Matthew Grant

Decent Chicken - much underrated

Blimey, how can Pork tenderloin be over-rated, never see it on a menu, IMO it is very underated, pork tenderloin from the Ginger Pig - fantastic. Frozen peas are not under-rated either, every other chef advocates their use over fresh peas (unless they are minutes old)

That's the thread I was looking for! Glad to see nothing has changed in the 18 months since that thread started.

When it first opened i was very impressed indeed, I keep meaning to go back but recent reviews don't seem to have been as good.

Not new enough, had a great meal last christmas and is on my list of places to revisit but I want something completely new. Addendum sounds like it might fit the bill and has reminded me to try and visit Bond's.

It's in the pipeline but its not high-end dining is it? Where is the next GR@RHR, Capital, Square etc etc.

What about the chefs with ambition, aiming a little higher. We haven't had a high end opening of note for a long time.

Didn't we used to have a thread about the death of London dining? I'm racking my brains trying to think of some places I want to eat at that I haven't been to already. Nothing. Zilch. I can't think of a single opening in the last few months that really appeals to me. Dire.

Dear Alexis, now that the hysteria regarding bird-flu has been removed from the media do you think that we can get Poultry back on the menu please? Regards Matthew

Don't we predict upgrades to Petrus and Le Manoir every year? I suppose it might happen eventually.

|I rad an interview with the head of Michelin a couple of months ago and they said that they had found a distinct gap between one and 3 star level that wasn't consistent with other Michelin guide countries. Very strange to have as many 3* as 2* restaurants. Does a steakhouse such as Lugers really warrant a Michelin Star?

Errr- I don't think so. We personally know our poultry supplier, and our confidence of the quality of produce hasn't changed from one day to the next. No one has ever caught this flu from eating poultry- what a load of hype!!(or B****ks) Tonight we have chiken, guineafowl, partridge and wild duck- better whisper though the food police might get us!! Seriously though, we are not about to dump all our local suppliers on tittle tattle and hearsay- they deserve support, well we feel they deserve it even if others don't!! ← I have to say, if I was his poultry supplier right now I'd be spitting feathers ( ). He surely has more trust in his suppliers? I can't believe that this was done for publicity, after all who would be going to a restaurant specifically because it doesn't sell poultry? If it was done for publicity then it was misguided. Apparently he doesn't believe it will affect bookings, well they've lost one already. I will go when the poultry ban is lifted.

Nicolai, I think you might want to watch the program again. 1) Gordon Ramsay did mention the fat in the Foie Gras, he addressed this very point saying that you didn't need any fat (in fact he made the commis remove the fat already in the pan) as it contained so much of its own. 2) the potatoes were clearly Boulangere (he called them this) and he did mention the stock, he called them "similar" to Dauphinoise but healthier 3) He did mention the breadcrumbs, he showed how you made the herb crust and showed it being mixed up with breadcrumbs. Chefs can't be expected to list every ingredient in a dish, menu would be hundreds of pages long. 4) Agree 5) I htought it looked good 6) Numerous employees and management associsations would disagree. Ramsay is regularly held up as a highly motivational boss. You may not like the way he does things but it does get results. Overall I quite enjoyed this, get rid of the celebrity interview, show a little more cooking, review a restaurant (why not, we reveiw music, books, art etc on TV) and we might have a decent show.

It is no exaggeration to say that I was about 5 minutes away from ringing to book a table at Roussillon when I read this in today's Evening Standard: One of London's top Michelin-starred restaurants has taken all poultry off its menu in response to fears about bird flu. I was hoping that he was going to cook the black truffle soup that he prepared on Greatest dishes in the World, in fact I had written to him asking if it was possible to prepare it for me. I didn't get a reply but I guess it's a no-go now! Uunfortunately this does put me off booking a table, maybe I will change my mind but at the moment it's gone from the definite to the maybe list.

Jack, I used your method with some success. If I wanted to use this mixture to make a single round loaf what would sort of baking time would you recommend?

I'm not sure if it is still there but Bugsy's was/is an excellent place for cocktails in Prague. I found most of the eating pretty disappointing in Prague, nothing really stands out in my mind

Blimey I thought I had posted about my 3 week trip to Rajhastan earlier this year but it appears I hadn't. Not sure whether this is the best place for it but it might answer a few questions for you and help you decide where to go: Finding information on the best places to eat was difficult outside of Delhi. The only information I could really find came from tourist guides (Fodors/ Lonely planet/Footsteps etc. etc.) and these seemed to reflect exactly the same restaurants that locals recommended as the best place to eat. In the majority of towns the best eating was supposedly found in the hotels and this seems to be proven when you see local middle class families eating in them. Unfortunately with very few exceptions the food was completely toned down for Westerners - not just the chilli but in some cases it seemed that a concerted effort had been made to make the food as bland as possible. This was especially evident at Vanyavilas in Ranthambore. One of the finest hotels I have stayed in it was let down by food so unadventurous it defied belief. This was even true when we specified that we didn't mind our food spicy or hot, unfortunately at nearly every venue we went to tourists were requesting dishes that weren't too spicy. I did notice that Americans didn't request this, they simply advised that they were allergic to chilli?!?! In Delhi we started at Bukhara - the most famous restaurant in Delhi. Nothing like we expected it has apparently remained unchanged for 20 years. It's rather like a theme restaurant with tree trunk stools and tables to sit on, aprons to hang around your neck and a giant open kitchen. The restaurant specialises in Tandoori dishes and it really does excel. The main menu contains lots of dishes but no selection plate. We asked for a mixture and were advised that we could have the presidents platter (named in Bill Clinton's honour). Anybody who is going this has to be the thing to order although it is not shown unless you ask.. Excellent Raan. lamb chops, tandoori chicken, Chicken Tikka accompanied by breads and Bukharas famous daal. personally I found the daal unremarkable, the overwhelming flavour being ghee which completely overpowered any other spicing in the dish. The grills and kebabs were exceptional and were dreamt about them for the next 20 days until we returned to Delhi and were able to eat there again. Other meals at Chor Bizarre and Dum Pukht were unremarkable. I was particularly disappointed with Dum Pukht where I found the food to be rather pedestrian although there burnt garlic daal was excellent and they served the best paratha of the trip, crispy, elastic and chewy. Delhi rocks, the old town really is "a seething mass of humanity" At Amarvilas in Agra the Indian restaurant Esphahan did provide a good meal, excellent Tandoori Quail and a giant Tandoori Prawn. Raan was a little heavy on the clove but A makhani byriani was wonderful, served in sealed pot the smell was incredible once the pastry was cracked. The flavours infused throughout the dish. Despite the hotels grand setting, luxurious rooms and impeccable service the restaurant was relatively cheap at around £10 for a main course including daal and bread. It was a shame the cocktails couldn't match the food - awful classics with barely a whiff of alcohol - I have a feeling this is due to local alcohol laws. However many times you have seen the Taj Mahal on television or in photos, nothing can prepare you for it. It is completely mind blowing and despite being riddled with tourists it is still a great place to visit. Jaipur was fantastic, bustling streets, cows asleep in the road, traffic held up by Ox drawn carts/elephants/camels, men in turbans, beautiful architecture and a beautiful hotel in Samode Haveli, a converted Haveli (if you couldn't guess) in the heart of Jaipur. Food at Niros was a little spicy but we watched in wonder as everybody around us ordered pasta/salads and Chinese?! Another night was spent at Choki Dhani - this was an incredibly cringeful theme park depicting traditional Rajasthani village life. Traditional dancing, elephant rides/camel rides/rickshaw rides and a traditional dinner eaten on the floor with your hands. The food was pretty awful and if it was authentic its no wonder the middle classes aspire to eat in hotel restaurants. We hated it, so contrived and false we couldn't get out of there quick enough, as we were leaving hundreds of Indians were queuing to get in! Jaipur gave us The Amber palace, Jantar Mantar, the city Palace and our English guide having the biggest "hoiking" fit we had yet seen, it must have lasted a good 3 minutes and I was sure he would pass out with the exertion. A visit to the market on our departure was good fun, the produce was all remarkably familiar - Cauliflowers (just 5 rupees a kilo), potatoes, tomatoes etc. etc. What was unfamiliar was the street hairdressers and the phone stalls. Onto Ranthambore where we failed to see Tigers and seemed to be destined to fail every step of the way, our jeep was allocated one poor route out of 4 and on the other 3 occasions our driver and guide were caught going off their designated route when heading towards a confirmed sighting and had to turn back. For a anybody attempting this trip it is often touted as the best place to se tigers, even the official literature advises that "most drives will see a tiger". Well we went on 4 drives (incidentally they are in open top jeeps and are incredibly cold even with the hot water bottles and blankets provided by the hotel) and saw zero tigers. We met several people that had been on 4 drives, a couple on 5 and another who had been on 6 drives without seeing a tiger. Although a lot of people had seen them, there were equally as many who were disappointed. Fortunately my disappointment was softened in my luxury tent and with the incredible service. Elephants were waiting for us as we drew up in our car and a member of staff opened the doors and welcomed us by name. From that point onward every member of staff greeted us by our names, all the more impressive as we aren't married and they remembered Rachel's surname as well. The hotel was only let down by the bland food mentioned earlier. In Kota we stayed at Brij Raj Bhawan Palace - a converted palace still occupied by the Maharaja and his family. Unfortunately the great location overlooking the river wasn't matched in the quality of the beds. We were a little concerned as we were the only people staying and they were cooking us dinner. The dining room had one of those grand dining tables fit for a queen (Queen Mary had stayed here in the past) and there were just two places laid at it. Stuffed tigers, lions, buffalo etc. adorned the walls. The staff, all 3 of them, slightly scruffy in their military style uniforms, multitasked as security, bell boy, receptionist, cook and waiter. We feared the worst for the food but it was fantastic, a spicy Chicken Korma. the chicken stuffed with chillies and almonds accompanied by some spicy fried potatoes and cauliflower. The Lake Palace was another amazing hotel but unfortunately the lake is almost dry following 7 poor monsoons. They still manage to transport you to the hotel by boat but it is a token effort and 3 men are digging the channel all day to keep it clear to transport you. All around people are walking or driving on the dry riverbed. Every night the hotel organises a royal parade with elephants, camels, horses and musicians and they head off across the riverbed. The "fine dining" restaurant offered good Tandoori quail, excellent mutton patties, carefully spiced and with a fantastic delicate texture verging on liquid. Unfortunately a main course of chicken in a yoghurt and chilli sauce tasted exactly like chicken in a Campbell's cream of mushroom soup. Our guide in Udaipur annoyed us by treating us like school children. He lectured us for an hour on the Hindu religion, he asked us questions on what he had just told us and looked to the heavens if we got it wrong. He asked me what I thought was kept in a particular tank "Water" "No" "Gold" (replicating an earlier tank) said Rachel "No, it was filled with water which was splashed over the Maharaja" "That's what I said!" A few minutes later he confronted us "So I think you have a problem with me as guide" We were so embarrassed that we denied it but ditched him a few minutes later by saying that we needed to rest at the hotel. We came back out after 5 minutes once he had left. The hotel did make exceptional cocktails, apple martini and Cosmopolitan were both much appreciated. The hotel was let down by its service which was well meaning but cumbersome. A 21:00 dinner reservation was not ready when we arrived and despite me being able to see at least 3 empty tables we had to wait 15 minutes until they had managed to lay one for us. When leaving the hotel you had a committee of two girls at the door, a couple of steps on a tall Indian in magnificent dress greeted you and then you were accompanied by a man holding a large umbrella to protect you from the sun despite the walk being in the shade. He walked the 30 yards to the boat jetty where 2 musicians started playing when they saw you and stopped the minute you got level with them. The boatman helped you onto the boat and at the other end, about 1 minute away, the whole process was repeated in reverse. It quickly became tiresome. Drove to Jodhpur via the Jain temple complex at Ranakhpur which was superb. No touts, No guide and a beautiful temple. In Jodhpur we were craving a bit of night life and headed towards "On the Rocks" a bar in a hotel somewhere that also served grills and snacks. Noticed all the westerners were seated outside but we could hear music from within the bar and despite the waiters protests ("it's full up") we headed in to find it empty save for a table of 3 men and another of half a dozen men who were clearly pretending to be drunk. Ridiculously exaggerated movements, bumping into everything, crazy interactions with each other. It was like something from a Bollywood movie. The barman looked bemused, probably because they knew that they had only served them a couple of beers. The market gave us a stall selling false teeth. The next stop was Jaisalmer with its fantastic fort still fully living and breathing. We saw a wedding, a licensed "bhang" shop, a man pissing against the outside of a urinal which had "please use me" written on it and a man with a 4 foot long moustache. In the evening we rode camels in the desert just 70km form the Pakistani border. A reasonable meal at Trio - once again the "best restaurant in town". On the long straight road to Bikaner our driver made his one and only (near fatal) mistake. Indian drivers have top overtake if they are even going 1 mile and hour faster than the vehicle in front of them and I noticed Babu pull out to overtake a lorry, we were barely going fast enough to overtake but trusted him to know what he was doing. Then I noticed the lorry coming ion the opposite direction and thought that Babu would pull back in. He didn't. It was then that I realised that he was driving in a daze, presumably due to the long straight featureless road that we were on. The Lorry was getting ever closer and I called Babu's name without getting any response, I called another 3 times in increasing desperation before Babu noticed the lorry and swung back across with quite literally a second to spare. Quite a heart stopping moment! Bikaner was a dusty oasis town. Not particularly inspiring. At the local Place (I forget its name) some modestly dressed French girls were stared at so rudely that I nearly stepped in to say something. Some Indian men seem o have no concept of shame whatsoever and the staring was a constant problem but here it reached new levels with men actually detouring to stand in front of the girls and stare at them, mostly at their breast are. Two of the men were accompanied by Hindu women who had their faces covered (a common sight outside the major cities) I wondered what there response would be if we stood in front of the girls staring at them. We sometimes took to staring back, right in the eyes but this elicited no guilty response whatsoever. Laxmi Niwas Palace had great suites, full of original carvings, antique bed, black and white photos from days gone by. the drawing room and bar were once again full of animal skins. A great heritage hotel. Dinner of Laal Maas "the fiery Rajasthani speciality" sounded appealing until I was told by our waiter that it wasn't spicy because tourists don't like spice! Aggggh! Told him that we did and managed to get a reasonably spicy version of the dish. There was also good byriani here and the best butter naan that we tasted anywhere on the trip. A quick overnight stop at Mandawa to view the sorry Havelis before returning to Delhi where an illness to a speaker at a conference meant that the Uppal Orchid didn't have a room for us as delegates hadn't checked out. This was a shame as the Uppal Orchid was a member of "Leading small hotels of the world" They had shifted us to the dated Le Meridien which was very impersonal and managed to have a disco so loud that I was driven to complain twice at 01:00. The Disco was 18 floors above us but the music still shook the walls. Delhi gave us the opportunity to return to Bukhara. We ordered exactly the same. This time the daal was better, not as much ghee and the spicing coming through a little more. The meat here is incredible tender and the marinades seem to have penetrated every inch. I could eat the same thing here many times over and still not be bored. It really is very touristy but despite that the food is great. The open kitchen affords excellent views of them cooking the food and of them making the huge "Bukhara Naan" which takes up a table big enough to serve 6 people. I've no idea how they get it in the Tandoor but it comes out looking as good as the smaller version. What a country, tremendous poverty, ridiculous driving, poor sanitation, awful pollution, terrible infrastructure. The people look unhappy, not like the smiling faces you see in Thailand. Tradition is still pretty strong here with regard to marriages although the next generation should change that. Apparently most marriages in Delhi now are approved by the parents but are in fact Love marriages, this isn't true in the smaller towns but the educated younger people want it and things are changing. Reading the papers you are left with the feeling that it is a naive country "The weather conditions continued to fluctuate with a bright sunny morning and a chilly windy evening "We spent the entire day on the India gate lawns. It was quite pleasant in the morning and we have discarded all our woollens" said Rajesh Gupta from Karol Bagh" - reports like this take precedence over the kidnap of 50 villagers, 6 of whom were killed and had their hands and feet cut off by Maoists, this received only 5 or 6 lines in the Times of India. Corruption is rife, traffic police stopping people to try and extract bribes. Our driver just ignored them and drove on whenever they tried to stop us, occasionally he started to stop but they waved him on as soon as thy realised he was carrying tourists. I don't feel like I have been on holiday at all. My senses have just been subjected to an intense assault and aren't going to recover anytime soon. Incidentally, I loved it.

Leeds! This is the UK forum!

Mudbug, I'm no expert on Eastern Europe aside from a few days in Prague so am unable to offer you an alternative schedule without some serious research. How are you planning to travel between countries? Are you flying (this is the only way that I can see you being able to accomplish this schedule). Are you limiting yourself to Eastern Europe for any particular reason? On a personal level I would add a couple of days to Athens or remove it from the schedule, forget about Crete (again for time reasons). Prague is nice but you might want to remove a couple of days from your schedule to free up some time in London/Athens. It seems a little strange to me that you would prefer to spend so much time in Prague, Krakow and Budapest and so little in London?

Wow! How did you come up with that schedule, if you don't mind me saying it does seem a little rushed in places, to the point that heading for a certain destianation to eat might not be possible. Where are you starting from? A few comments: Why so long in Zurich but so little time in London Travelling to Lausanne for dinner on a Sunday (10/30/05)from Zurich and then getting back to Zurich again is probably a non-starter. I should warn you that a lot of Zurich shuts down on a Sunday, don't expect to look in too many shops! Why are you travelling form Switzerland to Hungary and then back to Austria? you have to pass through Austria to reach Hungary! It would also seem to me that your trip from Krakow to Athens seems a little long winded and it will be unrealistic to expect to get to Crete and back to Athens in 24 hours unless you are flying. Anyway, my recommendation to you (aside from thoroughly re-checking your itinary) would be to grab Bratwurst in Zurich at Vorderer Sternen, not far from Niederdorf and Bellevue. It is open Sunday mornings.

The more I think abou this the more it annoys me, luckily I was distracted on the night as we had company. They also delivered a Souffle a good couple of minutes before the other dessert/cheese and managed to place the dishes in front of the wrong person 3 times!

I ate again at the Ledbury on Saturday, I won't go into detail with the food, I thought it was good, however, my other half was this time a little less enthusiastic. The rabbit Lasagne was a good start, Dover sole with Chicken wings, Chicken jus and cockscomb was a rich dish which perhaps didn't show the Fish off to its best. I finished with the cheese trolley which was a bit hit and miss. Good vacherin, poor Comte. A friends plate had a cheese I don't remember but was pretty poor. The main problem with the meal was the service, whilst well meaning it was, to be honest a little shoddy. Menus were delivered and within 90 seconds we were asked if we had any questions regarding themenu. Dirty plates remained on the table for 10 minutes or more, my starter plate hadn't been polished and was very smeary. It was difficult to attract the waiters attention, tables were crowded. It was impossible to move the cheese trolley effectively and the waiter was unable to serve the cheese up straight from the trolley due to a lack of space. I hope this was just an off night, it was very busy but that isn't really an excuse.

This seems a little more concrete this time if the report is to be believed. As Gary said, he was looking at the Maze site, Ramsay snapped it up after Robuchon rejected it/couldn't come up with a deal, and using a similar concept opened L'atelier du Atherton..sorry Maze. Is Robuchon spreading the concept too thinly? Initial reports from Atelier in Paris were very positive, I had a great meal there shortly after it opened but I think there have been a fair few dud reviews mixed in with the good ones since. Make no mistake this is not a cheap eat in Paris and I imagine that it will be the same here as well.

And what about his Dim Sum?

As opposed to menus from other restaurants and a camera?