Recently in Food Critics Category

Despite a limited wine list and an extortionate bill at £115.10 for two at lunch, Jasper Gerard enjoys the Japanese tapas style menu at ex-Nobu chef Tomonari Chiba's restaurant Dinings in London. 

"The chef is uncompromising in his use of quality ingredients (truffle, bass, lobster, oyster, crab, duck)," the The Daily Telegraph's food critic says as he tucks into a wide selection of dishes.

In Glasgow, Tracey MacLeod of The Independent visits Crabshakk and finds that a pleasingly mixed clientele, crisp but friendly service and decent prices make the seafood restaurant a winning operation.

Meanwhile other reviewers are not so fortunate in their choice of restaurant. Giles Coren, writing in The Times, describes Babbo in London as "one of the new breed of Italian restaurants in Mayfair (Cipriani set the trend, Dolada followed most recently) that serve competent food at ridiculous prices and make you feel ill to the bottom of your mortal soul".

And in Manchester, The Observer's Jay Rayner finds that Glamorous, a Chinese restaurant with a seating capacity of 600 set in a business centre next to a multi-storey car park, is anything but glamorous. While he admits the experience at times is entertaining, the food itself is either odd or weird.

The Guardian's Matthew Norman is forced to have lunch twice after ending up at the wrong restaurant but is impressed with the food and service at Chinese restaurant Ba Shan in London in the end.

Two-Michelin-starred chef Phil Howard's latest restaurant, Kitchen W8 in London, is a must-consider for anyone in Kensington with something to celebrate, says restaurant critic John Walsh.

Writing in The Independent, Walsh is impressed by both the food and the service at Kitchen W8, which is a joint venture between Howard and restaurateur Rebecca Mascarenhas.

However, he is less keen on the prices. "With most starters costing £8.50 and main courses mostly north of £15 (rib-eye steak is £19.50) it's hardly snack territory," he says.

Meanwhile, The Guardian's Matthew Norman is effusive in his review of the Dean Street Townhouse, which is the first new joint offering from Nick Jones' Soho House Group and Richard Caring, owner of Caprice Holdings.  

"It mingles the bustle and slickness of the grand, all-day Parisian brasserie with a determinedly anti-Michelin English menu and a room cunningly designed (distressed mirrors, grand bar, wood panelling) for that ultra-voguish, modern media Soho clubland feel," Norman says. 

Meanwhile the new head chef at Gilpin Lodge in Windemere, Cumbria, received the seal of approval from Jasper Gerard in The Daily Telegraph. Despite fearing the place might be all cream teas and doilies, he is delighted to find that, as well as being friendly, informal and full, the food prepared by Russell Plowman is top notch.

In The Times, Giles Coren says his visit to new Japanese restaurant Aqua Kyoto atop the former Dickins & Jones building on London's Regent Street, was a fun experience. As well as consuming great cocktails and good sushi, he also enjoys the stunning night views.

Jay Rayner of The Observer finds a far better-than-average local restaurant in Maison Bleue in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk. Efficient, friendly service and perfectly judged fish cookery makes the town "a very nice place to be".

Matthew Norman of The Guardian is keen to find out why Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester recently achieved Michelin's top accolade of three stars. But having enjoyed a meal that was good and sporadically brilliant, he suspects it may be something to do with the name.

"Then again, perfection is a subjective concept, and I wouldn't wish to discourage any of you who have at least £110 a head to spare," he says.

Meanwhile The Times' Giles Coren declares the Galvin brother's latest restaurant Galvin La Chapelle in east London one of the capital's grandest restaurants.

"They have opened in a bleak financial time and are doing what looks like raging business regardless, because brilliant, original, top-end restaurants that look immediately as if they have always been there are what the Galvin brothers do best," Coren enthuses.

The Observer's Jay Rayner says that if the menu at Cabbage Hall in Little Budworth, Cheshire, wasn't so pretentious, he might have enjoyed his meal there a lot more.

Lisa Markwell, writing in The Independent on Sunday, describes The Artichoke in Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire, as a great neighbourhood restaurant which diners should visit before it becomes difficult to get a table. Having recently reopened following a fire, she says the redesign by Claire Nelson is exactly right, while chef Laurie Gear's food is accomplished.

AA Gill readily admits in The Sunday Times that he has ignored rural restaurants in the past because most of them wouldn't last a week in Putney. After eating a Milan in Wooler, Northumberland, he says that while this is true of the restaurant, the experience also showed him that he needs to eat his words. "Most Putney restaurants wouldn't last a week in Wooler," he says.

The Royal Oak, a tenanted pub run by David Rhys-Jones, the brother-in-law of Prince Edward, in Romney Marsh, Kent, receives a vote of confidence from the Daily Telegraph's food critic, Jasper Gerard.

Daniel Clifford was amongst a trio of Michelin-starred-chefs who came under the microscope of the restaurant critics this weekend.

Matthew Norman of The Guardian was surprised to find that his much lauded restaurant Midsummer House in Cambridge is being run for the benefit of its customers rather than inspectors. "So it bloody well should be, you might say on noting the price, but it has been a long time since I paid a bill nudging £80 a head (we had just two glasses of house wine between us) without a rush of psychotic resentment," he said.

However, at the Bingham restaurant in Richmond, John Walsh of The Independent experienced the results of a Michelin-starred chef - Shay Cooper - who is has allowed his creativity to run away with itself. "By the end, we were a tad irritated by that common phenomenon: the chef who disregards what you want and gives you what he thinks may impress you," he complained.

Meanwhile Brett Graham, who has just been awarded a second star at the Ledbury, impressed Jasper Gerard in The Daily Telegraph who said the Australian chef was producing some brilliant food.

The Times' Giles Coren and The Observer's Jay Rayner have different views on the Dean Street Townhouse, the latest venture from Soho House Group. While Coren goes overboard in his enthusiasm for the venue, Rayner is disappointed with its traditional British menu. "There is absolutely no excuse for taking peasant food and gussying it up to such a degree that it loses all sense of purpose," Rayner laments.

Gordon Ramsay's ability to spot a good restaurant is called into question by The Daily Telegraph's restaurant critic, Jasper Gerard, in his review of The Pheasant in Keyston, Cambridgeshire.

While the food at the gastropub had been portrayed on the F Word during Ramsay's search for the best local restaurant in the UK as accomplished and delicious, Gerard is served a baffling starter and chewy duck. He also finds the décor unloved and "rubbish" and the service unwelcoming.

"Chefs look down on critics because we can't cook, but this experience confirms that chefs can't critique," he says.

An uninspiring looking restaurant - Faanoos - on a suburban street in west London results in a surprisingly good experience for Matthew Norman of The Guardian.

"Early in the decade though it may be for long-term predictions, I can't imagine the next 10 years producing a more pleasingly curious or curiously pleasing meal than the one at Faanoos," he declares, having enjoyed a lavish selection of Persian dishes at ridiculously low prices.

In complete contrast, The Observer's Jay Rayner is convinced that his meal at The Criterion, on London's Piccadilly Circus will probably be his worst of 2010.

Now owned by a group of entrepreneurs from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, the Criterion serves Rayner a shot glass of tangerine liquid which makes him wince, scorched roast venison, overcooked sea bass and langoustine which had not been rid of its intestines.

Meanwhile, Martin Ivens heads out to The Pearson's Arms in Whitstable, Kent, for The Sunday Times and enjoys friendly, hospitable service and locally sourced pub food. He says the restaurant is well priced and is keen to return to a venue where the quaint, but warm interior, was "a cheerful tonic".

The Independent's Tracey MacLeod finds it refreshing to choose between dishes that were almost completely unfamiliar at Georgian restaurant Tamada in north London. But while the food is good, she says the chilly, empty modern restaurant fails to capture the spirit of Georgian conviviality.

Tom Kitchin, chef-proprietor of the Micheli-starred Kitchin in Edinburgh, receives fulsome praise from Jasper Gerard in The Daily Telegraph for scouring the Highlands for the best quality ingredients.

The result is an exceptionally well produced menu that is unashamedly Scottish, hardy rather than twirly, showcasing the influence of Kitchin's mentors Pierre Koffmann and Alain Ducasse.

Meanwhile Sicilian restaurant Mennula garners another rave review, with John Walsh in The Independent praising chef-patron Santino Busciglio's knack of combining his grandmother's recipes with new flavours.

In The Times Giles Coren takes up a new cause: that of the vegetarian diner. In his search for a restaurant that serves non-meat eaters with something that is inspiring and enticing, he comes up with a corker in Philip Howard's new restaurant, Kitchen W8 in London.

His counterpart at the Sunday Times, AA Gill, is equally impressed with Kitchen W8 saying that while the food isn't quite as immaculately pristine as The Square, it is far better than anything else you can eat in Kensington.

Jay Rayner, restaurant critic of The Observer, pays a visit to Polpo, a Venetian-style bacaro in London's Soho, and likes what he finds. He is impressed by the authentic bare brick walls and distressed painted wood and - apart from a couple of minor gripes - with the quality and the price of the food, which is served tapas-style.

Michelin's guide for Great Britain and Ireland has awarded its top accolade of three stars to French celebrity chef Alain Ducasse's eponymous restaurant at London's Dorchester hotel.

It is the first time since 2004 that Michelin has handed three new stars to a UK restaurant and brings the total of restaurants holding three stars to four including Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant on Royal Hospital Road in London, Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck and the Roux's Waterside Inn, both in Bray, Buckinghamshire.

The Ledbury in London is the only restaurant in this year's Michelin guide to have been raised to two-star-status, while 18 establishments have been awarded their first star.

This brings the total of Michelin-starred restaurants in Great Britain and Ireland to 140, the highest number in the guide's 36-year history.

Among the new one-star restaurants is the Harwood Arms in London, which sees Ledbury and Harwood Arms chef Brett Graham as the big winner in this year's guide being awarded a total of three stars at his two restaurants.

Other restaurants celebrating their first Michelin star are: Galvin at Windows, Apsleys A Heinz Beck Restaurant at the Lanesborough, and Texture, all in London, as well as the Samling in Ambleside, Cumbria, The Goose in Britwell Salome, Oxfordshire, and Paul Kitching's 21212 in Edinburgh.

Fifteen restaurants have lost their stars in the 2010 Michelin guide for Great Britain and Ireland, with the most high profile loss being Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's in London. The Capital in London, and the Vineyard at Stockcross in Berkshire have both been demoted from their respective two-Michelin-star status, following the departure of their respective head chefs Eric Chavot and John Campbell last summer.
 

Michelin has identified four restaurants as rising stars including Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor in Cheshire, who has been tipped as a future two-star establishment.

The Marquis at Alkham, Kent, the Black Swan at Oldstead, North Yorkshire, and Rosel and Co in Padstow, Cornwall, have named as rising one stars.

The 2010 Michelin Guide for Great Britain and Ireland has named 28 new restaurants as Bib Gourmands, a move reflecting a continued trend within the UK dining market towards competitive pricing.

The Bib Gourmand status is awarded to a restaurant offering "good food at moderate prices" at £28 or less for three courses (€40 in Ireland). The 28 new Bib Gourmands bring the total to 31. 

One of London's longest-standing and most consistent of restaurants, La Poule au Pot in Belgravia, impresses The Guardian's food critic, Matthew Norman, with its delightful décor and familiar French bistro cooking.

He takes fellow journalist Simon Heffer and together they tuck into a selection of Gallic favourites, including moules marinières and boeuf  bourguignon. "There can't be a more charming, cosy, nook-and-crannyish restaurant," he says of La Poule au Pot which has been welcoming customers since 1962.

A more recent arrival on the capital's dining scene is the Dean Street Townhouse, in Soho, which is the first major venture between Nick Jones, founder of the Soho House Group, and Richard Caring, the owner of Caprice Holdings which operates top London restaurants including Le Caprice, The Ivy and J Sheekey.

Toby Young says in The Independent on Sunday that during dinner there he found a restaurant that has the appearance of a luxury gentleman's club with a menu that is "like a stripped-down version of The Ivy's, with plenty of modern British staples".

London restaurant Aqua Nueva, the first UK venture of Hong Kong-based group Aqua, received a scathing review this weekend by AA Gill.

The Sunday Times' famously acerbic food critic says that he can't imagine what induced anyone to open the Spanish restaurant atop the former Dickins & Jones building on Regent Street. 

"This is the first restaurant for ages that has been seriously poisoned by its decoration," he says.

Equally unimpressed by Aqua Nueva's food offer, he adds: "I started with an egg yolk in jelly; it was like a big wine gum of pus, only not that nice. It was cheek-puffingly foul."

The Guardian's Matthew Norman finds the experience of eating at The Modern in Manchester to be the complete antithesis of comforting, with charmless décor and poorly executed and over-priced food.

Meanwhile, The Observer's Jay Rayner reports that William Drabble at Seven Park Place at the St James's Hotel in Mayfair, is cooking some fabulous food but is let down by the restaurant's over-formal setting and fearful service.

"It sucks the very life out of you," he says.

Lastly, The Times' Giles Coren lets his fiancé review the Beckford Arms in Wiltshire, as his own memory seems to be clouded by a haze of inebriation.

Seven Park Place by William Drabble at the St James's Hotel and Club in London "is perfect", according to Giles Coren.

The Times' food critic says that ex-Aubergine chef Drabble's carefully executed top-end food and the restaurant's  grand furnishing and accommodating staff make him love everything about the place. 

"This is a grown-up, serious restaurant for people who eat out a lot and want a treat, who can afford it, and won't be intimidated by its elegance," Coren says.

"It's not a first-date place. It's not for teenagers. It's not for clench-arsed, sour-faced lefties or fin-haired hipsters manqués. But it's absolutely perfect for me."

The Daily Telegraph's Jasper Gerard is immediately impressed by the look of Chris and Jeff Galvin's latest venture, Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields.

"It's hard to think of another London dining room more awe-inspiring," he enthuses.

Meanwhile Italian restaurant Mennula impresses Toby Young in The Independent on Sunday, who says it is the place in town to find good tasting, simple Sicilain food. 

The Observer's Jay Rayner enjoys a fabulous breakfast at the Farmcafe & Foodmarket in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

"There are many reasons for going to Suffolk. The Farmcafé surely has to be one of them," he says.

AA Gill reviews the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park in the Sunday Times and says that while it wasn't quite the worst koch he's eaten it was still pretty awful.