The Daily Telegraph, 24 September
Jan Moir enjoys classic Cantonese without fusion or compromise at China Tang at the Dorchester in London.
Hong Kong businessman David Tang has created a basement restaurant of uncommon sumptuousness. The napkins are as big as sails and so fiercely starched that you could use them to karate-chop bricks. The menu features all the usual Cantonese classics, from dim-sum selections to a whole suckling pig. A bowl of pak choi adds a healthy, verdant crunch and points to the fact that all the dishes are MSG-free. The star turn at China Tang is the Peking duck served in three courses: as pancakes; as soup; and then as a stir-fry. First, the specially bred birds are roasted backstage in duck ovens, then brought to your table whole, in all their glossy, mahogany glory. (Dinner for two excluding drinks and service £100)
The Independent, 24 September
Tracey Macleod gushes with enthusiasm over the Galvin brothers' new Baker Street restaurant
Between four of us, we sampled half the dishes on the menu, and not one was disappointing. From the simplest - a half dozen briny fines de claire oysters - to the most complex - a shimmering, loosely heaped pile of pasta leaves, layered with Dorset crab and the most delicately flavoured veloutŽ of girolles - starters were wonderfully prepared and presented. Mains, too, provoked gasps of pleasure, even before the first bite had been taken. Portions were light, flavours autumnal, in this pared-down and rarefied interpretation of French brasserie fare. Puddings didn't delight quite as much, though a fine-grained, vanilla-infused rice pudding crowned with figs was first-rate. (Food 4/5; service 3/5; ambience 3/5. £40 a head with wine)
The Sunday Times, 25 September
AA Gill finds the ingredients are the best thing about Sam's Brasserie in Chiswick
The menu, which is written on your place mat, is long on wine but rather forgetful on food. The food is safely pedestrian with odd moments of quirkiness. I started with a crackling salad: cold pigskin with slices of grainy dry apple and some suppository radishes. I wish I could make this sound better, almost as much as I wish they'd made it taste better. After that, I had diver-caught plaice. What arrived was a tranche of a very big fish covered in little brown shrimps and a mild garam masala sauce, prepared within a millimetre of perfection. It was a very good dish. What's most impressive about Sam's is the sourcing of some extremely good ingredients, from the bread to the waiter. (Rating 3/5)
The Observer, 25 September
The Plough, Winchmore Hill, Buckinghamshire, looks like an identikit gastropub, but its cooking sets it apart, says Jay Rayner
The stars were the mains: for me a thick, and perfectly grilled, chop of Gloucester Old Spot pig, butched up with a smear of browned Gorgonzola butter, atop a pillow of smooth olive oil mash; for my companion, a gamey duck breast with creamed Savoy cabbage and bacon, which is one of those unarguable combinations. We also had a side of triple-cooked chips, made following the Heston Blumenthal method by one of his former chefs who is in the kitchen here. They are the best thing that can result from the combination of hot oil and potato. Other attractions include the 20 wines by the glass and the charming service. And John Coltrane in the khazi blowing his own horn. (Meal for two, including wine and service, £80)
The Guardian, 24 September
Matthew Norman has always dreamt of having a neighbourhood restaurant as good as Brula in Twickenham
Making an unprecedented stab at fiscal rectitude, my wife went for the prix-fixe menu (top value at £11 for two courses, £13.50 for three) and began with a creamy celery and almond soup, made with excellent stock and screaming of celery, if minutely undersalted. A chocolate pudding with orange cream was divine, and confirmed the suspicion that any minor failings in the kitchen lie less with chef than with butcher. This was a really good meal at the price, and anyway, restaurants are about much more than food. Feeling at home the minute you enter one is a rare and delicious sensation, as is being cooked for and served by people in it not for vast profit but as a labour of love. (£30 a head including wine and service; 8/10)