Blog
23 January 2010
Recipe Binder for iPhone uses Facebook Connect to work with the Recipe Binder for Facebook application, which currently has 5,315 monthly active users and over 20,000 user-submitted recipes for Facebook users to browse, search, favourite, rate and comment on.
What I like best about using Recipe Binder over other recipe websites is that all the recipes have been “tried and tasted” by other friends and Facebook users. I’ve found some pretty good original recipes on there and I will honestly be adding more of my recipes now I know I can easily access them on my iPhone.
Recipe Binder for iPhone (iTunes App Store link) is available now and costs just $1.99 / £1.19.
Well done Chris and Dave!
Non-Disclaimer: This is just a quick plug for an iPhone app which a couple of mates have been working on. They haven't asked me to write this and I'm certainly not being paid to do so. In fact, I even had to buy my own copy...
Labels: facebook, food, iphone
16 November 2009
In my last post about my surprise trip to Jersey, I left a bit of a cliffhanger, which was mainly to give me more time to write this post. But I can now reveal that my final surprise of the weekend was an evening meal at one of Jersey’s Michelin-starred restaurants!
After a drink and some bar snacks in our hotel bar, Suzy booked a taxi to take us to Ocean Restaurant at The Atlantic Hotel. On arrival, I could tell why she didn’t book a room at this hotel for the weekend; wooden floors, stone walls, chandeliers, expensive art-work... the place was like a palace!
Since we were a little early, we had another drink and some more bar snacks, being careful not to ruin our appetite, and then perused the menus. Given our previous experience and Christian’s more recent comments about the price of the wine at The Old Vicarage, which is the only other Michelin-starred restaurant we’ve visited, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the wine at Ocean Restaurant started at around £18 per bottle.
Despite being tempted by their tasting menu, we both decided to choose from the à la carte menu. And here’s what we ordered:
Abuse-bouche
Sole Goujon with Lemon Foam
Starter
Suzy: Ham – Pressing of ham knuckle, maple baked foie gras, roasted langoustines, artichoke purée
Tony: Scallops – Pan roast hand dived Jersey scallops, honey baked pork belly, creamed cabbage
Main Course
Suzy: Beef – Tasting of Jersey beef miniatures, dauphinoise purée, onion rings, beef marmite
Tony: Venison – Roast loin of Scottish venison, autumn vegetable dauphinoise, d’Agen prune jus
Pre-dessert
“Something like lemon meringue pie served in a shot glass but without the pastry”
[Sorry, once again this wasn’t on the printed menu we brought away, so that’s my lame description!]
Dessert
Suzy: Chocolate – Hot chocolate soufflé, white chocolate ice cream
Tony: Coffee – Coffee panna cotta, espresso jelly, white chocolate quenelle, whisky foam
We would have loved to have tried the cheese board too, especially after seeing the huge selection of cheeses get rolled out on a trolley for the table next to us, but we honestly couldn’t have squeezed in another mouthful!
I generally don’t like coffee-flavoured desserts, but the coffee panna cotta tasted great. In fact, everything we had was cooked to perfection. The flavour combinations were all spot on, the presentation was outstanding, the service from the staff was of the highest standards, and the atmosphere was perfect too.
Sounds pretty good, eh? That’s because it was! Seriously, it’s easy to forget what amazingly good food tastes like. When we were on our honeymoon, we did have some really good food, but it’s clear why Ocean Restaurant has a Michelin star – as well as three Rosettes in the AA Restaurant Guide 2009 – and all those other places we’ve visited don’t.
Ocean Restaurant definitely gets our recommendation!
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
04 November 2009
As a belated 30th birthday present, my lovely wife booked a surprise weekend away for us both. I only found out where we were going when the airline made the final call for the flight. All I knew until that point was that we were flying, didn’t need any foreign currency and I needed to pack some smart clothes! So I was very pleasantly surprised, in the dash for the plane, to discover that the destination was Jersey. It was somewhere we’d never been and I’d heard it’s a beautiful place to visit. As always, food played quite an important part in the trip, so keep reading for mouth-watering menus...
The Hotel
After our short flight, we decided to walk from the airport to our hotel in order to see a bit more of Jersey. After 20-30 minutes of walking, we reached St Brelade on the south coast and walked a little bit further along the beach to the luxurious L’Horizon Hotel & Spa. We were told at the desk that we were lucky to have been given a corner room which had a balcony and sea-view. And very nice it was too!
The view from our room at L’Horizon Hotel & Spa
Lunch at the Oyster Box
After dropping off our bags and hanging up our clothes, we wandered back along the beach to get some lunch and ended up at the Oyster Box. Since we knew where we were going for dinner, and suspected it could end up being quite a big feast, we decided to have something light. Which is a shame, because their menu looked excellent and we could have benefited from the annual Tennerfest offers, which basically promotes fixed price menus at hundreds of eating establishments across the Channel Islands.
Anyway, we ordered three Special No. 3 Royal Bay Oysters, Grilled with Garlic Butter and Chorizo to share, Suzy ordered Chancre Crab Risotto with Chives, Rocket and Parmesan and I had Tuna Sashimi and Salt & Pepper Squid with Wasabi Mayo and Soy. The restaurant was really fresh and modern, everything was beautifully cooked and tasted great (although Suzy thinks there was too much “salad crap” on top of her risotto which she pushed to one side). I am now also a fan of wasabi mayonnaise and reckon it would go brilliantly with chips!
Deep Tissue Massage
My next surprise was a deep tissue back massage. After getting changed into our robes and slippers, we made our way down to the spa facilities at the hotel, which felt very odd to be honest! I’d been having some problems with my shoulder and, according to the masseuse, I have bad posture too, which is good to know. After she straightened up my shoulders, I actually felt much better. I’ve now got to learn how to sit up straight. After spending some time in the sauna, steam room and salt-water swimming pool, we went down to the bar for a quick drink before going out for dinner.
Dinner at the Crab Shack
Next to the Oyster Box where we went for lunch is the Crab Shack. Although part of the same group, the Crab Shack is a lot more relaxed and casual than the Oyster Box but the food is definitely just as good. For her starter, Suzy had the Crab, Scallop and Clam Soup and, since we were in the Crab Shack, I obviously had to have 2 Chancre Crab Claws with Mayo. Both were delicious. For main course, Suzy had a huge portion of Tempura-battered Local Fish and Chips with Peas and I thoroughly enjoyed a massive pot of Thai Moules and Chips.
Thai Moules and Chips at the Crab Shack, St Brelade’s Bay
The main courses were good but we would both have appreciated better chips; Suzy would have liked fewer fresh-cooked chips and I would have preferred long fries. It was clear they were very busy as they had to borrow staff from the Oyster Box, which was apparently uncommon for a Friday night, according to the waitress who kindly apologised for the slow service, so we were lucky to have got a table since they don’t let you make reservations unless there are at least six people.
Bicycles
For my next surprise, Suzy had arranged for us to hire a couple of bikes from Jersey Cycle Tours. Most people seem to think this isn’t much of a surprise since it sounds more like hard work than fun, but I’d wanted to hire some bikes when we were back in Lismore so I thought this was exciting! First we had to quickly remind ourselves how to ride a bike and then we set off along Jersey’s fantastic cycle routes...
Jersey War Tunnels
Our first destination on the bikes was Jersey War Tunnels, the site of Hohlgangsanlage 8, the German Underground Hospital built by German occupying forces during the occupation of Jersey during World War II. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
Jersey War Tunnels: Entrance tunnel
The tunnel complex hosts a fascinating and heart-wrenching exhibition about Jersey’s history and its German occupation during World War II. The educational exhibits really make you empathise with the people of Jersey. If you visit the island and don’t know much about its history, I would definitely recommend a visit.
St Helier
After some lunch in the café at the Jersey War Tunnels, we got back on our bikes and headed to St Helier, where we had a quick mooch about the shops and market before pedalling back to St Aubin to drop off our bikes before getting ready for my last surprise of the weekend, which I’ll save for my next post...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
08 October 2009
Saturday
In order to break up the long drive home from Scotland, we decided to stop over in the Lake District for the final night of our honeymoon. After searching online for somewhere that served good food, I fortunately came across The Cedar Manor Hotel & Restaurant in Windermere which had excellent restaurant and hotel reviews. Although their website says they only allow stays of two nights or more at weekends, I gave them a call anyway and was lucky enough to find that their ‘Coniston’ room was available for just one night. This room has a view of Lake Windermere, which we were just about able to see through the trees.
The view from our room at Cedar Manor Hotel
After exploring the area and grabbing a sandwich from Lazy Daisy’s in Windermere village, we headed back to the hotel for a relaxing game of Mastermind (borrowed from the hotel lounge) and then got ready for the final evening meal of our honeymoon...
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Terrine of Wild Boar with Home Made Pear and Raisin Chutney and Cardamom Rye Bread
Tony: Potted Shrimps – Morecambe Bay Shrimps with a Sweet Cucumber, Dill & Rocket Salad
Main Course
Suzy: Lamb Rump with Black Olive & Basil Crust, Couscous and Mediterranean Vegetables with a Red Wine Jus
Tony: Medallions of Pork Fillet with Grilled Polenta, Buttered Spinach, Wild Mushrooms and a Smoked Paprika Cream Sauce
Dessert
Suzy: Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Truffle Cake with Honeycomb Cream
Tony: Glazed Lemon Tart with Poached Seasonal Fruit
Complemented by their freshly baked homemade bread, this meal was the perfect end to our honeymoon. Once again, we found local ingredients cooked to perfection in really healthy sized portions... and by ‘healthy’ I guess I really mean ‘unhealthy’ since they were pretty big! The staff were really friendly and the lounge and restaurant both had a sophisticated yet relaxed atmosphere. If you want to sample the food at Cedar Manor, I would definitely recommend booking as they were mega busy!
Sunday
Cedar Manor Hotel
After enjoying our wonderful honeymoon and filling ourselves with course after course of great food, everything finally caught up with me and I had a bit of man-flu on the last day. Even the Grilled Grapefruit followed by a Cumbrian Grill (Gold Medal Winning “Pinks” Cumberland Sausage and Dry Cured Bacon, Lancashire Black Pudding, Mushrooms, Tomatoes and a Hash Brown) which I had for breakfast didn’t make me feel any better. So after Suzy finished her Fruit Compote and Yoghurt followed by American-style Pancakes with Dry Cured Bacon & Maple Syrup, we decided not to bother going on any crazy long walks and just settled for a quick visit to Lakeland to check out the useless yet essential kitchen gadgets before heading home and settling back into reality...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
01 October 2009
Thursday
After filling out stomachs once again, we made our way to our next hotel which was An Lochan, Tighnabruaich on the Kyles of Bute. Previously known as The Royal Hotel at Tighnabruaich, An Lochan is a grand old Victorian building some modern touches.
Upon arrival we were greeted by John, the very friendly hotel manager who seemed to work every waking hour and yet was still always cheerful. He seemed to be so excited that he had a couple on their honeymoon that he couldn’t wait to tell us that they’d be giving us “a wee bit of complimentary fizz” to help us celebrate!
The view from our window at An Lochan Hotel
When we arrived, there was a small wedding about to take place. Everyone was waiting for the bride to make her entrance down the stairs and looked a little disappointed to see Suzy and I make an appearance instead! To avoid getting in their way, we went for a little walk down towards Tighnabruaich and then went back to the hotel to check whether anyone had uploaded any of our wedding photos to Facebook! They had, but the Internet connection was practically non-existent, so we viewed a couple of them and then got ready for yet another slap-up meal...
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Langoustine Ravioli with Carrot & Courgette Salad, Tomato & Dill Vinaigrette and Shellfish Foam
Tony: Pan Seared Scallops with Black Pudding, Apple Puree and Curry Oil
Main Course
Suzy: Loin of Gloucester Old Spot Pork with Caramelised Apple Sauce, Wilted Curly Kale, Roasted Black Pudding and Saffron Mash
Tony: Taste & Texture of Aberdeen Angus Cross with Fondant Potato, Fine Beans and Truffle Sauce
Dessert
Suzy: Glazed Lemon Tart with Vanilla Poached Strawberries and Mascarpone Ice Cream
Tony: Summer Berry Pudding with Elderflower & Champagne Sorbet, Berry Coulis and Crisp Mint
My starter was absolutely perfect. The hand-dived local scallops were juicy and went really well with the classic combination of black pudding and apple puree. The curry oil was a nice touch for a bit of spice too! Suzy was a bit disappointed with her langoustine ravioli as the other items on the plate were a little over-powering for the delicate flavours of the langoustine.
Again, my main course was out of this world. I love dishes which include beef done two ways. The differences in taste and texture really complement each other. I first enjoyed this style of dish at The Supper Club (now closed and known as Moran’s) and this was even better than I remembered it. I think the truffle sauce was the winning factor. Suzy was a bit disappointed with her pork though. It was good but nothing special. (And I think she was just a bit jealous of my meal!)
After desserts (both of which were great) we had a quiet drink in the cosy Shinty Bar at the back of the hotel.
Tony having a Bloody Mary in The Shinty Bar at An Lochan
Friday
For breakfast, Suzy had fruit and yoghurt followed by kedgeree and I had cereal and a full Scottish breakfast, complete with black pudding and haggis!
We then spent the day in the small town of Dunoon. One of the few places to visit in Dunoon is Castle House Museum, which is right next to a viewpoint which offers some great views of Dunoon and across the Firth of Clyde towards Gourock.
Looking over Dunoon from the viewpoint near Castle House Museum
The museum is contained in a few rooms of the house and offers all sorts of information on the surrounding areas and exhibitions about local history. (Some of the exhibitions do look like school projects but that just adds to the authenticity!)
On the way back to the hotel, we took a few more photos of the views of the Kyles of Bute and then had a very quick visit to the tiny Tighnabruaich Village and Port before going for a walk down the stony beach before dinner.
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Carpaccio of Venison with Caramelised Shallots and Rocket & Parmesan Salad
Tony: Platter of Garlic Roasted Langoustine caught by Arthur in the Kyles
Main Course
Suzy: Spicy Beer Battered Fillet of Halibut with Salt & Vinegar Chips and Tomato & Shallot Salad
Tony: Pan Seared Fillet of Seabass with Fine Ratatouille and New Potatoes
Dessert
Suzy: Summer Berry Pudding with Elderflower & Champagne Sorbet, Berry Coulis and Crisp Mint
Tony: Coffee Crème Brûlée with Milk Ice Cream and Pistachio Biscuit
Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed everything, especially the huge langoustine on my starter, although I was a bit disappointed with the size of the fillet on the main course. And once again, Suzy thought the venison was over-powered by the rest of the flavours on the dish and thought the fish and chips was nice but average. It’s a shame really as the hotel is great and the food was good, but I think we had much higher expectations given the standards at the previous hotels we’d visited and the fact that An Lochan has received several awards and acknowledgements. The desserts were both really tasty again though. After finishing those, we retired to the Shinty Bar again for a “wee dram” before bedtime.
Saturday
For our final breakfast in Scotland, Suzy had fruit and yoghurt again, followed by smoked salmon scrambled eggs on toast and I had cereal and kedgeree. Then we made our way back to Dunoon to catch the ferry across to Gourock so that we could make our way back to our last destination, this time across the border in England...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
Thursday
Inverawe Smokehouse
After leaving Port Appin, we stopped off at Inverawe Smokery, where we took ourselves around their small but very informative tour and then bought some smoked salmon pâté and smoked Brie (which our subsequent hotels kindly stored in their fridges for us) from their shop before continuing our journey to Loch Fyne Oyster Bar in Cairndow for lunch.
Having thoroughly enjoyed a few meals at Loch Fyne in Sheffield, we couldn’t resist calling at the original oyster bar. (For what it’s worth, I’ve read quite a few bad reviews of various Loch Fyne restaurants but we’ve always found them to be excellent...)
Lunch Menu
Starter
Suzy: Oyster on ice with Chilli and Coriander Dressing and an Oyster with Garlic Breadcrumbs
Tony: Oyster on ice with Chilli and Coriander Dressing and an Oyster on ice with Shallot Vinegar and Tabasco
Main Course
Suzy: Whole Lemon Sole in Parsley Butter
Tony: Bouillabaisse with Aioli and Crusty Bread
Dessert
No room! It was only lunch time after all!
The first time we had oysters at Loch Fyne, we thought they were a bit salty and gritty. All the oysters we’d eaten while in Scotland had been sweet, succulent and really tasty, and Loch Fyne Oysters were no exception. If you’ve tried oysters and didn’t like them, I’d definitely recommend trying them again if you ever visit Scotland. Once again, the main courses didn’t disappoint either. Suzy’s lemon sole was huge and really tasty (so she tells me) and my bouillabaisse was full of various types of seafood and was absolutely delicious!
After lunch, we got back in the car and drove alongside Loch Fyne on the A815, A886 and B8000, and made a quick stop to stretch our legs at Otter Ferry before reaching our final hotel destination in Scotland...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
29 September 2009
Tuesday
After lunch, we drove through some really heavy rain to The Pierhouse Hotel & Seafood Restaurant in Port Appin where we were greeted with “You must be Mr and Mrs Ruscoe!” and the news that we’d been upgraded to a better room because we were on our honeymoon!
The view from our window at The Pierhouse Hotel
After dropping off our bags in the room, we both had a quiet pint of local beer in the residents-only lounge and were pleasantly surprised with a card from the staff congratulating us on our marriage. We then had a chat with the friendly owner, Nick, before getting ready for dinner.
When we went back downstairs, we were given a complimentary glass of champagne and led to the best table in the house, which had been sprinkled with heart-shaped confetti!
The food here was fantastic, using really good locally supplied ingredients which were perfectly prepared.
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Cajun Chicken & Crab Fritter with Garlic Mayonnaise Dip
Tony: West Coast Scallops – Seared Plump Local Scallops served with a Caponata of Aubergine, Pine Nuts & Pesto
Main Course
Both: Pierhouse Platter – Outstanding Seafood Caught from Lismore, Loch Etive, Loch Linnhe, Mull & Inverawe. Langoustines, Scallop, Oyster, Mussels, Fresh & Smoked Salmon, Rollmop and Fresh Bread.
Dessert
Suzy: [Sorry, can’t remember!]
Tony: Homemade Sorbets – Rosewater, Strawberry and Guava
After dinner, we retreated to the residents’ lounge for a coffee and a Scotch. Since I’m still learning about which whiskies I prefer, Nick recommended one for me based on some others I like, so I now know that I also like Macallan but unfortunately can’t remember which one I had!
Wednesday
For breakfast, we both had porridge made with Scottish oats and then Suzy had poached eggs while I had kippers before catching the small ferry to the Isle of Lismore.
Lismore is a small island with very few signs. After walking down the road for a little while, we gave up trying to find the café and followed a sign to Port Ramsay. After reaching the end of the road there, we turned around and made our way back to the ferry, where we then saw the signs for hiring bikes! (If you ever visit Lismore, I would recommend trying to book some bikes to hire in advance unless you’re seasoned ramblers who don’t mind walking without knowing where you’re going!)
Castle Stalker from Castle Stalker View
For lunch we went to Castle Stalker View to get a closer look at Castle Stalker. Then we visited Oban Distillery and had a taste of some cask-strength Scotch whisky during the tour before buying a bottle of the normal stuff to bring home. To give the alcohol a chance to work through my system, we took a look around Oban and McCaig’s Tower before heading back to the hotel.
The Oban Distillery
Although we were within walking distance of a couple more hotels and restaurants, we decided to eat at The Pierhouse again since we’d already spotted a few more things on the menu that we wanted to try.
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Smoked Halibut and Swordfish with Caper Berries and Salad
Tony: Pierhouse Oysters – Chilled and served with Spicy Chorizo, Raspberry & Shallot Vinaigrette
Main Course
Suzy: Soy, Sesame, Garlic & Chilli Stir Fried Tiger Prawns served with Rice Noodles
Tony: Seaweed, Lemon & Pepper Crusted Fillet of Cod served with Sugar Snap Peas
Dessert
Shared: Whisky Ice-Cream followed by a Selection of Cheeses
Thursday
For breakfast, we both had cereal followed by a full Scottish breakfast, then left the friendly staff at the wonderful Pierhouse and jumped in the car to drive to our next destination...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
Monday
Since it was pretty much on our way to our destination, we stopped off in Edinburgh for a few hours to grab a sandwich and have a look around Edinburgh Castle.
Suzy and Tony at Edinburgh Castle
Then we battled with the city centre one-way system, with most of the roads still closed from the Edinburgh Festival and tram works, before finally getting out of Edinburgh, ditching the sat-nav, and taking a more relaxed scenic drive through the woodlands of The Trossachs heading for Balquhidder.
After driving for six miles down a single track road heading for nowhere, we eventually arrived at Monachyle Mhor Hotel and were shown to our exquisite room, complete with spa bath, with just enough time to relax for a moment before getting ready for dinner in their restaurant.
Canapés at Monachyle Mhor
Chef Tom Lewis – who you may have seen in the Great British Menu series shown on BBC2 in 2006 – produces some really special food. Here’s what we had:
Dinner Menu
Canapés
Both: Mackerel on toast, tomato and basil gaspacho and breaded balls of haggis
[Sorry, these weren’t on the printed menu we brought away, so those are my lame descriptions which don’t really do them justice!]
Amuse Bouche
Both: A Ballotine of Truffled Confit Chicken with Red Wine Shallots
Starter
Suzy: Hand Dived Orkney Scallops with Brown Crab Risotto, Buttered Spinach and a Shellfish Velouté
Tony: Perthshire Lamb Fillet and Ratatouille Tart, Aubergine Purée, Fine Beans with Tomato and Olive Emulsion
Soup
Both: A Demitasse of Broccoli Soup with a Crispy Goat’s Cheese Topping
Main Course
Suzy: Highland Beef Fillet and Cheek with Sautéed Spinach, Celeriac Purée, Ginger Carrots and Tarragon Jus
Tony: Scrabster Halibut Bourguignon Roasted Shallot and Garlic Purée, Samphire, Celery and Broad Beans
Homemade Puddings
Suzy: Double Roasted Peach Cobbler with Pecan Biscotti and Spiced Peach Sorbet
Tony: Dark Chocolate and Tonka Bean Pavé with Salpicon of Pineapple, Glengoyne Whisky Ice Cream
The conservatory restaurant at the front of the building offers some relaxing views of The Trossachs looking out over Loch Voil. Our table was in one of the alcoves, so felt even more special and romantic. The good service and excellent food here got our honeymoon off to a great start. It was definitely worth that six-mile drive into the middle of nowhere!
Monachyle Mhor Hotel
Tuesday
Despite being pretty full from the previous night’s meal, we still managed to enjoy the wonderful breakfast. Suzy had yoghurt and fruit compote followed by scrambled egg with smoked salmon and I had homemade muesli followed by smoked haddock with poached egg.
After a mooch about their garden and shop, we had a quick chat with Tom, the owner, before continuing our drive through The Trossachs, stopping at several viewpoints to take some photos along the way before having lunch at The Bluebell Café.
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
As you would probably expect, we went on honeymoon after we got married.
We decided on Scotland since we’d never been before and had heard great things about the food there, particularly the seafood, which we both love to eat. I guess it’s also the type of place where you wouldn’t usually want to spend a lot of money to live in luxury for the week, so it seemed like a good time to treat ourselves to something we might not get chance to do again.
Since it was one of the few things I had to organise for the wedding, I decided to put my feet up and delegate the responsibility to a company called McKinlay Kidd who specialise in planning short breaks in Scotland.
Given a brief of “a romantic break / seafood trail combination” McKinlay Kidd sent me a free, tailor-made proposal which described all the hotels, restaurants and routes we’d be taking. The proposal sounded ideal, so I booked it after doing a bit of research to find out which hotels we’d actually be staying at. (The proposal doesn’t actually name the hotels, presumably to try and discourage people from booking directly with the hotels after receiving the proposal, but it didn’t take much effort to work it out.)
McKinlay Kidd say they include a £7 per person per night service charge in their fees which they guarantee to refund if you believe that arranging your holiday through McKinlay Kidd hasn’t met your expectations. I found that booking through them was only around £15-20 more expensive in total than it would have been had I booked with the hotels directly, so I’d definitely recommend booking through McKinlay Kidd if you’re planning a trip around Scotland to save yourself all the extra hassle of dealing with several different companies.
A week or two before the honeymoon, they sent me a pack containing a touring map of Scotland, some brochures, directions and our hotel accommodation vouchers, so we were all set for Scotland!
Since I’ve been trying to write this post for the past three weeks, I’ve decided to break it up into more manageable chunks. As each one becomes available, I’ll also link to it here:
And if you’d rather just look at the photos, they’re available in my Honeymoon set on Flickr.
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
29 May 2008
For Suzy’s birthday last Friday, we went to Loch Fyne in Sheffield. I’d passed the restaurant a few weeks ago and liked the idea of having a good seafood restaurant in Sheffield but was worried they’d not know what they were doing. Little did I know – until visiting their website to get their number for booking a table – that Loch Fyne has 40 restaurants all over the country and they’re experts in oysters, shellfish and seafood!
The Sheffield restaurant only opened on 7th April this year but it’s already getting lots of good reviews. Luckily for us, we managed to catch the end of their Seafood Festival which had been going on all week to celebrate their 10th anniversary. This meant we got to enjoy a spectacular seafood platter from their specials board which included:
- 1 Whole Lobster
- 1 Whole Crab
- 6 Oysters
- 4 Langoustines
- 4 Crevettes
- 4 Queen Scallops
- 6 King Prawns
- 1 Razor Clam
- Squid Legs
- ...and a large bowl of hot cockles and mussels
Their standard menu offers a similar platter but you have to choose between either crab or lobster. (The kitchen actually forgot to include our scallops. I just assumed they’d none left, since everything is dependent on availability, but when I mentioned this to the duty manager during a chat after the meal, he sounded surprised and immediately brought us four to try.)
We washed all that down with a bottle of Pinot Blanc and followed it with a selection of cheeses with oatcakes, a crème brûlée to share and a coffee. The bill came to exactly £100, which isn’t super cheap but is more than reasonable and definitely worth it.
The staff at Loch Fyne are well trained, attentive and extremely polite, the quality of shellfish is excellent and the ambiance of the place is really relaxing. It’s quite easy to forget you’re still on Sheffield’s Glossop Road in what used to be a poorly lit kitsch Irish cocktail bar called Hanrahans (and then Casa, then Hanrahans again and then some American bar and grill).
They open for breakfast at 09:00 (I assume they serve more than just kippers) and their website says they do a two-course set lunch for £11 from 12:00 until 19:00 Monday to Saturday. Sunday lunch is £12 for two courses or £15 for three courses, although the site also says that’s not available at all restaurants, so check with them before visiting.
And there’s not much else I can say about the place except that if you like shellfish, get to Loch Fyne!
Labels: food, personal, restaurants
06 February 2008
The other weekend, I took Suzy to The Old Vicarage in Ridgeway Village as a treat to celebrate that we’d managed to put up with each other for seven years. The restaurant had come highly recommended by a few people, although each one had warned me about it being expensive but absolutely worth it for a special occasion. So with my credit card firmly in my hand, I booked a table...
We arrived at 18:20, about twenty-five minutes earlier than expected as our taxi was ten minutes early and I’d completely forgotten that we only live about five minutes away from the place anyway. This didn’t seem to bother TV-chef and Michelin-starred owner of the restaurant, Tessa Bramley, who met us at the door with a warm welcome and took our coats before taking us through to one of the lounges where we could read the menu while enjoying a glass of champagne.
Just as we were choosing what to eat, some canapés arrived. We had onion chutney samosas, mini burgers, mini cottage pies made with deer, olives and cheese straws, all of which were fabulous and prepared our appetites for what was to come. After choosing our starters and main courses, Tessa came and sat with us to help us decide which wine we would like to go with our meal. Even with our terribly inexperienced wine-talk, she managed to narrow down their hundreds of wines to just a few by asking what sort of wines we did and didn’t like. Little did she know I’ll drink anything and everything and have probably never had a bottle of red wine over ten quid! A few minutes later, a waiter came with the bottle for us to check before decanting it. It looked fine to me – the bottle had some guy’s signature on it and it wasn’t even in a plastic bottle...
Shortly after being seated at our table, our napkins were placed across our laps and our wine was poured. (By the way, we didn’t even have to carry our champagne to the table. Instead, one of the waitresses carried them on a silver tray for us and remembered whose was whose, if you can imagine that!)
The next choice we had to make was which bread we wanted. It wasn’t just a case of “white or brown” either; we could choose from white, wholemeal, walnut, onion (I think) or black pudding. Suzy was boring and went for wholemeal but I obviously had to try black pudding bread, which was amazing and would be absolutely perfect for breakfast sandwiches.
For our surprise appetiser course, we got a small fillet of sea bream in a Thai broth (or “Thai bride” as I heard one of the waitresses accidentally call it). As with everything so far, this was lovely, as were the starters. I’d chosen the scallops, which were the biggest, fattest, juiciest ones I’ve ever had, cooked perfectly and served with a cauliflower cream, and Suzy had goose liver and smoked goose liver in a kind of long slice of terrine.
For main course, I’d ordered beef and calves liver, which came served with a small, light, crispy-yet-melt-in-the-mouth Yorkshire pudding, mashed potato, vegetables and a horseradish foam. Suzy had fillet of deer with parsnip chips and mashed potato. These were both perfect examples of fairly simple food cooked excellently and presented in an exquisite manner.
After a short break to let our food go down, we then ordered a lemon tart and a selection of cheese and biscuits to share, followed by coffee and a selection of chocolates and petits fours to finish off the meal perfectly.
The Old Vicarage is perfect for special occasions or whenever you just want to splash out a couple of hundred hard-earned British pounds sterling of the realm on truly excellent food, with really good wine and special surroundings. Even though the place is very posh, you feel right at home, with friendly chatty staff that are really approachable so you don’t feel at all uncomfortable. They also usually offer a seven course tasting menu but had unfortunately taken it off the menu on the night we went as they were short staffed, so we’ll definitely be going back to try that one day.
Now get saving and get your table booked!
Labels: food, personal, restaurants
05 December 2007
Last Friday night, we went with The Rileys to Fahrenheit Restaurant in Wath-upon-Dearne. Chris and Dawn had been a couple of times before and had been wanting me and Suzy to try it for a while. Since little Baby Riley will be popping out in the new year, we decided to book a table for the four (and a half) of us before they get lost underneath a pile of nappies and toys! Having already heard and read what Chris thought of Fahrenheit back in September, I had quite high expectations. And I’m pleased to say that I wasn’t disappointed...
After we’d been shown to our table and our orders had been taken, our waiting staff brought us our complimentary rollmop pickled herring fillet appetisers, which was a nice touch. I don’t remember ever trying this before but it was very tasty and just enough for one mouthful. Shortly after finishing these, our starters arrived. I had the Thai Style Crab with Fine Noodles, Lemongrass, Ginger & Spicy Chilli Dressing (which was lovely and fresh tasting), Suzy had the Marbled Duck & Pork Terrine with Sage Infused, Orange & Hazelnut Dressing (the little bit I got to taste was really good) and The Rileys had Charantais Melon with Pear, Rocket and Parmesan Salad (Parmesan cheese apparently goes very well with melon but I didn’t get the chance to try it for myself). I don’t usually eat bread with my meals but the bread they served was really soft and fresh, so I gladly made an exception.
Something you don’t see much of in restaurants these days is an intermediate course. But with Fahrenheit being the perfect place it is, we had a choice of two! Dawn had the Lentil Soup and the rest of us chose the Passion Fruit Sorbet. Very pleasant.
After cleansing our palates, we tucked into our main courses. The Rileys had Braised Lamb Shank with Spring Onion Mash, Rosemary & Redcurrant Sauce (I tried a bit of Dawn’s and it was melt-in-the-mouth-good), Suzy had the Grilled 7oz Sirloin Steak with Oyster Mushroom, Red Pepper Infused Hollandaise, Balsamic Reduction (cooked exactly as she wanted and enough to satiate her appetite, despite thinking the steak wasn’t very big when she first saw it) and I had the Pave of Salmon with Curried Mussels & Deep Fried Leeks. All came served with a selection of mixed vegetables. It’s unusual for me to order salmon in a restaurant – not because I don’t like salmon, I just usually find something else I prefer – but the waitress quite literally sold it to me when she said the curried mussels were Thai-style rather than Indian-style. The salmon was cooked to perfection with nice crispy skin and served on three large mussels in a Thai green curry sauce with a scattering of deep fried thinly sliced leeks. Lovely!
As far as I’m concerned, everything about Fahrenheit is great. It’s in a brand new building which makes it look good from the outside, the decor is modern and elegant on the inside, the staff are smartly dressed and polite, the tables and chairs are comfortable and big enough to allow you to relax during your meal, the menu has just the right number of choices available, the food is well presented and excellently prepared, and the prices are quite reasonable.
Fahrenheit definitely gets the Tony Ruscoe seal of approval!
Labels: food, personal, restaurants
02 November 2007
Last month, Suzy and I spent 10 nights in Canada. I realise this post will probably be a bit long and boring for most people, but hopefully it will be of interest to anyone planning on going to Toronto, and will also help to remind us in years to come of what we actually did!
WARNING: Very long and potentially boring post coming up! If you’d prefer to look at pictures, you can just view my Toronto, Canada set on Flickr...
Day 1: Monday 8th October 2007
We checked in at Manchester Airport with Zoom Airlines, where we found all their staff to be smiling and unusually cheerful. By booking Premium Economy seats, we got more luggage allowance, more leg room, free alcoholic beverages, a choice of meals, free headphones and priority luggage. Not bad really for about £50-80 extra each way. After a quick stop in Glasgow to pick up some more passengers, we began our flight to Toronto Pearson International Airport.
For our in-flight meals, Suzy had chicken and vegetables and I had Shepherd’s pie, although it may have been Cottage Pie since I heard it called both and couldn’t tell whether it was beef or lamb. Both were served with melon and chocolate cake. Later, we got a ham and cheese sandwich for a snack. Not bad food really (although Suzy says her chicken was a bit grey). During the flight, we both watched Live Free or Die Hard and Shrek the Third which were good enough to keep us amused for a while. Suzy also watched some of Evan Almighty.
To get from the airport to the hotel once we’d landed and waited all of about two minutes for our priority luggage, we went with the TTC route, catching the 192 Airport Rocket bus to Kipling Subway station and then the subway for the rest of the way. When we surfaced from the subway, we got our first glimpse of Downtown Toronto and were quickly shown how polite and helpful the people of Toronto can be when a woman stopped her car in the middle of the road – despite the traffic lights being on green – to ask us if we were lost and needed directions! (I guess our luggage, maps and the ‘lost’ look on our faces gave us away as tourists.)
After finding the Metropolitan Hotel (booked via Expedia) and dumping everything in our room, we went for a quick wander around the area to get our bearings and then had a drink and bite to eat in the hotel bar.
Day 2: Tuesday 9th October 2007
Breakfast at Over Easy (56 Yonge Street) was good, although most things on the menu seem to come in large portions, mostly fried and served with home fries. After breakfast, we walked to the CN Tower (which we couldn’t really see due to the mist) and booked a table in the restaurant for Saturday night. We then walked up through Chinatown on our way to GreekTown on the Danforth. (Apparently I insisted on walking but once we realised how far it actually was, we eventually got the subway.)
GreekTown is an inconspicuous place; you’d never know that this is the largest Greek neighbourhood in North America. Some of the street signs are in Greek and there’s an occasional Greek restaurant, but apart from that it looks pretty normal. For lunch, we had really tasty authentic Greek gyros at Messini (445 Danforth Avenue) which each came served with a huge Greek salad.
After all the walking and eating, we headed back to the hotel for a power-nap and then went around the corner to Spring Rolls (40 Dundas Street West) for a Thai meal. The menu there has almost too much to choose from and everything we saw looked really good – and in keeping with what we had experienced so far, the portions were massive and really good!
Day 3: Wednesday 10th October 2007
After our McDonald’s breakfast in Atrium On Bay, we wandered down to see the old and new Toronto City Hall at Nathan Phillips Square where there was also a small farmers’ market. After taking a few photos and listening to Suzy read The Rough Guide to Toronto, we made our way back to Chinatown for lunch, going through Kensington Market on the way.
Since we were in Chinatown, we went for an authentic Chinese lunch at Bright Pearl Seafood Restaurant (346-348 Spadina Avenue) during Dim Sum Happy Hour. For anyone like us who’s never had Dim Sum served in the traditional way, the whole experience may seem a little strange.
The dishes are wheeled around on small trolleys by waitresses who sometimes sing what they’ve got (in Chinese) between stopping to offer you one. If you want whatever dish they’ve got, you simply take the plate (and not just one prawn, like I did) and let them mark it off on your sheet so that they know what you’ve had. We tried things like fried prawns, steamed beef balls, steamed pork in rice roll (I think) and steamed squid with curry sauce. Mmmm! If you’re ever in Toronto and like Chinese food, you must visit Bright Pearl. According to their website, Dim Sum Happy Hour is 09:00 to 11:30 and 13:30 to 16:00 (Monday to Friday) and you can get 15% off between 09:00 and 11:00 on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays.
I could’ve stayed there all afternoon and tried one of everything but Suzy wouldn’t let me because she wanted to take me on a Suzy Tour of the University of Toronto buildings. These all appeared to be well maintained, and the atmosphere around them felt pretty friendly and welcoming.
Again, after all the walking, we headed back to the hotel and I started to read my copy of the NOW magazine which I’d picked up earlier. While browsing the week’s live music listings, I read that Klaxons were playing in Toronto at The Opera House and that tickets were still available.
Having seen the extremely posh and impressive Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts – Toronto’s Opera House and home to the Canadian Opera Company – earlier that day, we went down to see if we could buy tickets on the door... only to find that we actually needed to be at The Opera House which is in a completely different class! (It’s basically like the Leadmill but in Toronto.) Anyway, we got a streetcar to near the venue and got some food from The Real Jerk (709 Queen Street East) where we had some really tasty homemade Caribbean cooking before the Klaxons gig. (I’ll be covering the gig in a later post...)
Day 4: Thursday 11th October 2007
For breakfast, we called in Subway across the road from our hotel for BLTs. Despite ordering two six inch BLTs on different bread, the shop assistant insisted on charging us for one foot long instead, explaining that it would be cheaper and that the customer is always right! After that, we got the subway uptown to Casa Loma.
Casa Loma is described as being “Canada’s Majestic Castle” when really it’s more like a mansion, or even just a big house, with one hundred rooms; old buildings and castles are something the Brits do much bigger and better than the Canadians! Casa Loma was a fascinating place with an intriguing history. More recently, it’s been used in various films, including Chicago, Cocktail, The Pacifier, The Tuxedo and X-Men. If you want to know more about it, I suggest you read the Wikipedia articles on Casa Loma and Sir Henry Pellat.
Since we hadn’t finished looking around by lunchtime, we had something to eat at Druxy’s in the basement of Casa Loma. I got the best roast beef deli sandwich on an onion roll, complete with a proper helping of beef and some Dijon mustard that was so hot it came down my nose, and Suzy had a roast chicken and guacamole sandwich. Eating places like these, where they’re inside the attraction, are usually overpriced and poor quality but this place was pretty reasonable considering the freshness and quality of the excellent sandwiches.
After we’d finished at Casa Loma, we headed back Downtown and checked out a few restaurants we’d read about.
In the evening, we went to Hard Rock Cafe (279 Yonge Street) for some cocktails at the bar before being shown to our table. Oddly, the barman advised me not to have a Joe’s Bloody Mary – “a headbangin’ combination of rich & spicy Bloody Mary mix, Absolut Citron vodka and Joe Perry’s (of Aerosmith) mango tango hot sauce” – as they’re often returned because it’s not what people are expecting. But after a pint of boring lager, I had a couple of these anyway and they were fantastic! Naturally, we ordered and ate too much, especially considering we were already nearly full after sharing the Jumbo Combo starter!
Day 5: Friday 12th October 2007
We woke up and realised that for the past few days we’d been eating lots and lots of meat and not much fruit or vegetables, so went to Richtree Market in the Eaton Centre for a fruit salad and cup of fresh mango juice before walking down to the see the buildings on the waterfront. We had contemplated getting the ferry across to the Toronto Islands but as it was cold and windy (and, frankly, my feet were still aching from all the walking around we’d been doing) we decided to give it a miss.
Instead, we went on a tour around the Steam Whistle Brewing brewery, located in an old building shaped like a horseshoe which used to be home to a steam locomotive repair facility. (The similarity between the name and location is apparently a coincidence, as the owners had already decided they wanted a steam whistle like in the Flintstones before they found the premises.)
On the tour, we learnt all about the company and what makes them different, and I got to sample quite a bit of their premium pilsner lager which is nice and crisp and apparently won’t give you much of a hangover because it only uses just four natural ingredients.
We left before I had time to test that theory and I finally got to sample a hot dog from one of the carts we’d walked past every day since we arrived.
At night, we’d booked a table at Fisherman’s Wharf (69 Richmond Street West) which had won the WHERE Toronto Most Memorable Meal Award 2007 for the Seafood category. Once we were at our table, we were a little worried about what sort of meal we were going to have as I could hear an American man on a nearby table saying how the meal he was eating was the worst meal he’d ever had in his entire life and that they should have gone to the steakhouse like he’d apparently said in the first place. As it turns out, he was probably sulking because his friends didn’t want to go to the steakhouse.
Our starters here were pretty average, but the seafood platter for two which we had for our main course was great... but only if you like to eat prawns, mussels, scallops, crab, oysters and a full lobster, otherwise you may as well go to a steakhouse instead.
After our meal, we went for a walk and saw loads of teenagers running around the city wearing different coloured fluorescent necklaces. After trying and failing to figure out what was going on, we eventually stopped some of the kids and asked them. It turns out they were playing a huge game of urban capture the flag.
Those crazy kids!
Day 6: Saturday 13th October 2007
On our way to the Royal Ontario Museum, we stopped at Tim Hortons for a sausage, egg and cheese (they put cheese on everything) breakfast bagel and a coffee. The museum’s housed in a pretty impressive building where they’ve literally fused modern architecture with the original church-like building. When we went, a few of the rooms were empty as they were re-jigging their exhibits but what we did see was pretty interesting, particularly all the First Peoples artefacts.
For lunch, we went to Sushi Train (750 Yonge Street), our first proper sushi restaurant where all the dishes go round on a conveyor belt. The plates are all colour-coded according to price, ranging from $2.00 to $5.50, so you just take what you want and the waitress adds up how much you owe by counting your empty plates. I could have stuffed my face with sushi all afternoon but didn’t want to spoil my appetite too much as we’d got a table booked at the top of the CN Tower for early evening.
You obviously can’t go to Toronto without visiting the CN Tower. Although many people say it’s expensive to eat at the 360 Restaurant, it’s actually pretty good value because you get to go up in the lift and check out the lookout and glass floor levels for free providing you purchase a main course, saving around $25 each. We managed to book a table for 17:15 which meant that we would get to watch the sunset at 19:45 and see Toronto in daylight and by night.
After doing 15 MPH in the lift up to the restaurant, the first thing you notice is how fast the restaurant turns. It takes 72 minutes to do a complete revolution but when you see the room moving it does feel like it’s moving pretty quickly. And when you get to your table, you then realise how high up 351 metres actually is. Our table was right next to the window, so we had a fantastic view and were able to take lots of pictures in between each mouthful. The food was tasty, it was well presented, the service was excellent and the location was amazing. Definitely recommended.
Day 7: Sunday 14th October 2007
For our last full day in Toronto, we had a McDonald’s breakfast somewhere on Yonge Street and then walked down to St Lawrence Market, dodging all the people who were running The Toronto Marathon on the way. After that, we walked to the The Distillery District, a national historic site which represents the “largest and best preserved collection of Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America” formerly known as The Gooderham and Worts Distillery. Today, it’s basically a load of expensive boutiques, studios and coffee shops which is occasionally used as a backdrop for films. All we bought was a couple of drinks and two massive slices of cake from Café Uno.
After walking back Downtown, we went shopping in the Eaton Centre. Thankfully, neither of us are serious shoppers, so it only took a couple of hours before we’d finished and were having a hot dog from the usual place for a mid-afternoon snack.
In the evening, we had a nice meal at the Pickle Barrel (312 Yonge Street) – once again, good food and massive portions – and then we had an early night in preparation for leaving early the following day to go to Niagara Falls.
Day 8: Monday 15th October 2007
We woke up early, packed our suitcases and went to Starbucks across the road from our hotel for breakfast. Shortly after that, we checked out and waited for Auntie Wendy and her husband Vic to pick us up in their massive people carrier. (Auntie Wendy was a school friend of my mum’s who emigrated to Canada when she was about 13 years old. They kept in touch for years via airmail and more recently moved to email and the occasional phone call.)
After two or three hours on the road, we arrived in Niagara Falls, parked up near the SkyLon Tower (in a dodgy car park for $5 rather than the official one for $10) and had a few sandwiches before walking down to see the falls.
Before we went, I didn’t realise that “Niagara Falls” is actually the name for the set of waterfalls which includes the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, American Falls and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls. (In fact, I only learnt that the falls were shared between America and Canada a few weeks before we went!) Nor did I really know how HUGE all the falls are. As you get nearer to the Horseshoe Falls, it suddenly feels like it’s raining, but then you realise that it’s just the spray! And it’s only when you stand right next to the top of the falls and can see the sheer volume of water throwing itself over the edge that you realise how amazing the waterfall actually is.
Of course, we went on the Journey Behind the Falls, where you “experience the awesome spectacle of one-fifth of the world’s fresh water crashing down 13 stories to the basin below” from both the side and behind the falls, and the Maid of the Mist, which takes you up close to all the falls on a boat ride. Visiting the falls in October when it was almost out of season meant we got a good, clear view all along the wall overlooking the falls and didn’t have to queue to do anything.
Also at Niagara Falls is a stretch of buildings which contains amusement arcades, souvenir shops, waxworks, museums and other attractions; it’s a bit like Blackpool only smaller and possibly cleaner. After seeing all this, Vic and Wendy took us back to their house in the quiet community called Port Elgin, called at a Swiss Chalet for some tea (or supper) on the way.
Day 9: Tuesday 16th October 2007
After a long and lazy lie in, we finally woke up and had breakfast, which was when I realised that bagels aren’t so bad after all (especially cinnamon and raisin ones toasted with butter) and Suzy realised that Canadians buy milk in bags rather than bottles! Imagine that! After getting over the shock, Vic and Wendy took us on a tour around Downtown Port Elgin (which is actually just a main road through the village) and to see the beach and their boat which they’d just pulled out of the water for the winter.
After soup and sandwiches for lunch, we then went on an educational trip to the visitor centre at Bruce Power Nuclear Generating Station where Vic used to work. Learning all about nuclear fuel and how a CANDU reactor generates electricity may sound like a dull thing to do on your holiday, but it was actually really interesting – and we got to see some Wild Turkeys walking down the road on the way there!
In the evening, Auntie Wendy made us a lovely steak pie for tea and then we just watched TV and relaxed.
Day 10: Wednesday 17th October 2007
After more bagels for breakfast, we took a ride out to the small community of St Jacobs, home to many Mennonites. On the way, we saw one of the few roundabouts in Canada and stopped at Picard Peanuts Ltd, where we saw the most varieties of nut-based products we’ve ever seen. You get to try before you buy, so after sampling almost every type of nut on display, I bought some Wasabi Peanuts and Blazin’ Hot Peanuts... and they are both MEGA HOT!
St Jacobs itself has quite a few tiny shops and museums. We went to The Maple Syrup Museum, Home Hardware Exhibit, Electricity Exhibit and Telling The Mennonite Story at the Visitor Centre, where we went on a “multi-media journey” to learn more about the Mennonites and their beliefs.
Later that afternoon, we went to At The Crossroads restaurant for an all-you-can-eat-buffet. There was an excellent variety of home-style cooking hot meals, salads and homemade desserts, and it was excellent value for money. Needless to say, I definitely got my money’s worth...
Day 11: Thursday 18th October 2007
In the morning, Vic kindly cooked us all bacon, egg and home fries for breakfast before we left Port Elgin and made our way to Wendy’s sister’s, who lives near Toronto airport. On the way, we stopped for a coffee and cookie at Starbucks and looked around the huge Chapters bookstore, Wal-Mart and Fortinos, where we bought a roast chicken and Caesar salad for dinner.
After dinner, we got dropped off at the airport, checked in and got on our flight home. We decided not to watch Mr. Bean’s Holiday or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban but did watch Wild Hogs which was pretty funny in the early hours of the morning.
For tea / supper / breakfast (what do you call that meal they give you on an overnight flight?) we had beef ‘something’ with vegetables and rice, served with a strange salad that wouldn’t have been out of place on a kebab and a weird chocolate brownie which didn’t seem to be cooked. I thought it was all pretty good. Suzy wasn’t convinced. Later on, we got a cheese and red onion sandwich for a mid-night snack (that hyphen’s there because it’s a snack you have in the middle of the night and not necessarily at midnight) and managed to get about 30 seconds of sleep before arriving back in England.
Any questions? Is there anything I’ve not covered?
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
25 September 2007
Over weekend, we went to “Leicestershire’s best kept secret” for a meal to celebrate Suzy’s brother’s 21st birthday. According to the menu, The Staff of Life Inn has been awarded the title of Best Country Pub of the Year 2007 and has also featured in the Good Pub Guide for the past few years, so we obviously had high expectations...
Originally coming from near Bury in Lancashire, I love black pudding – the best are from Bury Market – and if a restaurant has it on the menu, usually as a starter, I have to order it. However, I also love scallops and sometimes have to choose between the two. So, imagine my joy to find a starter which included both of these; king scallops served on tarragon black pudding with plum and black bean sauce. (I know... putting fruit and meat together is completely wrong, but I’m warming to the idea when it’s in small quantities.) The presentation was impressive and the different tastes and textures went really well together. The scallops were a little bit overcooked for my liking and certainly not as big as the ones I cooked the other week, but overall everything was really tasty.
For main course, I selected the fillet of John Dory from the specials board, served with baby capers, spinach, Italian plum tomatoes and fresh anchovies. We also ordered a bacon and cheese potato gratin side dish. Again, presentation was good and the size of the perfectly cooked John Dory fillet certainly made up for the smaller-than-expected-slightly-overcooked scallops. All washed down with a South African Chenin Blanc from Orange St, I wasn’t really sure whether I would be able to manage a dessert.
After a bit of a breather, I was just about able to manage an individual chocolate orange cheesecake served with burnt orange sauce and a fancy twirly biscuit thing, hand crafted by Linda O’Neill, joint owner of The Staff of Life Inn and apparently a former member of the Irish panel of chefs. Mmmm!
I can’t really comment on value for money because Suzy’s parents treated us, but I seem to remember everything being quite reasonable considering the quality.
Lovely surroundings. Classy interior. Outstanding food. Excellent service.
Highly recommended!
Labels: food, personal, restaurants
04 September 2007
As you may remember, I mentioned last month that I got a SteakStones set for my birthday. We used it a couple of weeks ago but I’ve been a little lazy with my blog posting lately. Anyway, better late than never, here are some pictures to get your taste buds going.
We decided to make the most of the stone and use it to cook both our starter and main course. In hindsight, this isn’t really recommended as you have to clean your stone in between and then reheat it in the oven really. But for a one off, the extra hassle was definitely worth it!
King Scallops in Chilli, Coriander and Lime
For starter, I placed six trimmed king scallops in a bowl containing one chopped red chilli, a bunch of freshly chopped coriander and the juice of one lime, and put them in the fridge for about an hour. After transferring the stone to the table and placing the scallops on the stone, I had to slice them in half so that they could cook evenly as they were quite deep ones. Once cooked, I served them on a bed of pak choi which I’d roughly chopped and fried in butter for a few seconds.
Sirloin Steak with Mushrooms and Noodles
For main course, I pretty much followed the basic recipe for Oriental Sirloin Steak with Noodles from the SteakStones website. I added a sliced chilli and a couple of sliced spring onions to some rice stick noodles which I’d drizzled with a bit of soy sauce and toasted sesame oil. We’d got one of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference exotic mushroom selections containing Yellow Oyster, Hon Shimeji and Shiitake varities and fried those in a little butter and olive oil for a minute or two. For dipping sauces, I prepared a bit of Thai sweet chilli sauce, wasabi and soy sauce. Finally, we cooked two Taste the Difference trimmed sirloin steaks on the stone.
After all that, I would say that SteakStones are an excellent way to cook the perfect steak. I like my steaks rare, so it’s ideal because there’s virtually no way to over cook it. If you prefer your steaks well done, you’d probably need to slice your steak and cook each piece individually though.
The only problem was that we only had one stone, so it meant we had to share and practically eat each course in two parts. Of course, that’ll soon be resolved when we buy another one...
Labels: food, personal
01 August 2007
For my birthday last week, Suzy bought me a SteakStones set which consists of a bamboo tray, a rectangular plate, three tiny glass bowls and a piece of lava stone. You put the lava stone in the oven for about 20 minutes before transferring it to the tray, where you then cook your steak or fish directly on it. I’ve not had chance to use it yet, but will try to post some pictures when I do.
As part of my extended birthday celebrations, I then went to watch the Arctic Monkeys gig at Lancashire County Cricket Club on Sunday. (That’s “Old Trafford” for normal folk like me who don’t know its proper name!) Fortunately for us, my mate Caz’s brother had decided he didn’t want to go, so we bought the two spare tickets last month.
Until two days before the gig, I had no idea that the event started and 14:00 and was presently surprised to find out that not only were the Sheffield Monkeys being supported by Amy Winehouse (who I’m not really into) but they were also being joined by The Parrots (who are a Japanese Beatles tribute band), The Coral and Supergrass.
Since we didn’t get a chance to go to Glastonbury this year due to “work commitments” this mini-festival almost made up for it; there’s nothing quite like long queues for over-priced food and drink and even longer queues for truly awful temporary toilets! Needless to say, we saw a few blokes taking leaks into the cardboard beer cups (one even dropped his pants to give us the pleasure of seeing his bare arse whilst doing so) and I’m pretty sure we saw several of those piss-filled cups being launched over the crowd.
Anyway – leaving the piss to one side – the gig was truly awesome! The Parrots played non-stop Beatles hits earlier in the afternoon to get the crowd warmed up. Amy Winehouse came on stage and got the crowd singing along to some of her more popular tunes like Rehab and The Zutons’ Valerie. (Much to my disappointment, she didn’t seem that wasted.) Although we couldn’t really see them as we were having a hot dog at the side of the grounds, The Coral still sounded great and belted out some cool tunes including their classic hit In The Morning. Supergrass played some of their classics too – including Strange Ones, Richard III, Moving, Grace, Caught By The Fuzz and Pumping On Your Stereo – but they also tried to push some of their newer stuff which sounded a bit dull by comparison. That wasn’t helped by the fact that their levels were a bit messed up which meant you could hardly hear the vocals, which was a shame, but they were still great to watch.
After watching clips from Arctic Monkeys music videos, showing various places in and around Sheffield, they finally came onto their understated stage setup. What they lacked in fancy stage sets and props, they certainly made up for with their music when they kicked things off with Fluorescent Adolescent, I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor and Brianstorm, Dancing Shoes, From The Ritz To The Rubble and Fake Tales Of San Francisco. Then they appeared to quite literally blow a fuse, causing all amps, lights and the big screens to die. After a couple of attempts were made to fix things, they were soon running on all cylinders again.
As expected, we only heard the odd bit of banter from the usually quiet front-man; we were a ‘lairy bunch’ according to Alex Turner, even lairier than previous night’s crowd apparently. It’s a shame a couple of people right next to us were a little too lairy and started a fight, but they soon calmed down after punching each other’s lights out, allowing us to carry on watching the gig without the fear of getting caught up in the middle of it.
As the darkness closed in, they continued to play tune after tune after tune from both of their brilliant albums. Favourites of mine included You Probably Couldn’t See For The Lights But You Were Staring Straight At Me, Teddy Picker, Mardy Bum, Do Me A Favour, The View From The Afternoon and When The Sun Goes Down.
Anticipating that 50,000 people all trying to flag down taxis wouldn’t be very much fun, we finally decided to make our way to the exit as they played their encore, just managing to catch the final track off their latest album, the mellow 505, before leaving the grounds.
Verdict? Excellent!
You can view the rest of our photos on Flickr.
Labels: food, music, personal
01 April 2007
It seems like everyone’s been to Prague, so Suzy and I felt it was about time we went too. Having booked four nights there a couple of months ago, here’s what we got up to after we arrived there on Monday. (And if you’d rather just look at some pictures instead of reading all this, you can view my Prague set on Flickr... although there are quite a lot of photos to get through!)
Monday
We flew with Thomsonfly from Robin Hood Airport for about £69 return each (including taxes and charges). We got extra leg room and the plane had leather seats. Other than that, the flight was the usual boring episode.
Having reached our destination, we bought two transfer tickets that allowed us to use both the bus and the Metro to reach the centre of Prague. One of the reasons we chose to visit Prague at this time of year was to visit the Easter markets in the Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square which were taking place between 24th March and 15th April this year. So, after checking in at our hotel – Tulip Inn (Prague Terminus) – we walked to the Old Town Square market and had a pork baguette from one of the stalls before getting our bearings.
In the evening, we headed over to a restaurant that had been recommended by someone at work. We’d found it earlier in the day and decided to go back and eat there at night. By mistake, we ended up at a completely different restaurant, and the penny only dropped when I realised that all the food on the menu seemed to be French or Asian inspired rather than typically Czech... meaning we were in a nearby restaurant called Nostress which we’d also seen earlier in the day.
Described as being French Asian Fusion, most of the food on the menu was more Asian than French. For starters, I had Dim-Sum (a selection of Chinese steamed dumplings) and Suzy had Piquant Wonton Soup with Chicken Dumplings. For main course, I had Beef Peanut Curry with Jasmine Rice (since they had no Chinese noodles) and Suzy had Grilled Halibut Fillet with a Saffron Sauce and Roasted Vegetables. All dishes were excellently presented and cooked to perfection. Most Asian restaurants seem to be lacking good deserts, but I guess being a French Asian Fusion restaurant means you can serve whatever deserts you like, so Suzy had a Warm Pear Croustillant with a Chocolate Sauce and I had my trusty favourite Crème brûlée.
Three courses for two, including a bottle of wine and a bottle of still water cost 2115 Kc (about £50) – not so cheap for Prague but very reasonable by UK prices!
Tuesday
To get a better overview of Prague, we decided to take the 3½ hour Grand Walk (The Best of Prague) with Prague Walks which took us through the Jewish Quarter, Old Town, New Town, Wenceslas Square, Charles Bridge and up to Prague Castle. One of the advantages of going on a guided walk is that you’re shown things you probably would’ve missed otherwise and told what they are, like the hanging statue you can see here.
For lunch we tried to find a typical Czech meal and ended up at Hotel Cerný Slon. Mine consisted of pork knee, pork shoulder, pork sausage and bacon (and probably some more pork) with a selection of dumplings and cabbage. Suzy had roast duck with a similar selection of dumplings and cabbage.
In the afternoon, we went back to the Easter markets in the Old Town Square and after the meat overload at lunchtime, we decided to settle for pizza and pasta at a small Italian restaurant called La Scala.
Wednesday
In the morning, we visited Wenceslas Square again (managing to avoid Debenhams and Marks & Spencer) and went up the tower of the Prague Astronomical Clock and saw some amazing views.
Afterwards, we visited the Sex Machines Museum and saw some amazing... erm... mechanical erotic appliances dating back to the 1500s and watched a 1920s porno! (Some of the things in that museum are quite simply wrong and should not exist – but you absolutely have to go and see them if you ever visit Prague!)
Not quite in the mood for a huge bratwurst sausage from the market, we visited a small restaurant (which I think was called Bella Vita) where I got to sample 1kg of marinated pork ribs and Suzy tried a Prague cheese platter.
In the evening, we finally managed to eat at the restaurant we were meant to visit on Monday! Kolkovna describes itself as being “based on a combination of the tradition and uniqueness of the Pilsner Urquell brand and Czech cuisine fused with modern gastronomy.” The starters of Beef Tartar Steak and Beef Broth were both fair. Having had such a large Czech lunch, I wasn’t really in the mood for another large, meat-heavy Czech meal, so for main course I ordered the Rabbit in Garlic and Onion (roasted rabbit legs with spinach and roast potatoes with bacon) which was unfortunately accompanied by “garlic with spinach” rather than “spinach with garlic” and was far too salty, as was Suzy’s Moravian Sparrow (pieces of roast pork with garlic and onion, bread and bacon dumplings, white and red cabbage). The waiter wasn’t the most helpful and the service overall wasn’t great either. Sadly, both the food and service here was disappointing but 1222 Kc (about £30) for two courses, a bottle of wine and a beer seemed like a reasonable price to have paid.
Thursday
On our last full day in Prague, I spent the morning on another guided tour – this time with Suzy Tours (aided by her Lonely Planet guidebook) – which took us back up to see Charles Bridge again. For lunch, walked back to the Old Town Square and had a bratwurst in a baguette and a chicken panini from the Easter market before doing a bit of souvenir shopping.
Sick of meat, dumplings and cabbage (despite having only eaten Czech food for two or three meals) we luckily found a fantastic Thai, Burmese and Indian restaurant called Orange Moon for our last evening meal in Prague. They did a great Tom Yam Kung soup and Thai Fish Cakes for starters and equally delicious Thai-Green-Curry-like and Pad-Thai-like main courses (although I can’t remember exactly what they were).
Friday
After checking out of the hotel, we caught the Metro back to Zlicín and visited the Metropole shopping centre (and almost went to Ikea but it was a bit too far away) before making our way to the airport for our return flight home.
Despite this post being a little on the long side (please accept my apologies) we didn’t feel like we actually did that much whilst we were in Prague, meaning we not only had a brilliant, well-deserved break but also that we can definitely go back again in a few years and see some different sights. Having said that, four nights is probably too much for a short break unless you’re really going to cram in the sightseeing, but I’d definitely recommend visiting Prague if you get the chance!
Labels: food, personal, photos, restaurants, travel
