Suzi Edwards

eGullet babies....*sigh* huge congratulations mobes. still terrifies me that eating organic has such a huge impact on fertility...i mean, you ended up having two babies. if you hadn't sneaked that trip to yauatcha you might be having four ;-)

Hi there, Probably the most relevant recent topics is this one here about Edinburgh and this one here about Martin Wishart and Oloroso and this one here about Aberdeen Probably the best thing to do for St Andrews is try using the search button right at the top of the page and you can browse away to your heart's desire!

We've been dissing ready meals in the UK forum, and the conversation has moved towards easy afterwork cookery. Can we share some ideas here for Hallie to save her from ready meal hell? Here's a link to our discussion Ready Meals? No thank you

i'm with you on the navigation thing. so i;ll do what i wlays do and navigate you via the shops. exit TCR station by the dominion theatre, walk onto new oxford street keeping dorothy perkins on your left. cross the road when you get to starbucks, towards the bar called point 101. continue walking away from new oxford street, effectively past point 101 and towards a small row restaurants that includes a cafe called something like "the out cafe" and there's also a korean place. however, do not cross the road to those restaurants. you'll notice the road you're on curving away from you towards the left, the supermarket is just there. hope this helps. say hello if i am there. i work round the corner. today is a seaweed day for me so i might pop in.

The lamb had been marinated to tenderise plus lift and enhance the natural flavours of the meat. The sum of the parts was a hearty, earthy and gutsy dish which made that degree of prep out of place, that said I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm quite looking forward to getting here at some point, so thanks for the report. I'm not sure I understand what this bit above means though. Can you explain? Interesting comments about blueberries. I'm eating a lot of them at the moment and for the first time. Am actually analysing the flavour of the ones's I'm eating as I type and they are quite a hit and miss fruit. Out of fice only one had really good acidity and flavour so I imagine cooking with them can be a bit hit and miss. I had a blueberry creme brulee in chicago recently that tasted of nothing. At the time I thought it was just that I didn't have a very good palate but I'm going to be less hard on myself now. Do they tell you how much each glass of champagne is when they bring over the trolley or are you expected to have an innate knowledge of the relative value of each. That said, they could just park the trolley next to me and I'd be happy.

As a footnote, i am a little bit dissapointed with some people for the reaction to my comment. I am not stupid enough to post a commen to incinuate that standards were lowered to fit to price but yet still i expected my response to provoke a few questions but still i am suprised at the way some people have taken hold of it and created an incident of this extreme. ←

I "popped" to Sushi Hiro a couple of weeks ago. Although to be honest it's not really that easy to pop here, is it? It's totally and completely in the middle of nowhere (apologies to all the people who live in Ealing) That said, the sushi was seriously good. Best I've had in the UK, but still not up to Chicago standards. *ducks to avoid being smothered to death with toro by all the Californian sushi fans* I had absolutely zero expectations for my visit to the new sushi bar near Centrepoint, above London's new Korean supermarket. I was completely blown away and strongly suggest a visit. I was sat next to a young chap who has just started working at Nobo (they won't let him touch the fish) and we were the only two diners on a wet Tuesday night. I had some excellent flying fish roe, mackeral and yellow tail. The scallop was to die for, totally melting. The menu is quite limited and very traditional, but I got them to make me a spicy tuna roll (not on the menu) and it was fantastic. Not sure what this about my sushi knowledge, but I love spicy tuna rolls and this was sweet, fresh and zingy all at once. This is my new favourite place and we should all go so it does well. On a final Japanese note, Jan Moir reviews Umu, London'd first Kyoto style restaurant this week. But I don't think I'll be going there unless it gets better press than this...

Fi's back so you get your full entitlement of interesting articles to excite and titillate you today! thou shall have a fishy on a little dishy - extracts + recipes from Mark Hix's new book Tamasin DL seasonal recipes: stuffed marrow, plums + blueberries blackcurrant + hazelnut meringue from Xanthe Clay banana + honey flapjacks courtesy of the National Trust He's a Fun-Gi to be with! Gordon Ramsay goes all mushy eat your way to health - Locatelli + Ursell give us broccoli chilli + tomato; lobster; bean salad with roasted red onions; and many other things too numerous to fit on this page three from Jill Dupleix Heston Blumenthal makes chips in syrup - what's not to like? Nigel Slater gives a fig

Jay Rayner reviews this place in the Observer this weekend. There's three other South American suggestions at the end of the article.

i like it but i have failed to get a table on several vists here. it gets mobbed.

i'm never sure why people say this place is romantic. I just remember the tables being very close together. But i agree with Stigand on the food; generally sort of high end gastro pub stuff, good ingrediants, seasonal. It's always on my list for Soho.

Fi's on holiday this week so it's just the restaurant round-up for your delectation... Terry Durack thinks that Skye's the limit at Petersham Nurseries near Richmond (The Three Horseshoes in Madindly gets a mention in the round-up) Tracy MacLeod welcomes Daniel Woodburn (ex Tom Aiken) to McClements in Twickenham Giles Coren rails against The Atlantic Bar and Grill but takes comfort in Camerino on Percy Street AA Gill claims that one of the waitresses at Harlam flirted with him. Lies, all lies. Matthew Fort enjoys Allium in Dolphin Square I am confident that Jay Rayner wishes he had gone to Roka rather than tasting Brian Turner's range of sandwiches for RoadChef. What next? Fay Mashchler on Burger King? Actually no, she's at A Greek Affair in Notting Hill And finally, Jan Moir forgot to invite me to have Grouse at St John with her.

I think Marina might not have been reviewing in 2001 but she posts on here so maybe she can tell us! Circe? Where are you?

he went to cafe des amis and pronounced it "very nice"...sorry i don't have any more detail.

There are quite a few threads on here about Islington. Here's the latest What's hot in Islington

duncan from blue was once spotted there. nuff said.

You know I think the man's got it. Or at least looking at first sentence of my piece - 'Why does eating in some expensive restaurants have to be such a hassle?' - I think he has. I return to my first intervention. I thought the argument in my review had been pretty clear, but as the discussion over what the hell I was going on about extends to its second page, I have to conclude that it wasn't. Note to self: try harder next time. BTW - anybody fancy the ROKA bet again? You're just teasing me now Jay. I've read this debate with fascination. Isn't it funny how people hate it when restaurants they like are critisised? If a place is one of the "strongest one stars" I'd expect a darn sight beter service than Jay reports he received. A journalist like Jay writes reviews to sell newspapers and to give anyone who reads the piece an idea what a restaurant is like. I think he wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't report on the whole experience. After all, it is the whole experience that people eat out for. The vast majority of people in the UK don't eat out very much. Certainly not as much as us on here. Perhaps Jay was actually doing a public service by pointing out the service problems. After all, that's what most people will relate to. I know when people ask me about the places I eat in I always mention the service as everyone understands that. Not everyone cares that the sauce was a little over-reduced or that the foie dish was perfectly harmonious.

Nice review of a place called Sangsters in Fife here

Terry Durack hadn't read our thread about al fresco dining before he went to Exmouth Grill while his colleague Richard Johnson goes to the best restaurant in High Wycombe. Is it just me or does Giles Coren look quite cute in his photo? This week he visits Il Pomodorino and The Abbey AA Gill get's all self aware and discusses "fussy old bitch queens" at Pearl Matthew Fort wins my adjective of the week competition with his use of the work honky-tonk in his review of The Stagg Inn in Hertfordshire Jan Moir doesn't get served fried badger spleen at Sangsters in Fife which is a relief. I owe Jay Rayner a tenner as he doesn't review Roka and instead goes to Foliage. Should people be allowed to book tables at quarter past the hour? You can read the thoughts generated by this review here Finally Fay Maschler is back from holiday and finds Islington's Ottolenghi quite easy to stomach. And I hear you cry where are the recipes for this week? Well, Fi has rounded them up like little Bo Peep for you... Slater suggests salads here's the scoop - groovy ideas for icecream Eastern European summer food - gravadlax, shashlik, strawberries Romanov Gordon Ramsay barbecues fish (coley on the coals?) Xanthe Clay gives us a good beeting liberte fraternite and ratatouille - Mark Hix cooks French Saints preserve us! jammin' with Nick Sandler + Johnny Acton There will no recipes next week as Fi is away. I shall see if I can get AA Gill to stand in for her.

reading between the lines i'm not sure aa gill liked this place here's his review of Pearl

I'm in a two day off-site meeting so there's a delay on the roundup. Sorry guys!

thanks everyone for their suggestions. i passed them onto john and will let you know where he ended up. sofra is edging it at the moment.

avoid seraphim in islington at all costs. just next to la trouvaille and it all looks very temping but i'm suffering a mild depression from my meal there. ended up going to la trouvaille for dessert and i can't recommend their chocolate mousse highly enough.

i felt that jay's review had the air of "buyer beware" to it. i guess people are prepared for the stuff that might go wrong before they tip now. i'm still annoyed he hasn't reviewed roka though, i thought my 10 quid was safe.

what is the Air and Water show? I'm in Chicago this weekend and someone has mentioned it to me. can't make drinks :-((