Nights Out At Home: Recipes and Stories from 25 years as a Restaurant Critic

Well written by a superb food critic

I bought this for my son's birthday and made the several dishes from it. The Steak Bakes are fabulous. The anchovy and sage fritters work (the batter is great -- I had done similar things before but not battered and the batter makes all the difference). The white chocolate, cream and frozen berries is a great end to a meal (simple but effective). And as ever, Raynor's prose is a joy to read.

Ok,I've loved reading Jay Rayner for years. This book is like a concentrated jus of his best restaurant reviews and the recipes for his favourite dishes. As witty and down to earth as I've come to expect, and the recipes are written for people who like to cook, but not to get too prissy about it.If you make nothing else, please have a go at the steak bake recipe! Absolutely delish, and if you're not a pastry person, the steaky bit of the bake would be just as fabulous served on a plate with some buttery new potatoes and something green & steamed.

I don’t know that i will cook from this book a lot. I love to cook but there are many recipes that just aren’t me for religious reasons firstly but also because i really do not get on with anchovies. I would love to have at least some alternatives listed but i know that isn’t always possible. I’m thinking about Nigel Slaters exasperated reply to a reader ‘Susan, it’s an aubergine recipe.’All that being said, it’s a fantastic read (laugh out loud funny) and there are some great recipes. I have my eye on the Butternut Squash Cappucino, Flatbreads with beef dripping and chilli (omg), Tayyabs lamb chops, Greggs Steak bake, the Sauces, Malaysian Chicken Curry and many more.P.s. i love that there are pictures of the recipes on Jay’s website.

I thought this would be speaking to the chefs and getting the actual restaurant recipes in order to recreate at home. But it's actually him guessing what they are or making variations of. I don't want the smoked mackerel version of the Quo Vadis smoked eel sandwich I want the OG