What Restaurant did you eat at last night?

[randomshenans]

Nice! Supposed to be great there and they've just won a michelin star!

Edit: Won, I mean been awarded. :/

 

[molinari]

Nice! Supposed to be great there and they've just won a Michelin star!

Edit: Won, I mean been awarded. :/

Just seen that, and without a doubt it deserves at least 1 star! Also, Launceston Place (was there 2 weeks ago and is one of our favourite restaurants) has finally been awarded 1 star, and Tom Aikens (where I'll be tomorrow evening) has also been awarded 1 star (again).

 

[randomshenans]

Look at you, staring it all up! Report back on them

I need to find something to top our date night round here for our Dec anniversary. *Googles*

 

[xarr]

A couple of good meals in the past couple of weeks;

Back to Roganic for the 10 course again, ate with a vegetarian so got to see the interesting veg menu. Outstanding as before, highlights being raw mackerel in coal oil, a take on ham and pea soup with beef tongue, pea purée and pea foam and the golden egg dish which was once again amazing.

St. John Hotel, first time going to a St. John group restaurant and it was great, one of the best meals I have had for a long time. Had duck hearts, snails and lovage which wasn't as challenging as it may sound with the duck heart being cooked rare and were perfect morsels of duck. I then had veal sweetbreads with tiny turnips, the sweetbreads being like an exquisite chicken nugget. Custard tart which was exceptional and very light and their madeleines rounded off a great meal that was very good value (3 courses with a cocktail, wine and coffee for ~£60)

Mele e Pere, a Soho trattoria that did nice pasta and had a good home made vermouth. Service was a little slow, but we were a 10 top, with a 12 next to us and a 8 as well so not unsurprising. Somewhat expensive when compared to the quality of Italian in Soho but I think they do a happy hour from 4-7pm with 50% off drinks which could make the meal cheaper.

Tried Kerbisher and Malt, a posh chippy in Ealing (and another in Brook Green) that I wasn't that impressed with, the batter was soggy and the chips bland but the pickled onion rings were great and the squid was ok. Perhaps another visit is needed before making judgement but it didn't beat my local (which I love)

Another trip to Santa Maria, a tiny, brilliant pizza place in Ealing that makes perhaps the best pizza I have ever had (and I prefer it to Franco Manca). Cheaper than any chain and its just perfect. They have just opened a new branch, Sacro Cuore, in Kensal Rise.

Finally, went to Charlottes Place, a great local near me which if you can make it there for lunch is great value, £17.95 for 3 courses with bread, free sparkling or still water and a good value by the glass wine list makes it (or their Bistro which is a similar price) a semi regular haunt of mine. A monthly changing menu of exciting dishes makes it a real local fave of mine.

Off to Boqueria on the Clapham/Brixton border for tapas on Wednesday, good value, excellent tapas which I think is a real rarity in London.

Hedone is on my list to try (and it's not far from home), it looks to be one of London's most exciting places with real talent behind it.

 

[toshj]

A couple of good meals in the past couple of weeks;

Back to Roganic for the 10 course again, ate with a vegetarian so got to see the interesting veg menu. Outstanding as before, highlights being raw mackerel in coal oil, a take on ham and pea soup with beef tongue, pea purée and pea foam and the golden egg dish which was once again amazing.

Was really very impressed with Roganic - went there a few months ago. I felt that it's small size and layout meant it lacked the stuffy atmosphere that I expected.

Been meaning to report on a couple too - both in France. After a pretty subdued summer, the girlfriend and I did a five day tour of Provence for a bit of food, drink and adventure. I have had family live in the region, so shamelessly used their local knowledge and ended up with a few gems:

Le Lisita. Possibly one of the most reasonably priced Michelin star meals I've had. Nestled in the shade of the Arene de Nimes, we ate in the courtyard in front of the main restaurant building. Tomates Tartere for her and Foie Gras for me (they initially forgot to bring out the bread...) were excellent, and were followed up by steak and prawns and dessert.

Lovely setting, decent service and what I'd refer to as quite relaxed cuisine - not over the top, but certainly a lot of effort put into it. It was around £100 for both of us for an aperitif each, three courses, a bottle of red and a glass of white. Not bad at all.


Le Castellas. A couple of people recommended this place, and we statyed at the hotel as well as eating there. I'd probably compare this place to an outdoor equivalent to Helene Darroze at the Connaught (insofar as many of the dishes were extremely similar... but not necessarily in a bad way). Also, on reflection I'd also regard this as being a bit of a lifetime one off given the cost of the evening!

If was an amazing four course meal, with amuse bouche aplenty. Everything was over the top, despite the relaxed setting, and was certainly an experience. Wine was very decent, aperitif was amazing, and I ended up with a food hangover which kept me out of action for 24 hours!

Unfortunately the whole experience was completely ruined by one of the most arrogant and pretentious displays of waitering I've ever seen. My girlfriend wasn't able to finish her starter, foie gras with a strawberry coulis, mainly due to its size and richness - also she was feeling a tad emotional about stuff and wanted to save a bit of room for the rest of the meal - which had another 3 hours ahead of it by this point. The waiter took this news as if I'd just punched his children. Started lambasting my girlfriend for not finishing the dish (she manged about three quarters of it), accusing me of not helping her out and claiming the chef would be furious...

He then told us that he expected her to finish every single other course served to her for the meal, and subsequently checked on us at about 5 different points throughout the remainder of the meal. He also refused to properly talk to us thereafter, whereas he'd been excellent up until that point.

I understand certain service can be quite stuffy in these types of restaurants, but as the customer you should still be treated with respect and courtesy. This whole propsterous event had a very negative affect on my experience of the place... very unimpressed, despite the uneblievable quality of the food.

 

[randomshenans]

I would have punched him in the throat and got someone else to serve us. That's appauling. Utterly appauling. Just goes to show the food can be mindblowing but unless it all matches (service, staff and surroundings) it won't make a good meal.

I like Roganic, would go back now and see what Simon Rogan is doing with the place now Ben has left as the head chef. I went in Dec when he was there and it was great and will always remember it as it was where I proposed to the Mrs. They wrote "will you marry me?" on a plate, covered it with a cloche and filled it with smoke. Whole place cheered, was bricking it!

Back on thread, I've booked a place called Traube over here for our anniversary, has 1 star, see what it is like, it's just over in Germany.

 

[Ahleckz]

Two Fat Ladies at the Buttery.

It's a fish restaurant, with three branches in Glasgow. I've now eaten in all three. The Buttery is the original, and has gorgeous interior.

Round of G&Ts for 'amuse bouche' and then we ordered:

Starters:
Sliced oak smoked salmon, red cabbage coleslaw, keta olive oil. (Me),
Chef’s Caesar style salad, king prawns, silver anchovies. (Her).
Main:
Grilled whole lemon sole, orange and baby caper butter. (Me),
Seared west coast scallops, chorizo risotto, roast pepper salsa. (Her),
Desert:
Homemade brandy basket with trio of ice creams, fruit coulis. (We shared this).

Add to this a further G&T for her with desert and an Armagnac for me.

The starters were great, I could eat smoked salmon all day, everyday. And it was a very good example. However, earlier in the year I had a vodka and beetroot Gravlax at another of their restaurants which was far better. Caesar style salad was competent and tasty but nothing outstanding.
My lemon sole was lovely, well cooked and lots of meat on there which came off easily but had a nice bite to it. Her scallops were alright (she loved them, but she is obsessed with scallops), but I would prefer them to have more of a crust.
Pudding was just icecream and brandy basket. The puddings are pretty rich so we just went for some decent and tasty icecream to end the night.

Bill was £125, but that was with a £45 bottle of Chardonnay.

Service was really good, had a very friendly and chatty waiter who had a great demeanour. Though, at one point when serving the wine he managed to fling the remainder of the bottle over the side of the table instead of into my girlfriends glass. He took the price of 3 G&Ts off the bill for this though!

It's easily the nicest of the 3 restaurants in Glasgow, and the most expensive, but I feel that the West End one did the better food. Would I go back? Not in a hurry, but would happily recommend it to anyone looking for a fish restaurant in Glasgow. It's probably not as good as Gamba, but it's a much nicer place.

 

[molinari]

Finally, went to Charlottes Place, a great local near me....

I've heard some good things about Charlotte's Place recently. It puts a smile on my face as this was the restaurant that my wife and I visited in 2005 (I think. It was just after they had refurbished it) that started us off on our quest to eat fantastic food in some of the best restaurants.

Following on from that, we went to Tom Aikens in Chelsea on Saturday evening. They have just been awarded 1 star after losing it last year.
Originally we planned to go there and have a cheaper meal (a la carte) after the previous weeks visit to Hedone, but we couldn't resist the 7 course (including cheese) taster menu!



From start to finish, it was a fantastic experience. The restaurant re-opened at the start of the year after refurbishment, and it looks great inside. The service was was friendly and attentive, and the food was amazing.
I can't remember all the details of the amuse bouche but it consisted of three different foods, and each was lovely. The first was seasoned fried pasta dough, the second was chickpea, and the third was a beetroot meringue with Foie Gras mouse on top D!).

(You'll have to excuse the photo's, they were taken by the Wife on an outdated iPhone 4S)

Jasmine cured Salmon
Wow. The Salmon was beautiful, and the pickled apple, cucumber and jasmine oil worked fantastically with it.


Marinated Foie Gras
Man, I love Foie Gras. So rich and creamy and just so damn tasty. The pressed beetroot was lovely, and the sweetness from the blackberries, plums and dark cherry complemented it all.


We forgot to take a photo of the Piglet Belly. I have had better, but it was very nice and the squid and pineapple worked really well with it.

Housemade Ricotta
Probably my favourite dish of the meal for me because I'm not a fan of Ricotta, but this was lovely. Accompanying it was honey jelly, pine nut shavings, a pine nut sorbet, green olive juice and fresh basil on top. Lovely.


Dark Chocolate
Chocolate chocolate and more chocolate. At first glance it looks like too much but I was surprised with how light it was. I'm not a massive chocolate dessert fan, and I will say that after eating it all, it wasn't too much. So, it consisted of frozen chocolate aero, smoked chocolate, bitter chocolate, chocolate foam, chocolate parfait.
(That's 11 chocolates in this paragraph!)


We're booked into Pollen Street Social in a couple of weeks, so I'll post about that after we've been.

 

[randomshenans]

That looks fantastic! Looking forward to hearing about Pollen, I know Oli has been there and was a fan.

 

[Scam]

xarr are you my stalker? I went to Kerbisher and Malt the other week, thought it was great. Was with a fussy Northerner who said it was probably the best fish and chips she'd had down south -- but it still obviously wasnt a patch on it oop north. I liked the place though (batter was most definitely not soggy like you say!), but there's only so much you can do with fish and chips

I live near Santa Maria but I'm put off by how small it is. I'm too lazy to stand in the rain waiting for a table and I haven't read good things about the service etc. which is a big gripe of mine. Is it *really* worth the hassle for a pizza?

I've been to Charlotte's Place once and loved it. We must go again as it's just gerat. Lovely homely little restaurant with fantastic food and service. Great to have it in the area. What's Charlotte's Bistro like in comparison?

Oh, reason I said are you my stalker is that I walk past Mele e Pere every day on my way to work. Haven't been convinced enough to try it yet but I don't eat out in Soho that much as I do irregular shifts.

I think Hedone is definitely a prospective birthday/event place..

 

[xarr]

West London food meet up anyone? I think there are enough of us to get a big table (or private dining) somewhere and eat pretentiously...

Santa Maria is worth it, service is good but it's an in and out sort of place which is understandable. If you don't want to wait in the rain there is a pub right next door. It's better than Franco Manca if that's worth anything.

I prefer the bistro, the dining room is nicer (big skylight over the main seating area) and they have a bar if your a single or pair. The food is of the same standard.

I wouldn't bother with Mele e Pere, there is Polpo and Bocca di Lupo nearby which are both miles better.

 

[oli collett]

West London food meet up anyone? I think there are enough of us to get a big table (or private dining) somewhere and eat pretentiously...

Santa Maria is worth it, service is good but it's an in and out sort of place which is understandable. If you don't want to wait in the rain there is a pub right next door. It's better than Franco Manca if that's worth anything.

I prefer the bistro, the dining room is nicer (big skylight over the main seating area) and they have a bar if your a single or pair. The food is of the same standard.

I wouldn't bother with Mele e Pere, there is Polpo and Bocca di Lupo nearby which are both miles better.

I'm Ealing based so that's good with me, although rather busy over the next few weeks. Santa Maria might be difficult if we're a big group though

Went to Bubbledogs Kitchen Table last night. Wow. 13 courses, superb.

Chicken Skin, Marscapone, Bacon Jam

Pasta with black truffle and chickweed

Short Rib, Cabbage

 

[alexakasloth]

Went to the bbq shack at the worlds end pub, had a cheese burger topped with pulled pork, was awesome. Had the brisket before which is great, 18 hours its smoked for iirc.

 

[randomshenans]

Went to a place up the mountains called the Clos Savoyarde, which is an old cow shed which does typical mountain food and that.

Couple of snaps...

Frogs legs! Really nice...

Snails

Bambi

Our 7yr old wanted the steak, obviously.

Desserts!

Was really nice, first time I'd actually had frogs legs as well.

 

[molinari]

Was really nice, first time I'd actually had frogs legs as well.

Looks good! I went to The Ledbury last year where they served us a soft Quails egg to start, but one of the diners I was with couldn't eat egg so they served them Frogs leg instead. They could eat that either, so I did. First time for me too, and they were very nice.

 

[TheDean]

I'd love to live in France, Quicklink - how did you manage it?

Just back from a week on the Cote d'Azur and feeling depressed

 

[99Androidguy777]

I recently went to Chapter One in Forres. I've been a few times before and it was my second visit for the evening service.

Pros: Great food. Nice relaxed atmosphere. Friendly helpful staff. Huge portions. Relatively inexpensive. Nice little finishing touches (fresh hand made bread, small packet of sweets for the walk home).
Cons: Huge portions (Yes, I know I had it under Pros too....only a downside as I could never manage to have 3 courses there so have to pick a starter or a dessert). Evening service on a weekend is impossible to get a table at unless you book well in advance, lunchtimes you might get very lucky and not need to book.

I had (for less than £20 not including drinks):
Chicken and venison parfait with tomato salsa, oatcakes and sweet onion.
Slow Roasted Confit of Pork Belly cooked for 6 hours with white wine, herbs and butter. Seasonal vegetables (including spiced red cabbage and creamed leeks) and potatoes.

Sounds amazing...

I'd love to live in France, Quicklink - how did you manage it?

Just back from a week on the Cote d'Azur and feeling depressed

Good question!

 

[Raymond Lin]

Had loads of sushi in greenwich village, lobster in time square, cheese picnic with champagne in Central Park (hidden in a plastic bag, can't drink alcohol in public in the US) at NYC last week, also had a drink call Lindsay Lohan (cocktail), ate some southern food - sweet tea and warm cinnamon rolls and corn bread too, bison burger tonight at Ted's.

Got to love America!

 

[randomshenans]

I'd love to live in France, Quicklink - how did you manage it?

Just back from a week on the Cote d'Azur and feeling depressed

Saw a job in Basel, thought, that sounds interesting... actually tagged the interview on to the end of a holiday out here and they offered me on the spot.
Lived in Switzerland for a few months and then moved outside to France because the family and kids moved over and we wanted them in French school, not international school (at 50k a year, each).

We're pretty flexible, but there's nothing to stop you doing anything. Nothing is forever so take all the chances you get.

/back on track

 

[Will21st]

Had loads of sushi in greenwich village, lobster in time square, cheese picnic with champagne in Central Park (hidden in a plastic bag, can't drink alcohol in public in the US) at NYC last week, also had a drink call Lindsay Lohan (cocktail), ate some southern food - sweet tea and warm cinnamon rolls and corn bread too, bison burger tonight at Ted's.

Got to love America!

NYC,what a place.Love America!

Did you have the Lobster Hot Dog? If that is the right name? Were $8 a piece but definitely worth it!

Also went to Sparks Steakhouse in Manhattan.... Mob Boss Paul Castellano was shot right outside it.
Had a Filet Mignon for $46 but my God what a Steak!

Another place I really enjoyed was Umbertos Clam House in Little Italy,the Mixed Seafood Pasta was something else. Generally thought the quality of Food in NYC was very high and much better than over here.

What we get served for 'Steak' in this country is a joke most of the times..... although I need to visit Hawksmoor.