I suggest you take your business elsewhere.

Turned up there at 18.10 on Saturday 11 May solely because we had just been unsuccessful at Lola and Simon as walk ins at 18.05 (!). Service dilatory - were in there for a good ten minutes before drinks were offered. Big sin in my book. Hot starters came quickly and had obviously been sitting under heat lamps for ages. I very much enjoyed their lamb chops on my sole previous visit and tried them again. Nowhere near as good. And I had an identical garnish on my starter & main. Another big sin. My wife did no better.

The place has declined from "very good for the price point" to slightly crap. Avoid.

I'll wager a fiver that I'm scruffier and I had no trouble getting in on Monday evening this week. But I did have a reservation for 19.00. The joint is not as posh as it presents itself to be.

The place got very full shortly thereafter so a walkin is very likely to be obliged to wait. They have a decent bar there thus a wait should not be a problem.

I'd speculate that a walkin at 18.00 next week would be OK - probably little or no wait. Later in the evening would be more problematic. They attempt to turn tables but not with my party who were having a decent shot at eliminating their red wine stocks (the joy of drinking with very rich mates - top bottles and no,for me, bill.)

And the piggyburger is ace but mind the wine prices.

Problem is that there is not really a place called Gatwick (there isn't a Heathrow either) thus a search of that name will not work well.

Suggest you consult your usual web mapping resource, select towns within a reasonable distance (note that cabs off Gatwick are extortionately priced) and try a few new searches.

Problem with the advice above is that the Golden Hind, in common with most London F & C joints, will be closed on Sunday evening.

There is a latke masterclass over on Serious Eats - might be worth a look.

Very unchowish question but I sympathise with anybody condemned to visit that dump called Bletchley.

Link below suggests that there is an outlet in the aforementioned blot on the landscape.

http://www.dominos.co.uk/ourstores/mi...

Picnic on Box Hill for me (assuming we are talking about his first effort). Lovely warm day too, Something of a contrast with the forecast for tomorrow.

I haven't anything planned for tomorrow and I can't quite figure out how to avoid it short of locking myself in the loo. No anti-monarchist street parties in my area - perhaps I should have organised one.

Heathrow is useless for restaurants as is West Drayton. The latter is handy for the many good
Indian resto's in Southall tho'.

Grimsdyke hotel is not in Harrow - its about two miles away in the middle of nowhere. No train station in walking distance - just a couple of bus routes. Hotel resto is indifferent. There are two or three decent restos in Harrow but you'd have to be a keen walker to get there on foot. Harrow also has a good tube connection to Uxbridge.

In order to mollify the mods I will mention that there is a bad resto on Harrow Hill called the Old Etonian. But it has a small hotel operation. Its a few yards from a decent if pricey Italian - Incanto. There are two or three good pubs nearby.

I'm often in need of good kebab but I cannot check their website to see if booze is permitted.

Any of you peeps know?

I've only cooked and eaten steaks but prep and cook is identical to the analagous cut of beef. I don't get the opportunity often because its near enough unobtainable in the UK. If you like grass fed beef, you will appreciate horse. Tis just a tad gamier but most folk's perceptions are clouded by their cultural baggage.

The health thing is, as I understand it, that it is low in chloresterol. I've never understood why. A grass fed cow and a grass fed horse are similar creatures in many respects. Can anybody explain?

To get a UK perspective, about $300 per week for three adults. Adjusting factors are that prices tend to be higher here and we have expensive tastes. Or I do and seeing as I am responsible for almost all of the shopping and cooking...

Tis an estimate of course (at £1 = $1.40) and not helped by the fact that I settle ny butcher's bill only annually.

La Fromagerie in Highbury and Marylebone do excellent pancetta.

They slice it for you normally but I'm sure they would sell you a large piece.

But they are a bit expensive.

I bought some of this stuff a few years ago.

Compares well to top end balsamics but it is not worth the money in my view.

And it should be noted that a "traditional English breakfast" is wholly different consisting as it does of a mug of tea, a smoke and a read of the morning paper. Not to be confused with a "full English breakfast" which is bacon, eggs etc.

Thanks for that Aliak.

Do you mean the lethal drink called raki?

Simon has it right.

There was some sort of family schism about 10 years ago and one faction took the Gt Portland Street premises and the other stayed at the original in Gt Titchfield St.

So they are no longer in common ownership but, having said that, a casual observer would take some convincing that the two restos are not branches of the same firm.

As stated above, the liver starter is ace. Anybody know what the seasoning is - I guess sumac but would like to know more

I've been a customer for donkeys years.

Its a reliable, traditional and reasonably priced kebab joint. Or rather both of them are.

My default places for sensibly priced West End eating. Just about impossible to get a poor meal but on the OTH you will not get an outstanding plate.

As mentioned above, vastly popular with BBC people and previously with ITN when their offices were nearby.

They do their stuff well and stick to what they know - the menu is unchanged (bar prices) for at least 25 years and long may that continue.

This is making me yearn for a special mixed kebab!

I'm not sure but vaulting ambition may be part of it. Very few West End restaurants do Mon - Fri only. Gordo @ RHR is one, I don't know of any others. Preparing for 3* status perhaps (Claude has made it clear that is what he wishes to achieve) and getting Saturdays off will surely help with staff recruitment and retention

It opens 24 October but Monday - Fridays only.

Website of sorts is up but I aint clever enough to post a link.

My wife sorted a reservation last week (7629 2999) and got the impression that bookings were not that heavy. But that will surely change in a fortnight or so when the media will be awash with adulatory reviews.

Popeseye in Blythe Road, I think, is in that area. Wonderfully short menu of excellent steaks. And little or nothing else. Was being refurbed when I wandered past a few weeks ago but I assume now open again.

No useful street vendors will be found in London.

It sure aint like NYC where I gather you can eat well on the streets.

Problem is, I think, food safety legislation along with the UK legal concept that you are not normally allowed to obstruct the highway. A highway includes the sidewalk.

There are a few exceptions. Ice cream vans are to be found but the product on sale will be of low quality. Vans selling revolting burgers etc are to be found outside sports venues. They are for the foolhardy only.

I am not equating rich with civilised - that would be a gross misuse of language.

And you do not have to be rich to use Waitrose. I see neighbours shopping in my nearest branch who are poor on any measure. People whose incomes consist wholly or mainly of social security benefits.

Your dislike of Tesco is justified.

They are the UK equivalent of Walmart and most right thinking people detest them.

Civilised UK people use Waitrose if at all possible.

Depends on how you define expensive.

Bill for two was about £240 to include two decent bottles of wine. It struck me as reasonable value for money but I'm a Londoner and thus inured to paying high prices for most things.

Merchant House in Ludlow closed last year. There is no successor restaurant - it reverted to a residential dwelling.

The town now has just a single two* - Hibiscus. We very much enjoyed the nine course tasting menu a few weeks ago. But it took about four hours to get through.

Ludlow is at least three hours by car from London and a bit more by train. The weather in February is guaranteed to be vile so a jaunt from London is for the committed only.

T

I'm not particularly well qualified on what is laughably called Indian food in the UK. But I'd give the food 7/10. Thing is, for me at least, the absence of anything else that I look for in a restaurant tends to damage the impartiality of my judgement.

Its a dump with good food.

Its easier for me to apply an economic analysis. It survives without selling booze which suggests that the food has to be good, or at least very popular, particularly at that price point.

It survives within the Wembley/Sudbury/Harrow market which is intensely competitive for the cuisine.

When taken together, the two factors support the thesis that the food is at least good.

If you live nearby, and do not have a problem with the absence of non-food positives in a resto, its worth a go. But it aint worth much of a detour.

Candy

I checked it out last Friday. I live about two miles away.

Tis one of that breed of London Indian restos that appeal more to the local ethnics than to the rest of us.

Good food and very decently priced. £27 got us three starters, and two mains with rice and naan plus a few small cokes.

But the place is a dump. Harsh overhead lighting, floor unswept since Ramadan before last, lousy service, nil decor etc etc.

For example, our mains arrived but without plates. I grabbed a spare that was already on the table and, in my usual faux malicious way, enjoyed my son's discomfort. He asked for a plate and it arrived. His comment " the Michelin inspector would not be impressed".

To answer your original point, its about fifteen minutes walk from Sudbury Town tube. Its probably not worth the effort.

Scott

I'm getting a tad confused on the collagen thing.

I use the whole bird minus head, neck and feet. So a few square yards of skin would have gone into my latest triple - about 45lb of animals. So is it feet/skin or younger animals. Seeing as it is probably impossible to specify young boiling fowl (I do not wish to waste a roaster or two) methinks I'll try the feet idea. I'm aware that it works with calves feet so why not chicken.

Subbing in gelatin is a good idea but I would count that as cheating thus a no go for me.

My simmering times are compliant. Generally late afternoon until I get my arse out of bed the next morning. That would be 12 or 14 hours.

Lunchbox

I'm interested in your point on the relative yields of collagen between younger and older animals.

My most recent batch was made entirely from the carcases of old girls. Or was judging by the size of them. Despite being a triple stock, it does lack body but does taste wonderful. Methinks I'll chuck in a few younger animals in my next batch.
Lack of body aint really a problem with me because I can always rectify by adding a small amount of veal stock or demi. But that is probably not the optimum use of such a valuable ingredient.

Congratulations on being an indefatigable skimmer. I realise that I should do so but I'm far too lazy. And asleep most of the time anyway. What are your arrangements for doing a night shift of skimming around mine when the next batch of stock gets into production?

I've never done it with chicken stock but over-reducing veal stock before you have removed the fat can cause some of the fat to emulsify.

I guess the chemistry with chicken is similar.

With my veal stock, the solution was to freeze it in small pots as usual and, when having partially defrosted it at the time of use, peel off and bin the emulsified layer on top.

Elsewhere on the subject of chicken stock, there is far too much on this board and elsewhere suggesting that you can get a decent result using the carcases of roasting chickens. That is plainly wrong because you are using an immature animal that has not lived sufficiently long to develop much flavour. You are far better off using mature animals, known as boiling fowl in the UK, normally retired egg producers, and gently simmering them for a long time. Doing it overnight is the best use of time but you need to become expert in controlling temeperatures before doing so. Otherwise, there is some risk of boiling it dry which makes the most awful mess of your stockpot. And forget the stuff about adding any tomato product -its completely unnecessary. As is adding celery, carrots etc. Thats what you need for a vegetable stock, not a meat stock. If you want those flavours, add them after you have made the stock.