david goodfellow

A very interesting and highly informative article by Kerstin Kuhn over at Catersearch. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

Who is this directed at? Would it not help to click on the quote link, save us all guessing.

We passed here on Saturday on our way to Danesfield House and had fond memories of our meal there. Time just flashes past as its nearly two years since I started this thread on 17 Feb 2009. Do they still do that £10 lunch deal? What's happened with the photos? None recently. Have you stopped taking them?

I may be tempted on this, as we have a free weekend, and the £149 tag is a lot more user friendly than the original £199 quoted. But is there a service charge levied on top? I forgot to ask. It will certainly be a boosy night with champers and wine included, which for us would have to involve an overnight stay as I could not live without my driving licence. As an aside, as Jason Atherton is featuring I would like to try to bend his ear for a soft opening table at his at new restaurant, Pollen Street Social. Which is only perhaps less than a few months away.

Thank you kindly Comments like yours make the effort all the more worthwhile.

Any chance of a link to their website? Or a review perhaps? "Agenda", please explain. They are very well read and respected. What do you think of the photos btw.

At least two respected bloggers have voted here their choice of best Spanish restaurant in the Capital. As we have not eaten at a lot of Spanish restaurants in London we had to try it for ourselves. This is however not our first time here. We visited last summer when the weather was a lot warmer. The sliding doors were wide open in continental style and everything was most welcoming. Our meal was excellent, and I do mean excellent, but for one reason or another it did not get posted on here at the time, which was a real shame as it was and still is worthy of its own thread. The interior I guess is not to everyone's taste, with its garish colours and equally garish artwork. But you know what they say "beauty is in the eye" etc. A amusing Manchego cheese lollipop was served along with some delicious green olives. The bread was ok, perhaps a bit ordinary and not lifted much by the accompanying olive oil. At this juncture I must mention the greeting from the staff. Talk about "waggy tails" It was as though we had told them they had won the lottery. We could not resist the tasting menu, which is really incredible value for six courses at £37. A cold Andalusian style tomato and bread soup was seved in a kilner jar, topped with some truly delicious cecina cured beef from Leon. This protected origin status beef (often made with horsemeat) is smoked, air dried and made from the hind legs of the beast. Little blobs of beetroot puree added a sweet distraction. The crunch from the toased bread added its bit also. Nice start this. Cantabrian salt cured anchovies were top notch although I suspect that quite a few may find them a little too salty. The supporting green peppers broke up that intensity. The "apple air" was purely decorative and added nothing. We mopped up the jus with the aforementioned bread so it did not go to waste. Crab Ravioli, "Basque Style",(three of) wallowed in a shallow pool of leek emulsion, topped with some perky sea asparagus and seaweed. This dish summed up Spain's and this chefs fixation with the Sea and all its treasures. The crab we thought could have been more pronounced, however the surprise of some sea urchin caviar every so often negated this. One of the the best bits of fish I have eaten recently, Salt Cod, "Pil, Pil Basque style". A translucent, flaky, barely cooked (as it should be) tranche of lovelyness. According to my bit of research Pil, Pil, style is an emulsion of the Cods gelatin and olive oil. To the side of the Cod is a sweetened tomato with its acidic undertone, adding a counterpoint to the dish. Fillet of Venison was a bit disappointing, it was a bit on the tough side and not up to the standard of the one that we ate the previous day at Adam Simmonds at Danesfield. It was not helped at all by the dried fruits, date, apricot,prunes, and fig. Nothing wrong with the combination, just the skins were mostly tough and unedible. A shame really it could have been quite a bit better. Another view of the dish. Don't get me wrong most would be happy with this dish, its just a shame it was marred slightly by the aforementioned. Btw in the foreground is baked apple and some sweet potato is in there too. Seville Oranges, cinnamon, bread, yogurt ice cream, was just like a bowl of Robertson's marmalade, thinned down by half. Not that it was at all unpleasant, far from it, it was a bit unusual, at least from my point of view. You may notice "no bread". I queryied the lack of it and was informed "we ran out last night". No problem. We rarely take coffee, but were still presented some petit four, of lemon madelines and tasty chocs. The manager comped us a glass each of most welcome Telmo Rodriquez moscatel from Malaga which went down a treat. I must make the point that this is in keeping with typical Spanish hospitality and do not think it was directed only to us. Well, a little bit up and down, but not dramatically so and considering the bill was half the price of our Michelin starred Adam Simmonds meal, a great result. What was most encouraging was, and still is our desire to return to explore the menu, especially the tapas courses. Must mention its sister tapas restaurant Tendido Cero which is directly across the road, with even kinder prices. If the food is anywhere as good, and you are on a budget you could try there. Meal for two, on tasting menu, plus a very good bottle of "Adras", service charge, ultra clean Thames tap water £107.44. I thank you.

Next week can not arrive soon enough, I am counting the days. A full report and hopefully great pics on my new Canon S95 point and shoot will quickly follow.

Well,I admit to looking at dining here all of last year, having heard and read good things. But as always the lure of London seems to win. We have been here before, not in recent years, and not to eat, just to enjoy afternoon tea on our way back from Royal Ascot. The location is quite stunning, high up on a hill looking down to the River Thames. Not exactly at its best, still suffering the ravages of a harsh winter, this place is at its very peak in summer, when the gardens and house are flooded in sunlight. Before we move on to the food I have a few things to get out of the way, all relevent to the dining experience. I booked over the phone as I needed to ask a few questions, I was asked for full name, telephone number, etc, then, "Can we take a credit card confirmation"? At this point I was on the point of cancelling and explained to the young lady that I did not like this. Of all our restaurant visits over many years, only twice before have we been asked for "credit card confirmation". It grates on me. Now I understand "no shows" must be maddingly annoying, but in our case, and hand on heart we have only cancelled perhaps half a dozen times, and we do dine out quite a lot. Two of those cancellations were recent and due to the very heavy snow fall before Xmas. Both involved very long car journeys and there was no way we could make it, and had to cancel one on the morning, and the other one we were able to give twenty four hours notice. Danesfield charge £55 per person if cancellation is not received 24 hrs prior to the booking. As I mulled over the booking (for the next day) it crossed my mind to check if there is a dress code. "Yes there is a dress code. No jeans or trainers, etc" Bugger, I always wear a jacket, a smart shirt, and "jeans". Smart jeans. "Ok thank you". I received confirmation by e-mail with prices. Tasting Menu, £75 plus that nasty 12.5% service charge. A La Carte £55 plus service charge. At this juncture and after careful thought, I cancelled. Now this was not a busy Friday or Saturday evening. It was a sluggish Saturday lunch, and was a stop off on our way down to London. I was fairly confident the table would still be available the following day if I changed my mind. If not we could carry on down to London and take our pick of options. The following morning half way into our long car journey we telephoned to rebook, and this time we were not asked for credit card details. On arrival we were greeted with nice smiles and taken to our table, both smartly dressed, as always. In the dining room were three other couples, two of the gents were "sans" jacket. The other one had a jacket, smart shirt and jeans. So much for the dress code. Justifiably annoyed, I tried to relax back only for the menus to appear with new pricing. The tasting menu which was confirmed by e-mail as £75, the day before, was now £80. I was assured the prices had just gone up that day (Saturday last) which was little comfort to us. The pricing on the website was still £75 the following day (yesterday) when I checked. They have been changed today. As pointed out upthread I feel justified commenting on service, (or lack of it) as it is all part of the whole dining experience. At this stage and because of other commitments I do not have time to pass comment on the meal. Please bear with me. I will post photos and comments as soon as I have a little more time. Anyone else been that can pass a comment?

I really need to try harder to get a table at Gauthier

We had a meal at Helene Darroze back in November (which I will get around to write up soon) and good as it was, there seemed no hint of two star status, food wise at least. Perhaps location helps it out a bit, who knows.

Sadly it did not work for Koffmann or Loubet.

It is indeed. Have looked at the place a few times and even bought one of Skye Gingells books, although it was on a heavily discounted rate. Some of the recipes appeal although I have not been that keen to cook any myself. I am intrigued as the pricing is a little on the heavy side. She does have her fair share of fans though, (including Michelin) Still having said all that I phoned earlier on to enquire about a weekend table and they are booked up a bit in advance from when they reopen in February. Petersham

We managed to get a table for two weeks time, although considering that I was on the case for months I'm slightly disappointed not to have gone sooner. Anyone know if the soft opening was at a discount?

I am surprised no one has commented on Gordo's achievement to get a star at Petrus. It was super value at lunch given its status, on our visit, but was rather staid food wise. Seems a few people have been unimpressed. I,m disappointed for Koffmanns. However there have been inconsistant reviews, so that, is almost certainly why no star.

I had forgotten about my visit to new star Kitchen W8 which was way back in February last year. Of real surprise is the fact that no one since that date has added to the thread. I bet we get a few more comments now.

Great to see Zucca and Polpo getting Bib Gourmand status. Bloody well deserved too.

I second the Bar Boulud burger, although we have only eaten the Piggie burger, and not yet tried the Frenchie or the Yankee. I,m certain they are equally as good, if not better. The Goodman burger gets our vote for value for money, as a whole host of extras are thrown in. Very good quality also.

Here's hoping for a raft of new stars, as I am running out of places to go too.

Remember me to Jean Christophe, he spent some time with us and invited me up to cook with him at the Stoke Audi event. He,s a thoroughly nice bloke, and a bloody good chef.

I have been meaning to eat here for some time, but never got around to it. This place would be my first choice if I was in the area.

An excellent and very topical article over at Catersearch. Well worth a read.

We have been five or six times and have enjoyed every meal. Its as authentic as any food that we have eaten in Thailand. As strange as it may seem the food tastes better downstairs (ground floor) than on the first floor. Not been for six months or more, may give it a whirl again soon.

Oh yes, he's been busy beavering away with not only doing Iron Chef for CH4 but demos as well as consulting at various hotels. The Story was posted on the blog on Nov 4th, well before any other website Although still awaiting a confirmed opening date. Its the beginning of March, no date as yet though.

We loved Bar Boulud. When we went it was busy and buzzy although the place is not fine dining, they just do what they do very,very well. Comparing the two, we would rather return to Koffmanns first, as the menu(s) seems more refined. I would love to try the set menu because I think it would be a fantastic bargain, with some top quality dishes on it. You could of course supplement that menu, with a little shared tasting of one of his signiture dishes, as we tend to do more often these days. We do sometimes skip or share a dessert, depending on portion size of course. However, having said that, on our only visit here, we were well sated.