Winot

They have extended the run to the end of October - I am booked in for lunch on the 23rd. Anyone know how lunch differs from dinner?

This is outside the backdoor of my office but I only went in for the first time a few month's ago generally preferring the omnivorous Chancery next door. I thought it was pretty good actually and it almost made me forget I was eating veggie food (only Kastoori Tooting shares that honour). The space is rubbish however due to lack of natural light - I never went to Tooks but the late lamented Dine suffered from the same problem; they must be jealous of Chancery's corner location. The area is a bit of a lunching desert despite the huge numbers of offices - Chancery Lance has nothing (OK a Gaucho at the bottom) and you really need to venture into Clerkenwell to hit paydirt. Edit - desert not dessert

Is this the meal you have before going on for dinner?

The go-to place when I was there was Carfax chippy on the High St. I remember quantity rather than quality being the priority but it wasn't bad.

Tayyabs for Pakistani food (do a search). One of the St John off-shoots (Magdalen, Great Queen St, Anchor & Hope). Beer in a proper British pub (not food).

I walked past a Red Chilli restaurant on Charing Cross Rd in London today. Looked tacky - anyone know if there's any connection to the lauded Leeds/Manchester chain?

Leaving aside the food issue, I'm not sure that anything within an hour of London is going to be any cheaper than living in a cheap area of London. W.

400 people? Brings to mind the Coca Cola illness that never was (in Belgium wasn't it?).

Sally Clarke's in Notting Hill does a no-choicer doesn't it? re. Astrance, had lunch there when it was a 1* and it rocked. Went to Le Jardin des Sens (3* in Montpellier) soon after and was disappointed by formality/price/morgue like atmosphere. Took it as a hard lesson about * system.

East is East on the Commercial Rd is also a pretty good fall-back, and there's always room.

If you see a half-cut balding guy wearing bicycle clips in the corner, that'll be me. H ← "You are Philip Larkin and I claim my prize."

I'm guessing that the 1980s was the time that pizza (as in Pizza Hut et al.) restaurants really took off.

Has anyone made it to the Modern Pantry yet?

Cold place; cold hands.

I'm thinking of taking my 3 and a half year old (daughter) to Maze for lunch. She's used to eating out, eats virtually everything (eg tripe in Madrid) and is well-behaved (in fact better behaved than at home). For example we recently managed a three course lunch at the Whistler restaurant at Tate Britain. We haven't taken her to any high end places though. I note from the Time Out guide that children are welcome there so I wouldn't expect the restaurant to have any problems although I will mention it when booking. I haven't been myself and was wondering if anyone had any tips. Time Out suggests that the menu is very flexible but the alc online doesn't look as if it has that many choices - is it just that the tapas-style dishes aren't listed? I thought I might do the set lunch for myself and get her a couple of small dishes and a pudding. What do you think? Incidentally there's a thread here if you are interested in debating the issue of children in restaurants; I'm interested in Maze-specific advice. Many thanks.

Anyone remember Will Self's review of Red Pepper when they were so unwelcoming he left without eating? I often wonder how long the restaurant lasted after that. It can be found in Feeding Frenzy.

On the way to Margate we had a nice lunch at the Oyster Company in Whitstable. On the way from Margate to Walmer Castle we had a nice lunch in Broadstairs: The Bayside Brasserie. Margate has ... errm... some fish and chip shops.

Because Starbucks can make a fortune selling brown water at £2 a cup. Nobody ever lost money underestimating the taste of the public etc.

I had a very good steak recently at Gaucho Grill on Chancery Lane (it's a chain).

Excellent; thanks Dougal. Do you (or anyone else) have any suggestions for near Deal? We are staying in Walmer Castle for a few days after Margate. Thanks.

We're off to Margate this weekend and wanted lunch at the Sportsman on the way... poor naive fools you do of course have to book 5 weeks in advance for a weekend lunch. So any other suggestions? Is the Granville still owned by Stephen Harris? Funnily enough there's no link form the Sportsman web site. Presumably Wheelers will be booked up. Is the Oyster Factory bookable? Or should we decamp to Canterbury? Ta v. much.

Scott, Out of interest, how do you rate the Wine Society? Winot

Yes and the bastard can write as well as play the guitar - very good indeed. The pieces were originally in the Guardian on a Friday (and commissioned I believe by Helen who posts here) and so may be available online. He worked in kitchens before becoming a rock star.

The Wolseley.

Well, these boards are quiet this weekend. We ended up getting takeout from Indique (which no longer delivers). It was excellent, and I say that as a Londoner.