I was at a conference in London at the Shaw Theatre. In the afternoon break we had something I have never had before at an afternoon tea break.
Usually at this time, in virtually all conferences I have been to, you can get tea, coffee, and usually a cake, or biscuits. Sometimes it is merely a packet of biscuits, other times it can be a proper slice of cake.
At this event, yes there was cake, but they also had deep fried battered slices of courgette with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.
Now that was different!
What was it like, to be honest no idea, as I just had some coffee.
I was in London and staying at the Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. This is a Fullers Hotel and is part of the same chain at Drayton Court, which I have also stayed at.The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel bit is now a new build at the back.
When I was staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I had some excellent meals. The Fox and Goose had a slightly different menu than the Drayton Court, but there were similarities.
After my starter of a mozzarella salad, for my main course I was intrigued by and went with the Fuller’s Award Winning Game Faggots with mash potato, buttered kale, red wine gravy.
This was a beautifully presented plate of food.
The faggots were tasty and full of flavour. I thought they might be too gamey in their flavour, but actually they were really nice. The mashed potato was smooth and velvety, with lots of butter. I liked the buttered kale which added colour and texture to the dish. I liked the addition of the small saucepan of red wine gravy, as the dish certainly was enhance by the extra gravy.
Overall I really enjoyed the dish and I would have it again.
I was in London and staying at the Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. This is a Fullers Hotel and is part of the same chain at Drayton Court, which I have also stayed at.The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel bit is now a new build at the back.
When I was staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I had some excellent meals. The Fox and Goose had a slightly different menu than the Drayton Court, but there were similarities.
For my starter I went with the Laverstoke Park Farm Mozzarella with Isle of Wight tomatoes and pine nut pesto.
It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, the amount of lettuce was surprising.
The mozzarella was nice and fresh, and I also liked the pesto.
There was some heritage tomatoes, but it was also a little too chilled for my liking. As a result it wasn’t as flavoursome as I think it could have been. I certainly felt the tomatoes lacked flavour.
I generally don’t buy cakes and pastries at the street food markets, but the cakes and pastries at the Lunita Pasteleria stall at the Finzel Reach street food market looked really good and tasty.
I decided I would have one and went for the Cañoncitos de dulce de leche dipped in chocolate.
This was a croissant style pasty filled with dulce de leche (caramel) and then dipped in chocolate.
It was rather nice, and not as sweet as I thought it might be. Certainly will look out for Lunita Pasteleria at future street food markets.
I was in London and had a meeting in the afternoon, so I walked up to City, University of London.
I arrived earlier than planned, so I went to Jimmy and the Bee, which is close by, and ordered a flat white. They took my order and I took a seat.
Jimmy and the Bee looks to be an independent cafe, which predominantly sells tea and coffee. There were some cakes and pastries on the counter, and I saw board with some breakfast items (avocado on toast).The furniture is distressed wood, but there are also some comfortable looking sofas as well.
My flat white arrived.
In some other places this may have been described as a Cortado. It was a really nice coffee and I enjoyed it.
I also got a 10% discount; I think they thought I was City staff as I was wearing my work lanyard.
I was in London and staying at the Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. This is a Fullers Hotel and is part of the same chain at Drayton Court, which I have also stayed at.The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel bit is now a new build at the back.
When I was staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I had some excellent meals. The Fox and Goose had a slightly different menu than the Drayton Court, but there were similarities.
For my starter I went with the Crispy Ham Hock with pickled cucumber & apple salad and tarragon & mustard mayonnaise.
I have to say I wasn’t sure what to expect from the dish, but was still not that impressed with what arrived at the table.
The dish comprised three ham hock, probably best described as, patties, which had been breadcrumbed and deep fried. This was served with a slice of cucumber, some apple sticks, and tarragon & mustard mayonnaise.
Well it has to be said if I wasn’t impressed with the way the dish looked, the taste of the dish wasn’t much better. I struggled to taste the ham hock, and the cucumber & apple salad didn’t add much to the experience.
Overall it was a disappointing dish, and not one I would order again.
I was in London and staying at the Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. This is a Fullers Hotel and is part of the same chain at Drayton Court, which I have also stayed at.The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel bit is now a new build at the back.
When I was staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I had some excellent meals. The Fox and Goose had a slightly different menu than the Drayton Court, but there were similarities.
The steak was lovely and tender and the chargrilling added flavour and texture to the surface of the cut of meat. The pecorinoand salsa verde added some nice saltiness to the dish. The accompanying pea shoots gave the dish a little bit of freshness.
I have to say I enjoyed the starter so much that on the following night I had it again!
They have changed the menu since then and sadly the skirt steak is no longer on the menu.
On the mains though was a Owton’s Dry-Aged 6oz Fillet Steak with dauphinoise potatoes, wilted spinach and peppercorn sauce. I had steak at the Drayton Court and though once I wasn’t too impressed, on other occasions the steak was really nice.
My steak arrived, I did feel though that this was somewhat a small dish. Not that I wanted a huge plate of food, but if you were expecting a decent sized plate of food for dinner, I think you would feel a little disappointed.
The steak itself though was quite large (for fillet steak), but the dauphinoise potatoes seemed lost under the steak and watercress garnish. The steak was sitting on some wilted spinach and there was a micro saucepan of peppercorn sauce. The sauce came with the dish and wasn’t a paid for extra.
I felt it was a little heavy on the chargrilling, almost burnt and bitter in places. However, the steak itself was delicious, it was very tender.
The dauphinoise potatoes were nice and creamy, and I enjoyed the sauce and wilted spinach.
Overall it was a really nice plate of food, and would be something I would have again.
I made a quick visit to the National Trust’s The Vyne in Hampshire. Partly to have a coffee, but also to see the house.
A former Tudor powerhouse turned 17th century family home, set in gardens, woodlands, and wetlands.
The house was an interesting mix of medieval cellars, Tudor palace, and a 17th century family home.
After visiting the house and walking around the grounds I headed to the café for a coffee and something to eat. I went to the café, with the intention of having lunch, but the choice wasn’t inspiring. I didn’t fancy the cream of celeriac soup either. As celeriac, tastes like celery, and I really don’t like celery I knew I probably wouldn’t enjoy the soup.
So, I had a flat white and a cheese scone. The coffee was expertly made, and it was really nice. I enjoyed it. I was pleased it came in a proper china cup. The scone was okay, a little small I thought, but it was certainly cheesy.
I can’t dance, and I like coffee, so it wasn’t too surprising that I would end up in a place called Can’t Dance Coffee in Weston-super-Mare.
The Sovereign Centre is a shopping centre in Weston-super-Mare, which opened in 1992. There was a cafe when the place opened. At some point it became a Druckers cafe. Druckers was there for much of that time, serving cakes and coffee.
£500,000 was spent by in 2016 to create the six-unit food hall, with the hope of ‘transforming’ the shopping centre and luring national firms. Well, that didn’t work, as no one except Druckers took an outlet. Even then Druckers left two years later.
Back in 2000 on the Twitter I wrote this in response to this question:
What’s the worst shopping centre in the UK?
Not sure if it is the worst…. it is bad! The Sovereign Centre in Weston-super-Mare. It has a food court with NO food outlets to buy food from! Loads of empty shops and plans to turn it into a health centre. pic.twitter.com/us5RAJwCIS
I said it has a food court with NO food outlets to buy food from!
The health centre idea never happened, instead some of the empty shopping outlets became a business hub, with offices and desks.
The food court area, once more underwent a refurbishment and it does now have a food outlet. It is now the Can’t Dance Coffee cafe.
I rarely spend time shopping in Weston, as there isn’t too much choice of shops, so usually I am in and out, having been to specific outlet. However, this time I was picking up my daughter, I had some time, so went for a coffee, and decided to give Can’t Dance Coffee a try. So, I ordered a flat white.
Service was a little slow, but I got my coffee in the end and sat down. It looked like they knew what they were doing.
The environment is rather industrial and stark. There were some sofas, but the main seating was hard chairs or chipboard benches. As a result I think the place lacks any kind of warmth or character. It feels spartan and cold, it was also quite dark. It certainly wasn’t inviting.
The coffee was nice, and I enjoyed it. However when going out to drink coffee, there is so much more to the experience than just drinking coffee. There is ambiance, the physicalness of the space, the seating, chairs, tables, sofas, and the lighting.
We recently had a saffron risotto, using a box of Gallo’s Risotto a la Milanesa, which is risotto with parmesan and saffron. We have this quite often, after trying it once.
This is prepared risotto rice to which you only need add water, though you can add butter and parmesan at the end of cooking to add a little bit of luxury and more cheese flavour to the dish.
I usually cook risotto from scratch and this box allows you to cheat somewhat by cooking a risotto in about 15 minutes.
What you get is a bag of saffron coloured rice which you cook in water for 12 minutes before adding butter and extra cheese.
It’s a really bright yellow, which might put people off, but it is rather tasty, and there is a lovely taste of saffron in there.
When I blogged about this the first time I said:
It’s a really bright yellow, which might put people off, but it was rather tasty. If I can find it again I think I will get another pack.
Well, we have had it quite a few times since then.
