Matthew Grant

Please can we stop this line of argument right here, whilst I fully agree I don't think I can stand yet another 200 pages of consumer vs owner arguments on this point

I tend to think that 12.5 % is ample in the UK. I have some reservations about putting it on the bill and would prefer to have it left to my discretion. Occasionally I will tip over the 12.5 % but only in cash and only if I received service above and beyond the call of duty. I remember the days when 10% was the norm. I think it was Conran who started a storm by tagging 12.5% on at Quaglinos when it opened

Roast Pekin duck Breast with a Peach and ginger sauce served with Pak Choi, baby new potatoes roast in duck fate and peach lightly fried in butter.

Slightly Steep!?!?!?! Those prices seem excessive to me for a Single starred resturant, even by London Standards, especially cosidering the lower overheads outside of London. Being reprimanded/interrupted by the waiting staff wouldn't go down too well with me. Nothing worse than the wait staff thinking acting like they are doing you a favour or know more than you, even if they do.

Delhi (aside from the obvious Bukhara) Agra Udaipur Jaipur Ranthambore Kota Jodhpur Jaisalmer Bikaner

Deleted - Bad taste. PM me if your desperate to know

Where's Andys latest review?

Googling this restaurant or the chefs name never comes up with the actual restaurant website which is also in English. Happy to oblige The Official Comerc 24 website! Click Here!!!!!

I believe that the Michel Bras Coulant was first created in 1981!

Conor as you seem to know Mr Mossiman, have you ever eaten at his club? I've always been interested in eating there.

See Here for previous reviews of Comerc 24. I personally would disagree with Bond Girl. I agree that it is experimental food heavily influenced by El Bulli (Carlos Abellan spent several yeas there) but in my opinion it was an enjoyable meal because the experiments were exciting taste wise as well.

No - I think the general consensus is that it was Michel Bras who invented the fondant, hence the poster you receive of the fondant when you stay there!

Wow Scott! what a scoop

Bearing in mind that this is the India Forum any chance of some recommendations in India?

Putney bridge - Is a good choice and they have a degustastation menu Morgan M was not up to the mark of a fine dining experience when I visited. If you like multi course menus you could consider the 1880 at the Bentley hotel. My opinion was that it was trying too hard but recent reports have been favourable. Also consider The Square (although I haven't been for sometime but am returning in August).

These are two completely different meals despite the constant comparisons.

I must confess that I've talked my way into spending a day in the kitchen - My second visit to a professional kitchen, I only do Michelin stars you know However, whilst willing to engage in some foreplay consumation is off the agenda until the restaurant agrees to make an honest man of me.

Recently London restaurants have bored me. Instead of eating out so much I have spent more and more time spending my hard earned money at Borough Market instead of restaurant X. Until recently I’ve never been a person who eats multiple times in a restaurant in a short(ish) period of time – too many restaurants, not enough money. That was until I went to Putney Bridge late last year and had a meal that had myself and Rachel kicking each other under the table while we tried to keep up polite conversation with our friends. We returned again on Saturday’s for the fourth time on Saturday for another excellent meal. Once again we were dining with another couple, this time from Australia, which distracted me slightly from taking full note of all the components of the meal but one thing I’m certain of is that it is still stretching all the points of its one star and reaching out for a second. “Jabugo ham pannacotta, girolles, figs, fresh almonds and manchego” came with a girolle and coffee ice cream. I was distinctly wary of this dish at first, it was very busy and individually the pannacotta didn’t work for me but after a couple of mouthfuls the dish balanced itself perfectly and I was sad to see the last mouthful disappear. I wasn’t too sure about the ice cream, not detecting enough of the girolle it tasted overwhelmingly of coffee, I’m not sure it was necessary to the dish, not unpleasant, just unnecessary but I would need to taste the dish again without the ice cream to confirm that. Two plates of “Dorset crab and pink grapefruit cannelloni, pea and pistachio cream” disappeared before I had a chance to grab a bite while the “Slow cooked pork belly with young squid, chorizo and white coco beans was superb”. By the time I reached it there was only beans and squid left. This was baby squid, proper baby squid like the Spanish eat, the miniature body beautifully tender and the tentacles adding a nice crispy contrast. The beans had taken on a great smokey flavour from some smoked paprika, they would have made a great bowl of comfort food. A gift from the chef followed, for two of us two roast “Scottish scallops, coral puree, carrot and ginger milk”, good quality, large scallops with a bright orange puree around the outside and the carrot and ginger milk providing a naturally sweet accompaniment – excellent. For the rest of the table a “warm tart of Scottish cepes, fried quails egg and a herb cream”. A lovely thin pastry with thinly sliced cepes, the quails egg lightly fried on the side. I would have happily eaten this as a starter despite it being vegetarian. Two of our party then had the “Fillet of seabass, wild mushrooms and crushed potatoes with camomile cream”, the sea bass served slightly translucent (and advised of this when the order was taken) with girolles, I only got to taste the fish which was good. The same can be said of the “Line caught river Tay wild salmon ‘lightly smoked’, sweet and sour caramel, salad of young shoots”. An excellent piece of fish, I stopped eating Salmon some time ago after encountering a particularly unpleasant fatty farmed specimen for the local supermarket that was enough to put me off for good but tasting proper wild Salmon this made me change my mind. I had gone to the restaurant hoping to order the Rabbit Cottage pie, a star dish from an earlier visit which is now both off the menu (if anybody is interested in starting a petition to get this and the salt crust chicken back on please contact me). In the event I satisfied my craving for meat and potatoes with “Roast loin of lamb, ‘boulangère’ potatoes, stuffed tomato ‘Provençale style’". A simple dish, the lamb (from the Elwy Valley in Wales) served medium rare with a rectangle of the layered potatoes well flavoured from the lamb juices, the braised shoulder stuffed into the tomato – A very good dish well executed and exactly what I fancied at the time although in hindsight I wish I had ordered something a little more challenging to the kitchen (cue chef to tell me exactly how much unseen work went into this dish) A pre dessert of cherries with a fir foam (the foam made from actually pine cones instead of drops) acted as a nice cleanser. Cheese from the trolley finished my meal, good Epoisses, the Montgomery Cheddar and Colston Basset Stilton were slightly past their best. It’s no exaggeration to say that I didn’t get to see Rachels “Warm ‘Amedei’ Tuscan chocolate fondant, barley milk cream”. it was finished, with presumably great enthusiasm, while I chose my cheese. “Wild and cultivated English strawberries, yoghurt cream, vanilla and cinnamon doughnuts” smelt great but were also too precious to share. Overall another great meal, its not the trendiest restaurant name for foodies to drop but it should be. Anthony Demetre is an enthusiastic chef (I finally got to talk to him after our meal this time) with both a strong hand (witness his game menu) and light touch in equal measure. Is it the best restaurant in London at the moment? Possibly. It’s definitely the only London restaurant that has given me a buzz for a good few years.

The Tapas Festival menu at Comerc 24 is €48 per person. Cata 181 is fun and good value but the food is not in the same league and is in my opinioin not a special place to visit, more of a casual place to go (i.e. you might end up sharing a table with somebody)

At last somebody who understands!

I'm sure Herve This will be interested to find out that he is Spanish Much as Heston employs modern techniques and is close to Ferran Adria I think that Heston would claim the food is nearer to classical French than Spanish.

Sad but true

I'd avoid the Cinnamon club if you really want an Indian style meal. Far better to head to Tooting (or of course Mirch Masala in Norbury ) where there is North Indian/Pakastani food aplenty at very reasonable prices. The Cinnamon club is an interesting meal but is very expensive. I haven't been to Zaika in years but I really enjoyed it, once again whether it is what Stigand would be looking for in terms of an Indian meal is open to debate.

Ties are no longer required at La Gavroche but you will still need a jacket

I can vouch for Comerc 24 and it would be well within your price budget: Comerc 24