needs a quality restaurant to differentiate itself from others brands in the group. Thus I suspect Pearl is safe.

I thought it had closed already - I stayed in Grosvenor Square in August and they were re-formating the restaurant - new name, new decor etc.

Disapointing news - we had enjoyed a great lunch there a couple of years ago. Its relaxed casual style was perfect - sounds like it has gone.

I am trying to decide on a suitable venue for a birthday meal with my family including my father who is in his '80's. Earlier this year we went to Claridges and enjoyed the Sunday lunch set menu at £33 (I think). Overall excellent value for the service and venue, and quite good value for the food. So it ticked all the boxes for a good value treat. We are looking for something similar. Good value food, coupled with grandeur and style. What would you recommend?

I would assume punters will be focussed on value for money. All those places that deliver sub-standard food for high prices will either adjust their pricing or fail. My take is that demand exceeded supply in the UK so restaurants that charged the "market rate" for a meal i.e. £20 for a main without taking into account the value, will struggle. I actually disagree about the top end suffering as this is "destination dining" for special occasions or frequented by those who are recession proof. My guess is that it will be in the mid-rank market where we see the most casualties, as this is where the real discretionary spending is. If I am cutting back I want to know I am getting good food well priced, I won't take as many risks as I would do if I was eating out 2 or 3 times a week (so this week it is a long trip to the walnut Tree rather than a risky local). We went through a mini recession in Sydney post the Olympics and we saw restaurants drop their price points and reformat menus to focus on value. Those that did this well are still here. Those that didn't crashed. The up-selling, charging for bread and sides will definitely drive people away. Simply charging more will erode the customer base more quickly, they may extract more GP per diner but it will be off a far lower base and thus be a lower GP.

Tony - we ate at Bell's Diner on Saturday night. It is superb. Very strong cooking from Chris Wicks, good classic dishes with little modern twists that lift them. Every dish we had was brilliant, probably the best meal I have had in the UK since I moved here 18 months ago, on par with a good French one star. Montpellier isn't a great area of Bristol, but the restaurant nicely decorated and very comfortable. The whole FOH team is great; professional in a laid back, very friendly, way. They looked like they enjoyed working there - rare in UK restaurants!

Bell's Diner in Bristol - really goood cooking from Chris Wicks. One of the better meals I have enjoyed in the UK (including many in starred establishments)

I thought they were trapped rather than shot. I also though the grey ones are classified as a pest so farming would be odd (are red ones protected?). On Radio 4's farming today they had a feature on a butcher in Northumberland that was seeing an increasing trade in them. They trap them using "a large American hazelnut" as bait. They also interviewed a chef (didn't catch the name) who had to have them couriered up from Cornwall (to London I assume) for a newspaper cooking feature. It is also quite easy to buy a squirrel trap so you could trap your own - however they are generally sold to remove garden pests rather than for harvesting your own food.

In the boom times bad restaurants started to charge similar prices to good ones, demand outstripped supply and lots of restauranteurs exploited us poor diners. Good value restaurants (those generally recommended here) will probably stand the test of time and survive with a loyal clientele. Those which fail to provide good value in terms of quality and price will fall by the wayside, or rapidly adjust their price points to reflect the value they deliver - simply supply and demand economics. IMO a much needed correction. We (personally) are probably eating out less than we have in the past, but that isn't economics it is simply that we are getting pissed off with the rip offs and lack of value. I prefer to be more selective rather than leave a place feeling exploited. I remember when restaurants in Sydney went through this a few years ago. Prices had risen a lot and price was no longer a reflection of quality. The market did correct with new restaurants pitching at lower price points for simpler, better quality food. I am certain Paris will go through the same process, the good will survive, the complacent will hopefully get a wake-up call and the bad will go. We can also hope that some of the three stars get a dose of reality. Their priceing is simply a rip off - it says something when it is cheaper to eat in London...!

Mmmm....have you been recently? IMO - It really isn't very good at all, safe, boring and predictable, I find the food bland and not at all like any place I have visited in Asia. I understand it was far better when Alan Yau first started it all those years ago, but since he sold it it has become a place that provides cheap food for students.