eatenmess

Im taking my old man down to watch a spurs match in the new year and he likes a curry so i thought i see what London has to offer in terms of Indian food. Whats your favourite place? I hear Benares is closed for a bit because of that fire but im going in the new year so it should be open again should you want to include there. last indian i had in London was awful no doubt about that, london better provide this time.

that is quite a funny list. walnut tree at number 3?????? the elms gets in AND goes in above casamia, the stagg inn and anthony's?? ive not been to anthony's but it doesnt require much imagination to put together every else experiences and be shocked at how low down it is. more proof, if needed, to ignore lists put together by votes for friends. i think LizzyWizzy's post from last years can be copied and pasted here too. (to save you the trouble of going back to that thread it reads: Sorry but some one has to say it What a load of BOLLOCKS!!!! ) cant wait to read next years one. little chef in popham makes an entrance in the 80s? maybe they'll take out tom aikens?

Ss much as i would love to see this happen, i cant see this happening. Im with what Matthew said, heard it before and no doubt will hear it again.

of all the places i thought would turn into a hotel this was probably bottom of the list. thats crazy. cant wait to see what the rooms and what not look like.

hahaha had that coming

my knowledge of pubs isnt that great for Birmingham and west midlands area but in my opinion number one restaurant is Purnells. constantly good, booking is require these days which is more than a sign that hes doing something good there. take no notice of the char coal he lobs around like confetti the rest of the cooking is absolutely superb. if youre looking for somewhere to get slightly out of town then Edgebaston is beautiful, nicest part of brum and Simpsons do a really good lunch deal, has that out of city feel if youre looking for it over the town centre hussle and bussle of Purnells. Le Champignon Sauvage isnt technically speaking the midlands but seeing as youre coming from Singapore im sure another 20 mins isnt too far to go for some food by the best chef in England 21 years old the place is and its still going strong, a little piece of heritage right there. three crowns at ullingswick is very good local, slightly more food orientated pub. go on a really dull dreary day to get the best of out it. the herefordshire country side surrounds you outside and inside. good luck finding it!!

i like that maggie thats good. dirty restrooms aside when i step into a say a michelin starred restaurant i almost want to be like a kid in a sweet shop. you dont visit the the toliet much in a restaurant so i want it to be as memorable as possible, so long as its a good memory! warm water cascading onto your hands from what seems to be space, towels so fluffy you cant help but question whether your fellow dinners would notice if you had a quick nap in cubicle 2 between mains and desert, toilet seats that close themselves, silent flushes, comics above the urinals, no pictures whatsoever of food thats a no no in a toilet im in there to pee and crap not eat im a man on a mission, not too scented hand cream and soap (i want to smell my food not molten brown) and lift music. ive got a sort of fetish for toilet but in a good way not in a 'that was weird, there was this chap in the toilet....' way wacky toilets, classy toilets, toilets with a stupid amount of graffiti on (ive been to a bar where there were pens on the walls for you to write something down and it was covered in funny quotes or poems or what have you, and of course the odd cartoon) toilets that look like star trek fans had designed them, id love a pixar themed toilet, toilets where the cubicle walls are made up of wine bottles (wasnt as revealing as youd think you just see a hazy shadow but can enjoy the labels on the inside) toilet designers are my heros.

on menus any words describing what my food is going to be (or supposed to be) eg crusty bread, smooth (as in pate), creamy, crispy etc. ill be the one to determine whether or not my bread is crusty rather than stale, smooth rather than full of lumps and random bits of butter or that my bacon was crispy 5 services ago but not now, not some hopeful word on a menu trying to (and normally successfully) convince some brain dead nit wit that the food here is good. fresh---youre not exactly going to put 'gone of sea bass' on the menu are you? fusion---dont care, alain ducasse said in restaurant magazine that fusion is confusion, damn right. i haven't read something i agree with so strongly for quite some time. agree with the haters on unfussy, oven baked, screamingly fresh, food porn, foodie, playful, HOMEMADE (AAAHHH), authentic (in my opinion authentic food doesnt require the word authentic so food that uses that word is merely trying to hype itself up) these ones about 'uh my coffee is all over my laptop now after reading that' its like these people either a, actually think we believe them or b, constantly have a cup of coffee pressed against their mouths. the **drools** gets on my tits too. ive kind of got a little soft spot for this Grandma Cavendish's fruit cake or what have you so i have to disagree, however much aunt bessie's do to murder family cooking. not liking "local" "organic" or "sustainable" seems nuts to me. they are factual more than anything and is something id give my two front teeth to be able to expect on menus. although some places do put the words in just to look good its still pleasing to know that at some point in their lifetime the food im about to eat has been cared for. i have a small hatred for deconstruction thats brewing i just feel its such a fad, or at least i hope so it will go away and i can enjoy a nicely put together tiramisu (looking at you casa mia, bristol!) YES SWISS_CHEF!!! cutting edge!!!! what edge?? shut up, bloody modern cutting edge malarke, shut UP YOU FOOLS. state of the art too. what a load of dribble/drizzle. i quite like decadent i dont think its been overly raped by critics using it to describe every chocolate mousse they eat...yet totally agree with tupac about the truffle thing, i cant stand truffle oil. if youre going to use something like a truffle then dont make do with some oil that pretends to be it however good it may taste, if im going to eat a carrot i want to eat a carrot not carrot extract or flavour, an actual carrot. 'tuna fish' ah yeh silly me heres me thinking tuna was a bear im so pleased that whenever i read anything about tuna written by an american (i dont want to insult anyone so dont take it to heart) it reminds me its a fish. it is the equivalent of going chicken bird, carrot vegetable, pig mammal. this would be my number 2 hatred closely behind the dumbest saying in the kitchen still heard so frequently on tv and in books...... 'put your meat in a hot pan to SEAL IN THE IN JUICES' gun, head, shoot. all this is quite alright but i do find myself sat at quite high end restaurants describing it as 'proper nice'. people who say swearing is an indication of how small your vocabulary are talking utter tripe. its a stupid enough saying on its own because by not saying words you know in a particular language its lowering your vocabulary. secondly because i cant think of any better way to describe some foods ive had than to say that they were 'fucking amazing' im off to go drool over some food porn We continue complaining about culinary terms in More Food Terms We Loathe/Misuse.

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/09/30/glynn-purnell-blown-away-by-aa-restaurant-of-the-year-accolade-65233-24814047/ Purnell's gets restaurant of the year from AA apparently . Great news for him and Brum.

ive been asked to look for agencies in Canada that specialise in or dabble in chefs. Ive found bugger all in my failed attempt at looking for one so i thought id try here to see if anyone knows any. i know its a long shot but maybe some of you know of someone who is a chef who can point me in the right direction. cheers.

yeh i've got to say that alot of people or places say 'homemade' to make it look good. when in fact when they were buying the bread off the baker it was far far better than this crummy bread. theres only one thing that matters in food and thats taste. yes its nice if your eating the pig you've been feeding but it doesnt take away the fact that it doesnt taste all that. my grandmother used to always make her marmalades and jams. although i do get the odd jar here and there of the stuff i havent been for a while to her house for tea but when i did recently i commented on how nice her orange marmalade and raspberry jam were. she then asked me which one id prefer to have a jar of. i said the raspberry jam, she brought out a jar that she brought from a local shop she uses. the marmalade however was made by her. typical isnt it?

i guess im going to have to stop saying 'you cant polish a turd' damn the GFG and damn Heston for being the only man insane enough to accept the offer of 'fancy polishing this turd for a while?'

thats shocking. what was their reaction when you told them this? i find it hard to believe you didnt like any of the bon bons or had you just given up by this point and inside you had turned off and couldnt wait to leave? i would have done, i cant believe he has his name behind something as bad as that.

i think its covering their arses gone mad. the other day i was helping my friend cook at his house and when i put a dish in the oven he immediately asked if it said it was oven proof. like its going implode as soon as i close the door. when will we ever let common sense prevail?

what was on your menu soundman? i had another quality meal with friends on Tuesday but hope to go back soon and have a menu surprise. dexter beef, hereford snails and parsley pure was so rich, so good.

thaaaaaat was it! grandma's sauce. her sauce was damn good.

im not too sure, it was off a separate specials menu, it wasnt too hot and it was slightly sticky with a few cooked chilli in there. its not everyday someone is honest. he seems a really nice chap though, was talking to him about hong kong and china and what not.

youre not cooking for Prince are you? if so i know he doesnt like blueberries for the fact that they say they are blue but arent in the same way he doesnt like red cabbage. utterly pointless post of course if youre not cooking for his purple majesty/royal badness.

i think the biggest thing here is the tradition of referring it to heat and heat being measurable. heat is measurable but not in this case. its the senses telling the brain it is on fire therefore its not actually on fire as such so no temp. in my mind there's only two ways of seeing chilli heat, pleasant and unpleasant. one person may find a certain dish too hot to even taste anything, the next person wouldnt flutter an eye lid at reducing it down and pouring it into their veins via a needle dipped in chilli juice. chilli has to be a totally different phenomena to the other tastes(or sensations) simply because its not detected by the tongue but the brain. you also get different levels of sensation by the amount you cook it or how you cook it. therefore you couldnt put on a menu the strength of the dish being served because its perception through one persons life thus far. eg if you stew a chilli in a curry for a while u get a different sensation to the raw chilli you add on top. i dont think there could possibly be a way to describe a chilli's sensation to be understood by all. it just doesnt work right now. there are many many many more people than tri2cook who can say the same story. chilli continues to baffle me. may it never stop.

went there last friday, awesome stuff, razor clams, chilli squid to start then braised pork joint and whole sea bass with stir fried veg and a sauce which had an extremely tough guy or chicken amount of chilli in and around. pork and sea bass were just too delicious i'm always a bit cautious about ordering a good fish in some places but this was so perfectly cooked i couldn't believe i was in a supposed Chinese restaurant. that with a jade rice (beautiful with juicy chunks of prawns in) noodles and egg fried rice was so much food. feasted on it for the rest of the weekend. did somehow 'lose' a £20 note in the bill. we all counted the bill before we left the table then Mr Wong came out saying we hadn't given him the right money. so as not to cause a fuss i just gave him the extra 20 and my number. 2 days later he called up and said he has found the £20 which was very honest he could have simply forgotten about it or carried on with his waiters story. will be going back for sure when im next in the area.

awful news. rest in peace.

i know i know but he lists so many!

i will be in Manchester for the weekend of the 12th. only been to manchester a few times and normally visiting my sister who is about as into food as Calister Flockhart so it obviously cant be a too adventurous place. she has come on alot tho so i dont let that hold back some places as ill be eating too and ill be damned if i have to settle with bloody san carlo again, worst pasta ive ever eaten out. i want somewhere that isnt too pricey (ill be dinning at Le Champignon Sauvage twice this month ill have you know!) but does really good food, any style or cuisine. just good food to start a lighthearted weekend. thanks for any suggestions

Such a shame about your lagging at the chocolate and olive tart stage. I haven't had a better desert in the UK. Im due a revisit. I don't live too far away from the place and only been there twice both times for lunch i feel im insulting my stomach if i don't go back within 2 weeks. Totally agree with that column being full of dribble sometimes. ''he dismal exterior of Le Champignon Sauvage did not help.'' what do you want? neon signs and 2 flashing stars above the door?

read this in the paper heres the link, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/re...Shropshire.html looks like im going to have to face facts and go there next week. ill let you know how it goes. love that bit about Raymond Blanc. how can you have a restaurant in England and slag off its produce?? when i walked round the garden at Le Manoir i saw some of the worst kept lettuces ive seen in a kitchen garden, maybe he should get a better gardener so he doesnt have to put up with the crap that the rest of the country grows.