Category: steak

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Swedish Style Steak & Fries

In September I was attending a conference and meeting at Luleå in Sweden. I have never visited Sweden before, so was looking forward to going. The journey took some planning, in the end it was more efficient to travel from London Heathrow, have a layover in Stockholm and then fly up to Luleå. Having had a great time in Luleå I made my way home. The flight from Luleå to Stockholm was fine, I then made my way to the departure gate for my flight to Heathrow. 

However…

This was the day that the air traffic control system at Heathrow failed and over a thousand flights were cancelled.

My flight was that evening, and I think SAS thought they might be able to take off, however in the end that was not to be the case. With the number of cancellations, the earliest flight SAS could rebook me onto was three days later. So, SAS booked me a hotel for three days. I now had three unplanned extra days in Sweden.

The hotel that SAS booked me into was in Sollentuna. Not knowing Stockholm, when SAS gave me a choice of hotels I wasn’t clear where they were, so just chose the first one. The Sandic Star Sollentuna was in fact a really nice hotel and I had a room with an extra living room space as well. The restaurant was nice and served a good breakfast and there was a nice choice of meals from the menu in the evening.

I arrived too late for dinner on the first night I was at the hotel. On the second night I went with the Swedish beef with grilled broccolini, tomato salad, choron sauce, and parmesan-tossed French fries.

I thought it looked really nice. It was rather good. I enjoyed the salad and the steak. I wasn’t asked how I wanted my steak cooked, but it wasn’t over cooked. It may have needed some extra resting time, but it was tender and had a good flavour. I am not sure the fries needed the parmesan. The salad was one of the best parts of this dish. It was fresh and I liked the addition of the thinly sliced radish. The choron sauce, a classic French “daughter” sauce made by adding tomato purée to a traditional Béarnaise sauce base was a nice addition.

Overall a very nice plate of food.

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Premier Inn Sirloin Steak

I was staying at the Premier Inn at Heathrow (again), cheap and next to the car parking I had booked. As with my previous visit, I didn’t really have the time (or the transport) to go somewhere else, so I headed down the restaurant for dinner. They do quite a good value meal deal with two courses and a drink for £19.99, you can throw in breakfast the following morning and it costs £29.99.

I went with a starter and had the crispy chicken bao buns again. I had enjoyed them before, so went with something I liked.

Last time I had the mixed grill, which was quite filling, this time I went with the sirloin steak. This comes with chips, grilled tomato and mushroom and peas. 

Sirloin Steak

I think the steak I had last week with the mixed grill was better. As hotel meals go, this was good. The steak was nice as were the accompaniments.

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Time for a Mixed Grill

I was staying at the Premier Inn at Heathrow, cheap and next to the car parking I had booked.

I didn’t really have the time (or the transport) to go somewhere else, so I headed down the restaurant for dinner.

They do quite a good value meal deal with two courses and a drink for £19.99, you can throw in breakfast the following morning and it costs £29.99.

I went with a starter and had the bao buns.

For my main course I upgraded to the mixed grill.

This was a sirloin steak, gammon steak, half a chicken breast and pork sausages. Served with beer-battered onion rings, garden peas, a fried egg, half a grilled tomato and skin-on chips. I was given a choice of salad if I wanted to. I went with the chips.

The steak and gammon were really nice. The steak was cooked to my liking and was well seasoned. The chicken I am assuming was pre-cooked and was a little rubbery having been cooked on the chargrill. The sausages looked a little overcooked, but in fact were just right.

The chips were crisp on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside.

The only thing that let the plate down were the onion rings which were overcooked and just crunch. I was asked how my food was before I tried one, otherwise I would have probably complained, but even then maybe not, as it was just three onion rings.

I do like a mixed grill and I was quite impressed with this plate from Premier Inn, to be honest my expectations weren’t very high. Compared to the mixed grills I had last year from The Landing Light and the Railway Inn, this was much better. Though it was missing a lamb chop!

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The Happiest Menu (well not that happy)

It was a little too early to get to the hotel in London, so decided to stop in Marlow for lunch, planning to eat at the Côte, which had a special January price on their set menu, or as the advert said “The Happiest Menu”. I set the sat nav to get me to Marlow, I had seen they had a branch of Côte and was pretty much on the route to my hotel in London.

Having arrived in Marlow, I drove to a car park. They had a BP Pulse fast charger (read 11 Kw), so after paying for my parking, I put the Funky Cat on charge. It took me a while as though I thought I had a BP Pulse account, I had to set one up. It was priced at 65p kWh, so more expensive than a Tesla charger, but cheaper than most public chargers. I then needed to find the Côte restaurant and discovered on Google Maps it was actually next door to the car park. So, not too far to walk.

I went in and as it was after the lunchtime rush they had plenty of free tables, even so it was still quite busy. So when it came to choose from the menu, I was told they had no potted crab or charcuterie. That left soup or beetroot salad. I decided to go without a starter, well it was lunch, and they did have cheese as a dessert. While I was waiting I was brought some complimentary bread and butter, which I did appreciate.

For my main course I went with the minute steak which came with fries. The steak looked a little anaemic, but the fries looked good.

The steak did in fact have quite a bit of flavour and the fries were hot and crisp. The steak came with a sun dried tomato butter. They did have a special offer of free flowing fries, so they went and brought me another portion of fries as I was close to finishing mine. Overall for steak and frites, it was tasty, and for the special price menu, I thought it was good value for money.

I could have had a dessert, but I went with the cheese, which the menu said came with a choice of four cheeses, but I was told I could only have three. Which I didn’t quibble with. I gave my choice of three, but in the end though I had three portions of cheese, they doubled up as they were out of one of my choices.

I did check the menu later, and I should have had four cheeses. I wasn’t too enamoured with the charcoal crackers so was pleased that they I was given some more bread to have with my cheese. Cheese is cheese and apart from the lack of variety I enjoyed the cheeses I had on the plate, along with the quince jelly.

At the end of the day was I happy? Well I wasn’t unhappy. It was a pity there was limited choice for the starter, I had my heart set on the potted crab, and I also liked the sound of the charcuterie. However with the set menu choices it was restricted to the soup and the beetroot. I did enjoy the meal and it was nice to sit down, be served. Service was good, friendly and efficient. 

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Ribeye Steak

I was in Birmingham for a conference and I was staying at the Novotel, a hotel I have stayed at before. They have a restaurant and there is menu, of what most people would call typical hotel food.

I went with the ribeye steak, which came with fries, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, and a peppercorn sauce.

Ribeye Steak

It was well presented, though I think I needed something green on the plate, watercress perhaps. The accompaniments were nice, I liked the sauce. The steak was cooked to my liking, but I was hoping for more flavour, it certainly needed more seasoning. I guess I was expecting more of a chargrill flavour to the steak. Overall I guess I was a little disappointed with the plate.

Service was excellent though, friendly and efficient.

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Bavette Steak

Bavette Steak

The Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing is one of my regular London stays. It offers a significantly cheaper alternative to central London hotels, with easy access to the middle of London via West Ealing station.

I don’t usually have steak at the hotel now as their prices have gone up quite a bit since I first started visiting. On my most recent visit though, they did have a bavette steak on the menu (as well as a more expensive sirloin). The steak said it came with truffle & lemon dressed watercress, fries & choice of peppercorn or béarnaise sauce. So, I ordered that for my dinner, choosing the peppercorn sauce.

The steak arrived and the plate of food did look good. However, though I did have a bavette steak, I didn’t get the truffle & lemon dressed watercress or the fries. I had a simple mixed salad and triple cooked chips. I would have preferred fries and with hindsight I think I would have preferred the watercress. I didn’t complain, as it wasn’t a big deal, and to be honest quite a few times when ordering from the Drayton Court, they don’t always plate their dishes according to the description on the menu.

The steak was nice and tasty, tender, but alas it was a little cold, think it had been left too long from cooking to being served. Other times I have had a bavette (or similar cut of) steak it has been sliced. The chips were nice, and I liked the peppercorn sauce. The sauce was warm so, it did warm up the steak.

Overall it was a nice plate of food, but the temperature of the steak let it down.

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Back to Chateau-X

restaurant

Back in November 2023 I was attending a conference in Glasgow at the Scottish Event Campus. I looked on Google maps in the surrounding area, Finnieston, to see what restaurants were local to the hotel. Chateau-X which was not too far from my hotel did an early week special where they do steak and frites for just £10. I had a fantastic plate of food and wrote it up on the blog.

This was an excellent meal, and great value for money. I certainly would go again. In the end I did, a couple of days later and had lunch there.

I always planned if I was in the area again that I would go back to Chateau-X. In the end I didn’t get to the conference again in November 2024 so didn’t get the chance to have steak and frites once more.

In October 2025 I was back in Glasgow for a different conference and realised that Chateau-X wasn’t too far from the hotel where I was staying. I headed off to the restaurant to get a late lunch. As it was a Wednesday I could get their now infamous steak frites deal. Later in the week there is a more substantial menu available, with more choices of steaks and prices to match.

As it was mid afternoon, there was plenty of space, I know though from experience that this is a popular venue, so if you are going in the evening, it makes sense to book a table.

I looked over the menu, though the deal has gone up in price, it is now £15, you do get a side with the deal. Back in 2023 I ordered an additional side to my £10 deal. 

I went with the Flat Iron Frites. For my side I went with the Tobacco Onions, for my sauce I went with the Bone Marrow Jus.

It wasn’t long before my skillet arrived with my sliced flat iron steak, frites, the bone marrow jus, and the tobacco onions on the side.

steak and chips

This was just as good as I remember from my previous visit. The only difference was back then I had gone for garlic butter, this time I had gone with the bone marrow jus. 

The steak was tasty, tender and full of flavour. The fries were crispy. I also released the tobacco onions, crispy strings of onion, delicious.

fried onions in a pot on a table with a bottle and vase in the background

However, the stare of the show for me, was the amazing bone marrow jus, which was just incredible, deep intense flavour, perfect with the steak and for dipping the fries in.

This was an excellent meal and like last time great value for money. I hope to get back there real soon.

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Sirloin Ciabatta

arena

I was back in Amsterdam for some work stuff. This time I was staying at the Hampton by Hilton near the Johan Cruyff Arena, home to Ajax FC. The hotel did not have a restaurant,  but there was a wide range and variety of places close by. I didn’t go to far and went to the place next door, the Brasserie Hoekenrode. They had a menu of grilled entrees and sandwiches. The previous evening I had some nice lamb chops.

After leaving the offices where I had been working, I headed to my hotel. The bars and pubs were very busy for the football game happening later at the Johan Cruyff Arena. I did check how busy the restaurant was next door, it was packed. 

Went back to my hotel room and decided I would wait until after kick off before heading out to get something to eat. 

When I arrived at Brasserie Hoekenrode it was virtually empty, though some fans were in watching the match on the big screen.

I had a sirloin steak ciabatta, which came with cheese salad and a portion of fries.

Sirloin Ciabatta

This was certainly an interesting dish. Not sure it would be something I would order again. The steak was nice, but I really don’t think the cheese added anything to the sandwich. The fries were nice, but the salad was nothing special. 

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A Walking Conference Dinner

In my current work I have attended a number of conferences across the years, around the UK and internationally as well. Virtually all the time you are sitting at a table being served three courses and coffee. There have been some exceptions, some of these are better some are worse. I remember one conference dinner in Leeds where we had to get up from our tables and head to the servery to pick up our food, in the “day” it was a canteen, but it didn’t feel very much like a formal conference dinner. Earlier this year I was at a conference in Brighton and for the conference dinner we had fish and chips in a box on the pier, which doesn’t exactly sound like a conference dinner, but it was awesome. Another nice conference dinner was when we had our dinner under the wings of the BOAC Comet at RAF Cosford. I can’t recall what we ate, but the atmosphere was very different and special. Back in 2006 I was in Helsinki for a conference, and I was expecting that the conference dinner would involve some local cuisine, well the reality was that we ended up in an Italian restaurant for the conference dinner, though the food was excellent, it wasn’t really very Finnish. The best conference dinner I remember was in Athlone in Ireland, where the dinner was in a restaurant and we could choose from the menu. I thought this was incredible, as most conference dinners had a fixed menu. I didn’t fancy anything sweet for dessert, so I cheekily asked if they could do me cheese and biscuits, and they did. It was a lovely meal. 

So, attending a conference in Delft in the Netherlands, I was intrigued by the notion of a walking conference dinner, which is a Dutch thing. The meal was at the Vakwerkhuis which has a garden, as well as a range of interesting rooms. The concept was quite simple waiters would bring the food out and you could eat standing up, sitting down, or even walking around (not really advisable that last one). This was a lovely way of engaging with fellow delegates at a conference dinner, you wouldn’t be stuck on one table for all three courses. It certainly helped the food was excellent as well.

The first dish I had was an aubergine dish, I think it was the vegetarian alternative. Regardless it was rather tasty.

A little later the second dish arrived, and this was  burrata with pickled tomato, wild peach, and crispy Parmesan. This was another tasty dish. Burrata and tomato is something I do, however here I did enjoy the addition of the peach and crispy Parmesan. There was a nice freshness to the dish.

The main course was entrecôte steak with corn cream, green asparagus, and chimichurri. I did wonder how they would serve the steak, but it came sliced. The steak was delicious, tender and full of flavour. The accompaniments worked well in enhancing the dish.

The final plate was the dessert, and this was a passion fruit mousse with chocolate crumble and coffee ice cream. It was nice, but I thought it was a little too busy.

I liked the format of the conference and the food was delicious.

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Nice meal out in Helsinki

Back in February I was on a trip to Helsinki in Finland for a few days for work. I was staying at the Scandic Hotel Simonkenttä in the heart of the city. Though I did go to Momotoko for a number of meals, one evening our Finnish colleagues treated us to a meal at the Ravintola Sea Horse. We were eating from a set menu, with a range of choices.

For my starter I had the Shrimp Sandwich. This was a traditional open sandwich which was beautifully presented.

For the main course I had a Finnish Sirloin Steak. I did like the idea of the fish main course, but I had fish for my lunch, so fancied something different. This arrived and was presented on potatoes with onions, pickles, and sour cream.

It was lovely tender piece of steak and I liked the potatoes and other accompaniments.

For my dessert I had the frozen cranberries and hot caramel sauce, this was, well it was interesting, I really didn’t like it that much.

It was nice to have some Finnish cuisine in Helsinki.