Harters

LUSO, BRIDGE STREET Luso has never really been on my radar. And that’s in spite of its very regular plugs by Manchester Confidential. However, it was a ManCon deal that prompted us to try it – well, £25 for three courses from the a la carte menu, including a half bottle of wine per person, is an offer not to be sniffed at. Frankly the menu is a bit of dog’s breakfast. Of course, there are obviously Portuguese sounding dishes. But there are also nods in the direction of the country’s past history and colonisation, including one or two very tenuous links. So, expect piri piri chicken and pork vindaloo, along with your more obvious cataplana. And other dishes appear to have no connection at all, except in what might be called a “modern European” sense of menu writing. Front of house at this relatively small place are the husband and wife owners. They offer a very friendly and warm welcome and general experience, although our reservation via Manchester Confidential appeared not to have reached the restaurant and this seemed to throw them for a couple of minutes. Once seated, you start to enjoy the nice comfortable vibe of the place and the decent choices for the background music. In what was probably intended as a nod towards Portugal’s history on the western side of the Atlantic, my partner started with a pumpkin velouté – simple, with a rich, slightly creamy, slightly sweet taste. A sprinkling of roasted pumpkin seeds decorated the top. She followed this with arroz de marisco. This was an unconvincing cross between a creamy risotto and paella which worked on neither count. It was underflavoured, underseasoned and underendowed with marisco. I’d gone with the salada Portuguesa, presuming correctly that I probably couldn’t go far wrong with this. A few leaves, some chunks of morcilla, some slices of chorizo, baby octopus (a bit too chewy these), a few chickpeas and a nicely oily dressing. For a main, salt cod “Gomes de Sa” is, apparently, one of the country’s traditional dishes. Usually served as a casserole dish, this wasn’t. But it included the same ingredients – a bed of crushed potatoes, mixed with black olives and spring onions, topped with the cod and, on top of that, a perfectly poached egg, breaking open to provide a sauce. This worked well, but it might have been nice to have some crisp veg on the plate somewhere, for texture if nothing else As for desserts, there was a really good egg custard tart. OK, the puff pastry wasn’t the best you’ll ever come across but the filling was rich and delicious. There was a chestnut cake on the other plate. Seasonal, a bit dry, but livened up with apple ice cream. In summary, a pleasant enough experience and one possibly worth repeating even at full price.

I was on rare daytime visit to town this morning and, while waiting for the craft centre to open, popped into Teacup for a brew. As Thom says, service is a tad dilatory - but it's friendly and the coffeee was pretty good. By the by, I was back in the Quarter later and had lunch at the Yagdar. At £4.70, the "rice & three" must be one of the most expensive of the curry cafes - and it wasnt that brill. Shame the Little Alladin had three customers so was packed, otherwise I'd have eaten there.

Keiran & I have finally caught up this evening. He assures me that he has checked back with the various restaurants just to confirm what was what at the various times. He is absolutely clear that the cover charge will have been £2 and the service charge 12.5%. Between us, we havnt got clue as to what might have been misunderstood and I'm as certain as he is that the Chowhound poster has misunderstood whatever has happened. He is going to try and make contact with the guy. A thought occurs though - can foreign visitors reclaim VAT on their purchases, including meals? If so, and if he had got a VAT receipt, the service charge would be a larger percentage of the VAT-exclusive amount. That would be familiar to Americans who usually tip in the US on their bill exclusive of sales tax. My maths are lousy so dont know if that might account for it.

Hope it goes well, SF. I'm old enough to be your grandad so am not about to start offering first date reccs - but suggest you have a Plan B as well as Plan A. If she's a student in the city, she probably knows the veggie friendly places and you may get a vibe that she's not keen on going to Plan A. That said, I agree with Thom about the Cornerhouse having possibilities, if you think an "arty venue" would work. Nice space, decent food (veggie offerings are middle-eastern-centric)

Here's another really courteous way of dealing with the voluntary service charge - compliments of "Simon Radley at the Grosvenor": "Please note that a discretionary service charge of 12.5% will be automatically added to your bill. Please do not hesitate to ask if you wish for this to be removed".

Unfortunately, I see no likely new ones in my neck of the woods so I'll take an outside punt at the Marquis at Alkham, Kent. Caveat is that I'm assuming that service has improved and now matches cooking which was bloody good last year. Current menu looks like a determined committment to doing fine things with local ingredients.

Minor update, in that Kieran Terry, Caprice Group Operations Director, rang this morning to discuss my email. Unfortunately, I couldnt talk to him then and , when I rang back, he wasnt available. We havnt caught up with each other yet.

I'm sure I remember a first visit to Manchester's Moss Nook restaurant, more than 25 years ago, and attempting to leave a tip. It was declined, with thanks, as "we are very well paid". Things have changed - not least my thoughts that the Moss Nook was the dog's danglies by way of local restaurants.

I think David raises two, possibly related, questions. The first is about our expectations of "service" and the second is how we pay for it. As to the first, I struggle to recall a meal when I was sufficiently aggrieved with the service (and only the service) to want to not pay a service charge or, indeed, not leave a tip. That said, my needs are limited and usually met perfectly adequately. I want for nothing more than someone to take my order, bring food, clear dirty crockery, bring bill all in "good time". I want this to happen, as it usually does in "good places" in the UK, without you really realising it has happened. I am at my most content when eating at a place that is confident of its standards that it has no need to come and ask "how is it?" I have a tongue in my head and will use it if I need something or am unhappy about something. Oh, and in similar vein, I am less chuffed with places that whisk away your bottle of wine so they can decide when you need a top-up. Leave it on the table, along with the jug of water - I had the physical stamina to get to the restaurant and I have the strength to lift a jug! As for paying, then I'm in complete agreement with David in preferring the French system where no tip is expected or the Spanish practice where you might leave a few coins. I would encourage restaurants to follow the example of, say, Bodysgallen Hall in North Wales which states "Our Tariffs are fully inclusive of SERVICE AND VAT."

Lebanese is a favourite cuisine but in my part of the UK, eating it is very much a casual affair. It’s a pleasure, therefore, to enjoy an upscale experience when visiting London – tablecloths, suited staff, consideration given to how a plate looks as well as how it tastes. The capital is well provided in this field – some of the Maroush venues, Ishbilia in Knightsbridge, but Noura is the place I enjoy most - although you'll see from the previous post, I havnt been for a while. There is a carte but, also, a range of fixed price menus which allow you to enjoy a good selection of mezze before moving on to a main course, before dessert and coffee. We went with one at £38 as follows. Firstly, a bowl of salad is brought. Not a prepared salad – this is a whole lettuce, cucumber, spring onions, carrot strips, radish and the like, from which you cut off what you want. I think it’s intended to fit with the spirit of generous hospitality for which the eastern Mediterranean is known. There was also a bowl of olives, chilli peppers and pickled turnip. Of the cold mezze, moutabel was a real stand-out. Creamy, very smoky aubergine with a good whack of tahini. Perfect for dipping with the warm pitta that was replenished throughout the meal. Also there for dipping was a bowl of tahini, slightly thinned down with olive oil and another of hummus, decorated with a drizzle of oil and scattering of chickpeas. Stuffed vine leaves were pretty much you’d expect, although there was a good whack of parsley which lifted them. Unlike the way it’s often made by Brits, tabbouleh was almost completely parsley with only a hint of bulgar wheat. It was very lemony, perhaps too much so, masking the fresh taste of the herb. There were four hot mezze. Firstly, well made kibbeh – subtly spiced lamb, encased in a crisp coat of bulgar. Falafel can often be gloopy but here the coating was again very crisp, the inside soft yet not mushy. There were two pastries – one with spinach and pine nuts (fatayer?) and another lamb and pine nuts. These were both good, the pastry itself fully cooked through but with an interesting crisp, yet still slightly chewy texture. On this menu, the main courses were kebab skewers – one each of lamb, kofta and shish taouk. All good and well flavoured with the latter the best of the three – large chunks of chicken, char-grilled on the outside, moist and tender inside. The plate came with a little more mixed salad and a dollop of toum, the Lebanese version of aioli often, as I think here, slightly slackened with yoghurt. Dessert brought a plate of mixed baklava type pastries. Crisp, tasting of the various ingredients rather than the overwhelmingly sweet taste that you often come across. There was also three icecreams – pistachio, another nut and an absolutely delicious one which included rosewater. Service is good although I did have a minor criticism – our table was nearish to one of the staff stations which meant the waiters did tend to hang about there and I felt under scrutiny to some extent. There is a tendency for Noura and the other upscale Lebanese restaurants to have a somewhat rushed feel to the service, that probably reflects how it’s done in Lebanon. Here, as elsewhere, all the mezze items come pretty much at once, which means that the hot ones are likely to be getting cold unless you get stuck into them straight away. Which isn’t really the “pick & mix” style of eating that you want. And, then, your main course is going to arrive whenever it’s been cooked, not necessarily when you’re ready for it. Of course, it isn’t really rushed – there’s absolutely no pressure on the customer to “eat up and get out”, but I think I’d prefer things if there was more of a nod to a European style of starters, then main. But this is no more than a niggle

Well, yes, we were a bit disappointed. On the strength of our two previous visits, we'd have had no hesitation in saying this was our "best/favourite" restaurant in the country but I don't think we'd say that now. It had been nearly 3 years since we were last there. I see from my notes of that meal that there were a number of "wow" dishes - and that the cost of the "taste of.." menu was only £57.50. Well, I know there's been some inflation in that time, but the current price of £80 is a significant uplift. I take your point about "special occasion" and , indeed, this was sort of one. It's what herself and I now call the "Office Christmas Party". When I took early retirement some years back, it was coming up to Christmas and Mrs H asked me if there was anything I was missing about work. Jokingly, I said the Party. She replied that I must have one then. Since then we've had an "outing" - I got to choose, she got to not object to my choice (although she's now retired as well, so it's a joint thing. As for Hibiscus, every table had customers. A couple were obviously "business dinners" but most were couples like ourselves. So, maybe it's just us that are no longer appreciating Claude's style of cooking as much as we used to.

This is the third time we’ve eaten at Hibiscus (the second whilst it’s been in London) and, on each occasion, we’ve taken the “Taste of .....whatever season it was” menu – four courses, with the expected bells & whistles of canapés, amuse, pre-dessert, currently at £80. It kicked off well with excellent cheese gougeres and crisp, rich balls of polenta, parmesan and olive. There was also really good granary bread. The amuse, served in an eggshell, was mushroom veloute mixed with a little scrambled egg and coconut. The velouté part was very well made and perfectly seasoned. The egg wasn’t to my wife’s taste – but then she doesn’t really like egg. The starter proper was served as a parmesan royale, which was light and delicate, topped with roasted nuts which gave a nice texture change and a hint of sweetness. Poured around it, at the table, velouté made a second appearance in a potato and toasted rice one – again a delicate flavour here. Looked lovely Plaice was a star dish and, truth be told, there needed to be a star at this point in the meal. Perfectly cooked with still just a hint of translucence in the middle, it was topped with something crunchy, but I’m not sure what. Surrounded by some roasted salsify and mushrooms, which brought an earthiness and a tangy clementine sauce, we really enjoyed this. The main course was shoulder of pork cooked “blanquette style”, although it seemed as though Bosi was almost playing with American BBQ food. Certainly it was long-cooked until extremely fork-cutting tender, similar to “pulled pork”. But there was none of the smokiness in the meat that you expect in the American south – but it appeared in the smoked mashed potato. This was the second time we’d had this in recent times and it really does work to lift a plate. Sticking to our perceived American theme, there was a scattering of sweetcorn and, also, tiny dice of something white (unfortunately, too small and too few for our palates to determine what they were). Pre-dessert reflected Hibiscus’ interest in incorporating vegetables into desserts so a Granny Smith sorbet came accompanied by fine dice of celeriac and a cumin crisp. This was clever, introducing a slight savoury texture contrast, but not necessarily a great improvement on a simple sharp apple sorbet. Dessert itself brought a disc of icecream, sorbet and a wedge of poached fruit (perhaps quince or medlar). Sweet, yet still light – a pleasant end to the meal. And finally, good coffee and petit fours. We’d read reports that recent service had been cold and stand-offish, but there was none of that. Certainly, service is formal but staff smile, staff engage you, staff respond warmly. The newish sommelier is excellent – thoroughly knowledgable of his craft. We spent just shy of £250 – including aperitifs, a couple of glasses of wine, a couple of bottles of water and service. Every dish had worked in its own way. Everything had been nice (a fairly “middle of the road” word that seems to work here). Nothing had jarred and the courses had flowed well one to the other as an integrated menu. But I think when you’re eating Michelin 2*, and spending that sort of money, you might want and expect a “WOW factor” somewhere during the evening. Something that you’ll still be talking about weeks later. And there just wasn’t.

I think it gets a lot of hype. That said, it's bloody good.

There's probably been no recent mention of Tayyabs as everything that can be said, has been said. So, having taken Mrs H there today for her first visit, I'll confine myself to just saying - lamb chops, pakora, karahi lamb, dry meat curry, tandoori roti: all very good and we thoroughly enjoyed. Although herself says the karahi lamb is cooked better and spiced better at Akbars in Manchester - and I think she has a point.

That's Aumbry (which is actually in North Manchester). Based on our meal there in August, I'll be gob-smacked if gets a star. I wonder if the UK awards will follow Spain where there seems to be a number of hotel based restaurants winning their first star - four of them, I think.

Thanks to all. Like David, I'd like to see this "bottomed" - matters like this can indeed do damage to a business' reputation. And, of course, if foreign visitors have been ripped off in some way, that needs to come out as well. I've emailed Caprice Group and will be interested to see the reply (which I'll share here of course) John

On another board, an American contributor had suggested that there had been "rip off" charging at various Caprice group places, saying that there's been a charge "just for dining and then a tip added". I asked for some more details and he's confirmed as below. This seems to be a £5 per person cover charge and then a service charge of 18% - way in excess of the norm and, indeed,the 12.5% that Caprice states on its website. The contributor seems to be an experienced visitor to London so I've no reason to think that confusion has arisen. On the face of it, this seems a very poor reflection on an otherwise respected name in the industry and I wonder if any egulleters with experience of Caprice can comment as to what's what. "Oct. 07, 2006, we dined at J. Sheekey and were charged £5/person, plus an 18% gratuity. On Ocxt 09, 2006, we dined at The Woosley, and were charge £5/person, plus an 18% gratuity. On Oct. 29, 2007, we were charged £5/per person, plus 20% gratuity. On Oct. 12, 2009, we were charged £10/person, plus 18% gratuity at Ivy. On April 23, 2009, £5/person, plus 18% gratuity at Scott's. On Oct. 13, 2009, we were charged £5/person, plus 18% gratuity at Caprice. On Oct 13, 2009 and also on Oct. 26, 2010, we were charged £5/person, plus 18% gratuity at Scott's."

Every time I've been in there (about 5 - it's become my favourite Chinatown place) the mainly young Chinese clientele have all been getting stuck into the hotpot. Some months since I was last there and I think I feel a visit coming on.

Dunno about Pam, but there's something of that in my position - although the only other guidebook I use is the GFG, so I accept my sample is limited. What differs Hardens from the GFG is the inclusion of places it concludes are crap. If you are crap, you do not get into the Good Food Guide (self-evidently).

My "reporters" copy arrived yesterday. I think it safe to say that Hardens is not trying just to mention "the best" but is, perhaps, more valuable for the traveller as a "warts an' all" publication. I noticed several entries rated "poor, poor and average" (food, service and ambiance, etc

Perhaps it does. And I doubt whether Hardens make a particular claim to celebrate the best. I think the guide should be regarded as exactly as that. A guide. It's one of a number of reference points that I might use - others include this board, the GFG and, to some extent, local review sites and professional sites, such as Manchester Confidential. Guides take much of their prose from Joe Public contributors. I know this as I see some my own words in several write-ups in the 2011 GFG. Does that weaken the write-up, or strengthen it. I like to think that the views of the ordinary paying public have validity. As for Hardens, yes it's entirely Joe Public. But when I read the comments about places I know in Manchester, I generally find that I'm in agreement with them, whether they be good or poor comments. So, if there's what I consider to be accuracy about my own area, then why would I not tend to trust the view about areas I'm only visiting.

I agree with you, Pam (Note to self: this is becoming a habit, stop it John). I make sure I send enough reviews to get my freebie copy(should be due any day). It scores for me by including the more casual sort of place which tends to be where I choose (and can afford) to eat most often. Because of this, I find it particularly helpful when visiting a new town - at least I can usually be assured of finding somewhere halfway decent to eat almost anywhere in the country.

GREENS, WEST DIDSBURY Simon Rimmer seems to be haunting our eating of late. As upthread, we were at Earle the other week. Earlier this week, we had lunch at Sutton Hall in Macclesfield and we're sure he was in. And now tonight we've been at his main gaff. I suspect if you’re a vegetarian, you’ll always be well pleased with a meal at Greens. And confirmed omnivores, like us, will usually go away reasonably satisfied. No real craving for a nice lamb chop on the side, if you see what I mean. The offerings are generally far superior to the “veggie option” on most bistro-level menus. For instance, a very savoury Lancashire cheese cheesecake comes with a pokey, yet sweet, carrot chutney and some crisp watercress. It could so easily have been ruined by the use of a bland cheese but this one, as we say round here about Lanky cheese, was “tasty”. As with several dishes, the other starter had its roots away from British shores. A crisp puri, topped with peas and potato in a rogan josh style sauce, finished with yoghurt. Delicious. My partner followed this with Cheshire cheese sausage – Glamorgan sausage by another name. Again, a good choice of cheese made this anything but bland. There was a delicious beer-based gravy in the bowl – again hitting sweet/savoury notes. Usually comes with mustard mash but herself can’t stand mash so swapped it out for chips. My own main had read quite well but was very underwhelming – a “sandwich” of two sheets of puff pastry enclosing what was described as “roasted squash, hazelnuts, caramelised onions in a cream & tarragon sauce”. Well, the squash was there and the cream was there and I suppose the tiny amount of onion meant they had met their obligations there. But the missing hazelnuts would have provided texture; the missing tarragon would have lifted the sauce. It was just bland – not vilely so but just not a great pleasure to eat. My side order of chips were, however, bloody good – just as they had been at Simon Rimmer’s other restaurant, Earle, the other week. Service had been good. Reasonable selection of reasonably priced wines by the glass. A pleasant enough experience for a midweek dinner, the current Good Food Guide rating at 2 being about right.

Interesting link, David. Dated all of 9 days ago. You really have to wonder what has gone on since Tuesday last week.

So, when back in the summer, there was all this talk of him working towards a Michelin star for the Hillbark, this was just a load of old pony? I see that his new pub veneture will offer fish and chips, along with what are descibed by Caterersearch as "more refined" dishes. I think I'll pass, thanks.