“Everything I hoped and expected!” – the Roux family’s “blissful” Thames-sider may be turning 40 this year, but remains “perfect in every way” – not least its “superlative, traditional Gallic cuisine”; prices are “ludicrous”, naturally… but the odd thing is that hardly any reporters actually seem to begrudge paying ’em!
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On his first visit for his new employer, the critic visits one of England’s grandest restaurants. He finds the service “flawless”, as you rather hope given the jaw-dropping prices described. The food, though, doesn’t live up, and some dishes are positively “drab”. “Retaining three [Michelin] stars for 25 years is a mighty achievement and this is a supremely well-run restaurant. But the day Michelin takes its first step down Austerity Age Avenue, by inviting the inspectors to think about value, will be a gloomy one indeed for The Waterside Inn.”
Fay Maschler (22nd May 2007)
No rating
Mrs M dines – as a guest of her long-time friend Michel Roux – at the famous out-of-town restaurant (with rooms), which “for more than 20 years has sported three Michelin stars”. Fortunately, the dishes were “light, subtle, intuitive, the right size and weight within the context of a three-star meal and all its attendant treats”, as well as being “utterly delicious. As the critic sagely notes, however: “this is all easy to say without a bill to pay”.
Matthew Norman (24th June 2010)
Fay Maschler (22nd May 2007)
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