rjs1
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Posts posted by rjs1
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If you like Chinese food and have someone who knows something about it it's surprising how well some of the less sought after chinatown places will do when approached for a banquet menu ordered in a dvance. Or you could go to Phoenix Palace, which does these things wonderfully well at not too great a price. Ordering in advance is the key.
Phoenix Palace are doing an Autumn menu for six, with turbot, lobster etc, for an amazing £168.
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how unusual a new place opens to universal praise (and not just on this forum) , sounds like a must try - fishermans infusion excepted
Very lukewarm review in Time Out today (kind technically proficient person please post a link here...)
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I want to take my mother to a 'posh' restaurant for her birthday, and think that some of the michelin starred Indian restaurants look quite interersting and, for lunch, excellent value. I also like the look of the Cinnamon Club.
The comments above haven't been hugely complimentary towards the high-end Indians - but doesn't anyone have a recommendation?
High end, I suggest Zaika rather than the Cinammon Club - spice with subtlety rathter than the Cinammon Club's sledeghammer approach.
Or how about Rasoi Vineet Bhatia?
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Annoyingly, they still charge an arm and a leg for tea, and claim not to serve tap water (they finally relented when I picked up the tumblers on the table and headed off to the loo to help myself).
that is extremely cheeky - I was saying to an American friend just the other day that you can always get tap water in London restaurants.
It's actually a condition of a lot of premises' licences, so if you feel strongly enough about it (and I think one should) then it would be worth contacting Camden Council and checking.
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I´m far from computer literate ... and in fact I´m wondering if I´m literate at all since the only Fay Maschler review for 12 Sept 07 I can find is this one below ... which references noma but is actually for a review of Texture in Portman Square?
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/restaurants/...viewId=23411839
What am I missing?
Looking at the hard-copy page with the Texture review, there is another piece Ms Maschler, titled "Been to...Copenhagen, which was wonderful". The relevant bit reads:
"Copenhagen has more Michelin-starred restaurants than the rest of Scandinavia's capitals put together, and some embrace molecular gastronomy. We might have gone to Geranium...or to Paustian...but Noma, rated as 15th best in the world by Restaurant magazine, is where I wanted to got.
Noma has two Michelin stars but, happily, a warm, relaxed bare-table, brick wall, pine floor environment within a converted 19th century warehouse beside the water in Christianhavn. Chef Rene Redzepi and his cohort Claus Meyer has [sic] set out to define Nordic cooking and forages for ingredients in Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland as well as Scandinavia.
They reckoned it was time that the gastronomic culture of the sunny Mediterranean and the inclination of serious star-chasing chefs to embrace French habits was challenged, a timely idea totally vindicated by Redzepi's inspired cooking.
A nine-course tasting menu delivered some extraordinary dishes which I won't ever forget, such as raw shrimps with ice-cold green gooseberry granita; curls of cool cucumber with nasturtium leaves, oyster jelly and crisp rye bread; vegetables served on a hot stone with malted grains described as "soil"; raw musk ox fillet with wood sorrel seemingly growing on top with fresh horseradish adding a surreptitious kick. The butter made with Icelandic skyr, a curdled milk product, served with intensely hot tiny rolls was also amazing.
We all agreed that by the time for dessert the cooking had gone off the boil, which may have explained the hideous milk skin wrapped around blueberries which broke through like a suppurating wound. Also our good time was in danger of being spoiled by the sommelier/maitre d' who demanded rapt attention for every one of his nmany utterances. "I'm doing this for you, not for me", he said more than once. Yes, but we are paying".
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Very nice to see chefs looking to their own countries and heritage for inspiration. Seems like for most people fine dining has to mean French or Italian (and lately Spanish). I just ordered the Noma cookbook, should be interesting.
It's very good, although the translation into English reads as if it been done by a computer.
Fay Maschler reviewed Noma in the [London] Evening Standard on Wednesday - her verdict was that it was a bit "curate's egg" (doubtless pickled and smoked
) - can one of you computer-literate types be very kind and post a link to the review? -
Thank you.
I rest my case, though; without Flash. which I'm not keen to download given the declaration users are asked to sign up to, you can't get into the site.
Surely it's better to cater both for us Luddites and for the rest of you. For example, the licensed property agents Davis Coffer Lyons have a website which checks automatically whether or not you have Flash and if you do not transfers you to a steam-driven version of the website in ten seconds.
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Yes - Texture website.
Oh blast, it's one of those stupid websites which you can't navigate vithout Flash or some other silly American software you have to sign an online declaration giving up your firstborn before you are allowed to download. Why do people waste money on websites that a good percentage of viewers can't read?
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Haven't been to Ghana for several years, no recommendations, just have a bowl or 2 of spicy goat and red red chicken with banku for me (but not fufu, could never get to grips
)...anyway, you'll be with the experts so you'll be stuffed full of goodies anyway, just try and sit towards the front of the plane to avoid the horrendous airport queues and make sure your taxi's lights are working before you get in at night (from experience 
)ps. take lots of pix for us
Many thanks.
Given how muchy I was fed last time, my main worry is that by the time I leave I'll be too heavy for the plane to take off...
Agree with you about fufu, that's too much of a handful.
Apparently there's a German with fishing boats running a restaurant in Tema featurung the day's catch - we'll certainly try that.
Also loved the squid kebabs at Ave Maria beach, off the little coast road from Tema to Accra (which is a lovely drive).
I'll report on return.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/dining/01ghana.htmlA Taste of Ghana
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: February 1, 2006
ACCRA, Ghana
PEOPLE travel to Africa for history and for scenery but never the food. I don't get it.
I have found that Africa, with thousands of languages and cultures, each with its own cuisine, always rewards an adventurous eater. Maybe the problem most travelers have is that finding good African food isn't always easy...
Any eG folks with experience with African cuisines like this?
Hi, going to Accra and Tema for three weeks from Friday - anyone got any recommendations for intersting food places? My in-laws are Ghanaian, so we'll have lots of jolof, palm soup, light soup, etc at home, and I'll want to ring the changes when going out.
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'......Rather than the 300% mark-ups of many restaurants we simply add £10 and VAT to the cost price. So the better the wine the better the deal. Where else can you get a bottle of Persimmon Viognier 2006 for just £18?...'
I sold this wine (03 vintage) for £13.50 three years ago. It cost £4.07 ex VAT so that was at a margin of 65% and cash profit of £7.42. The 06 costs £4.69 list (they may get a discount).
Unfortunately it isn't a very good wine, imho.
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I'm never up that late, but the New Mayflower on Shaftsbury Avenue is, I am told, where the staff of all the other Chinese restaurants go for a meal after they've closed. It's open until 4 a.m.
Chefs generally used to go to the New Diamond on Lisle Street, which was open to 3am.
Anyone been there recently?
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The oxtail ravioli are jolly yummy too - the ginger was so subtle - just there when you put it into your mouth.
Had the oxtail ravioli at lunch on Friday, and couldn't disagree more. The dough was more undercooked than al dente and had a faint but unpleasant flouriness, and while the oxtail itself was good neither the ginger nor the spring onion were detectable. I was expecting a really interesting Italian/Chinese fusion, and this wasn't it.
Three of us went for the first time for lunch on Friday. We hadn't booked and they could only seat us at the bar. Our host had the £15.50 three-course set lunch and his other guest and I had two starters each.
Looked at the menu with great anticipation, but the meal was a real Curate's egg experience.
On the positive side, my squid & mackeral burger is as wondeful as previous posts suggest, but a rather mean portion.
My fellow guest thought her salad was "nice but unmemorable" and her braised pig's head "really interesting but far too strong" - it was a small portion but she couldn't fiinsh it.
Our host loved his meal - porchetta, followed by rabbit, followed by strawberries - and thought it was supurb value.
Service was pleasant (apart from a slightly grim barman) but haphazard, and my oxtail arrived before my squid burger, which the waiter said was "a kitchen mistake".
With an acceptable bottle of white from Cotes de Blaye and some really bad coffee, the bill was about £99.
I'd give it another go because the squid burger was so good, but on Friday's showing, "the Emperor has no clothes". Perhaps they are putting their energies into Wild Honey at present, but this really wasn't good enough.
Frith Street restaurant, on this site from 1998 to 2000, was much better, but lost money, perhaps because the street was awash with heroin in those days.
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Not sure as my brother sorted out the punts, but a rate of £6 an hour may have been related to us booking a large lunch party on a quiet day, or to us taking out a lot of punts. Sorry if I've got it wrong.
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Label Anglaise are indeed excellent, but I'd give a slight edge to the organic birds from Sheepdrove, available direct via their website and from the larger Waitrose branches. We spent a day at their farm, went around the barns, and were very impressed. The birds are so full of flavor that they need nothing except themselves.
I second that, and Sheepdrove are usually only a little more expensive than Wyndham Poultry's Label Anglais.
Sheepdrove on Clifton Road, W9 have their chicken on speical offer this week - £5.59 a kilo, and legs at £2.99 a kilo.
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Another couple of suggestions which we haven't visited particularly recently but would visit again sometime: the Mole Inn at Toot Baldon is just a few miles South of Oxford, and the Cherwell Boathouse has a great setting on the river in North Oxford.
We just celebrated my parents' golden wedding anniversary with a big party outside at the Cherwell Boathouse. People and setting are great, food nothing special, but the wine list is amazing value (mostly, I believe, because Anthony Verdin of Field, Morris & Verdin is the owner and consequently they either get most of their bins very cheap or are very modest in marking them up - or both). This is the place in Oxford to drink deep and well (couldn't be more different to the Manoir from that point of view).
Strongly suggest taking a punt out (£6 an hour) before rather than after drinking heavily.
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Laverbread (Welsh: Bara Lawr) is a traditional Welsh delicacy made from the seaweed laver.
Laver is used traditionally in the Welsh diet and still eaten widely across Wales in the form of laverbread. The seaweed is boiled for several hours: the gelatinous paste that results is then rolled in oatmeal and fried. Laverbread is traditionally eaten fried with bacon and cockles for breakfast.
Has anyone here ever eaten lava bread and cockles?
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Is Nahm is the best, albeit at a horrendous price? Certainly the set dinner (just under £50 a head), with eight dishes matched for texture, flavour, etc., has been the best Thai food I've experienced.
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Editor Joe Warwick is stepping down very soon by the way. No idea who the new incumbent will be.
William Sitwell?
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We went on the Sunday afternoon (won two tickets in a Caterer draw), and had no wait to get in or to be served. It might have been more crowded if the weather had been better.
We started with scallops and salmon from One - O - One - very fresh, but the salmon was a little overdone.
Next we had prawn toasts then venison puffs from Yauatcha - haven't been there, but have had the venison puffs at Hakkasan and these were just as good, while my wife found the prawn toasts a revelation.
Next, tender and flavoursome chargrilled duck from Busaba Eathai.
Tandoori lamb chops from Bernares - a full portion there is £24, so we felt that a taster at £5 was decent value.
We drank wines from Green & Blue, from NZ Wine Direct and from Oddbins (their new Oddbins Selection Bordeaux - as The Times' wine critic wrote of E & J Gallo's Turning Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon, "this wine wouild not be worth drinking at any price"), plus champagne from Canard Duchene.
Brilliant cheese selection from I Sapori di Stefano Cavallini (including the magnificently-named "Bastardo").
Sweet chilli ice cream from Purbeck.
The shopping looked good, and there was a home delivery service on offer near the exit.
Overall we spent about £40 and felt that it had been good value, although if we'd paid a further £40 for our tickets perhaps I'd feel less comfortable.
We'd certainly try it again next year.
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But I daydreamed of Heston Blumenthal testing us with durian crème, a combination that I lust to try with equally intrepid dining companions.
There used to be a restaurant in Oxford called Munchy-Munchy which did durian and coconut ice cream, and it was awesome. Anyone know anywhere doing durian ice cram in London? Have to have it in a restaurant, as bringing a durian fruit into the flat would probably breach about 17 clauses in our lease...
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food-wise, I would go for Pearl Liang (its decor is very modern).
The decor looks good, but it has the worst-designed chairs I have ever come across in a London restaurant - pure instruments of torture.
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It would be a lot more expensive in the evening, of course, but not quite in the River Cafe price league even then.
Prices were similar at both but if anything TR worked out more expensive per head.
£210 for 2/4 (4 starters, 4 pasta, 4 main, 1 desert, 1 cafe, 4 limoncello, 4 house apero, 3 wine incl. service.) As i said not a bad meal but not a great one for £105 per head and that was shared by the non- RC'ers present.
Ok, I'd stick to lunch, which according to his website is £18 for 2 courses, £23 for three. Puddings are £4.50 each.
RC doesn't do a set lunch, does it?
Texture
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
And in Metro today. Is a backlash starting already? Will have to try it for lunch this week and make up my own mind.