Category: restaurant

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Char-Grilled Feather Steak Florentine

The other week I was at the Solent Hotel & Spa in Fareham. From the outside it was a modern looking hotel just off the motorway. Inside it was well decorated and though they had gone for an “older” look, it did appear to work, and didn’t look tacky as sometimes it does when hotels do this.

The staff in the hotel were professional and friendly and their primary goal appeared to be making sure that my stay was perfect.

Rather than go to the restaurant I went to the bar instead to eat. From the menu, I chose the Char-Grilled Feather Steak Florentine. It is called ‘feather’ due to the unique markings of the meat, it is also known as the ‘butchers or onglet steak’. The steak was served with a spicy tomato sauce and fries.

I wasn’t expecting the dish to look like this though when it arrived!

The steak arrived pre-sliced on a wooden board rather than a plate. The steak was excellent and well flavoured. I also enjoyed the dressing and salad leaves. The spicy tomato sauce was okay, but I didn’t like it that much, nothing wrong with it, more it wasn’t to my taste. The fries were crisp and had flavour.

Overall a delicious steak and a delightful eating experience.

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Oh dear, gone downhill somewhat…

Back in February 2008 I wrote a glowing review of the National Trust Heelis Cafe in Swindon next door to the shopping outlet.

Compared to the food offerings in the shopping outlet, if you are out Swindon way, pop over to the National Trust cafe and enjoy a delicious meal in peaceful and pleasant environment.

We visited the cafe again today and was, well let’s just say the quality has done downhill somewhat in some areas.

There were no childrens’ boxes available at the time of ordering, so rather than wait we ordered the children two sausage baps. The sausages were slightly overdone (probably under the hot lamp for too long) and the baps, well one was toasted and slightly burnt, the other wasn’t even toasted! Why? No idea.

My other half went with the Fidget Pie, well it was a pasty, that came with salad and roast potatoes, no not sure of that combination myself to he honest, it’s not as though we were given a choice. The salad was fine, but the pasty was a little short on filling so consisted mainly of pastry.

I went for a traditional roast beef dinner. At £7.50 I expected to get an excellent home cooked roast beef dinner… well I didn’t.

Yes the potatoes were home roasted, and were roasted and not deep-fried as is often the case in some restaurants, pubs and cafes. The carrots were fine, but the brocolli was limp, having spent too much time under a heat lamp. The beef was a real disappointment, wafer thin slices of cooked beef that had been re-heated in gravy. This is something that cheap catering does, and not something I expected from the  Heelis Cafe. The Yorkshire Pudding looked and tasted like it was heated up in the microwave and to be honest I did wonder if the meal was from the day before (as we did order early at midday) and had just been microwaved. I was expecting a proper carvery and proper slices of roast beef, not the equivalent of a £3.99 meal from a supermarket cafe.

Overall having spent nearly £30 at the cafe I was very very disappointed.

Maybe I should have complained, but it’s not as though anything was wrong, it was just that the quality was nowhere near what I have had in the past from the cafe. I am guessing that they have a new chef. They appeared to also have stock problems, as they had no salmon and no flan either; remember they only have a few things on the menu.

As a result I will probably not visit again, or if I do I would check the menu more carefully before ordering.

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Dodgy Italian

One of the problems I face when I stay away from home is where do I go to dinner. I am not a fan of hotel restaurants, generally I find they are overpriced and the quality can be poor.

I was recently in a hotel on the A45 Cromwell  Road and was not impressed with the menu, so decided to venture out and find somewhere to eat.

Well I wish I hadn’t…

I found Bellavista, what looked like a nice Italian restaurant, an interesting menu and was quite full (which I usually find is a good sign of quality) and went in.

Well I left very disappointed. It was an overpriced rubbish food experience.

I had a starter of calamari, which I initially thought was okay, but overall was disappointed as it was quite rubbery, it certainly wasn’t cooked from fresh, more likely deep fried from frozen.

My main course, spaghetti with clams was absolutely terrible. The sauce was obviously from a jar!

I couldn’t believe how bad the food was…

The couple on the table next to me ordered fish and chips, it looked worse than mine!

I had obviously entered a London tourist restaurant that caters for tourists.

I need to find some good places before I get to London in the future…

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Leaving tips

Though regardless of whether I pay by card or cash, and I have had good service, then I will leave whoever served me a cash tip.

However stories like this in the Observer really annoy me.

Fresh evidence that one of the country’s biggest restaurant chains is using scare tactics to deter waiters from asking for tips in cash has been uncovered by the Observer

Employees of Tragus – which owns Café Rouge, Bella Italia and Strada – have come under pressure to ensure service charges are paid by card, and at least one waitress has told the Observer that they are being threatened with dismissal if they do not generate enough card tips. Some have been told that undercover staff posing as diners will check that gratuities are not being pocketed. Cash tips go directly to staff, but those paid by card go to the company.

Waiting staff are underpaid, overworked and easily replaced. However they are the key to a good restaurant.

No one ever goes to a restaurant to just eat food, you go for the whole dining experience, and that experience includes good customer service.

It doesn’t matter if the food is excellent, if the service is awful, you won’t go again and importantly you will tell others how awful it was too.

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SAME Cafe: The restaurant where you pay what you can

Very interesting article from the Denver News on the restuarant where you pay what you can.

SAME has a menu that changes daily but always features food that’s made from scratch and is largely organic. It has tables, chairs, bus bins, plants in the windows and overhead music (usually a mix of classic rock). But there’s one thing SAME doesn’t have: a cash register. There’s no credit-card machine, no change drawer, no receipt book. That’s because SAME doesn’t have prices. Diners come in and order — some ask for just a cup of soup or a small slice of pizza, while others go for a whole meal, maybe even seconds if they’re really hungry — and then pay what they want.

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Ambassadors at Bloomsbury Part One

I was recently up in London and stayed at the Ambassadors Hotel in Bloomsbury. Staying with friends we had the Christmas dinner at the Number Twelve attached restaurant. I started off with the Chestnut Pasta and had the Ribeye steak for my mains.

The home made chestnut pasta was served with seasonal wild mushrooms and a white butter sauce. I did enjoy this dish, the pasta was cooked well and nice selection of mushrooms.

For my mains I had ribeye of 28 day Donald Russell beef, served with celeriac, braised red onion, wild mushrooms and roast potatoes.

ribeye of 28 day Donald Russell beef

The steak was not the best I’ve had, slightly tough and was certainly not full of flavour compared to others I have eaten. The celeriac was nice as was the onions and mushrooms.

Overall I did enjoy both the started and the main course.

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Alba Ristorante Part Five

I was recently lucky enough to go to dinner at the Alba Ristorante in London with some friends., not just once, but enjoyed it enough the first time to go for a second meal. Unlike a lot of Italian restaurants I have been too, the menu here was not full of pasta and pizza, on the contrary it was very different and as a result much more interesting and refreshing.

One of the dishes that a friend ate was the Platessa con Salsa Bianca or Plaice with spinach, “salsa bianca” new potatoes.

Platessa con Salsa Bianca

He said it was excellent and beautifully cooked.

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Alba Ristorante Part Four

I was recently lucky enough to go to dinner at the Alba Ristorante in London with some friends., not just once, but enjoyed it enough the first time to go for a second meal. Unlike a lot of Italian restaurants I have been too, the menu here was not full of pasta and pizza, on the contrary it was very different and as a result much more interesting and refreshing.

On my second visit for my main I had the Bistecca D’Agnello con Borlotti e Cipolle Rosse or in English, Lamb steak with Borlotti beans & red onion from Trope.

Now don’t get me wrong it was very nice, however I did ask for it cooked medium and what I got was more rare than medium. The beans were nice though.

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Alba Ristorante Part Three

I was recently lucky enough to go to dinner at the Alba Ristorante in London with some friends., not just once, but enjoyed it enough the first time to go for a second meal. Unlike a lot of Italian restaurants I have been too, the menu here was not full of pasta and pizza, on the contrary it was very different and as a result much more interesting and refreshing.

Misto di Verdure alla Griglia Condite al Balsamico

On my second visit for my starter I had the Misto di Verdure alla Griglia Condite al Balsamico or in English, Mixed grilled Italian vegetables balsamic & extra virgin olive oil.

This was very nice, a simple dish which worked very well. There were courgettes, pepper, tomato and aubergine.

Out of the two starters I had, I think I preferred the duck.