Matthew Grant

That's not the point I was making. I think Flinn is preoccupied with technique and skill often for its own sake, while Haworth has obviously moved through that phase (or never went through it) and has the confidence to edit his ideas to the essential flavours. He employs technique and skill in the persuit of flavour - Flinn does so in the persuit of impact, theatre and plain old showing off. Nothing wrong with that and its perfectly natural behaviour for a twenty-something, but the approach does nothing for me. I was talking to somebody (who best remain nameless) about Flinn last night and he put it very eloquently, "He's a bit chippy isn't he?". ← That's an interesting point and ties in with mine wondering whether the dishes will calm down as he gets older. I thought it surprising when he said that he doesn't care where his produce came from as long as it tasted good, at the same time I admire him for it in some ways (i.e not following the herd with the "simple ingredients, well cooked, locally sourced blah blah blah" which a lot of the time translates as "we can't be arsed to cook anything that is going to take longer than 30 minutes to put together") but wonder whether a little more time sourcing ingredients might encourage him to simplify the dishes a little whilst still incorporating modern techinques to highlight the ingredients.

I liked the main part of the dishes but I do think they look terribly busy. I wonder whether he may calm his dishes down a little with age and experience (that's not to say that he hasn't got good experience at the moment)?

Just in time for your visit - SAF

Our third and best meal to date at the Sportsman. We had the tasting menu though Stephen Harris kindly made a few adjustments on Rachel's menu to help her avoid bivalves! I’m sure I can’t remember it all but needless to say it was all pretty stunning and I think I’ll be hard pressed to have a better meal in the UK this year. We started with a selection of nibbles including a lovely angels on horseback and some smoked herring roe. However both were surpassed by the superb pork scratchings, warm, crisp but with a slightly soft centre at the same time. I think most dishes have been commented on previously, the Mussel and bacon chowder holding thick slices of bacon and a generous handful of tender mussels. Beautiful. As a substitute Rachel had pickled herring cabbage and apple juice which wouldn’t be out of place on the tasting menu in future. The ham seems to taste better every time I have tried it, more interesting layers of flavour this time distinctly apples at one point. The Tartare of sea bass was quite outstanding ,the layers of flavour including good salt and acidity and a soya foam that actually tasted of something and subsequently served a purpose other than looking pretty. A super dish with excellent balance. This dish was a prelude to the main event. The Steamed seabass with the smoked herring roe sauce. Oh Joy, what a dish, in an age where saucing seems to have taken a back seat this was an absolute delight, a big plate of sauce topped with perfectly steamed seabass and lovely sweet asparagus. Slightly smokey, buttery and with a slight sweetness/acidity (?). An absolute star dish that really wouldn’t seem out of place in a two or maybe even a three star restaurant, again, excellent balance to the dish which I ended up mopping of the plate with the last of the bread and finally resorted to using my fingers to wipe up the last remnants. Although I describe it as buttry it seems the dairy content I've since found out comes from creme fraiche. Before our lamb dish Stephen brought us some lamb belly goujons and a mint dipping sauce, well after these I’m thinking that maybe they should do a miniature bar menu, with the likes of this, the angels on horseback, the ham, the potted crab, the scratchings, I can see myself now sitting there pint in hand marvelling at the gourmet versions of classic food that I was nibbling whilst watching Man Utd beat Chelsea to win the title. Milk-fed Monkshill lamb was a chop and a slice of melting shoulder, again the quality of the ingredients playing a pivotal role. Warm chocolate mousse and milk sorbet was heavy looking but surprisingly light with a delicious layer of salt caramel at the bottom. There was also cake milk with a rhubarb ice lolly and I forget the other dessert. Petit fours to finish included a miniature version of the gypsy tart which was a relief as I thought I was going to have to order an extra dessert. Absolutely deserving of its star with elements of the meal (the sea bass in particular) well in two star territory. as an added bonus I didn’t have to drive home or fall asleep on the train afterwards, what more can a man want?!

WhoMousse? Memousse? Harry Hill

The pubs just not big enough to justify a pager system, surely? Most people there are waiting to eat, in the past when I've been, after the initial rush the main pub isn't exactly overrun, there is space to grab a bottle of wine while you wait which I would think is the part of the reason for the no reservations policy.

I have to agree with Che, bad form IMO to go drinking in another pub,whilst expecting them to hold a table for you.

Very timely, I'm staying in Deia for a few days in May! Did you need reservations at es Racó d’es Teix and Sebastians?

Doesn't Bara Brith normally contain egg?

That;s incredible! According to Observer Food Monthly he is booked up for 9 months solid! Introducing our new star - Sat Bains, the chef who doesn't do lunch

Yes, that was my initial assumption too. But I googled vegan "puff pastry" and was returned with 50,900 hits, so assumed that the store-bought stuff was made of turnips or sawdust or something. Or am I thinking of phyllo? ← Most shop bought stuff (yuck) uses vegetable oil so that may be why, however, even then it is likely to be glazed with egg so that would also disqualify it!

Puff Pastry should use butter - wouldn't that exclude it from a Vegan diet?

If you get decent fish and chips you may find the chips have been cooked in beef dripping so that'll be out the equation as well I guess.

Perhaps the rumoured fall out between Ramsay and Wareing caused problems?

I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that they hoped this was going to be the first airport restaurant to gain a michelin star?

Well reviews don't get much quicket than this: Plane Food

Authentic is a difficult one as most "Indian" restaurants in London are run by Bangladeshis and the popular cafes (Tayabs, Mirch Masala etc.) tend to be run by Pakistanis. I would stick with one of the cafe type establishments. new Tayabs is well liked, my personla favourite is actually Mirch Masala which now has several branches. you could do worse than go to somewhere like Tooting where there is a wide choice of restaurants including a branch of Mirch Masala.

Andy, do you really think that its approaching two star level? If so what is pushing it towards that, I found the gimmicky things distracted from some underlying decent cooking but in no way pushed it towards two stars

A good, if not top notch meal here on Sunday. Mixed Salumi was spoilt a Little by one of the hams being quite dry having, presumably, been left lying around, more successful was a flaky pastry topped with ricotta, olives, onions and other things which escape me at the moment. Tagliatelle with Langoustine, Lobster, Scallops and clams was very good, perfectly cooked pasta with lots of small pieces of the aforementioned shellfish, finished with tomato and ginger. The Ravioli was porcine and spinach but was entirely lacking in mushroom flavour and the pasta was overcooked, v.disappointing. Grilled sirloin was very nicely cooked but the meat itself (Aberdeen Angus) was lacking in flavour, a surprising lapse in quality of ingredients. The Turbot (I really need to stop ordering it) was excellent as always, I was mindful that others have complained about this dish and I have seen some unfortunate people get the thin end of the fish but a request for a Tranche form the middle of the fish was met without question and once again a thick piece of fish beautifully cooked appeared on my plate. . Desserts were a delight as always even if the Pannacotta wasn't quite as wobbly as it can blood orange sorbet and a Almond ad Rhubarb tart were excellent as was another dessert which I forget (mainly because my other half waded through most of it before I had time to taste it properly. So a good meal with great friendly service and a couple of dud dishes. Still a great place to be.

I ate here again on Thursday courtesy of Malcolm John, I paid for the drinks though I was comped champagne and Armagnac. I won't go into too much detail with the food which is resolutely solid bistro food, no bells and whistles which isn't to say that there isn't good food to be had, far from it. Frogs legs Beignets were actually Tempura and came with Sauce Gribiche. Garlic soup had smoked duck running through it. A Cote Du Boeuf for one person was nicely grilled with decent charring and decent frites. Shoulder of Rabbit was served with Mustard sauce. Desserts of Iles Flottante and Creme caramel rounded off a good meal. Service was far more relaxed this time, I think they are feeling a little more settled and not under so much pressure. We spent a fair amount of time talking to Malcolm after our meal, a nice guy who seems to genuinely care if people have had a poor meal which can only bode well for the future.

I wouldn't assume that Greg and John's pronunciation of anything is 100% accurate. ← If you ring to make a reservation they pronounce the "S"

I've heard the complaint about it being like a production line before. I wonder why more people don't order ALC, there are plenty of interesting dishes?

Gary's link is correct, if you try to link directly to the page it simply routes you back to gary's page.

I was there for dinner on Saturday night and left with mixed feelings. Take my starter, Puy Lentil veloute, herefordshire Snail beignets, Coconut froth, Smoked oil. Sounds like a pretty contemporary dish with some interesting touches. Trouble was the interesting touches didn't amount to much. The smoked oil went missing after a couple of bites and the coconut foam had little/no discernible flavour. rewrite that dish and I'd review it differently. So Puy Lentil Veloute with Snail Beignets was a very nice dish, the veloute smooth and well seasoned the snails plump and crispy, if I had one criticism it was that the oil that the snails were fried in tasted a little old. The Pan Fried Foie gras with Apricot and Vanilla puree, bayleaf foam was another example of the extras being worthless, the bayleaf foam, one again added nothing to the dish. Whilst I only tasted the dish I thought the apricot vanilla combo worked well with the foie though personally I thought it could have bene elevated further with a few crystals of salt on the Foie. Best end of Cornish lamb, Shallot Fondue, Potato and Parmesan Gnocchi, Mint jus was busy, not sure what made the shallots "fondue", Potato and parmesan Gnocchi had too much flour and not enough Parmesan. Assiette of Rabbit, Pea and Tarrgaon Puree, lemon Thyme Froth did it again. The froth was just not powerful enough to stand out, The Rabbit itself was decent enough, I would have said that it was saddle wrapped in bacon (Why won't kitchens wrap it in thin strips of Lardo, bacon can be too overpowering IMO?), leg/shoulder confited and then choppeed in a a cannoloni, a little rack of "ribs" and the kidneys on the side. I'm sure i recall a soltary nut deep-fried in batter, maybe I'm wrong? I'm also sure that the waiter described it as a boudin rather than saddle wrapped in bacon? Maybe I misheard/mistasted? Desserts were good, Rhubarb, Pistachio and Almond Crumble, Rhubarb Sorbet, Cardamon ice cream was nice, a little sharp as TheSwede described but I thought that showed some nice restraint in the sugar area. The Ice cream and sorbet were lovely. Valhrona Chocolate Mousse, Caramel Foam, Cashew nut ice cream incoroporated 2002's must have ingredient "popping candy" . So overall that sounds like a bit of a disappointing meal which it wasn't, it just seemed to be trying too hard in places, if your going to give me foam make sure they taste of something and add something positive to the dish. A decent enough meal. Edited to correct appaling typos of which some may still exist.