Tag: bacon

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French Eating in Ealing

I kind of have a love hate relationship with the Côte chain of restaurants. I really like French style cooking and the Côte menu has an extensive choice of French inspired dishes. The service at the Ealing branch of Côte has always been excellent. Welcoming, warm and friendly. The food arrives in ample time, and I have never felt rushed. The waiting staff are attentive, but not intrusive. What’s not to like? However, though the food is good, it isn’t excellent, and so I always have to temper my expectations. I like the food, but I wouldn’t say I love the food. I am not entirely sure what they could do to make things better, but I am confident that they could. However as a chain, I suspect they are constrained by the system cooking processes they use to ensure consistency across the different restaurants across the country. So the dish you order in Ealing is identical to the same dish if it was ordered in Bristol. I always think if they had a local chef, they could improve and enhance the food. Having said that, finding myself in Ealing on a somewhat warm evening, the cool air-conditioned branch of Côte was quite appealing. The fixed price menu looking tempting as well.

I was given a lovely warm welcome and I was allowed to choose where to sit, which was nice, as I was able to choose a slightly bigger table even though I was eating alone. I may have eaten outside, but it was still rather warm outside, and to be honest the pavement is rather busy and there is a constant stream of traffic running by.

Looking over the menu, I was tempted by quite a few things, but in the end, for my starter I chose the Salade au Bacon, bacon lardons tossed in a creamy anchovy dressing with endive and gem lettuce salad, cherry tomatoes, panisse chickpea croutons and crispy capers, topped with a poached egg.

The combination of tastes and textures worked. The runny yolk of the poached egg added to the richness of the salad. I was intrigued by the panisse chickpea croutons, they were crunchy, different, I think normal croutons would have worked just as well.  This was a lovely rustic looking salad, and despite my earlier thoughts on dishes, I did think this looked great. It was also delicious. This is the kind of dish that I hope they serve at Côte and this time they delivered. I thought it was fantastic. 

For my main course I went with the Steak Frites, and upgraded to the sirloin steak, which was described as topped with garlic butter and served with herbs and frites.

After a fantastic starter, this was a little disappointing. I think they forgot the garlic butter, and not having the menu to hand, I didn’t think to check with the waiting staff. The plate was a simple affair, I don’t know it looked rather plain. I am not sure what they could do though to make it better. I had asked for the steak to be cooked medium-rare, and it was. It was tender, but lacked seasoning. I generally avoid adding extra salt to my food, but this time the steak needed it. The frites were good, nice and crispy. I don’t think the herbs added anything. I would have maybe added a small rocket salad, or even some green beans instead. I think that would have improved both the look of the dish, and the overall eating experience. 

Generally, I only order a starter and a main course, and avoid having a pudding. However, this time the fixed price menu had a cheese plate on offer, a selection of three French cheeses with a fig chutney & sourdough baguette. You could choose from the following cheeses, Comté, Pont l’Évêque, Roquefort, Délice de Bourgogne, Chèvre Buchette.

Now I am a sucker for a cheese course, so of course I said yes. I chose the Comté, Pont l’Évêque, and the Délice de Bourgogne. 

I liked the fact that the cheese plate came with bread, however this was toasted sourdough baguette, which though nice, wasn’t quite what I wanted with my cheese. I do remember visiting Côte many years ago and the bread was a “proper” French baguette, none of this fashionable sourdough business, it was proper French bread. I miss that.

The cheeses though were excellent. I have had Comté and Pont l’Évêque before, so enjoyed those. I haven’t had Délice de Bourgogne, before, but this was nice and tasty.

Overall I did enjoy my food at Côte, the service was excellent, and I had a lovely dining experience. It wasn’t perfect, but it was nice, and with the fixed price menu, I thought it was value for money.

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They didn’t have what I wanted

I have enjoyed the meals I have had at the Fullers’ hotels I have stayed at, Drayton Court, and the Fox and Goose. I was recently back in London and I chose to stay at The Queen’s Head in Kingston, which is another Fullers’ hotel. Smaller, and more like a pub with rooms, I found it a lovely place to stay. The staff were warm, friendly and welcoming. I liked the bar area, which felt nostalgic, but still smart and tidy. I liked the wooden furniture and fittings. The room I had was nice, it certainly had character. It had very tall ceilings and all the furniture you would expect in a hotel room and then some.

I went downstairs to the bar to eat, there was a similar menu available to the other Fullers’ hotels. I had eaten a delicious tiny pork cheek starter. 

For my main course, well on the online menu they had roasted fillet of Owton’s beef with braised ox cheek coated in herb crumb, black garlic, brown butter celeriac purée, spinach and beef dripping emulsified sauce; so, I was going to have that.  However, on the menu at the bar they didn’t have that, instead for the beef choices, they had a sirloin steak and a cote de boeuf. 

Instead I chose the chicken ballotine , with tarragon, bacon, and mushroom stuffing. Alongside was an onion puree, cheddar potato cake and a jug of Marmite sauce.

This looked really great.

Though this was a good sized portion of ballotine , I had expected a bigger proportion of chicken to stuffing. However even so it was very nice. I really liked the cheddar potato cake, this was crisp on the outside, and soft and cheesy on the inside. I thought the onion puree needed a but more punch.  I liked the addition of the roasted carrots as well. I was a little concerned about the Marmite sauce, but it was rather nice.

This was a really nice plate of food and I really enjoyed it.

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Breakfast Time in Wimbledon

I was staying in Wimbledon at the Hotel du Vin and staying overnight I had breakfast a couple of times.

Unlike a lot of hotel chains, there wasn’t a full buffet breakfast. You helped yourself to toast, croissant, fruit, and so on. However for hot food though you ordered off the menu. It was a similar story with hot drinks.

I did like the fact that I could order a “proper” coffee of my choice with my breakfast, so I went with a double espresso. This was much nicer than the filtered coffee you usually have at hotel breakfasts.

There was a fair few choices on the menu, Eggs Benedict, Avocado on Toast, Grilled Kipper. In the end though I went with the Classic Full Cooked Breakfast. This was Cumberland sausage, sweet cured bacon, black pudding, grilled tomato, mushroom and eggs (cooked to your liking). I went with poached eggs.

Having taken my order the breakfast was cooked to order. The kitchen was in the Orangery at the hotel, so I could (if I was closer) see my breakfast being cooked. My breakfast then arrived on the table.

Classic Full Cooked Breakfast

I have to say I was a little disappointed. The bacon didn’t look that appetising. However it was nice and fresh, and did taste delicious. I enjoyed the tomato and mushroom, the sausage and black pudding were good, and the eggs were cooked well.

On the second day I was there, I went with the same classic breakfast and this was much better.

Classic Full Cooked Breakfast

The bacon this time looked a lot nicer, but otherwise it was much the same as the day before (consistency is a good thing).

Overall, despite my initial (minor) disappointment, this was a nice breakfast. The continental selection was good, nice choice of jams  and butter. Excellent coffee as well.

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Not as described

I was up in Manchester staying at the Copthorne Hotel on Salford Quay and went for dinner in the restaurant. I had a table overlooking the water, I settled in and looked over the menu.

For my starter I went with what was described as mini pan fried scallops with pea puree, pea shoots and bacon crumb.

Well this is what I got!

Okay, so there were some mini pan friend scallops, but it was dressed with peas and bacon. No puree, no pea shoots and no bacon crumb.

This was really disappointing. I did complain, but really I was just fobbed off with an excuse that the chef had over-elaborated the dish on the menu. My response was that, if the chef had described the dish, accurately and as it was, then I wouldn’t have been disappointed, I probably would have still ordered it. 

It’s this kind of thing that puts me off eating in hotel restaurants, which can be overpriced as well.

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Birthday Breakfast at the Brunello

I have been to the Brunello Lounge before on the seafront at Weston-super-Mare, though mainly for coffee. We did go there for a Christmas Eve breakfast back in December 2019 (though I didn’t write about it).

The Brunello Lounge is one of a range of lounges across the South West. They all have their own names, the one in Gloucester is the Portivo for example. They have a pretty eccentric decor, where we sat in the Brunello there was a huge soviet era painting of Lenin on the wall. I actually quite like the eccentricity of the decor.

We were celebrating a birthday, so we headed out to the Brunello Lounge. We were given a nice warm welcome and we looked over the menu. One of the things I like about the Brunello Lounge is that their gluten free menu is extensive and wide ranging. No limited choices here, the menu is nearly as wide at the “normal” menu.

We looked over, and we made our choices. I went with the muffin with bacon, sausage and a fried egg.

We placed our orders at the bar, gave our table number and waited.

We didn’t have to wait long and the breakfasts arrived.

They were eaten with gusto and I enjoyed my muffin. The sausages were excellent, but I found the bacon a little too salty, probably because it was slightly overcooked compared to how I like my bacon.

Everyone enjoyed their breakfasts.

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Time for a Breakfast Bagel

Breakfast Bagel

Over the last week or so (and not every day) I have been treating myself to a home-made breakfast bagel. What even surprised me was how quickly I could cook this before starting work. It certainly helps I don’t need to commute to the office, but even if I did, I am pretty sure I could still cook this, clean the pans and dishes and put them away before heading out.

I take a small frying pan for the bacon and an even smaller frying pan for the fried egg.

Heat on both and then add a little sunflower oil to the bacon pan and more to the little frying pan to ensure that the entire cooking surface of the pan is covered.

Into the larger pan, place two rashes of folded back bacon. I used some oak smoked dry cured air dried back bacon rashers from Sainsburys.

bacon

What I liked about the bacon, was that as it was dry cured, it cooked easily in the frying pan without losing lots of liquid that standard supermarket bacon does. If I only had the standard stuff then I would probably grill it, however that takes longer, as I have to wait until the grill warms up.

So having folded the rashers and placed them in the hot frying pan. I crack the free range egg and fry them in the small frying pan.

I then slice the bagel and put it in the toaster.

When I started doing this I used some New York Bakery Co. Bagels, however I also tried and liked the New York Bakery Co. Sourdough Deli Bagels.

I also quite liked the M&S Sourdough Bagels as well.

While the bagel is toasting turn the bacon to ensure it is thoroughly cooked. I also baste the fried egg to speed up the cooking time.

Once the bagel has finished toasting, place the bottom half on a plate, add the rashers of bacon, add the egg. I also like to add a slice of (processed) cheese and then top with the top half of the bagel. You could add sauce if you like that kind of thing.

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Better late than never…

Back in December 2019 I was staying at the Taplow House Hotel in Maidenhead. I had chose the hotel in the main as it was cheaper than some London hotels, also parking was available. 

I had not eaten at the hotel the evening, as It was late when I arrived at the hotel. I had left leaving for the hotel much later than I had planned. So I had eaten at home and when I arrived, it was basically make myself a cup of tea, read and then get some sleep. I had a really nice classic room.

I had to be in central London in the morning, so I wanted an early start. I got myself washed and dressed and went down to breakfast. However they weren’t quite ready, so I had to wait outside, as it took the staff ages to open the dining room for breakfast. 

Once in I was ready to place my breakfast order, but this didn’t happen very fast and then a little longer for it to arrive at my table. So I was a little rushed, but having said all that it was a really nice breakfast.

The bacon was nice and thick, the sausage was meaty and tasty. The fried bread was done right, but my poached egg was overcooked. I also enjoyed the mushrooms, tomatoes and black pudding.

However I didn’t really enjoy the breakfast as much as I would like, as I was rushing. I much prefer a more relaxing breakfast.

I left the hotel about 30 minutes later than I wanted to, so I hit traffic on my way into London. It took me slightly longer as a result to get to the Westfield Centre, park and then catch the tube to central London for the event where I was presenting at an event. In the end I was just on time! I missed the start of the event, but was on time to present my piece and listen to some others as well.

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A bizarre breakfast

Not going out to eat over the last three months has meant that I’ve had no meals or dishes to blog about. I have caught up with some recent meals, but have now been going back further into my photo library to see if there were dishes and meals that I may have not blogged about. One of these was a breakfast, which was not amazing!

In August of 2019 (only last year) we went to Brittany in France for our summer holiday. We took the ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg before driving down to a Eurocamp close to Dol-de-Bretagne.

Though the weather wasn’t that great, we did have a nice holiday.

We drove down to Portsmouth to catch the morning ferry. I hoped we could have breakfast at the port, but the process was very much queue up for passport control and then board the ship.

We were catching the fast ferry, the Normandie Express. It is a high-speed catamaran cruise ferry, owned and operated by Brittany Ferries.

The car deck was packed with cars and we scrambled through to the passenger deck.

Knowing that everyone was hungry we went straight to the café to get some breakfast and avoid any queuing or no seating.

I was anticipating something rather special, as I had seem this video on the Brittany Ferries website.

The menu looked a little bit strange, but I ordered some croissants, a few cooked breakfasts as well as some gluten free rolls. Oh and of course some coffee!

The breakfast looked like this!

There was some bacon, sausages, scrambled egg and bizarrely mashed potato!

It was an interesting experience, not one I would want to repeat. The sausages were fine, the egg was passable, however the mashed potato was just bizarre and the bacon did not taste like bacon.

The croissants were okay, fluffy and the French butter was very tasty. As for the gluten free rolls, well they were not very nice.

I think this could have been so much better and it was a bit of a flat start to our holiday. One of the reasons I wanted to go to France was for the food.

The breakfast was completely forgotten about though once we reached the open sea, as the water was very choppy and there were strong winds.

The day before the service had actually been cancelled due to the weather, and though the wind was not as strong as the day before, the waves were still there and it was a very rough crossing.

We had a lovely holiday and some great food. On the way back, we took a homemade packed lunch!

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Gluten Free Mushroom, Spinach and Bacon Puffs

Gluten Free Mushroom, Spinach and Bacon Puffs

Having used the Jus-Rol Gluten Free puff pastry to make sausage rolls I decided to make them again, but also decided to try something new and make some Mushroom, Spinach and Bacon Puffs.

Jus Rol Gluten Free Puff Pastry

The Jus-Rol Gluten Free puff pastry comes as a ready rolled sheet which I sliced into squares. Into the middle of each square I put a mixture of mushrooms, chopped bacon and cut up spinach. I did consider pre-cooking the mixture, but decided not to. I then folded the corners into the middle and I then brushed the pastry showing with beaten egg. These were then placed on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

The puffs were then baked in a 180º normal oven or 160º fan oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

If I was to make these in the future I would probably add some cheese to the mix, as they were a little dry. Fresh mozzarella would add some moisture, but cheddar would add flavour. Something to think about if I made these again.

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Time for some breakfast

So there I was at an event in London and needing to book a hotel for the night. Going through the booking system we use at work, there was a cheap hotel almost next door to the venue, well that made a lot of sense, so I booked it.

Well it was a very tired hotel, it was dated and in the end quite noisy as well. I did though have breakfast included.

The breakfast was limited in choice, but it wasn’t half bad.

breakfast

Well the coffee was plain awful, I wish I had tea, those knowing me, will realise that’s saying something. It should be said I rarely find outstanding coffee when I have breakfast in a hotel, but this was on another level entirely.

The breakfast itself was all hot (and you can’t always say that about the breakfast buffet at some hotels), the eggs were cooked perfectly to my liking, I liked the tomato and the sausages. I wasn’t too enamoured with the bacon, but it was okay. As for beans, I don’t really like beans, so won’t comment on that.

I enjoyed the toast and there was a good choice of jams.

Overall the hotel was somewhere I wouldn’t want to stay again. The breakfast though, wasn’t too bad for a hotel breakfast.