Gavin Convery

So did my big christmas extravaganza at Bacchus which basically involves eating and drinking a lot in true Egullet style. Thanks to Phil, Nuno and his team for making this a fantastic experience - I have to say that I was very impressed by the operation and the food really was something special. We had the full 9 course Aventura menu - unfortunately I didn't get a copy of the menu and the dishes were fairly complicated so I can't really do the descriptions justice. Suffice to say that the highlights were a langoustine dish with mangosteens, avocado (I think), greek yoghurt and flowers (nasturtiums?). And an egg cooked at 60 degrees with enoki (?) mushrooms and shredded chicken. I couldn't really fault any of the dishes other than ironically the signature lamb dish which was a bit bland - everything else was exciting, innovative and just wow! I haven't been this excited about a new restaurant in London for some time and I think Phil has succeeded in his aim of casual fine dining where the focus is on the food rather than the pretension. Service was excellent and friendly and I retract my statement about a ditzy girl answering the phone as I think this was the brilliant front of house woman whose name I didn't get. OK this isn't a smooth 3 michelin star operation but a few hiccups are allowed and expected within the overall context. We had the wine pairing with the menu which I thought went really well, although the wine is good rather than fantastic but I gather that the aim is not too go for exclusivity with lots of trophy wines and Phil said he is working on a fine wine list for city types and sad wine geeks like me. Coffee was excellent. Pricing was a couple of hundred for two for the full aventura experience with wine. I spent a good portion of the meal wondering when I could manage to come back....as soon as possible hopefully. Run there..... ;-)

So, booked in for lunch this Friday for my annual Christmas lunch with my gourmet buddy....hoping the Avventura menu is going to be available. The rather ditzy woman taking the booking reckoned it should be ok. The only problem is I don't really do trainers..... I'm just hoping the winelist is going to be better that the one on the website - sometimes the growers were listed sometimes not, sometimes with vintages, sometimes not....as any wine buff knows the combination of grower plus vintage is vital information. Some interesting choices on there, with not many big names - is there a fine wine list?

Haven't got much time to expand on my meal last night, but suffice to say the food was magnificent - some of the best dishes I have had and on that showing more on a 3 star level. Interestingly, Michel Roux seems to have moved into a more modern direction while still retaining his classical roots e.g. the steamed scallop with ginger dressing had an oriental edge to it while still being somehow french - reminded me a bit of Maison Bricourt in that respect...

Thought I'd bring this to the top of the tree as I am hoping for some new comments ahead of my visit tomorrow night. Haven't been since a historic evening when both Roux brothers cooked for their fathers and I sat on the same table as Michel Roux Snr. I'm looking to see if there is any change in direction or if all is as before on the ship LG....

I went to the Black Door brasserie at the Biscuit Factory for lunch the other day and was pleasantly surprised - the food had a lightness of touch and subtlety that lifted it above standard newcastle "brasserie" (for example what was previously offered by Barn there - which i liked but was much more robust) and made the 16.50 three course lunch deal really good value. Staff were still bedding in but exceptionally friendly and helpful. I haven't been to the main restaurant but have heard good things about it from people whose opinion I usually trust - definitely somewhere I'll be trying next time I'm back up there. ← Let me know if you go there...might get there this Christmas if it's good.....

Newton-by-the-sea has a renowned Pub famous for their crab sandwiches. I would say they are Ok rather than amazing but nice location. Problem is that it has been discovered by the London crowd and it seemed more like Clapham-by-the-sea when I went. Long way to go for crab sandwiches though...Craster and Seahouses are other places you might find similar. There are other reasonable pubs but I don't recall. Would recommend Howick Hall for afternoon tea and lovely gardens.

Liberty Wine will sell retail as I have bought from them before - but their website is not very retail oriented. Best to email them for a copy of their list and then choose what you want. ←

I have heard good things about Black Door (ex Cafe 21 staff) - it was restaurant of the year or something in Harden's. There was also a new italian in there that I wasn't familiar with. Anybody been?

Liberty Wine will sell retail as I have bought from them before - but their website is not very retail oriented. Best to email them for a copy of their list and then choose what you want.

"Pale plump punters" she describes us as. OK I may be a little pale thanks to my Northern celtic roots but certainly not plump...and what's wrong with caressing a menu when it's this good

Thanks Britcook - it's just round the corner from me. I'd heard a few mixed reports about it but I may give it a go now. The Rioja sounds a bit expensive as I think it's a fiver in the shops but the Cloudy Bay SB is not too bad a price. Wow! just looked at their winelist and they have Petrus,Margaux and Latour among others - an ambitious Brasserie winelist - must be all those minted East End gangsters who have moved out here

Well, went on Friday and with no beating about the bush loved it. Initial mishap as there was a very noisy table of business people out for early dinner/late lunch, but we were quickly moved when requested to a corner table in the first room. Decor is very soothing other than exacerbating rather noisy types. The restaurant filled up quickly with Egullet types - trendy cutting edge folk much like myself *grin*. The menu has been well discussed here so there was the inevitable Squid and Mackerel burger but I had the Brandade with young squid. I actually preferred this to the burger...sorry "burger". The brandade was a delicately flavoured mound, the squid the most tender and a parsley (purslane) cromesquis exploding green flavours all over the dish and my fellow diner. A carafe of Balthasar Ress riesling was quickly despatched. We ordered a carafe of a chilean red plus Alion 99. Nice to be able to try the Alion without forking out a fortune. Both went beautifully with the Rump of Elwy Lamb and the Rabbit. Strangely I preferred the Lamb to the Rabbit - it was done in a mediterranean style with tomatoes and olives but not as overpowering as such a dish can be - lovely quality lamb too. Quick cheese course which was OK - I still can't get over the cheese course at the Greenhouse. Then two Mangos - delicious, not a dessert I would have normally ordered, but a perfect end with a bit of Tom Aikens style presentation. Carafe of Mushk(?) was interesting if not a perfect match. Machiattos and brandy finished us off and the bill of £80 each left us smilling. I would be back tomorrow if circumstances allowed....

Off there tonight - will give you the benefit of my extensive experience...:-)

Pweaver, Sorry to hear that you didn't have such a good experience. I must admit that our table was booked for 7pm as we knew we would require that long for the tasting menu and I have to catch a train back out to deepest Essex. I agree your menu doesn't sound as interesting as ours - maybe it highlights some inconsistency in the kitchen. Also, I think the style at the Lindsay House is simpler with concentration on the pure quality of ingredients more than at other restaurants at this level - that is what I liked about. Maybe I need another visit to see if I was just lucky and there is a real problem there. But as you say there are so many other restaurants to try and as I eat out rarely in town, it will probably be a while before I go back.

Well spotted I hadn't realised that: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=28224

There was a private party upstairs and the restaurant was pretty full but there were no issues with the speed of the food arriving - perfectly paced I would say. Maybe it's easier having the tasting menu. Any highlights you'd care to share Andy?

We were in there from 7 til about 11. Service was excellent, there was one particularly cute french girl.....er I mean, they were all very professional. How did you find it?

Good old Andy Lynes...you see that's why he's the country's top food critic and the rest of us are still stuck doing our boring jobs - he knows his onions....and his lightly poached turbot. Now I was always a big fan of the Lindsay House a few years back when others on this board were dissing it but I had a bad experience when a new chef came in and Richard Corrigan obviously went off to spread his wings. Funnily enough the chef is still the same, but a few years on he's obviously learnt his trade and perfected the simple yet sophisticated manner of his mentor. We had the tasting menu at £64. Let's start with a high point... Smoke Eel & Foie Gras Terrine with Sour apple This was literally a terrine composed of layers of smoked eel and Foie Gras which as Del boy might have said are two of my most favourite ingredients. The combination is a stunning winner beating the Greenhouses foie gras with espresso syrup into submission. Smoky,sweet, earthy, delicious - I could eat this every day for a year. Native Scallop with spiced chickpea & olive oil Probably the least successful dish but still great and also unusual - single scallop, pan-fried with cumin-scented chickpea slurry and extra-virgin olive oil. The scallop was impeccable - not so much sweet as minerally. After a slow start this built into a lovely dish requiring some mopping up of juices with excellent bread. Butter poached turbot with lightly curried cockles and mussels The art of less is more - lovely piece of fish beautifully cooked, wisps of spinach a few cockles and mussels, some dots of tomato dice. Beautiful. Killer touch was candied fennel peel adding texture and a sweet aniseed counterpoint. So far the Dr Burklin-Wolf Ruppertsberg riesling I chose was a perfect match to the varying sweet and minerally flavours of the first 3 dishes. A bottle of Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella duly decanted we move to the meat course. Loin of Venison with braised haunch, creamed salsify and hispi cabbage The meat was quality of course, salsify not something I'm that familiar with - looked like small white asparagus. Tasted nice. The haunch was presented as shredded meat within a croquette - intensely flavoured it added some real gamey depth to the dish. Combined with the delicious Amarone (only 2.3 times markup), again another perfect simple robust dish. Banyuls soaked crozier blue with Thyme and Celery Actually thinking back on this dish I'm not 100% sure this worked or maybe not as well as I thought it would do - within the context of the meal I'm not complaining though. Description is accurate - wedge of the cheese, ribbons of celery, dotted thyme. Chocolate plate - Pithivier, Fig and Mascarpone, Hazelnut Bavarois & Walnut Gazpacho I like chocolate, my friend doesn't particularly - we agreed this was a great chocolate dish emphasising some of the more vegetal characteristics over the sweet elements - in particular the Walnut Gazpacho had a nuttiness which offset some of the sweeter items. To finish a Brandy for me and an Irish Whiskey for my friend. By that point it all became a little hazy but I do remember shaking the hand of the chef (Chris?) and telling him how good I thought the meal was - he was very affable and happy to chat about how some of the courses had been made. Making some comparisons with the Greenhouse which was my last meal at this level, I would say that the Lindsay House (other than the cheese course which as we know is superb at the Greenhouse) had an edge in terms of the balance of flavours - a lighter hand and the confidence to present things simply. I guess some of that may relate to the Greenhouse's need to appeal to its Mayfair clientele but in foodie terms I found the Lindsay House more satisfying. Richard Corrigan was nowhere to be seen other than in the advertisements for his book but he seems to have moulded his current chef into a fine exponent of his philosophy.

There seems to be a mini-gastro haven developing just over the border in Suffolk. In Nayland there is the Roux owned White Hart - exceptional service, food good but a little old-fashioned, the Anchor in a lovely position by the river (it has its own smokehouse, haven't been there yet) then just up the hill in Stoke-by-Nayland is the Angel and the Crown. I went to the Crown on Saturday for lunch. This is nicely done out self-styled gastropub in a beautiful location overlooking the Suffolk countryside. The interior is spacious and is trendy country casual. I'll talk about the food first before I get to the interesting thing about this place. Food is good using lots of local ingredients although my starter of smoked eel with beetroot, horseradish, leaves and egg was more an assemblage of ingredients slightly underseasoned. Main course of rib-eye steak brought a delicious piece of steak which almost reminded me of the Steak I had in Tuscany last year, accompaniments were nice salad and excellent chunky chips. Dessert was an average English Vanilla cream - a pannacotta by any other name. Now to the wine. First thing to note is that this pub is part-owned by one of the directors of Lay and Wheeler and most of the winelist focuses on those wines you could get from their excellent shop in Colchester. On the food menu is a recommendation for each course of what might go with what and with 28 wines by the glass it is easy to match most of these course by course. I went off piste to have a Macon from top producer Verget while my other half had the recommended La Strada NZ chardonnay - both excellent. Main course we went with the menu and had the delicious bordeaux-alike Vasse Felix Cab/Merlot. Unfortunately they had run out of Coteaux du Layon for dessert. But that is not the best of it - in the corner is a mini-Lay and Wheelers enclosed by glass walls. You go in the shop and maybe get a couple of bottles to take home or maybe you fancy one of the bottles with your lunch. At the higher levels there are NO MARKUPS at all! How about Chateau Canon 99 at £30 or Cote Rotie from Rostaing at £32 - same price whether you drink in our out. Or for dessert what about this - Chateau D'Yquem 95 1/2 bottle at £75 - 95 was an excellent year for Yquem. Last time I drank Yquem (at Le Gavroche) I paid £75 a glass (it was a special occasion!). Suffice to say I was wetting myself but unfortunately couldn't justify buying a bottle between the 2 of us especially as I was driving. I shall have to return with some wine-loving friends......soon. For those of you en route to the Suffolk coast (Bapi?) this is a 15 minute detour off the A12 at Colchester....but it could be worth making a whole weekend of it and get to know the Essex/Suffolk borders - heaven on earth IMHO.

I've only been twice, but on each occasion I found the service a little amateurish for a restaurant at this level...hard to put your finger on...but maybe I was unlucky? BTW off to the Lindsay House tonight...let's hope it's up to scratch for your sake Andy!

Andy, Has the service been refurbished as well?

Andy, you've convinced me - I have a reservation at the Lindsay House for the beginning of May. I'll report back. Pied a Terre is now on hold...

On the question of burgers and foie gras, I believe one of the innovators was Michel Trama at L'Aubergade in SW France who for several years has produced a foie gras burger (no beef). Lovely restaurant that recently go its 3rd star... Have a look here: http://www.aubergade.com/anglais/restaurant.html

guess what? closed tuesday for food too! we do dinner wednesday - saturday eves 6-9 pm, lunch saturday 12- 2 pm & lunch sunday 12- 3.30 pm ← Oh, bu**er! Sorry, Gary - can't fit those times round my travelling schedule...ah well maybe a special trip called for?

These thoughts are exactly the ones I had when I went about a year and a half ago to RHR. This was my first and only visit coming off the back of at least 4 visits to Aubergine when Ramsay was actually cooking and the overwhelming feeling was one of a lack of excitement. You could never say that about Aubergine - that was a man at the top of his game and that moment will never be regained. Ah well time to move on...there will be other Gordon Ramsays in the future - it's just a matter of catching them in their early days...and that's what we have Egullet for!