The Observer
23 May
Jay Rayner adores the well-priced and well-portioned tapas-style menu at Le Cercle, London SW1
Four of us gave the menu a shakedown, which is broken down into sections for vegetarian, fish, meat, regional and luxury dishes, and we tried about 20 of those on offer. I couldn't possibly list them all, but here are some highlights: a bowl of silky little ravioli in an intense, frothy broth, pungent with the flavour of cŠpes, for a ridiculous three quid; a coupe glass filled with a crab parmentier - a stupidly rich and thick crab bisque topped by stupidly rich and soft pommes pur‚e, the better to be shared between four; cubes of absurdly soft pork tempura (from the Japanese part of France) alongside cubes of confited tuna; a taut-shelled pastry pouch of ripe black pudding that has melted in the heat of the oven; a bowl of crisp green beans with pickled girolles. Oops. I appear to have slobbered into my keyboard. (Meal for two, including wine and service, £70)
The Sunday Times
23 May
Melinda Stevens advises readers to save Inn the Park in St James's Park, London, for lunch
The menu is seasonal: fresh, simple and pared-down. It's a really, really, really nice menu. But it's just not great. You can't help wondering where its oomph has gone, its dancing shoes and lucky pants. I'm not saying that I'm not going to come back when the sun is out. I am. And I'm excited about it. But, until then, I'm going to book a table somewhere else, take my husband and remind myself how entertaining eating out can really be.
The Independent
22 May
Tracey MacLeod loves the food and the good value at The Bell Hotel, Saxmundham, Suffolk
I'll just relish the memory of a few of the highlights. That inspired pea soup with a wedge of perfectly cooked cod. (Less inspired, perhaps, was our decision to order it for a two-year-old; they're probably still trying to get the tablecloth clean.) The unlikely success of a marriage of two strong flavours - mackerel and tapenade. The foamy lightness of the lamb sweetbreads. The spoil-yourself moreishness of the featherweight profiteroles. There wasn't anything elaborate going on, but it was all precisely cooked, smartly served and utterly delectable.
The Daily Telegraph
22 May
Belinda Richardson goes behind the grand but shabby exterior of the Castleman Hotel in Chettle, Dorset, to find some good, and sometimes great, honest food
Other hit starters include the warm pigeon salad. The latest šberchef, Tom Aikens, does a good version in his eponymous restaurant but, whereas he uses squabs and takes all the parts of the bird, our man uses a wood pigeon, using breasts only - and what a fine pair, worthy of Page Three. They're dense and highly flavoured with bacon and sherry vinegar. Tom has some hot competition here.
The Guardian
22 May
Mathew Fort is unexcited by Yauatcha in London W1
My lack of excitement stemmed not from any disappointment in the standard of the dim sum themselves. They were all expertly prepared, and, in the case of the baked venison puff, absolutely inspired - it was as fine a savoury pastry as I have eaten. The trouble was, I felt I'd come across it all before at Hakkasan. No doubt when it gets into its stride - it had only been open a couple of weeks when I went - it will be providing the kind of thrills that Hakkasan has been serving up. But in my book, it isn't quite doing so yet.