Suzi Edwards

i've heard that browns is "better" than claridges for tea, but i have been to neither. however, i have the *beautiful* chinaware they use at claridges, green & white art deco style from memory, so if i were to go for tea, i would go there.

trendy...hmmm. i'll second circe's loungelover, you might also try keston lodge in islington...it's not velvet rope but it has hoxton square feel which is a certain type of uk trendy which might be quite fun for you. for eurotrash trendy, go to noble rot or sketch. foodwise, it has to be st john (i prefer bread and wine on commercial road and it's close to lounge lover) and hakkasan for me. i always feel not quite trendy enough for st john, they do that british cool thing almost too well, but you're almost guarenteed to spot tracy emin :-0 have cocktails in hakkasan's ling ling lounge too. we don't have anywhere that has the buzz of, say wd-50. i think you're really spoiled there...but hopefully you can get something uniquely london... buzz wise there's the wolesley, but i haven't been so i can't comment. you might be underwhelmed by the "celebrites" you see and i can't comment on the food. hope this helps!

there's andrew edmunds on (i think) lexington. they've always fitted me in when i've called and it's pretty good food. i recommend it a lot. but you're right, soho is poor. while we're on the subject, can anyone recommend bars in soho? i never know where to meet....

gastropubs.... i've been waiting for this thread for a while. i regularly experience huge disappointment with gastropubs. i've decided it's because they generally cook the kind of food i cook at home, but often at restaurant prices and with a smoker next to me. and it drives me mad. so, i'm looking for those gastropubs that consistently deliver good food at reasonable prices. i'm also keen to hear if other people share my frustration...

avoid the cakeshop on shirland road. raoul's deli at the top of clifton road is good. best bet is baker and spice though, as gavin suggested.

Olive oil.... I have a couple of very nice olive oils that i use for finishing off dishes and salad dressings. But I don't think I have a good oil to cook with. What do you use for everyday cooking? Where do you get it from? Is there anything half good in the supermarkets (specifically Sainsburies?) Has anyone been to "Oliviers & Co"? Is it any good?

i've had the same problems as you. i think london-eating might come to the top most as they have either retained the services of search engine optimisation person, or they have paid for the honour. i think that www.squaremeal.co.uk quite useful, it usually has a web address (if the restaurant has one) might be a bit easier than googling?

don't tempt me at the moment. *sips water*

jack and i went to zaika last night. it was a sort of serendipidous happening really as i've wanted to eat here for a while and as i really early for our show i went for a wander and noticed it. they could fit us in, et voila. so i wander back to meet jack and then remembered that we're detoxing. indian restaurants are better known for retoxing. but i called them up and they were so incredibly helpful about accomodating our requests i was reassured. there was some confusion when the menus came and i explained our situation, but the maitre d pointed out which things we could have. i'm not convinced that everything we ate was diary free, but i'm not going to complain as what we ate was so delicious i've decided not to care. we started with an amuse of cauliflower soup that made me realise that i was probably too hard on the soup at latium, as it also suffered from a flouriness. the kitchen promised us that it was made with coconut milk, but the flavour wasn't there for me. things got better with two exceptional starters - tandoori smoked salmon for me and tandoori prawns with cumin and chili with pickled prawns for jack. the salmon was served as three delicious chunks and the smoking still came through the spicing. jack says his prawns were the best he's ever eaten. his only complaint was that there were only two of them. this is high praise indeed from jack. our mains were the lobster dish that others have described on here (and it was as delicious as they all say, but the surprise for me was how good the brocolli risotto was) and a pickled chicken masala. this was so good i swapped half my lobster for less than half of the chicken. the spice was perfect and the sour flavour really did it for me. bhatia has a real understanding of texture, something i usually don't find in indian restaurants. this, for me, was a really enjoyable meal, despite feeling like puritan twins with our bottle of water and anxious questions to the serving staff. my only complaint was that the chair were far to comfortable and there was no turnip on the menu.

andy, you have no idea how tempting a cheese board sounds at the moment. i'm on day five of a detox (no booze, red meat, sugar, refined foods, wheat, dairy and fun) and would give my right arm for a good plate of cheese and a glass on red wine. cheers for the info, i'm really looking forward to going now.

i can't wait to eat here. i am planning my next trip to chicago and WILL be eating here. please keep me drooling with lots of reviews...

we ended up going to the three horseshoes for sunday lunch...i have a recollection of it being fairly good... that said, i cannot remember what we had to eat. not a sausage. actually, that's right, no-one had any sausage. there was none on the menu. i don't think this is necessarily a bad sign. although i do usually remember food in the minutest detail. it was all sort of vaguely mediterranian...busy, nice bread and a useless sommelier. jack says his carpaccio was sliced very thickly. it would appear he had carpaccio and then steak. he always has the beef. we stayed at the hotel felix which i thought was very good. we got a great deal on laterooms.com. the restaurant looked pretty good too but we just grabbed a snack in the bar so i can't really comment on what they are doing. certainly looked appealing, quite a long menu with a mediateranian slant.

i'm gobsmacked by that article. i think she's read "kitchen confidential", got a bee in bonnet because they didn't roll out the red carpet and is looking for some revenge. but most of all i can't believe the hubris of her comments about food in good restaurants being cooked by barely literate adolescents (my paraphrasing)...i'm not sure i saw any of jamie's trainees discussing proust over the lobsters in any of the episodes i watched. in fact, they struck me more as barely literate adolescents....

but in the a team for cocktails which is easily as important :-)

andy, i'm going here next month. can you let me know what his signature dishes are? anything especially good i should be looking out for?

i would LOVE to do this. but i don't think i can :-( let me check and get back to you. jack will probably be up for it. he knows a lot about music. mainly american hard rock. a subject i have managed to avoid for the longest time...

"This is the kind of wacky stuff that appeals to chefs and industry professionals in the same way that fashionistas are charmed by avant garde, but unwearable hats." i'm going later this month. i'll be sure to wear my phillip treacy hat.

just like the ivy then :-)

that's the wolesley, it's the new place from chris corbin and jeremy king. haven't been yet, but the celebrity buzz is strong. i hear the neologists say it's the new ivy. there is probably a review on here....

last night i started my wine appreciated course, so i am hoping to be able to contribute more and more to this thread. i mean, i've always drunk wine, but i am not sure i've ever really had much to say about it other than "i liked or didn't like it" if anyone is interested in a week by week overview of what i am learning, let me know and i could start a new thread about it.

perhaps this is the year they are really recognising the molecular gastronomy thing? what's the rest of europe looking like? is there a pattern?

it's on malvern terrace, just off shirland road and past the (in)famous chippenham pub. it's not the nicest of streets and you can easily walk past the place but it's well worth it. i like to sit upstairs. there's also an indian on this road called panshi that used to do fab breads. but i have not eaten there for a long time.. also, don't forget the vale, on the corner of shirland. am now wishing i still lived in maida vale.

we ended up going to the waterway. it's definitely more pub than gastro-pub as the loud music really spills over into the dining area. the food was pretty good though. the standout dishes were some angus carpaccio and a duck confit starter served as a main course. there is a focus on really good ingredients here which i think makes this a good spot. that said, if you've never been to meson bilbao i'd recommend that over the waterway any day.

the review in the sunday times seems to suggest that the manager is the same person as when i was there. good review though.

i guess it's not always about how expensive a meal is though. i would recommend gagnaire though, went last week and it was very, very good. hasn't sketch just become the lastest uber expensive place for london's "glitterati" rather than a serious restaurant for people who like food?