Tag: weston-super-mare

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Glazed Pork Belly Burger

I enjoyed the mixed grill I had eaten at the Landing Light in Weston-super-Mare.

The Landing Light is a Marston pub. Though very close to where we live, prior to my previous visit, I think I had been there only once before, for a meal, and even then I am not sure I actually had. The Landing Light is not an old pub, it opened ten years ago, it has a modern retro feel to it.

I was tempted to have the mixed grill again, but in the end decided I would have something from the specials menu. Sometimes the specials at places are dishes to be avoided, but I was confident here that these were not what was left over, but extra dishes added to the menu.

I went with the Glazed Pork Belly Burger, two 3oz charred beef patties, maple glazed pork belly, Monterey jack cheese, smoked streaky bacon, burger sauce, pickled red onions, and seasoned skinny fries. Though I was tempted by the other two specials, the oven baked cod loin and the pan roasted chicken.

My burger arrived, it was huge and nicely presented.

This was an interesting combination. The pork belly was very tender, but not as flavourful as I thought it would be. The beef patties were nice, and had a good flavour. 

There was a side portion of coleslaw, which though obviously not homemade, added crunch and freshness to the dish.

I did enjoy the burger and it was very tasty.

Service was excellent and everyone else around the table enjoyed their food.

Did I have pudding, in the end I did. I had the chocolate brownie sundae. Warm brownie, ice cream, fresh cream, and a flake, what’s not to like! 

Decadent and indulgent, but also very nice.

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Great flat white

I kind of guess I am getting to be a bit of a flat white aficionado as it is my coffee of choice when I am drinking coffee out and about. At home I usually have an espresso or a lungo. 

My first experience of the flat white was out in New Zealand in 2009, and I really liked it, a more intense coffee experience than the cappuccino I was use to, and much nicer than an americano.

I had some time to kill at @Worle, a local gym in Weston-super-Mare. So I ordered a flat white. What I did like, was they let me take a seat and they would bring it over to me. I really like it when coffee places do that, much more civilised than waiting around for your name to be called. I once lost a coffee like that, so much so, that I rarely use my name, James, when asked for my name in a coffee place. Too many people called James who drink coffee, who would believe that.

My coffee arrived and it looked great. It was also an excellent coffee. Sometimes I worry about coffee places in places which aren’t coffee places, such as gyms. However this place knew how to make coffee and the coffee itself was expertly roasted as well, good strong flavours. I was impressed and enjoyed the coffee.

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Time for Sushi

There are a number of places for sushi in Weston-super-Mare and after doing some research decided we would visit Sakura Finest on the Boulevard. They had a good gluten free offer. They don’t really have an online presence, so I actually went there to check the gluten free options and to book a table. They limit the number of covers they do, so to ensure that everyone has a better experience; over filling the place with people.

On the day itself, we arrived a little early and were given a warm welcome, we took our seats and poured over the menu. There was a lot of choice. I found it difficult to make a decision but got there in the end.

I had some tempura soft shell crab maki.

This was a beautifully presented dish. The crab had a crispy tempura batter and tasted of crab. They were delicious.

I also had a portion of Tori Kuwayaki, crispy chicken in a teriyaki sauce and sesame seeds. 

We had this made gluten free. I did think the salad garnish was a little bit on the large side. The chicken was tender and tasty.

I had some maguro (tuna) nigiri.

The nigiri was presented lovely, and looked fantastic. The tuna was lovely and fresh.

Feeling a little peckish, we ordered some more sushi, and this time I had some hokigai (surf clam) nigiri.

It was very interesting, and I was intrigued about the dish. It again was beautifully presented. The clam was a little chewy, but it was tasty.

Overall we had a delicious meal. 

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Time for a Mixed Grill

The Landing Light is a Marston pub. Though very close to where we live I think I have been there only once before, for a meal, and even then I am not sure I actually had. So I was looking forward to going there when we went there for a birthday meal. The Landing Light is not an old pub, it opened ten years ago, it has a modern retro feel to it.

I looked over the menu and there were lots of things I liked the sound of. I decided I would have the mixed grill. This was a 4oz rump steak, a 6oz gammon steak, a pork chop, a lamb chop, a pork sausage with a fried free-range egg.

It took a while for the food to arrive, and my mixed grill was a large plate of food. Alongside all the meat, the plate came with chips, grilled tomato, mushroom and a green leaf garnish.

The meat was cooked well, the steak was delicious. Nice char but pink inside. I liked the lamb chop and the gammon. I wasn’t that impressed with the sausage, and the pork chop was less of a chop and more of a loin steak.

I did enjoy the plate of food and would certainly visit the Landing Light again.

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Time for some Tapas at the Brunello

We were out and about in Weston last April. Feeling peckish, we decided to head to the Brunello Lounge for a bite to eat. I did the tapas deal for three tapas dishes. They have a nice range of tapas dishes, I think they would work well if you spending an evening in the Lounge drinking (and chatting). They also work well for a light lunch.

I went with the hummus, crispy squid, and some chicken wings. The hummus was my favourite of the three little plates of food.

plate of hummus

This was a nicely presented dish, the garnishes enhancing the hummus. I liked the flavours and there was enough flatbread to go with it.

The crispy squid was a little overcooked for my liking. 

crispy squid with a wedge of lemon

The coating was a little too crispy, more like crunchy.

I liked the chicken wings, but I wanted more of them.

chicken wings

Overall I enjoyed the three dishes, it was a nice snack for lunch.

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The Coach House Pub Chicken

The Coach House is a pub in Locking Village close to Weston-super-Mare. I have been a few times for drinks, but this was the first time I had food there.

It’s lovely traditional pub, with a good range of beers, and as this is Somerset, a good range of ciders as well. 

There is quite an extensive menu, with grills, burgers, salads, and traditional pub meals. They also have a wide variety of pie specials. I was quite tempted by the pies. In the end though I had the Chicken Forestiere. This was a flame grilled chicken breast, topped with smoked streaky bacon, and a garlic, mushroom, brandy, and Dijon mustard sauce. It was served with chips, homemade onion rings, and a dressed salad.

plate of food

The dish was what I expected, this was a nice looking plate of what I would call pub food. The chicken was nice, slightly overdone, so a little dry, but the sauce was nice.  I liked the chips and salad. The home-made onion rings were a delight, lovely crisp batter and tasty onion.

I do think that this dish might have been better if it had been served with potatoes and vegetables, rather than chips and salad. Another option was maybe I should have gone with another protein option.

Service was order and pay at the bar, and then sit down and wait for the food to arrive. The staff were all friendly and welcoming.

I did enjoy the plate of food, it was tasty and good value for money.

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Time for truffle chicken, no, a burger, no, okay bang bang chicken then

I was attending a belated Christmas meal at the Brunello Lounge on the seafront at Weston-super-Mare.

I planned to park in Carlton Street. There was a long queue due to roadworks by the Town Hall, I popped by the station and managed to bypass the queue. However, upon entering the car par, I found the council had closed the upper levels and the rest of the spaces were filled. A conversation later I found out that there had been some anti-social behaviour on the upper levels of the car park, so as a result the council had closed them. Not sure how that encourages people to go out in the evening in Weston, if it’s challenging to park

I headed to the Sovereign Centre and parked there instead, which cost me three times as much.

We had booked a table, which was great as the place was super busy.

As it was January, we didn’t have access to the festive menu, so we had to make do with the regular menu. There is a wide choice on the menu, but if you exclude the brunch and breakfast items, and the sandwiches, there are a few main course items and a range of burgers.

I wanted the Rose’s Truffle Chicken, pulled chicken breast in a creamy truffle & mushroom sauce, with crispy bacon, fried potatoes, veggie parmesan and parsley, served with tenderstem broccoli. However, that wasn’t available. My second choice was the beef brisket burger, but that also wasn’t available. So, in the end I went with the Bang Bang Chicken. This was buttermilk fried chicken with noodles, pak choi, tenderstem broccoli, mushrooms and sugar snap peas topped with bang bang coconut sauce, sesame seeds and chilli.

It was busy, and we were a large group, but I didn’t think it took too long for the food to arrive, I certainly wasn’t made to feel I was waiting. The dish actually looked rather good.

However, I had anticipated that the fried chicken element would be fried chicken pieces. What I got was sliced buttermilk chicken steak on the bed of noodles and vegetables.

There was a fair amount of chilli in the dish as well, I don’t mind some heat, but there was a little too much for me, luckily it had been sliced quite thinly and not chopped, so was easy to remove some of the chilli from the dish.

I did enjoy the food, but it wasn’t amazing, and I felt it could be much better. Looking over the menu, it would appear that there are quite a few menu items there that are based on the buttermilk chicken. Would I have the dish again, probably not.

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A Flat White at Bistrot Pierre

runners on a beach

I was watching the Christmas Cracker 10K on Weston beach and as the runners headed off to Uphill I headed off for coffee.

I went to the Brunello Lounge first. However, they were packed, so I went to Bistrot Pierre instead. They were busy, so popped out to see the runners run pass the pier again. I then headed back to Bistrot Pierre for a flat white.

The rush had calmed down, so I ordered a flat white and took a seat. I always like it when that happens, makes the coffee a little more special.

This was a nice looking flat white and tasted great. Just what I needed after standing out in the cold on the beach.

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Tapas at Brunello

We went for lunch in Weston and decided to head to the Brunello Lounge.

We weren’t really that hungry, so decided against a full size main course, and we ordered three tapas dishes, some fries and onion rings. Service was quick and efficient, which is always nice when you don’t have a huge amount of time for lunch.

We had some chicken wings, the salt & pepper squid, and the hummus.

The chicken wings were fried crispy chicken wings, which had been coated in a sticky sauce and dressed with sesame seeds.

For me the chicken was overcooked. Probably a result of being cooked twice more than anything else. I do like chicken wings, but these weren’t my favourite.

The squid was nice and crispy and there was a large dollop of aioli in the middle.

My favourite of the trio of dishes was the hummus. This was beautifully presented little dish of hummus with fried chickpeas, chilli and parsley. This was served with some flatbread.

The fries were nice and crispy, as was the batter on the onion rings.

Overall a nice snack for a quick lunch.

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That’s why I don’t go to Starbucks

I was charging my car when I walked over to my local Starbucks. This branch has a drive through, but also space to sit down. As I was waiting, I decided to drink in. I was going to have an iced drink, but they had no ice.

I ordered a flat white.

I thought it was well overpriced at £3.74. I know we have excessive inflation, but I think £3 for a coffee in London is expensive. I suspect that they use the same pricing structure as Starbuck branches on motorway services. This Starbucks is next to a petrol station but is in Weston-super-Mare and not on the motorway.

It did look nice, but it wasn’t in my opinion a really good coffee. I remembered I am not really a fan of Starbucks coffee.