bristol Archives - Page 9 of 21

May 2, 2023May 2, 2023

These weren’t the tacos I was expecting

We headed to Cabot Circus to have a celebration meal. The place that was chosen was the Coal Kitchen.

Though it took me a while to work it out, the last time I had been to Coal, was over ten years ago, in January 2013, when it was called Coal Bar and Grill and I had a burger.

It is now called the Coal Kitchen. We had booked, but were still given a choice of tables. They have quite an extensive menu, but also a set menu. I went with the set menu and started with the chicken tacos.

This description from the set menu shows what it was supposed to be, two soft tacos, marinated chicken, lettuce, tomato, pickled chilli and harrisa yoghurt.

However not sure where the tomato, chilli and yoghurt went, I certainly didn’t have any on my tacos.

As a result they were a little dry, but I did still quite enjoy them.

Obviously they took the menu away after we ordered, so didn’t realise until I was posting a photograph of my food to the Instagram and copying the description, that I realised three components of the dish were missing. If I had known I would have probably asked about it.

Checking the Coal Chicken Instagram feed they actually had a photograph of the dish from the (new) set menu.

Well mine certainly did not look like that!

I do find it frustrating when restaurants (usually) chains, don’t follow the recipe for their dishes, resulting in this kind of experience. Had a similar experience with a hotel in Salford.

The real result is that it puts me off going back to the restaurant again. It had been ten years since I last went to Coal, it might be sometime before I head there again for something to eat.

April 14, 2023

Illy Cortado

I had enjoyed the Capo Triestino I had had at the Illy Cafe up in Clifton. So on a recent visit to the area, I visited the Illy Cafe and this time I ordered a Cortado.

It probably wasn’t a Cortado, as this is a Spanish drink, and it wasn’t on the menu, when I looked. However the staff said they could make a Cortado. I took a seat and they brought the coffee over to my table.

It was a very nice coffee.

March 31, 2023March 30, 2023

Beef Donburi

I was in Bristol and went out for a walk. It was quite cold, so I only made it a short walk. I did though make a trip to the Finzel Reach street food market. One of my favourite stalls was there, She Sells Sushi.

Virtually all the time I have food from She Sells Sushi, as I did on a recent visit, I have a bento box with the beef donburi and a hirata bao bun. This time, after promising myself every time on previous visits, I did have something different.

I had a bento box with crispy tofu in a Katsu sauce, along with a portion of beef donburi.

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

This a street food dish I have had many times, as this was just as nice as I’ve had on previous visits. The beef was delicious and full of flavour. I also enjoyed the garnishes that enhanced the dish. Overall a really tasty dish.

March 30, 2023March 30, 2023

Crispy Katsu Tofu

I had a bento box with crispy tofu in a Katsu sauce, along with a portion of beef donburi.

The tofu was served on a bed of rice with Katsu sauce, pickled carrot and crispy onions.

It was rather nice. I did enjoy the tofu, but felt that it could have been crispier. The sauce was tasty and I liked the carrot. Overall it was a good dish of food.

March 12, 2023March 13, 2023

Cañoncitos

I generally don’t buy cakes and pastries at the street food markets, but the cakes and pastries at the Lunita Pasteleria stall at the Finzel Reach street food market looked really good and tasty.

I decided I would have one and went for the Cañoncitos de dulce de leche dipped in chocolate.

This was a croissant style pasty filled with dulce de leche (caramel) and then dipped in chocolate.

It was rather nice, and not as sweet as I thought it might be. Certainly will look out for Lunita Pasteleria at future street food markets.

February 24, 2023

Beef Donburi and a Crispy Chicken Hirata Bun

I was in Bristol on a Tuesday and I went to the Temple Quay Market. It now happens twice a week, on a Tuesday and a Thursday. There wasn’t a large number of stalls, but I did quite fancy the Korean fried chicken from KokoDoo. However when I arrived there was a huge queue for the KokoDoo van with their crispy Korean fried chicken.

Instead I went off for a walk, changed my mind, and in the end did walk back. Based on the queues and I did fancy something to eat, I went to SheSellsSushi. Actually realised that the queues, though different in size, were in fact moving at roughly the same pace.

Last month I had a delicious meal from She Sells Sushi. I was quite tempted by the Tofu Puff Katsu Curry, but in the end, I went with my favourite Bento Box combination of the beef donburi and a chicken hirata bao bun.

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

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

I’ve enjoyed the hirata buns from the stall, the chicken hirata bun was tasty. This was a charcoal bao bun with two pieces of crispy chicken, lettuce, pickles and sauce.

It might be that I walked back to the office to eat my food, but my chicken was cold, compared to previous meals. I will say I prefer the crispy chicken that came with the original Finzel Flapper bun they did a few years ago. However saying that, I did enjoy the hirata bun, it was rather tasty.

Overall I did enjoy the food.

February 18, 2023July 1, 2023

Soft Shell Crab Burger

I have had some really nice food from King Fin on previous visits to the Finzels Reach and Temple Quay markets, including some excellent calamari and (some okay) fritto misto.

On a recent visit to the Finzel Reach market I went to the King Fin stall. They had fish goujons, calamari was back on the menu, and they also had the soft shell crab burger. I’ve always liked the idea of the soft shell crab burger, but always went with something else. This time, I decided to shell out for the soft shell crab burger.

I added a side order of rosemary chips as well. The burger was a soft brioche bun with a deep fried soft shell crab, and a coleslaw.

The twice cooked rosemary fries with sauce were very tasty, and crispy.

The burger was not as good as I was expecting. The bun though was lovely and soft, and the spicy coleslaw added heat and freshness. The deep fried soft shell crab was crispy, but didn’t have the crab taste intensity I was expecting. So overall I did enjoy the food, but was a little disappointed with the soul of the dish, the crab.

February 15, 2023

Never had one of these before!

I had a coffee I have never had before. I was up in Clifton and went to the Illy Cafe.

After a nice warm welcome I ordered the Capo Triestino. I took a seat and they brought the coffee over to me.

So what is a Capo Triestino?

An illy espresso with abundant cold emulsified milk served in a small Freddo glass.

I do like Illy coffee and really enjoyed this. I don’t get to Clifton very often these days, so think it will be a while before I can make a return visit. Hopefully not too long.

February 8, 2023February 8, 2023

La Lola Crispy Squid

Working in Bristol and out for a walk at lunchtime. I wasn’t actually intending to have lunch out, but walking through the St Nicholas Market looking at all the different stalls, I was tempted. There are lots of lovely places in the market, there is the new Tibetan stall, MOMO, which had quite a queue. I also did think about Low and Slow, but they were equally popular. In the end I went back to the Spanish stall, La Lola.

Since I was last at La Lola, they have added some walls and windows to their stall, so sitting inside in this cold weather is much nicer. I was given a lovely warm welcome, and I ordered my food, and then took a seat. It wasn’t long before my freshly cooked squid arrived.

The crispy baby squid came in a cardboard container, it would have been nice on a plate (which I have said before), but realise that as a stall, it might not be possible.

The squid had a nice crisp coating and was very tender on the inside. The chipped potatoes had been cooked twice, so weren’t as good as previous visits to La Lola. However they were crisp and tasty. The salad was nice and fresh. It was a delicious box of food, which I really enjoyed.

February 7, 2023

Pretty Coffee

We were up in the Mall doing some shopping and decided to stop for some coffee. In the basement was the John Lewis espresso bar, which I have visited a fair few times before. More recently it has been revamped and is now a branch of Ori Caffé.

Ori Caffé is a partnership between John Lewis and Massarella, a family run business with Italian origins. Massarella dates all the way back to 1864, when the family came over from Italy with a view to move to America.

The cafe area has been re-decorated, and their is a Mediterranean inspired menu sandwiches, and more traditional British cakes, as well as Italian cannoli.

As we entered it was a little awkward, in that we had to wait to be seated, but it wasn’t table service, you went up to the counter to order your food and drinks. I ordered a tea, a flat white, a vegetarian sausage roll, and a cheese and ham rarebit.

We took a seat and waited for our food and drinks to arrive.

My flat white looked very pretty.

It was an excellent coffee, which I enjoyed. The tea was very nice too.

The rarebit, was not a rarebit. It was a cheese and ham sourdough toastie.

It needed a lot more cheese, and to be a rarebit, needed a cheese sauce. The ham was good quality though. Overall I did enjoy the toastie.

The vegetarian sausage roll was rather good, or so I was told.

Overall it was a nice place for coffee and the food was tasty.