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GOOD EATING - RESTAURANTS THAT WE LIKE

Those who know us well know that we like our food. This section tells you where we have eaten and found it to be good, or good value for money. Of course, we cannot guarantee that you will eat well in these places too, the chef may have an off day or change. However, these are honest recommendations, we do not gain anything from our mentioning these places and we have no connection with any of the restaurants other than being a happy customer.
New World Gerrard Place Soho, LONDON The New World is situated near the fire station in Shaftesbury Avenue. Gerrard Place runs from Shaftesbury Avenue through to Gerrard Street. You can eat a good filling lunch, including a beer for £10 - £12, though by careful choosing and drinking tea you could get a lunch for less than this. We try to visit here every time that we go to London. Not great cuisine, but the food is rarely less than good and is reasonably priced and you can choose from the trolleys as they move around, so you can choose large or small dishes. The dish to be particularly recommended is roast suckling pig. Parking ? Go by tube or taxi !

Good dim sum, but quite different in style is : The Paddyfield 39-40 Hythe Bridge Street, OXFORD OX1 2EP This is quite near to the railway station. We had dim sum at lunch time and enjoyed it - but we ordered too much, not realising that some of the dishes are large portions. Because of that it was not particularly cheap, but it could have been much cheaper and there were plenty of students eating there. Nearby parking.

Dojo Noodle Bar, 1-2 Millers Yard, CAMBRIDGE CB2 1RQ Website: www.dojonoodlebar.co.uk Tel: 01223 363 471. This is a small noodle bar tucked away in a side street, but don't let that fool you into thinking that it is unknown. You'll get a seat straight away up until 12.15, but shortly after that it will be full. Several student websites recommend this place. We can only agree with them. The menu is large. The majority of the Chinese, Japanese, Thai and other eastern cuisine dishes are based on a bowl of soup with noodles which will cost you about £6. If you want to be greedy, you can have a side dish as well your noodles and soup with the meat, veg, or seafood of your choice. However, the noodle dishes are likely to satisfy most appetites. Three of us ate lunch, with an endless supply of chinese tea, for £20 and that included a tip. Haute cuisine it is not, but it is satisfying, wholesome, tasty, and different and, for Cambridge, very good value for money.

Visiting north or mid Wales ? Then you must try dinner at The Castle Cottage, Harlech. This is close to the castle - but do make sure that you get the right place, because there are several restaurants in the vicinity of the castle. Glyn, the owner / chef loves food and cooks with his heart, whilst Jacqui, his wife, does front of house. Due to their skills and enthusiasm for good food, the restaurant at Castle Cottage has steadily built up an excellent reputation and is deservedly recommended in most leading guides. The winner of several prizes, including RAC silver salvers and the like, Glynn became Mid Wales chef of the year in 1997; followed by Best Restaurant with Rooms 2002 with the Which? Hotel guide. We have eaten and stayed overnight several times, including the celebration bash for Glyn winning Mid Wales chef of the year, when he and two previous winners, one of whom has since obtained a Michelin star, did a course each using welsh ingredients : wild welsh salmon marinaded in welsh whisky, beef fillet from welsh black cattle, and various other goodies including a farmhouse cheese that was, for once, not too young to have been taken away from its mother. Three dozen lucky folk were present and we travelled for nearly two hours to get there, though others came from as far away as Cardiff and Hull, but curiously, there were no local people present ! Sometimes I despair of my compatriots, those welsh wazzocks who fail to recognise a good thing, even when it is under their noses. The wine list is good too. Alas they don't do lunches, but dinner can be an experience, and if Glyn recommends the local fish - which may have been just delivered, by the bloke who caught it, boat fresh, to the back door, don't even consider anything else ! We once had locally caught dover sole stuffed with prawns in a lobster sauce, or was it stuffed with lobster, in a prawn sauce ? Whatever, I really enjoyed it. Portions seem to be sized to satisfy a healthy appetite. You will find their website at
www.castlecottageharlech.co.uk
Advance booking is a good idea, especially in the summer. Dinner costs £26 a head, for three courses. Obviously more with wine, or if you choose a la carte. Not cheap, but, yes, from my enthusiasm, you'll gather that we really enjoy going there. You are sure of a meal you will remember.

And now for more chinese. Recently we have eaten several times at the WING WAH.
Location : The Wing Yip Centre, 278 Thimble Mill Lane, Nechells, Birmingham B7 5HD
There are several options for eating here. A la carte, a buffet (either lunch, or dinner), or a dim sum lunch, which seems to extend until quite late in the afternoon, and on sunday evenings there is a mongolian hot pot option. Prices vary considerably, from £7 (without drinks). I have reservations about chinese buffet meals, and would not willingly choose to eat one, but here they seem to have sufficient volume of turnover to mean that everything is fresh, and the last time that I looked, I was sorry that I hadn't chosen that option, but it was probably just as well, as I was full after just two dim sum dishes. The trick to eating dim sum seems to be to order a dish such as a congee, which comes in an enormous bowl, and adequately feeds two. The last time we tried a bowl of noodles, with soup, pork and crispy-fried duck.
The a la carte meals, and the dim sum vary from very good to excellent. Really good value for money, a very wide choice of dishes, well-prepared. Service ? Well, that's not quite so good, but they are a bit pushed.
One can visit the adjoining Wing Yip chinese super market before, or after eating, this is wonderful if one is into chinese food.

FEEDBACK We would like to hear what you thought of our recommendations when you have tried them.

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