Time for a coffee

December 14, 2023

Open Turkey Sandwich

A few weeks ago I had a delicious open sandwich from the Portwall Tavern.

This was a substantial open sandwich. There was a slice of ciabatta with salad and a good sized portion of the slow cooked (pulled) lamb. The lamb was garnished with some mint yoghurt.

When it comes to lunch, I generally don’t do sandwiches. I understand why people like eating sandwiches. I actually do like eating sandwiches, when I say I don’t do sandwiches, what I really mean is that I am not a fan of retail sandwich packs.

The sandwich I had at Portwall Tavern was so much more than a sandwich. So it wasn’t much surprise when deciding what to have for lunch, I headed back to Portwall Tavern.

Having had the lamb, I chose to have the second sandwich on the menu, which was described as slow cooked turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roasted potatoes, cranberry sauce and a jug of gravy.

I didn’t get the roasted potatoes or the jug of gravy. I did though get potato wedges and the whole dish was covered in gravy.

This was a nice piece of turkey and I liked the pigs in blankets. The gravy obviously made the bread soggy. I think it needed some greenery, some sprouts perhaps, or some coleslaw. Despite that I enjoyed the sandwich and generally I don’t do sandwiches.

December 13, 2023December 13, 2023

A Flat White at Bistrot Pierre

I was watching the Christmas Cracker 10K on Weston beach and as the runners headed off to Uphill I headed off for coffee.

I went to the Brunello Lounge first. However, they were packed, so I went to Bistrot Pierre instead. They were busy, so popped out to see the runners run pass the pier again. I then headed back to Bistrot Pierre for a flat white.

The rush had calmed down, so I ordered a flat white and took a seat. I always like it when that happens, makes the coffee a little more special.

This was a nice looking flat white and tasted great. Just what I needed after standing out in the cold on the beach.

December 12, 2023

Italian Stallion Pizza

I hadn’t planned on eating at the Raddison Red Hotel in Glasgow when I was staying there, but after having drinks and chat, it was getting late. So rather then head out to the restaurants on Argyle Street up the road I decided to eat at the hotel restaurant, the OUIBar + KTCHN.

The menu reminds me of the type of menu you would find at Frankie and Benny’s.

I had the Italian Stallion pizza, which was a white pizza with Italian sausage, cubes of roasted potato, and parmesan crisps.

It came promptly. It certainly was a different kind of pizza, I do like a white pizza and the mix of sausage and potato was interestingly different. Wasn’t so sure on the green parmesan crisps.

I did enjoy the pizza, and the service was excellent.

December 11, 2023

Time for a rustica pizza

I was out in Bristol thinking about something for lunch. I had a voucher for free main course at Zizzi, so I headed over to their branch in Cabot Circus to get something for lunch. I haven’t been to Zizzi for a while, so it was nice to look over the menu. There were some nice choices, but in the end I went with the Rustica Pizza with Black Truffle Salami & Mushroom.

This was a white base with truffle salami, mushrooms, crispy prosciutto, Bufala mozzarella, riserva cheese, truffle-infused oil and crispy sage.

I do like a white base pizza, and this was a nice pizza, with generous toppings, but not over the top toppings. The fresh mozzarella was a nice touch. I liked the rustica base which was crisp. This was a nice pizza and I am glad I chose it from the menu.

Alongside I had the Courgetti Fritti which were crispy courgette chips.

These were interesting and I enjoyed them.

Came to pay the bill and there was an issue with the staff saying I could only have used the offer with the purchase of two main courses, it didn’t say that in the T&Cs, so in the end they did accept the voucher.

Apart from the voucher issue, the service was excellent.

December 7, 2023

Dinner at the Castle

I had never intended to stay in a castle when I recently travelled up to York, but it was a cheaper option than staying in the centre of York.

Hazlewood Castle Hotel & Spa is nestled in 77 acres of woodland in the heart of the Yorkshire countryside between Leeds and York. It is in the main, or appears to be, in the main a wedding venue. As it was a Monday night, it was considerably cheaper than if I was staying there later in the week.

It is a splendid looking place, though my room was quite plain in comparison to the elegance of the main building. However, I wasn’t complaining as I was there in the main to stay one night, have breakfast the next morning and then head off to York.

It is in the countryside, so rather than venture out into that countryside, I chose to eat in the hotel restaurant.

This is down in the basement, and not that easily accessed from the main hotel area, you do have to go outside to get there, and it was raining.

I sat down and looked over the menu. For my starter I went with the cheddar cheese soufflé. For my main course I decided to have the venison haunch, garlic & thyme crushed new potatoes, roasted banana shallot, honey glazed carrots, cranberry jus.

I had anticipated that my soufflé would be freshly made, and I was expecting something like I had seen on Masterchef. What I actually got was this.

This was a reheated frozen soufflé on a bed of leaves, dressed with balsamic glaze. To be honest it wasn’t that bad, but for the price I was paying I was expecting something better than what I got.

The main course arrived and this was slices of venison haunch with vegetables.

This was a much better dish than the soufflé. The venison was lovely and tender, and full of flavour. I enjoyed the vegetables, though I think I would have enjoyed having some more jus with the meal.

The service was friendly and efficient.

I did enjoy my meal, and it was all rather nice. Maybe a little overpriced for what I got, but I was in many ways expecting that. The meal was certainly a lot better than the conference dinner I had the following day at the hotel in York.

December 2, 2023December 2, 2023

Calamari

I fancied a snack and the Temple Quay market was running in Bristol, so headed down to see what was on offer.

I got a portion of calamari from King Fin. They (as usual) were cooked fresh to order.

This was a lovely generous portion of calamari. The batter was nice and crispy, but not too thick to overpower the squid. It was cooked just right, as well as light batter, the squid was nice and tender. Sometimes when I have squid it can be overcooked, so the batter is more crunchy than crispy, and the squid can be somewhat chewy. This squid though was cooked really nicely. Must remember next time to ask for less salt though.

November 29, 2023

Tapas at Brunello

We went for lunch in Weston and decided to head to the Brunello Lounge.

We weren’t really that hungry, so decided against a full size main course, and we ordered three tapas dishes, some fries and onion rings. Service was quick and efficient, which is always nice when you don’t have a huge amount of time for lunch.

We had some chicken wings, the salt & pepper squid, and the hummus.

The chicken wings were fried crispy chicken wings, which had been coated in a sticky sauce and dressed with sesame seeds.

For me the chicken was overcooked. Probably a result of being cooked twice more than anything else. I do like chicken wings, but these weren’t my favourite.

The squid was nice and crispy and there was a large dollop of aioli in the middle.

My favourite of the trio of dishes was the hummus. This was beautifully presented little dish of hummus with fried chickpeas, chilli and parsley. This was served with some flatbread.

The fries were nice and crispy, as was the batter on the onion rings.

Overall a nice snack for a quick lunch.

November 27, 2023

Gluten Free White Chocolate Cookies

I have a recipe for gluten free white chocolate cookies which I have been using for a few years now which works really well.

I adapted it from a recipe I had, which didn’t work so well, so I made a few changes.

85g of unsalted butter
100g of light brown sugar
30g of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
200g of gluten free plain flour
75g of white chocolate chips
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 180℃ and line two baking trays with baking parchment.

Add the butter to a heat-proof mixing bowl. Melt the butter in a microwave for approx 50 seconds, until just liquid. Ensure it has fully melted. I find that slicing the butter into thin slices speeds up the process.

I once tried melting the butter in a pan, but the butter was too hot so the white chocolate chips I added later then melted. It’s important that the butter isn’t too hot.

Add the brown sugar and caster sugar to the warm butter, stir well.

Now the add the vanilla essence and the egg. Sometimes, depending on the size of the eggs, I replace the single large egg, with two egg yolks.

Mix into a smooth batter consistency.

Sift the plain gluten free flour into the batter and combine into a soft shiny cookie dough. I use to add xanthan gum, but have found it isn’t always necessary.

Add the white chocolate chips

Spoon the dough into small balls onto the baking trays.

Put them into the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes.

They are ready when they are starting to brown slightly but will still be very soft. Leave them on the tray to cool for five to ten minutes before transferring carefully to a wire rack to cool.

This recipe makes about twelve cookies.

November 24, 2023November 23, 2023

Flat White at Cafe Society

I have been meaning to visit Cafe Society in Bristol on Baldwin Street for a while now, but never really had the opportunity. When I have walked past it was usually as I was on my way to another place, or I had just had a coffee somewhere else.

So when in town one Saturday and walking past, I decided I would go in for a coffee. The place was busy but there were seats available. There was no queue, so I went to the counter and ordered my coffee, a flat white. Having said that I was drinking in, the barista said to take a seat and they would bring my coffee to me.

I took a seat. I noticed that for some of their seats they had a no laptop rule which was interesting. If you did want to use your laptop, there were shared tables available. The rule was enforced, as I did see someone being asked to move to a laptop table.

My flat white arrived. It looked fantastic.