Matthew Grant

You sound like the Michael Winner of Chinese food.

It wasn't far off it think it was £16/£18 I know the main course was about £4 more all I really remember is with the main course and wine think it was a Premier Cru Chablis total bill was £80. Didn't get to sweet nothing jumped out and I was on the way through London. I stopped concerning myself with how much it cost, just took the enjoyment away if I couldn't afford what ever I want, I dont go. This was the meal that taught me that, there's places to watch your pennies and others not to care. As for yours I wish not even a comparison! Stef(A Truffle Fan) ← Was this in 1986 by any chance?

I would think it a bargain at that price. In fact she doesn't actually have to be a virgin...

I'll guarantee that Phil Howard wasn't charging £16 for White Truffle Pasta. In Italy last year I was fortunate enough to have a bespoke White truffle menu, 4 truffle courses and desert for just €120, if only that were possible in London

£16 a slice, if the truffles are good it could be worth it.

I would hazard a guess (and please don't jump down my throat) that as the public are becoming more food savvy they want something a little more modern both in setting and style of food. Aikens fulfills the criteria with his contmporary food and Ramsay is just plain famous.

What? Silvano Giraldin is charging supplements and serving out of season ingredients?

It's naked, nothing on it at all. Aligot is a cheese and mash concoction served everywhere in teh Aubrac region of France. Google it and you'll come up woth dozens of hits.

Potato Pancake and vegetables : Followed with one of the best steaks I've eaten. Sirloin from Northfield farm, the butcher was sketchy on the hang time (I'm e-mailing to find out) but at least 5 weeks, I would estimate 6. The girl serving hadn't tried it before but I was sold on the fact that it was a cross breed, Dexter Steer and White Park - my two favourites. Strong gamey meat, sensational flavour, soft, melting yellow fat. Served with a large helping of sticky Aligot, no idea how this becme a peasant dish, it costs me £6 in cheese alone!

How much?

Mmmmmm.....foam..... Langoustine Lasagne with a cepe sauce: Asparagus risotto Cod with a cepe sauce, sherry jelly, Jabugo ham (I like cepe and fish )

I thought of another, how about a Cepe foam, you could use dried, soaked in water. Soften some onion, garlic in a little butter, add the stock from the soaked cepes, add a little cream, season before foaming. Add a little lecithin before foaming to make it more stable.

Vanilla sounds good. How about tarragon, or add an oriental twist with star anise. I've been experimenting with Plum Kernel oil and fish, it has a strong almond flavour, very good not sure how you'd utilise it in a foam but it adds an interesting element to dishes, it would go well with the vanilla. How about using a little crayfish jus in the base of the foam, it would keep the connection between elements well, mix with a little cream/butter and add your additional flavour before foaming?

Despite Origamicranes derision, give the Ivy a try, walk-ins for non-celebs are possible if they have space. I've walked in on a Friday and a Saturday night

At first I thought it was fantastic but the more I thought about it.... 1) Hardwater areas might be tough on it as Origamicrane says. 2) Some dubious uses er... what? retains more vitamins than plunging them into boiling water boiled in a kettle or stovetop? All the uses listed are uses for boiling water, not the tap.3) Dubious claims How does that work then? If you stick your hand under boiling water spray you won't get burnt?Basically this is a large (3litre capacity) kettle and thermos flask. I think it probably has limited use unless you use large quantities of Boiling water. Boiling water on a gas stovetop costs very little money indeed, the only benefits I can see are time related. I'm willing to be convinced. Incidentally, this isn't new, it won a bronze medal in the Hospitality Week '95 Product Awards.

It's the most casual 3 star you can imagine. Smart Jeans and jumpers are perfectly acceptable, very few people in jackets hardly anybody in ties. It is very relaxed.

Started with cepe tarts, made puff pastry according to Moby's instructions - excellent crisp, light and buttery pastry. Very good indeed. Lost half the cepes to worms I guess that pushes the price up form £35/kg to £70/kg Turbot, apple and ginger dressed with plum kernel oil, red pepper puree. dressed the whole dish with a soy dressing. Poor quality Turbot (farmed?) spoilt the dish but the apple, ginger and plum kernel oil combined beautifully. In hindsight I should have had another element such as Quinoa in the dish.

I was there last week. I can't help with a restaurant recommendation but for a memorable experience don't miss the bridge! It is absolutely beautiful and made me proud to be British!

I think Michel Bras probably leads to a large amount of its custom. The restaurant was nearly full both nights we were there.

The Grand Hotel Auguy is nothing special to look at but us reasonably priced and also has a pretty decent restaurant. Decouvertre du Terroir D'Aubrac Par Isabelle was a hearty tasting menu: Tapas de Charcuterie maison pour grignoter en Attendant Crepinette des joues de porc confites, Creme de Lentilles et jus de Viande: Shredded confit pork moulded into a luxurious meatball with a decent creamy sauce with some meat jus. Pretty much as it reads, the porc having excellent flavour. Pave de Boudin Noir, pommes en l'air, Vinaigre de Cidre accompagne d'un Foie Gras Poele: Excellent, a small disc of black pudding topped with a disc of apple and a small piece of Foie Gras. The Cider vinegar reduced to lend some sweetness to the dish. Very small but perfectly cooked Foie Gras. Filet de Truite du "Gagnot" en Croustillant de lard, Sauce au Laguiole petit Chou Farci paysan.My minds a little blank on this one but I do rememember that we were both disappointed with the quality of the fish and the fact that it was woefully underseasoned. Sorbet a la gentiane du Plateau de L'aubrac Tripous Maison a la facon d'Eleonore: I gamely attempted this the bundle of tripe was very strongly flavoured and sitting in a which I presume it was cooked in. Not really a favourite, nothing to do with the cooking, I suspect it is more psychological. Pieds de Cochon braises, cuits en galette de Poitrine fumee, jus de Roti: The pigs trotter had been braised and chopped into small pieces with a high proportion of the gelatinous fat and arranged into a gallete contained with a slice of bacon as the containing wall. This was very rich and would have perhaps benefited from slicing the trotter rather than chopping it, however it did have excellent flavour. At this point Rachel opted for Faux-filet grille "Bouef Fermier d'Aubrac", an excelent piece of beef with good flavour completely trimmed of fat. Both dishes were served with a great sticky garlicky aligot. We ate here again a couple of nights later and the aligot was of the same standard. Better than Michel Bras!!!! Good cheese was followed by Dessert. At this point you may notice a pattern in my reports. I just can't remember the Desserts!!! A poached pear of some sort, very nice but further than that I can't remember. Overall a very solid meal, perhaps not the best balanced tasting menu but accomplished cooking and deserving of its one star rating. Website Here

The village of Belcastel sits on the banks on the Aveyron river, a very picturesque place with few inhabitants and a very accomplished restaurant Du Vieux Pont run by Nicole and Michele Fagegaltier. The dining room is a light and airy, very pretty and if your lucky enough to have a window seat like us, overlooking the river. A great setting for lunch. We chose the Degustation costing €75 Galette de Patate douce aux legumes d'ete, quelques girolles, huile d'orange et Coriandre: A great way to start the meal, a small, smooth potato pancake with seasonal vegetables and a generous helping of girolles on top. Exceptionally pretty with it's perfectly cooked vegetables (squashes, courgette, fennel etc.) The Oil could have done with being a touch more pronounced but overal this dish worked very well. Langoustine poelee celeri et pomme verte au curry: Another winning dish, 2 or 3 Langoustine tails in a bowl which was then garnished at the table with the celery and apple sauce with curry. The peppery celery came through well and complimented the sweetness of the Langoustines and the apple. Lotte Poelee, confit d'oignons doux et de Mangues, vinaigrette sauce soja, crumble de pain de seigle. This was turning out to be a very good meal indeed! The Monkfish tail topped with the crumbs and a good vinaigrette, slightly salty with soy sauce, balanced by the sweetness of the onions and Mango. A slight criticism would be that the Monkfish was slightly overcooked (probably from being under the grill for the breadcrumbs) and it could have been cleaned a little better. Aubergine et Rhubarbe confitet, foie de canard grille, reduction de Ratafia aux epices: The first disappointing dish. A slice of aubergine was stuffed with rhubarb and worked well with the sweet reduction however the Foie was, in my opinion, not the best and was also a little overcooked. A shame because the combination would have worked well if the Foie had been up to the job. Cote d'agneau "allaiton" aux noisettes, huile infusee de sauge, truffade de potimarron au hachis de cepes: A good lamb cutlet topped with Hazelnuts, the oil was again a little underpowered. Cepes and squash were served covered in a strong melted cheese. Again very good, shame that the Lamb could have done with a minute or so less in the pan. Excellent cheese followed including an outstanding creamy Roquefort and Tomme de Vache. Desserts were served on 2 plates and a cup with approximately 6 different elements. Unfortunately I can't remember the elements but it playfully worked on texture and all the major tastes using unusual combinations and finishing with a lovely Chocolate and Saffron ice cream. Overall a very good meal, 1 star plus, not far off two if it could iron out one or two small points. Well recommended to anybody in the area for Michel Bras.

If it is your first visit to Michel Bras I definitely recommend "decouverte & nature" to get an idea of his cuisine, I wouldn't make any changes to the menu on a first visit unless there is something that you aren't keen on eating. The tasting menu costs €152 per person - a bargain compared to Parisian 3 star restaurants. The first meal came to around €385 in total (food only). Vegetable dishes average €40, Entrees around €43, Fish between €33 and €86. Meat courses top out at €130 for the beef. The lamb is €62, Chicken and Rabbit €45. If you do order ALC be careful how much you order, we were advised against ordering from all 4 sections of the menu, the ALC dishes were surprisingly large! And I yours Moby, perhaps you just hit it on an off day (unacceptable).

A slightly overindulged Rachel battled gamely on our eating extravaganza weekend and was persuaded to attempt the "Decouverte & nature" tasting menu. After watching the sunset from our room we were unable to start in the reception area whcih was full up and we had to move straight on to our table in the middle of the dining room by the Window, the first time in 3 attempts despite requests everytime, I'm not sure on what basis they are allocated. The same amuse followed as before, it would be nice if they could be varied slightly, a couple of the spoons were different the best of which was a crab mousse, another of beef consume was incredibly salty and should not have been leaving the kitchen. Gargouillou in a smaller portion seemed far better with more purees this time and adding a complimentary note to the dish. Le Turbot poele aux agrumes & aux Capres assaisonne de pomme-celeri-gingembre;oseille de Guinee & keffir. Quite simply stunning. Words cannot describe how good this dish was. The most perfect piece of Turbot with citrus and capers, accompanied by a small dice of apple ginger (?) and celery and keffir. The single guinee leaf (red sorrel?) added and interesting sour note. We substituted the Foie Gras dish, previously I wasn't so impressed and I'm not always keen on rich Foie Gras in large tasting menus. I was also keen to try "la ventreche de thon mi-cuit, la creme de Bouchot et le jus de crustaces; Beauvais a l'huile d'olive, sweet banana, chicoree & touche de para". Another wonderful dish. Good quality tuna belly, gently seared an accompanied by a shellfish sauce, the shellfish sauce being so classical tasting you wouldn't have known you were at Michel Bras until you looked at the plate and found a sweet banana chilli, cold mash potato and some flowers. ONe small issue, I found 2 small slithers of bone in my tuna, at this level this shouldn't be happening. "Traditionnellement a la pomme de terre: la rapee de cepes de nos hetraies; celeri-rave & vinaigrette aux truffes de Compregnac" spaghetti like celeriac and cepes with truffle vinaigrette. The cepes are stunning at the moment and combined with the vinaigrette and celeriac made a couple of beautiful mouthfuls of food. The Truffles are mild tasting, when asked our waitress said that they were frozen truffles and returned a few moments later to tell us exactly where they were from (just outside Millau). This sequence of 4 dishes was possibly the best I had ever had. The lamb came as a long slice of the saddle, cooked precisely with slight browning to the fat, this came with fennel and a sweet crisp fig "cigar" . Cheese was average for a restaurant of this standard although it was well described by our waitress who assisted our muddling French by translating everything perfectly throughout the meal. Dessert started with a Chicory version of the coulant accompanied by a squash and vanilla ice cream, this was the best version of the coulant I have tried, the chicory mild but detectable in the chocolate, the squash adding another note to the ice cream. Roast figs stuffed with a little fennel were accompanied by star anise ice cream, unusual dessert combination that worked well together. Finally, coffee jelly with a chestnut mousse and dulce de leche. An ok dish but by this point slightly irrelevant. Coffees, petit fours ad candy floss followed once again. I think that service here has been mentioned before, I can't quite put my finger on it but it isn't quite up to 3 star standards, During both meals I noticed that the ladies of the Bras family don't manage the dining room but merely perform as hosts, chatting to tables and smiling nicely. Occasionally I saw empty tables left with napkins and dirty plates once the diners had vacated. I didn't necessarily feel this was the fault of the waiters/waitresses but more down to management who walked past several times without picking anything up. Almost as if they were too senior to perform that task. Another thing I noticed, I'm not sure if Moby's review had been read by many people that were visiting the restaurant both nights I was there but hardly anybody ordered the tasting menus. I saw one table order a single course, another order two. On the first night I could only see one person eating the tasting menu and on my second just 2. This surprised me, on our previous visit I recall nearly everybody ordering it. Overall a fantastic meal set in an impossibly beautiful location. Michel Bras prefers the area when it is slightly grey and cloudy and I couldn't agree more, the orange skyline contrasting with the grey clouds, rain visible in the distance made for a perfect evening. I really could have died asleep in my bed that night but it would have been a while coming, I lay awake for ages I was so excited by the food!

Reports of the demise of Michel Bras are grossly exaggerated . I had two meals there over the weekend, whilst the first was not as memorable as my previous visit, I would have happily died peacefully in my sleep in the sumptuous bed moments after finishing my second, probably safe in the knowledge that life can't get any better. We had been wondering how to order and Moby's report convinced us that a la carte was the way to go for our first meal. The usual eggs and cepe tart (amazing) and spoons were taken in the reception area as the sun went down on the horizon. Louis Roederer champers to accompany. Moving into the dining room we started with 2 different versions of Garguillou (one the classic dish and the other a cold version) we were surprised at their size and how filling they were. It was as good as I remember it from last time but towards the end I did feel like I was munching my way through the dish in order to get to the next one. A smaller portion would have been better appreciated. In this instance the classic gargouillou didn't have much in the way of the smears and purees. Moving on, Rachel had the Monkfish with Black Olive Oil. Perfectly cooked Monkfish as you would expect but for me the Olives added and unpleasant grainy texture to the fish, slightly disappointing. For me Langoustines with a cauliflower and very finely chopped sweet peppers and ham. The four Langoustines were split lengthways with the head being covered with the accompaniments leaving the tail unadorned. Relatively simple but I was won over by the incredible Langoustines, cooked incredibly perfectly so that they almost melted like butter, the Langoustine itself outshining anything else on the plate. Exceptional quality but o it should be at €62. A further dish of the gauloises Blanches chicken with Steak tomatoes had fantastic chicken as previously described. To me the steak tomatoes was an unusual thing to serve alongside, almost ugly in their presentation (they were cut into strips like French fries). "Une Alliance du Nord & du sud de l'Aveyron Autour de la peau de lait & des truffes - Comprégnac -; le filet de lapin fermier poele au beurre demi-sel, des racines" This was another large dish consisting of a miniature rack of the rabbit, a single chop with a kidney (?) and what was presumably the saddle rolled and served as the fillet. This was a rich buttery dish that I thought was actually from the truffle sauce but may have arisen from the cooking method. Reasonable flavour from the truffles. However the dish was spoilt by the rolled meat being littered with small bones making it difficult to slice, the outside of the meat had also gone a little hard in areas. Reasonable dishes but certainly not mind-blowing. Dessert of Coulant with truffle worked reasonably (sorry for the sketchy details, incredibly full by this point) and an interpretation of a Mille-Feuille were rich finishes to the meal, actually they weren't really the finish, miniature lollypops (good), a nasty grainy carrot thing and a couple of other petit fours followed and then finally a fennel candy floss. Overall a good meal, certainly not as bad as Moby's but nowhere near as good as my previous visit. A thing to note is that we were "recognised" (meaning, picked up on the Computer database I presume) and greeted warmly when we arrived at the restaurant, a nice touch.

Before you buy one of those you might want to read this thread: Less than happy users