I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about dining experiences, and how must expectation feeds into your enjoyment of a meal. I’ll be honest: I went to Core with so much buzz and hype about Clare Smyth’s restaurant having passed before my eyes that I was perhaps doomed to go “meh?” when I was treated …
I’m very seldom in a steak restaurant. As I’ve noted before, most times for me the interesting thing about a plate of food – certainly if I’m going to throw £20+ at it – is the chef’s choice of flavours and textures, how they balance, how they pop and how they’re presented. Whereas a steak …
I wonder to what extent labelling a dish “Winning dish on Great British Menu” skews the punters to order it? I’m willing to bet that a lot more of them fly out of the kitchen than the other mains or starters they’re sharing the menu with. And chef Aktar Islaam has two “winner on GBM” …
This little restaurant in a tucked-away corner of Cirencester is really hard to pin down. Is it fine dining or casual? Is it modern or trad Spanish? Is it brilliant value or a bit confused? Is it tapas or tasting menu? I’m not sure I can answer all these questions, but Tierra and Mar is …
Or to give it its proper title: “The Coach House by Michael Caines“. In the interest of full disclosure, this kind of thing really gets on my wick so I was likely to be skeptical going into this meal! Is it really necessary to suck people in with a name? All I can find on …