thebigblackpudding's Profile
Breakfast in London
Here's a great blog that I keep on my blogroll which you or others may find useful on this subject http://www.londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.com/
two nights in Chichester, England
Comme Ca - French, French, French! Wonderful food and service and on a nice summer day then lunch or early dinner on the terrace transports you instantly to Provence. Ignore the ugly exterior – this is a gem! Here is the link: http://www.commeca.co.uk/
two nights in Chichester, England
36 On The Quay in Emsworth I see is already mentioned - I've been several times (stayed over one night too) and can gladly add my recommendation. In Chichester itself however you might like to try Comme Ca - it's about a 5 minute walk from the city's north walls at 67 Broyle Road. Very French, and very good! If lunching on a sunny summer day then choose the terrace and you'll be transported to Provence before you know it!
4th of July - for the Brits?
Hi, I am going to a music festival this weekend along with some friends - one of whom is from the US. I'd like some ideas of what I could take with me to help celebrate 4th July with her. It has to be a simple bbq or picnic kinda thing as there will be very limited facilities! Any help very much appreciated.
Visiting London from New York
Your brief is really far too wide to offer good guidance but if you're going to be near Borough Market how about a food safari?
The Rake - begin the evening with a Veltins, fine German pilsner and a light snack.
Fish! - sit at one of the tables facing into the market and order up baby octopus with borlotti beans washed down with a glass of lively Trebbiano d'Abbruzzo.
Tapas Brindisa - what you'd expect from top Spanish food importers Brindisa; have a Serrano ham and romesco sauce with a 2004 Ribera del Duero
Boot and Flogger - part of the Davy's wine bar chain but one of their best. Order a fine claret with cheese
Wine Wharf - sit back with whatever takes your fancy from their 100 plus wines by the glass. The desserts aren't great but by then do you care?
I think this is an ideal way to spend some time solo - have fun!
You'll find a whole host of possibilities on my blog www.thebigblackpudding.com along with first hand reports. Would love to hear how you get on.
First time in London - dare I ask for recommendations?
1. Petrus has the very best Prix Fixe lunch in Town - bar none!! An anniversary dinner you will remember and talk about forever.
2. Hakasan, though I've not been in a good while (must sort that one out)
5. The Greyhound, Battersea (but see my other recommendations on www.thebigblackpudding.com)
7. I agree with others that The Glasshouse and Chez Bruce (full very recent reports on the above mentioned site) are exceptional choices that are ever so slightly under the radar. Each are a little far to travel though so on the east side how about Cafe du Marche in Charterhouse Square for super provincial French or, not far from there, The Bleeding Heart in Bleeding Heart Yard where traditional French cuisine meets old London building! Here you could take your choice of grill, bistro or restaurant depending on your modd - none will disappoint. Perhaps a balance in terms of journey, The Ledbury, Notting Hill, is another just under the radar and a real favourite of mine. Restaurant of the Year and Restaurateurs Restaurant of the Year - can't go wrong.
So far as your oriental requests, surely you have enough to choose from in NYC. Better, in my opinion, to enjoy British or European here rather than something that will be broadly similar to what you'll find at home (with the possible exception of Indian perhaps).
Great value lunch menu - London?
Stretch your budget just slightly and go to Galvin Bistrot de Luxe in Baker St. £15.50 for the Menu Prix Fixe comprising 3 courses with a choice of 2 dishes each course. Add a glass of wine and a coffee and you're under £25. It's fab!! I ate there (again) yesterday - full report to follow soon at www.thebigblackpudding.com
Progressive Eating- Favourite Food Tours
Well if your friend followed your advice he will have experienced one of the best pubs in London, the restaurant that redefined our expectations of Spanish cuisine and the place where offal addicts love to gather.
Challenged to come up with an alternative I propose Borough Market. Not perhaps quite up to the standard of your Smithfield jaunt but worth considering perhaps?
The Rake - begin the evening with a Veltins, fine German pilsner and a light snack.
Fish! - sit at one of the tables facing into the market and order up baby octopus with borlotti beans washed down with a glass of lively Trebbiano d'Abbruzzo.
Tapas Brindisa - what you'd expect from top Spanish food importers Brindisa; have a Serrano ham and romesco sauce with a 2004 Ribera del Duero
Boot and Flogger - part of the Davy's wine bar chain but one of their best. Order a fine claret with cheese
Wine Wharf - sit back with whatever takes your fancy from their 100 plus wines by the glass. The desserts aren't great but by then do you care?
Choosing wine in London restaurants
Yes, me too - I just wish I could remember them all !!
review on recent Bristol and London visit (long)
And you so many great suggestions prior to your visit!
LONDON: Can't miss gastropubs?
I did say in my recommendation that Trinity was a 'high quality neighbourhood restaurant' rather than a gastropub but I thought it worthy of mention in that context. If you exclude that from my list of recommendations - on technical grounds ;o) then The Greyhound would be my obvious next choice - and it's definitely a gastropub!
LONDON: Can't miss gastropubs?
That's a real shame but goes to prove that it only takes one bad experience to put a customer off for good (and to spread bad news)! So far as price is concerned though - do you really think £50 a head is representative of 'fine dining'? I spent £35 a head for lunch in a local pub yesterday - good food for sure but certainly not gastropub standard (though that in itself is a term now well abused).
Choosing wine in London restaurants
For me, even with a fairly good knowledge of wine, choosing from a restaurant wine list can be something of a daunting affair. A good Sommelier will be able to guide (and will not try to oversell) us but that's not always the case and I'm wondering if it would be useful to have some idea of what the wine list comprised in advance together with some independent recommendations - particularly in what might be an exceptionally good value for money selection. I'm thinking of this to be like having a virtual Sommelier! This is something I'm considering doing - perhaps posting the recommendations here on CH - and I'd appreciate any comments.
LONDON: Can't miss gastropubs?
Here's an extract from a recent post on my blog www.thebigblackpudding.com which you may find of interest.
One of our regular destinations -The Greyhound, 136 Battersea High Street http://www.thegreyhoundatbattersea.co.uk/ certainly use fresh seasonal produce which has been carefully sourced and the exceptional wine list makes it stand out among gastropubs.
Konstam at the Prince Albert, 2 Acton Street, Kings Cross http://www.konstam.co.uk/ is another gastropub worth thinking about; chef/proprietor Oliver Rowe has made a feature out of sourcing all his ingredients from within the M25 and his cooking is very good. The decor is quite basic but the atmosphere is special. You might recall that the setting up of Oliver's restaurant was the subject of a TV series a while ago!
Trinity, 4 The Polygon, Clapham Common http://www.trinityrestaurant.co.uk/ has seen chef/proprietor Adam Byatt (he once of Origin in Covent Garden which was a firm favourite of ours) go back to his roots to create a high quality neighbourhood restaurant emulating his first effort Thyme in the same area. The inventive French influenced menu is strong on fresh and unusual ingredients and the place has a nice buzz to it.
All three I would say meet the criteria - good value, high quality and special. They might also give you some ideas that others wouldn't think of - breaking out of the mould and avoiding the 'big names'
Personally, if forced to choose amongst these then I'd probably opt for Trinity but that's because I'm a fan of Adam Byatts cooking. However, you'll be pleased with any of these choices - and you won't be embarassed by the bill in any!
Which Restaurant Reviews/Guides? [from UK/Ireland]
John, the sub thread here, and particularly the element of it concerning the posting of more local dining/restaurant experiences, causes me to wonder whether this is a topic best served by a discussion forum at all. It strikes me that there are numerous web sites,(e.g. London-eating), which one might turn to for this kind of report rather than a board, and thus it may only ever be a small band of people who wish to discuss more detailed insights than can be found there.
To gauge interest in reports on provincial establishments at this forum, today I submitted an abbreviated article concerning a recent review we did on a gastro-pub in Hampshire. The article is deliberately brief and contains a link to my site where the full article can be found. In this way I can track how many people visit the full article as a result of looking at the thread. At the very least this should give me some indication of the desire of UK CH'ers for info of this sort (if Hampshire is anything to go by admittedly).
I will happily share the results of this little test in time. It may even be useful to repeat this excercise for different regions to see how they vary.
Is corkage the way to go?
How often have you commented on the huge mark-ups restaurants put on wine? I know I have, particularly when you know full well that the price is 3 times the cost. Restaurants do have to make a living though and of course they should mark up their wares appropriately and I fully understand why, for example, a £8 bottle (at retail) should sell for c.£20 in the restaurant but is it acceptable that the mark-up is the same for, say, a £20 bottle where the restaurant price would be close to £60? In the first instance the restaurant would be making a gross profit of £12 and in the second instance they would be making £40 - but it's still just a single bottle.
L'Absinthe in Primrose Hill has a different policy where wines are grouped by price band and a set mark up, or corkage, is applied to each band. You can read more about our experience of L'Absinthe at www.thebigblackpudding.com.
So is this the way we would like to see restaurants go? Would it encourage us to drink better wine or would we still choose the same but pocket the difference?
Which Restaurant Reviews/Guides? [from UK/Ireland]
Forgive me (being a newbie to CH) but maybe you could tell me how this is done? Thanks in advance.
Which Restaurant Reviews/Guides? [from UK/Ireland]
Thanks John for those insights - can you just give me your definition for 'ordinary punters' and, if their opinion (wrt restaurants) would be of value, then what is needed to attract them?
Which Restaurant Reviews/Guides? [from UK/Ireland]
Which Reviews and Guides - online or otherwise - do you refer to when looking for restaurants? What makes some guides good and others dull? You might have seen that I'm writing at www.thebigblackpudding.com where I've already posted some comment on the subject but I'd like to get some broader opinion with a view to publishing a ranking of the resources. I'd also like to know what people think in terms of content so that it might influence my own writing. Thanks for anything and everything!
Bristol and one day in London with Mom
So far as your options in London are concerned, this is a tricky one because the spec is so ‘wide’. What we've focussed on here is good value and local sourcing of produce - good choices especially for lunch leaving dinner as perhaps a slightly more up market affair.
The Greyhound, 136 Battersea High Street certainly use fresh seasonal produce which has been carefully sourced and the exceptional wine list makes it stand out among gastropubs.
Konstam at the Prince Albert, 2 Acton Street, Kings Cross is another gastropub worth thinking about; chef/proprietor Oliver Rowe has made a feature out of sourcing all his ingredients from within the M25 and his cooking is very good. The decor is quite basic but the atmosphere is special.
Trinity, 4 The Polygon, Clapham Common has seen chef/proprietor Adam Byatt (he once of Origin in Covent Garden which was a firm favourite of ours) go back to his roots to create a high quality neighbourhood restaurant emulating his first effort Thyme in the same area. The inventive French influenced menu is strong on fresh and unusual ingredients and the place has a nice buzz to it.
All three I would say meet the criteria - good value, high quality and special. They might also give you some ideas that others wouldn't think of - breaking out of the mould and avoiding the 'big names'
Personally, if forced to choose amongst these then I'd probably opt for Trinity but that's because I am a fan of Adam Byatts cooking, but you'll be pleased with any of these choices - and you won't be embarassed by the bill in any!
I hope this helps - if you refine your criteria then more options become available of course. Perhaps you'd come and visit us sometime at our blog www.thebigblackpudding.blogspot.com
Help looking for a bogrács
I can't help but, judging by the pictures I've seen, I reckon with a bit of inginuity you (or someone) could probably make one fairly simply! If you're looking for a bbq with a bit of a difference, have you seen the Caribbean Cooker? - there's a short post and a photo if it on my blog www.thebigblackpudding.blogspot.com
London - Which is the best Italian Restaurant? No budget
Personally I favour Zafferano over the others (and unlike Locatelli you are more likely to get a table) though all are quite superb in their own way. Both Zafferano and Assaggi are more 'authentic' in their approach to the restaurant and their food but Locatelli beats them on their stunning desserts! At the right time of year Zafferano serve a spectacularly simple but beautiful dish of tagliatelle with truffle the like of which you will be hard pressed to find elsewhere!
Another 'authentic' Italian restaurant worthy of mention is Verbanella in Blandford St. (just off Baker St) which is a favourite lunchtime haunt of mine. Certainly not in the league of those mentioned above but if you want something truly Italian at good value then it's worth stopping by.
I think I mentioned this in once in a post on my blog www.thebigblackpudding.blogspot.com - come and visit us there sometime.
London/Marylebone Suggestion - Dining Solo
I see that I'm a bit late to make a recommendation now but maybe you'd like to save it for the future. Galvin Bistrot de Luxe in Baker St would have served you well. IMHO the finest French bistro in London - a limited Prix Fixe lunch menu (about £15) admittedly but top quality! Add a glass of wine and coffee and you're still under your £25 budget!! Dining alone? You'll not feel out of place here at lunchtime where you'll find diners of all sorts; from businessmen to shoppers in a busy but not bustling environment. Perhaps before coming to London again you'll stop by my blog where you might find some useful dining suggestions - or drop me a line and I'll be happy to help. www.thebigblackpudding.blogspot.com Cheers!!
London - Best fine dining experience? Special dinner, no budget
Yes, polarising Aikens restaurant certainly is! You'll note that I deliberately likened Aikens plates to works of art - the beauty of which is in the eye of the beholder, or not, as the case may be.
London - Best fine dining experience? Special dinner, no budget
OK, cost no option? Somewhere special? Well, for starters you'll probably find it almost impossible to get into the 'top' restaurants without booking a month in advance although you may get lucky! Llunch (my favourite) would likely get you a better result and would most likely save you a quid or two as well! Then of course there's the question of what style of food or restaurant would please mother?
There's no point taking her to say, Locanda Locatelli, if she hate's Italian - though if she does like it then Zafferano in Chelsea is, in my view, a much better, more authentic option.
If you want the very best in modern British and if your mother is of a certain age then, without a doubt, Petrus at the Berkely is the best choice but if she has more contemporary tastes (certainly in the style of dining room) then Gordon Ramsay at Hospital Road would be ideal! Don't whatever you do though, take her to Ramsay's at Claridges - it is simply average.
If Mum is a bit artie then she'll love the culinary flair of Tom Aikens where his plates are just so beautifully presented you'll want to frame them and hang them on a wall.
Fish? One-O-One in Knightsbridge re-opened a few months ago after undergoing majopr refurbishment (it sorely needed it) and I can't get enough of it! 3 or 4 small dishes rather than starters main course and dessert is the order of the day (I think 4 too many unless you're on the large size yourself).
Where would I go? Probably The Ledbury in Notting Hill, not quite central I know but worth the short journey. Not only has it been voted Best Restaurant of the Year a number of times but it's also won Best Restauranteur's Restaurant of the Year too! The style is very much modern European, the service is quite superb and the dining room one that I can assure you your mother will love!
Where would I not go? Don't trek all the way out to Le Manoir de 'Touriste' as I've seen previously mentioned - price will become a factor and you'll have that awful journey back to Town (unless you have unlimited financial resources and can afford to stump up for a night's stay)!
I hope you found this useful - I'm happy to give more specific recommendations (I've been lucky enough to eat in most of the high quality London restaurants) and help you find the perfect venue - come and visit me at www.thebigblackpudding.blogspot.com
Cheers and good luck!
