food, reviews and of course coffee
I went out for lunch and had a nice piece of chargrilled tuna with vegetables from the café at Sainsburys, which was both delicious and in some ways was also surprising.
I wasn’t quite expecting them to do such a good looking and tasty dish. The sauce was nice and the accompanying vegetables was a nice touch.
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.
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.
For my desert I had the cheese.
Well don’t get me wrong it was a very nice cheese, but as that it? Three small (half) slices of Stilton.
Hmmm.
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.
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.
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
He said it was excellent and beautifully cooked.
I was recently up in London and stayed at the Ambassadors Hotel in Bloomsbury. I generally dislike having breakfast in hotels, as more often than not they are overpriced and though have extensive choice are not really value for money. For example a month or two back I stayed at the Thistle Barbican Hotel and breakfast (though included in my room rate) would have cost you £15.95. For that you would have to queue up unless you got up really early. Having sat down in the Thistle, if you were lucky, the waiting staff would bring you some coffee and toast. Then it was self-service for the cooked breakfast, which was not very inspiring.
So I was well pleased with breakfast at the Ambassadors Hotel in Bloomsbury. It was about the same price as the Thistle, but unlike that place, at the Ambassadors they served you your cooked breakfast at the table, and what an excellent cooked breakfast it was.
Beautifully served, it consisted of an excellent meaty sausage, some very nice grilled bacon, a small bowl of baked beans, grilled (and skinned) tomato, mushroom, bubble and squeak, black pudding and egg. You had a choice of eggs (chicken or duck) and cooked to your liking, I had a poached duck’s egg. It was also garnished with lettuce, not sure about the lettuce.
There was quite a choice of other cooked items as well, such as boiled eggs and kippers.
Along with the cooked breakfast, there was also a (self-service) selection of toast, bread products such as croissant and panettone, fruit, yoghurt, juice, cold meats, cheese and smoked fish.
Overall I was well impressed and would recommend the breakfast, though still not sure about the lettuce.
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,
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.
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 starter I had the Misto di Verdure alla Griglia Condite al Balsamico or in English,
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.
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.
For my first visit, I had the Smoked Duck Salad followed by the Calves Liver. The Italian name for the calves liver dish was Fegato alla griglia con spinaci & patate; in English,
I am not normally a great fan of liver, lambs liver is quite strongly flavoured and pigs liver much too strong. Most of the time it appears to be served as liver and onions and the liver is dry and tough. However I had read many reviews about calves liver so this was an opportunity.
I was impressed.
It was beautifully cooked and was delicious. The flavour was exquisite and the accompanying spinach and potatoes were done well too. The texture was fantastic, it almost melted in the mouth. It had been grilled to perfection and was medium as was recommended to me and as asked for by me. As you can see it was a good size portion which surprised me as the dish was from Alba’s fixed price menu.
It was so good that on my second visit I was tempted to have it again.
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.
I will review our meals over a few blog posts over the next few days (or well at least over the next week or so).
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.
For my first visit, I had the Smoked Duck Salad followed by the Calves’ Liver.
Well to give the dish, its proper name, petto d’amamtra all’arancia or in English, smoked duck breast with lambs lettuce & Italian orange slices.
The duck was very thinly sliced and had a delicate flavour which was slightly overpowered by the orange and the dressing.
However it was still delicious and I enjoyed it very much.