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With 2023 over and a new year beginning, it's only right for our secretive food reviewer to reflect on his top dishes.
But, as a gluten-free chap, Harry Smiles decided to put a twist on the regular hall of fame, sharing his personal highlights and lowlights of 2023...
Pictured: Chicken korma.
I have been wanting to try out Saffron since they opened and, whilst I refused to brave the wind to walk down to Havre des Pas to enjoy it in situ, the takeaway didn’t disappoint at all.
It arrived in just 20 minutes (bear in mind that I live in St. Helier, so that probably helped), piping hot and utterly delicious. I went for their set meal for one, which included a chicken tikka starter, an onion bhaji, a chicken main – I chose Korma – and pilau rice.
Pictured: An onion bhaji.
Whilst I was a bit disappointed by the size of the starter, the portion of Chicken Korma was more generous, so much so that there was enough left over for a do-over the following day.
It was very creamy – just as I like it – and the flavour was exquisite. The onion bhaji was also delectable: crispy and packed with flavour. The garnish and sauce that accompanied enhanced the flavours perfectly. I wish I had ordered more!
Pictured: Chicken tikka from Saffron.
A 9/10 – purely because two pieces of chicken tikka do not make a starter in my book!
Now for the painful part… If you remember, I was singing the praises of The Rigatoni earlier this year after thoroughly enjoying their pasta and cured meat selection. Dear friends, it brings me no pleasure to say I was quite disappointed by the pizza offering.
The tomato base and garnish – Quattro Formaggi, naturally – were delicious but weren’t enough to compensate the underwhelmingly small size of the pizza and the sub-par dough, which was closer to that of a flammkuchen. It was very crispy and quite frankly hard to chew.
Whilst I know gluten-free doughs often come in a smaller size and are indeed not as nice as the real deal, my dining partners were equally disappointed with their pizza. In fact, the only happy camper in our party was the child, who was thrilled with the brownie included in the meal deal!
Although we all praised the sauce and toppings, and the delivery was bang on time, we were all left feeling a bit peckish after finishing our meal and we probably won’t be rushing back for this same meal... We'll stick with the pasta-tively delicious farfalle, garlic bread and cured meats we had last time. 4/10
Pictured: The legendary sticky toffee pudding.
This location was already a firm favourite and a recent visit confirmed this status.
The Sticky Toffee Pudding is as delicious as ever – although, if my memory serves me well, the portions have become smaller! (How dare they?!)
Pictured: Espetada from Corbière Phare.
This time, with no duck on the menu, I went for an espetada.
Cooked to perfection (even for my fellow diners who asked for ‘well done’), with a delicious smoky flavour, they were simply outstanding. The sides were also very generous and the chips pure perfection. A 10/10 yet again.
This review appeared in a previous edition of Connect Magazine – you can read all of our previous editions for free here.
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