Mark Palmer of The Daily Telegraph visits Bell’s Diner in Bristol. The wood pigeon with foie grass has him “purring” and the macaroni cheese with summer truffle is “as good as it gets”, but the pudding of grapefruit, grenadine jelly and cinnamon foam “looks like a pair of silicon implants and tastes medicinal”. He is unconvinced by the vindaloo ice cream cornets. He awards the restaurant 7 out of 10.
Giles Coren of The Times visits Divo, a Ukrainian restaurant near London’s Trafalgar Square, which he describes as “a restaurant with some sort of shouty mental illness”. He orders beluga caviar at £320 a tablespoonful, which “wasn’t very nice” and arrives at room temperature. His “salo with croutons” consists of vast lumps of bacon far, his chicken Kiev tastes of margarine with no garlic and the bread rolls are stale. He awards 3 out of 10.
Matthew Norman of The Guardian lunches at Chardon d’Or in Glasgow. Although he is initially suspicious, this turns out to be “a startlingly good restaurant” run by Brian Maule, who was once head chef at Le Gavroche. The cream of asparagus and white bean soup is “a princely broth” and the a la carte menu is very good value, including a “sensationally good” fish dish and home-made “zingy” sorbets.
John Walsh of The Independent visits Hibiscus in London’s West End. His lamb’s “sweetmeats” turn out to be “lightly battered bollocks”, and taste “a bit like processed chicken, but classier”. His main course of venison is “deeply satisfying but absurdly bitty”, comprising eight different foodstuffs on the same plate, and the cinnamon cheesecake is “too sweet”. He awards the meal 4 out of 5, however.
The Daily Telegraph 10/11/07 page W20 (Weekend)
The Times 10/11/07 page 93 (Magazine)
The Independent 10/11/07 page 75 (Magazine)
The Guardian 10/11/07 page 108 (Weekend)
