Le Gavroche

Went to Le Gavroche for dinner with the wife last night. Liked it. Fancied most things on the menu and particularly liked what I ended up ordering (lobster salad followed by Scotch beef — wife had octopus and soft–shell crab followed by turbot — “Aux Perdrix” 2004 Nuit Saint Georges followed by a Delamain Cognac to drink).

Labels: diary, eating, london

Paternoster Chophouse

Went to the Paternoster Chophouse for a dinner with work. Didn’t like it. Nothing I really fancied on the menu and didn’t particularly like what I ended up ordering.

Labels: diary, eating, london

Trinity

Went to Trinity in Clapham on Saturday night as guests of friends from the ’hood who have managed to get out and move to south west London. I had crab and apple salad, followed by venison casserole, followed by cappuccino crème brulé. Wines were a nice Croze Hermitage blanc, followed by a French Malbec, followed by a marc de Bourgogne (a tradition that harks back to a visit to a place called Soulard when we were still in the ’hood). I thought that the food was very good indeed: recommended. The venison casserole was particularly good on a cold night: chestnuts, seasonal vegetables and very tasty venison. Bonus celebrity spot: Marcus Waring.

Labels: eating

Nice dinner

With two fingers up to AA Gill, I am going to write about a restaurant I went to last night. Dinner at Gordon Ramsey at Claridge’s hotel. Definitely among the swankiest restaurants I have ever been to. We had a six course tasting menu. I was impressed. The food was good and the service was spot on. My favourite course was probably the main: a meaty slab of halibut with an autumnal red wine sauce that tasted like it had been swiped from a venison recipe. The addition of bacon and mushrooms completed the hearty, keep–out–the–cold October flavour. The other half liked the scallop dish best; delicate and fresh, wrapped in pasta, with a foamy saucy and subtly spicy sauteed peppers. Good stuff. We asked the sommelier for a wine recommendation (first giving an indication of menu choices and price–bracket — the most expensive bottle on the list being ten Gs!) and he suggested that we try a 2005 Beaujolais (Jean Foillard Morgon ‘Cote du Puy’) because it would go well with the scallop and halibut dishes which comprised the two central courses. Tasty wine. Quite different from the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz that we more usually drink (the grape apparently being Gamay; the wine produced using organic methods). A pleasant buzz, indeed. I wouldn’t mind buying a few bottles, in fact.

All in all, an extremely enjoyable evening. It’s nice when you go to an expensive place and are in no way disappointed.

Labels: diary, eating, london

I was irritated when this article reminded me what a total patronising git AA Gill appears to be in his column. I remember why I do not usually read AA Gill.

Labels: eating

Prompted by an email from nickyg, what do we think of the idea of making traditionally unhealthy snacks more healthy, at the expense of taste? Many of the brands of crisps are running the “X% less saturated fat, same great taste” line. But the taste is rarely the same, and any change is invariably in the direction of less, rather than more, “great”.

The email points out that now Wheat Crunchies, one of the great snacks, have jumped on this bandwagon, with a full “50% less saturated fat” claim. Apparently though, they now taste rubbish.

Shouldn’t unhealthy snacks be left unhealthy and tasty, with grown–ups left to decide for themselves (and appropriately guide their children) on sensible consumption? This sort of thing would never have happened while the brand was still part of the Sooner Snacks of Scunthorpe portfolio. Crisps are the one thing in which this nation still leads the world. Let’s not throw it all away on some misguided health kick.

Labels: eating, snacks