Tuesday 24 March 2009

So many restaurants... too little time

I ALWAYS read avidly The Observer's Food Monthly supplement for its mixture of recipes, restaurant reviews and culinary comment.
And no edition more so than that featuring its annual food awards.
This year's winners have just been announced and I revel at poring through the list, ticking off places I have been and adding places that I want to go.
It's all thanks to last year's shortlist that I dragged myself to it's winner of the cheap eats category, Wahaca, in London. It turned out to be one of my best meals of 2008 so I hold the list in pretty high regard.
It was comforting that this year's winner of the top restaurant category was Moro, another London eaterie high on my wish list.
God speed me there right now for a humongous Middle Eastern feast.
Some of the other shortlisted places I've been fortunate enough to visit include The Fat Duck, Bray, which appears in the shortlist of best restaurants; The Wolseley, which rightly won best breakfast; Bill's Produce Store in Brighton in the cheap eats section, and The Ubiquitous Chip, which was recognised for a great Sunday roast.
I also like to check that Birmingham is getting a good press, as I know that a lot of foodies outside of the second city see it as a bit of a culinary wasteland. And that view is a bit outdated.
Sure enough, Purnells got a mention in the best restaurant category while Bacchus Bar and Hotel du Vin were named some of the country's best bars.
I was pleased Chez Jules in Ethel Street got a nod under the cheap eats, although I was a bit dubious at the listing of the Warehouse Cafe in Digbeth.
It was listed under best ethical restaurant category, although on the occasion I ate there I found the food particularly bad - and ethical or not, the food's got to be good to rate on my radar.
I would pay it a visit again, to see if the standard has improved but there are so many other places to try....
It's a case of so many restaurants and too little time...
Where is on your eating wish list? Top three please. Let me know...

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