oenomania

A couple of less gossipy publications which are interesting are artofeating.com gastronomica

Thanks for the replies; I am not in China often and, indeed, this is my first trip to Beijing. So I aim to restrict my attention to Chinese restaurants and apart from having a go at Beijing duck I would like a few recommendations for snake restaurants, 'fine' restaurants, dumplings, street food, etc etc.

Sad to see there are no replies to this question. I am going to Beijing at the end of the week and would love a few recommendations of authentic places to eat and dishes to look out for, special markets, etc. Thanks!

Was this Bologna as in Emilia-Romagna, or Bologna as in bologna sandwich?

I always end up going South for Chinese food or North to Rasa or Pied a Terre; I wonder though whether Soho has changed much or whether I am just getting older. It seems a long time ago that the then Hamine on Brewer street was new, or similarly the laksa joint on Great Windmill Street...

I happened to run into Fuchsia Dunlop today and she said she was not particularly aware of any Sichuan restaurants one would recommend in London. Anyway I pointed out to her that there is this thread...

I would second the vote for St John - either St John. Incidentally a new edition of Henderson's Nose to Tail Eating is coming out in the US in April so you might be able to book-up on the flight.

Have you tried working with a professional travel agent in the US who might actually take some responsibility for the recommendations and the answers to the questions you have? I would be worried about snake-oil if I were you. And I think it would be a good idea to really pin down how you see yourself spending your days. Four months is a long time to spend somewhere if you are unsure about whether you will be happy there and you might end up in a damp converted barn; personally I would recommend you set up base camp in Paris and then maybe spend a few long weekends away in the Loire, in Burgundy, in the Languedoc, or the alps, or Alsace, or Normandy, or Montpellier, or Bordeaux... Then next time you can make a better informed choice about more remote areas you might like to live.

They seem to have headed more towards the pre-packaged/prepared meats and away from old style butchery, for my money. A shame. What about Kingsland, on Portobello Rd?

Lidgate in Holland Park is usually a good bet.

I was being a little facetious. So I take it that you are not against Paul's? I will only start to worry if they plan to open outlets in North America! The horrors!!!! I believe they are in Spain, Morocco, Japan, and the UK. But I'm not sure about North America. Perhaps they should aim for Montreal first.

Note that Morris & Verdin was recently acquired by Berry Bros.

Hmm. This is an interesting thread. It seems to suggest another excellent reason for adoption. Either that or wait for a good vintage in the southern hemisphere and then hurry.

Did I mention the food? I had the John Dory as a main course, by which I mean I ate a fleck of cold fish basking atop the mound of salt and courgette, and pushed the plate aside. I did not dwell on the food earlier, because the service made my evening so thoroughly unenjoyable I didn't feel I could be objective. However I have seen reviews elsewhere noting the high salt content, so in retrospect I assume my perception was correct. It was unquestionably the worst restaurant experience I have ever had in London. I have fonder memories of meals which ended with food poisoning. It might be a good place to shoot some reality TV, however, with real-time blood pressure readings of the contestants.

For the record here is a nice review due to Jay Rayner: http://travel.guardian.co.uk/restaurants/s...1096143,00.html

So Matthew Fort, in today's Guardian, gave Shumi a remarkable 5/20: http://travel.guardian.co.uk/restaurants/s...1099993,00.html My only conclusion is that he had considerably better service than we did last night. I have been to fine restaurants which have off-nights, and I have been to casual restaurants with informal service. Unlike these, in my opinion, Shumi is a disgrace. In retrospect my main regret was that we did not abort the evening half way through. What we had here was systemic failure and unprofessional service, suggesting fundamentally poor management. I could recount many little episodes, but life is too short and I want to move on. But let me give an example or two: two of our party were served one course, while the rest of us waited for over half an hour for that course to arrive, tepid. Meanwhile we were staring at our sullied plates, lingering from a course in the distant past. How do they take orders, I wonder? Do they just enter food orders into a computer, with no attempt to correlate the item with the person who ordered it? Every dish arrived with a query 'who ordered the ...', even when that order was for a single glass of red wine ordered two minutes previously. But the best was the arrival of the beetroot salad, which none of us claimed. So the waitress concluded 'maybe it's not for this table' left the plate, and walked off. One waiter did kindly work out the beets were a component of the chef's special selection menu, and so we knew who the lucky recipients were. To his credit that waiter listened with remarkable patience and sympathy as we explained how unhappy we were, and he deserves respect. I hope to see him again. Elsewhere. Pied a Terre has mixed reviews elsewhere in this forum, but if you want to spend 55 pounds per head on food (plus water and wine) then go to Pied a Terre; it has integrity, and it deserves support. Or relax over a pizza and beer at Pizza Express, and find a good cause for the fifty quid you save. We made a hasty departure, turning down the offer of drinks in the bar and the fur coat the coat-check attendendant offered us by mistake.

My copy arrived this morning. Luckily I have a gross of rabbit brains and a kilo of gelatin at hand. Does anyone know where to source goose barnacles in central London?

Perhaps you should try something English? One interesting possibility might be to have a snack at Bread and Wine, the new-ish little sister of St John http://www.stjohnbreadandwine.com/history.cfm or go to Neal's Yard Dairy and pick up some great bread and cheeses to eat on the train!

I have just received this email from www.gourmandbooks.com: The english edition of El Bulli 1998-2002 by Ferran Adria, Juli Soler and Albert Adria will be ready for shipment to you one week from now. It is published by El Bulli with ISBN 8493310034, and Gourmandbooks is the exclusive distributor worldwide.

You might have lunch at Pied a Terre, walk around the block a couple of times, and then have a couple of courses of delicious Kerelan seafood at the Rasa also on Charlotte Street. It may not be a 'top' restaurant in the sense of Michelin starts and long waiting lists, but it can be interesting, unique, and perhaps a good contrast.

Good news!?! Further to my earlier post I heard from El Bulli (whom I had thanked for my brilliant meal in June...) and they directed me to http://www.gourmandbooks.com/ who offer the Spanish edition now and claim the English edition will appear at the end of the month. And there is a special price if you pre-order. j.

Amazon.co.uk did have a publication date of October 2003 but now the book has disappeared from listing. Any updates about an English publication date?