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Brawn on Columbia Rd for dinner last night. Really good (if a lot of offal) then we have just got back from lunch at Hawkswood, absolutely amazing! Good couple of days....
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linky to book?
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Booking isn't open till the 1st officially. I'm in through somone who works in Harrods. Although I'm still awaiting confirmation on the 1st to be 100%
after a quick look, nothing concrete yet
https://www.facebook.com/notes/harrods/the-french-laundry-at-harrods/10150275028232458
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Anyone been here?
http://www.theenglishpig.co.uk/
Menu is somewhat themed
Yes, its crap.
Well not crap, but you can get just as nice pork dishes at most pubs. It definitely didn't nail the 'we do one thing really well' ethos. -
@CP ... ta, I figured you had an alternate means!
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That's some serious looking pricing going on there.
yeah you could say that... I'm a little frightened by the potential wine section.
If there's a wine flight I think £150 would be about right... probably end up being more.
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St John Hotel on Wednesday night, will be interesting to compare it with the other two incarnations.
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this last month I have ticked off three major foodie aspirations.
I finally got round to trying the Hawksmoor burger. I will never eat a hamburger anywhere else... Their classic hamburger is, in my mind, perfection...
Hakkasan, wasn't too bothered about going here, but when I got the opportunity through work, I lept at the chance. I've always been a skeptic of expensive Chinese food, but wow, this blew me away. Dim sum, check, superb wine selection check, main dishes so finely marinated and cooked that they melt in the mouth, in a way that I cannot comprehend/explain...I had the finest seabass, which blew me away. I was really really impressed. The service let down the whole experience somewhat, which was a minor niggle, but as this was all paid for by someone else, I couldn't grumble too much.
And the reason why I cannot sleep and am sat up typing this... (too full actually). Nobu, Berkley Square... wow. I am going back there as soon as I possibly can. AND it will require saving....seesh!
We were very lucky in that we got an extremely generous voucher from a close friend as a wedding present, so I wasn't to concerned at looking at the prices of the dishes but just went crazy and ran with the EXTREMELY helpful staff recommendations from the very extensive and superb menu... Salmon sashimi, Nobu salmon and tuna tacos, rock shrimp tempura, shitaake mushroom salad, black cod in miso, pork belly with spiced miso, soft shell crab hand roll and scallop sashimi. the desserts were pure theatre (I had the suntory whiskey cappucino, highly recommended, if you like boozy/sweet stuff) and the drinks were fantastic and, as expected, VERY pricey.
the food was absolutely incredible, I absolutely cannot fault any of the dishes, most of which were recommended to us by the very attentive and helpful staff, who certainly made us feel very relaxed in a very busy and bustling restaurant.
i loved it and I hope I can afford to go back as soon as possible.
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Ate here - Zuni Cafe - for lunch today.
The food was lovely, one of the strangest culinary experiences I've had for 'dessert' was blue cheese with wildflower honey. That's all, on a plate. Salty blue cheese, with sweet grainy runny honey. Very wierd, but it kinda worked!
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@Zed Yep, that Hawksmoor burger is a pretty amazing creation isn't it. At least twice as good as any other burger i have tried in London. Well worth the visit on its own. I'm sure the steaks and roasts would be worth the eye watering prices!
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problem with most of these places is they are unashamedly aware that they are chasing the corporate entertainment £$€ and as such price most regular punters out of the room. of the 'posh' restaurants i've been fortunate enough to frequent, i reckon only about 4 are probably worth a revisit presuming i would be paying the bill. 20 quid for a hamburger is extortionate regardless of how pretty a room is, and i also don't believe that punters should be paying a premium for providence.
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I agree on that. Go to any 'Gastropub' and you end up paying £12-15 for a pretty standard burger (infact a trip to a shitty GBK costs close to that). Go to Hawksmoor and the lunchtime special is £15 for the best burger around with some pretty awesome posh triple dingdonged chips. For once, its well worth it.
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this last month I have ticked off three major foodie aspirations.
- Hakkasan, wasn't too bothered about going here, but when I got the opportunity through work, I lept at the chance. I've always been a skeptic of expensive Chinese food, but wow, this blew me away. Dim sum, check, superb wine selection check, main dishes so finely marinated and cooked that they melt in the mouth, in a way that I cannot comprehend/explain...I had the finest seabass, which blew me away. I was really really impressed. The service let down the whole experience somewhat, which was a minor niggle, but as this was all paid for by someone else, I couldn't grumble too much.
Which Hakkasan did you go to? I went to the Mayfair one last week and was distinctly underwhelmed. The place was pitch black, the food was... well it was alright but it wasn't 'oh wow this is great'. Then after we'd finished eating the staff came up to us and said "yeah we need to give your table to somebody else so if you could just leave now that'd be great". Then half an hour after leaving I had the most epic case of Explosive Shits I've ever had in my life and had to stop off at the bogs in Waterloo station to regain control of my bowels. Will not be returning. And I won't be going back to Hakkasan Mayfair either.
Nobu, on the other hand, really is amazingly good. Yauatcha was also excellent when I went there (by the same guy that founded Hakkasan).
- Hakkasan, wasn't too bothered about going here, but when I got the opportunity through work, I lept at the chance. I've always been a skeptic of expensive Chinese food, but wow, this blew me away. Dim sum, check, superb wine selection check, main dishes so finely marinated and cooked that they melt in the mouth, in a way that I cannot comprehend/explain...I had the finest seabass, which blew me away. I was really really impressed. The service let down the whole experience somewhat, which was a minor niggle, but as this was all paid for by someone else, I couldn't grumble too much.
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the notion of high end chinese food is trenchant bullshit. most asian food, especially chinese (canton) is predicated on a society where food was pretty scarce at the best of times and as such is cobbled together from some pretty unpleasant (to western palates at least), not to mention cheap bits of an animal. gussying up and in many cases, dumbing down food which in its purest form is simple and unfussy by its sheer nature, so as to slap a whopping great price tag on it is pretentious and insulting.
if you want awesome chinese food, go to any of the hundreds of quality, reasonably priced chinese restaurants london has to offer with chinese folks eating in them.
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the notion of high end chinese food is trenchant bullshit. most asian food, especially chinese (canton) is predicated on a society where food was pretty scarce at the best of times and as such is cobbled together from some pretty unpleasant (to western palates at least), not to mention cheap bits of an animal. gussying up and in many cases, dumbing down food which in its purest form is simple and unfussy by its sheer nature, so as to slap a whopping great price tag on it is pretentious and insulting.
if you want awesome chinese food, go to any of the hundreds of quality, reasonably priced chinese restaurants london has to offer with chinese folks eating in them.
Oh man, my going to Hakkasan wasn't even my fault. I've got a bunch of Chinese friends and they all insisted I had to go. I seemed to be the only person there who didn't really enjoy it (and not because I don't like Chinese food)
There's no way I'm taking the blame for pretentiousness on this one :p
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I agree on that. Go to any 'Gastropub' and you end up paying £12-15 for a pretty standard burger (infact a trip to a shitty GBK costs close to that). Go to Hawksmoor and the lunchtime special is £15 for the best burger around with some pretty awesome posh triple dingdonged chips. For once, its well worth it.
£15 I my mind is fucking good value (in London terms). I couldn't even finish all the food, the beef dripping chips are epic! I would pay that again and again, and again...
Which Hakkasan did you go to? I went to the Mayfair one last week and was distinctly underwhelmed. The place was pitch black, the food was... well it was alright but it wasn't 'oh wow this is great'. Then after we'd finished eating the staff came up to us and said "yeah we need to give your table to somebody else so if you could just leave now that'd be great". Then half an hour after leaving I had the most epic case of Explosive Shits I've ever had in my life and had to stop off at the bogs in Waterloo station to regain control of my bowels. Will not be returning. And I won't be going back to Hakkasan Mayfair either.
We went to the Mayfair restaurant. Pretty much everything I had was superb! It was full of Chinese people too...
the notion of high end chinese food is trenchant bullshit. most asian food, especially chinese (canton) is predicated on a society where food was pretty scarce at the best of times and as such is cobbled together from some pretty unpleasant (to western palates at least), not to mention cheap bits of an animal. gussying up and in many cases, dumbing down food which in its purest form is simple and unfussy by its sheer nature, so as to slap a whopping great price tag on it is pretentious and insulting.
if you want awesome chinese food, go to any of the hundreds of quality, reasonably priced chinese restaurants london has to offer with chinese folks eating in them.
No cheap cuts in Hakkasan...this is food firmly designed for the Western palate.
Oh man, my going to Hakkasan wasn't even my fault. I've got a bunch of Chinese friends and they all insisted I had to go. I seemed to be the only person there who didn't really enjoy it (and not because I don't like Chinese food)
There's no way I'm taking the blame for pretentiousness on this one :p
Did your friends like it?
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Zed, get yourself over to Dinings it's one of Nobu's akin to a sister restaurant, it has a few of the same dishes and it's cheaper. It's by Edgware Road
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Ate at Bottega in Napa Valley last night ...
No tables left, but we were lucky with one of the 8 places at the bar as we got there at 6pm, so we ate fantastic food in the middle of a great atmosphere.
I started with ... Fig & Fennel Salad Two Ways Port wine compressed figs, confit fennel bulb, chocolate-espresso butter, petite licorice greens ... followed by Potato dough Raviolo filled with spinach and ricotta, black truffles, farm fresh egg yolk, sage browned butter ...
Aroogah had ... Bacon & Egg smoked olive oil poached mushrooms, crispy soft-boiled egg, pancetta, Treviso radicchio & broken sherry vinaigrette ... followed by Twice Cooked Natural Pork Chop peck seasoning, honey roasted apricots, natural pork jus & crispy cavolo nero.
Deserts were scrumptious, something with figs, and a panacotta.
OmarLittle
Clever_Pun
LongAndWinding
kattiep
Bad_Science
_Zed_
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Posh Food
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@mashton
Market on Parkway for lunch today. Am much looking forward to belly pork...