david goodfellow

So who's going to win it? We have eaten both Simon's and Aidens food in the last few weeks, and today actually eaten Aiden's GBM dishes, and do you know what. They are both great chefs, its very difficult to choose. I am very interested to see what the judges think of all of the dishes, because these guys have been neck and neck throughout the competition. Not long now.

Anyone actually eaten Aiden Byrne's GBM dishes yet? Needless to say we are going. Be nice though if someone else could post a report.

You may (or may not) like to read someone elses view on the Marcus Wareing v Johnny Mountain debate including many comments for and against on twitter. http://www.catererse...e-mountain.html Love @nutsfood photo its ace.

I agree. Marcus Wareing went for the throat with that score. Johnny has come over well this year also. Surely the dish could not have been that bad if Ashley Palmer Watts cast an eye over it. Still I'm not a chef and did not taste it, but 2/10 is just, well, unbelievable.

Twitter is buzzing with comments on Mr Mountain's departure and of course Aiden Byrne's stunning 10/10 for his salmon dish. Bet the viewing figures for tonights episode were through the roof. Be interesting to see who goes through. Its neck and neck now between Aiden and Simon.

Two and a half hours of frantic activity and they were all gone http://www.hot-dinners.com/Gastroblog/Latest-news/noma-pop-up-at-claridges-sells-out-in-record-time

Tickets all gone now. Where's the next venue, eh.

Had a change of heart on this one. I owe you one Jon. You saved me £6/700. Thing is, I was not busting a gut to get to Noma proper, so this diluted experience is for me now a no go. I can't really see them replicating the "real Noma". Don't the chefs themselves present the food to their customers? The more I think about the five courses (plus a glass of champers) the more I realise it simply cannot convey the real Noma experience. I hope those who are going enjoy themselves though. http://www2.seetickets.com/tasteofnoma/calendar.asp?e|artist=A+TASTE+OF+NOMA+AT+CLARIDGE%27S&filler1=id1tasteofnoma&filler2=multiid1tasteofnoma&filler3=

Looks like you have done a lot of research there Jon, and yes just below the surface it is not all that it seems. I had not considered all of those covers and the banqueting hall effect. Reluctantly I also agree on the plating up. I bet very little last minute cooking will be attempted. And little or no foraged items! Heaven forbid. I will suffer withdrawal symptoms. They have become such a big part of our daily diet.

I'm convinced it will be more than five courses. If it's not, I will stamp my little feet

Yes, I have registered and had the email and if I am lucky will most certainly go. It may not have the "authentic feel" of Noma but I (hopefully) will taste his food without the hassle of waiting for a table at Noma, plus flights, travel, parking, taxis, etc. It is over the top re value but I can't take it with me and its hardly Kelleresque price wise. And yes he will do Saturday Kitchen. Bring it on.

I hate to be the one to tell you this but its availability not abailability If ever I'm in Alsace I will most certainly give it a visit. The two year old that we ate was tremendous. Although I admit to not being an expert on cheese or anything else come to that. I may someday be lucky enough to eat the four year old.

It has just been announced that Joe Mercer Nairne has won Tatler's restaurant awards best young chef, cementing what others and ourselves have said for ages about the cooking here. So, ten months down the line, and we make a return visit, and boy were we looking forward to it. As we sat by the window during our meal I wondered just how many people had pondered coming through the door only to change their mind at the last minute. We saw a number of people browse the menu and I was tempted to knock on the window to beckon them in, knowing just what a treat they were missing. Thats the thing. If you don't know an area or a particular restaurant, its easy to miss a gem and end up eating somewhere mediocre. This is a gem. The menu had a few of the non removeable signiture dishes on it, namely the Duck egg tart and the Crab raviolo. We were tempted again by them, but resisted as there was so much else on offer to tuck into. Bread as before was good, and replenished if and when required. I asked David O Connor if he would do a tasting menu for us as we were a little spoilt for choice, obligingly he said yes. I will let the pictures tell the story, as they can do a better job than I. What followed was a joyous afternoon of plate after plate of excellent food. Wild garlic and Jersey royal soup with sautéed snails. Cheese gougeres Crispy Lamb's fries with sauce ravigote, tardivo, Jersey royals. Asparagus with ricotta, pea mousse, pheasant egg, pickled shimeji mushrooms, black olive. Home smoked mackerel and oyster (in dashi jelly) salad, mooli, horseradish cream. Nasturium. Sea bream with purple sprouting brocolli, gnocchi, razor clams gordal olives. Wood pigeon, roast foie gras, morels, crepé parmentier, shallot purée, kale. Now I have to say, that at this stage we had to stop for a breather, portion size is generous indeed. Joe M - N did say to me that one thing that Bruce Poole (Chez Bruce) taught him was that no one should ever leave the restaurant feeling hungry. You will never ever do that here. The last time we ate here we were very fortunate to try some Bernard Anthony cheese, an aged compté no less. It was gobsmackingly good too. On the menu this time was another aged (two year old) Bernard Anthony cheese, some Gruyere du Garde. We had to try this out. Well, we were stunned by the quality ( and quantity ). We kept looking at each other, then back at the cheese. It was an immense portion after such a lot of eating already, but we could not stop eating it, it was that good. Whatever you do, if you go, and you must. Try this cheese if its still on the menu. Its awesome. Desserts were really a bridge too far in a way as we were well and truly sated. Still David would not let us through the door without at least a taste of a few of them. Chocolate delice, milk ice cream, griottine cherries, pistachios. Individual parkin, walnuts, stem ginger, roast pinapple, creme fraiche. Vanilla cheesecake, poached rhubarb, hazelnut crumble. Well, I hope the photos convey just what you can expect from one of our favourite restaurants. It would be on our weekly rota if we lived anywhere near. Special mention must go for the service from all of the staff. Thanks to Sommelier Clement who looked after our wine choice and for patiently explaining to us his choices. Then of course David O Connor who's depth of skill front of house is immense. Joe and his team are cooking their socks off, and every dish was big on flavour. Thats something which you do not get everywhere. We had a marvelous afternoon at Medlar, easily equaling, if not surpassing some higher rated Michelin starred places. And value? Well, the lunchtime pricing is just unbelievable for the quality, and it is the same menu as in the evening. Ahhh, deep joy. Do give it a go. Why? Because your worth it

Thank you most kindly. I know how much you enjoy following Great British Menu from your posts on the thread. So its comforting for me to know you like reading my report. I've enjoyed sharing our dining experience with you. There's more to come from GBM and I will be doing my best to keep you up to date

Its three years since our last visit to Midsummer. An awful lot has happened in between those years and we have virtually eaten our way around England. London has and always will be the big draw for us but we just had to make the return here. Ideally situated by the River Cam it has undertaken a recent refurb with the conservatory being extended, and a rejig upstairs with a very pleasant private dining area. Its refreshing to look down from the approaching bridge to the house below, and to see the rowing boats on the water. Of course topically we have just had the famous Oxford, Cambridge boat race. The draw of course this year was Daniel Clifford's Great British Menu dishes, which yummy brummy Michelin starred chef Glyn Purnell marked up to 10 out of 10. Can a dish be awarded full points? Is it perfect? Of course its all down to personal preference, but hey I'm not a chef so what do I know. We arrived in good time with no traffic problems on the roads, to be greeted by Restaurant Manager Simon Warr who was here on our last visit. First impression was good. Youngish staff front of house, same in the kitchen, which now has a large viewing window into the conservatory. It is a very pleasant place to sit, light, spacious and in touch with the verdant garden area. Now then. We have been blessed with some excellent meals this year so I desperately wanted this meal to carry on in that vein. Before I get on to the menu that we ate from,I would just like to point out that the other two that we looked at were equally, if not more appealing. Lots of meaty treats on them both that had us spoilt for choice, and truth be told we both really fancied the tasting menu. Amuse was a dinky glass of "bloody mary", some featherly light cheese filled gougeres, and a bowl of green olives. Bread was made on the premises and was White and brown sourdough, of which I just slightly preferred the brown. As can be seen from the photo it has a fantastic salty thick crust. Mention also to the butter which was pretty good too. Oddly the menu is not printed up as Great British Menu, its on as the Market Menu. So I was slighty confused at first, until I read its contents. Instead of the televised four courses it is now six, plus of course the little nibbly bits and bloody mary at the start. You may also add in a cheese course at a bargainous £7.50. So a classic to get us started. What could be more classic than, Leek and Potato, quail egg and smoked haddock The reason why classics have been around forever of course, is because they work. Here the translucent fish was perfectly cooked and the vichyssoise was perfect. It all slipped down a treat. Onwards to the first proper GBM dish which I think scored very well, Caramelised veal sweetbread, onion and cinnamon puree, burnt onions and wood sorrel This presented itself well on the beautiful plate and was a joy to eat. Sweetbreads are underused but hold bags of flavour especially when caramelised like this. Note that only one asparagus spear has burnt onion ash on it. On the cinnamon bark, and nestling snugly below the wood sorrel is a veal tartare. Straight down to the Med next and you perhaps could eat this anywhere along the Cote d'Azur, thats where the inspiration is from. Stuffed Red mullet, parmesan puree, confit lemon, roast artichoke, green olives, and Iberico ham. This was a pleasant dish. Again nicely presented. Good piece of fish which still tasted strongly of red mullet even though it had a crunchy pork topping, which incidently we thought worked very well. All except Oliver Peyton of the GBM judges liked this dish. We could not understand what he did not like about it. The main event next, and I still can't believe Glyn Purnell said he almost cried when he ate this dish. For a chef to utter those words, I cannot think of any higher compliment one master craftsman could make to another master craftsman. If I were Daniel Clifford I would have been blown away. Slow poached chicken, sweet corn, spinach with bacon and peas, chicken juices. My photos can not do full justice to the impact of this dish when it arriving at the table. Served on a stunning, massive JL Coquet porcelain plate all the way from Limoges it was picture perfect. We could not wait to get tucked in. The only thing missing however from the dish was the "chicken spray" that was wafted in front of the judges. Still it was really not required as there was good aroma from the plate. It was a divine plate of food. Chicken is such an everyday item at home, that we all tend to forget how a properly sourced bird should taste. Note the chicken skin cannelloni filled with chicken mousse and popcorn. From a chefs point of view I suppose this dish is technically excellent. From a punters point of view it most certainly ticks all of the boxes. Yes we can indeed understand the very high praise. We took the cheese as an extra course and the chariot arrived tableside laden with goodies. We left the choice mainly to our server with a little interaction from us. We don't normally take the cheese course but having tasted some absolutely fabulous Bernard Anthony compte and gruyere at Medlar recently we were tempted here today. So, we had a taste of compte, some very fine stilton from Colston Basset, Harbourne blue goats cheese from Devon, Spanish Manchego from La Mancha, and some Turnworth from Hampshire made in the style of Camembert. Grape chutney, walnut and raisin bread and selection of crackers completed the offering. Pre dessert was a simple but effective transition into dessert,Fennel, black olive and lemon Finally and perhaps to some,the most prettily plated of food of them all, the dessert. Raspberry and tarragon roulade, white chocolate cookie dough, salt and pepper powder, tarragon oil Eye candy of the highest order, and it tasted as good as it looks Wow and we are not quite finished yet. Daniel Clifford himself explained that the recipe for these little French inspired pastries are unique. Made with a high alcohol cherry eau de vie and served with apple compote from the garden and a basic creme anglaise they were quickly devoured. And last but not least a selection of very fine home made chocolates with the coffee. Well, well. This is a true destination restaurant for us in every sense of the word. Without doubt a truly great meal and high praise indeed for the generosity of the portions. In fact that is the one thing that shines out above all else, the generosity of it all. No tiny portions, no cutting corners, we like that very much in a restaurant. Daniel Clifford eats, sleeps, breaths this business and his hospitality is immense. He is firmly of the opinion if you spend big money at a restaurant, it has to be a special experience and believe you me, this was special. As you will imagine our bill was over £200 for two, however there is an easily accessible midweek dining option at about £40 so its very doable for quite a few people. Service is a highlight here, perhaps as it should be of course, but you don't get it everwhere thats for sure. Simon Warr has a very good team to work with and looked after not only us but all of his customers on the day. Finally, and perhaps because he knew that we were coming, the immensely charming Daniel Clifford who popped by to say hello at the end of service. We were flattered that he would spend so much time with us and it just rounded off a very special day and made it seem like it was an anniversary or birthday. He did not mind me taking a photo of him in relaxed mode. In fact I think he relished it, he's a really fun guy to be with.

Not fealt the love at all this week. I'm fed up to the back teeth with "groundbreaking". Where can food go? To quote yesterday's fallen hero Marco. "Its only food ffs". Next week is not at all inspiring either. No disrespect to the chefs but the class of the field are there for all to see, very few others can compeat. Its fairly clear to me now that the classic old school chefs, like cream, will rise to the top. Sod foraging and leaves, flavour is all.

Ate the Great British Menu here today and thought it to be outstanding. Totally agree with Glyn Purnells marking. All dishes very good, the main course was exceptional. I want to compare some more of the other regional winners dishes but really on this showing, this will take some beating. Have some great photos I just need to check through them and I will post a full review.

Sorry to say that on paper and with this evening's poor showing I really can't see any of these guys progressing. Four out of ten is abysmal. Hope it improves dramatically. Fingers crossed.

Fantastic meal here yesterday. Everything is just so right about this place, it puts some Michelin starred restaurants to shame. It just must get a star this year Michelin. One year old this month,(happy birthday boys), they have expanded upstairs to add extra covers and a private dining area (see above). Will post a full review when I have a bit more time.

So, following the departure of Ben Spalding, the kitchen is firmly back in the hands of Simon Rogan. Andy Tomlinson has been promoted to head chef and Simon has, in a very short space of time, changed the menus with perhaps up to twenty new dishes to choose from. Yesterday lunch had three menus to choose from. The three course lunch at £29 with an option of two glasses of wine for an extra £6, extremely good value and most tempting. A six course at £55, and the one that we tried, the ten course at £80. Of course we all know that with Simon's generosity its always more than the stated, so even the lunch menu will have an extra course or two. My apologies in advance. It would take me too long to describe all the dishes in detail, I shall show the photos and summarize later. Amuse was an Onion biscuit and nettle cream. Next up Smoked Pork and eel croquettes. Bread, was a choice of three rolls each, Wholemeal and Ale, pumpernickel. amd onion and thyme. They were served with butter from Netherend farm in Gloucestershire whipped with Maldon sea salt. Burnt cream of English mushrooms, ramsoms and cheese drops. Grown up egg yolk from the golden egg, celeriac, sorrel and garlic cream. The "egg" has chicken puree inside of it. Its a similar dish to one at L'enclume. It was explained the chicken puree is placed into moulds to set, then the egg is coated in a type of jelly. Hope I have that correct. This sat on a celeriac mash. Some celeriac crisps, and garlic mayo on top. Spring broth with carrot dumplings, sea kale shoots and pearl barley. Raw venison in coal oil, mustard, scurvy grass and onions. Crispy seaweed mashed potatoes, wild leek and fennel. Cornish Lobster, oyster, apple, pickled kohlrabi and coastal herbs. Five flavoured Monkfish, razor clams, vinegar and hazelnut. Herdwick Lamb flank, sweetbread, salsify, hedge garlic and velvet caps. Sweet cheese, water celery, artichoke and malt. Rhubarb with meadowsweet, cream cake and sweet cicely. And finally to end with, a White chocolate bourbon iced lolly Yes a bit of a marathon, but the type of marathon that we prefer these days. So very much going on throughout the meal, many different tastes, textures, aromas. The standout aroma of the meal was the lamb. The table next to us ate it after we did and the smell was just divine I wanted to eat the dish all over again. Apart from the aroma, taste wise it was also a stand out dish. Needless to say we enjoyed all of Simon's food, no duff dishes here. Stand outs were (apart from the lamb) The Lobster, and the Venison. The crispy briney seaweed mashed potatoes were much relished, as was the monkfish. Service here is very good indeed, assured, but relaxed and informed. Nothing is too much trouble. Sandia Chang was at her very best and will be missed, but the team will carry on reinforced with good spirit. It was nice to speak with Sandia's husband James Knappet who popped in at the end of service. We wish them all the very best with their new Bubbledogs venture. We popped our heads into the kitchen to speak briefly with Simon, who's work ethic is much to be admired. Leading from the front, his team are pushing to maintain his very high standards. So all in all for us a great way to spend a Friday lunch. Not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but we enjoyed the food here as much as, if not more than some other higher rated restaurants. On the subject of value, the lunch menu with the wine is exceptionally good and whats more currently it consists of three of the dishes that we ate., the spring broth, the fabulous lamb and the pretty plated Rhubarb dish. So yes this meal for us ticked all of the boxes. Team Rogan

A back to back is most appealing, its something I'm currently considering. I think I could easily beat that 17 minutes except if a tractor or caravan were in my way

There is a certain humility in this weeks kitchen and its better for it. In previous years Aktar has been accused of being a bit of a cock. Nothing could be further from the truth on this showing. He comes across as being a top notch guy. Daniel is so rounded, he's almost unrecognisable. Paul seems just an all round nice guy. Not so sure I could bear much of the ultra competetive Alan Murchison, he's so full on he could implode. For me the kitchen comaraderie works so much better than the dog eat dog winning mentality. And yes, Daniel's food looks amazing, including tonight's photogenic dessert, eye candy of the highest order, which I hope to be eating very soon.

Agree wholeheartedly about the food, especially this week, and there are some more really great chefs left to feature. Personally I think if this program was new to our screens we would perhaps be a lot more enthusiastic about it. Shame about the repetition but I for one will miss it next year if this is the last one. Btw Simon, I met Richard Corrigan at Dabbous. He was at the next table with three of his top guys. His television persona is different to the real him. He came across as a really nice guy, fairly quiet and low key but certainly fun to be with.

Anyone been here recently? It certainly looks like Mr Clifford is at the top of his game judging by his dishes on Great British Menu. His Great British Menu is available from next week for seventy five English pounds, plus of course that ubiquitous 12.5% service charge. I assume for that price an amuse and a pre dessert are included. Although having said that the portion sizes here are most certainly generous. Be great if anyone could report a recent meal here. Thanks in anticipation.

Our recent Sunday lunch at Koffmann's witnessed lots of family dining. Kids (and grown ups) of most ages seemed to be enjoying themselves. Koffmann's at The Berkeley I too have a soft spot for The Ledbury, and would return in an instant. The Ledbury.