Gavin Convery

Sounds great to me......translate into Spanish and it's probably even better

One thing St John has over any other restaurant is substance and a lack of gimmickry - a simple plate of thick juicy best-ever razor clams cooked in garlic is a recent highlight or take a slice of toasted baked-that-morning bread smeared with the best chicken liver pate. Yumm!! wine pricing is transparent at StJB+W as you can buy the wine at the restaurant and buy take-away bread and eccles cakes.

Looked at the website, like the concept, put it on my list of places to go.....

You mentioned you were staying near Regent's Park, so the recommendation to go down Marylebone Lane will be your best bet as this is a mini-Mecca for foodies. I can highly recommend Providores for fusion food and a great wine list, you could also go to Divertimenti if you fancy a browse through a comprehensive stock of kitchen gear and books. There is also the michelin starred Orrery restaurant above the Conran shop. And I will concur with St John's Bread and Wine (near spitalfields market) where you will get pies, new English food, bread, cheeses and probably the best meal you will have in London. Another fine dining recommendation is Tom Aikens - there is a thread on this board. Haven't been but going this Friday but it is hard to get in to. Hey and why not do a day trip to Paris? I took a friend there last year - we arrived for lunch at the 3 star Le Cinq and were home in time for dinner. It's even quicker now and should only take about 2 and a half hours to get there for about £69 return.

It would be great to have 'official' restaurant threads that could be accessed in a more user friendly way than just using the search facility. Maybe by location, style of food - it would save a lot of repeated queries and ensure that all relevant chat about a restaurant was centralised in one place. But I understand that it may not be easy to do that with off the shelf forum software.

Scott, Thanks for that - I was actually looking at the austrian and german wines as perhaps a source for value. Only problem is that I think that Gruner Veltliner can be bought at Noel Young for about £6.99, so yet again a horrendous markup. On the other hand the Rielsing Smaragd Achleiten Prager is about £25 marked up to £70. Then again the Kalkofen Deidesheim Riesling Spatelese Basserman-Jordan is about £21 in the shops for the 2001, so allowing for 2000 being not such a good year that seems relative value. But don't you find it ridiculous that there is such inconsistency in their markups and that you have to spend so much effort trying to get some value out of their list? Gav.

Brad, Thanks for that. My local German specialist lists a Dalsheimer Hubacker Spatlese No. 26 retailing at about $40 equivalent - is that the same? No mention of a Gold Capsule though....

Fortunately I can buy these wines in Germany for sometimes half the price of what they cost in the UK. Don't know how that relates to the US. Tasted a fantastic Dalsheimer Hubacker Spatlese 2002 from Franz Keller last night which I paid 12Euros for = 7 GBP. It was one of the best bottles of wine I have tasted. So there is going to have to be a big increase in the price before I start considering these wines expensive.

Scott, got any recommendations from what they do have??

Thanks, Riesling fan, I certainly found the nose on the Prum Graacher Himmelreich Spatlese 2002 very unusual, a hint of petrol but something much stranger overwhelming that. In the mouth it was the most delicate wine I had ever tasted and had a beautiful elegance. I will certainly try decanting as you suggest with the Wehlener Sonnenuhr. Are you in the UK? Which merchant do you use?

My recent frequent trips to Germany for work have prompted an interest in German wine. I can't believe how cheap German wine is for the quality. Take as an example JJ Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese (91/100 score I believe in WS) - this cost me 20 Euros/ £13. Admittedly I have yet to taste it (just came back yesterday) but I have similar wines of quality at an average price of £10/16Euros. What about Dr Loosen Urziger Wurzgarten Spatlese at 10Euros/£6.50 - delicious! Is this just because they are unfashionable or is something else going on?

I have never tasted an australiam riesling that approached Alsace or German rieslings but I would be interested in any recommendations.

Ok, I am off to TA in a couple of weeks after a lot of false starts trying to get in there. Thought I 'd have a quick look at the wine list on their website for a bit of advance browsing. Bloody Hell, it's expensive!!! Looks like about 4 or if you're lucky 3 times the cost in the offy. Anyone else felt it's a bit overpriced?

Gary, Please transplant the Star to South London then I will be happy...I loved it on my trip last year to Whitby, an idyllic pub with fantastic food.

Moby, Your description of the courses doesn't seem to square with your overall assessment - there seemed to be so many flaws. For the most expensive meal I had ever had I would expect few or zero flaws. Is there something intangible here I am missing? Gavin

Certainly is, and is still great, new wine list too (with things you would actually want to drink). Best Thai food I have had in london Has the decor improved too and is it still as cramped?

I will be on holiday then, but we can compare notes afterwards. Still I have heard good things of this restaurant although not I guess at the level of Bras. It will be interesting to see how the two compare if that's possible!

Paul, I would be interested in your experience of le Centenaire as I am booked for dinner in August!! Gavin

There is a restaurant in Issigeac itself that is quite resonable called Chez Alain, just outside the medieval walls. It is exactly what you require in terms of being friendly and relaxed, good local wine list, the cooking is of a good bourgeois standard. I can't particularly recommend any restaurants in Bergerac but if you go further a field I can recommend Le Vieux Logis in Tremolat. If you are a wine buff then make sure to stop at the roadside shop for Domaine de L'Ancienne Cure on the main road to Bergerac and if you can get to Chateau Richard in the Saussignac area (run by an englishman) then it will be worth your while if you like sweet wines. Also try and find Clos du Verdots off the main road to Bergerac (D6?). There is also a restaurant in the Monbazillac area called La Tour des Vents - great views, food generally OK, good monbazillac wine list. A websearch should find you the details of most of these.

Gav, I'm sorry no you can't. Aww, go on. Seriously it is good and the best piece of venison I have ever had. Downsides are the cramped quarters but that can make for lively conversations with your neighbours. Hey, maybe London isn't so bad after all....then again as my car has been vandalised with paint stripper today, perhaps it's time to move out.....

I'm sad enough that I might seriously consider this....

I believe "Thailand" is still there - but I always go to Mantannah in Norwood which is both authentic and inauthentic (lots of unusual made up dishes and loads of vegetarian). I woud consider going to Nahm again but I wasn't that keen on the atmosphere or the prices. Could I also put a plug in for Providores for "Fusion" - I thought the food was great and the almost all Kiwi wine list superb. Origamicrane - any personal experiences you can retell of Bambou or Arrirang? I have the TO guide and will check them out tonight. I like the idea of the random selection method - I need to get a system together to pick the page, column etc..

Yep I meant Midsummer House - my gastrobuddy went there recently and loved it, reckoned it knocked spots of the Fat Duck. I was just summing up those towns with more adventurous restaurants.. Thanks to all for the suggestions..

Thanks Winot, that was kind of the way my thinking was going. Perhaps trying vietnamese or cambodian, I think there are some good places in Dalston? god knows how you get there though - still with an added taxi fare it would still be much cheaper than PaT etc. Any recs in West End/ City?

Well, I've reached the point were I've pretty much eaten every where I want to in London(GR@RHR, Capital, Square, Pied a Terre, Gavroche etc) and now I'm getting bored. All the action seems to be happening outside of London - Leeds, Ludlow, Cambridge - and being tied down by 2 kids makes it hard to travel. Can anyone provide some inspiration for restaurants that are currently providing exciting, interesting food and not just the same haute cuisine rehash... Perhaps this sounds terribly spoilt and perhaps we are spoilt in London but I feel there is a culinary malaise in London at the moment and we need a spark of something new. Gavin