To spend the entire series of Masterchef Pros shouting

[ChristmasCareeristBitchNigel]

"Do Fuck Off You Twat" every time Greg Wallace opens his mouth ? What on earth purpose does he serve except to look like a buffoon ?

"Very professional looking" he pipes up to the senior sous chef of a 2* restaurant !! Aargh ! F#%^ OFF !

NB Postscript. Yes, i am aware this is a "first world problem"

Stromba, if you ever happen to be in Helsinki, this is my favourite restaurant in the whole world. Knocked per se out of a tinned hat

Queen I had a great meal recently at Rubuchon, amuse Bouche that were fabulous and a glass of red in the middle which just sang...great salty snacks later to help us keep going on the terrace! I enjoyed watching from the counter and would definitely return. They also handled me being gf easily, although nowhere has yet beaten la manoir's gf bread selection!

Ooo, interesting. We're off to de Karmeliet in Bruges in December but i am waiting to be posted into a new job with substantial payrise so when i finally get a post i will take DH out on the town. At Robuchon apparently !

I don't really see myself being in Finland anytime soon :)

I'm glad you agree with me though. Other than that wonderful starter I've had way better food and way better service in non-starred restaurants. Maybe they've figured out the dishes that the Michelin inspectors would go for and made them fantastic? Otherwise I just can't see how it compares with Gordon Ramsay - Hospital Road is in an entirely different league. I bet it's politics - AD at the Dorchester barely deserves one star, let alone three. There must be a good reason that it's still getting 3 stars, although we went at the start of March - maybe the Michelin inspector had already been.

We went about 18 months ago so it's certainly a long blip. I do think there is a certain expectation when it comes to Ducasse and Robuchon.

On a happier note, if you saw the times 100, my ex is number 6. So proud

We find european starred restaurants much better. - 1 in france = 2 Star here and the 3s are just out of this world

Thank you MsPickle. Nice to know that they're good for GF. Gordon Ramsay were fantastic. I got to choose a desert from the a la carte because they couldn't GF their set menu deserts and their GF bread was divine.

Ah - they're just not very good then Christmas. Your ex is a top chef? I'm so bloody jealous. I'm the top chef in this house and I'm only high average for cooking skills. Although if I could get the ingredients then I could probably make a bisque nearly as good as in the AD starter.

Nigel the Square is so lovely. The food is delicious with just the right amount of fol de rol and the atmosphere in there is great.
I don't dine at these places much (!) but found Gordon Ramsey on hospital road less enjoyable. The good was great but the explanations of every single process and item on the plate was a bit much after a while - I wanted to eat the food not offer it a job.

Back on topic - I agree about Greg. He lists the ingredients whilst everybody else's eyes glaze over.

Christmas I went to de karmeliet a few years ago and it was amazing-the only disappointing thing was that I don't eat seafood or fish and that's their main thing! Enjoy! I Love bruges

Any other restaurant (or other) recommendations for Bruges?

Nigel didn't that skills test strike you as a bit pedestrian? Hardly excavating a beef kidney from a football of fat was it? What's in store for us with tomorrow's I wonder? Peeling the lid from a muller rice?