The Guardian

30 October
Victor Lewis-Smith has something nice to say for once at the Joy King, Lymm, Cheshire

There's little to write about the food, except that it was perfect. The salt-and-pepper chicken was as good as anything I've had in the East. Equally superb was the ocean-fresh snapper, served with a side dish of chopped fresh chilli in soy sauce, oil and shredded spring onion.

Why does he put so little information on the menu? "I want to generate conversation with customers," he said. (Dishes range from £3.20 to £9.50)


The Scotsman

30 October
Gillian Glover enjoyed the food but not the prices at the Road hole Grill at the Old Course hotel, St Andrews

Any decor failings are offset by the attentiveness of the staff. After the fifth enquiry about our well-being I recalled a New Yorker cartoon in which a couple return home, the man answers the phone and holds the receiver to his wife: "It's the waiter. He wants to know if everything's still alright."

I chose a salmon assiette (£12.95) to start while my fearless American companion abandoned his low-cholesterol regime for a foie gras terrine (£13.95). This proved shrewder than turning up late for wars: a slice of sumptuous, velvety decadence; reprehensibly opulent and utterly addictive. I'd guess the portion was large enough to knock at least a few months off his arterial life-span, but death was a small price to pay for something so perfect. (Dinner for two, including drinks, £131)


The Sunday Telegraph

31 October
Matthew Norman liked the burgers but not the lack of pudding at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, London W2

It is at this point in the meal that the thoughts take the "in for a penny" route and turn to something grotesquely calorific for pudding; something, for example, like the knickerbocker glories that brought such distinction to the Wimpy Bars of old.

"Oh no," said the waitress when I raised the subject, clearly shocked as though I'd just asked for a shoulder-held ground-to-air missile-launcher to take away, "the only thing we have that's a bit like that is a milkshake."

Why a burger joint would avoid serving puds I've no idea... but this omission confirmed the impression of a vaguely promising but smugly amateurish chain that may need to do a little more than remove the plastic tomatoes. (Dinner for one, £21, with coffee and a half-bottle of house wine)


The Sunday Times

31 October
AA Gill struggled to enjoy Refuel at the Soho hotel, London

The restaurant has a good mix of tables, separated but not divorced from the bar, and exudes an excitable, attractive atmosphere. But then they go and give you the menu, which is both a litany and tediously trendy - a Woolworths Christmas selection of last year's gastro hits. At the same time, it has all been spiked with ingredients or wacky couplings that make each dish particularly unattractive, like a ginger-haired man with halitosis.

It's a shame because although the service is a bit glitchy, the room is great and the technical ability of the kitchen undeniable. It's really just a crap menu.


The Independent

30 October
Richard Johnson enjoyed the food at the Farm, London SW6

I ordered the starter of scallops (£7). The waiter with the impossibly large moustache corrected me. "Not scallops, sir. It's scallop - singular." It arrived, alone, on a square plate. I hate a square plate. I doubly hate it when it turns up at the corners. The scallop was in a broth of sweet corn and liquorice. Liquorice panics me. Especially in a savoury dish. But I opened my mind, and I'm glad that I did. The liquorice was a light touch. If I'm honest, I didn't really taste it. And I've got a very, very sensitive palate. But the sweet scallop was a triumph without it. (Average cost of three courses without wine or service, £28)