h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.mintandmustard.com

The Cardan, Lisburn (again, it's rapidly becoming our favourite)

I had duck to start, followed by monkfish. Rog overcame his fear of fish and had the smoked haddock served with sweet potato wedges, asparagus and a poached egg. We split the mini trio of desserts. It was marvellous (2 courses incl glass of wine £14)

Baltic nr Waterloo London

I tried some diceman crowdsourcing diet advice whilst recently visiting London. I resolved to try the first place my FB friends suggested and this was it.

i had artichoke, fig and rocket salad followed by cheese and spring onion dumplings with a tomato salad and a raspberry sorbet. i drank vodka which was chilled to be thick and syripey. Every thing was amazing. The staff suitable attentive despite being busy, the food fantastic and unusual and the decor elegant.

I will definitely be returning even if just for the bread, pickles and beetroot they bought before the meal.

The Pheasant, near Lisburn (our anniversary dinner)

I started with scallops on little blobs of creamy leeks with chorizo crisps, then had roast loin of cod with herb crust on samphire and asparagus with a saffron tomato concasse, finished with warm pecan pie with chocolate fudge ice cream (locally made)

£19.95 for 3 courses plus tea/coffee

A French place in South Kensington - had Steak Tartare for the first time. Will not have it again...nothing worng with it just couldn't really taste any meat just the stuff in it...which meant the meat was fresh but whats the point?

Much prefer a blue steak where the taste has been developed.

The Compasses at Pattiswick - I have a tastecard and let the app choose if I'm in an area I don't know. This is an "award winning gastro-pub". our main courses were: 1 roast beef, 1 steak and 1 lemon sole, all cooked perfectly.

3 courses for 3 people, and a soft drink each = £58 with the tastecard.
http://www.thegreatpubcompany.co.uk/thecompasses/about.htm

The Tiger Inn, Stowting. Good food, good drink, good service, also child friendly.

http://www.marstonstaverns.co.uk/Birmingham/Oak-Tree

The Oak Tree, Rednal. Same comments as Herenna's above. Yes, it's a 'Two for One', but they've recently had a re-furb, and it now looking a lot cleaner and brighter.

We had a pair of Monster Rodeo Burgers to share with our two boys. The food arrived quickly, and the waitresses were friendly. No complaint from us.

http://www.marstonstaverns.co.uk/uploads/2bfa387c-41a6-f834-2df9-d41b08bbf5d9.pdf


Geggs

Had lunch at Prashad's near Bradford. It was sensational: one of the best meals I've ever eaten. Had sweet peppers stuffed with aloo massala which was delicious and doza stuffed with aloo and gobi (cauliflower) for main. The doza was about a foot long: don't think I've ever been intimidated by food before. It came with a spicy lentil soup and a coconut and mint raita on the side which were delicious and perfect for dipping the doza into.

I also had a pomegranate and mint sling virgin cocktail which was just delightful: very refreshing with a perfect balance of sharp and sweet.

My friend had pani puri - small, lightly fried balls filled with potato and onion with a tamarind salsa and coriander yoghurt and an aubergine and bean curry for his main. The aubergine was truly melt in the mouth stuff.

http://www.prashad.co.uk/files/menus/prashad-main-menu.pdf

Oh HI that sounds totally worthy!

Well, we've just booked Flavourz for our anniversary next week. It looks interesting. I shall report back after the event.

http://www.flavourz.co.uk/birmingham-buffet-restaurant/


Geggs

1. The Molesworth Arms, Wadebridge. Lovely steak, lovely chips, and the best fried mushroom EVER. Good breakfast, too.

2. The Ibis in Bristol (it was *very* late, far too late to go exploring for something better, when I arrived). Bar snacks only. Lasagne (nice one, more mushrooms, mmm) with salad, and garlic doughballs; followed by a squidgy chocolate brownie with sauce and vanilla ice cream. Surprisingly good. Breakfast was a bit so-so though.

Mol

Mushrooms? In lasagne? Heresy!

B

We breakfasted this morning at The Clock Cafe, Northfield, Birmingham. We both had the All Day Breakfast,.and he no complaints whatsoever. The service was prompt, the staff friendly, and the walls sported several clocks. They showed the time in London, New York, Tokyo and Cyprus. Yep, Cyprus. I think that tells us something about the owner.


Geggs

I have only just discovered Trip Advisor. And blimey is it handy if you are having to go away on trips all the time and want to find good shit to eat.

FB

Don't trust TripAdvisor as far as I can throw it.

http://tripadvisaargh.tumblr.com/

I love the review of the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory on that site:

"You should only go if you like butterflies and want to see them up close. Otherwise a real waste of time and money."

Given that that would seem to be the main attraction of the place, I do wonder why you would go there if you didn't want to see butterflies up close?


Geggs

Trip advisor does have its good points- we've just booked a trip to Las Vegas, and when I started searching TA for tips etc, it was able to tell me which of my Facebook friends had been there.

Ah, I did promise to tell you about Flavourz. The food was quite nice, but my was that place noisy. Almost as if everyone in there was trying to out-shout everyone else in the room. Totally impossible to have a quiet conversation.

The spring rolls, though, were the best that I have ever had. They just melted in the mouth. Absolutely gorgeous.

I can't recommend a place merely on the quality of it's spring rolls, though they are quality, but if I could, I would.

I still think that Cosmos - the place that kicked this thread off in the first place - is better. The food was pretty much the same, but it just seemed a more civilised experience.


Geggs

Had lunch at TGI Fridays in Leeds last weekend: had their spicy burger and bacon-topped mini-jacket spuds. Wasn't too impressed, though the burger came in a brioche bun which was interesting. Their fruit sling was very tasty though.

Before the Manchester mini-meet t'other week I had lunch in Red Chilli on Portland Street. Just as with the Leeds one, great food and massive portions. I had chicken satay as a starter and a sweet and sour ginger and chicken dish for my main, with popped fried rice (basically fried Rice Krispies). Really tasty, nice atmosphere (though Clive pointed out the place was a death trap) and a decent price.