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Restaurant(s) of the Year 2006

Gavin Convery
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Gavin Convery

Gavin Convery

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Couldn't find this thread in recent months but apologies if it has been done. This is the normal time of year for a bit of review so give me your top three.

As I don't get out so much these days so this is quite simple for me. In no particular order:

- Bacchus

- Arbutus

- Le Gavroche

Local favourites:

- Crown @ Stoke by Nayland

- West Mersea Oyster Cafe, Mersea Island

- Crown and Castle, Orford

Gav

"A man tired of London..should move to Essex!"

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Jon Tseng

Jon Tseng

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- Bacchus: Cos the chef's a f**king minor genius. And I like fine dining in trainers.

- Greenhouse (post-Bjorn): Unlikely to ever start a culinary revolution, but simply one of the slickest haute cuisine operations I have seen in a very long time. The high-end chain restaurant every Gordon Ramsay joint would like to be.

- Bar Shu: Cos the food is delicious, savoury and unusual.

J

Edited by Jon Tseng (log)
More Cookbooks than Sense - my new Cookbook blog!
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Gavin Convery

Gavin Convery

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- Bacchus: Cos the chef's a f**king minor genius. And I like fine dining in trainers.

- Greenhouse (post-Bjorn): Unlikely to ever start a culinary revolution, but simply one of the slickest haute cuisine operations I have seen in a very long time.  The high-end chain restaurant every Gordon Ramsay joint would like to be.

- Bar Shu: Cos the food is delicious, savoury and unusual.

J

Bacchus - agree!

Gav

"A man tired of London..should move to Essex!"

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brokentelephone

brokentelephone

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Providores Cafe (Marylebone, London) - Food was sensational, service excellent. Truly a rare find, especially considering the prices were very reasonable. I had one of, if not the, best risottos of my life, along with the best lamb samosa i've ever tasted... very eclectic menu, but every dish so far has been a hit.

River Cafe - Nothing more to be said.

Arbutus - as above!

Also, I tried a terrific Gastropub in Chelsea named "The Crown @ Chelsea" just off of Fulham road. The place itself is delightful and the service is excellent.... its tiny but they truly make u feel at home. The food is simple, but delicious. Will likely become a regular considering how close i live.

Edited by brokentelephone (log)
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Jon Tseng

Jon Tseng

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- Bacchus: Cos the chef's a f**king minor genius. And I like fine dining in trainers.

Bacchus - agree!

Note to Pip: Make sure Nuno is tied in with a barrow-load of equity, and you keep him very very happy.

I suspect in twelve months or so he'll have any number of offers from employment from elsewhere in the capital. I don't need to tell you that if he skips you'll have a b*stard of a job replacing him.

J

More Cookbooks than Sense - my new Cookbook blog!
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Andy Lynes

Andy Lynes

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The Elizabethian Tandoori, Old London Road, Brighton. A pretty generic sort of Indian but the service is fantastic, the onion bargees wonderful and I can have a couple of beers and walk home after an early Sunday evening dinner with the family. What more could a man ask?

The Preston Park Tavern, Havelock Road, Brighton - gastropubs finally hit Brighton. A really quite smart, recently refurbished boozer with a decent kitchen. Braised rump of lamb was nearly good enough to excuse the grainy sauce (probably due to raw sugar - how the hell did that happoen?) that came with the sticky toffee puddings. The kids loved it and its a 5 minute drive from home. What more etc etc.

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Gavin Convery

Gavin Convery

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The Elizabethian Tandoori, Old London Road, Brighton. A pretty generic sort of Indian but the service is fantastic, the onion bargees wonderful and I can have a couple of beers and walk home after an early Sunday evening dinner with the family. What more could a man ask?

The Preston Park Tavern, Havelock Road, Brighton - gastropubs finally hit Brighton. A really quite smart, recently refurbished boozer with a decent kitchen. Braised rump of lamb was nearly good enough to excuse the grainy sauce (probably due to raw sugar - how the hell did that happoen?) that came with the sticky toffee puddings. The kids loved it and its a 5 minute drive from home. What more etc etc.

Andy, you're obviously tired of all that high end dining you do for your day job and have gone all homey....

Gav

"A man tired of London..should move to Essex!"

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Gavin Convery

Gavin Convery

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Providores Cafe (Marylebone, London) -  Food was sensational, service excellent.  Truly a rare find, especially considering the prices were very reasonable. I had one of, if not the, best risottos of my life, along with the best lamb samosa i've ever tasted... very eclectic menu, but every dish so far has been a hit.

River Cafe - Nothing more to be said.

I loved Providores when I went a couple of years ago, so glad to hear it's still doing well.

Two votes for River Cafe - is this quietly going up again? Shame it's so bl**dy difficult to get to....

Gav

"A man tired of London..should move to Essex!"

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Andy Lynes

Andy Lynes

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Andy, you're obviously tired of all that high end dining you do for your day job and have gone all homey....

Its just so nice not to have to travel for hours to get a half decent meal. I don't ever really get tired of restaurants at any level. I had a great lunch at St Albans the other day (a lovely quail dish which I can't remember the exact details of) and I visited upstairs at Sketch for the first time last week (the whole building was absolutely rammed by the way which came as a real surprise to me) and had a pretty fabulous meal there. Arbutus is always a joy and I'm looking forward to dinner at Theo Randall tomorrow. I was reading the menu at Alastair Little and it sounds really good. I've never been and as Juliette Preston is back in the kitchen I'm very tempted to make a trip there early next year. My favourite meal is always the next one.

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Gavin Convery

Gavin Convery

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Andy, you're obviously tired of all that high end dining you do for your day job and have gone all homey....

Its just so nice not to have to travel for hours to get a half decent meal. I don't ever really get tired of restaurants at any level. I had a great lunch at St Albans the other day (a lovely quail dish which I can't remember the exact details of) and I visited upstairs at Sketch for the first time last week (the whole building was absolutely rammed by the way which came as a real surprise to me) and had a pretty fabulous meal there. Arbutus is always a joy and I'm looking forward to dinner at Theo Randall tomorrow. I was reading the menu at Alastair Little and it sounds really good. I've never been and as Juliette Preston is back in the kitchen I'm very tempted to make a trip there early next year. My favourite meal is always the next one.

Interesting news about Juliette Preston - I think I ate at AL when she was still there some years back. What has brought her back? Will we see your review on St. Albans soon or will we have to pay money for that? :biggrin:

Edited by Gavin Convery (log)

Gav

"A man tired of London..should move to Essex!"

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bakerestates

bakerestates

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- River Cafe

- Vicolo Stretto Taormina Sicily and/or L'Ancorn di Giancarlo Russo Siracusa, Sicily

- lunch yesterday at Theo Randall was delightful (though not so keen on the room). Crab, aioli, pagnotta bruschetta, rocket & fennel (light, fresh, zesty) followed by agnolotti - fresh pasta stuffed with slow-cooked veal, partridge, panceta (deep gooey flavours but surprisingly light and lifted). Followed by wood roasted turbot with capers, marjoram, leek & artichoke trifolati (earthy, juicy supreme piece of fish on the bone). Finished with Lemon Tart - am not going to tell you anything about it, just go and have it.

note to Gavin - new to Sudbury, Amici Restaurant on Gainsborough Street. Sicilian family, very minimal decor & simple Sicilian/Italian food. Not yet tried it, maybe next week for lunch.

bakerestates

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Andy Fenn

Andy Fenn

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Overall:

Etxebarri, Spain - my most memorable meal of the year, stunning example of simplicity at its best

Mugaritz, San Sebastian - two or three sublime dishes that make you sit up with a jolt

Closer to home:

Ledbury - no bad meals here, wonderful service, and some awesome dishes

Locatelli - my first visit a couple of months ago, have been back twice since. Had the edge on River Cafe - slightly better food, cheaper, and easier to get to!

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Winot

Winot

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I was reading the menu at Alastair Little and it sounds really good. I've never been and as Juliette Preston is back in the kitchen I'm very tempted to make a trip there early next year.

[pedant alert]

It's Juliet Peston.

[/pedant alert]

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Laibach

Laibach

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The Lock Dining Bar in Tottenham of all places and by far. Look behind the hype of Arbutus (prices up, seating times - 2 things they stated would never happen) and you can appreciate somewhere that set out to do what it claims and continues to do so.

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TheBacchus

TheBacchus

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For me there's two categories

Best execution (quality of food alone)

The Fat Duck

Tragabuches (Rhonda, Spain)

Chez Dominique (Helsinki, Finland)

Best time in a restaurant (whole package)

St John

21 (New York)

Verre (Dubai)

And before anyone is sarcastic i'm not including Bacchus - not because i dont think its up there but because im not a total knob :raz:

<a href='http://www.bacchus-restaurant.co.uk' target='_blank'>www.bacchus-restaurant.co.uk</a>

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Gavin Convery

Gavin Convery

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Neither had I Gavin, chef seems to have an impressive CV.

Website

Looks like an odd location.

Interesting restaurant, but not sure I'd want to trek out to Tottenham for it. Good on them for trying something good in a bit of a dodgy location though.

Gav

"A man tired of London..should move to Essex!"

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