monkeytennis

Hi all

I hope you don't mind I briefly publicise my new blog Cheese and Biscuits (http://cheesenbiscuits.blogspot.com). I started off with a visit to Gordon Ramsays in Chelsea, but then went for fish and chips in Southport so it's not an elitist thing  

Let me know what you think, and please leave as many comments as you like !

Regards

MT (Chris)

Hi all

I'm taking a short (2-day) trip to New York next month and wondered if anyone had any good suggestions for eateries that maybe are 'uniquely' New York, ie. the kind of thing you are unlikely to get as good elsewhere.

Off the top of my head I'm thinking a steakhouse and something like Nobu (hey, the exchange rate's in our favour) but am completely open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance

MT

Once, years ago (must be around 13 years or so) the family and I visited a Thai restaurant in Eastbourne (of all places!) which to this day is spoken about in hushed tones as the best Thai meal we've ever had. The great strong flavours, exquisite presentation and lovely service are lasting memories, despite it being so long ago. It's probably closed now, and I can't even remember the name.

Predictably, our attempts to recreate this experience elsewhere has been mixed. Pattara in Mayfair was good, Pattara in Soho dreadful. Other local Thai places have usually landed somewhere in between, and none has come close to that meal in Eastbourne.

Does anyone have any suggestions for great Thai food in London (& environs)? The family are visiting again next month and I would like to conjure at least the memory of that original experience.

Regards
MT

Hi all

I know this isn't strictly a recipe-advice forum but I wondered if someone knowledgable about these things could help me out.

After having had some lovely truffle dishes out in the past few months (the truffle veloute at GR Claridges and another dish at the Greenhouse come to mind), and having long enjoyed a drizzle of truffle oil on my pasta dishes, a recent trip to Paris gave me the opportunity to get hold of the real thing and try using it myself.

The very nice man at the Place de la Madeleine helped me choose a good one, shrinkwrapped it for the journey, and told me it would last about 6 or 7 days. As soon as I arrived back in London 2 days later we found a reasonably straightforward pasta dish and shaved the black truffle on top in keen anticipation. And it tasted - like cardboard. No taste at all, certainly nothing like as nice as the truffle oil I would have otherwised used and nowhere near as good as the truffles I'd had dining out.

Can someone indicate where I went wrong in the above process, or was it just a bad truffle? The deli I bought it from seemed decent enough (La Maison de la Truffe) and it certainly wasn't cheap (€48).

Any thoughts appreciated,

MT