Hotel Du Vin III

The glorious steak board

It was Damian's birthday so we though that Hotel Du Vin would be a lovely place in which to celebrate. After the obligatory cocktails we settled down for what would be a very fine meal indeed. I do like the Gentleman's club atmosphere and the wait staff are attentive but unobtrusive. I would say however, that the portion sizes are ridiculous for the prices they charge. I know Paul Tamburrini wants a Michelin star and is charging accordingly but it was a similar issue that fell foul of Gordon Ramsey at Amaryllis. I think it would do a lot for their empty tables if he knocked a couple of pounds off each of the dishes. The when he actually gets a star he can hike up the prices. Even with a couple of pounds knocked off it still wouldn't be cheap.. Anyway rant over.

We had:


Our amuse bouche which certainly did amuse our bouche-an intense pea shooter with Parmesan crisp.



The freshly baked bread served in some silver ware that did have the weight of being real.



My starter of Langoustine tails with black pudding bon-bons which I thought was very good, the Langoustine being sweet and properly cooked.



Victoria's crayfish and tomato vine salad



A wonderful but minuscule steak tartare



Damian's rillette of Veal and Duck



400g of rib roast beef served ala Jason Atherton: a sight which made our mouths water!



A modernist tower of Pommes Pont neuf



Roasted native lobster with Cafe de Paris butter

I would have taken a photo of HI's Nith valley veal but it was so small and perfectly formed, not to mention tasty that it disappeared before I could say cheese!

It was handy we had been to La Valle Blanche the night before as it gave us a chance to compare the two. HI thought his veal at La Valle Blanche was better. My steak at HDV was better than LVB. I prefer the setting at HDV and interestingly, despite my earlier rant about how expensive it is, it actually worked out cheaper than La Valle Blanche. Must have been that bottle of wine of John's..

So, we have two worthy contenders for Glasgow's Curious Eater fine-dining award, stayed tuned to find out who will win!!

Bar Gandolfi: an update

mackerel and potato salad- too much dill!
haggis and black pudding bon-bons- yum yum.
spicy meatballs- yum yum too!

Fifi and Ally: the rant.

I actually considered getting Rachel to write this to show that I am not the only one disappointed by what is going on here. I was a bit late meeting her, so she had ample opportunity to observe behind the scenes. She had ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and her wine glass had a lipstick print on it so she pointed it out and watched as her waiter almost poured the wine from the dirty glass to another, on realising she could see him, he opened up a new one.

It's this sort of thing that makes our hearts sink, because as you can see they have managed to source some lovely products, have a really well-conceptualised space but the apparent lack of management, or of effective management, seems to let the place down time and time again. People waiting to be seated, to get given menus, have their drinks orders, then their orders, waiting for the orders waiting for the bills..They seem to have enough staff but no one co-ordinating them. The upkeep seems lacking too: the counter which was next to us, looked like it hadn't been dusted in ages and the menus were dog eared and some splattered with coffee and other stains, which I hoped were edible in their origin. Why do we go back? Unfortunately, there is no where else that does what it does. They have found a niche and seem to take it for granted.

It's a lovely, chic place that deserves better than it gets.

North Star is where..

...the best bacon sandwiches in the world live. Freshly baked white organic bread, butter and fried crispy, but not too crispy, bacon.



It is heaven.

They also do excellent Portuguese coffee and have a yummy selection of freshly baked cakes and brownies, and sell Spanish/Portuguese edibles. It's a place dear to my heart, but probably bad for it!!

La valle Blanche II.

The blog has been pretty quiet and it's because I have been pretty busy, eating some good stuff.

It started off with La Valle Blanche. John was up from London and we wanted somewhere nice to eat, so I suggested we go back here to see if things had improved. And I can tell you they have.


First, though we headed to Hotel Du Vin for some cocktails.



John in the manner of HI, is partial to a dry Gin martini and so he had one, which he declared excellent. I had a very good caipirinha and HI a smoking martini that unfortunately did not live up to expectations.

Suitably fortified we made our way to La Valle Blanche. The interior was as chalet chic as before and the music still suitably trendy. I had asked for a corner booth which we got and I have to say, I much prefer it to the centre. It was cosy, comfy and gave us some privacy. I thought that I noticed less staff on the floor, which I think is a good thing as before I thought it was a bit much. Even with reduced staff I thought managed to be pretty attentive. John noticed a bottle of his family’s favourite red, which he also noticed was marked up from £15 at Waitrose to £50 on the wine list. Still, full of bon viver we ordered it. We started off with some some Parmesan beignets or puffs as I prefer to call them.



Then our starters:



We had oysters, which were excellent and served with shallot vinaigrette, which is my favourite way. Either that or with lemon.



I had the potted rabbit which was moist and tasty but served with what looked like a dried out chapatti. I ended up leaving that and eating the rabbit with toast.



HI had a crab tartlet which again was excellent but served with an extraneous green sludge which was made up of cucumber and watercress. It sounds like a good idea but the tartlet didn’t need it.

Our mains were equally good if not better.



John and I decided to share a Chateaubriand which was served perfectly cooked, medium rare and tasted great. There even was an added bonus in the form of some roasted bone marrow, which was not even mentioned on the menu. It was very St John.



The star dish however was HI’s veal. It came with the best sweetbreads I have ever eaten. They were kind of crispy on the outside but creamy on the inside. His veal was tasty too and served with a creamy creamy pomme puree that must have been made with Robuchon's in mind.

We finished off with some puddings



From closest to furthest away: warm chocolate fondant, pistachio souffle and lemon posset. Both John and I had order envy. It would seem HI had picked two winners in the form of the veal and the posset. Bah.



Well and truly satisfied.. If the sweetbreads and bone marrow are anything to go by it would seem Neil has his finger on the pulse, as the use of these once discarded bits of animal is very trendy at the mo, esp in the Big Smoke down South.
I think I will have to come back. I might even add it to my list of favourite places? Maybe..we shall see.

Italian caffe: update

As you know, I like this place: high quality produce, generous portions, tasty food.

The usual contenders:



Antipasti misto aka plate of lovely meat, and some of the best green olives to be had in Glasgow IMHO.



Then from closest to furthest away: pan-fried chicken livers, shellfish in tomato sugo, beef carpaccio all excellent.

In case you didn't drool enough:

Dyson airblade.

This is for Krista who won't know who I am, but here you are anyway.

They are pretty cool but make your hands look weird when using them.