SamanthaF
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Posts posted by SamanthaF
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With most pubs now serving food, they are generally not dog friendly. And IMHO (as a German Shepherd owner) I do not disagree with this.
Well behaved dogs should be welcome in pub gardens in the burbs and country.
(Hopefully your Norfolk came complete with tail.)
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Anyone agree with me that he's the best chef in London today?
No.
Most over rated chef in London IMHO.
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John wood was at Chapter One before he went on his travels etc..
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Waitrose's own brand are Colombian Blacktail eggs.
That isn't the only variety of own-brand eggs which Waitrose sells.
I'm sorry to say I prefer their Cotswold Legbar eggs mostly because they come in pretty shades of greeny blue.
Maybe I should try doing a blind taste test sometime to see whether the interesting colour really does make them taste any different than the Colombian Blacktail ones.
We buy the Cotswold Legbar eggs. V nice with fat orange yolks. Sometimes double yolkers.
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Only if he's using it to sell his restaurant, or as a container in which to marinate his Rabbit - something for which hat's are remarkably useful, imparting a certain je ne sais chapeau quoi.
Moby, is that a rogue apostrophe I see? :)
I have not eaten at the Fat Duck, though my head chef has... came back with a silly grin on his face, if that's a positive indication...
That wasn't a grin. It was the grimace left over from when he got the bill.
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Understood perfectly Paula. Thank you.
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Paula,
You regularly rec'/hype LG and write your great poetry about it. Is there any disclosure (that I may have missed) about your (possible) association with LG?
SF
samantha,
you write of experiences with an increasing disconnect to my own, do I presume a poisoned association with LG?
seriously,
Paula's fondness for this place is not unique, and your import is a perhaps little harsh...
No poisoned association at all. Some parts of my experience there were very positive, but as mentioned and explained previously, I feel that the restaurant is extremely over rated and IMHO not worthy of its acreditation.
No malice intented to Paula whatsoever. But I do consider that her raptures to the place are slightly unique, and could be explained by an association.
I mean, even Gary Marshall doesn't write poetry about Anthonys!
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Otto - nothing else compares.
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Le Grand Cafe is open 365 24/7.
Great for people watching and not bad (if a wee bit overpriced) food.
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It seems that Mr Oliver is a hit in the US. Can you do us all a favour and keep him there.
Luvvly Jubbly.
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I can only assume that all of you must have read that Gourmet issue in question to disagree so emphatically.
Can I assume then that you think that London is the dining capital of the world?
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London has got to have one of the most pedestrian and boring dining scenes in the World at the moment - (although our Ethnic cheap eats are pretty good.) Give me NYC, Barcelona or Paris over London any day.
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a cheese course that consisted of some goats cheese on a stick
I've got this mental image of a smartly suited waiter wheeling up a trolley to the table, lifting a cloche to reveal half an upturned grapefruit stuck with various things on toothpicks. "Would madame like to sample the cheese and pineapple today, or we have some badly overcooked cocktail sausages? Some cheesey footballs perhaps?"
Andy,
I would have been delighted if they had bought the cheese trolley to us, but they didn't. The cheese we were given was the cheese we had to have. 2 bits of crap on a plate.
That was a big no no in my book. If I'm paying near on a ton for food alone, I want the trolley if it lists cheese on the menu. To compare the goats cheese with a lump of Tesco Value mild Cheddar on a stick would be fair.
Cheesey footballs would have gone down well at the end of that meal. ( Or frazzles.
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The big problem with Tayyab at the moment is the renovations they are going through.
Let the guy's finish and every thing will be back to (chaotic) normal.
But, as we all know, it's well worth the pain and the wait.
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Just remembered! They failed the "Napkin Test"* as well.
*See the aknowledgements in Jay Rayners The Apologist.
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"Blimey, guv, I ain't taken no-one there in years." Thus spoke my cabbie in the approved argot, as he headed toward Le Gavroche. Thirty years plus in the Roux family, and once a three star, I think it's fair to say that Le G just isn't much talked about any more. I had no trouble switching my La Tante Claire reservation for a table for two here, but I found the dining room comfortably full on Wednesday evening, I suspect with long-time repeat customers spending plenty of money.
The service lived up to its billing, attentively coddling from the moment of arrival. From an ice-cold street, into a warm, comfortable, spacious bar - how nice to find a restaurant with an adequate, separate bar area. Champagne and canapes - soft gull's egg, crab salad - while awaiting my dining companion. All staff seemed to be French, and I was impressed by what I would describe as a "total service" experience; everyone seemed equally equipped and willing to explain wine, take a drink order, discuss the menu, accept a coat, talk about the weather... Although the traditional ranks among the serving staff clearly exist, it was a refreshing change from the usual demarcation of labor. And the service was friendly and smiling as well as efficient.
We ordered at the bar, then descended into the dining room. This was my first visit; it has been suggested that the room has been refurbished recently, but I saw nothing which differed from my expectations. The racing green colors, oil paintings, and Le Gavroche mascot (a little urchin on the plates, cutlery, cloches, etc) were all present. It was a little noisier, and the tables closer together, than I had imagined. Also, a huge shock to someone living in the States, some people were smoking; not intrusively, but noticeably.
Nothing innovative or challenging on the menu, thanks god. No fusion, no Asian accents, no interesting garnishes. A list of solid French classics, with a couple of game specials. I ordered a dish which must have been at least a hundred years old when Liebling described it: coeur d'artichaut Lucullus - a tender artichoke heart stuffed with foie gras and black truffles, topped with a cap of chicken mousse as light as a beaten egg white, truffled demi-glace sauce.
Rejecting the wild boar, I chose the assiette des chausseurs. A large (and chewy and salty) potato galette was the base for a mound of tasty venison (roe deer, I believe), teal and snipe breasts, and a snipe head complete with beak. A red wine sauce, helped out with mushrooms and more black truffles, spinach to garnish the plate. Apart from the potato, an entirely successful dish.
The cheese trolley was all it should be; large, French, and everything looking the right sort of age. Also, none of this "three cheeses for $18" nonsense; you ordered what you fancied. No fruit confits either. The sommelier guided us to one of a number of Cote Roties in the 75-80 pound range, a very pleasant '97.
My slender and delicate companion, having licked her plates clean of scallops and roast lamb, managed a good heap of cheese. Neither of us were capable of dessert, suspecting rightly that petits fours would appear. Chocolates, jellied fruits, macaroons (not brilliant) came with coffee. The waiter suggested a cognac, but I insisted he wheel the groaning digestif trolley over. My companion, practically a teetotaller, demurred, but after discussing a giant bottle of prune eau de vie with the sommelier was comped to half a pint or so, which she swallowed to my amazement. I took a 1973 Bas Armagnac.
Since a number of people I have spoken to about this are considering going, let's not be shy about the price. Around 270 pounds for two, including service (hey, service included in the bill, I love it.) Depending on your exchange rate, that's around $440. Expensive but not insane. You could push it up by ordering dessert, but there are less expensive wines on the list too. A complete experience, and quite excellent - if you are prepared to eat food which the chef did not invent last week.
I will definitely return. I need to eat the organic farmhouse pig: belly, ears and trotters with pommes aligote.
Interesting to note that that todays exchange rate that is nearly 500 dollars for ALC - not even the Tasting.
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Paula,
You regularly rec'/hype LG and write your great poetry about it. Is there any disclosure (that I may have missed) about your (possible) association with LG?
SF
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Le Gavroche is a restaurant that I just can't get excited about. I had one of the most expensive, uncomfortable and bland dinners here last year. 2 stars? IMHO it's hugely overated.
I guess it must be a case of different strokes for different folks. I am not sure what you found uncomfortable about it, but I'm intrigued - was it the seats, or where you were sitting?
I was wondering, how much did you expected to spend, how much _did_ you spend, and what wine were you drinking?
Personally I would struggle to call the food bland, even though I have had a couple of times when I have not been over-excited about the food on the menu exceptionnel and the one time I went a la carte, although balance that with the fact that I have dined at LG about twenty times in the past couple of years. I wonder if you were dining a la carte or the Menu Exceptionel?
Regarding the two stars, IMHO I have no problem in regarding it as a fair evaluation - I would actually put it at 2.7 stars if there was the choice.
And I hated the way that they pimp their wares at every opportunity. Has anyone really got all of the LG crap that you can buy from the brochures?I agree with you about this, although to be honest I don't even notice the card on the table any more or the books at reception. I can't say that it iritates me in the way you obviously are!
I witnessed an interesting situation in LG last week. An seemingly well-moneyed chap of the old money variety close to retirement was entertaining three other gentlemen, and what can only be described as their 'escorts' for the evening. They were hitting the Dom Perignon and Petrus in a big way. Rather than ordering their starters & mains at the beginning of the meal, they ordered the starters, consumed them, then had the menu back, then ordered their mains.
They then decided that they'd complain that they'd had to wait too long for their mains. Silvano tried to explain that the food was prepared and timed to reflect ordering all together at the start of the meal, but it fell on deaf ears.
By the way, LG has been completely non smoking in the restaurant since the beginning of the year. If you want a smoke, you must go upstairs to the bar.
The old sofa area is now used for dining, and the spots adjacent the kitchen door that sometimes draw criticism are no longer used for dining.
Cheers, Howard
Uncomfortable because it was the hottest day of last year and there was a fault with the AC in the restaurant - and yet they still insisted that men keep their jackets on. Additionally uncomfortable as there were six of us at a table which was better suited for four. The placing of glasses (red, white and water) made any false move on the table to be a hazzard.
How much did I expect to spend? I spent pretty much what I expected. (I didn't go there expecting a 2.99 dinner)
We spent "a lot".I had the tasting menu. And you know what, I know it was bland as I can't remember most of what I ate. (Compare this to a meal at Ramsays RHR in 2002 when I can even tell you how the food was placed on my plate, or my first meal of 5 at Anthonys in the last 9 months when I can give you precise details of most of the courses.) Things I do recall - A good scallop dish. A really boring course that was described as a rack of lamb, but was infact a single (very small) cutlet served with baby veg in a potato basket (tres 70's), a cheese course that consisted of some goats cheese on a stick and something else equally nasty and a dessert that could have been prepared by me that morning.
When I eat out at this level, I want WOW factor, I want comfort and I don't want to be sold anything but my meal and my wine. LG did not (on this occasion) meet any of these requirements whatsoever.
So to give LG 2.7 stars is (IMHO) hilarious, but as you say, different strokes an all that.
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Le Gavroche is a restaurant that I just can't get excited about. I had one of the most expensive, uncomfortable and bland dinners here last year. 2 stars? IMHO it's hugely overated.
And I hated the way that they pimp their wares at every opportunity. Has anyone really got all of the LG crap that you can buy from the brochures?
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Margots - Padstow?
By morning a deli come tea shop, by night a (very) serious restaurant.
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The interview they showed on GreatFood Live yesterday must have been before he partyed.
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so I’ll need to see scott’s piccies to add more detail.
I think we'd all like to see scott's piccies. I am American so I am hoping to God that means pictures!?!?!
Sorry Ducphat,
But we can't post them here. If you go to the Anthonys website, you will see lots of yummy food pics.
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MOst impressive moment was Olga remembering what we'd had last time in--given it was about three months ago, that wasn't bad going. Oh, and going all star struck and getting the four team members to sign a brochure for Mrs. W to commemorate her birthday.
it's all about the details isn't it? bet you didn't go thirsty either
2 out of the 3 serving staff are ex-el bulli, A 3 star michelin - and it shows.
denis at no3 has experience at various 1-2 stars in europe and again you can tell.
cheers
gary
It's for reasons such as this that I think that Suzi must have been at at different restaurant from the comments that she posted.
Dog friendly places in London?
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
What about people that have allergies to dogs? Or don't want pet hair in their food? Some dogs are also smelly - Eau d' Doggy whilst I'm eating, no thanks.
I'm playing devils advocate here because although I'm a dog owner, I don't want to chow down with my pet unless I'm in a pub garden. (same withs kids actually