david goodfellow
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Posts posted by david goodfellow
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Not sure why its taken us so long to get back here for a meal. Its not so very far away, but still, as always a trek no less.
The name cropped up when in conversation with Marc Wilkinson of Restaurant Fraiche.
Having just managed to obtain a hard to get table at his place, I asked him for suggestions for lunch in and around Manchester. This is the result of that conversation.
Still as cute as ever but having gone through a partial makeover I was interested to see if things had remained as they were or there was any progression.
Since our visit they now have a good value set menu which most of our fellow diners seemed to be eating from. This was also our choice.
I did not take a photo of the very good bread which is freshly baked on the premises. Both white and the malted brown were relished. This is the second time in weeks that we have been served beef dripping with our bread (Aiden Byrne's place). Is it a northern thing? Also on offer were two types of butter, one hand churned one from Williams of Bolton, and a nut brown one from?
This tasty little amuse got the ball rolling for us. Witness potted wild hare ensnared in Cumbrian air dried ham, pickled cucumber and a very pleasant damson jam.
My wife started with the Loch Duart home smoked Salmon, which was served with a mustard cream and toasted rye bread. It was declared to be tasty, as it should really be given its provinance, and whats more she enjoyed not only the salmon but also the rye bread on the plate and all of the bread on offer. That should tell a story as she is not a bready person.
Mushroom soup perhaps sounds a bit boring, but there is mushroom soup and MUSHROOM SOUP and this was the latter.
Huge depth of flavour, essence of mushroom in effect. On top was a tiny dice of toasted chestnuts and the added bonus of a teasing slick of truffle oil. This really was excellent. I was sad to reach the bottom of the bowl.
An unusual dish was on the menu, Oat Groat Porridge? Me neither, and whilst we both fancied the pork dish my curiosity got the better of me so we orderded it as an extra paid course split between us.
What you see is the porridge, bathing in a cauliflower puree with some white onion puree to the side, and a cauliflower cheese beignet.
I know your dying to know how it tasted. It actually tasted rather nice. We were not sure what to expect. It all worked together, the creamy porridge and the beignet with the surprise crunchy sliver if cauliflower lying in wait. Yes we both finished our plates.
The best dish for us was next. Slow cooked shoulder of Gloucester Old Spot Pork. I take it that slow cooked meant sous vide, whatever way it was very tender, nearly melting, but not quite. The aroma as it reached the table had us champing at the bit to get at it. The accompanying black peas and vinegar were interesting. Of course pork requires a bit of apple sauce and there it was.
The pork crackling was not just good, it was very very good. It sort of exploded in the mouth, no chewy bits of course just down to dust in no time. Saucing was good too, we like a bit of sauce, its easy to tire of emulsions all of the time.
Grapefruit posset was one of the desserts. On the spoon is grapefruit sherbet, (eat the sherbet first). We loved the miss matched old English rose type cup and saucer.
There is a growing tendancy to use vegetables in desserts (Tom Aikens) and I worried about the celery ganita, an unusual addition which actually (for us at least) worked quite well. Truth be told it worked better with a spoon of posset taken with it. An unusual but attractive dish nevertheless.
The other "dessert" was actually cheese, and my giddy aunt what a selection. Most restaurants charge a supplement for cheese, think £8, £10, £12. Not here, its included in the price.
Too many to list witness,
Rosary Goats cheese from Witshire, Berkswell, Harbourne blue, etc, etc,
Chutneys were rhubarb, tomato, and quince. Also served were oatcake biscuits.
For a lunch that costs £22 for three courses this is up there with any lunch menu that we have eaten from this year. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, so much so that we are booked in next week for an evening meal, proof positive of our approval. Since our last visit they have upped there game somewhat I am pleased to say.
Our bill with an extra course, tip, a couple of glasses of wine and a peroni came to £85, but for just the food and a tip think £50. A very, very good deal indeed for this quality.
Go now.
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The juggernaut that is Dabbous goes marching on.
First lunch table available, end of March.
First weekday evening table available 15th May.
First weekend evening table available, first week of June.
I have my table booked now, but don't expect a review from me anytime soon.
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I wish I had a twenty pound note for everytime that I have gone online and looked at the menu here. Out of curiosity I wanted to visit to see and feel the ambiance of the place. Problem is I did not fancy the food. Its billed as a Grand cafe, European style by its famed owners Christopher Corbin and Jeremy King, once proud owners of the Ivy. They are famous for there hospitality and indeed many years ago on a visit to the Ivy we experienced first hand just how good they are, when Mr Corbin was on duty.
On to the food, which on the menu has soups, salads, crustacea, caviar, wieners, sandwiches, eggs, schnitzels, fish, six entrees, cheese, desserts, patisserie, coupes, plus a few sub headings, oh and a "tagesteller", a dish of the day to you and me. That lot totals up to over one hundred choices. Something for everyone? Truth is none of it had my pulse racing, thats why I kept looking over many weeks to see if the menu would grow on me.
This was not my first choice place on the day. In fact I was struggling. I had hopes of a cancellation at Dabbous and phoned first thing to plead with the stressed but charming receptionist who said " We already have forty one booked and we only seat thirty?". So no point leaving my number then?
As you may expect being a Saturday lunch in one of the busiest parts of London, and incidently the best day weatherwise of the year, the place was rammed. Still it is mostly high turnover with quite a few people just popping in for brunch. Perhaps a coffee and dessert, of like the table next to us, an Omlette Arnold Bennett, Croque Monsieur, and a couple of coffees.
Bread and butter are part of the £2 cover charge and were ok.
My wife fancied the Endive, Pear and Roquefort salad which is of course a classic. Indeed a lot of the menu is classics. This was tasty of course, lots of different textures to bite on. Some crunchy walnuts, crunchy endive, tangy cheese, whats not to like?
I surprised myself and rather boringly went for a soup? I'm shocked to this day, but there you go thats life.
In fairness it was not at all too bad, for a soup that is. Chicken soup with noodles.
I won't bother describing it, we all know what this soup is about.
The entees were, spatchcock poussin, rump of lamb, calves liver and bacon, rib eye steak, choucroute, and beef stroganoff.
I went for the Chargrilled Calves liver and bacon with buttery mash and shallot gravy.
I thought this presented rather well and looked forward to trying it. The liver still had a very slight hint of pink to it. I would have preferred it a bit less cooked, but there you go. The bacon had an odd texture to it, not crispy enough, not brittle enough to the bite. Not enough to spoil the dish but noticable. An ok sort of plate really.
We took a side order of Sprouting broccoli with toasted almonds. Whoever cooked this needs to go back to catering college. Did they not teach you to cut through the stem so that it cooked evenly? Dummy. I should have sent it back to the kitchen but I could not be bothered.
Fillet of Beef Stroganoff, another long lost classic was much enjoyed across the table. No complaints about the steak, just as she asked it to be. Good saucing. Spot on good quality rice. I enjoyed it too. in fact I wished that it was my dish, but there you go we all make mistakes.
There is a pretty decent choice of desserts and patisserie, stuff like, black forest gateau, banana split, rice pudding, cheesecake, ets, etc.
We shared the interesting sounding Scheiterhaufen Think Austrian bread pudding with apples and you have got the picture. What tipped it for us was the Calvados sauce which was boosy indeed, no skimping there. Yes it was simple and it was delicious and that calvados sauce washed it down a treat.
They serve wine by the glass, carafe, and bottle for most of the list. Personally this is a great idea, more restaurants should do it. We had a carafe of French red .
Service was as you would expect at a Corbin and King establishment. Good.
Well I guess you already know the verdict. In a way we had to try it out, because it was there.
I can not think of many places that we have struggled with the menu. So many dishes, so much choice, but most are so doable at home, why go out? What's the point?
Our bill was nearly £100 for two starters, two mains, one side, one dessert, tap water, a carafe of wine at £13.25, cover and service charge at 12.5%. Value for money? I don't think so. I really don't think so.
Which brings me on to the venue. Yes its busy and buzzy but don't you just pay for it.
If you want a pit stop in this part of town its worth a visit, but stick to a dish or dessert and coffee. In my opinion your hard earned cash would be better spent at say Les Deux Salons which is not so far away. At the very least Anthony Demetre can put food on his menu that makes the heart beat a bit faster.
I was nodding off looking at this menu.
Would we go back.
Naaaah.
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Not been to Noma, and have no real desire to do so, until we run out of restaurants in London to try that is.
From your comments it would appear that I dont really need to make a visit, we could return here for another meal and get two meals for the same money it would be for a trip abroad
Jon Tseng is bob on with his observation. In all of the places that are being talked about, Viajante, Roganic, Texture and of course Dabbous,(Agnar Sverrisson's ex head chef) etc, the very same style is evident.
Personally I see nothing wrong with that, these chefs are not daft they are in business and it obvoiusly suits them to adapt and refine and yes copy if you like.
I did suggest to our waiter that during the refit perhaps Tom Aikens had been out and about a bit to sample what is happening on the dining scene. "Of course he would be foolish not to take note of what is happening around".
Is that not what most ambitious chefs do whenever they get a very rare chance to dine elsewhere?
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Been thinking all weekend about this meal, so much so that I want to make a very early revisit to see whether or not the rest of the food is up to this standard.
These days that is a very rare occurrence indeed.
Compared to another high profile restaurant that we tried the next day this place is head and very high shoulders above it.
Be very interested to hear other folks opinion of the place and some of the other dishes on the menus.
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The last time we ate here was about four years ago.
We dined one sunny lunchtime as a table of four, expecting good food. What followed was much of a disaster. The service was ghastly, scandalously sloppy and irritatingly slow. To cap it all Tom Aikens love of beetroot resulted in a plate of food ( venison with textures of beetroot) that David Cronenberg would have been proud of. The only thing that was missing was the scary music.
We vowed never to return.
When I told my wife where we were going she said "Oh no, your joking, not the beetroot place".
After reading a couple of good reviews outlining a full makeover I decided to give it another go. Not really knowing what to expect.
The room is still the same shape as it always was, except now its a lot less formal. Exactly in keeping with what is happening more and more on the London dining scene. That casual style runs through to the staff uniforms, there are none as such, or at least anything recognizable, they are all on trend but different.
The amuse that arrived tableside was a great teaser whilst we decided what to eat.
King Edward, ratte and violet potato crisps with smoked herring mayonnaise topped with paprika and chopped egg. Far better than my favourite Kettle chips. If this was the start, roll on the rest.
It took a while for the freshly baked bread to arrive but it was easily worth the wait.
Four rolls in a hessian sack served with three flavoured butters. The bread first, cep, buttermilk, polenta, and I forget. Butters were a fantastic cep, bacon and onion, and plain.
A cracking selection.
The lunch menu is tempting, a two, two, two, choice at £24 for two or £29 for three. The carte has a terrific choice two courses for £40 and three for £50, very reasonable for anywhere in London never mind a SW3 postcode.
Two tasting menus an eight course for £75 or six at £55. This is the one we chose. Applause to the kitchen also because both tasting menus are different making choice more difficult.
Raw turnip salad does not sound very exciting but I guessed basic it would not be.
In keeping with the feel of the place the rough hewn plates showed off the food to a tee.
The chestnut consomme that was poured around the dish was a bit lost on me. The truffled chestnuts were interesting, as was the hazelnut mayonaisse that was smeared around the rim of the plate. Turnip tops and sliced turnip finished it off. Refreshing and quite a surprising combination. Good.
A signiture dish next, and one that we were looking forward to.Roast Foie Gras. which was pan fried with a cider glaze. A cracking dish this, needless to say we could have wallowed in a larger lump of foie but thats just us being greedy.
The slow roasted charred onions were a revelation. Sweet, smokey, yummy and melting, and interesting enough in there own right, also note a thyme sabayon. The waiter told us one of the onions had been burnt on purpose just to cut through the acidity. The whole plate of food worked really really well.
Smoked Venison tartare cured with juniper berries was plated with horseradish granite, hazelnut mayonnaise and wild sorrel. Good textures, nice mouth feel, perhaps a dish that I personally would not normally choose but we were both glad it was included in this menu.
The next dish did not really excite at first mouthful, but it gained stature with every single bite Roast John Dory. sweet cauliflower, poached and roasted, cumin seeds, brown butter and a selection of milk skin. I found out that the milk skin was made by poaching the cauliflower in milk then dehydrating the milk to end up with a skin. Next time we cook cauliflower, cumin will make an appearance with it, it really worked well.
Romney Lamb next and this was fighting toe to toe for
the best dish of the meal with the foie gras.
Big, big briney flavours. Tender tasty nugget of lamb cooked sous vide, a bed of very finely diced green olives, goats curd, sliced confit garlic and a wonderful wafer thin battered deep fried anchovy. Our type of dish a real winner.
We worried about the dessert, would it work, or would it spoil the meal?
Candied Beetroot you would not credit it. The stuff of our dreams (not).
I have to say we thought the presentation to be stunning, would it deliver on flavour?
Jelly, meringue, and beetroot sorbet, and a selection of yogurts and a granite made up the plate. Hand on heart it was far better than we thought it could deliver. Truth be told it far exceeded our expectations. An excellent dessert.
The petit four showed thoughtful presentation too. Quite an elaborate and generous offering, one of the best we have seen. There were a couple of choccies that we nibbled on before I remembered to take the photo. Witness cinnamon garnache, ricotta dumpling, armangnac truffle, carrot cake, and three tuille with, hazelnuts, dark chocolate with pistachio and ?
I'm not going to mince my words. This is the best food that we have eaten this year, and equal to many meals, if not better, than we we ate last year. We both thoroughly enjoyed this food. In fact I would go so far to say that if this was one of the young guns on the London dining scene like Ben Spalding, James Knappet and perhaps Ollie Dabbous critics would be raving about Tom Aikens and that is the sole reason why we wanted to try his food again, just to see whether he could still cut the mustard, and in my humble opinion he most certainly can.
Hand on heart I did consider not going, given the comments above, but I had already booked and would have fealt bad cancelling at such a late date.
We are more than glad to say that we would have sadly missed out on a truly super meal.
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I,ve had some fun reading though this thread and its great for its historical value. It needed resurrecting.
Thing is, its been dead for nearly four years (not including PoppySeedBagel's Tom's Kitchen review).
Has nobody been since then?
He's just re-opened after a compleat top to toe refit and had some pretty decent reviews, not least from AA Gill. I only read a few lines of the review, the important ones about the food. I don't like the Times paywall, end of.
Collectively the reviews so far have made me want to eat his food again. So we are going to give it a try.
Anyone else on here been? I would be interested to here what you think.
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Lunch is easier, I am going next week, not because Ayesha gave it 10 out of 10 but because it's there!
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You beat me to it.
I'm getting fed up with trying. I phoned again yesterday. Same thing, none of the dates I gave them available, including every Saturday in March. "Crazy busy, it never stops".
First lunch was tuesday March 13th, no good to me that.
Still knowing how fickle London diners are it should not be long until they traipse off to pastures new, freeing tables up for the more serious diners.
Looking forward to your review though.
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Thanks for your concern guys. As there is no website for Ebi I did a bit of research myself visiting good old Tripadvisor
One thing is for certain if anything grates on a reviewer it gets put on that site. I was immediately aware the place was grungy to say the least.Needless to say I would not trust any food reports on there but to get a general feel of the place is just perfect.
Your recommends are good enough for me. Will report back in due course.
Bet he got a good discount on that Toyota
At some stage we hope to get around to trying out Dinings, Shiori, and perhaps Zuma, plus some of the cheaper places. Watch this space.
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Linda, the only place that immediately jumps out at me for your party is Bar Boulud.
I keep meaning to go back as it has a busy buzzy vibe and the menu is tempting throughout. The atmosphere alone would keep your 13 year old interested as the place is good for people watching, depending on your table choice of course.
Another bonus is that it is right across the road to Harvey Nicks and a cockstride to Harrods, which is well worth a visit any day of the week. In fact the whole area is great for walking. So you could combine dining with shopping, be that window or the real shopping.
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Everyone and his brother seems to be raving about this place. It all started last year when "the van" was parked under Hungerford bridge selling BBQ pulled pork to the masses.
There was about as much chance of me queueing up to eat there, as I have chance of a cuddle with Kelly Brook .
So in other words not a cat in hells chance.
Things are a bit brighter now. Their new 30 seat restaurant is open in Soho. Their no reservations policy still ensures a lengthy wait and last weekend I was very nearly tempted to join the back of the queue but then thought better of it.
Someone on here must have been.
Is it worth the wait?
Or is it hyped to the heavens?
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Some good replies there. Its comforting to think a review can create a bit of healthy debate.
Needless to say you will all be kept informed of any future excursions. It could easily be Nickloman's recommendation of Ebi Sushi in exotic Derby.
Perhaps PhilD is right about "eureka moments".
I hope that I have one sooner rather than later.
Sunbeam, I wonder who, if anyone on Timeout's team can regard themselves an expert on sushi? Best London sushi bar is a big claim if not coming from an expert as such.
Mind you having said that, London is bereft of choice, so it should be simple.
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My tastebuds do not really do subtle, especially after a beer, sometimes they need a kick in the balls to make them pay attention. Perhaps that is why Japanese cuisine has not featured at all in our restaurant outings. My wife kept it secret that she likes sushi so after eating some from good old M&S we thought to try the real thing, so to speak.
After some good suggestions on here, I was tipped off about Yashin which won Timeout's Best sushi bar 2011 so off we traipsed to W8.
Now the last time we were in this postcode was to eat at Michelin starred Kitchen W8, and very nice it was indeed. I realised this first proper excursion into sushi would be expensive given the location to Holland Park's multi million pound mansions.
I had to placate my wife yet again as I secretly booked a couple of stools at the bar to watch the chefs work. For me this is the best seat in the house. There is a downstairs dining area which is dark and largely unappealing.
As a newby I thought it best to trust the chef and go for the Omakase or roughly translated as "up to you" meaning that the chef chooses what to serve, in other words a tasting menu.
I foolishly thought each piece of sushi would be prepared and presented one after the other. How wrong I was, it was all served on the same plate.
The Yashin
What your looking at folks is fifteen pieces of sushi for sixty english pounds plus service charge. Just over £4 a bite.
Was it worth it?
What you see is too much to describe, I would be here all day, but includes the following.
Sea Bass with soy sauce and marinated onion,
Salmon with BBQ sauce,
Sea Bream with seaweed paste and strawberry,
Yellowtail with sweet soy sauce and parmesan cheese,
Parrot fish with salted finger.
Iberian Pork with tomato and truffle and ponzu jelly.
Razorclam with sweet soy sauce.
Wagyu beef, truffle oil and black pepper.
Dover sole, black bean sauce.
Shrimp with foei gras
Spicey crab with marinade with tobico
Tuna with tomato berries
Mackerel with ginger miso.
I,m glad we only had this one omakase plate as we could witness more interestingly plated food coming from the kitchen.
The omakase comes with miso, and a salad with onion dressing, which were pleasant enough if unremarkable.
We wanted to try the attractively presented Sashimi set (£25) as we witnessed the chefs building the dish right in front of our eyes.
Two more dishes to try and we were finished.
Watarigani (£9.80)
Was on the Yashin roll menu, and was an irresistible deep fried soft shell crab with sweet soy sauce.
Last but not least was the dish that we first saw on the counter as we entered the restaurant. On the menu as Una pine (£9.30) BBQ fresh water eel , marinated pineapple, mango sauce.
Second time in as many days to eat eel and good this also was.
Well this turned into a bit of a marathon. Lots of different variations on a theme, but sadly nothing really jumped out. The most disappointing morsel was the wagyu, it did nothing for me. I dare say if I was massaged daily by the woman of my choice for months, and fed copious amounts of beer or sake daily, my extremities would taste a lot better than this.
Interestingly the best dishes for me were the last two. the soft shell crab was great Also the comforting fatty eel and the sweet, slightly tart pineapple worked well and these were the only dishes that we judiciously added our own soy sauce.
I need to explain. If you look at the second photo the neon sign states boldly " Without soy sauce " meaning that the chef considers his food sufficiently seasoned without the need to add further soy at the table. To a point I agree, but strangely enough the last dishes we ate, we added soy sauce.
I rest my case.
You know by now we are not too interested in wine or sake come to that. From memory only two bottles are below £30 on the list, its onwards and quickly upwards from there. We chose a New Zealand white which seemed quite ok.
Put it this way it did not jarr
It is a bit of a bling place with a smattering of diamond encrusted rolex's, louis vuitton, and various other fashion statements on display. We enjoyed it up to a point. Very much of a muchness for me, a lot of fun visually though. My wife enjoyed it more. It was different taste wise from what we are used too. We could not eat sushi on a daily basis, for us its a once in a while excursion, perhaps a couple of times a year. Having said that I would love to try one of the cheap places as a comparison.
Our bill topped £150, a lot for what we got, although I did not resent paying it, that is until I got the bill.
Thats when I noticed a £1.50 charge for extra ginger?
I queried the charge and insisted it was removed.
It was, but not without me having to explain, but it left a nasty taste in the mouth.
Yes I asked one of the chefs for some sliced pickled ginger and offered the unsliced piece off one of our dishes (see the crab dish) for him to slice, he declined, and sliced three strips no bigger than a ladies pinkie from his side of the counter.
WTF is that charge about, get real, meanness of that order will cost you customers
So what do we think of Timeout's Best London sushi bar 2011?
Well we need to eat some more sushi first to compare, however,
If this is the best in London. I'm stuck as to what to say.
(for once)
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Again thanks for your contributions, much appreciated.
I have made a reservation and will post a review in due course.
Nick. I will give Ebi Sushi a try. I was aware of it and contacted them by phone (some while ago) to make a reservation. It was on answerphone and they did not get back to me, other stuff came along and I never made it.
Will try harder now.
ChrisZ Been to Roka and it was fine the sort of place with a good menu to explore, but we have only been the once, a while ago now.
Perhaps we may give it a return.
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Well, following a four out of five review from Fay Maschler I thought it worthy of a visit for Saturday lunch.
As Ms Maschler gets paid for her work and I don't, I will let her paint the picture for you whilst I give my views on the food.
We have not eaten Jeremy Lee's food for some many years and from memory enjoyed it. We have walked past Quo Vadis loads on our fairly frequent dining forays into Soho not really wanting to eat there, until now.
The restaurant was about half full when we arrived and we took a seat with a good view of the room. Service was a little slow at first. One of the Hart brothers (Eddie) was at the bar but did not appear to be taking an active part in the proceedings.
I was surprised as to how basic the menu was, and struggled to connect immediately with any dish other than " Todays pie ". My wife fealt the same so we spent a little longer than normal to choose.
The Teal that Fay had, was annoyingly not on the menu, I can't ever remember eating it so it would have been a first.
Smoked eel and horseradish sandwich was though, and I hoped it was as decent as was described.
It was.
Even though this is just a simple composition eating eel is only going to be once in a blue moon thing for most of us, and eating eel of this quality an even rarer occurance.
Squid, fennel, and puntarella was a composition which sounded better than it delivered, don't get me wrong it was fine, it just did not excite. It was refreshing though.
Bread was just about ok, I did not bother to take a photo as it was offered in half slice form from a basket, "white or brown".
Its a crumb of comfort to bite on a bit of shot, at least you know that what is in the pot ended its life in its natural environment. The Pheasant, duck, and mallard pie contained at least two birds from the wild. When I asked our waitress what the "other" duck was (as in not the mallard duck) she said that she would check.
It was a domestic bird.
That really did not make that much difference taste wise, it just made for more of the meat to be pale as opposed to the darker wild bird meat.
The glazed pastry lid glistened in the overhead light, suitably burnished it really looked the part.
Big chunks of wonderful meat, no hint of dryness. Excellent gravy perhaps a bit thin but nevertheless bursting full of goodness. Worth every penny, a dish well executed. This was served with mash and we took a side order of carrots and cabbage which contained an unannounced but welcome sprout.
After much debate my wife chose the butchers steak, onglet which was served suitably rare. On the plate was watercress, horseradish cream and a couple of pickled walnuts.
Not at all bad, chewy yes, but its not fillet or sirloin it did have flavour though. The chips that came with it were just ok, a bit on the soft side truth be told.
We shared a dessert, almond tart, caramelised pears and vanilla ice cream.
This was supremely enjoyable. The tart had honey running through it which made it moist and moreish
A good end and proving that nobody leaves Jeremy Lee's clutches feeling hungry as portion sizes were generous indeed.
Well on the whole, not bad. Fine dining this is not, its basic food done well. The daily changing menu will appeal to the regulars and the price point is user friendly.
We paid £91 for two starters, two mains, one side dish and one dessert, a bottle of wine and a jug of tap water and service charge. Over £30 of that bill was on the wine so if you are teatotal the bill reduces dramatically.
Worth a visit if your in the area.
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Drive down Upper Brook Street past Le Gavroche and the US Embassy into Grosvenor Square. Deep in the heart of Mayfair this is one of London's poshest address's.
Gordon Ramsays Maze (or should that have been Jason Atherton's Maze?) is on your left, but we see no other restaurants among the grand old buildings on the square.
So where is it?
Its at least fifty metres off the square into South Audley Street, thats where.
No, dont ask I don't know, but I can guess.
34 bills itself as a meat, game and seafood restaurant with a bespoke charcoal grill imported from Argentina taking pride of place in the kitchen. Its the latest opening from the same group who own famous names, The Ivy, Le Caprice, Scott's, Daphne's, J Sheekey etc, etc. I admit to it having slipped below our radar but it has received some good reviews so we thought, why not?
The room is long with a bar at one end and an open kitchen at the other, where you can watch the chefs beavering away prepping the food. At the kitchen end is a small private-ish return which seats about fifteen.
We found a comfortable spot looking down the room.
The greeting was in line with all (except Scott's) of mega bucks Richard Caring's establishments, big happy faces with acres of teeth and a warm disposition.
The menu makes good reading, lots of untaxing comfort food with more than a smattering of interesting dishes for us. Eleven starters, eight mains, six salads, twelve grills including a burger for £16.50. Or how about a 240 gram Aussi Wagyu sirloin steak for £85? etc, etc.
There is cover charge of £2 per person which seems dated but includes things like bread and butter which was decent quality.
Octopus is not something we eat much of at all, if at all, come to think of it. My version came with some soft peppery and highly seasoned chorizo, and some sliced waxy Roseval potatoes, lying in a moat of herb flecked butter. I found this enjoyable and worthy of its £10.50 price tag.
My wifes starter was something altogether different, Foie Gras and garlic torteloni with chicken livers. This sounded a lot better than it actually tasted. The chicken livers were blasted into oblivion, there lightness destroyed by overcooking. The pasta was touching on leathery, thick and far from pleasant and the foie gras? Don't ask, I did not get any thrill of in the three tastes that I tried.
Far better was her main, a trencherman portion of Rump of Glencoe Venison served with beetroot and sour cherries. My god did she enjoy this, barely surfacing for air. I did manage a taste, but best not disturb her too much whilst she is enjoying herself so much.
I was pleased to see Slow braised Short ribs on the menu and when they arrived tableside it did not disappoint. Yes presentation wise the dish would not win any beauty contests but it lifted my heart with the generosity in portion control. "Winter roots and horseradish" proclaimed the menu, and the roots were wintery, they were hard, as in undercooked.
I did assume the ribs would be prime given the pedigree of the other meat on the menu, but this did not hit the target. Beneath the layer of fat the meat was strangely dry and very stringy. One of the ribs was very heavily fat laden and should have been trimmed further. The bite of the veg irritated me more and more and in the end I left half of the dish uneaten.
We had a couple of side dishes which in honesty were not really needed as portion size and composition of the dishes largely rendered them a little overkill.
The sprouts and tops were delicious.
Good mash.
Service, which had been excellent throughout, seemed to falter a bit at this stage. It was if the staff breathed a big sigh of relief in having got through another service unscathed. It seemed an age before our plates were cleared and I wondered if our "new" shift change? waitress would comment on the half eaten plate of food.
She did not and I had to bite my tongue initially not to say anything.
About to make haste from the table I told her of the faults with the dish, she shrugged her shoulders and made no comment whatsoever.
I could not be bothered to make a fuss but I'm positive the top brass in this well oiled machine have based part of their success in getting feedback from customers through their foot soldiers. They clearly did not get any here.
We thought to share a dessert, and with plenty of choice available plumped for apple tarte tatin with cream brulee ice cream.
After a not too long wait (20 mins) said tarte arrived tableside looking as good as expected.
Good pastry, chewy toffee rim giving way to the sweet, slightly tart apple, crispy buttery base and a decent ice cream to boot. Whats not to like?
Well. A mixed bag. It all started off so well, great feel to the place, service slipped and dropped off the edge at the end. I left disappointed with some of the food and some of the service.
Its not cheap of course but its managable on a budget, not that you will find many budget concious diners in this area.
Expect to pay about £60 per person without cocktails or any after meal drinks. You will be able to buy an entry bottle of wine with that money but the list soars skyward thereafter. If you fancy a steak with a name to it, (think Creekstone Farms USDA) expect to pay over £100 a kilo for it.
The million dollar question, would we go back?
I don't think so.
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Thank you all for the replies. Sushi of Shiori really appeals but may be a bit difficult to get a seat with only eight spots.
Will take a closer look at all of the others.
Anybody tried Yashin Sushi? I've been tipped off about it being very good
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Its clear you don't want our business, but sort it out for everyone else.
Or you won't have a f-c-in business.
I think they have sorted it out...
Tried to book for next week and...
Hi Marco,
I'm afraid we're completely full for that day, in-fact for every lunch in February! The phones just haven't stopped ringing, would you like me to put you on our waiting list?
Yea, don't I know it, I tried again today for the third time.
I blame that bloomin Fay Maschler and her ten out of ten
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I've not in the past been bowled over with Japanese cusine and gave up on it years ago. Having said that my wife has developed a strong desire to try out a few top London places and ever the gentleman I feel the need to satisfy that desire.
Where should we be heading for that wow factor?
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Anyone been here recently?
They have enlisted the help of respected chef Jeremy Lee to raise the bar a bit. A recent refurb too has prompted a couple of decent press reviews.
Report(s) appreciated.
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Any ideas for dinner? I was thinking along the lines of zucca or jose.
Interesting to see this turn up when I searched Waterloo - a long time ago thread, almost 10!!
I,m ashamed to admit to not going back to Zucca, especially that we enjoyed it so much.
When we went to Pizarro I gazed longingly through the window (Zucca) and wondered what treats they had in store for their lucky customers.
Truth be told I even considered going in instead of Pizarro,(which we had not booked)
You would be spoilt for choice on Bermondsey Street as Jose is just a bit further down the street from these two.
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So we made it here yesterday lunch, and as luck would have it we parked right outside, saving at the very least half an hour of wasted life scouring Soho for a parking spot. Well worth the £13 odd to park by phone, (no thats not my car)
I did not realise it was next door to sleb hangout The Ivy but did not spot any slebs or paparrazi in any event. Perhaps daylight is harmful to the poor loves.
Very nice greeting on entering (as it should be) and we were ushered through to our barstools in an instant.
I suppose the restaurant could be described as, dark, intimate and sexy, it has a great feel to it, a super date place sure to impress. The rear wall of growing devils ivy was an interesting feature. Must mention the heavily padded barstools which were supremely comfortable, unlike the ones at Pizarro which were most certainly not.
We could not help but notice apples of various sizes, some real, others not. The seven in the bowl represent Monsieur Robuchon,s birth date and he only opens a new restaurant on the seventh also. Don't know why the apples though.
We were presented with the lunch menu only at first, a two, three, or four course with matching wine choice at each course if fancied. We were then asked, a little quizzically, if we wanted to see the a la carte, which I did.
Now on this subject when I booked, four days in advance, we were only offered two slots, "12 or 2.30 only". As we chose the two thirty slot a tasting menu was completely out of the question and I suppose some of the stuff on the carte may have been the same. Truth be told even though there was a good choice of six entrees and six plats, the entrees on the lunch menu mostly did not appeal, but I decided to go with it to see if my initial menu choices could be altered for a future dinner. In other words could the kitchen shift me away from our normal first choice dishes.
It has to be said there is a small tasting plate menu of seventeen dishes, the carte has eight starters and nine mains. Too much choice for most people, but sufficient reason for us and others to return.
We had an amuse which was gone in a second before I remembered to snap it.
Bread was bought in,in dough form, and cooked on the premises, it was good. The black olive bread was for me exceptional. It was replenished when I said how good it was.
Egg cocotte topped with a light wild mushroom cream is a signiture dish, and my wifes choice. My taste of it was not sufficient to pass real comment, she declared it "interesting".
Scottish salmon carpaccio flavoured with lemon and esplette chilliwas a bit of a non event. Apart from being the meanest of portions we have been served, ever, it did not taste at all special, we have tasted better. No love here I'm afraid.
My other starter from the four courser was a really superb Chestnut veloute with celeriac Big big depth of flavour, creamy, silky smooth with different textures coming from the celeriac and chestnut cubes.
Cold jerusalem artichoke soup with beef jelly and foie gras again was interesting, not my dish but I would have been happy to explore it a bit more.
Mains next and with three meat, two fish and one veggie to choose from we went for Lamb and Ox cheek, although I would have happily wolfed down the pork belly with puy lentils.
Ox cheek braised in black grenache grapes served with celeriac mousselinewas a complex dish made from humble ingredients. Again good depth of flavour, texturally pleasing, not bad portion wise. A good choice for me and I would eat it again right now.
My second choice main would have been the dish the wife chose Confit saddle of lamb served with white beans fron Tarbes.
She claimed for her taste it should have a further component to break the flavours up a bit. It is a classic though and a very well done one too, and true to Robuchon's ethos.
Most certainly more my kind of dish than my wifes.
Two desserts and a cheese selection on offer. Neither of us fancied cheese so a different dessert each was the order.
Creamy Manjari chocolate, bitter chocolate sorbet and oreo cookie crumb. was too gooey for me, lacking texture, but it tasted ok-ish just not my type of dessert I suppose.
I absolutlely loved my dessert. Coulis and mousse of mango, Jaconde biscuit and exotic sorbet. On exploration it gave up a gorgeous cranberry coulis. Better texture, teasing notes, warm and cold. A hit as far as I'm concerned.
There is a bit more to L'Atelier of course than the ground floor restaurant. there is another restaurant on the first floor and a sexy bar and terrace another floor up. We took a little look to satisfy our curiosity. Notice the apples again. This time in black.
Quite one of the nicest ways to spend a Saturday lunch, others may prefer shopping, but not us.
As I've pointed out before, a restaurant is not just about the food which comes out of the kitchen, service, creature comforts, feel, and other stuff all play a part.
Hand on heart all of the food did not work for us but the venue itself is well worth a visit and we would gladly return. Its what you would expect, expensive to very expensive. Our four course lunch was £40 each plus service plus wine and that is about the starting point that you can hope for unless your a model on a diet and go for a couple of small dishes. Portion size is questionable on some of the dishes, I had to fill up on that marvellous olive bread.
If you have the time and the money, give it a try you may well just enjoy as much as we did.
The Aumbry, Prestwich, Manchester
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
The Fab Four reunion dinner sounds like a boozy wine affair Adam
. Glad I'm not paying the bill. 
Happy Birthday and enjoy tonight's meal.