Category: restaurant

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Steak and Fries

After a series of games of ten pin bowling we decided to have a quick lunch at Frankie and Benny’s the chain of American Italian restaurants that you can find across the UK.

I decided to go simple and have the Steak and Fries.

A 6oz* strip sirloin served plain and simple with house fries and a pot of American mustard on the side. Simple but classic!

Lunch

It was as it was described in the menu, a simple steak, cooked to my liking, tender and with some flavour served with house fries.

A simple but classic dish. Maybe next time I should be more adventurous!

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Calamari Fritti

Recently in London I went out for a meal at Ciao Bella in Bloomsbury.

It was rather a crowded noisy typical Italian restaurant that you can find in London and in other cities across the UK. You are when choosing what to eat faced with a typically large varied menu covering a range of Italian cuisine including pizza and pasta.

From personal experience in northern Italy these kinds of restaurants don’t seem to actually exist in Italy. In Italy there are small family run places have smaller menus, fresh food, ever changing and delicious food.

I have been put off going to Italian restaurants in the UK in the main as I have had a couple of bad experiences. I was once at another Italian restaurant in London and I asked for Spaghetti alle Vongole, and what I got was a sauce that was from a jar!

So I glanced over the menu with a little trepidation, knowing that though it might sound nice on the menu, it may not actually be nice. In the end I went with one of my usual choices, the calamari fritti. Regular readers of the blog will know that I am a real fan of squid and it’s almost a benchmark for me on how good a restaurant is. Squid is a relatively simple dish to cook and if a place can’t cook squid properly than what hope is there for any other dish from the place.

It was a good sized portion and despite the dusting of paprika was very nice. It wasn’t rubbery and tasted good. It wasn’t perfect, but I have had a lot worse before.

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Duck Gyoza

You don’t really have starters at Wagamama there are side dishes that arrive when they are ready. Out with friends we ordered a few alongside our main dishes.

Though generally I enjoy most items I have eaten at Wagamama I was less impressed with the deep-fried duck dumplings served with a spicy cherry hoi sin sauce.

Not that they were bad, more for me the dumplings in themselves lacked flavour and the hoi sin sauce was very overpowering. The texture was good and they were crunchy.

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Teriyaki Chicken Donburi

Having to stay overnight in London for a meeting I needed somewhere to eat and as I had enjoyed my last meal at Wagamama decided to go to the branch in Covent Garden.

I did consider having a ramen, but thinking that I always go with ramen so time to go with something different I thought. I looked carefully over the menu and in the end I went with the Teriyaki Chicken Donburi.

Rice

Grilled juicy chicken glazed with orange teriyaki sauce, sticky white rice with thin sliced carrots, pea shoots, spring onions and sesame seeds and a side of spicy kimchee.

I really did enjoy the dish, the combination of chicken, sticky sauce and rice combined with the freshness of the carrot and pea shoots worked well. The sauce has sweetness and sourness and though I expected strong orange overtones, but there weren’t any.

In case you were wondering I decided to give the kimchee a miss…

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Pork Dumpling Soup

I was up in Leeds earlier this month and with some old friends we went to Wagamamas. I have enjoyed my previous visits to the noodle chain and was looking forward to the meal, and I wasn’t disappointed. I was tempted to go with the Seafood Ramen that I had on a previous occasion, but in the end went with one of the specials, a pork dumpling soup.

Pork Dumpling Soup

Somen noodles with sweet and spicy char sui pork dumplings in a pork, coriander and lemongrass broth with sichuan spicy sausage, tea stained egg, bean shoots, leeks, baby spinach, garnished with spring onions and garlic chive.

The broth had flavour though for me was a little salty. I really liked the char sui pork dumplings which had a great flavour, good texture and weren’t overpoweringly spicy either. I was expecting the sausage to be more spicy than it was, but it was just okay. Most interesting was the tea stained egg, which at first glance appeared to be weird within the dish, but did in fact work well.

Overall I enjoyed the dish, it looked fresh, appetising and tasted delicious.

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Chilli Squid from Wagamama

I was up in Leeds earlier this month and with some old friends we went to Wagamamas. I have enjoyed my previous visits to the noodle chain and was looking forward to the meal, and I wasn’t disappointed.

You don’t really have starters at Wagamama there are side dishes that arrive when they are ready. We ordered a few alongside our main noodle dishes (I will cover mine in a later blog post). One of the first dishes to arrive was the squid.

Deep-fried squid seasoned with sea salt and shichimi. Served with a chilli and coriander dipping sauce.

This looked fantastic, was beautifully cooked and tasted delicious. I really liked the squid and the dipping sauce added to the dish without overpowering it.

Regular readers of the blog will know that I am a real fan of squid and it’s almost a benchmark for me on how good a restaurant is. Squid is a relatively simple dish to cook and if a place can’t cook squid properly than what hope is there for any other dish from the place. At Wagamama the squid was excellent.




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Lamb Kebab Baguette

The last time I went to Caffe Gusto at the Mall I was impressed with the quality of the food and friendly staff. Back then I ordered I ordered the Shish Kebab in Pitta Bread with an Americano.

The lamb was reasonably tender, nicely cooked and well flavoured. The fries were really nice and the salad was fresh. Overall I had an excellent meal and was pleased with what I had. I would go again.

So when I was at the Mall recently and looking to get some lunch I decided once more to go to Caffe Gusto. This time I ordered the Shish Kebab in a Baguette with an Americano.

The lamb again was cooked nicely and was tender. As before the fries were nice and the salad fresh. However I don’t think the dish really worked for me, but that wasn’t the fault of Caffe Gusto, more mine for ordering what I did. I think the problem was that the baguette was quite crusty and as a result the lamb fell out as I ate it. Might have been okay with the bread on the side, but as a sandwich type meal it didn’t work. So if you are going to order this dish, go for pitta bread and don’t go for the baguette!

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The Royal Well Tavern

I was recently out in Cheltenham with David Sugden recently looking for somewhere to eat, earlier in the week we had eaten at Brasserie Blanc, this time after a slightly disappointing meal, I knew I had to take him somewhere better. David is a chef and likes his food, so it couldn’t be somewhere rubbish. Like me he’s not a great fan of chains and system cooking, so the challenge was on.

The thing is I don’t know Cheltenham that well, I do work there, but don’t live anywhere close, so personal experience was lacking. I did ask on Twitter and was recommended Bistrot Coco. Now this looked nice, as did the menu, but the recommendation was on the fact the place was new and not from experience.

I then used this internet thing to do some searching and one place kept popping to the top of my results, The Royal Well Tavern. There were a fair few reviews of the place and all very positive.

The Royal Well Tavern is a renewal of the classic British Tavern Offering refined, contemporary British food, warm hospitality and unparalleled service in an informal and timeless environment. The open plan kitchen is headed by Andy Martin. His food is modern British, combining classic French Bistro fare with fantastic British produce.

We offer a daily changing menu which delivers a variety of fresh seafood and locally sourced meat dependant on the seasons and the catch of the day. The menu offers a good choice of options whether you are shopping for the day or require a serious business lunch, food suited to your appetite or the occasion.

So after consulting with David we went there. As we got there early, it was quite empty, so no problems with getting a table. By the time we left it was packed out, so you probably want to book to ensure you get a table.

Now David has already blogged about this meal and you can read that here. There is an ever changing menu, though many things do appear on a regular basis. One of the things I do like about the menu is that it doesn’t split things up into starters and mains, so if you aren’t that hungry you could have a starter followed by another starter as your main course. Or have a few starters as a meal.

I knew that I was going to enjoy the meal when the bread arrived, it was freshly baked and still warm. Combined with lovely unsalted butter it was a delight and the perfect start.

Contrary to what I normally have and David thought I was going to have, I didn’t have the squid and went for the sautéed lambs kidneys, peas and pancetta.

This was really nice. I wasn’t expecting the kidneys to be still pink, probably when I have cooked them in the past then I have overcooked them, but they were very tasty. The peas and pancetta complemented the dish which I am guessing was finished off with red wine.

David had the smoked haddock, clam and mussel chowder which looked fantastic and so full of fish that it looked less like a soup and more like a stew, which a good chowder should look like.

We also shared a portion of pork rillettes, mustard and toast.

Alas this was the only disappointment of the evening. The toast which had been chargrilled unfortunately overpowered the dish. The mustard was very nice, but again a very strong flavour. The onion marmalade, again very nice, but once more a strong flavour. The pork rillettes alas lacked any real flavour.

For my main course I went with the “before 7pm” special and had the 8oz shorthorn beef burger, pickle and fries.

This looked great, but personally I am not a fan of the current fashion of serving food on bread boards… can’t I just have a plate!

So what about the food? The burger was excellent, well seasoned, beautiful flavour and great texture. It was served pink as the chef wanted and though in most other places I would object, as I could see these were been freshly made, I decided I would. The fries were crisp and the accompaniments were well presented. Not a fan of the actual burger bun which was made in the traditional American way and was a bit too sweet for my liking. But the rest of the dish made up for that.

Overall I was very impressed with the meal, much nicer and better than the previous mea l at Brassiere Blanc. I certainly would go again and even thinking about whether I can get there for lunch now and again.

Recommended!

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Brasserie Blanc

In the far and distant past I remember watching a cookery programme (or probably a series) featuring Raymond Blanc. His restaurant, Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons, always came across as a place of excellence and I use to think if I ever had the money, the time and lived near Oxford then I would probably visit it at least once.

I was also given for a Christmas Present one year, his book, Recipes From Le Manoir Aux Quat’ Saisons which was full of amazing recipes and cooking techniques that to be honest I knew I didn’t have the skill or experience to even try! I just read it for the experience and knowing that even though I enjoy cooking, I am no chef.

I had seen his new chain, Brasserie Blanc, advertised somewhere on the web, but hadn’t ever sought out a branch. There is one in Bristol, but I had never been there.

“I am often asked what a Brasserie Blanc is. Well if the Manoir is a delicate waltz then the Brasseries are the Can Can. For sure, this is not a place for refined haute cuisine and three course meals. Rather, Brasserie Blanc is a place for relaxed enjoyment where I can offer you simple, high quality food that comes as close as possible to the meals that my mother prepared for me at home in Besançon and at a price that encourages you to visit us regularly. The real origins of French brasseries are lost in time and probably in several litres of beer but nowadays in France they are the bastions of good eating and drinking, locally and informally. I want my Brasserie Blancs to be a central part of the local community where you can have fun and enjoy particularly good food. So sit back and relax”

Raymond Blanc

So when out in Cheltenham with David Sugden recently looking for somewhere to eat, we saw it and having looked at the menu went in for a meal. Now David has already blogged about this meal and you can read that here.

Initially interested in the fixed price menu, both of us did indeed prefer the starters on the main menu. Asking the waiting staff and found that this wasn’t going to be a problem.

For my starter I went with the grilled squid and courgettes, parmesan and roquette salad.

The squid was fresh, had been grilled in chunks. It was very nice, though I felt there was a little too much chilli for me, but certainly not excessive enough to ruin the dish. The thinly sliced courgette worked well in the dish and I really quite enjoyed it.

For the main course I went with confit of pork, caraway cabbage, roast tomato sauce.

Now I have to admit I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, I am not sure I have even eaten duck confit, but I have read about it…. So when it arrived I was a little unimpressed. It appeared to be a reheated large slice of roast pork. It was on a bed of cabbage with caraway speeds, a very nice tomato sauce and a few roast potatoes. The pork had some flavour, but wasn’t what I was expecting and I don’t think I would order it again. Difficult to say whether it was good or bad, as there wasn’t anything I could compare it with. I did like the accompanying cabbage, and it went well with the pork, the sauce was good too.

For the dessert, we went with the cheese platter. Traditionally made, seasonal French and English cheeses specially selected by Eric Charriaux, “Premier Cheese Company” (Cabécou, Pavé Correzien, Deauville, Shropshire Blue). As David mentioned in his blog, there was a bit of theatre in the serving of the cheese. Apart from the slightly stingy portions I really enjoyed the different cheeses, but then I always like cheese and biscuits.

Overall I did enjoy the meal, it certainly was not the best I’ve had, but was very enjoyable, of course the atmosphere and the company was what made it more enjoyable. Would I go again? Hmmm not sure, possibly.

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Summerhouse Steak

Out of all my local pubs and eateries, coffee shops aside, I have probably been to the Summerhouse more than any other.

A few years ago it went through a phase of poor quality and a lack of imagination, but on a more recent visit, the magic seemed to be back. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a gastropub or a magnet for foodies, this is a pub that sells pub food. It’s of decent value and my experience recently is that it is also of decent quality.

One of the nice things about the menu, are the specials, and though these disappeared a few years ago, they have been back on the menu now for a while. The main menu alongside the traditional pub fare has a few things that raised my eyebrows. Kerlan Cod, a cod loin covered in a Keralan sauce made with coconut milk, mussels, spinach, green chilli, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Greek Lamb, tender lamb with cherry tomatoes, raisins, aubergine and black olives in a red wine and mint sauce, served with cous cous.

On a recent visit, though tempted by the specials, I in the end opted for the ribeye steak with chips. A very traditional pub meal and one that really shouldn’t be a problem for any decent pub kitchen.

Well so how was it?

I asked for my steak to be cooked rare, and it was cooked just how I like it, medium-rare. It was a good steak and was quite tender. The chips were crispy on the outside and fluffy in the inside. These were traditional chips, no french fries here (though I do prefer fries). The mushroom was grilled, as was the tomato and worked well. The peas were peas and nothing special there.

I got what I ordered, it was cooked well.

Alongside my steak I had a pint of Marston’s Pedigree, there is a wider choice of beers in the bar area, and you could have one of those if you wanted.

As for the service, it was just right, not too intrusive and there just when you needed it. That is quite a challenge, sometimes the service can be too “in your face” which is a style that has come over from America, that doesn’t always work too well here in Blighty, or you have the other extreme, where you can never find a member of the waiting team when you need them.

Overall we enjoyed our experience and food and will be going again. It’s as though the magic has returned to the Summerhouse.