Margo, Glasgow
Margo 68 Miller Street. Glasgow G1 1DT 0141 739 0882 www.margo.restaurant The Bill A la carte Bread, Olives & Stuff £4.00 – £9.00 | Plates £9.50 – £18.00 Sharing Plates £42.50 – £50.00 | Desserts £6.00 – £7.00 The Score Cooking 8/10 | Service 4.5/5 Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 4.5/5 TOTAL 21.5/25 I don’t…
Read MoreAre You The Perfect Lunch or Dinner Guest?
Be a stunning guest. You can come back any time. Image Generated by Zeph, my AI assistant This article was inspired by a recent lunch which we had. It was a great success. Out of modesty I won’t mention the food, but the conversation flowed, good fun was had by all, and it was a…
Read MoreScott’s, London
Scott’s Mayfair 20 Mount Street, London W1K 2HE 020 7495 7309 www.scotts-mayfair.com The Bill A la carte Starters and Caviar £12.50 – £1200.00 | Shellfish £14.50 – £72.00 Shellfish Platters for 2 £120.00 – £192.00 | Mains £27.00 – £76.00 Desserts £4.50 – £16.00 The Score Cooking 7/10 | Service 5/5 Flavour 4.5/5 |…
Read MoreSlow Food, Slow Lamb
Some enchanted evening you may walk into a room filled with the glorious aroma of slow cooking lamb. That’s what happened to me courtesy of Slow Food Scotland – see Wednesday’s column. There’s only one thing better than eating great food, and that’s when someone sends you the recipe so you can attempt to recreate…
Read MoreBeyond The Chop: A Slow Food Jolly
There are many good reasons to be a member of Slow Food Scotland. This was one of them. Gordon Newlands A Wednesday in May found a couple of dozen souls in the premises of the New Town Cookery School in Edinburgh’s Queen Street. The food smells were incredible – of that more later. On the…
Read MorePiccalilli from Piccadilly
The title really isn’t accurate, but who could resist such delightful alliteration? In spite of my sourcing our eponymous condiment on the self same street, the words have entirely different roots. In the UK, we’ve been preserving fruit and veg forever, but the idea of a specially made ingredient to tart up food came later.…
Read MoreNumber 16, Glasgow
Number 16, 16 Byres Road, Glasgow G11 5JY 0141 339 2544 www.number16.co.uk The Bill Set Lunch 2 courses £26.00 | 3 courses £32.00 Set Dinner 2 courses £29.00 | 3 courses £35.00 A la carte Starters £7.00 – £12.00 | Mains £20.00 – £32.00 Desserts £9.50 – £10.00 The Score Cooking 6/10 |…
Read MoreIn (Faint) Praise of Fortnum & Mason
Clocks with features are not new. Many cities feature them. London, of course, is best known for the chimes of Big Ben and their preamble, beloved of many doorbells. Prosaically, that clock keeps good time. Take Edinburgh by contrast. The clock on the Balmoral Hotel is always three minutes fast. If you are at the…
Read MoreJosephine Bistro, London
Josephine Bistro, Marylebone 6 – 8 Blandford Street, London W1U 4AU Contact: enquiries@josephinebistro.com www.josephinebistro.com The Bill Plat du Jour £16.50 Menu Duval 2 courses £24.50 | 3 courses £29.50 A la carte Starters £10.50 – £155.00 | Mains £16.00 – £48.00 Desserts £9.00 – £13.00 | Sharing Plates/Fruits de Mer Platters £64.00 – £192.00 The…
Read MoreChocolate Éclairs (and Doughnuts)
Croquembouche Last week we gave you the recipe for choux pastry. Master it and a whole world of show stopping desserts unfolds. Profiteroles are always welcome. For special occasions, make a croquembouche, a giant tower of them held together with caramelised sugar. Spanish churros and French beignets are other possibilities, but for me the choux…
Read MoreX is for…?
Well, I always knew that this day would come, the food alphabetical reaching the letter X. Xanthan gum would not, I fear, have interested you. There is apparently a soup named Xavier, but that held no appeal either. I could of course have done something contrived, eg X is for Xtra large eggs; however, I…
Read MoreChoux Pastry (and Doughnut Dough)
We like a bit of continuity in this esteemed column. On Wednesday, doughnuts. So when the editorial team convened to decide on today’s Tom Cooks! there was only one possible candidate, namely choux pastry. Why? Well, I really don’t care for doughnuts much and, to be fair, choux did get a couple of mentions on…
Read MoreLittle Capo, Edinburgh
Little Capo 18 Howe Street, Edinburgh EH3 6TG 0131 560 2909 www.littlecapo.com The Bill A la carte Olives, Almonds, Bread £2.50 – £4.50 | Starters £7.00 – £15.00 Mains £15.00 – £18.00 | Desserts £5.00 – £9.50 The Score Cooking 8.5/10 | Service 4.5/5 Flavour 5/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL 23/25 Che…
Read MoreNational Do(ugh)nut Week
I heard someone on the radio proclaiming that this is National Doughnut Week. As promoted by Messrs Krispy & Kreme, I muttered to myself darkly. Bizarrely, it transpires that there is such an event, which has the worthy object of raising money for The Children’s Trust. More details here. But please don’t make the elementary…
Read MoreHuevos Rancheros
100 ways, eh? The number is the symbolism behind the form of the traditional toque, or chef’s hat. The number of pleats, we are told, remind us of the many ways that he knows how to cook eggs. Once upon a time it was an important badge of status. Size was, indeed, everything. While I’m…
Read MoreMargot, Edinburgh
Margot 7 – 8 Barclay Terrace, Edinburgh EH10 4HP 0131 281 4170 www.margotedinburgh.co.uk The Bill A la carte £7.80 – £14.00 The Score Cooking 6/10 | Service 3/5 Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 4/5 TOTAL 17.5/25 Margo(t). You wait years for the girl, then two arrive at once. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Margo,…
Read MoreA Grand Day Out at Lindores Abbey Distillery
So, you have an important visitor from Malta who’s partial to a dram. What to do? Why, take her back to 1494, of course. To Fife. The Kingdom of Fife, if you please, county of my birth, and home to many wonders. Imagine, say, that you are a farmer. Imagine that one fine day a…
Read MoreSaag Aloo
When eating at an Indian restaurant, sometimes the vegetable side dishes can become the star of the show. Hardly surprising since India has by far the largest percentage of vegetarians in the world. Read to day’s review of Bell Bottom Indian Eatery and you’ll see the highest praise reserved for the Aloo Gobi Masala (potatoes…
Read MoreBell Bottom Indian Eatery Edinburgh
Bell Bottom Indian Eatery 2 Polwarth Crescent, Edinburgh EH11 1HW 0131 467 2555 www.bellbottomeatery.co.uk The Bill Lunch – Thali (Drink Included) Veg £19.99 | Non Veg £22.99 A la carte Starters £6.99 – £8.99 | Mains £8.99 – £19.99 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 5/5 Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 4.5/5 TOTAL 20.5/25 …
Read MoreChef Watch featuring Paul Gunning of Purslane Restaurant, Edinburgh
Chef Watch Featuring Paul Gunning, Chef Patron, Purslane Restaurant, Edinburgh How long have you been a chef? 26 years Why did you become a chef? I was working in a factory after leaving school which I didn’t see as a career. After thinking about what I enjoyed doing and would…
Read MoreLamb Bites for Easter
Easter. Lamb I suppose. Regular readers know my views on that by now. But hey, lamb/hogget/mutton is delicious at any time of year. As with many culinary delights, the two optimum cooking options are hard and fast or low and slow. Thus I like a lamb leg done at a fairly high heat, pink and…
Read Moresō-lō, Aughton, Merseyside
sō-lō 17 Town Green Lane, Aughton, Ormskirk L59 6SE 01695 302170 www.restaurantsolo.co.uk The Bill Lunch Menu (3 courses) £52.00 Sunday Lunch Menu (4 courses) £64.00 Tasting Menu (6 courses) £105.00 The Score Cooking 10/10 | Service 5/5 Flavour 5/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL 25/25 We like to think of this as more than…
Read MoreW is for Wasabi
This is not a W which has ever occupied my thoughts much. Come to think of it I’d be surprised if many of our ancestors would have heard of it. For me, it’s bracketed in the Foods From Hell section, along with English mustard. The comparison is hardly surprising, since they are both members of the…
Read MoreTiger Rock, Liverpool
Tiger Rock North John Street, Liverpool L2 9RU 0151 363 6650 www.tigerrockliverpool.uk The Bill Small Plates £6.80 – £11.80 | Desserts £4.80 – £6.80 The Score Cooking 5.5/10 | Service 4/5 Flavour 4/5 | Value 4.5/5 TOTAL 18/25 It’s Grand National weekend in Liverpool, further extending the range of remarkable Scouse sights. There are more…
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