Suzi Edwards

Hey there, I'm trying to stop a friend from going to Bertorellis. He's suggesting Cafe Des Amis instead which I recall as being not bad. He's as tight as you like and a vegetarian so any suggestions for a reasonably priced lunch in Covent Garden? Cheers my lovlies.

i've heard amazing things about their cheese cart as well.

that's what i called haiku.

So, what's going on the restaurant review world? Firstly Terry Durak is in two minds about Pearl Giles Coren goes to Leon but I can't tell you any more than that as I don't subcribe to the site. AA Gill ruminates on American breakfasts and Roka which he really rather enjoys while Matthew Fort comes to a very different conclusion about the same place Bet you 10 quid Jay Rayner reviews Roka next week. Because this week he's at Le Bouchon Bordelais in Clapham. Nina Caplan has found Pomodorino an alternative to the poor pizza joints of Soho Jan Moir has a whale of a time at Mortehoe Shellfish in Devon Fi has found the following delights to tempt you in the food round up: Francesco Quirico boars us Heston Blumenthal on seaweed Nigel Slater sings the blues not so sweet - excess sugar bad for the skin Lucas Hollweg & Momo in the Arabian des(s)ert Xanthe Clay is broad in the bean Preheat Oven To 180 Degrees - student fare from Tamasin Day-Lewis's daughter Mark Hix uses his noodle you'd batter believe it - it's a fish + chips festival in Tuscany

Terry Durak sent the cheese cart away for not being "appealing" enough. review from the Independant

<rant> If the Thai "meal" that room service "enabled" me to get from Silk and Spice last night is anything to go by, you should be happy that Room Service doesn't deliver. My soup has ONE SINGLE TABLESPOON of broth. I measured it. The remainder was made up of two of the smallest prawns I have ever seen, two tomato quarters, a half a button mushroom and a piece of chilli. My prawn red curry had six small prawns, a cup of sauce, two half slices of aubergine, nice pea aubergines and about 8 slices of bamboo shoots. I still cannot speak about the squid. We called Room Service to complain. They were completely unhelpful as the restaurant was closed. They promised a ring back from customer service this morning, but I'm still waiting. The meal cost 31.00GBP. Without a doubt the worst takeaway and service I have received for some time. </rant>

agree completely, you go there for the view. which is incredible.

i've always wondered about doing that (so i'm as least as lazy as you bapi) can you tell me exactly how it all works? do most mini cab firms allow this?

given my meal there was 12 months ago i now feel i can come out and admit that i left oloroso without paying. it wasn't for want of trying, but after asking for the bill three times only to have them not come and take the card after 25 minutes i got the feeling they weren't actually bothered about us paying. so we left.

what a wonderful post howard. thank you! makes me very annoyed that my holiday has been cancelled.

i'm thinking of moving to covent garden at the moment but i don't think it's that good a foodie place.

islington is also pretty good. farmers market on a sunday and a thursday. chapel market every day, steve hatt (probably the best fishmonger in london) and james elliot the butcher. la fromagerie has a store here too. there's also a carluccios, ottolenghi and brindisa for salads and deli stuff as well as a great small italian deli on cross street for hill station ice cream. bakery wise there are two branches of euphorium. restaurant wise it's a bit chain-y but there's lolas, morgan m and moro. you'd be 15 minutes on a bus from oxford street (actually, i'm not sure that's a plus) and 15 minutes from the city. that said, i'd love to live in marylebone as well. so much choice....

fantastic. food is cheaper than ever. *weeps in the corner*

Please remember, some of these sites require you to put your hand in your pocket to read their content... There's a whole world of food related articles out there. We'll kick off with what tickled Fi's fancy this week; Mark Hix says tomato Heston Blumenthal's sherry amour Tamasin Day-Lewis comes out in hives FutureFarms Cooperative - local food for local people Fairtrade food goes gourmet Gordon Ramsay's gone fishin' Three from Jill Dupleix Maroc Stars - Moroccan recipes from Lucas Hollweg and Momo Heston Blumenthal on umami Nigel Slater doesn't answer emails from women called Shelley! Green & Black - a day in the life of a cocoa farmer in Belize Nayla Audi's raw kibbeh and other Lebanese delights The Observer Food Monthly And on the restaurant front The Independant goes Roka crazy. You can compare what Terry Durack and Richard Johnson thought. Giles Coren also visited Roka but you need to be registered with the times online to find out what he thought. Matthew Fort made me think that Rutland might be a place to visit, if only to sample Hambledon Hall Jay Rayner does a Q&A rather than a restaurant view Jan Moir says, nice restaurant, shame about the food when she visits Damian Hirst's new Devonish Delight 11, The Quay Kate Spicer finds Throgmortons a lady pleaser. And finally Fay Maschler isn't friends with Amici

we're going to stay over and put our hands into the railtrack gods. i'm really looking forward to going. are there any dishes that stand out in your mind that were especially good?

Welcome to eGullet! Would you care to tell us a little bit more about your experiences there? I'm going in a couple of weeks and would love to hear more to whet my appetite!

yep, you're right, fi's friend has moved round that way. am sure she'll read this!

thanks for posting jonny. how lovely to see a savory on a menu. which ones do you serve? at this point i should say something coruscating about gary's appearance so you know how to recognise him but having never met him, i've drawing a blank. bapi, can you describe gary so jonny can cower in the corner if he arrives?

shouldn't you be eating a burger at the moment?

my sarcasm-meter is on the blink. are you being serious?

Please remember, some of these sites required paid for regestration to view their online content. First up we have Terry Durak in the Independant wishing Made in Brazil had stayed in Brazil. While his colleague Tracy MacLeod visits The Sun, in Essex and blurs the distinction between pub and gastropub even further. Jan Moir in the Telegraph finds something to complain about at Roka the new venture from the people that brought us Zuma. As long as you avoid the cheese, Giles Corne says Pearl is a pearl of a restaurant, but you can see what our own Gary Marshall thinks on this thread here His colleague AA Gill is away but Martin Ivens has a terrible time at The Cipriani Matthew Fort agrees with everything Andy Lynes says about Rasoi Vineet Bhatia in the Guardian. Jay Rayner wonders if Midsummer House isn't taking the Fat Duck's name in vain in the Observer. You can discuss this review here And has Fay Maschler been reading eGullet? She looks ready to take our own Che Guevara on about Argentinian beef with a review of the Gaucho Grill And the glorious Fi has gathered this weeks best food related articles for you all... from the Sunday Times cooking Moroccan with Momo - first of a three-part series from The Times Gordon Ramsay just loves to wander around farmers' markets extracts from GR's book Kitchen Heaven three from Jill Dupleix Michel Roux vanishes from The Observer Nigel Slater grills from The Independent Annie Bell eats seasonally Mark Hix - it's not Grecian 2000 from The Guardian lovely lamb Heston Blumenthal - a breath of fresh air from The Telegraph caraway seed cake Xanthe Clay cherry-picks cherries Tamasin Day-Lewis nel giardino Edit because I was wrong about the Times Online

LOL I feel the same way about my French Laundry cookbook and that's in English. That said, sometimes you realise that something isn't as hard as you thought it might be (Salmon Cones) and something that seems really easy (Parsley Oil) turns out to be a complete disaster.

I spend a lot of time in the US where a 20% tip is the norm. You never see a service or a cover charge. In the UK, if someone levys a 12.5% service chrage, that's all they get from me. But if the service is good and there is no service charge we tip 15-20%.

A pint of real ale is something of a British Instution. Don't drink it myself, but I figure it's one of those things that visitors from overseas might enjoy. So, where are the quintessential British pubs? Not Gastropubs, there's a thread for them elsewhere. What are the hallmarks of a British Pub? Any regional differences? Is there anywhere we can recommend in London that doesn't serve wine from Stowells of Chelsea? Any hints on British pub ettiquette?

I'm afraid i didn't have a great experience at the new hema's kitchen on sunday night. The service was stretched beyond breaking point. I stood and waited for 25 minutes for a table but I wouldn't have minded except there were six tables free, they just had dirty plates on them. My appetiser arrived without cutlery, but as it was luke warm that wasn't a problem, still no cutlery when my prawn vindaloo arrived (this time actually better than before with bigger prawns) Another solo diner arrived and sat for about 15 minutes before he was told that they were closed. I hope these are teething problems. It was painful watching the guys try to cope. I was almost tempted to give them a hand clearing plates at one point. I'm not sure the food is good enough to see them through if they don't get this sorted. I will go back, but I'll wait a while. Or maybe go back to the one on Devon.