Harters

Not been for lunch but did go for dinner in August last year. Thought it OK but probably not worth the £140 price tag for the two of us.

I suspect the short-list is drawn up based on number of nominations so, if they are as, erm, "proactive" as Infrasonic hints this may account for things. But perhaps you're right and I'll just have to bite the bullet and try it - inviting ridicule from everyone here for going somewhere that's been dissed. I'll be back researching in the city centre for a while from late January so there'll be an opportunity.

I hadnt realised it was Howbarrow. I knew the name as it appears on Mansergh Hall's website (I buy most of my meat from them over the internet)which confirms they still do a box scheme

Back in February, Thom & Infrasonic replied to my query about Sweet Mandarin confirming its mediocrity. I've just seen it on the F Word where it "won" Ramsey's best local Chinese restaurant award. Has anything happened recently to the cooking that might actually warrant that? Perhaps an even better question is how it even got shortlisted, just from Manchester Chinese places? I've looked up the two restaurants featured each week and many have had a decent enough Good Food Guide listing.

The review mentions that from next year, "every morsel served will have been cultivated or reared on his nearby farm". Should be interesting to see the impact that might have.

Our trips to Kent have always involved catching the ferry at Dover. So eating in the county has also been near to the town (this year we've been to the Yew Tree @ Barfreston and the "Marquis at Alkham" - deservedly now in the GFG). But we're now planning an early spring trip and staying for two or three days to do some touristing and eating. The main focus will be a meal at the Sportsman. Obviously. But where else is worth a visit for lunch or dinner?

IIRC, on the F Word, the chef said he would never serve a chicken tikka massala. Of course, it's different if you call it murgh makhani, innit?

This place is just up the road from home in Cheshire's "Golden Triangle". Too gastro to easily fit in the "Great Pubs" thread, it draw in a Good Food Guide Cooking 2. Disappointingly it's a place not as good as it probably likes to think of itself. It has a nice pubby ambiance but this is definitely a place to come and eat, not to come and drink. The menu offers a broad spread of dishes – some fairly traditional, others more contemporary. At lunchtime,”doorstep” sandwiches are also on offer. Most folk would find something on the menu that they would want to eat. But it’s here the problem set in – a number of dishes were “off” or had been changed. So, a starter described as scallops with local pancetta and white pudding had changed into scallops with teriyaki glaze. However, we ordered and waited. And waited some more. And then a starter arrived. Three king prawns in tempura batter. Some undressed salad leaves and a sweet chilli sauce straight out of the Blue Dragon bottle. There was then a delay of some 30 minutes. It wasn’t as though food wasn’t coming out of the kitchen. It was. But it was so slow. OK they were doing reasonable business this Monday lunchtime but the kitchen was hardly rushed off its feet. A main course brought a chicken breast stuffed with red onion, pancetta and thyme. This was pretty good – the chicken moist and the stuffing tasting of its three ingredients. Alongside a few new potatoes and sugarsnap peas. Good gravy. The other main was a decent enough burger, on ciabatta, topped with good bacon. Came cooked rare (probably the kitchen rushing it out as the outside was a tad burnt) – but this was fine. More undressed leaves and a few chips. OK as far as it went but not a great success. We didn’t bother with dessert. Such a shame. Place could have done much better and should have done.

The Mark Addy's now open and looks like it might be worth a punt. Link to review at Manchester Confidential. Mark Addy

I see Lasan featured in this week's "F Word" on TV as one of the two Indian places in Ramsey's competition. Food looked damn good.

The pork pie with eggs is normally known as "gala pie".

You'll have to road test the Gung Bao chicken at Red Chilli - I had a belter of a version at the Atherton branch some weeks back.

Yep. Still got a Michelin Bib. I have it mind that it's changed hands in the not too distant past and is now positioning itself as gastropub rather than "footballers wives" restaurant. It's donkeys years since I've been even though it is, literally, just up the road. Prices still seem to fit the Alderley/Prestbury/Wilmslow "Golden Triangle".

Should be able to give you a second opinion on the Dysart in a couple of weeks or so, David. I think it's the next of theirs on my "to visit" list. It's all lunches at present - Mrs H isnt yet recovered enough for evening entertainments yet - so we're starting to get through the pubs. Next stop the Wizard at Alderley Edge.

SUTTON HALL, MACCLESFIELD, CHESHIRE I promise you I'm not a "mystery diner" for Brunning & Price (although am open to offers). It's just that I seem to be near one of their places quite often round lunchtime these days. Sutton Hall has a nice ambiance to it - good outdoor space in the summer, tables inside scattered round the nooks & crannies of this 16th century building (once owned by Lord Lucan); the usual good service and fairly interesting menu. As to food, one starter brought a generous bowl of thick and tasty pea and ham soup. Nice as it was, the flavour was somewhat indeterminate with nothing distinct by way of pea or ham. This was followed by a burger, with the fairly standard accompaniments of bacon, cheese, coleslaw, pickle, salad and a good sized portion of chips (which may well have been hand cut). Burger was good. Chips not so good, needing cutting into smaller, more chip-sized pieces and frying for a tad longer. A salad of warm roasted artichokes, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes and rocket came topped with a perfectly poached egg. This was bang-on as a starter, full of complementary tastes & texture. I followed this with guinea fowl – confit leg and roast breast. Another bit of spot-on cooking, with very delicious crispy skin to the leg. It came with a fondant potato and some mixed veg – the kale working particularly well. It was on the menu as having a shallot gravy and, whilst there were certainly shallots in the sauce, there was also an odd fruity sweetness that didn’t do much for it. Drinks and a well earned tip brought the price to £40 which I reckoned was pretty good value.

Presumably the Good Food Guide’s cooking score 4 is based on dinners in the restaurant rather than the lunch “brasserie menu” served in the pub. Today, however, lunch was served in the restaurant and, even though we were the only customers and there were three members of staff working, service still managed to be dilatory. As we sat down, we were asked if we wanted drinks but, on the giving the order, the server had so little English that she had to go and get another member of staff. Not a good start but a quick look at the menu suggested that this was certainly going to be much better than average pub food. Soup of the day was red pepper and tomato. Mrs H thought it needed a bit of sweetness. Good texture though. She followed that with what was described as roasted herb crusted cod. Generous portion of fish, properly cooked with large white flakes. The herb crust was a disappointment, having neither a crusty texture nor any discernable taste of herbs. Came with a bubble & squeak cake, a little spinach and some cream sauce – all were a bit underflavoured. I started with smoked haddock croquette. These were good. As I cut through the crisp breadcrumb coating, the smell of smoky fishiness was evident. Good pieces of haddock, rather than the mush you get with fishcakes. A little pea puree, salad leaf and pleasant homemade tartare sauce. No sign of the advertised potato salad. My main was slow roast belly pork, pork fillet, pressed potato & black pudding. The menu suggested that Lancashire cheese would feature somewhere (perhaps in with the pressed potato – the punctuation didn’t make it clear), but I couldn’t taste its presence. Belly was good, even though there was no crackling. Fillet, which sat on some spinach, was overcooked and tough. Potato was good but what’s not to like with spuds and black pud. A smear of apple sauce brought some welcome sharpness. Although not faultless, this was still four plates of pretty reasonable food which with a drink each and a tip came in at just over fifty quid. A better bargain might have been the two course set menu at £13.50. It’s not a place that I’d go out of my way for, but it’s less than 30 minutes from home and might well be worth a return for dinner sometime. Oh, and if you’re going to go, don’t rely on your sat nav. Mine took me to two different wrong places around Lydgate before giving up. We had to phone to get proper directions.

Mr Thomas' is the pubby one, Sam's the restauranty one. Former might be a good bet and the friend might find something to nibble at whilst enjoying a decent pint. Linky link

Perhaps unfortunately, or not, I don't fall into an eligible voting category (being a retired civil service clerk). The fact that one has to be an industry insider no doubt accounts for some of the rankings and, even, inclusions. Tayyabs? In the country's top 100? Come on, let's get serious - or treat this just as folk having a laugh.

Nigel Haworth can market the Three Fishes as a proper pub as much as he likes it doesnt make it true. By any usual definition, this is not a proper pub nobody is coming here on Friday night to get bevied up with their mates. You get shown to a table. And the toilets are clean. This is a place youre going to come for the food by any usual definition this is a restaurant that happens to be in a pub and one where you happen to order your food at the bar. It was about to be a pretty good lunch. I started with the Shorrocks Lancashire cheese on toast. Like other customers I overheard later, Id assumed the default menu item included Sillfield Farm bacon and Worcestershire sauce dressing at £5.50 (as the menu then offered, as suitable for vegetarians, without bacon and dressing at £4.75). So like the other customers, I was a tad disappointed to get the naked version. Damn good cheese on toast, though and a bit of salad on the side. Mrs H had the warm Morecambe Bay shrimps a ramekin packed with shrimps with a good slosh of melted butter, heavy on the mace, but not overly so. Came with a toasted muffin which was absolutely necessary for mopping up the delicious butter. She followed this with haddock, chips and mushy peas. Crisp batter on good fish. Crisp chips tasting of fried potato and they were perfect chip sized chips. Mushies a bit bland. I had braised oxtail which had all the good signs of long slow cooking. Alongside, some mash and root veg. It was popular with families and, in a pleasant change to the usual round of chicken nuggets, fish fingers and pizza, the young persons menu offered small portions of a number of standard menu items. OK, there was no oxtail for young uns, but they could have had the fish & chips, or Goosnargh chicken and veg or the burger. Why dont more places serve real food to real people even if they are aged 8. Service is good from the pleasant smiley young women who staffed the bar or who work the room, attentively spotting that youve finished eating and might like the crockery removing and an offer of coffee made. We then nipped into Clitheroe to stock up on sausages from Cowmans.

Can't help here David. I've walked past Red & Hot a few times when I've been in the city centre but have always found it a bit off-putting so havnt been in. Can't quite put my finger on why - maybe it's the odd looking menu outside. Look forward to reading what you have to say.

I see that Raymond Blanc and the couple who won the last series have opened the "Cheerful Soul" Restaurant at this pub. My geography of "down south" isnt normally very good but I realise I must pass near here on the M40. Anyone know if it's worth a lunch stop?

Good to see you back, David.

SWETTENHAM ARMS, CHESHIRE Somewhere in my head, a place crosses a line from being a pub that does good food and becomes a gastropub. I’m not sure where that line is or what makes the leap, but the Swettenham Arms remains firmly in the former camp, despite a brief “also recommended” in the GFG (2008 edition ?). Roast beef was local, well hung and well flavoured and generously portioned. It came with a Yorkshire that was better than Aunt Bessie’s but not much more so. And roast and boiled spuds and some nice veggies. Also in the serving dish were some unnecessary chips – the menu states “our chips are never frozen” but the taste suggests the menu tells porkies. A proper gravy as well. I enjoyed this. Herself had hotpot – an item from the “light meals” section but this was anything but a small girlie dish. Excellently flavoured, although the meat could have done with a little longer cooking to be perfect. The stars here were the non-traditional rosemary dumplings. Out there in deepest rural Cheshire there is little competition and, with a couple of drinks, there was also little change from thirty quid.

Ah. Apologies - I hadnt spotted piracer's location. But I'm definitely planning a Birmingham eating session in the coming months.

Somewhere, I've seen PhilD rave over a recentish Indian meal at Lasan but I can't seem to find the post. He was rating it higher than many of the "posh" London places and it's on my list to visit.