Author: jamesclay

Posted on

Airport Sushi

Wanting more than just a snack, but not wanting a huge plate of food, on a recent fleeting visit to Edinburgh Airport, I decided to take a seat at Yo! Sushi.

One of the disadvantages of this branch of Yo! Sushi is the limited menu compared to a typical branch on the high street or in the shopping mall. However once you’ve gone through security, not much you can do about that. In many ways though, Yo! Sushi is perfect airport food, no need to wait for the food, eat as much or as little as you want and paying the bill was quick and easy.

I went with three dishes, chicken teriyaki, a vegetable noodle dish, yakisoba, and later went with a mixed salmon dish. I had to order the noodles and chicken as hot dishes.

I’ve had chicken teriyaki before, and this version was similar, but certainly not the same dish. Previously when I’ve had this dish, the chicken was griddled and then covered with teriyaki sauce.

Chicken Teriyaki Grilled chicken in a sweet, sticky soy based sauce.

Here at the airport, the chicken was taken from a hot plate and covered in sauce. It was very nice though, and was full of flavour.

Similarly the noodle dish, pan fried Japanese noodles in a mildly spiced tangy sauce with vegetables, was from the hot plate, but again was tasty, full of flavour.

Vegetable Yakisoba Pan fried Japanese noodles in a mildly spiced tangy sauce with vegetables.

The vegetables were crisp and the noodles were certainly not sticky. I liked this dish, and added the remains of the teriyaki sauce towards the end of the dish.

Having finished those two dishes off, I still felt hungry, so took from the conveyor a mixed dish of salmon, comprising three slices of premium Scottish salmon sashimi, two salmon nigiri and two salmon maki.

Salmon Selection Three slices of premium Scottish salmon sashimi, two salmon nigiri and two salmon maki.

This was delicious, the salmon was fresh and full of flavour and I really enjoyed it.

Overall I really enjoyed my quick meal and I thought (for an airport) it was pretty good value for money.

Posted on

What did I expect?

chicken curry

We went to the Summerhouse for a meal. I had a chicken curry, which was just okay. Felt like it was something that I would have microwaved from a supermarket, but then what did I expect ordering a curry in a pub restaurant.

I don’t think I would order it again.

Posted on

The Fish, Chips & Mushy Peas Pasty

The Fish, Chips & Mushy Peas Pasty

When I first saw this board next to the pasty outlet at Bristol Temple Meads my initial thought was that it was some kind of joke.

It wasn’t!

Yes this was a pasty containing fish, mushy peas and yes chips. I know that lots of people out there love eating fish and chips (and a fair few of those like it with a portion of mushy peas). There are also a lot of people who like eating pasties, the reaction to the pasty tax showed that. However how many people out there really want to fuse those two classic foods into this pasty?

I know after posting the image on Twitter via Instagram that the reaction was quite mixed, some went “no thank you” and some went “yes please”. My reaction was, sorry no thank you. I think it was a combination of the green of the peas (and it is a very bright green) and the quantity of potato in the photograph. I can’t see the attraction of taking a reasonably nice meal and wrapping it in pastry?

Posted on

Lemons

Lemons

I like lemons and really find them an useful ingredient for many different recipes. For example I really like to make a Lemon and Rocket Risotto which adds a great sharp taste to the creamy cheesy rice.

I also use it often as a way of marinading chicken to add flavour and tenderise it. I will often add the lemon to the roasting tray or add them to the barbecue coals.

They also work well as a garnish adding flavour to dishes such as paella. Placing quartered lemons on top of the paella as you serve allows the diners to add some lemon juice if they want to.

I prefer to buy unwaxed lemons as the zest is essential for many dishes to add additional flavour.

Posted on

Nice lunch number one

I’ve always tried to take a proper lunch break when working. I think it provides me with a good break from the routine of work, doing something different and I also try and get some fresh air.

Working in Gloucester I can walk around the town or the docks, however at our Forest of Dean Campus in Coleford, there isn’t much to do around the site, and the lunch options on site are quite depressing as well, okay if you like sandwiches or burgers. Even Coleford doesn’t have too many choices either.

So this time I went off to Monmouth, which is a twenty minute drive away. Looking at the options available I decided to go to Coffee #1. This was my first visit to a branch of Coffee #1.

I really liked the look and feel of the place with assorted bits of wooden furniture and leather sofas and chairs.  I had a delicious panini and a flat white.

I also treated myself to a summer fruits cheesecake.

While I was finishing off my coffee, I checked my e-mail before heading back to the college and my office.

Posted on

Don’t overcook the squid!

A recent birthday treat was to go to the new Frankie and Benny’s in Weston-super-Mare. As it was lunchtime, I went for the lunchtime menu special, which seemed reasonable value. For my starter I went with the Bruschetta, a homemade mix of fresh tomato, red onion, basil, olive oil and cracked black pepper served over toasted garlic ciabatta bread, finished with a balsamic glaze. I was not that impressed with this, I found the red onion very harsh and astringent. Normally red onion can be very sweet when raw, however I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would.

The Calamari Caesar Salad came next, which consisted of (according to the menu) lightly fried and seasoned calamari, crispy Cos lettuce leaves, white anchovy, tomato and fresh garlic ciabatta croutons drizzled with our Caesar dressing, topped with Grana Padano and served with a wedge of lemon.

Calamari Caesar Salad

I would probably take exception to the phrase “lightly fried” as the squid had been overcooked to the point where the calamari was crunchy on the outside and quite rubbery on the inside. It wasn’t unpleasant, but I do think that Frankie and Benny’s could do a much better job of cooking the squid. It’s not difficult to cook squid well, however I think that the squid at Frankie and Benny’s is double cooked, it is cooked already and then cooked again when it is ordered. I of course don’t know that for sure. The chef has used the larger outside leaves of the Cos lettuce for the dish, which meant they were more limp than crispy. Overall I did enjoy the salad and it was a good sized portion and value for money.

Posted on

Fish and Chips at the Seagull Café

There is something classic and very British about having fish and chips at a seaside resort. Down in Weymouth for the day and wanting a late lunch (or was it an early tea) made the decision to have fish and chips.

After walking around for a while decided to go to the Seagull Cafe on the harbourside which had tables and chairs outside. This was a really nice place to sit, watching the world go by, enjoying (that rare thing) a sunny summer afternoon.

Fish and Chips at the Seagull Café

Looking over the traditional menu, I found that they did deep fried mackerel and chip, so I went with that. After a short wait it arrived. The fish was wonderful, you could tell it had just been cooked to order, fresh crispy batter and perfectly done fish. Really lovely. The chips were okay, but they tasted as though they had been cooked a bit of time before and kept warm. Still nice though.

Posted on

Pizza time in Swindon

Bottelino’s is an independent chain of Italian restaurants in the South West, they also have a branch in Swindon next to the shopping outlet. I do enjoy the pizza at Bottellino’s, so on a recent visit to the STEAM Museum we decided to take advantage of their lunchtime offer, of any pizza or pasta for £5.95.

We shared a Piccante, with spicy sausage, bacon, mushroom, chilli and mozzarella cheese. It was nice and fresh, but probably a little too spicy from what we actually wanted, but it was very tasty.

Alongside, as it was only £2.50 as part of the offer I went for the Calamari Fritti, squid coated in seasoned flour and deep-fried. This was a nice sized portion, interestingly portioned as sticks of calamari rather than actual sliced squid or the rings one usually finds. Slightly rubbery in texture they did taste nice and the accompanying salad was good too. Very different to the dish when I have had it previously.

My son went with the Spaghetti alla Vongole, spaghetti with clams and garlic, in a white wine, fresh basil and tomato sauce. I think initially he was disappointed with the look of a dish expecting fresh clams, however he really enjoyed the dish once he started to eat it.

My two younger children went with the children’s menu, one had a cheese and tomato pizza and the other Spaghetti alla Bolognese. Both enjoyed their meals. These were good sized portions on proper plates. I remember when I first visited Bottelino’s they didn’t have a children’s menu, they do now, which is quite good value for money, at £4.96, as alongside their pizza or pasta they get a drink and for desert a scoop of proper ice cream.

On previous visits to Swindon, we usually went for lunch at the National Trust Heelis Cafe, however back in April 2010 we had a very poor experience and as a result we’ve not gone back. I think on any future visit to Swindon, we are probably more likely to get to eat at Bottelino’s now.