Time for a coffee

April 5, 2023April 4, 2023

Crab Maison

I was staying in Ealing and having been disappointed that Reineta was closed I went to Côte. Reality was I did walk around Ealing to see what else was there and looking at various menus. So, in the end I ended up at Côte.

I had seen the Crab Maison dish on the menu before, so was likely to be my first choice. I did consider the Steak Tartare, which was hand-cut raw beef, cornichons, mustard dressing, toasted sourdough baguette.

However I decided to go with the Crab Maison.

This was crab, avocado, cucumber, capers, shallots, mayonnaise, toasted sourdough baguette.

I thought the dish was beautifully presented, even if the crab was a little hidden away under the salad and sliced radish.

It was nice, but I was hoping for an intense crab flavour, which I felt was missing, and what crab there was, was overpowered by the mayonnaise. It was nice with the toasted sourdough baguette, which provided a nice crunchy texture to the dish.

I did enjoy the dish, but it probably isn’t something I would order again.

April 4, 2023April 4, 2023

What do you mean it’s not open?

I was staying in London and thinking about going out to eat, I was reminded of a conversation with a colleague a few weeks back who had recommended Reineta in Dickens Yard in Ealing.

Reineta is a Spanish cafe and restaurant.I looked at the dinner menu on their website and the different tapas that were on offer.

I had already made my choice of tapas.

I liked the sound of the mushrooms casserole, made from wild mushrooms with shallots, parsley and mushroom cream and manchego cheese.

I also decided I would have the burned butternut squash with fresh cheese and black truffle.

I thought I would also have the mixed peppers, sliced potatoes and marinated octopus with “choricero” pepper.

You can imagine my disappointment when I went there to find it was in fact closed. It was only open for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I wasn’t in London on any of those days…

So no tapas for me.

April 1, 2023April 1, 2023

Ramen

I made this homemade ramen.

For the base stock, I cheated slightly, and used a carton of Itsu ramen broth.

In the bowl I added some cooked rice noodles, pak choi, spinach leaves, baby corn, and some spring onion.

I used the itsu brillant broth which I heated up in a pan before filling the bowls.

After adding the broth I added a slice of slow cooked pork belly.

March 31, 2023March 30, 2023

Beef Donburi

I was in Bristol and went out for a walk. It was quite cold, so I only made it a short walk. I did though make a trip to the Finzel Reach street food market. One of my favourite stalls was there, She Sells Sushi.

Virtually all the time I have food from She Sells Sushi, as I did on a recent visit, I have a bento box with the beef donburi and a hirata bao bun. This time, after promising myself every time on previous visits, I did have something different.

I had a bento box with crispy tofu in a Katsu sauce, along with a portion of beef donburi.

The beef donburi was slow cooked teriyaki beef rib on a bed of rice, topped with crispy onions and pickles.

This a street food dish I have had many times, as this was just as nice as I’ve had on previous visits. The beef was delicious and full of flavour. I also enjoyed the garnishes that enhanced the dish. Overall a really tasty dish.

March 30, 2023March 30, 2023

Crispy Katsu Tofu

I had a bento box with crispy tofu in a Katsu sauce, along with a portion of beef donburi.

The tofu was served on a bed of rice with Katsu sauce, pickled carrot and crispy onions.

It was rather nice. I did enjoy the tofu, but felt that it could have been crispier. The sauce was tasty and I liked the carrot. Overall it was a good dish of food.

March 29, 2023

Chirk Castle Coffee

I made a visit to the National Trust’s Chirk Castle close to Wrexham. Partly to have a coffee, but also to see the castle.

A 13th-century Marcher castle, that from 1595 became the home of the Myddelton family for over 400 years.

The castle was an English castle (now in Wales) that became a family home. Swapping sides during the English Civil War, it sustained serious structural damage from a parliamentary force in 1659 and underwent a major rebuild.

Chirk remained in the Myddelton family until it was transferred to the National Trust in 1981.

The cafe is located in the castle’s historic kitchens, and when I headed to the additional seating I really liked the environment. The additional seating room was in one of the towers.

The flat white was expertly made, and really good. It was a lovely place to sit and drink coffee.

It was nice that the cafe was in the heart of the castle, many time when visiting National Trust properties the cafe is more often than not, in one of the outbuildings, usually the stable.

March 19, 2023

Now that was different

I was at a conference in London at the Shaw Theatre. In the afternoon break we had something I have never had before at an afternoon tea break.

Usually at this time, in virtually all conferences I have been to, you can get tea, coffee, and usually a cake, or biscuits. Sometimes it is merely a packet of biscuits, other times it can be a proper slice of cake.

At this event, yes there was cake, but they also had deep fried battered slices of courgette with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Now that was different!

What was it like, to be honest no idea, as I just had some coffee.

March 15, 2023

Game Faggots

I was in London and staying at the Fox and Goose close to Hangar Lane. This is a Fullers Hotel and is part of the same chain at Drayton Court, which I have also stayed at. The restaurant is in the older part of the hotel, as the hotel bit is now a new build at the back.

When I was staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I had some excellent meals. The Fox and Goose had a slightly different menu than the Drayton Court, but there were similarities.

After my starter of a mozzarella salad, for my main course I was intrigued by and went with the Fuller’s Award Winning Game Faggots with mash potato, buttered kale, red wine gravy.

This was a beautifully presented plate of food.

The faggots were tasty and full of flavour. I thought they might be too gamey in their flavour, but actually they were really nice. The mashed potato was smooth and velvety, with lots of butter. I liked the buttered kale which added colour and texture to the dish. I liked the addition of the small saucepan of red wine gravy, as the dish certainly was enhance by the extra gravy.

Overall I really enjoyed the dish and I would have it again.

March 13, 2023March 15, 2023

Mozzarella with tomatoes and pesto

When I was staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I had some excellent meals. The Fox and Goose had a slightly different menu than the Drayton Court, but there were similarities.

For my starter I went with the Laverstoke Park Farm Mozzarella with Isle of Wight tomatoes and pine nut pesto.

It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, the amount of lettuce was surprising.

The mozzarella was nice and fresh, and I also liked the pesto.

There was some heritage tomatoes, but it was also a little too chilled for my liking. As a result it wasn’t as flavoursome as I think it could have been. I certainly felt the tomatoes lacked flavour.

March 12, 2023March 13, 2023

Cañoncitos

I generally don’t buy cakes and pastries at the street food markets, but the cakes and pastries at the Lunita Pasteleria stall at the Finzel Reach street food market looked really good and tasty.

I decided I would have one and went for the Cañoncitos de dulce de leche dipped in chocolate.

This was a croissant style pasty filled with dulce de leche (caramel) and then dipped in chocolate.

It was rather nice, and not as sweet as I thought it might be. Certainly will look out for Lunita Pasteleria at future street food markets.