Gueridon service

[daisyK]

I am taking my inquisitive nephew around Europe and he wants to try some places where they practice gueridon service - theatrics at the table ie carving your quail at the table, flambe etc. Does anyone know any goodies in London or rest of Europe. New and old good. Many thanks

[limster]

Min Jiang probably carves their peking duck at the table, but not sure how good their duck is.

[limster]

More....

The Ivy (Covent Garden, London) does a fairly decent Baked Alaska that is set alight table side. The menu says it's for two, but most people could probably eat it by themselves (I did).

Does teppanyaki count? (Usually diners sit at a special counter close to a hot metal surface where the chef cooks.) The one at Defune (Marylebone, London) is pretty good deal.

[Harters]

Don't believe teppanyaki would normally count - I understand the term to mean the prep. is by servers, rather than chefs.

[limster]

Yep -- with Japanese places the distinction between server and chef is sometimes blurred, as the teppanyaki chef is also the one that serves the diner.

[Tweety2004]

"Min Jiang probably carves their peking duck at the table"

i don't know about london's chinese restaurants, but peking duck is always being carved table-side, so the OP may be able to find another restaurant with better duck than Min Jiang?

[limster]

Yep - just couching it in more careful language to reflect that it's an educated guess rather than an empirical experience.

[brokentelephone]

Where exactly could one find better duck than Min Jiang in London? Its terrific and the room is beautiful, esp for lunch when you can see the park. Granted, not all the food is excellent, but a few dishes are great (I avoid their beef across the board -- but I don't eat pork or shellfish so cannot give a great overview))

[limster]

Thanks for chiming in! Haev been curious about it -- how do they serve the remaining duck after the skins? Do you get duck soup from the carcass at the end? Also, most of what I've read mention that they use hoisin sauce (instead of the more traditional tianmianjiang/sweet wheat sauce) -- is that true? Have been thinking about organising a duck banquet there (some places in Beijing serve various parts of the duck over several courses as a whole banquet) and wanted to know if its worthwhile. Will probably check it out myself once I have a chance as well.

On a separate note -- have you tried their Wuxi-style crispy eel? It's a Shanghainese dish from their starter section, curious to see if it's good, as their Shanghainese dim sum items were outstanding.

Any and all info much appreciated!

[PhilD]

Try "The Fat Duck" they cook things with liquid nitrogen at the table (bacon and egg ice-cream for example). However, table-side coking has gone out of fashion in most places.

[Harters]

The lime palate cleanser was the only thing being done table-side on the current menu.

[themags]

Simpsons In The Strand (London) wheels around the Roast Beast silver trolley and carves at your table http://www.simpsonsinthestrand.co.uk/...

[Harters]

The French - Manchester.

Daphne - Paphos, Cyprus

Siller - Port de Pollensa, Mallorca, Spain