MaLO

That was very close. Simon's food loked fantastic, as did Aiden's. I cant imagine pork winning the main though - I guess there will be too many non pork eaters for it to win. I think Daniel's chicken creation will take some beating. I think I will try to fit in a visit to L'enclume some time over the summer.

The score of 2 did seem harsh although no one beside Johnny seemed to like anything about it. It seemed to me that as an item on a large tasting menu it might have been ok - supposing it didn't taste bad, it could be ok as one plate in 15 or 20. As a fish course on a four course menu then I would expect to see fish, very good fish please. I dont know what Johnnys food is like generally, never eaten it, but he seems like an interesting chap. I think the pushing boundaries / innovation aspect of the spec is a pointless distraction as it has generated some fairly odd concepts and gimicks.I would have prefered the olympic bit to be about perfection not innovation. Maybe Usain Bolt will turn up for the 100 metres on a pogo stick?

Saw this and thought it may be of interest.. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2139175/Modernist-Cuisine-The-Art-And-Science-Of-Cooking-makes-author-Nathan-Myhrvold-20m.html

Pork and green peppercorn curry - page 454. I gave this a try a few weeks ago and it was good. It is quite strange in so much as you use no garlic, red shallots or shrimp paste. Not too difficult to do and it was really good.

Me too.

Just spotted this. I am not in Bangkok on the dates. Just a bit gutted. http://www.bangkokpost.com/food/features/289585/three-michelin-star-chef-in-town This is another place I am considering. http://www.chakrabongsedining.com

It is baffling. I thought Dabbous was this years Pollen St Social.

I quite like Morrisons. I did use Sainsbury mostly until they extended the store and started selling all sorts of clothes, electricals etc. It became a pain in the arse with families of day trippers so I only go if I have to. Morrisons new veg range has some interesting items. Not sure how the produce will sell in the West Kirby branch though. I picked up a couple of the dry aged British beef fillets yesterday - they were very good. I would think they were the best supermarket beef I have ever had. They were about £15 per lb and the two I bought cost £12ish. Very good. I also order Turbot from time to time. I think it is farmed from Norway - it usually costs about £10 a kilo. Not forgetting the Christmas Champagne offers - Bollinger under £20, Pipier £15.

http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/19/04/2012/343292/Brett-Graham-to-launch-Ledbury-development-kitchen-with-former-Roganic-chef-Ben.htm

Had lunch here last week. Started with a very tasty amuse of chilled wild garlic soup with rabbit bound in crème fraiche. One of each starter. Crab with nasturtiums came with fried crab croquettes, tempura nasturtium leaves and other bits and bobs making up a salad. Cauliflower soup came with a side plate of good pata negra on thin toasted bread, some pickled vegetables and tiny tempura cauliflower. We each took the poached Dover Sole with risotto and squid ink. This came garnished with diced fennel and squid. We then took a plate of lamb rump with black garlic, broccoli and teriyaki. One of each dessert. Lemon parfait with basil and popping candy Caramelised banana with chocolate mousse Three courses are about £23 and it was a very nice lunch.

Daniels food is looking very good. It is somewhere I will give some serious thought to going later in the year. Both Daniel and Alan seem to have toned down the alpha male routine they had in other series and come across much better for it.

I really hate the voice over. The script is cack. It annoys me every time. How many times was "molecular chef" said.

We had a fantastic Sunday lunch at The Ledbury a couple of weeks ago. We were asked if we wanted to order from the menu or if we liked they would cook for us. It wasn’t difficult to decide. We ate Squid ink cracker with caviar Yuzu crème fraiche with confit sea trout Salad of beetroots White asparagus with duck ham, morels stuffed with chicken liver mousse and mushroom puree Hampshire buffalo milk curd with Saint-Nectaire truffle toast and a broth of grilled onions Turbot with crab, pine nuts, blood orange and green asparagus Jowel of pork with liquorice and endive Pigeon breast, confit leg, heart and wing skewered with some foie gras as a cream, rhubarb and red leaves We shared some cheese Pre dessert was Clementine granita with sea buckthorn ice cream and both soft and crisp meringue We each had a rhubarb millefuille and shared a passion fruit soufflé We asked the sommelier to choose a red and a white wine and got a very good couple of bottles. The white a Saint Romain by Mark Haisma and the red a very good, delicate French Syrah I unfortunately don’t have any more detail for. It was all bloody good. I do think The Ledbury is brilliant and this was the best meal I have eaten there. I noticed that there are some photographs of some of the dishes we ate on the critical couple’s blog for anyone interested.

I didn't take any photos. We sat up at the counter to the left of the coffee machine if you scroll up to the images. It was a good place to sit – the other available table was a two between two other twos so I was happy to sit up and watch the action. It was a busy and happy place to be. Prices were reasonable. Antipasti £4-7. Pasta £8 or £12 depending on the portion. Meat and fish £15 - £16. The veal chop was a thumper. Portions were good and the food was very enjoyable.

Lunched well here yesterday. We shared the fritti, crab and fennel bruschetta, grilled prawns and a burratta then took a pasta with razor clams and the veal chop. We ended with vin Santo and cantuccini and espressos.

Lunched here a couple of weekends ago. It is a while since I last ate here. The last visit, we left without eating after waiting over an hour in the lounge. I was not amused. This time we did get fed. We ate from the lunch menu and each added a half portion of turbot from the main menu. Lunch with coffee costs about £26 and you can get a £5 discount from the website or if you are on the mailing list. First starter was treacle cured salmon topped with salad shoots and beansprouts. It looked nice, tasted ok, not too cold. I only tried a little. I have made this a couple of times and the original tasted very similar to mine. I ordered a duck and chicken liver parfait with mead jelly and duck crackling. It was served it a slightly odd dish, a sort of bent porcelain tube that made eating and seeing the food more difficult than necessary. It was quite nice. Boozy from the mead and additional booze in the parfait. It was perhaps more wet than I expected but nice enough. The duck crackling was good. Next came the half portions of turbot. This was on the menu at about £15. The fish was served with a little mashed potato, half a smoked shallot and some more dried crisp shallot, a little like an onion sail. It was finished with beurre rouge. It was enjoyable although lacking any real star quality; I had high hopes as I like turbot a lot. It is a good way to use up the tail filets. For main I chose pork fillet. It was served with mashed potato and broccoli and the star of the show a little fried piggy nugget of probably trotter or cheek. The fillet was bland compared the gooey meatiness of the nugget. Again it was fine but without any wow. Better was a plateful of veal kidneys. I only tried a little of this but what I tried was meaty and delicately offaly. This was the best dish of the day. Desserts; I ordered roast pineapple and raisin ice cream / frozen raisin thing. It wasn’t ice cream - I am not sure what it was called. The roast pineapple was a cube of about an inch or so and warm, it was sat on a slice of raw pineapple. The raisin ice cream thing was sliced like Swiss roll. It was not as good as other desserts I have had here. The other dessert was a rhubarb trifle. Again it was perfectly nice but lacking the extra required in elevating the good to the very good. Something I could have made at home was the verdict. We ended with coffee and Eccles cakes. I don’t think I have been since the dining room was redecorated and additional tables added. There are too many tables in my opinion. It is a squeeze for the staff at times and some of the tables are now too close. The dining room was full so there is clearly demand but I am not sure that the kitchen can keep up with the dining rooms. (There is also a private dining room, although I don’t know if this was open on this occasion). We arrived early and waited about twenty/thirty minutes past our reservation time to be shown to our table on this occasion. It did cross my mind to ask to go directly to our table on arrival but they like you to relax in the lounge with the menus and drinks so if you book for one thirty they suggest you arrive at one, but then you have to wait. It is a shame as I have enjoyed a number of meals here. Of the food, nothing was at all bad; it was just not as good as it has been on the other occasions I have eaten here. I will go back at some point but I will probably give it a miss for a while.

http://www.cinnamon-kitchen.com/home1 Might be of interest for anyone in London on the day.

I asked about menu black when I went to sort the reservation / deposit. I think menu black night is June 2nd.

I had a decent lunch here last week. I have eaten here maybe four or five times, sometimes good, sometimes not so good. This and the time previous were in the good category and both times on the set menu. To start - boneless quail Main - pork cutlet, parsnip puree, radishes, broccoli and apple. (Some back of the spoon parsnip puree action for fans) There was a £1.50 supplement for the quail making lunch £16.50. Not bad value.

I managed to get a reservation for June. First visit in a long time. Looking forward to it.

I will be heading to Bangkok in a couple of months and was wondering if anyone can add anything more recent. At the moment I am considering Bo.Lan, Gaggan, D'sens / Le Normandie and lots of street food. The newish chef (Christian Ham) at d'sens seems to have had an interesting career so I will probably go there. On a past visit I ate some good Chinese food in Jade Garden at the Montien and lunched at Sala Rim Naam and other pot luck places but it was about eight years ago. I am keeping an eye on the Bangkok Post and some hotel websites for wine dinners or visiting chef events but any advice is welcome.

I use nespresso. I recently bought a new (second) machine. I like them. Good coffee and a decent range. The downside is mail order or 'boutique' only pod availability. The new aericcino dosn't suffer from hot spots like the older models so you don't get hard to clean burnt milk. I have also recently been given an aeropress - excellent for use away from home, hotels and the like, and not bad at home either.

We lunched here on Friday. I was tempted by the Pyrenean milk lamb on the alc and tasting menus but decided against that in the end and ordered the entire lunch menu instead. For amuse came a really excellent fish soup with anchovy puff pastry stick. I have had similar recently in Helene Darroze and Marcus Wareing but this was the best. It was quite thin textured but deeply flavoured with a really spicy edge. Starter one was Risotto Nero with Red Mullet and Gremolata. Good risotto, a tiny bite to the rice. A smallish fillet of mullet and a near invisible gremolata packing huge lemony flavour sat on the rice. The gremolata was used sparingly so it popped up every couple of mouthfuls and didn’t totally dominate but did significantly enhance the dish. It was finished with a little oil. Second starter was Ravioli of Guinea Fowl with Chanterelles, Cevennes Onions and Foie Gras. The pasta was very good, thin with a filling of mousse and meaty morsels. It had an additional slice of seared fowl sat on the ravioli which in turn sat on a stew of sweet onions and mushrooms. A couple of spoons of a good, dark, sharp sauce and some grated parmesan to finish it off. Another good plate. First main was Sauté of John Dory with Crushed Butternut Squash, Beurre Noisette and pickled walnuts. The fish was very good, seared golden and garnished with trompettes de la morte. . I was less keen on the crushed squash. It was crushed. Not a smear, blob or slash. It had quite an earthy flavour and lumps of both squash and walnuts that I wasn’t too keen on. I still ate most of it. It was far from terrible, just not entirely my cup of tea. I might have preferred a smear, blob or slash. It was a vivid plateful and although the least refined looking plate, still looked good. There was also a very good simple mixed leaf side salad served, it was dressed with a sharp vinaigrette and did go down well with the rich squash. I like John Dory a lot though so all in all happy. Second main was Venison Wellington and Lincolnshire Hare with Beetroot Puree, Creamed Cabbage and Green Peppercorns; it was delicious. I really enjoyed everything on the plate. The venison wellington was good, good meat, nice pastry. The fillet of hare came sat on the beetroot puree. The creamed cabbage was almost the star on the plate. It came finely shredded, flecked with very flavoursome bacon and rich cream. Another good sauce and a scattering of green peppercorns completed things. I scoffed the lot. We shared one of each dessert. Blood Orange Tart came with chocolate ice cream. It was very good. The pastry was almost brittle. The tart had a caramelised sugar top and almost egg custard like smooth dark orange filling. Very good ice cream too. Rum Baba with Crushed Apples and Prune and Armagnac Ice Cream finished things off. It was quite a substantial dish. One large but very light, very boozy baba came with a little custard, ice cream melting into the custard and cooked apples with a little spice. I think I preferred the tart. It was lighter. The baba was good, perhaps just a little large. It was busy. I think only one table wasn’t taken. Service was formal. Not much chatting but relaxed more as time passed. Booze is quite expensive. I think there was a Spanish white for £25 but not much else at the low end of the price range. We drank pot luck Pinot Gris form New Zealand and a glass each of red from Italy that the sommelier advised. A very enjoyable lunch and I might manage the lamb on another occasion.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/8976210/Celebrity-butcher-Jack-OShea-escorted-from-Selfridges-in-foie-gras-row.html Just googled it a found this. I cant remember where I saw it at the weekend as I think I was on the train so it could have been from anywhere.

I seem to remember reading at the weekend that it was because foie gras was allegedley sold to those with a code word. "French fillet" I think.