Iestyn

Fair comment

Well, having eaten there now I may as well add my tuppence worth, mainly I agree with Howard above, it was interesting but is not going to convert me, and the two vegetarians in my party are also unlikely to return. I also agree with Tony H that the amuse could have used a kick of vodka! I started with the creme brulee which I enjoyed, good texture, but very sweet, and on the side some paprika biscuits which were unpleasant and added nothing, for mains I had a ribblesdale pudding, essentially a souffle, which was very good with a perfectly cooked duck egg and on a bed of smoked potato, the smokiness definitely adding something, but again there was one element too many in a side of pineapple pickle. There's no real excuse for vegetarian desserts not to be good, as aside from gelatine their not missing anything, I ordered a burnt pastry mille feuille, their description not mine so I can't say I wasn't warned, but deliberately burning the pastry was not a good thing. Wine list is small but good value- an 05 oz semillon for £20 did us nicely, but the overall bill was £40 a head, quite a lot for what your getting. Overall, there is good cooking here, but there is a tendency to over sweetness and to add one element too many and as its been going so long in York then in London for a while now, thats unlikely to change so I can't say I'd return, that said I'm suprised my vegetarian friends also said they were unlikely to return.

Funny how this has surfaced now, I've never been but am going this week with a vegetarian friend, and I specifically chose it as remembered quite a lot of good reviews. This thread had me worried but a quick check turned up an admittedly mixed bunch of reviews, but mostly very positive. Out of fairness to the restaurant, whilst emphasising I'm yet to try it myself I feel obliged to point out Jay's review is hardly what I would call "brave but flawed".

Yes, thanks again for the tips way up-thread. I bought the 08 (current at time) Italian version on the basis that the English was out of date. I speak no Italian, but everything in there is a recommendation, recomended dishes are in italics and its perfectly easy to use. I thought it was a great guide a great guide, so I'd say to anyone looking at this thread for a rec, get the current Italian version rather than the out of date English one.

I haven't eaten in any of the places in westfield but, ..., i don't know, maybe its because I'm not a Londer, but in my local town, where I pretty much considered i lived albeit on the outskirts, the one place where it was worth eating (a 1 in the Good Food Guide, and we were mighty glad...), was 30 minutes walk or a taxi away... basically I am acknowledging that not everyone on here will agree with my definition of nearby, but within 30 minutes, probably less, Azou is a fantastic North African. Closer, within 15 minutes, is Adam's cafe, another North African. I think Azou edges the food, but Adam's is closer and has £3 corkage or very underpriced Musar if your disorganised. Azou is better though, and perfectly palatable tunisian wine is not exactly expensive there either...

I've seen this thread surface repeatedly, and vaguely noted the rave reviews but no more than that as I'm never likely to be in the area. However, I noticed that there is a new(I think- haven't been there for a while) place on Charring Cross Rd called Red & Hot which is Schezuan with sister restaurants in Manchester and Birmingham. Given the reviews on here if its a sister restaurant it'll be straight to the top of my to do list, but I just wanted to check if it is, as its called Red & Hot, not Red Chilli as per the title. Anyone know? Thanks. Apologies- having re-read the thread, I see Red Chili is an entirely different place as it is in Manchester and Leeds, not Manchester and Birmingham. So do any of you Northeners have a view on Red & Hot?

According to the good food guide, there's been a chef change at le gallois. Anyone know what its like since that? I went back to Ba Orient again a few weeks back, it really is very good dim sum and its quite stylish so worth thinking about.

I don't get it, its had pretty good reviews so why be sarcastic, equally clearly its not the cause of genuine excitement. The only pity is, that I can think of countless cities in the UK that would probably benefit from this opening, but London isn't one of them.

Did a search for chamonix and this seemed to be the most recent thread, so does anyone have any more recent updates. On this holiday I am more in the market for good value, well prepared hearty fare than high end. All reccomendations appreciated.

And returning to the question, assuming there were reasons for narrowing it down, I've never eaten at Prism, but have eaten perfectly well at the 1 Lombard Street Brasserie.

I used to love the India Club, but only because I thought it was good fun. Objectively the food is pretty poor. Am also not a fan of Moti Mahal, I think its trying very hard but the flavours are muted and the service is stuffy. Mela (Shaftesbury Avenue) and Chowki (Piccadilly Circus) are owned by the same people and suprisingly high quality. You were a bit unlucky with Mela I think, usually they are too fast not too slow. There is also Imli in Soho, though its pretty much as far as Red Fort I would say, and not as good. A good option would be Masala Zone in Covent Garden, I know its a chain but I find it to be a pretty good one.

I like Hayler, for what its worth, probably very little but thought I should counter. I have said on here before but will repeat myself, I've always been a big fan of the observation that used to feature at the front of the Hugh Johnson pocket wine guide- find a critic whos palate matches your own and stick with him/her (my own personal addition is that you can do as well by knowing the areas you disagree with them in, but it still comes down to knowing their taste). So for Roger, he'll rightly ignore or actively take against restaurants well reviewed by Hayler. However, Andy Hayler has a pretty extensive range of reviews online, why not just cross reference your experiences against places he's reviewed and see if your in tune with him.

I assumed the Simply/Le Poussin thing was a typo, as the address given (I think) is for Le poussin. Have only been to either for lunch, liked Le Poussin, slightly generic 1*, but done very well so nothing wrong with that. At lunch Simply cost almost as much, had lesser ingredients and the couple of times I went execution was variable. Am slightly irritated at myself that I bothered to sit there and read the list. I know its already been pointed out that we don't know the criteria and so on, but, the lack of consistency with their other list really annoyed me- how can the top ranking british restaurants in the same publications top 100 worldwide list not automatically come in in order when they do a uk list. If your going to be wrong, be consistently wrong...

Its getting a bit ignored and forgotten about now Upper Street is so chain dominated, but I'm still a fan of Tinderbox on Islington Upper Street. But of you are so focused on freshly roasted beans then I'd have thought Monmouth on Monmouth Street would be the place for you.

Haven't tried Green and Red, but have tried Wahaca, I thought it was good, but a bit safe and overall underwhelming, more details on my blog but it was a while back in January, so haven't linked to it. Recently went to Mestizo, and your question prompted me to get my write up done, its rather large, but thats because I was very ambivalent, see here . In a nutshell though, the service was the worst I have ever had, the wine and cocktails were terrible, as was the dessert, but some of the food, especially the mole was very good.