GBM 2009

[food1]

Power of the T.V. Bloody hell! Food snob you are definately right about the maze blt dish. I went to maze last year and what did I have?!!!! Sat Bains was doing the same thing with his duck egg/ pea sorbet dish. He had it on his tasting menu at an additional sixteen pounds EACH!!

Im not sure if I could do the same, if I was in the postion. Thats why I will never be rich

Anyway a little bird told me the other day that Andy Pern of the Star was offered the chance to appear on GBM?. Was told he initially agreed then changed his mind. Good on yer Pernie!!!

[Gary Marshall]

i think nigel haworth's whole menu is based on GBM entries now.

they also tried to get shaun hill too

it's a good line up in anyone's book.

[david goodfellow]

i think nigel haworth's whole menu is based on GBM entries now.

they also tried to get shaun hill too

it's a good line up in anyone's book.

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Not been to Nigels for quite some time now.

Have to give it a whirl before the show starts.

Last Shaun Hill meal at Merchant House was disappointing.

Gidleigh Park is where I remember his food fondly.

[olicollett]

Sat Bains was doing the same thing with his duck egg/ pea sorbet dish. He had it on his tasting menu at an additional sixteen pounds EACH!!

£16?? are you sure? When I went there nearly a year ago it was nothing like that expensive as a supplement, more like £5-10. £16 is a bit of a joke!

I'm going back in a few weeks so i'll see what's going on now

[food1]

Olicollett, I have just been corrected, I was way out, it was a fifteen pound supplement not sixteen pounds!! This was last June, so not sure what the state of play is now. But it was gilding the lilly somewhat. Sats prices have sky rocketed in the last eighteen months, due to GBM.

[olicollett]

Olicollett, I have just been corrected, I was way out, it was a fifteen pound supplement not sixteen pounds!! This was last June, so not sure what the state of play is now. But it was gilding the lilly somewhat. Sats prices have sky rocketed in the last eighteen months, due to GBM.

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sod paying that as a supplement! I saw the menu changes the other day.. hopefully it's for the better but I guess I'll see. At the end of the day, if they fill the place every night I don't blame them!

[david goodfellow]

According to his website, the bespoke menu is £150 pp

This must surely be the most expensive in the land.

I simply dontttttttt believe it.

[genuineness]

I had a table booked back in November but the week before we were supposed to visit, we were informed that they had changed their policy such that you HAVE to go for a tasting menu if you choose to dine on a weekend.

I am personally not a huge fan of tasting menus since I get bored after the 5th course is brought out and it simply takes a whole lot longer to get through. I rather do 3 course ALC with supplement courses and share each dish with my dining partner - that way we will get to try as many dishes as we would if we had gone for the tasting menu.

In all fairness tho, Sat Bains does only a small no. of covers per night with no table turnoever unlike certain 'fast-food' chains, and each table having their own wait staff so I can understand why they are trying to maximize as much profit as possible from each diner.

As a side note, after last yrs' GBM, Purnell did charge a £10 supplement for his 10-10-10 egg surprise...

[david goodfellow]

I had a very good meal at Sats Bains place and from memory had grouse,at the start of the season.

The prices have never been user friendly imo, that includes the wine list.

On my visit, there seemed to be a fair contingent of foodies on a visit rather than locals.

Looking at prices now,people will be questioning how can he justify prices higher than The Fat Duck.

This is an uninviting part of Nottingham not Park Lane,so why the stratospheric prices?

Robin Hood and his men won't be making merry at these prices!

[olicollett]

I had a very good meal at Sats Bains place and from memory had grouse,at the start of the season.

The prices have never been user friendly imo, that includes the wine list.

On my visit, there seemed to be a fair contingent of foodies on a visit rather than locals.

Looking at prices now,people will be questioning how can he justify prices higher than The Fat Duck.

This is an uninviting part of Nottingham not Park Lane,so why the stratospheric prices?

Robin Hood and his men won't be making merry at these prices!

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Hold on - the bespoke menu is a bit different from a normal tasting menu isn't it? I don't know of many other places offering such a service. The "normal" prices aren't anything like the fat duck?

[david goodfellow]

I had a very good meal at Sats Bains place and from memory had grouse,at the start of the season.

The prices have never been user friendly imo, that includes the wine list.

On my visit, there seemed to be a fair contingent of foodies on a visit rather than locals.

Looking at prices now,people will be questioning how can he justify prices higher than The Fat Duck.

This is an uninviting part of Nottingham not Park Lane,so why the stratospheric prices?

Robin Hood and his men won't be making merry at these prices!

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Hold on - the bespoke menu is a bit different from a normal tasting menu isn't it? I don't know of many other places offering such a service. The "normal" prices aren't anything like the fat duck?

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According to my information The FD has two price points.

The three course alc at £98

The tasting menu £130

Sat Bains

Three tasting menus £55, £69, £85

Bespoke £150.

The point that I am trying to make is this

The FD is *** and widely regarded as the best in the UK ,if not the world.

I think most customers would go for the all singing, all dancing £130menu

Sat Bains has not gained ** status yet,(if at all).However he sees fit to charge more than The Duck.

I;m more than happy to admit that the £55 five course is accessible to a lot of diners,but if I were spending £150 I know where I would spend my money.

Btw what are you going for on your visit?

Any ideas yet?

Edited March 4, 2009 by david goodfellow (log)

[RDB]

You mean the FD is *** (three asterisks) not **??

[david goodfellow]

You mean the FD is *** (three asterisks) not **?? 

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Thank you kind Sir(madam)?

I will preview my posts before i submit them in future

[JudyB]

According to my information The FD has two price points.

The three course alc at £89

Slight typo there - the ALC is £98 at the moment.

[food1]

You could only have the tasting menu?? Thats NOT on. Sat has got no excuse for this. This is pure profiteering. I operate a place that does HALF the covers he does and offer a small carte and tasting menu. There is no way on earth I would be so disrespectful to my customers, that I insist they can only have one menu. A lot these chefs I find, once they have been on the telly, develop a real arrogance and seem to think they can treat their customers how ever they choose. That said alot these customers seem to be cannon fodder, don't seem to mind how they are treated because chefs been on the telly

This to me is another case of chef who got that awful condition, celebrityitous!

P.s Did anybody else see 'rise of the superchef'? I was shocked to see Aiden Byrne openly admitting wanting to be the next big t.v thing. Jesus. Somethings gone very wrong along the line.

[olicollett]

According to my information The FD has two price points.

The three course alc at £98

The tasting menu £130

Sat Bains

Three tasting menus £55, £69, £85

Bespoke £150.

The point that I am trying to make is this

The FD is *** and widely regarded as the best in the UK ,if not the world.

I think most customers would go for the all singing, all dancing £130menu

Sat Bains has not  gained ** status yet,(if at all).However he sees fit to charge more than The Duck.

I;m more than happy to admit that the £55 five course is accessible to a lot of diners,but if I were spending £150 I know where I would spend my money.

Btw what are you going for on your visit?

Any ideas yet?

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I totally understand what you are saying - I don't know who would go for the bespoke menu but I think they would have to be pretty crazy to spend £150 when as you say the fat duck is £130.

I'm not sure what I'll be going for yet - much will depend on my company, I'm going with a couple of friends and someone i don't know and i've no idea what we'll decide upon.

  You could only have the tasting menu?? Thats NOT on. angry.gif Sat has got no excuse for this. This is pure profiteering. I operate a place that does HALF the covers he does and offer a small carte and tasting menu. There is no way on earth I would be so disrespectful to my customers, that I insist they can only have one menu. A lot these chefs I find, once they have been on the telly, develop a real arrogance and seem to think they can treat their customers how ever they choose. That said alot these customers seem to be cannon fodder, don't seem to mind how they are treated because chefs been on the telly wink.gif

This to me is another case of chef who got that awful condition, celebrityitous!

I don't have a problem with restaurants only doing tasting menus - it might not be for everyone but i've seen it in a number of restaurants on the continent/overseas. Personally I'm not a big fan of a la carte because I can never make my mind up and I end up half way through my meal wishing i had gone for a different choice!

It's worth noting that Sat changes the tasting menu regularly (unless things have changed) - it's not like he's serving the same 3 tasting menu's every day of the week.

[food1]

Olicollett, I think you missed my point slightly. Geniueness stated they would only be able to dine on a tasting menu, if they went on a weekend. Sat runs two menu's which includes a small carte. I think its wrong that his customers are forced to eat off a tasting menu, just because its Saturday night. Customers are the life blood of any business and just because the chef has been on the telly, doesn't give them right to all of a sudden act the big I am. Its almost like the customers don't matter. I remember this restaurant before the chef had a bit of tv fame

[JudyB]

Olicollett, I think you missed my point slightly. Geniueness stated they would only be able to dine on a tasting menu, if they went on a weekend. Sat runs two menu's which includes a small carte.

Does Sat Bains still do an a la carte menu at all?

The website only seems to list the three prices for the tasting menu and the bespoke menu, with the added proviso that the cheapest tasting menu is only available Tuesday to Thursday...

[olicollett]

Olicollett, I think you missed my point slightly. Geniueness stated they would only be able to dine on a tasting menu, if they went on a weekend. Sat runs two menu's which includes a small carte. I think its wrong that his customers are forced to eat off a tasting menu, just because its Saturday night. Customers are the life blood of any business and just because the chef has been on the telly, doesn't give them right to all of a sudden act the big I am. Its almost like the customers don't matter. I remember this restaurant before the chef had a bit of tv fame

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Sorry - I see what you are saying now, but I got the impression from the website (and my friend who booked us in) that it's only tasting menus full stop now. It states that there is a smaller 5 course tasting menu available tues-thurs, a 7 course and a 10 course tasting menu.

[genuineness]

Olicollett, I think you missed my point slightly. Geniueness stated they would only be able to dine on a tasting menu, if they went on a weekend. Sat runs two menu's which includes a small carte.

Does Sat Bains still do an a la carte menu at all?

The website only seems to list the three prices for the tasting menu and the bespoke menu, with the added proviso that the cheapest tasting menu is only available Tuesday to Thursday...

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If im not mistaken they have a small ALC menu tues to thursday but your choices are rather limited ie almost like a set lunch menu. On Fridays and Saturdays you have a choice between the 7 and 10 course tasting menu.

[food1]

You may well be right. They may have ditched the carte altogether. Im going on a visit last June, when there was a small carte and tasting menu. Hope you enjoy your visit. Go well monied up!!!!

[david goodfellow]

Anybody have a review on Alan Murcheson's L'Ortolan or La Be'casse

He is representing Scotland this year

The L'Ortolan thread went dead some time ago now.

I wonder if anyone has been recently.

I have very fond memories of L'Ortolan and was a regular visitor when John Burton Race held two Michelin stars.

His then wife Christine in charge of front of house made us especially welcome.

I know that John would not admit it ,but to my mind, he was at his best here.He turned out dish after dish of fabulous food.

In fact I have stated before that the best meal we ever had ,was here!

John did feel shackled somewhat with two Michelin stars,even though many would give their right arm for them.

Its a long,long time since we enjoyed his food,due somewhat to the huge distance The New Angel is from us.

Any recent reports please?

[ajnicholls]

I've been to La Becasse and posted a review bloody ages ago. I found the food highly accomplished and well executed. Will Holland's the head chef there and there is a major overlap between the menus there and at l'Ortolan.

Also have Murchison's book, which is a very pretty and interesting take on modern British food.

[ajnicholls]

I've been to La Becasse and posted a review bloody ages ago. I found the food highly accomplished and well executed. Will Holland's the head chef there and there is a major overlap between the menus there and at l'Ortolan.

Also have Murchison's book, which is a very pretty and interesting take on modern British food.

Adam

[david goodfellow]

I've been to La Becasse and posted a review bloody ages ago. I found the food highly accomplished and well executed. Will Holland's the head chef there and there is a major overlap between the menus there and at l'Ortolan.

Also have Murchison's book, which is a very pretty and interesting take on modern British food.

Adam

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Food for thought is a pretty expensive book at £50

You must be a big fan.

More to the point have you cooked a lot from it,or are you like me, only trying a few recipes

I have quite a few books including first edition hardbacks of White Heat(Marco) and

Nico(Ladenis),Paul Bocuse,Raymond Blanc etc,etc, although I'm by no means a collector.

Its surprising how fresh some of the food looks now especially Nico's.

I could eat it this minute.

I will look up your review in a short while

Thank You.