food, reviews and of course coffee
Having enjoyed my cortado at Artisan Ealing, it wasn’t too much of a surprise when I was back in Ealing, having some time to, and needing a place to check some work stuff, and I wanted a coffee, that I found myself back at Artisan Ealing.
Another friendly welcome, the service was quick and efficient. Once more I was tempted by the cakes, but I resisted temptation. So I went with a cortado.
Took a seat and enjoyed my coffee.
I was in Ealing and decided to have a coffee. There are quite a few places to get a coffee, both the big chains and independents. I had originally gone to Caffe Nero, but there was a big queue and only one barista making coffee. I then remembered across the road was an independent coffee place, Artisan Ealing.
It was quite busy, but there wasn’t much of a queue, so I didn’t have long to wait. I was quite tempted by the cakes, but in the end I went with a cortado.
After getting my coffee I took a seat. I liked the environment with the wooden floors and furniture. The paintings added to the ambience, and I liked the paper bag lights.
The coffee was excellent.
This was a really nice place for coffee. Good service, great coffee, relaxing environment, and a nice selection of cakes.
I had been staying at Drayton Court and had wanted the pan-fried lemon pepper chicken breast, but they had run out, so had gone with the Norfolk chicken schnitzel with Caesar salad.
So on a later visit it was nice to see the pan-fried lemon pepper chicken breast still on the menu and it was available, so I ordered this as my main course. It was described on the menu as pan-fried lemon pepper chicken breast with courgette Parmesan fritters, prosciutto crisps and warm garlic slaw.
It was a beautifully presented plate of food and I was really impressed.
The chicken was cooked perfectly and was full of flavour. I liked the warm garlic slaw. The prosciutto crisps were interesting and added texture and an element of saltiness to the food. I have to say though I was less impressed with the courgette Parmesan fritter. Mine was not crisp and felt laden with grease, so much so I didn’t actually finish it. However, apart from the fritter, I did enjoy the dish.
I was staying over at the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing. This is a place I stay regularly when working away in London.
For my starter I had gone with the Beef Short Rib Bao Buns and had wanted the pan-fried lemon pepper chicken breast for my main course, but they had run out, so I went with the Norfolk chicken schnitzel with Caesar salad, anchovies and Parmesan.
It wasn’t my first choice because I didn’t really want a schnitzel. I thought it might be quite dry.
When the dish arrived it did look rather good.
The chicken schnitzel was on the bottom of the plate and placed on top was some baby gem lettuce, croutons, anchovies, and dressed with a Caesar salad dressing.
I really enjoyed the Caesar salad aspect of the dish, but the chicken schnitzel really let the dish down, it was slightly overcooked and as a result was quite dry. I think the dish would have worked better with a chargrilled chicken breast rather than the chicken schnitzel.
I was staying over at the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing. This is a place I stay regularly when working away in London.
Went down for dinner, the menu changes regularly, and the sea bass had been recently added. I was going to have the fish tacos followed by the sea bass. However, both weren’t available. So, I had steak and chips instead.
This was described on the menu as Owton’s dry-aged 8oz rib eye steak with triple-cooked chips, grilled tomato, baked field mushroom and peppercorn sauce.
The plate looked good with the sauce coming separately in a miniature saucepan. The steak was excellent, and much better than some of the steaks I have had at Drayton Court Hotel. It was cooked well and reasonably well seasoned, I did add a little more seasoning. I liked the chips, tomato, and mushroom as well.
Overall it was a really nice plate of food.
I was staying over at the Drayton Court Hotel in West Ealing. This is a place I stay regularly when working away in London. The menu changes regularly, though I couldn’t say how often it changes.
On a recent visit there was a new addition to the menu, beef short rib bao buns with Bourbon maple glaze, aioli, coriander, and peanuts.
I do like a good bao bun, so it was no surprise that I ordered this dish. I was intrigued as this was quite a fusion style dish, I don’t see Bourbon maple glaze as something you would find in Fujian cuisine.
I was pleasantly surprised to get two buns, I was only expecting one. It was nicely presented.
The beef was nice and tender, and I quite liked the Bourbon maple glaze. It was a good plate of food.
On a following visit I ordered them again, as I had enjoyed it the first time.
It did look a little different, also the beef was not as good as before. Not sure of why there was a difference.
Generally when I am staying away I do go for the full cooked breakfast. The Drayton Court Hotel does an excellent cooked breakfast which I have enjoyed many times.
This time though I decided to try something different and went with the smashed avocado, heritage tomatoes, chilli, slow poached Lycroft Farm eggs, rye sourdough toast.
I’ve never had avocado for breakfast, so this was a new experience for me.
The food was beautifully presented and had been dressed with pea shoots, chives and some dressing.
I really enjoyed this dish, the tomatoes were full of flavour. I liked the heat of the chilli that was mixed into the smashed avocado. The eggs were cooked well. It all came together as well.
I think I would order this again.
I was fancying pizza for lunch so I headed to Franco Manca. I have had pizza from here before, but have not written about it.
I went with their £10 lunch deal of a pizza and a soft drink.
You can choose from five pizzas and I went with the sourdough pizza with roasted cured ham, mozzarella, ricotta & wild mushrooms. The menu states that this comes with little tomato. This is more a white pizza.
The place wasn’t busy, so my pizza arrived very quickly.
It was a really nice pizza, I liked the mushrooms. It was a much better pizza than on my previous visit, but that time I had also enjoyed the pizza.
Service was excellent and friendly.
I was staying in Ealing and having been disappointed that Reineta was closed I went to Côte. Reality was I did walk around Ealing to see what else was there and looking at various menus. So, in the end I ended up at Côte.
I had the Crab Maison for my starter. I stayed with seafood and I had the Breton Fish Stew for my main course.
This is a traditional coastal stew from Brittany with mussels, prawns, squid, seabream, in a tomato, white wine and chilli sauce. It was served with some French baguette.
There was a lot of seafood in this dish, yes it was mainly mussels, and there was only a single piece of seabream. There were plenty of prawns and squid rings.
I enjoyed the sauce, it was though similar to a soup rather than a sauce. The seafood was cooked well and wasn’t overcooked, which I did think it might be.
The bread was two slices of sourdough baguette. I think I would have preferred a more traditional French flute type baguette over the sourdough slices.
I had wanted to try this dish for a while, and I enjoyed it. However it wasn’t amazing, so it probably wouldn’t be a dish I would order again.
To accompany my meal, rather than wine, I had a bottle of Meteor lager, which was crisp and refreshing.
I was staying in Ealing and having been disappointed that Reineta was closed I went to Côte. Reality was I did walk around Ealing to see what else was there and looking at various menus. So, in the end I ended up at Côte.
I had seen the Crab Maison dish on the menu before, so was likely to be my first choice. I did consider the Steak Tartare, which was hand-cut raw beef, cornichons, mustard dressing, toasted sourdough baguette.
However I decided to go with the Crab Maison.
This was crab, avocado, cucumber, capers, shallots, mayonnaise, toasted sourdough baguette.
I thought the dish was beautifully presented, even if the crab was a little hidden away under the salad and sliced radish.
It was nice, but I was hoping for an intense crab flavour, which I felt was missing, and what crab there was, was overpowered by the mayonnaise. It was nice with the toasted sourdough baguette, which provided a nice crunchy texture to the dish.
I did enjoy the dish, but it probably isn’t something I would order again.