david goodfellow

Thanks for the heads up. You know what they say "never say never" It does seem decent value, on par perhaps with Marcus Wareing's lunch deal which is the same money. Except Ducasse throws in coffee and water. I think the lunch at Le Gavroche is about the same money. We are off their next week so will report back. Not sure if wine is included in their's, must just check it out.

Good report Alan, I think you have saved me a bit of money, because I now have no desire to visit. Not that I was intending too, as most of the reports that I have read have been critical. Even the freebie event hosted by their PR for a group of food bloggers met with some derision. The food does not look or sound special enough to justify three star pricing when clearly it is one star cooking. The a la carte is littered with supplements. Langoustines £10, Beef £10, Turbot £10, Lobster £10. That is on top of the £95 plus 12.5% service charge. In fairness the tasting looks a touch better value but does not come across as sparkling. Mind you having said that your report is based on the Truffle menu which is over £200 when you include the service charge. Yes I know its Park Lane and they have chucked shed loads of money at it, but there is a now a huge choice of top end dining in London. And a lot of it is only a mile down the road. (Heston, Koffmann, Wareing, Ramsey, Boulud, etc) Of course very close by in The Hilton you have Galvin at Windows too, which is Michelin starred. I'm more looking forward to your William Drabble review, especially for the food and those photos from the LX5. In fact although I have just recently spent roughly the same amount on the Canon S95 I'm now tempted to purchase the Panasonic, but not at the price Amazon are now quoting which is £345. I could of course justify the purchase to my wife, because I have just saved about the same amount by not dining at Ducasse Thank You.

I'm looking forward to making a Lobster bisque with one of the lobsters. Not made one before, but its well within my capabilities. If its only half as good as the last fantastic restaurant one that I ate, I will be pleased as punch.

Well after my thread about £2 lobsters from Lidl last year. Aldi have put their frozen Canadian Lobsters down to £2.99 (from £4.99) in my local store. My wife bought four of them and we shall give them a try over the weekend and report back. Don't get me wrong I'm not expecting fireworks but for the money they are most certainly a bargain. Please check your local store for this offer, before making a special journey, as they may not be available in all stores.

We have been to Polpo and Polpetto, Gary beat me to Sputino I reviewed both on here, and enjoyed both, although I just slightly preffered Polpetto. That, however, could be more on where we sat, and the feel of the place as opposed to the food quality, which was pretty much the same. Polpo is more busy, buzzy, Polpetto can be the same of course, however it caters for less people, so in my opinion is a little more relaxed.

Food pics look good on the website. I may just beat you too it

Thanks Alan. Very interesting list, lots of new and to some, unfamiliar, names. Interesting to see how Aktar Islam (Lasan) fares with his Indian cooking. Also Sue Ellis (in the same group) from Belle House in Pershore. Somewhere that I have been meaning to visit for years. Its just moved a lot higher up the list now. Another interesting inclusion (for me) is Phil Thompson from Michelin starred Auberge du Lac. Yet another place I have been meaning to try for some while. Nice to see Lisa Allen again.

I can't help but get excited about the forthcoming GBM. Spring is in the air, some filming has already taken place. Anyone got any info? Will the judging and judges remain the same? I actually like the panel, with Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton jousting, whist Prue Leith keeps the peace. Will they change the formula a bit? I know for a fact former bad boy chef Tom Aikins is up against Hand and Flowers big man Tom Kerridge. Rumours also about Galvin at Windows chef Andre Garrett featuring. Anyone else have anymore info? I think it will be broadcast next month. So not long to wait. Bring it on.

Just tried the Sainsbury's Outdoor reared premium Pork sausages, from the butchery department. Two plump bangers, served on toast, with the fabulous, rich, home reared duck egg. Some chopped tomato on the side compleats the line up. I can recommend these. Juicy, porky, a good breakfast eat whilst watching the excellent Saturday Kitchen

Just tried the Pork chipolatas, as recommended by the butcher. Not bad, decent porky flavour. I found them slightly dry-ish, perhaps because they are the skinny variety of sausage and don't hold as much moisture (fat). Porkinsons are more widely available than I thought. Will give them ago too.

Your right about an oatcake Just had my first duck egg of the year, that will go down a treat. I,m down to only three ducks and a drake now. The fox killed six in one go as he (she) broke into their pen during the day. I will try the Waitrose Organic next time. Just back from Sainsbury's and I bought two "Taste the Difference" pre packed ones,Ultimate outdoor bred Pork, (97% pork) and Fresh herb Pork sausages. (91% pork) As I passed the butchery department I noticed they had another selection of three, and the very friendly and helpful butcher (who always looks after me) wholeheartedly recommended them. I bought a couple of breakfast size portions of Pork chipolatas, his favourite, and some Outdoor reared premium Pork sausages, his next favourite. Not sure when I will get around to trying this lot out as my wife has decided what we are eating tonight. Still I shall return my verdict asap.

I like this thread. It appeals to my "blokey" side, and having said that, its most encouraging to have the ladies actively involved too. Bangers just seem to me to be a man sort of thing, perhaps because my wife has never liked them. As I have no one of note making good sausages locally, I too would like some tips on supermarket offerings. The couple of Sainsbury's taste the difference ones that I tried were good, then I tried another, and unfortunately some gristle had found its way in and put me off a bit. Will take a closer inspection of what is on offer at Sainsbury's later and may do a taste test at some time. What are Waitrose's like? Just wish that I could persuade my wife to give them a go, I could just eat bangers and fluffy mash with a rich caramelised onion gravy. Yum, Yum.

Good report and nice photos. Bet it was packed being a Saturday. Good the fact that foodies can meet up through a site like this. Sounds like you all had a ball. Very confident of them only to offer a tasting menu. I'm envious, I could wolf that lot down, especially as I know how delicious it would all taste.

We have had some great meals over the years here. You would not realise how good it is if you were not tipped off about it Is Dominique le Stanc still the chef? We ate his food at The Negresco many years ago, and could not believe he swapped those kitchens for the two square metres space here.

I do wish that you would take time to read my review correctly. Its offensive to the chef to infer that I thought his food to be "crap" (your unfortunate words, not mine) Lets run through this slowly, so you can derive a clearer picture of what I said. Pork scratchings....................... Delish Rillette................................As tasty as Brawn Salad..................................OK Bavette................................Brilliant Burger.................................Overcooked, for me, but for some. Perfectly acceptable. Hardly "crap" then. My main issue was the extremely slow service, not so much the food. And of course this is a very important part of the overall dining experience. "Oh to be in such a privileged position" Let me again explain. The chef asked me about the meal. Now where I come from, we call a spade a spade, and was frank with him. My main complaint was about the time it took for the food to hit the table, and of course it was evidently due to staff shortage. No ones fault really. He asked me if I was local. I told him that I had travelled nearly half the length of the country to eat his food. Quite naturally he was most disappointed that we had been let down so badly after travelling so far to eat at the restaurant, and wanted another chance to put things right. Of course there is nothing wrong in that approach. Its perfectly normal. Anyone with a sense of decency would have made the same offer. To sum up. The food was not "crap". We were treated as ordinary customers on the day The chef was flattered that we had travelled so far to try his food, but highly embarrassed we had been disappointed to such an extent, that he offered to try to make amends. Whats wrong with that? Nothing of course. Its easy being an armchair critic, when in the real world a huge amount of time, effort and money is spent, trying to give a true and accurate picture of what is on offer out there. I am really looking forward to one of your reviews now.

Just had an e-mail from The Mandarin Oriental about an offer of "Dinner" and Stay in one of their suites for the princely sum of £745. Rich folk can jump the waiting list. Which according to them is into June. Money talks eh Details HERE

We too had an excellent meal last year at The Bingham just after chef Shay Cooper won his Michelin star. Very good chef and thoroughly nice bloke. Wanted badly to post a review but time ran out due to other stuff. Still if anyone's interested I will dig the photos out and post them here. The location is superb, little wonder their wedding business is booming.

It is more than a bit John, and no way worth a single meal,(except Dinner by Heston of course) but we made a weekend of it, popping into London the next day for another meal. Just as we normally do. Shame it did not live up to expectation, still the Bavette was great. Seems this report has made some people restless Still all comments are appreciated

When a very highly rated Michelin two star chef opens a new place, a frission of excitement runs through the foodie world. Claude Bosi and his brother Cedric have joined forces (again) and installed talented former sous chef at Hibiscus Patrick Leano to head up the kitchen. This start up follows in the footsteps of other Michelin starred chefs, namely Brett graham who along with others opened the excellent and now Michelin starred gastropub Harwood Arms Phil Howard branched out also by opening the super Kitchen W8. An instant hit and another Michelin star. Now I'm not privvy to any inside info but would hazard a guess this place is not just going to be just some ordinary pub. The pub is split into two rooms divided by a welcoming central bar. The room above houses the partially open kitchen (to the left) and is the larger of the two. Down a step leads into the other more cosy dining area which splits into two rooms. Annoyingly no mention is made on the website as to a reduced lunchtime menu. Only one is listed. As I had already chosen to eat the Herefordshire snail lasagne, the Crispy Plantation Pork, and would try to persuade my wife to try the signiture, Label Anglaise chicken Kiev I was a bit despondant. We skipped wine and kicked off with a couple of halves of award winning beer. Tap water was offered, but no bread and butter, it was not on this menu, however it is chargeable (£2.50). No worries we did not want to fill up on bread, we wanted to try the Pork Scratchings (£1.95) This is a reduced price from the website menu, as is one of the other bar snacks, the scotch egg (£2.75) Needless to say these were totally delish, but so they should be as even I could make a decent job of these. Perhaps on reflection though, not this good though. Fortunately there was enough on the menu to keep our interest. What caught my eye was the Guinea Fowl Rillette on sourdough toast (£7.50) As we tried a similar, except it was Pork rillette at Brawn a couple of weeks ago, it sort of made sense to compare the two. This version was equally as tasty, perhaps to some a meal in itself. About the same money as at Brawn too, except I preffered the bread at Brawn. I must make mention of the mixed baby leaf salad. Initially i thought it not to be dressed, but it was and it was wonderful, nicely sweet with some unidentified leaves. I should have asked what was in there. The other starter was not my wifes initial choice, but I suggested she try it as I thought it right up her street. Salad of Warm Beetroot, Endive, Blood Orange, Goats cheese (£7.50) There was nothing warm about this dish. It was stone cold. It was declared as ok. My enquiry about the blood orange, caused the retort. "What blood orange". Next, on to the mains, and this is where the fun starts. It was not obvious that there was a problem in the kitchen at this stage. An seemed like an eternity went by, and still no food. I asked twice and then decided to time how long the dishes would arrive. We nearly walked on a few occasions, our patience exausted, especially when witnessing food, that we thought was ours, arrive at other tables. Clearly we were not on our own, another customer remonstrated with our server, directly next to our table, as to the wait that they had endured. Finally after a furthar twenty five minutes, the food arrived, But was it worth the wait? Sadly the 8oz Us Prime Angus Bavette steak (£14) was not my dish. It was simple, but brilliant, at least the steak was. As tasty a piece of steak, you will perhaps eat. And of course a bargain price. A nice char on the outside, tender enough, with not too much of a chew, dead right really. Very good bearnaise sauce, decent chips, which should, but had not been seasoned. When our waitress asked how I would like the Patricks Burger (£12.50) cooked, I replied "exactly as chef would want it too". Except it was not. Far from it in fact, I'm sorry to report. As soon as it hit the table and even without cutting into it I realised all was not right. The patty had been man handled, all the air had been pushed out of it, resulting in an over dense lump. It was also overcooked, by a margin. Nothing wrong with the flavour of the beef, that was fine. The accompanying tomato relish and blue cheese dressing was spot on. The skinny fries were just ok, but again unseasoned. Slipshod I'm afraid to say, simply slipshod. We were full by now, but I would have attempted to taste one of the signiture desserts, but I had lost the will to persevere, especially when contemplating another long wait. I asked for the bill fully intent to have the service charge removed. However they had left the service charge in place but very kindly removed both starters as a gesture of goodwill. So no argument of course, just a bit of gratitude to put right an unfortunate experience. I should point out that I enquired if the service charge went to the staff. The reply was " only fifty per cent" As we walked out I wanted a picture of the chefs in action, they were out of view. I asked to speak to Patrick Leano, a really sweet guy, who was mortified that things had not gone as planned. He confided that indeed there were problems in the kitchen, at least one key member of his staff was not on duty, he had to draft friends in for cover. They had been especially busy doing ninety covers since twelve with a peak time of one o clock breaking the kitchens back. He asked me not to take his photograph He implored me to give the place another try, asking me to phone him in advance, so that we could sample his food at its best. I may just take him up on that offer.

Is This a big enough "name"

I never pay for bottled water now. I used too, but only if the restaurant had my favourite in stock, Badoit. A shortage of Badoit occured and fewer places stopped stocking it and we just reverted to taking tap water instead, with no noticable difference, except on the wallet. Now I would never contemplate paying for water, which I think that any restaurant has a duty to provide gratis. Even the once snooty waiters don't bat an eyelid now, when I ask for tap, and we do eat out quite a bit.

We love the Cotswolds. With its honey stoned cottages and grander honey stoned mansions. Beautiful village after village of visual treat. Little wonder then, that highly authorative Forbes magazine named Burford as one of the best places to live. High praise indeed, and many's the time we have travelled up and down Burfords main street much in admiration of what is on offer, that we too have been tempted to move to the Cotswolds. The Carpenters Arms is not actually in Burford. Its in Fulbrook, about a mile or two behind the town, on a not so busy main road. Not an obvious stop off point for refreshment if your actually visiting Burford. In fact you would not even know it exsisted unless someone tipped you off. I suspect quite a few locals are equally unaware. All is very welcoming and cosy inside. Young, pleasant, and reasonably eager staff are on hand to help. Its very pubby, but posh pubby, clearly aimed at the dining side of things. However drinkers are also welcome, as there is a decent size bar area. Wooden floors and stripped back tables and chairs are the order of the day, adding to the country charm. As this place has just recently been awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and because we love the area it seemed fitting to give it a whirl. The menu is very simple and changes daily. Appetisers list Beer battered black pudding (£4), Crispy whitebait (£5) and three others. Nine starters, Nine mains, five sides, six desserts and a decent choice of seven cheeses (three with biscuits, grapes and quince £8) compleat the picture. Bread and butter was decent quality, and replenished without charge. It was cut on the feature butchers block, and brought to the table. My wife enjoyed her Warm Goats Cheese baked in filo (£7.50) In fact she enjoyed it very much. Nicely accompanied with pickled beetroot, some crunchy walnut and a balsamic dressing over the mixed leaves. Just her kind of starter really. I,m a sucker for Red Mullet (£7) but whenever I go to France they always seem to be bigger than the ones my fish wholesaler seems to have on offer. Indeed this fillet was small, from a small fish no less and sat on top of some ratte potatoes, some bang in season blood orange segments and some watercress. A couple of the sliced potatoes were burnt, and I was not really enamoured with the pairing with the blood orange, however this may just be a personal thing. Although no excuse for the potatoes. We shared a plate of Carpaccio of Beef (£10) which was accompanied with a rocket pesto and some parmesan slivers. My first choice off the menu would have been the Rump of Lamb but as my wife chose it I opted for my next choice John Dory Fillets and Linguine (£15). Well it had other ingredients in the dish of course, such as, queen scallops,and plenty of them, and what was listed as "shrimp and lobster sauce". There were an abundance of shrimp, tasty but a bit on the dry side, I did not get any lobster, flavour or bits, not that I was looking for it though at the time of eating. In fairness to the chef perhaps I did miss it. What I did get, however was the unmistakable feel of a small fish bone snaking its way across the roof of my mouth. I will forgive the kitchen for this mishap. It was tiny and thankfully slightly curved so no damage was done. Apart from the bone, the dish was satisfying, but I would have liked another minute or two's cooking of the pasta. My other half chose Rump of Lamb, creamed spinach and tiny onions (£16). No complaints, a decent plate of food, up to Bib standards. There was quite a long wait between starters and mains. In fact I was getting a bit piddled off with it. The place was only about a quarter full but it was explained that a group of thirteen were in the conservatory (which is to the rear, and out of sight) and this put pressure on the kitchen. We did not venture into desserts, worrying about another long delay. We skipped coffee, had no wine, but we did have some decent drink as this is one of 1600 Greene King pubs selling cask conditioned ales. To sum up then. All in all pretty much up and down I'm afraid. We like the place, however the long delay, the various inconsistant cooking, the burnt potatoes and the fish bone make for a less than impressive first visit. If we lived local we would give it another whirl, but I can hand on heart state that we will perhaps not return here for one reason or another. On reflection it is perhaps easy to have an expectation level higher than the norm if Michelin give any type of award. Therein lies the problem, Bib gourmands are supposed to be decent food at reasonable prices (with an upper limit of £28 for three courses). Nothing wrong with the pricing I just think we hit the kitchen on an off day. Two courses each, extra shared starter, couple of halves each, no desserts, no coffee, about £60.

How much was it, Alan?

Not been here yet, although it is on one of my lists, sounds good, and in theory if Michelin like it, it must be good. I did however visit its sister restaurant Yauatcha for a dim sum fest over the weekend. Report soon.

I'm pretty sure that you will have a very good meal. Indeed I hope it is special, as like me you are not averse to travelling great distances to eat good food. However, having said that if you look upthread to my review of February 2009 you will perhaps understand why we have not been back. It clearly echoes what has been said above. Thinking back, the meal was lacklustre and no where near as enjoyable to our previous visits, but more than anything else I could not forgive being so rudely ignored at the end. We all have off days, thats for sure, and perhaps we shall return, but I have fealt no desire too, in the last couple of years. As always I look forward to your excellent photos. I sincerely hope you have a ball.