Matthew Grant

Arrived at the Sportsman after a relatively easy journey to Whistable once I realised that there are other Stations in my vicinity other than East Croydon. I'd heard abou this place and the emphasis they place on trying to source ingredients locally as well as starting to make there own Serrano style ham, hand-churned unpasteurised butter and homemade salt After a whistle stop stroll round Whitstable ( We didn't even get to see the sea) we jumped in the taxi to the Sportsman around 4 miles away (about £6). Its pretty desolate around the pub with a smattering of houses and windswept fields, the Pub even looks a little grim until you walk in. Shame the view is of a caravan park. I was parched so while sinking a pint of Asahi dry in record time I perused and set about trying to get the good stuff. "I've heard about your home made ham I can't see it on the menu?" "Unfortunately we haven't got any at the moment, it’s a bit if an experiment at the moment" Same for the hand churned unpasteurised butter and the homemade salt!!!! Ater a little digging around though they magically came up with the offer of some ham. Onion bread was outstanding and we had worked our way through a basket of it when the charming waitress turned up with the salt and unpasteurised butter and another basket of bread. Woo hoo! Great butter, especially when enhanced with a little of the salt, it had a slightly cheesy smell and a taste not far off clotted cream. It would be nice to get a salted version. Started with Oysters and Chorizo, 2 lovely plump specimens. Ham with Melon sorbet followed, not sure of the necessity of the sorbet. The ham is a good attempt but probably needs a little refining, the pork perhaps not being of the quality required to get a really great ham. A Crab risotto was exquisite, beautiful rich stock the rice flecked with crab and a large spoonful of crab meat on top. Courgette salad consisted of a courgette cream (?) which was mild in flavour, a deep-fried stuffed courgette flower, for me it could have done with a little more stuffing as it got lost once the cheese melted down. Rachel thought it excellent. Long strips of courgette blanched and doused liberally in Olive oil and covered in Parmesan finished the plate. Turbot with Pistou was a beautiful thick piece of fish eaten with relish by Rachel. Accompanied by pistou with summer vegetables, beans, broad beans and the like, strong with basil. Super. Thornback ray with cockles, brown butter and sherry vinegar was another great piece of fish and the accompanying sauce buttery and slightly sweet was very good. Managed to Squeeze down an Almond and Cherry tart before heading off home £103 lighter including two bottles of wine which came to around £40 in total. An excellent value meal with some very assured cooking and some great ingredients. A return visit is a must but this time I'll make sure we don't fall asleep on the way home and wake up on the approach into Victoria. I blame Rachel who said "I won't be going to sleep" when I suggested setting the alarm on her phone.

Rossini (Prosecco with Fresh strawberries) while browsing the menu, a jug of iced tap water was offered without asking which was a nice touch. Shared Calamari ai Ferri, great tender squid which had been chargrilled served with some fresh rocket and red chilli. This made me realise how great Squid can be but it is such a fine line between cooked just so and over cooked, even by the end of the plate the last piece of Squid was starting to get a little rubbery. Ravioli Fatte in casa was ravioli stuffed with ricotta, mascarpone and summer herbs and served with a Marjoram butter and grated pecorino. Again delicious, I could have eaten a main course portion of this. Tagliatelle Fatter in casa was served with a very generous portion of girolles and adorned simply with butter, parsley and once again pecorino. Pasta dishes at the River Café really shine, I'm not a big pasta fan but I've not had a dud pasta dish here yet (admittedly only 3 visits) Pollo ai Ferri was "spatchcooked organic free range chicken with toasted tuscan bread salad, tomatoes, basil and red wine vinegar. Exactly as it said on the tin, perfectly cooked chicken although the skin could have done with a being a touch crispier. Excellent bread salad and great quality tomatoes. Aragosta al forno - wood roasted split Dorset Blue lobster with fresh red chilli, marjoram & lemon, cannellini beans & marinated yellow peppers with basil. Good quality Lobster with lovely sweet flesh and one oddly oversized claw and one normal one. Beans were melting as you would expect but I just don't get yellow peppers at all. Desserts are a strong point so after a quick negotiation we managed to secure a mixed dessert which came presented on a huge plate, Almond Tart with Raspberries was crisp and chewy. Pannacotta with Grappa and cherries should have come with a warning for those that had to drive home but I don't think I have tasted a better pannacotta. Grilled white peaches were OK but the peach wasn't perhaps sweet enough to begin with. Strawberry sorbet, Vanilla ice-cream (outstanding) and Caramel ice cream finished of the plate. Passers-by looked at our plate enviously, I bet they wished that they had thought to ask for a mixed dessert! With a bottle of Terlaner Classico 2004 (£23) and Gavi di Gavi "Montessora" (£33) the bill came to £220. I never quite get the pricing here, undoubtedly everything is of excellent quality but every visit you find different menu items but Secondi are always priced between £27 and £30. Today the Chicken was £28 and the Lobster £30 which seems a little strange. Pastas are always between £12 and £14 and Antipasti average around £13.50. Overall though I'm not griping, another super meal.

The Sportsman was fantastic and in all honesty I was glad I cancelled my Galvin booking! More details when I get a chance, probably tomorrow, River Cafe for Lunch in a couple of hours

She did seem surprised and assured me she would put a note on the booking but said she couldn't promise the window table, that they were under strict instructions not to. With that I told her I realised it wasn't her fault and cancelled the table. Matthew, if you get a window seat and you didn't book before 23rd May I'll expect a phone call from you so that I can claim it back!

If you had been in the India Club last night on the Strand you would have been able to hear Corinne Bailey Rae (I heard her warming up while we ate before going to the concert). Her performance couldn't make up for the food though, I suspect that if the Beatles had reformed and played in the restaurant you would have still left saying "that food was crap"

Have now booked the Sportsman in Seasalter. Maybe I'll try Mews on Monday, I just asked for the menu to be mailed to me.

I booked to go here for lunch tomorrow on 23rd of May (we were planning a big eating and drinking session) and requested a window seat realising that they will be popular. I rang a minute ago to confirm my table only to be told they can't confirm a window table because everybody asks for them. Of course my reply to that is that most of those people didn't ask for them before 23rd May. She told me she can put in a request but they still won't guarantee the table and they were normally given to the first people to arrive, as I was booked in at 13:00 I didn't think I stood much chance, so I told her to cancel it. Absolute nonsense, what about good customer service? If everybody asks for window tables why not assign them when they are booked and once they are full up tell the next customer they aren't available. Now I'm pissed off and trying to think how to fill my day off work.

New Chef again? When I last went they had a new chef as well, straight from Ducasse in the US if I remember correctly?

I think we missed this one in the Independent though: Soho So Good

I didn't forget him, I just can't take him seriously even when writing in praise about Arbutus

I went around 6 months a go, it wouldn't even come close to being a "top London restaurant". OK for a fun night.

If I read this correctly Norman doesn't like the room but loves the food and this is a recipe for "not a shred of passion" What a dick. I would have thought if "Technically, this was as good a meal as you're likely to find at these prices. " that they must be exhibiting a certain amount of passion, otherwise why not churn out the dross that 90% of restaurants at this price point do? Why don't Will and Anthony, turn up one or two days a week and spend the rest of their time on holiday milking the profits? I'm sure Anthony would prefer to be spending more time at home with his family but at the moment you'll find him in that kitchen 7 days a week exhibiting far more passion than most big name chefs.

I had dinner at Les Ambassadeurs 16th June, relatively brief because I didn't take notes and my memory is like a sieve. We chose the degustation which we meant that we could have 3 courses of our choosing in half portions plus cheese and dessert. We started with the TV dinner as previously described by Degusto on Gastroville, the crayfish with chicken liver was superb. For our main dishes we opted for the Langoustines with caviar which we got to specify as Iranian despite the higher cost. A single superb quality Langoustine in a light crisp fried pastry served with a Langoustines with a relatively bland (not in a bad way) creamy sauce topped with a generous serving of caviar. Another serving was of a small piece of raw scallop which had a clear, Asian influenced, broth poured around it which we were advised to leave it until after the first Langoustine so that it could cook a little in the broth. Delightful dishes due mainly to the quality of the Langoustines. Rachel had opted for spider crab which came as a "sushi" with horseradish and I've gone blank on the other preparation. Again good quality ingredients but not mind-blowing in its preparation Turbot with carrots followed, a good piece of Turbot with a rich sweet sauce heavy with carrots, a small amount of carrot mixed with mustard and on the side a carrot mash , if this was a half portion I 'm glad I didn't order full size ones! A great dish which would have been fine without the puree on the side which added little to the overall dish and went largely untouched, the combination of carrot and mustard was excellent. Chicken with Foie Gras followed, two small pieces of PdB stuffed with Duck Foie and served with a truffle sauce. Alongside the legs served in a "bladder", in reality some clingfilm sealed so that it blew up like a balloon with small pieces of leg and foie gras which was opened at the table. I would say that the sauce was a touch over reduced but not too much to its detriment, the balance of the leg and Foie Gras was a little out, the cooking juices were great and rich with foie gras flavour but a big spoonful of what I thought was mainly leg nearly made me choke when I realised it was nearly all Foie Gras. Now I enjoyed this dish but it was really quite old fashioned and for me was wrong for the season, for Rachel it made her declare that she was bored of 3 star dining, which surprised me as she normally likes this classic style of dish (I knew we should have gone to Gagnaire instead ). Excellent cheeses but no 4 year old Bernard Antony Comte available, only 2 year . Desserts were a never ending procession, Ice lollies covered in chocolate (pleasant but not earth shattering) "reconstructed" Cherry Clafoutis was Ok but perhaps lacked a little something to make it a true 3 star dish, the Sponge element being too dry. Rachel had a great vacherin of gariguette strawberries if I remember correctly and this did tick all the boxes even if I can't remember the details now. Bon Bons and macaroons (way too sweet) followed and a great trolley of fresh herbs which were cut in front of you to make infusions. Overall some very good cooking but for me lacking a certain spark.

In my best John McEnroe voice: You can't be serious!?

If I remember correctly, Jacket still required although the requirement for a tie seems to have been relaxed, might be worth ringing to check.

Andy, has the food changed much since Thingimy von Thingymejig left?

What did you think?

Harvester

You'll love them and they'll make you feel like a proper chef (especially if you put a chefs jacket on and wear some kitchen clogs )

I don't think there is anything wrong with getting somebody to do the legwork but surely sourcing meat suppliers should be the responsibility of somebody employed at the restaurant with an interest in good quality products not a Lifestyle Manager who looks after Tom Aikens not his restaurant.

GO! If you have the book you already have photographs pretty similar to the real thing. I've eaten there 3 times, 2 of the meals were outstanding, one merely good. Much as I like Le Vieux Pont it is incomparable to Michel Bras. I've attached links to my reviews below, there are many others on the board, some not so complimentary (in fact my Girlfriend thinks it a lilltle ho-hum) but IMO this is a restaurant not to be missed. Incidentally on ths issue of cost, while not cheap it is possibly the best value 3 star I know. Le Vieux Pont An oustanding Michel bras meal! Good Michel Bras Meal Excellent Michel bras Meal

It might be possible to arrange transportation to get to Fat Duck, but I had been under the impression that the food - while quite interesting - was a disappointment from the taste standpoint. I'm sorry to hear there isn't much excitement about places right now - I was really looking forward to a great dining experience for my wife and myself. Are there any other thoughts, please? ← The Fat Duck is very divisive of opinion but it does provide a different eating experience to most, it is rated as 3 Michelin Stars and whatever your thoughts on it it will provide an interesting meal.

Tom Aikens is obviously a busy man and was in the Sunday Times at the weekend in an article about Lifestyle Managers. Tom loves his (Emma Barnsdale from Ten UK), he even gets her to source his English Meat Suppliers! Lifestyle Managers

In the best traditions of this board: Not the Capital I'd hesitate to recommend it a a great restaurant any more although Andy Fenn may disagree Bacon, Bacon, Bacon! Having said that I struggle to recommend any high end dining ventures in London now from an excitement point of view. The Square offers good solid cooking and a meal at Aubergine just before Christmas was outstanding, if you can make a short trip out of London try and get to the Fat Duck.

No problem about the long answer and I'm sure you'll be glad to know that Bukhara is my favourite Indian restaurant as well although I'm not sure that anywhere that has their menu printed up on a wooden chopping board can be described as fancy even though the hotel it is in maybe