Tag: bristol

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Calamari and Fries

I was in Bristol and on my lunchtime walk I headed off to the Finzel Reach street food market. There were lots of stalls to choose from, I got a portion of calamari from King Fin along with some rosemary fries. The calamari (as usual) was cooked fresh to order.

calamari

This was a lovely generous portion of calamari. The batter was nice and crispy, but not too thick to overpower the squid. It was cooked just right, as well as light batter, the squid was nice and tender. The fries were tasty as well.

Last time I said “Must remember next time to ask for less salt though.”  This time I did remember to ask for less salt, they did say that the batter for the calamari has salt in, but it was only the extra salt I wanted to avoid. I was pleased I did, as the calamari was well seasoned and didn’t really need extra salt.

I enjoyed my food and would certainly get it again in the future.

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Open Turkey Sandwich

Portwall Tavern

A few weeks ago I had a delicious open sandwich from the Portwall Tavern.

This was a substantial open sandwich. There was a slice of ciabatta with salad and a good sized portion of the slow cooked (pulled) lamb. The lamb was garnished with some mint yoghurt.

When it comes to lunch, I generally don’t do sandwiches. I understand why people like eating sandwiches. I actually do like eating sandwiches, when I say I don’t do sandwiches, what I really mean is that I am not a fan of retail sandwich packs. 

The sandwich I had at Portwall Tavern was so much more than a sandwich. So it wasn’t much surprise when deciding what to have for lunch, I headed back to Portwall Tavern.

Having had the lamb, I chose to have the second sandwich on the menu, which was described as slow cooked turkey, stuffing, pigs in blankets, roasted potatoes, cranberry sauce and a jug of gravy.

I didn’t get the roasted potatoes or the jug of gravy. I did though get potato wedges and the whole dish was covered in gravy.

This was a nice piece of turkey and I liked the pigs in blankets. The gravy obviously made the bread soggy. I think it needed some greenery, some sprouts perhaps, or some coleslaw. Despite that I enjoyed the sandwich and generally I don’t do sandwiches.

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Time for a rustica pizza

I was out in Bristol thinking about something for lunch. I had a voucher for free main course at Zizzi, so I headed over to their branch in Cabot Circus to get something for lunch. I  haven’t been to Zizzi for a while, so it was nice to look over the menu. There were some nice choices, but in the end I went with the  Rustica Pizza with Black Truffle Salami & Mushroom.

This was a white base with truffle salami, mushrooms, crispy prosciutto, Bufala mozzarella, riserva cheese, truffle-infused oil and crispy sage.

I do like a white base pizza, and this was a nice pizza, with generous toppings, but not over the top toppings. The fresh mozzarella was a nice touch. I liked the rustica base which was crisp. This was a nice pizza and I am glad I chose it from the menu.

Alongside I had the Courgetti Fritti which were crispy courgette chips.

These were interesting and I enjoyed them.

Came to pay the bill and there was an issue with the staff saying I could only have used the offer with the purchase of two main courses, it didn’t say that in the T&Cs, so in the end they did accept the voucher. 

Apart from the voucher issue, the service was excellent.

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Calamari

I fancied a snack and the Temple Quay market was running in Bristol, so headed down to see what was on offer.

I got a portion of calamari from King Fin. They (as usual) were cooked fresh to order.

This was a lovely generous portion of calamari. The batter was nice and crispy, but not too thick to overpower the squid. It was cooked just right, as well as light batter, the squid was nice and tender. Sometimes when I have squid it can be overcooked, so the batter is more crunchy than crispy, and the squid can be somewhat chewy. This squid though was cooked really nicely. Must remember next time to ask for less salt though.

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Flat White at Cafe Society

I have been meaning to visit Cafe Society in Bristol on Baldwin Street for a while now, but never really had the opportunity. When I have walked past it was usually as I was on my way to another place, or I had just had a coffee somewhere else.

So when in town one Saturday and walking past, I decided I would go in for a coffee. The place was busy but there were seats available. There was no queue, so I went to the counter and ordered my coffee, a flat white. Having said that I was drinking in, the barista said to take a seat and they would bring my coffee to me.

I took a seat. I noticed that for some of their seats they had a no laptop rule which was interesting. If you did want to use your laptop, there were shared tables available. The rule was enforced, as I did see someone being asked to move to a laptop table.

My flat white arrived. It looked fantastic.

I really enjoyed the coffee and I think I will certainly visit Cafe Society again.

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Time for a sandwich, well a nice sandwich

Portwall Tavern

Went out for a walk at lunchtime. I did consider Low N Slow at St Nick’s market, but the brisket wasn’t looking that good today, it looked excellent last week. I then went to the Finzel Reach street food market. I did consider getting lunch from She Sells Sushi, but I’ve had that quite a lot recently, so thought no. 

I had a look at La Panza next to the office, which has a £10 lunch deal. I was very tempted, but disappointed to find out that the deal had only one choice of pasta, which was a cheesy broccoli bucatini pasta, which I didn’t really fancy. I had hoped they would have a choice of pasta, but they only had a pasta of the day.

I then remembered I had enjoyed a sandwich dish from the Portwall Tavern, so went there and had the pulled lamb ciabatta with potato wedges. 

The last time I visited the Tavern I had swapped the wedges for skin-on fries, this time I didn’t. That was because last time the wedges had looked so good.

This was a substantial open sandwich. There was a slice of ciabatta with salad and a good sized portion of the slow cooked (pulled) lamb. The lamb was garnished with some mint yoghurt.

I don’t normally do sandwiches, but this wasn’t a sandwich, this was quite a substantial meal. The lamb was full of flavour, very tender, and tasty.

I enjoyed the sandwich. Generally I don’t do sandwiches.

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Kokodoo Korean Fried Chicken

Kokodoo Korean Fried Chicken Van

The Kokodoo van is always busy when I have seen it before at both the Finzel Street and Temple Quay street food markets. So much so, that I have usually gone somewhere else to get something to eat.

So when I arrived early one time and there wasn’t much of a queue I grabbed my chance to try out the chicken from Kokodoo.

The menu consists of fried chicken bites with a choice of four glazes. There is sweet & spicy, honey glazed, sticky soy, or fiery chilli. The chicken is served with a  choice of chips or rice and a side of coleslaw. There is a vegan option  with fried cauliflower.

I went with the chicken in a honey glaze with rice. I placed my order and paid, I was given a number.

As there wasn’t much of a queue, so it wasn’t too long before my food was ready.

Kokodoo Korean Fried Chicken

This was a good sized portion of crispy chicken, in a sweet honey glaze, with a sprinkling of sesame seeds. There was some rice, and a rather disappointedly small portion of coleslaw.

I enjoyed the chicken, it was crisp and tasty. Though a nice dish, I am not sure if I would have it again. It was nice, but not inspiring or outstanding.

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What should I have?

I was in Bristol and looking for some lunch. As it was a Monday there was no Finzel Reach or Temple Quay street food markets. I headed off to the St Nicholas Market to see what was available. There is a wide choice of places to eat there, though not all are open on a Monday. As per usual there was a long queue for Matina for their excellent Kurdish wraps, even with the recent “dramatic” price increase. I remember the time they were less than a fiver, now they are over eight pounds each. Well I suspect costs have risen for them, they had to rise at some point, but they appears to be rising quite a lot over the last couple of years.

I still have to try the MOMO bar, but decided that wasn’t going to be today. I did consider going for the Low and Slow barbecue box, but in the end headed to La Lola.

The last time I ate at La Lola I had the crispy squid, but wasn’t too enamoured with their chipped potatoes, which were like thick crisps.

This time I went for their seafood paella. I was served quickly, and this a good looking paella with a nice amount of seafood, which included prawns, squid, and mussels.

paella

This was a delicious paella, lots of flavour. 

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Pretentious Cortado

I went out for a walk and decided to try the new coffee place on Victoria Street, in Bristol. It is called Origin. I wanted to try it, partly as it was new, and partly as that as I was using their app, I could get a free coffee.

Inside the clean, bright minimalist space, there was the serving counter and some tables and chairs. Not so sure about the environment. I think it needs some more tables and chairs. 

The choice of pastries was limited but the barista did say that would expand at a later date.

I ordered a Cortado. I wasn’t hungry, so didn’t order anything to eat. I took a seat and they bought my coffee over.

It was a beautifully made Cortado, in a lovely ceramic cup. It was a little pretentious, but I kind of expected this kind of coffee when I walked in.

It was a nice coffee, not my favourite flavour of coffee, but I enjoyed it. I certainly would consider going again.

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Not quite my usual bento box

It was a Friday, the sun was shining, it wasn’t raining, there was no wind, which meant that the Finzel Reach street food market was running. They had cancelled Wednesday’s market due to the weather.

My usual choice when having a bento box from the She Sells Sushi stall is to have the beef donburi and a crispy chicken hirata bao bun. I decided I would still go for the beef donburi, but I would have the sweet potato hirata bun instead of my usual chicken one.

The beef was delicious as usual. It is tasty tender beef rib on a bed of sushi rice and served with pickle and crispy onion.

This a street food dish I have had many times, as this was as good as I’ve had on previous visits. The beef was full of flavour and the garnishes added to the dish.

The hirata bun was nice, but to be honest the sweet potato was just slices of cooked sweet potato. These were inside a charcoal bao bun with some lettuce, pickles and sauce. Not sure that added much, I think I would have preferred the crunchy texture of the chicken.

Overall though, I did like my lunch and it was very tasty.