Posts by Tom Johnston
Tom and Lesley Eat a Lot in Barbados
Ravi Shankar Melting pot. It’s a lazy phrase, one used far too easily by people from a predominantly white skinned country. Want a melting pot? Consider our own history. Picts, Scots (from Ireland), Angles, Saxons, Danes and Vikings. And that’s before you get to the Norman Conquest over 1000 years ago, and everything that’s followed…
Read MoreReview of the 2023 Part 2: 1 – 14=
Well here we are, featuring the crème de la crème of 2023. It’s fair to say that it hasn’t been a vintage year. Having said that, let’s not take anything away from the top three, number one, Tapa and Tipo. It would be hard to find three more disparate places. Number one is a grand…
Read MoreReview of the 2023 Part 1: 16 – 36
As ever, we finish with our end of year review. 36 places sampled for your delight in 2023. While this is the lower half, bear in mind that a mark of 17.5 or over is 70%, no mean score in anyone’s system. It’s been odd year overall. At the top end the scores have been…
Read MoreParadise Pudding with Isabella Beeton
For this, the last Tom Cooks! this side of Christmas, I felt something festive was in order. And following on from Annie Gray on Wednesday I thought something with a bit of history would be appropriate. While Annie did get in touch with me to say that this Christmas she would be having ramen, not…
Read MoreThe Voyage of Buck, Edinburgh
The Voyage of Buck 29 – 31 William Street, Edinburgh EH3 7NF 0131 225 5748 www.thevoyageofbuckedinburgh.co.uk The Bill A la carte Starters £7.00 – £11.00 | Mains £17.00 – £22.00 Desserts £6.00 – £7.00 The Score Cooking 5.5/10 | Service 4.5/5 Flavour 4/5 | Value 4/5 TOTAL 18/25 Arriving here for lunch I…
Read MoreAt Christmas We Feast by Annie Gray
Christmas. Less than three weeks to go. In which camp would you place yourself? The come all ye faithful, let’s get carolling, gingerbread and spice, let it snow brigade? Or the not again, ridiculously over commercialised, well really it’s only for the kids, bah humbug camp? Either way I suspect that come the big day,…
Read MoreWhen is a Coulibiac not a Coulibiac?
Despite Wednesday’s column, I’m not advocating a boycott of farmed salmon, just urging everyone to be careful about what they buy. It must be said that many chefs are now in the former category, as reported in a fairly recent edition of The National. Campbell Mickel Just after I went to press, I heard from my…
Read MoreEverest Inn, Perth
Everest Inn 36 South Methven Street, Perth PH1 5NU 01738 622563 www.everestinnscotland.co.uk The Bill Set Lunch (drink included) Curry £10.95 | Thali £15.95 A la carte Starters £5.00 – £8.45 | Mains £10.95 – £17.95 Desserts £6.00 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 4/5 Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL 19.5/25 Fine food can…
Read MoreSalmon – Are You Sure?
In Britain, we eat a million portions of salmon every day. It is the second biggest Scottish export after whisky. And virtually all of these million portions will be farmed salmon. Wild salmon is no longer fished commercially anywhere in the UK. Most salmon rivers now require anglers to return fish to the water after…
Read MoreCotechino with Braised Lentils
E, my Italian teacher, and I were having a laugh the other week. The subject of our hilarity concerned Italian salami. Not, I hasten to add, one of those smutty jokes about the size or firmness of sausages. Quite the reverse. We were talking about the lesser known soft, not to say floppy one, the…
Read Morethe butterfly and the pig, Glasgow
the butterfly and the pig 151 Bath Street Glasgow G2 4SQ 0141 221 7711 www.thebutterflyandthepig.com The Bill Starters £5.85 – £7.85 | Mains £13.95 – £24.95 Desserts £6.00 The Score Cooking 5.5/10 | Service 2.5/5 Flavour 4/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL 17/25 If you are experiencing a feeling of déja vu (or, more accurately,…
Read MoreQ is for…Quite a Few Things
Well, not much choice for today’s instalment of the Food Alphabetical. The Larousse Gastronomique devotes only six pages to the Qs, and two of these are on quail. A lovely bird, if a bit tricky to cook well. Perhaps for another day. Let’s consider some alternatives. Q is for…Quorn Not in this blog it’s not.…
Read MoreZap My Sole
L, my T & S*, spoils me on a regular basis. She knows I’m very partial to lemon sole, whose texture she dislikes: she also knows (as do most of you by now) of my love of dressed crab. At a recent visit to McPhersons the fishmonger, bless her soul, she bought both. It transpired…
Read MoreKanpai, Edinburgh
Kanpai 8 – 10 Grindlay Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AS 0131 228 1602 www.kanpaisushiedinburgh.co.uk The Bill Leaving aside selection plates, prices range from £4.50 – £22.50. We paid £50 for two, excluding drinks and tip. The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 2/5 Flavour 4/5 | Value 4/5 TOTAL 16.5/25 Lost in Translation. If I remember correctly,…
Read MoreWe Celebrate A Food Hero
First impressions can be important. Let’s take a reaction test. Loganberry Yum! Large luscious fruit. A thornless bush. What’s not to love? Genetic modification I’m hearing a lot of Boo! Hiss! Nasty Monsanto! Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan (MSS) I can hear a pin drop. You’ve never heard of him, have you? No, neither had I till…
Read Morechá, chá, chá, Olhão
chá, chá, chá Travessa do Gaibéu 19 8700-544 Olhão, Algarve, Portugal +351 918 727 242 www.chachacha.pt The Bill Petiscos (Small Plates) €5.00 – €10.00 Pratos (Bigger Plates) €14.50 – €29.50 Puds Can’t remember The Score Cooking 7.5/10 | Service 5/5 Flavour 4/5 | Value 4/5 TOTAL 20.5/25 So you’re down in the Algarve, and you’re looking for…
Read MoreGranny Gray’s Clootie Dumpling
My sister recently celebrated a birthday of some significance. I suppose you could argue that at our age, getting through another year is a milestone, but we’ll let that pass. She told me that for her birthday our Aunt Agnes (not related, but that’s what you called your parents’ friends in those far off days)…
Read MoreUltra-Processed – Ultra Scary?
For as long as I can remember, there have been food scares. Eat x, we are told, and you’ll get cancer or high cholesterol or have a heart attack. These things went in cycles, and were usually debunked fairly shortly thereafter. Milk, potatoes and eggs have all come in for the treatment. In recent times, however,…
Read MoreThe Walnut, Edinburgh
The Walnut, 9 Croall Place. Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH7 4LT 0131 281 1236 www.thewalnutedinburgh.co.uk The Bill Lunch 2 courses £25.00 3 courses £28.00 Dinner 2 courses £28.00 3 courses £32.00 The Score Cooking 5.5/10 | Service 3.5/5 Flavour 3.5/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL 17.5/25 Walnut Whip What is normal? A question asked often, everywhere.…
Read MoreYellow Fish No: Cullen Skink Yes
Here in Johnston Towers we are big fans of smoked haddock. L is happy having hers poached and served very simply with oatcakes. For me it needs mash. For really filling comfort food, top it with a sauce made using the poaching milk, and perhaps a poached egg as well. But whatever we’re doing, we…
Read MoreWhy Chopsticks?
I seldom go out for Chinese food these days. It doesn’t really work for me unless you have a decent sized group who can share a wide variety of dishes. For that reason I hadn’t used chopsticks for a good while until our recent trip to Japan. No great hardship – it’s like riding a…
Read MorePartridge with Mushrooms, Madeira and Spinach
Autumn. The game season. The gift that just keeps giving. On a regular basis we toddle out to Castle Game and fill our shopping basket. Then and only then do I start thinking about how I’m going to cook it. Today’s dish worked exceptionally well. Partridge has a delicate flavour. You have to be careful…
Read MoreThe Caddy Mann, Jedburgh
The Caddy Mann Mounthooly, Jedburgh TD8 6TJ 01835 850787 www.caddymann.com The Bill A la carte Starters £6.50 – £11.50 | Mains £16.00 – £26.50 Desserts £7.25 The Score Cooking 7/10 | Service 5/5 Flavour 4/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL 21/25 I really should get out further afield, people tell me. And I should stop…
Read MoreChef Watch featuring Brian Grigor of eòrna, Edinburgh
Chef Watch Featuring Brian Grigor Chef/Owner, eòrna restaurant, Edinburgh How long have you been a chef? Just over 25 years now. Why did you become a chef? I started washing the dishes at the local hotel while I was going through the process of starting an apprenticeship in joinery. One…
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