The Restaurant Review Thread

[Raoul Duke III]

Is 6/10 generous seeing as nothing really lived up to expectation?
Obv regarding the hot stove.

Service was excellent and I do admire their aspirations. It's actually frustrating as they are not far off being very good indeed.

[Tar.Aldarion]

Ever send stuff like this to the restaurants? Friend does it for everything, one of the most read reviewers in ireland now haha.

[Denny Crane]

Restaurant Name: Sabor Brazil

Location: Pleasants Street, Dublin

Website: www.saborbrazil.ie/

Price Range: €€

I was highly skeptical about a 7 course tasting menu for two for €100, but plenty of positive reviews made me break my long standing rule of avoiding dinner vouchers.

Stepping in the door and you feel like you're intruding on someone's sitting room, and spotting the stairs hidden behind a curtain removes any doubt that yes you're in someone's small house.

I was about to order two caipirinha's when they arrived complementary. This set the tone for the evening, processco on arrival, sake with the sushi, port with the cheese board, reasonable wine menu. It's a real struggle to spend money in the place and with a tiny number of covers I don't know how they keep the doors open. Early on I spotted another table being served the beef course and I was surprised at the portion size, it easily could have been a main somewhere else

The "palate stimulation" was one of the more peculiar starts to a meal I've had. A slice of orange, a grain of salt, a piece of banana, along with a few other titbits all arrived on a slate. But it did give a glimpse into what was to come.

I wont go into detail for the other courses, they were tasty if unremarkable. I actually had to have a quick look at the menu online for a recap (the liberal boozing didn't help).

The cheese board was unusually (disappointingly?) the standout course, just due to the sheer selection and accompaniments - slightly biased here as I had the full run of it to myself.

The desert ended the meal on a bum note unfortunately.

Was the best meal I've ever had? No. Would I be a rush back? No. But the service for the 4 hours or so was brilliant, very personable and they were clearly really enthusiastic about what they were doing. I'd recommend it for a once off enjoyable evening but not for any exciting cuisine.

[mocata]

+1 Asador is lovely, great value early bird in it too. I thought it had been mentioned here so didnt throw up a review, must have been on a food blog.

[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

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[Hitchhiker's Guide To...]

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[V for Vendetta]

Sounds good GAB count me in for the Christmas dinner obv.

[Iago]

Sounds good GAB count me in for the Christmas dinner obv.

+1 sounds great, will have to make a trip beforehand though. Too long to wait

[Lord Sir Banter]

Is this a lads night?

[Raoul Duke III]

In.

Is this place like Gauchos? Sounds potentially quite similar.

[Raoul Duke III]

way way better than Gauchos imo. I'd imagine it is kinda similar in every way other than the execution (Asador do it better) and price (Gaucho shake you by the ankles).

Ah yeah, Gauchos is one for the expense account. I did bring V there by mistake once.

[kpnuts]

[V for Vendetta]

Good work GAB. MrsV wants me to confirm if this is a wagless event. I'm saying it is as she'll cramp my shiny shoe style but I think she fancies another cut off rounders!! I don't know what he did to deserve it!

[Raoul Duke III]

Good work GAB. MrsV wants me to confirm if this is a wagless event. I'm saying it is as she'll cramp my shiny shoe style but I think she fancies another cut off rounders!!:

Jaysus, it was a one-sided TKO last time. Think he gave up speaking near the end and accepted his fate.

[Hatedajacks]

Isnow,Myself and Downtown in

[Strewelpeter]

Nathy and Myself will go if there is room

[Fiery Wasabi]

Restaurant Name: Asador

Lococation: Haddington Road, Dublin 4

Website: www.asador.ie

Price Range: €€€€

asador; masculine, noun: grill, roaster, spit

I've seen this place but never felt like going in. I've been told about their chicken wings as being the best in Dublin by some distance. For some reason I always imagined it was an Indian Restaurant. It turns out I was wrong.

Well lit interior, a cocktail bar in the centre if you wish. Tables could potentially be a little close together but there are plenty of booths and you should be fine, some areas of the restaurant look a little cafe style. Menu was substantial, wine list the same. Definitely something for everybody.

To start I had ribs which were just as you would expect. Decent, tasty, succulent, lots of flavour. I had to skip the wings as they were not gluten free but the portion that say across from me did look exceptional and I wished I could have tackled them.

It seems an Asador is essentially an indoor barbeque - check out the website and you will see some shots. I went up to the pass for a look and it was full of charcoal and wood. This is a pretty genuine effort at something complimentary and different.

For main I had a Sirloin served with mash, corn on the cob, green beans, salt and pepper. Across the table was a fillet with chips. Both steaks were cooked perfectly to order. I kid you not that my steak was off the charts. The meat was high quality, properly aged, perfectly cooked and well rested before serving. I am on record as saying before that I season my steak with Salt, Pepper and a drill of spuds - I urge people not to splash pepper sauce or whatever else on top and instead wallow in the sweet buttery softness of a beautiful steak. The asador adds great flavour to the steak. I was stuffed but I could have went in again.

I skipped desert and coffee as I didn't want anything thieving the lingering flavours from my tastebuds. I worry that I am suffering from recency bias but this was easily better than Shanahans and I am struggling to think of a better steak - Goodmans in London the only credible danger. I will not hesitate to return and I am hereby proposing this venue for the Horsehead Elite Christmas party. The service was very efficient and friendly.

Wings €8, Ribs €12, Sirloin €27, Fillet €33, Beans €4, Corn €4, Malbec €36 - Total €124 - very reasonable.

This rates a solid 9/10 with me pulling it back ever so slightly on interior and ribs whilst being good pretty much just served a function rather than wowing or coming up to the same level as the main course.

Go people, go forth to Asador and eat steak.

Following on from GABs review, and considering we were in the area, myself and Smurph had lunch here today. We ordered from the express lunch menu.
To start we shared the chicken wings which were the nicest either of us have ever had. Simply to die for.
This was followed by the pulled pork Bap for me and the char - grilled chicken for smurph.
The food was so good, we couldn't even speak over lunch.

Thanks to gab for recommending this place, and to anyone thinking of going to the Horsehead Elite Christmas party, get in quick. ....9.5/10

[ionapaul]

Can't make the dinner this year, gutted Have the work Christmas do that night. Might meet ye for the early drinks if allowed.

Still on for most other dinners organised of course, and as it is likely I'll be moving into a new and more spacious gaff later in the year, fully plan to organise a proper home game over the winter months.

[rounders123]

Good work GAB. MrsV wants me to confirm if this is a wagless event. I'm saying it is as she'll cramp my shiny shoe style but I think she fancies another cut off rounders!! I don't know what he did to deserve it!

Jaysus, it was a one-sided TKO last time. Think he gave up speaking near the end and accepted his fate.

hahah i was off the bridle, i made a fatal mistake early of calling her favorite band shit(even though i never heard of them) just to test her. I love a woman with a bit of spirt i do i do. The look on RDIII's face when i did that before he side-winded away to look for someone to hide behind, i knew i was a goner. Think she still enjoyed the exchange seeing as VforV and RDIII clearly know not to lock horns EVER. All good craic though.
Might rustle up a couple trip reports soon.

[MrsFlushdraw]

Is this a lads night?

Of course, but we might make an exception for Tara if she wants to come along.

Very sexist that other female members of IPB not included. Feckin lads night outs. Us wimmin might like nice food too yanno...

[DeadParrot]

Very sexist that other female members of IPB not included. Feckin lads night outs. Us wimmin might like nice food too yanno...

I'm organising a competing event in zaytoons

[rounders123]

Restaurant Name: Pizza E Porchetta

Lococation: Clanwilliam Terrace, Grand Canal Quay, Dublin 2

Website: www.pizzaeporchetta.com/

Price Range: €€€ (but better value for pre theatre)

So was bringing a young lady on a date to the Lir theatre as part of the tiger fringe punching way above my weight, theres no other way though. So on the way home from work one afternoon i hunted up by pizzaeporchetta on Clanwilliam St. close by to the venue on Pearse St. I liked the cut of its jib from the outside and booked the pre theatre later. The pre theatre turned out fantastic value with 2 starters 2 mains, 2 sides, a bottle of vino and tea/coffee for €50. Didnt realise a bottle of wine was included when booking so a nice bonus.

I figured we would be seated outside with the recent weather so good and the womenz always seem to want to sit outside by default it seems but the weather had closed in this particular nite so gave the lady the option and she voted inside like i hoped. Judging by the outside on the earlier scout i couldn't believe how much seating there was inside as it looks very small from the outside which prompted me to book. When i reserve days in advance then on the day i confirm my attendance. This should be a rule because you're not reserving a table with a cc like you would a hotel so basically the no shows can potentially hold up the show for others. On the other hand restaurants especially gastro pubs and especially for afternoon reservations shouldn't put reserved notes on tables without furnishing it with more info. Like 'reserved for 3pm'. Because in a full pub if other people know they are going to be/have to be well gone by 3pm they can always say ''listen i know these are booked but I'll be out of here after ive eaten''. Some of these pubs put the reserved notices on the tables hours before the reservation which is maddening. But thats besides the point here.

Once inside, the place struck me as classier than initial impressions. And the guys that serve and greet seem like they have a vested interest in the place which instantly shone through and rubbed off on all staff. Throught the evening they worked swiftly and efficiently like a team on a catamaran. All knowing what they were doing with an awareness of those around them.

Had the house meatball starter about 5/6 small meatballs arriving in a spanish type tapas like dish were totally class especially the tomato and basil sauce. We both went for that with her pulling up after 3 with the mains in mind but i didn't have that kind of discipline. Yet to the eye i approached the last 2 as if i could take it or leave it but by jasus they were all going down and ill worry about the main when it comes. However on the main i chose an iron off the tee ordering the margarita pizza opting out of a more fantastical pizza thus lessening the likelihood of wanting to fart during the theatre or get gut rot which can occasionally strike after pizza so always thinking ahead but in hindsight mutbs thinking. Think she went for the smoked chicken ravioli and gave it a thumbs up aswell as the starter. I can never go for ravioli or pasta dishes at all, they dont even look appetizing to me.

Apparantly they shipped in this clay oven that heats to 650 degrees or something impressive sounding and it was class when it arrived. You can certainly see the difference from the frozen boxed ones which i shunned years but the memory of those pizzas never really leaves you. I wouldnt be one for white wine as its all the same really but her choice of pinot grigio was going down a treat and the chat was going great. So great that even when someone came over with a new course or to take away plates she chatted on. I think thats the difference with us guys. We tend to button it slightly when staff hover, half in respect of the server but mainly because we dont want them to hear us phoneys going on like we are this civilized all the time. In all the stupid surveys ive heard and read I've never heard the % of a mans gentlemanliness in a restaurant versus that of the same guy later out on the street but id hazard a guess it increases 20-25% in a restaurant.

So a good aul hubub atmosphere on a friday nite with room for more. Toilets in pristine condition despite no urinial which i found surprising and reckoned the good condition of the lav was likely on account of the earliness of the evening and the gentlemanliness peaking at 30% higher than normal.

For casual dining i found it a little gem and id rate it 9/10 for the trio of the overall experience, the quality of the food and staff attitude.

**Footnote: The play 'The Reckoners' turned out to be a disappointment poor i thought. On these fringe festivals their purposefully short synopsis never leaves you fully knowing what your in for. It turned out to be a real fast paced introspective dialogue between 2 actors the whole way through and was akin to a monologue than anything. Cant blame the 2 actors who performed to a tee but jasus it was grim enough and hard work to sit through for us and you need a bit of levity in a play otherwise what's the point unless your a psychotherapist always having the sniffers out for the grim life.

[Lord Sir Banter]

Mutbs?

[V for Vendetta]

Great stuff Rounders. We should have a date review thread as well.....

[shrapnel]

Mutbs?

and you call yourself a poker player?

Monster under the bed syndrome

[Raoul Duke III]

Surprise us.

[rounders123]

Great stuff Rounders. We should have a date review thread as well.....

Might be an idea but i got dropped on the Col du Tourmalet after the 2nd date. English wasnt her first language so that play must have been torture for the poor girl. But maybe telling her pre date that i didnt want cubs(oh yeah i told her that) and the 12 years difference realization kicked in to her after the date(she was that much younger). The whole dating thing is a big lie really. You be a phoney you get found out eventually, you be truthful your signing your death warrant early. Theres no such thing as a good guy so whats a happy balance. The fact i cant be a phoney means im usually shot on the spot.

[Raoul Duke III]

Might be an idea but i got dropped on the Col du Tourmalet after the 2nd date. English wasnt her first language so that play must have been torture for the poor girl. But maybe telling her pre date that i didnt want cubs(oh yeah i told her that) and the 12 years difference realization kicked in to her after the date(she was that much younger). The whole dating thing is a big lie really. You be a phoney you get found out eventually, you be truthful your signing your death warrant early. Theres no such thing as a good guy so whats a happy balance. The fact i cant be a phoney means im usually shot on the spot.

Need to play the whole 'let's talk about you' line there rounders!

An experienced operator like yourself should be able to gloss over such topics, ideally with some line like 'kids are OK - but I couldn't eat a whole one' then referencing it back to WC Fields, thus conveying a sense of literary sophistication and keeping her laughing (hopefully) which is the key in such scenarios. Get yourself a library of about a hundred quotes like that and you should be able to deflect all such bullets.

Mostly, keep her laughing. And keep pouring wine. And pay for stuff like you're a big shot. Wimmins like that.

[elbows]

Dublin restaurants are on the absolute piss take with their Christmas dinner menu offerings.

We do a lads dinner every Christmas for last 5 or 6 years.

1st Year Rolys - this was decent and not a rip off but long time since I have been and I had a run in with the manager one Sunday for lunch so wont be back.

2nd Year Mint - Unreal meal, best tasting menu I have had with the wine really bringing out the best in the food. Dropped €250 a head. They offered us a glass of champagne at the start and we thought that is a nice touch. until we got the bill €25 a glass.

3rd Year L'Ecrivan - Didn't do the tasting menu. Had to send back 2 of the mains as they were luke warm. No atmosphere in the place and it was half empty. They gave us a free drink and a guy I knew at the table next to us gave me a tip in Dundalk that won and paid for the meal.

4th Year Les Freres Jacques. Decent enough meal and reasonable value but not outstanding.

5th Year Greenhouse. Great meal. 2 things let it down though as the wines on the tasting menu were not great and the Cheese trolley was stationed close to our table and all you could smell was cheese. Food was outstanding. Dropped €150 a head.

Last Year Fade St. Social. Thought the tapas thing would work and had been a few times with her in doors but it was a complete mess. Would not go back in a big group.

This year - Haven't booked anything yet and the Christmas set menu for most restaurants is crap.

I would recommend going super fancy or cheap and cheerful. The ones in between are never worth it IMO.

Might do Brookwood. Heard mixed reports but I haven't been. They get their steaks from Higgins in sutton cross and I have had a few steaks from there that have been great.

Good luck.

[HiCloy]

Dublin restaurants are on the absolute piss take with their Christmas dinner menu offerings.

Always do, unless you have a reason go in November/January, easier to arrange dates then too

[ionapaul]

just checking that people would be happy to switch to Friday 5th rather than Saturday 6th for the xmas dinner? not definite to switch just yet but checking in with ppl><

I can do the 5th if you change from Saturday night.

[Raoul Duke III]

Dublin restaurants are on the absolute piss take with their Christmas dinner menu offerings.

Switch to January. We'll be welcomed with open arms and no trouble getting a booking. Plus proper menus and people have no Xmas-themed excuses. Winner all right!

[V for Vendetta]

just checking that people would be happy to switch to Friday 5th rather than Saturday 6th for the xmas dinner? not definite to switch just yet but checking in with ppl><

No afraid not. I vote for January if it makes life easier and the menus better.

[ghostface]

Might do Brookwood. Heard mixed reports but I haven't been. They get their steaks from Higgins in sutton cross and I have had a few steaks from there that have been great.

Good luck.

Was in Brookwood over the summer on work day thing. Thought it was really good and tables upstairs would be great for group of lads. Very nice craft beer selection if into that and pork belly starter was fantastic, can't really remember the mains!! Steaks seemed decent price too

[Raoul Duke III]

Bull and Castle (FXBs): beside Christchurch

does not inspire me to a review. The meat is good as befits an FXBs but my ribeye was not cooked to order and the 'Cajun onions' were as truly revolting an offering as I have ever seen. The maitre d' is a grumpy bollocks although our waitress was friendly.

One of the few places in Dublin where you can get a same day booking for a Saturday night`. This says all kinds of things, none of them good.

5/10

[Strewelpeter]

Dublin restaurants are on the absolute piss take with their Christmas dinner menu offerings.

Switch to January. We'll be welcomed with open arms and no trouble getting a booking. Plus proper menus and people have no Xmas-themed excuses. Winner all right!

sounds good to me.

[ionapaul]

I'm so bad at remembering to add to this thread, despite providing a good few reviews over the past two years!

Anyhow, some quick words on a few restaurants we've been to recently:

Shanahan's - four of us had a lovely meal there a few weeks ago. We all skipped starters, the girls each choose to for the Petit Filet, while my brother and I opted for the Filet Mignon. All were perfect, and the sides (creamed spinach, onion rings) were more than decent as well. The service was fine, nothing extraordinary I thought - it was extremely busy though.

Pizza e Porchetta - this restaurant is just down the road from us, where The Bridge restaurant used to operate. It serves fine, if unspectacular, fare; I had a creamy risotto (can't remember the specifics unfortunately!) and the wife went for a pasta dish. Service left a bit to be desired, it was quite busy and they were under-staffed as a result. It was fine but I wouldn't rush back.

Kajjal - we went for a Sunday brunch here two or three weekends ago, it's a nice Pakistani restaurant near the seafront in Malahide. I can't remember the exact cost (we were treated by the in-laws ) but it was very reasonable; a starter, main and glass of wine/cocktail for around €25 or so. I think my starter was tandoori cod, and I was given two big pieces of fish - as much (or more) than you'd get as a main in other places! My main was some kind of amazing beef curry, it was bliss. There was also some live music during brunch, some nice classic crooner-era songs delivered by a piano-singer duo. We'll defo go again!

[Ed]

Restaurant Name: Ananda

Their tandoori monkfish is ridiculous.

Bad at food reviews but went to Isabels recently - very good.

[Goodluck2me]

Just had lunch in Diwali on geogre street. Won't do a full review as I'm on the phone but the review would read... Get the prawns. Incredible incredible spicy fillet of prawns is how I would describe them on a menu!

Trying to arrange diary to jump on the Horsehead bandwagon.

[Raoul Duke III]

Restaurant Name: Saison

Location: Kildare St., Dublin 2

Website: heyor

Price Range: €€€€

This review concerns seasonality and temporality, both of which abstractions were at the forefront of my thoughts on a recent jaunt to Saison, a new venture located on Kildare Street. Saison inhabits the space formerly known as Town Bar and Grill, where the movers and shakers of that dead beast formerly known as the Celtic Tiger used to disport themselves back in the days when we innocently imagined ourselves to have cracked the ancient mystery of alchemy. Our gold turned out to be of the fool's variety but I was mining for something equally rare and precious - a restaurant on the way up. Restaurants in my experience fall into several fairly well-defined categories. The first of course is the place that has no ambition, for the very good reason that it has no reason to. Only a few choice establishments can churn out five star grub, there's no point chasing the rainbow of Michelin (how did a rubber manufacturer ever end up being a byword for escluent excellence?) when you simply haven't got the raw materials to get there. Much better to keep it mid-market, keep the punters happy and keep the doors open. Given the margins in this market, this is almost certainly the most sensible course of action for any budding Ramsay or Escoffier. There is of course a sector of joints that are on the way down. It might be cruel to mention these by name but being a cruel and vicious individual by nature, Bon Appetit, and L'Ecrivain do spring to mind as prime examples of the breed. The final and most scarce category is that of the place that is clearly on the way up. Maybe it's a curiosity of the Irish dining scene but you tend to find very few of these in Dublin (and fewer still outside). Saison, I am glad to say, is an exception to this rule and the rubber bandits of Michelin could well be appointing them with a star before too long.

Being a basement space, there was never going to be much that the new proprietors could do with the environs and, sensibly enough, they had given it the lightest of decorative touch-ups when we wandered in off the eerily quiet street that houses our national talking shop. We were greeted smilingly by the disturbingly young front of house staff (more likely we are merely becoming disturbingly old), our coats whisked away and offered the choice of a pre-prandial drink or dispersal to our table. With the place perhaps only a third full, I opted for a drink in the bar area. We ensconced ourselves upon two high stools and pondered the immutable mysteries of the cocktail menu for a few moments. "I'll have an Old Fashioned" declared Mrs Duke unexpectedly. Unsure as to what this was but feeling more old-fashioned than youthfully progressive, I joined her in this choice. Two Don Draper-ish drinks were soon placed in front of us (bourbon, bitters, lemon since you ask) and we nibbled on some very good olives and crispy yokes whilst persusing the menu. This offered a full range of two, three and a la carte options and, most rarely for me, every single dish sounded like something I would happily eat. Turbot, pigeon, ox cheek, mushrooms, venison, duck and truffles, lots of truffles, were much in evidence and provided fulsome evidence that Saison is well-named.

We selected from this bounty of autumnal goodies and were shown to our table in the back without further ado. The wine list is not overly long in the style of some more pretentious establishments, yet is well-chosen and ticks a considerable number of Old and New World boxes. I pointed the finger at a St Emilion, sat back and awaited our vittels. Whilst engaged in this pursuit, the narrow dining room was filling up with a variety of people, all of whom it could be safely said were neither property developers nor TDs. These creatures formed a large part of the previous clientele which perhaps explained the rather extreme number of mirrors dotted about on the walls. A waiter hove into view in one of these refractory scenes, bearing our starters and our thoughts were redirected towards food and seasonality. Mrs Duke had chosen scallops paired with black pudding, a sauce Jacqueline (me either) and orange endive. This was a spectacular rendition of what can be a rather jaded dish but I managed to outshine it with my pigeon. Two perfectly-cooked, juicy pigeon breasts were paired with an incredibly deep and dense sauce, in which there was certainly much evidence of truffle. Spectacular and mopped up with fried brioche, sage and 'forgotten vegetables', whatever they may be, this was as good a seasonal dish as I've had in years.

Truffles are a curious beast and people tend to have extreme reactions to them. My own opinion is that this reaction is largely coloured by people's attitudes to sex as there is certainly something carnal in the taste and odour. Hardly a fitting subject for the dinner table so I kept this thought to myself as we reminisced about what Mrs Duke still claims was the finest dish she has ever eaten - scrambled free-range eggs with grated black truffle. This revelation cost us all of four euro in a tiny cafe, high up on a hillside in Umbria. I don't think I've ever eaten a white truffle but there must surely be some quietly living in silent corners of Irish forests, possibly with some gourmet hedgehogs and badgers feasting upon them in style. Bastards. Back to the food. We had bread, a slice of maltily dark Guinness and a revelatory piece of pumpkin bread that shone through with flavour. The St Emilion was also doing its stuff for the occasion and our only fear was that we might not last the pace to dessert, having promised to meet an English marathon runner at ten. Mains arrived, for MDIII tea-smoked Blacklion duck with beets and some other gear on the side. She seemed extremely satisfied but I can't say I was paying much attention as I was fully preoccupied with my own dish - braised ox cheek with a truffle moussleine, ceps and trompettes. The truffle, unusually was not grated, but rather sliced very thinly so that it melted into both mousseline and the sauce. The ox cheek itself had clearly been slowly cooked with care and attention for many hours and this manifested itself in sticky, dark, falling-apart meat. A testament to the fact that the most spectacular meat dishes do not always have to involve the most spectacular pieces of meat.

The bottle was upended for the last time and we realised we were running out of both time and intestinal real estate. The marathon man was taken care of with an ambiguous text and we examined the dessert choices in the kind of sumptuous coma that only the very best food and hospitality can induce. MDIII selected a cheeseboard and I, having contemplated a chocolate fondant, instead went for a coffee parfait mille feuille. This came with a warm yeast doughnut. I'm not sure why the kitchen felt the need to mention the temperature of the yeast as I was under the impression that all yeasts require a bit of warmth to get them jiggy with it. In any case, this too maintained standards although I was possibly a little too satiated to fully appreciate it. Mrs Duke's cheeseboard was far above standard with six or seven very well-presented French cheeses. Our waiter talked us into having thirty year-old tawny port which I was initially sceptical of (his opener of "do you know much about port?" was guaranteed to provoke a response) but I am prepared to say it was a superb accompaniment to both desserts. Nutty, sweet and dense. Much like myself. Service was impeccable and friendly throughout. We eschewed coffee in favour of bolting to make our long-distance liason. The hatchet was dropped at €174 which I rounded up to an even two ton - I have eaten many meals in this price bracket which took the piss in terms of being a value concept but this certainly was not one. Go.

9/10

[Guest]

Had some white truffle powder in Thorton's one time with some dish. Seemed like the crack cocaine of the food world tbh.

You're right about L'ecrivain, didn't deserve to retain its star imo. Haven't been to Bon Appetit in about 18 months, but it was poorer than previous visits.

Also, I was outside your gaf at 9 O'Clock this morning. Nice work with the decorations

[Raoul Duke III]

Also, I was outside your gaf at 9 O'Clock this morning. Nice work with the decorations

stalker

[elbows]

Found a great app for searching for wine. Vivino. You can take a picture of the bottle or search by name and has reviews and rrp in your area.

[SatNav]

Found a great app for searching for wine. Vivino. You can take a picture of the bottle or search by name and has reviews and rrp in your area.

my friend swears by that!

[Mellor]

Found a great app for searching for wine. Vivino. You can take a picture of the bottle or search by name and has reviews and rrp in your area.

Shit that exists?
I was only saying the other day something like that would be handy

I was also thinking if stored your own wines and how you rated them personally

[elbows]

Shit that exists?
I was only saying the other day something like that would be handy

I was also thinking if stored your own wines and how you rated them personally

I thought it would be great idea for an app and then of course it is already out there.

[Tar.Aldarion]

I don't think I've had truffles prepared well, I feel they have potential. Anyway, on to a rather cheap meal at a pop-up vegetarian-vegan restaurant. Not actually a restaurant, more of a weekly event with changing menu

Restaurant Name: Sova Vegetarian Butchers

Location: Weekly event at Paris Wine Bar on Frenchmans lane

Website: https://www.facebook.com/SovaFoodVegetarianButcher

Price Range: €

Not much for reviewing like above, but I will say the food was cooked to perfection and the chef was a lovely guy with a passion for raising standards of food. Off his feet cooking it all, serving it, taking the money etc. I can't believe it was all 12.50, felt like gourmet food to me. The venue itself is really really nice, small french wine bar with great old music, cosy and nice interior, old styled, has a piano to be played and so on. Bit of sinatra and wine.

So I wandered in with my brother (quite the meat-head), I ordered a French wine obviously, which came with a plate of breads and mixed oils, lovely. This comes with all glasses of wine. My brother ordered water but was given wine anyway, as I assume water=wine in France. When he said this to the girl serving she didn't seem to get the problem, are you ehhh enjoying it? Girl herself was great, typical beautiful mysterious smoking French girl.

I will be lax describing the food, but will merely use shit quality photos. I'm uncivilized like that.

On to the starter and I had veg tartare with chilli:



My brother had the aubergine with pesto risotto:



At this point my brother was surprised by how good it all was.
For the main this broke down into murmurs of "fabulous" and "best food ever"...talking about tofu, which he hates.


For my main I had Hot Teryaki Tofu, pineapple+coconut rice with bean salad:



My brother had hummous, avocado, pickled gherkin, sweet potato cream, seaweed, soya mince burger. With this he had swet potato and carrot chips.


For desert we both had raw chocolate banana cake thing:



Quote from this was "I've never tasted something like this, I want it all in my mouth now"
It all went down great with the wine (as you can guess a wine bar has some fairly good wine)

I really don't know how he is making money with this food or is it to show off his cooking skills as a sample. It was a one night pop up restaurant in the wine bar but seems to be repeated in various places now and again.


I'm heading along again this Friday with a larger group. makes a nice change from the last few vegan places that have popped up and were poor value or poor quality.


This Fridays menu:

[Raoul Duke III]

Vintage Kitchen again last night. On form as usual.

Would be some spot for a Horsehead Elite BYO evening of fine wine appreciation.

[Denny Crane]

Vintage Kitchen again last night. On form as usual.

Would be some spot for a Horsehead Elite BYO evening of fine wine appreciation.

Is it true there's a two month waiting list for a table?

[Raoul Duke III]

Is it true there's a two month waiting list for a table?

Fri/Sat dinners, yes I believe so.

[Raoul Duke III]

Vintage Kitchen again last night. On form as usual.

Would be some spot for a Horsehead Elite BYO evening of fine wine appreciation.

Right, gonna do this. Aiming for last week Jan or first week Feb. Get in for 8 and leisurely eat and drink our way through the evening. This is not an official Horsehead Elite function.

Express interest below and I will look to book later this week. GAB will be sharing his Chateau Lafite Rothschild.

[Hectorjelly]

Fri/Sat dinners, yes I believe so.

I waited about three months I think.

[Raoul Duke III]

I waited about three months I think.

booked out for last Friday of Jan already

[Raoul Duke III]

Want to go into town on Sunday for Lunch - where should I go and why?

If you haven't been, I think you would like San Lorenzo

[mocata]

Have been told I can pick restaurant for annual company dinner treat. London mid January, no budget restrictions last few years were Ramsay's flagship, gaucho piccadilly, hawksmoor air street. Le gavroche already booked out until February, any other suggestions? A few non-foodies to considered, so not overly experimental ideally.

[Guest]

Dinner by Heston fo' sho'.

[Goodluck2me]

Geranium restaurant, Copenhagen

Restaurant name: Geranium

Restaurant location: Cooenhagen FC stadium

Restaurant website: www.geranium.dk

Restaurant price: €€€€€

To contextualise this luncheon excursion, my favourite tasting menu in years took place the night before in Era Ora, a perfect execution of seven courses (two of which contained my most hated foods and were delicious) and I won't be reviewing it as it was utterly outclassed the next day.

My favourited gastronomic experience was to be just around the corner, and boy did I come unprepared. The restaurant is unusually located in the eighth floor of the Copenhagen FC stadium. The couple of large grey bulls inside the door beside the lift turned out to be quite prophetic.

We were greeted by several very helpful, yet not saccharine, hostesses whose offer of a pre-prandial was gladly accepted by our party. Selections included only craft offerings (outside wine) so a local dark beer, wheat beer and apple juice were selected, all of which managed to tickle the taste buds more than the average Del Monte. We sat with wonderful views of the city's rare green areas through the abundance of floor to ceiling windows.

We were seated shortly afterwards with no menu offered, just a simple letter produced to the host of our party containing options for the long menu (23 courses) or the short menu (16 courses) & prices. We opted for the latter as our timing budget only allowed for three hours (and came close to overstepping). The restaurant also offered a juice pairing as opposed to wine which I thought was a nice touch especially for lunch visits.

The menu of 16 includes 9 courses and seven "snacks" which differed in taste and size but never in quality. Whenever a plate was produced it was never immediately clear what was edible and what was decorative which provided amusement, consternation and awe in equal measure.

The first snack was preceded but a nice show of creating hand towels from what seems like after-dinner mints. The cocktail sticks made out of breadsticks certainly tasted as expected but set the tone of things to come. We sat and waited for what to put them into until it was explained...

The next snacks included Jerusalem artichoke trees served with a cream in a hollowed out walnut, candid carrot shell with mars time foam (I'd have bet money on these being baby tomatoes), charred potato & sheep ill butter (looked like burned potatoes but didn't even resemble that), a pear and lemon verbana (never hard of this but think thin slices of each lined on too of each other), dill-stones set like jelly with a monkfish centre served with horseradish and pickled cucumber granita (think slush puppies), tiny loaves of bread the size of the nip of your baby finger, razor clams in edible shells, another involved a trip into the kitchen to be served cep soup in little faux-faberge eggs and despite the obvious gimmick value it was enjoyable.

The courses included lobster in juniper aroma, rhubard with bees was ice cream, duck sausages, followed by a duck confit, oysters served with a cauliflour sauce (sounded and smelled horrible but somehow I enjoyed the taste!) (not served in that order). The final desert was a pine (yes pine!) covered chocolate egg straight from the fridge with a soft white chocolate caramel centre, pure bliss!

There are a few other courses which I've forgotten as I didn't write them down at the time. The chef won the Boccuse D'Or in 2011 and the restaurant has two Michelin stars which should give an indication as to its quality.

It's probably 5/5 stars in pricey (€2000 for 6 with plenty wine) but it was certainly somewhere I'd go again.

[Guest]

Lovely dinner in Thornton's tonight. He really puts on a show with the food and the various plates/dishes/bowls it comes out in. Was out to us twice personally to talk about bogs and fishing for prawns. Find the guy's accent very hard to understand tbh! Anyway, still well worth a visit.

[newbie2]

Have been told I can pick restaurant for annual company dinner treat. London mid January, no budget restrictions last few years were Ramsay's flagship, gaucho piccadilly, hawksmoor air street. Le gavroche already booked out until February, any other suggestions? A few non-foodies to considered, so not overly experimental ideally.

Dinner by Heston fo' sho'.

[Guest]

Why is that crazy?