david goodfellow
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This thread is ominously quiet - does it mean no-one is going, or that the food is neither so good or so bad that it's worthy of an update? Mr PSB is keen to go, as he loves Italian food, following the Harden 'Best Newcomer' gong, but it does sound expensive, and rather poky & unfriendly. We'd be taking mini-PSB who's 10, so we'd be eating at 7.00, and I don't fancy the constant reminders that we can't hang around! So would we be better going to Locanda Locatelli?
This thread is very quiet.
I,ve looked at Murano a few times and decided, well----,no, perhaps not yet. Until I read recently that Sat Bains really rates it, so knowing that his taste buds are well in the right order, so to speak,
I upped it on my list.Trouble is my weekends are taken care of until Jan 2010 so a midweek journey is called for.
I tried to get a table for two online, on limited dates, with no success.I even phoned with no success.
Not to be beaten,I went on line today and put every daytime lunch until the end of the year and still could not get a table!
Finally I phoned reservations again in desperation and guess what.
I GOT A TABLE.
Is the problem the online booking system? It must be costing them a fortune
Gordon Ramsay you owe me a free meal
BTW, Did you go?
Please tell
Any recent reports, pretty please,xx
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After our lunch at Anthony's today and a casual stroll around the city centre, in the hope of building up bit of an appetite, we finally walked through the doors at about 5.
The building is stunning, and inside looking down, and then back up the the amazing ceiling gives you some idea of how expansive this place is.
The architects have done a great job.
Transfer this building say to Cheltenham and all its shops would be let, instead of the three here,(upper floor) Its a real shame Leeds is suffering so badly in this recession
Mr Flinn junior was busy topping some cakes, talking to a customer, whilst Mr Flinn senior was close by chatting to another customer.
Very few people eating although its an odd time of day to judge.
I have the utmost respect for anyone who takes on a project of this magnitude, the overheads must be colossal
I do hope it is well supported
We could not manage a coffee and cake never mind anything else, I felt slightly guilty as I was keen to do my bit to support this place, so to speak
We'll try harder on our next visit
I wish them every success.
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Well I finally got around to dining here today. I wish I had a quid for every time that we have considered it.Along with the River Cafe and St John,seems like we always end up somewhere else I can now finally put a tick in the box.
I'm sad to report that only two other tables were taken at todays lunch service, a sign of the times in recession hit Leeds.
Anthony was not in the kitchen, (I checked before I booked)but its his food on the plate, so he must trust his sous, so I was not that bothered.
I'm on a mission to find the best value/quality lunch, so was keen to put this to the test.
We started well with an amuse of very moist and tasty pork terrine, green olives, micro herbs and pistachio crumbs.
Its good to see a choice of three starter, main, and dessert, with a choice of cheese instead of dessert at no extra cost
Braised Pigs Cheek, Crispy pigs ears, peas, and rum.
Sous Vide Trout, Smoked Feta, Pickled celery.
I had the Pigs Cheek which was in a soup of jus, cream, and rum, although there was no hit of rum. ( I think the chef drank it
) There was a smattering of lemon balm leaves, and the peas of course giving it a bit of colour.This was a very good dish and I was hoping the rest would be to this high standard.
The Trout was a pleasant starter, which my wife enjoyed, and it tasted good to me.
The bread was terrific, even Mrs G enjoyed it, served as a small loaf cut into six portions, this was one the best this year, and come to think of it the butter was excellent too.
Roast Cod, Mussel Chowder.
Confit Lamb Breast, Smoke Sprat, Lime bulgar.
My Cod was timed perfectly, again in a soup, with carrot, potato, and celery dice, baby gem lettuce, and more micro herbs.
The Lamb was rolled, crisp skinned, well tasty and sitting on a line of bulgar, which according to my wife soaked up too much of the meagre amount of jus. A veritable bush of mustard frills sat at the side, and the smoked sprat adjacent.
Loads of flavour from humble ingredients is essential at lunch service given the prices charged, and so far so good, except both mains were over seasoned, by quite a measure.That was a real shame because we were enjoying ourselves.
Chocolate Rice Pudding, Peanut Ice cream.
Cherry and Almond Fancy, Toasted Almond Ice cream, Balsamic dressing.
The rice pudding was a very good helping, dotted with peanut brittle, to give it crunch, sadly it did not do it for me, I only ate half of it including the ice cream. I think this is a first for me.
Mrs G enjoyed her dessert and cleared the plate, although we both thought the balsamic did not work.
I can understand all the attention this place gets, on this showing, and even though its lunch, we can see the quality, just a shame about the seasoning and that pud
2 x 3 course lunches £47.90
1 x btl Merlot £14.70
tip £7.40
Total £70
Yorkshire Water foc
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Thats quite spooky really, I looked at this thread yesterday after looking at the Michelin list for London. We are down this weekend and have always wanted to go.
I e-mailed them with a query yesterday and up to now have not had a reply, so I booked somewhere else.
Shame really especially that your post makes interesting reading.
Still there is always next time (if they ever back in touch)
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I'm surprised there was no lamb dishes( do they have lamb in Sichuan?)
According to Ms Dunlop in her book Sichuan Cookery: "Lamb or mutton is a rarity on conventional Sichuanese menus. It's more often associated with cookery in the northern provinces, where the culinary legacy of China's conquest by lamb-eating Mongols in the thirteenth century is more keenly felt. You do, occasionally find lamb in the cooking of Sichuan's Muslim communities, where it stands in for pork."
I do enjoy her books, find the recipes are good, and the insights into Chinese cuisine are fascinating. But I was quite underwhelmed by Bar Shu when I visited it soon after it had opened, and was surprised she was the consultant.
Thanks for that insight, now that I have been to the other two, its inevitable the journey to Bar Shu isn't far off, rest assured it will end up on here
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Nearly always have the Red Chilli, Chinatown version,
will have to try to get the recipe off Old Xie (the chef) -
We left Ba Shan feeling happy with ourselves and decided to walk over to Chinatown to look around and locate Boazi Inn for future reference.
We had read some good reviews by respected bloggers and were looking forward to our visit next time we were in town.
Down a side street off the main drag, its pretty unassuming from the outside and I would most certainly not consider going in to this place without a recommend.
We looked at the menu, which consisted of mainly noodle dishes and after a bit of cajoling with the wife, and mindful that we had just finished a meal, we decided that we could just about squeeze a taste of one dish to get a flavor of the place so to speak.
This place has a cafe feel to it, no finesse whatsoever, uncomfortable seating in the form of stools, sticky tables, plastic garlic, chillies, and corn on the cob, hanging as a form of decoration.
Service is wham, bam, thank you mam school,
What a wind up.
We had one noodle dish and a couple of drinks between us,
Twice cooked Pork, green and red pepper, with stir fried leeks, was ok swimming in chilli oil, the pork was like bacon and the dish as a whole lacked visual appeal.
This dish was no better than I can create at home, so it failed in my opinion because when we go out I want it to be better than I can create at home.
Ok I know it was only one dish and it could be argued that my taste buds were not as sharp, having just had another meal, however we shall not be dashing back here very soon.
Anybody else been?
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As I drove down Frith Street, just across the road from Chinatown proper(a few months ago), shock, horror, Bar Shu was still closed, I felt slightly silly for not phoning in advance, however we had other dining options.
Literally across the road is its sister establishment Ba Shan, and thankfully they had a table. We were in for a pretty decent Saturday afternoon.
Comforted by the fact that the chefs are from Sichuan province and having award winning food writer Fuchsia Dunlop as consultant, we were more than hopeful of a result.
The place itself is worthy of exploration, as there are different eating areas to choose from depending on your mood.
The menu is split by appetisers, shaanxi flatbread sandwiches and steamed buns,Chaoshou-wantons and dumplings, Xi'an-style pot sticker dumplings (guotie). Dry wok, dishes served in a wok, plus seafood,fish,poultry,pork, and beef dishes etc, etc, however I'm surprised there was no lamb dishes( do they have lamb in Sichuan?)
This is what we had.
Edamame with sichuan pepper.(£3)
Five spiced beef salad, with coriander and garlic (£6)
Chicken & Shitake mushroom guotie (pot sticker dumpling) £5.20)
Deep fried prawns with fish fragrant sauce (£6)
Gong Bao chicken with peanuts (£7.50)
"Ants climbing a tree" beanthread noodles with morsels of mince pork (£7.50)
I think we had another dish, plus some boiled rice.
The stand out dishes were the portly sweet prawns which were not infiltrated at all by any hint of oil," delish "
Plus one of the best Gong Bao chicken we have eaten,
The "Ants" dish was also very enjoyable. We assumed the ants was the minced pork, and the tree is the noodle?
Everything else that we ate was hard to fault except for an over vinegary dipping sauce that jarred a bit.
Service was very attentive, and even though it was fairly busy the young lady guided us through the menu patiently.
One caveat though, the bill is somewhat hard to understand with little bits of paper not totalled up, and a good job we checked carefully or I would have paid another service charge on top of the one already added.
Well, we do think this is a class act, easily as good as Red Chilli, but of course not in the value stakes, portion size is about half of what you get in Manchester.
I feel that I must add that some recent reviews that I have read are not consistent with the rave results this place received when it first opened. Some suggest the chef(s) have gone back to Bar Shu since its reopening.
Any reports most welcome.
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Been the Wizard, although perhaps up to a year ago, and was mightily impressed. From memory had scallops and some super tasty cod dish, your in for a treat if its the same standard.
Service was a bit lacking from the young Maitre D when I put him to task about the wrong vintage wine being served.
Is it still Michelin rated?
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Looked at this place a few times John, and its not so very far away from me, so inevitably will give it a try .
I missed your previous post on Glasfryn, another Brunning and Price place, perhaps we may not rush there.
Admit to being a big fan of theirs, the concept is wonderful, I instantly feel at home in one of their places and even though the food can sometimes be a bit of hit and miss, generally its very good for the money.
I keep a copy of their menus and If I'm stuck as to what to eat at home, dig them out,and hey presto, problem solved.
Its a collection of great comfort food.
Strangely enough some friends of ours came over from Spain recently and suggested we went to The Hand and Trumpet,round about the time that you dined there, we thought it was decent grub, nothing to put us off going back at all.
Been to seven of their places,our favorites are The Grosvenor Arms, and The Dysart Arms, which we visit more regularly than the others, however the last meal at the Dysart was a little under par.That is quite unusual as we dine here more than the others with no problem at all.
I asked if the chef was the same and was told a new chef had taken over the kitchen, and that he was from Pant Yr Ochain another one of Brunning and Price, where our meal there was again under par, hmmmm?
Still we all have off days, me more than others
so am looking forward to eating their food again soon. -
On a now rare visit to my local W H Smith, I stumbled across this stunning book in there bestsellers list(not sure what number).
Only able to browse through it for fifteen minutes before my car park ticket expired, reluctantly,I put it back on the shelf.
Cut a long story short I ordered it off Amazon for a jaw droppingly low price of £19.23, this by the way includes free delivery.
My wife always struggles to find something for me for Xmas, however I simply can't wait to get my hands on it, so I will have to "stumble" on something else instead
Happy cooking
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He has clearly found an investor(s), or given the outstanding success of the pop up decided that the risk is greatly diminished, so is putting his own money in.
Very good luck to him, and if its going to be brasserie fare, that trotter and every other dish should be decidedly cheaper than what it is at the pop up
So good news all around
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Plenty of happy, smiley, people at a full lunch service yesterday.
I tried for a table,a week ago and this was the first available.
We were lucky again to park virtually outside the restaurant again, however, beware the parking meters in Birmingham, on three separate occasions we have had problems with them resulting in a ticket last week(not here) making our lunch an expensive outing.
Nice olives in the lounge/bar area whilst waiting for our table. We were pleasantly surprised when a party of four backpackers entered, and were shown to a table.
Good to see they have their priorities right
Lets talk tables first.As you may (or may not) be aware its a pet hate of mine to be seated facing a wall,I'm nosy you see and also enjoy the animation, and of course you can watch the food arrive at the tables,yum,yum
We were given what turned out to be 10b which normally I would have asked to change, however I was not fussed today as I could catch sight of Mr P at the pass as the staff went backwards and forwards into the kitchen.
In future I may ask for 9 or 14b.
We opted for the still excellent value lunch menu, 2 courses £21 or 3 for £25. This now includes coffee and petit fours.
Salad of Quail-smoked ham hock-slow poached egg yolk-celeriac-wholegrain mustard.
Or
Ballotine of Mackerel-beetroot textures-natural yogurt foam.
We both went for the Quail,we used to buy it whenever we went to France and sadly do not have a local supplier, so we were really looking forward to it.
As it was a starter, only the leg was served, sitting atop some pea shoots? The egg yolk perched on the celeriac, and a couple of discs of ham.
Unmistakable flavour of Quail, melded well with the ham and egg,the celeriac was a bit mild in taste. Pretty decent start this
Bread was by the way, wholemeal and focaccia served warm, we both preferred the latter.
Blade of Beef-Puy lentils-creamed onions and baby leeks-marinated shallots-onion puree
Or
Sea Bream- Foie Gras-vanilla and parsnip puree-Savoy cabbage-pear.
As always I guessed what the wife would have, it was a bit harder for me as I fancied the fish especially with the foie gras element to it.
As it was we both opted for the Beef ( I knew we would )but requested the fish as an extra course, at a supplement.
Sitting on top of the Puy lentils with just a tiny puddle of sauce,the Beef was decorated with a baby leek, a couple of red potato crisps, and a tiny ring of marinated shallots. to its side was the onion puree, and to the other side was the onions and creme fraiche with a smattering of rock chives.
It looked smashing, but I was concerned with the lack of sauce,as I assumed the beef may be a bit dry-ish.
I was of course completely wrong, no hint whatsoever of dryness, it was a delight to eat and oh so moist. A winner.
The Sea Bream dish was terrific, a decent size chunk of Foie Gras teamed up with the crisp skinned, and perfectly cooked fish, The savoy cabbage was a delight, vanilla is used quite a bit by Mr P as is pear, and for me they added to the overall effect of the dish.
Coconut parfait-slow cooked banana-chocolate sorbet
Or
Pavlova- blueberry jam- blueberry jelly & iced yogurt
Desserts were ok, nothing special, although we have been spoilt on previous visits, so by way of comparison , they did not hit the heights so to speak.
Coffee was excellent and petit fours, (peanut butter,marshmallow,sourcassis)a good ending to the meal.
To sum up.
Its quite a few months since we dined here,and as we all know time just flashes bye. I'm glad everything is as good as we remember it to be on our previous visits.
Service as always was excellent,Jean Benoit, in particular was well on form, Mr P and his seven merry helpers put some highly enjoyable food on our plates, long may it continue.
Nearly forgot
2 x 3 course lunch £50
1 x extra course £10
1 x Bottle El Paso £20
Service charge £10
Severn Trent water FOC
Wow! one the most flowery reviews i've ever read, I think I've got indegestion. Nothing to do with Purnells just the writing.....
I just wish that we could get a lunchtime table at some of the other Michelin starred Midland restaurants Mr Bear
That is a big part of the appeal with Purnells, reasonably close, top notch food, excellent service, value for money, and no I'm not on the payroll, as you well know.
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Plenty of happy, smiley, people at a full lunch service yesterday.
I tried for a table,a week ago and this was the first available.
We were lucky again to park virtually outside the restaurant again, however, beware the parking meters in Birmingham, on three separate occasions we have had problems with them resulting in a ticket last week(not here) making our lunch an expensive outing.
Nice olives in the lounge/bar area whilst waiting for our table. We were pleasantly surprised when a party of four backpackers entered, and were shown to a table.
Good to see they have their priorities right
Lets talk tables first.As you may (or may not) be aware its a pet hate of mine to be seated facing a wall,I'm nosy you see and also enjoy the animation, and of course you can watch the food arrive at the tables,yum,yum
We were given what turned out to be 10b which normally I would have asked to change, however I was not fussed today as I could catch sight of Mr P at the pass as the staff went backwards and forwards into the kitchen.
In future I may ask for 9 or 14b.
We opted for the still excellent value lunch menu, 2 courses £21 or 3 for £25. This now includes coffee and petit fours.
Salad of Quail-smoked ham hock-slow poached egg yolk-celeriac-wholegrain mustard.
Or
Ballotine of Mackerel-beetroot textures-natural yogurt foam.
We both went for the Quail,we used to buy it whenever we went to France and sadly do not have a local supplier, so we were really looking forward to it.
As it was a starter, only the leg was served, sitting atop some pea shoots? The egg yolk perched on the celeriac, and a couple of discs of ham.
Unmistakable flavour of Quail, melded well with the ham and egg,the celeriac was a bit mild in taste. Pretty decent start this
Bread was by the way, wholemeal and focaccia served warm, we both preferred the latter.
Blade of Beef-Puy lentils-creamed onions and baby leeks-marinated shallots-onion puree
Or
Sea Bream- Foie Gras-vanilla and parsnip puree-Savoy cabbage-pear.
As always I guessed what the wife would have, it was a bit harder for me as I fancied the fish especially with the foie gras element to it.
As it was we both opted for the Beef ( I knew we would )but requested the fish as an extra course, at a supplement.
Sitting on top of the Puy lentils with just a tiny puddle of sauce,the Beef was decorated with a baby leek, a couple of red potato crisps, and a tiny ring of marinated shallots. to its side was the onion puree, and to the other side was the onions and creme fraiche with a smattering of rock chives.
It looked smashing, but I was concerned with the lack of sauce,as I assumed the beef may be a bit dry-ish.
I was of course completely wrong, no hint whatsoever of dryness, it was a delight to eat and oh so moist. A winner.
The Sea Bream dish was terrific, a decent size chunk of Foie Gras teamed up with the crisp skinned, and perfectly cooked fish, The savoy cabbage was a delight, vanilla is used quite a bit by Mr P as is pear, and for me they added to the overall effect of the dish.
Coconut parfait-slow cooked banana-chocolate sorbet
Or
Pavlova- blueberry jam- blueberry jelly & iced yogurt
Desserts were ok, nothing special, although we have been spoilt on previous visits, so by way of comparison , they did not hit the heights so to speak.
Coffee was excellent and petit fours, (peanut butter,marshmallow,sourcassis)a good ending to the meal.
To sum up.
Its quite a few months since we dined here,and as we all know time just flashes bye. I'm glad everything is as good as we remember it to be on our previous visits.
Service as always was excellent,Jean Benoit, in particular was well on form, Mr P and his seven merry helpers put some highly enjoyable food on our plates, long may it continue.
Nearly forgot
2 x 3 course lunch £50
1 x extra course £10
1 x Bottle El Paso £20
Service charge £10
Severn Trent water FOC
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I'm not really up to speed on Indian cuisine in London, however we had a pleasant Sunday lunch at Michelin star Quilon, which was decidedly different to the norm.
It is perhaps six months ago, and I noticed recently a respected food blogger did not rate it very much on a recent visit.
We did enjoy it though.
Its very close to Buckingham Palace, so you could pop along and wave to the Queen
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According to, well informed Richard Vines,foodie God Mr K is looking for a site in the West End.
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Pam, you have done me proud with that review.
Glad you mentioned Galton,s time with John Tovey, we had our honeymoon in the Lakes at Sharrow bay and were booked for a stay at Miller Howe.
We never had the pleasure of a Tovey meal, because the room we were given was really very poor for the premium prices that they charged. We did not stay and moved to somewhere else.
I wonder if he worked there at the time?
He comes across as a really super laid back type of guy, cooking classical food that his customers enjoy, using whatever is available on the day.
Thank you for that
Sounds like a visit is in order
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Nic Watt was guesting chef on Saturday Kitchen along with Galton Blackiston of Michelin starred Morston Hall.
I missed the start and a bit of his dish. My wife wants me to cook it for her will look at it on i player later.
Anybody been to Roka recently? and I would love it if someone could post a review of Morston Hall.
Ta.
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Thank you Phil.
Hope the sun is shining in your part of the world
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Please enlighten us all?
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I'm giving my age away by confessing to my weekend eating Shaun Hill,s food at Gidleigh Park and again at Merchant House in Ludlow.
I sort of lost track of him when he left Merchant House, I seem to remember a place in Worcester, The Glasshouse? That I did not visit.
Given his status within the industry, and to some a true legend, its good to see him getting good press reviews.
To get back to your question late 07 early 08 ? but freely admit to googling it and came up with this article by wine Godess Jancis Robinson (why do we not hear much of her of late?)
Enjoy.
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Pretty good review by Jasper Gerard in todays Telegraph.
If as Shaun Hill claims "its same food as Gidleigh Park" where incidentally he held two Michelin stars,for me it will be a real pleasure to eat his food again.
Anyone on here been recently?
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Do you know something, we foodies really are a lucky lot.
Let me explain.
For £10 or so we can buy say the Good Food Guide, Time Out, Charles Campion, Michelin etc, or simply read the newspapers, or even better tune in for free to whats happening on this forum, to get some really great recommends that are tried and tested
I for one am eternally grateful that my hard earned cash is not wasted by visiting a poor establishment when there are so many good ones out there.
Which brings me to Terroirs.
I would never have found this place in a month of Sundays, if not for recommends, as it is for most of our restaurant meals.
Fantastic location in Covent Garden, right across the road from the "cop shop", but don't be tempted to park on this street without reading the parking signs very carefully.
Busy and buzzy on a Saturday afternoon, the first table that we were offered did not suit as I wanted sight of the action at the bar and kitchen. Gracefully we were offered (imo) a better spot.
Ok I know I could be accused of gushing praise, but I can be scathing when its called for.
Nothing but praise, here, the choice, the quality, the experience, etc.
The menu consists of, bar snacks, charcuterie, small plates, plats du jour, lunch special, cheese, and desserts. Excellent!
We chose, to start, the selection of Charcuterie (£10) a very generous serving of, Jamon, Prosciuto, Terrine, and Saucisson, Clams, vermouth,& aioli (£9) both extremely tasty and to most people a meal in itself.
I could not resist the Bavette, Shallots,& Red wine(£13) surprisingly tender steak with loads of flavour,
Our other dish was Spear caught(don't ask) Plaice a la plancha, coco, beans and herbs(£15)Which was delish, however the coco beans played havoc with me during the night
Sorry if my review is a bit sketchy, it was back in August and I lost the few notes that I made.
We were quite fortunate to be seated next to a couple of foodies, who were very well informed, and ate for England.
We exchanged notes, and tastes, although we fared better because of their large appetites
As we were totally sated we could not manage a pudding.
Thinking back the whole menu was totally edible, and the Pot Roasted Quail, Italian artichokes,Pancetta & gremolata(£12)which the loved up couple next to us had looked top notch.
Very well worth a trip, you can eat quality here for very little money
Enjoy!
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Had another ace meal last night, on the Concepts menu. Highlights were sea bass with textures of beetroot, a tomato ice lollie in the shape of a pair of lips, that was described as a virgin mary, but came with a small spray of vodka so you could turn it into a bloody mary!! My descriptions do not do it justice, Marc feel free to interject. As usual, food easily the best in the north west, service via Gemma and co spot on. And managed to park right outside too. Look forward to your future developments Marc.
So you had my table
Only joking of course.
Spoke to Marc last week in the faint hope of a table for last night, but no luck.
Fingers crossed for a cancellation soon.
The Fat Duck CookBook
in Cookbooks & References
Posted
It arrived on Monday, well packaged and in pristine condition. Not really had time to sit down to read any of it yet because we have been so busy, but just skimming through the book, the photography is stunning.