Wolsely in London: Nice Atmosphere, Average Food (London Restaurant Review No. 3)

Our first restaurant experience of our recent trip to London and Paris was a late night after theatre dinner at Wolsely, which is a London post- theatre institution. Befitting its status, even at 10:45 Wolsely was very crowded, and we had to wait 10 minutes notwithstanding our reservation. The décor was very interesting – almost like something out of a Pottery Barn catalog. The restaurant is very big, but the tables are spaced well enough apart to allow conversation.

We started with wine by the glass. Lisa had a Rioja which she found kind of plain, but good. Steve’s Gigondas was very full bodied, perhaps a bit much so for his liking. We had a salmon appetizer, which came with toast and creme fraiche. We thought the salmon was quite good, but it could have used better accompaniments and more crème fraiche.

Steve ordered the steak frites for his entrée. The steak lacked flavor but the frites were great. Lisa had the same view of her ribeye. The taste was mediocre (although the dish was cooked a perfect medium rare), but she also liked the frites.

The cheese course was extremely good. The cheeses consisted of a bleu, a cheddar and a stinky cheese, all of which were great. Also we very much liked the biscuits which went along with the cheese.

The bathrooms were, particularly for England, quite good, albeit small. Dinner for two at Wolsely, with wine by the glass, was 130 pounds ($260 dollars), which is a bit overpriced, in our view, for the quality.

Overall, we found London to be mostly a culinary wasteland. This was one of the better places at which we dined, yet, it was nothing to write home, or even e-mail, about.

Our ratings for Wolsely, 160 Picadilly, London

6.5 of 10 Steak Knives 2.5 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

Erwin in Chicago - Don't Go (Chicago Restaurant Review No. 73)

Steve had heard many good things about Erwin. One of the things that most interested him was that it was supposed to have one of the top gourmet hamburgers in the City. So, since we were in the area looking at furniture for Lisa's new office, we decided to try it. We shouldn't have bothered.

Things were bad at Erwin from the start. We walked into a mostly empty restaurant, yet had to wait several minutes to be seated because the host was nowhere to be found. Once we were seated, the room itself was pleasant enough, with colorful table coverings and an inviting open space. However, the food did not do this nice space justice.

We started with wine by the glass. Lisa had a Pinot Noir, which she found much too vinegary. Steve did like his Syrah. For an appetizer, we shared an anitpasto salad. It was interesting, in that it had many different types of meats and cheeses, but while we liked the cheeses, we thought the meats were very ordinary.

Lisa' salmon entree was disappointing. She thought it tasted fishy, which is very bad for salmon, and was, in her opinion, not good quality fish. Steve doubts the sanity of the reviewers who have sung the praises of Erwin's hamburger. It was completely overcooked, came on a sad loking bun, and was accompanied by almost inedible condiments. The only saving grace were the fries, which were quite good. However, Steve cannot live by fries alone.

Desserts, following the trend, were not good. Steve was excited to see a rice pudding choice, since that is usually only served at Greek restaurants. However, his glee quickly turned sour as was the pudding. Lisa had mango sorbet which she found far too sweet.

The bathrooms were one of the best parts of the place. They were large and clean, although they were too plain to merit a perfect score.

Dinner for two with wine by the glass was only $80, but actually was worth a lot less.

Our ratings for Erwin 2925 N. Halsted Street, Chicago

4 of 10 Steak Knives 2.5 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

Guinea Grill: "Best" Beef (Not) in London (London Restaurant Review No 2)

The Guinea Grill was sold to us as an unknown gem, having the best beef in London. Naive as we were, we believed it. We were sorely disappointed. The atmosphere was promising, as the Guinea Grill looks exactly what one would picture an olde English meat/pub restaurant to look like. The place is very dark and wood paneled, and has an intimate feel (although the tables were spaced far enough apart to allow room and conversation).

We started with wine by the glass. Lisa had a Rioja, which she found suitably light and fruity. Steve had a Chianti, which had a nice, sweet flavor. We really confused the waiter by ordering an appetizer and salads because, in Britain, usually customers have only one of these. In any event, we started with the salmon, which was extremely good, although could have used more creme fraiche. The salads were tasty, with good blue cheese dresing, but had alot of extraneous green stuff, and god knows you don't want extra green stuff in salads. Lisa, though, particularly liked the olives.

Lisa had the filet as her entree. It was cooked appropriately, but essentially tasteless. Perhaps that is the standard for English beef. Certainly, Steve's ribeye was not much better. It was not perfectly cooked, too well done, and tasted poor. The chips which accompanied the meat, though, were excellent. Chips in England means fries, and these were just right.

For dessert, Lisa had the pear sorbet. She really liked this dish. Steve had bread pudding with clotted cream. Both Lisa and Steve became major clotted cream fans on this trip, because of how good it is at tea with the scones. However, Steve thought it didn't work with bread pudding, but Lisa actually liked her taste of the dish.

The restrooms were awful - more like you'd expect from a standalone pub than a pub/restaurant like this. Both were grimy and you could hardly get the soap out of the dispenser.

If this is the best beef London has to offer, we, particularly Steve, are glad we don't intend to go back any time soon.

Dinner for two with wine by the glass was about 135 pounds ($270 dollars), which is terribly overpriced for the beef quality (but some of the other dishes did help a bit).

Our ratings for the Guinea Grill 30 Bruton Lane, Mayfair London

5.5 of 10 Steak Knives 1 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

Le Pre Catelan: Pleasant, If a Bit Overrated, French Country Dining (Paris Restaurant Review No. 3)

In our continuing quest to eat at Michelin 3-star restaurants, we chose Le Pre Catelan, which seemed like a typical old standard French experience. The location of this restaurant is wonderful. It is in the Bois de Boulogne, a beautiful, woodsy park on the outskirts of Paris. We arrived early, so were were able to take a nice walk, and saw many sleek Paris pigeons and other wildlife.

We got to the restaurant at 7:30, somewhat late by our standards, yet we were the first party there. Obviously the French are late evening diners, which would be a big problem for us on a regular basis. The captain was nice enough to us but he became so appalled when the customers sitting next to us dared to talk on their cellphone that he stormed off, never to be seen again. Ah, the French.

We started with a bottle of Chateau Petit Village wine, a Pomerol. Steve liked this a lot, but Lisa thought it a bit too tart. Our initial amuse bouche was a fish in a custardy, foamy presentation, which looked somewhat odd, but tasted very good. For appetizers, Steve had the tomatoes, which consisted of three types of that fruit, along with mozzarella. Some of the tomatoes were a bit tasteless, but overall the dish was ok. Lisa really liked her homard (lobster), which came in 3 parts (bisque, body and mousse), all of which were excellent.

Main courses were not so great. Steve had the lamb, which came with the typical lamb filet, but also came with such delicacies as the kidney and the brain. The brain even looked like a brain, but was very small, making one wonder how lamb get around. The filet was ok, but Steve disdained the kidney and brain (although Lisa's sister-in-law later told us brains are good). Lisa did not care for her langoustine (prawns). It tasted a bit fishy and one was somewhat overcooked.

The cheese course was the best part of the meal. All the cheeses were superb, however their identity will remain a mystery since no one explained that to us. The dessert was good. Lisa really liked the chocalate fondant, which had the right darkness for her tastes. Steve ordered the souffle, which came as a big green Christmas ornament-type ball, of pure sugar, with a custardy souffle inside. Steve thought this was a bit too sweet, but didn't dislike it.

The restrooms were very clean and had a good decor but they were a bit too small to garner a perfect rating.

The bucolic setting and nice decor of Le Pre Catelan make it a pleasant place to dine. However, for a price as steep as you pay for Michelin 3-star restaurants, Guy Savoy and Arpege were much better.

Dinner for two, with a bottle of wine, was about 700 Euros, and would have been about 600 with wine by the glass, which, as noted, we found a bit pricey for the quality.

Our ratings for Le Pre Catelan, Route Suresnes, Bois de Boulogne Paris:

7.5 of 10 Berets 2.5 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

Arpege in Paris: Who Knew Vegetables Could Be Good (Paris Restaurant Review No. 2)

Our goal in Paris was to go to as many three Michelin star restaurants as possible. Unfortunately, some of the ones we really wanted to go to, including Napoleon's favorite, were closed for summer vacation (those lazy, crazy French). So we had limited choices. One of the those was Arpege, which we approached with some trepidation since its calling card is its chef's love for vegetables (love and vegetables are not usually spoken in the same breath by either Steve or Lisa). However, it turned out that Michelin was right.

We started with L'Eglise Pomerol. One wonders why a wine would be named after a church, but in any event we both liked it a lot. Our amuse bouche was a wonderful egg custard which even Lisa, who usually doesn't like the texture of custard or taste of eggs, liked.

We didn't know what to order, so we ordered the tasting menu. This started with a tomato consumme with some sort of creme fraiche, which Steve liked, but he did not like the rest. Lisa liked this dish. Next we had the lobster appetizer. Lisa thought it a bit sweet but overall liked it. Steve absolutely loved it, particularly the fresh taste of the lobster. Next came an onion tartin which Steve again loved. Lisa is not really an onion person, so she was not all that impressed. Then we had a vegetable course, with many colors of veggies. We both thought that for veggies this tasted excellent (although we still will not become veggie eaters any time soon). The fish course was an outstanding turbot. Normally our fish likes are limited to salmon, shrimp and tuna, but this turbot was so tasty, particularly with the excellent sauce, that we could have eaten two or three. The poultry course was not quite as exciting. Steve liked it enough but Lisa thought the sauce was again a bit too sweet.

The cheeses were absolutely tremendous. Too bad we don't remeber what they were, but we can assure you they were unbelievable. Dessert was an apple tart with caramel. Lisa really liked this, but Steve, as usual, thought there was not enough caramel. Lisa did, however, really like the accompanying Spearmint ice cream. Steve was disappointed in that too.

The bathrooms were immaculate and quaint. They were, however, a bit small, which prevented a perfect rating.

Arpege is definitely not cheap. However, it is such a pleasant experience that if you are searching for something a bit out of the ordinary (if you want more mainstream go to Guy Savoy, our choice for best restaurant ever - see Review No, 1), this is a must try, and if you like veggies, all the better. Dinner for two with a bottle of wine was a mere 800 euros ($1,200 bucks, but who's counting) and would have been "only" about 650 euros with wine by the glass.

Our ratings for Arpege, 84 Rue Varenne, Paris:

9 of 10 Vegetable Skewers 2.5 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

Naha in Chicago: Cutting Edge Dining Experience (Chicago Restaurant Review No. 72)

Recently, we joined two friends for dinner at Naha, which is in the River North area of Chicago. This is a restaurant that Steve wanted to try, but we'd never gotten around to it. So we were happy when our friend Adela suggested Naha.

The room itself is very modern, but in a good way. The design is sleek, with high ceilings and tables that are large enough to not be crowded but small enough for relaxed conversation. We started with a bottle of Cote de Rhone, a French Pinot Noir, which we all liked, despite having varying tastes in wine. For an appetizer, Lisa had tuna tartare, which came with a dollop of creme fraiche on the tuna, but more in a diagonal pattern with capers, and a strip of smoked salmon. The whole dish looked pretty and tasted good. Steve had the Greek salad, which had a lot of things in it (more than he expected). It was just adequate. Adela loved her beet salad with bleu cheese crumbles, which she thought went together extremely well. Joe really liked his corn soup. (Steve and Lisa have no opinion on beet salad, as they would never eat it. Or corn soup. But we trust Adela. We don't know Joe so well, but she seems to like him.)

The experience with the entrees was somewhat mixed, though overall positive. Steve's lamb shank was a bit disappointing because it was scanty and didn't exactly fall off the bone, as good lamb shanks should. Lisa, on the other hand, really liked her bone-in ribeye. Usuallly she finds ribeye too fatty, but this was grain fed and had a good flavor and was not fatty at all. Steve absolutely loved this dish as well and ate several bites of it because Lisa took pity on him, seeing he was not enjoying his lamb shank. (She also is trying to lose the 5 pounds she gained in Paris.) Steve definitely wants to come back to Naha to order this.

Joe's quail was also scanty and bony, but since none of us had quail before, we don't know if that's unusual (although Steve surmises that if you are going to order a tiny bird for dinner, that's what should be expected). (Lisa did not know quail was tiny.) Adela had a rather bad experience initially with her halibut, which came almost raw rather than medium rare. The waiter, however, immediately recognized the problem and gladly took it back for additional cooking. He also brought the table a free round of dessert wine and an extra plate of dessert amuse bouche to make up for the problem, which seemed to us as going above and beyond the call of duty. Also, Adela did like the halibut upon its return.

The dessert menu did not really contain a lot of things that interested any of us, so we decided instead to have the cheese course. We all found this to be one of the highlights of the meal. There were 8 cheeses, each of which was better than the other, and the "worst" was excellent. This cheese plate compared favorably with the best we had in Paris, even though the cheeses were local Midwest. The dessert amuse bouche consisted of four very dark chocolate ganache pieces and four dark jelly candies. The dark chocolate put Lisa and Adela in heaven, so we were thrilled when the waiter brought a second round. Steve loved the jelly candies, but found the dark chocolate powder on the ganache pieces vile. (There really is no accounting for taste, but Steve is clearly wrong.) Joe inscrutably expressed no opinion.

This meal was a good example of the sum being more than the whole of its parts. There were flaws with some of the appetizers and entrees, yet overall Lisa and Steve both found Naha much to their liking and would go back any time.

The bathrooms were a little disappointing. There were two Womens' Rooms, one was a single and fairly small and the other had two stalls and was clean, but neither was particularly fancy or well decorated. (There were Mens' Rooms, too, but Steve did not bother, so we're accepting Lisa's judgment completely.)

Dinner for four, with two bottles of wine, was about $500, and would have been about $400 with wine by the glass, which we think is a good price for the quality of this dining experience.

Our ratings for Naha, 500 N. Clark St., Chicago, Illinois:

8 of 10 Steak Knives (or Quail Bones); 2 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

Gordon Ramsay at the Claridge's in London: Our Favorite in Britain (London Restaurant Review No. 1)

Overall, we found London to be somewhat of a cuilinary wasteland (which made us feel right at home since we live in the South Loop). However, by far the best for dinner (as opposed to tea, which we always enjoyed) was Gordon Ramsay at the Claridges. This should not be confused, as our travel agent did, with the free standing Gordon Ramsay restaurant, which is where we thought we were going. As it turns out, we had reservations the Gordon Ramsay in our hotel, but no matter, it was wonderful.

We loved the decor, which was very British but the seats were uneven, which was strange. Also the place was impossible to find, even though it was in our hotel. The entrance from outside leads into Claridge's lobby, and the entrance from inside is through the tea area and a lounge area into an unmarked room. But it is worth the hunt.

We started with a bottle of Jasper Hill Shiraz, which we both liked. It was a bit tart, but had a nice, spicey and fruity flavor. The first amuse bouche was parmesan mousse and pear. The tastes set each other off well. The appetizers were tremendous. We split the lobster ravioli and beef carpaccio, both of which were perfect.

Steve was waiting the whole trip for English roast beef, so he was excited to see it on the menu here. Lisa had it as well. It was cooked a perfect medium rare and was accompanied by excellent potatoes and tomatoes. The only quibble we had was the the beef was somewhat bland (Steve had expected something out of this world from what is supposed to be a roast beef haven -- LIsa was pleasantly surprised because it was so much better than any other beef they'd had in London).

The dessert amuse bouche was marscapone cheesecake, which we both liked. In London, unlike in Paris, there is no separate cheese course before dessert. Lisa had the cheese as her dessert and Steve had French Toast (in essence, fried brioche with vanilla icing). Steve thought the dessert was a great idea, but he did not particularly care for the peaches that accompanied the toast. Steve had no one to blame, however, but himself, since the dish was called Peach French Toast. Lisa liked the cheese. She tried bleu, goat, camembert and semi-hard cheddar. All of them were a bit strong for her but she still enjoyed them.

The bathrooms were the nicest we found in London. The Women's Room had marble counters and floors and was extremely clean. The Men's also was spacious and very clean.

Gordon Ramsay is our pick for the top restaurant in London, which is sort of like our pick for the most liberal Republican (we are latte sipping Obama liberals, after all (who don't actually drink lattes)). It was a fine restaurant but probably a notch below the best in Chicago and certainly well below the top places we went to in Paris.

The total bill was 295 pounds (about $600) and would have been about $400 with wine by the glass, which, believe it or not, is a decent value these days in London.

Our ratings for Gordon Ramsay at the Claridge's, Brook Street and Davies, London:

8.5 of 10 Beef Knives; 3 of 3 Bathroom Brushes

Restaurant Guy Savoy Au Paris: Best in the World (Paris Restaurant Review No. 1)

We have been back from Paris for over a month but life has been a little hectic and we wanted to make sure we had the time to do justice to the restaurants we visited. Restaurant Guy Savoy is the last restaurant we dined at in Paris, and it was the best food we've ever eaten.

The decor of the restaurant was the closest to what we would consider authentic French of all the restaurants we tried. It was sort of like a modern French country house with light rose upholstery and gaily colored walls. Lisa loved Guy Savoy especially because the maitre d' mistook her and Steve for French people, at least for a few minutes, until we explained we could only speak a little French. Unlike the stereotype, everyone here, from the maitre d' to the sommelier to the waiters, was friendly and consumately professional. And no one minded describing the dishes in English, though we did understand generally what was on the menu.

We started with a bottle of Pomerol suggested by the sommelier. Unfortunately, we don't remember the vintage, but we really liked it. Similarly, the amuse bouches were excellent, and there were several, but the passage of time leaves us at a loss as to exactly what they were (except for the dessert ones, which Lisa remembers). We do remember the excellent appetizers. We shared the Colors of Caviar, which included various types of caviar from orange to black, with plenty of good accompaniments. Lisa also had the artichoke and black truffle soup, which was creamy and tasted wonderful. We both thought the caviar was as good as we have ever had.

For main courses, Lisa had le homard bleu (lobster) and Steve ordered lamb -- which became his staple in Paris since none of the good restaurants seemed to offer beef that appealed to him. While both of us enjoyed these dishes, they were not quite as great as everything else, but they were still top quality.

One of the many reasons we both loved Paris is that all the restaurants offer a cheese course in addition to, rather than in place of, dessert and the waiters always seemed quite pleased when we ordered it. Here, the cheese came on a giant trolley with at least twenty different selections. We were encouraged to take as many as we wanted and we took many, including fantastic goat cheese with what looked like black bark for a rind. It was very smooth and creamy. Steve really liked the bleu cheese, which was Roquefort. Lisa found it a bit strong, but still liked it. All the cheeses had distinct flavors and the course was tremendously satisfying.

The dessert made us wish we could give a rating above a ten. Lisa had Noir, which consisted of three types of dark chocolate desserts. The first was a chocolate biscuit made with marzipan and marinated in lime juice. The second was chocolate ganache flavored with black pepper and cardamom. The third was a dark chocolate sorbet. All tasted very dark and nuanced. Lisa does not think she's ever had such a wonderful dessert. Steve had an unforgettable dessert trolley, which had three shelves of confections, including delicious ice creams, decadent pastries, cookies, pink marshmallows, and chocolate. Steve could have kept eating from that trolley for about five hours, but fortunately he marginally controlled himself and had about 6 or 7 choices. After that, we were treated to a dessert amuse bouche, which included wafer and sandwich cookies. Though stuffed, we ate them anyway, kidding ourselves that the walk back from the restaurant to the hotel would burn off the calories. (Ha!)

The only thing about Guy Savoy that was a bit incongruous was the bathrooms. Steve described them as airplane bathrooms because they were so small. While clean, the lack of space, coupled with the sparse decor led to a less-than-perfect experience.

Guy Savoy is definitely not cheap. Our total bill was 750 Euros (about $1200) and would have still been about $900 with wine by the glass. Nonetheless, we felt it was worth every penny and was, in fact, the best restaurant we have ever eaten at. If you are going to Paris and can afford one major splurge, this is a must. You will thank us for the recommendation.

Our ratings for Restaurant Guy Savoy, 18 Rue Troyon, Paris:

10 of 10 Berets (seems more appropriate than steak knives for Paris) and 2 of 3 Bathroom Brushes