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

Review: Mana, Manchester

Categories:

Fine dining, Michelin, Rest of UK, Restaurant Reviews

28 July 2021

Mana

My favourite thing at Mana. They made a fudge by reducing down 120 litres of cucumber juice to a mere dollop. It no longer tasted of cucumber exactly, but still had a green note along with a deep sticky-sweet flavour a bit seaweedy. This blob made a superb relish for some insanely well cured sea …

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Review: District, Manchester

Categories:

Fine dining, Rest of UK, Restaurant Reviews

25 July 2021

District

It’s all about the vibe at District, a modern Thai tasting menu place in Manchester. Seriously. If you’re not into the vibe, you’ll hate it no matter what the food. And if you’re into the vibe, you’ll love it and maybe overlook the odd missed beat in the cooking. The vibe is cyberpunky. You’ve got …

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Review: Paradise, at home

Categories:

London, Restaurant Reviews

25 July 2021

Paradise feast

After perhaps a dozen different “posh takeaways” across lockdown, I’ve now got an absolute red hot favourite to recommend. It’s perhaps not a surprise; if I ponder my way across the cuisines of the world, this one stands out for having an astonishing range of bold, bright flavours and a diverse mixture of flavours and …

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Recipe: Polenta, creamy

Categories:

Lunch or supper, Recipes

9 March 2021

I tried to make creamy polenta four times, following recipes, including Felicity Cloake’s usually spot-on Guardian pages. Every time it would land on the plate with a thud and be a solid block by the time we were eating. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a block of polenta: you can slice it and pan-fry it, …

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Saturday night fish

Categories:

Lunch or supper, Recipes

22 February 2021

After buying a whole lemon sole and then butchering it to pieces with my general purpose kitchen knife, I indulged myself in the purchase of a shiny new Sabatier filleting knife. Which is a bit weird, because I’ve always been a total minimalist in the kitchen: one knife, one chopping board, one wooden spoon and …

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