Harters

I can think of no finer summer starter on Rules' menu than crab salad. And grouse, if it's available, will be so seasonal (the season opens on 12 August). As you say, I'm a great fan of their game, generally. I'd suggest it's probably one of the best places in the country to eat it in a traditional unmessed about with style. Enjoy.

David Frankly, I'd be with Mrs G. Looking at the news, the problem is you don't know where these scrotes are going to turn over next. Wherever you were thinking of going, it'll still be there in a couple of weeks. Perhaps pick somewhere else for your weekend. Me - I'm off to Abergavenny tomorrow for a couple of days. If it kicks off there, then we're all doomed. John

Thoroughly recommended for classic dishes. Perhaps my favourite place when visiting the capital. Great room with a real sense of history as well as good food done very well.

Poppadoms are a fecking rip-off at a quid a pop. Even if they are very good. As is the drink - three beers and lime & soda - £12! Anyone would think we were in London. Innit.

AKBAR'S(return visit) A return visit to this Yorkshire-based mini-chain which has now spread its wings as far south as Birmingham. As always, it’s a slick selling organisation. For example, you’re kept waiting to be shown to a table just long enough to ensure you’ve bought a drink at the bar – but you were going to order one anyway. Service is always good – not pushy but your guy always around to remove plates in good time or when you need to order more drinks. It’s easy to be greedy at Akbar’s. So we were. Poppadoms were light, crisp, non-greasy and seemed fairly freshly made. Not “fresh” as in made just for the table, of course, but not fresh as in been lying round since yesterday. A good chutney tray with them – a mango that looked the colour of mango and not some lurid orange; something fairly liquid – coriander, chilli and tamarind going on here – and a couple of others. Chapli kebab was a couple of well spiced beef patties. Served on a “sizzling” metal hotplate with some fried onions. It was OK – nothing to shout from the rooftops about but a good enough start. Chickpea and potato puri was given a good seeing to across the table. Generous portion of crisp bread and soft potato. Nice contrast. Good, if muted, spicing. For mains, one chicken with spinach, one similar with lamb. Both of these from the desi-apna section of the menu where the best of Akbar’s is to be found, IMO. Almost dry, the sauce such as there was, coming more from the liquid coming out of the just wilted spinach than anything else. Yes, Akbar’s is a little more expensive than the bargain basement places on the Curry Mile – but you’re getting a very generous portion of well cooked food. For carbs, rice and a couple of excellent tandoori roti. We fancied dessert and it was a game of two halves. Ras malai was a disappointment – tasting of nothing but “sweet”. Kulfi was much better – and served in quite a cheffy way. Rich, sweet and with an unknown very pleasant flavouring, it came on a stick – like an ice lolly. But then drizzled with a little red fruit sauce. Very nice end to the meal.

For middle eastern in London, I'd suggest one of the Noura places. Upscale Lebanese. For somewhere which manages to bridge the Straits of Gibraltar for the cooking of both Spain and Morocco, it'd have to be Moro. Can't really help with the modern British/Euro as it's not a cuisine I'm really looking for when I visit the capital. For "deals", often lunch, you could do worse than scount round TopTable to make your reservation - you can search the site for current offers. As for Exeter, ABode is the only place listed in the Good Food Guide. A reasonably good bet based on experience of my local one.

Congrats. Don't forget to tell us about it.

Sounds like a pretty much standard vegetable soup to me. Sweat off whatever veg you have. If it was me, I'd always have carrot, onion and celery in there, together with whatever else by way of root vegetables had looked good (or, more usual in this house - whatever was lurking in the veg rack and looked a bit past its prime). Cook them in stock (we always have a supply in the freezer from, say, cooking a ham)and then blitz in a blender. Or, indeed, don't blitz them so you have a lighter texture but with bits in it.

Rhodes briefly had a branded restaurant in the hotel near the MUFC ground. Big United fan, you know. Southerner, you know.

Is that available round the north west, Alan? Or just in the county? I see a scone with Lyth Valley damson jam and cream........

Jam first here - in the Cornish way. None of this new fangled Devonish stuff for me. Oh, nearly forgot. Actually butter first. Then jam. And it goes on a skon not a scown.

Based on my recent meal at Longridge, unless his new chef can turn it round quickly, that won't have long either.

I had one for breakfast only yesterday. Readily available in supermarkets near me - but then I'm in North Cheshire so only a few miles north of Stoke. These were actually Derbyshire oatcakes - same beast, different county.

A succinct commentary, Bapi. Arse, indeed. But, at least, there are as yet no claims that this is going to be "THE ONE" which will bring a Michelin star back to city. A claim which seems to accompany just about every new local opening, except Pizza Express.

Fair point......[slinks away, sheepishly]

You may right Matthew - and I generally agree with how nasty they can be - but the main pie also seems to have puff pasty so it may be the genuine thing. The pub pie lid normally just sits on top of meat, or a ceramic pot. Would you make a "proper pie" and then buy in the lid? If I'm to have any whinge about pub beef pies, it's that they're almost always puff and not shortcrust.

It’s the start of our “family celebration” season, kicking off with my partner’s birthday so we wanted somewhere “a bit special” that we hadn’t tried. Our usual rule for meals is it’s got to be less than an hour’s drive and we’ve pretty much done everywhere that fitted the bill in the last few years. Except Baslow Hall. We pass it a few times a year on our way to and from the excellent farmers market at Bakewell. But it’s only recently made its way on to our “to try” list. You see until recently, it had the archaic policy of requiring jackets for men – which, for me, means they aren’t going to get my money under any circumstances. Now much more relaxed about things – folk looked fine in jeans and polo – even though the staff are suited up and service is entirely formal, as you might expect from a “certain sort” of Michelin starred place. It’s one of those places where everything is “proper” and that includes the welcoming hospitality. There’s three menus on offer – a tasting, a short menu of the day and the more interesting main menu, offering three courses at what seemed a very well priced £72. And it was the latter that we went for. Kick off was in the lounge where we were offered an excellent selection of canapés. A cylinder of crunchy,caramelised potato, a spoonful of salmon tartare topped with hard boiled quails egg, a porky concoction (long cooked then egg & breadcrumbed), together with good olives and even better nuts. Dining takes places in two rooms. Ours was bloody chilly when we went in but they turned the radiator on – that’s a Derbyshire July for you. Half a dozen tables, so quite cosy, but not at all cramped. Once seated excellent bread was served – sourdough, a treacle & stout one and a pesto and sundried tomato. It went very nicely with the amuse – a green and white onion soup which was light, delicate and summery. For starters proper, scallops on one plate, served with fennel fronds, crispy bacon, a savoury if indeterminate ice cream, sliver of apple and an apple cream sauce. Now this cream provoked an initial “yuk” as it was shaped exactly like a fried egg – something my partner cannot abide. In the event, the sharpness of the Granny Smith contrasted well with the sweetness of the perfectly cooked scallop. I had a dish of John Dory which was also offered as a main course. A small fillet of fish – fried to a nice crust but still perfectly moist. Alongside, sliced razor clam had been steamed over a teriyaki sauce, giving a light sweetness. Packed back into its shell with diced potato, along with a little ginger. Good dish. I followed that up with “the lamb dish” – very pink cannon, a little long braised shoulder, briefly fried sweetbread. All damn good in their different ways. Good gravy. A scattering of mushrooms and peas. Excellent little slice of a goats cheese dauphinoise – I really wanted more of this. Much more – it really was good. The birthday girl was getting stuck into the beef version of the “meat three ways”. In this case, a little sirloin perfect at medium rare, some very long braised Jacob’s Ladder and a croquette of some other cooked and shredded cut. A few mushrooms and lovely little slices of artichoke contributed to the “five a day” and, as with the lamb, a really well made and well flavoured sauce. And a side dish of smoked garlic puree perked things up if more perking was needed. There was then a pre-dessert. Passion fruit pannacotta, topped with a scattering of apple granite. Really clever. Really nice. For desserts proper, it was a game of two halves. “Iced liquorice root” tasted of nothing of the sort. Even when fresh liquorice was grated over the dish, it couldn’t be tasted. Now, call me old-fashioned if you will but I reckon that you should be able to taste the principal ingredient in a description. But it was a pretty plate of food tasting nicely of sweet fruit and ice cream. Mine was better. Yes, it’s a risk when restaurants decide to have a bit of fun but “Choccywoocydoodah” was a bit hard to resist. Well, it was for me. A thin crumb base incorporated hazelnuts, topped with a layer of marshmallow and another layer of chocolate. Alongside, ice cream covered in a just warm, and very rich, chocolate sauce. Good textures, good flavours. A lovely rich end to a meal. We finished off with good coffee and some very excellent petit fours. Service had been faultless. The food had also been pretty much faultless – although a couple of dishes were not piping hot and may have sat on the pass for a little too long. There was a small number of decent wines available by the glass. All in all, a really cracking evening.

Other than eating, the focus of this trip is to spend a day mooching round the Hay 0n Wye bookshops. Anywhere decent there for lunch? Good pub food would be fine

Have to say, Jon, that I have read some pretentious comments on this board in my time here but I think this one wins first prize. And, no, I make no personal claims for coming anywhere close to the knowledge and expertise clearly demonstrated by the CC. I will never have that level of knowledge and expertise and will never be able to afford to consistently eat at the level they, and other contributors here, do. I know that makes me a bad person, unworthy to comment but, hey, tough shit,eh.

RHUBARB, BURTON ROAD, WEST DIDSBURY Oh, yes, we got a good ‘un tonight. Firstly because we had a really nice time. And, second, because their “early doors” menu runs till 9.30 on Sunday and Monday nights. So, three courses of items lifted from their carte for a bargain £15.95. And not pared down in quantity either. West Didsbury’s a bit of foody area – there are several places within a couple of hundred yards where I’m more than happy to eat – Greens, Azzurro, Lime Tree and so on. Rhubarb has been here some years – my partner has eaten there a couple of times but it was my first time. A choice of four things at each course – all straightforward bistro affairs. Modern European, if you will, with a little nod towards Italy running through some of the offerings. Good bread – a garlic foccacia – to kick off. A simple tomato soup – fresh tasting from ripe tomatoes, drizzled with a little truffle oil - was the better of the two starters. My own, a fillet of smoked haddock sat on shredded fennel, surrounded by orange segments. I could see what the chef was getting at – haddock/fennel works; fennel/orange works – but I wasn’t so keen on haddock/orange. For mains, we both went with rump steak. A generous 10oz portion, cooked bang-on as requested, topped with a little maite d' butter. A few green beans. And the finest restaurant chips we can recall in a long, long, time – potatoey, crispy, lovely. Worth the trip just for the chips - trust me on this one. Whereas my starter had perhaps too much citrus, the opposite was true with dessert. A lemon polenta cake was lightness itself. Really good. But where was the lemon? A quenelle of mascarpone and a scattering of pecans worked well for taste and texture. Opposite, cheese was being scoffed. A pick of three from their menu of about eight. All clearly well kept and, thanks upon thanks, not fridge cold. Appleby’s smoked Cheshire, a tangy Butler’s Cheddar, and a creamy blue Perl Las. Served with biscuits and what we reckon must have been homemade chutney. Service from the two young women was very Didsbury. Chatty, a bit studenty, but well done. Good selection of well priced wines by the glass. We’re going to be regulars – on Sunday and Mondays.

Kim Your yellow flowered plant is rape. I have a bottle of cold pressed rapeseed oil that's as fine as any extra virgin olive oil you'd want to find. And, just to clarify, about "Free Houses" and those that are not - a free house is independently owned and "free" to buy it's beer anywhere. Those that are not "free" may also be owned by someone other than the brewery (such as Marstons) but are "tied" to the brewery for beer supplies, by very longterm contracts. Of course, the breweries do own many directly. Lovely to see how you enjoyed myself - it's some years since I was last in Richmond, VA, but have recollections of good eats there.

I see from its website that South Manchester's "faded star", the Moss Nook, is to close in the near future, with the retirement of the Harrisons. In the 1980's, it was the dog's danglies of places to go for the celebration birthday or anniversary meal. But, when we last there, a year or so back, it seemed horribly dated. I was pushing 60 on that visit and felt like a spring chicken in comparision with the rest of customers.Gob-smackingly, it still retains a Good Food Guide score of 3 (which I rather think reflects also on how erratically the GFG scores places in this neck of the woods) Wont be missed by me at least in its present guise. Hopefully new owners can breath some life into the twitching body.

You see....you see....YOU SEE! Sofa, eh? There's posh. It's a settee oop north.

Just re-looked at the piccies and am most taken by the eggs. Clarence Court stuff is common in supermarkets - but I've never seen a pack of mixed Burfords and Legbars. Posh "dahn sarf" innit?

"Expresso" for coffee. I'm ancient enough to recall when it was commonly called that in the UK. Havnt seen it written down for years, although I confess to occasionally forgetting it is no longer 1970 and pronouncing it like that. "Streaky bacon" - in this household, only ever used as an ingredient - perhaps when pancetta is too "foreign" for the dish. Mrs H loves this for her breakfast when we visit America - very, very crisp. Woman has no taste whatsoever, IMO. Next trip, come to the north west - where we invented fish & chips. John