Gastronomy Blog

08 Mar

Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

Photo: The Prange, Pimlico

Welcome to Bon Vivant’s summary of the restaurant reviews from the weekend’s national newspapers. Enjoy!

Giles Coren, The Times

Giles warns you to ‘steer clear’ of Babbo in Mayfair, which ‘looks nice’ but they serve ‘competent food at ridiculous prices’ with ‘sickening’ service.

The menu is ‘carpet-chompingly expensive’, including a ‘dry melanzane parmigiana cut into a cylinder with a pastry shaper like some MasterChef horror of the Loyd Grossman era’, ‘good’ risotto, ‘good’ pasta and a ‘very good’ cup of coffee.

2.67 out of 10.

Matthew Norman, The Guardian

Matthew has ‘a gargantuan and excellent Szechuan meal’ at Ba Shu before crossing the road to review its sister restaurant, Ba Shan, where the kitchen ‘responded heroically’ and the waiters were ‘charming by any standards, let alone by those of Chinatown’.

Pot-sticker dumplings were ‘plump, juicy parcels of porcine goodness’, dry wok prawns ‘came all crunchy in their shells and suffused with freshly crushed spices’, and diced rabbit in a pile of chillies was ‘a nostalgic delight’. No rating given.

Jay Rayner, The Observer

Jay visits Glamorous, a Chinese restaurant in Manchester, and finds ‘confused waiters’ and ‘forlorn food’.

Char sui buns were ‘soft and light’ but ‘hardly exemplary’, strands of squid ‘had at least been greaselessly deep-fried’ and seafood in a scallop and prawn dumpling ‘had a pleasing bite, but the sticky rice-flour casing was far too thick and gelatinous’. No rating given.

Tracey MacLeod, The Independent

Tracey has a twenty-four hour ‘gastro-tour’ of Glasgow, starting with ‘seafood specialist’, Crabshakk, which has ‘crisp but friendly service and decent prices’.

Crab cakes were ‘generously stuffed with white crabmeat spiked with chilli and parsley’ and ‘benefited from the simple treatment’. Breaded and fried plaice was ‘meltingly fresh’ but the truffle oil in the accompanying mayonnaise ‘was rather too dominant’.

For dinner, Tracey visited Dining Room in a ‘gorgeously luxe basement room, with more than a touch of Deco swagger’ but where ‘the food didn’t quite fulfil the promise of a menu which reads beautifully’.

The sashimi was ‘impeccable’ and a truffled Jerusalem artichoke soup ‘shone’, a pickled onion and fig tart and confit duck salad ‘didn’t work at all’ and desserts ‘showed the heights the kitchen is capable of reaching’.

Crabshakk: 3 stars out of 5 for the food; 4 stars out of 5 for the ambience and service.

Dining Room: 2 stars out of 5 for the food; 3 stars out of 5 for the ambience; 4 stars out of 5 for the service.

Lisa Markwell, The Independent on Sunday

Lisa visits ‘crowd-pleasing’ ‘mini-chain’ Leon for ‘plain-speaking, good-tasting food’.

The chicken was ‘succulent’, the meatballs were ‘just the right side of spicy’ and the chilli was enjoyed ‘in silent satisfaction’. 14 out of 20.

Zoe Williams, The Telegraph

Zoe visits ‘fashion favourite’ Mildreds, a vegetarian restaurant in Soho, but ‘won’t be going back’ ‘any time soon’.

Halloumi ‘had ideas way above its station’, gyoza dumplings were ‘chalky and chewy’, the veggie burger ‘wasn’t bad value’, ‘the bap was flimsy and supermarketish’ but the chips were ‘absolutely brilliant’, and mock duck was ‘exactly as disgusting’ ‘as it sounds’. The puddings ‘were a little better’, including a chocolate truffle with passion fruit jelly that ‘was fine’ with ‘delicious’ jelly. 4 out of 10.

Jasper Gerard, The Telegraph

Jasper visits Dinings in Marylebone, which offers sushi and Japanese tapas with ‘uncompromising quality’ and ‘faultless’ freshness.

Scallop tartar tacos were ‘particularly delicious’, the soft-shell crab spring roll was ‘particularly delectable’ with a ‘wonderfully soft yet crunchy texture’, the spicy tuna wasabi rolls were ‘impressive’ and the lobster tempura was ‘pleasant enough’ but a ‘mild disappointment’. 8 out of 10.

David Sexton, The Evening Standard

David visits The Orange, an ‘absolute stronghold of Knightsbridge and Belgravia’ where the food is ‘not your common or garden comfort food’.

Smoked haddock, leek and potato cake ‘was just two wholly unchallenging, if rather dry, fishcakes’ and a green salad ‘was perfectly fresh and as inoffensive as they come’. A Lemon Sole special was ‘well-baked’, a braised rabbit and green olive ragout was ‘tender and well-flavoured’, and a “wood-fired pizza” of chicken, pancetta, sage and pecorino ‘was bland, even twee’. 2 stars out of 5.

Andrew Neather, The Evening Standard

Andrew visits Franco Manca, which is ‘as good as pizza gets’. The crust was ‘thin’, ‘crispy on the edges and at the very bottom’ and ‘soft in the middle’. The tomato sauce was ‘hard to fault’ and the toppings were ‘sparse but joyous’. 4 stars out of 5.

Posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 11:26 am under Restaurants .

01 Mar

Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

Photo: Aqua Kyoto

Welcome to Bon Vivant’s summary of the restaurant reviews from the weekend’s national newspapers. Enjoy!

Giles Coren, The Times

Giles visits Aqua Kyoto, a ‘bustling’ Japanese restaurant ‘high up in the roof’ ‘with stunning night views over Regent Street’ and ‘really terrific cocktails’ where the ‘food was pretty fantastic’.

The sushi was ‘first class’ and scallops were ‘polar fresh and buttery’. Spinach rolls were ‘really excellent’, deep-fried agedashi tofu was ‘a very decent substitute for the traditional chicken version’ and grilled eel teriyaki was ‘excellent’. 7 out of 10.

AA Gill, The Sunday Times

AA Gill visits a selection of restaurants in New York. Momofuku Milk Bar had a menu of ‘cakes and pies’ where pork buns were ‘by far and away the best thing, the reason for coming here’. DBGB, Daniel Boulud’s more casual restaurant with a ‘1980s Conran’ look had ‘deeply unpleasant black pudding’, a Vermont sausage with cheese ‘that was like eating an infected toe’ and ‘the best thing was the house hot dog’.

The Breslin, a ‘busy, dark dining room’ at the new Ace hotel, from the cook from the Spotted Pig ‘is one hell of a restaurant’. The full English breakfast was ‘well made’, the Caesar salad and steak and egg were ‘good’ and a grilled three-cheese and ham sandwich was ‘brilliant’.

Momofuku Milk Bar 4 stars out of 5; DBGB Kitchen and Bar 3 stars out of 5; The Breslin 4 stars out of 5.

Matthew Norman, The Guardian

Matthew visits the ‘ultra-voguish’ Dean Street Townhouse in Soho, which ‘is as close to flawless as seems decent’. The lighting and acoustics were ‘flawless’, the service ‘lavishly attentive without being oppressive’ and the food ‘exceedingly good’.

Twice-baked smoked haddock soufflé was ‘wonderful and savoury with a lovely, buttery sauce’, and onion tart with caramelised sweetbreads and grilled squid were both faultless.

The salt beef was ‘huge and the flavour authentic’, fish and chips was ‘excellent’, and ‘the ultra-faddish chicken and leek pie’ was ‘the pick of the bunch’. No rating given.

John Walsh, The Independent

John reviews Kitchen W8 in Kensington, where ‘the décor is rather stark’ and ‘the waiters’ know ‘their stuff’.

Chicken and mushroom ravioli was ‘light and utterly delicious’ and thinly sliced smoked eel with grilled mackerel was ‘as pretty as an English watercolour’. Pork cheeks with black pudding ‘were cooked to a densely flavoured succulence’ and the John Dory was ‘delicious, perfectly well cooked’ but ‘too sweet’. The puddings, including a rhubarb fool, ‘were wonderful’. 4 stars out of 5 for the food; 3 stars out of 5 for the ambience; 5 stars out of 5 for the service.

Toby Young, The Independent on Sunday

Toby visits Pearl Liang in the Paddington Basin, where the front-of-house manager is ‘a model of courtesy’ and the furniture is ‘reassuringly dysfunctional’.

The prawn dumplings were ‘nothing to write home about’, the pork bun, shu mai and glutinous rice were ‘all very tasty’ and the barbecued pork puffs were ‘sweet and rich’ and ‘best of all’. 14 out of 20.

Zoe Williams, The Telegraph

Zoe visits the ‘incredibly traditional’ Camellia in Horsham, West Sussex, where ‘the atmosphere is what the word ‘hush’ was invented for’, and the menu ‘as eternal as food itself’ with ‘some quirky touches’.

Scallops with crab ravioli and braised fennel had a ‘wonderful flavour’, the Cowfold quail ‘was absolutely terrific – tender, distinctive and subtly gamey’, slow-cooked Sussex fillet of beef ‘was very good’ and the seared sea bream with wild mushrooms ‘was very professional’. 7.5 out of 10.

Jasper Gerard, The Telegraph

Jasper visits Gilpin Lodge in Cumbria and loves the ‘friendly informality’ of the ‘jewel in the crowd’ of the Lake District.

A ballotine of organic salmon with caviar and ‘a dollop of crème fraîche’ was ‘simple’ and ‘delicious’, braised lamb was ‘everything I remembered’, twice-baked goat’s cheese soufflé was ‘particularly picturesque’ and roasted breast of corn-fed Goosnargh duck was ‘very punchy, almost like venison, and waddles along delightfully with buttery celeriac and potato gratin’. Pistachio and olive oil cake was ‘winningly moist and crumbly’. 8 out of 10.

Chris Blackhurst, The Evening Standard

Chris visits Benares in Mayfair, which has a ‘buzziness and warmth about the atmosphere that some Mayfair establishments lack’, where ‘the decor has been lightened and the place feels less stuffy’ but ‘is far from cheap’

Tandoor-roasted rabbit in a spicy crust marinade was ‘jolly good’ and a tandoori rattan had ‘hot and juicy’ lamb, chicken that was ‘bursting with herbs’ and a ‘plump and sweet’ prawn.

Main of murg korma (tandoori chicken supreme with korma sauce and smoked courgette) and mongsho ghughni (roast Romney Marsh lamb rump on rosemary sweet potato and chickpeas) were both ‘delicious’. 4 stars out of 5.

Posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 11:23 am under Restaurants .

22 Feb

Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

Photo: Dean Street Townhouse

Welcome to Bon Vivant’s summary of the restaurant reviews from the weekend’s national newspapers. Enjoy!

Giles Coren, The Times

Giles visits Empress of Sichuan, a ‘top-class Chinese restaurant’ in Chinatown where ‘everything is Sichuanese’ and ‘beautifully’ cooked and the staff are ‘friendly, knowledgeable and fluent in English’.

Lantern Shadow Beef, or very thinly sliced meat, was ‘both very spicy and quite sweet’ and ‘insanely moreish’, while a dish of pork slices with garlic and chilli was ‘textural harmony’ and ‘very oriental’.

The sea bass in ‘Boiled Fish Slices in Extremely Spicy Soup’ took on ‘the spice and soup flavours brilliantly’ but the soup was, as advertised, extremely spicy. Villagers’ Aubergine was ‘soft and mellow and sensitively spiced’, Bear’s Paw Tofu was ‘very rich and meaty’ and the rice was ‘beautifully shiny, sticky and authentic’. 9 out of 10.

AA Gill, The Sunday Times

AA Gill visits Dean Street Townhouse in Soho, where ‘the menu isn’t extraordinary’ but the food ‘good enough’, where the service is ‘familiar, in a clubbable and inclusive way’ and the prices ‘are expensive, but far from exorbitant’.

The onion tart starter was ‘nicely made, sweet, with light, dry pastry’, the salt beef was ‘gratifyingly sodden and meaty’ and the signature mince and potatoes was ‘replete with juicy flavour, goodness and rectitude’. 3 stars out of 5 for the food; 4 stars out of 5 for the ambience.

Matthew Norman, The Guardian

Matthew had an ‘endlessly bewildering’ ‘Basil Fawlty meets haute cuisine’ experience at The Evesham Hotel in Worcestershire, which has ‘one of the best wine lists I’ve ever seen’ and where ‘the range and inventiveness of the vegetarian dishes’ is ‘a major endearment’.

A roquefort and fig brûlée was ‘glorious’, linguine with wild mushrooms was ‘outstanding’ and tiger prawns in sweet chilli sauce were ‘fine, if a tad regulation’.

A main of chicken breast with a sweet-and-sour pepper sauce ‘looked terrible, but the sauce was subtle and spicy’, venison pie with chestnuts and thyme was ‘a rich, winey, gamey delight’ but a sirloin steak ‘was a disaster’. No rating given.

Jay Rayner, The Observer

Jay visits the Pipe & Glass Inn, a ‘class act’ and ‘a nice, unpretentious country pub serving quality food with inspired touches’ in South Dalton, East Yorkshire.

There was ‘no doubting the quality of the cookery’ and the food was ‘developed and intricate’, including a tartar of salmon that ‘came with a tiny “scotch egg” of smoked salmon, with a centre of quail’s egg whose yolk still ran’ and crisp rissoles of wild rabbit with cockles, capers and sorrel. A dessert of ‘a tasting plate of chocolate things’ ‘forced us to make strange guttural noises’. No rating given.

Tracey MacLeod, The Independent

Tracey visits HUNter 486 at The Arch Hotel, a ‘discreet’ ‘refuge from the bedlam of Oxford Street’ where there is a ‘conflict between rustic and fancy’ with the menu and décor, and where the service is ‘erratic but generally efficient’.

The charcuterie board was ‘let down by underwhelming meats’ and the olives were ‘rather nasty’, but a roast beetroot and goats’ cheese tarte was ‘much better’ and ‘full of big punchy tastes’.

Spatchcocked poussin was ‘over-reliant on a heavily reduced Madeira jus’ and confit of pork belly ‘similarly fell short on the flavour front’. A dessert of sticky toffee pudding was ‘of perfect temperature and sweetness’. 3 stars out of 5 for the food and service; 2 stars out of 5 for the ambience.

Lisa Markwell, The Independent on Sunday

Lisa visits Le Relais de Venise in Marylebone, where the cooking is ‘skilled amateur rather than dazzling professional’.

A ‘reasonably perky green salad’ starter ‘does the job’, the steak was ‘tender and well-flavoured, and the chips crisp and thin’, but the ‘buttery, salty sauce’ was ‘a tad heavy on the herbs’. Desserts of crème brûlée and praline liégeois were ‘rather good’, and a plate of French cheeses was ‘à point’. 13 out of 20.

Zoe Williams, The Telegraph

Zoe visits Manson, with ‘near-flawless casual French food’ in South West London, which she ‘totally loved’.

The steak tartare was ‘a triumph’ and ‘compellingly edible’ and the foie gras terrine ‘looked a tiny bit prissy’ but was ‘delicious’, ‘rich’ and ‘classy’.

A main of cod on a bed of spinach was ‘so perfectly cooked that its flakes slid apart like a masterclass in the physical universe’ and the brill was ‘discreetly sweetish, and subtly intense’. A Jerusalem artichoke cheesecake dessert was ‘incredible from top to bottom’ and ‘profoundly delicious’. 9 out of 10.

Jasper Gerard, The Telegraph

Jasper was ‘moderately delighted’ by the Turkish food, which he believes is ‘one of a handful of world cuisines neglected by London’, at Tike in The City of London.

Pacangha borek, fried pastry filled with shredded vegetables, melted cheese and pastırma, had ‘all the soggy appeal of a Chinese pancake’, lahmacun was ‘pleasingly light but lacking tang’, cherkez tavugu was ‘seriously lacking’ garlic and spice and minced grilled lamb adana kebab was ‘overwhelming, but tender and flavoursome’. 6 out of 10.

Andrew Neather, The Evening Standard

Andrew reviews Assaha Village, a ‘rustic’ and ‘charming’ Lebanese restaurant near Paddington, where the food was ‘the most authentic Lebanese I’ve had in London’.

A spread of mezze was ‘bursting with freshness’, including ‘admirably smoky’ mutabbal, ‘tender’ kibbeh balls and tabbuleh ‘as zingily fresh as it should be’. 4 stars out of 5.

Chris Blackhurst, The Evening Standard

Chris visits Battery in Canary Wharf, a new restaurant on the former Ubon site.

Chris started with small sharing plates of Iberico ham, scrambled eggs and black truffles and slow cooked lamb cannelloni, which ‘tasted fine but somehow fell short’.

The sirloin steak with pickled beetroot and fat chips in dripping and the duck with caramelised foie gras, creamed sprouts, artichokes and ceps were ‘perfect, if unexciting’, but ‘you ought to be getting something memorable and flavour-popping’ for the price. Puddings, including chocolate fondant and prune and apple tart, were ‘good’. 2 stars out of 5.

Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 11:28 am under Restaurants .

15 Feb

Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

Photo: Dean Street Townhouse

Welcome to Bon Vivant’s summary of the restaurant reviews from the weekend’s national newspapers. Enjoy!

Giles Coren, The Times

Giles visits Terroirs, a ‘very foodie place’ serving ‘little platefuls of weepily honest local French specialities’ near Charing Cross, to try the recently opened Downstairs at Terroirs, which has gone ‘more seriously over to major meal-making’ than the original upstairs restaurant.

‘First-rate’ squid a la plancha was followed by ‘a first-class’ cassoulet, accompanied by ‘excellent’ white wine and a carafe of red wine ‘so natural it was just a bunch of grapes squeezed straight into the glass from a Frenchwoman’s armpit’. 7.67 out of 10.

AA Gill, The Sunday Times

AA Gill visits the The French Horn restaurant and hotel in Sonning-on-Thames, ‘on a pretty, willow-wept stretch of the Thames’ in Berkshire, where ‘the waiters are proper old French blokes, who do authentic silver service’.

A starter of an egg poached in a reduction of red wine ‘wasn’t bad, though not actually perfect’ and the pea soup was ‘served far, far too hot’.

The tournedos of beef in a wine reduction with a slice of foie gras was ‘rougher and more open-textured than’ he ‘would have expected’ and was ‘underhung’, and a pudding of crêpes suzette was ‘a bit too breakfast, the orange too sprightly’. 3 stars out of 5 for the food; 4 stars out of 5 for the atmosphere.

Matthew Norman, The Guardian

Matthew visits Wallace & Co, Gregg Wallace’s debut as a restaurateur, with ‘some of the laziest, sloppiest cooking’ he has ‘encountered in years’, which ‘wouldn’t make it even to the first round of Masterchef’.

In a ‘perfectly pleasant room’, a ribollita was ‘horrendously thin, weedy’ and ‘olive oil-free’, an ‘all right’ smoked mackerel pâté was ‘too sweet’ and a scotch egg was ‘peculiarly bland’.

A Lancashire hotpot came with a ‘dry, overcooked slab of sliced potato on top’ and a ‘worse’ steak, mushroom and ale pie came with gravy that was ‘more watery than the soup’ and ‘brittle and paper-thin’ crust. Puddings of knickerbocker glory and apple crumble with custard were ‘the real deal’ and ‘much better’. No rating given.

Jay Rayner, The Observer

Jay visits the dining room at The Goring Hotel in London, ‘a fantasy of cream and beige’, which is celebrating its 100^th birthday by featuring dishes from various significant eras of its life.

Fillets of soused herring were ‘mushy and dull’ and ‘left a nasty aftertaste’, steamed oxtail pudding was a ‘thick suet shell’ that ‘gave way to not very much at all, and certainly not the luscious, gravy-slicked strands of meat I had expected’, and a jam roly poly and custard dessert was ‘lousy and the portion so small’. No rating given.

John Walsh, The Independent

John visits The Seafood Restaurant, Rick Stein’s ‘shrine to piscine perfection’ offering ‘both sturdily traditional Victorian dishes and subtly tweaked, spiced and gussied-up Asian treats’ in Padstow, Cornwall that has acquired a ‘deserved reputation as one of the most jaw-droppingly expensive eating-houses in the country’.

Oysters Charentaise, which involved a Carlingford Lough oyster, a forkful of hot spicy sausage and a ‘slug of cold white wine’ ‘sounded fun but was strangely pointless’. The Cornish crab with wakame salad was ‘yummy’ and came with wasabi mayonnaise that was ‘a heavenly tease on the tastebuds’.

An expensive Dover sole that ‘looked fantastic’ was ‘just not very interesting’, but it came with a butter sauce that ‘lifted the sole to spiritual heights’. John ‘absolutely loved’ the Indonesian seafood curry, and a pavlova dessert was ‘wonderful’. 4 stars out of 5.

Toby Young, The Independent on Sunday

Toby visits More, a ‘small, nondescript café near London Bridge’, brainchild of the team behind Livebait and The Real Greek, which is ‘conceptually confused’ ‘with an unremarkable kitchen offering mediocre fare’.

A starter of hare and pork rillette had a ‘suitably coarse texture, without too much fat’ but the flavour was ‘a little bland’, and a main of slow-cooked lamb shoulder with flageolet beans was a ‘similarly unexciting’ ‘bog-standard Mediterranean dish’. 10 out of 20.

Zoe Williams, The Telegraph

Zoe visits Dean Street Townhouse in Soho, which has ‘real pedigree’ and is ‘exceptionally well done’. A starter of hot-smoked salmon with beetroot and ‘punchy but not psychotic’ horseradish was ‘fleshy’ and ‘full of flavour’, the Dorset crab mayonnaise was ‘delicate’ and ‘100 per cent expert’, and a twice-baked smoked haddock soufflé was ‘spectacular’.

Mains consisted of ‘faultless’ fish and chips and an ‘intentionally perfect’ roast chicken that was ‘cooked-through in the old-fashioned way’ with sage and onion stuffing that had ‘a liverish top-note which made it impossible to leave alone’. 9 out of 10.

Jasper Gerard, The Telegraph

Jasper visits Le Jules Verne, a ‘serious Michelin-starred restaurant’ at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, where ‘the view turns out to be the restaurant’s least spectacular aspect’.

A starter of gilthead bream marinated in lemon juice was ‘so beautiful it should be hung in the Louvre’. A wild duck accompanied by ‘fresh, light cabbage’ looked ‘dark outside but quite red-blooded within’, and monkfish on the bone with potatoes and saffron was ‘delicious, manly fayre’. A bitter chocolate bar came with ‘sensational’ blood orange sorbet and candied orange peel, and the Roquefort was ‘sublime’. 8 out of 10.

Fay Maschler, The Evening Standard

Fay visits the Empress of Sichuan in China Town. Grilled lamb skewers were ‘deeply savoury’ and ‘showed how this dish should be done’, and marinated cold noodle in a spicy sauce had Fay ‘clashing chopsticks to get at the last strands’.

Farmer’s Fish baked with black beans and cumin had ‘funky flavours’, marinated black fungus was ‘wickedly spicy’ and steamed aubergine with green and red chilli was ‘an agreeably novel take on that purple vegetable’. 3 stars out of 5.

Posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 10:18 am under Restaurants .

08 Feb

Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

Photo: Galvin La Chapelle

Welcome to Bon Vivant’s summary of the restaurant reviews from the weekend’s national newspapers. Enjoy!

Giles Coren, The Times

Giles pays multiple visits to Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields, the latest opening from Chris and Jeff Galvin, which comprises a ‘beautifully converted’ ‘vast-ceilinged Victorian hall’ for ‘serious eating at lunch and dinner’ and a ‘sympathetically constructed modern’ café for ‘lower-key eating and drinking and breakfasts and stuff.’

In the ‘cinematically fancy’ main dining room, Giles had ‘great’ crab lasagne, a ‘cleverly deconstructed’ pigeon tagine and a ‘gleaming bit of sea bass’. In the café, he tried a ‘great’ squash risotto and a ‘lovely, crisp, dry, sweet pissaladière’. 9 out of 10.

AA Gill, The Sunday Times

AA Gill visits Milan, a ‘characteristically welcoming’ ‘local restaurant’ in Northumberland, which ‘has the cheery glamour of a suburban cocktail bar’.

Highland chicken with haggis and bacon was ‘surprisingly good’ and a hoisin-duck pizza ‘tasted a lot better than it sounds’. A dessert of a trio of ginger was an ‘ideal’ combination with ‘perfect’ gingerbread cake and ‘sublime’ ginger ice cream. 4 stars out of 5.

Matthew Norman, The Guardian

Matthew visits the ‘good and sporadically brilliant’ Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, where the dining room is ‘handsome’, the lighting ‘ultra-gentle’ and the service ‘fabulously attentive’, and concludes that the name must have had a part in the recent attainment of a third Michelin star.

Matthew found the food ‘genuinely beautiful to the eye, but less memorable to the tastebud than that triple-star rating might suggest’ but with one ‘expression of genius’ with a roast chicken that had ‘the texture of soufflé, with lobster, pasta and sweetbreads in a sensational creamy, truffly sauce’.

Baked sea bass with razor clams was ‘lovely, delicate, but a touch forgettable’ and a roasted rib of venison with chestnut and quince was ‘wonderfully tender’ and an ‘irksomely named’ pudding called ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ ‘showcased pineapple in all its myriad glories’. No rating given.

Jay Rayner, The Observer

Jay visits Cabbage Hall, a ‘pub restaurant’ in Little Budworth, Cheshire, with an ‘overweening self-regard’, which ‘gives restaurants of ambition, and therefore expense, a bad name’.

A starter salad of lightly pickled wild mushrooms with celeriac purée ‘looked pretty, was texturally interesting and made sense’, and a slice of sticky toffee pudding was ‘properly executed’. However, ‘underseasoned’ scallops came with a ‘slippery cream sauce that obliterated their flavour’ and ‘hard, overcooked pheasant breasts’ came in a ‘cloying Cognac-bloated sauce, studded with hard nodes of chestnut’. No rating given.

Tracey MacLeod, The Independent

Tracey visits 21212, Edinburgh’s newest ‘deluxe but quirky’ Michelin starred restaurant where the food ‘is far from conventional’ and the service ‘fast paced’.

A chicken salad was a ‘beautiful and colourful mystery tour’ where chicken breast, ‘played but a walk-on part’ and a creamy risotto of Gruyère cheese ‘came with a full supporting cast’ and was ‘an assault on the taste buds’.

Main courses were ‘stimulating and frustrating in equal measure’ where ‘the dishes never quite came together’. 3 stars out of 5 for the food; 4 stars out of 5 for the ambience and service.

Lisa Markwell, The Independent on Sunday

Lisa reviews The Artichoke, a ‘neighbourhood’ restaurant in Old Amersham with ‘a deft mix of olde world and crisp newness’ that ‘has the Michelin inspectors in its sights’ and where the maître d’ is ‘courteous, but lacking in warmth’.

A starter of creamed spinach and Parmesan soup with pumpkin gnocchi was ‘earthy’ and lightly curried scallops were ‘sumptuous’. All mains, including duck with a soft apple sauce, lamb with creamy cauliflower and ‘superb’ bass with lobster ravioli and bisque were ‘perfectly balanced’.

Desserts, including sunken warm chocolate cake, home-made ice cream and a plate of English and French cheeses were all ‘exemplary’, and the petit fours were ‘fabulous’. 17 out of 20.

Zoe Williams, The Telegraph

Zoe visits Supperclub in Notting Hill, which was ‘not great’, where the staff are a weird mix of waiters and performers with ‘exaggerated’ ‘bonhomie’, but concludes that, ‘of course you don’t go for the food’.

‘Tough’ sea bass came with a ‘very nice’ carrot escabeche and a ‘chewy’ and ‘crunchy’ fennel salad, lamb loin was ‘very pink and inviting’ but the pudding of ‘dense, mealy’ Genoa cake ‘was the worst thing I’ve ever eaten in a professional establishment’. 5.5 out of 10.

Jasper Gerard, The Telegraph

Jasper visits The Royal Oak, ‘a great little boozer’ in Kent, on a recommendation from a reader, where the specials menu was ‘nicely judged’ with ‘tempting’ dishes.

Bread with caraway seeds was ‘exquisite’, Rye scallops had ‘all the plump juiciness of Jennifer Lopez’, but the pheasant terrine was a ‘disappointment’. The pheasant was ‘delightfully tender and still just pink’ with ‘divine’ dauphinoise potatoes and chargrilled lamb had a ‘sweet’ and ‘deep’ flavour. Desserts consisted of ‘good’ chocolate brownies and ‘fabulous’ treacle tart. No rating given.

Fay Maschler, The Evening Standard

Fay visits the recently Michelin starred Bingham in Richmond, which has ‘a lovely view of the Thames’, where the dining room feels like ‘being inside a mushroom’ ‘lit with chandeliers’ and the chef’s ‘intuition regarding pairings, troilism and even shotgun marriages of ingredients’ was ‘admirable’.

An amuse-bouche of mackerel tartare was ‘coarse and earthy’ and ‘avoided accusations of mimsy or predictable.’ A cauliflower risotto, the main reason for not giving a higher rating, was ‘a masterful assembly’ and a brill fillet with ricotta gnocchi was ‘rather dry’. A glazed veal cheek with truffle mash and salt marsh lamb with sweetbreads both ‘suffered’ from having many different parts that ‘competed for attention rather than complementing each other’.

A dessert of passion fruit curd was ‘notable’ and the petits fours featured a pâtés de fruits of blood orange and ginger that made Fay ‘want to marry the pastry chef.’ 3 stars out of 5.

Posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 12:05 pm under Restaurants .

01 Feb

Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

Photo: Lutyens, Fleet Street, London

Welcome to Bon Vivant’s summary of the restaurant reviews from the weekend’s national newspapers. Enjoy!

Giles Coren, The Times

Giles pays multiple visits to the Dean Street Townhouse and is highly complimentary each time, enjoying the ‘terrific, new-old-fashioned British cooking’ and the atmosphere of ‘Depression-era speakeasy frolics and laughter in the face of Prohibition’. Native and rock oysters were ‘beautiful’, the roast chicken for two was ‘fat and swaggering with perfect stuffing and roast potatoes’, duck eggs on wild mushrooms and toasted brioche were ‘impeccable’ and macaroni cheese was ‘beautiful’. Giles enjoyed everything else on the menu, including the signature dish of mince and boiled potatoes, seared scallops, smoked haddock soufflé and fish and chips, but the caramelised sweetbreads on a Lincolnshire onion tart was ‘quite horribly over-salted’. 8.67 out of 10.

AA Gill, The Sunday Times

AA Gill reviews Cliveden House Terrace Dining Room in Berkshire. After a careful dissection of the menu, a starter of low-temperature cooked salmon with pickled fennel, caviar and cucumber butter sauce was ‘the right choice’, where the salmon ‘was soft and fatty and tasted labially of salmon’ and the sauce ‘had a subtle flavour’. The main of loin of venison with salsify, chicory and a cassis sauce was ‘soft and strongly flavoured of winter fields and hoarfrost, bloody and loamy and slightly dank’. 3 stars out of 5.

Matthew Norman, The Guardian

Matthew visits Midsummer House in Cambridge, where the amuse bouches are ‘sublime’ and the waiting staff ‘leave you in peace’. Scallops with pickled cucumber, radish sorbet and miso soup was ‘wonderful’ and scallops with celeriac, truffle, Granny Smith apple and caramel was ‘beautiful’. A main of turbot was ‘almost great’, an ‘otherwise impeccable’ slow-roasted fillet of pork was ‘oversalted’ and veal kidneys had ‘great’ flavour but ‘they tended towards the chewy’. A dessert of candied ginger parfait was ‘glorious’ and ‘unbelievably delicious beignets’ accompanied the coffee. No rating given.

Jay Rayner, The Observer

Jay visits Dean Street Townhouse in Soho where he finds the menu to be ‘the last 10 years of British food in one tidy list’. A starter of deep-fried sprats ‘with a spiky caper mayonnaise’ and a salad of wild rabbit and black pudding that had a ‘perfect quartered quail scotch egg’ both had high quality ingredients and were executed ‘spot on’. After a long wait, mains of ‘overcooked’ cod and salt-beef with ‘sad, dense, slippery’ caraway dumplings and pickle were disappointing, but desserts of rhubarb and pear cobbler and queen of puddings were ‘great’. No rating given.

John Walsh, The Independent

John visits The Bingham in Richmond, where the atmosphere is ‘dim and churchy’, the bar ‘wonderfully well-stocked and appealing’ and the food ‘lifts the spirits’. A starter of organic salmon with braised octopus was ‘wonderful, the fish so meltingly soft’ and a fillet of brill was ‘a heavenly tranche of fish’. The mains were ‘full’ ‘of heterogeneous excitements’, including a glazed veal cheek that was ‘voluptuously rich, sticky and curiously light in texture’ and ‘gloopy’ lamb that had ‘too much going on’. Puddings, including a jasmine pannacotta and crème caramel ‘showed a similar perversity’ which led John to concluding that the chef should embrace ‘the old-fashioned concept of letting customers have what they actually want’. 4 stars out of 5 for the food, 3 stars out of 5 for the ambience and service.

Zoe Williams, The Telegraph

Zoe visits Lutyens, Conran’s latest venture on Fleet Street, which she finds ‘fun’ and ‘tasty’ with ‘marvellous lighting’ but lacking ‘that extra sparkle’. A fish soup starter was ‘aromatic and classy’ and the crêpe parmentier with smoked salmon was ‘the most appealing disc of starch’ she has ‘encountered this century’. A ‘deftly’ filleted and ‘justly expensive’ Dover sole was ‘perfect, white, delicate, as uneventful as snow’, and the confit of canard with beans and Montbéliard sausage ‘looked spectacular’, but the meat ‘was a bit of a struggle to get into’ and some mouthfuls ‘were entirely fat, with no redeeming meat in them at all’. A dessert of blackcurrant jelly with madeleines was ‘marvellous’ and the madeleines ‘were lighter than air’. 7 out of 10.

Jasper Gerard, The Telegraph

Jasper Gerard visits The Ledbury, a ‘grown-up’ restaurant in Notting Hill, where the dining room is ‘icily urban’ but the menu ‘warmly rural’. A starter of celeriac baked in ash with purslane, hazelnuts and ‘wildly irresistible’ wild boar had ‘a heavenly aroma’, and chestnut and truffle soup ‘tastes powerfully of its core ingredients’ and was ‘tricky to eat but scrumptious’. A loin of Sika deer was ‘so, so tender’ and breaded brill with creamed potato, cauliflower and buttered shellfish was ‘even tastier’. The caramelised banana with salted caramel and peanut ice cream was ‘refreshingly light’ but the chocolate crémeux with walnut ice cream was ‘puzzling’ and ‘splattered’ ‘with indeterminate stuff’. No rating given.

Fay Maschler, The Evening Standard

Fay reviews Wallace & Co, where she finds Gregg Wallace, of Masterchef fame, ‘pandering to the Putney pram set’ with a ‘British interpretation of the first Carluccio’s Caffè’, which she thinks, is ‘similarly destined for roll-out’. A mackerel escabeche was ‘properly done’ but the ‘flesh was a bit creaky’ and ‘lacking’ ‘suppleness’, a homemade Scotch egg was ‘high quality’, the Imam bayeldi had ‘an overdose of tomatoes’ but ‘had lively spicing’ and a Jerusalem artichoke frittata was ‘more of a depressed soufflé’. The steak, mushroom and ale pie was ‘most satisfactory’, the monkfish skewer with salsa verde and salad potatoes was ‘an unqualified success’ but chicken with ‘unannounced’ breadcrumbs was a ‘shock’. 3 stars out of 5.

Posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 11:22 am under Restaurants .

25 Jan

Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

Photo: The Criterion, Piccadilly

Welcome to Bon Vivant’s summary of the restaurant reviews from the weekend’s national newspapers. Enjoy!

Giles Coren, The Times

Giles visits Pearl Liang in the Paddington basin, which he describes as ‘posh, quiet, cosily lit’ and ‘nice’. Prawn cheung fun and scallop dumplings were ‘well-made’, paper-wrapped sesame prawn rolls were ‘exemplary’, and soup-filled Shanghai dumplings were ‘brilliant’. The lobster noodle was ‘perfectly cooked’ with ‘firm, straggly, munchable noodles’. 8 out of 10.

Martin Ivens, The Sunday Times

In AA Gill’s absence, Martin reviews The Pearson’s Arms in Whitstable, Kent, where he finds the interiors ‘quaint’ and ‘warm’ and the English menu has ‘good pub gusto to it’. A starter of jerusalem artichoke soup and truffle oil was ‘exquisitely balanced’ and a main of British cassoulet ‘began well’ but the ‘goose fat rendered it overly rich and heavy’. 3 stars out of 5.

Matthew Norman, The Guardian

Matthew visits Faanoos, a ‘surreal Persian wonderland’ near East Sheen. The starters were ‘delicious’, including a ‘delectably smoky’ mirza ghazemi, ‘impeccably fresh’ hummus, a ‘gloriously zingy’ salad shirazi and ‘gorgeously unctuous’ savoury stuffed vine leaves. A main of chelo kebab sultami was ‘fine’ with a ‘marginally overcooked’ skewer of lamb, but a joojeh kebab was ‘magnificent’. No rating given.

Jay Rayner, The Observer

Jay is convinced that his visit to The Criterion in Piccadilly, London, will be one of his worst meals of 2010. It all started badly with a ‘thick, tepid gloop’ of an amuse bouche that ‘was so sweet’ that it made him ‘wince’. A starter of Cornish crab risotto ‘brought a tiny heap of bright orange and undercooked rice glued together with an overload of cheese’ and a bouillabaisse resembled a ‘vinegary broth’ with ‘a few prawns’ and ‘pieces of something unidentifiable’. The disappointment continued with the mains, with a rack of roast venison that ‘came swamped with a sticky mahogany sauce’ and an ‘overcooked’ sea bass that ‘lay in a deep puddle of unsalted, melted butter’. No rating given.

Tracey MacLeod, The Independent

Tracey reviews Tamada, a Georgian restaurant near Kilburn, North London, where ‘Middle Eastern influence is at work’ and the service ‘intuitive and sweet-natured’. The vegetarian starters tasted ‘hugely better than they looked’ including fried slices of aubergine that ‘had a blowsy depth of flavour’. The borsht was ‘oily’ and ‘watery’ and the lamb casserole ‘had an interesting otherness about it’. Tracey concluded that the food was ‘fresh, authentic and often really good’ and a must for anyone with ‘the slightest curiosity about the culinary properties of the walnut’. 3 stars out of 5.

Lisa Markwell, The Independent on Sunday

Lisa has a ‘near-holy’ experience at the ‘turbo-charged’ and ‘glossy’ Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields, London. A lasagne of ‘delicate’ Dorset crab was a ‘wobbly, gently flavoured soufflé-type affair’ and a tagine of squab pigeon that Lisa ‘adored’ consisted of ‘very rich, superbly tender meat’ accompanied by a ‘viscous, intensely savoury sauce’. Lisa’s husband reports that both the foie gras and veal were ‘exemplary’. 16 out of 20.

Zoe Williams, The Telegraph

Zoe visits Babbo (no relation to the New York favourite) in Mayfair, and finds it refreshing that the clientele have ‘more sense than money’. A starter of panzanella with tuna belly, lobster and tomato was ‘good overall’, although ‘underseasoned’ and ‘almost entirely bread’, while the snapper ravioli with mascarpone sauce was ‘absolutely fabulous’. The rib-eye steak was ‘succulent’, ‘well presented’ and ‘incredibly meaty’, and the pistachio ice cream was a ‘masterclass in frozen goodness’. 7 out of 10.

Fay Maschler, The Evening Standard

Fay finds ‘tacky cabaret with cornbread’ distinctly underwhelming at Circus, a new entertainment focused restaurant in Covent Garden. The cornbread with marinated plum tomatoes ‘delivers what it says it will’, while fried baby squid has ‘vivacious spicing’. The Wiener schnitzel and deep-fried onion rings are ‘too greasy to be enjoyable’, and the smoked chicken wings ‘seem to have flapped through a bath of all-purpose BBQ sauce’. 2 stars out of 5.

Posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 10:37 am under Restaurants .

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Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

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Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

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Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

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Bon Vivant’s Weekly Summary of Restaurant Reviews

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