Author: jamesclay

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Not quite…

La Tasca

A few weeks ago I went to La Tasca in Leeds for meal with some friends. It was a Monday evening, so not the busiest evening to go out. The place was reasonably empty, so expectations were high that things would be good and that we would get some good service….

Well…

Not quite…

Though our waiter was quite enthusiastic about taking our orders for drinks and food, the service we had afterwards left a lot to be desired.

Tapas

Our initial order of tapas dishes, seemed to take a long time to arrive and when they did, they were warm, as though they had been left somewhere for a while before they arrived at our table. Now I know that authentic tapas are just warm, so it could be argued that they were suppose to be like that… We had ordered two selections of tapas from the menu, and two additional dishes. The second selection arrived just as we were finishing the first. These were hot and straight from the kitchen.

As for the other two dishes, well we had to ask for them, and it would appear that they had gone to a different table! So our final two dishes arrived somewhat later.

So what of the tapas themselves. Well the calamari was nice, fresh with a crunchy batter, but slightly let down by an excessive sprinkling of sea salt. If you brushed that off, then it was quite nice. There was a nice creamy chicken dish that I liked, but no idea what it was or the name. I did like the deep fried anchovies, think of whitebait but with a stronger flavour. Alas this was one of our missing dishes and arrived last and I was quite full at this point. To be honest I enjoyed most of the dishes and they had flavour and texture. Some things were very good, some were good and some I know could be a lot better. For example the “sample” paella dishes are not paella as I know it should be, but then maybe one day, I should just order paella at La Tasca to see what they do with their standard paella. The fritata was okay, but not sure if that was just me, or it’s suppose to be like that! At the end of the day I have had much better tapas dishes from La Tasca and as a result I was slightly disappointed.

However as with any “dining experience” it’s not just about the food (though the food is important) it is also the atmosphere, the ambience and the service.

Well the people I was with were excellent company and I really enjoyed the evening, so from that perspective it was great.

The service on the other hand was, well variable, sometimes good, sometimes downright awful. An example, very few deserts were available as they had run out of vanilla ice cream… Now this was in the centre of Leeds, a Tesco Express was just around the corner, was it really too much effort for someone to get a tub? Well knowing how these chains work I suspect that if they did, there would be hell to pay from senior management over staff using non-standard ingredients. I also guess that they wouldn’t be able to re-claim the cost of the ingredients. Yes processes and guidelines are in place there to make sure the business runs smoothly, but when those processes fail, as in this case the supply of vanilla ice cream, there must be contingency plans in place to give staff the “freedom” to improvise to ensure that the customer can get what they would like. As in our case, so that the customer can get the desert they want without finding out that none are available because the supple chain failed, and procedures stop improvisation (by getting in some ice cream) to fulfill that need.

So I did indeed have a good evening out, the company was excellent, the food was good and yes I would go again to La Tasca, well maybe not in Leeds.

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They’re back…

It would appear looking at the new menus from Café Rouge that started this April, their merguez sausage is back!

I lamented a few months back that

What I did notice was that the merguez sausage was no longer on the menu, which is a personal favourite.

Well it’s back!

In Café Rouge’s new Petits Plats assortment, one of the choices is

Merguez – spicy beef & lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise

These Petits Plats look and sound a lot like Tapas.

You can also have them in a sandwich.

Tartine Marocaine £7.95
Open sandwich of sautéed spicy Merguez sausages & caramelised onions with houmous and crisp chicory on grilled sourdough bread served with a minted crème fraîche

I do like the Merguez sausage and therefore I may, just may go and try them again.

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Roast Beef Dinner

Last week I was down at the Oake Manor Golf Club. Now I hasten to add this wasn’t for a game of golf, but for an event about social media in education. Though it does make you wonder, all those people playing golf, where on earth do they find the time?

Anyhow, at the event, lunch was provided and it wasn’t a cold buffet, nope there was a carvery, and it was a proper carvery, freshly sliced beef or pork and lots of choices of vegetables. The beef had lots of flavour and the veg was really nice too. Certainly one of the better roast beef dinners I have had.

Lunch

One of the worse was at the National Trust Heelis Café in Swindon.

I went for a traditional roast beef dinner. At £7.50 I expected to get an excellent home cooked roast beef dinner… well I didn’t.

Yes the potatoes were home roasted, and were roasted and not deep-fried as is often the case in some restaurants, pubs and cafes. The carrots were fine, but the brocolli was limp, having spent too much time under a heat lamp. The beef was a real disappointment, wafer thin slices of cooked beef that had been re-heated in gravy. This is something that cheap catering does, and not something I expected from the  Heelis Cafe. The Yorkshire Pudding looked and tasted like it was heated up in the microwave and to be honest I did wonder if the meal was from the day before (as we did order early at midday) and had just been microwaved. I was expecting a proper carvery and proper slices of roast beef, not the equivalent of a £3.99 meal from a supermarket cafe.

Yes that was a real disappointment.

One carvery I remember was at the St Ermin’s Hotel in London.

It was December 2006 and I was at a meeting there, and we had lunch and it was an excellent lunch, nice selection of starters followed by a delicious carvery. Now I have no idea if that is still the case, but I hope it is.

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Oh I hate it when that happens…

After a lovely day out I went into the kitchen to cook something to eat for the family. I had in my head what I was going to cook and the ingredients were already in the fridge.

And then….

Oh I hate it when that happens…

What?

Well as I got the pork steaks I was going to grill out of the packaging I noticed an odd smell. They were off, well they had only just gone off… Very disappointed and annoyed. All those well laid plans and ideas were scuppered.

Looking back into the fridge I realised there was not much else in there that I could use instead. Was also getting too late to get something out of the freezer and ruin it by trying to defrost it in the microwave. Also going out to buy the ingredients “again” would take up too much time. The annoyance was compounded by the fact that the green veg I was going to use, had also gone off.

At this point I started to check the fridge to see if it was in fact working! I did turn it up a bit.

I suspect that with all this hot weather, and despite been well within the “use by” dates, poor stock keeping at the local supermarket had resulted in a much shorter shelf life than anticipated. I have seen at some supermarkets fresh food left out in the sun as it was unpacked from the lorry.

In the end I went with chorizo sausage, with some salad.

Cooking Chorizo

It was nice, but still disappointed and a little annoyed.

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Flat White’ish

Flat White'ish

After a walk this morning I found myself at my local Costa, as you do…

I have mentioned previously that:

Costa however do seem to be able to make an adequate flat white. Like most things, they don’t seem to come close to the ones I had out in New Zealand.

Well today the barista who was on duty had no idea how to make a Flat White. Alas it wasn’t the first time either that I have had a Flat White which wasn’t a Flat White.

I am guessing that they don’t get ordered much and as a result they lack the experience of making them on a regular basis and so they are a bit of a challenge. Alas this is a vicious circle, as people like me who order them, probably won’t order them again as they weren’t up to scratch.

The thing is the Flat White is not the cheap option, at £2.40 it’s near the top end of the menu of coffees. Yes I know I should have complained, but to be honest the queue behind me was horrendous, and I had three impatient little people wanting their toast and apple juice. Also the staff don’t appear to care very much about providing good service either, they come across as disorganised and see customers as an inconvenience. The thing is having been to other coffee places (independents and chains) where the baristas have been professional and shown that they really care about the coffee they make, it’s always a disappointment when you go somewhere where the staff don’t seem to care.

It isn’t a “real” Costa, in the sense that it is a franchised branch, but wouldn’t think that was really the issue. My first choice would be to avoid the place and go somewhere else… however choice is limited, and the Morrisons Cafe is not really a viable option (even if I am the Mayor).

So maybe next time I will complain, I certainly should drop a line to their head office.

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Chinese Chicken Wings

Wings

I do like chicken wings and not only are they cheap, they are tasty too. The key is to cook them fresh and not to re-heat them.

The problem I have found with ordering chicken wings in restaurants is that they re-heat pre-cooked ones to order. I know that they often do this as it saves time, but if you have only ever eaten chicken wings from a restaurant then you must try cooking them fresh and you will be able to taste the difference.

I do joint the wings and then roast in the oven for about 15-20 mins. It’s as this point I add any sauce; I have found that though you can add the sauce from the beginning, there is a possibility it will burn. The wings are then cooked for a further 10-15 minutes.

I often make my own sauces, but I do also use ready made sauces to see what they’re like or for inspiration to try and make a better home made one later.

I tried out a jar of Blue Dragon Chinese BBQ Sticky Sauce.

A smoky and sticky sauce for roasting with a rich blend of molasses, caramel, garlic, ginger and Chinese spices.

I did really quite like this, sweet and sticky, but the garlic and ginger really coming through. Probably quite easy to make yourself too.

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Vegetable Risotto

I do like risotto and have in the past made a very nice lemon and rocket risotto.

Sainsburys do sell plain risotto rice, but they also sell a Mediterranean Style Vegetable Risotto Kit. At £2.99 I didn’t think it was value for money, however I did find it on offer recently for just £1.49, so I thought I would give it a try. It comprises arborio rice and dried vegetables.

It’s very simple to cook, virtually no preparation and then cook in the pan with stock.

It wasn’t that bad, quick and easy to cook and quite tasty.

However if it was £2.99 then no I wouldn’t buy it, for that sort of money I would prefer to buy the raw ingredients and make it from scratch. The preparation saved isn’t huge and fresh vegetables would certainly make a difference to flavour and the final dish.

I served mine with some grilled chicken.

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So you went again…

As my last experience wasn’t too bad, when I needed to get a meal recently I did try Café Rouge one more time.

After my last meal, back then I said:

So despite my reservations I in the end had a good meal, good service and may go again.

One of my main issue (and it would appear I am not alone in this) with Café Rouge is not necessarily with the food, but with the service.

I have had issues with the food so still not entirely confident with the chain.

However there is something I really like about the concept behind Café Rouge, the idea of a French bistro is very appealing and the menu always sounds nice.

So having had a reasonably positive experience last time I felt quite positive about this visit. I did go safe though and I went with the steak I had last time, the Bavette. I did as the menu recommended ordered the steak rare. The Bavette is a flank steak so if cooked medium or well done it will be a tougher than say a sirloin cooked to medium.

So what of the result?

Well it was very nice and the fries were good too. I don’t think it was as good as before, but was still tasty and full of flavour.

Alongside I had a side salad, that was much more than just lettuce. In there was red onion, olives and green beans.

To wash it down, I had a glass of Cotes du Rhone, full bodied and full of fruity flavours.

So what of the service?

Well I think I was lucky in that I went in quite late and the place was quite empty, only three tables with diners. They were also at the end of their meals, whereas mine had just begun. So the waiting staff were basically waiting on me!

Overall, not a too bad an experience, good food and good service; in other words what it should be every time I go to Café Rouge and should be the rule not the exception.

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Breakfast for dinner

I don’t normally have breakfast for dinner, but with what I had in the fridge and having little time after getting back from work I wanted something quick to eat.

A couple of slices of black pudding were fried in a pan, I prefer it grilled, but time was of the essence, so fried they were. It is worth seeking out some good quality black pudding.

I also scrambled a couple of eggs. My technique is to put a knob of butter into a pan and then add the beaten eggs. Low heat and stirring a lot with a fork. Turn off the heat just before you think they’re done and let the residual heat cook the eggs off.

I took a ciabatta roll and sliced it in half and popped one half in the toaster.

To serve I took the toasted ciabatta, cut it into two, placed on it a slice of black pudding, topped it with the scrambled egg and freshly ground black pepper. The plate was finished off with half of a fresh tomato.

Yes this would also make a nice breakfast, but it makes a nice dinner too.

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Cheese

The other week I was lucky enough to have dinner at the Mustard Seed Restaurant in Inverness. For my starter I had the crayfish and salmon salad, for my main I had steak and black pudding. For my final course I went with the cheese.

Now it’s not that I don’t like sweet puddings, just that with a meal like this I prefer finishing my meal with the freshness of cheese rather than the richness of a pudding such as chocolate fudge cake.

I was served with a nice selection of well flavoured cheeses. As it was Scotland the cheeses were served alongside oatcakes. Now I am not much of a fan of biscuits with my cheese anyway, and I have never really acquired a taste for oatcakes, so though I tried one, in the end I enjoyed just the cheese.