Richard Bagnold

I have some very fond and nostalgic memories of this place for numerous reasons and came here as a treat after running the Berlin Marathon. Although I have not been to the other establishments of this food chain, my three experiences here have all been highly pleasurable. The pan roasted foie gras on fried brioche toast and sweet chutney to accompany is frankly one of the nicest things I think is available in London(!) however a long walk or run during the day would be advisable to do to earn the calories this one dish alone will yield. The tiger prawns with tempura batter and wasabi mayonnaise was an absolutely lovely other starter.

The steak at Goodman is one of the best around with a delightful choice of American or Scottish fillets and a helpful explanation with different cuts before hand as per Gaucho if one requires. The flavour of the US fillet as I had on this occasion was luxurious and rich however I had a log chat with the head m’tradee on why Goodman do not rest their meats after cooking, which was obvious to me as it was actually a little dryer than most places, with bleeding also visible on the plate (resting obviously retains the valuable juices inside).

The steak at Goodman is one of the best around with a delightful choice of American or Scottish fillets and a helpful explanation with different cuts before hand as per Gaucho if one requires. The flavour of the US fillet as I had on this occasion was luxurious and rich however I had a log chat with the head m’tradee on why Goodman do not rest their meats after cooking, which was obvious to me as it was actually a little dryer than most places, with bleeding also visible on the plate (resting obviously retains the valuable juices inside).

I was escorted in to the kitchen and shown the level of how long the meats are hung and dried prior to cooking (up to 3 months in some cases) and the choice to not let the meat rest was a deliberate move by the chain (certainly at Canary Wharf branch). The bottom line reason turned out to be to enhance the flavour without being disguised by the juices of the meat and this is the only part I have a minor issue with in that I prefer my steak to have its juices as is actually the essence of the meat.

However, a vat of their rather superb sauce béarnaise soon saw to any lack of moisture. The chips at Goodman are superb, juicy but crispy enough with the crucially correct size however the lobster macaroni was a bit stodgy and the cheesy spinach was far too filling and heavy as opposed to being creamed and lighter in its forte so there is a mixed bag on the sides. It is however a superb steak option and thoroughly recommended for you to make your own mind up at – the starters I have mentioned are absolute givens for enjoyment but everyone will have a very specific preference for which kind of steak they are most happy with – certainly at Goodman there is great weight of care in their preparation and the products are definitely a solid thumbs up.

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A charming brasserie located in Mayfair and simply did not fail on many counts with me at all, less the inability to have a set menu option. The oysters with pork were a delight as was the steak tartare and the potato salad was the nicest side of potato salad I have ever had. The soft shell crab with lemon mayonnaise was a little heavy but all in, the food was superb. It had a very easy feel to the place and I recall staying here for a good three hours on a Saturday lunch as there were not many diners and so we took our time, steadily working through the menu. If you have the time to do so, I would thoroughly recommend doing so as it is a delight to do that there for all these reasons.

Food Grade: 85%

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Set in the Annex to the Lerbach Hotel approximately 20 minutes away by car from Cologne Centre, this was another bespoke venue where as one enters, it is clear you are entering a formal and temple-like venue for food. As a Saturday lunch (an additional, belated celebration for my Birthday) there were only sparse numbers of customers however, as a 3 Michelin starred venue it also opened my eyes to how different places in the world have such utterly different expectations. To explain: a 3 Michelin starred restaurant with this sort of view overlooking one of the most picturesque towns in the world, if it were to exist in the UK, would be insanely difficult to book in the UK, but they just seem to be everywhere in Europe and actually not very difficult to get a place at – something that the locals seem to be almost blissfully unaware of how lucky they are!

Anyway, the crux of this visit was that the style and design of the dishes was highly imaginative and entertaining – from a shell and a walnut that literally looked exactly like these but turned out to be sauces for different courses, to langoustines being barbequed on the table to your preference, to iced pepper resting on a giant ice cube at the ready to excite the mouth and balance the nitro-cheese parcels. All exceedingly clever and innovative. The but? Simply put, I cannot remember any dish making me sing or providing genuine wow moments in terms of the flavour – it was a superb show of real technical skill but one which will rest in the privilege memory bank. Almost sounds arrogant when looking at what I had had, but frankly that’s why the price for the meal simmers at around the £270 mark per head for luncheon. I will say however that the belly of pork cube was among the best I have had – the only shame of the meal being that that is the only bit I remember as an immaculate moment.

Anyway, the crux of this visit was that the style and design of the dishes was highly imaginative and entertaining – from a shell and a walnut that literally looked exactly like these but turned out to be sauces for different courses, to langoustines being barbequed on the table to your preference, to iced pepper resting on a giant ice cube at the ready to excite the mouth and balance the nitro-cheese parcels. All exceedingly clever and innovative. The but? Simply put, I cannot remember any dish making me sing or providing genuine wow moments in terms of the flavour – it was a superb show of real technical skill but one which will rest in the privilege memory bank. Almost sounds arrogant when looking at what I had had, but frankly that’s why the price for the meal simmers at around the £270 mark per head for luncheon. I will say however that the belly of pork cube was among the best I have had – the only shame of the meal being that that is the only bit I remember as an immaculate moment.

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A lovely treat to be able to come here during the summer and was superb to enjoy everything on the terrace and inside with the frontage doors open on this occasion. The tasting menu on this occasion was another lovely show, but yet again, only so so on the richter-happy scale. The meal was clean-cut, well presented and entirely pleasing but I have had better tasting menus at many 1 Michelin starred venues and so, for the price, one is basically paying for the brand and alluring view / venue here. I don’t think I need to hurry to return but it would be nice to take the future Mrs B here when the time comes – that is pretty much the sort of venue it is.

Food Grade: 77%

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This is a great place in its location, design and fun atmosphere all in one place. For those that like Japanese food, it is done well here and there are obvious signs of careful construction and presentation that go in to the dishes served. I’m fairly sure by the looks of how packed the bar was, that there are simply many people that come here just for the bar itself owing to the type of clientele that it attracts and the location being a trendy and affluent part of town so it is not the quietest venue on a busy night for diners to be aware of.

For those that have come specifically for the food, I don’t think there is any worry here at all, apart from the fact that the prices of the dishes are bumped up purely on where it is in London. The quality of the tuna, sushi and sashimi were all good and the seabass with yuzu sauce is an absolute no brainer to go for – absolutely excellent, even if there was a bit of oversight on the slightly burnt edges. The other negatives were the desserts which one can tell immediately were weaker than the other dishes.

For those that have come specifically for the food, I don’t think there is any worry here at all, apart from the fact that the prices of the dishes are bumped up purely on where it is in London. The quality of the tuna, sushi and sashimi were all good and the seabass with yuzu sauce is an absolute no brainer to go for – absolutely excellent, even if there was a bit of oversight on the slightly burnt edges. The other negatives were the desserts which one can tell immediately were weaker than the other dishes.

A great place to have a meal out with perfectly decent cooking and food if you are a fan of Japanese cuisine, albeit with a quite a loud and trendy veneer.

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This was a fine meal and the sprial staircase that leads down to the restaurant puts you in no doubt that you are entering a lovely venue and will serve as a very safe bet for any occasion where one wishes to give their partner a very nice experience. That is, after you have managed to find it through various pharmacy and other retail stores including walking through an area of a book store just to get to it.

This L’Atelier is a lot bigger than the West Street (London) branch and being right on the door step of the Champs-Élysées, it is a lovely location to step out in the sun light, on a summer’s evening after being suitably lucbricated inside. This however, does come with a price tag and for two people to have just a couple of drinks and two dishes each will easily put three digits on the actual price tag.

The dishes had on this visit were actually very similar in design to those had in London including the seared foie gras, boar starter with potato sheet across the top and as a slight change, the lobster salad and rabbit dishes also proved to be highly elegant and undeniably sexy all round. The signature chocolate mousse with circular dark chocolate ring on top I have seen many times in the London venue and as pleasant as it was, it simply made me puzzled why this one had two stars and the former only has one star (as in Las Vegas and in Japan alike) as I honestly couldn’t see any difference. Granted I only saw a fraction of the menu in the flesh but those were the honest gut impressions on looking at the menu and from what I saw. However, not regrettable in any way, and the overall effect was one of complete contentment, especially in the effects that the restaurant had to the onward shape of that evening. Thank you, Mr Robuchon.

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To celebrate my Birthday with a very select food-friendly few, the nearest 3 Michelin starred venue to my place of work was one hour down the road in the peaceful hamlet of Osnabruck. Having never been there it was nice to go via the German Deutche Bahn with a bottle of ‘poo’ along the way. The lovely finihs to this was that on arrival at Osnabruck station, a chauffeur was by his car, at the ready to take us to La Vie (I got wind of this on the phone to them and of course seized the option) – a very nice touch by the restaurant. Canapés at the bar were amongst the most intricate and carefully prepared I have ever come across and were beautiful to look at and eat.

The main thing to say on this tasting menu was that the meal was a 5 hour marathon, and that was fine with us as the price tag was not exactly cheap at €300 per head all in, however for what we received and at the level it was delivered, I was entirely happy. The courses has superb creativity and there was entertainment in them the whole way through; the head chef came and spoke to us at length at the table and his wife looked after us to an unparalleled standard, inviting us to have our drinks taken to the garden for us to have smoking or natural breaks when required. The married couple who own and run La Vie fall in to a lucky bracket as they clearly love their jobs and are at one looking after their guests as if this establishment was their own home. We were made to feel entirely welcome and could not have been catered for in a better way.

The main thing to say on this tasting menu was that the meal was a 5 hour marathon, and that was fine with us as the price tag was not exactly cheap at €300 per head all in, however for what we received and at the level it was delivered, I was entirely happy. The courses has superb creativity and there was entertainment in them the whole way through; the head chef came and spoke to us at length at the table and his wife looked after us to an unparalleled standard, inviting us to have our drinks taken to the garden for us to have smoking or natural breaks when required. The married couple who own and run La Vie fall in to a lucky bracket as they clearly love their jobs and are at one looking after their guests as if this establishment was their own home. We were made to feel entirely welcome and could not have been catered for in a better way.

My only niggles with this visit were that I was approaching max capacity with the richness and volume of food on the menu, however one of the pre-deserts was quite incredible as having that course actually made me less full as was its purpose, so that was very clever. The other aspect that lowered the overall rating was that I didn’t enjoy the curry paste to go with the fillet steak and the iced flakes of cheese were clever (the cheese course being literally as per thick, ice cream flakes I didn’t think worked as I could not feel like it was a clever twist on cheese, more a very sour and unpalatable ice cream – the mix of sweet and savoury did not go unfortunately. However, overall this meal was spectacular in its design and there were some fine moments from the entirely fresh mackerel and superb liquid-centred doughnuts at the end. Lunch here would be a better option for value for money.

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This is a charming hotel in Cologne and original as well as a converted water tower. The top floor holds the 2 Michelin starred La Vision where I had an impressive meal. Sadly however, it was the view from the rooftop bar where pre-dinner drinks were taken which was the most memorable part of the evening. The courses themselves were beautifully prepared and presented but it really was the lagoustine with mushroom based jus that was the only one I recall being delicious; all the others were mainly decorative and unoffensive. A lovely meal all round though, but my lasting memory is that what was presented relied on the exterior for its impact rather than the actual substance which was actually quite plain and uninteresting.

Food Grade: 67%

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No matter what the occasion, it will be very difficult not to make it even more pleasant with the views and setting that the Burj Al Arab’s top floor Skyview Bar offers. Overlooking the great Palm and the Arabian Sea it’s best to come here during the daylight to maximise the experience. That really is its trump card because unfortunately there is quite a bit that one can say why it is slightly overated. The £114 per person for afternoon tea would have been acceptable if the food was at the top of its game but sadly this was not the case and I also felt let down somewhow on entering that the design was simply….bad. Modern yes, but really it almost felt like an attempt at being ultra modern and only revealing a lack of genuine class in its miss.

The afternoon tea was pleasing to the eyes and the service was admittedly to a very high standard and that was good. However, the general quality and design of the food were on par with the most basic of caterers for private functions in the UK and wouldn’t even come close to being put in the Michelin guide as just a recommended place, let alone getting any where near the territory of a star to give an idea of the overall impact.

The afternoon tea was pleasing to the eyes and the service was admittedly to a very high standard and that was good. However, the general quality and design of the food were on par with the most basic of caterers for private functions in the UK and wouldn’t even come close to being put in the Michelin guide as just a recommended place, let alone getting any where near the territory of a star to give an idea of the overall impact.

The cakes were pleasant but obviously of a lower tier in the lack of real finesse, design and flavour (pastry being far too thick and the cream being bland) and the beef with a twirl of potato puree really did outline a lack of skill in comparison to Al Mahara on the ground floor. Granted, there are only so many ways one can design finger food and mini cakes, but there is a vast difference one can achieve in the impact. The canapés were very good and perhaps the best part of the menu but the scones were too dense and the single lychee with small rose petal was just far too simplistic to be taken seriously.

All in all, a nice occasion and a good thing to get crossed off the list and some very good cocktails in the mix there too; the couple that got engaged on a window table on the occasion I was there (low-rise bar seats by the North-East facing windows that need to be booked months in advance) will certainly remember that for as long as they live with their beautiful setting / view, but to go there for the quality of the finger food at afternoon tea? I would honestly prefer to fly back to London and have the afternoon Tea at The Lanesborough instead.

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The reason for choosing this restaurant was that the head chef (Pierre Gagnaire) holds 3 Michelin stars in his flagship restaurant in Paris and a string of other accolades under his belt for the other venues in his empire and hence it was a no brainer to see how he handled a new environment away from Michelin inspectors. The first thing I have to say is how accommodated we were made to feel from the off. One thing you are not short of in Dubai is having enough supply of people to spoil you for your every whim (if you pay the necessary amounts). The service was genuinely warm and without question good here and this was obviously very nice to receive.

The tasting menu began with delicately done squid ink and cheese twirls which went very well with the obligatory Kir Royale. From then on, everything else was a stylish show piece of different and imaginative designs. So much so that two of the dishes were served on top of a layer of clingflim that was stretched over the top of a bowl which I honestly couldn’t see for what point other than possibly being original for original’s sake(?). Perhaps it allowed the spoon to get as much of the sauce as possible as the clingfilm would naturally bend to the exact pressure of the spoon being pressed, allowing all drops of sauce to be scooped up, but this doesn’t fit with the bread crisps course that sat on clingfilm as well. Nevermind, it isn’t that important, just be aware they may be some over the top theatrics on your visit. The actual quality of the dishes was however, not just style and was extremely well done. The lobster in lemongrass was succulant and vibrant in its flavour; the vegetables were beautifully done and the blend of savoury and sweet for the olive oil and passion fruit was very fresh indeed.

The tasting menu began with delicately done squid ink and cheese twirls which went very well with the obligatory Kir Royale. From then on, everything else was a stylish show piece of different and imaginative designs. So much so that two of the dishes were served on top of a layer of clingflim that was stretched over the top of a bowl which I honestly couldn’t see for what point other than possibly being original for original’s sake(?). Perhaps it allowed the spoon to get as much of the sauce as possible as the clingfilm would naturally bend to the exact pressure of the spoon being pressed, allowing all drops of sauce to be scooped up, but this doesn’t fit with the bread crisps course that sat on clingfilm as well. Nevermind, it isn’t that important, just be aware they may be some over the top theatrics on your visit. The actual quality of the dishes was however, not just style and was extremely well done. The lobster in lemongrass was succulant and vibrant in its flavour; the vegetables were beautifully done and the blend of savoury and sweet for the olive oil and passion fruit was very fresh indeed.

The caviar was never in danger of missing its target and the velouté, mullet, artichoke and asparagus courses were all very well done, albeit with a hint of no noticeable wonder-moments. This was not the case though with the mushrooms in light pancake with cider reduction sauce as this was frankly the knock out dish of the meal and produced immediate sensory pleasure. The pigeon was fine and we were then spoiled with what I can only describe as an array of desserts in all forms. Desserts can sometimes be easy vistories when done well but not only were these pleasant, I was also very impressed with the care and effort gone in to all of them along with beautifully made pre-desserts and petits fours afterwards. It is safe to say that we were not hungry after this meal.

Overall this was a highly sophisticated meal with the icing on the cake being given to us on leaving – as we staggerred to the exit, two waiting staff were there ready with warmed and scented face towels along with a shot of refreshing cold alcoholic tea as a pick me up for the road. That is something I have never experienced anywhere and was a frankly spoilt way to finish, however after the bill that was presented, I didn’t feel too guilty at that. The food was in no way in any contention for style or technicality and I would say it sat somewhere between the 1 and 2 Michelin standard, however, the only dissapointment was that for all its care and attention to detail, it was a stylish conveyer belt of dishes with only one powerhouse moment of flavour with all other dishes being just pleasing. Recommended as a spoil occasion if you don’t mind the restrained atmosphere.

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