lobstermadboy's Qype profile

It must be impossible for anyone to visit Amberley and not be impressed. I do not care if you are Michael Winner, when you cruise up the perfectly manicured entrance and enter the awesome grounds, greet the white peacocks and watch the white doves cooing on the battlements of the ruins of the old castle fort which encloses the dreams, topiary and colourful planting of a first rate gardener, you are immediately transported from your hum-drum life into the world of a fashion shoot or a gossip magazine shoot.
Within the ruined boundary walls lies an Elizabethan House with a royal history which hosted the wedding of our dear friend. Was it perfect? It was a fairytale. Even the food,(and i hate banqueting food with a passion) for 50 or so guests was acceptable. (And by acceptable i simply mean good. I have never yet been to a large function where the food was anything better than acceptable in a sit-down situation.)
The rooms were equally stunning with four posters, good bathrooms and others in our party stayed in the outbuildings which were similarly well proportioned and luxurious.
Now, value for money. Was it worth it? We had drinks in the courtyard, a service in one room, dinner in another, wandered through the grounds, a party and band in another room and retired at 3am, awaking at 10am for a good breakfast. Hellishly expensive as the whole castle was hired. Would I suffer a small re-mortgage for my daughter? Yes I would! A magical, magical day. Anything for those stunning veiws and for being transported for a tiny snatch of time into a completely different world.

Had great expectations as usual with a GR restaurant and they were damn nearly met. They were full on a monday lunch and we had the four course taster menu. I really like the idea of the “flight of wine” a selection of three different glasses of wine to go with the meal; but also because that was on page one and i did not want to bore my companion whilst i read through a wine list that must have run to about 50 pages. We both had different dishes, so tried most of the dishes. Three were exceptional, including the lamb, the rest were good and only one mis-fired,(the prawn cocktail) so all in all a great fine dining experience. Yep, the decor is a bit bland and corporate and slightly scuffy but with that many people going through the door what else can you expect? But would i recommend it to a friend? Oh yes.

Oh this is ridiculous to find a place this good and this eccentric in the centre of London. I lived and worked in Soho for twenty years before moving to Devon about three years ago; and I thought I knew just about all the cool places in London. Then I came back last weekend for a Talking Heads gig and found this place on recommendation. For the same price as a bland corporate hotel room you get all this. Rooms utterly stuffed full of antiques, a free bar at night, (thus encouraging you not to take the piss!) totally cool staff, central location and each room totally unique. And all hidden behind the mysterious red door….It was so good i did not even make it down for breakfast, and what an utterly civilised time breakfast is laid out until!
Totally brilliant and i am never staying anywhere else again in London if I can help it.

Well, i was staying across the road at the Malmaison, happy that i could nip across the road for lunch. So i did. i don’t normally go in for big lunches but i had a stag do to attend in Manchester that night and felt like treating myself as well as lining my stomach. I have eaten superb lunches and dinners at Abode in Exeter and utterly sublime food Gidleigh Park so my hopes were high. I looked at the menu on the outside. I walked in to a terrible smell of deep fried breakfast. Presumably the hotel guests have their breakfasts there. Surprised, i spoke to the lone barman standing there. “Is this really the only lunch menu available” An apalling selection of what seemed to be a brunch menu of paninis and the like stared back at me. “Yes sir”. “And do you really only have a single beer on draught?” “Yes sir”.

I can not beleive that what the idiot barman said was true, but as there was no-one else to turn to i walked out.

As fifteen of us turned up on a stag night, at least one hour late, i took one look at the chain-store decor and feared the worst. Fortunately we were still sober, but as it happened the food was ok for a chain restaurant. Perfectly acceptable at a good price. The service was as good as it could be and all in all i came away with a very favourable impression. I would never go there for dinner for two, but if you are up for a group of you celebrating you could do a lot worse…...

went to Manchester and had a lunchtime to spare before i met people for the evening. Went to Abode but walked out before ordering, went to find Le Petit Blanc but it had closed down. Ended up here and very glad I did. They knew the provenance of the beef and other items on the menu, (Beef, cooked blue, was a wonderful cut of fillet.) Nice bar area for a drink on the ground floor first, and definately somewhere for a celebration. Good service too.

i went back last weekend after a gap of four or five years as it was the only half decent hotel i could book at the last minute. It had not changed. I still think the decor of red and black belongs in the 80’s but nonetheless it remained cool, spotlessly clean and my room was absolutely fine. My only quibble was that no-one on the front desk seemed local enough to recommend somewhere really good for lunch.

The best place to eat in Plymouth. i am not a big fan of the piano, i think the food however, is outstanding. The trio of foie gras is superb, the desserts are exquisite and hats off to the husband and wife team who run it. A good wine list and a reasonably priced lunch and pre-theatre menu, although i am always so tempted by the a la carte i have failed to order off these…....!