The Guardian, 25 March
Matthew Norman voices his surprise after eating at the Chinese restaurant chain Royal China Club, Baker Street, London
After we'd kicked off with two portions of the familiar - fabulous crispy roast duck and sweet, succulent pork belly - things took a turn for the recherché, albeit not in the traditional gruesome dim sum manner (those dishes at the back of the menu they never bother translating for non-Chinese customers: crow's feet braised in radioactive rainwater, gizzard of syphilitic mountain yak, that sort of thing). Lobster dumpling in yellow wine sauce and Dover sole cheung feung are dishes I've never seen before, but would love to see again. Next, up, [waiter] Stone tutored us in how to eat delicious crab dumplings, placing one on a spoon, pricking it with a chopstick to drain the hot juice, drinking that, and then dunking the dumpling in a vinegary sauce. Score: 8/10. Around £40 a head with wine and fancy tea.
The Independent, 25 March
John Walsh samples the muntjac deer at TV chef Mike Robinson's gastropub the Pot Kiln, Frilsham, near Yattendon, Berkshire
Since the trigger-happy Mr Robinson ("There are three thousand muntjac deer around these parts - about one per acre. I shoot them early in the morning and at dusk") made his name with game dishes, our main courses were easy to choose. My pavé of wild fallow venison was wonderful - thin slices of pink pavé steak draped like exhausted dancers over a bed of mash and accompanied by a chorus line of long skinny carrots. I'm usually suspicious of attempts to bury the charnel-house whiff of venison beneath fruity sauces, but this was fine - a thyme jus, reduced with port and Madeira. Across the table, the braised leg and roasted saddle of rabbit was going down fast. Score: 3/5 for food. £35 a head plus wine.
The Times, 25 March
Giles Coren is gagged by lawyers over his views on a Pizza Express salad, eaten in York, but has this to say...
I ordered a salad for £8.25 called Pancetta Reale which was marked as "new" (I do these things for you), but, alas, the way I described it in the first draft of this article did not get the stamp of approval from the Times' lawyers. Indeed, they insisted that Pizza Express would probably sue about it. Now, I'm not sure that a restaurant has ever successfully sued a restaurant critic for a grim description of a meal - but, hey, knowing legal precedents is not my job. Writing is my job. And it seems there is no way I can write about that salad in a way that satisfies me without risking legal action. So I have decided not to write about it at all. You will just have to take my word for it that it wasn't very nice. Score: 4/10.
Daily Telegraph, 25 March
Jan Moir travels to Mousehole, Cornwall, for a culinary tour of the isolated town, and happily stumbles upon the Beach Restaurant at Sennen Cove
I can't leave this part of the world without a deep curtsey towards the wonderful Beach Restaurant at Sennen Cove, just a few miles from Mousehole. This beautiful wooden structure houses all one wants from a seaside restaurant and more: good cooks in a properly-run kitchen working on a sensible menu, which includes piles of steaming moules, delicious home-made burgers, proper steak and chips and dishes such as spicy pollack and chickpea stew, and hearty salads. The scones and cakes are freshly baked, the home-made mushroom soup has a Cornish flag, piped in cream, floating on the surface and the service is as sunny as the surroundings.
The Independent on Sunday, 26 March
Terry Durack eats at Oliver Peyton's latest venture at the National Gallery, the National Dining Rooms, Trafalgar Square, London
An effort has been made to gussy up a hearty oxtail soup with bone-marrow dumplings (£7.50) by serving the meat, dumplings and vegetables first, then pouring the soup over the lot from a small jug, which would have given my gran a giggle. The meat is gorgeous - tender and densely flavoured - but the broth is almost a gravy and the dumplings are glue. Much lighter is a pretty platter of beetroot-cured organic salmon (£8.50), although there is not much salmon among the small, artfully arranged orange segments, diced beetroot and delicate purple leaves. Score: 14/20. Around £100 for two, including wine and service.