Matthew

Author's details

Date registered: 11 September 2011

Latest posts

  1. Review: Chisou, Mayfair — 3 August 2025
  2. Review: The Vine Tree, Crickhowell — 3 August 2025
  3. Review: Skof, Manchester — 23 July 2025
  4. Review: Juliet, Stroud — 1 July 2025
  5. Review: Counter 71, Shoreditch — 1 July 2025

Most commented posts

  1. TripAdvisor gives me indigestion — 13 comments
  2. Spicy beetroot soup — 11 comments
  3. Review: Noma, Copenhagen — 10 comments
  4. Spaghetti alla carbonara, essentially — 10 comments
  5. A gourmet and his gout — 9 comments

Author's posts listings

Peppercorn sauce

Categories:

Lunch or supper, Recipes, Showing off

14 February 2023

Just in case you’re making a steak… 1 big shallot, fine diced 3 tsp black peppercorns, 2 tsp pink peppercorns 20g butter big pinch salt 2-3 tbsp brandy 200ml beef stock 2 tsp mushroom ketchup or worcester sauce 100ml double cream Dry-toast the black peppercorns, then crush 2 tsp of them. Melt butter and fry …

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Review: Kota, Porthleven

Categories:

Fine dining, Rest of UK, Restaurant Reviews

31 December 2022

Scallops n vinegar

We ate at Kota on the day after Boxing Day, as we’d gone down to spend Christmas week in Cornwall. I feel it’s worth saying this as I’ve had a few meals around the holiday season that haven’t turned out as excellently as reviews of the restaurant would suggest… and I wonder if it’s that …

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Review: Coombeshead Farm, Launceston

Categories:

Rest of UK, Restaurant Reviews

31 December 2022

Open fire and ready for service

Coombeshead Farm make their own superb piggy products from their herds of Mangalitza and Middle-White pigs. There is a rustic Italian boiled sausage called “cotechino” that they make which is absolutely the best thing ever done with a pig’s spare parts. They also have a little restaurant and rooms on the farm, which is where …

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Review: Jikoni, Marylebone

Categories:

London, Restaurant Reviews

15 December 2022

Jikoni

So I think effectively Jikoni‘s sensibility comes from Kenya, but specifically the Indian diaspora that settled there a few generations ago and adapted their cuisine a bit. There’s also a scattering of modern British ingredients and ideas. The prices are totally out of whack with the dishes they put in front of you. Please don’t …

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Review: Noodle and Snack, Fitzrovia

Categories:

Cafes etc., London, Restaurant Reviews

15 December 2022

Chongqing noodle

I’ve never been to northern China, but with Chinese cinema gradually spreading I’ve built an impression of giant anonymous housing complexes, warrens of neon-lit shophouses and eateries, huge brown rivers snaking through vast plains covered in crops under chilly grey skies. Feels like the kind of place you need simple, heart-warming and flavour-packed starch. Noodle …

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