[Food] Restaurant Thread 2022

[Westdene Seagull]

Thanks for this. Also worth noting that they've revived their tasting menu. I now need to gather a party to go.

Edit: I was wrong. Tasting menu still not available, nor is the a la carte. Instead there's a halfway house. Oh well. I'll just have to rest on the memories of enjoying their multiple course tasting menu twice.

We went last year and had the restricted tasting menu - it was nice but not a patch on the full one. Spoke to the manager and she said they weren't sure if they would ever bring back the full tasting menu

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Bringing things back to more budget fare, had lunch at Fig Cafe in Rustington today. Very nice food, great service, good value.

Seems very popular with the locals as every table inside and out was full by 12:30 on a Tuesday lunchtime.

It changes from cafe to tapas restaurant in the evenings and reviews seem positive so will give it a try soon.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Brewdog, London Waterloo

I know Brewdog have their own thread and I might well link here from there, but, ultimately, this was a night out with food and drink involved. A night out to the Craft Beer Behemoth. The Temple of Wank. The World’s Greatest / Most Hipsterish / Most Ridiculous pub. Delete as appropriate.

This was a work do booked for 11 of us by one of our directors either because he likes the idea of his team running round an adult theme park that has a slide and an ice cream van or because his last train home runs from Waterloo. You decide.

With a table booked for 7pm we had a couple of liveners in the Sports Bar at Marylebone Station, pints of Neck Oil to be exact. This will become important later.

Then off we headed down the Bakerloo Line and through and round Waterloo station to the point where the old Eurotunnel terminal is, to see the bright blue lights of the word “BREWDOG” in the distance. Bear right at the ticket barriers and there you are. In a pub with its own receptionist.

Expecting that we would be shown to our booked table I waited but eventually just followed my co-workers as they headed in without an accompanying adult. “Where’s our table?” I hungrily asked. “Downstairs” came the cryptic reply.

And so we walked and walked, down to the end, round a U turn, down some stairs, all the while dodging hipsters and office workers clutching pints like they were gold dust. Brewdog Waterloo is huge. And packed. Tuesday night and not a single table free. There we saw another staff member. A quick word. Our table was, apparently, “being prepared”. So we had time to notice the beer school and the ice cream van and the ridiculous silver slide. A junior was dispatched to the bar by my director with the most disappointing words possible – “just get everyone the same”. 11 pints of Punk ****ing IPA then. Everyone else waiting by another attraction that could have been some sort of quick time guide to beer making, feeling like we’d just been spat out of a time machine set to 2017 and forced to grow a beard.

And here’s the thing about Punk. Well, three things. Firstly, it is the least adventurous choice in the whole gaff. Secondly it is no longer very “Punk”. And thirdly, when you have recently had a lovely pint of Neck Oil, it’s comparatively not very nice.

Looking round for another time you eventually got the idea that this was some kind of Pub Las Vegas. The lights are set so that you have no idea what time of night or day it is. There are fridges with “Train Beers” written on them, stuffed with fourpacks of every kind of BD beer. There are row upon row of Brewdog t-shirts to buy. Every single inch is designed to separate the unwary drinker from his hard earned. Like I said, not all that Punk really.

At ten past seven the same junior was dispatched to see what had happened to our table. It was “ready”, by which I mean the people that had taken it had left. Ordering was – JOY OF JOYS – done by a QR code that opened the ordering app. The only time we actually saw any waiting staff was when they brought the food. And with us split over two tables it meant two people ordering. The other table’s ordering person had worked out that fries were not included with the burgers. Ours had not. Therefore I got a pork and brie burger and a couple of the buffalo wings we’d fortunately ordered for the table and, er, that’s it. It took so long for them to bring beer that my boss raided the “train beers” fridge and started chucking cans of Punk at everyone.

The actual food? The burger was fine. For £15.95 without chips it should have been. Too much sauce though, which made eating it soggy and unpleasant and would have led to my hands staining my glass, had I not been drinking a can. Ditto with the wings.

Eventually it was time to sneak out back for a train to Clapham before things got really messy. I remembered that you had to go up the stairs but after that I was completely lost. Only one tiny exit and no “way out” sign. They don’t want you to leave. Which is fair enough, because unless you’re @Herr Tubthumper you’ll never go back again.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Maru, W1.

As part of my birthday present, the GLDHI booked Maru, a sushi joint raved about by Coren. We went last night.

On the tube journey there, I wittered about it apparently being hard to find saying that a reviewer had resorted to asking a newsagent where it was. It was indeed hard to find if you haven’t yet learned how to use Google Maps and your eyes. Go to the indicated spot, look up, see the word ‘Maru’ above a matte black door and enter.

A long, thick, blonde wooden counter awaits which in non-Covid times seats 10, but currently seats 6. Two sittings/night. Omakase only - though, with prior warning, they did replace the oyster with octopus for the GLDHI.

There’s much to admire about the ethos of the place - a focus on sustainability and a real focus on local sourcing; 80% from the UK (mostly Cornwall and the Orkneys), nothing from further than Spain (the tuna). The wasabi root is grown in “Dorset” (though I could have
sworn that the only UK grower farms in Sussex). I say nothing from further than Spain. That applies to the food ingredients. I’m pretty certain that the excellent junmai daiginjo (made in Niigata prefecture) was from a little further away.

There were 21 courses (£170/head, food only). The majority were fish (though no uni or hamachi due to his food miles policy), with the addition of a pretty good duck dish and an excellent root vegetable medley.

The quality was good; very good occasionally. He’s precise, and all the dishes were technically strong and clean. His sauces were excellent in the main. It’s clearly rooted in traditional sushi, but he’s expanded the repertoire - sometimes, but not always, to good effect.

We left.

“Well?”
“Everything was a little, err, bland wasn’t it?”
“Quite”

A lot to admire, quite a few individual components were very good to excellent, but the one-word review is ‘bland’. Odd. I’m not quite sure how he pulled that off.

As I predicted on the 2021 thread, it’s not as good as Sushi Tetsu, despite Coren’s ravings. It’s probably the second best sushi I’ve had in the UK (far better than the style over substance at Endo), but if Sushi Tetsu scores a 10 (it doesn’t, it scores 11+), then Maru scores a 6.5.

By all means go if you’re after a teaser of what sushi could be like if only the chef were, err, better.

Edit:

“I’d say 6.5 is harsh” says the GLDHI
“Really?”
“Yeah”
“What would you say it should be then?”
“7”
“[small snort]”

Whatever.

Edit 2:

“You didn’t say anything about the textures. They were good.”
“Hmm. Yes, they were”
“Especially the trout, the mushrooms [a medley of 12], and the octopus”
“I wouldn’t know about the octopus, you wouldn’t give me any”
“It was my favourite dish”
“Thanks for that. Why don’t you post your own review?”
“On NSC, you mean?”
“No”

All I took from that was £170 a head, food only and it was just part of my birthday present.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Pera , Turkish restaurant, Burgess Hill. Lunch with a colleague, I had the lamb Beyti which was very nice, well presented. Colleague had the Lamb Yoghurt dish which he enjoyed. Both came with a side of rice and a light, fresh side salad.

With a couple of soft drinks the bill was a reasonable £41. We selected from the main menu but they also have a lunch menu which looked very good value for money.

Service was efficient and friendly.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Brewdog, London Waterloo

I know Brewdog have their own thread and I might well link here from there, but, ultimately, this was a night out with food and drink involved. A night out to the Craft Beer Behemoth. The Temple of Wank. The World’s Greatest / Most Hipsterish / Most Ridiculous pub. Delete as appropriate.

This was a work do booked for 11 of us by one of our directors either because he likes the idea of his team running round an adult theme park that has a slide and an ice cream van or because his last train home runs from Waterloo. You decide.

With a table booked for 7pm we had a couple of liveners in the Sports Bar at Marylebone Station, pints of Neck Oil to be exact. This will become important later.

Then off we headed down the Bakerloo Line and through and round Waterloo station to the point where the old Eurotunnel terminal is, to see the bright blue lights of the word “BREWDOG” in the distance. Bear right at the ticket barriers and there you are. In a pub with its own receptionist.

Expecting that we would be shown to our booked table I waited but eventually just followed my co-workers as they headed in without an accompanying adult. “Where’s our table?” I hungrily asked. “Downstairs” came the cryptic reply.

And so we walked and walked, down to the end, round a U turn, down some stairs, all the while dodging hipsters and office workers clutching pints like they were gold dust. Brewdog Waterloo is huge. And packed. Tuesday night and not a single table free. There we saw another staff member. A quick word. Our table was, apparently, “being prepared”. So we had time to notice the beer school and the ice cream van and the ridiculous silver slide. A junior was dispatched to the bar by my director with the most disappointing words possible – “just get everyone the same”. 11 pints of Punk ****ing IPA then. Everyone else waiting by another attraction that could have been some sort of quick time guide to beer making, feeling like we’d just been spat out of a time machine set to 2017 and forced to grow a beard.

And here’s the thing about Punk. Well, three things. Firstly, it is the least adventurous choice in the whole gaff. Secondly it is no longer very “Punk”. And thirdly, when you have recently had a lovely pint of Neck Oil, it’s comparatively not very nice.

Looking round for another time you eventually got the idea that this was some kind of Pub Las Vegas. The lights are set so that you have no idea what time of night or day it is. There are fridges with “Train Beers” written on them, stuffed with fourpacks of every kind of BD beer. There are row upon row of Brewdog t-shirts to buy. Every single inch is designed to separate the unwary drinker from his hard earned. Like I said, not all that Punk really.

At ten past seven the same junior was dispatched to see what had happened to our table. It was “ready”, by which I mean the people that had taken it had left. Ordering was – JOY OF JOYS – done by a QR code that opened the ordering app. The only time we actually saw any waiting staff was when they brought the food. And with us split over two tables it meant two people ordering. The other table’s ordering person had worked out that fries were not included with the burgers. Ours had not. Therefore I got a pork and brie burger and a couple of the buffalo wings we’d fortunately ordered for the table and, er, that’s it. It took so long for them to bring beer that my boss raided the “train beers” fridge and started chucking cans of Punk at everyone.

The actual food? The burger was fine. For £15.95 without chips it should have been. Too much sauce though, which made eating it soggy and unpleasant and would have led to my hands staining my glass, had I not been drinking a can. Ditto with the wings.

Eventually it was time to sneak out back for a train to Clapham before things got really messy. I remembered that you had to go up the stairs but after that I was completely lost. Only one tiny exit and no “way out” sign. They don’t want you to leave. Which is fair enough, because unless you’re @Herr Tubthumper you’ll never go back again.

I guess it's Punk in a Malcolm Mclaren Cash-from-Chaos way?

I have given up on Brewdog these days. Two reasons, the first is that there are now so many far better places. It served a purpose when they started, and played a part in the beer revolutuion, but the world has caught up and in many cases overtaken them. The second is that my local branch is a bar i.e. it is not a bar/restaurant like the one you describe. It's big, but it's defintely a bar. This said, they have a reservation system with very limited walk-up space. It is often pre-booked out with large office groups and difficult to walk in and get a seat any more. Sometimes I have walked in to see huge swathes of tables free...only to then find they are reserved. Popping into a bar for a cheeky beer should not be hard work. t's full, so it works, but not for me. I still like some of their beers, and I do think Punk is a good go-to IPA, but I'll now wait for the IPO and cash out I think.

 

[Bakero]

2 great sounding dishes. Ever since [MENTION=409]Herr Tubthumper[/MENTION] mentioned nduja mussels a while back I've been meaning to make some but haven't got round to it. Just a combination that makes sense but I don't believe I've tried. Something for next weekend, I reckon.

Had some nduja mussels for lunch. Spectacular. Would post a photo but the new platform won't let me as the file size is too big (even a screenshot of the original is rejected

 

[Goldstone1976]

Had some nduja mussels for lunch. Spectacular. Would post a photo but the new platform won't let me as the file size is too big (even a screenshot of the original is rejected

Eat a few more and try again?

 

[Bakero]

Eat a few more and try again?

Here's a squashed image.

 

[Goldstone1976]

The Pilot, W4.

I went here to meet a couple of fellow Albion fans before the Brentford game. While waiting had some good fish and chips off their ‘match day’ menu, which seems to be a bit more fast food than their standard one. The haddock was perhaps slightly over cooked, but the chips were absolutely spot on.

My friends arrived and had some bao buns, padron peppers, and chips. They looked good too.

Decent atmosphere, decent food.

 

[Bozza]

Not a review from me, but this popped up as a recommendation on YouTube (it's a channel I watch from time to time when he's in the US). Some nice drone shots over the beach area too.

Rybka

 

[Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ]

Not a review from me, but this popped up as a recommendation on YouTube (it's a channel I watch from time to time when he's in the US). Some nice drone shots over the beach area too.

Rybka

I've eaten there, and it was superb! I think they're only open over the weekend at this time of year.

 

[keaton]

The Guardian: Tutto, Brighton: ‘There are chefs here who can’t cook pasta’ – restaurant review.

Tutto, Brighton: ‘There are chefs here who can’t cook pasta’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

The lasagne will line your stomach but little else

www.theguardian.com

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

The Guardian: Tutto, Brighton: ‘There are chefs here who can’t cook pasta’ – restaurant review.

Tutto, Brighton: ‘There are chefs here who can’t cook pasta’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

The lasagne will line your stomach but little else

www.theguardian.com

Ouch! That review seems unseemingly like bullying to me, especially from a reviewer as thick as mince as Grace Dent

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Ouch! That review seems unseemingly like bullying to me, especially from a reviewer as thick as mince as Grace Dent

Unless she lying or exaggerating, which I doubt, why is it bullying?

Obviously if you want decent Italian in Brighton you go to Cin Cin.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Unless she lying or exaggerating, which I doubt, why is it bullying?

Obviously if you want decent Italian in Brighton you go to Cin Cin.

It's crushing a butterfly on a wheel. Nasty stuff. Could easily break a small local business in an area overladen with Guardian readers.

Decent Italian in Brighton? Historically was always Al Duomo's. And previously its sistership Al Forno's across the road. Nowadays my money would go to London Road's Fatto a Mano or the magnificently obscure Pizza 500 just-up-the-road-and-under-the-viaduct (now open lunchtimes!) One of the very best pizzas to be had in Brighton town

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Ouch! That review seems unseemingly like bullying to me, especially from a reviewer as thick as mince as Grace Dent

You do know her role is restaurant critic? There are have been many reviews over the years of the NSC Restaurant threads which have been more scathing than this.

Ultimately, any restaurant team should recognise the big name reviewers when they come through the door and be able to make sure the chef does the basics right. If they know someone like Dent, Raynor, Coren, Gill etc is in and still send out food that is not up to scratch then they have only themselves to blame.

 

[amexer]

Fig Tree in Hurstpierpoint. Always outstanding but no interest to me now as only serve up Tasting Menu Are other restaurants going down this route

 

[Munkfish]

It's crushing a butterfly on a wheel. Nasty stuff. Could easily break a small local business in an area overladen with Guardian readers.

Decent Italian in Brighton? Historically was always Al Duomo's. And previously its sistership Al Forno's across the road. Nowadays my money would go to London Road's Fatto a Mano or the magnificently obscure Pizza 500 just-up-the-road-and-under-the-viaduct (now open lunchtimes!) One of the very best pizzas to be had in Brighton town

its not just a small local business its part of the same group as the Coal Shed, Burnt Orange and the Salt Rooms.

They had a soft launch and struggled, they decided to close and reopen I don't know if this review is pre or post the relaunch but ultimately from my own personal experience Shes not wildly wrong. I was expecting a lot more and was left disappointed.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It's crushing a butterfly on a wheel. Nasty stuff. Could easily break a small local business in an area overladen with Guardian readers.

Decent Italian in Brighton? Historically was always Al Duomo's. And previously its sistership Al Forno's across the road. Nowadays my money would go to London Road's Fatto a Mano or the magnificently obscure Pizza 500 just-up-the-road-and-under-the-viaduct (now open lunchtimes!) One of the very best pizzas to be had in Brighton town

She's a restaurant reviewer giving an honest and constructive opion. She writes many reviews and the vast majority are complimentary. If an Italian restaurant cannot cook pasta and goes under who's fault is that? It's certainly not hers.

Grace Dent does not need me to defend her, but I will, to the death