The Ivy - London

The Ivy : According to their website, The Ivy first opened in 1917 and was a favourite with London theatre goers. Situated in West Street, around the corner from Covent Garden & Leicester Square it's a favourite with celebs including people like George Clooney & Jennifer Aniston.

Review: I visited The Ivy with a few colleagues from work, as part of our lunch club reward for hard work! We arrived at around 2pm and immediately spotted the paparazzi waiting outside for exiting celebrities. The entrance is a bit weird and hardly welcoming, with a rather miserable looking coat lady...not the greatest job in the world but a smile goes a long way in my books. Not a great start to the proceedings. Eventually we were shown through to the bar where we got to look at the menu and choose our lunch.

I opted for the Steak Tartare for starters, followed by sea food platter including Clams, Muscles, Lobster, Crab and various prawns. The Steak Tartare was delicious, and I mean really really nice with plenty of punch. The sea food platter was also very nice, with plenty of fresh shellfish to tuck into, all washed down with a couple of bottles of Sancere. We had plenty to drink and left feeling really happy with the food, a little unhappy that we didn't see any celebrities...not a sausage for a supposed celebrity destination.

Conclusion: Who cares about celebrities anyway, the food was good, the service was OK but the atmosphere was really pleasant and relaxed. All in all, we had a good time and I would stick it down on one of the those places to go, even if it's just to see what all the fuss is about.

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester - Kensington, London

As part of my 40th birthday celebrations, I decided to invite two really good friends of mine to Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester. I had always wanted to visit an Alain Ducasse restaurant and having heard that he had set up in Londons famous Dorchester, I could not resist the temptation. I wanted something special, something to impress my friends and give them an example of what I thought would be the best cuisine they had experienced. We booked the Table Lumiere, a private dining table surrounded by curtain of 4,000 or so fibre optic lights. It looked amazing and the private dining menu also looked a treat. The expectation was high, very high and I'd talked things up too with reference to Monsieur Ducasse's Michelin stars and numerous acolades!!!

We'd decided to stay at The Dorchester and after a bottle of champagne in the bar headed straight for the resturant. We were greeted by very friendly and highly professional staff who led us to the Table Lumiere....the timing was superb and as we entered the 'room' the fibre optics were switched on and all of us were 'wowed' immediately. This was great and just the kind of effect I was looking for.

The menu sounded just as good and the staff were very attentive, professional and friendly making us feel realxed and at ease. The menu was a tasting experience as follows:

1. Delicate CRAYFISH veloute, royale of foie gras
2. Rose of MARINATED SCALLOPS lamb's lettuce and celeriac, black truffle sauce (pictured below)

3. Roasted CHICKEN & LOBSTER, sweetbread creamy jus

4. Braised HALIBUT, citrus and swiss chards egg plant condiment

5. Roasted rack and saddle of LAMB, spring vegetables

6. Selection of CHEESE

7. PRALINE-CHOCOLATE biscuit milk/salt flower ice cream (pictured below)8. Mignardises & Gourmandises

The starter was nice, nothing more than that. It was OK but sadly below my expectations. The scallops again were OK, nicely presented by lacking in the 'wow' factor department. The chicken & lobster was nice too but that was about it, dont get me wrong there was nothing wrong with it but all the hype surrounding Alain Ducass and the two Michelin stars awarded to this restaurant something was lacking. The Halibut on the other hand was was very interesting, no real 'wow' factor but a very nice dish. The Lamb also was very good and tasty, very nicely presented and delicious. The cheese was a complete let down, a real dissapointment with only a choice of four cheeses. Cheese is something I look forward to in this type of restaurant and very often is the highlight of my evening. The desert left us somewhat confused as to the order, we were brought a couple of extra dishes which were very nice but the communication from the staff wasnt great. However when the Praline Chocolate Buiscuit arrived with the salt flower ice cream, I thought it was amazing and wished that the rest of the meal had lived up to my expectations.

Another let down, but not the end of the world was that when I ordered a bottle of red the somelier pointed out that they only had one bottle left of the £100 bottle of wine that I had chosen. That was OK so I asked him to suggest something similar, so he suggested another bottle of wine which from where he was pointing was around £80 per bottle...fine I thought, but when I got the bill, it appeared that I had ordered 3 bottles at around £180 per bottle....not quote what I had in mind. Not really wanting to kick up a fuss and spoil my evening, I coughed up over £500 for 3 bottles of red.

Conclusion: The Table Lumiere is wicked, a great experience that allows you to relax in the restaurant but still hear and feel the ambience and buzz of the restaurant. The food was good but in my opinion you get far far better value for money at Marcus Wareing at The Berkley. It's seriously expensive and probably the most expensive restuarant I've ever been to. £2000 for the six of us.......OUCH and yes, can you imgine where you can go for that money? The Waterside Inn, The Fat Duck, Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing and still have plenty of change. Maybe I'm a little bitter about the £500 worth of red wine, but let's forget that for the minute. I would still have ad change from the other resturants. Hey Ho...onto the next one!

Update: Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester has now been given 3 Michelin Stars!!

Joel Robouchon - Las Vegas

Situated in the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Joel Robouchon is one of only six restaurants in the United States to have three Michelin stars.