Matthew Grant

Dinner at the Bluebird Dining Rooms Saturday night, friendly service, casual atmosphere, trendy crowd of 30 something's. To clarify, this isn't the main restaurant of old, this is the Bluebird Dining Rooms, part of the Members club (I believe) which is now open to the public. Warm potato drop scones with Cornish crab and Crustacean oil was a pleasant enough start, light drop scones, a few non descript salad leaves with crab meat littered throughout accompanied by a light drizzle of oil around the outside. Good quality crab at room temperature which these days gains you some points. My main course was Goosnargh Chicken and Penny Bun pie with Trapplements and triple cooked chips which the waiter advised me weren't a copy of the Fat Duck but "inspired by". Translated this dish was a £13 chicken and mushroom pie and chips. Alongside was a strongly flavoured dark jus which had a hint of sweetness (Madeira?). I had no idea what I was meant to do with this, as far as I'm concerned you shouldn't be adding stuff to a pie after it is cooked and the pie was wet enough already. Besides this the sauce was way too overpowering for the disappointingly flavoured pie filling. I asked the waiter what the trapplement was, " A jus" pressed for a little more information I was informed that it was veal stock and chicken stock, not very helpful. Excellent chips. As previously mentioned the chicken was very undistinguished and was woefully under seasoned. I think I briefly glimpsed two pieces of mushroom. I wasn't sure what a Penny bun was but further investigation shows it to be Boletus Edulis, or to you and me a Cep. I couldn't detect any cep flavour in the dish whatsoever. It was more than a bit run of the mill.(Insert Yawn emoticon here) Desert was an unmitigated disaster. Steamed Treacle pudding with custard. For a start, the plate had a couple of giant thumbprints and the edge of the plate looked and felt a little smeared/dirty. I'd hazard a guess that it had been ineffectively wiped after plating but it didn't endear me to the dish and without company it would have been sent back. The custard was cold, no make that lukewarm, no make that hot. Confused? Me too, some point between plating and serving it had managed to obtain all 3 temperatures. The syrup pudding was an almost solid in the middle, way too dry, pretty unpleasant. Other tastes that I pinched were of a pea broth(?) very good and a main dish of Lamb Rump, colcannon and Lancashire black peas. This dish seemed to be more successful, this was good news as unwittingly my other 3 dining companions had all ordered the same dish. I'd be inclined to compare this restaurant to Rhodes in style of cooking and in my opinion it was probably a little better however, this does not make it a great restaurant, maybe I chose my dishes poorly but I wouldn't be in a rush to return.

I saw eGullet lurker Michel Roux Jnr in the background last night

My other half immediately retorted "An Inch! She wants all 7 really!"

Try MSK for the Sodium alginate and Calcium Chloride. I haven't ordered anything from them but they supply specialist food ingredients. They have some interesting stuff in their catalogue and supply to restaurants in London, I'm led to believe that they have suppled the French Laundry as well. The Sodium Alginate isn't in the brochure but a coulpe of months ago they confirmed to me that they do supply it and can also supply the test tube kit for making the caviar as well. Their Catalogue advises that they have no minimum order and no carriage charges. MSK Kurzon House Main Road Unstone Dronfield Derbyshire S18 4AB Sales:01246 412211

I'm already looking up B&B's in Ludlow!

If the producers are reading this, as it is a show meant to be about amateur cehfs cooking, any chance of actually seeing some cooking/food?

Some people may disagree with you based on recent visits I won't dispute that you won't enjoy it on a firt visit, what I do dispute is that you won't get the best out of it wihtout a little more knowledge.

I don't mean challenging to be disparinging term, far from it. I mean in a way that it does have some modern touches and that some things might make people with little eating experience a little hesitant without even tasting them. From recent posts: "Pan Fried Scottish langoustines Tails, Iced Vin Jaune, Spring Leek& Liquorice Puree, Veloute of Potato and Hazelnut" "Duo of Cornish Razor Clams stuffed with Chicken Kidney & Gingerbread Butter, Creamy Veloute of White Onion & Menton Lemon" " Roast Corn Fed Pigeon, Royale of Jerusalem Artichoke & Lemon, Roast Baby Artichoke, Fudge Sauce, Gaufrette Potatoes" "Freshwater Eel Poached in Truffle Jus, Crispy Pork Belly, Confit Pineapple, Fondant Potato Froth of Coconut milk" "Fine tart of Granny Smith Apple, Salted Butter Caramel, Puy Lentil Ice Cream" Not your usual sort of high street restaurant offerings I'm sure you'd agree? Hmmmmm.... mouth watering and it's only 10:00

Agreed! I miss that feeling As for Hibiscus it is a fantastic restaurant but again, not one I would go to early in my eating career, some of the food there is what I would consider a little challenging for someone new to this level of eating.

Without being condescending can I make a suggestion? If you haven't eaten at a Michelin starred restaurant before don't start at a 3 star. RHR is very professional and should not treat you any differently because of your age but in my opinion it is better to start at aspiring Michelin starred restaurants or one star places and work your way up. There is little doubt that you would go to a 3 star restaurant and be wowed but you would probably be wowed at a number of one stars as well given your eating experience. Work your way up gradually to a 3 star (I don't me an have one 1 start, one 2 star and then dive in at 3 star), try and understand how dishes should taste, what is poor cooking and what is simply not to your taste. Once you get that sort of confidence/knowlege you will enjoy a 3 star meal far more than you could at the moment.

Your nominations were(apparently): Manresa Commander's Place The Fat Duck Per Se L'Arpege

Marlena, are we to understand that you don't like the awards? I couldn't help noticing your smiling face on page 33 of this weeks Restaurant magazine with your nominated 5 restaurants!!!!

Please don't you would never get a consensus. We would end up with exactly the same discussions we are having now.

I'm sure I've said this before somewhere. The List is a list of peoples FAVOURITE restaurants, not a list of restaurants with the best food. Keep that in mind.

I can see Mr Shaun Hill reading the thread right now! Was that you I saw hob-nobbing in front of the stage before the ceremony began?

I'm pretty certain that if you were asked to vote then your vote will have counted.

Acoording to the blurb "The list is compiled of votes from over 500 international industry experts polled by the magazine team" This weeks magazine lists a few of the judges. They include, Fay Maschler, Jay Rayner, Alain Roux, Michel Roux and Andy Lynes.

This years event was held at the Royal Exchange in Threadneedle street, a nice backdrop but the sound quality was so poor (huge cavernous shopping halls don’t make for good acoustics) the audience could understand barely a word that was said from the stage and we took our cue from the pictures displayed on stage as each place was announced. Did Keller look a little miffed when The Fat Duck was announced as number one? Paul Bocuse certainly did although I’m not sure whether this was because he had been standing on stage for 40 minutes without understanding a word of the proceedings or because he wasn’t keen on the new King of the World’s take on gastronomy. Paul Bocuse picked up the American Express Lifetime achievement award. Still for others it was worse, Pierre Gagnaire with two in the top 50. Pierre Gagnaire Paris finished a respectable 6th and The Gallery at Sketch finished 18th. Gagnaire, who was in attendance, merely got to look at the stage, not even a few seconds to have his picture taken with Bocuse. Other’s at the event included Tetsuya Wakuda, Albert Adria, Fergus Henderson, Tom Aiken, Angela Hartnett, Mark Askew, Michel Roux Jnr. From afar I swear blind I saw Shaun Hill but couldn’t find him to have a chat. Jay Rayner was professional as ever – ever heard of a journalist without a pen? At least he gave it back after he had finished with it. I’m not going to debate the awards, there are plenty of others who will take delight in trashing them. I personally enjoy them, sure the list is flawed but don’t forget that the votes are for peoples “favourite restaurant” not “the best food”. Any awards ceremony that can get this many top chefs to attend should be applauded, maybe next year they can have a sound test before the event begins. Heston collects his award (pictured with Paul Bocuse to his left and some bloke from Penfolds to his right.) The awards in full (subcategory in brackets) 1) The Fat Duck (Best Restaurant in the World, Best Retaurant in Europe) 2) El Bulli (Chefs Choice) 3) The French Laundry (Best in Americas) 4) Tetsuya’s (Best in Australia) 5) Gordon Ramsay 6) Pierre Gagnaire 7) Per Se (Highest New Entry) 8) Tom Aikens 9) Jean Georges 10) St. John 11) Michel Bras 12) Le Louis XV 13) Chez Panisse (Highest Climber) 14) Charlie Trotter 15) Gramercy Tavern 16) Guy Savoy 17) Restaurant Alain Ducasse 18) The Gallery at Sketch 19) The Waterside Inn 20) Nobu 21) Restaurante Arzak 22) El Raco de Can Fabes 23) Checcino dal 1887 24) Le Meurice 25) L’Hotel de ville 26) L’Arpege 27) Angela Hartnett at the Connaught 28) Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons 29) Le Cinq 30) Hakkasan 31) Cal Pep (Outstanding Value) 32) Masa 33) Flower Drum 34) WD50 35) Le Quartier Francais (Best in Middle East and Africa) 36) Spice Market 37) Auberge de I’ll 38) Manresa 39) Restaurant Dieter Muller 40) Le Maison Troisgros 41) The Wolsely 42) Rockpool 43) Yauatcha 44) The Ivy 45) Gambero Rosso 46) The Cliff 47) Le Gavroche 48) Enoteca Pinchiorri (Editor’s Choice) 49) Felix (Best in Asia) 50) La Taupina

FYI: Fenugreek is often referred to as Methi in Pakistani/Indian restaurants.

Most Indian restaurants start with a generic onion suce as its base. When a curry is ordered the relevant spices are added I'm pretty certain it will be the Onion base that is consistent between most Indian meals in this country and are giving you the taste that you are referring to.

I bought some from Selfridges last year: Australian Wagyu was £75/kg for sirloin, £85/kg for rib-eye adn the cheapest cut was fillet at £70/kg. At the time I noted "It was interesting but my preference would be for a well hung piece of rare breed beef"

The award was actually accepted by Michel Roux, not sure where Silvano was

Try Hilditch auctions - I presume this is what is being referred to

Mathew - a quick question please - I too have been trying to make a very thin ravioli. How did you manage to cook the pasta so that it didn't fall apart while being so thin? ← I have had trouble cooking thin Ravioli in the past, this time I used a saute pan so I had a large surface area, I only cooked 4 Ravioli at a time (they were probbably Raviolo) and I didn't let the water boil. I still lost one but had made backups in case.

After reading that excellent course I bought a rod and clamp system - the Gatco edge-mate, it cost around £40. It's easy to use and once you get the hang of it you can sharpen a knife perfectly in around 10 minutes. Incidentally in the past I asked my butchers about sharpening my knives, all they did was send them away to be ground on an electric wheel - I'd be very wary of giving a decent knife to a butcher.