Beluga Wine Bar Restaurant, Sydney

15/425 Bourke St, Surry Hills NSW 2010 Map

http://www.belugawinebar.com/

When I left work in the UK, I was given a voucher for a meal for two at Beluga as my leaving present. My wife and I decided that we would use the voucher for a special occasion so we decided to go there to celebrate our wedding anniversary this year.

The restaurant is about a ten minute or so walk from Central station and is easy to find as Bourke Street is a main thoroughfare through Surry Hills.

We were the first there and were greeted warmly by the Maitre'd who showed us to our table and we chatted about food in Australia and other restaurants that we had visited.

One of the reasons that the people at work chose Beluga was that it had a vegetarian degustation menu and it was this that I chose.

The first thing delivered to the table was an amuse bouche of Green Pea and Basil Cappuccino. It was wonderful. The taste of the peas was so fresh and I could've drunk gallons of it! However, it was not to be. A small espresso cup was all we were given.

Shortly after we'd finished the amuse, the first course arrived. It was Cherry Tomatoes in Olive Oil with Tomato Sorbet. Now, anyone who knows me will tell you that tomatoes are fighting for the top position in my pet-hate list along with parsley. However, surprisingly, this dish was rather good and the sorbet, dare I say it, was quite amazing.

Next up was Ricotta Dumpling with Cauliflower Purée and Avocado Brulee. This was the matching course to my wife's scallops. It worked pretty well, and I'm still deciding whether the avocado brulee should go on the list as, although it was a brulee, it wasn't actually a dessert. If it does, it would be an eight as it was very good, and avocado isn't a favourite of mine either but the combination of it with the slight burnt taste of the caramelised sugar worked a treat.

The next course was Sweet Corn Crepe with Carrot Saffron Emulsion and Micro Herbs. It was nice, the crepe had a very slight curry flavour and the saffron emulsion was very good, but the micro herbs were just a few small leaves on the side of the plate that had wilted badly under the lights on the hotplates. They did nothing to the dish not even adding a nice garnish.

Next a palate cleanser of Lime Sorbet with Yoghurt was delivered. Nice though it was, it didn't really work as a palate cleanser as there was too much going on in there. As well as he lime and the yoghurt, there was also the odd cardamom seed. It was very nice and would've worked well as a small dessert.

It was now that we noticed that the service was beginning to slow down and it took an hour to deliver the next two courses. The restaurant was by no means full, in fact it wasn't even half full, so I'm not sure what was causing the slowdown.

The next dish was described on the menu as Portobello Mushroom, Haloumi and Red Pepper Emulsion. I'm not sure what happened, as what turned up was polenta topped with pimento pepper, the aforementioned red pepper emulsion and, what was described to me as, porcini with champagne emulsion. Now, I know my mushrooms pretty well and can recognise a porcini at a fair distance and I have to say that the item on my plate neither resembled boletus edulis in look or taste and Patrick Harding would be in despair should anyone identify a bolete as having gills as the specimen on my plate so obviously had. As for the dish itself, it was okay but definitely my least favourite of all the courses so far.

The next dish on the menu was Polenta, Vegetable Terrine, Confit of Eggplant and Egg Yolk Pearl. I was wondering what the Egg Yolk Pearl might be and had visions of some of the things that come out of the kitchen of El Bulli. Alas, I wasn't to find out as what appeared had little in common with the description on the menu.

My disappointment was short-lived though as what arrived was Vegetable Terrine, Wild Mushrooms and Truffles! It was great and my favourite dish of the evening so far.

Before the desserts came Pear Sorbet and Strawberries. It was like eating a really, really ripe pear – yumm!

Service began to speed up now. The first of the desserts was French Chocolate Ganache, Saffron Ice Cream, Chickpea Dust and Strawberry Caviar. It was really tasty and the ganache and the ice cream went together perfectly. The chickpea dust added a slight bitter-sweet taste to the dish, but the strawberry caviar didn't really add anything – to be honest it was just like very small balls of strawberry jelly.

The final course was Coconut Bavarois, Pistachio Kulfi and Star Anise Soil. The star anise gave the dish a nice delicate Indian feel and was well presented, but it wasn't quite as tasty as the previous course.

We had wines matched to each course and we had the same wines despite my wife having the normal degustation menu. However, for me, they matched pretty well except for maybe one of the reds.

The service was very friendly, if a little slow in the middle. One thing struck me as odd though, especially as this restaurant is mixture of French and Indian influences, and that was that there was no bread. I'm not sure whether this is an Australian thing, but I would really have liked some with the first course to mop up the gorgeous oil dressing.

It was an enjoyable evening and we both enjoyed the meal. The tables are quite well spaced, offering a degree of privacy. The toilets could do with a decent tidy up, but that is a small criticism. If you're looking for a place for a special meal that is imaginative and not too expensive you could do worse than go to Beluga.

Healthy Soy Cooking – Japanese Vegan, Sydney

http://www.healthysoycooking.com/

I saw the advert for this course on the noticeboard of our local Macro Wholefoods. It sounded interesting and after checking out the website, I booked up.

It took place in Bondi Junction in the Blanco kitchen showroom, which was quite interesting, although there were only a handful of people that popped in while we were doing the course and we weren't disturbed.

Yoshiko Takeuchi, the tutor, used to work at Tetsuya's, a Sydney restaurant that is currently number 17 on the Best Restaurants in the World list, so she should know what she's doing. And she does.

Japanese food is a mystery to me as it mostly seems fish or meat based, so to spend some time cooking with ingredients I'd never heard of was great.

To begin with we cooked Inari Zushi, which is rice in beancurd skin, something which I'd eaten before, but never knew its name. The process of boiling the skins, squeezing out the liquid and then simmering them in a mixture of mirin, soy sauce and dashi powder before splitting the skins to make a pocket so the sesame rice we cooked could be stuffed inside took quite a while but let me tell you, it was worth it.

Next up we made a pile of dumplings from flour and silken tofu. These were used in a variety of dishes and were paired with Zensai (a warm red been soup), Black Syrup & Kinako (a sweet syrup), Isobe Yaki (soy sauce and nori) and Green Tea Ice Cream and Sweet Azuki (sweet red beans). My favourite was the black syrup.

We also made Nasu No Dengaku(eggplant with sweet red and white miso) which was wonderful. It was grilled rather than fried, so used a lot less oil than the traditional Japanese version of this dish. It also looked great.

Accompanying the eggplant was Agedashi Dofu (fried tofu with soy sauce) and Daikon & Edamame Salad with Ume Dressing (Japanese pickled plum dressing).

All the dishes were really tasty, and I enjoyed cooking with such unfamiliar ingredients. There were five of us on the course and we all got plenty of hands-on experience. Yoshiko is a great teacher and explained each of the ingredients as we went along gradually de-mystifying the techniques of Japanese cooking.

The recipe book that we were given also has a great glossary and a list of places where the ingredients can be bought.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable course and I can't wait to try out some of the recipes at home.

Caphrodite, Sydney

382 Military Road
Cremorne NSW 2090 Map

Caphrodite is a Greek restaurant next door to the Orpheum cinema in Cremorne. It is fairly basically furnished which gives it an air of authenticity. Being part of the same building as the Orpheum means that there are the odd touches of Art-Deco in there too, which sort of work, strangely enough.

There are a few vegetarian dishes on the menu and I chose to start with Grilled Kefalotiri a dish of grilled cheese that I remember having in Rhodes years ago. It was good, the cheese was firm and not too salty to taste.

For the main course I had Melitzana, which was eggplant stuffed with ricotta cheese served with a tomato sauce. It was quite a large dish, and although the ricotta on its own was a bit flavourless, in combination with the sauce it was really tasty. The tomato sauce had a sort of sweet and sour flavour that took away from the blandness of the cheese.

The service was fast and friendly and my only criticism would be that the menu was a little on the pricey side.

Micalini Cafe, Sydney

7/332 Military Road,
Cremorne Map

I've been to this small Italian cafe in Cremorne a couple of times now, once for breakfast and once for lunch.

The cafe is in a small plaza alongside other cafes and is fairly easy to spot as it is the one with most of its tables filled.

Every day they have a couple of specials that we were told are made by the owner's mother in law, Isabella. It was one of these specials, a gnocchi with napoli and bean sauce that I had for lunch on my first visit. The gnocchi was firm and light and the sauce was excellent.

On my second visit, I went for breakfast and had their version of Eggs Benedict. There are several versions on their menu and I had the one with mushrooms and rocket. The eggs were served on thick toast rather than the traditional English muffins, but that didn't make any difference as the dish was superb. There were two eggs, two huge slices of toast and plenty of mushrooms and hollandaise sauce. I wasn't sure about the rocket, but it worked okay.

The service at Michalinos isn't fast, but that doesn't matter as it is the perfect place to sit with a newspaper and a coffee while waiting for your food. The waiting staff are really friendly and service is always with a smile. Oh, and if you do visit, try the mango smoothie, it is divine!

Mantra, Sydney

Grove Shopping Center Shop 12,

166 Military Rd,

Neutral Bay 2089 Map

Mantra Bollywood Restaurant was a tale of great food, shame about the service. The restaurant itself is upstairs in the Grove Shopping Centre in the Neutral Bay area of Sydney and is decorated with really gaudy "faux" Indian pictures and textiles. With the music that is playing there is no doubt that you are in an Indian restaurant. There are a couple of banqueting areas that have low tables and cushions and look great. I can imagine a meal with a large group of friends in one of them would be a real hoot.

The menu itself has quite a lot of options, including a good vegetarian selection. No baltis or chicken tikka massala on there which was refreshing. We started with a vegetarian entree selection that included potato cakes with chick-peas in a superb sauce, some lightly battered veg and leaves - again really tasty with a minty flavoured sauce - and vegetable samosas. The whole selection was lovely and we looked forward to the main courses. We also ordered a tomato and cucumber salad, which never arrived. More of that later.

My main course was panir cheese with peppers and tomatoes (in "happy colours" it said on the menu!) along with pilau rice and a potato and pea stuffed naan. My wife had a prawn dish. The cheese dish had a wonderful fruity flavour and just a hint of spice and was thoroughly enjoyable. The naan was great and had a lovely charred flavour. This was all accompanied by - what else? - a Cobra beer. Even on the other side of the world, some things stay the same.

Not everything however. One of the things that I've noticed here on Indian menus is that there are no vegetable side dishes. Which is a shame, as there were a couple of dishes on the menu that I would have liked to try, but didn't want a whole main dish size of them. Mind you I've only seen a handful of menus so far, my great "Down Under" food adventure has only just begun.

So, the food was great. The service however could be improved upon.

We had to request the wine list and my wife asked which of the white wines was the driest. The waitress looked completely blank and said that she would have to find out. Eventually a glass of white arrived, but it took a while to find out what it was. The starter selection arrived with no description of what any of the pieces were and, as I said before, one of the dishes never arrived. Halfway through the meal my wife ordered another wine which also never materialised.

Still, the food was so tasty that we plan to go back sometime in the future and try some of the other dishes. Hopefully, the service was a one-off. I'll let you know.

Full Circle, Sydney

100 Willoughby Road,
Crow's Nest 2065 Map

http://www.fullcirclevege.com.au/

Full Circle is a vegetarian Thai restaurant in the northern Sydney suburb of Crow's Nest. Upon arrival, confronted with a large glass frontage, it took us several seconds to work out how to get in until we noticed a small red circle with the instructions to “press to open door”. This we did and the centre panel of glass slid aside to allow us to enter the restaurant.

The restaurant itself is well decorated and has neat “white-clothed” tables down each side, which sets it apart from a lot of the other Asian restaurants in the area.

Having taken our seat we were presented with the menus and asked if we wanted a Chinese tea (which we did).

The menu is extensive and it took a while before being able to decide on what to have. There were a lot of dishes with mock meats made from gluten which I can take or leave, and mostly have out of curiosity.

We chose a mixed entree selection to start, not knowing what we would get. It turned out to be a plate of different mock meats! They were, we were told, mock barbeque pork, roast pork, mock intestines(!), beancurd skin and mock jellyfish. The jellyfish, in case you are wondering (and I suspect you are) was a salad of various vegetable with some very slimy noodles. Of the other dishes on the plate, the mock roast port was really tasty as was the beancurd skin. The barbeque “pork” was okay and the “intestines” had very little flavour to be honest.

It took a while to decide what to have for main course and, in the end, we chose King Oyster Mushrooms, Pine Nut & Vegetables in Birds Nest, Tom Yam Curry Tofu and Braised Sweet & Sour Eggplant.

The curry wasn't too spicy and had a lovely citrus overtone to it. It had a nice selection of vegetables including baby corn, broccoli and carrots and the tofu soaked up the curry sauce really nicely.

The bird's nest was filled with a selection of vegetable, tofu and mushroom in a tasty sauce.

The best of the dishes was the sweet and sour eggplant. The eggplant was battered and deep fried and just melted in your mouth. The sauce was gorgeous and although we were getting full, we just had to keep going back for more.

For dessert I had deep-fried ice cream, which was wrapped in a coconut flavoured coating, with caramel sauce and accompanied by some fresh fruit.

All the dishes were well presented and everything was nice and tasty. The service was very friendly and polite, and all of the dishes were delivered in good time, so there were no extended waits between courses.

We'll be visiting there again to sample more of the menu and maybe to get another taste of that superb sweet and sour eggplant.

Update (July 2009)
I walked past Full Circle today, only to find that it has closed and that the premises will shortly be opening as a seafood restaurant. This is a real shame as we had some good meals in there, and we'll both miss the sweet and sour eggplant.

Noodle Market, Sydney

Tonight we wandered up the road in North Sydney to the Civic Park where the “Noodle Market” was taking place. According to the signs, this happens every Friday evening. The “Market” consists of half a dozen or so food stalls selling such things as Morrocan tagine, pancakes, noodles, chinese dumplings and more all accompanied by a live band.

The weather was gorgeous, as it had cooled from the heat of the day, and it was very pleasant sitting on the grass listening to live music while munching on mushroom and vegetable dumplings followed by some banana and maple syrup pancakes.

What a great way to end the week.

Simple & Irresistable, Sydney

283, Miller Street,
North Sydney 2060

www.s-and-i.com.au

The last time I visited Sydney, in 2002, I came to this Thai restaurant for lunch with my wife-to-be as she was then and an ex-collegue of hers. I had the vegetable Pad Thai and it was so good that all others that I have had since then have been measured against it.

So, on our first evening back we decided to revisit it as it was quite close to where we are staying while we search for somewhere permanent to live.

I decided to try the Pad Thai again to see if it was as good as I remember. I'm glad to say that it was. There was plenty on the plate and the vegetables were fresh and crunchy.

My wife had a beef salad and declared that it was lovely. The service was very friendly and quick and the prices were very reasonable (compared to the UK at least). Simple and Irresistable is on our list as somewhere to go back to.

Down Under?

Yes it's true. Gaztronomy has relocated from Tunbridge Wells to Sydney, Australia. For the next couple of years, at least, I'll be living and working (and eating) in and around Australia and, just maybe, some “nearby” countries as well.

So, buckle up and enjoy the ride with me.

First off, there was the food on on board the aircraft. We flew with Singapore Airlines, mostly because they offer double baggage allowance for emigrants, which is very useful and something that they don't advertise and I only found out about it from the various ex-pat and migrant forums dotted around the internet.

So, the Singapore Airline food then. What's it like for veggies (or veggos as I'm now gonna have to start calling myself...)? Do you like spinach? If so, you'll be in heaven.

I don't. And wasn't.

At least, I don't like spinach in large quantities. As an ingredient, with ricotta for example, or a few leaves in a salad or wilted into pasta it can be lovely. As a wet green lump, I would rather pass thank you very much.

So, the first meal I was served, on the London – Singapore stretch was a spicy bean mixture, spinach and sauteed potatoes. Now, spicy beans have their place, but the confined space of an aeroplane, in my opinion, is not one of them. So, although they tasted okay, I cared too much for my comfort (and that of my fellow passengers) to eat more than a mouthful. I've already made my feelings about spinach clear, but I did eat the potatoes. The other meals I had were similar and also featured a pile of spinach.

The best meal I had was on the Singapore – Sydney part of the journey (on an Airbus A380 if you are interested in that sort of thing) and was spaghetti with aubergines (I guess I've now got to call it eggplant) and sundried tomatoes. It was actually very tasty.

For some reason, and it has happened every time I've done this trip, on the flight from Singapore I always end up being given a vegan meal. Typically I don't mind, but it does mean that I have no milk for coffee and have missed out on a crossant for breakfast. On one flight (not this one I hasten to add) a flight attendant got quite vocal that I shouldn't have a croissant as my meal was marked as vegan and was very reluctant to give me one!

Still, now I'm here with no return ticket and a huge number of exciting restaurants and cuisines to try. So, dear reader, try not to feel too sorry for me!

Kensington Place, London

201 – 209 Kensington Church Road
London W8 7LX

www.kensingtonplace-restaurant.co.uk

Kensington Place is in the same restaurant group as Skylon on the South Bank that I visited a couple of weeks back.

They offer a set price menu of either £16.50 for two courses or £19.50 for three courses. We decided that we would go for three courses and I started with Mushroom Tortellini, Butternut Squash Foam and Lentil and Truffle Vinaigrette. The dish consisted of a single tortellini on a bed of lentils. It was presented very prettily and tasted gorgeous, especially the lentils and the vinaigrettte.

For main course I had Black Trompette Mushroom Risotto, Caramelised Baby Onions, Balsamic and Parmesan. The risotto on its own was nice, however the balsamic onions gave the flavour a really nice “sweet and sour” twist.

For dessert, the crème brulee rule came into play. I had Hibiscus Crème Brulee and Green Apple Sorbet. The sugar was still melted and not crunchy as I like it. The custard was nice and of a good consistency. The sorbet had a really fresh flavour but I'm not sure it really went with the brulee.

The service was excellent and the value for money at £19.50 for three courses is superb. If you're in the Notting Hill Gate area, then give it a try.

The Garden, Oxford

The Gardeners Arms,
Plantation Road,
Oxford OX2 6JE Map

www.thegarden-oxford.co.uk

The Garden at the Gardeners Arms is tucked away in part of Oxford that is called Jericho. It is well worth digging out as The Garden is a vegetarian pub/restaurant and as well as good food, it also has some fine beers.

Essentially it is a pub that serves vegetarian and vegan food. The menu is quite extensive, offering such dishes as Spicy Moroccan mince, beans and aubergine, Vegetable Balti Madras as well as burgers and wraps.

I'd gone there with a mate that lives nearby and we shared a tapas plate as a starter. This consisted of sun-dried tomatoes, olives, aubergine, pickles, roasted pepper, chillies, roasted tomatoes, hummus and a pitta. It was all very tasty and, with an extra pitta, made a perfect sharing plate for two.

For a main course I decided to try one of the burgers and ordered it with all the toppings (except tomato), emmental cheese, mustard and burger relish. The burger was one of the soya-type burgers and was quite firm and "meaty" and the salad toppings were fresh and crisp. The only disappointment was that it was served with standard shop bought "fries". If it had been served with homemade hand-cut chips it would've been perfect.

The chips aside, it's well worth the detour to find the Garden. As a pub it was friendly and the ales were good and for a veggie or vegan the selection and quality of food was excellent.

The Dashwood, Kirtlington

South Green,

Heyford Road,

Kirtlington,

Oxon OX5 3HJ Map

www.thedashwood.co.uk

Recently I was working near Bicester, in Oxfordshire and the firm put me up in a hotel called the Dashwood, a few miles away. I was going to be staying for a couple of nights and I noticed that their restaurant had only a single veggie dish on their menu. Would it be possible, I enquired, that as I was staying a couple of days that they could do something different for me on the second night.

I was told that it shouldn't be a problem and I had the vegetarian dish for that night - a risotto - which was very nice. The next night, they remembered my request and, once seated, I was asked whether I liked blue cheese. I said I did and they delivered a plate of field mushrooms stuffed with a very tasty blue cheese accompanied with pine nuts. Fairly simple, but very tasty and it was very nice to be given this level of service.

But the story doesn't end there.

A couple of weeks later I was back again, this time for just a single night. When I was checking in, the manager came over and said that, as they knew it was me, they had put a vegetarian dish on the specials board for that night. What a result!

I enquired about their general policy, and they said that if they are notified in advance they are happy to cater for any dietary restrictions which is great. The rest of the hotel is excellent too, the rooms are very spacious and clean and the prices are very reasonable. If you're looking for somewhere to stay in the Oxford area, you could do worse then check out the Dashwood.

Skylon, London

Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XX Map

www.skylonrestaurant.co.uk

Our visit to Skylon was our second Toptable freebie. The offer meant that we could have two courses from a set menu for nothing, not bad when all I had to do this was to eat at other fabulous restaurants!

Skylon is in the Southbank Centre and overlooks the Thames. We were seated in the Grill right by one of the huge windows and had a wonderful view across to Embankment. It was quite dark in the restaurant (hence the bad photo) but I guess if it wasn't you wouldn't be able to see out as well.

The set menu was pretty good and we decided to go for starters and mains, then pay for dessert if we were still hungry.

I started with an Endive, Walnut and Stilton salad. There was plenty of stilton which was dotted around the outside of the plate and it was really creamy. Together with the endives, walnuts and the dressing it made for a really nice dish.

My wife ordered the Tomato Soup. From the very first sip she was raving about the flavour saying it had a flavour similar to a Thai Tom Yum soup, which she loves. I had a taste and it was really good, nice and tomatoey (if that's a word) with a hint of exotic spice.

For main course I chose one of my favourites, Melanzana Parmigiana. It was good, not too oily and the aubergines were quite tender. My wife had Salmon Fishcakes which she enjoyed.

I decided to go for a dessert and had a Fig Vanilla Brulee. This wasn't really a brulee in the way I undersand it as it was a "dome" of custard in the centre of the plate with a gentle sprinkling of sugar on the very peak of the dome. This was then surounded by a few figs. It was nice, but it didn't conform enough to a creme brulee to be added to the list.

The service was excellent - prompt and friendly - and my wife was so impressed that she's going back next week with some business collegues.

Gaztronomy Top Ten - 2008

It's the end of another year and time for me to put together a list of the favourites from all the places I visited during 2008. I didn't manage to get to everywhere that I wanted, but did make it to some really amazing places.

Choosing a favourite from the top three wasn't easy as they are all such fabulous places and the food in all of them is amazing, but in the end I plumped for the French Laundry as the location and occasion made it extra special.

1. French Laundry
Spending the afternoon of our Wedding Anniversary in the best restaurant in America was something special. The food was spectacular and the service just perfect.

2. Fat Duck
Heston Blumenthal's menu was an experience not to be forgotten. Each course was a surprise and an education in how mixing taste with our other senses can create a completely new food experience.

3. Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons
It was another perfect meal at Le Manoir. The food was superb, as was the service.

4. Caldesi in Campagna
This was my favourite Italian meal this year. The food was wonderful and it was great to be invited into the kitchen to meet Giancarlo and Gregorio.

5. Café Spice Namaste
I had a couple of really good meals here in 2008 and attended a cookery course where I met one of my veggie cookery heroes. The food is tasty and imaginative and, of course, Cyrus is just a really nice chap.

6. Thackerays
I've been to Thackeray's a couple of times this year and the food is superb. But, c'mon guys, sort out the service and you might get your Michelin Star back!

7. Drunken Duck
In the middle of the Lake District is this gem. The food is great and they even have their own brewery!

8. Benares
The best dessert I had all year!

9. Jamie's Italian
I love Carluccio's, but Jamie's Italian has pipped it to the post this year. The food was delightful and very reasonably priced.

10. Food for Friends
For a veggie Sunday lunch, there is no place better!

Woodlands, Marylebone

77 Marylebone Lane,
London W1u 2PS Map

http://www.woodlandsrestaurant.co.uk/

Woodlands South Indian vegetarian restaurant is tucked away in Marylebone Lane and looks deceptively small from the outside. Once inside, the restaurant opens out into a large, spacious and well decorated area with well laid out tables.

I popped in one lunchtime and had the Delhi Royal Thali and a Cobra (well you have to, don't you..?) The thali consisted of chappatis, paneer sabsi, Dahivada (an Indian donut in yoghurt) , channa, korma, dal, pillau rice, and a dessert.

The paneer dish was really nice, but the top prize has to go to the channa which was really good. The chick peas were nice and tender and the gravy had a wonderful taste - spicy, but not too spicy. The dal had a bit of a kick to it, which was nice as I usually find them a bit bland. The Dahivida was tasty and was perfect to take away any excess spice or to clear the palate as I hopped back and forth between the dishes. The dessert, which was a sort of coconutty thing, finished it all off nicely.

For lunch, this was the perfect dish - the selection was great and the amounts were just enough to fill you up without leaving you bloated and in danger of falling asleep at your desk in the afternoon. The welcome was friendly and the service was good and very prompt, which is just what you need at this time of the day.

If you're around Oxford Street any time and have a hankering for a curry, then I recommend you make a short detour and give Woodlands a go. You won't regret it.

L'Italia a Tavola

3B Monson Road,
Tunbridge Wells TN1 1LS Map

We've popped in to L'Italia a Tavola for a coffee occasionally and my wife picked up and excellent picnic basket in the summer so we decided to try the Christmas meal that they offered.

The subtly lit tiny restaurant and warm welcome offered a very nice cosy refuge from the cold outside and we were presented with a bellini each along with olives and bread as soon as we were seated.

My starters was a really nice lentil and vegetable soup, very Italian and an excellent beginning to the meal. My wife had a chicken broth with meat filled tortellini which she said was nice, but to be honest, mine looked and smelt a lot better.

Next, came a mushroom crespelle with a mushroom and truffle sauce. With my love of all things fungoid, it was perfect for me and it was very, very tasty. It came with a rocket and parmesan salad and, as I'm not a huge salad lover, my wife half-inched it and declared that it was an excellent example of her favourite salad. The meat main course was venison with a redcurrant sauce (I think) which my wife enjoyed and said was very good.

I finished the meal with a cheese platter which was, again, very good although something like a fig or other sweet fruit would've been a nice accompaniment and a coffee.

All in all, it was a very pleasant evening. There were only four tables eating (it is a very small place) but everyone kept themselves very much to themselves. It would've been nice if there was some interaction between the diners, and maybe a touch more festive music or something. We made an effort by pulling our crackers and wearing our hats, but we seemed to be the only table that did. Not to worry, the food was still extremely good and, from my experience of Italian fayre, very authentic.

Il Vesuvio, Tunbridge Wells

112 Camden Road
Tunbridge Wells TN1 2QX Map

http://www.ilvesuvio.co.uk/

We were at a loose end in Tunbridge Wells one lunchtime when I remembered a review of Il Vesuvio on the Eating Out in Tunbridge Wells website.

We arrived just as it opened and were given a warm welcome and seated in the window. The restaurant itself is really airy and is decorated in a style to make you think you've just stepped off of a Neapolitan street, with murals of Vesuvious overlooking the bay and other Italianate features adorning the walls.

We weren't overly hungry and decided to share a plate of Grigliata Di Vegetali Con Pinzimonio which was a plate of grilled vegetables consisting of courgettes, aubergines and peppers marinated in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. While we were waiting, the restaurant became very smoky, so I guess it's safe to say that they were freshly grilled!

We ordered some bread to accompany the vegetable and they were really good, and the last of the bread was used to mop up the juices, which is always a good sign.

We honeymooned in Sorrento, and I have fond memories of sitting at a cafe eating gnocchi with tomato sauce and mozarella, so I decided to see what I Vesuvio's Gnocchi Sorrento was like. It was extremely hot! However, I was warned and after I let it cool down, it was very tasty. The sauce was good and "tomatoey" and the cheese very stringy. The gnocchi itself was firm and not too heavy. My wife had a spaghetti bolognaise and she said that the pasta was slightly undercooked, but not enough to spoil it.

We both enjoyed our meals and the price was pretty good. We were the only ones in there for the most part, although another table came in as we were finishing so I can't comment on the atmosphere. The service was great and the people were very friendly and Il Vesuvio is definitely on our list to go back to.

Jamie's Italian, Oxford

24 - 26 George Street,
Oxford OX1 2AE Map

www.jamieoliver.com/italian/oxford

Having loved Fifteen, when the Cheeky Mockney teamed up with Gennaro Contaldo to open a chain of High Street Italian restaurants, I just had to try one of them.

You can't book at any of the restaurants, so we turned up nice and early, to make sure we got a seat. The plan worked and we were seated straight away.

For those who aren't as lucky, there is a bar where you can wait until a table becomes available.

I started with a vegetable Antipasti “Plank” - so called as it arrives at the table on a plank of wood! Shortly before the antipasti arrived the waitress placed a couple of tins of tomatoes on the table. “Ah”, we thought. “Free tomatoes”. However the tins were for the aforementioned planks to be placed upon.

The antipasti consisted of peppers, courgette, aubergine, artichoke, olives, mozzarella, a minty coleslaw and parmesan cheese with a dollop of chilli jam. It looked great, and accompanied by the bread basket we'd ordered it tasted fantastic.

For the main course I thought I'd indulge my passion for truffles by having Black Truffle Tagliatelle. I wasn't expecting much, after all it was less than nine quid, but what turned up was a bowlful of tagliatelle absolutely covered in truffles and with a gorgous sauce to boot. I was glad that I had a spoon to finish it all off once I had finished the pasta.

For dessert I had Bakewell Tart which was served with lemon an orange crème fraiche. It was up to the standard of the rest of the meal.

The restaurant itself is very relaxed and the staff were extremely friendly. The service was great and for thirty quid each for three courses, drinks and a tip you really cannot fault it. If all the branches of Jamie's Italian are this good then watch out Carluccio's you have serious competition!

January 2009 Update.
I just thought I'd let you know that I visited the Kingston branch of Jamie's today and the service and quality matched that of the Oxford branch. I tried a couple of different dishes, the Mushroom Ravioli for main course and a Tiramisu for dessert both of which were excellent. If all the branches are as good as these two, then the cheekie chappie is on to a winner!

Return to Le Manoir

Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons

Church Road,Great Milton,

Oxford OX44 7PD Map

http://www.manoir.com/

Truffles with everything! That seemed to be the theme of my latest visit to Le Manoir, Raymond Blanc's two-star restaurant in rural Oxfordshire. From the moment that the taxi arrived, we were the restaurant's special guests.

Mind you, so was everyone else. That's the beauty of dining at places like this – even though the restaurant is full, you feel like everything is being done just for you, and everyone else just disappears into the background.

With our move to Australia getting ever closer, my wife had suggested that my friend John, with whom I have enjoyed many of the meals reviewed here on Gaztronomy, and I should have a Gourmet weekend together and have a huge blowout at a top restaurant somewhere.

We decided that Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons would be a suitable place for this event and so we booked rooms at the Oxford Belfry, a hotel ten minutes down the road from the restaurant.

After confirming our booking we were shown into the lounge where where were given the menus to peruse. We both chose the ten course Menu Decouverte, I had the vegetarian one, John had the standard menu. I will describe the vegetarian dishes here, but suffice to say John enjoyed the standard dishes just as much as I enjoyed the meat free ones.

After some hors d'ouevres and a brief chat with the sommelier who we left to choose the wines for us, we were shown to our table and shortly after the first course arrived.

This was a potato a black truffle soup, which was a great way to start. After this came a cheese soufflé which was just about perfect. No, it was better than that, as somehow they managed to get a ball of melted cheese into the middle of the soufflé, rather like a cheesy version of a chocolate fondant.

Next up was a leek and Jerusalem artichoke salad. The vegetables at Le Manoir are always so fresh and tasty, and this salad was no exception.

It was good to see that the vegetarian menu was pretty much completely different to the one I had the previous time I went. Sure, there was a risotto and pasta, but both were different to last time, with different vegetables, oh and plenty of truffles! The only dish that was the same was the roasted sweet Romano perpper with tabbouleh, although it was presented slightly differently.

Once the various mains had finished, we treated ourselves to a cheese course, with some spectacular cheeses and then we went on to desserts.

The first of the desserts was Kaffir lime leaf and coconut tapioca with passion fruit and banana sorbet. This was a million miles away from the tapioca you remember from old school dinners and tasted wonderful.

The next dish was described as “Tiramisu Flavours”. This was what I can only describe as a deconstructed version of the famous Italian dessert as all the tastes were there but it was presented quite spectacularly as you can see from the picture.

Finally (sadly) the final dish, a chocolate mousse with lemon butterscotch sauce and almond milk cream glacée was delivered to the table. It was lovely, but the milk cream glacée really stood out – it was lovely.

A coffee and petit fours later and it was all over. We both agreed that the meal was fantastic, the sommelier did a superb job matching the wines to the various courses and the service was excellent and very friendly which all added up to a great afternoon.

We then took some time to wander around the gardens before our taxi arrived to ferry us away.

Paul Gayler's Sauce Book

If you've been following this blog, you'll know that Paul Gayler is a favourite chef of mine, and this is his latest book. It's a collection of 300 sauces from around the world ranging from the classics (Hollandaise, Bearnaise) to the exotic (Nam Jim, Sambal Oelek) to dessert (Creme Anglaise, Butterscotch). Not all the sauces are vegetarian, but a large amount are and many of the others could be adapted.

I made the Sicilian Tomato Sauce which was fantastic. The flavour was so rich and deep, and it was perfect with spaghetti.

Many of the sauce recipes have suggestions on how to use them. One that took my eye was Skordalia, a sort of potato mayonnaise made with potatoes, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. The recipe alongside, Roasted Beets with Rocket, Soft Egg and Skordalia, sounded interesting so I gave it a go. The results are pictured below, and it tasted pretty good.

The Sauce Book is excellent, well laid out with some great pictures and I expect it to be a constant reference and source of inspiration for me in the future.