Tag: sirloin steak

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Time for a Mixed Grill

I was staying at the Premier Inn at Heathrow, cheap and next to the car parking I had booked.

I didn’t really have the time (or the transport) to go somewhere else, so I headed down the restaurant for dinner.

They do quite a good value meal deal with two courses and a drink for £19.99, you can throw in breakfast the following morning and it costs £29.99.

I went with a starter and they had bao buns.

For my main course I upgraded to the mixed grill.

This was a sirloin steak, gammon steak, half a chicken breast and pork sausages. Served with beer-battered onion rings, garden peas, a fried egg, half a grilled tomato and skin-on chips. I was given a choice of salad if I wanted to. I went with the chips.

The steak and gammon were really nice. The steak was cooked to my liking and was well seasoned. The chicken I am assuming was pre-cooked and was a little rubbery having been cooked on the chargrill. The sausages looked a little overcooked, but in fact were just right.

The chips were crisp on the outside, but soft and fluffy on the inside.

The only thing that let the plate down were the onion rings which were overcooked and just crunch. I was asked how my food was before I tried one, otherwise I would have probably complained, but even then maybe not, as it was just three onion rings.

I do like a mixed grill and I was quite impressed with this plate from Premier Inn, to be honest my expectations weren’t very high. Compared to the mixed grills I had last year from The Landing Light and the Railway Inn, this was much better. Though it was missing a lamb chop!

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Sirloin Ciabatta

arena

I was back in Amsterdam for some work stuff. This time I was staying at the Hampton by Hilton near the Johan Cruyff Arena, home to Ajax FC. The hotel did not have a restaurant,  but there was a wide range and variety of places close by. I didn’t go to far and went to the place next door, the Brasserie Hoekenrode. They had a menu of grilled entrees and sandwiches. The previous evening I had some nice lamb chops.

After leaving the offices where I had been working, I headed to my hotel. The bars and pubs were very busy for the football game happening later at the Johan Cruyff Arena. I did check how busy the restaurant was next door, it was packed. 

Went back to my hotel room and decided I would wait until after kick off before heading out to get something to eat. 

When I arrived at Brasserie Hoekenrode it was virtually empty, though some fans were in watching the match on the big screen.

I had a sirloin steak ciabatta, which came with cheese salad and a portion of fries.

Sirloin Ciabatta

This was certainly an interesting dish. Not sure it would be something I would order again. The steak was nice, but I really don’t think the cheese added anything to the sandwich. The fries were nice, but the salad was nothing special. 

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Nice meal out in Helsinki

Back in February I was on a trip to Helsinki in Finland for a few days for work. I was staying at the Scandic Hotel Simonkenttä in the heart of the city. Though I did go to Momotoko for a number of meals, one evening our Finnish colleagues treated us to a meal at the Ravintola Sea Horse. We were eating from a set menu, with a range of choices.

For my starter I had the Shrimp Sandwich. This was a traditional open sandwich which was beautifully presented.

For the main course I had a Finnish Sirloin Steak. I did like the idea of the fish main course, but I had fish for my lunch, so fancied something different. This arrived and was presented on potatoes with onions, pickles, and sour cream.

It was lovely tender piece of steak and I liked the potatoes and other accompaniments.

For my dessert I had the frozen cranberries and hot caramel sauce, this was, well it was interesting, I really didn’t like it that much.

It was nice to have some Finnish cuisine in Helsinki.

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Steak Dinner

I was up in London for a conference and I was staying at the Ambassadors Hotel in Bloomsbury. I had stayed there before in December 2008 and had eaten in the restaurant. We had eaten a delicious meal there, but I wasn’t sure if the experience could be repeated.

 I had been looking around the area seeing what was around before defaulting and deciding to eat in the hotel restaurant. The restaurant wasn’t very busy, with only a few tables occupied. However I was hungry, so wasn’t too worried. They have an interesting looking menu, but in the end I went with their special and had the steak and chips with a drink. Chips were an extra, so I went with the truffle and parmesan fries. It wasn’t long before the food arrived.

The steak was much bigger than I thought it would be, it was also a very nice steak.  The fries were okay, but I think I would preferred them plain.

It wasn’t the best steak I have ever had, but it was a good steak. I thought, for a hotel dinner, it was value for money.

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Steak Ciabatta

Having arrived in Birmingham I was staying at the Edgbaston Park Hotel. This is a conference hotel in the locality of the University of Birmingham. It is a nice modern hotel with a restaurant and a bar.

I wanted to grab some lunch. It was later than I had planned, so didn’t have time to find somewhere in the locality. I headed down to the 1900 Bar and looked over the menu. I decided I would have the sirloin steak ciabatta sandwich that came with chips and salad.

I took a seat with my drink (a can of San Pellegrino orange). It wasn’t long before my sandwich arrived. 

Now generally I don’t do sandwiches, but I decided that this was going to be more than a sandwich. I was right, this was a substantial plate of food. There was a portion of chips in one of those fake mini fryer baskets, a dressed salad. In the halved ciabatta roll was a generous portion of sliced sirloin steak, rocket and onion chutney.

I had asked for the steak to be cooked rare, it was tender, but I felt that the steak wasn’t really grilled, the surface lacked browning. As a result the steak was just okay, it lacked flavour, I think it could have been cooked better. I did like the chutney though.

Overall It was a nice sandwich, I liked the chips and salad.

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Time for a steak

HDR photo of a pub

I have enjoyed the meals I have had at the Fullers’ hotels I have stayed at, Drayton Court, and the Fox and Goose. I was recently back in London and I chose to stay at The Queen’s Head in Kingston, which is another Fullers’ hotel. Smaller, and more like a pub with rooms, I found it a lovely place to stay. The staff were warm, friendly and welcoming. I liked the bar area, which felt nostalgic, but still smart and tidy. I liked the wooden furniture and fittings.

The room I had was nice, it certainly had character. It had very tall ceilings and all the furniture you would expect in a hotel room and then some. I liked how it had an Nespresso machine and a fridge. Drayton Court had a Nespresso machine, but no fridge, whilst the Fox and Goose had a fridge, but didn’t have a coffee machine. I was pleased with my choice.

I went downstairs to the bar to eat, there was a similar menu available to the other Fullers’ hotels. I had enjoyed my meal the previous evening.  This time, well on the online menu they had roasted fillet of Owton’s beef with braised ox cheek coated in herb crumb, black garlic, brown butter celeriac purée, spinach and beef dripping emulsified sauce; so, I was going to have that.  However, on the menu at the bar they didn’t have that, instead for the beef choices, they had a sirloin steak and a cote de boeuf. So, I had the sirloin steak for my dinner.

This was a large sirloin steak with the bone in, rocket salad, grilled field mushroom, tomato, and on a separate plate a portion of chips. There was also a small jug of béarnaise sauce.

steak and chips

The steak was just okay, I kind of hoped it would be better, but it was just okay. The chips and other accompaniments were nice. I wasn’t a fan of the béarnaise sauce, I stuck with my mayonnaise for my chips.

I have had some excellent food at the different Fullers’ hotels I have stayed at. This meal was, well just okay.

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So, no fish on the menu then!

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.

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.

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What should I have?

I enjoyed my last visit to Bills on Baker Street in July. So it was with some anticipation we headed there for dinner on a visit to London. Bills has an interesting dining environment, the different branches seem familiar, but different at the same time. The Baker Street branch appears to be smaller than other Bills I have been to.

Upon entering we were given a warm welcome, we had booked, and were shown to our table. One of the things I have found with Bills is that the menu changes quite often, so even though you may think, well I have that next time I visit, sometimes those very things disappear. So it does make, making a choice that little bit harder.

I was expecting to see the set menu we had in July, but it had changed already. It had gone up by two pounds and had lost the steak and chicken dishes we had had back then. So after reviewing what was on the set menu, we looked at the main menu.

While the rest of the table went with steak and chips, I wanted something different.

I was tempted by the chargrilled lamb rump. However having had an outstanding lamb rump in 2018 from the (now sadly closed) Cattle & Co in Euston, I knew I would have high expectations. The menu description of marinated lamb rump steaks I knew I might be disappointed. The sound of the Black & Gold Burger was quite tempting.

Chargrilled beef patty topped with cheese & truffle fondue, 24 carat gold flakes & grated black truffle. Served with rosemary salted fries.

As was the description of the Triple Truffle Shuffle Burger from the specials menu.

Topped with truffle mac & cheese, white truffle oil & dusted with freshly grated truffle. Served with rosemary fries

However I didn’t really fancy a burger, having only had one the other day in Harwell.

In the end I went with a dish I had been tempted to before on previous visits to Bills, which was the Lobster & Seafood Linguine.

Lobster & Seafood Linguine

Lobster, king prawn & squid in a rich tomato & chilli cream sauce with lemon oil.

The dish was nicely presented.

There was a nice lot of seafood in the pasta dish, which meant as you ate the dish you kept finding prawns, squid and lobster on your fork. Some places I have eaten this kind of dish, you get a meagre amount of seafood. I wasn’t overly impressed with the lobster, which either lacked flavour or was overpowered by the sauce. If it wasn’t there I don’t think I would have missed it, which was a pity.

I did enjoy the dish, I liked the cherry tomatoes with the pasta. Though I think it wouldn’t be something I would order again, if it was still on the menu. It didn’t blow me away. 

As for the rest of the table, well they all went with chargrilled 8oz sirloin steak with rosemary fries.

chargrilled 8oz sirloin steak with rosemary fries

They all enjoyed their dishes, but they did say I cooked a better steak.

Service was excellent, efficient and friendly. 

Overall we had a really nice meal.

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Steak and Chips again and again

Staying at the Drayton Court Hotel I went for dinner and I really wasn’t sure what to have. There is a good choice on the menu, but I was in that kind of mood when, I was hungry, but I didn’t really know what I wanted. I looked over the menu, trying to make a choice, in the end though I went for the steak and chips. They had changed the menu from the ribeye to a sirloin. I have noticed that they make changes to the menu quite often, so much so that I noticed the menu on the board outside the hotel is out of date.

This was described on the menu as Owton’s dry-aged 12oz sirloin steak on the bone, with triple-cooked chips, baked mushroom, grilled tomato and a peppercorn sauce.

I have had the sirloin before, which I enjoyed, but wasn’t overly impressed with. That time it came with a watercress & pickled shallot salad.

My usual experience with the Drayton is that they are quite fast at service, but this time, it took it’s time. So much so that I nearly went to ask where my food was. Well I wasn’t in a hurry, so it wasn’t to much of an issue.

When my food finally arrived, it did look very good.

However there was no baked mushroom and there was the addition of a watercress salad. To be honest though I did quite like the idea of the mushroom, as it had taken to long to arrive, I decided not to question this or return the plate, I was hungry as well.

The steak was well cooked and was lovely and tender. It was much better than when I had it previously. Overall I enjoyed the meal.

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Steak and Chips

Staying at the Drayton Court Hotel another night I had another meal.

This time I went for the steak and chips. This was described on the menu as Owton’s dry-aged 12oz sirloin steak on the bone, triple cooked chips, watercress & pickled shallot salad, peppercorn sauce.

I didn’t read the menu properly, so didn’t realise that this was steak on the bone. I asked for it rare, mainly that I find too often steaks are over-cooked, however this steak was cooked rare. It was a nice steak and I enjoyed the peppercorn sauce as well.

I am not a fan of triple cooked chips, it feels like they are overcooked, but these were okay. They were nice and crispy and did taste of potato. The salad garnish was simple, but rather good.

Overall it was a nice plate of food, but I do feel it could have been better.