Review of Reviews: 2 February 2006
The Times, 28 January
Giles Coren heads off to Wiltshire and finds ballottine treated differently at the Old Bell in Malmesbury and Whatley Manor's brasserie, Le Mazot, in Easton Grey
There was [at Le Mazot] a ballotine of chicken and foie gras on honey pickled carrots and reduced sweet soy sauce, which was perfect in every way except for being spelt "ballottine" on the menu and "ballontine" on my bill, which were clangers of monstrous proportions… and a juicy square of pork belly with black pudding was served with the best mashed potato I have ever had. Dinner at the Old Bell showed that things don't have to be perfect to be lovely. There was a jolly tomato soup pre-starter with a tapenade crouton and then an elegant little fishcake, very clean and unstodgy, with a light rosti crust and a dazzlingly green parsley sauce. A ballotine here, by comparison with Whatley Manor, contained ham rather than foie gras, and was appropriately rustic. (Rating: both 7.33 out of 10)
The Guardian, 28 JanuaryMatthew Norman gets warmed up at Baltic on London's South Bank on a grey winter's day
Baltic sets the tone by putting mulled wine topped with almonds (£4 a glass) at the top of the page. We had glasses of this nutmeggy nectar with excellent bread and pickled cucumber, and set about ordering. My starter, kaszanka, was three circles of fine, strong black sausage, deep-fried and enlivened by a purée of pear and red cabbage… a dill-infused pork and duck stew with pumpkin and white beans, [was] so rich and tender it might have been bubbling away in the oven for a couple of days. My main course of proper, braised rabbit with sage dumplings looked great - all saffron yellow and carrot orange - and suggested a delicacy of touch for which eastern European cooks are seldom celebrated. (About £35 a head, inclusive. Rating: 8 out of 10)
The Independent, 28 JanuaryTracey MacLeod finds refuge from the golf at the Seafood Restaurant in St Andrew's
With waves scudding beneath it and sea-birds wheeling above, it's the kind of exuberant, elemental place you expect to find in Cornwall, rather than in this furled and glowering corner of eastern Scotland. What we get [to eat] tends towards the over-elaborate, relying on fussy supporting ingredients rather than letting the fish and seafood star. Smoked salmon was good, non-oily with a lingering, developing flavour, and didn't need the accompanying red onion and capers to provide interest. Half a dozen rock oysters - from Kilbrandon, off the west coast of Scotland - were similarly gussied up with a mango and chilli salsa and a small shot glass of Bloody Mary. (Three-course lunch, £24. Food rating: 3 stars out of 5)
The Daily Telegraph, 28 JanuaryJan Moir finds the Thomas Cubbitt in London's Belgravia promising, but with room to improve
One of the best things we have is wild mushrooms and devilled kidneys on hot buttered toast, although it's hard to swallow the disappointment that they don't use Poilâne bread [from the shop next door], preferring some rather mundane, woolly stuff instead. There are mistimings on the meat main courses, but the charming manager whisks away an overdone fillet steak (Denham Estate rare-breed beef), promptly brings another and insists on giving a little discount on our bottle of claret by way of an apology. In general, the food strains to be posh in a pinkies aloft kind of way and is sometimes over-garnished, but that's not the same as being bad. (Meal for two, excluding drinks and service, £67)
The Sunday Times, 29 JanuaryRod Liddle is impressed by the Malaysian-inspired food at Champor-Champor in south-east London
Four of us ate a superb meal at Champor-Champor for about £200, and the quality of cooking was as high as anything you will find for about triple the price in the West End, given the most un-Malaysian amount of alcohol we consumed. My baby squid stuffed with rice came with a crunchy and sharp guava salad, to which star anise had at some point been introduced and then sent packing. My friend went for the baked eel, which was succulent and devoid of the oil slick that is so often its unwanted companion. (Rating: 4 stars out of 5)
