Helen, opps, probably need someone to proofread my stuff b4 it goes out! yup I meant to say that there were shells in the crab, hence it being freshly handpicked… yeah was not sure about oxtail being offal or not, cos trotters is considered offal right… or am I just making this up?

Lizzie, the scallops were really good

Jonathan, oh yeah definitely, Tom Ilic is excellent value for money and I do think that for the money, you are getting alot for it. I didnt like some parts of the dishes as I said, but there were other bits which were really great. Yeah, it was still free afterall!

S, The scotsman I was referring to is Gordan Ramsay who worked for White at Harveys. Perhaps I wasnt clear, i meant to say Gordon Ramsay (Scot) shadowed Marco Pierre White (the Gastro Genius of his time).

We’ve found that the starters are fine. They are designed to set you up for the main course (as they should do). But the star of the show is always their mastery of all things meaty. On our first visit I had pork belly and scallops with chorizo, roasted jerusalem artichokes and hazlenuts which has stayed with me ever since. And more recently a beef and horseradish concoction was magnificent as well.

It sounds like you had a good time there, but not as awesome as it could have been. I don’t think it is pretending to be anything more than a good neighbourhood restaurant. Being “far away” is a relative concept. Still, I guess it was free!