david goodfellow

Hi Kian how was your midland food jaunt, are we to read it on your blog? We will all be able to see Tristan's food first hand,be interesting to see what he comes up with. ← I'm going this weekend - went to Marcus Wareing last weekend and in the midst of writing the review up. ← Good man,looking forward to reading that one.

Hi Kian how was your midland food jaunt, are we to read it on your blog? We will all be able to see Tristan's food first hand,be interesting to see what he comes up with.

Personally, I am only marginally bothered by what the prize is - after all, it is not as if I am eligable! I agree though that it is getting obscure, but as long as it is enough to attract quality chefs or as long as they want to take part regardless of what they win, then I am happy. And to be fair, I am sure that bragging rights plus potential pecuniary benefits (God only knows just how fat a cash cow that BLT sandwich has proven for Jason Atherton/Maze/Rambo) will be sufficient to keep the standard suitably high. I am really looking forward to the show actually. ← The chef's probably don't care about the prize anyhow... its all about getting publicity. I doubt many people in the general public who doesn't frequent this board would have heard of someone like say Tristan Welch. ← When Aiden Byrne appeared on Saturday Kitchen he had just opened The Church Green at Lymm ,Cheshire. It took me over an hour to get through on the phone to book a table I think they took over 150 bookings that day Aiden and Sarah have been busy beyond belief,due to the television exposure. The appearance fee in comparison,is peanuts.

You could try Corrigans jn Mayfair. Don't be put off by the expensive location! This is top notch dining at user friendly prices. When we went in January I had the most expensive dish on the menu.Widgeon,when in feather a very pretty little duck,on the plate,as nice a tasting piece of game you will eat. This cost all of £26,you can eat a main course for as little as £12 if my memory serves me right. Expect lots of game on the menu and strong flavours Mr Corrigan does not do bland. There is a good choice of seating including an overspill dining area if they are extremely busy. ← Many thanks. I went to look at the menus in the windows at St John and at Club Gascon, but wasn't particularly excited by either. Corrigans sounds good, but my host wants something with the kind of culinary fireworks Pied a Terre used to have in the 1990s, and I want somewhere where I know at least one member of the team FOH or in the kitchen, so I think we are now chosing between Maze and Texture. Any views? One thought is that at my advanced age I don't want to eat to the beat of bad loud music, which marred the only occasion that I have ever been to Maze in the evening rather than lunchtime. ← Not been to Texture,although its had decent reviews. My one and only visit to Maze was very disappointing! We had the four course lunch at £28 .The portions were,minuscule. The waitress seated us at a very poor table,right near the back,up the flight of stairs, when other far nicer tables were available. They kindly reseated us in a far better spot with some cajoling. Not the best start and it went downhill quickly. This lunch was the worst we have had in London. Jason Atherton was in the kitchen ,and to his very good credit produced two dishes foc ,to prove what he is capable of. However that said the Table d hote menu should not be an afterthough it should be carefully considered before being offered. Moving on,it is always difficult to recommend,as I worry that people may not agree with my choice. That said,perhaps my best meal last year was at Foliage. Most people who have dined here seem to have thoroughly enjoyed the very fine cooking of Chris Staines,a fairly low profile Chef who lets his cooking do the talking! Hope this is of help. ← Chris Staines is very talented. My only thought is that Foliage is such good value for lunch compared to dinner that I'd rather save going there for a lunchtime. Not sure that there's nearly as much price differential between lunch and dinner at Maze and at Texture as there is at Foliage. ← Your right about the Foliage lunch,absolute top quality for the price £28?

If you can reach suburbia then by far the best high end Indian restaurant in Greater Manchester has to be Dilli in Altrincham. Not quite fine dining but with a window onto the spotless kitchen and a lovely dining room I would urge anyone used to the 'onion gravy relentlessness' of your average curry house to give it a try. The sweet and sour rabbit and any lentil dish are worth every penny and more. The restaurant espouses it's ayurvedic principles. Frankly I'm only interested if it tastes good. And it does! A la carte can end up pricey but set menus, specials, lunch time deals represent an absolute steal. ← Thanks for that Chris. You are right of course it is good . We went here about 2/3 years ago and the flavours were spot on. I had completely forgotten it. Will add it to my visit list.

The foul mouthed one has just been awarded two** Michelin stars in the 2009 guide published today.for his Versailles restaurant Le Trianon. This brings his global total to 12 stars.

You could try Corrigans jn Mayfair. Don't be put off by the expensive location! This is top notch dining at user friendly prices. When we went in January I had the most expensive dish on the menu.Widgeon,when in feather a very pretty little duck,on the plate,as nice a tasting piece of game you will eat. This cost all of £26,you can eat a main course for as little as £12 if my memory serves me right. Expect lots of game on the menu and strong flavours Mr Corrigan does not do bland. There is a good choice of seating including an overspill dining area if they are extremely busy. ← Many thanks. I went to look at the menus in the windows at St John and at Club Gascon, but wasn't particularly excited by either. Corrigans sounds good, but my host wants something with the kind of culinary fireworks Pied a Terre used to have in the 1990s, and I want somewhere where I know at least one member of the team FOH or in the kitchen, so I think we are now chosing between Maze and Texture. Any views? One thought is that at my advanced age I don't want to eat to the beat of bad loud music, which marred the only occasion that I have ever been to Maze in the evening rather than lunchtime. ← Not been to Texture,although its had decent reviews. My one and only visit to Maze was very disappointing! We had the four course lunch at £28 .The portions were,minuscule. The waitress seated us at a very poor table,right near the back,up the flight of stairs, when other far nicer tables were available. They kindly reseated us in a far better spot with some cajoling. Not the best start and it went downhill quickly. This lunch was the worst we have had in London. Jason Atherton was in the kitchen ,and to his very good credit produced two dishes foc ,to prove what he is capable of. However that said the Table d hote menu should not be an afterthough it should be carefully considered before being offered. Moving on,it is always difficult to recommend,as I worry that people may not agree with my choice. That said,perhaps my best meal last year was at Foliage. Most people who have dined here seem to have thoroughly enjoyed the very fine cooking of Chris Staines,a fairly low profile Chef who lets his cooking do the talking! Hope this is of help.

Hi Felix just read your review and it reminded me of my lunch three Sundays ago. Now I have to first point out that I have only just started to make notes of my meals out So this is from memory. Tristan Welch,clean cut,29 year old chef comes with some pedigree. He was the darling of the food critics just under a year ago,widely tipped as a big star of the future. Well, when the 2009 michelin guide hit the shelves a lot of folks including myself were surprised he was not included in the stars. I would bet a lot of money he was too. The restaurant itself has a cosy feel to it.depending on where you are sitting. We had the lunch menu,three courses plus amuse and pre dessert at £24. Quite fairly priced for the location. We both unsurprisingly have similar tastes(my wife and I) so we had the following An amuse of Velute' of Cauliflower,creme fraiche foam,dark truffle oil. Nice and pleasant. Spider Crab Risotto with garlic butter. Now I'm a sucker for Crab and Risotto,this was right up my street,just the right amount of bite in the rice and very good Crab flavour. It was nicely presented with the shell atop. Mutton chop with? I don't remember. I was too busy fighting with the chop. The waitress noticed this and asked if everything was ok .I said it was a bit tough but it was ok. My wife's was fine,and we reasoned that the beast was obviously older than spring lamb, so perhaps would not be as tender. I don't think so. The restaurant manager Hadi Aknin asked if I would like another dish and I declined as I had eaten a fair bit of the food on the plate Custard topped with crumble in an eggshell was,well ok. Nice touch as a pre dessert though. Apple tart of coxs orange pippins for two was very scrummy. We enjoyed this a great deal and the portion size was very generous We had two campari and sodas at a pretty steep £8 each and two glasses of Syrah at £6 each. To sum up,the meal was lacking that little bit of umph that for instance, the recent sunday lunch at L'Autre Pied had I know that Tristan was not in the kitchen,because I asked,however it should not make any difference. On this showing and not knowing the chef I would have to say its definitely not star worthy Although having said that,apart from the chop,it is a very good neighborhood restaurant For me the service was attentive and to his very great credit Hadi removed one of the lunches from the bill. This was over generous and I said so,but he reasoned that his guests have to leave the restaurant 100% happy or he has not done his job correctly I salute you sir. As a footnote Tristan Welch is competing against Mark Sargeant in the London and South East heat of Great British Menu which is due to be televised very soon.

Thanks Harters just going through the door now. I have a one hour drive in front of me but the weather is spot on and I'm looking forward to our meal.

The best formal Indian place in town was the original EastZEast under the Ibis hotel at the far (BBC) end of Princess St. When it launched it was absolutely spot on but not sure if it has maintained standards. The second Manchester EastZEast, on Blackfriars just off Deansgate is passable but for whatever reason doesn't match the first on the standard of cuisine or service and I know a couple of people have had mediocre experiences there. Other popular choices include Akbars down on Liverpool Road (which had a run in with immigration officers recently but is, contrary to rumour, still trading) which I found passable and hardy perrenial Shimla Pinks which is still just off Bridge St though will shortly be moving to a new site in Spinningfields. Otherwise go with an old stager like The Radjoot on Albert Square? I must admit to never having gone but I think it's decent, in pricy and has got a couple of decent reviews recently. There's the Ashoka on Princess St too but I know even less about that. Final choice is to stick to the most presentable of the curry cafes - The Kebabish on Hilton St. It's not cheap compared to similar places but will cost you a third of what you'd spend in a restaurant and it's clean and well organised enough not to be scary. Not sure if it opens on the weekend though? Hope one of these works for you, have a good day. Cheers Thom ← Thanks for that Thom. I new that I could rely on your encyclopaedic knowledge of the Manchester dining scene to come up trumps. Will let you know how it turns out.

If anyone is up and reading this from the Manchester area,I need a bit of help for a late-ish Indian lunch today. It has to look clean and tidy from outside,because the other half judges kitchens by the general appearance of what is on show, This criteria would seem to rule out some of the above recommends,however I may be wrong,please advise! Had a terrific lunch last Sunday at Red Chilli and would go again today without hesitation,but it would be overkill for her.

Hi Adam, As stated we are big fans hence the frequent journeys to pay homage. I guess that I hit a nerve,and she went on the defensive,its a real shame,but sometimes these things happen.

Hello Peter,very interesting reading,I think you should start your own blog. Your review of Great Queen Street is pretty much spot on. They have spent zilch on the place,so it must be,extremely profitable,good luck to them. We went for lunch,one Saturday about a month ago. The place is very dark during he day and deemed ourselves fortunate to secure a window table,so we could watch the outside animation. I kept the menu somewhere,but its not at hand ,at present,so I shall have to go from memory! My recollection is one of comfort food,a pie for two,a bit of game,obviously a plate of fish. I'm sure the menu change frequently,according to what is available. We had a very scrummy dish of Braised Hare,a rather large portion,all the better for the generous amount of celery in the pot. We added a side of mash and another of chunky kale to complete the package. This was about as good as it gets for the type. I had a guest ale,and my wife had a half carafe of house wine.? The bill,a very reasonable£45.50 plus tip. We were glad we did not have a starter,as we were so full we could not find place for a pud. You are correct in following Food Snobs advice,he has his finger very firmly on the pulse of the London dining scene.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the meal. I thought the theatre of the duck preparation added to the enjoyment,admittedly they do try to make it a bit of a spectacle of it. However the board that they were using (master and apprentice) was not spiked so the said bird was moving all over the place. We did not have the duck,the very knowlegeable and well traveled foodies on the next table did. We had the same dish at La Tour de Argent some years ago,and thoroughly enjoyed it. They sent us a postcard with the number of the duck! Not sure how many that they have served but Frommers claim in excess of 1.2 million. Be interesting to see if you get a postcard from Ambassade!

You can get a pretty decent Michelin one starred meal for £60 a head (including some booze). That seems like a better investment than £50 to watch premier league football, or a night out at Mama Mia (without booze). OK higher quality is higher priced but is it really out of kilter with alternative types of entertainment? A six nations ticket/package, a night at the opera, or top price tickets to someone like Steisand. Compared to Europe the UK is now a bargain. Even Spain is going to stretch the budget, isn't El Bulli €180 without wine, in Paris my last lunch at Le Cinq was €85 for the cheap menu (after wine etc we got to close to €400 for two), and mid range places are in the €160 for two range. ← Of the five michelin star meals that I have had this year,four of them have three course dinner menus sub £40.Very good value indeed. A further meal at Corrigans had the most expensive main course listed at £26,still way cheaper than the cheapest starter at Le Manoir. There is some extraordinary value out there, its just not in Great Milton.

I have been, and still am a big fan of "The Champion Sausage".So called by the local taxi drivers,for reasons known only to themselves. Over the past decade or so I (we) have made the 200 plus mile round trip by car. Sometimes staying overnight,but mostly driving back after the meal. It would be wrong to say we dined frequently during any given year,However we are certainly fairly frequent disciples. Last July I telephoned to book a table and was told by Helen,they were closed because of the floods.Not because of any water ingress just that the water was turned off for health reasons .period. A week or so later she called back to say they were now open,so I promptly booked for the following evening. Upon arrival, and during pre-dinner drinks I was full of praise for their exceptionally user friendly wine list,provided by Robin Jones from Croque en Bouche,Which incidently was a very,very good michelin restaurant before becoming a wine merchant. As is usual I listen to recommendations and generally choose game or meat options,mosty preferring complex,strong flavours. On this occasion I was persuaded to try a fish course mainly because it sounded exiting and complex. As it was the dish was unusually bland,with no zing. When Helen asked if I had enjoyed the dish I said that I normally don't choose fish,as I prefer more gutsy flavors,and that I was disappointed. I did not make a fuss whatsoever,I just put it down to experience. It was all fairly low key and that was that. We waited for the bill and eventually it arrived,not from Helen,one of the other young waitresses. We waited in the small reception area after paying and leaving a suitable tip. It seemed an age and Helen still did not appear from the kitchen.I asked one of the waitresses to ask her to come so we could say goodbye. To this day we received no goodbye. On the long drive home I kept mulling over the conversation,I didn't ask for a reduction in the bill or another dish,why the cold shoulder?We had just made the journey to Mecca Not sure about that long journey anytime soon.

To the man in the street it must seem obscene to pay £32 for a starter,£41 for a main and a mind boggling £21 for a dessert! Never mind £116 for the tasting menu. Plus!!! perhaps 12.5% service charge. I was a fairly regular visitor in the early nineties when prices were still high but more user friendly I can now quite happily reflect on those memories, thankful, that I, perhaps had the best of Monsieur Blanc's cooking without it costing me an arm and a leg!

For some strange reason this place does not get seem to get much attention these days. Considering its stardom(**) and celebrity chef,very few posts on here. Is it something to do with the astonishingly high pricing or, is it just that foodies are giving it a wide berth in favour of say The Fat Duck. I wonder how they are coping given the current climate,and especially the big drop in tourism? I somehow don't see Monsieur Blanc creating a credit crunch lunch. Any reports please?

You could try Corrigans jn Mayfair. Don't be put off by the expensive location! This is top notch dining at user friendly prices. When we went in January I had the most expensive dish on the menu.Widgeon,when in feather a very pretty little duck,on the plate,as nice a tasting piece of game you will eat. This cost all of £26,you can eat a main course for as little as £12 if my memory serves me right. Expect lots of game on the menu and strong flavours Mr Corrigan does not do bland. There is a good choice of seating including an overspill dining area if they are extremely busy.

Roger your a star. Really,really,hope,that you have a wonderful time especially as I have put my head on the chopping block!!! I'm,of course sure you will. Fingers crossed that Jean-Christophe has not gone on a flying visit back to the mother ship in Lyon although the quality of the food will be the same.Assured! If you do meet him his enormous enthusiasm will add to the experience. As a footnote,check out the other white restored Ferrari valued at £3 million plus. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately for me and I suspect for quite a few others,Hampshire is one heck of a trek,even in the Batmobile. At least four hours legal driving.I assume its quite a lot more for you Gary. As you are aware on another post I, was determined to try Matts food when he was at The Goose .Things change of course. If financial circumstances change perhaps I'll check out if they have a hellipad and zoom down there at will. Matt I know you tune in to the site,keep up the good work its only a matter of time before I am able to sample your table delights!!

Two of the best meals I had last year were Foliage and Hibiscus closely followed by the Ledbury. Given the choice now,to return to one,or another visit to Ambassade I would certainly choose the latter. Part of that decision has to do with the design qualities of the restaurant,something others may not be so interested in.The food was about on par. As another point of interest,"if you are into cars" perhaps fifty meters away is H R Owens Ferrari showroom.If it is still there you can look at Man City's owner,s brand new stunning white ,red leather, "red rocker covers" convertible. For close on £200k I don't think he will get much use in the not so sun drenched City of Manchester! Bet the red half of the city .would like to do their own rain dance on it,lol

Don't see much of him on the tele these days. They say a mans face is his fortune ,his pretty boy looks seem to have worked. I know that he was marketing valentines cookery classes before Feb 14. There is a picture of him on the website in his "whites" with his resident chef Andy Houghton he obviously creates the menus?. Thinking back some of his creations were stunning.He was the" dogs" in his day. Interestingly I am looking at a copy of what I assume is his latest book,Everyday Novelli,which I have on loan from my local library.To my surprise since dec9 last year I am the only renter. Don't know anything about his business empire although I do know he has had more than his fair share of ups and downs. I wish him well!

The latest hot ticket in Knightsbridge is Ambassade de I,Ile the set lunch is now a steal at £25. You can add two glasses of wine,bottle of water(badoit,perrier.etc),and coffee,including top ups for a further £12. We dined here three weeks ago and it was brilliant! The room is terrific and you can watch the action in the kitchen from the various TV screens dotted about the place. The staff will happily show you around and take you to the private dining areas overlooking the kitchen and wine vault. You are in for a real treat I assure you. If you are really lucky(and if he has time),two star chef Jean-Christophe Ansanay-Alex will charm you with his wit and intelligence. Nearly forgot to mention the toilets, with their mini fountains! This place has had shed loads of money thrown at it,and it is mean't to be enjoyed. If you go please mention my name to Armand ,who is JC,s chef.We were chatting about Purnells in Birmingham,just across the road from where he used to work.He is a smashing guy.Please let him know I'm asking after him.

Housewives(and come to think of it) house husbands favourite,John-Christophe Novelli is opening a "new concept"drinking and dining venue. Dunham Novelli urban bar and kitchen is a partnership between JCN and entrepeneur Dean Dunham. It will be part of a fly on the wall documentary screened later this year. As I understand it there will be dancing,dining,and dallying until the small hours. This is to be the first of many already planned throughout the UK. Are you ready to party Northampton?