[Fraiche]

Just came back from a wonderful meal at Fraiche. Foodwise, Liverpool didn't treat me kindly yesterday but the Wirral more than made up for it today!

Right, this will be a quick one since it's 12.30 AM and I need to be up early tomorrow.

To start we had a bowl of super addictive spiced pecans, followed quickly by some black rice and tapioca crackers with yoghurt powder. Then some salted chocolate which was very fun to eat. Parmesan crisp and poppy maple biscuit finished off the snacks.

Amuse: melon soup with lime foam, on top of which the waitress poured some liquid nitrogen. Lovely, fresh start.

Breads 1: Granary, mixed seed, orange and hazelnut, cheese. All very good - warm and pillow-soft. I think my favourite was orange and hazelnut. Just the right amount of citrus and almost like a dessert bread.

1: Fragrances of fig, rose, olive, tomato. Some watercress perked everything up nicely.

Breads 2: More bread, but nobody was complaining. This time came slices of sundried tomato, red onion and pomegranate, mushroom, and white bread.

2: Textures of langoustines. Langoustines done three ways, paired with some watermelon and iberico ham. Can't really go wrong with pork and crustaceans - sort of like really awesome prawns and bacon. Puree (?) of langoustine was heady stuff, like a super intense bisque. Watermelon was surprising but worked very well and prevented flavours from becoming too monotonous.

3: Roasted butternut squash and parmesan ice cream. This was amazing. Served with some smoke in the glass container, the taste of which lingered long after the smoke had diffused.

4: Hit of shitake. Really intense, pure note of shitake and mercifully not thick and heavy. What tasted like coconut foam on top was loved.

5: Wild brill with asparagus. A couple of weeks ago, at the head of this trip, I had an out-of-this-world fish dish at Cinc Sentits which I thought would not be rivaled for a long, long time. But this came pretty damn close. Perfectly cooked brill that had just started to flake. Wonderful asparagus. I think (and I'm really not sure) there was some puffed rice on top.

6: Loire quail with beetroot, fondant potato, artichoke puree. Best quail I've ever eaten. Very prettily pink, super fine-textured, tender and tasty. Went well with the beetroot, mushrooms and artichoke. Fondant potato was a thing of beauty.

Next was desserts, and I think I'll just state what it was, cause if not all you'll get are synonyms for "brilliant". I've eaten at some very fine restaurants on this trip, but I think Fraiche takes the cake for best desserts. Everything was beautifully balanced and light. Lots of fruit, which was right up my alley.

7: Fizzy grapes. Super fun, would love to know how this was done.

8: Popping egg yolk. Blood orange and pop rocks.

9: Rhubarb cloud.

10: Mango and tamarind sorbet. Would never have thought to use tamarind in dessert, but this worked very well.

11: Lemongrass panna cotta with sour cherry foam.

12: Lemon meringue pie. Meringue was frozen in some liquid nitrogen tableside. Very slick and tasted heavenly.

13: Pistachio yoghurt. A sponge of pistachio, which was incredible eaten alone but even better with some frozen yoghurt ice-thing.

14: Roasted strawberry. Came with a cuboid of custard, crystallized rose petals, some pine nuts and a sesame cracker. What's not to like?

15: Coffee blackberry. Some cappucino-like froth/cream encased in blackberry gel. Perfect end to a perfect meal.

So that's it, would've posted pictures if egullet didn't make it so damn hard to do so. Trust me, the plates were very, very pretty. Marc has a good collection of eclectic plates and cutlery going!

Loved everything about Fraiche. Even the decor was amazing - intimate, chic and oh so slick. I liked it very much. I'm glad Fraiche finally got it's Michelin star this year.. the way things are going I'm sure many more will follow. I know I enjoyed my meal here more than some more starred restaurants, which is saying a lot.

Will definitely be back as soon as I've saved up enough money. (Going off to live the life of a poor London student this autumn)

Marc - sorry we didn't wait to meet you. Would've loved to, but the old folks were desperate to get back to the hotel after a long day. My grandmother was falling asleep at the table! Next time, I suppose. Thanks for the fantastic experience. Your front of house team did a super job as well =)

[Fraiche]

Thanks for all the reviews everyone! It's been really helpful. I'm from Singapore and will be visiting UK this coming May/June. I've just emailed Fraiche a reservation request - fingers crossed for a table! It would be really disappointing to travel all the way to UK and not get to try this restaurant that everyone's spoken so well of.

Slightly off-topic here - sorry - but I was wondering if anyone has any other recommendations? We'll be doing a tour of the UK, so recommendations anywhere would be really welcome!

[La Tapioles 53, Barcelona]

Hey guys, this is my maiden post on eGullet! It's been nothing short of enlightening reading all your posts about Spain. I'm going on a trip to Barcelona/San Sebastian this May - can't wait! I've booked Mugaritz, Akelare, Guggenheim Bilbao, and Tapioles 53.

Haven't heard much about Tapioles 53 so far... has anyone been there? Any information is very welcome! From what I can gather it's just simple, fresh ingredients cooked well.