review Archives - Page 46 of 51

January 9, 2013

Bella’ish

I do find it interesting how different branches of the same chain can, despite similar decor and identical menus, be such different dining experiences.

Bella Italia is one such beast, where I’ve had such diverse experiences at different branches. We usually go to Bella Italia at Cribbs Causeway and have had many lovely meals there. A recent experience at the branch at Cabot Circus was not as good. I should be clear that it wasn’t a horrible experience, just not as good I expected based on my experiences at the Cribbs branch.

So what was so different?  

Well the first thing was the quality of the service, it was just okay, but I we didn’t feel the warmth of the welcome we’ve had elsewhere. I think part of the issue was that the place was really busy and the staff were pretty much rushed off their feet. That was another aspect that I felt was markedly different, was the atmosphere, the place was pretty much full and as a result felt very rushed and busy. However it doesn’t always have to be that way, eating at the Coal Grill and Bar the other day, which was in many ways just as busy, it didn’t feel busy and we didn’t feel rushed. The staff appeared to be calm and smiling, making us feel welcome, all of which added to a much better dining experience.

After observing an argument in the open kitchen between the head chef and I assume the branch manager in full view of the eating customers, I did wonder whether there was a staffing issue that wasn’t been resolved?

As you might expect with a full restaurant it took a little while for the food to appear, but I was disappointed that my son’s meal was delayed so he had to wait. True it was only about five minutes, but still… The reason it was delayed, and as I could see the kitchen and the service counter, was that his plate of food was served up with ours, but one of the waiting staff took it away and delivered it to another table. As a result the chef had to cook a fresh dish.

What about the food?  

Well the Quattro Stagoni Pizza we shared was very nice, good quality pizza base, nice sauce, not too much cheese and generous toppings, well not too little and not too much, just right.

My two eldest children enjoyed their pasta dishes, though my youngest was disappointed with her pizza. She had ordered from the child’s menu, so we knew it wouldn’t be a huge pizza. However when it arrived it was really quite small, 7” probably in diameter. Having had the same menu item at Cribbs, this was very different, they had much larger children’s pizza. Ah well, different branch, maybe a new menu, cutting costs and all that.

We were asked if everything was okay, and at that time it was, so we said yes. What changed was the family at the table next to us some time later, received their children’s pizzas and they were at least 11” in diameter! We checked with the family, and yes they had ordered children’s pizza.

When we did get the bill, we did query this, and I have to give Bella Italia their credit that they did agree with us that this wasn’t right, as a result they reduced the bill and gave us a 1/3 off voucher for a future visit. I still though question the kitchen management and portion control that resulted in us receiving a pizza which was too small (and as it happens with the other family receiving pizzas which were too big).

Overall it wasn’t a bad experience, but on reflection I don’t think we will go again to that branch, I do expect that we will probably go to the Cribbs branch though.

January 8, 2013

Mount Etna

At a recent lunch at PizzaExpress I shared the Antipasto starter (£9.90). This is a really nice platter of cured Italian meats with large green Sicilian olives, roasted tomatoes, baby mozzarella, sweet peppadew peppers and rocket with warm dough sticks.

This is a generous platter of antipasto. Very nice and fresh, though the peppadew peppers are quite hot and spicy. I really do like a good antipasto to start a meal off, the combination of flavours and textures is what makes it for me. With a dish like this it is too easy to prepare it all in advance and as a result it dries out. This platter though was fresh and felt like it had just been prepared fresh to order. The mozzarella for example looked and tasted like it had just been cut into slices. The cured italian meats, through probably pre-sliced, certainly hadn’t been left in the fridge for hours uncovered to dry out.

For my main course I chose the Etna pizza (£11.90). This was one of their Romana Pizzas, with hot soft n’duja sausage, roquito peppers, speck ham, mozzarella, tomato and grana padano. I do like the pizza from Pizza Express, they certainly taste a lot more authentic than pizza I have had elsewhere. Authentic as in Italian, a lot of pizza places have, what I would call, American style pizza and this is different to the pizza you can eat in Italy. The name Etna was certainly an indicator that this was a hot and spicy pizza. It wasn’t as spicy as you would think, so in my opinion was really nice.

Overall I enjoyed the starter and the pizza. It was probably a lot more than I would usually spend for lunch, but this wasn’t a usual lunch break.

January 7, 2013

Raking over the Coals

Out in Bristol and needing somewhere for lunch, we avoided the huge queue for Nando’s and went to the Coal Grill and Bar in Cabot Circus. I still can’t get over the popularity of Nando’s in Cabot Circus, everytime I pass it at lunchtime there is a queue of at least ten to twenty people wanting to eat there. It’s not as though there isn’t a choice as within literally spitting distance is Bella Italia, Giraffe, Frankie and Benny’s, La Tasca and Yo! Sushi. Within a few minutes are about another six to ten restaurants. However regardless of that choice and availability, people are still queuing for Nando’s. I think the other aspect that “confuses” me is that this isn’t some kind of area known for eating out, it’s a shopping centre, people are shopping and I would expect generally that most people want to stop for a reasonably quick lunch. Why would you then in addition spend anything up to half an hour queuing for lunch at Nando’s before you even sit down? Why? Okay I know it’s a place that serves chicken… but it’s chicken? It’s not even if the prices are that different then any of the other places around. Also it’s basically just chicken, whereas the other places have a little more choice on their menus. Ah well, one day I may understand… until then I will remain confused.

So we didn’t go to Nando’s, nor did we go to Yo! Sushi. In the main as the children were with us and though I know one of them loves sushi, the middle one would probably give it a go, the smallest of the three was adamant that she wanted pizza. I know for a fact that Yo! Sushi don’t do pizza, I am not even sure if they do any kind of kids menu. So we did consider Bella Italia, having had a fair few nice meals up in the Cribbs branch, but it was full. We did a quick look round at menus and decided to try out Coal.

We’ve never been before and though they have a few branches across the UK, they’re not that big a chain, so much so that all the branches they have, are listed complete with addresses on the back of a business card.

It was busy, but the polite and smiling manager found us a huge circular booth for the five of us. I forget sometimes that five is an odd number for eating out, it’s not two or four, which seems to be the norm for tables these days at restaurants. In the past it wasn’t too bad as the smallest member of the family would sit in a high chair next to us. She is now a little taller and “grown-up” so has a proper chair now.

We ordered drinks and perused the menu. I did feel that the kids menu lacked a little imagination, but my smallest was happy that they did pizza and the middle one was pleased to be able to choose Spaghetti Bolognese, one of his favourite dishes. Now in case you were thinking that my smallest is a little bit fussy, well she is in her own way, however having said that, she does enjoy linguine tossed with pesto and pancetta, and prefers mature cheddar cheese.

My eldest wasn’t quite sure what to have. He’s ten now and in many ways is too old for the kids menu and often prefers to have something from the main menu. After looking over the menu, he seemed to not know what to choose, so I suggested the Chimichanga (£9.95). This was a flour tortilla stuffed with spicy chicken, tomato salsa and cheese with a side of guacamole, sour cream and garlic rice. He does like this kind of thing and he had missed it when looking over the menu. He really liked it and finished the plate off. Personally I thought it lacked colour and looked a little drab, white tortilla on a bed of white rice with sour cream, with only a little guacamole and salad leaves for colour! Yes the inside of the tortilla had tomato, but that was offset by the white chicken!

My wife went with the Crayfish Salad (£9.65), crayfish tails and avocado mixed leaves, toasted croutons, sundried tomatoes. Though she enjoyed it she wasn’t too impressed with the sundried tomatoes as they lacked vitality and flavour. It did look very nice and certainly there were generous servings of both crayfish and avocado.

I was quite impressed with the range on the menu, but looking over it , and in the end, I decided on the Classic Burger (£9.45).

I really did fancy something from the grill, but likewise didn’t want to spend too much money. I liked how you could choose between having chicken or beef in your burger. I also think that a classic dish such as this gives you a really good idea on the quality of the ingredients and the effort that has gone into food preparation. Presentation was different, but looked impressive. The burger came in a good looking bun, a large slice of tomato and a single lettuce leaf. This was a very good burger, great texture, delicious and cooked to perfection. I also enjoyed the burger bun. The chips came in a miniature deep fat fryer, they were crispy, partly as they had been cooked twice, something I don’t always like, as they can be a little too greasy. Accompanying was some coleslaw and a spicy relish. I enjoyed the whole dish and it worked very well.

The service was excellent, just right, not too over the top that you find at some places, and likewise neither the unavailable kind you get at others. It was friendly and professional and family friendly.

Overall I was really pleased with the whole experience at Coal, it was a nice environment, comfortable atmosphere, great food, excellent service. All in all I enjoyed the meal, and would certainly visit again.

November 28, 2012

Okay Frankie, not too bad, this time

The last time I went to Frankie and Benny’s I wasn’t that impressed with my Calamari Salad. I decided back then that if I had a choice then I probably wouldn’t choose them as a place to eat. However having been invited out to a family dinner, I found myself once more sitting down and looking at the menu in Frankie and Benny’s.

To be honest I did quite like the idea of a salad with calamari, but remembering my last experience I thought that wouldn’t be such a good idea.

In the end looking over the whole of the menu, I went with the special menu with two courses for £10.95, which is available every day except Saturday.

For my starter I went with the chicken wings: Buffalo Chicken Wings – Large chicken wings tossed in Louisiana hot sauce. Served with a blue cheese dip and crunchy celery sticks.

You got four half wings that were pre-cooked, heated up and then covered in some weird very hot spicy orange sauce. I wouldn’t have called the wings I got as “large”. As for the blue cheese dip, I went without, not a fan of that. As for celery, well I have never seen the point of celery, really don’t like and yes I have tried and I really really don’t like it. I do like chicken wings, which is why I ordered this dish.

I thought the orange sauce was a little too hot and spicy, so much so that it overpowered the flavour of the chicken. For me spicy is nice, but it should complement and enhance the flavour of the food it accompanies, not overwhelm it. If that is what it does, just eat the sauce on its own.

For my main, I did think long and hard and in the end went with a burger. New Yorker Burger – Our 6oz grilled hamburger topped with BBQ sauce, pepper jack cheese, mayo and bacon, piled high with Cos lettuce and fresh tomato in a toasted sesame seed bun. Served with house fries and tomato-chilli relish on the side.

I forgot to ask for salad so got fries instead. The cheese was very gloopy and sticky, but the burger itself was actually very nice and full of flavour. I love the description of “piled high” as there was one lettuce leaf and one slice of tomato. I wonder if they really think that is piled high!

As I didn’t eat all the fries I did decide to have a pudding. with the £10.95 menu you can have a pudding from a selected range for just £2.25 which seemed a lot more reasonable than the cost of puddings from the main menu. As is the case with puddings from Frankie’s it will either be a constructed ice cream style desert or something heated with ice cream. I went with the Hot Chocolate Waffle – A warm cinnamon waffle topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, smothered in chocolate sauce and topped with crunchy honeycomb.

It was to be honest what I expected, a warmed pre-cooked waffle with ice cream and chocolate sauce, though not enough honeycomb. It was nice, though quite sweet. I should have ordered a black coffee to go with it to offset that sweetness, actually a black tea would have been nice. Something I learnt many years ago was how nice black tea is with very sweet puddings.

Overall I enjoyed my meal, I think my very low expectations were a big factor in that, I wasn’t expecting high cuisine, sophisticated and lever cooking. What I got was typical chain cooking and it was okay.

September 4, 2012September 4, 2020

Nice lunch number one

I’ve always tried to take a proper lunch break when working. I think it provides me with a good break from the routine of work, doing something different and I also try and get some fresh air.

Working in Gloucester I can walk around the town or the docks, however at our Forest of Dean Campus in Coleford, there isn’t much to do around the site, and the lunch options on site are quite depressing as well, okay if you like sandwiches or burgers. Even Coleford doesn’t have too many choices either.

So this time I went off to Monmouth, which is a twenty minute drive away. Looking at the options available I decided to go to Coffee #1. This was my first visit to a branch of Coffee #1.

I really liked the look and feel of the place with assorted bits of wooden furniture and leather sofas and chairs. I had a delicious panini and a flat white.

I also treated myself to a summer fruits cheesecake.

While I was finishing off my coffee, I checked my e-mail before heading back to the college and my office.

August 22, 2012October 26, 2020

Fish and Chips at the Seagull Café

There is something classic and very British about having fish and chips at a seaside resort. Down in Weymouth for the day and wanting a late lunch (or was it an early tea) made the decision to have fish and chips.

After walking around for a while decided to go to the Seagull Cafe on the harbourside which had tables and chairs outside. This was a really nice place to sit, watching the world go by, enjoying (that rare thing) a sunny summer afternoon.

Looking over the traditional menu, I found that they did deep fried mackerel and chip, so I went with that. After a short wait it arrived. The fish was wonderful, you could tell it had just been cooked to order, fresh crispy batter and perfectly done fish. Really lovely. The chips were okay, but they tasted as though they had been cooked a bit of time before and kept warm. Still nice though.

July 20, 2012

La Tasca, no hay amor más

Though my plan to celebrate my anniversary with dinner at the Second Floor Bristol, in Harvey Nichols was scuppered by my wife who decided no matter how nice the restaurant looked and how interesting the menu, she didn’t want to have a celebrationary dinner in an upmarket BHS or Primark! Anyway the Second Floor Bristol is a really stupid name for a restaurant. Okay so it’s on the second floor, I get that. It’s in Bristol, I get that. Why though is it named after where it is? Are they so confident about the food and the location, that they don’t think it needs a proper name? Well after my wife turned down this choice of mine, I needed to choose somewhere else.

So having to make a quick decision, I decided on La Tasca. My last few visits have been okay and I do like tapas. The end result wasn’t as good as I remember and certainly I don’t think we’ll go again. It wasn’t awful, it was just okay, nothing special and I do think that the restaurant could have done a lot better.

As it was a Sunday they had their Foolish Feast special, so we went with that. I chose that, partly to be cost effective, but in the main it was easy. I almost laughed at the photograph on the back of the menu, which appeared to be of an authentic Spanish tapas bar and thought, now that would be wonderful, however I knew that in reality the stuff we were going to get would be nice, but it wouldn’t be genuine in the way a proper Spanish tapas bar can be. I wonder why now, why we even went in there…

As we discussed the menu, we both realised that a Greek meze place would probably have been a much better choice, but it was late, we had sat down, we had ordered coffee. A bit too late to do anything then.

The special was £14.95 per person. You start off with the Tabla Especial – to share between two Serrano ham, bread and mixed olives, served with an extra-virgin olive oil & sherry vinegar dip.

Good ham, nice olives and measly amount of bread…. really you needed a bit more bread than you got.

The Paella Valenciana ‘La Tasca’ with chicken, Galician mussels, king prawns, squid, lemon wedges, char-grilled aubergine and peppers; could have been so good, but was let down because it was reheated. As a result the rice was stodgy, the squid was chewy, as were the mussels. I can appreciate that it can’t be easy to cook paella for these kinds of menus, however either do it properly or don’t do it all! Reheating paella is not how it is done in Spain. It kinds of puts me off going to La Tasca and ordering a “proper” paella in case that is a reheated dish. The flavour was okay, but the textures let this dish down.

We ordered one of everything and waited for it to arrive.

This is one dish which really you shouldn’t get wrong, it’s a really simple dish. Patatas Bravas is deep fried potato, with spicy tomato sauce. However they did a bit of a botch job. The potato wasn’t crispy enough and some of it was well undercooked too.

I did enjoy the Albóndigas, beef & pork meatballs, in a rich, slow-cooked tomato sauce. They had good texture, nice flavour and a good sauce. Well it was a good sauce until we worked out that it tasted like the tomato sauce in tinned spaghetti hoops!

I also enjoyed the Croquetas de Pollo. These were hand-crumbed with chicken breast and served with roasted garlic mayonnaise. They were crisp on the outside and lovely and soft on the inside. They melted in the mouth and had a really nice flavour.

The Spinach Tortilla, a spinach omelette served with a spicy red pepper tapenade and roasted garlic mayonnaise was okay, but I did feel it lacked flavour.

Apart from been a little too salty, the Pescado Blanco Frito which was deep-fried white fish, in a special-recipe San Miguel batter, served with homemade paprika & roasted garlic mayonnaise and lemon. The batter was crisp and crunchy, but I did feel that the fish needed more natural flavour. You really needed to dip it in the mayonnaise.

As you might expect you couldn’t really mess up the Baby Leaf Green Salad, served with balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil dressing on the side.

Overall there were some really nice dishes that we had at the table and alas there were some that really didn’t work out very well. I think it might be a while before I go to La Tasca again, I really do need to find a proper local Spanish tapas bar.

May 26, 2012

Dragon 4 Flowers

When I last wrote about Tea Monkey in Bath I said the next time I visited I would try one of their flowering teas. So when I visited Tea Monkey recently I did go for one of their flowering teas, Dragon 4 Flowers.

Light lavender notes with a floral bouquet giving depth and body to this early season green tea.

It was certainly an interesting experience, a small dried “bud” in a clear teapot which as it brewed opened into a flower.

Certainly a spectacle to watch and the flavour was light and delicate.

February 17, 2012June 3, 2023

Hart’s Barn

I was recommended to visit the Tearoom at Hart’s Barn in Gloucestershire so when I was passing it recently around lunchtime, I thought, why not, let’s go in for lunch.

We pride ourselves on offering excellent quality and service within the beautiful and tranquil setting of the Forest. We are the premier venue in the Forest for enjoying traditional afternoon and cream teas.

We also have a lunch specials board which changes several times a week, featuring light snacks such as an asparagus & fresh cheese tart, to more substantial meals like stews & pies served with British seasonal vegetables whenever possible. All food is made fresh daily on the premises, with our menu being built around the availability of food & drink locally. We list our local suppliers in our menu, so you can see where the food & drink you’re enjoying comes from.

The main menu consists of typical tearoom fare, but they do have a board with daily specials and it from that I decided to make my choice.

My first choice wasn’t available as they had run out of baguettes, so went with the steak and ale pie.

As I waited I drank the coffee I ordered, and wasn’t that impressed, even though they had a proper coffee machine, my Americano wasn’t that good. Ah well, it’s a tearoom I should have had a pot of tea, must remember that.

My meal arrived in a reasonable time, the pie was in a pie dish topped with puff pastry, it was complemented with a portion of mashed potato, a jug of gravy and a decent additional portion of vegetables.

The vegetables were nicely cooked, still some crunch, and the potato was also very nice. I liked the puff pastry and though the pie filling was not as hot as I think it should have been, it was very tender and full of flavour.

Overall I was pleased with the meal and enjoyed it. The service was friendly and efficient.

January 9, 2012

Tea Monkey

Okay this may surprise a few people, but when I was in Bath the other day I went to Tea Monkey and had a pot of tea.

I went for a pot of Darjeeling.

Darjeeling (Margarets Hope*) – From one of Darjeelings best known estates…a lovely muscatel flavour with delicious astringency

They used a glass pot and loose leaves, no tea bags in this place.

It was a lovely cup of tea and I really enjoyed drinking it. There is something very different about drinking proper tea (in the same way I guess about how I feel about drinking proper coffee). The tea was very refreshing and certainly perked me up for the rest of the day.

There is plenty of choice at Tea Monkey and, yes if you want one, you can get coffee, but I think the real reason to go to Tea Monkey is to try the tea. Next time I may be adventerous and try one of their flowering teas.

I also liked the fact that they serve toast, even when it isn’t breakfast! If you want toast for lunch, then you can have toast for lunch. You could also have crumpets or a teacake. As well as the toasted stuff they have a range of sandwiches and cakes too.