food, reviews and of course coffee
I enjoyed my tacos from Taco Barra so much last time I had them again on a recent trip to the St Nicholas Market. As with my last visit I went with the crispy chicken and pulled pork and the fried halloumi. You have a choice of salsa, I went with mango on the chicken and the halloumi, and red salsa with the pork. They use white and blue corn tacos.which are heated to order and then filled with your choice of filling.
As before they were delicious and tasty.
In a previous blog post I talked about the new tacos place in St Nicholas Market in Bristol. I enjoyed the tacos I had there last time, so decided to pay them another visit and have some more tacos.
You can have a single taco for £3, two for £5 and three for £7. This time I decided to go with three. As with my last visit I went with the crispy chicken and pulled pork, for my third choice I decided to try the fried halloumi.
You have a choice of salsa, I went with mango, and they also include salad. They use white and blue corn tacos.which are heated to order and then filled with your choice of filling. I really enjoyed these tacos as I did before. Great mixture of textures and tastes.
One place in St Nicholas Market I have not been to for ages is the Olive Grove salad bar. They do a lovely salad and tapas box which you can have either just as, or with lamb kofte, grilled chicken or halloumi.
I really like the choice of salads and tapas they have. Pulse power comprises a mix of pulses. They usually have a pasta salad and a potato salad. Should say that the potato salad is not your usual mayonnaise covered potatoes, this has none of that! They are very tasty as a result. I like the Greek salad they have too.They have a choice of different kinds of olives, stuffed vine leaves.
Overall if you are looking for salad I think Olive Grove is a great place to go for.
No I did not make this cake, but I saw it in the window at Patisserie La Reine in Broadmead in Bristol. I like the book form they have used, and have not gone for a simple closed book, it actually looks like an open book too. They have managed to catch the character of the sorting hat, though does a hat even have character? My only thought was why did they choose that colour?
There have been quite a few changes in the food markets at St Nicholas Market. The Brozen stall has been replaced with Low and Slow. Grillstock shut down and their space taken by Wokyko with an Asian inspired menu. The Sausage Station has closed and their stall has been replaced by Taco Barra which as you might guess from the name sells tacos!
Regular readers of the blog will know I quite like tacos and so it wasn’t too much of a difficult decision to try out some from the new stall.
You can have a single taco for £3, two for £5 and three for £7. I quite like the concept of a single taco, sometimes wandering about the food market in St Nicks (and other foodmarkets) I sometimes wish I could get smaller portions, as I fancy eating a range of dishes (like tapas) rather than just a single bigger portion. A single tacos would be perfect in that scenario. However as no other stall really does that kind of offer, so I went with two tacos.
They use white and blue corn tacos.which are heated to order and then filled with your choice of filling. The menu changes, but I went two two tacos, crispy chicken and pulled pork. You have a choice of salsa and they also include salad.
I liked the freshness, textures and varied tastes of these tacos.. The crispy chicken was tasty, crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. The pork was tender and tasty. The salsa was full of flavour and added the necessary kick that the tacos needed.
Overall great customer service, tasty unique tacos and some great flavours. Definitely worth a return visit.
Bristol has many places to eat and as well as high street chains there are many independent places. Having been invited to dinner the family headed off to one such independent place, the Florence Lounge in Totterdown in Bristol.
It certainly is a popular place with most tables reserved, even though we went to eat in the early evening. It was a hot and sunny day, so they had put most of their tables outside. They don’t have air-conditioning, so on a hot day you will want to sit outside.
I went with the Gamberi pizza. It came with a base covered in homemade tomato sauce, baby spinach, mozzarella, king prawns, silver skin anchovies, roasted asparagus, black olives, lime and rocket.
I loved how there was a varied selection of toppings on the pizza and the handful of fresh rocket was a nice addition. The prawns were very tasty and I enjoyed the silver skin anchovies. If these had been traditional salted anchovies then I may not have ordered the pizza. The base was cooked well and wasn’t soggy. I have had better bases recently and I felt that it let down the pizza slightly.
Unlike many other restaurants, you order and then pay at the till. The food is then bought to your table.
For those who are gluten free, unlike many pizza places these days, the only gluten free option is gluten free pasta and there is no gluten free pizza available.
Be aware that it is cash only, but there is a free ATM next door in the Tesco. Also it doesn’t have a licence, but you can bring your own alcohol if you want to (again useful having the Tesco next door.
Walking around Bristol the other day I noticed that Carluccio’s in Quakers Friar had closed.
Doing a Google search I found out that according to one news article, it was said The Quakers Friars branch will close on Sunday, January 6.
I have walked around there before, but hadn’t noticed.
Though I have eaten at Carluccio’s before, it wasn’t a place I frequented. As I said in a recent blog post after a visit to a branch in London earlier this year.
It has been nearly ten years since I visited a branch of Carluccio’s. I do like Italian food, but I’ve not really had the inclination to visit Carluccio’s in that time. Their menu always looks interesting, but for quick lunches it was always on the pricey side.
You can probably guess that I had never been to the Quakers Friar branch in Bristol. I wonder how long it will remain empty for?
I do like the rustica pizzas you can get at Zizzi, the thin and crispy base is a tasty alternative to the solid doughy bases you can sometimes have at other (especially American style) chains.
This time I went for the Pinoli Pizza, which can be had with the rustica base. This has goat’s cheese, mozzarella, caramelised balsamic onions, sunblush tomatoes, pine nuts, riserva cheese & basil.
The pizza was cooked well, the base was thin and crispy with a hint of soft dough at the edges. The topping, though in my opinion, a little sparse, was tasty and delicious.
The service was warm, welcoming and friendly.
I have no idea if all the Korean BBQ dishes and meals I have eaten recently are at all authentic, but I do like what I have been eating. One day I might need to visit Korea for the actual experience, like that will ever happen.
My most recent Korean BBQ experience was at Itsu where I went with their Korean BBQ Chicken Rice Bowl.
Lean chargrilled chicken with wholegrain brown & red rice, fresh seasonal greens, gochujang chilli, thai & teriyaki sauce.
Now mine didn’t look the picture on the website, mainly as the pot it arrived in was not as wide as the one on the website.
The chicken was chicken, the greens were fresh, I liked the rice with the Thai sauce. The gochujang chilli added heat, but not excessively so.
Overall it was a tasty dish, filling and fresh.
I know in my last blog post about SheSellsSushi I said that I would go for something the next time I went to Lisa’s stall. Well I did and I didn’t.
I once more had the delicious Beef Donburi. This is succulent short rib slow cooked in a teriyaki style marinade of soy, fresh ginger and garlic. It was served on a bed of rice with beni shoga, mayu and spring onion. Do I know what they are? Well I know what spring onions are, as for the others I would need to Google them.
As usual it was delicious and full of flavour. The beef was meltingly tender and the garnishes added to the dish. I always love the care and attention that Lisa pays to each and every dish. This isn’t just thrown togther, this is food artistry made with love and passion. The result is amazing cooking and delicious food.
I once more went again with the tempura chicken hirata bun. The steamed bun is made with activated charcoal and inside is a couple pieces of crispy tempura chicken.
I do like the combination of flavours and textures in the bun.
So though I went with my normal order, I also added a side order of Takoyaki in octopus and duck varieties. These are freshly cooked on the stall and always look really nice.
They are covered in a range of sauces and garnishes, and I couldn’t tell you what they were, but thankfully Lisa on her website describes them as dumplings with tonkatsu sauce, japanese mayo, toasted seaweed and bonito flakes. Again some googling required for some of those ingredients. I did enjoy these, however having had them from SheSellsSushi (and Yo! Sushi) I don’t think they are my favourite dish, so next time it will probably be the just the donburi and the hirata bun. However if the summer weather has gone, I might just try out the ramen. Oh and one day must try the sushi.