Posts Tagged ‘special offers’

Triple Points — How to Play It

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

As of this writing, you have a few short hours to book a toptable restaurant today, dine by the end of the month and have triple points added to your toptable rewards points account.  Don’t let this great offer slip by!  If you book just three restaurants and dine at them by the end of the month, you’ll have enough points for a free meal.  How can you resist?  And how can you get the most out of this generous offer?

1.  First, seriously, book three restaurants by the end of the day to dine by the end of the month.  Or more, if you can make that work.

The cheapest possible dining offers we’ve found on site are these: dine at Mezbaan in Edinburgh having two tapas for a fiver, or lunch at Urban Karahi  in Hanwell having three courses for £6.95,  or at Planet Hollywood, one course for £7.95 including unlimited soda, or at Brouge Bistro in Richmond, one course from the express menu for £8.50.

2. Take advantage of special offers so you win twice, once when you book/dine/save money and second when you get all those lovely points.

Dine early in the week at Kettner’s restaurant in Soho and you can take advantage of a bunch of offers, from two courses for £14.50 to three courses for £20 to 50% off food.  This is a long-time diner favourite with a terrific ambience.

3. Don’t just think about lunch and dinner.  toptable also books clubs and bars and they have special offers, too, so you can drink and nosh with mates and get triple points that way.

Roadhouse in Covent Garden offers two courses and a cocktail for just £14.95 (£18.95 later in the week)  while Tiger Tiger in Haymarket is most generously offering toptable diners 50% off food and drink most evenings until 8pm. 

4.  Or consider breakfast out — schedule a breakfast meeting with a special offer on toptable and voila — pointsville.  There are even a couple of brilliant afternoon tea deals on toptable and they earn you extra points as well.

Right in the City on Devonshire Square is gorgeous Cinnamon Kitchen restaurant with a 2-for-1 breakfast offer that gives you the cheaper item free. Harvey Nichols Fifth Floor restaurant in Knightsbridge is reviving exhausted shoppers with lovely afternoon tea for just £22.50.

5. On the other hand, Saturday or Sunday lunch is a terrific time to kick back, enjoy a special offer meal and rack up the points total.

Grafton House restaurant in London’s Clapham Old Town is what we’re talking about with its Saturday or Sunday lunch of two courses for £17.50 from the a la carte menu. 

6.  Dine alone.  You’re going for points, right?  Well, eat out on your own after work and get the 600 points without having pushed the boat too far out.

Corrigan’s Mayfair restaurant is not only top diner rated with the sublime Richard Corrigan in the kitchen, it also won Imbibe’s 2010 Wine List of the Year.  When you sit at the bar counter — perfecto for dining alone — you can have three courses and a glass of champagne for £25.  You’d be mad not to book.

7.  Alternatively, you and a friend could dine alone at the same time in the same restaurant.  You arrive, you go through the elaborate pantomime of delight at your coincidental meeting, you ask if you may dine together and both of you get the points.  We’re not completely convinced about this one.  If it works, let us know. 

8. Got a favourite restaurant that you don’t usually have to book?  Think points!  Book through toptable and you’ll dine as you usually do and gain triple points at the same time.  You’ll be bi-winning.

9.  Once you’ve made your booking(s), don’t change them or you won’t get the extra points.  And you can make a booking for as many diners as you like, but you’ll only get the triple points — 600 points — and no more.  We looked into it. 

10.  After you’ve dined, be sure to rate the restaurant on your toptable account because that’s the last step in the triple points dance.

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Mother’s Day: T Minus 20 Days and Counting

Monday, March 14th, 2011

The classic form for Mother’s Day is lunch followed by a stately stroll around the nearest park, but whose mother fits the cookie-cutter mould?  Maybe yours would fancy dim sum followed by a blitz on the shops, or breakfast followed by a long country walk, or martinis followed by a Michelin-starred gastro-fest, or a film followed by afternoon tea because she has plans for dinner, thanks?  Whatever she’d like, toptable is here to offer great suggestions and special deals.  And one incontrovertible piece of advice: book now.

Le Café Anglais in Queensway in London certainly fits the bill for lunch + shopping as it’s in the same building as Whiteley’s of Bayswater and not far from Oxford Street if she exhausts the possibilities there.  Actually, it’s a short stroll to Kensington Gardens, so it fits into the classic lunch and garden stroll paradigm too.  This is a glamourous and affordable British restaurant with terrific grills, a great Sunday roast, soaring ceilings, sun-drenched dining room and Rowley Leigh at the helm.

Langtry’s restaurant in Knightsbridge — named for another superstar woman, Lily Langtry — offers another chance for lunch plus shopping.  It’s a gorgeous restaurant bursting with classic elegance and an inventive British menu.  The deal is top flight:  £35.00 for three courses with unlimited sparkling wine, her name written on the dessert plate and a gift of chocolates to take away.

Sophisticated Grafton House in Clapham Old Town has bags of style and is perfect for leisurely Sunday meals and schmoozy brunches.  Not only that, it has a pair of special offers to make your Mother’s Day celebration budget-friendly too: two-course lunch for £17 and 50% off supper.

The Chutney in Wandsworth has brilliant Indian food and is a great place to take your vegetarian mother or your vegetarian self for that matter.  It’s top diner-rated on toptable and may well have a special offer on for Sunday evening.

If brunch is what she fancies, Curve Restaurant and Bar at Canary Wharf’s London Marriott West India Quay (you still with us?) is putting on a feast of a buffet lunch with a welcoming glass of bubbly and strawberries for just £26 per person and children under twelve are free.

Kopapa Cafe and Restaurant in Seven Dials in London is the newest project from the chap who brought you Providores and it’s great for a relaxed Sunday stroll through the fusion menu with influences from, well, everywhere.  This is a groovy place that has a rather groovy little deal, too: two courses for £15.50 from a set menu on Sundays from the middle of the afternoon through supper.

The Place restaurant at The Place Apartment Hotels in Manchester has a superb Mother’s Day deal that not only gives her a terrific meal with her family, but sends her home with a gift.  For £19.99 for four courses from a set menu, your mum will also receive a ‘Treat Yourself’ hamper to take away.  Children under twelve eat for £9.99 and children under two eat for free.

In Cardiff, the Tempus at Tides Bar and Restaurant has not only sweeping views over Cardiff Bay but a sleek and 1920′s-inspired interior and it is offering you and your mother a classic Afternoon Tea for £20 (£27 with pop).  Teas are served in antique bone china with a selection of a dozen of the finest loose leaf teas on offer.

Of course, if you do want to do the classic hotel-lunch-plus-garden-perambulation, The Grill at The Dorchester has a Mother’s Day special menu at three courses for £60 followed by Hyde Park for free.  This is high-end dining in a fabulous dining room with a grill-based menu and superb service.  They’ll make your mother feel like a queen and quite right too.

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Triple Points and Super Special Offers

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

A while ago we introduced the concept of Super Special Offers, the special money-saving deals where the restaurateurs have used their imagination to offer a little something extra to entice you to try their restaurant.  We love it when restaurant-owners think a bit outside the box and we love it when you toptable diners get great deals.  But today of all days we want you to grab the moment because it’s triple points Tuesday. Book today, dine by the 28th of Feb and collect three times the top rewards points you’d normally get.  So add triple points to Super Special Offers and what do you get?  The toptable dining experience!

Cafe des Amis in Covent Garden takes our fancy because they have this utterly mind-blowing deal: dine late (not that late, between 9.30pm and 11pm) and they’ll give you 50% off the total bill.  This isn’t some diddy little ‘special menu’ offer, it’s 50% off the a la carte and it includes drinks.

Cool, contemporary Thai restaurant ORA just off Regent’s Street in London’s West End is inviting you to join them for three courses, a glass of champagne and an evening of live jazz on 20 March only, just ahead of the Guildhall Annual Jazz Festival, all for just £25.  Cool deal for hep cats.

There are many 50% off food deals on toptable right now, and they are terrific.  But My Dining Room in Fulham has gone the outside-the-box route.   It’s offering 50% off wine (not including champagne, be fair).  My Dining Room is a gastropub that already fits neatly into our ‘Under £35′ category, and this terrific offer means you can either A. drink more cheaply or B. drink better wine for the same price.  The choice is yours and there’s no wrong answer.

Nuocmam in Fitzrovia is a Tokyo-inspired restaurant, bar and karaoke den that serves healthful and authentic Japanese-Vietnamese fusion cuisine and they are happy for you to combine two of their special offers, like 50% off food and 50% off bottles of wine and isn’t that a coincidence?  Because we’re very happy to combine special offers like that too.

We think One Moorgate Place, inside the former Chartered Accountants’ Hall, is getting into the Olympic spirit.  They’re offering a speed-of-lightning lunch deal: two courses in served in 30 minutes for £13 or your lunch is free.  You don’t have to eat them in thirty minutes, but they’ll be at your table in 30 minutes.  You may linger in this smart, centrally-located restaurant as long as you like.

Sitaaray in Covent Garden likes happy families, but you’d better grab this one quick: unlimited kebabs and curries for Sunday lunch for £22.95 and one child under 12 eats free for each paying adult and free car parking at NCP Drury Lane.  You can’t afford to stay home with a deal like that.

If you have a big appetite or are just in an expeditionary mood, Opium Chinese restaurant in Nottingham has a ‘Try as Much as You Like’ menu for £15 every Friday evening.  Bring some mates, we say, and invade the menu properly.

Oh ho, this is amazing. The Case Restaurant With Rooms near Sudbury in Suffolk is offering a three-course supper from their superb European menu, a room for the night and continental breakfast the next day for just £49 per person.  The Case was a runner-up in toptable’s Dining Awards 2010 in the Top Diner Rated and Best for Value categories.  And it’s overall diner rating is 8.9 blowing most of the rest of the competition out of the water.

Flame restaurant at the Casino at The Empire in London’s Leicester Square wants to start your evening off right.  For just £20 you can enjoy a three-course supper, a glass of prosecco and a free betting voucher.  Good luck, one and all.  And if you do win a mint, remember your nice friends at toptable.

The Roffen Club in Rochester in Kent is here to quench your thirst as well as provide you with an excellent dining experience in a lovely space.  For £20 or £25 for three courses (from a set menu or the a la carte, respectively), you can enjoy unlimited wine throughout your meal until coffee is served.  Cheers.

And if you’re a fan of Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar — and who among us is not? — then this offer will delight you.  At Benares, the award-winning Indian restaurant in Mayfair, every table of four that orders the Grazing Menu will be given the gift of a signed copy of Kochhar’s Fish, Indian Style cookbook.  Need another?  The second is half price.  Sure you could order the book off amazon, but then you’d miss the Michelin-starred cooking, the laughter and companionship of a great evening out with friends and the book, signed, and made precious with memories.

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The Week in Food

Monday, February 14th, 2011

Day d’Amour

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Restaurants all over the country are laying on their own version of the perfect Valentine’s celebration.  Some are so cheesy they could melt on toast and others so elegant you’ll feel you’re in a Noel Coward play, but each of them perfect for someone.  If you’ve put off booking this evening’s dining until now, it’s still not too late and we’re here to encourage you, if that’s what you fancy, to use our dedicated Valentine’s Day page.   Or ring us on 0207 299 2949 and we’ll get you what you desire (if what you desire is a restaurant reservation, that is).  Our last-minute function leads you to available tables with a minimum of fussing about.  And if non-romantic dining is what you’re after this evening, toptable can help with that too.

Hot Off the Press

Some irresistible cookbooks are at the starting gate and all in a lather, just waiting to be let out this week.  Like what?

Clarissa Dickson Wright, the remaining one of the Two Fat Ladies, is about to launch Potty!: Clarissa’s One Pot Cookbook this Thursday, though we’re pretty sure it’s not solely intended for people with just one pot to cook in.  Potty! is trailed as ‘Perfect for anyone who loves good food but hates washing up’ and that’s just about 100% of us.  By the bye, several sources report that CDW’s full name is Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmerelda Dickson Wright.  We wonder, though.  When her erstwhile cooking and telly partner Jennifer Patterson was terminally ill in hospital, she checked in under the name Vita Circumference.

Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love and War by Annia Ciezadlo, available from tomorrow, is partly a cookbook, partly an exploration of Lebanon and Iraq through their cuisines and written by a seasoned foreign correspondent.  She’s an American from Chicago, in spite of her exotic name, and this book has been enormously praised in the States where it’s already available.  Don’t be put off by the winsome cover pic, Ciezadlo apparently has the fierce-mindedness and eye for telling detail that her journalism demands.  She says, ‘“Saying a country has no cuisine seemed like saying it had no culture, no civil society.  I decided to go out and find it.”

Irish chef Kevin Dundon, chef/proprietor of Dunbrody House Hotel in southern Ireland and a big media foodie presence over there, has Recipes That Work ready to hit the stands this Thursday.  The emphasis is on ‘fool-proof family recipes’ in the rustic, seasonal style he is famous for.

M. Blanc Explains It All For You

Culinary legend Raymond Blanc, chef proprietor or executive chef of Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and a few other charming spots, owner of an OBE and general national treasure, is about to demystify great cooking for you with a second series of Kitchen Secrets starting Monday, 21 February, on BBC2.  The series cookbook seems to be available here and there already, though its official release date is also this Monday.  We’ll be tuning in, of course, because we love his accent almost as much as his cooking.  Wouldn’t it be a hoot if someone got their hands on the cookbook and watched the series, then became good enough to appear in the next series of Restaurant, if there ever is one?

Top Sexy Restaurants

The Times just published a list of ’16 sexy British restaurants’ and we are proud to say we have seven of them on toptable right now and at least one with a special offer. The Michelin-starred Bybrook Restaurant in the Cotswolds, set in the ridiculously lovely Manor House Hotel, a 14th century manor house now brought up to date with 21st century comforts.  Chef Richard Davies’ modern European cuisine is served in the company of roaring fires and mullioned windows and you’re surrounded by more than 300 acres of privacy.  Then there’s l’Escargot Bleu in Edinburgh, an authentic French restaurant without a hint of ‘inventive’ or ‘modern’ or even ‘ironic’ about it.  The posters on the walls are charming, but even more charming is the very small bill that lands on your table after you’ve dined so very well.  Gee’s Restaurant in Oxford is a local landmark, a Grade II listed conservatory and greenhouse built in 1898 and transformed twenty years ago into this charming and elegant restaurant with a fine collection of Gary Hume’s artworks.  The ambience is just divine.  We know we’ve mentioned the Michelin-starred Galvin at Windows a bunch of times, but can we help it if The Times finds it one of the sexiest restaurants in Britain?  Okay, here it is in clipped phrases: fine French, 28th floor, views, great service, three special offers now running.  Got you with that last one, didn’t we?  The Grove in Pembrokeshire is set in an intimate and unique country house hotel with a super restaurant serving modern European cuisine from local ingredients.  The panelled dining room is smart and cosy, while the garden room is surrounded by trees, gardens and wildflower meadows.  And all the bedrooms have views.  Gaucho in Leeds is just as sexy and carnivorous as the other branches of this fine steak-oriented group.  The surroundings are grownup  and the Argentinean beef is well-hung, which is true of all the Gaucho restaurants.  Odette’s in Primrose Hill is refined yet unstuffy, chic and rustic (yes, both), and not only romantic but friendly to singles as you can borrow a book off the shelf and keep yourself company as you dine on Bryn William’s Welsh-inflected British cuisine.

New restaurants on toptable:

The Coach and Horses

The Coach and Horses in Soho is, we say, quite possibly central London’s most famous pub.  That’s going some, considering the competition, but it did feature as the setting for Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell and has been the home of London’s rudest landlord as well a haunt of some very A-list celebs.  The upstairs dining room is a charming spot to enjoy the classic British menu and the new landlords are charm itself.

Something a bit different: l’Opera restaurant at the top end of the Old Brompton Road is elegantly decorated with touches of gilt and baroque glamour, and yet it’s also a deli and salon de the with a long glass counter displaying their food and today’s menu chalked up on a board.  The

Devonshire Terrace

staff are keen and friendly and if you’re doing the museums or shopping in South Ken, you’ll be glad you know about this spot.

Devonshire Terrace in the City of London has the sleekness and style of Bauhaus and a flexible attitude to dining.  Fancy a meal in the elegant and business-like dining room?  Cool.  Prefer the luxury of the private dining room?  Absolutely.  Here’s one thing we really adore about this modern European restaurant: an al fresco terrace for nonsmokers as well as one for smokers.  Bliss for those of us who don’t puff.

Dial House Restaurant in Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire is set in the lovely Dial House Hotel, a grand 17th century home set back from the main road which was here before there were even bridges over the River Windrush.  These days the hotel has been refurbished to meet 21st century expectations of comfort while retaining most of the original detailing.  The restaurant serves the modern European season cuisine we expect from a kitchen of this calibre and the service is both friendly and professional.

Mark Greenaway at Hawke + Hunter

Hip and rising Mark Greenaway at Hawke + Hunter restaurant in the fabulous Hawke + Hunter venue in Edinburgh on Picardy Place is one of the city’s hotspots to drink and dine.  The pair of intimate dining rooms are decorated with Caledonia boho-luxe style and have a casual fine dining atmosphere, a perfect backdrop for the vibrant young crowd that gathers here.  The whole enterprise really can’t be pigeonholed: it’s a restaurant, boutique hotel, cocktail bar, whiskey bar, below-stairs nightclub and secret garden.  One of the most exciting spots in Edinburgh.

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Half Term? Half Off!

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

School’s out!  For a week anyway, but every kid we know can’t wait.  The question for you, caring parents, family and friends, is what to do with the children to really make the most of these precious free days.  Whatever it may be, we’ve created a list of great restaurants for family dining (that is to say, restaurants that really welcome children) with terrific 50% off deals to make your money go farther this half term.  That way, you can take them out twice as often!

Smollensky's on the Strand

Smollensky’s on the Strand is the classic child-friendly restaurant and has been a London favourite since you were a child yourself.  The 50% off deal is weekday nights so it will be perfect after a day out in London or before a show.  The location couldn’t be better and the North American menu is a hit with little ones and teenagers, though the ambience and service are sophisticated enough that the grownups will be content as well.

Kettner's

There’s something so happy and welcoming about Kettner’s that it can’t help but be a terrific destination for families with children.  It’s got history on its side, which may interest the older ones, smart decor and a fine modern European menu that also includes Galloway longhorn burger with hand cut chips.  The service is snappy and the Soho location a hoot.  It’s not far from Oxford Street, the British Museum and lots of other landmarks for kids, so the 50% off deal for lunch every day but Friday and supper Monday, Tuesday and Sunday is the last little detail to win you over.

The Waterside Seafood Restaurant

If you’re doing a seaside ramble or going for a day on the pier, The Waterside Seafood Restaurant at the Waterside Boutique Hotel in Eastbourne has 50% off supper Monday through Thursday.  The water views would be enough to lure you in, and the seafood menu is more than enough to make you glad you came.  It’s a sophisticated menu, so maybe better for older ones, though no one would say no to their fab creme brulee.  And steak is always there for seafood refuseniks.

Boulevard Brasserie

If a day at Covent Garden is on the cards, whether for shopping, show-going, or museum-visiting, then booking the Boulevard Brasserie for 50% off food for lunch all week or dinner Sunday through Thursday will having you all smiling.  The decor is casual, the service well-practiced and the menu exactly what you fancy, from fish and chicken to steak and pasta, all with a continental brasserie twist.  Boulevard Brasserie has been serving locals and visitors to Covent Garden for more than twenty years — that’s a recommendation we can endorse.

Finally, this is a great one to have in your back pocket if you’re doing a Harrods shop or the South Kensington museums.  Marco Pierre White — Frankie’s Criterion Knightsbridge is a steak and Italian hideaway down Yeoman’s Row with 50% off main courses for supper every day and from lunchtime at the weekends.  There are other terrific offers on at Frankie’s, so you’ll be spoilt for choice.  The decor is speakeasy with checkered table cloths and giant glitter balls and its raison d’etre is to be family friendly.

Be sure to check the details of the various offers when you book and have a great half term.

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Last Second Valentine’s Day

Wednesday, February 9th, 2011

Do not panic.  It’s not too late.  There is still time — though not as many choices as previously it has to be admitted — to whisk the one you love out for an evening of amour.  Or a brunch of passion.  Or a tea of titillation.  We should probably stop there.

The thing is, we at toptable have geared up our Last Chance Valentine’s Day page and it’s ready and waiting to help you out of the pickle of not yet having a reservation for Valentines Day.

Supper

Restaurant Sauterelle

It works like this:  try to reserve something with a bit of wow factor, say, Coq d’Argent in the City of London.  Table for two, dinner at 8pm on the 14th of Feb.  Click.  Oh dear, there are no tables left on that day at all.  Whatever shall you do?  Well, you could book a table for dinner at 8pm on another evening shown in bold on the diary page (nothing available between the 9th and the 15th — this will never do).  Or look over to the right – there’s a handy list of restaurants nearby you could book, and there are a couple of wow factor choices still available, thank heaven: 1 Lombard Street restaurant, Restaurant Sauterelle, Bonds Restaurant (with a special V-Day menu), all diner rated just as highly as Coq d’Argent, and more.  Clickety-click and you’re booked, off the hook, out of the doghouse and installed in your rightful place in your loved one’s esteem.

Blueprint Cafe

Brunch

But maybe you’re not worried about Valentine’s Day supper because that’s not what you do.  You don’t buy strawberry creme chocolates, you don’t give cheesy red roses, you don’t buy or strap on novelty underdrawers and you do not sit at a table when you’re told.  Cool.  But if you’d quite like to communicate that his or her company is what you love best, a relaxed, romantic weekend brunch might be more your thing.  The toptable Last Minute Valentine’s Day function works there too.

Let’s try brunch at noon on Sunday, 13 February, at Roast in Borough Market.  Click.  Once again, oh dear.  Noon’s not on, but 11.30 is okay.  Or, if noon it must be, then St Christopher’s Inn down the street is free, so are Cantina del Ponte and the Blueprint Cafe if you fancy great food and great views too.  Click and you’re done and dusted.

Afternoon Tea

Promenade at The Dorchester

Maybe this year your Valentine’s celebration will involve your beautiful daughter, and possibly her beautiful mother, and, what the heck, your beautiful mother as well.  Or a gaggle of your best mates and they’re beautiful too.  You certainly want it to be special with all this beauty around. For this moment, The Promenade at The Dorchester was invented, a restaurant with old school glamour and refined service that offers one of the very best afternoon teas in London.  Shall we say 3.15pm on Saturday 12 February?  Click.  No, apparently not.  Though Sunday and Monday afternoons are available hurrah.  Click, click and you’re a hero.

Do remember that almost none of the special offers are available on Valentine’s Day itself, though many many restaurants have Valentines menus especially for the 14th and sometimes the whole weekend before.  We’re here to help on 020 7299 2949 or click on our dedicated Valentine’s Day page to stoke your romantic imagination.  And whatever you choose to do, Happy Valentine’s Day.

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The Week in Food

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

Breakfast of Champions

The World’s Original Marmalade Awards festival is taking over the Dalemain Mansion and Gardens in Cumbria this Saturday and Sunday, 12 and 13 February, and it promises to be one sweet, family-friendly food and outdoors event though devotees of serious food will find the talks and workshops worthwhile too.  Paddington Bear starts the festivities by greeting visitors at the Glendridding Pierhouse of Ullswather Steamers, then there will be talks and demonstrations by food historian Ivan Day, Pam Corbin (the preserve expert from River Cottage, yes they have one), Dan Lepard (the Guardian’s baking guru) and Jonathan Miller who is the new product development buyer at Fortnum & Mason — doesn’t that sound like a dream job?  On Saturday evening there’s Marmalade Bonfire, on Sunday morning a Marmelade Church Service, and throughout there will be an artisan food and homemade craft market, citrus themed don’t you know?  The whole thing sounds just divine.  And if you’re looking for a restaurant nearby, we have some.

A Load of Scallops

At the other end of the country, Rye Bay Scallop Week also kicks off on 12 February and runs through a week and a bit to the 20th.  This is a local festivity that is just brilliant because, one way or another, it seems as if half the town is involved and having a whale of a time.  Webbe’s Cookery School and chef Bruce Wilson (formerly of The Greenhouse in London) of The Beach Bistro at The Gallivant Hotel both offer lots of terrific scallop cookery courses.  There’s a Scallopship Award Ceremony for local GCSE pupils who have created their own scallop sauce dish, a farmer’s market with lots of tastings and demos and a scallop lucky dip to win a hamper, a six-course Scallops of the World Unite dinner at The Ship Inn, a Scallop Bash at the Landgate Bistro, a benefit dinner with the entertainment of Mr Wurlitzer Len Rawle MBE, a Scallop Race and loads more.  If you doubt the importance of these tasty, succulent treats of the sea just ask yourself, when Botticelli painted Venus arriving with her blonde hair floating all around her, on what was she posing?  You got it in one: a scallop shell.  Come celebrate these delicious molluscs with the people who bring them home.

Chocolate in Any Tongue

In France, Marseille hosts the huge, irresistible Salon du Chocolate event this weekend 10 – 13 February at Parc Chanot where you are invited to ‘discover and taste chocolate and cacao in all its forms’.   Well, certainly more forms that we had imagined.  The chocolate fashion show, for instance, boggles us a bit, but we’re intrigued by the Cacao Show space that presents dances, songs and rituals of the producers of cacao.  There are demonstrations, a children’s area, a teaching kitchen, vast array of exhibits from producers and artisanal chocolate makers and the whole thing sounds like a slice of heaven on the Mediterranean coast.  And if you’re going, we have a few particularly fab restaurants in Marseille to recommend.

Fire & Knives

A don’t-miss culinary day out in London is nearly sold out but if you move fast you might get a spot.  This Saturday starting at 10 am that amazing and beautiful magazine Fire & Knives is hosting Mixed Grill, a day-long even to include (we don’t have the exact programme, but we trust them totally) lectures and talks, performances, debating panels, ‘rants’ and presentations all about food.  MsMarmiteLover is doing a one day only popup restaurant and you can make a reservation to eat there too.  We’re pretty sure it’s BYO, but here’s the link.  It’s at Conway Hall but if you can’t make it they’ll have a live twitter feed ‘so you can heckle’.

New restaurant signings on toptable:

Wheeler's of St James's Fernhurst

Once Marco Pierre White revived the historic and delicious Wheeler’s of St James’s in London, he decided to spread the good news far and wide by opening other branches in delightful spots

Wheeler's of St James's Maresfield

outside the capital.  Now there’s a Wheeler’s of St James’s in Fernhurst in Sussex.  It’s set in a quintessentially English pub, the Kings Arms, with charm from cellar to roof, higgledy-piggledy walls, excellent modern art work, pastoral scenes beyond the door, high quality food and — as it’s in a pub — real English ales to have with your superb meal.  The Wheeler’s of St James’s in Maresfield, Sussex, in the heart of the Sussex Weald has found a home at Chequers Inn, a coaching inn dating from the 18th century.  This stylish and historic spot is the perfect setting for Wheeler’s thoroughly British menu, and the bar area is a terrific spot for friends to gather and relax.  Both are easy drives from London and the south coast and each one has four superb special offers right now –we’d say that seals the deal.

Caffe Concerto at One New Change overlooked by the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral is a bright and charming addition to the City of London dining scene.  The menu is incredibly popular Italian featuring the time-honoured favourites with a tempting array of cakes to make the meal complete.  Live music is always on the menu here, with the grand piano in near-constant use from 7pm each day, adding to the pleasure of the dining experience with a range of music from jazz and bossa nova to classical and ballads.  A romantic, upmarket restaurant.

La Trompette

How does a Michelin star and a triple crown of AA rosettes strike you?  Intriguing?  If you haven’t heard of La Trompette in Chiswick, owner of all those awards, before now, then let this be the instigator of a visit very soon.    The menu is inspired by the rich and classic cooking of

Bardoulet's Restaurant

southern and southwestern France and it perfectly balances tradition with creativity in a way that enhances them both.  The dining room is both smart and relaxed, just as the service is both friendly and professional.  La Trompette is one of London’s treasures.

Bardoulet’s Restaurant in Peebles just outside Edinburgh is another holder of the triple AA rosette crown named for its Chef Director Patrick Bardoulet.  The menu is thoroughly French with a nod to the restaurant’s Scottish location and the decor is opulent and fabulous, the sort of restaurant that makes every meal a special event.  There are both a la carte and tasting menus and you should expect superb service.

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Last Chance Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Offers!

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

Did you like the exclamation mark in the title of this blogpost?  We were trying to get your attention because we really don’t want you to miss out on this month’s absolutely brilliant sale on Gordon Ramsay restaurants.

Maze — Gordon Ramsay

We know how it is.  You think it’s a great idea, you really intend to get around to it, you don’t know who to ask and next thing you know, it’s all over and you missed it and, inside, a little part of you dies.  Did you notice the drama queen ending to the last sentence?  That serves the same purpose as the exclamation mark in the title.  We, like, really want you to grab this great offer.

On the toptable homepage it says ‘Unmissable Ramsay offers from £18 — Limited availability — book now’.  We all know what ‘limited availability’ means in the hands of some unscrupulous operators.  It means availability is limited to as many chumps as will fall for this line.  But not toptable and certainly not in this case.

The Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Sale ends on 31 January full stop.  Today’s the 20th, so that’s a mere eleven days that will fly by in a flash.  And an awful lot of the restaurants have very, very few tables left and on just a few days.  So the genius IT department at toptable towers has added an interim page to the booking process if you’re trying to book a day and time that’s not available and it’s a huge help.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridges

For instance, we just tried to book the Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s lunch offer for £30 for today at noon.  No dice.  But up pops an ‘Alternative Suggestions’ page with useful choices.  We can either book a table at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s at noon on the 25, 26 or 31 January with a couple of clicks hurrah.  Or, if it absolutely has to be today at noon, other restaurants with availability appear and we can click through to one of them and book.  As always, if you haven’t made the leap to booking online, give our customer services team a ring on 020 7299 2949, select option 1 and they will take care of you.

Here’s the Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Sale in a nutshell:

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s offers a three-course lunch from a set menu for £30 every day until the end of the month.

Maze — Gordon Ramsay also offers a three-course meal for £30 at lunch every day until the end of the month and at early supper every evening except Friday and Saturday.

Maze GRILL offers a two course meal for £21 (three courses for £24) at lunch every day until the end of the month and at early supper every evening except Friday and Saturday.

York & Albany — Gordon Ramsay offers two courses for £18 (three courses for £22) at lunch and early supper every day until the end of the month.

The Warrington by Gordon Ramsay

Foxtrot Oscar — Gordon Ramsay also offers two courses for £18 (three courses for £22) at lunch and not-so-early supper every day until the end of the month, except Sunday when this deal is available for supper, but Sunday lunch is a different deal: two courses for £20 (three courses for £25).

The Narrow by Gordon Ramsay and The Warrington by Gordon Ramsay — do you notice a theme developing here? — offer two courses for £18 (three courses for £22) at lunch every day except Sunday, at early supper Friday and Saturday and throughout the evenings the other days.

See?  This is a rare opportunity to dine in some of the best restaurants in town at prices that won’t break the bank and to give yourself a memorable dining start to the new year.  Choose your favourite and book now.  Happy eating.

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Dine and Dance for Valentine’s Day

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

The two of you are hot on the dance floor.  Or you want to take out your Valentine for an evening that includes more than chewing and smiling.  Or you just want to enjoy that big city vibe with your beloved and that means dinner, drinks and dancing.  toptable is here to point you in the right direction.

Meza Bar & Grill

Meza Bar and Grill is right in the middle of the urban madness of Soho, a glamorous, modern, grownup sort of restaurant that has very good food, notably fine service and an extensive wine menu.  So far, so excellent.  Start in the seductive bar area by sampling one of the ‘Meza Creates’ original cocktails (you can vote for it later on Facebook if you like) before moving into the Grill Restaurant where expert staff take care of you.  Then from 9pm the live music gets going and the dance floor becomes your kingdom.

Ruby Blue right off Leicester Square is the place to drink, dine and dance all under one roof, and it’s welcoming both

Ruby Blue

loved-up couples and looking-for-love singles on Valentine’s weekend.  The balcony with its low lighting and soft music is the place to start, obviously, or end up.  A pianist will be tinkling away on Saturday evening to add to the ambience.  The smartly modern restaurant offers modern European cuisine that’s like a hit parade of your favourite international dishes and you’ll probably want to linger a bit.  Then the club downstairs offers great dance action, either two-by-two or for singles who’d like to see who they can meet.  It’s a great place for a night out under any circumstances, but on Valentines Day Ruby Blue is even better.

The Roadhouse in Covent Garden has got bags of personality that really brings the energy level up when you need it, but can also be a chilled spot for some twosome

Roadhouse

action.  The bartenders do that flairing thing with the bottles jumping about and streams of liquids flying through the air that we just adore.  The North American menu — oh look, there’s a special offer — hits the spot with just about everyone.  Then the music gets started with DJ Smudger then Elle Tiyo followed by Rockaoke with Shine, and the night takes wing.

We’ve told you about a place in Covent Garden and one in Soho, now here’s one that

Salvador & Amanda

balances right on the cusp of the two and it is really good fun.  Salvador & Amanda is a bar and tapas restaurant that specialises in proper Spanish tapas, great drinks as well as music that will get you up on your feet.  For Valentine’s Day you can expect a special menu of amor-producing flavour followed by some serious DJ action to make your dining-and-dancing evening complete.

In Mayfair, Embassy London is a fabulous, sophisticated restaurant, bar and club with a British and Mediterranean menu, classic and inventive cocktails, a very stylish international clientele and just a great ‘big night out’ ambience that will make your

Embassy London

Valentine’s Day as special as you’d planned. They’re planning a great Valentine’s offer for you: four courses for £42.50 with a bit of a reception to start and then dancing to round off the evening nicely.

If Valentines Day plans have you in a whirl, check out our special Valentine page or just give our dedicated team a ring and let toptable help you create the dining and dancing experience you really want.

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Gordon Ramsay January Sale!

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

Warning: this may be quite a short blog because we’re keen to get booking every Gordon Ramsay restaurant that’s on sale right now on toptable, all seven of them, during the amazing Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Sale.  This irresistible sale is on through 31st January and we’re booking more than once.  When it comes to the great GR, we can never get enough.

And the prices are amazing!  They start from just £18 for two courses then go up to £30 for three courses, all of which are just ridiculously good value.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridges

Lunch at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s restaurant in Mayfair is one London dining experience that will start your 2011 on a high note.  The modern European cuisine of Head Chef Steve Allen is superb and the glamorous dining, divine wine list and sleek, professional service make this restaurant one to cherish.  For a memorable fine dining experienced with a touch of old school glamour, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s is absolutely top rank.  If you somehow missed getting together with someone before Christmas, taking them to lunch here could easily be the big gesture that would get you into their good books forever.  The astounding deal is £30 for a three-course lunch from a generous set menu every day throughout the month, maximum six diners.

Maze — Gordon Ramsay

maze — Gordon Ramsay is a restaurant in London’s Mayfair that offers another sort of glamour altogether, more the Mad Men, Pan Am type.  The modern room with its lovely design by David Rockwell has a citrussy colour scheme, lovely rosewood bar with a sort of swooping ceiling, very stylish, and views over Grosvenor Gardens.  The ambience is grown-up hubbub and there is a sense of excitement in the air for Head Chef Alex Marks’s Asian-inflected modern European cuisine.  Here the rules of starter-main-pud are flung to the winds and diners are encouraged to order as many courses as they like in any order they choose.  The service and wines are impeccable, and that adds to the general feeling of being someplace very special.  The £30 three-course meal is available at lunch every day and at early supper — 6 – 7 pm — on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday to the end of January.

maze — GRILL

maze GRILL — Gordon Ramsay restaurant in London’s Mayfair is a cool interpretation of a New York steakhouse that has bags of style and panache.  The sage green booths are the locales for lively business lunches and relaxed suppers focussing on the finest meats and grills with side dishes to share.  January’s special offer at maze GRILL is two courses for £18 or three for £21 at lunch all week long or early supper every evening except Friday and Saturday.  The set menu absolutely features Casterbridge onglet or rump of steak with bearnaise and chips — what else could you possibly need to know?

York & Albany

York & Albany restaurant in Camden town has a glimpse of Regents Park, but we’re pretty sure you won’t be distracted from the charming, modern interior of this former Georgian coaching house and the fresh, unfussy seasonal Italian-influenced cuisine of Head Chef Colin Buchan.  Angela Hartnett was instrumental in establishing York & Albany as a top London spot and it has garnered acres of positive press ever since it opened.  It has earned its place as a landmark dining room in this part of London and if you haven’t yet tried it, this month offers you every incentive to get on down there and see for yourself.  The two course lunch or supper (6 – 7pm) is available every day of the month for just £18 and three courses are £22, a steal.

Foxtrot Oscar — Gordon Ramsay

Foxtrot Oscar — Gordon Ramsay restaurant in Chelsea is a relaxed, friendly spot for an easy lunch or supper and has been a local favourite since 1980.  In fact, when Gordon Ramsay opened his flagship restaurant a few doors away, his staff were frequently found relaxing at Foxtrot Oscar after the evening service.  So convinced was Ramsay that he went on to buy the restaurant himself.  The interior oozes urbane charm while the menu is full of modern favourites filtered through a modern European sensibility.  And the deal?  Two courses for £18, three courses for £22, available at lunch Monday through Friday, at supper (6 – 8pm) Sunday through Thursday and at early supper on Saturday (6 – 7pm).  Even if you’re not a local, that’s a deal that’s too good to miss.

The Narrow by Gordon Ramsay

The Narrow by Gordon Ramsay brings the Ramsay magic to the East End of London.  Set right on the Thames in an old dockmaster’s house that’s now a Grade II listed building, The Narrow is a gastropub extraordinaire.  First of all, it has bags of charm and style, respecting the historic character of the location.  Second, there are real ales, draft beers and ciders as well as an affordable and interesting wine list.  Third, and maybe this should be first, there is a really great, solidly English menu that includes battered fish and chips, Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire macaroni cheese, Morecambe Bay potted shrimps, apple and blackberry crumble and bread and butter pudding.  The great deal is £18 for two courses and £22 for three at lunch from Monday through Saturday, at dinner Monday through Thursday (6 -10pm) and Sunday (6 – 9pm) and at early supper on Friday and Saturday (6-7pm).  Limehouse is the place to be this month.

The Warrington by Gordon Ramsay

The Warrington by Gordon Ramsay in Maida Vale is exactly what a super gastropub with Victorian roots should be.  The dark wood, mosaics and stained glass windows remind you that where you are dining and drinking is exactly where Londoners have been dining and drinking for more than a hundred years.  The upstairs dining room is a lighter, airier space and we certainly need all the sunlight we can find at this slowly brightening time of year.  The classic British menu has all the fine Ramsay touches, like classic seared Longford Estate trout that’s served with celeriac remoulade and gremolata.  The very fine two course meal for £18 (three courses for £22) is available for lunch Monday through Saturday, dinner Monday through Thursday (6 – 10pm) and Sunday (6 -9pm) and for early supper on Friday and Saturday (6 – 7pm).

Now you know everything we know about the fantastic Gordon Ramsay January Sale, but there are more details on the site.  We’re going to get booking right this minute and strongly suggest you do the same — availability is limited.  See you there!

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