Mmmmm

[karohemd]

Why is it that a simple meal (marinated lamb chops from the Art of Meat and home-made Colcannon) which cost me less than a fiver, tastes so much better than anything I had last night at the allegedly finest restaurant in Cambridge? The meat was flavourful and cooked to the point and the mash was soft and creamy with lovely bits of savoy cabbage that still had bite.
*sulk*

Comments

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Clearly, you should open up an expensive restaurant yourself ;-)

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Just as I wouldn't want to be a professional photographer, I wouldn't want to be a professional chef. The hours are horrible, the pay is worse and it's far too much stress. Watching the latest series of Masterchef clearly showed me that I wouldn't have a chance. OK, the food I cook is tasty but it doesn't look like much and I'm far too disorganised (and undisciplined) to be able to run a real kitchen. It's a very nice hobby, though.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Mm, I watched that too -- quite distressing seeing people who seem to be perfectly OK cooks by themselves completely go to pieces in the live restaurant kitchen situation, and knowing that I would be as bad or worse ;-)

[mazzarc.livejournal.com]

Coz you're a wonderful cook... speaking of which, read the happy birthday email I sent you... it contains your present.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I still have to reply to that as our main problem will be finding a date...

[mazzarc.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh right, I thought you'd just got so many happy birthday emails that you hadn't been able to read it :-) No worries, I'ms ure we can come up with something :-)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Because you are cooking one meal at a time and they were cooking 20 all different.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but that's their job.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

But I can make one thing slowly much better for nothing than I could make 20 things in the same time while getting paid. Considering how exacting your standards of food are and how rarely you post saying "I tried to do this but it turned out disgusting", I think it's comparable.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Yes, but then the restaurant doesn't deserve the good reviews it got. I must really have caught them on an off night... At a restaurant of this class I expect everything to be perfect.
Things I didn't even mention but would put off "real" critics were that after the salad course, the waiter removed the cutlery from the plate and plonked it down on the table again. They did that everywhere and got quite a few raised eyebrows for that.
Some would probably complain about the waiter not keeping the glasses topped up but I didn't mind because I really can't stand overenthusiastic service when the waiter comes to your table every five minutes to ask if everything is OK.

Heh, I just don't post about my failures (the frittata a while ago for example) or mediocre attempts. ;o)

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

plonked it down on the table again

good heavens! -- I really wouldn't expect that at an expensive restaurant. Or even at a cheap one, unless it was working for a "just like home cooking" ambience.

Did they lick the plate clean for you to reuse, as well?

[janiejynx.livejournal.com]

Have you tried '1 King's Parade' ever? It isn't 'posh' but it's quite fun - most of it is underground in what used to be part of King's College wine cellars. Unless they have changed chef, the chef was formerly head chef at Trinity (wonderful creme brulee...). I've had one bad lunch there and many good ones - not out-of-this-world good, just plain 'good'.

Of course, my recommending the place will presumably be the kiss of death, and it will have gone downhill if you try it...

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

No but it's on my list to try because their menu looks really good. :o)

[fried-chicken.livejournal.com]

You see I'm not even a cabbage fan, but that does sound really nice.

[whiskeylover.livejournal.com]

That's one of the reasons we so rarely go out to dinner, because Ulrike claims that the food is so much better if we just stay at home- from the pub food staples (I made home made fish & chips the other day, in a nice beer batter & the chips cut from floury potatoes & deep fried in lard, or nice sausages & mash with a thick onion gravy), and the classic take-aways (Thai green curry the other night) to the more refined (paella with fresh saffron, mussles, prawns, crevettes, haddock, salmon, lemon, coriander, etc... or pork filet in an orange & cream sauce...)


That said, when we were at 22 the food was excellent (far superior to anything I've had at other restaurants in Cambridge, from the not-bad Loch Fyne or the perfectly good Lawyers' Oyster Bar to the ghastly La Tasca...). The ambience was great fun, rather than perfect, although in my view the fact that there was a familiar atmosphere was a bonus, rather than a detraction- I've never been a great fan of places where everything was anonymously perfect.

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

I always distrust a place with a "finest restaurant" tag.

In my experience, it usually means "most expensive, but with smallest portions."

[derekct.livejournal.com]

I find making food yourself always tastes better. Then again I like good whole food and the best place I know is one of the cheapest Castle Resturant in Inverness. There Lasgine is excellent and not bad for £6.
Was a lot better than a 4 star hotel meal I had once, that cost about £50 per person per head.