Carlovski

I don't know why lots of people think that you only should make an effort when cooking for others. Dining alone is the best time to get out your best wine, cook your favourite meal, use the best ingredients. As for what to eat off, I am not that fussed though. As I cook for just myself most of the time anyway it tends to be the reverse argument for me, When I am cooking for company I can make things which don't scale down too well, and don't make good leftovers (For example, I find Risotto easier to make for 2). Eating alone is the perfect time to eat steak, have a stir fry, or eat things that none of your friends like (Which for me tends to be Chicken livers or anything where I can raise the chilli limit!)

I think that 'Toro' is the belly cut of a tuna. The richest, fattiest part. You are right - I was getting confused with 'Ahi'.

Slightly picky point (And I may be wrong!) but wouldn't "Toro" of Hawaiian Big Eye Tuna, translate as "Tuna" of Tuna? I know Keller likes to play with his menu descriptions, but that one would be just bizarre!

London, A Biography is a great read. And the sort of one you can dip into whenever you like - each chapter stands alone well. Foodwise I am going through Dear Francesca by Mary Contini, and the independent cook by Jeremy Round. Both excellent to read, with some lovely recipes.

We had a bit of a discussion on this Here. You don't have to get hold of guanciale though! I think I put my recipe in there somewhere - definitely the best

Back to the weight watchers cards, Fish Taco? Surely that was never a real dish! (For those with a slightly less puerile sense of humour, Fish Taco is a rather offensive slang term for a certain area of a womans anatomy)

Well, here are some of my horror stories. - A bizarre pasta bake, made with a tin of condensed soup (Mushroom probably - "Borrowed" from housemate) and the filling from some particularly cheap and nasty frozen sausages (Leftovers from a BBQ). Added some Dijon and a bit of onion to make it palatable. Surprisingly tasty! - Pea, kidney bean and pasta 'soup'. Sounds nasty. Was nasty. - Sardine and chickpea fishcakes. Tinned salmon works ok, and you can make a sort of mash with chickpeas (Which on it's own works quite well!), so why not? I can tell you why not, they fall apart and taste minging. Though the principle is sound. Maybe I'll try again!

If I find anywhere new and decent in southampton - I'll let you know for next time.

Sorry to hear that Sandra. You are right. It was boiling on Friday. I think it probably is an unjustifiable expense for most small restaurants to install air conditioning in this country, for the amount of time it is necessary. Maybe worth raising in it's own thread - i'm sure Basildog could give us the restauranters opinion. Since you are saiing types I should have mentioned the jolly sailor at burlsedon - It's the one out of Howards Way! I've never been in though. I probably should have guessed everywhere could be busy on a Friday night - sorry! I was only joking about going to Pizza express if you were desperate! Next time you are down at the south coast, I'd recommend a day in Poole - lovely harbour and a couple of decent seafood places. I'm sure one of them must have a terrace!

Sounds like food at sports is considerably better outside the UK. For Football (Soccer to my American friends) We have gone from extremey dodgy pies, to overpriced, low quality franchise type operations in premier league grounds (You can still get a dodgy pie in the lower leagues though). I try not to eat at football grounds. Cricket used to be great for taking a picnic, and a coolbox full of beer, but I'd be surprised if they haven't clamped down on that as well. I haven't been to a big game in years.

That is very true. But if you see the two as different recipes - one, a more authentic, refreshing zingy accompaniment and the other more as a tasty and filling starchy side dish then there is room for both. For a BBQ, I would go with the second - unless you plan to have lots of different salads/sides as well.

In the UK nearly all the Supermarket chains have there own range of sherries - usually a couple of cream sherries, a Fino, an Amontillado and sometimes a Manzanilla. Anyone have any idea who actually produces these wines for them? Some of them are surprisingly drinkable (Especially for the price).

Right about Chilli's - avoid like the plague. I had to go there once - It was someone's birthday, and for some reason, he wanted to go - so off we all travelled into London (I don't think anyone actually lived anywhere near it) on a special trip to go there! I am not averse to a bit of travel for a special dish. Unfortunately a whole deep fried onion doesn't really cut it (And that was the highlight!).

My advice is if you are scaling up is to try and make it in a fairly long and wide container - if you just use a deep bowl it can get quite claggy at the bottom, and doesn't mix too well. You can soak the Bulghar in some vegetable stock fairly well ahead for it to soften, but don't add the other ingredients (Especially tomatoes and herbs) until the last minute.

As I rarely eat dessert, even in restaurants, I must say I rarely make one. Usually only if I'm cooking for someone I know loves desserts. Otherwise, on the rare occasions I do have any dessert, it tends to just be ice cream. Though I sometimes knock up a batch of chocolate sauce for it! On saying that, I have almost finished a rather large tub of smarties ice cream (Sounds rubbish - but is fab, in a trashy kind of way!) in the last two days. But we are having a bit of a heatwave in the UK at the moment (Meant to be the hottest on record today or tomorrow).

It's a tricky one. Sharing a kitchen is bad enough. Sharing cooking duties is even worse. The advantages are clear - It can be cheaper, it becomes more practical to buy some things in bulk, some recipes just don't work for one, and everyone gets nights off from cooking. My advice is to not try and cook for everyone every night. Have one night a week where a person cooks for the others (Or just do it once a week, on a rota). Then you can make it an occasion (Plenty of wine!). Then try and do it informally - If someone is cooking, and there is someone else in, then they should make an extra portion, if the other guy wants some. It should all balance out. The real arguments tend to come with the cleaning and washing up anyway..... Of course this doesn't work to well if there is only one foody type person in the house, and the rest live off pizza and ready meals (Like my current place!)

Anyone read Douglas Copelands 'Microserfs'? There is one bit where one guy locks himself in. They have to pass him flat food under his door, and he declares that from then on he is only going to eat 2 dimensional food. Personally I always have a stash of Nissin Cup noodles in my desk.

I've chipped in my ha'pennyworth. I am preparing to be lynched by any spanish members.....

I always add onion - I'm sure it is frowned on by some - but I like the sweetness it adds. The way I cook mine is probably a little wasteful - But I like it. The trick is to cook the potatoes in a vast quantity of decent olive oil (I know you normally shouldn't - but don't let the heat get too high - more like poaching the potatoes in the oil) slowly until soft, adding the onions about halfway through. then let them cool, where they start absorbing even more oil! Then drain off any excess oil, and add the well seasoned eggs. I prefer it at room temperature, and still moist in the middle (Which the oil helps with) but slightly browned on the top and bottom (Unlike french omelettes). I find it's one of those dishes where you need to cook quite a large one (6-8 eggs, big pan!) - smaller ones just don't work as well, and use relatively more oil.

Some simple recipes (If you can even call them that!) which I have been surprised by the success of are :- Spaghetti with (Good quality) bacon. The bacon fat lubricates the pasta (With the help of a knob of butter) - crispy bacon provides contrast. Nice with a few crushed dried chillies too. Potato Dauphinoise with the addition of smoked mackerel. A meal in itself with salad on the side. Both of these were pretty much lifted off Nigel Slater. A good source for simple recipes. Lamb casserole cooked with Sherry and Chorizo. You get an amazing depth of flavour, for something so simple to make. Also good with the addition of Pimenton (My fave spice of the moment) and possibly bulked out with chickpeas. Spanish omelette - Not very original, but amazing how just potato, onion and eggs (and copious amounts of olive oil!) can produce something so good.

I was introduced to Indian food at an early age by my Father, who was a bit of a 'Curry Pioneer' in his day - He used to go on his own to restaurants in Manchester (There were none in the suburbs then), until he started persuading his friend to join him. We used to go to the Rusholme area of manchester, where there is the infamous curry mile (Interestingly the restaurants, takeaways and sweet shops here are almost all run by Punjabis and Pakistanis - rather than Bangladeshis which is the case across most of Britain) I used to prefer tandoori dishes as a child - not liking things in too much sauce. I now eat pretty much anything, and try to seek out more authentic dishes when possible - although I still enjoy the formulaic curry house dishes too. I think the thing which appealed (Apart from once being taken into the kitchen and helped dish out the poppadums and watched them cook) was the style of the meal - being able to share dishes between us, and trying a bit of everything. I do remember eating a particularly strong chilli once - which was not pleasant. Funny thing is, now I probably would pick it out to eat straight away! I cook indian style dishes for myself at home - I use the word style, as although the techniques and spicing may be indian, I do not tend to follow particular recipes. I particularly enjoy making and eating vegetable and pulse dishes.

I think Mexican food suffers the same image problems here as Indian food used to (And still does outside of london). It is considered ideal for a boozy night out for groups of people, which in fact for thestuff we actually do get here, it is. There is normally something every one will like, and it goes well with beer! I have no problem with that - I have had many enjoyable nights, eating salad out of a tortilla hat, and ordering beer by the bucket. Not for the food (Although I am sure it was tasty, if entirely inauthentic) but the company and atmosphere - which for a large percentage of 'restaurant' goers, is the major factor. But if people want to go for a 'civilised' meal, they will tend to resent paying restaurant prices for what they percieve to be unsophisticated food. I still find it surprising that here isn't a market for it in London though.

Ocean village, the regenerated bit of the quays has a variety of bar/restaurant places, though I can't say I'd vouch for the quality - more the jug of frozen margherita type places. It's just opposite oxford street though, so you can have a look. You would hope there would be a lovely collection of seafood restaurants wouldn't you? Portsmouth has done better - there is a lovely terrace at Gunwharf keys, and although all the restaurants are bog standard chain places, sitting ouside and having the view with lots of people milling about gives it an almost mediterranian feel. There is also Town Quay, which has a chain mexican place, and also a tapas place I think (Which is meant to be ok). That is also where your Ferry is probably going from. Oxford street isn't too far to walk, I'm sure the hotel can give you better directions than me, but you can basically just walk by the quayside to it (Hence bypassing the centre - good thing on a Friday night!). It is probably your best bet - there is about 7/8 places to eat, and a couple of pubs (The one one the corner, facing the casino has got a bit of a dodgy reputation, but the other one - the Grapes I think is quite nice). There used to be an IT training place on the corner. Going for courses there was great - they had deals with the restaurants, so you go to them for lunches. Afternoons are a bit lazy after eating a Thali from poppadum express though! If you are down this way again, do try and make time for Winchester though. Much nicer and a good range of places to eat (Hotel du Vin, Old Chesil Rectory, Wykeham Arms + more just out of town) and some good pubs.

There are a couple of places where you can get something reasonable, if you want something special, I'd say you would have to travel further afield - either into the new forest as suggested, or possibly to Winchester, which is a nicer city anyway. If you are happy to stay in Southampton though - here are couple of suggestions. Langleys Bistro is probably one of the better choices - usual Bistro fare, and usually some decent seafood on offer. Oxford street is the main restaurant street in Southampton (And not too far from the Holiday Inn), there are a couple of decent places, plus the usual suspects. Kuti's is good if you fancy indian, plus there is Poppadum express- a chain trendified (is that a word?) indian that's not bad, quite good for lunch. There is Oxfords, which I have heard mixed reports over, plus a couple of other standard city type restaurant/wine bar type places. The Boom is an interesting place - it serves Meze style bits and bobs, nothing fancy, but mainly decently and locally sourced. It's more of a fun place for a crowd though (I went last Friday for a workmates birthday). So you could have a walk down there , and see what takes your fancy, there are a couple of pubs too (And if you get really desperate, a pizza express!). And you are away from the main bustle of the city centre (Which I would recommend staying away from). If you do venture into town, you could try the Boozy Rouge, at Above Bar. Again, fairly rough and ready Bistro style stuff. I'd stay away from 'La Lupa' though. It's the archtypal dodgy town centre italian. Think candles in chianti bottles,checked tablecloths and 'Amusing' waiters. Southampton isn't really the place for fine dining I'm afraid, but you can get a fairly enjoyable meal. If you are considering travelling further afield, I can give you some more suggestions (As you may have guessed, I live just up the road from Southampton)