Category: cheese

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Coleridge Cheese Scone

The National Trust cafe at the Coleridge Cottage in Somerset is quite small, well it is part of the actual cottage. They have a limited menu, which isn’t too surprising. They did however have a Poet’s Lunch available, which is a cheese scone, red onion marmalade and a generous piece of Cheddar inspired by Coleridge’s favourite comfort food, grilled cheese! It also comes with a hot drink.

Now on the day I visited it was really hot, so I asked if I could swap my hot drink for a cold drink, they said yes, but then charged me more money! Ah well, I don’t mind, the profit from the cafe does support the property and the National Trust.

It was a typical National Trust cheese scone, typical but still really good. I did enjoy the chunk of cheddar and the chutney. I enjoyed it all.

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Cheese and Mushroom Toastie

Cheese and Mushroom Toastie

I think I may have mentioned a number of times that generally I don’t do sandwiches, and when looking for something for lunch, I would prefer not to have a sandwich. I do get the attraction of sandwiches and it’s a preference rather than a absolute hatred and boycott of anything between two slices of bread.

However despite that preference, I do quite like a mushroom toast. Not everywhere does them though. I was on my way to York and I had stopped at the Solihull Retail Park to charge the car. Though there was lots of retail outlets, there didn’t appear to be many places to eat. In the end I headed off to M&S which had a cafe. I did wonder what to have and in the end when I saw they did a cheese and mushroom toastie I was sold. You could have had it with chips, but who needs lots of carbohydrates, so went with a small bowl of accompanying slaw.

It was nice that they bought your food to the table, so I didn’t need to wait at a counter wondering if that next toastie was mine or somebody else’s. 

I am not really what to say about the toastie, except I did enjoy it. There was nice proportion of cheese and mushroom and it was nicely browned as well. The slaw added some needed freshness and the vinegar dressing cut through the richness of the cheese. 

For a quick lunch it was ideal, and I enjoyed it.

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Disappointing Ploughman’s Lunch

Having had a nice Ploughman’s Lunch at Killerton House when I visited there back in February, on a recent visit to Stourhead, I decided I would have it again.

What I got was a little different to what I had before.

This plate had two chunks of cheese, one cheddar, and one stilton. There was some sliced apple chunks, two slice of pork pie, red onion chutney, two pickled onions, a pickled gherkin, and a rather limp salad. There was no bread and no coleslaw.

The cheese and pork pie was nice, but the salad did not look very fresh. It was the start of the lunch time, which made me think, was it yesterday’s salad. The pork pie was very good and better than the sausage roll I had at Killerton.

I didn’t question the missing bread, as I thought maybe this one didn’t have bread. However when I left the cafe I saw a photo of the lunch on the wall and it had bread. I would have complained, but the place was packed and there were long queues, and I thought, what would they do. Same reason why I didn’t complain about the salad.

I probably would order this again though, I think the issues were a one off.

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Selection of British Cheeses

benches and a field

I was in Oxfordshire for work, attending a conference in Oxford. I booked to stay in the Milton Hill House hotel close to Abingdon. I would then catch the Park & Ride into the heart of Oxford for the event.

I had dinner in the hotel, and for my main course I had the grilled pork cutlet, and then after that I had the selection of British cheeses which came with chutney, grapes, celery and water biscuits.

cheese and biscuits

I had three cheeses cheddar, stilton, and brie. I did wonder if this was Somerset brie, but brie is not really a British cheese, much more a French one really. I didn’t worry and I didn’t ask, as I like brie anyhow.

Compared to other times I have had cheese and biscuits, these were quite generous portions of cheese. I enjoyed the chutney and I even ate the grapes. I don’t eat celery, so that was left. I also found the water biscuits unappetising. They looked strange, guessing they were some kind of artisan water biscuit. Personally I would have preferred some Carr’s water biscuits, or some bread. So I ate all the cheese, the grapes, most of there chutney, but left the celery and the biscuits. Nice plate of cheese though.

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Ploughman’s Lunch at Killerton House

Killerton House

My usual go to when eating at a National Trust property cafe is a cheese scone, or soup, or even both. On a recent visit to Killerton House in Devon, in the Killerton Kitchen Cafe they had a range of lunch items, including one I hadn’t seen before, which was a Ploughman’s Lunch.

I did like the sound of that, and I thought for £11 was good value for money for somewhere like a National Trust cafe.

I ordered my ploughman’s and took a seat. They had a buzzer system, which I have seen before, but rather than go and collect my food when it buzzes, they use the system to bring the food to your table. Yes, you could use wooden spoons, but this means you don’t need to wait around or hope no one nicks your table when you collect your food.

This was a large plate of food, and let’s get the initial disappointment out of the way which was the three pieces of celery. Not that for some people this isn’t an issue, I have never been a fan of celery, raw or cooked. I guess for most aficionados of the ploughman’s lunch (or even cheese and biscuits) celery is seen as a natural accompaniment. For me, no it isn’t. Well that’s leave that and see what else was on the plate.

There were two chunks of cheese, one cheddar, and one stilton. There was some sliced apple chunks, some sliced sausage roll (guess that was standing in for the pork pie), coleslaw, a few lost leaves of salad, red onion chutney, two pickled onions, and a pickled gherkin. Alongside was some bread and butter.

Ploughman’s Lunch

Overall I was pleased with the plate of food, well obviously not pleased with the celery, but the rest of it was looking good.

Both pieces of cheese were delicious, this was a lovely piece of mature cheddar and I also enjoyed the stilton. If you don’t like stilton then this isn’t going to be the best ploughman’s lunch for you.

The sausage roll was a good stand in for a pork pie and was full of meaty flavour. I liked the pickles and the fresh apple as well.

I probably could have done with some more bread, but that (and the celery) is my only criticism.

This was a nice plate of food and it made for a delicious lunch.

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Slightly happier

I recently blogged about my experience of the set menu at Côte in Marlow.  At the end of the day was I happy? Well I wasn’t unhappy. It was a pity there was limited choice for the starter, I had my heart set on the potted crab, and I also liked the sound of the charcuterie. However with the set menu choices it was restricted to the soup and the beetroot. I did enjoy the meal and it was nice to sit down, be served. 

It wasn’t an amazing experience, but the food I did have I enjoyed. I thought I might try and give that Côte menu another go. This time though my experience would be at the Côte branch in Ealing. My last experience eating in that branch was very positive.

Overall I did enjoy my food at Côte, the service was excellent, and I had a lovely dining experience. It wasn’t perfect, but it was nice, and with the fixed price menu, I thought it was value for money.

I did write in that blog post about how I feel about the chain.

I kind of have a love hate relationship with the Côte chain of restaurants. I really like French style cooking and the Côte menu has an extensive choice of French inspired dishes. The service at the Ealing branch of Côte has always been excellent. Welcoming, warm and friendly. The food arrives in ample time, and I have never felt rushed. The waiting staff are attentive, but not intrusive. What’s not to like? However, though the food is good, it isn’t excellent, and so I always have to temper my expectations. I like the food, but I wouldn’t say I love the food. I am not entirely sure what they could do to make things better, but I am confident that they could. 

Since I wrote that, I did visit Petit Pois in Brighton, which is an amazing little French restaurant where I had some excellent food including a delicious cassoulet, a wonderfully tasty bouillabaisse, and a exquisite skate wing.

So, I kind of know what a great French bistro in the UK can be, Côte is not quite there, but despite that I do enjoy the food and the cooking.

I booked a table through the app and headed off to the restaurant. I was given a friendly and warm welcome and was shown to my table.

On this visit to Côte in Ealing, it was back to the set menu, unlike Marlow, they did have all the starters. This meant I could have the potted crab. The simple basic presentation to me worked well. There was some fresh seeded bread. The potted crab was topped with lobster butter.

potted crab

The crab was delicious. You really taste the crab in the pot. Sometimes when I have crab based dishes in restaurants, you struggle to taste the crab. When I had the Crab Maison at Côte back in 2023 I said of that dish:

I was hoping for an intense crab flavour, which I felt was missing, and what crab there was, was overpowered by the mayonnaise. 

This time you really knew it was crab. I forgot that the butter was a lobster based butter and avoided it. So, not really able to remember what is did taste like. At Marlow they did bring some bread to the table, this time, no bread. Actually I could have done with some more bread, as there was quite a bit of crab in the potted crab.

Having had the steak and frites at Marlow, this time I went with something different and had the sea bream. This was grilled Sea Bream with a sun-dried tomato butter, olive salsa vierge, and sautéed tarragon new potatoes.

grilled sea bream

This was well presented and was absolutely delicious. There was a real combination of French Mediterranean flavours in the plate of food, from the tomatoes olives and the sun-dried tomato butter. The fish was perfectly cooked, full of flavour and the skin was nice and crispy. I really enjoyed that dish.

Now for the third course. I did think about going down a different road for this course, as I had done for the starter and the main, but I am a sucker for cheese and biscuits, so yes I ordered the cheese and biscuits.

I wasn’t given a choice and my plate arrived with just three cheeses, three different cheeses though. The quince jelly was there, but not crackers. However a portion of bread was provided. 

cheese and no crackers

I did feel that the plate looked a little sad and certainly needed something else there, the crackers perhaps would have enhanced the presentation. As it was I prefer bread with my cheese to crackers, though the bread I did get was a little stale.

Overall this experience at Côte Ealing with the set menu was so much better than that at Marlow. They had all the dishes, and the starter and main course were excellent. The cheese like Marlow was disappointing and I must remember in the future to avoid it. Service was warm and friendly.

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The Happiest Menu (well not that happy)

It was a little too early to get to the hotel in London, so decided to stop in Marlow for lunch, planning to eat at the Côte, which had a special January price on their set menu, or as the advert said “The Happiest Menu”. I set the sat nav to get me to Marlow, I had seen they had a branch of Côte and was pretty much on the route to my hotel in London.

Having arrived in Marlow, I drove to a car park. They had a BP Pulse fast charger (read 11 Kw), so after paying for my parking, I put the Funky Cat on charge. It took me a while as though I thought I had a BP Pulse account, I had to set one up. It was priced at 65p kWh, so more expensive than a Tesla charger, but cheaper than most public chargers. I then needed to find the Côte restaurant and discovered on Google Maps it was actually next door to the car park. So, not too far to walk.

I went in and as it was after the lunchtime rush they had plenty of free tables, even so it was still quite busy. So when it came to choose from the menu, I was told they had no potted crab or charcuterie. That left soup or beetroot salad. I decided to go without a starter, well it was lunch, and they did have cheese as a dessert. While I was waiting I was brought some complimentary bread and butter, which I did appreciate.

For my main course I went with the minute steak which came with fries. The steak looked a little anaemic, but the fries looked good.

The steak did in fact have quite a bit of flavour and the fries were hot and crisp. The steak came with a sun dried tomato butter. They did have a special offer of free flowing fries, so they went and brought me another portion of fries as I was close to finishing mine. Overall for steak and frites, it was tasty, and for the special price menu, I thought it was good value for money.

I could have had a dessert, but I went with the cheese, which the menu said came with a choice of four cheeses, but I was told I could only have three. Which I didn’t quibble with. I gave my choice of three, but in the end though I had three portions of cheese, they doubled up as they were out of one of my choices.

I did check the menu later, and I should have had four cheeses. I wasn’t too enamoured with the charcoal crackers so was pleased that they I was given some more bread to have with my cheese. Cheese is cheese and apart from the lack of variety I enjoyed the cheeses I had on the plate, along with the quince jelly.

At the end of the day was I happy? Well I wasn’t unhappy. It was a pity there was limited choice for the starter, I had my heart set on the potted crab, and I also liked the sound of the charcuterie. However with the set menu choices it was restricted to the soup and the beetroot. I did enjoy the meal and it was nice to sit down, be served. Service was good, friendly and efficient. 

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Sirloin Ciabatta

arena

I was back in Amsterdam for some work stuff. This time I was staying at the Hampton by Hilton near the Johan Cruyff Arena, home to Ajax FC. The hotel did not have a restaurant,  but there was a wide range and variety of places close by. I didn’t go to far and went to the place next door, the Brasserie Hoekenrode. They had a menu of grilled entrees and sandwiches. The previous evening I had some nice lamb chops.

After leaving the offices where I had been working, I headed to my hotel. The bars and pubs were very busy for the football game happening later at the Johan Cruyff Arena. I did check how busy the restaurant was next door, it was packed. 

Went back to my hotel room and decided I would wait until after kick off before heading out to get something to eat. 

When I arrived at Brasserie Hoekenrode it was virtually empty, though some fans were in watching the match on the big screen.

I had a sirloin steak ciabatta, which came with cheese salad and a portion of fries.

Sirloin Ciabatta

This was certainly an interesting dish. Not sure it would be something I would order again. The steak was nice, but I really don’t think the cheese added anything to the sandwich. The fries were nice, but the salad was nothing special. 

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Three course meal at the Petit Pois

Having first visited Brighton with my family in the 1980s on our way to France, I have fond memories of sailing from its port to Dieppe, Fecamp, or Le Harve. I returned for a JISC program meeting in July 2004, where I stayed at the lavish Grand Hotel. Although I found it a bit too posh for my liking, I enjoyed dinner at a French restaurant in The Lanes—likely a now-closed Café Rouge. Another visit took place in June 2005 during a holiday in Bognor Regis. Last year, I had planned to stop in Brighton for a meal on a driving holiday to the continent, but I ran out of time and ended up in Horsham instead. Attending a conference there this week has been a pleasure, and it’s been great to see the city once again. I especially enjoyed the conference dinner on the Brighton Palace Pier and all the great food I ate while I was there.

Having enjoyed both the cassoulet and the bouillabaisse, it was something of a no brainer that on my final evening, I would go back to Petit Pois for dinner.

The bistro had a casual, French-inspired atmosphere with wooden tables and chairs. The walls were decorated with an eclectic mix of art and objects, and the place was bustling with people. I was lucky to get a table.

I decided I would try out the set menu, I did plan only to have a starter and a main course, but in the end, I had three courses. There are a limited number of choices at each stage of the fixed menu, but I think that’s a good thing.

For my starter I went with the crispy calamari. This is a dish I regularly have when eating out.

calamari

The calamari came with a mixed salad, lemon, and aioli. The calamari was best described as okay, maybe I had unrealistic expectations having had some great food at Petit Pois. It was crispy and actually quite flavoursome; however. I felt maybe it was a little overcooked. 

For my main I had initially decided I would have the steak frites, but that is something I can cook, and I have had that at other places. Looking over the menu I went with the skate wing, crushed new potatoes, courgette ribbons, capers, and butter sauce.

skate

After the slightly disappointing calamari, the skate was an incredible dish. The skate was grilled to perfection. It was sat upon a bed of crushed potatoes. I liked the courgette ribbons, and the sauce brought everything together. The skate was cooked well and was easy to remove from the bone. I really enjoyed the skate; the whole dish was delicious.

I had intended to only have two courses but then I am a sucker for cheese and biscuits. The assistte de fromage came with chutney, grapes, celery and crackers. There was a choice of cheeses, I left it up to the chef but asked for no goat’s cheese.

cheese board

This was a pretty serving slate, there were three different kinds of crackers, a small bowl of chutney, a few grapes, a slice of something, think it was made of figs. There were three small pieces of cheese, some camembert, a blue cheese and a hard cheese. The cheese was quite ripe, and had sweated in some instances, but was flavourful. It was also quite difficult to find amongst the other stuff on the slate.

Overall, I was pleased with the meal, all the dishes were nice, however the skate was outstanding. That skate more than made up for the shortcomings of the calamari and the cheese.

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Gluten Free Cauliflower Cheese

For our Sunday lunch I made a gluten free cauliflower cheese. It didn’t quite go to plan, but I think I know what didn’t work and so will do it slightly different next time.

For my recipe, I take a spoonful size knob of butter and melt it in a pan. I then take a similar sized spoonful of plain gluten free flour and stir that into the melted butter to make a roux.

I then add milk and whisk. Now at this point the sauce isn’t very thick, don’t be tempted to add more flour, as I found that at some point the sauce thickens very quickly (and thickly).

I did add some more milk, but my sauce was very thick. I seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper, before adding a small handful of grated cheddar cheese. This is stirred into the sauce.

In an ovenproof bowl, add some florets of raw cauliflower. Then pour over the white cheese sauce. Now I had to spoon mine in as it was too thick. Top with more grated cheddar. I also added some grated mozzarella as well.

This is then baked in the oven for about thirty minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned. It was, despite the thick sauce, delicious.

After bemoaning my thick sauce on Bluesky, one recommendation was to make the roux “wetter” by adding more butter. So the next time I make this I am going to try that.