Hello foodie world!

January 4th, 2009

Welcome to the No Expert food blog.   Our reviews cover some of the Worlds Top Restaurants, along with other interesting places and food related events. The opinions on these pages are our own or those of our dining companions. We’re not food experts that can describe the ins and outs of cooking techniques and ingredients so don’t expect autopsies on every dish we’ve ever eaten.  What we do know is what we like.

Not everyone will agree but we hope you might find our culinary experiences useful as some of  these restaurants can be very expensive and maybe we will save you some time and money by avoiding the disappointing and recommending the very best.

Apologies for the quality of some of the photographs, we try to be unobtrusive when taking pictures, so generally no flash.

There are various ways you can navigate this blog, use :-

  • Index - to view a list of all the posts by country
  • What are we Talking About? - for fast links to subjects
  • Categories - to filter by category, e.g., London, Best of Best etc
  • Search - to find all posts on a subject, e.g., Fat Duck, Gherkin
  • Archives – to view posts by publication date

To help you find the venues we provide Google Maps© for most of the posts.

We also use a Restaurant Rating System to allocate marks to restaurants, and each month we will highlight the best restaurants reviewed within the month – see No Expert : Monthly Reports

At the end of the year we will announce the winners of the No Expert Annual Awards – see No Expert Awards.

Posted in Restaurant Bookings | No Comments »

The Ledbury – More or Less?

January 17th, 2012

We started off the new year on a high, with lunch at The Ledbury.   There were two  menu options. The special lunch Menu at £45 or the Tasting Menu at £75, both available with matching wine.  Such a tough choice, but it was The Ledbury and we just had to go down the “More” route.   We had matching wines for each course (including a matching wine for the amuse bouche) making a total of 8 glasses each (I think).  Pretty heavy for lunch time drinking I have to say. In retrospect the “Less” route might have been the more sensible choice.

We found the restaurant to be rather quiet on this visit, only a few tables were in use during our mid week lunch. So if you pick your day carefully it is possible to get a reservation at this temple of gastronomy.

We started with Chantilly of Colchester Oysters with a Tartare of Scallop and Oyster, Horseradish and Dill – a very elegant dish, this was followed by Flame Grilled Mackerel with Smoked Eel, Celtic Mustard and Shiso. Then we had Hampshire Buffalo Milk Curd with Saint-Nectaire and Truffle Toast. The Truffle Toast was the highlight for me, delicious. We were four glasses down at this point when we moved on to the fish course of Roast Native Lobster with Broccoli stem, Natural Yogurt and Indian Spices in Brown Butter. This was followed by Pork Cheek cooked in Pedro Ximénez with Puffed Grains and Spiced Cream and Roast Haunch of Fallow Deer with White Beetroot and Smoked Bone Marrow and several more glasses of well matched wines. We finished with a light pre-dessert and the dessert of Pavé of Chocolate with Milk Purée and Lovage Ice Cream.

The food was universally good, we just felt that we had over done it.  I am always happy to go to The Ledbury but I think next time I will stick to the set lunch.

One tip though, if you do want to go down the Tasting Menu route,  is to do it at lunch time – the Tasting Menu is £30 cheaper then than the one offered in the evening.

Marks out of 10

Food 8

Service 7.8

Ambience 6.5

The Ledbury on Urbanspoon

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Posted in 2 Michelin stars, Expensive, London, UK | No Comments »

NO EXPERT ANNUAL AWARDS 2011

January 1st, 2012

 

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Best of the best

and the winner for BEST FOOD is

The Ritz

See post:-

The Ritz – getting past The Glitz

 

Runners up – Providores and Chez Bruce

 


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Worst of the worst

 

and the winner for WORST FOOD is

Apsleys

See post :-

Apsleys at the Lanesborough – Where Taste Fails

 

and the winner for MOST DISAPPOINTING FOOD is

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

See post:-

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal – Simmer down and reduce your expectations

 

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Other Awards

Best Bread – The Modern Pantry

See post:-

The Modern Pantry – Food Fusion

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The Ritz – getting past The Glitz

December 31st, 2011

As a birthday gift I was treated to lunch at The Ritz by the other half of No Expert.  We had some concerns as you do, when visiting somewhere so prestigious and potentially wallet busting. High profile venues like The Ritz all too often live off past glories. Fortunately this was not the case here, although there was no getting past the cost factor. The wine was very expensive.  Don’t expect to find bottles at the £30 mark,  the lowest price is around £50, but give it its due, the bottle of Marlborough Pinor Noir we ordered was delightful.  We very sensibly chose on this occasion to go for the set lunch which consisted of three courses for £45, rather than go a la carte, where you could pay the same price for a single course!

I should also say at this stage, that the set lunch was very good indeed, so by going down that  route you really are not slumming it. Indeed we are currently debating the likelihood of naming this the winner of this years best restaurant (the meal was that good).

There was the inevitable Champagne Trolley to avoid before the meal began.  We were quite happy to just go with a jug of tap water (admittedly a silver plated one).

The amuse bouche was served in a Champagne glass and we chose some rather nice bacon flavoured home made bread.  The set lunch menu was certainly enticing, I started with a rather moreish Mackerel dish and my companion had a very tasty salt beef and foie gras terrine.  This was followed by main courses of duck and venison, delivered under cloches and revealed with some theatre.  This was comfort food of the highest order, both were absolutely delicious. Then for dessert we had a classic Ritz dish, the Chestnut Souffle with Rum ice cream, a real treat.  We did not order coffee but were still presented with what I can honestly say were the best selection of petit fours I have had in a restaurant for a long time.  So in summary although the food is not cutting edge by any means, one of the reasons this meal stood out for us, was that nothing jarred, from the bread right through to the petit fours, everything was uniformly excellent and that is a rarity even in the best of restaurants.

Marks out of 10

Food 8

Service 7.5

Ambience 8.5

Ritz on Urbanspoon

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Posted in Expensive, London, UK | No Comments »

The Modern Pantry – food fusion

December 31st, 2011

After recently dining at The Providores I was keen to try The Modern Pantry where Peter Gordons former protégée Anna Hanson MBE (2011 honors list) produces some very interesting food.

The Modern Pantry is located in St Johns Square, right next door to the delightfully cosy Zetter Townhouse which was ideal for our post lunch cocktails.

We entered The Modern Pantry via the side door, through the informal cafe and were escorted upstairs to the modern quirky dining rooms, with their designer lampshades  and wooden floors which in conjunction with our wobbly table introduced a strange bouncy effect when any one walked by.

As expected the food was imaginative, combining unexpected ingredients to enhance the flavours.

There is a separate charge of £2.60 for the bread, but that makes sense as the bread here is not the boring options provided by most restaurants. The aniseed bread in particular was a real winner.

I started with the the New Caledonian prawn omelette with green chilli,  spring onion and smoked chilli sambal, the combination of the sweet prawns and chilli was stunning, making it the best tasting and interesting omelette I have ever had, a dish that if I made a return visit I would struggle not to order again.

My companion ordered the king scallops with Jerusalem artichoke mash, a tasty dish that was unfortunately spoilt by some grit in the scallops.

For main course I had the lamb rump with curry leaf besam chips and curly kale. The chips were great, less so the curly kale which rather dominated the plate. This dish though was served with a quite lovely 1999 Urbina Rioja.

My companion had the roast cod with chorizo and squid ink mash, a terrific dish that successfully combined some very strong flavours without overpowering the cod.

We finished with the pumpkin and gingernut cheese cake with mulled wine sorbet and the eggnog bread and butter pudding, both rather festive choices.

All in all despite a couple of flaws, this is fusion food that really works. We had a very enjoyable meal in a venue I would be happy to return too.

With the Modern Pantry and the Bruno Loubets at the Zetter, St Johns Square, Clerkenwell is a developing into quite a foodie enclave, which can only be a good thing.

Marks out of 10

Food 7.3

Service 6.9

Ambience 6.5

Modern Pantry on Urbanspoon

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Posted in London, UK | No Comments »

December 27th, 2011

Now that we have got Christmas out of the way, we are looking forward to starting the real celebrations with a post Christmas restaurant binge.   Over the course of the next two weeks we will be dining at two of our absolute favorite restaurants Chez Bruce and The Ledbury.  We also have lunch plans at two locations that could not be more different The Ritz and The Modern Pantry.

We will also be announcing our best and worst restaurants of the year. Watch this space.

 

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Bar Boulud – a welcome return

November 20th, 2011

Located in the basement of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge is Daniel Boulud’s London outpost Bar Boulud. I had lunch there just after it opened – see post Bar Boulud – Busy! Buzzy!Burgers! I enjoyed it on that visit and certainly thought about returning to try more from the Bistro inspired menu.  It’s amazing to think that was over 18 months ago and I am only now returning, this time as part of a larger group.

This visit was for lunch on a Saturday and we experienced a much less frantic environment than I remember.  The ambience was actually very relaxing.

I choose from the excellent value fixed price lunch menu – seriously good value at £23 for 3 courses.  I started with a lovely creamy and tasty pumpkin soup,  followed by a very tender lamb shoulder dish served with baby carrots, eggplant, almonds and apricots and finished with a quite stunning chestnut sable & mousse covered in a lovely shiny chocolate glaze served with some light and refreshing pear sorbet.

My companions were visiting Bar Boulud for the first time and quite rightly ordered the burgers. The Yankee and the Frenchie being the most popular choice. The best burgers in London was the general consensus there – great fries too.

The other dessert pictured is the gâteau noisette et poire – hazelnut mousse with caramelized pears and caramel ice cream. It was a stunner.

I tried very hard to resist the allure of the Mandarin Bar without success. My intentions for having a reasonably priced lunch were dashed by the pricey but delicious cocktails.  The pictured cocktail is a Lychee Martini, the cocktail menu also had some delightfully named cocktails like the Orient Expresso and the Ginny Henricks.

I am sure I will return to Bar Boulud again in the not too distant future. It’s such a good refuge from the hustle and bustle of Knightsbridge.

Marks out of 10

Food  6.9

Service 6.8

Ambience 6.8

Bar Boulud on Urbanspoon

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Posted in London, UK | No Comments »

The Sundial in Herstmonceux

November 7th, 2011

I had a couple of preconceptions that were quickly dispelled on my visit to The Sundial.

1. That French Restaurants in the country that advertise themselves as wedding venues tend to be a bit mundane.

2. That we would be hard pushed to find an East Sussex restaurant that was better than The Waterside.

On entering the rather empty car park on a quiet Saturday lunch time in the unassuming village of Herstmonceux. I was pleasantly surprised by the attractive, modern and well designed layout of The Sundial. It has a small lounge bar area in the middle, a small private dining room to the left and the main restaurant to the right. There is a also a small terrace and a large garden area.

We were greeted by the proprietors Chef Vincent and his wife Mary who manages front of house, and made comfortable in the lounge area where we were served some tasty canapes while we made our selections. First step was choosing which menu. They have a fine dining menu which at £25 for 3 courses seemed really good value.  The a la carte is £40 for 3 courses and there is a 5 course tasting menu at £55. We opted for the a la carte.

First we had a nice creamy crayfish mousse amuse bouche. Then for starters we both had the perfectly cooked Panfried King Scallops, with Wild Mushrooms, Garlic and Parsley. A lovely looking dish visually enhanced by the inclusion of the blue Vitelotte Potatoes. Next we had a refreshing champagne and lemon granita palette cleanser.

For main course I had the Wild Seabass Fillet, Seabass and Lobster Sausage with Tarragon and Pistachio served with beautifully smooth mash and my companion had the fairly substantial Breast of Duck with Potato Pancakes and seasonal Vegetables

This was followed by a pre dessert that was effectively a mini raspberry choc ice, a bit like a frozen raspberry ruffle on a stick.  Then for dessert I had Red Berry Compote and Chocolate Mousse, Hazelnut Macaroon and Nougat Mousse with Carrot and Ginger Sorbet. The Hazelnut Macaroon was really moreish, working so well with the unusual Carrot and Ginger Sorbet.   However the star of the show,  at least visually, was the Chocolate Dégustation that included chocolate ice cream, chocolate mousse and chocolate parfait.  This dish was very much presented to impress.

The wine list is extensive, although there are not too many by the glass unfortunately – my only complaint.

We finished off this rather splendid meal with coffee and a fairly substantial selection of petit fours in the lounge.

Attention to detail and stylish presentation are obviously important at The Sundial, they used a lovely selection of tableware ranging from the cute copper pot butter dish to the stunning customised glass dessert plates, this was backed up by solid cooking and good ingredients.

The Sundial restaurant had a Michelin star for three years until 1982 and I sincerely hope it’s back on the Michelin Inspectors radar, as this is a serious contender for a star in my opinion.

Marks out of 10

Food 7.4

Service 7.4

Ambience 7.2

Sundial Restaurant on Urbanspoon

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Posted in Sussex, UK | No Comments »

Tsunami in Charlotte Street

October 27th, 2011

For ages one of my foodie friends has been trying to persuade me to join her for lunch at one of her favorite local lunch spots – Tsunami in Charlotte Street. Charlotte Street has always been a good spot for dining, with an interesting mix of restaurants ranging from Michelin starred Pied a Terre to more humble dining establishments like Thai Metro. I had booked our table the day before and it did rather look as though I had got the last one, indeed by 1.00 the place was full and buzzing with conversation. The room is very stylish and beautifully lit, I especially like the etched glass window/door area. The downside though is the room layout, it is a long narrow L shaped room and several of the tables are a bit cramped. If you are sitting near the door there is no way to avoid the draft when customers arrive/leave the restaurant. So this is possibly not the best venue when the weather gets wintry.

We shared a selection of starters and main courses, that included mixed Sashimi, Dragon Roll Sushi (Shrimp tempura wrapped in eel, avocado, cucumber and scallion) which was delicious. Nasu Goma (grilled aubergine with sesame paste). Some refreshing and beautifully presented Tuna Tartare (served in a glass of ice – pictured).  Crab Tempura, Sea Bream and Rib-Eye served with exotic mushrooms and fresh truffle sauce. We also managed to find room for desserts, they included a coconut pana cota, a rather spectacular dish titled Chocolate Ball Melts – which did just that when the waitress poured the sauce over it and an Ice Cream Tempura. They also had a fairly decent list of cocktails, which we didn’t indulge in on this visit – perhaps another time. Tsunami is not cheap so it is worth looking out for Top Table deals. They also do a £15.00 set lunch that looked pretty good too.

Marks out of 10

Food 6.9

Service 5.9

Ambience 6.2

Tsunami on Urbanspoon

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Posted in London, UK | No Comments »

Bridges in Ubud

October 26th, 2011
A restaurant recommendation from Bali

Decades ago I visited Ubud in Bali and was captivated by its beauty. My friend Julie made a more recent visit and fell in love with the area and the people, to the extent that she moved there permanently putting down some real roots. Julie is the co-author of A Taste of Bali and if you want to read more about her life in Ubud see Julie in Bali where she covers everything from the perils of house building to earthquakes and the not so gentle pitter-patter of monkeys on the roof.

Ubud has grown and evolved a fair bit since my visit.  One of the changes is a relatively new Restaurant I had heard good things about, so I asked Julie if she knew it.  The restaurant is called Bridges, it opened less than a year ago and was recently voted the number one restaurant in Ubud by Trip Advisor.  It’s a casual fine dining restaurant  with Western and Asian influences, their new menu for example includes Three Spiced Carmelised Duck -  Sliced crispy duck coated in a thin star anise, orange and cinnamon caramel and the Crispy Skinned Pan-fried local Barramundi on a golden caper-dill rosti. Served with sautéed zucchini ribbons and a lime-saffron cream sauce.

A View of Bridges Restaurant, taken from Champuan Bridge

Recently Julie helped organise a literary event there that included a delicious 4 course meal, the highlight of which was a rather lovely dessert of chocolate mousse duo (orange and espresso).

Not sure when I will get the opportunity to visit Ubud again, but when I do I think Bridges will be on my list of local attractions.

 

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Posted in Food Festivals/Events | 1 Comment »

Chocolate Unwrapped 2011

October 18th, 2011

Another Year. Another Chocolate Week.

We finished the week with a visit to Chocolate Unwrapped at Vinopolis.  This is its third year and it’s been getting bigger by the year. Vinopolis is an excellent venue for this type of event, nice high ceilings to keep the temperature down and lots of room for growth.


The first person we spotted as we walked in was Paul Wayne Gregory. He was keen to tell us that he now has a boxed selection of his chocolates that is entirely made up of award winners.  We also had some more of Duffys Chocolate (their chocolate was used in both the chocolate dinners I went to during Chocolate Week at The Providores and Almeida).

I tried to find Lauden Chocolates (one of my favorites), but if they were there I missed them. I did spot a tweet from them saying they had such a good day on the Saturday that they had sold out, so perhaps they didn’t managed to restock for the Sunday session.  Matcha Chocolat another favorite from last year was also no where to be seen.   However Chocolate Unwrapped for me is all about discovering something new.  This year my discovery was Pacari Ecuadorian Organic Chocolate bars, specifically the Raw Chocolate with Salt & Nibs (70% Cacao) and Lemongrass (60% Cacao) – this is seriously grown up chocolate.

We had a quick chat with Paul A Young and on the recommendation of a friend I also bought some of his very distinctive Pumpkin flavoured chocolates.

We were brave enough (or was that foolish enough) to  try some chocolate wine too – it was an interesting novelty, but didn’t really work for me.

The event seemed to have more of an International vibe this year, lots of French accents around.  We also visited stands from Hungry, Switzerland and Italy.

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Posted in Chocolate, Food Festivals/Events, UK | No Comments »

From Pod to Providores dinner

October 11th, 2011

Chocolate week is now an annual event that I like to make the most of. This year we managed to get a booking for a special dinner at The Providores where for Chocolate Week 2011, Peter Gordon (often called Europe’s father of fusion cuisine) and innovative chocolatier Paul A Young collaborated to create a 6 course menu with chocolate incorporated into each course. Peter and Paul hosted the evening introducing the dishes and entertained us all with food and non food related stories, indeed as the evening progressed and everyone relaxed they evolved into a rather effective double act.

It was a very sociable evening with Paul and Peter working their way around the tables to talk to their guests. The food was stunning with dishes that included Roast duck, prune sauce, wild mushrooms, porcini powder and broad beans with Honduras Indio Rojo, and Smoked eel, sautéed salsify, toasted sourdough crumbs and date chipotle chilli puree with Mangaro chocolate. The smoked eel in particular was a real winner and was matched with a smooth 2007 Richardson Pinot Noir.  Then just when I thought it could not get any better, that dish was eclipsed by the surprising light beef cheeks with roast carmelised quince and smoked chickpea panizza.  The matching New Zealand wines were top notch.  As was the Quinta do Noval Port from Douro that accompanied the Tart of malted Virunga chocolate and sea salted caramel, buffalo ice cream and sesame praline.

This was my first visit to The Providores and it will most definitely not be my last.

Marks out of 10

Food 7.8

Service 7

Ambience 7.8

Providores on Urbanspoon

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Posted in London, UK | No Comments »

Sketch – in a world of its own

September 25th, 2011

A visit to Sketch is certainly an interesting and rather OTT experience.  I felt rather like a kid with a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.  As you enter the building you have the Parlour on your right, where you can order an indulgent Breakfast, Afternoon Tea, Comfort food and Cocktails.  The rather low key Parlour is in stark contrast to Pierre Gagnaire’s Michelin stared restaurant in the Lecture Room. The name of the restaurant does not really conjure up what is revealed after you are escorted up the exotically lit staircase. The doors are dramatically thrown open and you find yourself in a jewel box like room, decorated with a red, orange, blue and gold palette.

My companion had brought his camera but had forgotten his SD card, so was annoyed that in such a photogenic environment we were not going to do the place justice, but by using our phones we managed to get a few shots of the experience.

The first hurdle is the Champagne Trolley, something I am not a fan off. If I want a glass I prefer to check the menu first to make sure I know what I am getting, so we just stuck to tap water while we made our menu selection. Despite the hefty prices you can still go down the less expensive route by ordering from the Gourmet Rapide Menu.  However as we wanted to get the full experience on our first visit we opted for the regular Tasting Menu (it is expensive, but as you will see from this post – you do get a lot for your money) and asked the Sommelier to recommend a bottle of wine that would suit the whole menu. He selected a reasonably priced bottle of Irouleguy, Xuri d’Ansa 2004 that was drinkable both on its own and as an accompaniment to the food.

Next came the bread, served with some rather spectacular tasting seaweed butter. Then the feast began.   We had a wonderful array of beautifully presented dishes served by Sketches very efficient staff.  Ironically though the presentation and service did eclipse the food a bit.  The food was very good, don’t get me wrong.  The Foie Gras Terrine with Mackerel Bouillon and Clams was an excellent start.  The Marinated Stone Bass, Peas, Spring Cabbage, Mint and
Smoked Lardons was quite lovely, nice flavour combinations and textures.  The huge King Scallop served with Nettle Cream, Haddock, Watercress Salad, Seaweed Butter and Rhubarb was fabulous. One of these could have been turned into a dozen servings at Apsleys (who served up scallop slivers rather than the more generous presentation delivered by Sketch) and the other dishes were enjoyable too. They just didn’t quite meet our expectations, which were perhaps a little too high, due to the rather excessive hype that Sketch gets.  We found ourselves inevitably making comparisons with meals we had in other restaurants. It wasn’t in the same class as Le Bristol in Paris (although the menu was very similar to the one we had there a few years back – especially the lobster and sweet bread dishes).  Moments at the Mandarin in Barcelona had the edge on food presentation and taste.  The Ledbury, The Kitchin and Tom Aikens (at his peak) also won on the flavour front.

This was a tasting menu that definitely filled you up though, we were getting full even before we started on the Grand Dessert which consists of no less than five desserts and a selection of petit fours. However sometimes less is more and I think I would have preferred just a couple of spectacular desserts, rather than five OK ones.  That said, it was still discernibly better than a lot of Michelin started restaurants out there, and as such I would have no qualms about recommending the Sketch experience, and that’s even without having had the full tour of the premises – we didn’t get the chance to visit the Glade, the Gallery or the East Bar as Blackberry had reserved the rest of Sketch for a product launch, so there was a bit of a buzz around that, as Jessie J was providing the music.

Marks out of 10

Food 7.5

Service 8

Ambience 8

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Posted in 1 Michelin star, Expensive, London, UK | 1 Comment »

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