david goodfellow

Foliage was long quoted as best value lunch with its four courses for £28, however now that Chris Staines (where is he now) has left I can not really recommend it. One of the problems with Saturday lunch is the fact that most of the Michelin two star places do not open, for instance my first choice, Hibiscus, Square, Alan Ducasse, Marcus Wareing, Pied a Terre. Of the one stars I would recommend, Tom Aikins is again closed on a Saturday lunch. Places we have been on a Saturday and can recommend are, Wild Honey, Texture, La Trompette, Ledbury, Arbutus, Harwood Arms, and Terroirs although the latter two are pretty laid back, that is not of course to say that the others are stuffy in any way. I'm sure that there are more but can not think of them at present Of the ones above that I have mentioned Texture with all its freebie bits and bobs(if they still do them) seems the best value for money on reflection.

When we were there the server recommended four courses, and by golly you will need four,as the portions were tiny. Not been recently so can't comment on the offerings, but am looking forward to reading your review.

Just trawling through some of the blogs and stumbled on a reminder of our excellent lunch here back in July. Unfortunately, for personal reasons, I was unable to write it up and I am hoping that I can find my original notes as we would really enjoy sharing the experience with you. Will Holland invited us in to his huge kitchen(as opposed to Midsummer House tiny) to meet some of the guys beavering away and assured us the same amount of effort goes into producing the lunch service as the evening slot. We wholeheartedly agree given what was put in front of us. Has anybody else been recently? Almost forgot, for all you Hermanos fans. http://www.doshermanos.co.uk/

Is Texture going to get one? Is there finally going to be merriment and much back slapping in Leeds? Is Sat Bains getting another? Its strongly rumoured.

Nearly headed down there a few weeks ago, instead we ended up at Anthony,s not quite as far but in the opposite direction I think it really is about time we tried his food again.

A rather interesting insight over at Staff Canteen, the chefs website. Can I be your PR Shaun http://www.thestaffcanteen.com/images/uploads/chefs/Shaun_Hill_Interview.pdf

Thank you for resurrecting this thread, I find it amazing that apart from your good self no one else has posted this year. When you look at the traffic in 2008 the place was on fire. Certainly seems that you were blown away by the quality. Thinking back to our visit nearly two years ago now, we were mightily impressed also, which just seems more strange that we did not revisit. Ah well, looks like that is sorted now

Tried a few times to get a table here but with not much luck, so I tried a bit harder and hey presto, success. Parking was a doddle, virtually outside so off we go on the adventure I like the room more than I thought that I would, especially the booths along one of the walls. We looked at the bargain priced menu but it did not appeal, and in any event I had decided what to eat as soon as I read the menu. This is what we had. Partridge and Foie Gras boudin blanc, green vegetable puree, wild mushrooms.£9.50 Terrine of Foie Gras, fruit relish, wet walnuts.£12.95 Bouillabaisse "traditional Marseille style" £19.95. Slow cooked Venison, winter vegetables and crushed potato.£16.95 Clafoutis of Williams Pears, grated pistachio, vanilla ice cream. £6.95. Wild honey ice cream, crushed honeycomb. £6.95 Two Americano £6.50. The terrine was very tasty,(wifes choice) good relish with mini forest of leaves and some quite tasty bread which I should have noted a bit more, but did not. My "white pudding" was extremely tasty, served from memory with a tasty rasher of fried ham? a huddle of mixed mushrooms, a garnish of micro herbs and a superflouse green puree which I can't remember. The Bouillabaisse was the real focus for me, I am no expert but have eaten quite a few along the Cote- d- Azur the best being about a decade ago at Joseph in St Tropez. Now we have not had the Marseille version but there are so many variations on the theme that in my opinion the main criteria has to be the depth of flavour in the bouillon, and the fish used, I doubt very much the myriad of little fishes" pour la bouillabasse" available all along the Cote are available here. So is it possible to get the bouillon to the same flavor Bouille (boil) and Baisse (lower the heat) sounds simple, but is it?. A veritable feast arrived in various pots, easily enough for two(perhaps) first the bouillon an orangy brown bowl of fish stock, fennel, tomatoes, orange peel,onions, garlic, etc, etc,. The fish was Cod, Pollack, and Gurnard, served in a separate dish with chunks of fennel, leek and potato. The rouille was in a little saucepan, as was some mayo. The bread was sliced thinly and decent quality. Part way into the dish the Lyonaisse manager Bertrand Lienafa came to the table and enquired as to what I thought, and truthfully I thought it was under seasoned and was just short of being very good indeed. We joked about my South of France jaunts and concluded that perhaps copious amounts of sunshine and copious amounts of alcohol on La Voile Rouge may have swayed my judgement somewhat. In fairness it was very good and considering the cost is about a half to a third of its equivilent abroad it is terrific value. The Venison dish was much enjoyed by my wife, but I was so engrossed with my dish I can not comment to its quality. Puddings were good quality, if not memorable, certainly worth taking. Colin Kelly was in the kitchen and clearly knows what he is doing, we like his food very much. As a footnote some of the dishes on the menu are in Anthony Demetre,s book " Todays Special" which I keep threatening to buy but have not as yet. Both of us really enjoyed our visit here, it has a comforting feel, the food is fab, service is very good, whats not to like? Go on, give it a try.

Hopefully they will all materialize, really looking forward to Heston,s "upmarket bistro" alongside all the others. One very good part about all this is the accessibility to high quality dining at easier to digest prices(hopefully) Bring it on!

Well the catering butcher just phoned back with the good news that he can supply me with Ox cheeks, it normally takes two or three days depending on what they slaughter, he said they are £1.50lb so I snapped his hand off and ordered half a dozen to get the ball rolling Seems to be a bit of a grey area as to who can and who can not supply, Any slaughter men/women out there can help?

Just phoned my local abattoir and the lady told me that they are not allowed to sell beef cheeks to the public, but not to be deterred I also contacted a catering butcher who seems fairly confident that he can supply me with some. Watch this space

Very exciting news on the London dining scene, a long awaited glimpse at Eric Chavot,s plan to open a brasserie. Seems to be a current trend with Koffmann, the Galvin Bros expansion, etc, etc. Personally, and from a business point of view I am sure this is the way forward, he,s looking for an investor and if I were a younger man with a view to investing in a sure fire winner this is where my money would go. Not sure if I could cope with that swearing though Eric, me being a sensitive soul http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2009/12/01/331154/french-chef-eric-chavot-looking-to-open-informal-brasserie-next.html

Not tried Glyn,s toffee cumin carrot recipe yet, but oh yes those beef cheeks he serves up are memorable. Sounds(and looks like) a fantastic result from a humble cut of meat, I will try to emulate your efforts when I locate those elusive cheeks. I just thought of a small local abattior who may be able to help, will give them a call later. Fingers crossed.

Made a return here to try a few more dishes just to see if everything was as good as our first visit. Well the first thing that we looked for was the cucumber dish as recommended by Thom above, but we could not find it on the menu. But on reflection I must just have missed it We liked the look of the Steamed fried Dumplings but sadly they were "off". Not really feeling like starters we nearly always plump for three mains and this is what we chose. Fried cumin flavored Lamb. Flowered Squid with Preserved Pickled Peppers. Fish flavored Shredded Pork with sweet and sour sauce. Boiled Rice. If ever a marriage was made in heaven it has to be cumin and Lamb and chuck in copious amounts of coriander its pretty near perfect. All the coriander ,except the root was used giving it a bit more texture, thin slices of Lamb and strong hit of garlic and not overly strong on the chilli made this dish very moreish. The pretty as a picture Squid was again a very generous portion, big hits of raw-ish garlic and fresh ginger, and again not too much chilli did not overpower the tasty and pleasantly tender fish. We enjoyed the Pork dish as much as the other two, again not over powering heat wise, the chilli building up gently throughout the meal. Normally we can not manage to eat all three dishes as in reality each dish will serve two people, however for some reason we polished them off with gusto, and waddled out into a rainy Manchester night. We are really pleased to report that this visit was as good as the first, because we were dreading not enjoying it quite as much. Well worth a visit.

Thats quite an interesting take John, may well try that.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, plenty here for me to get stuck into

I asked the butcher that I buy my game from if he sold beef (ox) cheeks? as whenever we eat them in a restaurant, we drool over them. I can't remember his exact words, but I'm sure he said that he could not buy the head of the animal. If that is the case, and I may have my facts mixed up, how are restaurants able to serve it?

Can we come round your place for a meal, sounds like fun Thanks for the advice. Agree about the rabbit, we had it with prunes last time and the recipe was way over on cooking time,we are cutting down on that next time. Funny you should mention Aiden Byrne's book, I have it but not cooked anything from it yet, will have a closer look at it now. Atul Kotchers dish looks interesting, may give that a go

Thank you Kevin, I would very much like to read that recipe, when you get chance.

Restaurant Nathan Outlaw to close in Fowey. http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/default.aspx?page=articles&ID=204174

Just looked it up on the 21212 thread, as you know we were there on the opening night which was May 20, would have thought it plenty of time to make it into GFG

What aboot bonny Scootland? Paul Kitchings 21212 in Edinburgh surely this must get a star. And guess what its not even in next years Good Food Guide, what on earth is going on?

What about the Walnut Tree? Can Shaun Hill join James Summerin for Wales,s other Michelin star? I have not been of course, so can only speculate. He has more than his share of fans on here who may be in a better position to answer that one.

Who, if anyone, is going to lose their star? Very difficult I suppose, would certainly have to think long and hard about the answer to that one.