genuineness

Don't forget the Saute Langoustines with Parmesan Gnocchi and Truffle emulsion. One of their singular best dish.

So phoned yesterday to try to get a table at the Latymer. Apparently they had tables available but only for people who were staying at the hotel. I suppose that kinda makes sense - the restaurant is funded by the hotel so has to have a certain number of tables for people who are staying at the hotel.

Just following up on my previous post - the blog write-up is done, now with lovely DLSR photos (albeit I am crap at using the camera). I don't think I need to say much other than this was one of the most memorable meals I have had this year. Here is an excerpt: So why is it worth travelling all the way to the corner of the country to eat at a gastro-pub, what with the many excellent ones we have in London? The one word answer to that question is ‘Passion’. When most chefs appear on TV to talk about seasonality and sourcing local products, it does not hold a candle to what chef/ owner Stephen Harris is doing. Whilst some 3* restaurants in this country are not even bothered to bake their own bread (I am looking at you Fat Duck and Gordon Ramsay) they not only bake their own bread, but also churn their own butter, grow their own vegetables, rear their own pigs and cure their own ham. A cynic may claim that all these DIY stuff are gimmicks. I mean, churning your own butter? So with that in mind, I set off to see whether ‘the juice is worth the squeeze’. . . . Coming to Sportsman, there was a lot of hype to live up to, given the good reviews that they have received as of late. I was honestly blown away by the food put in front of me. Ok, so this is not 3* cooking but the beauty of the meal is that everything is simplistic and effortless. The food is not fussy nor is it pretentious. There are no foams, no triple reduced sauces and no pretention. Chef Harris has wisely kept things to a bare minimum which allows the beauty of his produce to sing. This is definitively food that you want to get stuck into. On reflection, the tasting menu at £55 was an absolute bargain given the amount of food and its quality. The only problem with the Sportsman is its location which is pretty hard to get to without investing some effort. With the newly developed bullet train line from King’s Cross to Ashford, perhaps foodies should set up a petition for a similar line to be built between London and Whitstable. Here is the link but obviously don't feel obliged to click.

Revisited Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester for my graduation dinner. It was a very disappointing experience altogether and a stark contrast from my first visit in February. The food was fine although asides from desserts and the barbajuans, nothing really came close to a 2* level. Worst yet, they deemed it appropriate to send out an overcooked piece of steak - a basic error that should not happen at a gastro pub let alone one harbouring 3* hopes and charging ridiculous amounts. Service on the night was frankly all over the place and deserves a special mention. By that, I don’t mean that anyone was rude to us but there was a distinct lack of care and attention to detail. I was first to praise their service so it pains me that I have to crucify the poor service this time around. When you are dining in a private dining room (the table Lumiere), it is only natural that you are detached from the main dining room where you could easily flag for attention. It was a bit surprising that no one was assigned specifically to our care. If a humble Chinese restaurant like Pearl Liang can afford to allocate us a dedicated server for the entire evening I do not see why this was not the case here. We were simply brought the food, left to eat it, and they would then come back perhaps 30 minutes later to collect the plates. This meant that most of the time we were done eating a good 10-15 mins before they would collect the plates. No checking with us if everything was ok or if our wines needed topping up. In my case, they didn’t even bother to enquire if there was a problem when I left half a piece of my over-cooked steak on the plate. Nor do I enjoy getting up each time I want them to clear the plates or top up my glass of wine. With all these delays and slow service, the entire 6 course meal (7 if you include the chocolates and macaroons) took a ridiculous 4.5 hours. To give you some perspective of this, a meal 2 days later where I enjoyed no less than 15 courses took 5 hours. Oh and please don’t remind me that they did not bring the bon-bon trolley around (this depite all of us having coffee or tea). Did they just assume I wasn’t aware of it despite the trolley conveniently placed next to the room or that we were too full? You can read about the meal in its entirety (as well as more of my ranting) here. I really hope that someone at ADAD reads this (and I know most restaurants out there read blogs) and whips the service back into shape as I actually enjoyed the food here the first time around.

Hmm, I quite like the Glasshouse too. My least favourite of the bunch is The Square, although I feel I may be in the minority with that one. I never have figured out why The Square deserved one let alone two stars based on my visits there (although the food was OK bar the incessant use of cappuccino'ing every sauce, the service was what really let it down for me, for example staff including maitre d' not knowing anything about the miniscule cheese selection). H ← Howard, may I ask when was your visit to the Square? I recently visited last Monday and the service was exemplary although while chatting with the maitre'd he did admit that before he arrived, service was in shambles as the restaurant went through a period of multiple short-stay maitre'ds which may explain the very poor service. They also hv cut down on the number of sauces with foam in them... unless of course you go for the lasagna of dorset crab with er... shellfish cappucino

david i Loved your comment 'this is cavemen territory'. made me LOL

Had an excellent lunch at the Sportsman, and they truly lived up to their reputation. The place has been getting a lot of hype recently of course, and unlike many places this was certainly one of them that more than lived up to the hype. I was actually quite worried that I would not have enjoyed this meal as much having just returned from a marathon that is Christian Bau. Silly me... this was a class above most 1* restaurants in London and would put some 2*s to shame. My guests (travelling from Australia and Malaysia) remarked that this was by far the best meal they have had in England so far. The Surprise Tasting Menu: 1) Rock Oysters, Home-made Chorizo 2) Pork Scratchings, Apple & Wholegrain Mustard Dip; Pickled Herring, Gooseberry Jelly, Horseradish & Soda Bread 3) Bread - Sourdough, Red Onion & Rosemary Foccacia, Soda bread; Homemade Smoked Sea Salt Butter 4) Baked Oyster, Jersey Cream, Gooseberry Granita 5) Native Lobster Soup 6) Salmagundy 7) Seasalter Ham (cured in December 2007) 8) Turbot Braised in Vin Jaune with Smoked Pork 9) Crispy Lamb Belly, Mustard, Mint Sauce 10) Roast Rack of Milk-fed Monkshill Farm Lamb, Braised Shoulder, Broad Beans 11) Elderflower Iced Lolly with 'Cake' Milk 12) Local 'Fruit Salad' 13) Rhubarb Sorbet, Shortbread, Jasmine Tea Jucket with Raspberry Sauce & Breakfast Cereal, Raspberry Tart, Chocolate Brownie 13 absolutely breath-taking courses for a mere £55... an absolute bargain if you ask me. The highlights were the pork scratchings (so good I had seconds), salmagundy, turbot and the elderflower iced lolly. Moreover, the mark-ups for wine are a breath of fresh air coming from London. 1999 Dom at £135?? That is pretty much retail! We certainly drank very well here! Of course, getting here from London is a bit of a trek. How I wish I lived in Faversham and could eat here everyday. (Probably post a review on my blog when I am done digesting every single tasty morsel)

Gagnaire's food is very cerebral for sure... makes you THINK long and hard about what you are eating. Mind you they hv had a recent change of chefs but they are still cooking Gagnaire's food...

for £50 the le gav set lunch is hell of a deal. I suppose if you want tapas style food you can head down to Cambio de tercio for actual tapas or Sketch (set lunch £35).

Pretty similar - they may omit one or two more luxe ingredients [e.g. a plate of duck for dinner would contain some foie gras which is omitted in the (cheaper) lunch menu] or 'upgrading' the dish using a more expensive cut of meat.

Agreed, the savouries are rather hit and miss and depends on how lucky with what you order. Apart from Saturday night and possibly Friday night, the restaurant isn't that packed. You can pretty much get a table at a second's notice on most nights bar Saturday - although to be fair the restaurant caters for a larger amount of covers than most. Btw, if you look online, there is an offer for 20% off dinner.

I don't recall ever having seen this. Yes, macaroons and chocolates as petit fours, with the coffee, but never before the dessert proper. Did they forget Fergal's dessert, or did they serve a cheese course instead? ← I was having a conversation about this very topic with Mr. Hayler as I found this practise of serving chocolates and macaroons as a 'pre-dessert' to be rather odd and only practised in certain French restaurants in London (e.g. Ducasse, Ambassade de L'ile). Apparently this practise is quite common place in France but probably an alien concept over here. I guess British restaureteurs prefer to squeeze their customers off as much money as possible (I am referring of course to the practise of offering petit fours only if you have coffee or tea).

and to expand on this a bit, there is also the problem of inconsistencies especially at 1* level because the 1* rating is very broad. For example, St. John's, Sportsman and Tom Aikens all have 1* but what you I would expect in each of the restaurants differ dramatically. Perhaps the questionnaire could be expanded on to cover 1,2 and 3*s because what most ppl would expect from each would drastically differ.

If I'm not mistaken, it is common practice for restaurants in France that little chocolates and macaroons are brought to the table as 'pre-desserts' before your actual dessert arrives. This allows you to nibble away while waiting. At ADAD, they further 'barrage' you with a bon-bon trolley if you have coffee/tea. By the by, I felt that the desserts were probably the strongest element of my meal - the Rum au Baba was definitely at 3* level and the macaroons were definitely some of the best I have tried in London. (Perhaps the pastry chef had an off night.) If anything, I found the savoury courses rather weak but I did make it a point to let the chef know about this and I guess they must have taken my comments on board. (In case you are interested to read my experience, it is on my blog - follow my signature) I guess I will have to wait and see - I am revisiting the restaurant next week.

Funny you should say that because the ice cream cone is indeed a pre-dessert at Tristan's restaurant. If it had won it would have been an utter travesty.