food, reviews and of course coffee
I reported back in January that the chain German Doner Kebab is opening a new branch on the high street in Weston-super-Mare in February. I wrote in May that the branch was still not open, similar story in August.
The story is that it will open in December.
I was in town and went to have a look for myself.
Yes, still not open.
I reported back in January that the chain German Doner Kebab is opening a new branch on the high street in Weston-super-Mare in February.
Well on a recent trip to the High Street I saw that they had their unit, but it was yet to open.
Their food is described on their website.
Our kebabs are made from quality ingredients that are exclusive to Doner Kebab Restaurants. The great taste comes from the secret sauces that set our products apart, from our competitors. We use lean succulent beef and our meats are imported directly from Germany to maintain quality and consistency. We only use fresh, locally produced vegetables that are delivered and prepared daily along with our special “Doner Kebab” bread. These make the “Doner Kebab” a truly unique taste experience of our customers.
Reviewing the menu, you might have guessed they sell kebabs.
My first visit to a “Lounge” was back in 2013 when I went to the Portvio Lounge in Gloucester. I didn’t know at the time that it was part of a chain, but since then I have visited a few others.
The Brunello Lounge in Weston-super-Mare opened in 2017 and I have visited it quite often, usually for breakfast or for coffee.
Recently we decided to pop in for a drink and a lunchtime snack. It was rather busy, but we decided to queue. They had some tables free but we were warned that there was a thirty minute wait for food, which we accepted.
We placed our order at the bar and waited. We did think it might be a “wagamama” thirty minutes, in other words it would be closer to fifteen minutes. However in the end it took fifty minutes for our food to arrive, by which time we had drunk our drinks, which had infant arrived quite promptly.
We had ordered some fries and a selection of tapas. We got three dishes, patatas bravas, crispy squid and buttermilk fried chicken.
The best of the three dishes was the patatas bravas. This was cubes of deep fried potato served with a spicy tomato sauce. The potatoes were nice and crispy, well cooked and I enjoyed the tomato sauce. In my opinion the crispy squid was overcooked, it was certainly crispy, but it was very very crispy and dark as well. The buttermilk chicken was nuggets of crispy chicken served with a chipotle mayonnaise. The mayonnaise was nice, the chicken was a little dry.
Overall I think these could have been three great dishes, but the final result was not as good as they should have been. One was really good, the others needed a little more refinement. I did wonder if the volume of orders was causing problems in the kitchen. In the past the food we’ve had at the Brunello Lounge has been excellent.
Having said all that I might go again and try the tapas again.
We were out in Weston town and we went for a walk along the seafront before heading into Revo for coffee and tea. We has considered going to Coffee #1 or somewhere else in town, but in the end decided that we would head to Revo.
There was a bit of a queue, I did think initially we should go elsewhere, but I was convinced to stay in the queue. In the end it moved quite quickly.
We were warmly welcomed, asked if we were in for a meal or just for coffee. We were shown to our seats, well chairs and a sofa. The place was quite crowded and full of people ordering meals. I have to say I was a little surprised by how busy it was.
We placed our order. I had a flat white and a plain croissant. It arrived very quickly. Originally I was going to have a cake (well it late morning), but in the end wanting something not sweet, I went with the croissant.
I enjoyed the coffee and the croissant was nice and fresh.
It was nice to have table service for coffee, rather than queuing and waiting which we would have had to do at Costa or Coffee #1. Nice views of the sea as well.
The new Tim Hortons has opened in Weston-super-Mare. The Canadian chain which took over the old Pizza Hut restaurant and added a drive through.
When I discovered that there was to be a Tim Hortons, howeverI had no idea what a Tim Hortons was. I was quite intrigued. Was this going to be a sophisticated coffee place? They have a number of outlets already in the UK, so I checked out the website. Yes they sell coffee, yes they sell doughnuts, but it looks much more like a burger chain than a coffee chain.
As I said before I probably won’t be visiting.
Well, just what we need in Weston, another fast food joint. Casual eating in Weston has got a little more casual.
The chain German Doner Kebab is opening a new branch on the high street in Weston-super-Mare in February.
Their food is described on their website.
Our kebabs are made from quality ingredients that are exclusive to Doner Kebab Restaurants. The great taste comes from the secret sauces that set our products apart, from our competitors. We use lean succulent beef and our meats are imported directly from Germany to maintain quality and consistency. We only use fresh, locally produced vegetables that are delivered and prepared daily along with our special “Doner Kebab” bread. These make the “Doner Kebab” a truly unique taste experience of our customers.
Reviewing the menu, you might have guessed they sell kebabs.
I have seen branches before in other places, but have not had the opportunity to try the food out. Will I try it out? Maybe, well probably not.
Now that the Frankie and Benny’s restaurant has closed on Flowerdown Retail Park. The site will become a Burger King with a drive-thru.
Planning applications posted to the council showed how the site will be converted into a drive-thru and local businesses were consulted on the change.
The restaurant was closed due to the pandemic restrictions put in place in March 2020, and by August with other restaurants now allowed to open, Frankie and Benny’s remain closed.
It never reopened.
I posted last August (2021) that the site was going to become a Burger King.
Now nearly six months later construction work has started on the site with the conversion of the restaurant into a drive thru and burger joint.
I ‘ve never being a great fan of fast food burger joints, so I think the chances of ever eating out there is very slim. If I am going out to eat I like the whole dining experience, queuing for a brown paper bag full of fast food, is not really my thing.
Combine this news with the new Tim Hortons drive thru opening up at the old Pizza Hut, the closure of Prezzo and Pizza Express, the eating out scene in Weston is slowly turning into one of fast food and drive-thru eating.
With all the exciting stuff that happens in Bristol on the food scene, it’s a pity that Weston is going down this fast food road.
Generally this time of year would be the time for Christmas meals, whether that be friends or family. I have been planning our traditional Christmas meal (for Christmas Eve) but in the past I have been to various Christmas meals for various things.
My work would do a regular Christmas event with a meal, we didn’t have one last year (2020) due to the lockdown. I also didn’t go to the meal in 2019, as the one before in 2018 had been terrible. Rubbish food and awful service, didn’t want a repeat of that experience. I did though have an excellent meal with the team I was in, in 2019 at the Mud Dock Cafe. Then I had a tasty homemade chestnut and parmesan gnocchi in a truffled mushroom and spinach cream followed by a rather delightful selection and beautifully presented board of cheese.
I am not attending an office Christmas meal this year, my (newish) team is rather geographically dispersed, but I did recently attend a festive gathering of our Scout Leadership team (I am a trustee). We went to the Fork ‘n’ Ale Taproom & Kitchen in Weston-super-Mare.
I drove down to the seafront, parked my car and walked to the taproom, it was blowing a gale and it was bitterly cold. I was reminded of Bill Bryson, who in Notes from a Small Island said of Weston-super-Mare.
First, you were born. This in itself is a remarkable achievement. Being born was easily the most remarkable achievement of your whole life. And think: you could just as easily have been a flatworm.
Second, you are alive. For the tiniest moment in the span of eternity you have the miraculous privilege to exist. For endless eons you were not. Soon you will cease to be once more. That you are able to sit here right now in this one never-to-be-repeated moment, reading this book, eating bon-bons, speculatively sniffing your armpits, doing whatever you are doing – just existing – is really wondrous beyond belief.
Third, you have plenty to eat, you live in a time of peace and ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree’ will never be number one again.
If you bear these things in mind, you will never be truly unhappy – though in fairness I must point out that if you find yourself alone in Weston-super-Mare on a rainy Tuesday evening you may come close.
It wasn’t Tuesday! Well at least it wasn’t raining, though I wish I had worn a hat. I opened the door to the Fork ‘n’ Ale and the wash of heat was welcome and needed.
First things first after finding everyone, was to buy some drinks. They had a really interesting selection of beers. As it was festive I went with the Christmas Nectar, a light beer which was delicious.
The service was excellent, friendly, warm and efficient.
For my starter I had the pulled chicken and maple bacon terrine. It was supposed to come with toasted chunky bread, but we had chunky bread (untoasted).
It was certainly an interesting concept and though I enjoyed the dish, I think it was something I wouldn’t have again. The bread was excellent though.
The turkey choice on the menu was a breaded turkey escalope with ham, and though it was turkey, the dish didn’t sound very festive, so I went with the lamb.
This was a lamb shank with a red currant and port gravy. It came with roasted potatoes carrot and parsnips. I don’t think it came with the butternut squash mentioned on the menu! Served alongside were the Forks collard greens, which was peas, beans, courgette and cabbage.
The lamb was kind of what I was expecting, slow cooked lamb in a delicious gravy. The lamb was very tender and I enjoyed it. I expected it was brought into the pub and then heated as required and served, nothing special, but still tasty.
I did think though that the accompaniments were excellent, the roasted parsnip and carrots were delicious and I really enjoyed the collard greens. I could have done with a few more potatoes, but they were nice and crisp.
I would have preferred cheese and biscuits to finish, but that wasn’t on the menu, so I went with the brownie and ice cream. They had run out of coffee ice cream, so we were given a choice of a range of flavours. I went with vanilla.
The brownie was moist and had a rich chocolate flavour. That was a great end to the meal.
I have in the past had some terrible festive meals, this one was rather good. Some interesting choices made about the menu, but I did think there was some really tasty food on offer.
I had never been to the Fork ‘n’ Ale pub before to eat, actually not been there to drink either. They have a great choice of beers and the food was interesting, I think I would visit again.
After losing Frankie and Benny to Burger King, we now know that the old Pizza Hut restaurant in Weston-super-Mare is to become a Tim Hortons.
I had no idea what a Tim Hortons was. The initial news report I read said a Canadian chain which sold coffee and doughnuts. I was quite intrigued. Was this going to be a sophisticated coffee place? They have a number of outlets already in the UK, so I checked the website.
Ah well looking at the menu, yes they sell coffee, yes they sell doughnuts, but it looks much more like a burger chain than a coffee chain.
I probably won’t be visiting when it opens.