Andrew

I went there last night. Considering it was a Monday night it was extremely busy and there was a really good atmosphere. The building is amazing, worthwhile going just for that. Unfortunately the food does not quite rise to the occasion. Our 4 starters consisted of nettle & watercress soup (reported to be very good), a tomato and cheese salad (also said to be good), an excellent baked onion and a garden salad with air dried ham. The spring onion in that dish was so over powering it ruined the rest of the flavours. The mains included a pork chop, fish, an artichoke tart and a chicken & snail pie. The pie was very dry and the chicken had not been deboned correctly leaving a few small and one large bone in it. The artichoke tart consisted of some undercooked artichokes in over done pastry. Very disappointing. A selection of sides were generally very good. Excellent carrots, perfectly cooked green beans, a luxurious colcannon and a rich and flavoursome cauliflower pudding. A green salad was covered in salt and in edible (to give the restaurant credit they offered a new one or not to charge for it). We had 3 puddings - a very good Kendal mint choc ice, a fairly disgusting dish of English strawberries with pimms and lemonade cream served with fresh mint and cucumber and a very good Eccles cake with cheese ice cream. I may be being unfair on the 'Pimms' as it was just to my taste. Service varied between excellent and haphazard. A £2 a person cover charge for the bread is steep, no side plates are given but then they insist on brushing off the inevitable crumbs between each course, asking you to lift your bread in the process. Either give plates or just accept there will be crumbs on the table! We had to ask for the bill 3 times and when it finally arrived it was the wrong one. I should have just paid as it was half the price but decided to point it out and then wait for the correct one! The total cost for 4 people, 3 having three courses and 1 having two courses. All having coffee, 2 soft drinks & two G&Ts before the meal and one bottle of wine came to £250 (inc service). Would I go back? Yes for the room but unlikely for the food unless it improves.

As I was staying in the Cadbury House Doubetree I decided to visit the MPW Steakhouse. Although part of the hotel a number of diners were just visiting the restaurant with hotel guests that had not booked being turned away or being told there was a two about wait for a table. It looked fairly full to me so I was pleased to have booked a few days earlier. My starter consisted of thinly sliced beetroot with goats cheese and walnuts (£6.50). It was simple but excellent. Good quality ingredients well put togethet and beautifully presented. As it was a steakhouse I went for steak and chose an 8 oz sirloin (£23.00). It was cooked as requested (medium rare) and came with a slice of grilled beef tomato which packed a real tomato flavour and two huge onion rings. A side of triple cooked chips (£3) were good but over salted and not quite as crisp as they should have been. The real disappointment was the steak. It lacked the depth of flavour you get from a top quality steak eg at the Hawksmoor. It tasted no better than the steak I buy from Donald Russell and cook at home. I also ordered a pepper sauce which arrived a few minutes after the steak, aftr reminding the waitress. I then had a portion of local cheeses (£8) which were ok and consisted of a Somerset brire (served cold from the fridge), a pungent smoked applewood cheddar, an excellent Bath blue and a cheese that the waitress couldn’t remember what it was called. All ready plated and served with celery, good quality biscuits, grapes and a shot of apple juice. I’m still not sure what the point of the apple juice was! The cheeses were ok. Finally an excellently executed lemon soufflé (£6). A really sweet soufflé with a tangy, sharp lemon sauce to be poured in. One of the better soufflés I have had in some time. With a glass (175ml) of pouilly fuisse (£10.80) and a glass of red the bill came to £66 plus service. Next time I would try something else as a main course as the chef clearly knows what he is doing and the problem with the main course was the quality of the meat not the way it was cooked. Don't expect MPW back to his 3 star best, this is a good quality chain using his name.

HHas anyone been here? I wondered if it was worth a visit and whether the steaks are up to scratch. Andrew

I'm looking at taking a couple of people to the Savoy Grill. Any views on food quality? They are only in London on a or Monday evening so any views on whether we'll be the only people there if it will have some 'atmosphere' would be appreciated. Thanks.

Has anyone been here recently? I'm thinking of a visit instead of my usual trip to Simpsons.

Any suggestions where to go on a Monday night? Purnells and Turners are closed. Simpsons (my regular place in Birmingham) can be hit and miss on a Monday. I was thinking of Edmunds, any views? Thanks Andrew

Booked to go here at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to seeing what it is like as I'm a huge Martin Blunos fan, although I doubt it will be as good as some of his previous offerings.

Went here on a recent trip to NYC. For visitors it is an amazing setting and I can understand why it is so popular with non new yorkers. The service was excellent. The food was good without being memorable, good quality ingredients well executed. Worthy of one Michelin star but no more.

What main course? I went there for lunch last week and was really impressed by the starters (meat fruit and scallops) and the deserts (brown bread ice cream and tart) but thought both mains (duck and turbot) were ok, well executed but nothing special. I'm going back in a few weeks - any suggestions for the main? Thanks.

Anyone heard when his restaurant 'in Paris' is likely to open?

Has anyone been to Rouge Tomate? I would be interested to hear some views.

What sort of places are you looking for / budget expectations?

Given the superb meals and service I had at the other two I was also amazed. I did wonder if the email just goes through to the reception and they decided to delete it. I had thought about resending it to Arbutus and ask them to pass it on but never got round to it. A few weeks later I was thinking of going to Wild Honey with a couple of friends and opted to go elsewhere as I was so 'annoyed' at a lack of reply.

I went there in December and being a huge fan of Arbutus and Wild Honey I was looking forward to my visit. The menu and concept has a slight Woolsey look to it but it has a far more 'French' feel / menu. I was so disappointed! The food was ok without being up to the standard of the other two. The service was dreadful. Little things were just wrong. For example the plates were not warmed (they were cold) which meant that the food got cold quickly. The pasta starter (a really nice ravioli of veal and fresh goats curd) was cold by the second mouthful. The other starter, a well executed, salt cod with young squid was full of large bones that had not been taken out when the cod was mashed. No apology with a waiter who clearly didn't want to be there just shrugging his shoulders. All in all a great concept which didn't work. I hope it was just teething problems and they sort it out. Somewhat worrying I did email them with these comments and no acknowledgement let alone a reply. I held off posting this hoping for a reply so I could say they'd apologised but they are clearly to busy to care about customer service

I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of weeks ago and was very impressed by the food. This was the second time I have visited and each time I have been very impressed. I was there on a Friday night and there was a choice of a 7 course menu and £69 and 10 courses at £85. In addition there was 'Peas & Ham' and cheese on offer as extra courses. With a drink before dinner, wine, water (£5 a bottle), coffee, 12.5% service it soon adds up. My bill was £185 per head for the 10 course menu. The quality of the food was excellent, some of the courses were not quite to my taste but I could recognise the quality of the delivery. It is well worth a visit.

Thanks. There will be four of us and only one is a veggie so it doesnt need to be a veggie restaurant just somehwere with a couple of choices for each course. L'Arpege would be ideal but I fear that the prices are more three star than one!

I'd be interested to recieve any recommendations for good (1 Star level) restaurants in central Paris with a good selection for vegetarians. Thanks

Thanks to everyone for the tips. I suggested they visit Goodman and they were really impressed! I happened to have an hour over lunchtime on Friday to kill between meetings so decided to try the burger at Hawksmore at Seven Dials. Having eaten in the restaurant I thought it would be interesting to try their burger. Well I was really unimpressed with the burger but the customer service was excellent. I ordered the burger (cooked medium), triple cooked chips and a green salad. The salad was good, well seasoned and very fresh. The chips were good (not as good as the Hinds Head but still good). The problem was with the burger. It came raw, it looked like steak tatare! They apologised and brought me another one. This one was cooked perfectly on the outside but inside it was still raw. They looked really embarrased and offered me a third. I deecided it was easier to quit, however they refused to charge me for the meal (inc drinks). I was more than happy to pay for everything except the burger but they were insistant. The perfect customer service. Would I go back - certainly, I'd just stikc to the steak and give the burger a miss.

Does anyone know if they give Chefs feedback after publication?

If the Sat Bains rumour is true that is well deserved.

I've been to the Islington branch and it's ok - very similar to GBK ie an upmarket Burger King but nothing really to write home about. Good value if you're looking for a quick snack that is better than BK but not to go for a meal.

I have been asked to recommend someone where they can get the best burger in London. Any views would be welcome. I have heard good things about the one at the Hawksmere and Goodman Steak (I haven't tried a burger at either). I love the one Joe Allen offers and wasn't that impressed with the Woolsey (just thier burger not anything else I have had there!). Andrew

I would agree that Midsummer House is well worth a visit. They are well worthy of their 2 stars - although not knocking on the doors of three (a brave prediction the day before the 2011 announcement!). It is a lovely setting with good quality innovative (without being 'weird') cooking.

I agree with David, that would be my first choice. The other possibility is Colette's which is at the Grove http://www.thegrove.co.uk/food/colettes_fine_dining_restaura.aspx Much depends on where in Hertfordshire you are staying. Andrew

I would hate to be around Gordon R if he loses his third star and MW gains one