food, reviews and of course coffee
It was a lovely sunny afternoon, so I headed to Portishead for a walk around the marina.
I decided to go for coffee, my first choice was Mokoko Coffee & Bakery, however though the queue wasn’t too long, there appeared to be a lot of people waiting for their coffee. So I left and headed to Costa, which was a lot less busy.
I ordered a Cortado and didn’t have to wait long before it was ready.
It was a nice coffee.
Sometimes I feel a flat white can be a bit rich for me, I do like having a Cortado. Reminds me of the flat white coffee I had in Auckland back when I visited there in 2009.
As it is a smaller coffee , this makes it a great choice when making a quick break on a journey. I had this Cortado at the Costa at Ferrybridge Services. It was actually quite good. I have in the past had some poor coffee experiences at motorway services, so it was nice to have a decent coffee, while I took a break.
I will say I am not a fan of coffee at motorway services, but sometimes needs must. So, it was with a little trepidation that I stopped at the Reading services on the M4 for a coffee.
I had a cortado from costa and to be honest it wasn’t too bad, quite nice all in.
I was out waiting to pick up my daughter, and I had some time to kill. I decided to get a coffee from Costa on Marchfields Way.
I was intending to have coffee and cake. They were very short on cakes, so I just had a cortado. I had a free coffee on the app, so it didn’t cost me anything.
My main issue was that, I was drinking in, but they still served me my coffee in a takeaway cardboard cup. I prefer my coffee in a real cup, and actually will make the time for a coffee, rather than do take out. However the choice was coffee in a takeaway cardboard cup, or no coffee. As I wanted a coffee, I took the takeaway cardboard cup.
The coffee was quite nice though.
I was at an event in East London. I had caught the Central Line to Mile End.
Having left myself plenty of time I stopped for coffee at the Costa opposite the station. I had a flat white.
There was plenty of room and I went upstairs and enjoyed my coffee whilst checking e-mail and doing some work.
Back in 2010 I wrote a blog post about when I went out for coffee in Weston-super-Mare I went to Druckers, as it wasn’t just about the coffee, but about the whole coffee drinking experience.
Then there was very little choice in the town for drinking coffee, quite a few tearooms who did some nice tea, but no real coffee places.
Today the landscape is very different. There are the major chains of Costa, Coffee #1, Caffe Nero as well as a plethora of independent coffee places too. We have a much greater choice. There are now four branches of Costa in the town for example. We still don’t have a Starbucks, but as I don’t like the coffee there, I am okay with that.
Since I last wrote Druckers has shrunk considerably. The owners of the Sovereign Centre wanted to create a new eating experience, with multiple food outlets and a shared eating space. Alas the reality is that all there is, is Druckers. So what was an okay place for a coffee and cake, is now more like the inside of a fish and chip shop, but with stools and benches. Not a place for coffee.
My first choice is Coffee #1, though I prefer the coffee in Caffe Nero, the service always appears rushed and it’s popular, so not always a lot of space available.
From an independent perspective, I do like the new(ish) coffee place in the Waterstones in the Sovereign Centre.
Back in 2009 I was in New Zealand for a conference and was introduced to the Flat White.
According to Wikipedia:
Originating from Australia and New Zealand, a Flat White is a coffee beverage prepared by pouring steamed milk from the bottom of steaming pitcher over a single shot or double shot of espresso. As with many other espresso-based drinks the Flat White is interpreted in a number of ways. In Australia it is commonly served as a single shot of espresso, whereas in New Zealand it is more commonly served using a double shot.
Back in 2010 I started to notice that many coffee places, including the major chains were now selling the Flat White. I said back then
I have had it a few times now in the UK, from Costas and Starbucks and though nice, it’s not quite the same as a Flat White from New Zealand.
Having been a while since I was in New Zealand I have lost track of the true flat white experience.
Meeting up with Thom from New Zealand at a recent conference he confirmed that the Costa version of the Flat White was lacking, it was too big and wasn’t strong enough. When he tried to order a “proper” flat white, smaller cup, another shot, the barista couldn’t quite understand what he wanted, but did recommend the Cortado.
The Cortado originates from Spanish speaking countries and the word cortado is the past participle of the Spanish verb cortar (to cut).
The Costa version of the Cortado is not quite what a classic Cortado should be, but as a result is more like a Flat White from New Zealand.
Not sure if putting the drink in a glass adds anything, I would much prefer a cup, but despite that I did enjoy the coffee and would certainly order it again.
Ever since visiting New Zealand I have had a fondness for the Flat White. It can be challenging to find a decent Flat White in the UK, despite the widespread adoption by coffee chains of the Flat White; unless the barista knows what they are doing, you may think you are getting a flat white, but you get a disappointing cappuccino instead.
I was pleased the other day to order a Flat White in my local Costa and I got a really good Flat White, perfect.
The coffee was good, the milk was steamed to the right creamy consistency and even the pattern on the top was sharp and remained as I drank the coffee.
Hopefully the next time I get a Flat White just as good.
I had a really good skinny Flat White today at Costa.
Good flavoured coffee and the milk wasn’t too foamy. This was a different branch of Costa to the one where I have been before.
Still don’t understand why it is more expensive than similar sized coffees. At Starbucks they even use a “short” cup and charge more!
I was on my way to catch a train when I stopped off at my local Costa for a coffee and a sandwich.
The coffee was a Flat White, well it was nearly a Flat White, well one can live in hope!
As for the sandwich, it was a chicken salad sandwich on malted brown bread.
So what did I think?
Well it was a chicken salad sandwich and there isn’t much more to say.
The most flavoursome part of the sandwich was the bread. The chicken was cooked processed chicken, so tasted like chicken, well as in tasted of very little. The salad was mainly bland tomatoes and iceberg lettuce. There was some mayo which overpowered the chicken and salad, though you could still taste the bread. There was texture, as the salad was crisp, but I would have preferred a more soggy sandwich with lots of flavour.
The problem with mass produced sandwiches is that they are catering for the mass audience. The mainstream want something like this sandwich and in many ways prefer a bland sandwich over one with flavour. I remember watching a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall programme a few years ago on chicken and he did a taste test between organic free range chicken and a supermarket battery chicken. Interestingly most people preferred the supermarket chicken. The organic one had “too much” flavour.
We as a society have got so use to bland chicken that we now prefer bland chicken. ask yourself do you prefer breast or thighs? Chicken breast has a lot less flavour than the thighs, but most people prefer breast.
As a result of this, I get a rather tasteless chicken sandwich rather than one bursting with flavour.