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 I bought the 08 (current at time) Italian version on the basis that the English was out of date.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a great guide, so I'd say to anyone looking at this thread for a rec, get the current Italian version rather than the out of date English one.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.

Have plumped for buying a copy of Osterie at a lovely Italian book store, previously unknown to me, to any Londoners reading the thread, its on Cecil Court of Charring Cross Rd, they also had Gamberro Rosso Espresso, and one called Panorama. A tiny bit pricier than ordering online, but you get it straight away and the people in the shop seemed very nice. I like the look of the jeune restaureteurs, will bear in mind for future reference, so thanks everyone for your help.

Thanks for your answers. I've seen Gambero Rosso mentioned elsewhere on here. I gather its only in Italian. Do people who own it think it would be readily decipherable to a non Italian speaker, eg, lots of symbols. It looks like I'd have to order it from them direct if I wanted it in advance of going to Italy.

I am aware there's a wide spread perception that the Michelin guide is not great for Italy. Without wanting to enter that debate (because I obviously don't know), I'd like to know what guidebooks e-gulleters recommend. I am heading to Italy this autumn, because I've never been in a food context (to Rome to to watch Rugby, to Sardinia to dive, but I ate well in Sardinia), don't know where I'm going, as my first time I suspect either Tuscany or Piedmont, but the food guide might swing it. I'd just be interested to know, that if Michelin is not well regarded there, what is. I don't have much faith in the restaurant sections of normal travel guides, and just wondered if there was an Italian equivalent to Michelin/Gault Millau that I didn't know about. I'd be eating at places that would be Bib standard in France, and maybe 1* standard once. Ok, I know there will be people who say just search the board, I find the boards great to browse over a long term and build up a view, but I haven't done that with Italy, or to search for a specific restaurant you know the name of but I struggle to come up with searches to provide this kind of information, and besides, like reading food guides!

I was In Hay last week and popped in here for lunch. Sorry this is a bit lacking detail, I just wrote a review and lost it by pressing the wrong key, Its too frustrating to start again, and also, as I mentioned in the deleted write up, as I knew I wouldn't blog it, I don't have decent notes. Essentially: It was cool to see Mr Hill in the kitchen and occasionally popping into the bar. There was an amouse whcih was essentially like a very good lebanese pastry, grease free pastry, feta-like cheese. Good in a lebanese restaurant but nothing massively special. I started properly with a boudin made from lobster, which had an excellent mousseline texture. This basically reminded me, with the gumminess , of a thai fish cake, but the depth of flavour was superb. It was served with a pile of prawns and a mushroom sauce and was good, but not stand out. My companion had deep fried courgette which was in an amazing batter, one of the lightest I've had and really grease free. The courgette was great, it had lost all bitterness. The major downside was that the filling of the flowers was not far away from the appetiser. For my main course I had veal, the steak looked thin, grey and overcooked. Appearances can be deceptive as in fact it was melt in the mouth. It was an amasing piece of meat, looking overcooked, not slow cooked yet full of flavour. It was served with kidneys, which I used to dislike (but recently have enjoyed, not only here but at Testi in Stoke Newington- to be blogged soon!). There was no awful pissiness to them, they had a hint of pink in the middle and a very subtle flavour. The only downside to this dish was the black pudding on the side which was absurdly heavy on the nutmeg and tasted more like having christmas pudding on the side. Still, this dish was almost there. My friend had sole with salsify. The sole was perfectly cooked, singingly fresh, with the scent of the sea and not a hint of chewiness. The beurre blanc was classic but technically very correct, and the bitterness of the salsify cut through it a treat. This was a very classic combination, but here it was clearly shown why it had become a classic. We had no room for dessert, but coffee came with petit fours. It was odd that I didn't want dessert, as prior to following the recipe in "How to cook better", I just couldn't make puff pastry, so the chef here basically taught me how to make pastry, but on the menu nothing was calling out. The petit fours had something I forget and a fairly ordinary, indeed, too rich brownie. But it also had a cube of a fudge that was ethereally light. Superb. I do not (unlike some) believe that value is irrelevant, so I note that this place has a daily changing set lunch at £20 for three courses. I stress that we had a la carte, but with two courses, ( as well as the amuse and petit fours) and half a bottle each we paid £35 each with service. That is staggeringly good vale. At this point I will finish off by mentioning decor, which was very simple, no tablecloths etc., but at least the essentials were maintained, eg. Riedel glasses. On the service front, it was I'm afraid to say a little amateurish. Not terrible, certainly very friendly, but needing a good deal of polish. Still this was very good food, in a beautifull setting for reasonable money. Abergavenny is not exactly convenient for anywhere, but if you are in the area do pop in. The cooking is not quite worth a big trip, but if you're in Herefordshire or South Wales- then it really is worth making an effort to get to.

OK, I don't know how to sever a thread, but here are quotes from the original thread where Gourmet San came up off topic to give context, then below those quotes is my new information which I thought worth bringing to the attention of the forum. Gourmet San's great, isn't it. It does have the most baffling menu imaginable, though. Half is poorly-translated pork offal and there are at least four dishes saying nothing more than 'chicken with chillies'. ← Just to add to the thumbs up for Gourmet San, I've just written it up on my blog, link in my signature below, but suffice to say I was very impressed, great value, food is different to the norm and delicious. The place was quite grubby looking when we went, but if that doesn't put you off, I'd say its worth going out of your way for. I'm certainly planning on going back. Its a really good food experience and I'm suprised it hasn't had a bit more attention on the forums. Sorry that this isn't really on topic for the title of the thread, but since its already mentioned in this thread I thought I'd add to the praise, it deserves to be better known. (Not that its struggling for custom, it was packed when I went). Anyone know how to do that clever thing where the above posts on Gourmet San are turned into a seperate thread, leaving this one relevant? Iestyn. ← I thought anyone reading the above praise for Gourmet san (which still stands, at least from me) would like to know about this link, posted by a reader of my blog Gourmet San Fined for hygeine breaches , personally, as hinted at above and expressed more firmly in my full review I'm not suprised. I think I'd still go back and hope the fine has encouraged them to improve, or simply rely on my strong stomach as the food is very good. Others of a more delicate disposition I suspect will value the information.

deleted, but see Gourmet San thread if interested in that aspect.

Been a few years since I was up in Oxford so bear that in mind and defer to more recent posts. But, Chiang Mai Kitchen, which has been mentioned was always good when I was there, still one of the best Thais I've been to. Gee's is good, but pricey for what it is really, that said my interpretation of pricey may have changed since I was a student, so I say that with a little hesitation. Aziz on the Cowley Rd used to be a really very good Indian, I assume its still there, indeed, looking at their website Aziz it seems that they've expanded into a convenient and lovely site by the river that used to be a quite good Italian whose name I'v forgotten. That river site by Folly Bridge is lovely if they've maintained their standards, certainly the restaurant in the rather less lovely Cowley Rd was excellent when I was there. Anyone know if its as good and whether the riverside version is as good? Also mentioned above is Cherwell Boathouse, cherwell boathouse, this is a bit of a trek out of down but is certainly walkable, have done it many times. The food used to be simple and good with a very reasonable set price menu. Looking at the website that appears to remain the case. It also has an excellent and very reasonable winelist, with a lovely riverside setting. There are also a lot of decent lebanese restaurants in Oxford, there's an all you can eat called Du Liban on Broad Street, but its not buffet, its actually pretty good. There was also a good lebanese on Park End Street, Al-Salam. There was also a much more cafe style place on George Street- Tarbouch, which was pretty good, (think Edgware Rd), and its also open late. Hope some of that helps!

Gourmet San's great, isn't it. It does have the most baffling menu imaginable, though. Half is poorly-translated pork offal and there are at least four dishes saying nothing more than 'chicken with chillies'. ← Just to add to the thumbs up for Gourmet San, I've just written it up on my blog, link in my signature below, but suffice to say I was very impressed, great value, food is different to the norm and delicious. The place was quite grubby looking when we went, but if that doesn't put you off, I'd say its worth going out of your way for. I'm certainly planning on going back. Its a really good food experience and I'm suprised it hasn't had a bit more attention on the forums. Sorry that this isn't really on topic for the title of the thread, but since its already mentioned in this thread I thought I'd add to the praise, it deserves to be better known. (Not that its struggling for custom, it was packed when I went). Anyone know how to do that clever thing where the above posts on Gourmet San are turned into a seperate thread, leaving this one relevant? Iestyn.

I don't disagree with anything thats been said above- particularly stress that BBR are bandits (I remember a discussion with a Millesima rep about how their three for two prices are absurdly inflated- 'their not much more than BBR' she responded- I laughed, she blushed, says it all). J& B though are not bandits, despite slight implication above, they have a good list, you have to buy a case, they are a little intimidating but worth it. Consider auction if you are buying a case or more, it can save a packet (especially on mid-range 'drinker's' wines, the top end is too subject to speculation), and a case is often enough- example mas de Daumass 2001, less than £15 a bottle all told. Seriously. Can't beat it. I find Haynes Hanson & Clarke do offer good value along with good assistance even on smaller orders, they are a very good recommendation, so second that. Easy to deal with, great list, well chosen, very fair prices. If your talking popping in to buy a bottle on the way home, fair enough, we all need that, I second Lea & Sandeman, especially for grower champagne which they have a real nouse for. (Moving aside from things not already mentioned, but often mentioned elsewhere-Philglass & Swiggott- not that interesting a list, pretty pricey, but don't take my word, they have a website). So far I've been very much in agreement with Scott- our only point of diference would seem to be that I quite like the Corney & Barrow list, I think there's value to be had in it, and writing off its exclusivities as mediocre is a little easy I'd say,-fair enough-mediocre is what most of us drink, I think CB deliver value and are the high side of mediocre. Its a small difference I think, but I say, don't write them off, ultimately, pop along grab a list, see what you fancy. Also, there are a couple of wholesale/semi-wholesale sellers to bear in mind, these guys offer no assistance just like auction, but equally offer close to auction prices without the waiting for a sale or other unique difficulties of an auction. Farr vintners have some incredible prices with a minimum £500 spend. The best deals are often at the lower mid end but worth exploring (Coudoulet for £12 a bottle- ok £500 is a lot of bottles, but get a few mates involved[as in pm me if your tempted!]) Please note- fields morris verdin the burgundy specialists referred to in a post above are now part of BBR, they still have the second to none expertise, but use wine-searcher to asses whether they have the prices. Ultimately if you are byuing mid-top end burgundy go to auction. London is a great place to buy wine, even places like the sampler which are high priced still offer an interesting experience.

And to think Benny Hill is now lost to the world of food journalism, oh what might have been...