Matthew Grant

We visited last year and regret not staying longer than one night. The food is fantastic and the location breathtaking, especially if you get a clear sky for sunset. When we were there they were advertising special deals on midweek trips, 3 night and 3 dinners for €1100 per couple - an absolute bargain. IMO the style of food is light enough to allow for at least 2 dinners and it would not be too much of a chore to have 3 dinners there

That's not something I remember reading For some reason, I can't imagine TFD working in London. Maybe The Riverside Brasserie in London - That would work. Talking to Heston I got the impression he wouldn't want to open in London, although the acquisition of 3 stars may have changed his view on that. Incidentally, I would love to see TFD move to London, the journey to Bray and the lack of reasonably priced accomodation is a pain in the arse

I liked the way you explained luxury to the Leeds residents. Was that in case they didn't know what it meant

Scampi and Fries Cheesy topped Fries Chilli Fries Chilli Wedges Lasagne and Chips Chicken Curry Chilli Con Carne Burger Cheese and Bacon Burger BLT Onion Soup Ploughmans Lunch

Nothing more to say about the chocolates, they really are tobacco/leather/pine flavoured chocolates. I have only tried the Tobacco, at first it tastes of chocolate but after a good few seconds you feel a slight burn at the back of your throat (not unpleasant) and the tobaco flacour comes through. Very nice indeed! They are made for Heston by Artisan Du Chocolat who sell the tobacco flavour at Borough market on Saturdays.

I saw that interview and I think this is where Heston has a problem appealing to lots of food lovers. Too many mainstream commentators concentrate on the the amusing little courses, the beetroot jellies, the tobacco ice cream, the snail porridge. Why don't people ask about the main courses which aren't nearly as bizarre? Where are the questions regarding the slow cooked lamb, the pigeon and pastilla of its leg, the duck with pomme puree. All delicious dishes incorporating 'different' techniques but overlooked or glossed over by far too many people in my opinion. Heston is aware of this problem, maybe when he does interviews like this he should talk about something other than the little in between bites. Intersting to see he has a new book coming out, strange that it has the same title as the last one, I hope that doesn't affect sales

I noticed that this article was reproduced in the FeMail section of today's Daily Mail (not mine I hasten to add). She is photographed and takes up half the page. It occurrred to me that if she had been treated 'normally' (my guess is that this is normal treatment for any newbie chef with a camera crew in tow) there would be no story. Stinks to me of somebody trying to make a name for themself.

DO NOT THINK THAT THE GINGER PIG IS THE BE ALL AND END ALL OF BUTCHERS IN BOROUGH MARKET The Ginger pig does do good meat, especially pork, the Longhorn beef is good but try the other places as well. In my opinion, Northfield farm is the best beef butcher in Borough by siome margin. It may be small and not always have a lot on display but do ask for what you want and they will get it from the fridge.

The pricen doesn't stop Gagnaire getting one in Paris!

The Longhorn at the Ginger Pig Borough market is exceptionally good, I have bought various cuts hung for between 4 and 8 weeks (very gamey at this stage). I believe that the Ginger pig only sells Longhorn. Northfield farm, recently served me the best piece of beef I have ever eaten, an inch thick piece of White Park sirloin aged for 5 weeks - incredible earthy flavours, melting yellow fat, absolutely fantastic. Northfied also sold me the scond best piece of beef I have ever tasted, a rib of Dexter steer hung for 6 weeks. Northfield has a good variety of breeds which vary from week to week according to what they can source. They sometimes have Buccleugh which is OK but in my opinion does not come close to Dexter Steer, White Park, British White or Welsh Black. I would also concur with Jack, the hanging time has an awful lot to do with the flavour, try a piece of Dexter steer aged 4 weeks and it is very nice but it just can't compete with a piece aged for 6. Everybody will have there own preference for hanging times, mine is 5-6 weeks. I have only ever tried the stewing beef and mince from the wild beef stall, it is very good and the mince makes excellent burgers. Unfortunately I am put off buying a major cut due to the vacuum packing which puts me of a little. While Scotland produces some good beef, I certainly wouldn't get hung up (excuse the pun) purely on Scotch beef, the rest of the British isles has plenty to offer.

Mirch Masala in Norbury Mirch Masala in Norbury Mirch Masala in Norbury Mirch Masala in Norbury Mirch Masala in Norbury Also Mirch masala in Tooting along with a whole host of other Indian/Pakistani restaurants

I'm intrigued, please PM them to me

Scott, me and you seem to have had completely different experiences! The place I am talking about is the big shiny building overlooking the Thames on the southside of the river about 100 yards to the west of the bridge

The dining room is vast and perhaps a little dark (very Westminster). The food was good but I'm not sure how comfortable I felt paying those prices. Too many dishes were desribed as 'with spices' and contained no specifics. Overall the execution was very good. A prawn dish with Orange and 'spices' was exceptionally well balanced. I can't remember the other dishes well enough to comment further. The bar downstairs was cool but didn't have enough people in it to carry it off. the Lassi cocktails were great.

I would aslo like to add a comment about the service. On both my recent visits it has been absolutely superb, a great sommellier choosing a wonderful full bodied red at just £24 (I can't remember the name) and a wonderful Maitre D'(s). staff are willing to engage in conversation and are knowledgable about the dishes. Service has run like clockwork.

I ate there again last weekend - still outstanding. Excellent game. Fantastic starter of slow braised veal ravioli with a cep sauce. A much underrated restaurant in my opinion.

Brakfast is the least of your problems. I had the tasting menu with wines - £200 for 2 people - ouch!

Lou, I can't be 100% on this but when I was at the restaurant i visited the kitchen and I was told that there were many languages spoken in the kitchen and English was the most important. This surprised me knowing Ferran Adrias lack of English

When did the new manager start? i thought he was meant to have started when I visited? I only ask because I still fail to see why it is taking quite so long to sort this out. Other restaurants do not have to wait months before the service gets into its stride I hope it does get better, the food was promising. By the way, Morgan, if you're reading this why did you visit all the table in the restaurant except mine when I was there ? There was only 5 tables left!

I'm only hazarding a guess but a lot of restaurants may be closed on Boxing day, I also imagine that a lot of the produce may be a couple of days old

Speaches? Lack of communication was a big problem, nobody asked how our meal was, getting people attention was difficult. There was a team of at least 6 waiters. In my opinion the problem lay with inexperience. Our waitress just seemed to be out of her depth and we ended up feeling sorry for her. Why did Morgan talk to every other table following the meal but ignored ours?

I had somehow missed thi thread before I went to Morgan M on 6th December! Morgan M is certainly located in the middle of nowhere and if it doesn't buck up its ideas on service it will end up with no trade at all. Last night it was full to capacity and despite having more than enough staff in the room, service was an absolute joke. When you enter the restaurant there is a small dividing wall which prevents you from seeing the room and the waiting staff from seeing new arrivals. I poked my head around the wall and despite making eye contact with 4 different waiters not one of them came to our aid despite some of them merely setting empty tables and others polishing cutlery - surely your priority has got to be greeting new arrivals? When we were finally met (by now another pair were behind us) we were told that our table wouldn't be ready for another 10 minutes and we were left in the doorway, not invited for a drink, told to go to the pub about 50 yards up the road or anything, just left there. Watching very carefully I noticed our table empty for around 5 minutes before they did come and get us when we were pointed towards our table and left to seat ourselves coats in hand, we stood there for a moment waiting for them to take the coats, this was clearly not going to happen so we put them on the back of our chairs. Another couple of minutes passed and the couple on the able next to us were looking very peeved. On the other side of us we noticed that they were being brought their main course followed some minutes later by the accompanying glass of wine (they were having the degustation with wine). We ordered water (never arrived) and a glass of champagne. Looking around the room we noticed that the waiter station was full of dirty plates that weren't being cleared. A few minutes later the table next to us were brought their bill which they paid freeing up the table for the other pair who were behind us in the doorway. They suddenly appeared drinks in hand from downstairs where there is a very tiny bar which we weren't told about! Watching the various errors around the room we decided to order the Degustation menu without the accompanying wines as we could foresee that the wines were never going to turn up on time. The waitress took our order and Rachel chose the scallops as her starter, I chose the Ballotine of Foie Gras (these were the only choices). The waitress then just stood there looking at us, we looked back, she looked at us some more, then we realised that she expected us to order our desserts now. We deferred. 5 more minutes passed before we were told in faltering English that that there were no more scallops and Rachel could have Game Terrine instead, Rachel isn't that keen on Terrines or Foie Gras so managed to choose a dish off the vegetarian menu as a replacement. We then heard the waitress taking an order for scallops on the next table - we couldn't believe that she hadn't remembered and waited for her to come back and tell them they were off the menu. I then asked the waitress for the Sommelier. Waitress: "Sommelier?" Me : " yes, the sommelier" Waitress : "We don't have...." Me : "Ok...." Waitress : "We have Semillon..." Me (she had obviously misheard: "No, please can I speak to the Sommelier?" Waitress :"No Sommelier, Semillon? Sauvignon?" Being completely bamboozled by the crazy service I proceeded to downgrade my wine to just about the cheapest thing on the menu. Pre-Starters of Parsnip soup with truffle were very good, then we had our starters. The Foie Gras Ballotine had far too much alcohol (Armagnac?) which hadn't been burnt off sufficiently. Rachel's Pasta with Ricotta was unimaginative but nicely done. Then the table next to us got their starters complete with scallops. Rachel complained discreetly to the waitress, she got the manager, he rushed off to find out what had happened. The waitress came back "I told you there were no scallops, you could have Game Terrine in stead" "Yes but they've got scallops next to us" " Yes but you had Degustation" at which point the manger reappeared and plopped 2 glasses of champagne on the table and walked off. We almost laughed, Champagne at this stage of the meal was ridiculous and we already had a bottle of wine on the go. I can't remember the full details, Sea Bass was nicely cooked and on a bed of Pomme puree, the whole dish was woefully underseasoned, strangely enough, Rachel's was overseasoned Venison dish with Hare Ravioli was promising. Then came desserts, we ordered one of each - a chocolate fondant described as very light by the waitress and a pineapple soufflé. This should have been preceded by a rice pudding with a tuile and some strawberry sorbet (I think), Desserts came before the pre desserts. I pointed this out and the waitress said she would bring them after we had finished. a few minutes later two glasses of Banyuls appeared at the table, presumably by way of apology. I think it was corked. The Desserts were outstanding although to call the Chocolate Fondant light was crazy, it was delightfully heavy. The table next to us were looking at us constantly and he made a point of grabbing the waitress when he was paying the bill to say how outstanding the service had been. It was a farce! Morgan then came up to the now emptying restaurant and I asked for the bill. Morgan went to every table except ours which was strange as I wanted to talk to him about the service. I discreetly asked for the service charge to be removed form the bill and this was done (I can't be bought with corked Banyuls and champagne halfway through dinner) without complaint and at least the waiter asked what we thought was wrong. This restaurant clearly has potential but too many niggly complaints in the food and incredibly inept service will not help its survival. If Morgan is reading this thread, I'm more than happy to carve out a new career in restaurant management - give me a call!

Tarka, more info on your El Bulli meal please!

Prasad, I'll be at the Cinnamon Club on 29th November - don't fuck up my dinner will you!