What the experts recommend
Voujon 1-3 Church Street, Long Buckby, Northamptonshire (01327-843571)
I can no longer enter my favourite local Indian restaurant on account of the obscenely garish new decor, says William Sitwell in The Daily Telegraph. They’ve installed a hideous light feature – covering almost all the wall space – in which bubbles of various luminescent colours flow down like a psychedelic waterfall of colour. “Even collecting a takeaway there renders me aesthetically injured, so until they come to their senses”, I’ve been casting around for a new curry house – and already I’ve found a cracker. Voujon will win no awards for its “airport-loungechic” styling, but the food is fab. Save for an underwhelming chicken chaat starter, we enjoyed a “glorious array” of dishes, each “bursting with colour and flavour and distinction”. I especially loved a wet and soupy yellow tarka dal (“just how I like it”) and a “zesty and hot” chicken jalfrezi. And the stupendous lamb chops were lightly charred at the edges, the meat soft and infused with garlic and ginger: a “dream”. Dinner for two £40 plus drinks.
The Flint House 13 Hanningtons Lane, Brighton (01273-916333)
If you don’t live in Brighton, you probably won’t have heard of chef Ben McKellar and his partner Pamela, says Jay Rayner in The Observer. But for the past 21 years, this pair have run a number of great restaurants, often with “ginger” in the name – a tribute to McKellar’s “once luscious head of russet hair”. At the Gingerman, and later the Ginger Fox, I’ve savoured the skill of a chef who can “raise the humble to the extravagant”. At their “shiny” new venture, The Flint House, there’s an upstairs dining room and cocktail bar, while downstairs there’s a fully open kitchen and counter “for those who like a bit of nerdy cooking theatre”. We watch hispi cabbage being seared until the edges are browned and toffee-like; it is served with a thick, mustardy sauce and “autumnal leaf fall” of crisped golden onions. Cured ox cheek with toasty onion puree; lamb’s belly served on the freshest of peas; and later chocolate and pistachio parfaits with cherry cream – all impress and delight. “Every town really could do with a place” like this. Most dishes £4-£17.
Where to eat in Bristol
It’s not hard to find something good to eat in Bristol, says Jan Ostle, head chef at acclaimed local restaurant Wilsons, in the FT. The tricky bit is choosing between so many “amazing” options. For brunch or lunch, go to Dela, on Mivart Street in Easton. The open kitchen turns out delicious sharing boards of “fantastically fresh” food in a large converted factory. For Chinese cooking, go to Mayflower near the bus station. It’s often “full of expats” and I especially recommend the deep-fried pig’s intestines, with pickled vegetables and hoisin sauce, and the salty fish aubergine hotpot. My top food shopping tip is Popti & Beast butchers and bakery in St Werburgh’s. It sells some of the best (locally sourced) beef and pork I’ve had, and also makes superb toasties. South of the river, on North Street, Oowee Diner “smashes out some outrageously filthy burgers” and is open until late. And my absolute top Bristol pick is the defiantly “not-on-trend” Wilks, where James and Christine Wilks cook in an “unapologetically classical” French way. “Perfect ingredients, perfect cooking and perfect service – how wonderfully uncool.”