eatenmess

WOW! i love the way AA gill can pretty much go an entire review without mentioning the food, service or restaurant. one paragraph on the food and one on the restaurant. man is genius. see i never really wanna know about the food OR the restaurant when reading a article on a restaurant. i do wish some writers would stop dribbling, surely the sole purpose of a restaurant review is to talk about the restaurant. apparently now all you need to do is mention some random dish, probably the only dish u can remember and then leave the office after filling in the page with utter crap that no one cares about, sentences with a trillion commas in and talk about ya mate who everyone wants to know about.

pershore isnt too far from evesham at all. theres a little place called the belle house. its just good food cooked really well, always very seasonal and the service is spot on. not too expensive, the kind of place you could eat in regularly. the washbourne hotel in lower slaughter is really nice for a al fresco drink if its a nice day, absolutley beautiful lower slaughter is. just round the hill from lords of the manor which has a star. the glasshouse in worcester is nothing short of awful and the service is probably the worst in the county. i havent heard good things about it since about a year after it opened. some places are just doomed, when you walk past and you see a brassiere open for lunch with just 2 people in you wonder who is pouring money into a business like that to keep it open.

Tandoori battered fillet of haddock, crushed peas with a spiced, curried crème fraiche sauce is the batter tandoori flavoured? he is somehow deep frying it in a tandoor? or is the haddock cooked in a tandoor and then battered and fried? theres a lot of repeated methods eg two mash potatoes, two carpaccios. any history on the chef? it doesnt seem to want to name the 'fine dinning' restaurants hes worked in. still, cant knock it till i tried it. always good to see new restaurants in the area with a confident chef.

i dont see what the russians see in courcheval, its a gastly place, high rise and tacky. but hey if it gets a few more chefs wanting in on the incoming money then i dont give a monkeys. nice to know theres even more stars now. im going to have to hope my clients like my food and tip me well enough to do them all by the end of the season. I had lunch of Le Farcon yesterday. they do a 36 euro, 65 euro and 95 euro menu. i had the 65 euro one mainly for the hay sorbet. it was good but it wasnt great. the butternut squash soup with lemon espuma was amazing, really good contrast of flavours to set the meal up. the bread was nice and in plentyful supply though it was too cold. the butternut squash soup with lemon espuma was amazing, really good contrast of flavours to set the meal up. they repeated beaufort 3 times, though they did get away with it apart from the cheese course where it was just a stick of it and that was it, i would prefere some other cheeses and theres so many to choose from in the area. suckling pig with a cube of beetroot and apple (set with some agar agar) and a cube of polenta and beaufort with a jus and a leaf of baby gem ontop. the meat itself was good and so was the beetroot and apple but i wasnt too fond of the polenta and beaufort i felt it lacked a bit of seasoning as did the mussel sauce with the cod and chorizo dish. i have some pictures but i cant seem to upload them to the photo section so i may make a album somewhere on the net and put them up there. the highlight was probably the desert of roasted grapefruit, hay sorbet and a manadrin and white chocolate sauce. have i heard correctly that annecy now has a 3 star? i go through there to Geneva airport at the end of the season, may have to make a quick stop for lunch if this is true. might have to make Chabichou my next move then, should have done a season in courchevel by the sounds of it!

im doing a ski season (again) in Meribel and last year i had one of the best meals of my life at La Bouitte in St Martin De Belleville. I really want to go back but ive seen that Chabichou over in Courchevel has gained its 2nd star. Here comes the obvious question. which one do i choose? or is there anywhere else that stands out. Im not holding out too much hope on many people on here having eaten there but im sure theres a couple of you somewhere!! let me know please, whilst the snow is rubbish i want to sitting in a restaurant having lunch. thanks alot

had lunch here on saturday. Scallops, caramelised cauliflower puree, sweet raisin vinaigrette. really good dish, lovely puree. Lancashire hot pot, braised red cabbage, carrots. carrots were over cooked a bit but the cabbage was absolutely beautiful. rhubarb and custard. sorbet was a bit too soft and melted a little quickly but maybe that could be because it was put on my table when my friend was in the toilet, not wanting to be rude i waited for him. bread was superb. service was a tad bad in places, mainly due to individual mistakes eg not knowing what the bread was. didnt expect to have a chap and his wife sat next to us though who thought it was best to pretty much start a fight, we stayed sat down and didnt say much, was too shocked to think someone would be so rude in a good quality restaurant to the staff and other dinners. the floor staff handled it impeccably full credit to them. had the 3 courses for £10. just silly value. yes the portions are quite small (which is what the chap got arsey about) but you dont expect an all you can eat buffet. damn good lunch, if i lived in Manchester id dine there most weeks.

i got some off a mate of mine who works in a kitchen as i couldnt find any anywhere. have you tried places like selfridges? ive even tried really good award winning butchers and theyve laughed at me.

shaun hill is bound to get a star its pretty much a given. i hope Edmunds gets a star would be good. id be interested to see if manchester gets a star, i cant see it happening though.

in response to the front of house pay it doesnt happen like that in england, maybe in america yeh but i have never ever heard of floor staff getting less pay because they get the tips. i see it happens in america on films etc but over here we're tight arses so if that was the case there would be no waiting staff haha.

absolutely ridiculous. since when is tipping a must? ive left many a restaurant and not tipped, yes im english and in america it seems to be the thing to tip alot but you dont enforce it. ive seen the film waiting where he gives the tip back. im sorry but youre getting paid anyway a tip is an added extra, ive worked in places where you dont get paid tips. calling the cops because someone doesnt give you extra money? stupidity. id never want go to a restaurant like that. disgraceful behaviour.

My heart bleeds for all those poor people living in Knightsbridge. As if they haven't got enough crosses to bear, such as being down to their last crate of foie gras etc. S i love this

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look forward to seeing it. i used to love gala pie as kid at village fetes and what not.

yeh i was going to say Gala Pie, sounds about right. i dont know where this filo comes from though, filo is turkish it wouldnt belong on a british pie. could be somewhere along the line someone modified a gala pie to make it a bit more of a looker.

1 or 2 days a week whilst working in a kitchen is best, full timers tend to come out total idiots lacking any common sense. it depends on the school really some of them (VERY few) are really good and teach you alot but the majority just teach you techniques most of which you will do only once or twice. whereas in a kitchen you will have them on the menu for a while and do them again and again.

i can see it now, instead of anti foie gras protesters the 'my bus was 40 minutes late 6 months before this opened' activists. not really, i doubt the majority of people who will go there will give a monkeys if they had to shut down knightsbridge for 2 weeks, in fact it will probably add to the experience of it all. the maitre'd can boast about as hes pouring the glass of chateau yquem to go with the customers amuse bouche as they embark on another michelin starred dinner.....

ooohhhh yes, 2010 is looking good.

yeh quality stuff that, good to hear youre spreading the Shaun Hill expertise around the country.

pretzels???????? not for me. bacon bits, croutons, candied nuts, crispy noodles and dried strawberries go down well in my mouth.

i know of one old country pub that used them in a syrup. just a simple stock syrup but cooked slowly down. used it in various things. dressings, brushing cakes with it, drizzling a bit on top of terrines etc.

is there a site that a list of all these restaurants in peoples homes? im intrigued as to what its like to rock up at someones house and sit in their chairs and eat their food with random people. i saw this the other day and the food didnt look all that just good bistro like food.

im sure hes got a couple of columns and other interests. he is behind the stoves for sure but not totally.

yeh but it wont be full time. the mans far too busy for that. he has a head chef, cant remember his name.

well seeing as this always happens id prefere something that was 'triffic' all the way through because im damn sure the match wont be haahah high end or somewhere in the middle is good for me. michelin or not. someone was telling me about this Rasoi Vineet Bhatia a couple of months back actually, surprised i didnt remember that. im not too keen on being rushed though especially if im going to go for a set menu so amaya sounds like a good idea. is booking in advance recomended for any of these places?

i think it gives the chef and restaurateur something to achieve, a mark to get to. without it we would just go by whatever the current critics say about it which is one persons opinion of one meal. not to say that by giving somewhere a rating it makes it more than one persons opinion on several meals i just think people think that by having a rating its easier to publicise and there gain recognition for what you have accomplished. chefs dont seem to brag about certain sentences that critics write about them. i do think a ratings out of 3 are totally daft but nonetheless it seems to be the one that every chef wants and aspires to even if its utter tripe. personally id rather read a review than look at rating as you get a glimpse of the experience rather than the conclusion. i dont go to restaurant to walk out and shout FOUR OUT OF FIVE and continue with my day.