Category: lamb

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So what about the specials?

I have been to the Landing Light quite a bit recently. It’s local so easy to get to, the menu is good, with special offers it’s good value for money. As a pub food place, it’s really nice.

Reflecting on why I had been going more often, I remember when it opened its speciality was rotisserie chicken. The menu was awash with rotisserie chicken, not only could you have plain old rotisserie chicken, you could also have rotisserie chicken with sauce. Many of their dishes were made with rotisserie chicken as well. I am not a great fan of rotisserie chicken, as I often find the chicken has been overcooked and can be somewhat dry. I think that was why, when looking for places to eat, I would avoid the Landing Light. Another reason was that a few years ago there were quite a few choices of places to eat out in Weston, we had Prezzo, Pizza Express down at the seafront, Frankie and Benny’s was close by. However they have all closed down since the pandemic. With less choice, the Landing Light has become a more attractive option.

So, when deciding where to go for a celebratory meal, it was an easy choice, to choose the Landing Light. Booking was quick and simple online and upon arrival we were given a warm welcome. We were shown to our table and told who would be our server for the evening.

There was a wide choice of food to choose from and we were impressed with the attitude towards allergies, as one of our party requires a gluten free diet.

I was a little disappointed that there was no specials menu, and literally as I mentioned this in a matter of fact way at the table, our server arrived, whereupon promptly she apologised and went to get them.  When she came back, I did apologise as I had been discussing the specials at the table and I was aware I came across somewhat rude as she approached the table. She was fine about it, and just to add her service was fantastic. She made us feel welcome, and nothing was too much trouble. 

I looked over the specials menu, our server did say that the cod wasn’t available. So I decided I would have the lamb from the specials menu. I did think about having the pan roasted chicken again, as I had enjoyed that last time. It did amuse us when the server came back and I said I was going to have the lamb, she said it wasn’t available. She was joking and I could have the lamb.

Our food arrived, all freshly cooked. We particularly liked the fact that the gluten free dish arrived separately to avoid contamination.

I had a slow cooked lamb shank with mashed potatoes and green vegetables.

plate of food

I knew the lamb was probably pre-cooked and then heated up when ordered. The lamb was tender and had a great flavour. The mash was smooth and creamy. Overall I enjoyed my meal and it was nice to have something I wouldn’t normally have.

The other food on the table was said to be delicious and everyone enjoyed their dishes.

Our server did an outstanding job as our server, she was smiling, welcoming, efficient and we were all impressed. She is an asset to the team.  We did expect good service, but our server went over and above in serving us, from providing menus, checking what we wanted, serving drinks and settlement of the bill. She made us laugh, she made us smile, and we had an ever better dining experience than we expected. 

Overall the service was excellent, the food was delicious and good value for money.

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Nidderdale Lamb Rump

I was visiting York and on my way there I needed to charge my EV. I had looked at various options and saw there were some Tesla chargers at Weeton’s Food Hall near Harrogate on the way. Upon arrival I plugged in the charger and it started charging almost straight away. I had some time so popped into Weeton’s with the intention of getting a coffee, even a sandwich. However the menu looked really interesting, so decided I would have a proper lunch there.

I went with the Nidderdale Lamb Rump, which came with Jerusalem artichoke purée, sautéed Jersey royal potatoes, and a borlotti bean salsa. As it was been cooked to order it took a little time to arrive, which as I was charging (and Tesla charge idle fees)  I was a little concerned about, but I knew really I had plenty of time.

The plate of food looked really nice.

The lamb was cooked perfectly, it was still pink, but there was also a lovely external char. I enjoyed the Jerusalem artichoke purée, maybe a little more would ave been nice. I liked the potatoes, though if they were smaller, I might have enjoyed them more, even so I did like them.  The borlotti bean salsa was an interesting addition, and I liked the contrasting textures that added to the dish.

I finished and cleaned the plate. I was really impressed with the whole dish, yes there are minor changes I would have made, but in reality this was an excellent plate of delicious food, that I loved eating.

Would I go again, yes, but a five hundred mile round trip for lunch, is probably a little extreme. However the next time I need to visit North Yorkshire I will go out of my way to visit Weetons for lunch.

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Lamb Chops from Tony’s Pita

Over the years I have been visiting Ealing, I have been meaning to visit Tony’s Pita. I quite like a kebab now and then. On a recent visit I took the time to eat there. I did think about the kebab, but in the end I went with the lamb chops. These were cooked on the chargrill to order. They were served with chipped potatoes, flat bread, and salad.

These were, I think, shoulder chops, so were not the best quality lamb chops you can get. However it was a tasty plate of food and I enjoyed it. I think I would go back and try one of the other dishes on the menu.

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Railway Mixed Grill

To celebrate a birthday we headed over to Sandford for a meal at The Railway Inn. Sandford is on the A368 between Weston and Churchill. The Railway Inn  is owned by the Thatchers cider company who are also based in the village. I remember passing this many times before it was taken over by Thatchers and refurbished. I have been there before for drinks, but this was the first time I had been there for a meal.

The main part of the pub is the bar area. A large mainly wooden extension was added to provide a restaurant area. We had booked, but the place wasn’t busy, and we were given a great table.

I had looked over the menu online, but it was a sample menu. They say on the menu:

Our dishes change with the seasons and the fresh local produce that goes into each and every one of them.

So I was prepared for a different menu, however I had liked the sound of some of the specials.

The menu we had at the table was different to the one online (as expected). I did think about having one of the specials, however in the end I decided I would have the Railway Mixed Grill. The menu didn’t describe what would be in the grill, so did wonder what I would get.

The food was cooked fresh to order and my plate arrived.

On my mixed grill I had a steak, lamb chop, chicken, gammon, and sausages. Alongside was a grilled field mushroom, a herby tomato. I had chosen a heritage tomato salad as my side.

Now I wasn’t to keen on the presentation, but then again it was a mixed grill. The steak was excellent, nicely cooked, good char on the outside and pink in the middle. The lamb chop was small, but nice. The gammon was rather salty, probably a little too salty for me. The chicken was slightly overcooked.

I liked the heritage tomato salad, which was fresh and tasty.

Alongside I had a flight of cider, three small glasses of different ciders.

The Railway Inn, as you might expect had an excellent range of draft ciders. I like the idea of a flight, enabling a range of ciders to be tasted.

Upon reflection and seeing the plate of food that a neighbouring table received, I think I should have gone with one of the specials. The pork special looked really good. I do plan to visit the Railway Inn again in the future.

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Time for some Tapas

Went out for Tapas at La Rueda Spanish Tapas Bar in Ealing. We were there in the early evening, so it wasn’t busy, and we could sit in the (open) window area looking out onto the street. With the hot weather, we weren’t that hungry, so we had only a few dishes.

We had the Patatas Bravas, triple fried potatoes, spicy brava and infamous Spanish aioli garlic mayonnaise sauce. Not sure if the triple frying helped, as the potatoes weren’t that crispy. However they were nice, I liked the spicy brava, and the mayonnaise was an interesting addition. 

Another of our dishes was the Pollo a la Plancha, described as grilled spicy boneless chicken thighs served with Spanish alioli garlic mayonnaise sauce. Now the photograph in the online menu shows whole chicken thighs, so I was a little surprised when we were served with chicken skewers. They were served on a flat bread, well more of a wrap than a flat bread. The chicken was moist, tender and full of flavour. 

Alongside the chicken we had the Pinchos Morunos, grilled spiced lamb skewers, chimichurri served with humus. These were tender chunks of lamb with peppers and onions. Like the chicken cooked well and full of flavour, as well as being served on a flat wrap. It came with a small portion of hummus, I probably would have liked more hummus, but then I probably needed to order hummus off the menu.

Out final dish was the Calamares, fried squid rings in batter. Lovely crispy batter and tender squid. Delicious.

Completely forgot to take photographs of the dishes, which is unlike me.

The service was excellent, I liked how they served ice with their tap water, I also had an alcohol free beer. If I wasn’t driving I would probably have had a red wine.

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Time for a Mixed Grill

The Landing Light is a Marston pub. Though very close to where we live I think I have been there only once before, for a meal, and even then I am not sure I actually had. So I was looking forward to going there when we went there for a birthday meal. The Landing Light is not an old pub, it opened ten years ago, it has a modern retro feel to it.

I looked over the menu and there were lots of things I liked the sound of. I decided I would have the mixed grill. This was a 4oz rump steak, a 6oz gammon steak, a pork chop, a lamb chop, a pork sausage with a fried free-range egg.

It took a while for the food to arrive, and my mixed grill was a large plate of food. Alongside all the meat, the plate came with chips, grilled tomato, mushroom and a green leaf garnish.

The meat was cooked well, the steak was delicious. Nice char but pink inside. I liked the lamb chop and the gammon. I wasn’t that impressed with the sausage, and the pork chop was less of a chop and more of a loin steak.

I did enjoy the plate of food and would certainly visit the Landing Light again.

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Pan Roasted Lamb Rump

I was up in Birmingham for a roundtable event and staying at the Edgbaston Park  Hotel which is on the University of Birmingham campus. This is a modern conference hotel with a restaurant and a bar, as well as meeting rooms.

I had the scotch duck egg royale for my starter. For my main course I had the pan roasted lamb rump, aubergine purée, glazed shallots, potato purée, mint jus.

On the plate was the jus, then some potato purée onto which was placed two thick slices of rare pan roasted lamb rump. Also on the plate was two spoons of aubergine purée, a glazed shallot, and a broccoli floret. Finally the dish was dressed with some mixed leaves as a garnish.

The lamb was very tender, but was under seasoned. I rarely if ever add salt to my food, this lamb needed some salt. I did though enjoy all the other aspects of the dish. The potato purée was lovely and smooth, the aubergine purée was quite tasty. Not sure the mixed leaves garnish added anything.

I liked this dish, but it needed more seasoning. I had asked for my lamb to be cooked rare. I am not sure in the future I will ask for this kind of dish to be rare, I enjoyed the lamb, but think it needed a little more cooking time for me. Next time I will ask for it to be cooked medium.

I didn’t have dessert, though was tempted by the cheese and biscuits.

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I knew that

I have always enjoyed the Kurdish wraps from Matina in the St Nicholas market in Bristol. The star of the show is the freshly baked flat bread, but the salads and pickles that you get in that bread are also really tasty.

I tried my own version of the wrap. Not an identical copy, one that was inspired by the Matin wrap.

lamb kebab

I made some red cabbage slaw, this was thinly sliced red cabbage dressed with white wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. This I made about thirty minutes in advance.

I also did some pickled red onion. In a pan I heated some vinegar, added salt, sugar and pepper and then added some sliced red onion. I kept it on the heat for a minute or so, then took it off the heat.

I took some Middle Eastern laffa bread from Waitrose, these are handstretched flatbreads from The Levantine Table range.

I spread some hummus, tzatziki, on the flatbread. I added some shredded romaine lettuce heart and sliced cucumber.

The lamb was some boned leg, which I had cubed and seasoned with rosemary, salt, and pepper. I chargrilled the lamb on my griddle. The cooked lamb was added to the flat bread, and I finished off the dish with the red cabbage slaw and the pickled red onion. The lamb was really tender and tasty.

Though I really enjoyed this meal, it wasn’t as good as those from Matina, but then I knew that.

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Scarsdale’s shoulder of South Coast lamb

Scarsdale's shoulder of South Coast lamb

I was in London and staying at The Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel part is now a new build at the back. 

The menu changes every so often, and they always seem to have a range of choices, that means it can be difficult to choose what to have.

One thing that I did like the sound of, which I hadn’t seen before was the Scarsdale’s shoulder of South Coast lamb, served with a rosemary potato rösti, sautéed kale, red currant gravy.

It was one of the more expensive items on the menu, but I did like the sound of it, so I ordered it.

It did look quite impressive, this was a big portion of lamb shoulder.

However I will be honest I was a little disappointed, I wonder if that was because I had quite high expectations. The lamb was lovely and tender and did have a lot of flavour. However, though it had been slow cooked, it was obviously reheated for my plate. I think it could have done with a little more caramelisation, which would have added more flavour.

The rosemary potato rösti was also disappointing, it was packed with flavour, but it needed to be more crispy. It was quite soft. I did enjoy the kale and the gravy was nice.

Though it wasn’t perfect, it was nice, however I don’t think if it was on the menu again I would order it.

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Time for a sandwich, well a nice sandwich

Portwall Tavern

Went out for a walk at lunchtime. I did consider Low N Slow at St Nick’s market, but the brisket wasn’t looking that good today, it looked excellent last week. I then went to the Finzel Reach street food market. I did consider getting lunch from She Sells Sushi, but I’ve had that quite a lot recently, so thought no. 

I had a look at La Panza next to the office, which has a £10 lunch deal. I was very tempted, but disappointed to find out that the deal had only one choice of pasta, which was a cheesy broccoli bucatini pasta, which I didn’t really fancy. I had hoped they would have a choice of pasta, but they only had a pasta of the day.

I then remembered I had enjoyed a sandwich dish from the Portwall Tavern, so went there and had the pulled lamb ciabatta with potato wedges. 

The last time I visited the Tavern I had swapped the wedges for skin-on fries, this time I didn’t. That was because last time the wedges had looked so good.

This was a substantial open sandwich. There was a slice of ciabatta with salad and a good sized portion of the slow cooked (pulled) lamb. The lamb was garnished with some mint yoghurt.

I don’t normally do sandwiches, but this wasn’t a sandwich, this was quite a substantial meal. The lamb was full of flavour, very tender, and tasty.

I enjoyed the sandwich. Generally I don’t do sandwiches.