pork Archives - Time for a coffee

June 22, 2026

Pork Chop in a Cider Sauce

When venturing down to Exeter or South Devon, one of my usual places to stop, mainly to charge the car, but also for a refreshment break, is Darts Farm, which also has a quite incredible farm shop.

I was there charging the car, so first I stopped to have an iced coffee (it was one of those really hot days) I then took a wander around the farm shop. One of the items I did buy that day was a pork chop from their butcher counter.

To cook the pork chop, I got a hot frying pan, and added a splash of olive oil. I seared both sides of the pork chop and also cooked the pork chop side to render the fat and crisp up the crackling. I then added some salt and pepper, butter, herbs and garlic and basted the chop for a few minutes before placing in a hot oven to finish cooked. I poured the butter onto the chop.

While the chop was finishing off in the oven, in the hot pan, I added some pancetta, once that was nearly cooked, I added some finely chopped onion. When the onion was softened I added some chopped mushrooms.

I then added some cider to the pan, which I then reduced. I took the pork chop out of the oven and let it rest. With the cider sauce reduced, I added some crème fraîche and freshly chopping parsley.

I added the sauce to a plate, and then placed the pork chop on top.

The sauce was really nice, full of flavour. The pork chop was excellent. Tender, moist and full of flavour. I would certainly get the chop again from Darts.

May 28, 2026May 27, 2026

Gochujang pork ramen

Though there are plenty of places to eat in York, I headed off to the Designer Outlet to charge my car. While I was there charging my car, so I headed into the outlet and went to Wagamama.

My usual go to at Wagamama is mushroom yaki soba, I do like ramen, but find it can be quite messy to eat (drink) and so opt for teppanyaki noodles instead. As I had time, I decided I would go down the ramen route and chose the gochujang pork ramen.

The ramen was gochujang pork, ramen noodles, a silky chicken broth, charred sweetcorn, pea shoots, spring onion and a tea-stained egg.

This was rather lovely. The pork was very tender and full of flavour. I really enjoyed the broth, which was as described was silky and smooth. I did enjoy the flavour of the charred sweetcorn as well.

A delicious bowl of food and something I would order again in the future.

April 11, 2026

Delicious bento box

I was working in Bristol on Friday and headed off to get some lunch. I had this delicious bento box with beef donburi and tan tan udon noodles from the amazing She Sells Streetfood at the amazing Finzels Reach Market.

The beef donburi is tender, full of flavour. The crispy onions add texture and the pickles and cucumbers salad add the necessary sharpness to cut through that rich tasty beef. The combination of ingredients in the tan tan udon noodles are wonderful. The minced pork, pak choi, and soft noodles are served in a creamy broth. There is always something in every spoonful. Don’t forget the chilli if offered, it adds warmth to the the whole experience.

So tasty, so nice, so delicious.

On a previous visit I had swapped the noodles for the katsu fries, but this time I went back to the noodles.

April 9, 2026

Back to Sasi’s Thai

I have mentioned this before, but when in Oxford, I usually visit the Covered Market and have a delicious plate of Thai food from Sasi’s Thai.

My first experience of Sasi’s Thai was back in 2013 when I started working in Oxford and would go out for lunch. It was one of the many food outlets in the market and always served excellent delicious food. Even after I changed jobs, and stopped working in Oxford, if I was back in Oxford (or even passing through) I would stop for lunch and seek out Sasi’s Thai for some spicy food.

This was case in March 2026 when I was in Oxford about to head off to Milton Park I stopped at Sasi’s Thai for lunch. It has been a while since I have eaten there, back in December 2023 if my photographic record is correct. As I expected it was busy, but it has always been busy. I had the two choices with rice, and had the Crispy Pork with Basil and the Garlic Pork.

Both dishes were delicious, quite spicy, but still full of flavour. The food is always fresh and tasty. They don’t cook to order, but the serving pans are regularly refilled with freshly cooked food as they progress through the lunch service.

April 7, 2026April 6, 2026

Was this an Ibérico pork cutlet?

I was reflecting on the pork cutlet that I had the Milton Hill House hotel and remembered I had a similar experience at the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow. Checking back through the blog I realised I hadn’t written up that meal, though I did write up the conference dinner at the same hotel.

The menu described the pork as an Ibérico pork cutlet.

What I actually got was two pork chops, a grilled tomato and some chips. I am not confident that what I got was Ibérico pork. It was tasty and did have a good flavour. I wasn’t that impressed with the slightly chewy rind, I would have probably removed it before cooking.

I think it would have been good to have something green on the plate, but I guess I could have ordered an additional side.

The chips were nice, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

It was okay, but I think it could have been so much better.

April 4, 2026

Grilled Pork Cutlet

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 went with the grilled pork cutlet. This was served with salad and chips.

The plate was served, so I dug in. The pork cutlet was cooked well, it was nice and tender. Wasn’t too sure about the butter it was dressed with, I am guessing it was a garlic and herb butter. For another £3 I could have had a sauce, I always think this is a bit of a scam. If your cutlet (or steak) needs a sauce, then serve a sauce with it. The rind on the cutlet was just chewy and not really edible. I am not sure if the cooking method would actually make it crispy. I would have removed it to be honest.

The dressed salad was nothing to write home about, but it was fresh and zingy. These were described as chips, and these were chips. Crispy on the outside and, for and fluffy on the inside.

In summary it was a nice plate of food. Though it did get me thinking about other pork chops I have had in the past.

March 27, 2026March 27, 2026

A disappointing Roast Pork Fillet

I had dinner in the hotel, and for my starter I had the pork and black pudding scotch egg with homemade brown sauce.

For my main course I had the roast pork fillet that came with a potato terrine, braised pig cheek, bacon jam, red cabbage, and pan jus.

Overall it was quite a disappointment, it wasn’t bad, it was just disappointing.

The plate looked interesting, but the individual components didn’t really make for a great eating experience.

The focus of the dish should be the roasted pork fillet, which comprised of two chunks of pork fillet. Pork fillet with its lack of fat, can be quite difficult to cook well, and in this case the pork was tough and lacked flavour. I also think the way it was served exacerbated the dryness of the pork. These triangular blocks of pork weren’t that easy to cut and eat either. I think serving it either as medallions, or as a proper chunk of pork fillet would have been a better choice. The braised pig cheek was much better, it was tender and was quite tasty though it was quite a small portion, more a taste of pork cheek. I did think there was too much red cabbage, it did dominate the dish. I was not impressed with the potato terrine which felt like a rather dried out potato dauphinoise. I am guessing it was reheated from some prepared potato. I think if it had been cooked in butter, it would have been better. I also wasn’t too keen on the bacon jam, which I felt didn’t add to the dish. Finally it needed more jus, a jug would have been nice.

It was one of those times where I was inspired by the description on the menu, but the reality of the dish failed to meet my expectations.

March 24, 2026March 24, 2026

Pork & Black Pudding Scotch Egg

I had dinner in the hotel, and for my starter I had the pork and black pudding scotch egg with homemade brown sauce.

The scotch egg was well presented, sliced in half, with a spread of the homemade brown sauce. The egg had a soft yolk. The pork and black pudding was nice, not overpowered by the black pudding. The crispy coating was a little too crispy I thought. Overall though I did enjoy the plate.

March 18, 2026

Roast Pork Smørrebrød

Visiting Copenhagen I was looking for somewhere for a snack. There are lots of choices of places to eat. I had gone to the fifth floor of Magasin du Nord where I planned to get some coffee. They had a wonderful food department in the basement, which reminded me of Selfridges in London. While I was up there I noticed Hallernes Smørrebrød which sold some amazing looking Smørrebrød (open faced sandwiches).

They had a lovely looking variety, egg and prawn, beef tartare, chicken, roast beef, potato and roasted pork.

I was tempted by virtually all of them, but I chose the roast pork version. This was roast pork, crackling, pickles, on traditional rye bread.

You do need to use a knife and fork to eat this kind of sandwich and it was delicious. I really liked the flavour, the pickles offsetting the richness of the pork. I also enjoyed the rye bread as well.

I thought to myself, if I am hungry later, I am coming back for another sandwich.

March 6, 2026March 6, 2026

Tau Yew Bak (again)

I was working in Bristol and popped down to the Finzel Reach street food market.

My usual challenge though when visiting is that I usually default to stalls I’ve been to before, and don’t necessarily try something new. So on this visit, though I was tempted by the Fritto Misto from King Fin, I knew I had only had it not that long ago.

So, there was quite a bit of choice, I decided I would go for Fat Rice, which sells Malaysian comfort food, and try their Tau Yew Bak, which is pork belly slow-cooked in soy sauce and spices. Served with basmati rice, fried onions and pickled salad.

Looking at the dish, I realised, this wasn’t new I had eaten this before, just under three years ago. So, it wasn’t new, back then I wrote:

This was a good sized meal and there was a decent portion of the main part of the dish, the pork belly. The pork itself was nice and tender and full of flavour. I liked the chilli sauce that was served with the pork. The salad added zing to the dish and the rice was nice. Overall a delicious bowl of food.

I can say it was just as good this time, the pork was succulent and tender, I liked the chilli sauce, and the rice and salads completed the dish.

One tasty bowl of food.