Crispy Crab Burger

I was back in London and staying at one of my regular haunts, the Drayton Court Hotel in Ealing. I have been staying here for a fair few years now. It is significantly cheaper than central London, and with the Elizabeth Line, hitting central London is really fast. West Ealing Station is a few minutes walk from the hotel, from there you can catch a train to central London in less than twenty minutes. The hotel has an Ealing comedies theme, there are rooms named after films, and there are numerous photographs from the films framed on the walls.

Going down for dinner, I had the fish tacos for my starter, I had considered the whitebait which was on their specials menu, but after thinking about it, I went with the tacos. What they did have on the specials menu was a Crispy Crab Burger with triple cooked chips as a main course, so I went with that. I do enjoy crispy soft shell crab, and have liked it when I have had it before, however I do remember saying back then:

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.

Even so, I did have quite high expectations. The burger arrived with a side of triple cooked chips in one of those mini metal buckets.

crab burger

As well as the crispy crab, there was avocado, lettuce, tomato, and sauce.

The crab was wonderfully crispy, some parts tasted of crab, some did not.

I liked it, but I wasn’t blown away.

The Windsor Castle BBQ

The Windsor Castle

I was listening to some live music at The Windsor Castle and decided to have a burger from their barbecue.

The chef heated up the (recently) cooked burger on the plancha on the barbecue. This was then served in a roll with cooked onions. I then had to add my own cheese, lettuce, tomato and sauce.

It was quite a tasty burger, lots of nice flavours. 

I do think it was a little pricey at £5.50 for what I got (and what I had to do).

1885 Burgers

I occasionally find myself at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, where we have an office, and on a recent visit was looking for lunch.

Pre-pandemic I would usually find lunch at the RAL Restaurant, which was pretty good.

On this recent visit I decided to try out the DiSH pop-up dining experience. This had opened in September 2021, but this was my first visit.

There are quite a few vendors to choose from, I decided to go for a burger from 1885 Burgers.

1885 burgers serves delicious, juicy burgers including veggie options inspired from when the burger was first created, in 1885! Buns are made fresh daily from a local baker, and the meat is sourced locally too.

The 1885 was two beef patties, American cheese, smoked bacon, in a toasted brioche bun.

This was a rather nice burger, full of flavour.

Time for a Buttermilk Chicken Burger

Buttermilk Chicken Burger

Sometimes I cook and sometimes I just buy stuff I can heat from chilled or frozen. Often it’s time, sometimes convenience, othertimes it’s because I like it.

I really quite like the Buttermilk Chicken Thigh Burgers from Aldi. You get two in a box.

Buttermilk Chicken Burger

These are baked the oven. I served mine in a brioche roll with cheese. The chicken is moist and tender and the seasoned breadcrumb is nice crunchy and tasty.

They are quite large so will fill the bun easily. I have noticed that they are a little inconsistent in size when I have bought them, but in some ways that I quite like, it feels a more natural product.

Time for a really big burger

Having taken my eldest for an early evening shopping trip, we decided to grab a bite to eat before heading home.

We didn’t really know what we wanted. Two places did appeal, Casa Brasil and The Real Greek, however both of these are so new they haven’t opened yet.

The Real Greek is replacing Chimmi-changa. I did have a nice meal there a couple of years ago, but hadn’t been back since. Quite like the idea of the new Greek place.

Casa Brasil, which is next door to Pizza Express will be an all you can eat barbecue restaurant. Again quite like the sound of this place.

However as both hadn’t opened yet, we had to make another choice. I was finding this quite a challenge but in the end the 2-4-1 on mains at Giraffe was the deciding factor. This seemed quite a generous offer for a Friday night, but then I wasn’t complaining. I was still being indecisive so went the Giraffe Ultimate Burger, where my eldest went with the beef brisket burger. So I enjoyed my burger, I think he made the better choice.

Burger

This was a generous burger complete with bacon and cheese, as well as two beef patties. This was full of flavour, not overly seasoned. A bit challenging to eat with your heads (as you would with a smaller burger) so out with the knife and fork. did enjoy eating the burger and the fries were nice.

Reflecting I realised there are quite a few burger places in Cabot Circus, there is the Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK), Five Guys, Frankie and Benny’s must sell a fair few burgers as well. They are a staple of Coal too. Both Zizzi and Bella Italia has them on their menu too, not sure how Italian they are though?

I quite liked the environment at Giraffe, the staff were welcoming and friendly. With the two for one offer, it was also quite reasonably priced.

If I don’t write to empty my mind, I go mad!

I have been to a few of these new “gastro” burger places and have enjoyed most of them. In Newcastle overnight for a meeting the next day, myself and a colleague from work were looking for a place for a bite to eat. We chose Byron.

We were given a warm welcome from the staff and given a really nice table by the window. It’s quite a large place and for a Tuesday night I thought it was quite busy. It’s a relatively smart décor combined with a warm atmosphere made it quite a pleasant place to be on a cold wintery evening.

Looking over the menu, I decided that I didn’t really fancy beef or chicken, so went with one of the vegetarian options.

This was a grilled Portobello mushroom, with goat’s cheese, roasted red pepper, baby spinach, tomato, red onion and aioli. Served in a squishy bun.

I had it alongside some fries and the house salad.

The burger was nice and full of flavour. The combination of ingredients worked well and it was very tasty.

The fries were crisp, hot and fresh, maybe a little too much salt, I prefer my fries without salt.

The salad was a nice simple salad, alas it was overdressed, I would have preferred it with the dressing on the side.

Overall a really nice meal, great service and nice environment. It was quite a limited menu, it’s just burgers, but if you are looking for a burger then why not have a look.

Eating at the diner

Butlins American Diner

Recently I was on holiday at Butlins in Minehead. One evening we went to the relatively new Diner. This is an American style diner complete with booths, signage and singers.

It was much bigger on the inside then it looked from the exterior, somewhat like the TARDIS. It was quite early and we had a choice of seats, in the end we chose a booth close to the juke box. Alas the jukebox was fake… I didn’t quite understand why there was a fake jukebox, well actually I did, it was there for aesthetic purposes and not so diners could choose some music. The diner had music, but we as diners had no choice. I also wonder if it was a cost saving measure, as I know a juke box can be expensive to run, both in terms of licensing but also in maintenance. I did wonder if they could go with a digital jukebox. I did make the suggestion to the staff that they should get a real jukebox.

As I was in an American style diner, I decided to go with a burger and had the Fonz. This was a prime 6oz beefburger topped with Monterey Jack cheese, crispy bacon, BBQ sauce and diced avocado. Stacked up with homemade onion rings.

Fonz Burger

Was I surprised when the meal arrived in what could only be called a cutlery draining basket! Why can’t we have plates? What is wrong with plates? I think these basket things are quite normal in US diners. However the burger was delicious. I was less impressed with the roll, which was a standard floured bap. It was supposed to be a glazed brioche bun, but they had run out!

The ‘slaw was really interesting, this was no standard cheap coleslaw. I really liked the small peppers that it had. Not sure for this convention of called coleslaw, slaw, is this an American thing?

I really enjoyed the burger and I did feel that they had captured what an American diner from the movies and television was like. Was it like a real authentic American diner? Probably not, but this was Minehead!

Snow and Burgers

1/4 pound burger  made with Lye Cross Farm beef, with local mature Cheddar cheese and red onion marmalade (from Rose Farm in Wedmore, served in a fresh toasted bun baked by Pullins family bakery in Yatton. Accompanied by a half pint enamel mug of rock salt seasoned fries and slaw, made from vegetables from Chew Valley Farm.

Down in the Mendips (near to Churchill) is the Mendip Snowsport Centre. Here you can ski and snowboard. For the younger ones they can go tobogganing, and as the centre runs tobogganing parties, I sometimes find myself in the Alpine Lounge with an hour to kill. I usually take advantage of their free wifi with a coffee and catch up with stuff. Recently I was there for a late afternoon, so decided to peruse the menu and have something to eat. It’s quite a limited menu, burgers, paninis, and breakfast items. The menu uses a range of local produce, sourced from Mendip farms, Somerset suppliers and local breweries, all of which is clearly signposted on the menu.

I chose the 1/4 pound burger made with Lye Cross Farm beef, with local mature Cheddar cheese and red onion marmalade (from Rose Farm in Wedmore, served in a fresh toasted bun baked by Pullins family bakery in Yatton. Accompanied by a half pint enamel mug of rock salt seasoned fries and slaw, made from vegetables from Chew Valley Farm. I also ordered some extra onion rings.

It arrived on a wooden board, complete with a mug of chips! For those who campaign for real plates with food, they would be very disappointed with the presentation. Personally, though I prefer plates, I don’t mind it that much when they are “missing”.

The burger was nicely cooked, very fresh and full of flavour. The cheese and red onion marmalade added to the easting experience. The chips were nice and hot, crispy on the outside with a soft fluffy middle and tasting of potato. The roll was a slight disappointment, not quite the brioche style posh rolls you often get with your up market burgers, and neither a plastic white roll you would get from a burger van. The slaw was nice and fresh and very crunchy. It was nice to have a bottle of Butcombe Ale with the burger too.

Overall this was a nice burger with some tasty accompaniments. At £7.50 it is not a lot more than you would pay at Burger King on the motorway services (I believe) but this burger was much better value for money and certainly much tastier, as well as having a fair idea of what it was made from. You don’t need to ski or snowboard to go to the Alpine Lounge and with free wifi, it’s quite a nice place to stop for lunch or for a snack.

That’s a darn fine cherry pie!

On the A420 from Oxford to Swindon are some roadside services. In the past there was a Little Chef located there, but that closed in February 2012.

In June a new venture took over the location and opened the Cherry Pie Diner.

Cherry Pie Diner

This is an independent company and this is their first physical location, they are expecting to open another soon in Grove. In addition they have a mobile trailer they take to events.

I have seen the diner a few times as I passed by, but never really had the time, the opportunity or the inclination to stop there for something to eat. No point in stopping if you’re not hungry. I usually catch the train to work, so I don’t drive much, and usually when I do drive, I probably use the A34 and then the M4 rather than the A420. The one time I did have some spare time to stop, it hadn’t actually opened.

However last Friday, knowing that the M5 would be a bit of “car park” took my time leaving Oxford and having missed lunch, decided to stop at the Cherry Pie Diner for a break and something to eat. The fact it was also the 4th July, made this visit a little special too.

Having parked the car in the large car park, I looked over the building. From the outside, despite some attempt to “Americanise” the exterior, you could tell that this was once a Little Chef. I went to try and find the menu in the window. When it comes to eating out, I can be somewhat indecisive, so like to look over the menu before committing. There wasn’t a menu in the window or by the door, so I was forced to commit, I needed to go in and ask! So I opened the door and went in…

Inside I looked around the tables, booths, red and white, it felt like an American Diner. Now I should point out that I have never been to the USA, so have never been into an authentic American Diner, the closest I have got is through the movies and the odd television show, such as the X-Files. The decor and ambience certainly met my expectations, this did not feel like Oxfordshire, it felt more like Arizona or Delaware. The tables, the chairs, even the uniforms, gave this a real authentic feel, much more so than places such as TGI Fridays where they try to do something similar and I think that place feels artificial, the Cherry Pie Diner felt real.

The place was full of people and all the tables and booths were full. There was a member of staff smiling as I entered, I explained I was in a hurry and asked how long service would take, she checked with the kitchen and I was assured that it was quite fast. In the end I sat on a bar stool at a high table and looked over the one page menu.

There was a lot of breakfast options, but this was Friday evening, so I wanted something more substantial. There was quite a limited choice. However I don’t see this as a negative, on the contrary, I found it rather reassuring. The problem with a four page menu, the kind of thing you find at Little Chef (or pub chains) is that it means the food is cooked to a system and very little of it would be freshly cooked. A more limited menu, generally means that the food is cooked to order from fresh, and not re-heated.

Alongside the breakfast menu, the main offering was hotdogs and burgers and variants of these. There were some sides on offer, as well as salads, ribs and a couple of vegetarian options. Though only a page, there was for me a fair bit of choice. As for drinks, there were two pages to that menu!

I was tempted to go with some buffalo wings, as for me that is a good test of the cooking in a place like this, are they cooked from fresh, or merely cooked in advance and then re-heated once ordered? However I knew I didn’t have a huge amount of time, so maybe later.

I went with the Cheesy Chariot Burger, a 6oz burger patty which according to the menu is made to a “secret recipe” using 100% locally sourced beef. It was served
in a bun with shredded iceberg lettuce, beefsteak tomato, sliced dill pickle and a “signature” Cherry Pie Diner relish. Alongside was a small portion of slaw and a bowl of fries.

Cheesy Burger

The burger was nice and I enjoyed it. I think the burger itself lacked though a depth of flavour I was expecting from a such a good looking burger. The bun was good, full of flavour and tasted very fresh. The cheese was so much better than the “plastic” cheese you find in most burgers, as was the pickle and the salad. The fries were fresh and crisp, however the slaw was a little sharp for my taste, they needed a slightly sweeter onion perhaps.

I went for a “classic” coke alongside the burger (I was driving) and it came in a bottle. Personally I much prefer the bottled version over the pump post-mix that was also available. I was tempted to have a milk shake, but in the end went with the cola. It was nicely chilled and I was offered more ice in my glass if I wanted it, you know to be more authentic. I am not a great fan of having coke over a glass full of ice, it waters it down too much for my liking, so I left it as it was, just a few cubes of ice in there.

Overall the food was very good, and for a roadside service station I thought it was very good value for money, the burger and fries were £11 and the cola was £2.30. You could easily spend nearly that amount at a Burger King on the motorway services.

Where I think this place will win out, over other service stations, will be in the quality of the service. Here they need to do a little more work, they are so nearly there, but I am guessing there are still a few teething issues to resolve. Don’t get me wrong, when I first walked in I thought, oh this looks really busy and I don’t really have time to wait too long for food, but when asked and true to their word, they were pushing the orders out really fast. So I didn’t have to wait too long for my food once ordered, though there was a delay in ordering, despite me telling one of the staff I was in a bit of a hurry. There seemed to be too many staff hanging around, either welcoming customers or talking to them, or even just standing around doing nothing, with only a dedicated couple actually taking orders! As I said though, once the order was placed, the food arrived very quickly. My drink though arrived after the food… now they are missing a trick, as I probably would have ordered two drinks in the time I was there, but the first didn’t arrive until much later, so as a result I only ordered one drink.

I did find it amusing though, after placing my order I popped to the men’s room and when I came back, one of the staff, I think she was a manager or supervisor, said to me “thanks for coming, goodbye”. I thought at least let me eat my food first! She did come and apologise once she realised that I hadn’t actually eaten yet.

These really are minor quibbles, as the quality of the service was good, the staff were smiling, friendly, and though the place was packed out, it was speedy and quick.

I liked the environment, it felt like an American Diner and I will go again.

Cajun Burger

Cajun Burger

The last time I had a burger at a restaurant was at Bella Italia and I really enjoyed it. It had flavour and texture and was a really enjoyable meal.

On a recent visit to Frankie and Benny’s I had a Cajun Burger. Now I was hoping to get a similar good burger, however I was to be slightly disappointed.

It was a highly processed burger and not what I was expecting at all. It had a very fine texture and wasn’t exactly full of flavour. The bun however was nice and the garnish for the burger was good as well.

The fries were crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. The relish came out of a jar, I did expect that, however it is the rare place these days that make their own relishes, and you wouldn’t expect that in a restaurant chain.

The one thing that I would have liked alongside the burger was some salad, but I guess that would be a side order that would be extra.

Overall the Cajun Burger was nice and tasty, I am guessing that my expectations were high and what I got wasn’t what I was expecting.