David Peckham

Is it a Sam Smith's? A genuinely hilarious place to watch tourists get lost. You can smell when somebody's been in there because of the smoke from the fires. I almost put it on my list, Sue. Would you call it Holborn, though? It's a bit of a no mans land around there, but the walk from The Seven Stars to The Ship, near Holborn station, via Lincoln's Inn Fields is one of London's great WTF moments. It's a toss up as to whether the upstairs toilets in The Seven Stars or the downstairs ones in The Nell Gwynne are the more difficult to negotiate. I reckon the pub you're thinking about on Richmond Hill could be The Roebuck. It always reminds me of The Prince of Wales in Highgate. She used to have The Three Greyhounds in Soho, around the same time as Norman had the Coach & Horses and The French House was run by a very tall bloke with a bow tie. I think he was called Lesley. Roxy had a very brief career as a TV chef. I've got a signed copy of her cookbook somewhere. A great pub. Any pub that serves whitebait, pork pies and gammon, egg & chips is doing many things right. The Nag's is fantastic. Run by an ex Grenadier Guard called Kevin Moran, who will boot you out for using a mobile phone, not showing proper respect to the bar staff or putting your jacket on the back of a chair rather than using the coat stand. Opposite Ghislaine Maxwell's old place as well, which made things interesting. A slightly more difficult to find pub around there is The Grenadier. The only pub I've ever found that sold 'Bar Sausages'.

Further to another thread, London is full of great juicers. Some can be a bit difficult to find. Here's three I can think of, off the top of my head. The Mitre around Hatton Garden. The Nell Gwynne just off The Strand. The Dove in Hammersmith.

Thanks for that. I think it's the one, but I don't remember it being a Sam Smith's house. Maybe it was The Cardinal when I went. It does warrant another thread though. Something like 'How the f*** did you find this place? Hard to find London pubs.' In fact, I'm going to start one, if I can work out how.

The thing is, Sue, we'd ordered from the kids' menu, so we thought it was okay to have kids in there. He also wouldn't give me a spoon to finish the beans because we hadn't ordered a sweet. Decent quiz on Sunday nights, though. I wonder if you can help me here. There's a really good pub around there, the name of which I've been trying to remember for ages. It's down a ginnel, quite difficult to find if you don't know where it is. I realise that's not a lot to go on, but it's been driving me mad for years. I can't even remember whether it was closer to Channel 4 or the old Central Office of Information.

Did Young's have a policy of only letting unpleasant couples be licencees? I remember the couple who ran the Clock House. Their son was an arse, as well. New Year's Day, probably 1998/99. Absolutely freezing. Lovely walk through Peckham Rye Park, fancied a pint. They wouldn't let us sit inside with a two year old. We had to sit out in the sleet. Tiny, cold hands. Massive, hot chips. A fortnight of toddler chilblains. I think the landlord was ex Met, if I recall correctly.

Was it busy? Could you get to the bar? Reading between the lines of Corbyn's new party, I expect a bar would have 'Verboten'. Knowing Corbyn, I should imagine it's less a party, more of an 'Open House'. Bring your own elderberry wine and quiche type of thing. A bit like a Mike Leigh film, with Jim Broadbent and Alison Steadman showing you their allotment and reclaimed furniture. And making you leave, just when you're properly getting onto one.

Thanks Mum! Sorry about the swearing.

The Cornish Gouda was featured in an early episode of 'Rick Stein's Cornwall'. It's actually made by a Dutch family who moved here. The series is being repeated on BBC2 at the moment, so it's probably available on the iPlayer. Cheese Block stock a great 'Old Amsterdam' aged Gouda, if you can bring yourself to go in, or M&S do one made with Jersey milk. I've never found the Cheese Block all that grumpy. I think they just get a bit frustrated when it's busy and people don't know what they want. It's not ideal, but I try to go in when it's quiet if I'm undecided, and they're almost friendly. Here's a link to the Rick Stein show. It'll be available soon, apparently. Hopefully it'll help you track down the Gouda. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qzxr

Keith Taylor is a proper shopkeeper's name. Or a darts player's. Good luck to Keith.

Thanks very much for that, it's fascinating. I remember the first time I went in there, in the early nineties, and saw all the fresh pasta in drawers below the counter and the hams hanging from the ceiling. The service seemed a little brusque at first, probably because I couldn't work out what I actually wanted, so I just stood there gawping. I was genuinely quite amazed by the place. I was working off Broadwick Street at the time, so used to finish work, have a couple of pints outside The Blue Posts, pick up some veg from Berwick Street market and then some pasta from Lina Stores on the walk down to Piccadilly Circus for the tube back to Elephant. I really thought I was Jack the Lad. It was ace until a slight misunderstanding. There used to be a really good photography bookshop in the basement at the south of Walker's Court, where the Raymond Revue Bar was, but you had to enter through the adult book shop above. It was bonus day, so I loaded up with four or five albums from Sister Ray Records, fruit and veg from Berwick Street and a copy of Stephen Shore's photographic journey across the US 'Uncommon Places', which was quite a weighty tome in it's own right. As I left the shop, via the adult bookshop above, my MD walked past and saw me with what must have appeared to be the mother lode of jazz mags; three or four large bags full. I was invited to an informal meeting with HR, who asked whether I was developing a 'problem'. I thought that was very caring of them. Do you mean the area at the back of Gray's Inn Road, towards Clerkenwell Green? I was up there last year. There's still a couple of the old Italian run sandwich shops, they really haven't changed, but I can't remember seeing a deli around there. There's a mad place, an electrical factors & electricians' supplies shop run by a Turkish family who sell olive oil from their farm in Turkey. It's reckoned to be the best olive oil in this country. I sampled it, it's really good.

Have you tried in The Cheese Block? They're more likely to have something in there than Mons, I would have thought. They definitely used to do the fresh mozzarella and burrata. But I expect you know an awful lot more about this than I do. I've not tried Camisa, is it a similar thing to Lina? An Anglo-Italian colleague introduced me to Lina Stores 30 odd years ago. It was a revelation, particularly the Parmesan straight from a lump and the hand made pasta. Lina have opened up a small chain of restaurants, I notice. They look a bit swish compared the original deli, maybe it's a licencing agreement. Quite a nice, simple menu. I'll be nicking a few ideas for my 'Osteria Di Dave' themed candlelight supper.

Ricotta isn't really my bag, it reminds me too much of cottage cheese, but I'm sure Lina Stores on Brewer Street in Soho would have something. I can vouch for their Parmesan. I can't really think of a proper Italian deli closer than that.

As Malumbu said, Lidl is great for some continental cheeses. The Parmesan you mentioned won a blind tasting in one of the Sunday food supplements - I think it's 24 month aged. It's the closest I've tasted to gear straight off the rock in Bologna. Their mozzarella is fine as well, and ridiculously cheap compared to the branded stuff. It's going to get complemented up by a light chiffonade of basil, a brunoise of red onion and a suggestion of Balsamic anyway,. So fuck it. It's a fool's errand to spend more. I remember the Tesco extra mature Canadian Cheddar in the late 70s/early 80s. It made the roof of my mouth itch because it was so strong. The 'Cornish Cruncher' from M&S is similar. They do two and three year old versions. It's probably made by Davidstow, thinking about it. They often have a deal on the three year old making it cheaper than the two year old. Maybe people can't take a proper mature Cheddar these days. I'm still a heavy smoker, so it's fine for me. Reading your past posts, you're clearly a chemist by trade and I'll bow to your greater knowledge on this. I've never had a lumpiness issue with supermarket extra mature cheese in my rarebit sauces, but then I do start with a basic roux. Is there a reason behind them not melting properly? Extra mature probably loses moisture and gains salt, but surely that can be sorted out by adding a bit more Guinness?

As a teenager, it always pissed me off that the French looked effortlessly cool finishing their Alpine packed lunch with a triangle of neat 'La Vache qui rit', whilst I got laughed at back at home for doing the same with a St Ivel Gold Spinner or mainlining a tube of Primula straight into my gob.

I did wonder whether the copy had been written by AI. It seems remarkably close to this ad from 'Zoolander'.

I think we're incredibly lucky around here for cheese. They all do a slightly different job. It's even possible to knock up a serviceable French cheese board from the Tesco on East Dulwich Road if you're surprised by unexpected supper guests - they do Brie & Camembert, Compte & Gruyere, Saint Agur & Roquefort, and chevre. So your whole soft/hard/blue/goat deal is sorted. A couple of part-baked baguettes, a bunch of grapes, some celery and a handful of walnuts; nobody would ever suspect that you'd forgotten that you'd invited them round after a couple of drinks. Below that, the Pilgrim's Choice/Cathedral City thing depends on what's on offer at Morrisons, but they're perfectly fine for cooking with. The extra mature versions are great in a rarebit sauce and that freezes well in ice cubes trays. Perfect for a post-pub snack, or for unexpected supper guests that you'd forgotten you'd invited round after a couple of drinks. For Lordship Lane, my very rough rule of thumb is: If you want to know the region of the cheese, Marks & Sparks is fine. If you want to know the breed of cow that produced the cheese, Cheese Block is the place If you want to know the name of the actual cow (Daisy, Buttercup, Ermintrude, etc), then I'd recommend Mons. It's not foolproof, but it's always sort of worked out for me. Apart from when I invite people round after a couple of drinks.

Sounds, and looks, more like an errant and indulged teenage son who backpacked through south east Asia and visited Jim Thompson's house. Probably came home with dreads, piercings and a Thai script tattoo that he was told represented 'One Love', but actually spells out 'I Am A Massive Farang Twat'. The latter is quite a common thing. They really should have added 'Fuckwittery is Ollie's House'. 'Ollie is a fuckwit' If anyone wants decent south east Asian food, please try Chern on Grove Vale. Pau has worked really hard to make that place work, it's genuinely good, and she is lovely. Grab some wine, beer or pre-mixed cocktails from a local shop (I'm not sure what she's doing with corkage at the moment, but I'm sure she'll sort you out) and a cake from somewhere and have your own fusion night.

Cluck'ed describe themselves as 'French Style Rotisserie Chicken'. It's the stuff you see at French markets, often attached to the side of a beaten up Renault Trafic van or in a caravan. I've tried to add a photo, but can't. Sorry Sue, my point about the potatoes was that the whole thing works as a system. The chicken fat drips down from row to row, basting the chickens below, then down the bottom to cook the potatoes. The crispy bits on the bottom are used to make the gravy. Ingenious really. And very tasty. Nothing gets wasted. Apart from a lot of chickens. Cluck'ed, my comment about the French is based on a real experience of a French exchange trip in the 80s. A classmate tried to tell their host family, in their best Longman's Audio-Visual French, that they didn't eat meat. They were served chicken every night for dinner, whilst the family ate beef, lamb and pork.

Compared to andouillette sausage, horsemeat, fois gras, steak tartare or tete de veau, the French consider rotisserie chicken perfectly suitable for vegetarians. The potatoes are cooked in the drippings from the chicken, so there's nothing they can really do about that. Rob has always been fine about outside food in The Castle. They may still have an agreement with Yard Sale. Good luck to the operators. It sounds like a great idea - any chance of PMing me the aromatics mix for the brine?

You clearly have a 'Thing' - a 'Shining', if one will. What was your secret move? Arapahoe, Mohawk or Huron? Is there a dance you can do that means that you get to see a result, but can still be recompensed for seeing under 20 overs? Then spend the cash and the rest of the day outside The Prince of Wales in Cleaver Square playing boules, followed by a chicken Madras at the Kennington Tandoori or Gandhi's and the 185 or 36 home? The Algonquin may have something close.

Very economical. Are you available for events? I've got a gathering of 5000 coming up soon. What could you knock up with two little fishes and five loaves of bread? Cod in breadcrumbs? Fish finger sandwiches? Spanish-style croquetas de bacalao with a Romesco sauce? It's BYOB for beer, so there's no need to worry about that and I've managed to do an unbelievable deal on water and wine. Drop me a DM on here or ask for Dave or Jesus (pronounced 'Hay-Zooze') in The Herne, left hand side of the bar.

Would you like a copy of my spreadsheet? It's hours of fun.

Ocado stopped sourcing from Waitrose a few years ago. They now source from M&S and general brands. Waitrose have their own delivery service now. I don't know how well served SE22 is by it. Ocado offers for new customers are, or certainly were, really good, particularly in the run up to Christmas. I think I got 20%/15%/10% up to a maximum of £100 spend off my first three deliveries with no delivery charge or commitment to sign up for further deliveries. There wasn't a time limit, IIRC, so it was a great way of restocking heavy store cupboard basics and stuff for the freezer.

I used to buy a brand of olive oil called 'Il Casolare'. It was unfiltered, often on offer in Sainsbury's and came in a really nice bottle with a stopper. When it was finished, I'd soak the label off, fill it with Morrison's own-brand vermouth and use it for cooking as it lasts longer than keeping wine open. One night there was very little else left to drink, so we got into it - I told people it was a difficult to find artisanal brand I'd brought back from Barcelona and that it should be pronounced 'Vermut'. People loved it. I gave away a couple of bottles as Christmas presents the next year.

They definitely sound less child-like.