MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Ate at The Olive Press in Manchester this afternoon. Part of Paul Heathcote's "empire."
Menu looked great - reviews on the interweb were very promising.
IMHO and that of Mrs. S - it was crap.
I could have spent £60 somewhere else that I KNOW is good but we adopted the "we should really try somewhere else for a change" approach.
Bad move.
You've been warned to avoid this purveyor of overpriced mediocre fayre.
DS
chroma - nuff said
Dined at the Preston one recently and I can't recommend it highly enough. Food was excellent, great value and the service was superb.
A couple of years ago, I cancelled a booking at another Olive Press, after discovering it's low hygiene rating
(1 star out of 5, IIRC) on the scoresonthedoors website
http://www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk/index.php
(Manchester City Council hasn't signed up yet)
Been thinking recently about these type of places.
I (along with most food sensible folk) tend to avoid 'chain' type places ie. frankie and bennys, nandos etc. Jamie Oliver has opened a new place in Glasgow, and it has caused quite a stir, due to either the Jamie sycophants or the folks who hate him talking about it just as much.
Now, most right minded people realise that Mr Oliver has **** all to do with the running of this place, but there are deluded fools that will think there is a chance that old fat tongue is gonna come out and give em a cheeky essex boy wink*.
Are these Superchef restaurants the new little chefs?.
* - I actually really like the aforementioned chubby tongued fellow.
Agree, d_s - the Olive Press in Manchester is gash. Had an awful meal there a few years back, which resulted in us paying a minimal amount and vowing never to return. We have tried it again subsequently, and it was OK.
Not worth £60 for 2 to eat out, though.
The one in Cheadle Hulme hasn't had good reviews from my friends who've tried it. For £60 you could have had a kebab from the local lebanese place and got a couple of crates of beer to take home 😉
the misses and I went to the one in Cheadle.. it was absolute garbage. I actually made a noise when we got the bill. I'm sure we paid about £60 for the two of us. Overpriced, mass produced crap IMO
I now avoid all places called Blanc, even the Jericho one is now a disappointment 🙁
The Jamie Oliver experience has even reached mobile catering - there was a 'Jamie Oliver's Fabulous Feasts' tent thingy at the Bristol Balloon Fiesta this weekend - it was a catering tent with some kitsch tat at the doorway and an air of authentic mock-authenticity about the whole thing. Have a business empire but please stop before kicking the backside out of it.
I only eat out in France and Italy, no offence but dining out in the U.K. is so shoddy unless you're in London. And English food is boring! except fish and chips which is bang on lol
I went to a nice expensive restaurant in Bristol years ago, all it was Fish, peas and 4 chips for £40 ea? I actually called yellow pages for an Italian restaurant and they said Pizza? FFS. Went to an Indian in the end but the Indian restaurant was really Bangladeshi? lol
So now- just have fun cooking decent food and experiementing at home-well at least I know the food has not been taken from the bin and heated again!
Money saved for a holiday retaurants.
I only eat out in France and Italy, no offence but dining out in the U.K. is so shoddy unless you're in London. And English food is boring! except fish and chips which is bang on lol
Why would I be offended that you're spouting nonsense?
lol indeed.
Mr Tobin's place in Reigate is apparently damn awful too - highly overpriced and with small portions and poor service. Could just be the minority bleating of course, but it's enough to stop me giving it a go.
Tis very hard to successfully find other places to dine where you come away feeling you've genuinely enjoyed the whole experience.
I once had a lasagne and chips in the 'restaurant' in the basement of TJ Hughes in Warrington.
I was disappointed.
[i]Esme - Member
A couple of years ago, I cancelled a booking at another Olive Press, after discovering it's low hygiene rating
(1 star out of 5, IIRC) on the scoresonthedoors website
http://www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk/index.php [/i]
Parents in-law use that (or a very similar site), all I can say is that some of the foody pubs they take us too, might have a great hygine record but doesn't mean the food any better than your std bernie inn (do they still exist?)
bernie inn (do they still exist?)
Dunno, but Beefeater's somehow still do ...
The Leeds branch is also rubbish - AVOID!
Scoresonthedoors sounds a bit weird and anally-retentive. I like hygiene as much as the next guy (unless the next guy happens to be Howard Hughes) - but checking a website related to cleanliness before you go out to eat? Rather than a site that might tell you what the food is like, or what other patrons thought of it?
Some of the best food can come from pretty sqalid premises. I'd rather eat interesting food cooked with enthusiasm from some hole-in-the-wall joint than a spottlessly-clean but totally banal boil-in-the-bag meal that scored well with some district council box-ticker.
Love the idea of the geezer who will only eat out in France or Italy 😯 🙄 . lol is right 😆 .
dining out in the U.K. is so shoddy unless you're in London
Possibly the best comment EVER on stw. What a c0ck.
but dining out in the U.K. is so shoddy unless you're in London
Best restaurant in the UK according to Harden's guide? Mr Underhill's of Ludlow in Shropshire.
Anally retentive?
You've obviously never suffered food poisoning from a contaminated meal, Findo. The exact opposite of "anally retentive", unfortunately 🙄
Rather spoiled a camping holiday !!!
Sorry but the food is lame from my experience-talking top restaurants not pubs or Bistro crap.
If I paid £60 for a meal I expect a good menu and not tin peas!
I'd go back to Florence and eat out there anyday! 😯
If you visit countries and eat their food such as India and go to an Indian Restaurant with no Indian people and the food is nothing like the real deal well I'm not going to say this is great!
London rocks.
Whilst Frankenstein is obviously trolling, he has somewhat of a point. Generally the choice of eating out in the UK is pretty dire apart from a few gems but these are usually fully booked and occupied by those people of "new money" and matching Range Rover Sports!
Its very hard (outside of London) to find little unspoilt gems of restaurants which offer an alternative cuisine to pub food, chinese or italian.
The one in Manchester city centre is absolutely awful. Went there for my birthday a couple of years back. When they put my meal in front of me I actually asked him if he was taking the piss? It'd clearly been sat on a hot plate for hours then possibly bunged in a microwave.
The UK has some great restaurants and some crap ones, but you won't know till you give them a try. I think I'm most impressed by the comment saying you had a bad meal in one, then went back there a few years later for an average meal .... struggling for places to eat?