Posh Food

The missus & I went to the Fat Duck in December last year. Absolutely, positively, the best food experience we've ever had. Cost around £500 for the pair of us but for a once-in-a-lifetime it was worth it. If anyone's interested I've got scans of our menus (mine regular, her's vege) along with the wine we had paired with each course. Makes me smile (and drool) just remembering it!

Ah, a vegetarian tasting menu? Interesting. I note that on their web-site it says that the menu can be 'adapted to most dietary requirements'. I wonder if they'd do a vegan one, too. It would of course be still better to offer a vegetarian and vegan version on the web-site directly.

We're off back to the Novice in Holland next week, we're staying in Vierhouten for a night especially.
Excited!
http://www.thenovice.nl/ (shit website, amazing food)

@Oliver - fairly confident they would. When asked if we had any dietary requiremenets and we responded 1 x vegetarian, they did ask whether eggs & cheese were ok or whether we'd prefer without. It's the shit - save your pennies and go there before he shuts it down...

slightly off le topique - but im taking the missus to paris on saturday - any top restaurant tips? preferably eschewing the usual culprits.

@Oliver - fairly confident they would. When asked if we had any dietary requiremenets and we responded 1 x vegetarian, they did ask whether eggs & cheese were ok or whether we'd prefer without. It's the shit - save your pennies and go there before he shuts it down...

I'm sure it's really good, but I've never spent more than about £20pp on eating out and I would be exceedingly reluctant to spend more. I was thinking more generally in case there were vegans around who would want to go there. Thanks for the info!

slightly off le topique - but im taking the missus to paris on saturday - any top restaurant tips? preferably eschewing the usual culprits.

Good pun.

hah! didnt even notice it til you pointed it out

/it is the way i am tellink them!

Wild Honey, run by the same guys behind Arbutus, is well worth a look. http://www.wildhoneyrestaurant.co.uk/ Gorgeous bouillabaisse, reasonable prices, lovely little place.

Le Cercle is also very good, but not talked about much for some reason http://www.lecercle.co.uk/lc_intro.php The guys behind Club/Cellar Gascon in Farringdon run it.

Even though I am now eating lunch from Wasabi, again.

slightly off le topique - but im taking the missus to paris on saturday - any top restaurant tips? preferably eschewing the usual culprits.

What you after? I lived there for 9months...

What you after? I lived there for 9months...

well we're staying in the montparnasse - just some nice lil joint off the beaten tourist track that you'd more likely find locals at - seems to be a good barometer of quality. same goes for chinese restaurants.

/le chez-boeuff du Angus?

Can't speak highly enough of this place - ACE
http://www.chezjanou.com/

ACE!
http://www.hoteldunord.org/english.html

Old school traditional, Jewish Parisian brasserie
http://www.bofingerparis.com/

I used to work on this street, ACE for steak....
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?hl=en&rlz=1W1ADRA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=chez+georges+paris&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=chez+georges&hnear=Paris,+France&cid=5185661666291544242

LOADS more but can't rememeber the names and streets.....

awesome!

love your work. even your difficult second album

I used to work on this street, ACE for steak....
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?hl=en&rlz=1W1ADRA_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=chez+georges+paris&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=chez+georges&hnear=Paris,+France&cid=5185661666291544242

Andrea and I ate at that place when we were in Paris a couple of years ago. As you say, amazing steak, perfectly cooked.

While we're on the subject of recommendations, can anyone recommend somewhere nice to eat in Rotterdam?

I can't believe I've not seen this thread before.

I own a copy of the Michelin guide 2010.

ducks

Nice meal, not out of this world but good. as Mr tom said £50 is fair

http://www.tomaikens.co.uk/lunch-menu-tasting.php

The desert was the dish of choice for me, chocolate snow was rather interesting. Thought the grapefruit in the salmon dish was too sharp and powerful. The foie gras dish reminded me of lemon meringue pie (not a bad thing). I've just remembered bacon and onion brioche and bacon butter...yes.

Very nice pinot noir to wash is all down with

Also a handy borisbike station down the road

I dined at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester Saturday and must say I was slightly disappointed. Ambiance was practically void. The lighting was so low I could hardly read the menu and in fact it made me feel sleepy.

I had crayfish to start which was good... But not WOW.

Fillet of beef to follow which is a signature dish of his. Good cut of meat. Cooked blue to perfection but somehow short on taste.. The entire dish was quite sparse really.

Desert kind of saved the day (we did have cheeses but a Comte, a goats and a bit of Roquefort were not special at all). Coco Caramel with gold leaf and a stunning lemon and vanilla sorbet..

An average meal. In an average setting. But with a unaverage bill..

I've heard good reports on 'Pearl', enjoy

It was superb when I went last year. Top cheese board!

Pearl was good! Amazingly tasty (if tiny) food, and each dish was immaculately presented (take a look at the website pics for the kind of intricate swirly layered things they're fond of). The only odd thing was that the restaurant was completely empty during the entire lunch service, but it meant we got upgraded for free to the private dining room and had the entire waiting staffs undivided attention, so not complaining. I normally only eat at much cheaper places, so was a real treat for me, with no let downs at all.

went here on saturday night - http://chroniquesduplaisir.typepad.fr/chroniques_du_plaisir/2008/06/la-cantine-du-t.html

had the razor clams and steak, pretty much a surf n turf joint but christs' tits it's face menltingly good.

now heres a question: you best (or worst) dim sum joints in london?

I dined at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester Saturday ....

An average meal. In an average setting. But with a unaverage bill..

My thoughts entirely. Not worthy of its reputation and its 3 michelin stars.

Heston Blumenthal is opening a London restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental, Knightsbridge, in November ...

Heston Blumenthal is opening a London restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental, Knightsbridge, in November ...

I want to see this place, very interested

it'll be wallet breakingly expensive

I'm planning on heading to cornwall soon to Rock...
This place was in the top 5 restaurants in the uk in some list or another
http://www.nathan-outlaw.co.uk/
looks very reasonably priced

A quick report on my culinary travels over the past week..

First stop was Amiens, where we dined at a nice place on the riverfront called Le Quai, it's situated along the riverside which is where all the other restaurants are, but this one stuck out.
Turns out it was a good choice, reasonably priced, excellent service and excellent food. Would recommend.
Next stop was Arras, sadly we fell foul of trying to find a good restaurant as it was a Sunday night, in August, in France..so we'll move on swiftly
Next stop Rotterdam, after an incredibly long walk to the place I wanted to eat at Vis en de Maas, we found that it was only open Wed to Saturday, as was the Ivy - just down the road. So we ended up eating in the Eurotower restaurant, which is situated right at the top of the Rotterdam TV tower - fantastic views and very good food - however our waitress clearly needed a lesson in customer service - she was surly and just bad at serving food. Apart from that I can't fault it.

After camping in Northern holland for 5 days we were suitably looking forward to The Novice in Vierhouten, our expectations were surpassed! We both had the 7 course suprise menu, although I faltered at 5 courses and almost lapsed into food coma at the table - MOC managed the full 7.
Amazing, still the best restaurant I've ever been to, still amazed that not many people know about it.
Second to last stop was Lille, where we were lucky to dine in Le Lion Bossu, we somehow managed to get a reservation - as this place is very small. Fantastic food and great service - totally recommended.
Last stop was Le Channel in Calais - a surprisingly good place in the hole that is generally Calais, we had a great lunch before hitting the eurotunnel. Impeccable service and food and apart from my translation fail and ordering veal kidney, the meal was excellent, and a great deal at €29 for a 4 course menu, include starter,main,cheese,dessert and an amuse bouche. Strangely the a la carte menu was ridiculously expensive (€35 for a starter!) but the 'meal deal's made it all worthwhile.

I want to see this place, very interested

it'll be wallet breakingly expensive

I'm planning on heading to cornwall soon to Rock...
This place was in the top 5 restaurants in the uk in some list or another
http://www.nathan-outlaw.co.uk/
looks very reasonably priced

he was on saturday kitchen at the weekend with the fat bastard. think it was a best bits episode - didn't watch for long. he didn't come across very well though. wasn't particularly inspiring.