Author: jamesclay

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How much for a flat white?

Grand Pier

I walked to Caffé Nero in Weston-super-Mare and had a skinny flat white. Thanks to the 3+ app I was able to get my coffee for £1. I realised that the full price would be £4.05. I do feel that coffee shop coffee seems to have risen quite a bit in recent years. It use to be a £2 coffee from what I can remember, okay maybe £2.75. I recently complained about the £4.25 I paid for a crap flat white from Starbucks at the NEC, I would say that this flat white from Caffé Nero was in a different league. It was well made and had the right texture and a great coffee flavour. I do have to remember that complaining about high prices and how much better things were in the past, is an old person type behaviour. I am getting older, but I also think that I if I am spending money on coffee, I want value for money. I did wonder if I would pay £4.05 for the flat white I had, I think I would, but I wouldn’t do it very often.

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Ribeye Steak

I was in Birmingham for a conference and I was staying at the Novotel, a hotel I have stayed at before. They have a restaurant and there is menu, of what most people would call typical hotel food.

I went with the ribeye steak, which came with fries, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, and a peppercorn sauce.

Ribeye Steak

It was well presented, though I think I needed something green on the plate, watercress perhaps. The accompaniments were nice, I liked the sauce. The steak was cooked to my liking, but I was hoping for more flavour, it certainly needed more seasoning. I guess I was expecting more of a chargrill flavour to the steak. Overall I guess I was a little disappointed with the plate.

Service was excellent though, friendly and efficient.

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Lunch at the Casa

I was in Amsterdam for a conference and was staying at the Hotel Casa which is close to Amstelstation.

After some meetings I was in the mood for some lunch, I chose the beef steak open sandwich, with caramelised onion, cheddar and pico de Gallo.

beef steak open sandwich

I certainly needed a knife and fork to eat this, The steak had an interesting flavour. It does appear to be a Dutch thing to add cheese to steak in their sandwiches. I enjoyed the pico de Gallo which added a nice element of freshness to the food. There was a generous portion of steak on the bread.

I thought it was just okay, nothing special. I think the flavour of the steak let the sandwich down.

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A slice of Sri Lanka

Nadu brings a slice of Sri Lanka to the epicentre of Bristol’s cultural quarter, Stokes Croft. 

Myself and colleagues from work headed to Nadu for a festive meal, well I say festive, as it was that time of year, the menu very much from Sri Lanka.

There was lots of lovely stuff on the menu and I found it quite challenging to choose something. I decided would have a small plate as a starter and then something else as a main.

Across the small plates one dish did stick out to me, which was the Tawa Fish, though there were some others there I would have been happy with. I was quite intrigued by the Mojo Cutlets as well as the Miris Bhaji.

The Tawa Fish was simply a seasonal fish grilled in bell pepper & ginger sauce.

This was not the best looking dish I have seen, and they had tried with the peppers and other garnishes. However, the food was delicious. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the sauce, spicy but not overpowering. I really enjoyed eating this portion of fish.

For my main course, again lots of choice. I liked the idea of the roasted beef bone marrow in the Aeta Midulu, across the different karis, I was tempted by the Era Kulumba, a mild shrimp curry, or the Thora Malu, a fish curry. The Ceylonese Lamb Kari also sounded delicious. In the end though after much thinking I went with the Black Pork Kari, which was slow cooked pork belly with smoked coconut & cinnamon. Alongside I had some coconut rice.

Though not black, this was a very dark looking curry. I was expecting that though. This was also delicious, the pork were very tender, and the sauce was delicious. Not sure I could taste the smoked coconut, but I am sure it was in there somewhere. I really liked this pot and it was really tasty. There was a good level of spice, so you could say spicy, but wasn’t hot and fiery. All rather good and I did finish off this dish.

We also shared a Tear & Share Dosa, 48 hour fermented crispy rice pancake served with chutneys and sambar. Literally tear bits off, dip them in the chutneys and enjoy.

The service was excellent, well informed and friendly waiting staff offering advice and recommendations. 

I can’t wait until I can go again.

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Conference dinner at the Marriott

Back in October I was at a conference at the Marriott in Glasgow and there was a nice conference dinner.

For the starter we had a confit pork and apple terrine. I wasn’t a fan to be honest, the terrine was rather plain and I don’t really like oatcakes.

The main was a roast chicken supreme stuffed with haggis. It was served with dauphinoise potatoes and vegetables. This was rather nice, not spectacular, but tasty.

The salted caramel tart was very rich, it really needed some ice cream to offset the richness.

Overall I did enjoy the meal, certainly better than some conference dinners I’ve had, but not one of the best.

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Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Lobster Crumpets

At Christmas time the shops try to tempt us with luxury items that we probably wouldn’t buy at any other time of the year. I found these Lobster Crumpets at my local Sainsburys. Described as fluffy sourdough crumpets, topped with a rich thermidor sauce, lobster chunks and tangy Italian cheese. Well why not I thought, it’s Christmas.

They take about ten minutes in the oven. The  sourdough crumpets were nice and fluffy, and I liked the sauce and the cheese. The real issue was the lack of lobster. Mine had a lot less lobster than there is on the official image (above). I think the issue was the 8% lobster in the dish, compare that to the 15% in the similar size Lobster Mac & Cheese. I don’t think I would buy them again, probably a better option would be to make your own.

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Crab Spaghetti

Crab Spaghetti

Had spaghetti with crab for my tea. I had picked up some dressed crab from Aldi and had been thinking about using it. My original plan was to have a crab salad, but in the end, I thought I would have a crab pasta dish.

I looked over a few recipes and, in the end, I did the following, mainly based on what I had in the fridge. I cooked some spaghetti and whilst that was cooking in a large frying pan, I added some olive oil and some finely chopped red onion. When the red onion was cooked, I then added half a glass of white wine. Drinking the rest of the glass I mixed the onion, oil and wine. I then removed the pan from the heat and added the brown crab meat which I stirred into the contents of the pan. Once the pasta was cooked, I put the sauce back on the heat, I drained the spaghetti and added it to the pan and ensured the spaghetti was fully coated with the sauce. I removed the pan from the heat and added the white crab meat. I added freshly chopped parsley and seasoned with black pepper, upon tasting I also added some salt.

Now I was quite impressed with myself on the look of the dish, however I was less impressed with the taste. The pasta was great, but the crab sauce was underwhelming and a little too grainy for me. Glad I cooked it, but not sure I would cook it again.

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Bavette Steak

Bavette Steak

The Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing is one of my regular London stays. It offers a significantly cheaper alternative to central London hotels, with easy access to the middle of London via West Ealing station.

I don’t usually have steak at the hotel now as their prices have gone up quite a bit since I first started visiting. On my most recent visit though, they did have a bavette steak on the menu (as well as a more expensive sirloin). The steak said it came with truffle & lemon dressed watercress, fries & choice of peppercorn or béarnaise sauce. So, I ordered that for my dinner, choosing the peppercorn sauce.

The steak arrived and the plate of food did look good. However, though I did have a bavette steak, I didn’t get the truffle & lemon dressed watercress or the fries. I had a simple mixed salad and triple cooked chips. I would have preferred fries and with hindsight I think I would have preferred the watercress. I didn’t complain, as it wasn’t a big deal, and to be honest quite a few times when ordering from the Drayton Court, they don’t always plate their dishes according to the description on the menu.

The steak was nice and tasty, tender, but alas it was a little cold, think it had been left too long from cooking to being served. Other times I have had a bavette (or similar cut of) steak it has been sliced. The chips were nice, and I liked the peppercorn sauce. The sauce was warm so, it did warm up the steak.

Overall it was a nice plate of food, but the temperature of the steak let it down.

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Awesome Fritto Misto

stall

Bristol has a decent street food scene, around where I work in Bristol, as well as all the stalls at St Nicks, there are twice weekly markets at Temple Quay and Finzel Reach. The organisers of those markets always try and have a mix of stalls and types of cuisine. There aren’t that many traders selling fish, one that stands out is King Fin. If I am at a market and they are trading, it is usually one I go for. So, when I went to the Finzel Reach street food market, I headed towards King Fin to try their new(ish) Fritto Misto dish. The Fritto Misto replaces the tempura monkfish on the menu. I remember when they had Fritto Misto on the menu before, and tried it back in 2022. I wasn’t that enamoured with what I had then, I wrote:

Overall, if I am honest, though I enjoyed the dish, I was a little disappointed. The calamari was great, but the rest of the fish was a little soggy, despite having just being deep fried. There were two prawns in the dish, one peeled prawn and one whole prawn. The courgette was floppy and was quite greasy.

When I heard that King Fin were bringing back the Fritto Misto onto their menu, I was eager to try it again, despite my reservations from my previous experience.

I must go to King Fin quite a bit as I got recognised as a regular, which was nice. I placed my order and waited. As with all their menu items, the food was cooked to order. After a short while I was handed my box of food and I think it looked amazing. I took it back to my office to eat.

fritto misto in a box

It was awesome. This was a delicious box of food. The freshly cooked squid rings, prawns and (small) fish were really tasty and it was a generous portion. The deep fried sage and courgette was a nice addition. I thought this was an amazing dish and I was well impressed. It certainly was much better than my previous experience. The batter was nice and crispy.  As per usual the fries were great. 

Looking forward to having this again soon.

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La Famiglia Rana Spaghetti Carbonara

I bought the pack of La Famiglia Rana Spaghetti Carbonara as a stand by meal.

When I cooked the spaghetti carbonara ready meal from Rana I had in the fridge. I have to say I was not that impressed. It was really quick and easy to cook, cook off the pancetta, and then add the sauce mix before adding the fresh spaghetti and cooking for four more minutes. Serve with the provided grated parmesan.

It tasted alright, but it wasn’t really anything special. Not even sure I would call it a carbonara. I think it’s probably easier to cook it myself from scratch.