Author: jamesclay

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Fries of Mine

I wasn’t really that hungry walking around the streets of Amsterdam but I was a little peckish. 

A few places caught my eye, but the prices were, well not eye watering, but not in my budget. 

I noticed that Ter Marsch & Co was quite popular, so looked at the menu, they did burgers. I wasn’t in the mood for a burger, but the signature fries looked interesting. You could also see into the serving area and I liked how they were making the signature fries.

I decided to go for the Fries of Mine, which had been winner of best fries 2020 (in the Netherlands). This was fries with truffle mayo, grated parmesan cheese, cheese-nut crumble, diced pork sausage, and fried parsley.

Despite the queue, it moved quite quickly and it wasn’t too long before I was ready to place my order. I ordered my fries at the counter and then took a seat. When my fries were ready, my number was called and I collected my fries.

They looked fantastic.

I was provided with a little wooden chip fork, personally I would have liked a bigger fork. The twice cooked chips were hot, with a crisp outside and fluffy inside. The topping was generous, but not overpowering. You could tell it was just the right amount as by the time I finished the box of fries, there was a small amount of topping left in the box. I never felt as though I was just eating plain fries.

This was a lovely place to eat fries, it was rather cosy, but that just added to the charm of the place. The service was welcoming, friendly and efficient.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to have, but I really glad I went here and I enjoyed my signature fries.

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Coffee at Kaldi

canal in Amsterdam

I was visiting the Netherlands attending a conference in Amsterdam, I had some time before my flight home to explore part of Amsterdam.  After walking around a bit more discovered Kaldi.

cafe frontage

This was a cosy nice looking coffee place. There was a short queue, and it wasn’t too long before I placed my order and then I could take a seat.  I had ordered a double espresso Cortado.

coffee

It didn’t take long for the coffee to be served, well they put it on the ledge in front of my table and I had to take it from there. That did make me smile. It was served in a nice china cup.

It was a great coffee.

Alas I drank it probably too quickly, and it was finished.

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Homemade Salad

Salad

This is the kind of salad I will throw together when cooking a meal for the family.

On a bed of mixed leaves I will add sliced cucumber, sliced pointed red pepper, tomatoes, radishes, sliced spring onion, mini mozzarella balls, and avocado.

A lot depends on what we have in the fridge and what else we’re having with the salad.

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Funghi di Bosco

I was looking through my email when I saw that there was a message about a pizza special offer for 7.99 and to try out some new pizza. I checked the Pizza Express app on my phone and saw the pizza offer.

I was thinking about what to do for lunch, so headed to Pizza Express at Cabot Circus. There was plenty of room, and I was given a warm welcome. I wasn’t exactly in a hurry, but I wasn’t really in the mood for a long slow lunch, so was pleased with the speedy efficient service.

I looked over the menu, and didn’t see any new pizza, well maybe I misread the email. The last time I was at Pizza Express I had the Fiorentina, so this time I wanted to have something different. I did quite like the idea of mushroom pizza, so decided to order the Funghi di Bosco on a Romana base.

The pizza arrived quite promptly and looked good.

Pizza

There were plenty of mushrooms. I liked how they used chestnut mushrooms; I much prefer chestnut mushrooms, personally I think they have a nice texture and flavour. The base was nice and thin, I do like the Romana base.

What was amusing was the email was actually from Bella Italia and not Pizza Express. So Bella Italia had new pizza on their menu. Well maybe next time I am out for lunch and fancying pizza I will visit Bella Italia.

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No fresh food on the plane

My flight to Amsterdam was delayed, I had originally planned to have a late lunch in Amsterdam, but as I was going to be there later, I decided I would have a sandwich on the plane. Alas the plane had been to Paris earlier that day and all the passengers had eaten all the fresh food. So when they came round with the refreshment trolley, there was no fresh food available, so no sandwiches or anything. Yes I could have had crisps or chocolate, but I didn’t want crisps and chocolate. I also didn’t go with coffee either. I decided to wait.

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Flat White at the Cabin

When visiting the airport at Bristol, I often find that I have time to kill. My first choice for a coffee is The Cabin, in the main as it is table service, and they also serve their coffee in proper china cups. Price wise their prices are very similar to the other coffee places at the airport.

I took a seat and initially I looked over the menu, but it was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. So I ordered a flat white.

The coffee was made promptly, and served to me at my table.

It wasn’t an outstanding flat white, but I enjoyed it as I waited for my flight.

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Pudding!

street in Albufeira

We were on holiday at the Cerro Mar Gardens in Albufeira in Portugal we made a couple of visits to the hotel restaurant. After some excellent swordfish it was time for pudding.

The dessert menu had a range of choices, but one caught my eye. It was Pudding and the English translation was Pudding.

Yes I could have asked the waiting staff what this was, but I decided to risk it and order it for my dessert.

I had no idea what Pudding would be, but there was an air of anticipation in what would arrive at the table.

This is what arrived.

pudding

This was a creme caramel.

It was quite nice, it’s not something I have had recently, I actually don’t think I’ve had it since the 1990s, or even earlier. It’s not something I would probably order, so it was nice to have the surprise.

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Mixed Grill at the Gardens

Entrance to a hotel

We were on holiday at the Cerro Mar Gardens in Albufeira in Portugal we made a couple of visits to the hotel restaurant. On my first visit I had an excellent swordfish dish.

On our second visit, I was tempted by the cataplana, but it was for two, and everyone else was choosing different dishes. I even considered just having the cataplana to myself.

Cataplana is a traditional Algarvian dish cooked in a special copper pot of the same name. The ingredients typically include onion, red and green peppers, tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, tarragon, parsley, white wine, and a variety of meat or seafood, such as cubed pork, chouriço sausage, chicken, fish, prawns, clams, or other shellfish.

In the end I went with the mixed grill. This was steak, lamb, chicken, sausage, and two kinds of pork. It was served with fries and a tiny salad.

I thought the swordfish was excellent, this dish, not so much. I was rather disappointed. Maybe it was too simple, but the cuts of meat were rather thin and were overcooked and slightly dry. I would like to have had more salad. The fries were okay. That really though sums up the whole dish, it was okay, nothing special.

I wish now I had ordered the cataplana.

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Finally made it to Reinata

Dickens Yard

In March I had a conversation at a meeting with a colleague who  had recommended Reineta in Dickens Yard in Ealing. So in April, when staying in Ealing, I had headed out to Reineta having decided what I would order. You can imagine my disappointment when I went there to find it was in fact closed. It was only open for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I wasn’t in London on any of those days… Instead I went to Côte.

Back in June I was in London, staying in Ealing. It was a Tuesday, so hadn’t even considered Reineta, but was pleasantly surprised to see that Reineta was open. Well guess where I ended up.

This is very much an informal place to eat, very relaxed.

It was a warm evening, so I sat outside and looked over the menu. Alas the choices I had seen on the (online) menu back in April were not available. I went with two dishes.

The first was a salad with Isle of Wight tomatoes, avocado, pickled red onions and grated manchego cheese.

This was a simple dish, but in some ways too simple. I wasn’t overly impressed with the flavour of the tomatoes. I did enjoy it though.

My second dish was the octopus. This was grilled marinated octopus served with mixed peppers, sliced potatoes and “choricero” pepper.

This was an excellent plate of food, very tasty and quite substantial (for a tapas dish). I really enjoyed the dish. The octopus was tender and full of flavour. I liked the sliced potatoes and the pepper.

Overall these were two delicious plates of food. I would like to have had some bread with the food though.

I enjoyed sitting outside and eating, something that is often challenging to do in the UK with all the weather.

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Visiting The Old Siam

I was up in York for a few days and was looking for a place to eat close to where I was staying.  I had noticed The Old Siam when I had gone for a walk along Micklegate. This was a Thai restaurant with wooden floors and batik wall hangings.

When I arrived it was quite busy, but I was given a warm welcome. I was shown to my table. I liked the atmosphere of the place, and there was a real buzz about it. The wooden furniture offered an informal dining experience which I liked.

There was quite a lot of choice of different Thai dishes on the menu, but in the end I decided to go for the salt n pepper soft shell crab as a starter followed by the mixed seafood pad cashew nut as my main course.

The salt n pepper soft shell crab was soft shell crab in a tempura batter with garlic, salt, pepper and served with sriracha sauce.

The batter was nice and crispy and I liked the crab, which had a real crab flavour. Sometimes when I’ve had battered soft shell crab, the crab can be somewhat tasteless. This time I could definitely taste the crab. The sriracha sauce was a little too spicy for me. However, despite that I really enjoyed the crab.

It wasn’t long before my main course arrived. This was stir fried light battered mixed seafood with roasted cashew nut, carrot, onion, red pepper and mushroom. Alongside I had a serving of sticky rice.

This was a nice dish. There was a good mix and portion of battered seafood. I did think the batter as a little thick in places, but there was a nice crunch. The sauce was nice and there was a good amount of cashew nuts. The sauce was nice and it worked well combining all the aspects of the dish together.

Overall I really liked the food here, the service was excellent, warm, and friendly. I was tempted to go again, but I know if I am up in York again, I will try and visit The Old Siam.