Tom Eats!
Golden Oldies – Strangers’ Dining Room, London
Strangers’ Dining Room, House of Commons, St Margaret’s Street, London SW1A 0AA See below for details of the bill Well that’s it! Democracy has gone mad! Is nothing sacred? For this, Scotland’s last week of restaurant free existence, for the final period of no eating out unless you succumb to the horrors of…
Read MoreGolden Oldies – Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles Hotel
Restaurant Andrew Fairlie Gleneagles Hotel, Auchterarder, Perth & Kinross PH3 1NF 01764 694267 www.andrewfairlie.co.uk The Bill (2015 Prices) Dinner 3 courses £95.00 Dégustation Menu (7 courses) £125.00 The Score Cooking 10/10 | Service 4/5 | Flavour 5/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL 24/25 The good news for all of us, not least for the beleaguered restaurant…
Read MoreWhere You’re Going To Eat After Lockdown
After a little prompting your replies have come in thick and fast with where you’re going to go and eat once lockdown permits. Space doesn’t permit mention of all of them, and in some cases initials have been changed for reasons of modesty. You’ll see why. A lot of you have been pining for your…
Read MoreWee Deliveries – The Wee Restaurant At Home
The Wee Restaurant, 17 Main Street. North Queensferry. KY11 1JG If you still remember how, pick up a pen, pencil or other implement and sign your name. Put it to one side and read on. Oi, moosh! I hear you cry. Not only do you not do takeaways, you’ve written almost eloquently about why you…
Read MoreThe Greenhouse by Gary Rhodes, mid 1990s
The Greenhouse – Alas, no more What would Spiderman* do? If you are a prescient child who is foreseeing a problem, you might ask such a question. Having an issue with filling a restaurant review column, I posited a similar query. Next week it will be answered by all of you who responded to my…
Read MoreParadise Lost, Paradise Regained
Unknown Never mind a COVID test. Today, Tom Eats! requires you to take a mood test to ascertain if you are a fit and proper person to be its reader. Are you in jabtastic mode, or are you Googling about blood clots? Are you viewing spring with a springy step, or are you an institutionalised…
Read MoreDinner at Sea – Guest Reviewer, Binkie Johnston
With current reviews impossible, It was fortuitous that I came on the diary of a long lost relative, Binkie Johnston. This is his account of a memorable dinner. North Atlantic, April Well, the Doc had been badgering me about the old vital organs. A bit of sea air, old chap, is what you need. So I…
Read MoreHome by Nico – Guest Reviewer Miranda Heggie
HOME BY NICO Glasgow, Edinburgh, Belfast Liverpool, Manchester, London Delivery UK Wide www.sixbynico.co.uk Some of you may well be familiar with Six by Nico, although none of the energetic Mr Simeone’s restaurants has as yet been reviewed in Tom Eats! Starting in Glasgow he now has a total of six restaurants, as far apart as…
Read MoreOndine Restaurant, Edinburgh – A Golden Oldie Review
Ondine Restaurant 2 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1AD 0131 226 1888 www.ondinerestaurant.co.uk Now, unless you have just returned from the planet Zog, it will not have escaped your notice that restaurants remain closed. Sadly, given this week’s announcement which was as definitive as the predictions given by Punxtsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day, they…
Read Morethree birds, Edinburgh – Guest Reviewer Fiona Garwood
three birds 3 – 5 Viewforth, Bruntsfield, Edinburgh EH10 4JD 0131 229 3252 www.threebirds.co.uk The Bill (Takeaway) Starters £5.00 – £7.50 | Mains £10.00 | Afters £5.00 – £6.00 Birds do it, bees do it Even educated fleas do it Let’s do it, let’s fall in love Nearly a decade has elapsed since three…
Read MoreThe Cottage Inn, Upper Bucklebury – Guest Reviewer Anne Hillerton
The Cottage Inn, 26 Broad Lane, Upper Bucklebury, West Berkshire, RG7 6QJ 01635 864 544 www.thecottageinnupperbucklebury.co.uk/ The Bill Mains £9.00 Kids Menu £6.00 Bucklebury, in the North Wessex Downs, lies to the north of the A4 between Reading and Newbury, and yes, the name does ring a bell. We became famous, briefly, when Catherine…
Read MoreKings Head, New Buckenham – Guest Reviewer Ross Marshall
Kings Head Queen Street, New Buckenham, Norfolk NR16 2AL 01953 861247 www.kingsheadnewbuckenham.co.uk The Bill Burgers £7.00 – £9.00 Chips Kings Head £3.50 Aunt Bessie £1.25 for 900g at Sainsbury’s (I’d vote for the Kings Head any day – Ed) Our little country village has a long history, reaching back nearly 900 years. Regular…
Read MoreCafe St Honoré At Home – Guest Reviewer Miranda Heggie
The Bill 4 courses for 2 with a bottle of wine £71.50 The Score Not applicable for takeaway food, but Miranda praised it to the skies and would have scored the food 10/10 (She clearly hasn’t read the scoring criteria recently – Ed) Finding a good restaurant that’s open on a Monday has always been…
Read MoreDine Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Dine Murrayfield 8 Murrayfield Place, Edinburgh EH12 6AA 0131 374 4800 www.murrayfield.scot The Bill Breakfast £2.50 – £9.00 Lunch & Dinner Starters £5.00 – £8.50 | Mains £10.00 – £17.50 | Puddings £7.00 – £8.00 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 4.5/5 | Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 5/5 Total 20.5/25 Regular readers of Tom’s…
Read MoreFin & Grape
Fin & Grape 19 Colinton Road, Edinburgh EH10 5DP 0131 452 8453 www.finandgrape.com The Bill Lunch Menu 3 courses for £15 (Small Plates) Larger Plates/Specials £11.00 – £22.00 The Score Cooking 6/10 | Service 4/5 | Flavour 4/5 | Value 5/5 Total 19/25 Back in the day when I used to be involved in the…
Read MoreReview of the Year 2020: Part 2
This is the second part of the Tom Eats! review of 2020. The Top 12 scores feature below after a short, sombre musing. Those We Have Lost – and Gained There will be many lost. Especial favourites of Tom Eats!, The Wee Restaurant, Edinburgh and L’escargot blanc have both closed their doors…
Read MoreReview of the Year 2020: Part 1
2020 – Did Anything Happen? Oh, yes, The Great Plague. And The Great Miracle is that so many restaurants are still going despite a combination of Government capriciousness and ignorance in treating them in the same manner as traditional pubs. In Part 2 we’ll consider those whom we have lost and, remarkably, those…
Read MoreMiranda Heggie’s Zoom Wine Tasting
For this, the last Tom Eats! of the year (apart from the annual review, which will be over two weeks on Wednesday 16 & 23 December) thanks are once again due to our glamorous and prolific guest reviewer, Miranda Heggie. Fancy a tutored wine tasting, but can’t buy alcohol out because of Tier 3?…
Read MoreRollo Restaurant & Wine Bar, Stockbridge, Edinburgh
Rollo Restaurant & Wine Bar 108 Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh EH4 1HH 0131 332 1232 www.barrollo.com The Bill Bites £3.80 – £10.00 | Bowls £12.00 Plates £11.00 – £14.50 | Puddings £7.00 – £8.00 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 4.5/5 | Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 5/5 Total 20.5/25 It was a chance meeting…
Read MoreOne20 Wine Cafe, Edinburgh
One20 Wine Cafe 120 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 5DQ 0131 556 1911 www.one-20.co.uk The Bill Starters £4.75 – £13.50 | Mains £12.75 – £14.75 Dessert (Tiramisu) £4.75 The Score Cooking/Produce Selection 6.5/10 | Service 4.5/5 | Flavour 4.5/5 Value 4/5 Total 19.5/25 Has COVID made you less active? Have your mental facilities slowed as a…
Read MoreThe Räv, St Andrews
The Räv 80 North Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AH 01334 208580 www.therav.co.uk The Bill Lunch and Dinner Starters £6.00 – £11.00 | Mains £13.00 – £21.00 | Desserts £6.50 The Score Cooking 6.5/10 | Service 4.5/5 | Flavour 4/5 | Value 4.5/5 Total 19.5/25 We’ve been coming to St Andrews for a short break…
Read MoreThe Black Bull Inn, Lowick – Guest Reviewer Fiona Garwood
The Black Bull Inn 2 – 4 Main Street, Lowick, Berwick on Tweed TD15 2UA 01289 388375 www.blackbulllowick.co.uk The Bill Lunch and Dinner Starters £5.50 – £11.95 | Mains £10.95 – £23.95 | Desserts £6.50 The Score Cooking 8/10 | Service 4/5 | Flavour 4/5 | Value 4/5 Total 20/25 There are several pubs in…
Read MoreCraft, Birmingham – Guest Reviewer Miranda Heggie
Craft The Terrace, ICC, 8 Centenary Square Birmingham B1 2EA 0333 772 9329 www.weare-craft.co.uk The Bill Lunch and Dinner Two Courses £33 | Three Courses £39 | Four Courses £45 Afternoon tea £25 with Hot Beverage or £30.00 with a Glass of Sparkling Wine or Craft Gin Cocktail The Score Cooking 8/10 | Service 5/5…
Read MoreLe Chapon Fin, Bordeaux – Home to the Worst Service in the World
Le Chapon Fin 5 Rue Montesquieu, 33000 Bordeaux, France +33 556 791 010 www.chapon-fin.com The Bill (Euros – 2018 Prices) Lunch Set Lunch 35€ Dinner Set Menus 69€ – 99€ A la Carte Starters 29€ -33€ | Mains 37€ – 55€ | Desserts 16€ The Score Cooking 5/10 Service Sommeliers 5/5, Waitresses 0/5 – Average…
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