Our first proper festival experience had started optimistically - we'd enjoyed creating a very small oasis of civilised camping (where we sipped wine from my plastic wine glasses and ate strawberries and Kathleen's delicious homemade caramel shortbread), in a field full of mentalist teenagers. However after a very trying night (our tent being moved, our tent being ransacked, our tent being trampled on all night whilst we were in it, our tent being rained on, our tent witnessing drug dealers having fights), things seemed bleak.
We were damp, weary and mildly depressed, as we walked through the drizzle trying to find a cup of tea. The previous evening we'd seen an impressive array of local food stalls, but sadly the majority were still shut. We walked to the far end of the field, following a tantalising aroma of buttery, bacony, syrupy goodness. Suddenly it seemed things were going to improve. Salvation had come to us in Crumpet form!
'Strumpets with Crumpets' is an enterprise devised by the three females who serve the crumpets from their boudoir-styled trailer, whilst in their 'strumpet' outfits. It wasn't the outfits that made crumpets sexy for me (corsets/basques surely can't make for good food preparation, can they?), but the locally-sourced, organic and fair trade ingredients, resulted in crumpets with joy-inducing combinations of toppings.
The menu ranges from the simple (butter), to the traditional (marmite, honey, jam, peanut butter, chocolate spread), and the sublime (frappe egg, pancetta and cheddar, or eggy crumpet, pancetta and maple syrup). We couldn't resist opting for the latter, and enjoyed cups of tea and Bob Marley whilst we waited.It was well worth the wait. We each received a molten hot 'eggy' crumpet (perfect for filling the holes in the crumpet), topped with incredible fried pancetta and maple syrup! This was by far the best crumpet based food i'd ever eaten. These hot, square-shaped crumpets were a million miles away from the usual bland, dry, tough crumpets my toaster usually produced. It was heavenly - the ultimate breakfast, comfort-food. Nothing could have lifted my spirits more.
Overall:Food quality: Absolutely wonderful. The crumpet was cooked perfectly, and the combination of salty pancetta and sweet maple syrup on a eggy base, was quite amazing. Atmosphere: They had a number of tables and chairs outside the stall - It was all very relaxed, we sat there a while sipping tea, soothed by Bob Marley, whilst we slowly felt more human.Service: Efficient and friendly. They looked like they were enjoying themselves, which I certainly wouldn't be if I had to prepare and serve crumpets whilst wearing a corset!Value for money: £3.50 for our crumpet and tea was pretty great for a festival. The crumpets weren't large, but were very filling.Overall: 9.5/10 - You must try this if you see the 'Strumpets' at a festival.
"Taj Mahal...You guessed it, the Old Town's only Bosnian Restaurant." ('Dubrovnik in your pocket' Summer 2009).It was this bizarrely incongruous description in our free tourist guide, which drew us to this restaurant in Dubrovnik's Old Town. The previous evening we'd dined at an overpriced, mediocre tourist trap about a minute from our apartment (the danger of heading out after a few too many drinks), so we were keen to try something different, and Bosnian food sounded just that.But alas, it seemed we weren't the only ones with that idea. On Friday evening we were turned away with a 40 minute wait (there are only a small number of seats - all outdoors, bar one tiny table). We headed elsewhere, making plans to get there early for lunch the following day, as seeing the menu had whet our appetites even more!There's a lot of choice on the menu. A lot less choice if you, like me, are a non-beef eater. I was quite amused to find that even a turkey dish was 'stuffed with beef'. No sacred cows here then...However, this was far from being an issue, as there are vegetarian appetisers and side dishes, and it made choosing what to eat less of a dilemma!I opted for the aubergines stuffed with spicy cheese, along with turkey skewers with spinach, red peppers and mushrooms (one of the two non-beef main courses), which was served with a perfectly baked potato, filled with sour cream.
It was simple but everything tasted fresh and cooked to perfection. I loved the aubergine dish - auberines are quite amazing, but coupled with the tasty, slightly spicy cream cheese it was a sumptious dish.I still had some space for dessert, so I shared a portion of baklava with Siobhan, and it was easily the best i've ever tasted - very moist, and although incredibly sweet, the combination of the finely ground nuts, honey and syrup combined to produce something quite amazing.It was so good in fact that we decided there and then, that we would return for lunch again the following day, as there was more on the menu we wanted to sample.So we did return and chose even better dishes second time round... Siobhan's mushrooms were the best food she'd eaten during the whole holiday - they definitely deserved praise - plump and juicy and cooked to maximise their flavour (no garlic or chilli needed!)
Myself and Louise opted for a starter of Fritters with Kaymak (a gloriously salty cheese) which complemented the doughy, freshly fried fritters perfectly. They tasted amazing, but we had such generous portions, we couldn't finish them.
For our main courses, Siobhan and Louise went for Chevaps - small grilled beef sausages, served in thick, fluffy bread. I went for the (only) other non-beef option, lamb 'kebob'. There was no description of the dish, but I was very pleased to find it was served with thick slices of roasted aubergine, and potatoes too. A dash of tobasco added a kick that made this dish delicious.
Overall:Food quality: The quality of every single dish could not be faulted. The freshness of the ingredients and perfect cooking makes this amazing. Even when I ordered a lemonade I received a freshly squeezed one!Atmosphere: The small number of tables in a quiet back street just off the main tourist throughfare, made this feel like our hidden gem of a restuarant both lunchtimes. The shaded outdoor tables were a very welcome escape from the intense heat of the day.Service: Efficient but not friendly on our first visit. Very smiley and pleasant on our second (I think we were served by the chef on the second occasion!)Value for money: Very good and in some cases brilliant - some dishes are huge but its not obvious from the menu which ones these are! The main meals are actually cheaper than the starters.Overall: 9.5/10 If you go to Dubrovnik you need to go to this place. It's not spicy food, but it is amazingly tasty and fresh, and you'd be mad not to try it.
