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Address: 16 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4PT
Telephone: 020 3405 1222
Website: www.tokurestaurant.co.uk
Date of visit: 9 January 2012
Costs: Around £20 per head
Wines and beer: Several Japanese beers (500ml Asahi £5.50) and sake (big range and prices). Wines available but they are nearly all down market screw tops.
Likes and dislikes: Clinical, efficient service. Service charge appeared as another food/drink item on the bill. Items are coded so you have no clue what you ordered unless you read the original slip or have a good memory.
Cuisine: Japanese
Summary:
This is a new restaurant opened since Japan Centre moved from The Piccadilly to Lower Regent Street. The “cafe” still operates in the Japan Centre.
The place is packed with Formica (or MDF) tables and chairs like an Ikea showroom. Tables are laid for 4s or 6s. Most of the customers are non Japanese.
I have always wanted to try this place – been opened for a year – as Japan Centre (Acton) wholesales sushi grade fish. I assume that the place will be good for sushi and sashimi.
The menu offers the usual range of noodles and bento rice boxes. You can actually order tapas style at around £8 per dish.
I opted for the sushi set as the people at the other end of my table (for 6) were eating sushi.
The sushi set (£21 – including a nice bowl of miso soup) was an enormous plate of various types of sushi, easily enough for 2 people if you have a normal appetite. Except for the maki rolls, nothing was repeated. You get 6 types of fish (including grilled eel and prawn) on rice (normal sushi) and a whole selection of rolled sushi – chopped egg, fish etc.
The fishes were fine but the rice can be improved – it was a bit soggy and had no taste. Sushi is a great art – takes years of training in Japan – and is not something anyone can master in a few months. The rice is probably the most difficult part to get right, you are talking about the state of the rice, how vinegary the rice is, the display and the state of the fish. Its not something that Yo Sushi chefs can master and that is why they mainly serve up “maki” or chopped fish rolls. The rice here is above Yo Sushi grade but still poor. The wasabi was also poor – probably came ready mixed and out of a tube.
Looking around, I see that the sushi chef was oriental – was he Japanese? The ramen chef was European – probably Eastern European and most of the serving staff were Chinese.
For £21, you can’t complain as you will probably get half the quantity in a proper Japanese in Soho with a Japanese chef. I recalled that I ate at Sushi Yamada (New York) several years ago. I got about a third of what I got here for $120. I was still hungry when I left but I decided that if I re-ordered the same again, my expenses will look horribly out of place.
As the fish here was good quality, next time, I’ll go for the sashimi and have tempura as my carbohydrate.
e
Subject: 2010 Burgundy Tasting
Date: 9 January, 2012
Host: Charles Taylor Wines
Venue: The Travellers Club, Pall Mall London
Note: Charles Taylor deals with trade customers ONLY. So prices quoted are trade prices per case (duty paid but no VAT). Retail price would probably attract a 50% mark-up per case. I am summarising by Grower not by vineyard. Where a particular plot of land stands out, I shall mention it.
Summary:
2010 was a very good year. I rate it as 8/10.
The whites (at the bottom end) were better than the reds. Mid price wines were good for both reds and whites. Top end reds not as impressive – value for money. Most reds at the bottom end were low in tannin. So, it will drink well immediately.
Overall, the wines were clean, fruity and very good value when compared with Bordeaux and Italian wines.
Details:
In total 107 wines from 32 growers (most were present) were on show.
Xavier Ritton
The white wines (Marcon, St Vernon) were excellent value. The Pinot Noir Ok. All wines under £100 a case.
Jean- Francois Bordet
The Petit Chablis and Chablis were both ok. However the 1 er Fourchaume lack the buttery taste usually associated with a premieur cru. Prices were £90-£144 per case.
Bernard Billaud.
I wasn’t sure about the Petit Chablis (£104). The Chablis (£112) was ok.
The 3 !er cru (Les Vallions, Mont de Milleu and Monde Tonnerre) were all impressive -£155, £172 and £187.
Domaine Saumaize-Michelin
The Marcon Villages (£104) and St Vernan (£112 and £132 for the villes vignes) were all very good. In fact all the St Vernan I tasted were outstanding.
The various Pouilly-Fuisse were all good at around £150 a case. The outstanding wine was Pouilly-Fuisse Clos sur La Roche at £167 a case.
Philippe Chavy
Phillipe Chavy was exhibiting more up maket wines . The Puligny-Montrachets were good . Corvees des Vignes (£230) was nearly as good as the 1er Blagny Sous le Dos d’ Ane (£286). I wasn’t sure about the Les Folatieres (£382).
Vincet Boyer
The basic Chardonnay at £126 a case was good. The more serious Meursaults were fine but noit great.
Domaine Stephane Aladame
The Montagny (£137) was ok but the St Vernan from the previous growers were better value for money.
Domaine Jacques Cacheux et Fils
The Vosne-Romanee was perfumery and soft. This was drinking well despite the fact that it is a cask sample. At £225, it was an outstanding wine.
Not so sure about the Echezeaux (£575).
Domaine Daniel Rion et Fils
All the reds were good but the outstanding wine was Nuits Saint George Vieilles Vignes (£245)
The best of the rest were
Cote de Nuits villages Le Vaucrian (£155)
Vosne-Romanee 1er Les Beaux-Monts (£350)
Jean-Marc Pillot
The Puily-Montrachet Les Noyes Brets (£242) and Chassagne- Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets were the best from this grower.
Jean-Jacques & Agnes Girard
The Aloxe-Corton was brilliant – fruit, depth and price (£175).
Bertrand Devillard
The Mercury (£165) was another find. This nearly matched the Aloxe-Corton from Girad for outstanding value.
Florence Rossignol
To me, the Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Prieur (£435) was the outstanding wine of the show. It had everything and very tannic. Will keep for 20-30 years.
The Chambertin which was the top price wine on show at £945 was totally closed. I could not tell.
For your information:
I purchased
Saint Veran Les Creches (Domaine Saumaize – Michelin)
Aloxe-Corton (Domaine Jean-Jaques Girard)
Mercury ( Ch de Chamiery)
Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Clos Prieur (Domaine Rossignol- Trapet)
The secret is to set up a wine club with a few friends. You can then buy at trade prices. You will also need a cellar to store the wines.
E
January 2012
Address: High Street, Crickhowell, Powys NP8 1BW
Telephone: 01873 810408
Website: http://www.bearhotel.co.uk/
Date of visit: 7 January 2011
Costs: Mainly under £20 for 2 courses
Wines and beer: Several different including Rev James from just over £3 a pint. Basic wine list.
Likes and dislikes: Cosy, old.
Cuisine: Traditional Pub food
Summary:
The Bear Hotel is sited in Crickhowell in The Becons – a walker’s paradise. Although the Inn is approximately 2 centuries old, part of the building dates back to 1400s. The Inn is listed in The Michelin Guide (for accommodation), in The Good Pub Guide (for beer) and in Sawday’s for everything.
I was here for a birthday party of an eminent equine epidemiologist. There were close to 50 of us.
To start with we had black pudding with scallops with a smear of green pea puree. It was exceptional for a banquet food. However, it could do with more oil/sauce as it was quite dry. The pea smear was more for effect than to act as a sauce.
Main course was roast Welsh lamb with roast potatoes, cabbage, carrots and cauliflower. The veg were bit over cooked but still had a bit of a bite – remarkable for a banquet. The lamb was excellent. The potatoes – bit soggy. For dessert, fruit crumble with custard.
Looking at the restaurant menu, it’s all very traditional, steak, sausages, fish and chips, lamb shank etc. The food here are all high energy as most of the clients are serious walkers that will burn off the calories.
After dinner, I started sampling the various bitters (all Welsh) and they were excellent – didn’t have the Rev James.
The next day, breakfast was a serious fry up, eggs, bacon, sausage, black pudding, mushrooms, tomatoes and fried bread. The coffee was good.
By the way, the rooms were pretty good although I struggled with the radiators.
E
Address: High Street, Lane End, High Wycombe HP14 3JG. Large car park.
Telephone: 01494 882 299
Website: www.grouseandale.com
Date of visit: 6 January 2012
Costs: Around £20 for 2 courses. Children’s menu available.
Wines and beer: Courage Best at £3.40 a pint. According to the website, they have other beers so I must assume that they rotate their beers
Likes and dislikes: Very good prices and decent food. Clean tables.
Cuisine: British grills
Summary:
This was recommended to me by the General Manager of West Wycombe Shooting Grounds. Apparently, they take their customers and guests there when catering is required. As I was in the area, I decided to give it a go.
To my first surprise, the pub is enormous with huge bar areas and dining rooms. It will easily sit over a hundred. The second shock was that this is a winner (SE region) of some gastro pub competition.
The menu is very much based on steaks and grills. Specials of the day include venison steak or pheasant – pan fried breast and confit of leg. Both priced at £16.
I went for the 28 day aged rump steak (£14.50) and a pint of courage best.
Whilst I was waiting for my meal, the owners turned up and one of them (Joy) started talking to some celebrity (he knew Chris Evans) on the table behind me. I don’t recognise him as I only watch Sky news, movies or sport. Apparently Chris Evans turned up the other day………
The steak was served on a square plate with a small salad, slice of tomato, a field mushroom, several battered onion concoctions, two sliced of steak and a pot of fat chips. As far as fat chips go, this was all right. But, I am not a fan of fat chips. It’s basically boiled potatoes with a skin. I asked for my steak medium and one piece was medium whilst the other was well done. The only way to cook steak is to have a piece at least one inch thick. This was about 1cm. Now onto the onion things, they were fried onions coated in batter and re-fried – absolutely great. The salad was fresh and well dressed.
It was a pretty good meal. I didn’t get round to look at the wine list but most of the wines behind the bar were screw tops. I know that most of the top wines in Australia, NZ and California have moved over to screw tops. In my view, it is only good for low end wines as the plastic cap does not allow the wine to change. So any wines that need maturing – won’t! I experimented with a few bottles of Plumbjack (USA). The 6 bottles I bought in the US were screw tops (about $80 per bottle). I then discovered that Harrods had the same year with corks (£55). I started opening them 5 years ago – side by side – after they have been cellared for over 8 years. There is no doubt that the ones with corks changed – for the better – whilst the screw tops remained the same. By the way, Plumbjack is owned by the mayor (ex) of San Francisco.
On my way out, I discovered that The Bull and Butcher (Turville) and The White Hart at Harwell are both part of the group. The Bull and Butcher was managed by a lady called Ms Botha. She must have sold up.
Well so far so good in 2012. Two decent meals at very good prices!
E
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/dining/meatballs-lucky-to-be-a-leftover.html?ref=dining
Good article.
E
Jan 2012
Address: Arborfield Cross, Berkshire RG2 9QD
Telephone: 0118 976 2244
Website: www.thebullinnarborfield.co.uk
Date of visit: 4 January 2011
Costs: Around £15 plus for 2 courses. Lunch time specials £8.50, baguettes £5-6. A la carte main courses from £10
Wines and beer: Courage best £3.20 a pint, short wine list with wines (vin de payes) from £11.95. Mad Fish at £21 – low marks ups.
Likes and dislikes: All good.
Cuisine: British and internationsl food
Summary:
There are several Bulls near Reading (Bisham, Arborfield, Finchampstead, Streatley etc) . I haven’t been here for well over a decade. The last time I dines here; I had lemon sole – tiny and bony – with loads of butter. I’ve heard that it has changed hands about a year ago – another pub taken over by the French.
I went one lunch time just before Xmas and was turned away because the place was full. I was there at 1pm today and to my surprise, the car park was nearly full again. Inside around 80% of the tables were occupied with mainly over 60s. I soon discovered why. The lunch menu has main courses at £8.50 and there were 8 dishes to choose from.
The inside of the pub can only be described as functional. It was packed with tables – all devoted to dining.
I settled for a whitebait starter and sausages, bacon eggs, beans and chips (£8.50) for my main course. I also had a pint of Courage Best to go with my meal. The bitter was excellent.
The starter soon arrived and for £4.95, I had a plateful of whitebait with a tub of tartar sauce and a small salad. They were all good. The whitebait was crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. This is probably the best whitebait sine The Five Mile House and The Hand and Flowers. The salad was crisp and fresh and the tartar sauce home made with the crunch of bits of gherkins.
For the main course, I was offered 2 rashes of streaky bacon, 2 eggs, 2 sausages, tub of bake beans and French fries. The worst bit was the streaky bacon. The sausages were firm and crisp on the outside, eggs came with runny yolks and a big pile of French fries – 10/10. Without a doubt, I haven’t had proper French Fries like this for years. This beats triple cooked chips hands down as triple cooked chips tend to be greasy because the fissures around the potato soaks up too much oil.
The food here is fairly non intricate but interesting and they are not too hot on presentation– it won’t get into the Michelin Guide. But it is really good and fantastic value.
If a place is packed on a weekday lunch time, that is a sure sign that it is good.
E