bristol Archives - Page 14 of 16

October 10, 2017

Spicy Pumpkin Wrap

For me one of the challenges I find deciding what to choose from the many lovely food stalls in St Nicholas’ Market is not only which stall to buy lunch from, but once that choice is made, what do I choose from the menu.

The choice of stalls is not vast, but the variety is certainly there, you won’t finding anyone selling toasted panini or boring sandwiches. There are still a few stalls I’ve not yet tried, it does appear I like to go back to where I have been before.

I have really enjoyed the many dishes I have had from Caribbean Wrap in the market. The Jerk Chicken is delicious and I love the accompaniments that come with it, the spinach is scrummy.

So out for lunch the other day, I decided after perusing all the different places (as one does) to try something new and different and so I went for the Spicy Pumpkin Wrap.

This huge beast of a wrap was stuffed with beautiful cooked spiced pumpkin chunks, spicy chick peas and fresh avocado and served with a swirl of hot sauce. The combination of flavours and textures was delightful. Oh it was vegan too.

October 5, 2017October 5, 2020

Time for charcoal grilled lamb

It was a sunny Thursday in October and I was working in Bristol and it was time for lunch. There was only one place to start to look for something to eat that was the Temple Quay Market close to the station.

This regular street food market has lots of stalls and choices. Having looked around, I decided that I would go for Murray May’s charcoal grilled lamb.

They have a wonderful heritage Mercedes van that they have converted into a street food van complete with charcoal grill.

For me it was a bit of a no-brainer about what to have and that was to go for the grilled lamb.

There was a bit of a wait for my lunch, which I didn’t mind too much as I knew I was getting it cooked to order.

There was this beautifully tasty tender lamb, in a warm fluffy pitta bread complete with a selection of home-made pickles, salads and sauces.

It looked great and tasted wonderful.

September 26, 2017May 17, 2023

Finzel Friday

So there I was in Bristol on a Friday, well that means I can visit the Finzel Reach Market down at, well you guessed it, Finzel Reach! The market has grown slightly since I last went. It use to be just one row of stalls, now there are stalls facing each other. This is good news, it shows that the market is working and is popular with punters. As usual there was a wide choice of street food stalls including some of my favourites. I was tempted by the Crispy Squid from the South Kitchen, likewise the barbecued meats from Low N Slow was also looking very tasty. In the end I went with SheSellsSushi and a bento box with Teriyaki Beef Donburi and a Hirata Bun.

I have had these before, slightly breaking my own rule of trying new and different things, but last time I really enjoyed the Donburi and the Hirata Bun, so this time decided to repeat the experience.

The Doburi was slow cooked beef rib in a teriyaki sauce, served on rice with garnishes. The beef was tender, tasty and scrummy.

The Hirata Bun was a black charcoal bun with delicious tender pork belly, spring onions and tasty sauce. The bun was light and fluffy, the pork tender and delicious.

Again a lovely eating experience.

September 17, 2017

Smoking again

On a recent visit to the Temple Quay market I decided after looking around to have the BBQ Box from Smoke Catering. I have really enjoyed food from them before.

They were there with their big smoker and their choice of Texan style smoked meats. Their huge smoker always impresses me filled with delicious food and the surrounding aroma and smoke.

On the menu was nine hour beef brisket with homemade slaw, garlic mash and beans. You could have chosen the seven hour pulled pork in a brioche bun with a smoked pork and chilli sausage, or smoked Beef Rib. They also had the BBQ box which was advertised as containing the beef brisket, pulled pork, a smoked pork and chilli sausage, served with the homemade slaw, garlic mash and beans.

However by the time I got there, the pulled pork had sold out, so with the BBQ Box the pulled pork was replaced with the beef rib. Which to be honest I was pleased with, as I had enjoyed it last time.

Generally the more popular stalls will run out , so my usual advice with the Temple Quay markets is to get there early and usually before half past twelve, though I did get to the market at 12:30ish, Smoke Catering’s pulled pork brioche was obviously very popular that day.

I don’t generally understand why some stalls are more popular than others. The Thai stall had a immense queue crossing the entire market and then some. They always have big queues, which to be honest is why I’ve not tried them yet. There are also other stalls which have no queue at all, it’s not as though the food isn’t any good, from my experience when I’ve tried them they were delicious and tasty.

I was also doubly pleased with a bigger portion of meat than the last time I had the box from Smoke Catering. The beef brisket was melt in the mouth tender, enhanced with the crisp “burnt” edges. The rib was also beautifully tender and full of flavour. I did feel that I was really getting my money’s worth with this box. The sausage was meaty and tasty, the chilli enhanced the flavour and didn’t overpower. I enjoyed the combination of the slaw, mash and beans. The mash was wonderfully smooth and creamy with a hint of garlic, no bitterness or harshness. The beans spicy and full of flavour and it was great to mix in with the mash. The homemade slaw was fresh and crunchy, maybe a little too sloppy, but minor point, in what was a tasty meal. Overall a delicious box of food.

August 23, 2017January 6, 2020

Time for teriyaki lamb

I do enjoy my visits to Wagamama, though I haven’t been for a while. The Cribbs Causeway branch of Wagamama doesn’t have the most welcoming environment, it feels like it is perched on a Mezzanine and certainly doesn’t have that warm cosy feeling that a more traditional Wagamama has. Having said that the staff were welcoming and we had excellent service.

I went with the grilled teriyaki lamb with mushrooms, asparagus, kale and mangetout served on a bed of soba noodles in a pea, herb and wasabi dressing.

The teriyaki lamb was one of the specials and was one of the more expensive dishes on the menu. My food arrived last (and later than expected) compared to the rest of the table. The policy of Wagamama is that the food arrives when it is ready and not necessarily all together. I don’t see this as too much of a problem if this was a tapas or mezze, or even a oriental buffet. It feels slightly wrong though when you are a family eating out and the food you’ve ordered arrives at different times you’re not sure if you should wait (and your food goes cold) or start and sit around as you wait for others to finish!

Once my lamb had arrived it looked great, it tasted great too. The lamb was tender and quite spicy. I liked the noodles and the dressing. It was quite salty though.

July 23, 2017

She doesn’t just sell sushi!

One of the regular stalls at the St Nicks market in Bristol on Friday is SheSellsSushi and it is one of my favourite, even if I have never actually had the sushi from there…. yet!

My usual lunch order with the stall is the bento box containing a choice of two dishes from the menu. I usually go for the Donburi, which is slow cooked beef rib in a teriyaki sauce combined with some octopus (or duck) balls (takoyaki).

However Lisa, on the stall has been recently selling steamed Hirata bun, so in my bento box this time, I once more had the Donburi, but this time I went with the Hirata bun.

This was a charcoal bun (not what I initially thought was a squid ink bun) with delicious tender pork belly, spring onions and tasty sauce.

The bun was light and fluffy, the pork tender, all in all great flavour. I really wanted another one. I do like the takoyaki I usually go for, but now, I will always go with the Hirata bun.

The Donburi beef was as usual delicious, the flavour is perfect, you can sometimes overdo the teriyaki, but this was well balanced and so tasty. Served with rice and spring onions.

I have spoken to others who really recommend the sushi, so I think I will have to try that next time (with a Hirata bun).

March 15, 2017May 28, 2021

Smoking…

The sun was shining and it was the right time to head off down to the Temple Quay market in Bristol.

Smoke Catering were there with their big smoker and their choice of Texan style smoked meats. There was beef brisket and pulled pork.

After very little thinking time I went with the BBQ Box from the top of the menu. The box contained homemade slaw, garlic mash and beans. On top of the box was some smoked beef brisket, smoked beef rib and a smoked pork and chilli sausage.

As it was such a lovely day, the place to eat this was in Harratz Place on the quayside.

I have had their food before, and the slaw, mash and beans were just as nice as they were the last time I had them. The mash was smooth and creamy with a hint of garlic, no bitterness or harshness. The slaw was fresh and crunchy. The beans spicy and full of flavour. The smoked beef brisket was tender and delicious, it was melt in the mouth. I like the tender beef and the crunch of the barbecued outside.

The beef rib was nice, only a small slice, and I would liked to have more of this. The sausage was meaty and tasty, the chilli enhanced the flavour and didn’t overpower.

It was more than I usually spend on lunch and I think for the price I would have liked a slightly bigger portion of the barbecued meat.

Overall this was a really nice lunch.

March 5, 2017

Sitting on the dock of the bay…

There is something really nice about having a wide choice of places to get your lunch and then sitting on the riverside in the sun, watching the world go by.

There is something extra special when that happens during what most people would call a winter month, when the norm is to run indoors and turn the central heating up.

There is something extra extra special when the food you are eating is perfection on a plate (well perfection in a box).

It was one of those days.

The Thursday market at Temple Quay is one of my favourite places for lunch. There is always an exciting and tempting range of places to get some delicious food. After the nightmare that was Doris (the storm) and the cancellation of the market the previous Thursday I was pleased to be able to go this week. As usual there was a wide choice, I did quite fancy the idea of the barbecue box from Low N Slow and the Jerk Chicken Wrap from Biblos looked very tempting. However I do make the point of checking out every stall to see what there is before making my final choice (okay virtually every time).

As I walked around and turned the corner there was the squid place, the one where I had the really nice squid a few months back. This was Audacious Squid who do a lovely dish of crispy squid. Well I enjoyed it last time, so guess who ordered the squid?

There were three dishes on the menu, the Sweet Chilli Squid (which I had last time), Smokey Chilli Squid (which was new) and a Squid Ink Bun with Crispy Squid.

I always try and have something new, so though I enjoyed the Sweet Chilli squid last time, I went with the Smokey Chilli Squid. This is cooked for you in front of you with care and passion. You can see the intensity of the chefs as they bring your dish together. They were cooking to order and dish after dish of freshly cooked squid was being served, then it was my turn and I got my box of squid.

The dish comprises freshly cooked crisp squid with ‘slaw, baby corn and picked vegetables. It looked fantastic, fresh salad, crispy squid, chorizo and the tantalising pickled vegetables.

Rather than take it back to the office, which is the norm for me, and as it was actually sunny and rather nice, I sat “on the dock of the bay” and ate my squid. Well is was in Harratz Place next to Temple Quay.

The sun was shining and it was really nice eating outside in March!

As for the squid, well this was delicious. The batter was crispy, the squid was tender, almost melt in the mouth. The slaw was crunchy and fresh. I really liked the pickled vegetables. I am not sure how smokey the smokey chilli was, but it was quite nice.

Overall it was a delicious dish of squid, it was perfection on a plate (well perfection in a box).

February 15, 2017

I want candy…

During my lunchtime walk, I noticed a new shop in Broadmead, actually I am not sure if it is a new shop, or had just moved from the Galleries. It is an American Candy store.

As might be expected the store is full of American candy and chocolate, as well as some British sweets and European treats.

American Candy

As well as the candy, there are a few American products on sale, such as Lucky Charms cereal and Jack Daniels barbecue sauce.

I do wonder about the attraction of such a place (and to be honest it was rather busy) especially when you notice the pricing. I saw a peanut chocolate bar for £3 and the cupcake bites were £3 per box.

American Candy

The Jack Daniels barbecue sauce was ten pounds.

Did I buy anything? Not today. I have found in the past that American chocolate is over sweet and not to my taste, it has too much sugar in it. As for other things, again way too much sugar.

American Candy

I have noticed that these kinds of places are popping up all the time and even shops like WHSmith are selling American candy bars.

Do you buy and enjoy American candy?

January 30, 2017

“Sri-Licious” Street Food

Down at the Bristol Eats Temple Quay market was another guest stall, this was Sri-Licious and served Sri Lankan street food.

One of the nice features of the Temple Quay street food market is that along the regulars there are new entrants, guest stalls, so you never know what will be available.

I like to try new things, so looked over the menu and they had one dish (with variations) a Kottu Roti.

This is chopped up homemade roti, fresh vegetables and spices and cooked on the griddle. I went with the Kottu Roti with devilled chicken and this was served with caramelised onions and coconut on top.

It was a very different dish and I really enjoyed it. You can have varying levels of spiciness and I went with mild to ensure I could enjoy the natural flavour of the ingredients, even then it was quite spicy.