First Half Restaurant Awards

[SamanthaF]

Halfway through the year, what's been your best and worst to date?

Here goes mine:

Best overall meal experience: Gordon Ramsay RHR

Worst meal: Maison Courtine, Paris

Best value: Chapter One, New Tayyab

Worst value: Spoon+

Best ethnic: New Tayyab (Also only ethnic, but can't see anything beating it!)

Best fish n' chips: Mermaid Inn, Hastings

Best burger: GBK

Favourite Dining Room: Savoy Grill

Best starter: King Prawn Tortellini - Savoy Grill

Best Fish main - John Dory @ GR

Best meat main - Limousin Beef @ Foliage

Best dessert - Assiette @ GR

Best service: Savoy Grill

Some of you may guess that this is Scott's list and not Sam's.

Edited June 30, 2003 by SamanthaF (log)

[cappers123]

may i ask what is the best burger in town at the moment ? ? ? Looking for high quality burgers here!

[Andy Lynes]

Best burger: GBK

There's one opinion already.

[circeplum]

Best fish n' chips: Mermaid Inn, Hastings

amen.

m

[Charlene Leonard]

sorry chaps but Mermaid Inn has burnt down

[cappers123]

gee thanks Andy.. was only asking.. any other great burger places? Also, apologies but im not fully with the abbreviations... what is the full name of GBK?

Edited July 1, 2003 by cappers123 (log)

[Charlene Leonard]

cappers - GBK stands for Gourmet Burger Company which IMO are the best burgersin town.

Here's a link to discussion we had a few months back Egullet Best Burgers

[Andy Lynes]

Thanks Charlene.

Cappers - perhaps you'd like to let us know your own half year awards.

[SamanthaF]

sorry chaps but Mermaid Inn has burnt down 

Oh No!!!

This was the place that finally got me to try mushy peas after 29 years.

[Andy Lynes]

This was the place that finally got me to try mushy peas after 29 years.

29 years without mushy peas!!? A moments silence please everyone as a mark of respect for this very real human tragedy. You've sought councelling I take it?

[Charlene Leonard]

Best overall meal experience: Gramercy Tavern

Worst meal: Sardo

Best value: Edera

Worst value: Rick Steins Seafood Restaurant

Best ethnic: New Tayyab

Best fish n' chips: High Street, Whitstable

Best burger: GBK

Best new opening: Bodeans

Best starter: Broccoli soufflé @ Walnut, West Hampstead

Best meat main – Beef cheek at GT

Best desert – Chocolate delice @ Fat Duck

Best cocktail – Light Bar, St Martins Lane Hotel

Best service: Gramercy Tavern

[Tonyfinch]

Best Overall Restaurant Experience-Margot's

Best Single Dish-Pigeon with wild Cherry and Chocolate- The Black Pig

Best Overall Value-The Savoy Grill, Margot's

Most Technically Accomplished Food- The Fat Duck

Best Room- The Savoy Grill

Best Service- The Square

Best Desserts- GR@RHR

Best Steak-Smollensky's wapping

Best Chips-Wapping Food

Best Regular Great Value Standbys-New Tayyab, the Sutton Arms

Most Uncomfortable Restaurant-Sardo

Most so-so meal-Zaika

Worst Overall Experience-Club Gascon

Edited July 1, 2003 by Tonyfinch (log)

[Winot]

Best overall meal experience -- Fat Duck

Best "ethnic" -- Hunan

Best steak -- El Rancho, Cafayate, Argentina

Most disappointing meal -- eCapital

Most reliable budget meals -- Fujiyamas (Brixton); New Tayyab

Worst service (country award) -- Belgium

Best pissup -- Canteloupe

Best kebab -- Best Kebab, Shoreditch

[Bapi]

Best overall meal - Waterside Inn tasting menu.

Best Overall Dish- Ravioli of Egg Yolk, Veal Sweetbread with a Madeira and Truffle Jus (Winteringham Fields)

Best Starter- Lobster ravioli, with truffle and scallop (Sharrow Bay)

Best Main- Roasted Veal with spring vegetables (Waterside Inn)

Best dessert - Assiete (Winteringham Fields)

Best Service - Waterside Inn / Sharrow Bay

Best Value - New Tayyabs (Roll on this Friday when we return there)

Best Sandwich - Medium Rare Sirloin with Wensleydale cheese (Starr Inn)

Most Boffintastic meal - Fat Duck.

Most Baffling dish - Maple syrup, potato gloop (Fat Duck)

Best Chips - Thrice cooked ones (Riverside Brasserie, Bray marina).

Most Average service - Hoste Arms ( Burnham Market, Norfolk)

Best Indian - Mela

Best Dim Sum - Harbour City

Most anticipated forthcoming meal - Gordon Ramsay @ Claridges

[circeplum]

sorry chaps but Mermaid Inn has burnt down 

mercifully, the magnificent mermaid is still alive and kicking.

it was the rather inferior blue dolphin that copped it.

m

[Charlene Leonard]

sorry chaps but Mermaid Inn has burnt down 

mercifully, the magnificent mermaid is still alive and kicking.

it was the rather inferior blue dolphin that copped it.

m

I'm a complete idiot.

[clb]

Best starter: Broccoli soufflé @ Walnut, West Hampstead

Complete idiot or not, tell me more please, Charlene.

There's somewhere decent to eat in West Hampstead?

clb

[Charlene Leonard]

Walnut is opposite Gourmet Burger Kitchen - overall the food is average to good but they do a bloody fantastic broccoli and stilton souffle served with a little pot of creme fraiche and chives. It has a very extensive range of veggie food and friendly service and for NW is not bad.

[clb]

Walnut is opposite Gourmet Burger Kitchen - overall the food is average to good but they do a bloody fantastic broccoli and stilton souffle served with a little pot of creme fraiche and chives.  It has a very extensive range of veggie food and friendly service and for NW is not bad.

Thank you!

I'll definitely try it (though I have a feeling that I won't be able to resist another visit to GBK first).

clb

[Basildog]

Thanks Tony, you made my day!.I think our inclusion on your list may be weighted by my involvement here

Hopefully ,the Best Single Dish-Pigeon with wild Cherry and Chocolate- will be on the 6 course tasting menu that i will be enjoying tonight at the Black Pig.I'm even going to be wearing a tie

[Tonyfinch]

Thanks Tony, you made my day!.I think our inclusion on your list may be weighted by my involvement here

Well if it wasn't for your involvement here I probably wouldn't have visited in the first place, but Fahro and I both agreed that it was a really enjoyable evening and an excellent meal and superb value for money. And the Mackerel starter opened my eyes to a fish I'd eschewed until now. And the Duck Confit was as good as any we've had, so you got my vote on merit mate

Edited July 1, 2003 by Tonyfinch (log)

[SamanthaF]

Best Overall Meal - GR @RHR

Best Amuse - Celeriac Veloute Savoy Grill/ Fois crispy thingy GR@RHR

Best Starter - Pigs Trotter at GR @ RHR

Best Main - Slow Roast Pork Belly at Chapter One/ Fillet of beef at The Savoy Grill

Best Pud - Assiette at GR @ RHR

Best Dining Room - Foliage

Best Service - Foliage

Best Cocktail - The purple bar @ The Sanderson

The "what was that all about award?" The Fat Duck

The "you expect me to eat THAT award?" - Burnt offerings at the Wetherspoon Seldon Road.

"The wounded wallet and empty stomach award" - Spoon+

Best Farmers Market - Hadlow Kent (12 pigeon breasts for a fiver!!)

[Gareth]

And the winners are.....

Meal of the Year – Lunch at L’Ambroisie (Paris)

Most Frequented Haunt – Fung Shing

Grandest Dining Room – National Liberal Club

Dead Animal of the Year – Pyrenean Lamb GR@RHR

Most enjoyable recreation of la Belle Epoque: Cocktail Bar at Claridges

Most irate call from my Bank Manager: L’Ambroisie (starter = £25...per egg.)

Favourite Cookbook: “Sichuan”

Favourite Name for a Cookbook author: Fuschia Dunlop (author of “Sichuan”)

Ruby Murray of the year: Quilon

Mother Theresa award for customer service: Loco (Blackheath)

Joseph Mengele award for customer service: The Square

Dead Dog award for worst dish: pasta at the GWR Hilton @ Paddington Station (quite simply the worst dish I have ever encountered in a charging establishment anywhere - disgraceful)

Dish of the Year: Chocolate tarte and vanilla ice cream @ L’Ambroisie. (The only time I have ever encountered perfection. A dish that was simply unimprovable).

Roll on the next six months...

[Paul Bell]

Best overall meal (UK) GR @ RHR (with an honourable mention to Petrus which was close to perfect a couple of months ago).

Worst meal - MPW Tides in Cardiff (nasty)

Most overpriced/overrated (have to go abroad for this one) - Georges Blanc in Vonnas

Best value - JSW in Petersfield (fantastic cooking at a good price esp at lunch, from a kitchen the size of our very small bathroom, think Merchant House and then quarter it).

Best main course - Roast pork with black pudding, mustard mash and apple cider sauce - Old Chesil Rectory, Winchester

Best fish - John Dory with Smoked Haddock Veloute, GR @ RHR

Most consistently excellent (not counting GR) Foliage and The Square.

Most consistently visited St John

Most irritating sommelier - the older one at The Square, (not the new 16 year old who is good).

Best Sommelier - still Matthew Wilkin at The Capitol

Best sunday lunch - Putney Bridge

[sandra]

Here is my list:

Overall best meal: Petrus

Best Asian fusion: Vong

Best pasta: Locanda Locatelli

Best pizza: Pizza Metro

Best dim sum: Royal China Baker Street

Best sushi: Defune

Best Japanese type: Ubon

Best beef: El Gaucho, Sydney Street Market

Best Kebabs: Kebab Kid, Fulham

Best Middle Eastern: Noura

Highest chairs: Tom Aikens

Most dissapointing: Nahm

Most noticeable downslide in menu and food: Bank

Worst food: HMS Hispaniola (I did not eat, I cooked)

edited to add Noura

Edited July 4, 2003 by sandra (log)