Last week I visited Desi Tadka in Southall and had a very nice meal. We deliberately went early to avoid the dancing that occurs later in the evening (maybe we'll experience that another time), but if you are thinking of going then check out this video that shows what it can be like.....
11 September 2009 - Sandeep
I have just heard of an exciting food event happening in London. It is the "London Restaurant Festival" and takes place all over the capital from 8th to 13th October. Highlights include special, fixed price festival menus, "the big roast" at Leadenhall market where top chefs will prepare different roast meats, and a "gourmet odyssey" where can go to three of London's best restaurants on a routemaster bus, and have your starter in one, your main course in another and your dessert in the third.
For something really special, there is the opportunity to have a private dinner, prepared by one of the top chefs, on the London Eye! During the six nights of the festival, a different chef specialising in a different ethnicity of cuisine will be serving dinner in one of the Eye capsules.
Check out the website here for more info on events and participating restaurants.
26 August 2009 - Rajiv
I recently went to a relatively new restaurant in Hanwell called Urban Karahi, and had a great meal. Currently there is an offer on toptable where you can get up to 50% off the food bill. This is excellent value for money - if you live or are ever near the area, you should definitely try it out.
28 July 2009 - Rajiv
We recently received a comment from a reader on the high end Chinese restaurant Kai, which is located in Mayfar. Kai hit the headlines a number of times this year: firstly because it received a Michelin star in January, but more interestingly because it boasts the most expensive soup on offer in England (and the world?) today. The "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" soup contains shark fin, scallops, quails eggs and other delicacies and is priced at £108!! This is a soup with a great deal of history behind it - there is some good information on wikipedia here.
If you've eaten this, or have any other comments for us, please use the links above to send us a message.
22 April 2009 - Rajiv
On Monday Restaurant Magazine and S Pellegrino announced their annual World's 50 Best Restaurants list. The top 50 listing can be found here. For some strange reason, the promoters also publish the restaurants that ranked 51-100 but you have to look on other websites to find that. Top 100.
Some observations:
1) No change in the top 2, El Bulli retains the top spot and The Fat Duck is second again (Heston Blumenthal must be relieved that the food poisoning scare does not seem to have affected the voting). Both these places have "experimental" cooking which I for one love to see, and it's nice to see that the judges of this list feel the same.
2) There must be disappointment for Gordon Ramsay. After many years of being on this list, his flagship, 3 michelin starred restaurant has dropped out of the list completely. To add insult to injury, after breaking away from Gordon Ramsay Holdings, Marcus Wareing's newly titled "Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley" restaurant came in at 52.
3) As well as Ramsay dropping out, the Waterside Inn in Bray also dropped out of the list completely. Both these restaurants have 3 michelin stars but for a while the consensus has been that they are not living up to that rating any more. It is said that Michelin act too slowly to promote restaurants and act too slowly to downgrade them also. It will be very interesting to see next year's Guide.
4) England now only has three restaurants in the Top 50, and only 2 in London - St John (which specialises in "nose to tail eating" or offal in other words) and the Oriental fusion place Hakkasan.
5) The (over-rated) Bukhara in Delhi continues to be the highest rated Indian restaurant on the list (at 65) but it is now no longer the only restaurant in India on the list. It is joined by Wasabi (at 70) which is a Japanese restaurant within the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. This is good evidence of how much the Mumbai restaurant scene has evolved.
As with any such lists, the results are open to debate and in fact even the need for these lists is questionable. Giles Coren has an interesting piece in the Times talking to this point. (I think The Fat Duck lawyers may be reading his comments on that restauant very carefully.)
16 April 2009 - Sandeep
We have received quite a few suggestions recently on restaurants to visit. Thanks to all those who have emailed us. The most recent suggestion is to visit Shezan in Knightsbrige and try the Raan Masala (lamb marinated and stuffed with Basmati Rice and other exotic spices cooked in the North West Frontier Province style). I must say, I can't wait to try this dish!
Another restaurant which is on our list to try is "Trishna". Trishna (the famous Bombay seafood restaurant) has recently opened in London and has received glowing reviews in The Telegraph and The Independent. Head chef is Ravi Deulkar, who was previously head chef of Michelin starred Rasoi Vineet Bhatia.
17 March 2009 - Sandeep
Cruise lovers may be interested to hear about P&O's new ship, the Azura. It is currently being constructed and its maiden voyage is scheduled for spring 2010. The exciting news for foodies is that it will have 11 restaurants, one of which is a fine Indian restaurant "Sindhu" created by Atul Kochhar (of Benares, Mayfair). The menu will be a fusion between fine British and Indian cuisine. Check out the links below.
As British Pie Week is about to start, I thought I would give a mention to Sweeney & Todd Pie shop in Reading. This is by far the best pie shop I have been to, and prices are very reasonable. There are always plenty of varieties available, but I always end up ordering the Cajun Chicken which is delicious.
Second best restaurant in the world shuts down! Well, for one week anyway. The 3-michelin starred Fat Duck in Bray owned by celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal has had to shut for a week after 40 diners got food poisoning! See the full story here.
Update on 12 March - The Fat Duck has re-opened after two and a half weeks of intense testing by the authorities. Despite all the tests, no cause for the food poisoning was found, with the food, staff and equipment all being given a clean bill of health!
15 February 2009 - Rajiv
The results of our first Food Insiders Poll have been counted. The question was "How often do you go out for a curry?" and the results are as follows:
A few times a week = 18%
Once every couple of weeks = 41%
Once a month = 35%
Once every 3 months = 6%
It's pretty much as we expected, the only slight surprise being that there are a fair few of you that go out to your local Indian restaurant more than once a week!
Now we know how often you go, we'd like to know what you eat when you're there. We've started a new poll today - please cast your vote!
15 February 2009 - Rajiv
Last Thursday I went for lunch at L'ortolan. Having lived near this restaurant for around 10 years I am well aware of what an Ortolan is - a type of bird similar to a Bunting. I was also aware of the controversy surrounding the eating of Ortolan in France, which I shared with my dining partners. For those of you that are interested, I copy here selected information from wikipedia that gives the (gory!) details.
"The ortolan is one of the dishes of French country cuisine. It is now against the law to sell them in France - but not to eat them.
For centuries, a rite of passage for French gourmets has been the eating of the Ortolan. These tiny birds - captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac - were roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God.
Ortolans used to be netted in great numbers, kept alive in an artificially lighted, or darkened room to disrupt their feeding schedule, and fed with oats and millet. In a very short time they became enormously fat and were then killed for the gourmet French table. If, as is supposed, the ortolan be the miliaria of Varro, the practice of artificially fattening birds of this species is very ancient.
Francois Mitterrand's last meal included this specially prepared bird which was illegal to prepare and eat at that time."
Also, you can watch Jeremy Clarkson find out about, and eat an Ortolan here (from 2002):
11 February 2009 - Rajiv
If you like the sound of a Double Bacon Hamburger Fatty Melt (pictured on the left here) then you will love the website This is Why You're Fat. It is a collection of photos of "deliciously gross food". Be warned, their tag line is "where dreams become heart attacks"!
10 February 2009 - Rajiv
On Saturday I went for a meal at Benares in Mayfair. You can read my review here. My favourite dish was "Crisp-fried spicy John Dory with grilled tomato chutney, cucumber salad and crushed peas", which is a dish that was created for the BBC Great British Menu series. I just found that the recipe for this dish can be found on the BBC website, so for those of you that are budding Michelin starred chefs, check it out here.
21 January 2009 - Rajiv
After a trip to the US last summer, I blogged that "Fast food burgers don't get any better than at In-N-Out Burger. This is my favourite fast food chain in the world".
I was therefore really interested to read Giles Coren's article in The Times at the weekend, where he says "The main reason I went to California was to have dinner at the French Laundry, which was voted best restaurant in the world two years running. But none of the 20-odd dishes I ate there has stuck in my mind half as well as the burger I had at In-N-Out."
I have tried to get a table at the French Laundry on all of my last 5 visits to California with no success (they only have 17 covers) so it is nice to see Mr Coren say that I haven't missed much!
18 January 2009 - Rajiv
The 2009 Michelin guide for the UK is out later this week, but the details on stars added and taken away have been leaked here.
The two restaurants that caught my eye immediately were Tamarind and Chapter One. After visiting Tamarind around 15 months ago, I wrote "Overall, having eaten in quite a few michelin starred restaurants, I would suggest that this establishment no longer deserves this honour." Michelin seem to have the same opinion and have taken away it's star.
Seven months ago, I visited Chapter One and wrote "Overall, this was a great dining experience. The decor, ambience, service and cooking were all very high quality. I understand that this place lost it's michelin star in 2007, but from my experience I would not be surprised to see it regain one." Again, Michelin seem to have the same opinion as they have given this place a star for 2009.
This year's UK & Ireland Guide will be available (officially!) in shops from 23 January.
15 January 2009 - Rajiv
January is a time when restaurants usually struggle for trade, and thus there are always some great offers around. One of my favourite restaurants The Hand and Flowers has started a Set Lunch menu at £10 for two courses and £13.50 for three courses, which is exceptional value. We have listed some more special offers below. Happy eating!
We were sent this Food Map of India, which is worth sharing. It shows all the different regions of India and recommends "must try" dishes from each place. It is amazing how much variety of food there is in the Indian subcontinent. It's not all Chicken Tikka Masala! (Click on the image for a larger version).
29 August 2008 - Rajiv
I went back to Imli tonight and had another very good meal. They are doing a special 2 for 1 offer at the moment which represents excellent value for money. For £22.50 per couple you get 8 dishes, naan, rice and then dessert. They make a killing on the drinks (£3.95 for a small Cobra!) but nonetheless this is a great offer.
The set dishes are: Aloo tikki; Coriander Vadi; Papdi chat; Chennai fish; Southern Lamb curry; Chicken Haryali; Masala Grilled Chicken; and Prawn Ajwaini. The dessert is Fig and ginger ice cream, which was actually very creamy - a cross between ice cream and kulfi. The standard was the same as when I last visited and reviewed. The quality of the meat in the lamb dish is still questionable, but the prawns were not over-cooked this time.
Well worth a visit whilst this special offer is on.
16 August 2008 - Sandeep
I went to the Covent Garden Night Market last night and had a great time. It was much better than the recent Taste of London event in Regent's Park; it was free to wander around, the food was reasonably priced, there were hardly any queues, and there was space to sit down and eat. It all made for an enjoyable evening.
If you live/work near London then I recommend you go and check it out. Click here for more info on the Market, and here to view some of the photos that I took.
9 August 2008 - Rajiv
There were a large group of us at a friend's house tonight when we decided to get some Indian food delivered. One of the guys there suggested we order from Omi's Restaurant in Southall as his family own the place. After calling in the order and arranging a taxi to deliver it all the way to Marlow we had a quite a long wait for our food, so what I tasted was probably not truly representative of the real quality of this place, which is why I have not written a full review (I hope to visit the restaurant properly some time and write a review at that point).
Having said that, there were some real highlights to the food that was delivered. The menu has no less than 9 types of paratha, and the Aloo Paratha I ate was probably better than any other I have ever tried (to be perfect I would have liked it to be slightly crispier, but I think the taxi journey probably spoilt that). Also, the Aloo Methi was extremely good - potatos cooked to just the right consistency and with the right level of spicing. Vegetable and Meat Samosas were generously filled and did not seem as though they were bought-in frozen and then just fried, they did appear to be home made.
The other dishes were Karahi Chicken, Karahi Lamb, Sheek Kebab and Daal. The three meat dishes were fine, in particular the chicken had a very nice flavour to it, but I was not impressed with the Daal. Overall this take away tasted as if it was freshly made, home cooked food and the prices on the menu are also very reasonable. Definitely one to try if you are ever in Southall.
19 July 2008 - Rajiv
I have just returned from two weeks in California where I tried a lot of different foods, but did not change my overall opinion about restaurants in America. I am sure there are lots of great places dotted around (The French Laundry is regularly in the top three restaurants in the world) but at the level below that, there are far fewer good restaurants than in London.
Maggiano's Little Italy is a chain of restaurants that seem to specialise in huge portions that could feed an army. We ate at the one in Santana Row in San Jose and we had enough food left over for another full meal. Most dishes were poor compared to any high street Italian in England.
Another chain restaurant in Santana Row was Yankee Pier - specialising in Seafood. Whilst this was slightly better, the meals just seem like they are coming off a conveyor belt with little or no thought put in by the chef.
Amber India is the name of two restaurants (same owners) in Santana Row and Mountain View. They regularly win awards for the best Indian in the San Francisco Bay area. This just proves that we are spoilt with the quality of Indian restaurants in England, as this would score a 6/10 at best for the food - although I did have a truly great starter: Aleppy Fried Prawns (Tender Prawns marinated with Chili Flakes in a rice flour batter served with a peanut sauce). I would happily go back here just to have that again.
Crustacean is another chain, this one specialising in crab mainly but also lobster. It is located in the heart of San Francisco and is a nice place to go for a meal "experience". Cocktails are good, and the few crab dishes on the menu are equally good served in the shells with all the paraphernalia needed to work your way through the meal.
After Crustacean we went for dessert at yet another chain restaurant - The Cheesecake Factory. The one we went to was on the top floor of the Macy's building on Union Square right in the heart of San Francisco. The location means that this is just as much a tourist attraction as a restaurant and so getting a table at any time of day involves a long wait. Although they have a full menu, there are many people who, like us, go there just for dessert. I found this place to be another that typifies the American cliche of huge portions of average cuisine. I have had much better cheesecakes elsewhere, but not the size found here nor the variety.
Sam's Anchor Cafe is a waterside bar / restaurant in Tiburon near Sausalito. There was a strange crowd here - the restaurant (indoor and outside) was full of families and older diners, but the bar area was full of very rowdy students drinking huge amounts of beer. The food was not great here.
The Americans do two things really well - steak and burgers. We went to Forbes Mill Steakhouse in Los Gatos where I had an 8oz Kobe Filet Mignon. This was not authentic Japanese Kobe beef (it was from Australia) but it was still extremely good - I don't think steaks get much better than this. And fast food burgers don't get any better than at In-N-Out Burger a burger chain operating only in California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. This is my favourite fast food chain in the world. If you ever are in one of those four States, you have to try a "Double-Double Animal Style".
Finally, the purpose of my trip was work and part of that included a Corporate team building evening centred around cooking a 4 course meal. The organisers (Hands On Gourmet) ran the event wonderfully, and the tuna starter (pictured above) was one of the best dishes I had on the entire trip.
11 July 2008 - Rajiv
As a PR stunt to launch their new Bollywood On Demand movie service, Virgin Media commissioned the Cinnamon Club to create the world's hottest curry - and the Bollywood Burner is the result. You would never want to order it, but you may want to watch someone else try some.....
21 June 2008 - Rajiv
Tonight I visited the Taste of London event at Regent's Park. To borrow some phrases from television, for foodies this event will either be "food heaven" or "food hell". With forty of London's restaurants each serving three dishes, the 120 options on offer are enough to satisfy all tastes. Add to that a whole host of food and drink suppliers who offer samples, tastings and a chance to buy; plus cookery classes and demonstrations from top chefs; and I can understand why for some people this event would be the highlight of the food year - and thus their food heaven. However, if you value top-class decor, ambience and service in your dining experience, then the zoo that is this event will not be to your liking. If you want every dish in your meal to display flawless cooking skills, then events catering for masses will also not be top of your list - and thus for these folks this would be food hell. For me it was somewhere in between. I appreciated the chance to sample the style of dishes from some restaurants I have yet to visit, but was disappointed that I found only a couple of them to be outstanding.
We started at Le Gavroche (where the chef de cuisine is Michel Roux jr and which has two Michelin stars). There we had "smoked chicken and foie gras terrine with lentils and truffle vinaigrette". This was one of the two exceptional dishes of the evening, the combination of flavours working really well together, with the lentils providing a perfect balance to the richness of the other ingredients. The next dish we had here was "Braised beef in red wine and creamed potatoes", which was well cooked but something which probably could be found in any gastro pub across the land.
We then moved on to Cocoon (a pan-Asian restaurant on Regent Street) to sample their Wagyu beef dish - "Slices of Wagyu beef on hot rocks with Champagne teriyaki". This was my first experience of the legendary Wagyu beef (for those of you not familiar with this, see the wikipedia page here). Although the Champagne teriyaki was great, the hot rocks did not really work when catering en-masse and the beef was certainly not the best I have had - a bit of a let down. I would like to re-try Wagyu beef in a proper restaurant setting to properly form an opinion.
As we walked past Le Cafe Anglais we could not resist trying their "spit roast belly pork with lentils" (because the crackling looked so good and because the lentils in the Gavroche terrine had left a good impression). The dish was fairly simple, but cooked very well.
Next up was Cafe Spice Namaste (where Cyrus Todiwala MBE is Proprietor and Executive Chef). This was one of four Indian restaurants with stands here. I have already eaten at Benares and Tamarind (the review for the latter is here) and the menu at the Cinnamon Club did not look great, so we chose Cafe Spice Namaste as our Indian fix for the evening. The first dish here was "Murgh Kheema Baida Roll: Crisp fried spring roll made with masala omelette filled with curried chicken mince, rolled in pastry and fried". The concept was better than the execution here. The spring roll pastry was too oily, then the masala omelette and minced chicken did not particularly complement each other. Next we had "Xacutti de Cabrito: Andrew Sharps Renaissance Herdwick mutton cooked in the worlds greatest, most complicated and intricate curry made using twenty two ingredients and served with pulao". This is a Goan dish which many folks regard as the best curry dish ever, due to the number and complexity of spices used. I was not convinced about this when I last had the dish, and was not converted tonight - the spices seemed to all merge together rather than each being recognisable.
Last stop was L'Atelier du Robuchon. I have been to this restaurant in Paris (see review here) but not to the London version, both of which have one Michelin star. Here we stared with "Crispy langoustine fritter with basil pistou". This was the second outstanding dish of the evening. The langoustine melted in the mouth, it was a shame there was only one piece! Then we had to queue for what seemed to be the most popular of the 120 dishes on offer at the event (they ran out of ingredients during the evening and had to go and source more) - which was the "Beef and foie gras burger with lightly caramelised bell peppers". This was a small patty of ground beef (cooked rare) with a piece of foie gras on top all inside a toasted brioche bun. About as posh a burger as you can get (although the Boxwood Cafe does do a veal and foie gras burger which might win the prize) all it lacked were the fries to go with it! It was here that we finished with dessert - "Chocolate Sensation: creamy Araguani chocolate, bitter chocolate sorbet and Oreo cookie crumbs". This did not really work for me, all the different elements did not hold their own and the result was a chocolate mess - great for chocoholics but not an intelligent, well designed dish for me.
As an aside, we watched a cookery demonstration by Marcus Wareing (chef at the two michelin starred Petrus) which turned into a bit of a farce after Marcus realised half-way through cooking his salmon dish that he had used sugar insted of salt to season the dish. However, what was interesting was that Marcus talked about his disagreements with, and split from Gordon Ramsay, which he said should be completed by September. It will be interesting to see what happens to Marcus when he is no longer under the Ramsay Holdings umbrella.
Given the portion sizes on offer, the entry price, and the prices of each dish, this is not a cheap event to go to, but I think all foodies need to go at least once to decide if it is their food heaven or food hell.
18 June 2008 - Sandeep
We have had several new reviews added to the site over past few weeks - be sure to check them out. Recent restaurants reviewed include Francesco's (Pizza/Pasta), Namaste Lounge (Indian club), and Shanghai Blues (Chinese). We have also added two more guest reviews, one of Mango Tree (upmarket Thai) and the other of The Royal Oak (countryside pub/restaurant owned by Michael Parkinson).
The world's most expensive burger started selling today in London (Burger King, Gloucester Road). It is priced at a whopping (no pun intended...) £95! If you do try it, then please send us an email and let us know what you think!
And finally, great mangoes and strawberries are in season at the moment so make sure you get some. If you haven't had the fortune of trying Alphonso mangoes then I encourage you to do so...you don't know what you're missing!
15 May 2008 - Rajiv
Which city has the best Indian food in the world? According to Michelin-starred Atul Kochhar, the chef patron at Benares, it is London!
6 May 2008 - Sandeep
Hope everyone had a good bank holiday weekend. I tried out a new breakfast dish at home, "Huevos Rancheros", from a receipe I found online. This is a classic Mexican breakfast, and is basically fried eggs served on hot corn tortillas, covered with refried beans and salsa. I thoroughly enjoyed it - I recommend you try it out!
On Sunday morning I went to a French Farmers' Market in Marlow, where I stocked up on Breton crepes and French biscuits which I look forward to eating over the next few days. Please let me know if you know any good crepe receipes!
Yesterday evening I went to Gourmet Burger Kitchen on Chiswick High Road. It was ok, but not brilliant. Check out my full review.
4 May 2008 - Rajiv
We had a family party this evening and had Haveli cater for us. We had ordered 3 starters:
* Chicken Tikka;
* Vegetable (Punjabi) Samosas; and
* Chilli Paneer
The chilli paneer was very spicy but very flavoursome, you just had to carry on eating it even though your mouth was on fire! The samosas were about as good as samosas can be, the pastry and filling were both exceptional. The chicken was not at the same level. Though the spicing was good, the pieces were far too big (seems like they cut some corners because of the large order size) and they had dried out slightly.
For mains we had ordered:
* Murg Tikka Lababdar;
* Saag Aloo;
* Haveli's Dal Desi; and
* Pilau Rice
If you go to Haveli I would thoroughly recommend that you try the murg tikka lababdar and the dal desi. These are genuinely Indian dishes (by which I mean that they are not English creations like chicken tikka masala) that you don't find in every Indian restaurant here. (The chicken pieces in the lababdar were also too big, but I think I am being too picky here!)
In our review of Haveli (which was based on their Sunday buffet) we rated them a 5B. The food we had this evening was clearly much better, probably a 6 or 7.
Everyone at the party loved the food, and we would definitely ask Haveli to cater for us again - the food is very tasty, the quantities they give are more than sufficient and they are reasonably priced. If you have an event where you want to serve Indian food I would recommend using Haveli.
30 April 2008 - Rajiv
Tonight I had a very nice meal at The Sun and Stars in Holyport. One of the desserts we had was a chocolate croissant bread & butter pudding. It reminded me of the "Most Lethal Dessert in the World" that Jonathon Ross talked about on his show. For those of you that did not see the show, enjoy....
Tummies is a restaurant, deli and cookery school in Cippenham. Last night I went to their cookery school. They offer simple (what they call One Toque) courses up to more advanced (Three Toque) courses. The format revolves around the preparation of a meal by the head chef Claude. He shows you how to get yourself organised so that when your guests arrive you will not have to spend hours in the kitchen! The courses are mainly demonstration, and you get a full recipe pack and are encouraged to take notes and ask questions throughout.
We had booked the Three Toque Ultimate 2 menu. Claude prepared two starters:
* Pan-Fried Foie Gras with Warm New Potatoes & Quince Jelly; and
* Lemongrass Skewered Monkfish with Ginger, Coriander & Coconut Salsa
Then for main he cooked:
* Roasted Rack of English Lamb with Minted Yogurt Dip; with
* Moroccan Style Couscous; and
* Roasted Sweet Peppers with Fresh Mint & Almonds
Finally for dessert he prepared:
* White Chocolate & Baileys Mousse
The cooking was split into two parts - the pieces you can get done ahead of time (90% of it as it turns out) and then the bits you do when your guests arrive. You then get to eat what has been prepared - which is obviously the best part!
I think this is a great concept. Firstly, you get some great recipe packs that you feel confident you can use because you have seen the dishes prepared in front of you. Secondly, you get a professional chef giving you a lesson in how to cook for a group of people in terms of how and what to prepare well in advance so that there is only a limited amount of work to do when you are serving up. Thirdly, you get to eat a 4 course meal at the end.
We paid £60 each which includes all (unlimited!) wine, water, nibbles to begin, the 4 course meal, coffees and all recipe packs etc. Whilst the cooking is certainly not of michelin star quality, I think this represents good value for money.
If you like having dinner parties at home then you should book yourself on one of these courses.
23 April 2008 - Sandeep
I had a great meal at Spice Merchant (formally Cookham Tandoori) at the weekend. Check out my full review. Although the evening was slightly spoiled as when I returned to my car having finished my meal, I found it had been hit by another driver. Not only that, but most of the impact went onto the front wheel, rendering the car undriveable. So I've had a busy couple of days talking to insurance companies and car garages! If you do go to Cookham for a meal I recommend you don't park on the busy, narrow high street but try and park around the corner if you can.
Do you fancy a snack to go with the expensive coffee that Rajiv mentions in his previous blog? How about a burger for £85 from ...... Burger King! No, I'm not joking. It will be made of wagyu beef and garnished with foie gras and rare blue cheese instead of ketchup and cheddar. It will also boast side orders such as black truffles. It will be on sale in selected branches next month.
And finally, the world's 50 best restaurants in 2008 has been announced. El Bulli in Spain tops the list, with Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck in 2nd place. Bukhara (Indian restaurant in New Delhi) was named Best in Asia. For the full listing, click here.
21 April 2008 - Rajiv
Two new reviews from me this week - the Garden of Gulab in Reading which was not as good as in days gone by and the Devonshire pub in Chiswick owned by Gordon Ramsay.
In addition to these, on Friday I had a meal at The Tower Brasserie in Windsor which is part of the newly refurbished Harte and Garter hotel. They have done a great job on the refurbishment, it is really smart now.
Then on Saturday I re-visited Bina Tandoori for another take away test. I may have to reconsider the previous rating, because this time I found Brussel sprouts in my biryani sauce - that is just wrong!
Finally, coffee lovers amongst you may like to try the new blend being served in London now called Caffe Raro which is thought to be the most expensive cup of coffee in the world. After reading how it is made here, I might give it a miss.
13 April 2008 - Rajiv
A busy week for eating out, I hope you enjoy the new reviews. Tonight we went to The Seasons restaurant at Baylis House. This is an interesting venue which unfortunately seems to be struggling for custom. They currently have an offer on ("In celebration of our award for Best Indian Restaurant of the Year 2007, Express Series"). It is the first time I have heard of a restaurant being voted "best" and then giving a special price offer on the back of it, but it's good news for customers anyway. For £9.99 you get a 3 course meal from a set menu. There is a choice of 4 starters (2 meat and 2 veg), 4 main courses (again 2 meat and 2 veg) and then a choice of 2 desserts. The main courses are around half the size of the a la carte portions but are served with rice, dal and naan bread. Very good value indeed. The offer is available every day until May 15th.
31 March 2008 - Sandeep
No eating out this weekend; after 3 weeks of eating out on holiday we decided to enjoy some home cooked food! On Friday my wife made Indian style Fish (marinated with Coriander) which was very nice. Went to my parent's on Saturday, where we had Masala Mogo for starter, followed by Methi Chicken, Potato Curry and Rice. So all in all, a good weekend in terms of food! :-)
25 March 2008 - Sandeep
My wife and I got back from holiday last night and had an amazing time. If you are into your food and wine, then South Africa is a must. Furthermore, compared to the UK, it represents excellent value for money.
Thanks to Klaus and Chris of 2inn1 Kensington (where we stayed) for the excellent restaurant and sightseeing recommendations, and for looking after us so well in Cape Town. (I highly recommend the 2inn1 boutique guest house to anyone visiting Cape Town - www.2inn1.com.
I will upload the restaurant reviews soon - watch this space...
16 March 2008 - Rajiv
Two restaurant visits this week, but six reviews added to the site! This is because I found the notes from some restaurant visits I did before this site was up and running (or even dreamt of). Hopefully I can find more of these in coming weeks as it would be a shame if I have lost them all.
The restaurant visits were Spice Oven in Caversham and Haveli in Slough, and the notes added were from afternoon tea at the Dorchester, The Hare and The Hand and Flowers gastro-pubs and the (now closed) Savoy Grill. As always these reviews can be found by clicking on the Reviews tab above!
You will also see that we have added some advertising to the site this week. Since we pay for the restaurant visits ourselves we have to recoup some money from somewhere, so it would really help us if you visit some of the sponsors on either side of this page :)
9 March 2008 - Rajiv
It has been a fairly quiet week for me. My only restaurant visit was on Thursday where I went to The Tamarind Tree in Wokingham. I had wanted to visit this place for some time now. Since I work in Wokingham and regularly go into the town center at lunchtimes I had seen the place open a few months ago and had also heard good things about it.
With a couple of friends from work (one still at Palm and one who has now moved on) we started with a few drinks at The Three Frogs. This pub used to be a dive but has been recently refurbished and is now a great place to go for a drink and the food has improved enormously.
We had not booked a table at the restaurant and there were some worried looks from the waiters when we turned up at about 7pm but they found us a table in the corner. Read the review by clicking on the link in the latest reviews section below.
The weekend food was pizza and home-cooking so no new reviews!
2 March 2008 - Sandeep
My wife and I are going on holiday to South Africa tomorrow so there will not be any updates from me for a few weeks. I will hopefully have lots of reviews to write when I return!
2 March 2008 - Rajiv
My first blog on this site! It has taken a while to get the site working as we wanted, but it is pretty much there now (we did all the coding ourselves starting from almost zero knowledge). The main work now is to build up the number of reviews we have on the site - which means testing many more restaurants :)
if you stumble upon us (no marketing has been done yet) please let us know your thoughts.
I have just heard of an exciting food event happening in London. It is the "London Restaurant Festival" and takes place all over the capital from 8th to 13th October. Highlights include special, fixed price festival menus, "the big roast" at Leadenhall market where top chefs will prepare different roast meats, and a "gourmet odyssey" where can go to three of London's best restaurants on a routemaster bus, and have your starter in one, your main course in another and your dessert in the third.
I recently went to a relatively new restaurant in Hanwell called 
We recently received a comment from a reader on the high end Chinese restaurant 
Last Thursday I went for lunch at 
If you like the sound of a Double Bacon Hamburger Fatty Melt (pictured on the left here) then you will love the website 
On Saturday I went for a meal at Benares in Mayfair. You can read my review 
After a trip to the US last summer, I blogged that "Fast food burgers don't get any better than at In-N-Out Burger. This is my favourite fast food chain in the world". 
I have just returned from two weeks in California where I tried a lot of different foods, but did not change my overall opinion about restaurants in America. I am sure there are lots of great places dotted around (The French Laundry is regularly in the top three restaurants in the world) but at the level below that, there are far fewer good restaurants than in London.
Tonight I visited the Taste of London event at Regent's Park. To borrow some phrases from television, for foodies this event will either be "food heaven" or "food hell". With forty of London's restaurants each serving three dishes, the 120 options on offer are enough to satisfy all tastes. Add to that a whole host of food and drink suppliers who offer samples, tastings and a chance to buy; plus cookery classes and demonstrations from top chefs; and I can understand why for some people this event would be the highlight of the food year - and thus their food heaven. However, if you value top-class decor, ambience and service in your dining experience, then the zoo that is this event will not be to your liking. If you want every dish in your meal to display flawless cooking skills, then events catering for masses will also not be top of your list - and thus for these folks this would be food hell. For me it was somewhere in between. I appreciated the chance to sample the style of dishes from some restaurants I have yet to visit, but was disappointed that I found only a couple of them to be outstanding.
