[Food] Restaurant thread 2021

[Goldstone1976]

Sushi Tetsu,Clerkenwell.

Shite. Utter shite. Don’t go.

Unless you like perfection.

Maru is booked for mid Jan. It won’t be as good, irrespective of what Coren says.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Dolce Caffe & Restaurant - Rickmansworth.

My mum used to go out for dinner on her wedding anniversary (today) with my father. They did that for 59 years, until he died in 2015. Since then, I’ve taken up the mantle, supported by the ever-patient and loving GLDHI.

My mum has simple and undemanding food requirements. Except for fish and chips; she’s as picky for that as I am for all dining-out experiences, yet cannot understand why I’m picky about, say, Thai, no matter how often I say “I feel the same way about all restaurants as you do about a chippy”. “Yes, dear, but why do you care about the quality of the rice?”. “Because the quality of the rice is as important as the quality of the batter”. “Yes, I see. But why do you care?”

And on, and on. And f***king on..

She likes Italian. By that, I mean she likes English Italian, which, as we all know, isn’t Italian at all. “How about Locanda Locatelli? We could start with Ribolita.” “No dear, I fancy Italian”.

So we book Dolce Caffe in Rickmansworth - an ‘Italian’ restaurant, which happens to be the #1 restaurant (ex 46) in that town. When I say ‘we’, I use it it royally. A more accurate description would be to be to say ‘the GLDHI booked…’

It’s fish night, with a specials board dominated by, err, fish.

Mum says that she wants to eat moules mariniere, followed by grilled plaice and chips. “Very Italian”, I mutter. “Yes.”, she says.

I have sardines and sea bass. The GLDHI has Nduja bruschetta and sea bream.

I order a bottle of Italian wine: Picpoul.

The bread comes. Lightly grilled Sainsbury white sliced. I f***ing kid you not. “Kin hell”, I whisper loud enough for the neighbouring tables in Uxbridge to hear.

Bad as it is, they still have wine glasses that are better than those presented by some Michelin 1* joints policed by bouncers I could name [MENTION=409]Herr Tubthumper[/MENTION].

I sink lower into my seat.

My sardines arrive. Hello, they look pretty good. They were. As was the bruschetta - very spicy nduja on proper ciabatta. Mum’s starter comes accompanied by chips. “I wasn’t expecting chips with a starter” I say to the waitress. She shrugs in an offhand way.

The main courses arrive. My sea bass was ever so slightly over cooked but really tasty, but the GLDHI’s sea bream was perfect. The “skinny fries” had let themselves down a bit and put on quite a bit of weight. The sautéed mushrooms and French (read ‘Italian’) beans with parmesan shavings were fine.

There’s little point recording my mum’s reaction to the food. Anything better than deep fried dog shit is ‘delicious’. For the record, her food was ‘delicious’.

The picpoul turned out to be French.

It was a strange experience. The sardines were damn near perfect, the bass was very good, the sea bream was actually perfect. The veg was ok. The bread was a f***ing joke.

Would I go back? Yeah, maybe. But only the next time my mother wants Italian moules mariniere.

Next up - Sushi Tetsu.

Edit: the music? A mixture of Munich beer hall and up beat French accordion. Awful stuff. The saving grace being that it stopped for an hour before the staff turned the tape over. I silently wept when they remembered. The seating location? On the street under a permanent plastic wrap around awning heated by two space heaters. Warm enough except when the sliding door to the outside was opened (and occasionally left open) by punters, and staff members popping out empty handed and returning two minutes later with something in a Sainsbury carrier bag. Bread, I assume.

As I said, a strange experience.

In many ways your mum sounds very much like my late father, a man who famously voiced a hatred for all "foreign muck" as he put it. Yet when asked what his favourite dish was would always reply Spaghetti Bolognese.

Ok so we all know that Spag Bol isn't really Itailian at all . . . but you get my drift.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Interesting you say this about Lavash. My STAND OUT light luch spot in town is on the same street. The mixed platter from FilFil is a delight, and cheaper than Lavash's offering. If I can interrupt my radar next time I'm in the vicinity, I'll test your claim.

I tried FilFil out the other day, and can see exactly why you rate it. There probably isn’t better value in town, certainly not since that noodle place in Pool Valley closed where you could get a proper lunch for about a fiver (was it Indonesian?). Anyway, I digress, two wraps and a very generous portion of fries (plenty big enough to share) for 16 quid is stoking value and if you just have the falafel wraps you would get all that and another fries and two soft drinks for about 17 quid. Bargain central. The platters did look decent and generous in size but I love a wrap. Solid 8/10 if not 9 just because the pricing is bang on. They seem to do a decent takeaway/Uber eats trade too. Good stuff.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Oh yeah I had a decent enough kebab thing from Alushi which is under the station across from the Albert. Perfect if you need a no fuss quick bite before carrying on the celebrations after we tonk the barcodes next week. The owner is a proper friendly guy. 7/10

 

[Wrong-Direction]

The redrooster cafe/restaurant, not good

Sent from my SM-A326B using Tapatalk

 

[Machiavelli]

I tried FilFil out the other day, and can see exactly why you rate it. There probably isn’t better value in town, certainly not since that noodle place in Pool Valley closed where you could get a proper lunch for about a fiver (was it Indonesian?). Anyway, I digress, two wraps and a very generous portion of fries (plenty big enough to share) for 16 quid is stoking value and if you just have the falafel wraps you would get all that and another fries and two soft drinks for about 17 quid. Bargain central. The platters did look decent and generous in size but I love a wrap. Solid 8/10 if not 9 just because the pricing is bang on. They seem to do a decent takeaway/Uber eats trade too. Good stuff.

Glad you liked it. I sometimes have a wrap, but my more usual order is a medium platter (with no bread, baba and, if they have it, ful medames). Yum.

 

[Springal]

CinCin Vine Street won’t be reopening. Shame as I preferred that one

 

[Hendrax]

Went to Pitch in Worthing last night. Run by the winner of Masterchef, Kenny Tutt.

Very good. Cooked to perfection and the staff were excellent.

Been in Worthing for 10 years now and it is the best food we've had. The old crescent road café used to hold that accolade but isn't around anymore.

9/10

 

[amexer]

Went to Pitch in Worthing last night. Run by the winner of Masterchef, Kenny Tutt.

Very good. Cooked to perfection and the staff were excellent.

Been in Worthing for 10 years now and it is the best food we've had. The old crescent road café used to hold that accolade but isn't around anymore.

9/10

What is cost at Pitch

 

[Hendrax]

What is cost at Pitch

Surprisingly reasonable, considering the quality.

2 people, 2 courses, and 2 sides. £80

My Venison main course, which was fantastic, was £22

 

[Springal]

Burnt Orange doing 25% off gift cards (valid Jan 22 for 12 months)

https://burnt-orange.giftpro.co.uk/vouchers/monetary-voucher-black-friday-sale/

 

[Springal]

Tried out Kenny Tutts new venture Bayside Social.

As the name suggests, slightly more casual / social experience to Pitch. I believe it is open for breakfast / lunch / dinner. Quite small. Small plate concept.

Had the Prawn Tacos (v.good), Steak Burger Sliders with truffle mayo (v.good), Pan Roasted Skate (special) (v.good), duck croquettes (ok), butternut salad (ok), scallops (good) - desserts (dark choc orange fondant & Black Forest Eton mess - outrageous !)

Coupled with a glass of white (partner was unimpressed with all 3 of the white wines she tried) and 1 beer - £88 with service.

Worth checking out - will do very well in warmer weathers as it’s a great location. Also great to see many of the staff who have been at Pitch for a long time are working there

 

[Bakero]

Jay Rayner has paid to a visit to Bayside Social, Worthing. Sounds good. https://www.theguardian.com/food/20...e-social-worthing-riotous-wake-me-up-flavours

 

[Nitram]

Jay Rayner has paid to a visit to Bayside Social, Worthing. Sounds good. https://www.theguardian.com/food/20...e-social-worthing-riotous-wake-me-up-flavours

My better half went a few weeks ago and said it was good.

We went to the new Lime Squeezy Thai restaurant in Jubilee Square, Brighton during the week.
Very impressed. It has been set up by one of the partners involved in the founding of The Giggling Squid.
They do a brunch menu, but we went at lunch time and the menu had plenty of choice and was very good value.
I can see us being regulars there.

https://limesqueezy.co.uk/

 

[Nitram]

Double post

 

[Goldstone1976]

Typical.

I find the 2021 thread to see when the last post was in order to decide whether I post my review of Maru on it or start a 2022 thread, see that the last post was mid-December and start a new thread. Only to discover after posting there are 3 new posts on the 2021 thread.

Apologies.

 

[Bakero]

Typical.

I find the 2021 thread to see when the last post was in order to decide whether I post my review of Maru on it or start a 2022 thread, see that the last post was mid-December and start a new thread. Only to discover after posting there are 3 new posts on the 2021 thread.

Apologies.

When I searched for the thread to post the Rayner review, it had completely slipped my mind that we were now in 2022.

 

[Goldstone1976]

When I searched for the thread to post the Rayner review, it had completely slipped my mind that we were now in 2022.

Oh no; I wasn’t criticising in any way. I was merely reflecting on the fact that it hadn’t been posted on or 6 weeks and then someone did at exactly the same time as I created a new thread, s’all.

 

[Bakero]

Oh no; I wasn’t criticising in any way. I was merely reflecting on the fact that it hadn’t been posted on or 6 weeks and then someone did at exactly the same time as I created a new thread, s’all.

Oh, I know, don't worry. I was just lamenting the inexorable passage of time