What The Papers Say, a review and round up, of the weekends restaurant food critics.
What the Papers Say by Chefbennett01
The Staff Canteen look at the the weekend restaurant review
Starting us off this week, Jay Rayner tries to reassure us that he doesn't have it in for the nobility, yet still manages to slate the second establishment owned by the duchy of Devonshire. The name "˜the Devonshire arms' denotes ownership by the duke and duchess of the same name, and fresh from his attack of the one at Bolton abbey a little over a month ago, he finds nothing better in the food here at beeley in Derbyshire.
He prefers the beeley décor over Bolton abbey, and compliments them on the cooking of their meat, but almost everything else fails to impress. Some of the menu descriptions are "˜flowery'-"Crispy hand-dived Scottish sea scallops, sweetcorn purée, white asparagus, roasted apple purée, cinnamon toast, cafe latte" sounds like a whole menu, not just one dish, but jay finds the whole thing distracting.
He also has a slight at the chef's mum, for inspiring her offspring with her own lemon tart recipe, however that seems an unfair thing to put poor Mrs Hill through.
The Observer/guardian full review
Reviewer Name - Jay Rayner
Location/contact details - Devonshire arms, Beeley, Derbyshire (01629 733 259).
Next up is yet another new name on me from the independent-amol rojan, and unfortunately I have to express my opinion that he is a very poor reviewer. Not content with trying to review the whole of southwold in one review, he proceeds to show ignorance about food, and a tendency to act like the owner of a newly acquired English language A-level and waffles some of the worst writing I have seen whilst doing these round-ups.
Basing his choice of favourite venue around the size of the gin and tonic provided seems somewhat shallow to me.
Not to take anything away from Sutherland house, it sounds lovely, and the staff charming, but the food sounds fairly safe fayre if a little dated.
His score of 8.5/10 places it on the "˜independent' scale at between "˜special, cant wait to go back' and "˜as good as it gets' which for somewhere that doesn't make its own ice cream seems a bit far-fetched.
The Independent on Sunday read the full review -
Reviewer Name - amol rojan
Location/ contact details - Sutherland House, 56 High Street, Southwold, Suffolk
My last review for this week is by the delightful (and recently generous with the scores) Zoë Williams. Following from perfect 10 for Sat Bains and a respectable 9/10 for Heston, Zoë is suitably impressed with the opera tavern's tapas to grant them a 9 score too. It all sounds reasonable enough, even driving ms. W and her dining partner D. to having to restrain themselves from pinching the food from the trays of passing waiters carrying some of the dishes they didn't order.
That her choice of dining colleague spends a lot of time in Spain seems to persuade Zoë to allow him/her to make the choices of food, and it does indeed all sound appetising, and somehow made me want to find a tapas joint straight away.
If I hadn't read the last few weeks of Zoë's reviews I might think the score generous for sliced charcuterie etc, but I feel I can now trust her judgement and will certainly look up opera tavern next time I head to the big smoke.
The Sunday Telegraph read the full review -
Reviewer Name - Zoë Williams
Location/ contact details - Opera Tavern 23 Catherine Street, London WC2
Contact: 020 7836 3680
This should be my last week of the paper round up, but due to his involvement in kai we care, I shall be filling in for Alex Wood next week. Let me know on here if that is a bad thing!!
Cheers,
Steve
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