Charles Reid
-
Posts
17 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Store
Help Articles
Posts posted by Charles Reid
-
-
Thank god ! I have confirmation of my table at comerc 24! I tried Alkimia but are closed too! Sauc looked ok but fancied dinner with a modern twist! Will leave a review of comerc 24 as it seems split down the middle from previous diner's .Thank you to everyone that gave me recommendations it was a great help
-
Thank you Patrick ,just tried to book Lasarte and the same problem there shut for the whole of August!!!!
-
So decided on Cinc Sentits have just gone online to book as they only take bookings 2 weeks in advance and there on holiday!!! Bit stuck now as i had set my heart on the place looked perfect! Other places that had been recomended, are perfect too but more lunch/tapas style.Wanted a restaurant sit down michelin meal ............. HELP!!!
-
Thank you guys will take at look at those places ,will also check the excisting thread
We go on the 20th and fly back on the 23rd.....
-
In need of some help from the experts! Am off to Barcelona for 3 nights in August for my wifes birthday and have never been. We both love to eat out and don't want to pick the wrong place as we have little time for error
So would like peoples top 3 restaurants, michelin to back street gems! Please help 
-
Another thumbs up from me. Went on Saturday and had the Fish tasting menu. All dishes were superbly tasty and well presented. Service was impeccable as well. Only small criticism is the tables (for two) are too small for all the glassware and frippery. Yes, you can say that it's pretentious, but hey, some of us like that all that pretention. I certainly hope to see them in the Michelin star ratings this year.
Lee
Thinking of going this Friday. Anyone been recently?
Had an amazing dining experience here last month, £25 for a 5 course lunch which included app,starter,main,cheese,dessert very high standard and excellent service ,would recommend it before the offer finishes ,deserves a star
-
Well if anyone had said to me that I would be standing in a field with my long suffering wife, torch in hand , 10.30 at night, looking at Dexter rare breed cattle, I would have said "bullocks" or words to that effect.
I do have an interest though because I fancy keeping a few myself
The said Bullocks are part of Mike and Imogen North,s stock in trade, along with ten wee Gloucester old spot, Tamworth piglets that we did,n't have time to look at.
We shall be eating some of this produce on a return visit.
Mike's dad is a butcher and Mike's not bad himself much preferring to butcher the carcase himself.
Well, this is perhaps the ideal local if you like a drink and a great social life, especially if your a bloke.
The place was fully booked for dinner and a very happy group of locals were at the bar making merryment.
Again generosity in the form of leftovers from evening service was freely distributed amongst the locals.
Imogen stressed that this is first and foremost a pub, not a fine dining restaurant, and that is perhaps why we like it so much.
Lest I forget, if you travel from afar, if you sat nav it, as we did from Oxford, it may get you on the M40, beware, Murcott lies either side of the motorway and has no turn off miles and miles.
We sat in the pub proper although there is a conservatory also, which looked great, or you can of course dine outside.
To start with, an amuse of Pea puree with foamy top tickled the taste buds, then,
Ballotine of Landes Foie Gras, toasted brioche, rhubarb compote, was a little bit of luxury to follow.
Bread was Walnut and Date ( I made some yesterday
) Olive, wholemeal, and white, freshly made of course.French butter, beurre cru a la Barratte bros was excellent.
Scallops, (diver caught) with a lemon curd dressing, fennel salad, olive dressing, and a sprinkling of coriander leaves hit the spot, but guess the lemon curd might not appeal to every one.
Open roasted vegetable tart with goats cheese and red pepper, and aubergine puree went down well, as the meal gathered pace.
Pave' of Nut tree smoked Salmon, jersey royals, peas, and Rectory Farm asparagus was a highlight as the salmon was exceptional, wonderful flavor, if slightly over salted,
Mike is reported to use an old fridge with an ill fitting door to " smoke in".
Slow roasted " home grown " shoulder of Pork, potato puree, fricasse of wild mushrooms, and apple gravy was also a must eat, I could eat another plateful, now
Poached Rhubarb, with a quenelle of rhubarb sorbet was ok,
Hot lime and coconut souffle with mango sorbet was better, as was the,
Bitter chocolate tart, with golden raisin and rum ice cream.
Surprisingly light , this tart had a soft heart much to my delight.
We skipped coffee as were not really" coffee people", truth be told, besides we wanted to look at the Dexters and had a two and a half hour drive home, dedication eh ?
Had a chat with Mike after service about the merits of keeping Dexters and other foodie things of course, whilst Imogen chatted in between keeping the hearty drinkers at the bar topped up.
Now then if you stumbled on this place, or were one of the lucky locals (pinch yourself) you would fall in love with it straight away, its got the lot, we will be returning pretty soon, but next time will have an overnight stay to have a drink or three with the locals
2 x Menu Surprise £80
7 Glasses of Various Wines £25
Tap water FOC
Total £105 + tip
Fantastic value
Glad you had a great time David , I must have gone on a bad day.I couldn't understand what all the hype was about , very average but thats just my opinion .....
-
That dish for me is purely Tom Aikens. Byrne worked under Aikens for a long time and I think you can tell, with the style of his grub and that 'underlying' attitude. Hope Byrne doesn't end up turning into a complete wa.ker!, if you take my drift!
He's got some work yet to do if he wants to reach the dizzying heights of 2008's official 'wa.ker' chris horridge. Even then, he was painted badly by the producers.
I note that Chris is no longer at Bath Priory (Michael Caines is now exec). I think Chris has gone to Waldo's at Clivden. I always wondered if the two were connected. Another of our local contestants Elisha Carter (Charlton House) has also moved on. Does anyone know were he went?
GBM works for some (Sat, Jason, Glynn etc), but obviously not for all.
Elisha Carter is now the sous chef at Pennyhill park,where Michael Wignal is head chef, Pennyhill Park
-
Wondered if anybody could help? I'm in the Leeds area next weekend and would like to go for a "proper" sunday lunch... Have looked at the Star in Harome but wondered if anybody could recommend somewhere else..... thank you
-
I bet Matt Tomkinson gets one at The Montague arms as well.
Your only saying that as you've read the michelin news release out on the website !!!! Like you could predict that ha ha ha !!
-
From what i've been told,it may be a disapointing start to the year ,watch this space........A truely excellent dinner at anthony's last night, the demands of their new venture the piazza are certainly not being felt at the mothership, tony and olga both in, and on good form, and god knows where they get the energy from but after doing a full service they were heading back to the piazza to make more stock for the pattiserie at the piazza!there were several standouts seared tuna on ox tongue with horseradish, a perfectly cooked red mullet with filo crab sandwich and a great apple dessert with pork fil and sage ice cream, though the menu is changing from tuesday so it'll be all new.
the attention to detail remains the same, for example they've invested in a new coffee machine (about the same cost as a small car) had their own coffee ground and then subjected it to a half degree at a time test to find the optimum temperature for the espresso, and it makes a fabulous coffee with excellent crema.
tony has plenty up his sleeve for anthonys in 09 the piazza has not diminished his love of creating new ideas for anthony's , it'll be an interesting year.
-
I had a dreadful experience at The Waterside. It doesn't mean I refuse to accept other people have good experiences there.
Well done you
-
and charles i'd love to be on the payroll of all the places i like but unfortunatley the truth is much less exciting, please feel free to ignore my thoughts as biased if you wish, but i think i've eaten enough serious meals in the last 15 years to have a pretty good idea of what's what.
and with that i'd better get ready to go to the star at harome, i know them too so that's another post you don't have to read
-
Not sure if its common knowledge already but...
I emailed anthonys the other day enquiring about getting some food chemicals in smaller amounts from his large orders from MSK, to which the answer was no, because they will be opening an Aroma shop at the piazza in 2009, apparently selling some chemicals (I mentioned maltodextrin and gellan. Inteeeeresting.
Do you cook with that sort of stuff at home Calum?
-
Thank you David for your brilliant research on scottf's past comments! Maybe he is the only person aloud to moan about bad experiences at restaurants.And Gary you would say what you did,your great friends with the Flinns aren't you? personal show rounds and all?
-
I ate at the Piazza last week and had very 50/50 experience.My wife and i arrived to be greeted by 2 " bouncers" on the door which was a little off putting...Once we entered through the door into the exchange my breath was taken away ! The inside of the the exchange has been designed so beautifully, and had a great atmosphere. We then walked down the stairs into the restaurant,we stood and looked around for a reception desk or somebody to greet us.With no joy we wandered around until we bumped into a waitress ,she then directed us towards the open kitchen to where the reception is situated.We had our coats taken and sat straight at the table,the restaurant was fairly busy which was good,a really nice buzz to the place.From my seat i spotted Anthony snr watching his staff and the evening service in full flow(Like a Hawk) .Then looked to my right and spotted Anthony jnr sat under a sink talking on his mobile telephone in a room that i can only describe as a washing up area???My order was taken and I sat and waited for the starters to arrive,they appeared very quickly hot and presented nicely. We also ordered some bread to go with our meal ,which was one of the most funny parts of the night it was like the ends of a stale french stick, 5 tiny pieces (mouthful size) for about £3! As I ate my starter i looked over the table for the salt and pepper, there was none!! A bistro with no salt and pepper whatever next!! The waiter delivered the S+P after we'd finished the 1st course,meanwhile anthony was still sat under the sink!Maincourse this is where it went really down hill,my wife described the lamb as "the worst piece of meat she'd ever eaten" and my sole was raw,both dishes very light on any type of vegetables or potato apart from the raw fondant potato on the lamb dish.We swapped main courses as she said her lamb was ineadable and I was then left to finish off the really chewy lamb.The cooked parts of the fish maincourse were eaten and we hasterly asked for the bill,meanwhile Anthony was still on the phone which is one of the things I dont understand,this restaurant has been so hyped up in the press,and to serve such bad food in its opening weeks?? Why wasn't he looking over what was being sent out?We left after paying the bill as we didnt want to risk dessert ....... very disapointing and expensive for what it was
Le Champignon Sauvage
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
I think David knew you were coming......if you catch my drift
Special treatment for possible critics ,very clever