What Restaurant did you eat at last night?

I will be back that's for sure. Doing the 10 course this Sat at Roganic, so you know. Brett has offered to cook me a shoulder of pork for christmas eve really slow, like the jowl I had.
A 2 Michelin star chef offering to do my Christmas eve dinner? Erm... Jeeez!

Can't wait for Roganic now.
 
I will be back that's for sure. Doing the 10 course this Sat at Roganic, so you know. Brett has offered to cook me a shoulder of pork for christmas eve really slow, like the jowl I had.
A 2 Michelin star chef offering to do my Christmas eve dinner? Erm... Jeeez!

Can't wait for Roganic now.

They're top folk at Roganic, keep meaning to go back there again. Wonder if they've got anything coming up before christmas...
 
Review of the Chancery before it goes on my site:

The Chancery
It was a day full of food for the Jones’. Keeping up with us would take some doing.
I arranged to go to the Chancery after two weeks before the date Bruno Loubet (where originally booked) emailed and informed me that our party had to pick from the Christmas menu. Nothing was mentioned of this at the time of booking, and doing so this close to the date irked me somewhat. Anyway, that aside we then booked the Chancery as there was more choice and it was recommended to me as somewhere to try.
My criteria was simply; nice food, reasonable cost and good wine.
Table booked for 8, gave just about enough time to let my lunch go down and squeeze in a couple of bottles of bubbly.
Arrived and were greeted by friendly front of house staff and shown our seats (as requested, by recommendation, main floor in the middle). I had mentioned that it was my birthday meal over email, and as such we were given a bottle of prosecco which was nice and being a champagne snob, I normally dislike prosecco but this was actually OK. Not too sweet at all, so thank you to them for this.

We had, what seemed like, a number of people looking after our table but this was a little disjointed and although they were attentive, they just seemed a little unorganized. We ordered our food and wine and continued the merriment. One thing I have to say is that the wine is very reasonably priced here. You can get a very nice bottle (for example a nice Sancere for £26 I think it was) which is hard at a lot of places, or you do pay for it.
Before the starters came, the bread came round but these were cold and a little tough, and like I say about being a key indicator of somewhere I eat. For starters I chose the confit belly of lamb, baby leek salad and tomato fondue. The girlfriend had the Tiger prawn linguine.
My lamb came breaded and deep fried after the confit, which I think was a shame to be honest. On the plate there was one baby leek, so not certain I would call that a salad and there was a small amount of frisee lettuce hiding some red cabbage that I didn’t find until the end. I expected more from the lamb I have to say. It didn’t have the flavor I was hoping for, which I think you could really get with a nice confit belly, but it didn’t deliver much at all. The lettuce seemed to add nothing to the plate, other than hide the cabbage and the sole leek, again, didn’t link anything together for me.
I did try the prawn linguine, which was packed full of garlic. Prawns were nice but not many present, but cooked well. The taste and flavour was bold and there mind.
At this point there seemed to be a bit of a mistake made somewhere as 2 main courses arrived but then were quickly removed again, followed by the main front of house person coming to confirm what we all had ordered for our mains. Quick thinking for the kitchen though, and to obviously buy some time, they brought out a small Bass taster for us. This was nice, fresh and simple but again seemed to have been put together quickly, I’m not sure this dish was on the menu with the bits it came with.

The mains were then served, which I had chosen the roast saddle of venison, benyuls and chocolate and blueberry sauce. The girlfriend chose the braised lamb shoulder, crushed new potato and parsnip purée.
My venison was beautifully cooked and texture was great, but what were, or seemed like just non cooked blueberries on the plate, with the quenelle of chocolate and beetroot (which was not on the menu?) just didn’t all come together for me. I was having a discussion about the chocolate and venison with the mother who also had the venison. She said it did go, I said it might do, but it overpowered everything else. The blueberries didn’t, nor did the beetroot and the sauce seemed much for much. It also came with the smallest potato galette, which would have been nice to see more of, or left out in my opinion. It just seemed like a dish that in theory should work, but in practice it didn’t come together. The parsley garnish I saw no place on the plate as well but hey.
The girlfriend said that her lamb was cooked well, but it didn’t really deliver on flavours. Nothing sung out, which you would really expect from a lovely braised lamb shoulder but she said that it was a bit meat and veg-esque.

Two of us had cheese for dessert, which was really nice. I like a bit of cheese and this was, just as it was, cheese and walnut bread. They also brought out a Happy Birthday dessert for me, but I couldn’t comment on that, due to it being hoovered up by my girlfriend, Mum and Brother in law. Apparently it was very nice though.

All in all I was a bit disappointed. Don’t get me wrong I did have a good night and we had a great laugh a good drink, but in the meal itself, it didn’t reach the mark. Firstly, it wasn’t exactly cheap (other than the wine, which was great value), they charged for water, which I think is a bit off in my eyes and the service although attentive (the FOH main guy was good, with a good sense of humor and warm) just seemed disorganized and unpracticed at times, but this wasn’t at all bad, just needs polishing. The food for me promises on paper, but then on the plate just fails to deliver. It just didn’t quite work.

I think the most important question would be; would I go back? Honestly, no. I’m sorry to say. Ticked off the list, tried it, but I would spend a little extra and go all out or I would go back to Galvin's Bistro again which is probably cheaper but streets ahead in my eyes.

Pics found:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.227553307318168.54185.220021181404714&type=1
Marked at the Chancery, not to be mixed with the Ledbury pics.
 
Just got back from The Ivy (treating my mum and her fella).

Was expecting to be rushed along, but was pleasantly surprised.

Food was very nice, although I messed up the booking, so the set menu wasn't available, so we had to stick with the a la carte menu (my wallet was not impressed!).

I went with the Asian appetisers, which were quite sparse, but a nice mix of differently spiced items with a couple of nice dipping sauces.

Main was sea bass - perfectly cooked, although had a few too many bones left in for my liking! Had that with some courgettes and sautéed potatoes.

Dessert, I have to say, was gorgeous. I went with the chocolate pudding (which was actually a soufflé) served with mint ice-cream. Yummy!

For the three of us it came to just over £200 which wasn't too bad I guess, although because I was expecting to be choosing from the set menu, I wasn't planning on spending that much haha!

Was too self-concious about taking pics (was trying to play it cool lol) so the only pic I managed to get was this:

20111206172436.jpg

:D
 
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My sister and I took the old dear and her man to the Ivy for mother's day for lunch then theatre.
The thing I like about the Ivy is things like they have things like corned beef hash on the menu! Sheppard's pie... etc. They have some other more lavish things but in essence it's just nice ingredients well done. I had the smoked salmon to start (don't remember the mains) but it was just really nice simple stuff.

Had Tony Blackburn on the next table and passed Ronnie Wood on the way in as he was leaving. I can see why they like it as it's just a nice place they can go and know they won't get hassled.
 
Aqua
http://aqua-restaurant.com/

£11.50 for two courses before 7pm. Really tasty food for that price.
Even with bottle of wine and two soft drinks between 5 of us only came to £17 each

Had pizza for main and sticky toffee puding for dessert

Pizza was thin base proper tasty and how they should be not dripping in cheese.
Sticky toffe pudding was well sticky toffee pudding no complaints.

Got to say I really need to do more early bird deals. So cheap and makes a nice cheap change to the pub or even just staying in midweek and so many places have them these days.
 
Went to Smiths of Smithfield. In short - avoid. I've copied the following from my post over on egullet:

Ended up here after some drinks for a friend's leaving do. First up, our performance as a party was terrible - we were late, and there were a small number of no shows (it wasn't that they didn't show, they actually ended up on the wrong floor and ate there). That said, the staff were understanding and did a good job of putting up with us!

The food on the other hand was not so good. I went with the "lucky squid" for starter but the squid was rather tough - probably as a consequence of cooking a little too long. The real disappointment however was the beef. We ordered 3 cote de boeuf between 6 people, each medium-rare, but when they turned up they were anything but. The one I was sharing was v rare in the middle, but overcooked on the outside, possibly as a consequence of not enough turning. The strange thing was though, it wasn't like a small patch was medium-rare, it just went medium/well straight to v rare. They did offer to cook it a bit longer but it was late, we were hungry and if it did go back on I imagine too much of it would have been overcooked! Sadly the steak was v much underseasoned and even with a generous helping of salt it was quite bland. It also seemed like it hadn't had enough resting - juices were still flowing after it had arrived at the table which isn't really a good sign.

Even worse, one of the other cote de boeuf was so rare it was barely blue - I'm not sure how they had even achieved it as it looked cooked on the outside but bright, glossy red on the inside. That one was sent back and it did return in better shape - but it did suffer from the same issues as the other steaks.

It was rather frustrating in the end really, it's not difficult to do good steak - you just need to source good quality, well aged beef, season it properly and grill it to order. Smithfield bar and grill on the other side of the market seems to get things right when I've been there and would be a much safer bet if you're in the area
 
Hawksmoor Guildhall last night, but the night before I headed to the Rivington Bar & Grill in Shoreditch.

Not been there before (Rivington), certainly attracted to the 50% off food when booking online (not the steaks though). It's a lot less formal than I expected, and was pretty noisy - fine by me though.

Due to the 50% discount on offer, it meant two courses and a good glass of wine for £22!

Starter had a haddock, mussels and spinach smokie - I had no idea what a smokie was but thought it was amazing! Nice up was Lamb Henry with beet nips and squash. I've never ever seen so much lamb in a single dish before. It was so much that the second course became kinda uncomfortable. Luckily I was there with two guys that will hoover up any food left on every plate in a restaurant if they had the chance, and everything was duly finished off.

It's a sister restaurant with The Ivy and Scotts, so if that's your kinda thing then it's certainly a decent meal, although it's the sort of place that I'd go to if I was in the area but wouldn't travel or make a point of arranging a meal there.
 
Two Fat Ladies, West End one.
http://twofatladiesrestaurant.com/westend

I've eaten in their city centre restaurant before, and despite glowing reviews I wasn't overly impressed. The girlfriend however, wanted fish and I didn't want to spend too much so I thought I'd give this place a try again. Couldn't get a table at the city centre one (a good sign on a Thursday evening) so tried the West End one.

Turned up 5/10 minutes late to a tiny but cosy restaurant. One tiny kitchen in the front which you walk past [wo]manned by one chef and one waitress. Took our seats and checked the menu. I opted for beetroot and vodka cured gravadlax and she had a mushroom and goats cheese quiche. Two G&Ts whilst we waited and then a bottle of Semillion (as much as I wanted the Chablis I'm trying to save some money this month!). Bread was provided, and was fresh. 3 flavours, a garlic sort of bread, a sourdough and a pumpkin bread.
Anyway, starters were great though the beetroot flavour wasn't as intense as I had hoped. I hate quiche but trying a bit of hers I found it tasty enough (if you ignored the mushrooms - eugh).
We followed that with a trio of fish (Salmon, hake and one other I believe) with a watercress sauce for myself and she had baked monkfish tale, king prawn stuffing, wrapped in parma ham, with beurre blanc. That was incredibly rich, and very tasty and the portion was very generous. Very nice, though I would have struggled to eat it all due to the richness. A bowl of seasonal veg was shared between the two of us.
Pudding was cloutie dumpling with custard for me, and she had a trio of creme brulee (Kahula, hazelnut and spiced plum). Again, very good. You need to have a serious sweet tooth to finish off all 3 creme brulee's though!
One espresso to finish, served with short bread and tablet. Perhaps the only negative thing to mention was about the coffee's. They had ran out of milk (who runs out of milk?!) so she couldn't have a cappuccino. Seems a bit of a poor oversight.

Service was very good, especially with only one server and the food was top notch. 3 courses, one bottle of wine, one espresso and 2 G&Ts and the bill was £80 or so.

Would certainly go back, and recommend it to anyone who is after a fish restaurant in Glasgow.
 
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Went to José - a lovely tapas place near London Bridge/Borough Market:
http://www.josepizarro.com/restaurants/jose/

No bookings, and turning up at 3pm on a Sunday we still had to wait 20mins before we could find a seating spot. It wasn't the end of the world though as we cracked into some nibbles.

They serve some of, if not the finest Jamon Iberico Bellota you can find - Maldonado. It's not cheap at £9 for a small plate, but it's definitely one of those foods to try before you die. I would probably say it's the best iberico i've tried.

The tapa here are around £6-9.50 per plate - the most expensive being the iberico pork fillet served rare which was fantastic. Grilled mackerel salad was also good, as were the grilled prawns with chilli and garlic.

All in all, with a few other dishes, a bottle of wine and 2 glasses of sherry, we ended up racking up £60/head inc. service, which probably wasn't too bad given how good the food is, and you can certainly get away with less if you don't get carried away as we did, but it's not "cheap". I will certainly be returning at some point though - possibly to the sister restaurant "Pizarro" which is essentially a bigger, sit-down version.
 
Ended up at Westfield in Shepherds Bush with the missus last night, ate at Meat and Wine Co as i really fancied a steak and the missus told me that they do a halaal menu which pleased me to no end. Got there and had a lovely rib eye steak with calamari as my starter...even had halaal wine, which was quite cool...tastes like wine, smells like wine but no alcohol:p...only had a glass as i wasnt too keen on it but the premise was cool.

All in all the bill came out about £100 odd quid as we both had starters, mains and dessert.
 
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