Author: jamesclay

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Time for something that was not as good as it could be

In my first visit to Manchester since September 2019 I was needing a place to eat dinner. I did consider going to Reds the barbecue place, but in the end decided that the last time I had eaten at Reds, in Leeds, it wasn’t the best meal I had had. Back then the brisket was a little dry. The menu had changed, so I couldn’t order the mixed platter with the short rib as I had done in Leeds. I then decided I quite liked the idea of tacos, but Chilango who did some nice tacos back in October 2016, tacos were no longer on their menu. They did burrito and boxes, but I fancied tacos.

In the end I went to Wagamama. It was quite busy, but they found me a seat. I looked over the menu and thought about what I wanted.

I wanted to have the shu’s ‘shiok’ chicken, turmeric, garlic and ginger marinated chicken, roasted and served on a bed of coconut and lemongrass dressed rice. pickled slaw and radish. chilli. coriander. caramelised lime. However they had run out of the turmeric, garlic and ginger sauce. This also meant they couldn’t do some of the other dishes as well.

In the end I ordered the teriyaki chicken donburi, this was chicken in teriyaki sauce with sticky white rice, shredded carrots, pea shoots and onions. garnished with sesame seeds and served with a side of kimchee.

It did look really nice. The chicken alas was overcooked and a little dry. It could have done with a  little more sauce in my opinion. I enjoyed the rice.

Alongside I had the vegan mixed mushroom hirata buns. These are two small, fluffy asian buns stuffed with mixed mushrooms and panko aubergine, served with coriander and mayonnaise.

These were nice and full of flavour. I also had a green tea which alas wasn’t hot.

Overall it was okay, certainly not as good as I have had at other branches.

I then went back to the hotel where I had a (hot) green tea.

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Well I enjoyed that coffee

flat white

Popped into Caffe Nero for a flat white. They had a special offer of a coffee and a brownie for £4.50, so I had a flat white and a chocolate brownie.

It was just what I needed after going through my inbox.

The brownie was chocolatey and gooey, but wasn’t over rich, light enough to be enjoyed.

The coffee was excellent, there is something about the consistency of experience I find with Caffe Nero, virtually every time I have a flat white at Caffe Nero is I get the same kind of experience, which is nice.

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The lights are on…

Burger King

Popped out to M&S at the Flowerdown Retail Park to get some wine. I saw that the new Burger King had their signage up and the lights were on, however it wasn’t open.

As I parked a big white minibus parked up. A crowd got out and headed to the new Burger King. I said to myself, they’re going to be disappointed, however they were a cleaning crew. I saw them after I had been to M&S getting an industrial hoover out of their van.

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Natural Kitchen Salad

Working in London on a Thursday, it was time for a quick lunch. I popped out to see what I could get, I was surprised by how busy everywhere was. There were long queues in most of the usual places I visit for lunch. In the end I went to the Natural Kitchen. I haven’t been there for quite a few years, even before the pandemic.

As well as a table menu, they also do take out salad boxes. You get to choose three salads and either a hot or cold protein choice.

There was a shorter queue compared to other places, so it wasn’t long before I was served.

I went with the large cous cous salad, coleslaw and the Greek salad. I chose the barbecue chicken, which comprised two grilled chicken thighs in a barbecue style sauce.

I did enjoy the salad. It was a decent portion and very tasty.

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The unwritten rules of paella

paella

The Guardian reports on how researchers in Valencia have decided what ten ingredients you can use in paella are.

The ten permitted ingredients are: rice, water, olive oil, salt, saffron, tomato, flat green beans, lima beans, chicken and rabbit. 

Note that there is no fish or shellfish. Ever!

The research was carried out by social scientists at the Universidad Católica de Valencia at the instigation of local chef Rafael Vidal. The researchers questioned 400 amateur chefs aged over 50 from 266 Valencian villages.

Now I like making paella inspired rice dishes that include chorizo and seafood, even though this sometimes upsets Spaniards.

The article talks about how the valencianos believe that only they know how to make paella.  

To people in Valencia, their version of paella is the version and nothing else is worthy of the name. 

As for other kinds of paella they think this isn’t paella.

The typical seafood paella encountered elsewhere in Spain is generally dismissed by valencianos as arroz con cosas (rice with things).

So I cook rice with things….

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Quick Salad

This was a quick salad I put together. I took some salad leaves, added some chunks of cucumber, halved tomatoes, sliced spring onion and sliced red pepper.

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Exterior completed

Burger King

Going shopping at Flowerdown Retail Park I saw that the exterior construction of the Burger King (which is replacing the Frankie & Benny’s) has now been completed. I also saw they had started the interior refurbishment as well.

They still need to do the road reorganisation required for the drive-thru though.

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Too popular, by far

Today I went for a walk at lunchtime and popped over to the Temple Quay street food market. I had a look round to see what was available. I nearly turned away when I saw that She Sells Sushi was there with their stall (which I am pretty sure I didn’t see on the Temple Quay Facebook post about the market). I hadn’t had their great dishes for a while.

There was a big queue, but I thought, well the food is excellent, it will be worth the wait. 

I waited.

I waited some more.

However after waiting twenty minutes and there were about six more people in front of me I realised that I wasn’t going to have the time to queue more, buy some great food, take it back to the office, and then eat it. So with a heavy heart I left the queue and headed back to the office.

Next time I think I will have to get there earlier.

It does show how popular the stall is, and how popular the market is as well.

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Chicken Bao Buns

Bao Buns

I made myself some chicken bao buns for my lunch.

I took some cooked chicken I had in the fridge. I heated up the chicken by pan frying and adding some miso sauce.

I used some bao buns from M&S, I microwaved the bao buns to heat them through. 

Once the chicken was hot, I added it to the bao buns, I added some shredded romaine lettuce and then added some Yo! Japanese Creamy Mayonnaise.

I then folded the bao buns and ate them.

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Back to Côte Brasserie

I have been to Côte in Ealing a couple of times, on a recent visit I really quite enjoyed the cassoulet I had. I was needing dinner and decided that I would visit Côte for food. It was quite busy, which I found out later was down to the pre-theatre crowd. However a table was found for me and I sat down and looked over the menu. I was tempted by the cassoulet, which I’ve had before, or trying out the Breton fish stew.

As it was a weekday there was a prix fixe (fixed price) menu, so I went with that having two courses, a starter and a main. 

If I am eating out I generally prefer a starter over a desert. There was a limit choice of four starters, though tempted by the wild mushroom soup, I went with the Pork Terrine with spiced apple chutney and pain de campagne.

It was a nice terrine and the accompanying chutney was a good contrast. I think a stronger flavour would have worked for the terrine, but it had a nice texture. My pain de campagne was well toasted, slightly burnt on the edges. I would have preferred a more lightly toasted bread with my terrine.

There were five choices for the mains. I did think about ordering the Toulouse Sausages with puy lentils and sautéed kale with a Dijonnaise dressing for my main. However I went with the Poulet Grille. This is a chargrilled chicken breast with a creamy wild mushroom and thyme sauce served with gratin potato. 

The presentation of the dish was rather messy I thought. The gratin potato was nice and creamy, but there was no golden crust. I think I was expecting more of a defined structure of potato. The wild mushroom sauce was nice, but lacked flavour, partly down to the excess cream from the gratin potato which diluted the sauce. The chicken was slightly overcooked, but I enjoyed the flavour.

I did enjoy the food and it was tasty. Service was warm, friendly and efficient.