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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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Orecchiette pasta with mushrooms and spinach

I like eating Orecchiette pasta since eating it in London a few years back at the now sadly closed Paesan restaurant close to Exmouth Market. Orecchiette are a pasta typical of the Apulia region of Italy. 

I cooked the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. I then in a large frying pan cooked off some pancetta. To this I added some finely chopped red onion (would have probably used brown onion, but I didn’t have any). Once the onion was soft I added some chopped mushrooms.

Once the mushrooms were cooked, I added a splash of white wine. I reduced the wine and then mixed in some crème fraîche. I added the cooked pasta and served with some freshly grated parmesan and toasted pine nuts.

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Waitrose No.1 Free Range Turkey Bauble

Waitrose No.1 Free Range Turkey Bauble
Waitrose No.1 Free Range Turkey Bauble (box image)

I generally post what we had for Christmas lunch in the main for me, so I can recall for next year (and the years ahead).

This year I had gone down a different strategy about what to buy and cook and went out on Christmas Eve to see what had been reduced. My plan had been to go to Aldi, but my local branch had almost nothing left. There was a goose, but it hadn’t been reduced. 

So, later I went to Waitrose to see if they had anything I could get. They actually had a large quantity of reduced turkey roasts, turkeys, and some goose as well.

The Waitrose No.1 Free Range Turkey Bauble was reduced from £50 down to £25.

Fresh class A free range skin-on turkey breast, with a pork, mixed dried fruit and rum stuffing, wrapped with dry cured smoked streaky bacon, topped with a candied orange slice, rosemary and bay leaves, with a sachet of honey and orange glaze and salted butter.

This was actually the cheapest of the turkey options, so I went with that.

On the big day, I followed the cooking instructions and to be perfectly honest I wasn’t that impressed. The turkey was a little dry, and the shape wasn’t quite a bauble. Due to the nature of the presentation, there was quite a bit of string around the bauble. I wasn’t exactly sure how to carve the bauble; from the box it looked like you cut it like a cake. I did not think a chunk of turkey was a nice as a decent slice. The stuffing was interesting, but I couldn’t really taste the rum, didn’t actually realise there was rum until I started writing this. I liked the idea of the honey and orange glaze, but not sure if it worked.

Overall, I really wasn’t that happy with the turkey bauble. I really liked the concept, and I thought it would make an impressive centre piece of our Christmas Day lunch. In reality I carved it on the side of the kitchen, and it didn’t actually make it to the table. It didn’t look anything like the picture on the side of the box. I certainly would not have paid £50 for it. Even at £25 I think I felt cheated. So much so that I nearly took advantage of Waitrose’s money back guarantee.

Would I get it again, no.

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Mokoko Mortadella Sandwich

Portishead

It was a nice sunny day, so I headed to Portishead to have a walk around the marina and I also stopped for coffee.

I went for a coffee and a sandwich at the Mokoko Bakery. I went for a flat white and an interesting mortadella, pistachio, and mozzarella focaccia sandwich.

Though I have had cakes and pastries from the Mokoko Bakery, however this was my first sandwich from the bakery.

It was an interesting sandwich, with thin slices of mortadella, fresh mozzarella, and some chopped pistachio. The bread was quite oily, so much so, I needed more napkins to wipe my hands with. The sandwich was nice and fresh and you could tell it had been made that morning.

I enjoyed the sandwich and the coffee was great as well.

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Time for a Coffee: Top Ten Blog Posts 2025

Roasted Sirloin of Beef

In 2025 I published 147 posts, sightly less than in 2024. In 2024 I wrote 153 blog posts. In 2023 I wrote and published 187 blog posts. Less than in 2022 when I wrote 236 blog posts. In 2021 I wrote 107 blog posts,  in 2020 it was 120. In 2019 it was 58 blog posts, 2018 just 36.

My post about when it was Lidl French Week back in 2020 was the tenth most popular blog post.

The ninth most popular blog post in 2025 was a review of the Greek Tzoumagias-Style Sausages that Lidl sold.

My post on the Schwartz seasoning was the post at eight, Citrus Brazilian BBQ is back!

My seventh most popular post, was my review of some Lidl Sol Mar Cod Croquettes.

The post at number six was about Retro Ice Cream from the 1970s and 1980s.

The fifth most popular blog post in 2025 was about the time I had the Pollo Cacciatore at Bella Italia.

The post at four was news this year that Bunsik was coming to Bristol.

I enjoy coffee and people enjoyed the third most popular blog post, which was Well I enjoyed that coffee.

In second was a post on the Shiitake Mushroom Donburi I had at Wagamama.

The most popular blog post in 2025 was about the festive Slow Cooked Rolled Pork Belly Porchetta from Aldi I had last Christmas.

I nearly bought it again this year after Christmas when Aldi reduced it to just £7.99.

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How much for a flat white?

Grand Pier

I walked to Caffé Nero in Weston-super-Mare and had a skinny flat white. Thanks to the 3+ app I was able to get my coffee for £1. I realised that the full price would be £4.05. I do feel that coffee shop coffee seems to have risen quite a bit in recent years. It use to be a £2 coffee from what I can remember, okay maybe £2.75. I recently complained about the £4.25 I paid for a crap flat white from Starbucks at the NEC, I would say that this flat white from Caffé Nero was in a different league. It was well made and had the right texture and a great coffee flavour. I do have to remember that complaining about high prices and how much better things were in the past, is an old person type behaviour. I am getting older, but I also think that I if I am spending money on coffee, I want value for money. I did wonder if I would pay £4.05 for the flat white I had, I think I would, but I wouldn’t do it very often.

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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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Lunch at the Casa

I was in Amsterdam for a conference and was staying at the Hotel Casa which is close to Amstelstation.

After some meetings I was in the mood for some lunch, I chose the beef steak open sandwich, with caramelised onion, cheddar and pico de Gallo.

beef steak open sandwich

I certainly needed a knife and fork to eat this, The steak had an interesting flavour. It does appear to be a Dutch thing to add cheese to steak in their sandwiches. I enjoyed the pico de Gallo which added a nice element of freshness to the food. There was a generous portion of steak on the bread.

I thought it was just okay, nothing special. I think the flavour of the steak let the sandwich down.

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A slice of Sri Lanka

Nadu brings a slice of Sri Lanka to the epicentre of Bristol’s cultural quarter, Stokes Croft. 

Myself and colleagues from work headed to Nadu for a festive meal, well I say festive, as it was that time of year, the menu very much from Sri Lanka.

There was lots of lovely stuff on the menu and I found it quite challenging to choose something. I decided would have a small plate as a starter and then something else as a main.

Across the small plates one dish did stick out to me, which was the Tawa Fish, though there were some others there I would have been happy with. I was quite intrigued by the Mojo Cutlets as well as the Miris Bhaji.

The Tawa Fish was simply a seasonal fish grilled in bell pepper & ginger sauce.

This was not the best looking dish I have seen, and they had tried with the peppers and other garnishes. However, the food was delicious. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the sauce, spicy but not overpowering. I really enjoyed eating this portion of fish.

For my main course, again lots of choice. I liked the idea of the roasted beef bone marrow in the Aeta Midulu, across the different karis, I was tempted by the Era Kulumba, a mild shrimp curry, or the Thora Malu, a fish curry. The Ceylonese Lamb Kari also sounded delicious. In the end though after much thinking I went with the Black Pork Kari, which was slow cooked pork belly with smoked coconut & cinnamon. Alongside I had some coconut rice.

Though not black, this was a very dark looking curry. I was expecting that though. This was also delicious, the pork were very tender, and the sauce was delicious. Not sure I could taste the smoked coconut, but I am sure it was in there somewhere. I really liked this pot and it was really tasty. There was a good level of spice, so you could say spicy, but wasn’t hot and fiery. All rather good and I did finish off this dish.

We also shared a Tear & Share Dosa, 48 hour fermented crispy rice pancake served with chutneys and sambar. Literally tear bits off, dip them in the chutneys and enjoy.

The service was excellent, well informed and friendly waiting staff offering advice and recommendations. 

I can’t wait until I can go again.

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Conference dinner at the Marriott

Back in October I was at a conference at the Marriott in Glasgow and there was a nice conference dinner.

For the starter we had a confit pork and apple terrine. I wasn’t a fan to be honest, the terrine was rather plain and I don’t really like oatcakes.

The main was a roast chicken supreme stuffed with haggis. It was served with dauphinoise potatoes and vegetables. This was rather nice, not spectacular, but tasty.

The salted caramel tart was very rich, it really needed some ice cream to offset the richness.

Overall I did enjoy the meal, certainly better than some conference dinners I’ve had, but not one of the best.