Category: restaurant

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Time for Valerie’s Welsh Rarebit

We were up at Cribbs Causeway doing some shopping and we stopped at Patisserie Valerie for a coffee and a snack. There are quite a few places you can have a coffee at Cribbs, but what I like about Patisserie Valerie is that it is table service. So we sat at our table and looked over the menu. The place was busy, but the service was excellent, and we didn’t have to wait long to order.

Whilst my son went with the traditional breakfast, my first choice was an apricot danish, however they had run out. So I went with my second choice, which wasn’t a pastry, but Valerie’s Welsh Rarebit. Our food arrived promptly, which was nice, especially as the place was quite full of diners. Valerie’s Welsh Rarebit was toasted bloomer bread topped with a poached egg, tomato chutney, cheddar, mustard & served with a side salad.

I don’t think I have ever had Rarebit before, so I was interested to see what it was going to be like. This was a nice cheesy toast dish, the mustard was subtle and added warmth. The poached egg was perfectly cooked. I liked the tomato chutney, which was on the side, I did think it was a little too sweet for me. Overall it was a really nice light meal.

I think one of the reasons I hadn’t ordered or had this dish before, was that usually I am looking for cake, or a full meal. Valerie’s Welsh Rarebit for me is more of a snack, or a light meal.

Alongside I had a flat white, not the best flat white in the world, but it was a good coffee.

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Steak and Chips again and again

Staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I went for dinner and I really wasn’t sure what to have. There is a good choice on the menu, but I was in that kind of mood when, I was hungry, but I didn’t really know what I wanted. I looked over the menu, trying to make a choice, in the end though I went for the steak and chips. They had changed the menu from the ribeye to a sirloin. I have noticed that they make changes to the menu quite often, so much so that I noticed the menu on the board outside the hotel is out of date.

This was described on the menu as Owton’s dry-aged 12oz sirloin steak on the bone, with triple-cooked chips, baked mushroom, grilled tomato and a peppercorn sauce.

I have had the sirloin before, which I enjoyed, but wasn’t overly impressed with. That time it came with a watercress & pickled shallot salad.

My usual experience with the Drayton is that they are quite fast at service, but this time, it took it’s time. So much so that I nearly went to ask where my food was. Well I wasn’t in a hurry, so it wasn’t to much of an issue.

When my food finally arrived, it did look very good.

However there was no baked mushroom and there was the addition of a watercress salad. To be honest though I did quite like the idea of the mushroom, as it had taken to long to arrive, I decided not to question this or return the plate, I was hungry as well.

The steak was well cooked and was lovely and tender. It was much better than when I had it previously. Overall I enjoyed the meal.

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Tuna, Avocado & Tomato Tacos

We were in Bath, having a day out, and decided to go and have some lunch. There is quite a choice of places to go in Bath, but as I haven’t been there in a while, so wasn’t sure what was still open, what was new and what had closed.

We didn’t want to spend time trying to find somewhere, so after some discussion, we headed to Bills on Cheap Street. I had recently gone to Bills in Manchester and had a nice meal of calamari and sea bass.

As it was lunchtime, we had the Brunch menu. I wasn’t that hungry, so went with the Tuna, Avocado & Tomato Tacos. I have had this dish before when I went to Bills in Ealing last year.

I did like the presentation. The tuna was excellent, and liked the taste and texture. The avocado and tomato was nice as well. The tortilla were a little too crunchy for me, I think some soft blue corn tortillas might have been a better choice. The crème fraîche added some nice coolness and freshness to the dish, though I do think there was a little too much red chilli for me.

Having missed out on this dish in Manchester I decided I would have it for my lunch, along with some fries.

The tacos dish is seared raw tuna, crunchy blue corntortillas, coriander, toasted sesame & crème fraîche.

It looked different to the time I had it before, however it was just as delicious.

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Steak and Chips, once more

Steak and Chips

Staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I went for dinner and I went for the steak and chips. This was described on the menu as Owton’s dry-aged 9oz ribeye steak on the bone, triple cooked chips, watercress salad, and a peppercorn sauce.

It arrived promptly and it looked very nice.

The steak was much better than the last steak I had had at the Drayton. As I have mentioned before, I am not a fan of triple cooked chips, it feels like they are overcooked, but these were okay. I did enjoy the peppercorn sauce as well.

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Time for some Roast Pork

I was staying over at the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing again. I had arrived Sunday evening, so I went to the bar to get something to eat. Sunday at the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing means that it is Sunday roast day.

On a previous visit I had gone with the dry-aged sirloin of Owton’s beef which had been delicious and was probably one the best carvery meals I have ever had from a pub.

So though tempted by the roast beef, I decided to try the roast pork. On the plate was a few thick slices of roast pork, roasted parsnip and carrot, roast potatoes, pan fried greens, cauliflower cheese, a huge Yorkshire pudding, crunchy crackling, apple sauce,, and served with red wine gravy.

This was quite a big plate of food, and bigger than the roasts I have had before. I did enjoy the plate of food, but it wasn’t as good as it was before. The vegetables were just as good, but the roast potatoes were a little chewy; I did feel that they were heated up, well it was a little late in the day, so that perhaps contributed to this. The pork was nice, not as good as the beef, but was still cooked well. Overall I had high expectations, so was a little disappointed, despite having a really nice plate of food. It was really good and nice, but I was expecting outstanding. I still think though I would order it again.

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Fish Supper at Bills

I was in Manchester and needing an evening meal, my hotel restaurant was closed, so I headed out to the Trafford Centre for a bite to eat. There is a wide choice of places to choose from. I did walk around, but in the end decided I would go to Bills. There were quite a few things on the menu that I liked the sound of. They also had a reasonably priced set menu as well.

This branch of Bills is set within the New Orleans area of the Trafford Centre, so though it is a fake building, it’s quite an authentic fake building. I actually liked the facade.

I had a really good meal on my last visit to Bills in Ealing. I had some great tuna tacos and a nice steak. However that branch in Ealing has closed, it is now a branch of Las Iguanas. The menu at Bills appears to change frequently, or probably more likely I go so infrequently that it only appears to change frequently. However the tacos were on the menu, and I was tempted to give them a go again. I took my time, but in the end I decided I would go with the set menu.

For my starter I went with the crispy calamari with chilli and roast garlic & basil aioli.

I am a fan of crispy squid, so knew that I was probably going to be hyper-critical of the end result. However this was a nice plate of food. The squid was nice and tender, the coating was nice and crispy. It worked well with the aioli. I liked the presentation of the dish with the pea shoots and the chilli.

My main course was the pan-fried sea bass which was served with tomato sauce, nicoise olives, chive mash & pea shoots.

This was a nicely presented dish. The sea bass was nicely cooked and was quite tasty. I enjoyed the chive mash and it worked well with the tomato sauce. I finished all of this enjoyable dish.

I was tempted with dessert, but in the end said no.

Service was excellent and combined with the food made for a lovely meal. I would certainly go again and there are other items on the menu I want to try.

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Tapas at the Brunello Lounge

My first visit to a “Lounge” was back in 2013 when I went to the Portvio Lounge in Gloucester. I didn’t know at the time that it was part of a chain, but since then I have visited a few others.

The Brunello Lounge in Weston-super-Mare opened in 2017 and I have visited it quite often, usually for breakfast or for coffee.

Recently we decided to pop in for a drink and a lunchtime snack. It was rather busy, but we decided to queue. They had some tables free but we were warned that there was a thirty minute wait for food, which we accepted.

We placed our order at the bar and waited. We did think it might be a “wagamama” thirty minutes, in other words it would be closer to fifteen minutes. However in the end it took fifty minutes for our food to arrive, by which time we had drunk our drinks, which had infant arrived quite promptly.

We had ordered some fries and a selection of tapas. We got three dishes, patatas bravas, crispy squid and buttermilk fried chicken.

The best of the three dishes was the patatas bravas. This was cubes of deep fried potato served with a spicy tomato sauce. The potatoes were nice and crispy, well cooked and I enjoyed the tomato sauce. In my opinion the crispy squid was overcooked, it was certainly crispy, but it was very very crispy and dark as well. The buttermilk chicken was nuggets of crispy chicken served with a chipotle mayonnaise. The mayonnaise was nice, the chicken was a little dry.

Overall I think these could have been three great dishes, but the final result was not as good as they should have been. One was really good, the others needed a little more refinement. I did wonder if the volume of orders was causing problems in the kitchen. In the past the food we’ve had at the Brunello Lounge has been excellent.

Having said all that I might go again and try the tapas again.

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Pan-Roasted Cornish Hake

Staying at the Drayton Court Hotel overnight I had a meal. I went down to eat, planning to have the roasted belly of pork, only to find that they had changed the menu overnight!

So in the end, I chose the pan-roasted Cornish hake with St Austell Bay mussel velouté and sea vegetables.

pan-roasted Cornish hake with St Austell Bay mussel velouté and sea vegetables

The dish looked fantastic, a nice piece of fish on a bed of vegetables and there were a number of mussels in the velouté.

The fish was well cooked and the sea vegetables added different tastes and texture to the dish. The velouté was smooth and creamy. I only wish I had a spoon to finish it off.

Though I think the dish was as nice as it was, I think some bread would have been a nice accompaniment. If I was cooking it at home I might have served it with some creamy mashed potato.

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Steak and Chips

Staying at the Drayton Court Hotel another night I had another meal.

This time I went for the steak and chips. This was described on the menu as Owton’s dry-aged 12oz sirloin steak on the bone, triple cooked chips, watercress & pickled shallot salad, peppercorn sauce.

I didn’t read the menu properly, so didn’t realise that this was steak on the bone. I asked for it rare, mainly that I find too often steaks are over-cooked, however this steak was cooked rare. It was a nice steak and I enjoyed the peppercorn sauce as well.

I am not a fan of triple cooked chips, it feels like they are overcooked, but these were okay. They were nice and crispy and did taste of potato. The salad garnish was simple, but rather good.

Overall it was a nice plate of food, but I do feel it could have been better.

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Crispy Duck Leg Cassoulet

Staying at the Drayton Court Hotel having had a great starter for my evening meal, it was then onto the main course.

I had ordered the Crispy Gressingham duck leg, which was served with a bacon, sausage and bean cassoulet.

It was supposed to come with a parsley crumb I think, but there was crispy kale instead.

I had had a really nice duck cassoulet at Côte Brasserie at the end of last year, so it wasn’t too surprising that I compared the two dishes as I tucked into the cassoulet from the Drayton Court Hotel. The duck was tender, but I do think the skin onto could have been crispier. The cassoulet though was rather good, filled with bacon, sausages and beans. I also enjoyed the crispy kale that garnished the dish. 

Overall I think both dishes were great, I preferred the duck at Côte, and it was difficult to choose between the cassoulets, but Drayton Court had the edge.