Just for a bit of fun…
Via DogHouseDiaries
Portivo Lounge
A new cafe has opened in the Gloucester Docks and it’s rather nice.
I really liked the design of the place. They have taken notice of the building they are in and its location in the docks. The interior, fixtures and fittings reflect that. It’s calming and relaxing. Having said all that I am not sure about the bright orange and lime green chairs outside…
Now I’ve only had coffee and a pastry, but both were very good. The double espresso was strong and smooth, the pain au chocolate was fresh and flaky. What I did like was, I was able to have a glass of iced water with my espresso.
I am not sure which coffee they are using, there were no signs for Illy or Lavazza that you sometimes see at places like this. I did enjoy it and the next time I go I might try an Americano as a taste comparison.
The service was also excellent, well with one minor exception. The welcome and service was friendly, calm and professional. The minor exception was the “keenness” of one member of staff to clear our table. We hadn’t finished our drinks or food, but she wanted to clear some of our cups and plates. Yes this is useful if you are ordering more food and drinks, but we were nearing the end of our drinks. What it felt like was that what she actually wanted was either for us to go… or they had run out of cups in the cafe! As a result we felt rushed and in the way. For me the reason I go to a cafe to drink coffee, is for the whole calm experience, a chance to drink, think, chat and reflect. It has to be said this was a really minor point and the rest of the service was excellent.
A Wonderful Staff BBQ
The catering students and staff at Gloucestershire College did an outstanding event last week. Every year the college staff get together in an annual barbecue. Now for a lot of people a big event like this means well done burgers, cheap sausages and if you’re lucky a chicken drumstick, still raw in the middle…
Well this staff event was totally different. There were three food stands. The first wasn’t really a barbecue, but was paella. This was a really well cooked paella with huge kings prawns. This was really nice and very tasty, even if it was a but messy shelling the prawns. There was a vegetarian alternative for those that didn’t want to eat fish. I should say (for regular readers of the blog) that it appeared they had stirred their paella…
The barbecue stand had a nice choice of vegetarian kebabs, satay chicken and barbecued pork ribs. The ribs were perfect, the meat fell off the bone and was beautifully tender. So good you could use a knife and fork, so need to get sticky fingers. I didn’t try the chicken as when I arrived at the stand they had run out and were cooking a new batch. The vegetarian kebab was perfectly cooked and the halloumi cheese that was on there alongside the vegetables was delicious.
My favourite stand though was the Moroccan lamb wrap. They had spit roasted a whole lamb and this was served in a wrap with houmous, yoghurt, sliced courgette and chilli. Absolutely delicious. For those that didn’t eat lamb there was a really nice looking butternut squash alternative.
This was outstanding high quality food for a superb event. It was an extra special event this year as our Principal is retiring.
Retro Chocolate
How many of these can you remember? Which were your favourites?
What I like about this image is to compare the old branding and wrappers with the versions available today. The Mars brands of chocolate, Mars, Twix, Topic, have hardly changed, whereas many of the Cadbury bars are very different. The Rowntree’s bars, except the KitKat, look very different to their contemporary versions.
There are also a fair few Cadbury bars that I don’t recognise.
I would like a croissant please
Without looking where do you think it costs more to buy a single croissant, Tesco or Marks and Spencers?
You know that by asking that very question that the answer has to be Marks and Spencers don’t you.
The other morning I was on my way into work when I stopped off to buy some skimmed milk for my coffee at work. I popped into the local Tesco Express (or are they called Tesco Metro) and picked up a two pint bottle. I looked at the date, it looked familiar and realised that the date was that day’s date. A quick check across the shelf, and all the other bottles had the same short date on them. So leaving the milk I decided to go somewhere else, I had been considering buying a croissant at 80 pence but thought not as I was in a bit of a hurry.
I walked down to Marks and Spencers to get my milk and was pleasantly surprised to see that their loose croissants were only 69 pence. They also looked a lot nicer and fresher than the ones from Tesco.
I was surprised as I wasn’t expecting Marks and Spencers to be cheaper, but was pleased that they were. Oh and before you ask the milk was the same price.
Don’t you dare stir…
Well I have been well and truly told by lots of people never to stir my paella again.
@jamesclay You're not supposed to stir it! First rule of paella 😉
— Claire Bradley (@ClaireBsPlanet) June 28, 2013
Claire is currently living in Spain.
@jamesclay that IS the right way to cook paella. Preferably with seafood too (which you cook first then add the rice and stock). Do NOT stir
— Fernando Rosell-Aguilar (@FRosellAguilar) June 27, 2013
Fernando is a Lecturer in Spanish at the Open University.
So that means I am very clear now, I don’t stir the paella.
Paella, have it your way
In my most recent blog post on cooking paella I talked about using a different method that I had seen on the television. I did manage to try it out and, yes it did work exactly as planned.
I cooked the vegetables first and then added the rice and the stock, stirred once and then left it.
I was concerned about how it would turn out and was so, oh so tempted to give it a stir now and again… but I didn’t.
So what of the result?
Well the paella was a lot dryer than my usual recipe and I did feel it lacked some flavour compared to previous versions I had cooked. I am guessing though it was more “authentic” and how a paella should be. One of these days I will need to get to Spain and have a proper paella to compare.
Cajun Burger
The last time I had a burger at a restaurant was at Bella Italia and I really enjoyed it. It had flavour and texture and was a really enjoyable meal.
On a recent visit to Frankie and Benny’s I had a Cajun Burger. Now I was hoping to get a similar good burger, however I was to be slightly disappointed.
It was a highly processed burger and not what I was expecting at all. It had a very fine texture and wasn’t exactly full of flavour. The bun however was nice and the garnish for the burger was good as well.
The fries were crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. The relish came out of a jar, I did expect that, however it is the rare place these days that make their own relishes, and you wouldn’t expect that in a restaurant chain.
The one thing that I would have liked alongside the burger was some salad, but I guess that would be a side order that would be extra.
Overall the Cajun Burger was nice and tasty, I am guessing that my expectations were high and what I got wasn’t what I was expecting.
Don’t buy the pasta!
Remind me please that if I ever go to Frankie and Benny’s again, don’t order the pasta!
You know for am American Italian Diner I am disappointed how they serve pasta, which in my opinion should be a signature dish for them. Similarly how difficult is it to get pasta wrong?
I should have remembered when I ordered the Philly Steak Bake which was not the best pasta dish I had eaten. I should have known better, you would think? The thing is back then my son had ordered the Spaghetti Oceana which looked great and according to my son was delicious.
So this time I ordered Chicken Penne Romana, which was penne pasta with chicken breast, spicy pepperoni and pancetta bacon tossed with Mamma’s rich Neapolitan tomato and herb sauce. It came with the choice of fries or salad. Now why on earth did is come with fries, okay partly my fault I should have chosen the salad option! It is a very British thing I believe that to have potatoes and pasta together, you know lasagne and chips for example.
Next time, choose the salad, next time… well next time I won’t choose the pasta so it won’t be a problem.
So what about the pasta? Let’s be straight, it certainly wasn’t an awful dish, so bad I couldn’t eat it. No it was certainly edible and I did finish the dish. The thing is, it could have been so much better. The so called rich tomato sauce, was anything but rich, and lacked flavour and richness. It was too bland and it was this that really marked down the quality of the dish. When you read the description “tossed with Mamma’s rich Neapolitan tomato and herb sauce” you kind of expect that to be the case, the reality was that didn’t happen, the pasta was in the bowl and the sauce poured on top. If you wanted it tossed you were going to have to do that yourself.
It was a pity that the dish turned out the way it did, as the concept sounded really good.
Classic Summer Heineken Advert
Another Classic Heineken Advert , this time about summer and from 1980.
A lot of these adverts would have appeared in the Sunday newspaper supplements of the time.