Address:  9 Market Square, Amersham, HP7 0DF

Telephone: 01494 726611

Website: www.artichokerestaurant.co.uk

Date of visit: 23 November 2011

Costs: From £21.50 (2 course set lunch) onwards. Budget for £30+ a head plus drinks.

Wines and beer: Interesting wine list with a wide range (price). They have 1996 Les Ormes de Pez at £120 (note: 12.5% service on top) a bottle. I bought this wine at under £15 a bottle and there will still be a couple of bottles left somewhere in my cellar. It is a good St Estephe but not a great one. It will probably retail at the moment for £30 plus. So the mark up here is between 3-4 X

Likes and dislikes: Top notch cuisine at a very reasonable price – the seasoning was just right. They did not go OTT with  salt or sugar.  However, there is an over use of foam – unfortunately, you can’t heat foam up.

Cuisine: Modern European – Haute Cuisine

Summary:

“Old” Amersham is an old market  town and surprisingly enough, there are 3 decent restaurants located within 100 meters of each other. Artichoke is the top one, getting decent reviews in The Good Food Guide  and  The Sunday Times/Harden top 100 UK restaurant Guide. (There is a new Amersham which joins onto old Amersham).

The outside is fairly non descriptive and you could easily miss it. In fact, the outside is very similar to The Fat Duck – grey painted wood etc.

Inside is a bar and modern dining room with brown wood tables and white leather chairs. The dining room has an open kitchen attached to it. There is an outside dining area and another dining room upstairs. Excluding the Garden, the place sits just over 30 comfortably.

I arrived early – first customer – and was greeted by the French Maitre ’D/Sommelier. Within 5 minutes, I was greeted by the chef. They offer 3 menus: set lunch, a la carte and the tasting menu.

I settled for the lunch tasting menu (5 courses and a freebie amuse bouche). This was priced at £35. For another £18, they offer 3 glasses of wine to pair with the meal. I went for it. In the evening, it is £62 for 7 courses.

The place soon filled up. By the time I left, downstairs was full.

As my table looks straight into the kitchen, it was very interesting to observe that they run by stations with the final station an assembly point supervised by the chef. There were 5 chefs in the kitchen, another 4 at the front of house. So for £35 (plus 12.5% service) for the tasting menu, it was very reasonable as the wage bill must be huge.

The amuse bouche was a small cube of ham hock with a quenelle of pease pudding and twoslivers of gurkins on a glass plate. It was good especially the slivers of gurkin which was crunchy, fresh and slightly vinegary.

Next came the soup . According to the menu, it was kohlrabi soup, blue cheese crutons. This was the only disappointment.The soup which tasted like cream of chicken soup was an entire dish of foam. This was in a normal size soup plate not one of these huge plate with a well that can only take 50mls of liquid. There were 4 dollops of cream on it with tasted of blue cheese. The croutons were thin slivers – like a melba toast cut into 5mmX10mm. The trouble with a foam soup is that it can only be served luke warm. I would have preferred this hot.

Next came the pan fried mackerel fillet, baby beetroot, horseradish foam and celeriac remoulade. The beet root was both the normal purple ones and small golden ones which I have never came across. The dish worked well.  The fish cooked just right and the celeriac provided a different taste and texture. With this I was offered a glass of 2010 South African Chardonnay (neil ellis, elgin). The wine was quite minerally and fruity. There was no buttery taste. Although the sommelier said that it was similar to a French, it was more like a mersault.

The main course was a roast pheasant breast, swede puree, brussel sprout leaves, bacon fondant, apple puree. This was sewrved witha shiraz-viognier (willunga 100, Mclaren Vale). The wine was very smooth and non tannic which indicate that the wine was never matured in oak barrels. The pheasant was not too gamey and the skin was slightly crisp. The potato fondant was cooked in a bacon broth abd the sprout came a separate leaves that were still crunchy. It was a well made dish. Slight criticism is that as a result of the presentation, you only get a smear of gravy. The swede puree was there to add extra wetness to the dish.

I was then served a chilled grapefruit salad with granite, jelly and herbs. This was in fact a sorbet with larger ice crystals. It came in a glass rested on a slate. There were groves cut into the slste so that the glass and spoon fitted exactly.

For dessert I had apple press, cinnamon and caramelised honey panna cotta, apple salad, green apple sorbet served on a wooden board.  This was absolutely divine. The apple sorbet sat on a pile of matchstick granny smith apple.  The panna cotta tasted of caramel with a hint of cinnamon. The apple press was like a small cake made up of layers of apples that still had a slight crunchy texture. It tasted of tart tatin without the pastry. With this came my last glass of wine a 2009 muscat de beaumes.I have had musct de beaumes for 20 years and I must admit that I still prefer sauternes for a sweet wine.

Well, you get everything here – plates, slates and wooden boards!

This was a top notch meal at around £50 despite the criticism. I do not understand why The Michelin Guide only gave this place 2 spoons and forks in the 2012 edition. Is it because there is no table cloth? But then The Hand and Flower doesn’t have table cloths.

E

PS The warm bread rolls they serve with the meal were amongst the best that I have ever eaten.

Address:  31 West Street, Marlow, SL7 2LS

Telephone: 01628 898101

Website: www.thevanillapod.co.uk

Date of visit: 4 October 2011

Costs: Tasting menu £55, a la carte £45 for 3 courses. Set lunch 2 courses £17.50.

Wines and beer:  Short but interesting wine list at normal mark up. Expect to pay over £30 for a reasonable wine. Wine by the glass under £10

Likes and dislikes: Wonderful bread rolls, pristine table cloth. Prices slightly on the high side

Cuisine: Modern European – haute cuisine

Summary:

Marlow is becoming a “little” Ludlow with several good restaurants. The cook shop there is very good but unlike Ludlow, the butchers, fish monger and green grocers had made way for other shop. The Compleat Angler is a wonderful hotel – rooms. About three years ago, it acquired a new chef. I last went 20 years ago and never returned as they served me tinned oysters on toast as a first course.

The Vanilla Pod is sited in a town house just to the west of the town centre. There is a paid for car park about 30 meters from the restaurant. This restaurant is rated as 5 in The Good Food Guide and was a regional winner last year – readers’choice.

The restaurant is quite small with 7 tables in a cream coloured room. There is a private dining room upstairs that could take a dozen tables.

This is a proper restaurant with all right ingredients: attentive staff, pristine table cloths and napkins, homemade warm rolls – bacon and onions, cheese, wholemeal etc. You also get proper cutlery with each course including the defunct (in the UK) sauce spoon.

I went for the a la carte which is really a set meal with choices. You get three freebies with the meal – a creamy soup served in a coffee cup, ginger sorbet and petit fours even if you didn’t order coffee.

I found a half bottle of Montage St Emilion 2000 for £21 so I went for it. It was surprisingly bland for a 2000 which was a good year. But then it was from a “nothing” chateau. I used to advise that the year is the most important as when the grapes are right, nothing can go wrong. I need to revise this.

The creamy soup was excellent, very intense and rich. It was celeriac. Next came a wild mushroom risotto. The rice was slightly on the hard side – not quite cook through. I know that a lot of restaurants serve risotto like this but I would have preferred the rice cooked through but not mushy. Bar the rice, it was executed well and full of chanterelles, horns of plenty, ceps etc.

I then had the grouse which attracted £5 supplement. It was a rolled up breast, flash fried and cut into chunks – medium rare. With it came all sorts of well cut/shaped  vegetables – cylindrical, round etc – and a heavily reduced sauce. Highly typical of haute cuisine.

For dessert – yes, I had the dessert as I paid for 3 courses – I had the almond frangipane. It was a penna cotta type of intense almond dollop served with ginger snaps. Words do not do it justice as it came like everything else wonderfully presented.

The overall bill came to £71 excluding service. Not cheap but about right for this type of food.

Address:  1 Macquarie Street, Sydney, Australia

Telephone number:  (02) 9252 2555

website: www.ariarestaurant.com

Date of visit: 11 January 2011

Price guide:  Be prepared to pay A$80 plus for 2 courses from the a la carte. Set meals available.

Comments on wine and beer: Serious wine list with serious price list – starts at $60. Most wines significantly above $100.

Currency : £0.65 = A $1

Cuisine: Australian/ modern European haute cuisine

Summary:

Aria is one of the top restaurants in Sydney. It has 2 hats (Australian Rating similar to Michelin Stars. Top mark is 3 hats). It has a fabulous location – next to the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay. The views are spectacular on a good or bad day.

As it is located near to the opera house, it offers a pre theatre dinner – $42 for one course and $68 for 2 courses.

On the day I went, the choices for starters included vegetarian options, scallops, shashimi, soup etc. Mains include salmon, chicken slow cooked lamb and steak. I had the shashimi and steak.

The shashimi was a take on the Japanese version. It was tuna seared at high heat on the outside, served with ponzu dressing with a touch of soy.

The beef on offer was really a piece of sirloin with an au proive sauce. It came with sweet pickled cabbage, a rissole of mashed potato with cauliflower and a thick slice of porcini mushroom cut along the stem. The presentation was meticulous and the steak cooked medium. It was a great piece of steak on a par with the one in Pony.

I also had a bottle of Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon at $80.

Everything here was old school and represented class – service to cooking

The only disappointment was the toilet. The tiles on the wall were cracked.

I saw Madam Butterfly at The Sydney Opera House after the meal. It was a sensational performance. A very good evening – overall.

By the way, Aria was still packed when I came out of the performance at 10p.15 pm.

E

Address: 29 Maddox Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 2PA

Telephone number: 0207 629 2999

Website: http://www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk/

Date of visit: 2 September 2010

Approximate cost per head: Set lunch £29.50 for 3 courses, a la carte: 2 courses £60, 3 courses £75

Comments on wine list/beer: a top class list from under £50 to hundreds of pounds – this is a serious list with a serious mark up

Summary:

Claude Bosi is the new darling of the London gastronomic world. He used to run a restaurant of the same name in Ludlow and decided to move down to London around 3 years ago is pursue of his third Michelin star. Hibiscus was recently rated as number 49 in the top 50 restaurants in the World.

The restaurant has a modern décor. The dining room is one medium size room with wood panelling at the back.

When I first discovered Claude some 6 years ago, I was blown away by his cooking. I had the menu degustation at £50. It was 7 courses of wonderful food excelling in taste and presentation. Alas with London rates and rent, his prices have gone up astronomically.

There were 5 of us and we had the set lunch. To start with we were offered a amuse broche of  water melon “suspension” which was very refreshing.

Most of us then had the terrine of pork and foie gras  with szechwan pepper and coffee whilst another had the volute of cheese and broccoli. Nobody went for the lobster and crayfish mousse (£5 supplement). From the sound of the menu, you will appreciate that this is very complicated cooking with all sorts of interesting ingredients. I had the terrine and have to confess that it tasted like rillettes with foie gras. I could not taste the pepper or coffee. However it was a master piece of cooking.

Next, there was a choice of silver mullet, mutton moussaka or Anglaise chicken with wild mushrooms , white beans and peanut sauce (£10 supplement).

The mutton moussaka came looking like a slice of terrine. It looked nothing like the moussaka that I knew. The people who had it said that it had all the ingredients – aubugine, lamb (mutton), béchamel sauce, tomato etc but tasted different. They said that it was very tasty.

The rest of us had the chicken which was a ballontine of chicken stuffed with a wild mushroom duxelle with a hint of spinach. It was sliced into rounds and sat on top of a small pilke of  borlotti beans in a light sauce. The chicken skin was crispy and the inside moist.

For desserts, they offered berries with ice cream and honey, blood peach parfait with a white peach sauce and a selection of cheese (£8 supplement). The cheese was served with walnut bread, some sort of crisp bread, grapes and dried figs covered in sesame seeds.

We had a bottle of Abarino (£45), two bottles of Minervois (£59) mand 3 bottles of San Pellergino with the meal. With coffee, the bill for 5 including service charge came to just over £450.

Now, you don’t expect to go to a temple of haute cuisine and get away cheap but, I have to say that the portions were disappointingly small. You get  just about enough to taste. All meals came with no extras – potatoes and vegetables. For example, the Moussaka was about the size of a packet of 5 razor blades. The cheese were 4 small slices. Each one about the size of a 50 pence coin and less than 1cm thick.

I did rate this place as one of the top place for lunch. I still rate it highly but it is not value for money. This reminds me of the old days of Cuisine Nuevo – very pretty, very tasty and a great place not to gain weight.

E

Web site: www.manoir.com

Date of visit: 8 Aug 2010

Approx. cost per head: GBP125 for the tasting menu

Comments on wine list/beer: Comprehensive and balanced – good selection of second wines

Media link:

Review:

We booked a mid-week package which included one night’s accommodation, dinner and breakfast.
The service from the moment we arrived to the moment we left was exceptional.
The tasting menu (Les Classiques du Manoir) was full of dishes which celebrated the fresh seasonal ingredients that are grown in Le Manoir’s own garden.
Every dish was unpretentious, elegant and delicious. In addition, the skilled sommelier advised us of a wine that we would not have chosen ourselves, but suited the food impeccably.
Our review would not be complete without some comment about the breakfast. In a word, exquisite.
We were greeted with an array of  everything you would wish for in a breakfast including the most delicate and fluffy tomato and herb omelette.
Again the staff exceeded themselves.

Web site: www.joelrobuchon.co.uk

Approx. cost per head: 70 pounds

Comments on wine list/beer:

Media link:

Review:

Disappointing.
The four of us had a selection of small tasting dishes to share as a starter; they were competently done but failed to deliver in terms of flavour.
The fresh mackerel on thin tart didn’t taste too fresh; the aubergine canelloni was bland though the red mullet and scallops were good.
Our mains included the sirloin steak, veal paillard and the lobster salad – all OK but not great.
We found our desserts lacking. La Perle de Chou would have been trumped by a Wall’s Magnum. Les Fruit Rouges was only just that with a multivitamin sorbet which may have been long on vitamins but was short on anything else.
Any shortcomings with the food was certainly enhanced by the poor service. Our waitress communicated poorly and frankly seemed disinterested. The sommelier lacked experience and was not able to advise.
Confidence with the staff was lost by the end.
Overall, the food and particularly the service failed to justify the premium that was paid and meet the expectations associated with Joel Robuchon.