Time for a coffee

June 24, 2023June 23, 2023

Pizza DiSH

I occasionally find myself at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, where we have an office, and on a recent visit was looking for lunch. Pre-pandemic I would usually find lunch at the RAL Restaurant, which was pretty good.

Back in August 2022 I decided to try out the DiSH pop-up dining experience. This had opened in September 2021, but that was my first visit, and I had enjoyed a burger.

I was back on the campus and needing some lunch, so I headed out in the sun to DiSH.

A social dining destination located in the heart of Oxfordshire, with a choice of authentic and vibrant cuisines. Whether you’re enjoying music performances from one of our live artists, or simply relaxing after work with a cold drink – DiSH is a place to congregate, to spark new ideas and enjoy the ambiance.

There was quite a bit of choice at DiSH, I decided that I didn’t want a burger, so that left a Greek wrap, pizza, or burrito. I went with the pizza lunch deal, a margarita pizza with a drink.

I placed my order and within five minutes my freshly cooked pizza was ready.

This was not a huge pizza, about 10” across, but a perfect size for lunch I think. I liked the crust but did feel that the dough was slightly undercooked. The tomato sauce was good and I enjoyed the helping of (proper) mozzarella.

The choice of drinks though was limited, which was a pity. I had a can of sparkling rhubarb from Cawston Press, whereas in reality I wanted a diet Coke. The other choice was a Capri-sun. I am not six.

Overall good service and a nice pizza.

June 23, 2023

Another Artisan Cortado

Having enjoyed my cortado at Artisan Ealing, it wasn’t too much of a surprise when I was back in Ealing, having some time to, and needing a place to check some work stuff, and I wanted a coffee, that I found myself back at Artisan Ealing.

Another friendly welcome, the service was quick and efficient. Once more I was tempted by the cakes, but I resisted temptation. So I went with a cortado.

Took a seat and enjoyed my coffee.

June 22, 2023June 20, 2023

Artisan Coffee

I was in Ealing and decided to have a coffee. There are quite a few places to get a coffee, both the big chains and independents. I had originally gone to Caffe Nero, but there was a big queue and only one barista making coffee. I then remembered across the road was an independent coffee place, Artisan Ealing.

It was quite busy, but there wasn’t much of a queue, so I didn’t have long to wait. I was quite tempted by the cakes, but in the end I went with a cortado.

After getting my coffee I took a seat. I liked the environment with the wooden floors and furniture. The paintings added to the ambience, and I liked the paper bag lights.

The coffee was excellent.

This was a really nice place for coffee. Good service, great coffee, relaxing environment, and a nice selection of cakes.

June 21, 2023June 19, 2023

Back to Master Bao

It had been a while since I had eaten at Master Bao. I really do enjoy a good bao bun and my first encounter with the Master Bao eatery at Westfield was back in December 2019 and a return visit in January 2020. I then made a visit back in September 2021.

So on a recent trip to London and needing some lunch I headed to the Westfield Shopping Centre. I did look around, but in the end headed to Master Bao.

I went with the meal deal of two bao buns and a side. I ordered the Prawn Bao and the Shiitake Mushroom Bao. The side I chose was fried vegetable dumplings.

The Prawn Bao contained marinated king prawns, fried, pickled mooli, spiced spring onions.

The prawns were nice and crispy, I liked the additions, and the bun was soft and fluffy. A really lovely bao bun.

Whilst the Shiitake Mushroom Bao had teriyaki shiitake mushrooms, pickled onions, miso.

Really nice mushrooms, with a strong savoury flavour, which contrasted with the soft fluffy bao.

I’ve had both these bao before and these were just as good, nice and tasty.

The vegetable dumplings had been fried.

I think they would have been better steamed, and then potentially fried in a pan. They were a little too crispy for me, I mainly prefer my dumplings steamed.

Nice lunch.

June 20, 2023June 18, 2023

Pad Kra Prow at Rosa’s Thai

I was attending a conference in Liverpool, and arrived in the evening. I was quite hungry after a long journey to Liverpool, so after looking at (and dismissing) the hotel menu I headed out to the Royal Albert Docks for a bite to eat. There is quite a bit of choice across the docks, and knowing I was short of time, I realised I had to choose quickly. After looking at a few choices I decided that I would go for Thai and went into the branch of Rosa’s Thai they have on the docks.

They described themselves as:

A family of foodies dedicated to serving up perfected Thai dishes. You’ll find us in unfussy cafes at the heart of neighbourhoods, cooking up fresh dishes from our kitchens straight to your table.

The menu looked interesting and I could see quite a few things I liked the look of. So in I went. It was quite busy, but I was given a warm welcome and I took a seat and l looked around. The environment was informal and inviting. They have different kinds of seating and they used lots of wood and wooden furniture. The staff looked busy, but friendly and efficient.

I looked over the menu, which has quite a few options. My first choice for the starter would have been the crispy squid, but I always have that, so looked over the choices. In the end I went with the Gai satay. Described on the menu as succulent, lemongrass-scented grilled chicken thigh skewers with Rosa’s peanut dipping sauce.

These were three large skewers of marinated chicken thighs, nothing like the satay skewers you find in the deli counters of most supermarkets. The satay sauce was delicious and really enhanced the chicken. I was pleased with that choice.

For my main course I did think about getting the Pad metmamuang, the cashew stir fry, but in the end I went with the Seafood Pad Kra Prow. This was the Chilli & Basil Stir Fry with seafood. The menu called this a spicy and fragrant favourite with Thai basil, onions and green beans. This is something of a national dish, a real classic.

I wasn’t sure about the presentation and look of the dish. However the spiciness was just right, there was a good portion of seafood in the dish, though it was dominated by the squid. Not that I minded as I prefer squid. I suspect if you like prawns you might be a little disappointed, though there are prawn dishes elsewhere on the menu.

The squid was nice and tender, and I enjoyed the green beans and Thai basil. Overall I really tasty dish.

Alongside I had some sticky rice.

The sticky rice came wrapped in banana leaf. It was really a large lump of sticky rice, which I had to break apart with my spoon. However it did add to the overall dish.

Alongside the food I had a Thai beer (in a can).

This was a lovely meal, excellent service, tasty food, and nice environment. It was my first experience of Rosa Thai and I certainly would go again.

June 19, 2023June 18, 2023

Feta Cheese Salad

This salad was a real mix of stuff, which though made from various leftover aspects of salad worked really well.

There were some mixed beans, radish, sweetcorn, red pepper, cucumber, tomato, and cubed feta cheese.

The salad was seasoned and dressed with some white wine vinegar and olive oil.

Nice and fresh.

June 18, 2023June 17, 2023

Dulce de Leche

I was at a conference in March in Liverpool and before the conference started I went for a walk around the docks area.

On my way back to the hotel. I stopped off in the Royal Albert Docks for a coffee. I went to Rough Hand Made which is one of a few places to eat and drink in the docks.

I ordered a coffee and a marvellous looking Dulce de Leche croissant, well I should say a rather large marvellous looking Dulce de Leche croissant.

I was a little disappointed that the coffee came in a paper cup. I have mentioned before that when drinking coffee in a coffee place, I much prefer having coffee in a proper cup. Having said that, it was a nice coffee.

The Dulce de Leche croissant, was a delicious fresh croissant, flaky and buttery, it was filled with smooth sweet dulce de leche. A little extravagant and rich, a bit of a guilty pleasure, but it was delicious.

June 17, 2023

Time for yasai yaki soba in Liverpool

Back in March I was staying in Liverpool and one evening I headed out to Wagamama for a meal.

Despite always thinking about ordering stuff I’ve not had before, this time I went with two favourites, the yasai yaki soba, and mushroom bao buns.

The yasai yaki soba looked really nice.

This is a teppanyaki dish of soba noodles with mushroom and vegetables, egg, peppers, beansprouts, white and spring onions, garnished with fried shallots, pickled ginger and sesame seeds.

I did enjoy the dish, I always think it could do with more mushroom, but it is a tasty dish.

The mushroom bao buns are another favourite regular dish of mine.

The soft bao buns work well with the mushrooms.

Overall I enjoyed the food.

June 13, 2023June 10, 2023

Chicken Schnitzel

We made our way to Bristol for a meal, and as we had enjoyed our last visit to the Coal Kitchen, we headed there again.

They have quite an extensive menu, but also a set menu. I went with the set menu again, but planned to have something different for my starter and my main course. This time for my starter I had the Beef Koftas. For my main course I looked over the menu. I had the minute steak, this time I wanted something different. I decided I didn’t want a wrap or a burger. I did think about the Caesar salad, but there was a £4.50 supplement to add halloumi. In the end I went with the Chicken Schnitzel. This was a chicken breast in golden crispy breadcrumbs, fried egg, and salad. I recently had a chicken schnitzel at Drayton Court which was a little dry, so was slightly hesitant, but in the end I did plump for the chicken.

The dish arrived, the chicken, was a chicken breast in golden crispy breadcrumbs. This was served on top of a salad which consisted of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and red onion. On top of the chicken was a fried egg.

The chicken schnitzel was a lot better than the last one I had, the chicken was still moist and tender, the breadcrumb coating was crispy and golden. The salad was nice and fresh. The fried egg was a nice addition. I quite like having a freshly cooked egg with a salad. I remember once watching a cooking programme where the chef had placed a freshly poached duck egg on top of a salad.

I did enjoy this plate of food. The waiter had asked if I wanted fries with my food, I think if I was just having a main course, then you might want some fries with it. However having had a starter I decided not to have the fries. I don’t think it needed the fries.

The service was friendly and warm.

We enjoyed our meal and it certainly was a place I would visit again.

June 12, 2023June 11, 2023

Pan-Fried Lemon Pepper Chicken Breast

I had been staying at Drayton Court and had wanted the pan-fried lemon pepper chicken breast, but they had run out, so had gone with the Norfolk chicken schnitzel with Caesar salad.

So on a later visit it was nice to see the pan-fried lemon pepper chicken breast still on the menu and it was available, so I ordered this as my main course. It was described on the menu as pan-fried lemon pepper chicken breast with courgette Parmesan fritters, prosciutto crisps and warm garlic slaw.

It was a beautifully presented plate of food and I was really impressed.

The chicken was cooked perfectly and was full of flavour. I liked the warm garlic slaw. The prosciutto crisps were interesting and added texture and an element of saltiness to the food. I have to say though I was less impressed with the courgette Parmesan fritter. Mine was not crisp and felt laden with grease, so much so I didn’t actually finish it. However, apart from the fritter, I did enjoy the dish.