Time for a coffee

February 15, 2026

A Flat White at Darts

I’d made my way over to Darts Farm Shop in Topsham to use their bank of Tesla chargers. Once I’d figured out the best angle to get the Funky Cat plugged in, I headed inside to explore.

The shop itself is lovely, filled with so much local produce that I was very tempted to browse. Instead, I made a beeline for the cafe to grab a coffee and kill some time while the car charged up. A nice touch here is that, unlike many other farm shop cafes, they actually offer table service. I had been here before so was use to the process and service.

I ordered a flat white, and it wasn’t long before it arrived.

It was a well made coffee and I really enjoyed it.

February 12, 2026

More Fritto Misto

I went to the Temple Quay Street Food market where there was a lot of choice. However, I defaulted to one of my favourite boxes, the Fritto Misto from King Fin.

This was just as good as the previous boxes of Fritto Misto I have had from King Fin. Delicious fresh seafood cooked to order, with tasty fries on the side.

February 10, 2026February 10, 2026

Of course, I will have the Bento Box

Heading out for lunch on a rather wet Tuesday, myself and my colleagues headed off to the Temple Quay street food market. There are fewer stalls on a Tuesday, but one of my favourites was there, She Sells Streetfood.

I went for my favourite bento box containing the Beef Donburi and the Tan Tan Udon. This was the same combination I had a few times now. As this was a bento box, as well as the Beef Donburi, the Tan Tan Udon came in a smaller cardboard bowl than if you ordered the full size version.

The Tan Tan Udon was udon noodles in a creamy sesame broth with spicy ground pork, Asian greens, spring onions, and crispy chilli.

This was a delight, the creamy smooth broth was brought to life with the pork, the greens, and the chilli added heat. One day I think I will go for the full size version, one day.

The Beef Donburi was slow cooked beef in an oriental sauce on top of sticky rice.

The beef was melt in your mouth tender and was delicious.

I do like this bento box, and I am not surprised that when it comes to choosing lunch, I will more often than not, head for this tasty, delicious bento box.

February 8, 2026

Venetian Espresso

One of the unwritten rules when visiting Venice is that if you drink coffee, and order coffee in the busy tourist areas is you will (probably) get ripped off. Well, you will pay a lot for the coffee compared to other places in Venice.

Though if you are in Venice as a tourist there is something I guess about sitting at a table in the bustle of Piazza San Marco drinking a coffee.

Personally I wasn’t too fussed about that when I was in Venice for the day. What I wanted was a coffee. Having just walked around Campo San Barnaba looking at the Chiesa di San Barnaba where they filmed Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, I wanted a coffee.

Close by and near Campo Santa Margherita was a small cafe, Panini e Vini da Babbo. I ordered an espresso which was €2.50.

This was an excellent coffee and just what I needed. What was interesting was when I went back later that day I was only charged €1.50 for the same espresso.

February 6, 2026

Fritto Misto once more

I was in Bristol and I walked to Finzel Reach for some lunch. I was tempted by the Little Smoker who were there again, but when I saw them preparing their food, I was (initially) a little disappointed. So, I went to King Fin and ordered the Fritto Misto.

Now as I waited for my Fritto Misto two people walked past with their Little Smoker meals and they looked really good. So, much so, I will try them out next time they are at a street food market I am at. I realised what I saw, they hadn’t finished putting the dishes together.

My Fritto Misto was freshly cooked to order, but it wasn’t long before it was ready. There wasn’t much of a queue, so little delay.

The box was brimming with freshly cooked deep fried crispy seafood, with calamari, fresh anchovies (whitebait), whole prawns, chunks of battered haddock, courgette slices, and sage. Alongside I had a side of rosemary fries and sauce.

Like previous boxes, this was delicious. The freshness of the box was amazing. I still found the prawns a little messy and fiddly to eat, but it was all really tasty.

February 4, 2026

Espresso at the Airport

I had a really nice espresso at Alembic at Bristol Airport. I had an espresso which was really good.

Alembic is now my go to place for coffee when I am waiting for a flight at Bristol Airport. It’s table service, the coffee is served in proper cups and the price of the coffee is about the same as a takeaway coffee in a cardboard cup from other places in the airport.

February 1, 2026

Charlie Bigham’s Lasagne

I have been eating a few Charlie Bigham ready meals recently. Partly as I managed to get a couple reduced at Waitrose, but others have been on special offer. Not sure how “special” they actually are, but the ones I have tried I have enjoyed.

I do quite like lasagne, but the quality of supermarket prepared ready meal lasagne does vary. The lasagne at M&S has usually been very good, whereas the lasagne from Lidl was quite flavourless in comparison.

I know I really should make my own, but it is to be honest a bit of a faff, and a ready made lasagne is quite a good choice for quick dinner when I am either late back from work or doing something.

Charlie Bigham’s Lasagne is described as slow-cooked beef & pork ragù with red wine & oregano, layered with egg pasta & topped with our creamy béchamel sauce. The website also states:

We take pride in testing our recipes until they’re just right. That’s how we found the perfect balance of pork and beef for our slow-cooked ragù, and how we discovered the exact red wine that with a dash of balsamic vinegar of Modena, makes this dish delicious. With an extra layer of creamy béchamel hidden amongst the five layers of egg pasta, there’s a lot that goes into our much-loved Lasagne.

It takes thirty minutes in the oven and one thing I did like was how easy it was to remove from the wooden tray it is cooked in.

I did really like the flavour of the lasagne and the sauce was nice and rich. The pasta did have bite and the browned cheese béchamel added to the tastiness of the dish.

It certainly costs a lot more than most supermarket lasagne, I was lucky that I got mine on special offer. However, I probably would get it again, even at full price.

January 31, 2026

Quick Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sometimes you want a quick meal, and you don’t have the time (or the motivation) to spend hours in the kitchen.

For this quick Sweet and Sour Chicken I used the (frozen) Battered Poppin’ Chicken from Aldi. This £1.09 box contains portions of chopped and shaped chicken breast in a breadcrumb coating. When picking these up, note that they also do a Southern Fried version, which probably doesn’t go well with sweet and sour sauce.

These are baked in the oven, from frozen, in about 10-15 minutes.

In my wok I stir fried some (prepared) stir fry vegetables. Once they were cooked, I added a sachet of sweet and sour sauce. I used one I had picked up in Tesco for 50p. I then added the chicken to the wok and served with rice, and topped with some pea shoots I had in the fridge.

Obviously you can cook your own crispy chicken, I have in the past used chicken thigh with a flour coating. I prefer this to Aldi’s Poppin’ Chicken, but it does take more time, and makes more mess. This meal was about doing things quickly.

January 30, 2026

Breakfast once more dear friends, once more

I did wonder as I ventured down the stairs at the Drayton Court Hotel what I would have for breakfast. As I had an early start in the centre of London, it was early as I gave my room number and sat down to look over the breakfast menu.

Should I have the poached eggs on smashed avocado I had on a previous visit? What about Eggs Benedict? However as it was early I wasn’t really in the mood for hollandaise sauce or avocado, so I went with the full English, poached eggs and no beans.

Virtually all the of the time at Drayton Court the breakfast is excellent, and this time was no exception, once more it was delicious. I have written about the excellent breakfast experience at the Fuller’s hotel, Drayton Court. I have had similar experiences at other Fuller’s hotels, such as the Queen’s Head in Kingston and the Fox and Goose on Hangar Lane. The one time I had a poor experience (from the same hotel chain) was at the Hand & Flower in Hammersmith. Though it certainly looked like the breakfast at the Drayton Court, it wasn’t the same. Essentially it tasted like yesterday’s breakfast heated up. The bacon was certainly not freshly cooked and the sausage was still cold in the middle.

Let now that experience colour the Drayton Court breakfast which was, as many times before, an outstanding eating experience.

January 29, 2026

Keralan Inspired Fish Curry

I had bought this ready meal, No.1 Keralan Inspired Fish Curry from Waitrose which was 20% off.

Our No.1 Keralan Inspired Fish Curry is our take on a favourite dish from the coastal state of Kerala, in the south west of India. Succulent hake fillet is marinated and roasted, and served in a creamy coconut, onion and tomato sauce, spiced with chilli and mustard seeds. It’s finished with fresh coriander and sliced red chillies.

I cooked it in the oven and served it with some basmati rice. It was rather good and I enjoyed it. The fish was nice, and I enjoyed the curry sauce that it was served with. There was heat in the dish, but not excessively so. I certainly would have this again.

I was intrigued by this ready meal as I do quite like a fish curry. I had enjoyed the Tawa Fish from Nadu, was simply a seasonal fish grilled in bell pepper & ginger sauce. Likewise the fish curry I had at the Hen & Chickens in Birmingham last year was also a dish I equally enjoyed. The Goan Monkfish Curry from Dishoom in Birmingham was also very tasty.

I think it was these three experiences that made me want to try the fish curry from Waitrose. I should really try and cook my own fish curry in the future.