marcusjames
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Posts posted by marcusjames
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So, is it L'Enclume you haven't been to yet? If so try and take advantage of their room deals, especially during off-season periods, where they can be really good value. Tie it in to a two nighter at Holbeck Ghyll (requesting their bay window table over looking Windermere) and you'd have a belter of a 2 night break.
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Man - I went to both last year and, as you'd expect, found them to be very similar food wise. I've thought the same of Simon's food for a number of years now, namely, when it's good it's very, very good, but when it's bad it can be a tad bland with a tendency to use process for process sake. To be fair, the positives always far out-weigh the negatives, but I've always come away with a quibble somewhere along the line. It's all subjective, but I think both Sat Bains and Viajante are doing a similar sort of thing much better at the present time. They seem to be hitting a different level in terms of overall consistency and depth of flavour.
Roganic is definitely a summer venue for me. OK, it's a pop-up so you have to give a certain degree of latitude, but it's tiny and claustrophobic with terrible acoustics. I would go again, but my advice is wait for a warm day when they can open up the shutter doors on the front and let the noise out whilst bringing the outside in.
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I tell you what, there's two women who are supposedly from the GFG talking total and utter balls on Britain's Best Dish right now. Any one who describes a classical milk ice cream as 'sounding childlike' clearly knows sweet FA about basic cooking technique, let alone be in a position to judge any restaurant.
From the VT looks like Micheal Wignall is about to justifiably take them to task when it comes to the actual face to face comments.
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Piracer - Christmas in London is weird, though to be honest, most places will be open, certainly from Tues 27th up to New Year. It's the first and second week of Jan where restaurants will take a break.
The hottest ticket in town right now is The Ledbury. I'm assuming they're rammed, but do check over the period you're there and see if they have any availability that could work for both of you.
For overall experiences some of the grand hotels are worth a shout just to see their OTT decorations alone. Think The Grill Room at The Savoy (Gordon Ramsey); Helene Darroze at The Connaught or Ducasse at The Dorchester. The latter, considering it's a three star, does a sensational £50 set lunch that includes all the pre and post treats you could hope for, two glasses of wine and a half bottle of water per person.
Plenty of gastropubs to go at too, though if St.John takes your fancy you should try the Harwood Arms in Fulham or Great Queen St in Covent Garden. Staying in Covent Garden, and although it's more of a steak house, Hawksmoor is deserving of a mention. Plenty of excellently sourced British produce done well.
I could go on though that should help for now.
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Incredible that places like this can get away with being so badly managed.Put this report on Tripadvisor please CFM eventualy you might make a difference.David looks as though you need to move it down the list for a bit,it only got 2 for food in Hardens last year.Anybody received the reporters edition yet,it came on the 4th December last year.
Here's everything that's wrong wrong with Tripadvisor. Whilst I don't doubt there may have been faults with the room, the first question you should ask CFM is if Sidney gave the establishment chance to put it right. Taking a single comment and leaping to the assumption its 'badly managed' is premature in the extreme. I say all this because my room was impeccable. Not cheap, I admit, but the finish, fabrics and attention to detail was beyond belief. As I hinted at in my earlier post, taking a generalised view, I actually thought the hotel more impressive that the restaurant.
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Sped - did you have the £45 menu in the end? Lobster, bass, truffle, foie, caviar, grouse? If that's all in for £45 it is indeed a steal. Presentation looks lovely too.
I only got close to Ritz restaurant once. Being a media type I'm often in jeans. We headed through the lobby some years ago only for a footman, not far beyond reception to announce, "No jeans beyond this line!"
"What, this line?" said my colleague. To which the footman replied yes and my colleague, in response, decided to do - and sing - the oki koki repeatedly over the imaginary divide.
Needless to say, I haven't rushed back, though that deal could well overcome any lingering embarrassment.
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That's almost precisely the itinerary we did, sandwiching Gleaneagles with a day in Edinburgh either side. The other joy of the hotel is that it has its own station and there's a direct train from Edinburgh, so no need to take the car / drive if you so choose.
A reputable friend went up to Edinburgh a few weeks ago and did Wishart, Kitchin and Castle Terrace. He actually rated the newly starred Terrace best of the lot, though it's a shame he didn't get to 21212 to give full comparison. Either way, I do envy those lucky enough to live there - so many options to have on your door step!
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I went about 4 years ago David. We had the tasting menu, which was OK, but a little disappointing. Given the time passed it may well have changed, so take this with a pinch of salt, but the degustation bore no relation with the a la carte which, from what I could see being paraded past me, looked phenomenal. With hindsight we left feeling like we should have plumped for the three course option.
Considering its peers an hour away in Edinburgh it didn't impress anything like as much as The Kitchin or Wishart.
Yes, it isn't cheap, and the prices have indeed rocketed since my visit. That being said I was looking at going back recently and discovered that Gleneagles do a package called Michelin Magic, which fluctuates in price, but hovers round the £400 mark depending on the time of year. For that you get ALC for two, a dbl room and a glass of champers (I think). Considering £400 is what the rack rate usually starts at and the food and wine alone is worth approx £230, it ain't bad (relatively speaking of course!); plus the hotel is undoubtedly worth the visit if you've never been. The downside, and the reason why I didn't go in the end, is that the deal requires payment in full at the time of booking, which if I recall correctly is transferable, but non-refundable. Check their website, I'm assuming it's still available.
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Just got back from doing the 12 courses last night, my second time in 3 months, so I guess it comes as no surprise I personally think they're doing something right. On both occasions I've been taken aback by each and every dish. Whilst I preferred some over others, just through personal likes, every plate had massive depth of flavour, without appearing too tricksy or over-worked, with a huge amount of thought and skill applied to texture.
Recent highlights included razor clam with cider and mussel emulsion; roasted parsnips with truffle and onion; red mullet, citrus granola and pickled apricot and the most amazing pigeon with red cabbage, the later veg coming pureed with caraway, juniper and chocolate that made for a truly lasting impression.
Desserts didn't let things down. A very milky reduced milk sorbet paired with various preparations of cucumber and a chewy mandarin sorbet, using some gum I've never heard of, was every bit as innovative and good as you could hope for.
Relatively speaking it's belting value. £90 may seem a lot, but on top of all the dishes, there's a round of canapes; two amuse bouche; homemade bread with two different types of whipped butter (jamon and chicken skin!) and petit fours, which includes the often mentioned mushroom and chocolate truffle. It's generous to say the least.
Service was very good indeed. Chef's frequently brought dishes direct from the open kitchen Noma-styles, though that's not say the dedicated front of house team were any less charming or capable. We arrived slightly lubricated from a lunch elsewhere and they took it in a very jovial, understanding stride - a laugh was had by all.
Put simply, as innovative degustation experiences go Viajante is right up there.
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I went to Snazz last year and thought it a very poor relation to Bar Shu; not even in the same league in fact. Shu isn't cheap, and does have its critics as a result, but in my experience you get what you pay for. It's a class act.
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Darroze is another disciple from the Ducasse stable who has a real issue with serving warm bread and refuses to do so; his reason being, if warm, people tend to fill up on it before the meal and detract from the actual food that's to follow. I can only assume Helene has continued this doctrine.
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You can polish a turd by the way...............................if you varnish it 1st.
Essence of turd; encapsulated varnish. There's a new dish and technique in there surely?
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Well presented photographed food is the
Perfect way to " polish a turd". A lot of dishes
Can appear beautiful but taste like shit.
Not to contradict myself but I kind of agree with that. However, considering the restaurants we're talking about here I think those cases are exceptionally rare. And let's not forget in this context these photos are coming with the write-up itself, leaving little room for good looking, yet vacant dishes to hide.
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I think this opens-up a wider debate about how willing restaurants are to embrace social media Matthew.
Personally, I think well presented executed food is just that, poor photography may not help, but it still tends to look good. It's those kitchens who are genuinely without any ability who have most to fear. You can't polish a turd as they say.
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Whatever happened to common sense? I think it's perfectly obvious if a lens is pointed at a table or at someone else in the dining room, especially in restaurants like John Campbell where the front of house staffing will no doubt be into double figures; that's plenty of eyes to check if there is any indiscretion going on. It would be immediately clear who's there for the food or to celeb spot. Not that I'd presume this is the new Ivy, has the West End decamped to Ascot all of a sudden?
We live in a multi-media age, odds on if someone wants to take photos they're going to be blogging and spreading awareness. Just look at the L'Enclume thread for how this can be a massive positive for and on behalf of the restaurant. I would have thought John Campbell would have welcomed the exposure. It hasn't exactly set the gastronomic blogosphere alight since it opened and this could very well be the reason why.
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Yes, debate parked. That's shocking, I do hope they're open and well tonight.
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... it is infinitely more difficult to cook and present something with a minimum of handling, cooking and seasoning. It is much easier to augment a product, to add season and sauce and garniture to hide imperfections of sourcing and kitchen technique. Visit any of the more-is-more temples to see what I mean.
Erm, doesn't sauce and garnish come under kitchen technique? If a kitchen is crap, it's crap and the garnish can only serve to confirm this further. Ironically, Britain has great meat and fish, it's veg where we generally struggle and can let a restaurant down. And although it may be very classical, producing a clear, reduced sauce with the distinct depth of advertised flavour really can separate the men from the boys. Out of interest, what 'more-is-more temples' are you referring to?
Matthew asked earlier what chefs are going to the lengths Mikael is when it comes to sourcing, and the simple answer is hundreds. Pretty much every Michelin starred restaurant strives to find the best ingredients available to them, both in terms of locality and budget. Heck, there's a host of non-Michelin accredited gastro-pubs in the south Notts area where I live who apply this same dedication.
I admit Hedone is impeccably sourced (at a price, budget it is not), but the food definitely isn't executed as well it may or comparable to a host of restaurants the length and breadth of England; I'd take Sat Bains, The Ledbury, Viajante and a host of others ahead of it any day of the week.
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I have to say Keller was a delight on Saturday Kitchen today. You do sometimes forget to separate the business from the personal (although I still think the Harrods pricing was/is a joke), but what a lovely chap.
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I have to say I'm not entirely on board with the Hedone bandwagon. Although I enjoyed my meal - the sourcing was undeniably brilliant - I was left a little befuddled by the lack of technique, was the simplicity deliberate or a necessity due to the size of the kitchen and the small complement of chefs? If I had to guess I'd say it's probably a little bit of both.
Call me old-skool, but I take great produce as a given in restaurants with this level of aspiration; sometimes it is nice to see the cooking skills of the kitchen shine through, elevating the produce as a result. I'm starting to think this current trend (so not just Hedone here) of, 'I'm a ballsy chef because I haven't tarted around with the ingredients' is becoming a bit of a cliche already. There's more than a whiff of the emperors new clothes about it all.
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How many of the people who have commented about this pop up have actually been to the real restaurants?? Yes of course it is expensive but thats not my point. To compare, the prices are not a million miles away, which has been suggested here. My point is go here and save yourselves a fortune on travel, if your a Keller fan.
Not to labour this point, but they are a million miles away price wise. Approx £55 vs Per Se and £80 vs The French Laundry (God forbid there's supplements on the Harrods menu). I probably don't need to point out the difference on the latter price gets you to within spitting distance of some of the best degustation menus to be had in the capital.
I wasn't having a pop Richard, but the argument of 'it's cheaper then flying there' is balls. I don't doubt the actual experience was - or is - amazing, but it has nothing to do with the real term value of the meal as product in its own right and, in UK terms, it still makes no sense whatsoever considering its domestic peers.
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Richard - Per Se is $295, at the current exchange rate that works out at £195, a whole £55 cheaper than London. Allow for the fact, in the UK, the most expensive degustation is £180 at The Fat Duck, the source of the criticism is clear imo.
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Pretty much nothing touristy is open (the one exception I can think of is that I saw at least one of those open-top tourist buses driving about), and the lack of public transportation keeps most people close to home (taxis are available, but there aren't a lot of black cabs roaming about, and some of the hired cab services get cranky if you don't reserve Christmas Day transport ahead of time).
If you've got an itinerary anyway and know when you'll need the cars, just use addison lee minicabs, who will definitely have a large contingent on the road - 0207 387 8888
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Scoop - your best bet is going to be hotel dining rooms, most of which have to remain open for obvious reasons. So, skip the Fat Duck but do check Heston's more recent Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental. Other notable hotels with gastronomic venues would be Koffmanns and Marcus Wareing, both at The Berkeley; Helen Darroze at The Connaught; Galvin at Windows (Hilton Park Lane); Roux at The Langham; Apsleys at The Lanesborough or The Capital.
Alternatively, how about a more traditional, British experience somewhere like Hix at The Albermarle (in Browns Hotel); The Goring, The Ritz or The Grill Room in The Dorchester?
One word of warning, none of these will be cheap on Christmas Day, all generally add on a whopping premium to cover increased staff costs. Expect set lunches to be in the region of £100 a head upwards, and that's probably being slightly conservative at that.
Finally, to repeat, I don't know if all of these will be open, but I assume a majority may be - happy hunting!
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Lol, Theo and Duncan have spoken!
Pollen Street Social.
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
I hadn't been to PSS before. After the mixed reviews I thought I'd give it time to bed in and, quite frankly, am glad I did as just had an utter belter there on Wednesday lunch. By their own admission, many tweaks have taken place and the menu is now simpler and more concise.
I took the set, which was incredible value at £25 for 3 courses. The ham hock, squid and coco bean starter came loaded with an unadvertised foie running through it. Yorkshire partridge boasted breasts, leg, a fantastic bolognese ragu, two preparations of carrots, spiced plum jam and an aerated, sourdough bread sauce. It ate more like an ALC dish than anything I've had from a set before. Whilst on subject of ALC, I added in an extra starter (purely for the purposes of research you understand) of parsley soup with truffled egg and smoked eel that knocked my socks off. Huge depth of flavour with beautiful presentation and execution. How they're producing this sort of food doing 100+ covers is astounding.
The wines by the glass weren't cheap, but offered unusual, well-sourced quality and it was nice to see them hand-poured at the table.
The room hummed pleasantly throughout - I'd go back again in a heartbeat.