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Liv's 30th - Pt.2 - Food

On Saturday evening we ate at the Opera House. This isn't something we'd done before and was something I has originally suggested partly because it was Liv's birthday and would therefore be nice to do something different, and partly because it meant we could start our meal later. This is because you spread the meal through the intervals; you have the starter and main course before the 1st act, the dessert in the 1st interval, and coffee in the 2nd interval. The food was very nice and reasonably priced for the quality, and it made the interval much more pleasant; being sat at table eating is much more preferable than having to stand in a crowded bar.
On Sunday, Liv and I ate and stayed at the Waterside Inn in Bray (the Bray in Berkshire, not the one in Ireland where Liv grew up). This is a swanky 3 Michelin star restaurant owned by the Roux brothers just down the road from The Fat Duck (it is a very strange thing that there are just three 3 star restaurants in the whole of the UK, and two are in the same village). I won't drone on about precisely what we ate, but by Christ we ate a lot. They serve classical French cuisine, and the quality of ingredients was flawless, the execution of the dishes flawless, and the service was flawless and friendly. You may well be wondering whether it was worth the money. Well, I didn't begrudge one penny of what we spent, but at the same time you can't get away from the fact that you can get an almost as nice a meal for a lot less money.
The next day, after breakfast at The Waterside Inn, we went for a drink and lunch in Heston Blumenthal's pub - The Hind's Head. This is a traditional English pub and they serve traditional English pub food in stark contrast to what they serve over the road in the Fat Duck. The food cost about the same as you'd pay in any decent gastro-pub and was really nice. The mussels were the best I've had, and the portions were very generous.
In the evening, we met up with Liv's cousin and a mate of hers from Oxford and went for a Thai meal in place just off Oxford Street. Sadly, I was feeling the effects of over-indulgence, so could barely eat a thing. We had a laugh though and I wish I had more room for their delicious calamari.
On Liv's birthday itself, we had lunch at Textures, just off Oxford Street. This place has only been opened a few months, and is clearly gunning for at least one Michelin star. I think if you go for dinner it is quite pricey, but at lunch time it's a bargain given the quality of what they serve up (dishes are £8.50 each). The chef is Icelandic, they serve new nordic cuisine (apparantly) and as you might guess from the title they try where appropriate to play with the different textures of food (though that theme isn't rammed down your throat I don't think). If you are in London and want a great meal, with good service, give this place a go.
Jesus, what a dull crappy post. Sorry, if I wasn't so tired I'd try and make it more interesting, but I just can't be arsed.

Thursday, March 06, 2008 8:57 PM