Latest news with #JayRayner
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Top food critic delivers verdict on the massive Stockport Pyramid curry buffet
Top food critic Jay Rayner has given his verdict on the Royal Nawaab Stockport. After writing for the Observer for 25 years, he recently moved to the Financial Times, and has dined in some of the finest restaurants in the country. And in his latest column for the broadsheet paper, published today (June 7), Rayner described his visit to Stockport's newest and flashiest curry buffet. READ MORE: Exact time the Red Arrows will fly over the North West this afternoon READ MORE: Discounts and a deserted car park - what's going on with the Trafford Centre's Premium Parking? The gargantuan restaurant and events space opened its doors to much fanfare in April of this year. The pyramid itself, formerly occupied by the Co-Op bank, underwent an enormous renovation to the tune of some £15 million, with an aesthetic Rayner describes as 'classy cruise ship'. The M.E.N's Adam Maidment visited the restaurant on its soft opening and praised the food and decor - even if the enormous scale and bustling crowd of diners was a little 'chaotic'. The space now encompasses three banqueting suites accommodating over 1,000 people and a buffet restaurant with over 400 covers that Rayner said was full when he visited - he had to rely on a local connection to get him a table. Rayner wrote that he was immediately 'clocked' as a reviewer by the restaurant, after which the staff were especially assiduous: "It was a chorus of 'Let me bring you the lamb chops' and 'You must try our nihari' and 'You need three types of naan'". He, too, raised his eyebrows at the scale of the operation which 'laughs in the face of the challenges facing hospitality', writing: "There are, on any given day, more than 100 dishes; a parade of pakoras and tikkas, birianis, masalas and the rest - a startling array. But ultimately the critic heaped warm praise on the food. Setting out his stall as no big fan of buffets, he conceded: "That meagre word doesn't do justice to the gargantuan offering here." "Perfect, bursting mouthfuls" of pani puri as a starter 'set the standard' for the evening, Rayner wrote, describing them as "delicate lentil flour globes filled with nutty chaat alongside jugs of a tamarind-based dressing". "Lamb chops, cut thin, have a decent smoky char. Deep-fried masala-marinated fish is especially good. " Then moving on from grilled items to the curries, he praised more familiar curry house favourites like the lamb nihari: "One of the great dark stews, heavy with green and black cardamom". But he also praised the variety of the dishes on offer. "What's striking is that, while there are crowd-pleasers, the kormas and tikka masalas with broad appeal, it's not all obvious," he wrote. "Lamb paya, a new dish to me, brings lamb trotters, cooked low and slow until chewy and lightly gelatinous, and served in an intensely restorative soup-like broth. "They also have haleem, an extraordinary concoction of lamb in lentils flavoured with ginger, green chillies and lemon, cooked down for so long that it has turned into a paste-like soup. "With this we have blistered Peshawari naan, the almond and pistachio filling dyed a disconcerting pink, alongside still-warm garlic and kulcha naan, crusted with sesame seeds." Rayner noted that there were some non-Asian items on offer as well, including chicken nuggets and lasagne. "But generally, the turnover of fried items is so fast they don't get a chance to go soggy." This was followed by a mouth-watering description of the desserts on offer: "deep-frying curls of cough-sweet-coloured jalebi" and "dinky globes of syrup-soaked gulab jamun, which are served still warm." Concluding by describing it "a remarkable operation", he wrote: I've sneered at the idea of buffets in the past, called them the place where good taste goes to die, and many of them are. "But the Royal Nawaab is a classy rebuttal."
Irish Examiner
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
I went for lunch with legendary food critic Jay Raynor — here's what I learned
In London's Chinatown, on a street packed with restaurants, no one pays any attention to Jay Rayner. We stride down Gerrard Street in the midday sun, and enter a lively little Chinese joint called Four Seasons, which majors in duck. Rayner may be a regular, but no one seems to know who he is — neither staff nor diners — and, if they do, they don't care. His review may be stuck on the wall, but the restaurant critic of the Observer for 25 years, and newly of the Financial Times, barely receives a second glance. 'The hilarious thing is I come here quite a lot,' he explains. 'There's one [staff member] who occasionally [recognises me]. My review is by the door on the way in, and they couldn't give a toss. I think what they did was that, weirdly, rather than go and buy a copy of the paper, they printed it out from the net and laminated it without [my] picture. 'I finally reviewed it in February of 2020, when all the stuff out of Wuhan was causing a backlash against Chinese restaurants, and Chinatown was suffering. And so I said, 'well, as a mark of solidarity I'm going to go to the one I really like', I mean, in reality, all of the restaurants then closed.' Four Seasons is close to the studio where Jay records his award-winning BBC Radio 4 show, The Kitchen Cabinet, and he has picked it for our interview. I'd suggested we meet over lunch, because, frankly, who would choose Zoom over the chance to break bread with a professional eater of this stature? Jay comes here often to dine alone, fuelling up for an evening's show. 'They are complicated records, so you don't want to do them hungry,' he insists. 'And you're not going to get to eat dinner properly. I'm about to manage a panel and an audience of about 700 people, and there are a lot of things going on in my head, so an hour by myself with some Cantonese duck, and then a copy of the New Yorker, and it's good.' I ask him to order for us, and he falters. 'It's a very interesting thing because I normally come here alone. I'm trying to work out what's an appropriate amount of food for two. Are you hungry?' 'Always,' I reassure him, before he asks if I'm happy to ignore starters. Decisively, he chooses a half duck, boneless, half char siu, king prawns in salted egg yolk, deep-fried crispy beef ('just for a nostalgic thing'), stir-fried morning glory, and sweet and sour eggplant. We agree to skip rice and happily tuck into jasmine tea. I confess that my chopstick skills are below par. 'You'll get no judgment from this side of the table if you drop your food down your front, you know that?' he offers helpfully as I self-consciously wrangle slippery morning glory into my mouth. After 25 years with the Observer, restaurant critic and broadcaster Jay Rayner is now working for the Financial Times. He also recently released his first cookbook: Nights Out at Home. Picture: Andrew Dunsmore Before our meeting, I've been devouring his new book, Nights Out at Home, his first cookbook, and one that sees him recreate 60 recipes inspired by restaurant dishes he's eaten out professionally. I'm unlikely to cook anything from it — even the memorable flatbread that I scoffed in the edgy winebar Erst in Manchester, last year — but this is a storybook, too, and doesn't need to be cooked from to be of value. 'How far have you gotten?' he asks, before I whip out the dog-eared hardback from my bag. 'You've done all right!' he exclaims, clearly pleased that I've been doing my homework. 'I'm really enjoying it,' I confess, which prompts a sincere thank you. 'It's been like a primer on having lunch with Jay. Like a guide on how to eat with you before meeting you.' Sitting across the table from me, the man I know from his TV appearances as a judge on MasterChef, from his radio show, and from his columns, is exactly as I'd imagined him: earnest, sharp, witty. But is this real Jay or showbiz Jay? 'I have this thing that [my book] is me but it is a version of me. You play up to the cameras a little bit. 'Because you can't be half-hearted in print, you know, a lot of it really is me but there are bits of it which are slightly exaggerated. But you can decide by the end of lunch — can't you.' He surprises me by admitting his delight that the Irish Examiner has dispatched someone to interview him. 'I go to the North a lot. An awful lot. So I've been twice this month, weirdly. I mean I've been to Ireland loads of times but I've never really engaged with the food world over there like I should, which is a confession. 'It's one of the reasons I'm going to Ballymaloe because I've never been, I kind of thought 'that's a gap, yeah, you should go'. Plus, it sounds like a laugh.' I recall reading somewhere that the duck we are eating is from Silverhill Farm in Cavan. Is that right, I ask? 'I don't think anybody necessarily comes to Chinatown and asks about the sourcing of ingredients,' he grins. He's never been to China and isn't really interested in visiting. 'I mean, probably when I was a younger man. That kind of intrepid travel doesn't interest me now.' Jay Rayner recently released his first cookbook: Nights Out at Home. Picture: Andrew Dunsmore At one point in his early career as a general features writer, an editor was going to send him to Rwanda. 'And then he wanted to send me to the Vietnamese Lao border to chase down a mythical missing antelope or something. Well, I refused to do Rwanda. I refused Kurdistan, too, because they were both in the middle of wars and my partner had not signed up for [a relationship with] a war correspondent. 'But I didn't really have the hunger to travel the way some people do, and I don't know if that's a character failing on my part.' His reflectiveness is unexpected, and at one point, he interrupts himself to apologise for not speaking in quotable sentences. 'One of the great things about restaurants, and I said this in the book, is that you travel the world. You're going to get a different version [of a dish], and maybe it's not as you would find at point of origin. But it's interesting.' I remark that he is carefully side-stepping the word 'authentic'. 'How does 'authentic' help us? Take the British Chinese takeaway tradition. They are a thing in themselves. So, if all you're trying to do is benchmark food against some notion of truth and honesty, you're not going to get very far. 'This [pointing to the crispy chilli beef] is the one thing I've ordered which is pretty much out of the British take-away playbook.' It is delicious, I note. 'Delicious,' he chimes. 'I have no idea where there's anything like it. Or maybe there is. I'd need to ask [Chinese food expert] Fuchsia Dunlop. 'Two things can be true at the same time: one which is the food you're eating in a particular restaurant is great, and that there is another version of it, which is fundamentally different, at the point of origin at the place that inspired it.' Food writer Simon Hopkinson is the person who alerted Jay to Four Seasons' excellence. 'He swears that the Chinese are the best at roasting duck and this is the best in London. I do not know whether that's true. Because I haven't eaten in them all. There's a culture of sort of 'stamp collecting' now. Where's the best? What's the best? Well, that sounds exhausting. Just find something that's good and you like. Despite 25 years of restaurant reviews, he's ambivalent about Michelin stars. 'I always found it slightly weird that the people of Manchester have been so upset, as if [not] having a Michelin starred restaurant said something about them. It doesn't. 'And I stick to one particular line, which is the quality of a city is not marked by the number of gastro palaces it has, but by the number of bistros there. And I want to visit the city with lots of nice bistros I can eat in every night, not the place with a number of Michelin starred restaurants I could eat in once a year.' I ask him about his 2009 book, The Man Who Ate the World, which saw him dine at the world's finest restaurants. 'It was a weird idea. I sometimes wonder where the idea came from. There was a point to it journalistically, which was that it was slightly ahead of its time. 'It identified the globalisation of luxury, which has become a massive, massive thing. But it only works if you find the right tone. Tone is everything. You know, people will say, well, I'd love your job, all that eating. It's not an eating job — it's a writing job. And if you get the tone wrong ... 'I can think of various bloggers and whatever online. You read their writing, and you think, I never want to meet you and I never want to eat with you. I never want to spend time with you. This is miserable. And those Instagram reels? I've got nothing against it. I mean, I'm all over Instagram. 'There's a lot of really good stuff, but there's a particular kind of luxe restaurant reel. 'Come with me as we 'nah nah nah nah'. The voiceover. Aagh!' I agree, lamenting the dearth of knowledge. 'I don't really have a problem with that because if you start having a problem with people who aren't experts on social media, then you've got a problem with the weather. It's a fact of life. 'What matters is how it's presented. I mean, there are some good people who are sources of great information and there are some that aren't. That's all I care about. Is this interesting? Does it work? Despite what you don't know.' He believes that there's been a knee-jerk reaction to content creators. 'I think two things. One: a lot of it may be rubbish, but then a lot of stuff put out by mainstream media is rubbish. The other point that follows — the idea that people who work for newspapers and magazines are all universally informed and know their stuff — is not true. 'I remember one moment. It was a paper I was working for, and I came downstairs and I said to my wife, 'I read the newspaper so that the people who are cleverer than me and better informed than me can tell me what's going on in the world. The problem is I know all these people and they're neither'.' He is quick to add he is very happy at the Financial Times, while admitting that it sounds like pandering. 'I am somewhat besotted with my new home because I've been reading the FT for a good few years before I joined it. And the seriousness of the reporting and the journalism, and the informed opinion is beguiling. It's top class. 'When you look at it, there's a kind of discord dialogue at the moment, with people going. 'Oh, food media is dying. Nobody's taking it seriously.' And I'm always a bit suspicious of those things because it suggests there was a golden age. And I'm not sure when that golden age is meant to have been. There have only been restaurant critics in the British press since 1986, it's not something with massive longevity. '[People say] nobody takes it seriously anymore. When was the point it was really taken seriously? 'Or is it just that there were certain writers that you loved? So, obviously, Marina O'Loughlin and Matthew Fort wrote brilliant reviews, but I wonder whether they were that more serious than the rest of us.' He's already working on a follow-up to Nights Out at Home, and one of the essays is about how you write about food. 'I've been pointing out that really the language that we have — crispy, sour, salty, sweet, chewy, whatever — doesn't get us very far. It doesn't get us very far in describing the experience you've had, and, really, it's the least useful part of your armoury.' Jay seems to enjoy the fact that no one in Four Seasons restaurant cares a hoot about who he is — funnily, when we walk to the Trafalgar St James hotel for his photo shoot, there's a marked difference in the public's reaction and several couples in the hotel spot him and surreptitiously snap photos — though he clearly cares about his reputation. 'Competition is an important thing. People ask, are you in competition [with other restaurant critics]? 'On the one hand, no, I do my own thing, but on the other hand, I absolutely want people to think I've written a better review that week than whoever else is writing. And if you lose that, you should quit, and I don't think I've lost it.' Jay Rayner is taking part in the Ballymaloe Festival of Food, May 16-18. He hosts a cookery demo on Saturday May 17, and is in conversation on Sunday May 18. For tickets: Special thanks to The Trafalgar St James London, Curio Collection by Hilton, where Jay was photographed. Read More Restaurant review: A fine taste of home for Indian diaspora in Cork
Scottish Sun
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Popular restaurant loved by Masterchef judge announces sudden closure after six years leaving owners ‘heartbroken'
Its head chef was described as a "culinary artist" SHUTTING DOWN Popular restaurant loved by Masterchef judge announces sudden closure after six years leaving owners 'heartbroken' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BELOVED family-run restaurant that a tough MasterChef judge raved about has announced its sudden closure. Manchester Ancoats restaurant, Street Urchin, has been delighting punters since a couple, Kevin and Rachel Choudhary, opened the 'English Market Diner' in 2019. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Popular restaurant Street Urchin, in Ancoats, Manchester, has been forced to close after six years Credit: Google 5 The shock announcement has devastated punters, who described its chef as a 'culinary artist' Credit: Google 5 The spots 'exuberant foliage' received a special mention from MasterChef judge Jay Rayner Credit: Google But yesterday, Rachel posted on social media that the restaurant had closed after six years because her husband, Kevin, and the head chef had a heart attack. In Rachel's post announcing the closure reassured followers: 'He is recovering (slowly), but we are unable to continue as a business. 'We are heartbroken. 'Thank you to our amazing team who supported us over the years and continued to do so in these dark times. 'Thank you also to our suppliers, we never thought this would happen. We're so sorry x.' Masterchef judge and renowned food critic Jay Rayner described the restaurant, whose menu left him 'dribbling', as a place 'where nice things happen.' This is high praise from the foodie critic who notoriously 'doesn't mince his words.' Tributes and messages of support poured in after yesterday's shock announcement. One of the restaurant's meat suppliers, Rachel wrote: 'So pleased we had the chance to visit and eat with you and also supply your wonderful restaurant over the last 4 years. 'Wishing Kev a full recovery and for you, Rachel, to take time to heal too. Take your time, this isn't the last chapter.' 5 Food critic Jay Rayner described the spot as a place 'where nice things happen' Credit: Getty 5 Jay Rayner on celebrity master chef with John Torode and disgraced star Greg Wallace Credit: BBC/Shine TV Fans of Kev's cooking described him as a 'talented culinary artist.' One wrote: 'Without exaggeration, I can say that this was the best restaurant in Manchester.' Jane added: 'We had some wonderful meals with you, my Dad is still raving about the dinner we had last year- but family comes first.' Phil said: 'This is devastating news, you worked so hard to build that business, and it was always top notch, wishing you both good vibes. 'Please bring your talents back one day, it's a public service.' Kev's menu was known for its experimental flair, serving up everything from panko cuttlefish nicoise to king scallops, veal strip loin and banh xeo pancakes. The son of a fisherman, Jay praised the authenticity of the menu, 'the cheerful tumble of great ingredients.' He loved the 'life force' of the restaurant, raving about its 'distinct pulse' as many fine dining establishments had become 'sterile,' post covid. The experimental restaurant made headlines across the pond for its viral wild squirrel dish. Rachel described the experience of the contreversial 'crispy buttermilk wild grey squirrel dish' making headlines in the New York Post and Fox News as 'completely bizarre.' She insisted it was included on the menu because it was sustainable, not to create a viral talking point. Rachel added: 'We didn't think we'd get more than a couple of Facebook comments about it. 'We've mostly had positive comments about the dish, I don't think anyone has regretted ordering the (£22.50) dish.' But for some, it was a step too far, with some commenters baulking at 'creamy rodent stew' and begging the restaurant to 'leave the squirrels alone.'
The Guardian
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
From the simple to the spectacular: the 20 best dessert recipes to comfort and delight
'For god's sake, someone make me a proper dessert and quick,' Jay Rayner wrote in his paean to puddings in OFM, bemoaning the lack of care restaurants often give this essential course. There's no question for us: the best, most comforting desserts, the ones that really hit that sweet spot, are made at home. Here you'll find some of our favourites. Classics such as steamed pudding, creme brulee and profiteroles. Custard pie takes Greek form as galaktoboureko, rice pudding meets Indian spices, and Nigerian puff-puffs are the only kind of doughnut we want. We have the River Cafe's famed lemon tart and Saltine's should-be-famous sticky apple cake. Nigel Slater infuses jelly and ice-cream with grown-up flavours. These may not all be quick to make, but they are all proper. Grab a spoon. Abundance of seasonal fruit? Put it on some pastry, scrunch up the edges, you're good to go (pictured above) Make sticky toffee pudding even better, add caramel apples Two types of alcohol, lots of layers, happy guests Pears are capricious, tame them with wine and spice Silky cream underneath, cracking toffee on top Choux, custard, ice-cream, chocolate sauce … what's not to like? Custard baked in filo pastry – a Greek classic A grown-up take on a childhood favourite This showpiece dessert deserves its place at the centre of any table An American classic that's brimming with fruit Cooked in a parcel for extra sweetness Warm, gooey, crowd-pleasing flavours – enough biscuit for everyone Warm and comforting with a citrus lift Crunchy outside, fluffy inside – the perfect treat When burnt is better – minimum fuss, maximum deliciousness Smooth, rich and intense, these are the ultimate treat for chocolate lovers The secret to success is in the milk-sugar-rice ratio, the magic in the spices How do you improve on a classic? Top it with a miso-sesame crunch When all you want is the crunch There are lemon tarts, and then there is the ultimate lemon tart from the River Cafe
Yahoo
16-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The man behind Cardiff's hit noodle place Matusdai Ramen was on C4 Sunday Brunch and they loved his food
The chef behind a cult ramen restaurant in Cardiff has been on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch and everyone raved about his food. Matsudai Ramen, which is based in Grangetown, has grown a huge following since being founded as a pop-up in 2019 and has drawn praise from the likes of Tom Parker Bowles and Jay Rayner, who gave it a glowing review. Matsudai founder James Chant brought three dishes along for hosts Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer to try and they shared with guests including Strictly professional dancers Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez, and comedian Dave Gorman. One of the noodle dishes he brought along was Chippy Lane Mazesoba, which he based on Cardiff's infamous Caroline Street with its flavours of chicken, ginger and curry. It led Tim Lovejoy to say how much he enjoyed nights out in Cardiff - and Swansea. READ MORE: Chef closes Cardiff restaurant claiming crime is 'out of control' READ MORE: One of the most talked-about burger restaurants in Wales is opening in Cardiff He also brought lamb and leek wontons, a Welshified take on an oriental dumpling which are on the menu in the restaurant, and he also brought the classic ramen dish pork tonkotsu, which he said was one of their most popular home kits. More about the home kits here. Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez both raved about how nice the food was and Tim Lovejoy shared a picture of diners queuing around the block to get a table at the popular Grangetown restaurant. Located at Clare Road, the restaurant, which has just celebrated its fifth anniversary, enjoyed a surge in its popularity after top food critic Jay Rayner called its food a 'revelation' and full of 'deep care and thoughtfulness.' Matsudai started just before the Covid lockdown and thrived even during it due to its delivery of ramen kits. It has hosted pop-ups across the UK and now calls the old NatWest Bank building its home.
