Matthew Grant

For those of us wanting to join Origamicrane's fantastic elite world of commercial food fairs there is no difficulty in getting a ticket. If you see one advertised, ring up for a ticket, in my experience they are happy to send you a ticket. If not turn up on the day and you can normally pay to get in.

I just wanted to remind you what I thought of this restaurant last time before you read this review. I have to say that I was mighty disappointed with my 2nd meal here. We ordered from the ALC using the tried and tested " 2 starters" method of eating. Once again I ordered the Risotto of White Onion but, shock horror, what a disappointment, slightly watery with none of the white onion flavour that I remember before, subsequently that threw the rest of the dish off balance and the coffee powder dominated without the sweetness from the onion to balance it. The Parmesan foam seemed a little less powerful than last time. More successful was the Squid and Jabugo Ham Crumble with Jersey Royals. The Jabugo ham cleverly arranged like walls containing the Baby squid and potato. However the crumble topping seemed no more than bread crumbs and seemed only to be there to make the dish look interesting. A dressing around the outside was unexplained but seemed to consist of little pieces of plum but I may have been mistaken. Other starters at the table included a Braised rib ravioli and carrot Puree, exactly as it said and ironically coming after watching Ramsay make a Oxtail ravioli on Kitchen nightmares. Slightly dry meat nothing wrong with the dish apart from it being completely uninspired. The Roast Langoustines with Roast Water Melon and Horchata were covered in those little cress herbs that seem to be popular at the moment. Small Langoustines as well. The most successful starter was the braised pigs cheek, Maws and Lung, tender rich cheek, not quite sure how the maw and lung stuck together or which way round they were but they were very agreeable. A a main course of Salt Cod, Fern Asparagus and Roast chicken Just came with crispy chicken skin, 3 morels an 3 chicken hearts. The hearts were a very firm texture and added nothing to the dish, the Cod was slightly too salty even for my (very) salty taste buds. Standard chicken jus finished the dish. What a disappointment, this was just a bog standard dish, Cod with chicken jus. The other two had the Whole Roast Squab Artichoke, Peanut and Cocoa Reduction. The breast was perfectly cooked and good quality, the leg was a little undercooked an lacked that falling off the bone texture you want from that joint. I didn't detect the peanut and the chocolate sauce is hardly original. The Artichoke came as a Mille feuille - not sure how this was prepared, it appeared to be raw or dried artichoke thinly sliced and rearranged, it was rather wooden. The Journey of chocolate was a lolly with nuts containing what I presume should have been ice-cream but in fact was completely liquid by the time I bit into it spraying liquid all over the table. A chocolate fondant was very flat, the next was a sponge of some kind with a dark chocolate jelly and finally w "Ferrero Rocher" in a glass. Again, a little disappointing, the lolly in particular was way too thick. Another dessert of Apricot Rice pudding was a very ordinary tasting rice pudding, with a fanned apricot laid on top, not even a hint of vanilla in the pudding . I didn't get to taste the Lemon Chiboust. Petit Fours - what on earth is the filo with Marigold all about, I felt like asking for a bowl of milk to put it in, no flavour other than that of shredded wheat (in my case complete with what appeared to be a small caterpillar) Overall this felt like a dumbed down version of the meal I had last year. The dishes were cooked well but it lacked in invention and felt like any number of restaurants in London. Minus points also for subjecting us to a dire soundtrack including the excruciating Texas, I don't mind some background music but somebody needs to offer some advise in that area. In my opiniona this meal was no different to dozens of London restaurants and wasn't worth the trip up top Leeds. Given the prices tha they are now charging it is only fair to compare it to a lot of London restaurants and I have to say that this meal wouldn't have stood out at all.

And she wonders why the business is going under?

I notice that that woman from Bonapartes (Series 1) is bleating in the press today about how she is now in £500k worth of debt, about to become homeless and unable to sell the restaurant because of Ramsay. The article talks about how shortly after the programme she closed the restaurant and concentrated on the bar Lets get this right, she calls in Ramsay because her restaurant is failing, restaurant continues to fail and now it is Ramsays fault. How's that work then? Apparently she might sleep rough outside Claridges in an effort to embarass him.

yes, ALC is available at lunchtime. no, it's just your imagination but you have to make hay when the sun shines, especially when you can't turn tables and have limited covers. ← I've no issue with the price rises if the quality is as good as the last time I went.

I take it the ALC is still available at lunchtime? Is it my imagination or have prices gone up since last year?

Thanks YKL but indeed you are correct, that was no help at all Mr Marshall, your assistance please

Is two starters still the way to go or have portion sizes increased to make that unfeasible?

Nothing to do with hunger, have you seen the length of his legs?

I think the restaurant is promoted by Maureen Mills - she's obviously done a good job!

Asparagus Risotto: Lasagne of Langoustine with Cep sauce. I wanted to involve a sherry jelly in this dish and attempted to cover the chopped up meat from the claws in a thin jelly but it didn't really come off: Finished with a lamb Loin fillet wrapped in leak. I took the efillet off a rack of lamb, I used the skin and fat from the rack and wrapped it around the chain from the fillet (I think that is the correct term) and roasted on a high heat to get it nice and crisp to counteract the lack of browning on the loin fillet, used the bones and the rest of the trimmings to make a jus with a touch of Madeira. I suppose this was a deconstructed rack of lamb, go stick that up your arse Adria . Served with fondant potato and some fresh peas. Cooked to perfection even if I do say so myself

Can anybody explain why Ramsay's recommendation wasn't to fire the chef? It seemed bizarre to me that the Manager was fired in a fit of temper yet the chef was consisitently crap. He couldn't even turn out frozen rubbish, the like of which is served in pubs everyday of the week by part-time Mothers who have to pick their kids up from school at 15:30. Great scene with the fried "roast potatoes". Ramsay at his best.

Friday cooked a favourite quicky dish. Paella of Pork Fillet, Chorizo and spinach from the Moro cookbook. Saturday, started with a Morel and Asparagus Ravioli with Parmesan shavings and Olive Oil, seem to have lost the photo to this one Moby talking about Troisgros Salmon & Sorrel made me want to try it so armed with ridiculously expensive wild Salmon (£36/kg) and some Sorrel from Booths at Borough market I came up with: No idea what the Troisgros dish tastes like but I made this with some fishstock, Vermouth, shallots and Sorrel (I gathered this from a review I read). The sauce was slightly sweet from the vermouth, the richness of the cream offset by the acidity form the Sorrel. Cooked the sauce with a little Sorrel before removing and replacing with fresh Sorrel just as I served. Great fish, beautiful sauce, very moreish. Followed by Roast Pork Fillet with Braised pork belly quickly roasted to crispen it up a little before serving. Plating went out of the window when my morel macaroni fell apart when I was dishing up - I wanted a neat little slice of Macaroni like I had at the Ledbury. Pork Filet much underated in my book - especially the stuff from the Ginger Pig. Also served some tiny Yukon parsnips with honey glaze. Meat Just provided by braising the Pork Belly in Veal stock, reducing the Veal stock right down, frying some pork trimmings and deglazing the pan followed by a second deglaze of the Pork Fillet pan. Great jus.

Agreed, I can't recall many, if any Dim Sum places in London serving 4 pieces Please advise of restaurants serving in 4's!

For some reason I've never fancied going to the The River Cafe partly due to the fact that it doesn't have a river view unless you stand on your table but the other half wanted to go and it was her turn to choose. I've since discovered that she has a long list of restaurants that SHE wants to visit never mind what I think! Sunday lunchtime saw a full restaurant and we were fortunate enough to be seated slightly away from the hoards in a courtyard close to the Thames, covered by the trees. It was overcast and I wondered what they would have done if it rained, the terrace immediately outside the restaurant had a canopy that could be rolled down but what would have happed to the poor souls in the garden? This is seriously rich territory, restaurant guests who were obviously regulars kissing staff and saying "See you next Sunday, usual time!" to the waiting staff and calling them by their first names. Another couple argued over paying the bill and presented the waitress with two black Amex cards Another table of 8 swapped birthday gifts and drank vintage Krug. The sort of place that you're likely to be sitting next to Jude Law and Sienna Miller eating and reading the Sunday papers. Supremely casual and expensive at the same time, the sort of place I'd want around the corner from me except I wouldn't be able to afford to use it regularly. The menu was as expensive as I had heard, Antipasto ranged from £12.50 for that bad Italian restaurant staple Prosciutto di Parma with Charentais Melon, and £15 for Vova di Gabbiano con Asparagi (soft boiled gull's egg with English Asparagus and Parmesan shavings. We settled on Carpaccio di Manzo at £14.50 - thinly sliced Longhorn beef crusted with thyme black pepper with red and golden beetroots, rocket and horseradish. Good quality beef, no hint of the thyme but a nicely balanced horseradish and perfectly cooked beetroots. Excellent. For Pasta course Tagliatelle Verde (fresh spinach pasta with creme fraiche, lemon and rocket was a well balanced dish with good pasta but £12 for a relatively small portion did seem a little excessive. In comparison Ravioli con Granchio at £13 (handmade pasta stuffed with fresh Cornish crab, fennel herb, chilli, lemon and selapiana extra virgin olive oil) seemed a relative bargain considering the additional manual work required for the dish. It ate exactly as it read, beautiful. Main courses had 4 fish and 3 meat choices ranging between £26 and £31. Branzino al forno (wood roasted wild sea bass with potatoes, cherry vine tomatoes, Taggiasche olives, basil and Vermentino was very good. Fantastic potatoes, waxy covered in olive oil, very sweet tomatoes and an excellent piece of sea bass. Very good but, in my opinion, surpassed by the Rombo al forno (wood roasted turbot tranche with summer savory & lemon with spinach mache and peas. What more is there to say? Exactly as the dish read but with the best piece of Turbot I have had in this country. A thick piece of fish still on the bone, perfectly cooked with a distinct woodiness provided by the oven. Completely fantastic and worth every penny of its £31 price tag. Desserts were all £7 and struggling to choose we asked the waitress if we cold have a small selection of 3 different desserts - not a problem. Chocolate Nemesis looked a very heavy dessert but its colour and flavour belied the light texture, Lemon tart was a good example and Almond tart with strawberries was fantastic, all the desserts had a real home cooked feel to them we were charged for half slices at £3.50 each which made me wish that we had ordered the Hazelnut and Espresso cake with Vin Santo ice cream as well! 1 Espresso, and 2 cafe lattes finished of the meal and perked us up for the trudge home. Overall a fantastic meal. Simple well executed cooking reliant on high quality ingredients.. With a modestly priced bottle of white (£27.50) and two glasses of lager the bill came to a touch under £180 - an expensive but extremely satisfying Sunday lunch. Special mention to the staff who are extremely friendly and helpful, arriving at my table the waitress topped my glass up, I was little aghast that she thought I expected her to do this, it's more of a fill your own glass type of place and I told her not to worry. "No problem, I'm clearing the table as well but I'll sort the alcohol out first - that's the most important thing!" Did I mention that Jude Law and Sienna Miller were sitting on a table next to ours ? Amazing what special effects can do these days, I couldn't believe how short, fat and obnoxious he was. Actually I might have exaggerated that a little, that last sentence should have read "I wish he was short fat and obnoxious" Unfortuanately (and I'm man enough to admit this) he is impossibly handsome and charming. Sienna ain't bad either.

"Now what have I got in the fridge that I need to get rid of?"

Is there not a thread for this anywhere? New series last night. Was good to see somebody listen to Ramsay and turn things around (I wish somebody would follow Sarah Beanies advice in property ladder) although I struggle to see how he cleared 20k of debt in two months, I doubt that he was making that much profit. I was surprised that GR didn't advise them to serve some of the dishes on different crockery e.g. bowls for some of the pasta rather than a flat plate.

If you are talking about the heavenly Toasted Cheese sandwich made with Montgomery cheddar and Poilane bread I'm afraid he will be disappointed. He has shut down for the summer to return to France!

Just ran this past the better half without any prompting , she swooned and advised it was definitely Passionfruit not Mango! No idea where I got that from!

Might have to go back to check it out! What did the pre dessert look like Andy? Was it a Passion fruit cream? (Note to self: disguise self as Andy Lynes to ensure extra courses when next dining out)

Still only a £35 profit and I've still got to pay my girlfriend to do the washing up. Take off gas and Electricity, a couple of side orders and the possibility of a broken glass and I could end up out of pocket!

Saturday: With a little help from Degusto and Moby I tried to recreate the Langoustines with curry and Sesame from L'Ambroisie. No mean feat especially since I've never eaten it :lol: However I have experimented with curry and Langoustines before. The dish was OK, Langoustines superb (Appleby's at Borough market). I thought I had the crisps painfully thin but looking at a photo on the L'Ambroisie thread I notice that you can virtually see through them, pretty confident I could manage that next time. how does he stop them from curling? Slightly over reduced the sauce which made it a little heavier than I would have liked, curry powder was a little dark, could possibly have done with less Coriander, more turmeric. Aside from that not a bad first effort, will try again. Crappy photo, I was in too much of a rush to get the Langoustines down my neck :D Main course of Poulet De Bresse with Chicken Jus and Aligot (in celebration of booking Michel Bras for September). I tried teh Poulet De Bresse again, have come to the conclusion that the Label Anglais is as good if not better and a 1/3 of the price. That's not to say the Bresse isn' good as well. Sunday: 6 week hung Longhorn from the Ginger Pig, finished up the Aligot with it.

6 week hung White Park from Northfield Farm cooked at my place. Exclusive club though

Sounds like a great school.