Suzi Edwards

I used to go to Sala Thong on Newnham Street. It's not too far from Clare and is reasonably reliable and inexpensive. Haven't been for a while- would be interested to know if it's still OK. Will you report back? We don't have a huge amount of stuff about Cambridge. That Chinese place looks great though.

There are no hotel rooms in Liverpool this weekend, just in case you haven't already booked a place to stay. I've just spent over two hours booking a room. I'm eating at Fraiche so will be able to report back. I'm only staying for one night otherwise I would have gone to the London Carriage Works as well.

I just had a quick look through all of the reviews and none of them are for Orrery. Eat and Two Veg got a slaying from Gill though.

Have a look at these threads... Organic Circle of Hell Home Delivery In London I've recently stopped using Farmaround and am currently supplier-less. So I also look forward to any suggestions. Don't forget www.solstice.co.uk for when you're having a dinner party. Not sure it's feasible to have a weekly delivery from them.

There's this thread about Bath and Glastonbury but it's a bit old. I've been back to FishWorks since that report, had another really good meal and the service was much better. There's also the The Moody Goose that's mentioned in the first thread. Giles Coren reviewed Le Quartier Vert in Bristol recently- I had a very good meal on my last visit so can second his recommendation.

You might want to read this thread about where shall I live in London.

And so it came to pass. Suzi has her first Ethiopian meal. I was right, Merkato has moved from its large premises on Caledonian Road and been replaced with Marathon Restaurant. Having two choices so close together was tough but I based my decision on the fact that Merkato has an outside terrace and I wanted to sit in the sun. I didn't really know what to choose so I asked my waitress for some help. After a few questions she pointed me towards a spicy lamb dish, the name of which I didn't write down and I think she wrote down the wrong dish for me as having checked I definitely ate lamb and not "awaze tibs" which is a beef dish. The food came served with the traditional Injera bread and having spooned my salad and the lamb onto the Injera my waitress was off with a quick "hope you're ready to eat with your hands". All food tastes better when eaten with your fingers and when you're sitting in the sun even the Caledonian Road was a beautiful place to be. The lamb was served in a thin spicy sauce with lots of onion and green peppers. The sauce has a much thinner consistency than Indian sauces and the spicing was much more pungent and peppery. The flavour was less layered and complex than Indian food, but very enjoyable none the less. It was served with a fresh salad spiced up with diced green chili scattered across the top. The Injera was the revelation for me. Made out of Tef it was sour and doughy, a little yeasty and served cold. It was an excellent foil to the thin sauce and the salad. I will go back in a heartbeat, even though the lamb wasn't the highest quality, and next time with a group so I can taste a wider variety of dishes. Merkato Restaurant 196 Caledonian Road 020 7713 8952

I went for tea at Sketch last week and it was absolutley wonderful. We really just had tea and beautiful little pastries but I would go back in a heartbeat. The room is glorious- perspex stags heads on the walls and the menus come popped into an old book. It's a real mix of victoriana and modern, with old fashioned fringed lampshades covered with a huge modern one. Even the waitresses uniforms are fabulous, swirly purple Diana Von Furstenberg-like wrap dresses. The tea choice is mainly green, white and Japanese although there's also Earl Gray, English Breakfast and herbal. My brother's English Breakfast wasn't great, it looked a little like dish water but I think that's because he steeped it for too long and then added too much milk. My white tea was much better, zingy, fresh and perfectly steeped. There are about 15 different cakes to choose from, but cake feels like the wrong word for these beautiful, colourful creations. Choosing was a bit like deciding between your favourite pieces of jewellery, so as is my way I chose two. Gagnaire described the cakes as representing Quote from The Pierre Gagnaire website. My memory fails on exactly which I chose, but the fruit one (almond and rhubarb mainly) was more sucessful than the chocolate one with tonka bean which I found a little bit too subtle. Both had the most perfect patisserie bases though- as crisp as you could get and a great vessel for the creamy, fruity goodness above.I just loved this place and can't wait to go back and try the sandwiches. Not a scone in sight though, so this probably isn't a place for afternoon tea purists.

I don't think they sell clothes. But they have very sucessfully branched out into financial services so you can now bank with Sainburies bank, get your pet insurance through them and get a loan from them.

Shoes+chocolate=perfect gift

Choccywoccydoodah do some fun things and the chocolate is high quality (can't remember the make now, sorry) They are more known for cakes but looks like they are doing some interesting stuff for Easter. The chocolate shop in Liberty had some nice stuff. Mainly Rococco but there were a few other bits and bobs dotted around. They have some amusing choclate cigarettes with a health warning sticker on the side that says "Eating sweets when pregnant will make you fatter". I got some for Moby.

Yeah, you're right Andy. And it is about the nations health. We should thank them for using 75% less cheese than the chef suggested in a pasta dish because that way we're eating so much less saturated fat.

I quite like Mahgreb on Upper Street for Moroccan but I would strongly suggest sticking with the couscous and tagines. Haven't been for a while. but this place seems quite popular. I think there has been some movement in the Ethiopians on Caledonian Road. The large one that occupied the really big corner spot (Merkato?) seems to have moved into smaller premises across the street. I've never had Ethiopian food so I think I will pop over for lunch today and report back.

I have a former Chef friend (former Chef, not former friend) who used to do consultancy for both M&S and Satanburies. The stories that he told me about creating delicious food and then having to downgrade all of the ingredients so that the supermarkets fod costs were as low as humanely possible really depressed him and me. He no longer works for them.

What's a sticky Bapi? I'm having a strange mental image that I'm not sure is entirely healthy.

I've been going here quite regularly for Dim Sum lunches and had continued to be very impressed. The turnip puff is exceptional as are both the char sui pork buns and the baked pork buns. Monday was a disappointment for me though as we had to send back both the pork and seafood Xiao Long Bao as they didn't have any broth in. The replacements were a little better, but still not up to their early high standard. I'll continue to go back, but at this time my enthusiasm is waning a little.

Thanks to Culinary Bear's lovely post I've booked to eat here on the 2nd. I called to book yesterday and ended up chatting with Marc for 30 minutes. I think I was a welcome respite to fixing the central heating, which is what he was doing when I called. It's just him and one other in the kitchen at the moment and it's all hands on deck when it comes to cooking as well as the general upkeep of the restaurant. Am really looking forward to this place. We're going for the 6 course tasting menu rather than the 12 course signature menu as I'm eating with a vegetarian and Marc can easily accomodate him over 6 courses. I was interested to chat with Marc about a la carte vs tasting menus and discover that a lot of their business is tasting menus. Feels to me like Marc knows what he wants to serve and I'm guessing this was a bold move for this area that seems to be paying off.

You've heard about our new hot desking policy? It's insane, crustacea everywhere. Joking aside, I would use the fridge.

I didn't realise you had posted about places not being open later. I wasn't actually refering to you. For me the choice is clear. If I want fish I go to the fishmongers. Sometimes I go at the weekend and freeze the fish, sometimes I go in the morning. I would rather do that than the secondary choice of buying fish from the supermarket. Because if I don't find a way to go to the fishmonger, soon it will be closed and then I'll have to go to the supermarket. And I'd rather pull out and fry my own tongue than eat fish from Satanburies. To answer your second point I think the reason why fishmongers don't open later is that they're up very early. I believe Billingsgate fish market opens at about 3.00am. Of course entrepreneurial fishmongers like Moxons do open later because they are in an area that will support it. I think there's a butchers in Hammersmith that does the same. Maybe independant retailers could take a leaf out of the supermarket's books and stay open all night? I just think we've ended up in a world of instant gratification. I, personally, don't think that the world is a better place because I can buy trimmed fine beans from Kenya and a family size box of Quality Street at 3.00am. Nor do I believe that independant shopkeepers, who have a hard enough time of it as it is with the supermarket threat, should stay open later and have a lower quality of life to make my life easier. I'll take my hair shirt off now.

Most butchers and fishmongers open quite early so it's often possible to pick up stuff on the way to work rather than moaning that nowhere's open on the way back :-)

You might want to try posting this in the "general" forum. As this is the UK forum you are most likely to get responses about goods based in the UK.

Interesting points about her arguement. What sort of non-food items are you talking about? I personally find the statistic that Tesco sells 15% of all chart CDs terrifying and I only see the supermarket hegemony growing stronger. If it carries on like this we'll soon only have one place to go to buy *everything* That said, I did find myself in Satanburies recently and was impressed that they seem to have a much wider range of UK grown produce than I have ever seen before.

Luckily (for me) I just happening to be going to a wedding in Canadia shortly after Labor Day so...I'll probably come (again) Yipee (for Varmit)

Nebulous is one word you could use to describe it. There are many more, none of which are suitable for this board :-)

I was hoping for the perfect meal, but then, every time I sit down to eat in a restaurant I've been admiring I'm hoping for the perfect meal. Sometimes expectations can get in the way and you end up disappointed. I planned a trip to California from London to eat at Manresa. I had two sublime meals. Wouldn't call them perfect though. I'm just writing up a report. I guess I ate so much I'm having "the dissertation" problem. So I figure if I can fly five and half thousand miles to eat there there's no great shakes to drive one and a half hours :-)