Author: jamesclay

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Margherita at Pizza Express

We were visiting Bath and were looking for somewhere to eat. I hadn’t done any real planning, so didn’t really have a chance to find anywhere special or different. 

It was a weekend so Bath was quite busy with shoppers, tourists, and visitors.

In the end, we winded up in Pizza Express.

Despite having lots of choice, I went with a Margherita pizza. A simple combination of dough, tomato, and cheese.

It was a simple pizza that was made well and I did enjoy it.

The service was excellent; efficient and friendly.

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At the Boathouse

boatyard

I have passed the Boathouse Bar and Bistro at the Uphill boatyard many times, but most of the time I have, it has been in the evening, and it has been closed. It usually closes at 4pm and 5pm at weekends.

So on a recent stroll around Uphill I decided I would stop for a coffee and try the Boathouse out.

It was quite busy and bustling when I arrived late morning, there was no queue though. I ordered my flat white and then took a seat at a table. They do, what I always prefer, to bring my coffee over to me, rather than wait at the counter until it is made.

The Boathouse is in a building which use to be a yacht chandlers, there are still signs of that in the place.

It wasn’t long before my coffee arrived, it was a well made flat white and tasted great. I spent time drinking my coffee and working on my phone. There is no wifi, and to be honest not much of a phone signal either. I think next time I will take a notebook and a pen and work in that way.

Overall a really nice coffee, good service and a pleasant environment.

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Nice Coffee at Coffee #1

Bridge

We were up in Clifton Village and I quite liked the idea of a coffee. I had planned to go to Spiller & Cole as I had enjoyed my coffee there last year. However I got sidetracked and we ended up at Coffee #1.

I had a flat white which was really nice. It was expertly made and tasted great. I was quite tempted by the pastries and the cakes, but in the end I went with just the coffee.

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Time for the Chicken Shawarma

Tower of London

Having spent the day in London and having made our way back to the Westfield Shopping Centre (to collect the car) we decided to have a bite to eat before heading home.

At Westfield there are plenty of choices available to suit a range of pricing envelopes. In the end we headed to Bills, in the main for the range of choices available.

Most times I eat at Bills I go for quite traditional dishes, usually French or English in style. So going for the Chicken Shawarma was a change of direction for me and an interesting choice.

The chicken was served with garlic flatbread, chopped salad, house pickles, chillies, mint yoghurt & hummus.

plate of food

This was a nicely presented plate of food. I think I should have had the halloumi rather than the chicken, though at the time I did not fancy the red chilli that it was marinated in. The chicken was just okay, nothing special. The pickles and salads were nice. The flatbread was warm and fresh.

Overall I did enjoy the dish. The rest of the table enjoyed their food. The chicken burger was demolished, and the Caesar Salad was also said to be delicious. As for service, well it could have been better. It took about three attempts to get some tap water.




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Bento Box Time

It’s been a while since I have had a Bento Box from See Sells Sushi, but as it was Friday, and the Finzle Reach market was on, I headed off in the heavy rain to see what was around, but thinking I would probably have the Bento Box.

It was raining quite heavily, I did think earlier in the day that the market might be cancelled because of the rain and wind. However, it was open, though the weather did mean it wasn’t very busy. There was though still a queue for the See Sells Sushi stall. I did have a look around to see what was around. In the end, I went back and queued up for my Bento Box.

I had my usual choice of been donburi and crispy chicken hirata bun. Service was quick and friendly.

The beef was as usual, excellent. It is tasty tender beef rib on a bed of sushi rice and served with pickle and spring onions.

I’ve always enjoyed the hirata buns from the stall, this crispy chicken hirata bun was tasty. It was a charcoal bao bun with two pieces of crispy chicken, lettuce, pickles and sauce.

Overall a delicious box of food, which I really enjoyed.

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Homegrown Tomatoes

tomatoes growing on a tomato plant

We have been quite lucky in having quite a nice crop of homegrown tomatoes. I have been using them in salads. I don’t recall the variety, but they are small tomatoes. They are sweet and full of flavour.

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Time for some more Tapas

Last July I went to La Rueda, a tapas bar in Ealing in London. We had an excellent meal of different tapas dishes. In my review I said:

Overall the food was beautiful cooked and it was delicious. I do hope to visit La Rueda again.

It has been a while, but last month I made a return visit to La Rueda and had some excellent tapas again.

La Rueda Tapas Bar is a one-of-a-kind culinary establishment with a menu inspired by the idea of simple and honest cooking. Starting in 2000, we developed a unique dining experience for all of our guests using fresh and sustainable ingredients—taking you on a culinary journey like no other. From classic recipes to new-age kitchen adventures, each dish reflects our passion for high-quality food presented in a simple yet pleasing manner. 

I was given a friendly warm welcome. I looked over the menu. I decided to go for three dishes, a salad, a fish dish, and a meat dish. I went with choices that I wouldn’t normally choose.

For my salad choice I went with the Tomate Y Cebolla – Tomatoes & Onions salad.

Tomate Y Cebolla

The tomatoes were nice and fresh, and the sharpness of the red onions was a nice contrast. The salad was seasoned well.

For the meat dish I went with the Carrilleras de cerdo ibérico – Ibérico pork cheeks braised in Sherry.

Carrilleras de cerdo ibérico

I had seen this on the menu before and liked the sound of it. There was two portions of pork cheek, the cooking sauce, and some deep friend potato strings. The pork was tender and full of flavour. The crispiness of the potato add some textural variety. I think I would have liked some bread with this dish.

For my fish dish I was tempted to have the octopus that I had last year. I also liked the idea of the grilled sardines. However, in the end I chose the Boquerones fritos – fried fresh anchovies.

Boquerones fritos

This dish was similar to whitebait, but the anchovies were bigger. They were nice and crisp, and I liked the aioli, slaw, and lemon. 

I really enjoyed all three dishes.

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Cardiff Castle Arcade Flat White

We were in Cardiff and having visited the castle we headed into the city centre.

We walked down Castle Arcade and stopped at Coffee Barker for a drink. 

Coffee Barker is a lovely place for coffee, I have been here before when I have visited Cardiff. I like the environment, the drinks, and the service. The mix of wooden furniture, leather chairs, and soft furnishings, give the place a warm calming experience.

We were given a warm and welcome and I placed our order. I had  flat white.

This was a really excellent coffee, well made, and delicious.

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Cortado at the Services

cortado

I will say I am not a fan of coffee at motorway services, but sometimes needs must. So, it was with a little trepidation that I stopped at the Reading services on the M4 for a coffee.

I had a cortado from costa and to be honest it wasn’t too bad, quite nice all in.

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That is not Roast Beef Tenderloin

I was in London I was staying at the Crowne Plaza in Ealing and I had dinner in the hotel restaurant. They have an extensive menu with some interesting choices.

I had mixed opinions about my previous meal at the Crowne Plaza, so wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this meal.

For my starter I went with the Creamy Mushroom Toast – sliced mushroom in rich creamy garlic sauce served on toasted bread with balsamic glaze.

This was an interesting starter. It didn’t blow me away. There was probably too much sauce and not enough mushrooms.

When I had looked at the menu before arriving at the hotel I was quite intrigued by this on the menu. Roast Beef Tenderloin – medium cooked beef served with truffle mash potato, roasted root vegetables & thyme gravy.

I did a google search for “Roast Beef Tenderloin” and liked the look of what I saw.

So when it came to the meal, for me it was a bit of a no-brainer, and I ordered the Roast Beef Tenderloin. You can imagine my disappointment when what was served at the table was this.

Though I don’t think this was roast beef tenderloin at all… also it had been cooked on the griddle! It was nice, but I hadn’t ordered steak 

The truffle mash potato didn’t have a real truffle taste, which was a pity. I had some truffle mash from M&S a few months back and that had a really nice truffle kick to it, this one didn’t. It was though nice and smooth. I liked the roasted root vegetables.

This wasn’t the dish I thought it was going to be, it was something of a disappointment. Part of my knew I should have complained at the time, but I didn’t. Part of the reason was that I knew that they probably couldn’t do very much. I don’t think they would have changed the grilled steak for roast beef tenderloin. They may have said I could have something else from the menu, but I had chosen the beef. I certainly wouldn’t order it again if I ever return to the Crowne Plaza.