Lanes Restaurant

Food

The bread was quite nice, but they served it with some rock hard butter. That always annoy me as it shows that not enough attention has been paid to the details. We decided to skip the entrees in favour of dessert. Well, it turns out we didn’t need to conserve as the servings were so tiny that we could’ve eaten everything twice and we still won’t be full.

Anyway, we had the Roast Rump of Veal with Spiced Lentils and Lemon Grass Emulsion (£25.50), which had succulent slices of veal. I wasn’t so sure on the lemon grass emulsion though, it tasted more like a mustard dressing to me. Still, there was plenty of liquid to coat the meat. The Ribeye of Scottish Beef, Jimmy's Chips & Peppercorn Sauce (£19.95) had been on their menu a long time and is one of their so-called signature dish. It was indeed very good. Nice and juicy, medium steak. I was looking forward to the much-hyped chips with their own name, and while it was good, I didn’t see anything extraordinary about it…and the fact that they only have you about 5, meant you really couldn’t try very much, especially after you’ve shared it around the table.

We went for the Glazed Lemon Tart (£5.50). I’m all for small portions, but this was seriously about the smallest portion I’ve seen. A very thin sliver arrived, which had the right balance of sour and sweet and a nice burnt sugar topping. The Banana Creme Brulee with Passion and Vanilla Syrup (£5.50) wasn’t as banana like or passionfruit tangy as I expected, but more restrained, which worked quite well together.

Rating - 7

Atmosphere

The whole place felt a bit crowded even though it was a large space. This could be due to the fact that we were squashed up right next to the coffee machine, even though the restaurant was only half filled. Every time they used the machine, we couldn’t carry on any conversations and had to wait for them to stop.

Rating - 1.5

Service

The restaurant was relatively full on this Wednesday evening, but they only had 2 waiters serving everyone, which meant service was extremely slow and it took a long time to get anything. I don’t think it’s the fault of the waiters, they were nice and efficient, but obviously can’t handle the volume of people. We had to ask to get more water, to order, to get menus and for more bread. By the looks of things, they probably only had one person working in the kitchen too

Rating - 2

C-factor

The portions were really small for the price. If we didn’t have 50% off I would feel really ripped off. The wine and water reflected the expensive city prices, with a bottle of still costing £3.75. The wine had such a mark-up that we didn’t even want to drink any. All in all, it didn’t leave a nice taste in the mouth, and no, I won’t be back.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 10.5

Info

East India House
109 - 117 Middlesex Street
London
E1 7JF
Phone +44 (0) 20 7247 5050
Website

Le Champignon Sauvage

Food

We were given some cheese puffs to nibble on while we peruse the menu. These were really really scrumptious, as they were still warm. Only one amuse, but the potato and leek soup with elderflower wasn’t to my liking. It was actually quite bitter, and not in the good way. This was served cold, so any flavour was subdued. Things started to look up again when we were offered a selection of bread. I chose the bacon brioche, which was amazing, both the texture and flavour. I could just keep eating this all day. As I had been eating all that heavy carbohydrates though, I was too full to try any of the other bread from the selection, so I don’t know how the rest compare.

I was surprised that there was no degustation menu, as I thought we could wind away a few hours by doing that, but they had a short menu of 2 or 3 courses, with about 5 choices for each. This is what we had:

• Dived Shetland Scallops - with Jerusalem artichoke puree, globe artichoke with liquorice root - my fault for ordering these…they suffer from the usual scallop problem of the UK, but I had forgotten as I had some amazing scallops in Bergen and was hoping for more. I have to say, they knew that the scallop wasn’t that tasty in itself as the sauce was quite strong.
• Bibury Brown Trout - risotto of wild garlic, roasted garlic cream - another Bergen item we were hankering for, and another letdown.
• Cinderford Lamb - smoked roasted onion, cep mushroom puree - the meat is definitely better than the seafood. The lamb itself was juicy and full of flavour, so didn’t really need the sauce.
• Gloucester Old Spot Pork Belly - braised pigs cheeks, white asparagus cream, morel mushrooms - probably the best dish so far. Nice thick crackling, fatty pork belly. The cheeks was very soft and flavoursome too
• Salted Chicory Root Iced Mousse - vanilla rice pudding, rich chocolate sorbet -finally, something to show that this restaurant has two Michelin star. The dessert was a revelation, in the way that they have combined the different flavour and the way that this was presented, as a millefeulle type layer cake. The rice pudding was delicate, the chocolate sorbet was really rich, and the chicory mousse, out of this world.
• Bitter Chocolate and Olive Tart - fennel ice cream - again, excellent. You can definitely taste the olive in the tart, which paired surprisingly well with rich chocolate. The fennel ice cream just confirmed that savory ice-cream is the way to go!

Rating - 7.5

Atmosphere

I didn’t like the décor, but that’s just my personal opinion. They have thick blue carpet on the floor, and vibrant prints on the wall. It seemed to be a bit eccentric, but because they were a respected Michelin restaurant, they had to show restrain. The result seems to be a muddle of style. The front room was small, having only 2 couches, so it was difficult to have drinks there before going to the table. The dining room itself contained about 20 tables, of which only 5 were filled for today’s lunch. The room doesn’t seem that formal, but the service seems to suggest that it should be formal.

Rating - 1.5

Service

What is it with these types of restaurants and French waiters? The service was as you would expect from a Michelin star rated restaurant. Except for the owner who was helping out, the rest of the waiters seemed to be going through the motion. I couldn’t fault anything they did, but I didn’t see anything outstanding either.

Rating - 3

C-factor

We came away just under £100 for lunch, and that’s without any drinks, coffee or tea. Acceptable I suppose, for a Michelin place, but the food really didn’t live up to expectations.

Rating - 0

Brownie Points - 12

Info

24-26 Suffolk Rd
Cheltenham
GL50 2AQ
Phone +44 (0) 12 4257 3449
Website

Café Spice Namaste 2

Back to test the waters after a recent bout of Indian restaurants. The verdict, it’s still above the rest.

Food

Of course we have to start with Slokky’s favourite Papadoms (£4.20) + chutneys (£2.70) , which tasted pretty much the same as last time. Since we tasted quite a few of the starters last time, we decided to skip them in favour of mains. The Patra Ni Machchi (£14.95) - On a special occasion "Patra ni Machchi" is perhaps the one dish of which most Parsees dream. "Pomfret", the fish with which it is always associated, is not always easy to find, especially the one we use from the west coast of India. Whole pomfret is slit over the top and the central bone removed, stuffed with green coconut chutney, rolled in banana leaves and steamed. Served with salad and chapatti. was really really good. The fish was quite firm and really soaked up the excellent sauce, with a real depth of flavour. I tried my best to scoop up all the sauce from the banana leave, and the chapatti were a revelation. Fluffy and fresh…I could eat these plain. There was none of the mentioned salad, but I didn’t remember it was on the menu at the time. The Galinha Xacutti (£14.75) - I do not know how often this classic amongst the world’s greatest curries has been glorified on our menus. But for those new to us, this is the very greatest and intricate of all grand curries of India, with more than twenty-one ingredients. Each of the many spices and condiments need individual pan roasting before being puréed with roasted coconut. Hot? Yes no doubt! But full of flavour and gusto. Cooked this time with chicken, and served with garlic palav. Hmmm…. I don’t know about that long description, but the curry was certainly tasty….maybe it was the 21 ingredients doing their work. Café Spice sure know how to spice things up.

Apart from our normal lassi, we decided to test out other aspects of the menu by trying the Cheese, Chilli & Garlic Naan (£2.95) -Back by popular demand! It has a kick, and is quite addictive too. I agree, this was one of the best naans I have ever tasted. Even though we only ordered the mains and the poppadoms, we were still really full and had to yet again skip dessert. Now I can vouch, Café Spice this time around was even better than the last, except I still don’t see what the big deal is with their poppadoms.

Rating - 8.5

Atmosphere

Not as busy this time as last. The usual group of burly businessmen, maybe if you can handle the hottest curry you can succeed in business? Who knows.

Rating - 2.5

Service

Our waiter was charming and really nice. When I first ordered, I asked for a Garlic and a Keema naan. He was nice enough to inform us that since the fish came with chapatti and we already get nice, we probably don’t need so much naan. I like waiters with integrity.

Rating - 4.5

C-factor

Still expensive, but this time we used the Taste London card to get 50% off, so we could even come back again…

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 16.5

Info

16 Prescot Street
London
E1 8AZ
Phone +44 (0) 20 7488 9242
Website

Bali Restaurant

I was definitely missing Asian food. The thought of finding Asian in Cardiff was slim, but due to lack of other options, we decided to give this one a go, and it was a good thing we did too.

Food

We ordered from the cut price, limited menu, but there was still plenty of choice:

• Satay Ayam - skewers of succulent chicken – 2 skewers of surprisingly tender chicken, with a kicking peanut sauce.
• Pergedel - lightly seasoned mashed potato cakes with sweet chilli sauce – these actually came out last, which we didn’t mind. They were pretty ordinary, a little too oily and not packing enough flavour.
• Kari Ayam - Mayasian chicken curry – quite Malaysian, with a coconut and peanut dominant sauce, thick consistency
• Nasi Goreng - special stir-fried rice with chicken, shrimps, peas and eggs – surprisingly good. Not as much wok taste as I would like, but I don’t think nasi gorengs are meant to be like that? There was a good hit of chilli too.

All in all, a satisfying meal, because it was much better than expected!

Rating - 6.5

Atmosphere

The décor reflects the 80s. With cheap paper clothes on the table, worn furniture and cutlery and small tables. They are doing renovations to their downstairs restaurant, and the toilet is in plain view of all the customers….definitely not a place to linger, but if they are keeping their prices low, I can’t complain.

Rating - 1

Service

There was only one waiter, but then there were only 3 tables of customers. We were in a hurry as we needed to catch a bus, and the waiter was kind enough to cater to us. I originally wanted to order the laksa, but was informed that it wouldn’t be ready if we wanted to get out in time. I was really disappointed naturally, I had no idea they were actually going to make their laksa from scratch! He wasn’t particularly fast on anything, which had me worried at times, but true to their word, they delivered, so we even had time to spare at the end and could walk slowly to the bus stop, which was definitely what we needed after a big meal.

Rating - 3

C-factor

Very cheap if you get the special menu, but the food is good, so definitely worth the money.

Rating - 1

Brownie Points - 11.5

Info

30-32 Caroline St
Cardiff
CF10 1FF
Phone +44 (0) 29 2037 4777
Website