Fried Oysters Fried Oysters

Crispy, golden-brown oysters, lightly fried and served with a tangy dipping sauce.

Bob Bob Ricard

Bob Bob Ricard

1 Upper James St, Soho W1F 9DF, London, United Kingdom

Bars • Steak • British • Russian


"Oh, what a delightful evening of fine dining and impeccable service! We were aware of the 2-hour table turnaround, a rule as sacred as ancient rituals but, alas, not consistently followed by mere mortals, I mean, restaurants. The food, an ephemeral delight that momentarily distracted us from impending eviction, particularly the oysters, which deserve an encore. After our grand feast, a proclamation was made in the most gracious manner: Out you go! No alternative seating offered, not even a spot at the bar to revel in our impending exile. It was a friend 's birthday, and what better way to celebrate than being unceremoniously kicked out before the dessert and the joyous serenade of Happy Birthday ? Seeking solace, I summoned the manager, who, in an act of managerial prowess, dispatched minions to chant the sacred mantra of the 2-hour table rule. In my quest for compensation, I was met with robotic responses and a generous offer to waive the discretionary service charge – a gesture as heartfelt as a rock. Not once were we graced with a reminder of the sacred 2-hour rule, nor did the waitstaff perform with the urgency befitting a Michelin-starred sprinter. The pièce de résistance? The epic saga to settle the bill, a riveting 25-minute ordeal where we could 've devoured a dessert, sang the birthday anthem, and maybe even choreograph a dance routine. Shocking service indeed, a performance deserving of a standing ovation – or maybe just a swift exit and a vow to never return."

Mr. Cooper's

Mr. Cooper's

16 Peter Street, Manchester I-M60 2DS, United Kingdom

British • European • Vegetarian • Contemporary


"Well what a culinary treat we had in store this week as for my wife 's birthday we decided to do the big 'Simon Rogan double header ' of Mr Coopers for lunch on Tuesday, followed by the French on Wednesday. There 's no way you could compare these 2 restaurants as the experiences are like chalk and cheese, but throughout both visits the service was exceptional, the food fantastic and the overall agreement that we in Manchester are lucky to have these 2 relatively new kids on the block. Mr Coopers food is Modern British, with the emphasis being based on good seasonal and local ingredients where possible, all served up in a setting that was grand but relaxed, classy yet informal and a menu with so much variety that it will keep us coming back time and time again. I went for the 3 course set lunch menu £19.00 while my wife went off map by choosing from the a la carte selection although we do tend to share a lot between each others plates which was also reasonably priced. Between us we ate the starters of homemade corn bread with chicken livers and the crispy pork belly followed by mains of spiced monkfish with spinach and mash and a rib steak with truffle pudding that was simply divine. Now I love my food but I know my limitations so won 't be trying to come up with some sort of faux food critic description of each dish. All I 'll say is that the food was damn good! In fact I 'll say it was so good that you should bookmark Mr Coopers now and make it your next port of call if you haven 't been. We finished all this off with a slice of seasonal pumpkin pie and a couple of espressos. With the mains my wife had a cocktail of take me back to the summertime which was very refreshing and I had a pint of the Tatton Blonde which I 'm led to believe is the only place in the world to have it on tap Which brings me on to the beers. Now you 'll see that I 've given Mr Coopers 4 out of 5 and while I thought it was excellent, I can 't bring myself to award it 5 stars while the elephant in the room is still here. The beer selection is absolutely dreadful and fully seems to be blind to the fact that we 're in the middle of a craft beer revolution in the UK at the moment. Where is the Thornbridge, Red Willow and Marble? all fairly local breweries which would tie in really well with the concept of Mr Coopers, but instead the selection is reminiscent of a night down Deansgate Locks shudder... lager, lager, in fact make that **** lager and having a lunchtime Desperados with my perfectly cooked monkfish wasn 't exactly high on the agenda for me. But I 'm sure that they 're aware of this... and maybe the Midland is tied into a contract to stock these beers for a little longer... maybe...hopefully... Overall you 're talking £60 including service for all this at lunch time I would say money well spent. We 'll be back very soon now just sort out those beers!"

Little Fish Market

Little Fish Market

10 Upper Market St, Hove, Brighton and Hove BN3 1AS, United Kingdom

Kebab • Sushi • Seafood • European


"This restaurant is an expensive hobby, the best part of £300 for two with wine and service. I do sometimes wonder if we are paying to be there to please the chef or the chef is there to please us judging from the rules we should observe on the website. Luckily gone are the days of only taking cash, which sometimes necessitated a visit to the cash point at the end of the evening. However I digress, cards are obviously accepted now. The room is stark and soulless, more canteen than high end restaurant. On leaving, the feeling is more endurance rather than warmth, joy and money well spent. There is one menu, no choice, start time 7.00 p.m., arrive 6.45 p.m. be there or be square! Every one served the same course at the same time. To be honest I am not a massive fan of just warm food, which happens if your table is not first out of the kitchen. For me the big sin, no bread …….. Surely a restaurant like this should be able to present some sort of warm interesting bread. To be honest even just normal French bread would have been nice. Two amuse bouche were good and nicely presented as were the hake, and gilt edged bream dishes. The monkfish, a meaty fish, was rather tough with a green ravioli and green sauce which wasn’t for me. Perhaps a cerviche or grilled langustine as one of the courses would be a suggestion and also a change of texture. There were three puddings all very nice but perhaps a cheese course and two puddings may be preferable. To b honest, not a very relaxing experience!"

The Victoria Pub Brasserie

The Victoria Pub Brasserie

High Street, KT22 0JR, Elmbridge, United Kingdom

Pub • Steak • British • Terrace


"Four of us chose to book at The Victoria in Oxshott for our Sunday Lunch today. We rarely go out to eat as it is such a luxury these days and our usual choice The Onslow Arms in Clandon was full. We arrived at 12:45 to The Victoria and while there was a fire burning, it had not matured and the restaurant was a little chilly my wife kept her coat on for most of the meal . Our table was ready and our friends were already sitting at it. The Victoria is self designated as Fine Dining in Surrey yet there were no tablecloths something that is sadly lacking these days and yet, makes such a difference to the feel. As it was a Sunday, traditional roasts were available although chicken strangely was not. Only red meats available lamb, beef and pork yes, pork is, as you know, a red meat . My wife therefore chose fish and chips, one of us had the pork and the remainder, the beef. However, our friends also chose a starter each the soup and the beetroot/goats cheese mouse. The starters were enjoyed they were certainly presented well and apparently were very good . The mains arrived and I could see the disappointment on my wife 's face when a small battered piece of fish adorned the plate, placed in front of her. While it all tasted good, it was mostly batter the actual fish within was such that she had finished her dish before we were halfway through ours. At £26, it was rather insulting. The roasts were adequate but again, the amount of meat on our plates did not reflect the price it absolutely does not compare to other establishments. Deserts: we all had a desert a 'Marathon Bar, Aero, chocolate sorbet ' at £15 !!! , two of us had an unremarkable sticky toffee pudding ' £12 each but worth not much more than half that while my wife had the 'Pineapple carpaccio ' but she lucked out again as this was absolutely tiny! The service was adequate for which a service charge of £30 had been added to our bill . Summary This is not fine dining although the prices suggest it is. Having said that, the food was fine nothing special triple cooked roast potatoes were soggy not crunchy but the meat itself was tasty and perfectly cooked. Absolutely overpriced for what was provided there are so many better options available if you book in advance. Consequently, we would not return. A combined bill including a bottle of wine was virtually £270 far in excess of what we should be paying for four Sunday lunches. Parking: I did not park in a paid parking lot so it may be free on Sunday I do not know but there is not parking at the venue."

Mighty Wieners

Mighty Wieners

23 Poole Hill, Bournemouth I-BH2 5PW, United Kingdom

Kebab • British • American • Vegetarian


"WOW! What can we say!? Chris Katie catered lunch at our beautiful outdoor wedding at Moonacre, Sturminster Marshall. They had a fantastic layout and lots of menu options available several different burgers, wieners fries! They absolutely smashed the service and excelled at feeding a few more than expected too! They made us a gorgeous little personalised menu also which we thought was such a nice touch! Everyone couldn’t stop talking about how amazing their food was even those who would never normally consider vegan options were blown away at how great everything tasted! They managed to positively influence even the most stubborn meat eaters of our guests to realise that they don’t need to miss out on flavour when choosing vegan options! That’s a huge win in our eyes! A couple of people even said it was the first ever vegan food they’d tried and they couldn’t get over how amazing it was! We told our guests about the Mighty Wieners restaurant in Bournemouth and will be bringing people back for more as they couldn’t wait to try more options! The day was such a huge success and Chris Katie did such an incredible job! We can’t recommend them enough, for food at their restaurant and wedding events catering! Vegetarian options: Excellent vegetarian and vegan options! Dietary restrictions: Served gluten free options! Kid friendliness: Excellent service friendly, warm and when above and beyond! Wheelchair accessibility: Perfect for full accessibility!"