What Restaurant did you eat at last night?

Soldato
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Yeah, some places don't have a good system for it. There's a lunch place near me where the drivers just barge to the front of the queue and badger the counter staff until they deal with their order. It's not a great experience for the customer.

I know it's not a restaurant but had to ask a Uber Eats delivery guy the other day to chill out - I was in greggs getting the kids some stuff for lunch, Uber eats guy just piles in, straight to the front asking for the order - Lady behind the counter said it was 5 minutes before it was ready as they were still cooking the steak bakes.... Guy started going off his head that it's wasting his time if it's not ready etc... He literally just stood in front of everyone with his bag refusing to move until it was ready.

I politely asked him to stand to the side so the rest of the people could get served and got a mouthful of abuse.... Obviously they think with the large orange bag, they can do what they want....
 
Soldato
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Had a decent week due to my boss being over. He’s not a foodie (very basic tastes actually) which is very frustrating - but I do my best when he is over.

We got taken to Berners Tavern at the Edition hotel. Still one of my favourite dining rooms and great for people watching. Great food but service a little slow.

Got taken for lunch at the Compton in Clerkenwell. Decent, but I was going healthy so just had a burrata salad ( :p ). Had a side of hash browns with shredded beef on top which was rather moreish.

Thurs went to the Ivy Cafe in Marylebone. As expected. Decent food and service. I had the bone in rib-eye which was decent but nothing worth shouting about.

Then he was asking about going to Nando’s for lunch on Friday (told you he’s not a foodie, if it’s not meat and chips he’s not interested :rolleyes: ) so I persuaded him to come to Maison Bab in Covent Garden. Very decent, want to go back actually. Had dirty fries in the side which was a meal in itself! (Shredded ox cheek and cheese sauce, chilli sauce on top). So not bad in all. I need to do some exercise :o
 
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by the tower the one up north ..
I know it's not a restaurant but had to ask a Uber Eats delivery guy the other day to chill out - I was in greggs getting the kids some stuff for lunch, Uber eats guy just piles in, straight to the front asking for the order - Lady behind the counter said it was 5 minutes before it was ready as they were still cooking the steak bakes.... Guy started going off his head that it's wasting his time if it's not ready etc... He literally just stood in front of everyone with his bag refusing to move until it was ready.

I politely asked him to stand to the side so the rest of the people could get served and got a mouthful of abuse.... Obviously they think with the large orange bag, they can do what they want....
lol and i suppose you left it at that ?
 
Soldato
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Things have been a bit excessive of late.

This weekend just gone we went to Frog by Adam Handling and it was great! Food was very well presented and, most importantly, absolutely packed with flavour. The staff were great, friendly and chatty. The alcohol free drink options were very limited, they did have a couple of booze free sparkling wines but that was about it. The sommelier didn't know what the word 'teetotal' meant which was a bit of a surprise.

The weekend before that I took my other half away to The Waterside Inn for her birthday. The food is unapologetically French and that's exactly what I was hoping for. I thought the waiting staff might be a bit stuffy and formal, but no, they were relaxed and friendly. The food was thoroughly delicious though I was struggling to finish everything as I'd been too weak willed to stop declining extra bread and butter. Again, alcohol free options were quite limited.
 
Soldato
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The weekend before that I took my other half away to The Waterside Inn for her birthday. The food is unapologetically French and that's exactly what I was hoping for. I thought the waiting staff might be a bit stuffy and formal, but no, they were relaxed and friendly. The food was thoroughly delicious though I was struggling to finish everything as I'd been too weak willed to stop declining extra bread and butter. Again, alcohol free options were quite limited.

Sweet baby Jesus - those prices!
 

kai

kai

Soldato
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Wales.
The Whitebrook - 1 Michelin star

This was our third visit in about 6-7 years. This time I was a litttle underwhelmed. The whole ethos of the resturant is what can be grown, foraged & produced within a small radius of the resturant. Everything was going fine; until the Cod dish. They put the plate down, explained the dish and as they walked away my wife noticed a huge black hair across the cod. After pulling at it' to confirm - we called the waiter as he had litterally stepped away from the table (the plate was untouched apart from the inspection). They handled the sitaution but it should have never made it to the table. They provided my wife with 3 free glasses of wine for each remaining course (circa £50-60). The experience was also jaded by one waiter, who had half his shirt untucked through service and really scuffed shoes. Maybe i sound a little pedantic but its not something you expect at that level.

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Soldato
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Are at Tropea in Harborne. We live just around the corner and have been wanting to try it for ages. Really great Southern Italian style food in a very friendly neighbourhood surrounding. Wine list was not only good but I thought well priced too.

@kai would have been horrified though… one of the waiters was wearing shorts!
 
Soldato
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Crockers in Tring - first time doing a Chef's table which was a fun experience. The meal was consistently excellent which I find is rare for a tasting menu. Often the first few courses are full of punchy flavours and then it tails off, but in this case every course held up and flowed well.

The quality of the food is easily 1*+ level but I can perhaps see why its still awaiting a star - my gf asked for a crisp white wine recommendation and got told that the 20 or whites on the wine list were "more or less the same" :p. I guess finding waiting staff these days is difficult
 

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Flambos Jambo " Alton Towers - It was the quality i expected for the place lets be honest but with a gold pass the price was better. What was excellent though was how they went through allergies and pointed out every dish which for a milk allergy was nearly all fine. Even breakfast it was only scrambled eggs and pancakes and they made scrambled eggs without milk specially.
 
Soldato
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Went to Kimchi in Moseley for lunch.

A not quite 'starter sized' starter of fried chicken. :D

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Looks pretty tasty, but the egg should be cracked into the rice and cooked by the bowl making nice crispy bits, sacrilege to just stuff a fried egg on top a bibimbap!
 
Soldato
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Well, Sat Bains is bloody great. Benn fortunate to have a few Michelin star meals over the years but that takes the crown. Definitely better than the last 2 star we had which was Lung King Heen in HK.

The wine pairing was exceptional, as it should be for this sort of venue.

Breakfast very good too. Unfortunately have to go check out and go back to the real world now. I suspect we hit four figures overall!
 
Soldato
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Well, Sat Bains is bloody great. Benn fortunate to have a few Michelin star meals over the years but that takes the crown. Definitely better than the last 2 star we had which was Lung King Heen in HK.

The wine pairing was exceptional, as it should be for this sort of venue.

Breakfast very good too. Unfortunately have to go check out and go back to the real world now. I suspect we hit four figures overall!

One of my absolute favourites, it's a superb restaurant.

The only problem I have with it, is the bread. I struggle with self restraint when they offer more treacle bread and salted butter. There's a note on my booking profile 'XTB' for extra treacle bread so when the bread arrives they've already doubled up.

We've been there a few times, we're about 75 minutes drive away and both teetoal so when we see on Instagram that they've got a Saturday cancellation we'll often phone up and book it. Next time though we'll plan a bit more in advance and stay over again.

Alchemilla in Nottingham is well worth a visit too.
 
Soldato
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One of my absolute favourites, it's a superb restaurant.

The only problem I have with it, is the bread. I struggle with self restraint when they offer more treacle bread and salted butter. There's a note on my booking profile 'XTB' for extra treacle bread so when the bread arrives they've already doubled up.

We've been there a few times, we're about 75 minutes drive away and both teetoal so when we see on Instagram that they've got a Saturday cancellation we'll often phone up and book it. Next time though we'll plan a bit more in advance and stay over again.

Alchemilla in Nottingham is well worth a visit too.
It was really excellent, can't fault it. Service is great, atmosphere. Food is amazing without being pretentious or overly showy.

We're only 20 minutes away but will definitely stay over again. You're only paying 150 ish for the room and you won't get that quality accomodation and breakfast for that money many other places. Just really nice to arrive at 3, have a chill in the lounge, hang in the room, back to the bar for an aperitif before starting the meal.

Wine pairing was great. I don't like getting drunk but do like good wine and it was spot on. A couple of sakes in the mix. We've had meals spoiled before by too much booze in the pairing (2 Estaciones in Valencia, looking at you), but this was just enough to appreciate the taste with each course.

Did tip over 4 figures in the end, but worth it. Could happily finish Christmas now!
 
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