Category: squid

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I just like Mondays

Every Monday at Yo! Sushi is Blue Plate Monday. What this offer does, is they take fifty of their dishes, put them on blue plates and charge just £2.40 per plate. As a result you can have a nice meal and not spend too much money. There is a really wide and good choice of dishes, including traditional sushi, sashimi as well as salads and hot dishes.

My only criticism is that the conveyor belt appears to be full of sweet dishes and fruit. There was quite a limited choice of cold sushi dishes. So rather than take dishes from the conveyor belt, I decided to order some hot dishes. You can of course order cold dishes too.

I went with one of my favourite dishes the Spicy Pepper Squid. Hot coils of spicy pepper squid topped with red chilli.

Spicy Pepper Squid

I would warn you that the chilli was quite hot and if you aren’t use to that kind of heat avoid it. I do like this dish, the crunch of the coating, the softness and smoothness of the squid, combined with the heat of pepper and chilli. I did very nearly another dish of the squid.

I also had Chicken Katsu this is chicken breast covered in Japanese breadcrumbs and served with a spicy fruity katsu curry sauce.

Chicken Katsu

Sometimes I should read my own blog as I previously wrote.

The best way I can describe it is as a breaded chicken burger, fried, sliced, placed on rice and then covered in curry gravy! It wasn’t a horrible dish, but certainly wasn’t one I would order again or would recommend.

I will say this time I was in the mood for some crunchy spicy chicken, so that’s why I ordered it!

The third dish was Hairy Prawns. You get two prawns wrapped in kadaifi pastry with wasabi mayonnaise.

Hairy Prawns

This was something I hadn’t seen or tried before, also these were really quite messy to eat There was an incredible crunchy sensation as bit into the prawns, finished off with the soft prawn itself. The prawns tasted of prawns (which is not always the case) and the wasabi mayonnaise complemented the dish perfectly.

My final and fourth dish was Chicken Firecracker Rice.

Chicken Firecracker Rice

This was a nice dish of stir fried chicken and sushi rice, sticky, savoury, slightly spicy and delicious.

To drink I went with the Green Tea, which is hot and refreshing. You can also have unlimited refills.

Overall for £11.10 I thought this was very good value for money.

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Don’t overcook the squid!

A recent birthday treat was to go to the new Frankie and Benny’s in Weston-super-Mare. As it was lunchtime, I went for the lunchtime menu special, which seemed reasonable value. For my starter I went with the Bruschetta, a homemade mix of fresh tomato, red onion, basil, olive oil and cracked black pepper served over toasted garlic ciabatta bread, finished with a balsamic glaze. I was not that impressed with this, I found the red onion very harsh and astringent. Normally red onion can be very sweet when raw, however I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would.

The Calamari Caesar Salad came next, which consisted of (according to the menu) lightly fried and seasoned calamari, crispy Cos lettuce leaves, white anchovy, tomato and fresh garlic ciabatta croutons drizzled with our Caesar dressing, topped with Grana Padano and served with a wedge of lemon.

Calamari Caesar Salad

I would probably take exception to the phrase “lightly fried” as the squid had been overcooked to the point where the calamari was crunchy on the outside and quite rubbery on the inside. It wasn’t unpleasant, but I do think that Frankie and Benny’s could do a much better job of cooking the squid. It’s not difficult to cook squid well, however I think that the squid at Frankie and Benny’s is double cooked, it is cooked already and then cooked again when it is ordered. I of course don’t know that for sure. The chef has used the larger outside leaves of the Cos lettuce for the dish, which meant they were more limp than crispy. Overall I did enjoy the salad and it was a good sized portion and value for money.

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Time for Yo Sushi

I haven’t been to Yo Sushi for a while now, even though I enjoyed the meal I had there the last time I was there in 2009. I didn’t think it was that long ago!

Out on a evening shopping trip out with my wife, we decided that we wanted to get a quick bite to eat and as both like sushi, decided that we would go to Yo Sushi.

The first dish we grabbed from the conveyor belt was Assorted Fish Maki, two each of salmon, tuna and prawn and chive maki. These were very nice. I then picked up a plate of Avocado Maki, alas these were quite bland, but did have a nice texture.

We then ordered some hot dishes, which means as we could see into the kitchen we knew were freshly cooked. As might be guessed by regular readers of the blog, I went with squid, well I like squid. The Spicy Pepper Squid, is described as hot coils of spicy pepper squid topped with red chilli. I personally thought it was overcooked and a little chewy, but really enjoyed the dish, the chilli was a nice touch and added some heat to the squid.

The Chicken Teriyaki, grilled chicken in a sweet, sticky soy based sauce was very good, delicious and the sauce was just right. We could have probably eaten three of this dish, but in the end had just one. The grilled chicken was tender and there is something I have alway enjoyed about grilled chicken. This was well complemented by the sticky teriyaki sauce and dressed with sesame seeds.

As I was intrigued and had never had it before, I ordered the Soft Shell Crab Tempura, which was described as soft, tasty and tender soft shell blue crab fried in a crispy and light batter with tempura sauce. I do like crab but had not had soft shell crab before. This dish was mainly about texture, there wasn’t a strong crab flavour, but was quite nice.

Overall it was a really nice meal, though we preferred the hot dishes. We thought it was quite reasonable for the price we were charged.

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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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More Chilli Squid

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 recently wrote about the Chilli Squid from Wagamama that I had when I was in Leeds.

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.

Though there were other things on the menu, but as I do like squid I went with the squid again.

Squid

The menu describes it as deep-fried squid seasoned with sea salt and shichimi. It was served with a chilli and coriander dipping sauce.

This squid looked great and quite different to the squid I had in Leeds.

I would say the squid in London looked a lot better and I thought the squid in Leeds looked nice.

However though the squid I had in Leeds tasted delicious, the version in London was not as tasty. Still really nice though and the dipping sauce was great.

I think next time I go to Wagamama I will probably try something different.

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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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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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Chargrilled Squid with Chorizo Salad

As I have said before when ordering I usually seem to avoid ordering anything that may be too new and go with the familiar, and it was the same with this dish, chargrilled squid and chorizo salad. It was a meal I had in Auckland in New Zealand.

Now unlike many times I have had squid this was made with fresh squid and you certainly could tell the difference.

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Salt and Pepper Squid

Yesterday I talked about been more adventurous when I order stuff from a menu.

I like to think I am adventurous when I come to eating out, but more usually than not I will go for something that sounds familiar, or I like. Fish is a prime example where I will go for squid, but unlikely to go for a fish dish.

Well when I ordered the following dish, I was not being adventurous.

This was salt and pepper squid that I had for lunch when I was in Auckland in New Zealand for a conference in December 2009.

However I was to be slightly disappointed in that it was not made using fresh squid (well I don’t think it was).

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Calamari

I do like calamari, these from Bottelino’s was okay, certainly not the best I have ever had, but also not the worse. Would be nice if they were a little more authentic.

Though do compare this portion with this one.

Looks different. For me that’s a positive thing, means that this is not processed system cooking.