Category: review

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Alba Ristorante Part Two

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, grilled calves liver with spinach & saute potatoes.

grilled calves liver with spinach & saute potatoes

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.

Posted on

Alba Ristorante Part One

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.

smoked duck breast with lambs lettuce & Italian orange slices

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.

Posted on

What a load of crepe!

One of the issues I have with a lot of department store restaurants (and visitor attraction restaurants) is that they cook the food in advance and then keep it warm for hours on end… Now that is possible with some dishes, but with others it just means dried out food.

One of the dishes that you can get at my local John Lewis is freshly cooked to order crepes. They make them as and when needed, rather than make them at 9am in the morning and keep them warm till 6pm in the evening!

We had crepes the last time we were there, one with chilli beef and one with mushroom stroganoff; both were served with salad.

The beef chilli was well cooked and nice and spicy. A little too hot for my tastes, but not excessively so.

Crepes

The mushroom stroganoff was really nice and went well with the crepes.

Crepe

The salad though was disappointing, I have had much better salads before at John Lewis, this was in the main lettuce with a tiny bit of red onion and pepper.

Overall for a department store restaurant they were really nice and probably one of the better items available. The fact you can buy wine and beer to go with the crepes makes the place even more attractive as a place to go out and get a quick bite to eat whilst shopping.

Posted on

Tapas for a Tenner

I have been meaning for ages to visit La Tasca. I really like tapas and I really wanted to try their paella – more often then not I am very disappointed with the paella that is offered at other places.

So today I happened to be in Regent Street and popped into La Tasca for a (very) late lunch.

I decided to do the Tapas for a Tenner deal. This deal allows you to eat as many tapas as you want for just £10! The deal varies across the UK, but here it was available until 5pm, whilst in Bristol it is available from 5pm!

Tapas for a Tenner

I went for six dishes in the end.

Patatas Bravas – Fried potato, topped with a spicy tomato sauce.

A Spanish classic and a tapas favourite. The tomato sauce was spicy, but rather too salty for me. Whilst the potatoes were soft and not crispy, slightly oily. A bit of a disappointment for a dish which should be relatively simple to make. It felt like it had not been freshly cooked and left around for a while. For me tapas should be freshly cooked.

Paella de Pescado – Paella with squid, prawns and mussels, served with lemon.

This was a well flavoured dish, but again like the patatas bravas did not taste fresh, felt like it had been cooked a good hour earlier.

Calamares a la Andaluza – Deep-fried rings of squid, served with roasted garlic mayonnaise and lemon.

Now this is a dish which again is simplicity, but oh was so wrong. The rings were overcooked so were rubbery in texture. I got the feeling (and I may have been wrong) that these were not freshly prepared, but came from a packet or even the freezer. Good calamari should be cooked using fresh squid. Alas they covered the calamari in salt – if I wanted salt I would have asked for it.

Chorizo Frito al Vino – The spicy Spanish sausage, sautéed in red wine.

This in my opinion was perfect, great chorizo cooked in red wine, bursting with meaty flavours and with a great depth provided by the red wine. This one I would have had second helpings of.

Selección de Embutidos – A selection of cured Spanish meats.

Can you get this wrong, no, and La Tasca didn’t. Three slices each of three different kinds of cured Spanish meats.

Paella Valenciana – A Valencian-style paella, with mixed seafood and chicken.

A different paella to the first tapas, but a similar story.

Overall I kind of had what I expected. La Tasca is a chain (not a family run restaurant) and probably cooks to a system. I did enjoy the meal (despite the disappointing food) and the ambiance and the atmosphere was pleasant, and you have to remember this was a very busy Regent Street.

Will I go again, possibly if I was stuck and there was nothing else to choose from.

Posted on

Bristol Zoo Gardens

Sometimes you wonder why the catering establishments in various tourist attractions act surprised when they get busy…

Today at Bristol Zoo Gardens when buying lunch, the catering team seemed surprised that a lot of people were visiting the zoo.

It’s August!

It’s the school holidays!

It was a sunny day!

What do you expect?

I also think that it is very cheeky to serve okay or ever poor quality food at expensive prices – service stations on the motorway have the same philosophy.

Today I ordered a pizza meal deal and though it was still quite early they had run out of garlic bread! So that I had to wait for.

The pizza was freshly baked, though for my liking too much tomato sauce and not cooked long enough.

Coleslaw was okay, but having made my own I didn’t think too much of it, but it was much much better that coleslaw from other places.

Generally I think it is to be recommended to take a picnic, rather than rely on the catering at the zoo. True you have to contend with the wasps, but the food will probably be nicer.

I do wonder if there are decent places to eat at visitor attractions?

Posted on

John Lewis Espresso Bar

John Lewis, the retail chain, has been at Cribbs Causeway in Bristol for ten years now.

Their restaurant at the top of the store has always been one of the better places to eat at the shopping mall, away from the KFC and Burger Kings.

True their original outside eating area was rather windswept, but at least the majority of the hot food was cooked to order, the salads were fresh, the cakes scrummy and the service was pretty good too (when it wasn’t too busy).

Over the last few months, John Lewis has revamped their eating places, making their top floor restaurant larger and by adding an espresso bar in the basement.

The espresso bar is rather nice and cosy and despite no windows did not feel claustrophobic.

The coffee was good, the tea was good, the scone was good and the service was excellent. It was even reasonably priced as well.

I was very pleased and will go there again.

Posted on

Theory Cafe, the theory is flawed

In theory the Theory Cafe, part of the at-Bristol complex should be the perfect place for families visiting at-Bristol, however that theory is flawed on a few levels.

The Theory Cafe does have a kids menu, which for a city centre location and at a location for a family day out, are reasonable priced at £3.95 – the macaroni was only £2.95. The food is not just kiddes food and comes served with salad.

However first flaw, no high chairs!

If you are a toddler, sitting on a proper chair and eating dinner is not an option. Sitting on a sofa is fun, but pity the poor customers who have to sit on the sofa after the toddler has gone!

China plates are nice to eat off, less nice when they fall on the floor and smash – not that happened to me, but it is possible.

Final big flaw is, yes we sell food for children, but we don’t sell drinks for children!

The Theory Cafe is a nice environment, and a huge improvement over the Nescafe cafe it replaced. The food is good and not processed. However it needs to do a few more things to make it a place to take the family.

Posted on

Chesters

I do wonder why a Mexican themed restaurant is called Chesters?

Regardless of the name, I went there for lunch today and was quite impressed.

I had the house specialty burrito.

A 10″ flour tortilla, crammed with cheese & onion and your choice of filling, served with salsa, sour cream & guacamole, complemented with a Chesters combi salad.

From the choice of fillings I went for the mexican chicken.

I was expecting it to be very spicy, but it wasn’t, it was spiced, but not so spicy to be uncomfortably spicy – as happens in some Mexican chain places I have been to in the past.

The salsa, sour cream and guacamole were nice as they tasted fresh and most certainly did not taste processed or out of a jar.

I thought the side salad was excellent, which was full of interesting salad type things, including shoots, cabbage, potatoes as well as other delicious stuff.

The coffee I had alongside was very nice too.

Overall I did enjoy my meal and thought it was very good value for lunch. My dining colleague enjoyed his risotto.

I would go there again (and more often) alas it is in Worcester and I don’t go there very often!