calamari Archives - Page 4 of 5

January 3, 2016

Time for a Coffee: Top Ten Blog Posts 2015

So what food, drink and coffee blog posts were people reading this year? Interestingly none about coffee?

At number ten is an article entitled, Alba Ristorante Part Two. Back in 2008 when attending Handheld Learning, one evening we went to a local Italian next to the Barbican in London. I do remember the meal, it was delicious. This was a really nice upmarket Italian restaurant but with quite reasonable prices, especially for London.

The ninth most popular post was a Classic Heineken Advert from 1976.

The eighth post was about cooking Chorizo, Cooking Chorizo. as was the seventh post Chorizo Frito al Vino.

The post at number six was about Basil & pine nut marguerite and a simple pasta recipe was at number five, Pasta in Tomato Sauce.

The fourth most popoular post was not about just any pork medallions, but Marks and Spencers Pork Medallions.

Reminiscing about Newquay Steam Beer was the third most read post on the blog.

The second most popular post was one of the many on the blog about squid, this one was about the Chilli Squid from Wagamama.

The most popular post this year was Sirloin for Beef Wellington? This was a response to the high ranking of another post about using sirloin steak in a Beef Wellington rather than fillet steak due to the way people were (at the time) searching Google.

Well here’s raising a cup of coffee and wishing you all the best for 2016.

April 18, 2013

Bella Bella

My last experience with Bella Italia was rather a disappointment, so with a little trepidation we went there for dinner, though this time it was a much better experience.

When we had arrived the place was quite empty, well it was after 4pm and you wouldn’t expect it to be that busy. What I didn’t realise when we left just before 6pm the place was buzzing and pretty much full. It certainly didn’t feel like that sitting down, I suspect the main reason is that this branch of Bella Italia is very much zoned into different areas, with clever use of walls and bannisters (or railings) though the place is quite big, you actually feel you are in a much smaller cosier venue. Compare this with the Bella Italia at Cabot Circus which is smaller, but feels much bigger and more open, and as a result less cosy.

There was a different menu to the time we last went and I would say that I was certainly less inspired. It felt a little more bland and corporate than previous visits, but that doesn’t mean it is, it just felt that way.

As a last minute choice I went with a starter and chose, despite my plan to be choosing different things, I went with the calamari at £5.95. Lightly breaded and deep fried tender squid, with lemon and caper mayonnaise. The squid was tender, but I have had much nicer squid at Bella Italia. It was apparent they had changed the recipe (well probably supplier). The last time I had the squid it included the tentacles as well as pieces of squid, and they were covered in a parmesan batter. This time they were rings and were breaded rather than battered. The only criticism I would make back then was that sometimes they overcooked the squid, this time though with the new recipe they didn’t.

So what about the main courses?

My son decided to go with the Gamberoni at £9.95, that is described on the menu as eight succulent king prawns sautéed with spaghetti, garlic and chilli in a spicy pomodoro sauce. As with a previous experience the waiting staff did ask if he wanted the chilli to which he replied yes. I find it amusing that they say eight prawns, obviously a combination of marketing the dish, and making sure that people don’t complain about the number of prawns! My son really enjoyed the dish and finished it all off.

After a lot of thought I went with the Formaggio Double Burger at £12.95, described in the menu as a double Americano with melted mozzarella, parmesan and gorgonzola cheese. It was served in a soft ciabatta bun with fries and smoked tomato and onion relish.

Firstly if they are chips, they are not fries! Fries are thin and skinny and the chips are chunky. These were chunky! The best way to describe them was as okay, they weren’t awful, but they were certainly not the best chips I had. Reflecting on this I think the problem was they were quite tasteless.

The burger though on the other hand was delicious. I was very impressed with the flavour and the texture. It was just how I like it. When I compare this one, the last time I had a burger at the Holiday Inn Express. When I ordered it, I was a little concerned that the three cheeses would overpower the dish, but that wasn’t the case, they complemented the burgers really well.

My wife went with the Portobello Mushroom Burger, which was a portobello mushroom, with goat’s cheese, roasted red pepper and onion, baby gem leaves, tomato and mayonnaise, served in a soft ciabatta bun. What I found funny was that she thought this was just the topping on a regular burger, she didn’t realise that the mushroom was the burger. Despite that “mistake” she really enjoyed it, she said it was delicious and the really liked the goat’s cheese.

My two younger children went with the pizza and spaghetti bolognese and both of them really enjoyed their food and ate a lot of it.

As for service, well I would say that the place got it just right. We had really good service throughout the meal.

January 12, 2013

Seafood Platter

For New Year’s Eve we decided to have a fish and seafood platter. It was an opportunity to cook and eat some great food. However one problem, as you may recall New Year’s Eve is not only part of Christmas, it’s also a Monday. As a result it was virtually impossible to find any fresh fish or seafood. Generally the fishing fleets don’t go out at weekends and I suspect that they certainly wouldn’t go out over a weekend during the festive season. As a result we went with frozen seafood, not my first choice, but with what we wanted it was better than nothing.

We got some frozen king prawns, scallops and squid from Sainsbury’s as part of their Taste the Difference range. One of the key things to do when using frozen seafood is to defrost and defrost safely. If you cook frozen seafood from frozen, generally what happens is that you overcook it and it becomes very rubbery. You need to take care when defrosting to avoid food poisoning. The best way to defost is in the fridge, but this takes time. If you do defrost at room temperature, make sure you move the seafood to the fridge once it has defrosted.

The prawns I cooked on my griddle, whilst the scallops were cooked very quickly on a hot flat frying pan, as were the squid rings.

The scallops were perfect and I was really pleased with how I cooked them. They were browned on each side, but were only just done on the inside. As a result they were melt in the mouth tender, and full of flavour. The prawns were very good, and served with some lemon were delicious. I was less impressed with the squid rings. In the past when I have cooked squid, I have bought frozen whole squid from Tesco and cut it into pieces of squid. I much prefer using this way of preparing squid, usually scoring one side to ensure even cooking and browing of the edges. The squid from Sainsbury’s comes ready sliced into rings. It cooked fine, but it lacked the depth of flavour I have had in the past with squid from Tesco. Why didn’t I get my squid from Tesco, well they’ve seemed to have stopped selling it.

Alongside this plate of seafood I also grilled some giant tiger prawns in their shells. These were placed under a really hot grill, after they were fully defrosted and brushed with some olive oil. The main reason for these prawns is twofold, one is the visual impact, secondly was flavour. They were delicious, though of course were quite messy to peel.

We also had some dressed crab, these were small crab shells filled with a crab pate and white crab meat. They looked really nice, but lacked the depth of flavour I would liked to have. This was served with some fresh crusty bread.

 Another successful dish was some clams. I got a pack of frozen Big and Juicy clams from the Big Prawn Company which I mananged to buy at Waitrose.

Again the key was to ensue they were properly defrosted before cooking, well they’re cooked already, all they really needed was heating up. I did this in a pan with some freshly chopped garlic and parsley. I thought they were delicious and very good value at £3.29. I think they would also work with linguine if wanted pasta and seafood.

We also cooked some salmon, this was roasted in the oven with a little olive oil.

Overall this was a delicious meal, we served it with some fresh salad and I also made a paella.

August 23, 2012

Don’t overcook the squid!

A recent birthday treat was to go to the new Frankie and Benny’s in Weston-super-Mare. As it was lunchtime, I went for the lunchtime menu special, which seemed reasonable value. For my starter I went with the Bruschetta, a homemade mix of fresh tomato, red onion, basil, olive oil and cracked black pepper served over toasted garlic ciabatta bread, finished with a balsamic glaze. I was not that impressed with this, I found the red onion very harsh and astringent. Normally red onion can be very sweet when raw, however I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would.

The Calamari Caesar Salad came next, which consisted of (according to the menu) lightly fried and seasoned calamari, crispy Cos lettuce leaves, white anchovy, tomato and fresh garlic ciabatta croutons drizzled with our Caesar dressing, topped with Grana Padano and served with a wedge of lemon.

I would probably take exception to the phrase “lightly fried” as the squid had been overcooked to the point where the calamari was crunchy on the outside and quite rubbery on the inside. It wasn’t unpleasant, but I do think that Frankie and Benny’s could do a much better job of cooking the squid. It’s not difficult to cook squid well, however I think that the squid at Frankie and Benny’s is double cooked, it is cooked already and then cooked again when it is ordered. I of course don’t know that for sure. The chef has used the larger outside leaves of the Cos lettuce for the dish, which meant they were more limp than crispy. Overall I did enjoy the salad and it was a good sized portion and value for money.

August 5, 2012

Pizza time in Swindon

Bottelino’s is an independent chain of Italian restaurants in the South West, they also have a branch in Swindon next to the shopping outlet. I do enjoy the pizza at Bottellino’s, so on a recent visit to the STEAM Museum we decided to take advantage of their lunchtime offer, of any pizza or pasta for £5.95.

We shared a Piccante, with spicy sausage, bacon, mushroom, chilli and mozzarella cheese. It was nice and fresh, but probably a little too spicy from what we actually wanted, but it was very tasty.

Alongside, as it was only £2.50 as part of the offer I went for the Calamari Fritti, squid coated in seasoned flour and deep-fried. This was a nice sized portion, interestingly portioned as sticks of calamari rather than actual sliced squid or the rings one usually finds. Slightly rubbery in texture they did taste nice and the accompanying salad was good too. Very different to the dish when I have had it previously.

My son went with the Spaghetti alla Vongole, spaghetti with clams and garlic, in a white wine, fresh basil and tomato sauce. I think initially he was disappointed with the look of a dish expecting fresh clams, however he really enjoyed the dish once he started to eat it.

My two younger children went with the children’s menu, one had a cheese and tomato pizza and the other Spaghetti alla Bolognese. Both enjoyed their meals. These were good sized portions on proper plates. I remember when I first visited Bottelino’s they didn’t have a children’s menu, they do now, which is quite good value for money, at £4.96, as alongside their pizza or pasta they get a drink and for desert a scoop of proper ice cream.

On previous visits to Swindon, we usually went for lunch at the National Trust Heelis Cafe, however back in April 2010 we had a very poor experience and as a result we’ve not gone back. I think on any future visit to Swindon, we are probably more likely to get to eat at Bottelino’s now.

February 18, 2012

Lunch at La Tasca

I do like tapas, but haven’t eaten at La Tasca for a while. It’s a great place to go in a group, but unlike a few other places I could mention, it’s not a place I often go to when eating on my own or needing a quick place for lunch. However needing a quick lunch, I did notice walking by that La Tasca had a lunch deal on, two tapas dishes and bread (or salad) as an accompaniment for £5.95, that to me seemed quite reasonable. I had considered going to Jamie’s Italian which was close by, but they don’t appear to do a lunch menu and the main menu was a little expensive for a quick lunch.

For my two dishes I went with Calamares Andaluza, crispy squid, served with a roasted garlic & paprika mayonnaise and Paella Valenciana, a paella with chicken breast and mixed seafood. Alongside I went with the bread, the Pan de Barra, freshly baked white baguette, olive bloomer and caramelised onion bread, served with an extra-virgin olive oil & balsamic vinegar dip.

Not sure how freshly baked the bread was, but though it may have been freshly baked at some point it didn’t feel that freshly baked to me. Probably because I have been spoilt by going to the Royal Well Tavern where the bread is so fresh that it is still warm when it arrives at the table! However it was nice to have three different kinds of bread and my favourite out of the three was the olive bloomer.

The calamares and paella arrived together. The calamares was nicely cooked, crisp batter and tender in the middle. The mayonnaise complemented the squid well. I enjoyed the calamares and was certainly one of the better dishes of squid I have had from La Tasca, so was impressed.

On previous visits to La Tasca, when I have had paella, usually as part of a special offer, tapas for a tenner, it wasn’t that special. I thought it was a bit of a risk taking the paella, but I thought why not. I was quite pleased though, it was very pleasant and certainly much better than previous paella I have had at La Tasca.

Overall, good service, nice food and value for money, just what I wanted for lunch.

June 25, 2011

Selezione Classica

A quick lunch at Bella Italia was on the cards and not fancying pizza or pasta I went with a sharing platter all to myself…

Our selection of oven baked lemon & rosemary chicken wings, spiced meatballs, calamari, mini garlic filled calzoni and lightly battered courgettes served with flamed pepper and lemon herb dips.

I have talked before about platters, sometimes they consist of a bundle of stuff that was thrown into a deep fat fryer. This one from Bella Italia was more imaginative than most.

The chicken wings were, as I expected, reheated from cooked, but you could smell and taste the lemon and rosemary. The problem with reheating is that it changes the taste and texture of the chicken. Freshly cooked chicken wings are much more succulent and have more flavour and when you have had freshly cooked, you are always disappointed with the reheated versions. These, though reheated, were very nice, and it was also a nice change not have them covered in a sweet sticky sauce.

The meatballs were nice and spicy and were something I wasn’t expecting to find on the platter. They came in an earthenware tumbler and were covered in a pleasant tomato sauce.

The calamari were typical of the calamari at Bella Italia, covered in flour and deep fried. Slightly overcooked for my liking, but it was proper squid and not just rubbery rings as you find at some places. I do like calamari.

The mini garlic filled calzoni were simply small pizza bases, with garlic butter, folded and baked like a calzone pizza. Soft on the inside, but with crunchy edges, the garlic was subtle and complemented the bread.

The lightly battered courgettes, reminded me of a dish I had ordered on Kefalonia. Chunky strips of courgette, covered in a batter and deep fried. These were crispy on the outside and the courgette was lovely and tender, almost melt in the mouth on the inside. Really nice.

Overall I enjoyed my platter and would be happy to order it again.

December 2, 2010

Pizza Express

So there I was needing a bite to eat, I had had no lunch and it was looking like that working late that night I wouldn’t have a chance to get anything decent to eat and would have to grab a takeaway…. didn’t fancy that.

Luckily I had in my pocket some spare Tesco Clubcard Reward vouchers that were about to expire, so I thought lets use these, have a really nice meal, but where?

Well (from the title of this blog posting) you guessed I went to Pizza Express. Using the vouchers does restrict you to specific places, I had considered Café Rouge, but traffic was bad and to be honest did I want to be disappointed again? So the only place left from which to choose was Pizza Express. I have been to Pizza Express quite a few times before and have enjoyed my meals there. I also quite like their range available in the supermarket.

I did consider not going, as the place was empty (well it was late afternoon) and I wasn’t really wanting to be the focus of all the staff as the sole eater in the establishment, however time was against me and I was hungry!

As I was hungry I decided to have a starter and though there was a fair bit of choice, I went in the end for the Calamari Al Forno, breaded calamari with house dressing.

So no rings here then! More chunks of squid that were breaded and cooked. I did like the presentation and it was a nice portion, not too small and not too big. Alas the calamari was a little chewy, partly I guess as it was either overcooked (unlikely) or double cooked (more likely). The house dressing was a wet mayonaise with probably too much vinegar, but there was lemon for those that like me who prefer that. I did eat them all up and did enjoy it, it’s just I know that calamari can be so much better than this, however this is much better than a lot of calamari I have had at other places.

After my started I went with a Romana Pizza Pollo Pancetta.

This pizza has a stretched very thin base, similar to those (allegedly) you can find in northern Italy. The base was covered in red pepper (peperonata) sauce and topped with chicken, yellow peppers and what was suppose to be crispy pancetta.

Not this was really nice, what I did like was that it had flavour, wasn’t salty (as some pizza places to do with their pizza) and looked great. The chicken looked to be real chicken that was ripped and placed on the pizza, rather than processed pre-sliced chicken you can find on some pizzas. The yellow peppers were nice and crunchy. However one slight problem, the crispy pancetta looked like it had been replaced with proscuttio! It was neither pancetta or crispy. I didn’t complain as it was still nice, but it would have been nice to be told that this is what they had done.

I was quite full at this point, however the waiter pointed out that they had a selection of small desserts served with a coffee. Now that sounded just right. So I went with the Caffé Merenghina and my choice of an Americano.

The dish comprised os a small individual lemon pastry tart topped with a, in my case, slightly droopy meringue. The tart was great, not too sweet and not too tart and just the right size. The coffee was also decent.

The bill (I already had a coffee) came to just £21 which wasn’t bad at all in my book for a really nice meal. I will be going again.

September 23, 2010

Calamari

I do like calamari, these from Bottelino’s was okay, certainly not the best I have ever had, but also not the worse. Would be nice if they were a little more authentic.

Though do compare this portion with this one.

Looks different. For me that’s a positive thing, means that this is not processed system cooking.

September 9, 2010

Calamari and Calzone

Went to Bottelino’s again.

For starters I had the calamari again.

I do like calamari, this was okay, certainly not the best I have ever had, but also not the worse. Would be nice if they were a little more authentic. Next time I go I must have something different, though looking at another table I don’t think I will go for the mushrooms. Quite liked the look of the anti pasta.

They do a lunchtime special at my local branch where any pizza or pasta is just £4.95, so I decided to try the calzone.

It comprises a pizza base folded and stuffed in this instance with bolognaise sauce and mozzarella cheese.

I didn’t enjoy this as much as other pizzas I have had at Bottelino’s, it was a little too rich for me.

Overall not the best experience I have had, but didn’t put me off going again.

Bottelino’s is an independent chain of Italian restaurants in Bristol and North Somerset.