I recently discovered Gary Idontlikemushrooms Eats. Check out here for Gary’s YouTube channel, where many examples of his restaurant reviews can be found.

Gary posts regularly on YouTube his restaurant reviews, ranging anywhere from posh and pretentious to cheap and cheerful, especially in and around the London area but also the rest of the UK and even the USA. I find these entertaining and informative but unless the establishment being discussed is part of a chain, e.g. Wetherspoons, it is unlikely I will ever get to visit it or the like. Since he goes there only accompanied by his photographer with the view to critique the establishment and what it has to offer, his focus is primarily on the food (and he is particular concerning what he likes or doesn’t) and value for money, and to a lesser extent the sort of things that those of us eating out as part of a social occasion look for, e.g. accessibility, ambience and service. He makes comments while being filmed and ends up by giving his view concerning whether the price was worth paying and giving a score out of ten. He is quite forthright in his evaluation, ranging from being wowed by his experience to outright disappointment. He invites comments to his YouTube postings and in fairness to him responds when people do comment, including to my expressing irritation that he keeps bringing up his mushroom aversion. He also invites suggestions for new places to check out. Concerning this, I would like to suggest the following he might like to check out that I visited recently:

Oyster Creek Kitchen (along Southend sea front)

Two days ago, my wife, sister and her husband thoughtfully treated me to a birthday meal at a place they knew I would like, more in the posh and pretentious category, and the sort of place one tends to go to on such special occasions. Check here for their website and here for the review I did four years ago when I first visited.

We enjoyed our visit and were well looked after and appreciated their attention to a factor that these days limits my choice of eat out places – my disability. And of course, besides a nice ambience (we were inside but many customers were outside) there was what was going on in the estuary that the restaurant overlooks. But overall, I confess to mild disappointment. In my case there was only one main that appealed this time – fish and chips – although the fish was superb and so were the chips. Two of my companions had steak but it one case it was not well done and had to be sent back for more cooking (done without fuss) and in the other although the steak was medium as requested it was not quite as succulent as hoped for. The final member of the quartet liked her mussels in the shells but noted a few shells weren’t open – a no-no in her book. My companions enjoyed their starters but I was disappointed my crab mac n cheese (chosen as I’m always looking for something new and different) as having too much pasta. No complaint with desserts, especially my Eton Mess, delivered with a nice birthday twist. As for score, using the Gary Eats approach, this time I could only give it 7 out of 10.

Plough and Sail (in Paglesham village)

Let me say, these days (if one excludes KFC and MacDonalds takeaways) I eat out less than once a month, and while money is not an issue, disability is! I’m also lucky insofar we eat well at home and my wife is an excellent cook. But two days after my birthday bash there was another birthday to celebrate – that of my niece who happened to be staying, along with her husband, with us. We had a long discussion where to take the birthday girl and I manage to persuade the others to revisit another old favourite – the Plough and Sail, while taking in a magical mystery tour of some of the nearby Essex countryside. Check here for their website and here for the review I did when I visited it six years ago. Having made the reservation, first ascertaining the establishment was disabled friendly (although having no disabled toilet) we set out for our culinary afternoon adventure having deliberately starved ourselves earlier so that we could enjoy all what was on offer.

It was pleasant social occasion and the food was outstanding and we felt well looked after. Funny enough, just as before, we were there for two and a half hours. We ordered a range of starters, each of us trying what each other had, and all of it was more than acceptable. The scallops in parsnip sauce and halloumi cheese were new (for me), and a revelation, which I am happy to recommend.  I was disappointed my companions all chose fish and chips for their main course and weren’t more adventurous. Later, one of my companions made the point that they were not particularly impressed with the fish. I confess, I was tempted to order the fish but recalling falling in love with their steak and kidney pie six years ago I ordered that and it was good. So were the desserts, including ice cream and fruit pavlova. The food, value, ambience and service were excellent but I won’t give it 10 out of 10, although tempted to do so. Maybe no-one’s fault, but we were disturbed by flies and after the smart, warm and can’t be faulted service up to the arrival of the main, things slowed down after that and of course there was the fish comment. So it has to be 9 out of 10 but definitely a place to go to again, maybe after working up an appetite by walking in nearby Wallasea Island.