Matthew Grant

Where did yo ufind it? PM me the details, don't want it going before I get there!

Just to add that, IMO, that is a good deal and people should hop on that train to take advantage. The Scallops or Macaroni, followed by the lamb and Chocolate a fondant would make a fine meal whatever Jay may tell you

See hint here I was sworn to secrecy However, I can tell you that it isn't likely to be open until June. Still waiting to hear what the name is, they've discarded the first idea. Does anyone else think London could support several restaurants like Arbutus? I think it could survive very well in some suburbs as well as central London. If only he wuold come to Croydon

When was this? If I didn't know him better I'd be thinking that he was ripping of my own dishes. Sea bass with Saffron potatoes and fennel © Matthew Grant 3rd February 2007

I think its worth retrying that Squid and Mackeral burger for those that didn't enjoy it first time around. Its now been rejigged and comes minus the barbeque sauce with sea purslane, and chiperones. It had a better feel to the dish IMO, more in keeping with the style of the restaurant. Snails with laguiole "farinette" was also very good, worth trying for the farinette alone.

The provenance of Smith's steaks is very clearly written on the menu down to the farmer, breed, cut and hanging time - no mystery about it.

Are you deliberately trying to be awkward? What I mean is that it isn't a restaurant with menus and tables calling itself a tapas bar. It is a bar, with food, you can stand at the back or sit at the bar and watch the food being prepared. They are after "proper" customers which means people that are prepared to wait a little while to be seated and are happy to have a drink while waiting so I guess that counts you out

I thought the initial plan was to open all day - staffing problems perhaps?

There were so many staff working in Arbutus tonight that you might think they were training people to open a new restaurant!

I like the idea that it's trying to be a proper Tapas bar in London.

I got there at 18:00, stood for around an hour drinking and then sat down, I really didn't notice the time particularly until I left. My arse was probably numb from the drink.

Coffee? Who drinks Coffee in a bar?

Popped in to Barrafina last Thursday. When I say popped in I actually mean got there at 18:00 and left at 10:45 and when the cold air hit my head I suddenly realised how drunk I was Anyhow, I remember most of the food and on the whole it was disappointing. A cold meat plate at £10.50 was poor. There's thin and then there's thin. This stuff verged on the thin end of the thinnest. Salchichon, chorizo, lomo and Iberico shoulder. The shoulder was decent enough but for me didn't reach the heights of something like Joselito. The Salcichon, chorizo and lomo were sliced so thinly I could barely discern which was which taste wise. Overall 4 slices of each type was very poor value. Somebody needs to teach them to serve it properly. Bread with Olive oil was also poor value at £2 for some non-descript bread and a small bowl of olive oil. Jamon Croquettas were OK, certainly better than a lot I've had in Spain but the breadcrumbs were too thick, and the filling not seasoned enough. Chiperones were one of the days specials but came in a thick batter and were overcoked and a little chewy. Padron peppers were a little better, gambas al ajillo were 4 large prawns in a drizzle of olive oil, garlic and pepper. Distinctly average. Having said all that, I like the idea of the place, it had a suitably casual, friendly feel to it and could be a heap better if some minor adjustments were made to the food.

I'd like to think that the restaurant could make it without a National review but the type of food Simon is serving deserves a wider audience than the Limpsfield locals (not that they don't deserve him) and National coverage will definitely help. The rock salt on the ham and cheesy music were, on the grand scale of the meal, minor things. Sure If I was having three courses the salt might have got me a bit miffed but the rest of the meal made up for a couple of relatively minor errors. As for getting foodies attention then eGullet has to be one of the best places to start, fair play to Simon for highlighting his restaurant here and thanks for inviting me to the restaurant to discuss both negatives and positives with him. As mentioned , I hesitated to accept his offer at first and after the first couple of courses I started to sweat a bit in case I couldn't find any fault. In all honesty I'm glad there were a couple of errors otherwise I may have hesitated to write about it on EG. I should stress that at no point did Simon ask me to write up my meal on EG (though I guess he may have been disappointed if I didn't). Incidentally my other half said the sebass was one of her favourite dishes along with the Foie so don't be put off. Simon assures me the music issue is being addressed

I heard something yesterday that was a little confused but suggested that Koffmann is now acting as a consultant to the Bleeding Heart.

You and me both Gary! He's never watched the show but seems to know a lot about how Ramsay treats people on it.

Sunbeam, you'll be pleased to know that it had a perfectly seared skin, nice and crispy.

Matthew, you are such a tease. It is, as Matthew knows full well, Alexander's at Limpsfield. Before anyone asks, no previews here. ← Really?!

I wonder who it could be?

I should also mention the excellent service, wine matches were served at the same time as the food, something that is sometimes amiss in restaurants. Warm and friendly. One gripe - the bloody music, I don't mind some background music but once Chris De Burgh starts playing you know something has gone awry. I realise that you are never going to please everybody but some background MOR, easy listening type music would be preferable

Blush? I always presumed that was a warm glow from the alcohol

Following the Critics and Food Writersthread Simon Attridge got a bit of a mauling over his pricing at recently opened Alexanders at Limpsfield, it was all pretty constructive stuff but the overwhelming feeling was that prices were too high. This was possibly a little unfair as none of us had eaten at the restaurant but the feeling is that without reviews or accolades charging £68 (its now been downgraded to £65) for a tasting menu and £17 for a scallop starter was optimistic. After the exchange on that thread Simon invited me to eat at the restaurant. I’ll disclose right now that I didn’t pay full price for this meal and I hesitated over accepting the invitation because of this but a quick look at the train times made me realise that I could be in Limpsfield in 20 minutes from East Croydon station and a short £3 taxi ride from there, after that it felt rude not to accept and with a little negotiation Simon agreed to cook us an 8 course tasting menu while those around us tucked into roast dinner. All the dishes were taken from the a la carte menu and had matching wines. Our journey from East Croydon was effortless, unfortunately when we got to Oxted the taxi rank was empty “you hardly see any on a Sunday” advised the stationmaster and the newsagent. The taxi office was closed and a call to the local minicab firm told me that she only had two cars working and they were both miles away. There is no bus service on a Sunday. Fortunately, after prowling around for 20 minutes or so, working out what we were going to do, a taxi did turn up and helped us on our merry way, he wouldn’t be working when we finished though but we decided to worry about that later. On a more positive note the taxi ride was short – short enough that you could probably walk it in fifteen minutes or so. A glass of champagne in the more modern bistro to start before the main event. The main room is a serious looking place courtesy of its wood panelling which reminded me of Hibiscus but on a larger scale. An ameuse of bouillabaisse soup was outstanding. Powerful and silky smooth, strong with red mullet – this was wonderful, I’m advised that it is also served as a sauce alongside the Halibut on the a la carte, I would happily eaten a bowl of this with a plate of crusty bread. Seared Scallop, pain d’epices crumble, poached pear, celery, spiced red wine reduction. This was the dish that jumped of the page on the original thread due to its £17 price tag as a starter. The dish worked very well indeed. The reduction suitably spicy with cinnamon the predominant flavour, the pear having been poached in the wine and thin slices of celery. The celery didn’t produce such a peppery element as I would have expected, the scallop was the principle of the dish, lightly browned on the outside, barely cooked through. I would have preferred the pear to not be quite as soft as it was but overall this was a really good, well balanced dish, one of the best scallop dishes I have tried in a long time. This was paired with a 2006 Original Unwooded Chenin Blanc, Raats Family which went well with the spiced elements of the sauce and the sweetness of the scallop. (It should be noted at this point that my wine expertise is limited) Ham Hock and Foie Gras Terrine, Apple Jelly, beetroot syrup. This could have been very good if it wasn’t for the seasoning, sea salt was sprinkled on top but the hock was salty enough without requiring the extra seasoning. Aside form that the apple jelly worked very well, as did the beetroot syrup. Alongside this we had a 2001 Bodegas Lan Rioja Crianza, that was light and easy drinking, it could perhaps have been a little bolder against the hock but was pleasant enough. Macaroni of Pork, Roasted Langoustine, Langoustine Bisque, Seaweed Tartare. This just sounds wrong but is so right. The smell of Langoustine dominated before tasting, and it tasted like the sea. A lovely rustic sort of dish that exhibited elegance as well. It really was all thrown together in a little copper saucepan but the combination of small pieces of pork, Langoustine, a slightly creamy bisque and small macaroni. Sensational. That it doesn’t fly off the menu doesn’t surprise me, perhaps it needs renaming? A great dish, well recommended. Alongside we had a Marie Demets Rose Champagne Brut. Probably the best match of the meal, it was soft and fruity, the dish could have probably taken something a little more robust but this was great. Wild seabass, ceps, bone marrow, Serrano ham, new Meuniere sauce, Coriander. The Jury’s out on this dish (I still lapped it up though) The Seabass was good and well cooked (seabass being one of the worst offenders if you overcook it IMO). The ceps added little for me, presumably South African, they lacked in proper cep flavour, the Bone marrow was mixed through the base with the New Meuniere sauce (I forgot to ask what was new about it) and unadvertised croutons. A couple of sprigs of Coriander on top. I didn’t notice the Serrano ham in the dish but if it wasn’t there it should remain deleted. Overall the buttery sauce and marrow dominated flavourwise, the sauce perhaps needing a little more acidity to lift the dish and the coriander was unnecessary. The croutons were an element to far. Not a bad dish but probably the it needs work, It all tasted a little one dimensional. A 2005 West Brook Pinot Noir accompanied, kept light deliberately with a Foie Gras dish coming up. Roasted Foie Gras, Pistachio Nuts, Griottine Cherries, yogurt. Hmmmm….I’m not sure about this. For me it could work but needs some adjustments, a thicker, richer yoghurt, perhaps with touch of acidity and a little more salt. The cherries worked well as you would expect. Not sure on the quality of the Foie either. Having said all this, Rachel enjoyed the fact the dish was relatively light and almost palette cleansing ,though I’m not sure that this is the point of foie. 2002 Domaine Noble, Loupiac. This was not too sweet and had a lot of minerality and honey with sulphur developing towards the end (do I sound like wine buff yet?) Red wine Marinated Balmoral Estate venison, Clonakilty Black Pudding, Chorizo, apple puree. This was lovely, thin slices of venison cooked rare with a slice of black pudding and pieces of chorizo through the dish. The sauce was well balanced with mint and tarragon (I think). The apple puree worked fine but the initial taste was of lemon, nothing major but something to be careful of. I would lose the chorizo, it works OK but probably doesn’t do anything to improve the dish. The venison is good enough on its own, I often find chorizo can lift a dish (especially a poor one) but it is often too powerful for the other flavours and suddenly become the main element. The wine was a 2004 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Andes Peaks from Chile. Rump of Cornish Lamb, Root vegetables, puy lentils, Raspberry Vinegar. Very classic, similarly presented to the venison. Decent quality lamb, lovely sauce port based, with a slight sweetness from the raspberry vinegar. Nothing overly complicated here, solid, decent cooking resulting in a very good dish. 2001 Amarone La Marega, La Salette, Veneto. This almost had a fortified edge to it, 14 or 15% alcohol which was well hidden, smooth with lots of dark fruit and a hint of chocolate, great length (I think I could get into this wine descriptive stuff). It worked well with the Raspberry vinegar. A pre Dessert of Rhubarb Compote and ginger cream was next stem ginger (?) utilised for the cream and topped with the now obligatory popping candy. Valrhona Hot Chocolate Fondant, Salted caramel, Caramel foam. Not being one for chocolate desserts I wolfed this down over a couple of glorious minutes. I think others might think that the salted caramel was too salty but for me it worked fantastically. Chocolate Fondant is Chocolate fondant, a good example but they rarely stand out on their own IMO. The Caramel foam was another great element, slight toffee flavour but beautifully light. 1928 Solera Maury, Maury always seems to work well with chocolate and this one did the trick, coffee and chocolate sprung to mind. Overall a very good meal. The Scallop and Macaroni were, for me, possible 2* dishes, I’m undecided by the seabass and Foie though, not that they were bad dishes but they didn’t excite me in the same. The Venison/Lamb and fondant were solid Michelin pleasing dishes and I have little doubt that Alexander’s can win a star in the (near) future. I believe that the venison dish was an addition to the normal tasting menu. Perhaps in the interests of balance one of the Foie Gras dishes should be removed from the degustation The debate will continue with regard to the price. My personal opinion would be that the tasting menu should be knocked back to 5 dishes (plus ameuse) and the price lowered to £50. The Scallop dish was fantastic but without having tasted it I would still hesitate to order it, the lamb and Venison dishes, while very good are possibly overpriced on the ALC (£22 and £25 respectively). I hope the prices on the website don’t put people of visiting because the cooking here is very good indeed and I will return.

I can only reiterate Tim's post. Upon returning from Madrid 3 weeks ago I woke up with a horrible case of what I initially suspected was food poisoning and I blamed it on some chorizo I had eaten. Further examination showed that me and my girlfriend had eaten exactly the same things over the prvious 24 hours and she was feeling fine. I spent the next 3 days in bed miserably ill and unable to eat anything. Another friend of mine ended up in hospital on a drip overnight after a similar thing occured to him before Christmas. This is a nasty bug and it's really been dong the rounds, it's easy to blame upset stomachs on food poisoning but it's not always the case. Stomach bug sinks QE2 Stephen Hendry sinks brown 300 Soldiers knocked out in surprise attack

After watching last nights episode I can't get the phrase "meal ticket" out of my head

I think you may need a reservation for the Ice Bar, it's pretty small: Below Zero Ice Bar