Restaurant Recommendations...

[Glaucus]

How could I forget this place.

http://www.egyptmill.com/ - Nailsworth, Gloucestershire.
GL6 OAE

Around 6.50 for starter
£12 for main
£5.50 for desserts

[Knipples]

And you're taking me when?

[Glaucus]

When I get a pic of you displaying Chinese rope bondage ..

[Knipples]

I think you might be waiting a while then.....

[loki]

The Hinds Head Hotel

The Hinds Head Hotel of Heston Blumenthal fame. Situated in a little village called Bray in Berkshire. I have been down at a an exhibition for two days at Earls Court this week. So one of our bosses took us out to this absolute gem of a restaurant.

The best way to describe it is 5 star traditional english dishes in a pub. Prices are what you would expect in a half decent restaurant but make no mistake this is not pub food, this is restaurant class grub.

Starter

I had the dusted duck with toast and fig jam. This strange little dish is like a potted beef but obviously with duck. In a small pot with a little bit of fat on top and dusted with spices. 7/10

Main Course

Steak with Black & White pudding on a bed of cabbage. Without doubt this was the star of the show. If I am not mistaken it was a good cut of braising steak that had been twice cooked. Firstly by braising then by pan frying. This was served on a bed of shredded green cabbage that has had the black and white pudding broken up in it to give it a rich and creamy flavour.

As a side we all had his famous triple cooked chips. If you were going to have chips with your last supper these would be the ones.

Pud

Caramelised Apple Crumble with home made Vanilla Ice Cream. As with the form of the previous two courses, good traditional english food cooked to perfection. Spicy and sweet with then the hot crumble with the cold ice cream.

Little Treat
Whilst the bill was being settled the waitress brought us all a little chocolate truffle each. This was a fantastic touch. Obviously home made but then dipped in cocoa powder. Wow what a proper chocolate kick.

Conclusion

Coming in at just under £30.00 a head each, I have to say it was money very well spent. I would say this is probably one of the best dining experiences I have had for the quality of the food in terms of simplicity and outstanding flavour. Would have no problems at all going back or recommending it.

Can you have the perfect dining experience ? doubtful but upto now this is gets pretty close if you want some good English classics. Portion sizes are very generous, food is simply cooked to perfection and the service is outstanding

[lostkat]

We went out for food last night to celebrate both of our birthdays. It's something which we don't do very often, so we wanted it to be special. A friend had highly recommended a little restaurant in Melbourne, Derbyshire so I booked a table.

http://www.mileburne.co.uk/
The menu was small, but really appetizing and we both umm'd and ahh'd over what to have.

Starters - I had black pudding & quail egg scotch eggs with confit tomato, smoked bacon and brown sauce. Sounds a bit dodgy, but it was absolutely beautiful. I'm not a fan of black pudding or brown sauce, but this just said "try me" and I'm so glad I did. Really really gorgeous!
Leon had a smoked eel salad, which was also really nice. I've never tasted eel before.
They came around with a bread basket before the starter was served and let us pick from a selection of local breads.

Main Course - Locally sourced (it did say the name of the farm) shoulder of lamb, with minted greens, a sage & onion rosti, seasonal oven roast veg and a really beautiful gravy (i forget which type, but it had whole shallots which were melt in the mouth, mmmmm). The piece of lamb was HUGE and fell apart as soon as you touched it with the fork. All of the veg was cooked to perfection and the rosti was really really good.

Dessert - I had a chocolate fondant with homemade chocolate orange ice cream. Oh my GOD this was stunning. The fondant was cooked to absolute perfection. A delicate crust filled with gooey chocolate goodness. The ice cream had lumps of orangey chocolate in it. I'm not really a fan of orange & chocolate together, but all was forgiven with this dessert.
Leon had a selection of local cheeses, quince jelly & wafers. Again, all local stuff. He had a very strong, very smelly stilton-like cheese (our favourite), a local organic cheddar (really strong, beautiful!) and another Red Leicester type cheese, but without the dryness and slightly plastic taste of Red Leics. He struggled to finish it because we were so full!

This is certainly one of the nicest meals out that we've ever had. The place is really tiny (5 tables, max of 20 diners) and catered for by just 1 chef and 1 waitress (who is his wife). They change the menus often depending upon what's in season and what's available and always aim to use as much local produce as they can. The menu is well thought out and the atmosphere is warm and friendly. They didn't hurry us either - we were there for 2.5 hours, which absolutely flew by. Definitely going there again!!

The damage? £17 a head for a 3 course meal, plus £6 for 2 bottles of local bitter and an orange juice. Table water was provided. Absolute bargain IMHO!!

[Psymonkee]

A tiny bit far away from most of you southerners

http://www.vineleafstandrews.co.uk/index.php

Only place local to me that requires booking 3 weeks in advance