Tag: bristol

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Flat Iron Steak

I had seen some positive reviews of Flat Iron Steak in Bristol, so I thought if I had a chance, I would try it out. So, there I was in Bristol working and decided to walk over to Flat Iron and have some lunch.

I was given a lovely warm welcome and I took a seat. You get a portion of popcorn, not sure if that is a bonus, as I am not really a fan of popcorn. The menu is quite limited. Pride of place is given on the menu to the Flat Iron steak.  They also have specials of a ribeye and a cheeseburger. On the day I was there they also had two wagyu specials on the blackboard.

I went with the flagship flat iron steak. I would probably have gone with fries as my side, but they do homemade beef dripping chips, which I am guessing are very nice, but they’re not fries. i was tempted by the truffled macaroni cheese and the crispy bone marrow garlic mash. I do like a bit of mac and cheese and truffle adds some extravagance. Some of the reviews I read praised the mash. In the end I decided I would be different and chose the roast aubergine, with tomato, basil, and mozzarella. The two other choices are green salad and creamed spinach.

It wasn’t long before my food arrived on the table. The steak was sliced, seasoned, and presented on a wooden board with a stone insert.

steak

The steak was cooked medium rare, as ordered. The chef had salted the steak and there was a little too much salt on the steak for my liking. The steak was mostly tender and had a good flavour. I enjoyed the steak.

The aubergine came in a separate side dish.

aubergine

This was roasted aubergine combined with tomato and mozzarella cheese. I really liked this dish, nice to have something different to chips or fries.

You also get a free ice cream.

Overall I really enjoyed my lunch and I will probably visit again.

Flat Iron Steak is a chain with twenty restaurants, fifteen of these are in London.

I have visited a similar place in Glasgow, Chateau-X, which does every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday a Steak Frites deal for £15 which includes one side and one sauce. Flat Iron Steak is more expensive, costing more than Chateau-X.

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Teriyaki Beef Donburi and Tan Tan Udon

I was working in Bristol on a Thursday and headed off to get some lunch from the Temple Quay Street Food Market. I had this delicious bento box with beef donburi and tan tan udon noodles from the amazing She Sells Streetfood.

The combination of ingredients in the tan tan udon noodles are wonderful. 

Soft, chewy udon noodles are mixed with seasoned minced pork and fresh pak-choi, all submerged in a rich, creamy broth.  There is always something in every spoonful. Don’t forget the crispy chilli if offered, it adds warmth to the whole experience. 

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

The beef was tender and full of flavour. The crispy onions add texture and the pickles and cucumbers salad add the necessary sharpness to cut through that rich tasty beef. So tasty, so nice, so delicious.

One of the reasons I buy this box on a regular basis, is that this is excellent fresh street food, full of flavour and very tasty. Also in a time where street food is getting more expensive (not surprisingly with increased costs of food and fuel) it is excellent value for money at £10 for the bento box.

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Matina Wrap

Matina

I have always enjoyed the Kurdish wraps from Matina in the St Nicholas market in Bristol. The star of the show is the freshly baked flat bread, but the salads and pickles that you get in that bread are also really tasty.

It has been a while since I had a wrap from Matina. Their food is great, I think its for a variety of reasons. They have increased their prices, still value for money, but not the cheaper option for lunch that they were. They have stopped doing their lamb kebabs, which were always nice. They have long queues usually. I think though the main reason is that there is so much choice out there in the street food scene and I don’t get to Bristol that often, so they are on the list, but usually something else beats them.

These are still wonderful wraps, they take their freshly cooked bread, fill it with salads, hummus and sauces before adding grilled pieces of chicken (halloumi also available).

The result is a fresh tasty wrap which is full of flavour. Though you can eat it out of the paper, it can get quite messy, so I “cheat” and take it back to the office to eat with a knife and fork on a plate.

It was delicious and I might not leave it so long next time.

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Awesome Bento Box

A Friday lunch break in Bristol took me to the vibrant Finzels Reach Market, where I picked up an incredible bento box from She Sells Streetfood featuring beef donburi alongside tan tan udon noodles.

With the Beef Donburi, the beef itself is incredibly tender and packed with savoury depth.

What really elevates it, though, is the contrast. Crispy fried onions bring a satisfying crunch, while pickled vegetables and cucumber salad deliver just enough sharp acidity to cut through the rich meat.

Another wonderful dish is the Tan Tan Udon. Pure comfort in a bowl.

Soft, chewy udon noodles are mixed with seasoned minced pork and fresh pak-choi, all submerged in a rich, creamy broth. Every single spoonful gives you a bit of everything—no sad, bare bites here. Whatever you do, don’t skip the crispy chili if they ask. That extra kick of heat ties all the creamy, savoury flavours together into absolute perfection.

It was an absolutely delicious meal, rich, balanced, and completely delicious.

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OG Sando

Went out at lunchtime and went to Finzel Reach street food market. It was very hot out, feeling very Mediterranean.

Though Lisa from She Sells Streetfood was there, I had only eaten from there the day before, so made the decision I would have something different on this day. I didn’t want anything too heavy or too spicy, with the hot weather. To be honest if it had been cooler, I probably would have gone with the Tan Tan Udon Noodles from She Sells Streetfood.

In the end I went with a fried chicken sandwich, OG Sando from Los Hermanos which was just £8.

Los Hermanos can be busy, and today they weren’t as busy as they usually are, however even so it took a while for my sandwich.

This was crispy fried chicken thigh served in a potato roll, with classic mayo, crisp shredded lettuce and American cheese.

I did enjoy the sandwich, the fried chicken had a lovely crispy coating, and the chicken was tender and moist. This was, what I would call, a traditional American style fried chicken sandwich with mayo and cheese. Not sure what the benefit was of the potato roll, it had the texture (and flavour) of a brioche style roll.

This was one tasty sandwich.

Many moons ago I had a delicious El Pepito sandwich from Los Hermanos at Ashton Gate. I never took a photograph or even wrote about it. It was sugar cured pork belly, chorizo butter, confit paprika onions, roasted red peppers, roast garlic mayo, on a brioche bap. I don’t think they have had that on their menu for years now. I remember at the time thinking it was delicious. 

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Bento Box

It was a beautiful hot day in Bristol, I headed out at lunchtime to the Temple Quay street food market. As it was a Thursday there was lots of choice, I had thought about Los Hermanos, but there was quite a queue. It was all rather busy. In the end I did head to She Sells Streetfood for my usual bento box of beef donburi and katsu fries.

This is one of my favourite street food stalls and probably have it more often than not when I am in Bristol. I have thought that maybe I should try some different stalls, but I think one of the reasons I default to She Sells Streetfood is that not only is the food excellent, but it’s one of the best value stalls there, with the bento box costing just £10. 

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Chicken Shawarma Loaded Fries

It was a warm Thursday in Bristol, so I headed off to the Temple Quay street food market. There was lots of choice, it is the bigger of two Temple Quay markets that are on each week.

I had seen on the Instagram that Soul Fries were going to be at the market and from the photo on the Insta I was intrigued and tempted.

I did have a look around the market to see what else was there, but in the end I went to Soul Fries. I went with the Chicken Shawarma Loaded Fries. These were fries loaded with chicken shawarma, salsa, and pickles.

Chicken Shawarma Loaded Fries

This looked really good. I tucked in. This was not my favourite street food dish. It wasn’t terrible, best way to describe it was; it was just okay. I felt the chicken lacked depth of flavour and needed more seasoning. The fries were quite soft, I think they needed to be crispier. I don’t think it would be a dish I would order again. 

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Valencia Paella

Valencia Paella

It was hot, but the Temple Quay market was running. It was a Tuesday so there are fewer traders. Making the decision to go for something different I headed to the Riceminster stall for some paella. It was a lovely hot day, the weather felt quite Spanish like, so it was certainly appropriate to opt for the paella.There were three options available, vegetarian, seafood, and Valencia with chicken.

I have always enjoyed the paella from Riceminster, though I don’t have it very often. I should remind myself of what I wrote the last time I had paella from Riceminster. Back then I wrote:

This paella came with chicken and green beans. It was really tasty and I enjoyed it, I do think though next time I will go for the vegan or the vegetarian paella (which is a little cheaper) as I am not sure if the chicken added anything to the dish. It was nice, but I think I would have enjoyed the paella without it.

I forgot about this, and on my most recent visit I ordered the Valencia paella again. 

It was nice and tasty, but again I think I wouldn’t have missed the chicken. Maybe that I have had it twice and thought the same, the next time I have paella from Riceminster I will go for the vegetarian option.

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The Pizza Rocket

It was a Thursday, I was working in Bristol, the Temple Quay street food market was on, they had a bundle of traders booked. I knew where I was going for my lunch.

Now, the question was, would I go for She Sells Streetfood, which to be honest I have been doing a lot lately, or would I go for something else, and would I go for something new.

There were a lot of choices, some old favourites were there, some I hadn’t had in a while, but there were some new faces as well.

One stall was intriguing, which was Get Dipped, who sell French dip sandwiches, with every sandwich you get a pot of gravy. Whilst writing this, I saw that they are also in St Nick’s market, so I might try them there. 

In the end I thought I would try a pizza from The Pizza Rocket. They sell wood fired Napoli style pizza. As I wondered what to have, and watched, they got one of their cooked pizzas out of the oven for a customer. It did look good.

Now my only reservation was that one of the specials was ham and pineapple. Yes it was Italian prosciutto crudo, and an interesting sounding chilli pickled pineapple, but even so, ham and pineapple, authentically Italian, I didn’t think so. Other choices included a Mariana, a pizza with no cheese, and a spicy salami option.

I did order, and I ordered a Margherita, which was £11. I had to wait a couple of minutes, but my pizza was ready. I was asked if I wanted some fresh rocket on top, so I said yes.

This was a lovely freshly cooked pizza. A Margherita pizza is a good test of a pizza place. The crust was excellent, the sauce was nice and there was a generous amount go cheese. I really enjoyed it.

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Something different

I was working in Bristol on a Friday, I headed to the Finzel Reach  street food market for lunch. Though there was quite a bit of choice, I headed to She Sells Streetfood and ordered a bento box. This time I went with the beef donburi and for a change I had the chicken katsu curry.

The beef was delicious as always.

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

I have had the chicken katsu curry before, and this time it was just as good as it was back then.

This was crispy chicken with katsu sauce on top of rice with pickles and crispy onions.The chicken freshly cooked had a crisp coating. The katsu sauce was nice, not too spicy, but with a hint of fruitiness.

Both dishes were delicious.