Mark Palmer of The Daily Telegraph reviews Alain Ducasse’s new restaurant at the Dorchester in London. The service is “erratic” but the starters excellent. Palmer particularly enjoys the chicken and truffle terrine, which is “so good that it’s difficult not to ask for seconds”. The truffle sauce on the chicken breast main course is “far too dominant” but the roast pigeon with foie gras and black truffle draws “glowing praise”. The halibut is “sensational”, the venison “slices like butter” and the chocolate and raspberry star pudding is a “masterpiece”. Although it is a restaurant for “people with deep pockets or on generous expenses”, he awards 8 out of 10. Joe Joseph of The Times visits Rhodes W1 in London’s West End. He first visits the brasserie by mistake, where the restaurant is “disheartening” and the food is “unmemorable”. On finding the “fine dining” Rhodes W1 and trying again, he is dismayed by food replete with “sauces and fripperies” which “takes longer for the waiter to describe than for you to eat”. He enjoys his main courses of salt roast pigeon and spring lamb, but finds the bill too steep at £200 for two. Matthew Norman of The Guardian visits the Bordeaux Quay, an eco-friendly restaurant in Bristol. It relies entirely on local produce and filters and uses its own rainwater. He enjoys “as fine a lunch as you are likely to find anywhere at the price”. The wild sea bass has an “authentically ethereal flavour” and the venison is “as regal a rendition of this autumn classic as you could imagine”. He awards this “gleaming jewel of a restaurant” 9.5 out of 10. John Walsh of The Independent eats at Le Cafe Anglais in London’s Bayswater, where “a dozen chickens turned like lap dancers on a vast rotisserie”. He, however, opts for the game, although the teal are “tiny and crouched and pathetic”, although “delightfully gamey, with a distinct whiff of putrefaction.” The accompanying pommes Anna are “a treat”, although the forgetful waiters neglect to bring his dessert. The Daily Telegraph 24/11/07 page W20 (Weekend) The Times 24/11/07 page 83 (Magazine) The Independent 24/11/07 page 87 (Magazine) The Guardian 24/11/07 page 110 (Weekend)

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