david goodfellow

Richard, Should you not be busy with your mise en place, instead of lurking on these food forums. They are for amateurs like moi, not someone who is actively chasing a Michelin star Portion sizes are most certainly better than Maze, and the mains are what you may expect anywhere I suppose, no complaints whatsoever, and of course we can both eat for England. The Fruta Cru was enough for two, I did ask him if this was the normal portion size and he said yes. I was suprised at its generosity. Its a cracking way to spend a hundred quid and for me its icing on the cake to be served by the main man. And no, I did not get his autograph, or come to that a picture with him. Still there's always next time.

Pollen Street Social, The Return. Well I was on a mission. To eat our way through the three set lunch menus. Nine dishes between two of us. Quite a task. We could have opted out of the desserts if required as there was an option of two courses, or three. I was really hoping that we would have the stamina to last the course. My wife was in charge of the order of dishes and she approached it like a trooper, splitting things into a tasting type menu. I had the Fish Soup from Fowey, saffron & garlic. This was no ordinary soup, it was a clear step up. A plump juicy scallop took pride of place in the bowl, next to some distinctive red mullet, and a piece of stone bass. The full flavoured broth was poured around in a bubbling cauldron of loveliness. No small portion here, a proper mansize hit. One of the other starters was a very similar dish to one that we ate on our first visit, indeed a variation on a theme me thinks. In fact I can see this dish as being a stalwart somewhat. Loch Duart salmon, Jersey Royals, avocado. Nicely presented, clean flavours, an ideal dish for a hot summers day. We enjoyed this as much as on our first visit here. We both shared the next dish, which has been widely praised, and with good cause. Salad Lyonaise, roasted Quail, creamed egg and onion. Wonderful, sticky, creamed egg and onion sauce. Quail thankfully at last tasting of quail, and I have had some in the past (not here of course)not tasting of the bird whatsoever. I think there was some creamy chicken liver parfait atop the sliver of crispy bread. If you like quail's distinctive taste you will enjoy this dish completely. Well, three courses in, but the next three are main courses and larger in size so lets see how we cope with those. There was a choice of Chicken, Pork Cheeks, and Crab risotto for main and it sort of made sense to have one dish each and share the risotto. So that is what we did. As the Spiced, braised, Pork cheeks are a blokey sort of dish, my wife chose them for me, settling for the more ladylike chicken dish herself. Propped up by a wall of baby turnips and onions and sitting on a celeriac and coffee puree the sweet Pork looked rather appealing and ate rather well. Not sure what the spice(s) were, perhaps I should have asked. Still nevertheless it all worked and nothing was left on the plate. Normally I would not choose chicken when dining out, I want game or other product that is not readily available at home. Roast Holly Farm Chicken, nuts and herbs. again was a step up from the norm. Holly Farm are more noted for turkey production but their chicken is worthy of mention. Succulent, tasty, cooked to perfection. In the wrong hands it would lose some of its pleasure but here it was cooked spot on. It was served with gravy, and bread mousse tableside, (I lost that photo) sage, and a tranche of cabbage and some sauted banana shallot, oh and some organic carrots. We both enjoyed this and I slightly preferred this to my pork cheeks, due mainly to the quality of the chicken itself. The risotto was next and this was a cracker. Cornish native brown Crab risotto was served in two parts. The freshest of fresh crabmeat bursting at the seams with flavour. Salty crunchy marsh samphire randomly strewn on top. The risotto was spooned over it from a generous serving dish tableside. Simple but very effective and most enjoyable. The green in the risotto by the way is a delicious seaweed butter. The question now was. Could we possibly manage desserts. Well we just had too, or we would have failed on my mission. Choice was, Eton Mess, Chocolate sponge, of Fruta Cru. Mrs G chose Eton Mess in a glass, wild strawberry sorbet. a very simple but nevertheless refreshing summer dish, which certainly suited the weather outside. I had a couple of spoonfuls and it was as light as a feather just what the doctor ordered. My dessert was 70% bitter chocolate sponge, grapefruit sorbet, tea jelly. Perhaps not the most exciting dessert visually, but lets remember its part of a very good value set menu and desserts are only £3.50 each. The final dessert was Fruta Cru with basil sorbet. I loved the presentation of this dish, again summer on a plate, bristlingly fresh fruit, served on a bed of ice, witness the first of the seasons English strawberries, compressed pineapple, compressed pear and almond? and an interesting basil sorbet. Little sugared basil and tarragon leaves draped across the fruit itself. Whats not to like. This dish was served by Jason Atherton who poured the ginger, lime syrup over the top of the fruit. A nice touch. I just love it when people get my jokes. Well thats it Mission accomplished a marathon well worth the effort, and a relativley wallet friendly treat. Service again was sweet, acomplished and informed. Jason was frequently surrounded by wellwishers to the kitchen, and the dessert bar. Its clear that he has a legion of fans. Its unusual for us to return to any restaurant so soon, indeed most we never return too, but I'm really glad we made the effort to return here. As has been stated above none of the dishes disappointed even though they were on the cheaper set menu. It should however be noted that some are variations on a theme off the main menu, and some I would think will perhaps make their way onto the main menu in due course. In fact some may have been on their already. I know I mention simple a few times in this review and there is nothing wrong in that. Clean flavours abound in these dishes. No need to overwork top produce. The bill for three set lunches @ £23.50 plus service, tap water and a bottle of well chosen wine from our expert sommelier was a bargain £105. Happy eating folks, Happy eating.

RDB Robin, Good of you to take the time out to respond. Its good to get other peoples opinions especially on a forum such as this. What is clear so far, is that PSS has certainly divided opinion. However having said that, as the days pass by the reviews seem more and more positive. I'm flattered that you should view me as a positive individual, its not always the case, but I see no point whatsoever in approaching a dining experience looking for negatives. Thankfully my glass is always half full. Not all of my reviews are gushing. The Fox and Grapes and Simon Radley at The Grosvenor immediately spring to mind. In the meantime I am looking forward very much to your take on "Dinner"

For once I agree with all the above comments. It just does not do it for me this year. In previous years I avidly watched all episodes, but not this year, it just does not get the juices flowing. We have missed most of what has been televised, just catching snippets here and there. Fingers crossed some improvement ensues.

Thats a cracking review from Guy Dimond. He's clearly a big fan. What I say is, go with the flow, and enjoy it for what it is.

"Or maybe I was expecting too much". Perhaps you are, but if this does not please you, you are wasting your money going to Heston,s new place (if you have not already been that is). Did you go by chance on Saturday Lunch as five of the dishes are the same as we tried from the set menus? We have now eaten about eighteen dishes here on our two visits, and hand on heart, not one has disappointed. Having said that, we are not looking for groundbreaking food, and nor should anyone else. Do you not think that the "social" element refers to the relaxed "drop in when you like to the bar". Have some tapas. Have a dessert or two, or even see if a table is available in the restaurant for something a bit more substantial and a more ordered dining experience? Gary should be pleased a bit in that they have reduced the price of the Cote de Boeuf (for two) down to £65 per kilo. There is also a Black Angus steak with duck fat chips and green salad. Yum, Yum. On our menu apart from the three set lunch options, there was eight starters, and eight mains, not sure how many desserts, as that is a separate menu. Btw on our two visits we did not get "the golden key" I'm a bit disappointed now, not to be treated the same as everyone else. I shall take it up with the management on our return

Soundman, It would appear you missed the question mark ? following both statements Both were meant to be taken slightly tongue in cheek, but its now quite clear that you want to have a "pop" which is most disappointing. Some of the hardcore on here seem to rubbish certain chefs, when its clear that they have not even eaten their food or indeed ever intend too. James Martin, a case in point. I think that's most unfair. Or is it just the British way. At the very least I make the effort to try these places out travelling the length and breadth of the country to do so. Apart from the cost of the actual meal, considerable travelling and hotel costs have to be factored in to post a review on here, perhaps something more people should do instead of having "a pop". Your reference to the Mat Follas thread is comforting to me especially that I started it and that it attracted a very healthy 10,134 hits and 74 replies and much to the shock of a few of the sceptics on here Mat has been running a very successful business to this day. Indeed he has had some very, very good reviews for his food along the way. Good luck to the man.

Well its been a busy couple of weeks of dining out and this weekend was the icing on the cake. I was eager to make an early return here. I have a confession to make first of all, in that we have been on cancellation status at The Ledbury for this last weekend but decided that I wanted to give the lunch menu here, (all of it) a good seeing too. If the call had of come from The Ledbury I would have turned them down as I was on a mission and had to satisfy my curiosity. I took loads of photos, just need to sort them out and make a bit of time to post my review as it takes me absolutely ages to post a review even though it takes only minutes to read.

I always read John Lanchester's reviews in The Guardian. He comes in for some serious criticism and a bit of abuse in the comments section. Some of the comments are very funny indeed, adding a fill up to his reviews. The errant James Martin came under his spotlight this week. Not popular at all on this forum. The ladies seem to be a lot more positive about him though, I am led to believe. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/apr/30/leeds-kitchen-james-martin-review

According to the last Times Rich List Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor the 6th Duke of Westminster has dropped from Britain's richest man to Britain's third richest man. Its certainly tough at the top. Ok so whats the connection? Well apart from his Grosvenor Estate owning large swathes of Mayfair, and elsewhere come to that. It also owns the Chester Grosvenor. So fitting that this five star venue is so well regarded. There is a generosity about Simon Radley at the Grosvenor which is very appealing. From the black and green olives and mixed nuts tableside in the bar, the little tasting platter, the breads, right through to the amazing petit four tray. No scrimping here. A couple of dips of white bean hummus, topped with minted beans. Hog jelly? hummus topped with bacon dust. and some parmesan gougeres were well received. Our table in the dining room was very comfy, in the corner, with excellent view of the room. Armchairs with soft cuddly cushions. Comfortable rather than showy room. The bread trolley, for want of a better discription is a thing of beauty, most especially if you enjoy bread as much as moi. I had read that it initially was laden with up to fifteen varieties, however they have cut back to a more sensible nine. I would love to serve an apprenticeship in their bakery, as the types that we tried were absolutley top notch. Between us we tried, Walnut, cheese and onion, onion seeds on top. Farmhouse, cottage granary, and a stunning salted crusted sourdough which disintigrated into little flavour bombs in the mouth. We opted for the tasting menu which is currently on offer on a wednesday only. I understand that it was the kitchen's idea to promote what would normally be a very quiet night. Needless to say its now busy and looked to be nearly full on our visit. An amuse of Jersey Royal, salmon and shrimp arrived at the table. it seemed a folorn offering and I was hoping that this was not going to set the tone for the meal. It tasted ok but the crisp on top had taken on moisture so had lost some of its crispness. We both enjoyed the plump Steamed Diver Scallop This baby had eaten all the pies during its short life, thats for sure. The perfectly matched smokey bacon and lettuce fondue added their bit to the dish. I initially noticed the the scallop seemed not to be seasoned but as the rest of the dish was salty, it did not need it. Good, good. Billed as Golden Egg no doubt because of the gold leaf, I did not really get this dish. Perhaps its because my taste buds do not do subtle. My wife thought it was fine. The duck liver was ok but as I only eat duck eggs these days (from our own ducks) I have become used to a fuller flavoured egg. I even surprised myself by leaving some on the plate. That would certainly for me send a message to the kitchen. Artichoke milk was poured around the egg, and even though I love artichoke I did not fall in love with this dish. Things picked up on the next course Skate, noisette butter poached with wild garlic and Langoustine. Although having said that the Skate and the Langoustine appeared to have had an argument. With no connection on the plate at all by way of a slash of puree or spots of foam. It was also a bit of a Ron Manager moment as this was a game of two halves. The totally delicious Skate was let down by a not so zingy Langoustine. No saline hit or hint of sea to plate was in evidence, sad to say. The wild and cultivated garlic were welcome additions, as were the tiny slices of cournichon. Onwards and upwards the next dish was a star.Roe Deer, hand rolled macaroni with morels. I could smell this before it hit the table. It smelled of the forest floor, pongy morels, finer tasting than we ate earlier in the week. Gorgeous meat which cut through into about six bite sized bits, mopping up the tasty jus on the way to the mouth. Not too sure what was in the macaroni, but it was fab. We got exactly what we hoped for and expected with this dish. Mushroom tea was poured onto the dish, which we polished off with a spoon so as not to waste it. BTW perched on top of the fillet is white asparagus. Cheese on Toast was butter brioche filled with liquid beaufort and topped with truffle. A couple of tasty grapes are to the side. My wife loved this dish, she was most impressed. From a critical point of view the truffle tasted, well, quite frankly of nothing. A let down, just purely for decoration I'm afraid. Pre dessert was a zingy refresher which cleansed the palate. Blood orange carpaccio with coriander Very simple but did its job well.I was suprised how well the coriander went with it. Gariguette Early season French strawberries with a play on cheesecake. We both liked the look of this plate and more importantly both really enjoyed eating it. Pretty damned good all around. Top marks for this one. And fortunately it did not end there. We retired to the lounge to enjoy the signiture petit four, and boy what a selection. We have had some terrific choices this year namely at Helene Darroze at The Connaught and William Drabble at Park Place and this is up there with them. The specially made dish shows its bounty off to full effect. Well to sum up. A bit of a higgaldy piggaldy ride for me, but not so for my wife. You know what they say about pleasing all the people all of the time. Some of the dishes were great, some did not do it for me, but overall we enjoyed the experience. We will return to eat the next tasting menu but only if it is still on offer. The midweek seasonal menu looks well worth a try also. Both are good value midweek and its not so very far away from us. You won't find us here though on a weekend. London has too much temptation for us. Most of you will already know I am not much into wine and as I do all of the driving my licence is too precious to risk. I bring this up because I left it up to the sommelier Gary, to choose a bottle of wine that was under £30. I did not even look at the list thinking that most pricing would be looking skyward. Not so really, some decent choices me thinks and for me he did rather well with a bottle from Chile which still offers very good value. I asked him what his favourite tipple was when he is off duty, to which he replied. I don't drink. Well thats a new one on me which I could not explore further as he was required tableside and we were just leaving. Service is good as you would expect, with a mixture of staff mainly from Eastern Europe. Our German waitress was pleasant and informed and looked after us well. Assistant manager Mark Bevan toured the room making sure everyone was enjoying themselves. He made the point to us that in the three years that he had been with the company that the management were striving towards making the experience better for everyone. I will drink to that. All in all a good midweek treat and a rather bargain basement way to sample Michelin food in a five star environment. You may well find no fault at all with the food, but I suppose part of the problem that we have with eating out a lot, is that treat nights are really not so much special treats after a while. Bill for two based on the tasting menu at £50 pp plus a bottle of wine, tap water, service charge about £140. Parking btw could not be easier by way of the attached multi story car park on level two, and literally only metres from the entrance. Happy Eating.

Yep, read Your Review earlier as I was wondering how you had gone on. Looks like you had some of the dishes that we ate too. There have been a few changes since both of our visits. The dishes have been juggled about a bit. Main courses have dropped in price fairly significantly. Sharing plates have disappeared from the menu, and some of the starter dishes have gone up a touch too. Set lunch now looks even better value as that has dropped in price too. Going to give those dishes a good seeing too on our next visit. http://www.pollenstreetsocial.com/menus.php

I like this Metro Review from former super egullet contributer Andy Lynes Looks like they have still not got it right.

Alex, you may well be right, but there is a story attached to this. So please let me explain. As the meal was part of the soft opening it was a set, no choice menu. Therefore no menus to choose from. All dishes however were explained tableside. Of late I have mostly decided not to take notes and in the main let my photos jog my abysmal memory. Two reasons for this really. My wife just about puts up with the photos but thinks it spoils the meal a bit with me jotting down stuff as well. That is in between checking the photos are acceptable, instead of jumping in and just enjoying the food. This sort of fits in with some of my reviews which are from a punters point of view and not from a paid critic's perspective. The two dishes seemed too similar so rather than get it wrong I phoned PSS and asked to speak to our waiter. After a while I was in formed he was not in that day and they would try for someone else. No one else was available so they suggested that I try a little later which I did. Again no one from front of house was available so I was transferred to the kitchen and spoke to one of the commis. We got cut off. So I tried again. This time I got Jason Atherton and was slightly embarrassed to be asking questions before a busy service. He was very good about it and said that the dessert that we had, was the one that I mentioned in the review. So I went with that. Its just possible that he was tinkering about with the dishes and, well, I can't really explain. We may just pop in over the weekend to put the new lunch menu to the test, and take another look at those desserts up close again. Will let you know if we do. Btw did you enjoy yourself? What did you think of the place?

Every year I look forward to the much hyped Jersey Royals and every year I seem to be underwhelmed. This year I have found a potato, grown in Cornwall, which deserves shouting about, the Anya. It has a very distinctive nutty flavour and firm waxy texture and I was surprised how tasty it was on our first try. The look a bit like scrubbed baby artichokes with their knobbly appearance. They are on offer nationwide for £1 for 750g currently, and imo a far better, and cheaper option than the Jersey royal. Its exclusive to Sainsbury's and part of their Taste the Difference range and believe me you can taste the difference. BTW I have no connection whatsoever to Sainsbury's or the growers MORE INFO HERE

Set in 22 acres and part of the much larger 3000 acre Woburn Estate, which of course includes the world renowned Woburn Abbey, Paris House is a bit of a treat. Originally from Paris circa 1878 the house was dismantled on the orders of the then Duchess of Bedford and shipped piece by piece and rebuilt on the estate, where it stands in all its glory to this day. Having been taken over in the last couple of years by Alan Murchison's company 10 in 8 Group it was awarded a much coveted Michelin star in this years guide. Now this is a perfect spot to break up your day on a visit to Woburn Abbey or Woburn Safari Park and indeed with the beautiful weather we are experiencing of late a full days entertainment in clement weather is assured. There are a multitude of menus and offers available. From table d hote through to various tasting menus plus a chefs table treat right in the heart of the kitchen, where you can if you wish interact with the chefs. What tempted us on our lunchtime visit was a six course tasting menu at £36. An amuse bouche of frothy field mushroom velute arrived at the table topped with a perky cep powder. Bread was nicely presented, consisting of Cheese and paprika rolls, Pan de Campagne and some pleasant buns, with a random smattering of raisins and hazelnuts within. I particularly enjoyed the Pan de Campagne. Terrine of Ham hock, Pork belly and Braised shoulder An excellent shard of crispy crunchy pork belly, and some pork belly crumbs added to the dish, which went down a treat Next up was Linguini with poached shellfish A generous helping of Mussels and Clams with some intermingling mouth popping sevruga caviar and trout roe. Sun kissed tomatoes, fresh tomato dice, a white wine sauce, and a herb which I did not remember are all part of the dish. A very good eat. My wifes choice Roast Rump of Lamb, Rosti potato, sherry sauce. Terrific quality Lamb, tender as a baby's bottom. The morel's added a greater depth of flavour to the rich sherry sauce. Spring greens imparting some vitamin c, follic acid and fibre. I was looking forward to my main course choice Pan Fried fillet of Bream A great dish for a hot summers day, fresh, crispy topped fish, saffron infused fennel, with plenty of bite in it. Carrots, cucumber, shallots and buried deep within, a bed of sea purslane. Thoroughly enjoyable. A most welcome pre dessert of a couple of White chocolate covered Ice cream cones The ice cream was actually lime curd, and jolly delicious it was too. My dessert in the shape of a mushroom, a perfectly shaped cep infact, was Marshmallow topped vanilla parfait around which was poured a hot chocolate sauce. I thought this to be very good until I tasted my wifes dessert which was even better. Rum Baba, caramelized pineapple, pina colada ice cream had a lot more happening on the plate than that, mint and malibu was mentioned. My wife adored it, I begged to try another taste, and another, until she gave me the look of disdain that we blokes know when we are pushing our luck. Ah well, you know what they say. If you don't ask, you don't get. I asked if we could have a look at the Chefs table, which is right in the heart of the kitchen, by the pass. This crimson banquette seats a maximum of eight diners. As you may expect its for a special treat only, as its not cheap. Two hundred pounds per person will buy you fourteen courses with matching wines plus interaction with the chefs, you may even be invited to help with the washing up, but not with the cooking of course. We had a chat with chef Phil Fanning who was delighted that they had won a Michelin star so quickly. He spent five years honing his skills working alongside mentor Alan Murchison but tells me that he is allowed to express himself fully on his menus. Indeed the menu that we chose from has just been introduced and in our opinion does not need any tweaking whatsoever. Phil showed us the seven chickens out back which are not for eating, just for eggs. Clearly they buy in eggs also, as six or seven eggs a day will not go very far in this kitchen. Well this is in my top three ways to spend a wonderful summers day. You may try to guess the other two if you wish. The location is superb, I don't think it can really be much better. Its only forty miles from Central London. There is so much that you can do at Woburn itself, and the grounds of the estate are absolutley stunning. It really is a smashing day out. Needless to say we enjoyed the whole experience. The mainly French staff go out of their way to make you feel at home. The daytime dress code is smart casual, indeed I think it is the same at night, so its not as formal as it may seem. I wore jeans and a jacket but all the other males were in shirts and that was fine. The lunch tasting menu is very fairly priced especially for the quality of the food on offer. We had the two tasting menus, a glass of wine each, tap water no coffees, and with the service charge of 12.5% the bill came to just shy of £100. I'm happy with that. We took a drive through the Deer park or at least part of it, as we did not have to pay. The deer are so tame that you can almost touch them from your car. In a way we were glad none were on the menu.

He has to adapt and respond to feedback. Which clearly he has done very quickly, and much to his credit. The sharing concept is great in theory, but only perhaps if two people partake. To have three or four sets of knives and forks poised to attack a single scallop, egg, or whatever, is not going to work. Fortunately we mostly dine a deux Jasons Twitter

Thanks for the heads up. Will see if any are available locally. I did actually get around to making a Lobster Bisque and by golly it was tasty. I smashed the shells to smithereens to get maximum flavour into it. Great way to extract value from a waste product but an awful lot of work involved really. Just proves when looking at menus that even dishes using very cheap ingredients have hidden costs once you factor in the chefs time and other overheads Sorry its not the best of photos, it tasted a whole lot better than it looks.

A Short Video of the interior of PSS, and Jason Atherton explaining the concept behind it. Thanks to Big Hospitality.

Its still very much open. It never closed Here's the Website. They do a roaring trade as a specialist wedding venue and I guess as this is now the wedding season, busy, busy, busy. Only the fine dining side changed when Aiden Byrne left. However his highly talented former team have taken over I'm very pleased to report. Not been the Collingwood, but have a feeling MaLo may have been. If I find anything on the forum, will let you know.

Food sounds and looks the part, as appealing as our last visit. Clearly working all those years with Aiden, Stuart Warner and Jenny Thoden are top class. Since Aiden has now severed ties with the Hillbark should this now be called Stuart Warner at The Hillbark? Just a thought.

I think THIS is quite a positive review from Fay Maschler who can sometimes be quite difficult to impress. Good that she includes some historic background as clearly not everyone knows Jason Atherton's pedigree. Be interesting to see how the reviews finally pan out, because as has already been demonstrated, there are some deep differences of opinion. I know which camp we are in

I would hazard a guess to it being the same really. We were never regulars their, far from it in fact, we only visited Maze the once, but from memory the two meat dishes we ate here, I would say are classic Atherton. He's not trying to reinvent the wheel, just cook to the best of his ability I guess, and for me, that's certainly good enough.

Some of the reviews are starting to come through now. This One from one of our very own members is well worth a read. It looks like he had some of the dishes we ate and the quail dish that Gary enjoyed. I'm looking forward to reading Fay Maschler's review, which should be out today. She can be a bit of a tough cookie to please. We shall see.

Pictures Here from the opening party. Loads of celebs including Rene Redzepi, Heston etc, etc, etc.

Its certainly the hottest ticket in town currently. Fay Maschler was there on our visit, so expect her review tomorrow. Nic Watt (Roka) also seemed to be enjoying himself. MarinaMetro is not known to the management(nor me)so she may have been also. Did'n't they host a dinner on Sunday for the Top 50 restaurant awards?