What's on the menu – Allium Brasserie is more than noteworthy, says Jay Rayner
Observer
Jay Rayner finds the unlikely pairing of gifted chef Chris Staines and a Best Western at the Allium Brasserie means the hotel group, in Bath at least, is living up to its name
What matters is the food, which is mostly good and in places very good indeed. To nibble there is a plate of pickled peppers and thin slices of Iberian ham; good serviceable stuff and a bargain at £4. There is a more showy nibble of mandarin segments filled with a punchy "jam" of dried shrimp with peanut and chilli. There is a lot of this playfulness. Pieces of Loch Duart salmon are cooked sous-vide with a smear of miso then crusted with sesame seeds, and served alongside a wasabi cream and crisp pickles. There is a leg and breast of quail glazed with a chilli caramel, and a Thai-inspired salad of peanuts and coriander. It is showy food, which would quickly become profoundly irritating if the technique wasn't spot on. It is.
Price: meal for two, including wine and service, £100
Telegraph
The food at Itsu's original restaurant in Chelsea SW3, may well be good for you, but it's also so moreish you might struggle to remember everything you ate, according to Zoe Williams](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/restaurants/9758197/Itsu-London-SW3-restaurant-review.html)
We fell upon a chilli-crab crystal roll (£4.95), which promptly fell apart, and was rather a mild, backdrop experience, something you could eat with something completely different in your mouth if the need arose. It did have a lovely mouth-feel, that gluey rice skin stretched over crunchy lettuce, chewy crab and slippery noodles. Salmon appeared again in my miso soup (£2.85), which was excellent, with yet more in the teriyaki maki (£4.95), which was pretty tasty but very sweet and, in this austere month, something you could only justify if you'd just been to hot yoga. B had the chicken and coconut soup (£4.95), which was moreish, but not in a good way, more because it was extremely sharp and limey, which for some reason makes you want to keep eating it, the palate equivalent of scratching an itch.
Price: three courses, £16.96
Yorkshire Post
[The food ambitions at the Hare Inn in Scawton near Helmsley makes owners Liz and Paul Jackson ones to watch, says Elaine Lemm ](http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/food-drink/eating-in-or-out/restaurant-review-the-hare-inn-scawton-near-helmsley-1-5287749)But, the post 7pm menu has serious foodie ambitions. This makes me just a touch nervous that Paul [Jackson, chef owner] has strayed a little too much away from the kind of food that will have locals (and those like me, not so local) from just popping in for a bite to eat.
The menu is precise and unsurprisingly is weighted towards local, seasonal game. However, pork makes an appearance, there's a smattering of seafood, plus, joy of joys, a dedicated vegetarian menu. Ham hock with foie gras, piccalilli, egg yolk, coriander and pineapple prompted a rather loud gasp around the table; it was a beautiful looking and artfully arranged dish. The tranche of tender ham hock terrine sat alongside a generous slice of lightly pan-fried liver. Surrounding these, a deconstructed piccalilli, panko-coated perfectly cooked egg yolk, and a few pungent drizzles and swizzles rounding them all up brilliantly.
Price: £80 for two, including wine
Score: Food 8/10, Atmosphere 8/10, Value for money 8/10
Price: three courses for about £30 a head, plus drinks and service
Independent
[The experimentation at the House of Wolf, London N1, might be better left in the lab, suggests Amol Rajan ](http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/reviews/house-of-wolf-181-upper-street-london-n1-8435870.html)House of Wolf boasts "pop-up chef residencies" and November's comes courtesy of Blanch & Shock, whose tasting menu is £45 (there is an accompanying, but not compulsory, drinks list at £25). A full 87 minutes after we arrive, all we've eaten is the first of six courses: an Einkorn wholegrain bread and yoghurt whey butter, the latter coming from a churn in the kitchen, apparently. We are told that by a waitress called Katie, who seems to be the only one of the waiting staff to have a clue what is going on - though the fact that the menu changes monthly may help explain why they often haven't the foggiest what they're serving up. It's almost an hour-and-a-half in by the time we get raw prawns in British lardo, with hogweed (also known as cow parsnip), mallow oil and salad burnet. The leaves are fine and flavoursome, the prawns lifeless in every sense, and the salty, ultra-fatty lardo is half-left by my mate Eve but gladly gobbled by Henry, Charlie and I.
Score: 5/10
Price: about £180 for four plus drinks
London Evening Standard
[The menu at the Greenberry Café in London NW1 offers all the human frame requires, according to Fay Maschler](http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/restaurants/greenberry-cafe--review-8435059.html)
The menu at Greenberry, as flexible as Beth Tweddle, fulfils the demands of breakfast, dinner, lunch and tea - all the human frame requires - plus the newer requirement of bar snacks. The range of dishes reflects a canny, enquiring outlook - one good example, the acknowledgement of the way the wind is blowing towards pickled vegetables - and a well-travelled head chef in the shape of Pratap Chahal who has Chez Bruce, Cinnamon Club and Galvin Bistrot de Luxe under his belt.
The section entitled Traiteur includes a somewhat cheeky nod towards the previous incumbent in pickled herring zakuski with beetroot, horseradish and soured cream and a perfectly reasonable genuflection towards north London with the offering of Stoke Newington smoked salmon (cut vertically) and salt beef sandwich, rye, gherkins. These make ideal lunch options as does sautéed wild mushrooms with roasted, gilded onions, goat's curd and toasted hemp seeds.
Score: 4/5
Price: prix fixe lunch and dinner £9.50/11.50 for two/three courses; a la carte, a meal for two with wine, about £76 excluding service
Metro
Alan Yau's latest eaterie Naamyaa, London EC1, blends Thai and Western dishes with terrific results, says Joe Warwick
Chilled baby cucumbers come with a flaming coriander, basil and chilli dip, while jasmine tea smoked ribs are a reminder of the version that used to be found at Hakkasan. Naamyaa gai, the chicken and wild ginger version of the restaurant's trademark dish, is a hearty pleasure: a soft block of kanom jin noodles, which you cut into quarters and mix with your pot of sauce, pickled morning glory, star fruit and a soft-boiled egg. Spaghetti pla kem is a fiery plate of East-meets-West, the pasta mixed with salted fish, chilli, tomato and Thai herbs. A combination of roasted spiced pineapple, caramel ice cream and crumble works well, as does a similarly served marriage of mascarpone ice cream with strawberry coulis and Thai basil. The drinks list, which includes fresh fruit Bangkok sodas, funky cocktails, an impressive wine list and even Thai whisky, is a joy.
Price: A meal for two with wine and water is about £60
By Janie Manzoori-Stamford
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