Writing on Bananas

The Sun Inn, Mill Road, Kislingbury, Northampton NN7 4BB

2011-12-11T21:28:00.001Z

A beautiful sunny but cold Saturday, I was driving up north with D. Looking for a place for lunch near the motorway, armed only with a copy of CAMRA’s 2012 Edition of The Good Beer Guide, D expertly navigated us to the picturesque village of Kislingbury near Northampton (and just a few minutes from the M1.
On a tiny narrow lane we found The Sun Inn. Looking beautifully rustic with it's thatched roof, we found it to be warm and cosy inside and without any pretensions. Old-fashioned and friendly with a good number of real ales on the pumps and some ciders too.

We experienced lovely hospitality from the landlady and once we’d ordering some substantial lunch from a small menu of big pies, we settled down in one of the three seating areas (it was nice to have it to ourselves) with the paper, and relaxed.

After assembling a wide collection of condiments, and enjoying a giant cup of tea and a pint of 'Gobblers', our food arrived. My stilton, peppered mushroom and onion pie was ultimate comfort food, and served with delicious gravy and the homemade cottage pie was also huge, and very much enjoyed by D, who felt the cabbage was also very tasty.

A lovely discovery. We would have happily whiled away an afternoon there. Well worth a visit should you be near Junction 16 of the M1 and very much recommended by ourselves as well as CAMRA.

The Brunswick House Café, Vauxhall

2011-12-11T20:35:00.001Z

Two minutes from Vauxhall tube station is Brunswick House; an architectural salvage shop. A quirky building, covered in old-fashioned enamel signs (including one advertising Wethereds Ale and Stout from my home town of Marlow), stone features and a huge cast iron ‘saloon bar lounge’ sign. Amongst all these eye catching features, you can easily miss the small sandwich board advertising the café inside, but that is not really an issue, as this café is gaining a reputation, having received rave reviews from the FT and John Lanchester in The Guardian.

Being huge Guardian fans, myself and K had decided to take advantage of Brunswick House Cafe extending its opening hours to Tuesday and Wednesday evenings (it still doesn’t open on Monday nights).

The place was not very busy with just a couple of other diners in the slightly chilly main dining room. I was intrigued by the chandelier and lights hanging from the ceiling, the ‘stage’ at the back of the room, and the assortment of pictures and signs covering the walls.

I was advised that the simple daily changing menu consisted of small tapas style plates (and helpfully I was told which were the dishes served hot! An important point on such a cold evening). The cocktail list and wine list was extensive and we opted for a very drinkable French red with an unusual name. The wine was served in tumblers rather than wine glasses which was fitting for the relaxed style of the place, but there were important and impressive touches to the service, with water and (absolutely delicious sourdough) bread being bought to the table for without us even asking.

We ordered 5 dishes between the two of us, with the intention to share everything. The menu had no elaborate descriptions but it all sounded tasty.

Our choices included ‘Sprouting Broccoli and Pumpkin Romesco’ - a simple dish of crunchy greens with tasty pumpkin sauce and ‘Chestnut, sage and pear’, which was a pleasing variety of flavours and textures and not just served as simple individual ingredients.

However the real highlight was the warm ‘Cauliflower, red onion and stichelton’ (having researched in advance, I knew it was a blue cheese but unlike ‘stilton’ it is not made with pasteurised milk. It cannot therefore legally be called ‘stilton’, so instead it is called ‘Stichelton’ - the original name of Stilton village). I was expecting something like cauliflower cheese, but this was something entirely different. The marinated crunchy cauliflower was elevated to divine levels of tastiness with the piquant cheese. It was heavenly.

The two more substantial choices were bought to the table with perfect timing – the chickpeas and chorizo had warm and comforting flavours, and the chicken and mushroom pie was again, quite different to what I was expecting. The chicken seemed like it had come straight from a very well marinated roast and so each piece was rich and highly flavoured, with strong flavour from the beautifully cooked mushrooms.

It really was perfect, and we were so full that we couldn’t even manage dessert, but instead enjoyed some tea. Served in very cute, colourful teapots, my lapsang souchong was delicious.

The service had been fantastic and the atmosphere nicely relaxed, although it was a shame that it was not more busy in the dining room. The ability to try such a variety of tasty dishes in unexpected surroundings had been very pleasing, and I would recommend a visit to anyone looking for somewhere which is just that little bit different, which will be sure to delight!

Cake of the day: Soho's Secret Tea Rooms

2011-12-08T08:51:00.001Z

Soho's Secret Tea Rooms was an ideal place to hold a surprise vintage afternoon tea for Sofia’s super-classy, 1940s themed hen do. Amie had expertly organised every detail, and I was thrilled as I'd been looking for a reason to visit ever since I'd heard of the place.

The 'hidden' location, gave a fantastic surprise element, as our bride to be was definitely bemused as we walked her into the Coach and Horses Pub in Soho (not a particularly salubrious location), and slipped behind the bar and up a narrow staircase to the very top of the building.

She was met with a delightful sight! We had our own private room, very prettily decorated with thoughtful vintage touches. The atmosphere was relaxed as we were made to feel welcome by a dedicated and attentive member of staff. Bubbly, sixteen varieties of tea and ample supplies of cake, scones and dainty sandwiches, made for a most memorable start to the party.

Thanks to Fi for the great picture above.

Cake of the day: Christmas Gingerbread and Delicious Victoria Sponge

2011-12-07T10:27:00.001Z

I apologise for the lack of posts in recent months. Planning my wedding has taken up far more time than I ever imagined.

However I'm certainly marrying into the right family! Visiting D's gran this weekend, we were treated to a sumptious afternoon tea, of Christmas Gingerbread and a divinely light and delicious home-made Victoria Sponge.

I thought I'd share this with you all to make you hungry on this Wednesday morning!

The Charles Dickens, 160 Union Street, Southwark, SE1 0LH

2011-09-09T22:59:00.000+01:00

The Charles Dickens on Union Street is an unpretentious and unassuming real ale pub in central London. It was the ideal place for a beer and bite before going to see Dr Faustus at Shakespeare’s Globe.

Whilst super close to the Tate Modern, it was tucked away from crowds, and pleasantly quiet when we arrived. It was a warm afternoon, so discovering the small outdoor area at the back was particularly great.

The choice and quality of the beers was very good (a lemon beer being a particular highlight for D), which is to be expected given that we’d found the pub in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide.

Being a former English Lit student, I was admittedly a bit snobby about the quality and authenticity of the Dickens’ memorabilia. But, this was saved by the food. With all the meat provided from nearby Smithfield, the very simple British pub food, was totally in keeping with the atmosphere and feel of the pub.

Huge pie, throughly enjoyed by D's Dad

Fantastic chips with my chicken (above), and D's steak, (below)

Very reasonably priced with large portions, and fantastic quality, everything was good. Service wasn’t always as attentive as it could have been, but it was friendly and little touches such as condiments being bought without us needing to ask, were definite plus points.

If I had to mention a negative it would be the lack of dessert menu.

Even with the Dickensian theme, this didn’t appear to be a pub that pandered to tourists, avoiding the prices and pretensions of most places in Central London. Would certainly visit again!

Moro, 34-36 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QE

2011-09-04T21:49:00.001+01:00

I love food and eating out, but have a tendency to be completely oblivious of famous and fashionable places to dine.

Moro in Exmouth Market has been hugely popular since it opened in 1997, and it continues to be, demonstrated by the fact that we had to book around two weeks in advance. Nigel Slater is a big fan (as he writes in this review), and in 2009 it was named 'Best Restaurant' by the Observer Food Monthly. Despite all this, until K told me she had been wanting to eat here for years, I'd not heard of Moro, which specialises in Spanish and North African cuisine, and was created by chef couple Sam(uel) and Sam(antha) Clark.

Located in Exmouth Market, there was a buzzing atmosphere in the area, even on a tuesday. It looked like a great location, full of exciting looking places to eat with diners and drinkers enjoying the late summer evening from outdoor tables. I spotted Moro's new sister tapas bar 'Morito', before I spotted Moro proper.

Spotting K was more difficult, given how busy the restaurant was (but luckily she found me). Tables were packed in close together, however, this didn't seem to matter, given the buzzy vibrancy of the place. The decor gave the place an exotic air, and the menu was a single page, changing on a weekly basis.

I can see why Nigel Slater gave such high praise to the bread. It was like nothing I'd ever tasted before, with a tangy (almost lemony) sourdough taste, and a dense, heavy texture. It was utterly divine and simple all at once, and perfect with olive oil.

Everything on the menu looked delicious, but the prices were on the high side, so we decided to share a starter of Morrocan bread salad with argon oil, grilled peppers, olives and tomatoes. It was a light, summery dish with heavily flavoured with the punchiness of coriander, red onion and harissa. The bread element of the salad took the form of uber-crunchy croutons, and there was even the odd pomegranate seed.

Our appetites whet, expectations were high for the main course. Given how busy it was in the restaurant, we knew there would be a bit of a wait. I sipped a fiery and refreshing Fever Tree ginger beer. (I'm a huge fan of ginger beer, and this one definitely met my approval).

Our mains arrived, looking even more appetising than we could have imagined. Portion sizes were good, and I loved how each plate was full of exciting looking accompaniments to the perfectly cooked meat. The dishes, even though they were very well presented, looked more like home-cooked cuisine, rather than the cheffy, overwrought, small portions you expect at trendy restaurants.

I was delighted with my charcoal grilled lamb, with caramelised marrow, lemon, lentil pilav and yoghurt. The warmth of the flavours and heartiness of the dish, again reminded me of home-cooking. The lamb was juicy and tender. The marrow melting and perfect. The lentil rice was delicious, particularly with the thick and tangy yoghurt. Everything tasted perfect.

K's dish, was also fantastic; wood roasted pork with chanterelle and oyster mushrooms 'a la plancha', white beans and alioli. Again, there was a slight heat to the flavours, and the variety of the elements and textures that made up the meal, (from juicy mushrooms to crunchy crackling) worked perfectly together.

We ate so well, that sadly there was no room for dessert. Instead we ended the meal with fresh mint tea, served from a glass teapot. The mint leaf flavour was more delicate and refreshing than the stronger flavour of peppermint tea, and ended the meal fantastically.

On a final note, we loved the toilets. The presence of l'Occitane toileteries and a huge map, (two of K's most favourite things), was a nice touch.

I was so enamoured with Moro that as soon as I got home, I ordered one of their books. I can't wait to visit again, and would implore you to visit as soon as you can, because this is a place that is even better than the hype.

Albannach, 66 Trafalgar Square, London. WC2N 5DS

2011-08-31T21:00:00.000+01:00

Pre-theatre dining can be a tense, rushed affair. Set menus are limited. Service is too fast to be pleasant. Atmosphere can be lacking. Albannach on Trafalgar Square was none of those things. It proved to be an oasis of calm, in the Bank Holiday Monday early-evening slot before mine and H’s theatre trip.

It's a quirky place. A highly contemporary style, isn't one that you would normally associate with a Scottish bar/restaurant, which boasts a huge collection of single malt whiskies. The huge white-sparkly-deer-antler décor, was much to H’s liking, and it was happy hour, so rather than whisky, we happily indulged in champagne cocktails at a mere £4 each. Service was courteous and professional, and not at all rushed. Prices are high (expected given the location), but we were dining on a 50% off offer, which made everything very reasonable, particularly as we could choose anything from the a la carte menu, and weren’t limited to a pre-theatre set menu.

Whilst the food wasn’t ground-breaking (and sadly, I wasn’t hungry enough to order the haggis – which is a shame- I love haggis), it was certainly very prettily presented, and warrants a few pictures. Enjoy!

Seared Cornish Scallops, with butternut squash, pea puree and crispy bacon

Scottish girolle open ravioli with sage butter and parmesan

The Hinds Head, High Street, Bray, Berkshire SL6 2AB

2011-08-29T07:43:00.002+01:00

It's exciting to go somewhere that you recognise from the telly! It was a special occasion, and neither of us had ever been to Heston Blumenthal's Hinds Head in Bray, despite living so nearby. Billed as his more accessible restaurant (ie, we only had two book around 10 days in advance, and hopefully the experience wasn't going to bankrupt us), my parents and sister had already visited, and had given it rave reviews (my sister particularly raving about triple fried chips and the best pie she had ever tasted).

Rated as Michelin Pub of the Year in 2011, I wasn't sure whether it would be more like a pub, or a restaurant. Our booking was at 8.45pm on a Friday, but it was very busy as we arrived, and it certainly did seem like any busy pub at upon first appearances. We were a little early, but we were immediately shown to our table in the much more tranquil restaurant upstairs. A cosy, low-timbered room, with a warm atmosphere, the majority of the tables were full, but we'd been given an optimal large table in the corner of the room, so we had plenty of space. It reminded me of a brilliant place I'd eaten at in Germany, in a watermill.

Everything exuded quality and attention to detail, from the service, to the super-light, shapely water glasses (lovely, the waitress agreed, but a nightmare to clean). The dinner menu looked great but eye-wateringly pricey (steak and chips for £26 - although nothing compared to The Fat Duck's offerings at £180 per head), but the three course set menu, with two options for each course was bargainous in comparison, at just £27.50 each.

Naturally, we took great pleasure in ordering "everything from the set menu," as it all looked appealing, and we intended to each try a bit of everything. Having heard so much about the triple-friend chips, we ordered one of those too.

The service was spot on: very friendly and incredibly professional. (Although perhaps re-folding my napkin when I was away from the table was a bit too much!) We admitted that our plan was to share, and we were immediately bought enough cutlery to be able to share each of the six dishes we'd ordered between us. We were assured that "anything is possible at The Hinds Head" and it certainly seemed that was true.

Although there was no mention of beer on the drinks menu, when we passed the downstairs bar, D had spotted locally brewed (in my home town of Marlow) Rebellion's Smuggler, which was in very good condition. I went for pink and fizzy Rose de'Salici Brut Col de'Salici - a delightful fruity prosecco.

There was bread to nibble on, but it wasn't long before the starters arrived. These were truly excellent. The Pea and Ham Soup was the ultimate comfort food. Very green (and served in something was was not dissimilar to to a mini-cauldron), it was full of very fresh whole peas, and delicious chunks of ham. The flavour, texture and quality of ingredients were astounding.

It was so good, I wasn't very keen to share it, but I'm glad I did, as I got to sample the other starter - the Tea-Smoked Salmon with Soda Bread, which was exquisite. D described it as the best smoked salmon he'd ever tasted, and I could see why. It had a complex, delicate flavour and almost melt-in-the-mouth consistency. It was quite brilliant. (We also very much liked how the wedge of lemon was ingeniously covered in a little 'jacket' to catch the pips as you squeezed it).

With truly top-notch starters, the bar had been set very high. When mains arrived, we were perhaps a little concerned that pie looked a little... petite. The macaroni dish looked impressive - not at all cheesy, but beautifully gratinated with tiny pasta, so that it almost looked like rice, with a poached egg delicately balanced on top.

The fears of the pie being too small were completely unfounded, given the richness of the dish. Lovely pastry packed with the chicken and ham - there was very little sauce, just really good quality ingredients. The macaroni was in a different universe to the tinned macaroni cheese of my childhood (which holds a special place in my heart as comfort food). The tiny pasta shapes, were bound with such flavoursome wild mushrooms, that they almost tasted fruity. The dish sung with flavour, but was very rich, so again, I was glad we were sharing, as a full portion would have been difficult to eat single-handedly.

The triple fried chips were chunky, salty and very very crunchy.

Utterly stuffed, we asked for a little break before dessert time. We enjoyed the ambience and relaxed feel of the restaurant, and marvelled at how close it was to Maidenhead Rail station. We commented on how the toilets were the second best D had ever seen (he said they lost a point for not having real fluffy handtowels), but we both agreed the cool 50s style made for very nice bathrooms.

In preparation for dessert, we were handed this introductory note for the 'Quaking Pudding':

I still wasn't entirely sure whether a 17th Century pudding was going to be tasty, but I knew there was always going to be the fallback option of the blackberry fool (and in normal circumstances, I was too full for dessert anyway).

The desserts then made their grand entrance. The pudding was as promised 'quaking' and wobbling away, as if it had a life of it's own (whilst the blackberry fool looked more conventional), but had the unexpected added bonus of pistachios.

Forgetting how full I was, I dug into the Quaking Pudding, and was almost taken aback by how familiar the taste was. The warm flavours of cardamom, cinammon, a hint of ginger, in a milky base, meant it tasted exactly like 'chai' (indian tea, just like my mum makes). It was quite disorientating to taste something that was so reminiscent of home in such a restaurant, but it was absolutely delicious. Ingeniously, it was served with what looked like cucumber, but was actually delicate slivers of sweet and tangy sugared apple.

The blackberry fool was very creamy, but well punctuated by the blackberries, pistachios, meringue pieces and a hint of aniseed - delightful.

We'd come to the end of our food extravaganza. Expectations had been high but the food, service and atmosphere were absolutely perfect, and I couldn't recommend The Hinds Head highly enough.

Cake of the day: Cel's Chocolate and Banana Cake of Joy

2011-08-23T21:54:00.000+01:00

After cooking us a Sri Lankan banquet, Cel told us there was no dessert..."apart from some cake", lowering expectations with the tone of her voice.

But this wasn't any old cake. Cel makes amazing cake, and this huge tray bake was warm, gooey with chocolate and moist with chunks of banana. Rich, comforting and delicious, it was a proper pud. As full as we were, we all found space for a generous helping. It was wonderful!

Canteen, Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX

2011-08-18T23:45:00.001+01:00

I love Canteen - I love how it avoids being pretentious or over-priced, even after winning numerous awards, and even when all four of it's restaurants are located in the most central London locations. But it is of course, this simplicity that is central to Canteen's ethos, as well as an emphasis on British, seasonal good quality ingredients.

This was my second visit to the Canteen at the Southbank centre location. Sitting outdoors, surrounded by all the appealing aromas and hustle and bustle of the weekly food market, made for a fantastic atmosphere, even though it was a strange time to eat (5pm on a Sunday). This isn't a problem at Canteen, who advocate "casual all day dining". My previous visit had been just for tea and cake, which wasn't a problem at all to the friendly and efficient staff.

D was delighted by the real ale selection, particularly due to the appearance of several dark beers. His choice of 'Moorhouse's Black Cat' - is award winning, and impressive as it's one he has only ever previously seen at beer festivals. He very much enjoyed it's chocolately, malty taste, whilst I was more than happy with my restorative pot of Teapigs Earl Grey.

The menu consists largely of various daily specials. There is a daily soup, pie, roast and 'day boat fish', as well as all day breakfast/brunch dishes, traditionally British mains and puddings. Sensibly, children are offered half portions at half price. Fantastically, there is a separate 'cakes' section, on the menu.

D went for the roast of the day, which was beef, and he felt the quality was excellent. He liked how it was presented in a tower with roast potatoes, carrots, cabbage, gravy and the largest yorkshire pud I have ever seen. (It's non-perfect shape was pleasing). The beef was very tender and each of the components tasty and well cooked. There was only one thing D would change...he remarked that "most people would probably want less cabbage, and young men with hearty appetites (like me) would want one more potato." Specific feedback indeed!

Mine was a posh chicken and chips (but not being very posh, I ate it with my hands. The best way to enjoy food). They roast a free-range chicken at lunch and dinnertime, and serve it first come first served, with garlic mayo and super crispy chips. It was heaven on a plate. Perfectly cooked, crispy skin, generous in portion size. Wonderful!

Very sadly, I found myself without a camera, or room for dessert. But not to worry, here's a picture of the incredible chocolate and beetroot cake, sampled upon my last visit with K. The cake was almost velvety in nature, and very soft and moist as a result of the beetroot. It's still on the menu. You should go and try it.

Sorbitum Ices at The Real Food Market, The Southbank Centre

2011-08-18T22:38:00.000+01:00

Sorbitum Ices is such a small operation, I can't even find a website for it. Exhibiting from a retro caravan at the Real Food Market at The Southbank Centre, their board, advertising 'Dark Chocolate Sorbet' immediately grabbed my attention.

I've become a bit of a sorbet connoisseur of late, having taken up a dairy-free diet. Fruity sorbet is great, as is boozy sorbet, but chocolate? I'd never seen such a thing before! So how could I resist?

A small variety of exciting flavours (some ice-cream), were on offer, all home made by the seller. Made with 70% dark chocolate, the sorbet had the consistency of ice-cream, and tasted darkly delicious. Dairy-free but with a creamy texture and flavour. It was entirely wonderful! £2 for a generous scoop, it was the highlight of the entire market for me.

So, whilst I can't direct you to a website, or even a photo, you too can sample this yumminess, as the Real Food Market is currently running weekly, from Friday to Sunday outside the Southbank Centre! Go find the Sorbitum caravan of joy!

Foodies Festival, Battersea Park, 29 July 2011

2011-08-09T23:09:00.001+01:00

Many thanks to Kathleen for providing all of the photographs

2011 had taken me to numerous beer festivals, but Foodies Festival was the first gastronomic festival experience of the year. The weather could not have been better in lovely Battersea Park - perfect for some Pimms, which we sipped as we gained our bearings.

Smaller than the ubiquitous Taste festivals (which I do enjoy, but which can end up very pricey, especially with their festival ‘currency’ feature), the atmosphere at Foodies was relaxed, and more focused on small producers, rather than big name restaurants. We’d got bargainous tickets through a discount website, so we were open-minded without high expectations.

We snuck into the back of one of the demonstration tents, (and even got a seat), and felt like we were watching a live version of Saturday Kitchen! We learned a handy hint for accessing whether meat was cooked – by sticking a metal skewer into the meat for 10 seconds, and then placing that skewer on your lips to feel if it was hot. A bit risky for my liking, but as the chef pronounced, “if you overcook meat, you deserve burned lips!”

Nibbling on a variety of free food samples (some yummy chilli jams, slivers of scotch eggs, sweets), we found places we wanted to try for lunch. On the way, we also sampled some exciting beverages – the highlight being St Germain – wonderful elderflower liqueur served with white wine. Classy and beautiful!

K settled on Nigerian food, being unusual enough for her not to encounter in everyday life. She opted for very red jollof rice with beef and plaintain. She loved it – the rice was very moist and tomatoey and the whole dish was full of flavour.

My lunch choice was paella – not with the usual ingredients, but instead with apple and pork! My £5 bought me a huge portion, which I couldn’t even finish of the best paella I’ve ever tasted. There were wonderful deep flavours, from the sweetness of the apple to the savouriness of the rice which was also packed with aubergines and peas as well as the pork. A perfect mix of textures and bold flavours made this wonderful.

The heat was increasing, so dessert needed to be cold. We headed to Yee Kwan’s ice-cream stall, and tried a sample of flavours before settling on our favourites. K had cardamom ice-cream which was divinely different to any kind of ice-cream she’d ever had. My mojito sorbet was perfect for the heat of the day, tangy and fruity in an understated way. We found a shady spot under a tree, and felt all was good with the world.

After all the eating, we needed a rest. As ever, when I am in need of fortification I find myself drawn to tea. Tregothnan didn’t just offer any old tea though – far more excitingly, they allowed you to make your own blend of tea! You could mix traditional black teas, earl grey, manuka, lemon verbena, peppermint, nettle and chamomile – most of which I did mix, with slightly over-potent results. K was far more restrained, and her blend of nettle and peppermint was a delightfully refreshing affair.

After a cuppa, it was time for some education. We snuck into a demonstration tent to watch a wonderful demonstration of how to make lavender and vanilla infused chocolate truffles by Fiona Sciolti, Artisan Chocolatier. She demonstrated mixing double cream and honey, bringing to the boil, and then infusing overnight with lavender and a vanilla pod. Then, straining through some muslin (or a clean jay cloth), she added melted dark chocolate, along with some soft butter. Once cooled, the mixture was piped or scraped into truffles with a spoon, and then rolled in a mixture of cocoa and icing sugar. I was inspired, but perhaps more tempted to just buy some that she prepared earlier.

All that chocolate and made us hungry again, and we tucked into a final treat from The Dessert Deli, a local Battersea purveyor of delights, created by Laura Amos. All the products were gorgeously presented. I went for a shot of Belgian chocolate mousse with crunchy home made honeycomb topping, which was wonderfully dark and creamy, whilst K went for a summer berry tartlet, which was also highly recommended.

All in all – a wonderful discovery of a food festival – we left utterly stuffed and very happy!

Brunch at The Lounge, North Road, Bedminster, Bristol

2011-07-11T20:23:00.038+01:00

The Lounge, has become a regular feature for slightly-hungover sunday brunches during my visits to Bristol, (particularly because it seems to be the only place in Bedminster which meets R's requirement of serving hash browns with their cooked breakfasts). This 'Lounge' is the original, more have sprung up since 2002, has a very chilled-out independent feel to it.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all good here, so it is always packed. Strangely though, it was uncharacteristally quiet on a late sunday morning, making service attentive and speedy.

Orange juice is freshly squeezed and delicious. Breakfast options consist of a full english option, a veggie version, a healty museli option, an eggs benedict version and perhaps most intriguingly, something called 'an egg and bacon stack' - eggy bread served with bacon and...maple syrup!

How could I resist?

Cake of the Day: Joanna's Casino Cake

2011-07-11T13:41:00.000+01:00

We all know that Joanna's talents in the kitchen are impressive and far-ranging, given her previous life as a chef.

However, by all accounts, Jo completed excelled herself with this amazing birthday cake for Rachael, perfectly themed to match our murder mystery evening.

The attention to detail was astounding - edible handmade dice, not-so-edible shiny coins and of course the champagne candle.

Tastewise, the cake was fantastic. Squidgy and chocolatey without being overly heavy, it was moist and delicious.

Should you be lucky enough to live in the Bristol area, and desire an extra-special cake for a special occasion, Joanna may well be willing to create one for you at a very reasonable price. Leave a comment through the blog!

Cake of the Day, The Butterleigh Inn's Butterleigh Brownie

2011-06-26T20:48:00.000+01:00

The highlight of my brief trip to Devon was this warm and deeply chocolately brownie at The Butterleigh Inn in the delightful village of Butterleigh (near Cullompton). It had a spongy consistency, rather than feeling heavy and dense, and served with clotted cream it was heavenly.

I had it instead of lunch!

A Proposito, Weena 505, 3013 AL Rotterdam, Netherlands

2011-06-24T22:52:00.002+01:00

This Italian eatery just outside Rotterdam Centraal station, is a bit of an institution. I’ve only ever visited on weeknights and it has always been packed throughout the evening. The glass exteriors give it a slightly sophisticated air after dark, but on this summer evening, we were bathed in heat and light, giving it quite a different atmosphere. The wine glasses are the largest I have ever encountered. You can’t help but enjoy wine in these glasses, which resemble goldfish bowls on the thinniest stems imaginable.

Forget printed menus, large double-sided chalkboards are presented to each table on request. Antipasti, meat, fish, pasta and risotto feature, and non-Dutch/Italian speakers always have fun trying to translate each ingredient listed.

Requesting an unspecified selection of the antipasti was a wonderful decision! A phenomenal array of wonderful looking food arrived – buffalo mozzarella, pecorino cheese, parma ham, salami, sun dried tomatoes, rocket salad, roasted red peppers, very ripe melon, roast courgette – each one full of flavour. The bruschetta was far better and more imaginative (and to my taste) than any I’d sampled in the UK, with garlic, basil and red chilli added to the tomato.

The foccacia was the wonderful really fluffy stuff, joyfully warm and drizzled in olive oil.

Portion sizes are huge. I barely had room for a main course, but managed to regain some appetite given the deliciousness of my spaghetti, which boasted capers, olives, garlic and sausage meatballs in a tomato sauce.

Service, whilst usually very good, was umm...interesting on this latest visit. Our nonchalant waiter couldn’t see the problem in only taking 4 of the 5 drinks orders of our party. He could however see a big problem with serving parmesan to the person who’d ordered pasta with scallops. When she asked him for it he took on the gravest of tones and said “it is very difficult for me to help you… fish and cheese…No.” And then he flounced off. (Needless to say we stole the cheese grater when his back was turned and helped ourselves).

Service aside, the food quality, the portion (and wine glass size), variety and flavour here are truly excellent and I’d strongly recommend a visit should you ever be in Rotterdam!

The Bounty, Cockmarsh, Bourne End

2011-06-23T23:18:00.001+01:00

Accessible only by boat or on foot, The Bounty was one of those pubs that I had heard plenty of great things about, but I hadn’t managed to ever visit. It was a warm and sunny day, perfect for our walk from Marlow. With its beautiful riverside location, I expected the place to be heaving with people, but whilst it was certainly busy, we were delighted to find plenty of outdoor tables available as we approached.

The Bounty manages to be quirky without being pretentious – there’s a skull proudly displayed by the bar, which as well as booze, sells greeting cards, Curly Wurlys and ginger beer (on tap). As well as a lovely range of bar snacks and a hot food menu, there was a cake of the day (my kind of place!) and ice cream also on sale.

The sign above the entrance to the pub welcomes punters to ‘The People’s Republic of Cockmarsh’ where “the laws of common sense apply”, and upon walking into the pub, my immediate reaction was that I’d walked into some other land. There was a queue at the bar but the bar staff were lovely and the wait didn’t seem to matter, as there was plenty to look at inside.

Given the heat of the day I drank lashings of firey ginger beer through a pink straw (I wanted to make the most of finding somewhere that served it on tap), but on the beer front there were some local Rebellion Brewery offerings (the fresh and hoppy Rebellion Blonde was sampled) and a fantastically named ‘Grumpy Cow’. The cider option was the extremely potent scrumpy, Old Rosie. D commented on the good condition of the beer which was at the optimal temperature.

The food is simple but brilliant.

Cheesy chips are great, but The Bounty goes one better and offers…STILTON CHIPS! Utterly utterly divine chunky chips covered with slabs of melting Stilton. The simple things taste the best. Other food sampled included an old school but still lovely bacon toastie, and a ham Ploughmans. Portion sizes were more than generous. The home cooked ham was clearly of good quality and there was plenty of pickle. Quavers were served on the side!

The outdoor area stretched out on either side of the pub, with a children’s play area (complete with Big Scary Tree) on the opposite side to where we were. Truly a place with something for everyone, I can’t wait to visit again.

The Artichoke, 162 Yarmouth Rd, Broome, Norfolk NR35 2NZ

2011-06-09T09:42:00.001+01:00

As expected we were waiting outside The Artichoke before it opened at 12 noon (in keeping with D’s Mum’s pride in punctuality). And for good reason. This is a very popular pub. My second visit, I was looking forward to both the food and the drink. A regular entrant of the Good Beer Guide, it won Norfolk’s CAMRA pub of the year in 2009. Once the home of Crowfoot Brewery (a very long time ago), it truly boasts a great selection of drink –D likes the choice of real ales (they always have 4 on the hand pumps, 4 on gravity in the tap room, and my personal favourite, there are always three fruit beers on draught!) I’m always filled with excitement when I find fruity Belgian beers on offer!

I also love the look of the whisky bar, with around 70 varieties of malt whisky, decorated with pump clips and mugs hanging from the ceiling. The drink list is handwritten and presented above the bar, along with a note (consider it an old-school ‘status update’) about one of the regulars ‘Terry,’ and his new tow bar. It’s a cosy, welcoming place, with a real fire in the corner in the wintertime. The staff are exceptionally friendly, treating us like old friends (which D’s family almost are), and the bar seemed to fill up almost immediately after opening time.

My first beer was my favourite, ‘Kriek’ (Belgian Cherry beer), served in half pints only (due to the 6% potency), in an authentic Belgian Beer glass.

The menu is simple and traditional, with a daily changing specials board. We took our seats in the original restaurant area (a bit more atmospheric than the newer conservatory dining area in my opinion – and closer to the bar), and the huge portions of food arrived. Scampi and chips for D’s Mum and Gran, Plaice and Chips for D, and a Chicken and Mushroom Pie and chips for me (healthy wasn’t really a theme of the afternoon, as you can tell).

D’s plaice was “hoooge” (as the Norfolk folk would say), extending a long way underneath the peas and chips on his plate.

My pie was divine. Very generous on the filling, with large meaty chunks of chicken, ham and mushroom, topped with a slim rectangle of rich short-crust pastry, served with greens, carrots and wonderful crispy chips.

D’s Mum is a scampi expert, sampling all the pub scampi and chips, in the local area, and she rates The Artichoke as having consistently the best of the lot. Again, portions were large, with D benefiting from extra chips from his Gran.

Stuffed, I was somehow talked into sampling another Belgian beer. This time I opted for raspberry (Bacchus Frambozen), which I found less sweet and slightly less enjoyable than my initial Kriek. D went for the third available fruit beer, Peach (Timmermans Peche). This was a little too beery for my liking but it had a subtle peachy aroma and taste.

I really was going to decline dessert, having eaten far too large a lunch to manage the delicious sounding but hefty options of crumbles, sticky toffee puddings or bread and butter pudding. D opted for his favourite, Summer Fruit Pudding whilst his Gran went for banana fritters. D’s mum’s choice of Maple and Walnut ice-cream was my downfall though, and I found myself helpless to resist ordering such a magnificent sounding dessert from local ice-cream maker Parravani.

I was not disappointed – deliciously nutty and maple-y sweet, it felt luxurious and light at the same time.

We finished everything. Everything ordered that been wonderful. I’d more than happily visit a third time – highly recommended for both food and drink!

Cake of the Day: D's Birthday Cake

2011-06-07T11:23:00.000+01:00

This is D's favourite cake of all time - a joint effort between his gran and his mum, the simplicity is what makes this cake great. A plain sponge, with home grown strawberries and raspberries, inside (with lashings of cream), and on top, I throughly enjoyed sampling this one.

Bodean's BBQ Restaurant, 10 Poland St, Soho, London, W1F 8PZ

2011-06-06T21:58:00.001+01:00

A spate of sunny bank holidays left us unprepared for the final one of the early summer, where weather was variable at best and we were feeling indecisive. The original plan was for a late brunch at Soho’s Breakfast Club. Alas, I arrived to find queues outside of the door. The combined wrath of the Transport and Hangover Gods, resulted in a later meet-up than planned, and a greater need for food.

Luckily, our saviour was Bodean’s. The heady smell of barbeque and neon signs of pigs drew my attention, and a little bit of loitering got us a table outside (along with a highly enthusiastic recommendation from the diners vacating the table). A good selection of bbq and chilli sauces were joined on the table with pre-emptive rolls of kitchen paper – a good sign of food good enough to guzzle with bare hands!

Bodean’s now has four outlets in London and specialiises in food from it’s ‘oak burning smoke pit’- particularly ribs, chicken, pulled pork or ‘burnt ends’ (beef brisket in a barbeque sauce). Styled in the way of an American diner with a large restaurant area downstairs, our streetside outdoor location was perfect in the London humidity.

It seemed that the main decision to be made was to be made between the hot deli sandwiches or the ‘burnt ends’ trays of meat and chips. (Whilst other options of ribs, hotdogs and burgers were present, these seemed to be the most popular options). The sandwiches with the best name was the ‘Boston Butt’ (“the sandwich that made Bodean’s famous” – pork and coleslaw), but my decision was the pulled pork sandwich (a large, given that my stomach was rumbling and it was a mere 50p extra.

The seductively named ‘Original Sin’ Premium New York Hard Cider was the girls’ drink of choice (not that ‘hard’ for cider – a paltry 5.5%), whilst D was impressed with the real ales on offer and enjoyed the Sierra Nevada Porter (dark, rich and treacley). Ginger beer and Root Beer also featured on the menu, however A warned against the latter and its ‘mouthwash’ like properties.

Thankfully we didn’t have a long wait, and our hugely generous portions were very welcome by this point. The sheer amount of meat in the sandwich was almost daunting, but the softness of the bread and the melt in mouth nature of the pork, slathered in the chilli and barbeque sauce I added went down a treat. Crispy chips and creamy coleslaw added to the undeniably unhealthy, but extremely tasty meal.

The heat of the day turned to heavy rain, and sheltering under the restaurant’s awnings as we finished our meals, the heat from our stomachs kept us happy and satisfied. The gargantuan portions and sheer tasty meatiness in a part of London usually overrun with tourists, made us feel that we had certainly found the best location possible on this bank holiday. It was a short walk to The Pillars of Hercules for a cup of tea (to aid digestion), a drink or two and an afternoon of card game playing. A perfect way to while away a rainy bank holiday Monday afternoon.

Sauterelle, Royal Exchange, City of London, Greater London EC3V 3LR

2011-06-06T20:40:00.000+01:00

After a tough week and an afternoon working in the City, myself and A were ready for a classy Friday night dinner and a chance to catch up. I’d often walked straight past the Royal Exchange just outside Bank Station, entirely unaware that a high-end shopping centre and an extremely posh café, was housed inside. I was even less aware that it was the home of French restaurant ‘Sauterelle’ (or Grasshopper if translated), even after stepping inside the grand building. Eventually I spotted a menu and small staircase leading to the mezzanine level restaurant.

My expectations were fairly low. I’d booked a special offer set menu through a popular dining website, and given that we were being offered a bargainous three courses for £23.50, I expected either to be rushed through the meal, presented with miniscule portions or sitting in an awkwardly silent restaurant lacking diners or atmosphere.

It looked like it might be the latter situation as we arrived in time for our 7.30pm booking, to find the restaurant area quiet. The friendly and very professional staff however stowed away our bags and asked if we’d like a drink at the decidedly more busy bar before our meal. It seemed like a good plan, so we propped up the bar surrounded by a good number of Friday night drinkers, sipping our wonderfully chilled white wine (from an extensive drinks menu) entirely relaxed and unhurried as we enjoyed the ambience of the busy bar.

Before too long, our tummies rumbling, we were ready for food. The courteous staff gave us a fantastic table overlooking the Grand Café below. The glass ceilinged building was bathed in the evening sunshine, becoming more atmospheric as dusk descended upon us.

The set menu was pleasingly varied, with four options for each course covering a wide variety of dishes, all of which sounded appealing. There was no overlap in our final choices and our expectations were now far higher than when we’d arrived.

The attentive waitress presented us with a array of exciting breads. I was tempted by the walnut and raisin bread just before the beautifully presented starters arrived. My fear of small portions was entirely unfounded and our first gleeful mouthfuls, we were delighted with our choices. A had opted for Galician octopus and chorizo with potato salad, basil, watercress and capers (pictured below), whilst mine was a more traditional Braised pork, with apple, Alsace bacon and celeriac puree but presented in a stylishly innovative fashion. The succulent morsel of pork was perfectly matched with the sweetness of the apple and the saltiness of the bacon.

The size of the dish was ideal and had whet my appetite, as I took more bread – this time a dark, strongly flavoured Guiness concoction.

It wasn’t long to wait for mains though. I’d opted for a simple seasonal risotto with fresh peas, broad beans, wild garlic, English foraged mushrooms. Whilst without meat, the flavour was strong and the texture rich and creamy.

As filling as my main had been, we were both craving for a sweet finish to the sumptuous meal, but again very different options appealed. A went for a fruity Iced Orange Parfait, with pistachio, mascarpone, ginger biscuit, and a blood orange salad (pictured below), whilst chocolate is my weakness so I couldn’t resist the Madagascan chocolate, balsamic macerated Muscat grapes, and almond ice cream.

Again presented brilliantly the rich chocolate dessert was an absolute dream. Intensely dark chocolate had a nutmeg like warmth and spiciness, and was perfectly coupled with sweet of (cherry like) grapes and coolness of the almond ice cream.

It had been a dream of a meal. Each dish tasted wonderful and the service, location and atmosphere had been impeccable, the sheer good value of the set menu making it even better. A gem of a find!

Mussol, Casp 19, Barcelona

2011-05-07T09:38:00.003+01:00

It was our first night in Barcelona. Having spent a lot of time there in my early teens, I’d always declared it my favourite city in Europe, but I was a little worried that my first trip there as a grown up, wouldn’t live up to my expectations.

However, all began well. The journey from the plane to the city centre was super-easy. Just the evening before, we’d seen TV coverage of torrential rain and flooding in Barcelona, but all seemed dry and calm when we arrived. We met our host outside Hard Rock Café who took us to the hostel. We were staying just off the most famous street in Barcelona, Las Ramblas. We held onto our valuables (and each other) tightly, as we tried to head away from the hoards of touristy eating places. We took a turning off Las Ramblas, but found only a few tramps, and nowhere looked particularly appealing for food.

Instead, we decided to walk north of Las Ramblas, our hunger levels getting ever greater, as we surveyed the menus outside each restaurant we passed. As ever, it was important to us that we found somewhere good. We kept walking and telling ourselves it would be “just one more street”…

It was late by the time we found Mussol but dining late is entirely in keeping with local custom. The menu looked good from the outside, but didn’t allow much of a view inside the restaurant. We boldly went, were no Slough residents had ever been before (probably), and we were rewarded with a large, high-ceilinged airy restaurant, the perfect combination of modern and rustic, smart and relaxed at the same time. The décor reflects the ethos of Mussol, (which means ‘Owl’), which is to bring traditional Catalan farmhouse cooking, with a modern twist to a wider audience.

The Mussol that we found ourselves in, is the original, flagship restaurant, which opened in 1994. The concept of bringing rustic Catalan dishes to the city, was at the time fairly ground breaking, and now was so popular that three more Mussols, have sprung up in the city, (but each location retains a distinctive look and feel).

I was delighted to find the House Rioja was a mere €6 a bottle, (and it tasted great). We began relax and feel that we’d made the right restaurant decision, as the patient, friendly staff, went to great lengths to help translate the specials board (which was in Catalan only). My dad describes Catalan as being to Castilian (what we know as Spanish), what Welsh is to English, which is not entirely accurate, but given that in Castilian, the restaurant would be called ‘Búho’ rather than ‘Mussol’, the differences are certainly pronounced, and I was struggling to translate the specials board with only my GCSE Spanish to help me!

Mussol’s specializes in charcoal grilled meat and veg, and we ordered a range of dishes to sample and share.

The asparagus, was cooked over charcoal with olive oil and sea salt, and was absolutely delicious! Cooked to perfection, retaining a slight crunch, it was just the right level of saltiness to make the flavours sing.

The ‘pan’ or tomato bread, seemed to be a house speciality. Thick wedges of country bread, toasted and served warm with a fresh, slightly garlicy tomato salsa was both simple and very tasty. Almost more importantly, it was served with a mega potent garlic puree, which I absolutely loved.

The lamb. chicken, peppers, mushroom, onion skewers cooked over a charcoal grill – were very juicy (particularly the mushrooms) and each element was full of flavour. We had a garden salad on the side and to up the carb count, we had potatoes that were cubed, fried, and seasoned joyously, with herbs and salt.

Another big highlight was the barbequed aubergines, which were very thinly sliced, and sprinkled with soft goats cheese. A heavenly combination.

Each dish was utterly delicious, and we were so full that we were only slightly sad to find that the chocolate brownie dessert had sold out.

We rated Mussol a 9.5 out of 10, and headed back in extremely high spirits.

Some days later, after 4 days of excellent gastronomy, we found ourselves without a dinner plan on our final night in the city. I almost didn’t want to suggest it, lest we find ourselves disappointed, but without too much discussion (as it turned out that D felt the same way), we found ourselves back in Mussol, for a farewell Barcelona meal.

I was hungry – full days of walking, and simple picnic lunches of olives and bread from the Mercat Boqueria, meant that I was ready to try plenty of dishes from the specials board.

We had an almost breakfasty dish, of eggs (the yolks soft and very orange) in a tomato sauce, with little, tiny skinny chipped potatoes, which even in the evening was tasty and comforting (as egg and chips should be). I also had an asparagus dish in a romano sauce, which wasn’t quite as flavoursome as the asparagus sampled last time. Roasted vegetables and more of the tomato bread, completed our starters.

Despite being quite full by this point, the mains were a real highlight this time. My chicken escalope with rich blue cheese sauce was wonderful. The strong flavours of the sauce were brilliant, and the grilled chicken was tender and juicy. D was a big fan of the ¼ Rabbit which again was charcoal grilled, and served with borlotti beans.

There really was no space at all for dessert this time, no matter how much our incredibly friendly waitress tried to tempt us. We were so pleased that we’d discovered somewhere in the city which managed to come up with consistently good, frequently changing food, in a restaurant with great atmosphere. It seemed to be popular with both tourists and locals alike, but the staff were friendly and efficient enough to make everyone feel looked after. Highly recommended should you be visiting the city – I'd already love to visit again!

The Nag's Head, Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 2JG

2011-04-23T23:20:00.001+01:00

I am a fan of The Malvern Hills. Not too far from where I was born, I'd only visited once before, and despite being a grumpy teenager at the time, I couldn't help be impressed by the beauty of the countryside and enjoy scrambling up (and down) the rolling hills.

It was the hottest weekend of the year so far - endless sunshine and blue skies. We walked up hills, down hills, in woodlands, through fields, on tiny footpaths and on country roads, taking in some amazing countryside. D's dad marched on ahead, putting us young folk to shame. Our circular route took us around 5 hours (with time for a picnic lunch) and we covered around 10 miles. It was definitely time for a drink!

Luckily, the trusty Good Beer Guide had a suggestion. D could vouch for it's quality (and thankfully, could direct us there). Late afternoon was a great time to visit The Nag's Head as we found a table in the sun. We sat at the front of the pub, as the small, almost secret, beer garden is well-hidden and not immediately obvious.

Upon entering the pub, I was astounded by the sheer choice of real ales and ciders - 14 cask ales (including 6 guest beers). Whilst I might expect one or two real ciders, the 5 or 6 on offer made the Nag's Head feel like a veritable goldmine!

Given the heat of the day, my first choice was a refreshing raspberry twist cider served as recommended, with ice. D enjoyed ordering 'a pint of Dragon's Blood' (extremely dark beer).

Once I had my drink, I began to notice the quirks of the pub. The 'no swearing' rule, the warnings that food would be slow, the long list of riddles inscribed on the wall above a towering pile of Good Beer Guides and board games...

I like this kind of quirkiness in a pub, and thought all the nooks and crannies would make The Nag's Head an appealing winter pub, as well.

I continued sampling ciders - going for a lovely crisp Sheppy's, and then a Weston's '1st Quality'. D moved onto the 'Shropshire Lad' which had an initial caramel taste (but too bitter an aftertaste for me), and then discovered the 'Kinver Crystal' which unexpectedly was his favourite of the day - full of floral hops.

We were in need of some crisp sustainance, so I stuck with the cider theme, and was pleasantly surprised by the tangy flavour of the Piper's sea salt and somerset cider vinegar flavour.

This pub was an amazing find, given that it had the potential to be quite touristy. The Good Beer guide entry was definitely well-deserved, and I would very strongly recommend it should you be in the Malverns - be it on a day where you need a sunny beer garden, or a cosy inglenook.

La Canasta, Plaza de la Constitución, Malaga

2011-04-07T21:37:00.000+01:00

Arriving in Malaga had been a somewhat stressful experience. We had the best part of a day to kill before our flight to Barcelona. Obliged to carry all our luggage around with us, in heat that we weren't prepared for (it had been cool and rainy up in the mountains), we'd had various mis-adventures just finding our way out of the airport. We'd learned that one should never ever take an airport trolley on a travelator, buses to the city centre are few and far between, and that escalators are never going in the direction that you want to go in.

Eventually a kindly tour guide told us that the new Malaga suburban railway was cheaper and quicker than the bus (a mere 19 minute journey to the city centre, for less than two euros), and eventually we found ourselves in the nice part of town.

The first thing I needed was a cup of tea...and maybe some cake. As we entered the beautiful Plaza de la Constitución, a square full of sunshine and beautiful buildings, I spotted a cafe with a tiny second floor balcony looking out directly over the square. In a more touristy city, this enviable location would have charged extortionate prices, or been packed with people. But this was Malaga, and within minutes we were inside. with an excellent balcony seat and amazing view of the square.

La Canasta has a number of outlets in the Malaga area. It's large selections of teas, coffees, hot chocolates, cakes and pastries were impressive, and the arrival of orange-chocolately gateaux and apple tart, along with some much needed tea and coffee immediately cheered us, and for the first time that day, we started to relax.

The White Horse Inn, Compton Bassett, Wiltshire, SN11 8RG

2011-04-06T00:25:00.003+01:00

There are some places which absolutely tick all my boxes. I had a good feeling about The White Horse Inn from the very start.

D had entrusted me with his latest copy of The Good Beer Guide, which he had painstakingly annotated using a unique rating system, marking places he thought I'd like with a little 'u' and places he thought I'd LOVE with a BIG 'U' (he is exceedingly thoughtful like that). I'd fired off dozens of emails to various little and big 'U' places in an attempt to find a last minute countryside getaway to banish those recently-back-from-holiday-blues, and I wasn't expecting much luck.

But suddenly, in one afternoon I suddenly found my inbox filled with a number of potential places to visit. The email from proprietors Tara and Danny Adams somehow seemed the most friendly. The White Horse Inn was described in the beer guide as a 'real gem' (hence a big 'U'), and best of all, as I explained to D, it shared it's name with this pub (our favourite pub in the world, not least because it was where we met). Our minds were quickly made up, and we looked forward to a weekend of adventures with Wiltshire White Horses.

Compton Bassett is a tiny village, but we found it without any problems at all. The sun was shining as we got our first view of the beautiful countryside, the idyllic beer garden and the lovely characterful building. There were geese and even a couple of very cute pigs behind the pub, and a separate building for the accommodation (8 rooms in total). We received a very very warm welcome at the bar, and Tara showed us to our light and airy room. Newly refurbished to a very high standard, everything was perfect - lovely shower, lots of attention to detail, tea making facilities and yummy biscuits! The sheer peace and quiet of the location felt good.

We headed off to Avebury (very close by - and we passed the first of three chalk White Horses on our way), and enjoyed watching the antics of a group of energetic lambs, scrambling back and forth across a steep hillside as if in training for a lamb marathon.

Lots of fresh air meant we'd built up quite an appetite as we returned in the evening for dinner. It transpired that one of the other buildings at The White Horse, was a skittle alley, hosting a group of twenty! The restaurant was fully booked (a good sign), but we had a great table in the smaller pub area. One of the last free-houses in Wiltshire, there were three real ales on and a magnificent pear-cider (or more correctly, a perry), called Bee Sting. Sweet and very pale and entirely clear, it was dangerously drinkable for a 7.5% beverage (I happily drank it all evening - the intriguingly named Black Rat Cider is only on in the summer, being a scrumpy). D thought the 'Tunnel Vision' was a nice malty bitter in very good condition. He later moved onto 'Innocent' which was a pale, heavily hopped offering, and then his favourite, the 'Bath Ale Gem', which boasted some caramel flavours.

The frequently changing menu made the most of locally sourced produce. There was a good range of dishes (all of which sounded delicious), so myself and D made the decision to share everything we ordered (fairly and equally), so as to sample as much as possible.

Starters arrived in perfect time for our hungry stomachs. I started with the beautifully presented mushrooms on toast with garlic cream sauce.

The juicy mushrooms were decadently rich and perfectly paired with the rustic bread. (We ate the flowers too - they tasted good!) True to our word, halfway through we swapped plates, and I sampled the tasty strong-flavours of the breaded Camembert (crunchy on the outside, and fantastically gooey on the inside) with cranberry syrup, We were delighted and hoped this was a sign of great things to come.

We were not wrong. The main course I started on were thin sliced of juicy pan-seared duck breast, with scrumptiously salty roasted salsify, crispy saute potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke puree and some very tangy red berries. As great as this was, this actually couldn't prepare us for the sheer divine nature of the other main meal, which D somewhat reluctantly shared with me. It was pork belly, that had been slow-roasted for 12 hours, and sourced very locally from Bishops Cannings (a mere 10 minutes away). It was utterly incredible. Incredibly soft and flavoursome, served with amazingly crispy (but not-teeth-breakingly so), crackling, crunchy greens (savoy cabbage) and sage mash, a mouthful of these components combined was heaven on a fork. I can't remember the last time I'd tasted anything that worked so well together. Once again our plates were soon completely clean.

Somehow, we still had space for dessert, and stuck to our sharing policy (mostly). My Chocolate Crunch dessert was paired with D's choice of Plum and Sloe Gin Sorbet. (Both good, but I preferred mine, as it was more indulgent.

It had been an absolutely wonderful dinner - every single thing we sampled had been delicious and we hadn't left a thing. We had been so well looked after, even though the restaurant and pub was at full capacity, that it had been a very chilled out experience (particularly as we knew our beds were in stumbling distance).

The next morning, any normal person would have still been full. I don't seem to be a normal person when it comes to good food (and thankfully neither is D). Full english breakfasts are one of our most guilty-pleasures, and we thought we may as well continue to indulge.

Tara was amazing looking after us yet again, (even though she was about to help with a charity fun run before dashing back to serve what would be a fully booked lunch service!) We weren't in a rush so we took it easy, eagerly anticipating another fine meal.

And what a meal it was! All the ingredients were of the best quality. A hugely chunky sausage (such a good flavour), two thick slices of bacon (D's favourite component), rustic bread toast, Stornoway black pudding (the best black pudding I'd ever had), beans (an essential binding ingredient), and a wonderfully soft-friend free-range egg (as good as the ones from my chickens, and with a yolk that was just as orange). A blissful end to a visit full of gastronomic delights and exceptionally wonderful hospitality. I'd strongly recommend a visit and hope I can return!

The White Horse Inn
Compton Bassett,
Nr Calne,
Wiltshire
SN11 8RGTel: 01249 813118
thewhitehorseinn@comptonbassett.com

Cafe Diglas, Grünangergasse 1, 1010 Vienna, Austria

2011-04-04T22:40:00.000+01:00

Banana cake of joy!

We were looking for somewhere to eat cake. As when in Vienna, that is what one should do.

The famous Hotel Sacher had queues streching all round the building. We turned on our heels and walk until we found a suitable alternative.

Just as we were about to give up and turn back, we spotted a potential contender for the title of Viennese Cake Place du jour.

We walked into a classy establishment, reminiscent of another era. Smartly dressed waiters showed us to a window booth, and weren't in the least bit dismissive of our request to eat cake rather than lunch.

It transpired that Cafe Diglas was famous in its own right - even getting a mention in our guidebook. Founded in 1875, they take cake seriously. Large video screens showed the pastry chefs at work.

Rather than choose from the menu, we stuck our faces (not literally) in the cake cabinet and chose the most tasty-looking delights. Hazel went for the traditional Sachertorte (under strict instructions from her boss). I went for the delectable looking chocolately-creamy banana cake (purely for Writing On Bananas research purposes obviously).

It was utterly divine. A perfect range of textures, from the fluffy cream, crisp chocolate and sweet banana, it was perfect. Hazel's scrumptious Sachertorte was comparable to the real thing.

Sachertorte

Our cakes were accompanied by gourmet teas, served via the Largest Tea Bags in the world. They made for excellent infusing.

Cafe Diglas is an excellent alternative to some of the more pricy and touristy cake places in the City. Very very highly recommended!

Gelaaati! Di Marco, Llibreteria 7, 08002 Barcelona

2011-03-31T23:22:00.002+01:00

I love Barcelona. The weather is always beautiful and you can walk endlessly and discover wonderful places without even trying. Losing ourselves in the maze of streets around the Gothic Quarter (the 'Barri Gotic' - or just 'Barry' as I called it), and chancing upon this amazing ice-cream shop, Gelaaati!, was one such treasured find. We'd been given free samples of the made-on-the-premises ice-cream when we'd sauntered past in the morning, and as luck would have it, we managed to find ourselves back at the shop when both tea and energy levels had become precariously low.

Staff were friendly and it was impressive to see the ice-cream being made on the site. The variety of combinations of various goodies was immense, for what is essentially only a small shop.

We nabbed the last two seats in the establishment, and despite the glorious ice-cream around us. we were both seduced by the smell of freshly made hot waffles, smothered in chocolate. (Waffles go better with tea, anyway - and it was a mighty good cup of tea too!)

Come Dine with Celenika and Greg! (The Final Installment of CDWM)

2011-03-03T23:38:00.001Z

The final installment of our Come Dine With Me competition was upon us.

We knew that visiting Cel and Greg would involve travelling far far away. Further away than France, outside of the EU, and certainly outside of our time zone, to a land where they (to quote Alex) “haven’t yet adopted the 24-hour system…When you ask them the time they just grunt, point to the sky and say…’Sun God is sad’”. Our final Come Dine With Me evening involved travelling, all the way to Zone 5, back in time to Bromley for a 70s themed meal!

This was the first meal where full fancy dress had been adopted by all involved, and stepping into Cel and Greg’s well-themed living room, there were squeals of delight at seeing each other’s outfits and wigs (and also a bit of a tumble from an over-excited Sofia whose 6 inch platforms didn’t combine well with stairs). There was a real sense of occasion of this final meal in a competition which had already stretched to just over a year (385 days to be exact). Tonight was the night where we’d finally find out all the scores and crown the winner with that most coveted prize…ultimate glory!

The table was decked out very nicely, with the now obligatory table confetti. We studied the table placeholders with delight with ‘Disco Dave’ became an instant favourite.

Re-invented as 70s icons, I did hope that the preview menu, which featured classics such as Prawn Cocktail, would as per the tradition of our competition, be a ruse for a much more elaborate menu. As we unrolled our pretty pink scrolls we were not disappointed. PHOTO Extensive, with the now traditional alcoholic courses (two no less), and scrumptious sounding sweet endings AND cheese, we oohed and aahed in anticipation of home-made biscuits and home-made truffles, and all decided we would make sure that we paced ourselves so that we could sample everything!

Time for starters. None of us knew what river cobbler was, but we all agreed that we liked rocket leaves and pesto dressing, and so hopes were high. We were not disappointed – the dish was like a fish cake, the prawn texture was great and the river cobbler was similar to cod. There was a spicy kick to it, which always rates highly with me, and the rocket and lemon were a suitably punchy accompaniment.

Next it was time for psychedelic sorbet! Neon blue in colour, it was served ambitiously with mint and a bottle of vodka, encased in ice and fruit. Sadly I got a little bit over-excited and drowned my sorbet in neat vodka, which didn’t do it too many favours flavor-wise, but it did add to the general merriment of the evening.

Thankfully it was then time to soak up the alcohol with a substantial main course. The menu had promised Coq au Vin, and that’s what we were getting! Cel had soaked a chicken in wine for an entire day, and it had been cooked to tender perfection. The sides were also delicious – thyme new potatoes, braised red cabbage, carrots and green beans. Nicely presented with lots of colour on plates that were empty very quickly!

Then another boozy and colourful course – Gin Mint Fizz – a very green it was far better than an after dinner mint!

All the Come Dine With Me meals have featured brilliant food, but Cel and Greg had perhaps the best and most organized entertainment of all (all jokes of burlesque puppet shows aside). Greg deftly demonstrated his prowess in creating a ‘basic’ balloon animal, and we were instructed that we’d only be able to have dessert once we’d mastered our own – Generation Game style! Amie, our very own closet-mechanic engineer had no problem in figuring out how to create a range of poodles. The others took a little longer but managed to create acceptable animals. Disco Dave fashioned his balloons into an elaborate headgear, ignoring any instructions on how to create animals. Mine was awful – most optimistically it looked more like a misshapen rodent than a dog! Luckily, we were served dessert anyway, and it was utterly splendid! Flourless chocolate cake with vanilla cream, blueberries and raspberries.

The cake was sublime – soft and so very deeply chocolatey, it had a wonderful texture and when it was combined with the cream and the tangy tartness of the berries, it was one of the best desserts I’ve ever had!

Somehow, we still had space for cheese and lovely oatey and super thin homemade biscuits. A perfect way to end the meal.

It’s become tradition that at any event hosted by my friends, I will put on my pyjamas at the first opportunity. That evening was no exception! I was pjyama’d up and ready for the after-dinner entertainment. Not a gladiator fight between Alex and Sofia, but a film quiz! With video clips, cups of tea, and home-made chocolate truffles on sticks, this really was ideal entertainment!

Final video diaries and scoring for the evening was completed, and Disco Dave, being an observer to the competitive process was instructed to calculate the scores for each of the meals that we’d had (all scoring had remained secret throughout the entire, year-long competition). The anticipation was palpable around the coffee table as the scores were read out…at 34/40 and forth place was…me (fair play I thought – a good score but I hadn’t been as technically adventurous as the others, or had as many courses, but mine was the only meal with featured a fire and a fight!) Then in joint third place was Amie with her French themed evening and tonight’s meal with Cel and Greg (36/40 – both really excellent meals and evenings, which a lot of effort had gone into, and very deserving of the high scores)…. So now, we could barely contain our excitement as the two arguably most competitive teams Alex and Sofia and Jerome remained!! Who would win? Alex’s meal was the one that had set the bar so high right from the start with incredible attention to detail, presentation and technical skill, whilst Fia and Jerome had produced as many courses of really lip-smackingly tasty oriental food and been the original innovators of the G&T sorbet! Disco Dave heightened the unbearable tension with dramatic pauses a plenty and announced SECOND place…as…

…

… Sofia and Jerome! This led to an intial shout of joy and elation from Alex swiftly followed by gulps of intense FEAR, as he suddenly had visions of Sofia hurting him for beating her to first place) and then in a twist of brilliant announcing, David announced a joint score of 38/40 to Alex!

Hurrahs and huge relief all round (none of us really wanted Fia and Alex to scrap) there was much much congratulation to our equally deserved winners. It had been a truly excellent competition, with all the meals being a triumph, and the most impressive meal that any of us had cooked before. We’d had such a good time, and everyone we knew had become involved in what was a talking point for us all. We mutually decided a year off was needed, but that this was something that we’d do again…Forget the Olympics – Come Dine With Me 2012 awaits!

Heavenly Macaroons from Ladurée

2011-03-01T08:51:00.001Z

I was lucky enough last year to sample these utterly heavenly macaroons (or more correctly, 'macarons') from Ladurée thanks to Astrid, who bought us a large selection from Paris. I'd never tasted anything like this before - the melt in the mouth texture (without a hint of chewiness, so often found in other, less superior macaroons) was divine, and the intense fruity flavours were quite unexpected. Beautiful!

Cake of the Day: Cupcakes from Leandri's Baby Shower

2011-02-28T10:36:00.001Z

It's grey, drizzly and cold outside. Here are some cupcakes to brighten your monday morning (thanks to Jaime at Dindindies, who organised a beautiful baby shower for Leandri and is available for all your party organising needs!)

Kathleen's Lemon and Poppyseed Cake

2011-02-27T22:06:00.002Z

I am exceedingly lucky to have sampled a lot of good home-made cake recently. This one however stands out in particular as being quite different to any lemon cake I'd sampled before.

Not overly sticky and almost savoury from the poppy seeds, Kathleen's square cake of joy was intensely lemony and tangy in flavour, and as light and moist as you would ever want cake to be.

Original recipe here courtesy of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in The Guardian.

Jamie's Italian, Riverside Level, The Oracle, Reading

2011-01-23T20:59:00.000Z

My birthday is on a tricky day. On the second day of the new year, it's not easy to find an activity to follow the weeks of excitement which have just passed. Last year I'd had a surprisingly great day with my friends in Basingstoke. Wanting to continue in a similar fashion, this year's birthday venue was going to be somewhere I'd never previously had a memorable meal...Reading Town Centre! An unlikely place for Jamie Oliver to have set up a branch of his latest 'Jamie's Italian' venture, I was intrigued, if not a little sceptical. I can't deny - I had visions of lengthy queues, tiny portions and mockney pretensions, but it still remained an appealing option for a birthday lunch, given the novelty factor of having anything so trendy in Reading of all places!

Housed on the very busy Riverside area of the Oracle shopping centre, (it's not particularly exclusive - there's a big McDonalds opposite), I was relieved not to see a queue outside (particularly as you can't book a table for less than 6 people). In fact, the wait for a table was only around 5 minutes (more than acceptable), and I was delighted that we were led to a table upstairs which was far more spacious and impressive than the rather cramped downstairs eating area. The circular room, overlooking the river, with views into the kitchen and very high ceilings, felt modern and relaxed, and whilst there were some overly commercial traces of Jamie (ie displays of his books to purchase), there were others, such as the style of the specials board, that differentiated this place from other Italian chains - I'd been expecting something like the ubiqutous Carluccios for example, but this place felt distinct and somehow a bit more special. In the summer al fresco dining is possible on the balcony - I made a mental note and hoped the meal was going to be good, so that I could return on a balmy summer evening.

Birthday rules make cocktails the drink of choice. Only a small selection existed but I was suitably impressed by my Rossini, which was served with a strawberry layer at the bottom of the glass of Prosecco, which when stirred became a hot pink colour and tasted divinely fruity and bubbly. Starters were ordered (the freshly baked 'top italian bread' selection, and a vegetable antipasti 'plank').

The breads arrived rapidly, and the conical presentation was quite wonderful. Composed of foccacia brushed with a tiny smidgen of garlicy, herby goodness, and crispy flat bread, and sourdough, I struggled not to devour it all at once, even though there was no sign of the antipasti. Two tins of italian chopped tomatoes had for some reason appeared on the table. Slightly odd free gifts perhaps? David was brave enough to ask of their significance, and we were told the 'plank' of antipasti would rest on them. All fair and good, but the novelty was lost by the antipasti not arriving for a good 15-20 minutes after the tins.

But when they did arrive, they were exciting and artful and very gratefully received. The presentation again was perfect, and our plank boasted chargilled marinaded vegatables, a teeny tiny ball of buffalo mozzarello, pecorino with chilli jam, crunchy italian coldslaw, olives and an aubergine caponata. All tasty tiny bites, and I was pleased with the variety and quality.

Appetites whet, we were ready for mains, and they arrived in a suitably timely manner. My concerns about small portions appeared entirely unfounded, as we were both presented with huge plates of freshly made on the premises, pasta. We'd both believed David's Rabbit Ragu Parpadelle was going to be of the tomatoey variety, but instead it was of a creamier variety, with lovely warma and comforting herby flavours. I hadn't felt very adventurous, and had opted simply for the 'Beautiful Bucatini Carbonara'. The thick tubes of pasta were perfect for soaking up the sauce, and the leeks were a lovely addition to the dish.

Utterly stuffed, there was space for neither dessert nor coffee (especially as we had plans to spend the rest of the afternoon in Reading's fantastic real ale pub - The Nags Head), so we ended the meal feeling service and value rated pretty highly (and the toilets were also very swish). We'd enjoyed not feeling at all rushed, especially somewhere so popular, and we had enjoyed everything we'd eaten, and felt it really was quite different to the Italian chains on the high street.

Utterly bizarrely, as we left I took a couple of pictures of the outside of the restuarant. Almost immediately a security guard from the Oracle informed me in no uncertain terms that the shopping area I was in was private property, and the photos I'd taken were therefore the property of the Oracle. World gone mad indeed. We left the consumer madness of said shopping centre and continued the wonderfulness of my birthday afternoon at The Nag's Head with a huge selection of real ales and ciders (including some brilliant ones from Mr Whitehead) along with some Connect 4. Who would have thought there was so much fun to be had in Reading?

A Fluid State 2010 (02-05 Dec 2010. London)

2011-01-09T12:41:00.000Z

A host of King's Brambling cocktails

It was an exceptionally cold evening. Trudging around the Liverpool Street area looking for the secret location of ‘A Fluid State,’ I wondered where I was going to hide my wellies and surplus layers at what I suspected would be an uber trendy event.

In a move that highlighted my inability to be fashionably late, we were one of the first people to walk into the industrial 8,000sqft space which hosted this more-drinky-than-foody-festival. Unsure of what to expect, given that the website had rather obliquely described ‘Experiences’ and Art, I gratefully stashed all my surplus clothing into the cloakroom and enjoyed the efforts made by the organisers to transform the ticket desk into a 60s style airline. We were greeted by the air hostesses in gold lamé outfits, presenting us with 'passports' and boarding passes for our ‘flights’. Any sense of incredulity was swept away by our welcome cocktail –‘King’s Brambling’ – a fruity concoction (lime, blackberries and apple juice), with a kick of ginger liqueur (The King’s Ginger). I love ginger, and this boozy start was a sign of things to come...

Cactus Smoothies & Cherry Bomb Smoothies

We found ourselves in ‘The Garden of Eden’ the first of our ‘Experiences’. Still clutching our cocktails we welcomed a sample of soup from Crussh and chatted to the MD (Christopher Fung), who enlightened us as to the company’s philiosophy. We also marvelled at the bravery of a scantily-clad ‘Eve’ (brave not only because of the freezing temperatures, but also because of the snake she had draped around her), and at a beautiful tree of forbidden fruit- dehydrated apples, which were shrunken but so sweet and fruity that the powder dry texture remained delicious, coated in a thick layer of dark chocolate.

Forbidden Fruit

The flight worked as follows: there were three elements to each experience - like three courses. The first was an Ocho Blanco Tequila Cactus Smoothie; green and mild, almost like you might expect a courgette to taste like if it was smoothified. It was infused with a 'kiwi and starfruit jerky'! The tequila wasn’t strong, but I began to worry about the mixing that was going on drinkwise as we sampled the next drink/sweet combo, the Bourbon Acai Cherry Bomb with dark chocolate ganache by Damian Allsop. The dark chocolate and rich, sweet boozy cherry flavour was fantastic together. Allsop’s theory is that chocolate should be made with water and not cream, thereby creating a flavour more pure than others. The final course was the one that felt like dessert – an organic sorbet of wheatgrass (which was green and light) with a crispy, biscuity tuile of bees pollen (you could see tiny dark orange flecks on the tulle) served with more Kings Ginger Liqueur. Delicious!

After the ethereal nature of the Garden of Eden, it was time for something darker and more substantial. The ‘Twilight Hours’ proved a welcome contrast in terms of atmosphere, but the glamour of the evening continued as we were served Louis Roederer champagne, before entering a secret chamber, inhabited by irreverent monks. We were seated at tiny tables, and each encouraged to don hoods (conveniently sewn into the walls above our heads) and confess our sins. We were then served a deliciously dark Meantime London Porter which was the perfect accompaniment to the hearty Game Stew that followed. The brief sit-down meal, in what felt like a dark and secret small space, was a welcome change to the normal food festival nibbling that we’d been in indulging in.

Fantasy Island: Preparing the Dragon's Breath Popcorn

Then time for a complete change as we entered the kitsch ‘Fantasy Island’ area. Performers, lurid colours and green screen technology were just a minor distraction from the genius of the deconstructed pina colada cocktails on offer (it made my mind boggle, but Spherification was involved, and the result was amazing). The sense of wonder that accompanied ‘Dragon’s Breath’ popcorn (served with liquid nitrogen), Pink Pigeon rum and pineapple crisps left us wandering out of the area in a bit of a daze. A hungry daze…

Deconstructed Pina Coladas (and the joy of spherification)!

Scotch Egg Joy

As we stumbled back into the cold London night we reflected on an evening which had been an experience quite unlike any other. Pricey – around £54 in total for the entry ticket and the three experiences, we felt it entirely worth the money given the quality, innovation and artistry involved in everything that we’d sampled. Having never experienced a food or drink event which was this imaginative or special, this is highly recommended, and we will most definitely be returning next year!

The final area we visited (we left out one area – ‘The Palm Upper East Side’- the Mad Men inspired gin bar having imbibed far more alcohol that food already) was the least visually exciting, but promised the most substantial food offerings. Alcohol, however, was still the primary focus of this experience. Entitled ‘The Reconciliation’, this was a tequila tasting zone, but each tasting was paired with a tapas sized tasty morsel. The first sample was Heradura Reposada Tequila matched with a light and beautifully citrusy seabass ceviche. It was easily the most delicious savory bite of the evening so far. More substaintial and much appreciated was the second dish of chilli, coriander and lime scotch egg created by Eat My Pies. Beautifully presented and with a lovely consistency, this wasn’t spicy, but lovely salty and comforting food with more Ocho Blanco tequila. Finally, a dessert, a chocolate tequila slammer with more Damian Allsop chocolate – blissful!

Wheatgrass Sorbet with Bees Pollen and Tequila

Oval Lounge, 24 Clapham Road, The Oval, Kennington, London, SW9 0JG

2011-01-08T22:27:00.004Z

1st January 2011. I woke up face-down on an airbed under a huge christmas tree in Amie's living room, after a night of New Year's Eve perfection (dinner, bubbly, london fireworks, extreme booze-fuelled boardgame competitiveness) with just one thought...an extreme desire for that classiest of hangover-busting breakfasts, EGGS BENEDICT.

Blindly reaching for my blackberry, I googled 'Eggs Benedict Oval London', found the Oval Lounge's website, and promptly fell back asleep (at this point, hours of sleep had totalled around 4, and there was no chance that my hangover addled brain would be able to develop any sort of plan to find a specific pre-planned breakfast venue).

Hours later, venturing outside and back home in state of dazed new year bafflement, myself and the boy decided the best plan of action was to head home and stop at any breakfast serving establishment that came our way. Realising we had a wait for our bus, we decided to walk round the corner of Oval station to see if there were any suitable breakfast places.

Seconds away from giving up when we passed place after shut place, I had a sign... Quite literally, a sandwich board sign. The boy hadn't yet spotted it, but like a woman on a breakfast mission, I power-walked towards it.

There's nothing quite like the unexpected joy of finding the exact type of venue you had in mind! The Oval Lounge was perfect. We made a bee line for the comfy sofas, and very much appreciated the chilled out music and relaxed atmosphere. The breakfast menu wasn't vast, yet boasted a healthy option, a full english option, a veggie option and, AN EGGS BENEDICT OPTION, served with toasted buttered english muffins, hollandaise sauce and a choice of ham, crispy bacon, or spinach.

What Joy! The eggs were perfect - soft and runny yolks with hot crispy, salty bacon and fluffy buttery muffins. Also served with divinely juicy mushrooms and respectable tomatoes and enjoyed with freshly squeezed orange-juice, I was convinced that 2011 was going to be a good one!

Come Dine with Amie: An Autumn Evening in Paris, 30th October 2010.

2010-11-21T22:58:00.000Z

I have a terrible sense of direction, and a memory that is becoming as bad. I knocked on a door, and found myself being ushered into a party, and had to shout ‘I’m at the wrong house! Sorry!’ before running next door to Amie’s. It was the night before Halloween but our evening was going to be far more sophisticated; a French-themed fourth instalment of our Come Dine with Me competition.

The kitchen was warm and full of tempting aromas. The lovely hostess was gorgeously attired and incredibly calm. I was the first to arrive…or so I thought until surprise guest, (the seldom seen) Mish descended the stairs! With Amie’s two housemates also joining us, Amie was cooking for 10! I’d struggled to cook for 8 people, so I was astounded by her calm demeanour as she was cooking for the largest number of guests so far in the competition.

The table was of course beautiful, and contained what has become the CDWM staple - sparkly table confetti. But there was more than just sparkly stuff on the tables…olives and marinated artichokes too – I hoped the others would turn up soon! The promise of a feast was making me hungry!

Eventually the other guests arrived and we enjoyed our aperitifs (bubbly enhanced with crème de cassis) before taking our seats and taking part in the ritual of reading the menu.

Amie had created not one, but two menus! One entirely translated into French! We were invited to ‘Come Dine With (A)mi(e)’, and enjoy an ‘Autumn Evening in Paris’.

We had a selection of hors d’oeuvres to start – saucisson, pate (home made by Amie’s uncle in France), and towers of French toast, with a tomato salad, along with the yummy olives and artichokes which had marinated nicely.

So far so good, but I was somewhat filled with trepidation at reading the next item on the menu….

I’d never eaten snails before. If offered to me at a restaurant I’d politely but firmly decline. But hey, this was Come Dine With Me and everything had to be sampled for the good of the competition. Armed with only cocktail sticks, we tried our best to skewer the elusive snails inside the shells and very thankfully they tasted good! The garlic, parsley and butter sauce was actually quite heavenly – I love garlic, and was particularly good when mopped up with the crusty bread.

We were certainly in need of a palate cleanser after all the garlic and a lemon, lime, mint and gin sorbet did the trick. The serving was huge and left our mouths feeling lemony fresh, (leading to some awfully low quality humour about cleaning products).

But enough of that – it was time for mains! Chicken Chasseur in a mushroom and red wine sauce, with French beans and an absolutely indulgent creamy potato gratin. We were quietly told that this dish actually originated from Amie’s (welsh) grandmother, but it was most definitely sophisticated and accomplished enough to pass for French!

Photo by Jerome Taylor (of course!)

It wouldn’t be a French meal without a plateau de fromages though, and the even though we’d stuffed ourselves, we soon cleaned the cheese board. Amie had sourced a particularly lovely selection – the brie stands out in my memory, but I remember enjoying it all.

Somehow, we still had space for dessert – and I’m so glad we did as it was an extravagant one! Orange and ricotta cheesecake with a chocolate base, and I have to say the BEST meringues in the world! A last minute addition (they weren’t even on the menu), these were incredible – firm but slightly soft and squidgy on the inside – I’d never had any that good before!

Another photo from Jerome - many thanks!

All good things must come to an end, and very finally was home-made coffee ice-cream. I don’t drink actual coffee, but this was perfect – it was an intense hit of coffee flavour, but cold and milky and sweet and the ideal thing to end the feasting.

The evening, in true CDWM style, carried on until the early hours (we even utilised the extra hour that accompanied that night’s move back to GMT) with much noise and laughter. As I finally fell into bed (I’d been partially wearing my pyjamas for about 4 hours at this point), I was almost sad that we were nearly at the end of our competition, where we’d been treated to home cooked feasts that had all been put together with endless amounts of effort, attention to detail and innovation) but one final meal remains, (and very best of luck to them – the standard remains impeccably high!)

Come Dine with Sofia and Jerome: A Taste of the Orient. August 14, 2010

2010-10-29T00:21:00.002+01:00

This rather great photo was taken by our lovely hosts,

Uncharacteristically late, flustered and still clutching an umbrella despite the sweltering humidity, I found myself swept into a circle of champagne clinking, as I arrived at the third instalment of our Come Dine with Me competition. The bubbly presented in neon pink flutes, perfectly matched our hostess’ dress, and immediately set the tone of what was to be an evening filled with fantastical food, frivolous drink and frequent posing for the camera.

Fia and J, exuded nothing but calm as we took our seats at the beautifully decorated table and examined our elaborate menus with joy, (well…those of us who’d already taken our turns to host the competition were gleeful. The others felt competitive fear. Extreme competitive fear). Being one of the former group, I was astounded by the variety and culinary confidence promised by the 7 course oriental extravaganza promised by the menu. As well as being extensive, the menu was decorated with Chinese symbols, that literally translated into ‘food, glorious, food’ (well, ‘food’, ‘glory’,’ food’ - but you get the idea).

My stomach was rumbling, so thankfully there wasn’t long at all to wait for the first of our three (!!) starters; Vietnamese prawn summer rolls (goi cuon nuoc chan), served with chilli dipping sauce. These entirely reworked my preconception of ‘spring rolls’ and their deep-fried oily nature, as these ‘summer rolls’ were made of rice paper so thin it was almost translucent and didn’t require any cooking (therefore served at room temperature making them an ideally refreshing dish in the unexpectedly warm weather). Cool and crunchy as they were, the flavour was spot on, and accentuated by the kick of a glorious chill sauce (which was also very artistically presented).

Our appetites whet, we were soon ready for the second starter of a hot and sour thai soup (tom yam aed), with large chunks of oyster mushroom. These mushrooms were amazing - intensely velvety, soaking up the strong flavours – real lip smacking goodness. The ingredients had been sourced from authentic asian supermarkets, and it showed as each dish was truly singing with flavour. This continued into the third and perhaps my favourite starter (if I had to choose a favourite – I’d loved everything so far), the ‘yum wun sen sai mu’ (a Thai glass noodle salad with pork), served with ‘Bejing Bellini’! I’d worried that post-soup my appetite might not be ready for a third starter but the delicacy of the glass noodles, combined with the meaty juicyness of the minced pork, was heavenly, and we couldn’t help but devour it all.

We were certainly ready for our palate cleanser by this point. But this was no -neutral-and-not-all-that-exciting-sign-of-slight –pretension-palate-cleanser... Oh no: this was a sorbet. A GIN AND TONIC SORBET! What an utterly genius idea (and surely the only way to make a G&T even better)! Served daintily in shot glasses, we raucously demanded more of this heavenly creation! Made with an ice-cream maker this was a wonderfully boozy but refreshing and tangy slush-puppy of a drink. We consumed copious amounts increasing merriment, hilarity and hangovers the next morning.

After some silliness, posing and rapping, it was time for the main course – a Sumatran lamb curry had been promised. Being Indian, my idea of a curry is a distinctly sauce-y affair. But this was entirely different! The lamb had been slow roasted to melt-in-the-mouth perfection and served shredded, without sauce but still juicy. A wondrous concoction when served with pretty mounds of jasmine rice with a star-anise daintily placed on top. Once again, our plates were soon empty as we marvelled at the deliciousness of all we’d eaten so far.

Yet, still there was more! Dessert – Sofia’s speciality – was spectacular! Individual spongy chocolate spongy fondants were served hot, oozing with melting chocolate so intense that the cooling (home made) green tea ice-cream was a real pleasure to eat with it (who doesn’t love the hot/cold dessert combination)? If possible - it tasted even better than it looked.

A pomegranate gin cocktail was followed by yet more G&T sorbet as the evening took a decidedly more hazy boozy turn, complete with much photo-posing, uber-competitive ‘Articulate’, and just as competitive ‘Singstar’. Somewhere amongst the late night singing we took time to record our video diaries and score our hosts on their evening. Whilst I can’t reveal my score just yet, I really truly was astounded at how every single dish was beautifully presented, inventive and most importantly bursting with flavour. I’m really really hoping that they cook for me again…

The Bathhouse, 7-8 Bishopsgate Churchyard, London, EC2M 3TJ

2010-07-03T14:54:00.000+01:00

Sometimes it’s easy to miss things so incongruous that they should stand out a mile away. At least, that’s how justify my managing to complete a full circuit round Old Broad Street, Liverpool Street Station and Bishopsgate without spotting the compact Victorian Turkish bathhouse building in the centre of a courtyard of high rise offices. Filled with City workers enjoying the last of the Friday evening sunshine, the pretty, mosaic covered exterior of The Bathhouse looked worryingly tiny. However, once down a spiral staircase where the gorgeously ornate dining room was surprisingly expansive. As my eyes slowly adjusted to the sudden lack of light, I could appreciate the room sumptuously decked out in dark flocked wallpaper, with dramatic red velvet drapes and tables filled with candlesticks. The polished marble floors and almost secret underground location made for a welcome escape from the heat and crowds outside.

A club and venue (music, DJ Sets, burlesque shows) on various other nights of the week, during our Friday night visit The Bathhouse was in dedicated restaurant mode, although we admired the ‘Golden Birdcage’ DJ booth behind our table. Classical music and candlelight made for a romantic atmosphere, (although I did feel the prettiness of the surroundings would have been lost on a boy).

As I’m fairly easily excited by quirks and attention to detail, I was quite delighted to find our menus were folded and sealed with candlewax, and our wine list was found within the pages of an aged encyclopaedia (sharing pages with medical diagrams and pictures of weapons – cool huh?).

The menu looked exciting, with organic produce from British suppliers, which was impressive – especially for a place where there was a risk that they’d be more focused on the entertainment side of things rather than the food. Service was also notably friendly, which might not be expected as such a trendy venue.

Starters of ‘Crab & smoked haddock cakes with baby watercress and a quenelle of tartar cream’ and ‘Breaded Camembert with dressed baby leaves and raspberry conserve’, were flavoursome, of a good size, and particularly notable for the quality of the extremely posh tartar sauce (although I’m still not sure exactly what a quenelle is).

Kathleen’s main course ‘Confit of Middle White pork belly, served with a veal bone marrow risotto & crackling’ sounded brilliant (although, as someone who’s not meant to eat beef, I though veal bone marrow was more guilt than I would be able to handle), so I opted for the ‘Coq au Riesling, free range British chicken cooked in a Riesling white wine sauce with baby onions & smoked pancetta, served with sourdough’.

The slow-cooked chicken bathing in the boozy sauces with the salty pancetta made for a satisfyingly comforting main course. Kathleen revelled in the meatiness of her risotto and the crispness of the crackling. Portions were large, and we were perhaps wondering whether these were the most suitable dishes for a hot summer evening.

Thankfully, although we were feeling well fed, neither of us believed that would justify skipping dessert. Eton Mess (with popping candy), chocolate pot with home made shortbread, Elderflower and prosecco martini jelly, were all worthy contenders. However, filled with delusions that Earl Grey panacotta with Kendal Mint cake would be a light and palate cleansing dessert option, we both chose it. Whilst sadly there was very little bergamot flavour coming through, the creamy panacotta was well accompanied by the silvers of the mint cake, although light it certainly was not, and I was defeated even by the innocuously small looking portion.

Fairly pricey under normal circumstances, my Gourmet Society card gave us 50% off the food making it really quite reasonable. The waitress apologised that service hadn’t been super speedy, but we’d actually found it to be a perfect pace. The toilets were decorated in a slightly risqué manner (not a bad thing), and the ambience was great – plenty of diners without it feeling frantic or feeling like we were packed in too closely together.

A definite success and a definite recommendation. I imagine it’s difficult to get in when it is in club/gig mode (the bouncers on the door as we left indicated that), but for Friday evening dinner, it felt like a beautiful and successfully quirky place quite different to what you might expect in the City.

The Pineapple, Lake End Road, Dorney, Bucks, SL4 6QS

2010-06-24T23:27:00.002+01:00

Beautiful weather and many weeks of hard work, called for a well deserved lunch-time escape to the village of Dorney. Although Dorney is home to a manor house, a rowing lake (a venue for the 2012 Olympics), and the first pineapple grown in England, in the eyes of the hungry folk who work round this way, it is most importantly home to sandwiches of IMMENSE proportions at The Pineapple pub.

Immense isn't a word I'm using lightly... it applies to the gigantic size of the sandwiches, the generosity and quality of the fillings, and perhaps most of all, the choice. Lunch here is such a ritual for anyone working in the area, just about every person in our office has a menu saved somewhere on their desktop. And for good reason. Each trip is preceded by much deliberation pouring over the menu (sometimes for hours, or even sleeping on it before making a final decision), as the menu is extensive. The imaginative menu of almost 80 selections, extends into around 400 different options as each can be served on "crusty white bloomer, wholegrain brown, toasted bagel, tortilla wrap or french baguette" and then technically into over different 1000 variations as each can be served with chunky chips, soup or salad. Always generously filled (for example with substantial slices of just-roasted meats), it's a fine art to construct an option that won't be so huge it defeats you (although, if it does, they will obligingly pack it up for you to take away).

Understandably, there is a downside. Options inevitably lead to much time between ordering and eating. But this is ok, as whether it's a group of 12 or a group of 2, you can phone in orders before 11am, and spare the lengthy wait.

My love of beer gardens is well documented on these pages, and The Pineapple has an enviable one (which appears to be recently revamped). A bit of a sun trap, it's quite a delight even when one considers the proximity of the main road. With plenty of tables it is always a far better option than sitting indoors during a busy lunch service, as although the pub has character, it often feels cramped rather than cosy.

We enjoyed some beautiful sunshine out on the decked area of the garden today. Being experts at dining at The Pineapple we were there early to beat the crowds, and we'd of course pre-ordered. Some dishes, such as The Screaming Banger (sausages and chilli relish) or The Christmas Dinner, are best enjoyed on hugely thick slabs of bread. However, a bagel or a wrap, whilst perhaps seen as a bit of a cop-out, are good for The BBC (Bacon, brie, cranberry), or the Smokey Blue Mountain (bacon, blue cheese and leafy salad). The advantage of wraps, are that they leave space to enjoy the satisfyingly chunky chips, so even though Sharon was fondly remembering the Fisherman's Friend (fishfingers and tartar sauce), wraps were quite literally the order of the day.

'By the Bayou' was a previously untried choice for me, and I was pleasantly surprised. 'Blackened' chicken was thankfully not charred, but had a Cajun seasoning that wasn't overpowering, but with a good kick, tempered by a honey mustard dressing, which wasn't too sweet on account of the leafy salad and the spicy chicken, but was a little too much in Sharon's Chicken Licken (but she reported the avocado to be a good addition).

We had in summation, a really lovely lunch (and even though we split a portion of chips and a portion of salad between us, we didn't manage to finish either - with a fixed price of about £7 for a main course this is pretty great value if you go for the giant sandwich option). Despite it only being a Thursday the indoors and outdoors soon filled up, so it is worth noting that arriving early can dramatically improve your dining experience. The car park is always overflowing, but parking can always be found on the road, or in the small (free) car park by the Jubilee River, just about 100 yards down the road from the pub. The toilets could definitely do with a revamp, and this isn't always a great place to visit in winter in a large group, but for a relaxed summer afternoon, it is pretty great and definitely worth a visit.

(To preorder or reserve a table, call The Pineapple on 01628 662353. Lake End Road, Dorney, Bucks, SL4 6QS)

Cake Glorious Cake! (The Beeches Cafe, Burnham Beeches).

2010-06-17T00:09:00.003+01:00

I love cake perhaps more than I love anything else...

This interest stems perhaps from my student days in Durham, where truly awe-inspiring mammoth cakes of infinite variety were served up in giant slabs at Cafe Continental, and where cosy Wednesday afternoons disappeared a haze of tea and cakes in Vennel's. Cake always succeeded in soothing our (constantly hungry) souls when faced with night after night of seriously disappointing College Food.

There's no time I crave tea and cake more than Sunday late afternoons (almost exactly from the point at which all shops close, making cake difficult to procure, especially when my baking skills leave a great deal to be desired).

But, I no longer need to worry! I have found a place! A place that can give me a glorious cake fix, as late as 6pm on a Sunday!

It's hard not to like Burnham Beeches (especially when you live as close to it as I do). Despite being owned by the ominous sounding 'Corporation of London' it's really lovely woodland area. Visiting late on a sunny Sunday afternoon, you can have the place mostly to yourself (and a few squirrels and the odd bunny rabbit in clearings that would make amazing picnic spots).

But really, the main reason to visit, is for the Beeches Cafe. Whilst Sharon's extolled the pleasures to be found in their flapjack, on each visit, I've been unable to pay any attention to anything but the small variety of ever changing, wonderful looking home made cakes! On the last visit Coffee and Walnut cake ruled supreme - this visit the choice was between an elegant iced cake, a sumptuously sticky looking tower of zesty lemon cakes, or, the choice I finally made of the carrot cake beauty below.

It was everything you could desire from a cake. Moist and light. Lovely nutty texture. Icing that was the perfect balance between sweet and tangy. Blissful, and bargainous at only £1.90 for each generous slice.

The cafe itself serves from a hut in the centre of an open grassy area with outdoor seating - perfect for catching the late afternoon sun.

Highly recommended!

Come Dine With Me 2010: Part 2. Ushi's Sloughdog Millionaire Dinner

2010-06-04T23:03:00.062+01:00

Photos by Jerome Taylor

I’d been putting it off for weeks. I’d delayed on setting a date, being somewhat intimidated by the prowess of the first hosts during the first instalment of our Come Dine With Me competition, and I was rather distracted by the looming deadline of my 15,000 word dissertation (hence the lack of blog posts in April and most of May 2010). I had a vague idea of the menu – it had been established early on that I’d be cooking Indian food, being the only type of food I could possibly cook more impressively than my talented friends, but I had no theme or plans for entertainment.

I had a vaguely advantageous situation as I’d convinced everyone to stay over at mine after the meal, hence could utilise the ‘get everyone too hammered to criticize’ game plan! I sought inspiration in the Pornstar Martinis discovered in Rotterdam, although I decided to re-invent them as martinis of the ‘Bollywood Star’ variety.

Inspiration along these lines, came only four days before the event itself. A recent visit to Slough Museum, combined with a re-watching of The Office had left me feeling much pride in the town I’d been living in for the last 9 months. So a Slough theme appealed, but I couldn’t think of a way to combine it with the Indian Menu, until inspiration hit…’Sloughdog Millionaire.’ A theme that was partly Bollywood, partly rejoicing in Slough (by virtue of being held there), and with some ‘Millionaire’ game show entertainment. Sorted. I sent out email invitations with mocked up Slumdog Millionaire posters which were received with some amusement (rather than ‘bemusement’ I hope) - no one even noticed I’d missed the ‘g’ out of ‘Slough’.

My main course and dessert I’d been testing on a number of guests over the previous few months, so I felt pretty confident with my chicken curry and vegetable rice with cucumber raita. My dessert – individual Baileys tiramisu wasn’t bad, but previous incarnations hadn’t been quite right in terms of cream and liquid and biscuit ratio. I had however sourced better receptacles for the individual desserts, and taken on board Sharon’s advice on soaking the biscuit fingers until they were oversaturated with liquid, and thinned out the layer of mascarpone and Baileys infused cream, so I was hopeful that these would turn out well. Previously I’d made them without any drama, but making eight of the things the night before, proved to be far more fiddly and tricky than I’d anticipated…a job I expected to take an hour at most, turned into three…

Cooking the chicken curry involved having to use my parents’ kitchen, a 7am start and the biggest steel pot and spoon I’ve ever seen (my mother never ceases to amaze me when she produces ridiculously gargantuan cooking implements out of nowhere). It was a great help though, and ensured good mixing of all the spices (fresh chilli, ginger and garlic green paste is the secret, as well as cloves and cinnamon sticks when you start cooking).

As I was hosting on my own, I’d been granted special dispensation from the group to enlist some help in the cooking. Whilst I’d been faffing around with the tiramisu for hours on the previous evening, my mum had made the samosas to accompany my Bollywood Star Martini starter. I was massively thankful as I battled with a vegetable curry – Aloo Gobi (potato and cauliflower curry), as well as an apple and coriander chutney for the samosas and the cucumber raita. Rice would be made after the starters were served.

Another challenge was seating – given I can normally only seat three. I was counting on borrowing a folding table from my parents that, was until the morning of the meal, as good as mythical. I’d never actually seen it before and there were mutterings from my dad and sister that it was broken. I finally saw it just a few hours before the guests arrived - massively relieved that it was fairly study and of a good size, (and there’s nothing like some heavy duty tape to stick a slightly broken table back together).

The food was mostly cooked by early afternoon, and I quickly prepared my menus – on individual red crepe paper scrolls tied with silver ribbon. Not as hand drawn or as beautiful as the previous dinner, but not bad for a last minute job.

Then to decorate the table – my tour de force was my Bollywoodised Place Names – Greg Rukh Khan, Salman Khan Foley, Kajol Jayasinghe, Aishwarya Aldred, Amitabh Taylor Buchan, Sofia Mitra Mukerjee, Preity Amie Zinta would be joining me, Madushi Dixit, for dinner. Flowers, menus, candle sticks, tea lights, sparkly table confetti and a little pot of bubbles each, made for a fairly crowded table, (and a slightly drunken, but luckily not too destructive table fire later on in the evening).

The full menu (complete with Bollywood film style Acts and Intervals) was presented as follows:

Act 1

Pink champagne on the Veranda

Bollywood Star Martini with Samosas

Act 2

Chicken Curry with Vegetable Rice

Aloo Gobi

Cucumber Raita

Chapattis & Naan Bread

Interval

Act 3

Individual Baileys Tiramisu

Chai

I’d covered the walls in saris, put songs from the emotion-fest that is bollywood film Khabbie Kushie Khabbie Gham on the DVD player, and I’d prepared Who want to be a Millionaire style multiple choice questions about my guests. Literally an hour before the guests arrived, I’d spotted a ‘Millionaire’ board game in the charity shop across the road, for a princely sum of £2. Theme sorted!

The guests arrived and pink champagne was calmly served (champagne flutes began the great use every type of glass possible mission). Guests took their seats, blowing bubbles and comparing whose Bollywood names whilst I got the Bollywood Star Martinis ready.

Passion fruit and mango juice, much vodka and gin, sugar, ice and passion fruit seeds, served with a separate shot of cava. I had lovely martini glasses for the girls and manly tumblers for the boys (made slightly less manly by neon squiggly straws), and shot glasses all the way from Uzbekistan. Samosas accompanied the drink along with an individual serving of the chutney. Much topping up of drinks, quickly bought with it a genial and slightly burry atmosphere. As a result, cooking vegetable rice and some token chapattis for the main course, was a challenge too far, so I went for straightforward plain rice instead and naan bread (and hoped no one would notice).

Serving up the main course with rice in little mounds, chicken curry in small bowls and individual ramekins of cucumber raita, didn’t leave much room for the Aloo Gobi, and left me thinking I’d taken the ‘individual’ thing a step too far.

The small napkin/candle table fire was luckily moved from table to sink without catching fire to the saris on the wall. Post meal silliness involved my personalised ‘millionaire’ questions, more bubble blowing and a new game…Face Table. All you need to play is sparkly table confetti, a slightly moist face, and a table!

Photos by Jerome Taylor
Dessert went down well – the tiramisu turned out far better on this occasion than ever before to my delight! Chai (Indian tea) which I’d only really made once before that morning (my parents were guinea pigs), had been greeted with enthusiasm when the guests first saw the menu, and I was relieved that I hadn’t offered a choice of various post dinner hot beverages, as by this point in the evening, simplicity was by far the best plan.

The evening continued for many more hours in a similarly entertaining fashion. I’d surprisingly stopped caring about winning quite early on the evening, as just having pulled off the evening without any disasters, and with appreciative guests, seemed like a brilliant thing to have accomplished. I recorded a witty and erudite video diary entry on my view of the evening, to find at 2am when I was in my pyjamas and far worse for wear, that none of the recording had actually worked, and that we’d need to re-record all our thoughts. So the actual video (when we finally see them all after the last meal we have), will consist of my drunken incoherent mumblings about how I’m now too old to not be in pyjamas at 2am. Fitting I think.

(Many thanks to Jerome Taylor for his beautiful photos).

The White Horse, Village Road, Hedgerley, SL2 3UY

2010-05-31T21:56:00.020+01:00

I'm amazed I'd not written about The White Horse until now. Originally a Beer in the Evening find, it's my most favourite (relatively local) drinkery, and the place where I take all my distinguished visitors, in order to counteract the smokestacks and trading estate view from my flat. True to form, I whisked Laura from Slough Rail Station to the gorgeously rural village of Hedgerley.

From the moment we headed up 'One Pin Lane', and took delight at 'Christmas Lane', Laura expressed incredulous shock at the opulent houses and lush greenery - Toto I have a feeling we're not in Slough anymore...

Village Road itself is exactly how you'd imagine it - flanked by fields and a tiny church - we parked a short walk away, and found we weren't the only ones walking the final few yards to The White Horse (it's always busy- I've never attempted to squeeze into the car park). The timber-thatched building dates back to 1679, with nothing incongruously modern in the decor. Always busy, this is everyone's favourite pub. Two bar areas (one so tiny, I've frequently had to sit in the fireplace cubbyhole -see picture below courtesy of Lee on a previous visit), and a wonderful rambly garden, makes this place a delight.

The winner of many a Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) award, it boasts an immensely wide ranging selection of booze - from the aforementioned real ale, to properly potent cider, to a selection of Belgian Bottled Beers so large it's presented to those who ask, in a ring-binder.

But my visit with Laura, was no normal day. The sun was shining to herald not only the start of the Bank Holiday Weekend, but also the 18th Annual White Horse May Bank Holiday Beer Festival, as we discovered with delight as we walked into the beer garden.

Although not yet 6pm on Friday, the large garden was full of relaxed drinkers, taking advantage of the huge bar tent serving 100s of beers - the atmosphere very much like we were in the garden of a friend. We found a quiet spot upon the steps of the children's playhouse, got ourselves a suitably frivolous raspberry beer and basked in the sun... Fruitily, frothily, delicious we marvelled at our good luck.

The Cricketers, Coronation Road, Littlewick Green, Maidenhead, SL6 3RA

2010-03-22T23:27:00.005Z

It was dark. Whilst we could see a distant glimmer of a pub upon a village green, finding the road by which to reach it was a little more challenging. Once parked outside, I was pleasantly surprised by the bustle of people inside. As much as I love the Beer in the Evening website, the last Sunday night pub it led us to managed to be simultaneously hostile and empty. The Cricketers looked pretty from the outset (I imagined even more lovely in the summer when the green wasn't just a dark expanse), and once inside we were met with one of the friendliest and most chatty landlords experienced in a while, (how many times have you been entertained by an Alexander the Meerkat impression, by the person serving your drinks? And introduced to the selection of meerkat memorabilia behind the bar).

There was much in the way of Badger ales and slight touches of quirkiness in the knick-knacks dotted around the pub. Deep in conversation I didn't realise for a while that the crowd had disappated by about 9.30pm, and we were the only ones left (well, us and a couple of chubby birds...I'm sure they had lovely personalities):

I am quite a fan of slightly weird pubs (the appearance of the tiniest dogs in the world firmly put this pub in that category), particularly when they are friendly, old-fashioned and cosy as The Cricketers is. The toilets did let the side down somewhat- the Ladies are in definite need of a refurb, and I have it on good authority that there is a very unconventional colour scheme going on in the Gents. But hey, all good conversation topics! Didn't sample any food, but I hope to visit again and can highly recommend a visit.

Chez Marianne, 2 Rue des Hospitalières Saint-Gervais, 75004 Paris

2010-02-28T12:59:00.010Z

As a child I was frequently told off for being impatient. I still struggle with it. Waiting for a table isn't something I do well, particularly as was the case at Chez Marianne, when faced (quite literally) with an array of pastries (pictured below), just inches from my nose, on one side of the queue, and a counter of take-away falafel on the other.

We looked enviously onto those lucky enough to have tables in the tiny dining room, the walls filled from from floor to ceiling with wine bottles (is there a better way to decorate a room?), trying to spot the people nearing the end of their meal, mentally urging them to leave.

My resolve weakened a number of times, as I debated internally on the likelihood of whether the queue would operate in a fair and proper manner. About 15 minutes into our wait, I even suggested that maybe myself and Pam should cut our losses, and opt for takeaway falalel instead (we'd sampled the best takeaway falalels I'd ever had, just round the corner on a previous visit to the Jewish Quarter a couple of years ago). Pam assured me that I wouldn't want to miss the delights on offer at Chez Marianne, so stomach rumbling (my hunger slightly surprising given the huge freshly-baked crossiant (avec extra beurre) I'd had for breakfast just a couple of hours previously) I took a quick walk round the block in a hunt for a cash machine, in the gorgeously cold but sunny weather, in the hopes that we'd have a table by the time I returned.

A short while later, we were intriguingly tapped on the shoulder by a waiter who gestured that we should follow him outside. "Great" I thought. "We're being forcibly ejected for being too hungry looking."

But all was well! We followed him outside and were led to an entirely separate dining room a little further down the street - how wonderful! Busy but feeling more roomy. No wine bottles decorating the walls, but mandolins (not bad). The food is Middle Eastern/Jewish/Kosher and mezze seemed to be a fantastic plan for lunchtime.

The system was for a plate of 4, 5 or 6 mezze choices each (or 10 for two people sharing) from a list where everything sounded delicious.

Sadly they were out of mushrooms, but I was still very utterly delighted with my plate when it arrived. My choices: falafel (just fried, so wonderfully hot and crispy), hummous and tzatziki (a joy to eat with the hot flatbread) and heavenly aubergines. Pam's plate varied from mine slightly with her pastrami and feta options.

The huge portions meant that we struggled to finish the misleadingly named 'petit' plates, but also resulted in really very good value for money. There was no space at all for any desserts (especially as we knew we had an afternoon at a spa ahead of us), but my day had already been made, and I was most definitely in agreement that this had been well worth the wait.

Pornstar Martinis and other delightfuls - Level, Pannekoekstraat 76-A, Rotterdam

2010-02-27T00:55:00.004Z

Preparation...

The infamous 'Pornstar Martini' - gorgeous vanilla infused vodka, with passionfruit sours and vanilla syrup, served with a shot of prosecco. We had six.

Caipirinha (we had 5)

The 'Cookie Monster' - don't be fooled - it was very potent

Boozy blog post for you tonight...

Far too stylish for us, we soon scared off the few other Monday night drinkers with our noisy demands for Pina Coladas. Almost luckily, the lack of our usual team drink meant that we were able to sample a wide range of other boozy delights. Full cocktail menu here. Shulaika may not be able to return for a while, but I can highly recommend!

www.levelrotterdam.nl

Pannekoekstraat 76

A3011 LK Rotterdam,

Netherlands

Beijing Chinese Restaurant, 103 Old Wokingham Road, Crowthorne, RG45 6LH

2010-02-11T20:17:00.001Z

Open-ended plans often feature high levels of indecision. Luckily, due to a winning combination of well-reasoned logic, recommendation, proximity and hunger we found ourselves making a short walk to Crowthorne's 'Beijing' Chinese Restaurant.

Visiting someone's local favourite is always a good plan - for both good food and insider knowledge (Free takeaway delivery? Of course! However, as Sharon enlightened us, there's never a driver available to do the delivery!)

Whilst packed on Friday nights, we were almost the only diners on a Wednesday evening, but the atmosphere remained relaxed. Service was attentive and the menu was extensive. Whilst the 'Baked spare ribs - capital style' sounded like they were going to be a main meal of deep-fried joy, we opted for the less adventurous but very enjoyable spring rolls and satay chicken. All great, but really, there's just one dish I want to talk about - and disasterously, the picture I have of it just doesn't do it any justice, so I'll let you form a mental picture. Beautifully thin slivers of lamb marinaded in a sticky sauce with ginger, cooked to perfection which slightly crunchy spring onions and peppers. Utter deliciousness.

The staff were very sweet and eager to please - I asked for a take away menu and was given about 50. Upon hearing that one of our party wouldn't be taking a menu as she lived in The Netherlands, we found the waitress enthusing at length about how lovely tulips were. Which was quite endearing.

All in all - a brilliant discovery and the best lamb dish ever.

Maia Restaurant, 158 Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland

2010-02-10T22:09:00.004Z

The sun was shining in Dublin today, and unexpectedly there was time for a lovely lunch at Maia. Should you find yourself in the Ballsbridge area of the city I can strongly recommend a visit to this consistently good eatery. The food quality is brilliant - this feels like a place made for foodies (and they do a roaring trade in take away lunch options too, especially as they offer gourmet sandwiches and other options including soup and risotto). The restuarant was busy without being hectic, and the stylish and modern surroundings make for a lovely atmosphere. The menu (which is a mixture of cuisines) is varied and changes frequently - a delicious lunch menu was coupled with a range of pizzas. Joyce's 'Momma Maia' Pizza (above) was incredibly good - goat's cheese, pine nuts, basil and caremelised onions - sometimes a combination that is cloyingly sweet, but in this case it was slightly more savory, which worked perfectly. My own meal - chunky rigatoni with smoked chicken, sun dried tomatoes, peppers and pesto cream - was also very very tasty. Portions are huge - I expected to struggle to finish it but it tasted so good (and managed not to be too rich), I managed to polish off most of it! Good service and pretty good value for money - this is highly recommended!

Cake of the Day: Sharon's Soul Soothing Flapjack

2010-02-09T14:03:00.004Z

When times are sad, friends, flapjack and tea, help make things seem a little better.

Come Dine With Me 2010: Part 1: Alex and Jessica's Twisted Tea Party, Taggs Island

2010-02-08T20:30:00.013Z

I first came across Come Dine With Me in 2005 in my final few months as a student and was instantly taken by the concept. The programme's subsequent notioriety in the last few years, has spawned a phenomemon of competitive dinner partying amongst groups of friends, in the style of the TV format. My friends and I, 1) love our food, 2) love being on-trend and 3) love being competitive, therefore the idea that we should host our own competition in 2010 was a source of great excitement and anticipation.

The first of our five dinner parties (with 8 of us involved, we imagine this competition will take approximately a year to compete), was hosted by Alex and Jessica. Expectations were high - Alex has long been known as easily the most accomplished of the group in terms of his culinary skills, (in fact I would say he taught a number of us (me included) how to cook when we lived together as students), and Jess is one of the most creative people we know (she has fantastic ideas which she pulls off in a beautiful way). However, we'd almost been lulled into a false sense of security when we were emailed a relatively simple menu (distributing a menu in advance is one of the pre-requistes of the competition):

MENU

Starter- Chestnut Soup

Main Course- Butternut Squash & Goats Cheese Lasagne

Dessert- Lemon Meringue Pie

Dress Code- English Tea Party

It sounded simple - all dishes with mass appeal. I struggled to understand how an evening meal could be carried out in the style of an 'English tea party' but nonetheless, I was eagerly anticipating the evening. The location was also going to be idyllic - on a houseboat on the Thames near Hampton Court Palace.

I was first to arrive (apparently as predicted by our host and hostess). I was immediately struck by the gorgeousness of the elaborately laid table.

Attention to detail and beautiful presentation characterised the evening. As the other guests arrived we caught a glimpse of just some of the preparation (some very complicated looking checklists) that had gone into the (weeks) of planning for the evening. That was when the competitive among us began to worry...

Our fears for how high the bar had been set in terms of the competition felt completely justified as we each unrolled the individual scroll menu waiting for us on the table. It seemed that the previous menu, whilst technically correct, had acted as a decoy! The full menu was as follows:

Appetiser
Warm Gin Punch
Cucumber Sandwiches with Soy and Wasabi
Chestnut Soup with Bacon and Thyme Croutons

Palate Cleanser
Shots of White Russian and Bloody Mary

Main Course
Butternut Squash and Goats Cheese Lasagne
Leafy Salad with Rosemary Dressing
Fresh Bread Buns with Roasted Garlic Butter

Dessert
Individual Lemon Meringue Pies

Drinks and Petit Fours
Earl Grey with White Chocolate Strawberry
Coffee with Port and Stilton Truffle
Hot Chocolate with Home-made marshmallow
Jasmine Tea with Orangette

We were left open-mouthed in amazement and delight, as we sipped on our warm gin punch from beautiful china cups. Whilst we marvelled, yet another surprise - the unveiling of a special guest (the one and only Woo), who would provide the entertainment for the evening in the form of tricks and and fortune telling!

The cucumber sandwiches (crustless and triangular of course) were a perfect juxtaposition of daintiness with an intensely good wasabi kick (considerately served separately so that the wasabi could be added to each guest's individual taste). There was a short break whilst the croutons were prepared for the soup, but we were kept entertained by a puzzling Portuegese box game supplied by our entertainer Woo. The croutons were most definitely worth the wait - they made a very pleasant soup fantastic. The combination of bacon and thyme worked wonderfully with these crispy on the outside and squigy-in-the-middle cubes of fried bread in the chestnut soup. Many of us learned for the first time that chestnuts are available from supermarkets in tins. Truly, you learn something new every day!

We began to fear that we would be full before the main course arrived, but the miraculous effect of the palate cleansers appeared to remedy that. A creamy White Russian with a perfectly tangy Bloody Mary, served in polka-dot espresso cups and trendy test-tube style shot glasses respectively, created much delight and added to the atmosphere of merriment. (Suddenly the conversation seemed much more hillarious...)

Before we knew it, our stomachs were ready for the next installment of food - the main course: Jessica's Butternut Squash and Goats Cheese lasagne (originally Nigella's although she uses pumpkin), served with some much needed (to abate our feelings of gluttony) salad with wonderfully crunchy pinenuts.

We were utterly stuffed with wonderful food yet still not at the end of our meal! Thankfully our hosts had anticipated that a break would be appreciated at this point by their over-indulged guests and took the opportunity to prepare the meringue element of the dessert, whilst our fortune cookies were skillfully read to us in a comedically entertaining fashion.

As the delectable looking individual desserts were served (with candle adorned birthday versions for Alex and Amie), our delight was tempered with our competitive natures - others in the group had planned to employ the 'individual dessert' strategy after a strategic conversation with a friend in the catering industry!

We'd eaten so much, yet every ramekin was left empty as we savoured the perfect combination of pastry base, lemony filling and meringue.

The meal was still not over - we were intrigued as our after dinner hot drink order was taken, as Alex explained that each petit four had been specifically created and chosen to complement the hot drink chosen. We pondered for a moment...what if we all chose the same option? "Alex, do you actually mean to say you have created 36 of each of the petit fours?" we questioned incredulously. To which Alex responded with more than just slight hysteria in his voice, "Welcome to my world!"

Truly, this time Alex had surpassed himself. The strawberries had been dipped in a thick layer of white chocolate and chilled. The deeply chocolately truffles had the smallest hint of stilton adding to their luxurious flavour. The marshmallows were the first home-made variety I'd every experienced and were professionally light and fluffy. The orangette were tiny slivers of meticulously cooked and prepared orange peel dipped in dark chocolate. We helped ourselves to ample amounts of them all.

Finally, the wonderous feast was at an end. We slipped off to film our video diary responses and scores for the evening (which are not to be revealed until the very end of the competition). This really was one of the most amazing meals I'd ever had. Our hosts had been able to entertain us all whilst producing such intricately planned food and drink - all of which tasted fantastic. Even the intially intriguing tea party theme had been a really coherent concept that naturally suited the evening. The rest of us will now have to battle for second place - assuming there has been no tactical voting, first place it seems has already been won. Given how much I enjoyed the experience - I don't think I mind.

Astrid's Recommendation: Antoine, 10 Avenue de New York. 75116, Paris

2010-02-05T21:59:00.005Z

Astrid's recommendation for an exquisite Parisian Fish Restaurant, is Antoine, located on the banks of the Seine with a brilliant view of the Effel Tower. Pictured above is the St. Peter fish with mushrooms and Topinambur potato. Truly luxurious!

Antoine, 10 Avenue de New York. 75116, Paris

Kam Tong Restaurant, 59-63 Queensway, Bayswater, London, W2 4QH

2010-01-25T23:01:00.004Z

Lately, I've really struggled with Sundays. I can start the day early and full of good intentions to make the best of the last day of the weekend. The pressure to do something both fulfilling and exciting inevitably leads to timewasting and nothing of any worth gets done until about 11.30pm where I try and assuage my feelings of guilt with some late night hoovering (quite antisocial in a flat with mostly wooden floors).

My neighbours will have been pleased that last night, some uncharacteristic decisiveness led us to a Cantonese / Szechuan restaurant, which (along with some very good company) was a perfect antidote to the cold-damp-January-Sunday-night blues.

Almost every other restaurant between Queensway and Bayswater tube is a Chinese place. Luckily, Ying had been recommended Kam Tong by a friend (not by name - but by the description that it was 'the one with the big red sign'), so we avoided facing a conundrum of having too much choice.

The very old and naff looking paper menus were quite endearing (but incidentally, the take out menu I grabbed on my way out is exceedingly classy), with pages of dishes to choose from (some delicious sounding, and some a little too adventurous for a Sunday night ('Spicy Intestine Chilli' anyone?)

I was more than happy to let Ying order for me (definite bonus when someone in the know can order for you). Instead, I mostly drank the complimentary green tea (much appreciated in the freezing conditions) and giggled in an immature manner at the 'Morning Glory' vegetable dish (which we ended up ordering).

Slightly bizarrely there was no alcohol on offer tonight (due to a 'problem' of some description) but this didn't bother me. I was enjoying the tea and the way that the staff were determined to spill as much of it as possible whilst topping up our cups. Not to say the service was bad. They smiled at Will's attempts to remember the Chinese that he had allegedly been fluent in the week before.

Ying ordered us some Roast Pork and Roast Duck (it seemed rude not to, given the huge slabs of meat on view in the window). We also ordered spicy chili chicken, salt and pepper tofu for vegetarian Will, the aforementioned morning glory vegetables, and a couple of rice dishes. Out of habit I added some spring rolls to the order, which sadly wasn't a good move-they were the only non-enjoyable dish of the evening)! The Roast Duck and Pork was amazingly juicy and delicious, dripping in flavour.

The salt and pepper tofu was deep fried so it had a crispy coating but was soft inside and had a great kick to it.

The chili chicken was great: covered in chunks of chilli and Schechuan peppercorns.

Once I'd finished giggling, the 'morning glory' veg was nicely green and crunchy.

Overall

Nicely busy for Sunday night, and pretty authentic for Ying to enjoy it (and the majority of the other diners were Chinese). About £15 a head so pretty good value for money, (although this varies - the Roast Duck and Pork was only a fiver and was the best dish). A good place to be cheered and warmed by a tasty and spicy meal with friends on a miserable and damp January Sunday night.

Cake of the Day - Jaime's Intensely Chocolately Cake

2010-01-20T09:42:00.003Z

Truly, this deserves the accolade of Cake of the Day.

It's cold and miserable outside. There's more snow heading our way. It's only Wednesday morning, although it already feels like it should be Friday...

...And there is a joyous shout: 'Ushi, there's cake in the kitchen!'

Unexplained cake? How delightful.

But, this is better than delightful. Expecting some cake of the shop bought variety, I discovered this huge, beautifully home made, decorated chocolate cake in the tiny office kitchen. Salivating already, we soon found out that this was John's birthday cake, made by his very talented wife Jamie.

Whilst 9am is usually too early for cake, I wasn't able to resist trying a little, and it truly was the most incredibly intensely (dark) chocolately cake experience.

So, thank you Jaime - your cake has made my day, and is cake of the day.

Nostalgic Trip to Wimpy, High St, Marlow - 3rd January 2010

2010-01-07T21:14:00.004Z

"I'm worried you might be setting yourselves up for a huge disappointment" - my words of warning to my over-excited sisters as decided to revisit our youth in the Wimpy in Marlow. The majority of Wimpy Restaurants in the UK became Burger King in 1990, but in Marlow-on-Thames, it staunchly remained. (A Burger King in Marlow dahling? How preposterious!) Throughout the nineties and and noughties it existed in its own bubble of 80s decor, until a revamp about a year ago.

My sisters and dad had been struck with the idea that they wanted to celebrate the start of 2010 with a family trip there. We hadn't visited in years and years, and despite my slight cynicism, I allowed myself to be dragged out of bed early on Sunday to join them.

And I'm glad I did...

The table service and proper cutlery and crockery makes it a pretty civilised affair. The service was really quite exceptionally friendly. The food portions were big, well presented and very tasty. No one was disappointed. I don't normally write about chain restaurants on here, but for this one I will make an exception.

Satisfyingly large pot of tea each, marred only by the fact I wasn't able to drink much of it after my dad managed to drop a baked bean in the milk (I won't be bringing him again).

We were offered a variety of condiments - condiments are good.

My dad's immense all day breakfast. He doesn't like beans - he was trying to give them away, hence the bean/milk incident.

And now...Wimpy even serves booze! What's not to love?

L'Artista, 61 The Parade, Watford

2009-12-12T20:35:00.003Z

The usual high street pizza chains leave me craving flavour - I'm almost always dousing my pizza in their lacklustre chilli oil. But despite the restaurant quickly filling up after our arrival, making for a busy and slightly manic atmosphere, L'Artista in Watford has food with the most intense flavour. Initial frustrations of being slightly ignored by frantic looking staff soon dissapated once the starters arrived.

Tomato garlic pizza bread was perfectly crispy with a decadently garlicky tomatoey topping. The Aubergine Parmigiana was equally flavoursome - the roasted aubergines were amazingly smokey and the mozarella perfect.

The main courses were huge. The Americana pizza was robustly delicious with plenty of chillies. The Diversa pizza was partly pizza and partly calzone (which reminded me of the 'La Raqueta' pizza I had at Starita in Naples - best pizza in the world, AND it was shaped like a tennis racket)! My pizza had yet more roasted aubergines, red chillis and hearty herby italian sausage. I didn't have to reach for the chilli oil once.

The rigatoni was perfectly al a dente and the roast vegetable garlic and tomato sauce had really deep and satisfying flavours.

Overall - This place is very busy for a reason, good food, low prices and huge portions (we had to take some of it home). Full of big groups so service can be a bit slow, and it would be a terrible place for a romantic meal, but for cheap and cheerful and very very intensely flavoursome Italian food, it completely beats the High Street chain pizza places.

Sitaaray, Drury Lane, Covent Garden, London

2009-12-11T22:46:00.002Z

Vegetarian or non-vegetarian - that was the only question that needed to be answered at Sitaaray. I like my ordering to be that uncomplicated.

Bollywood was the order of the evening. I'd rushed across London from a Bollywood themed Christmas party to this Bollywood themed restaurant housed in the New National Theatre on Drury Lane. I quite liked the atmosphere - two floors, busy but warmly cosy.

The concept is a high-end variation on that of the traditional 'thali' concept (ie unlimited helpings of a set range of curries in little metal bowls in a circular tray (the thali) - which makes for very cheap eating and plentiful refills. Given the touristy location, this was not quite the case at Sitaaray, but the concept was there - there were large set menus for a fixed price. All one had to do was decide whether they were going to be vegetarian or non-vegetarian that evening, and many many courses of food would be bought to you, and you could request more of anything you like. It sounded like a wonderful idea, particularly as it made large group ordering far less stressful than usual - (I didn't even really have to decide between veg or non veg as myself and Cel ordered one of each so that we could sample it all!)

Staff were efficient but quite curiously neither Indian nor Bollywood themed. Food started arriving quickly. Lots of snacks and starters, in well presented but tiny portions. This was not necessarily a bad thing - it meant that everything could be tasted and sampled without getting too full and everything was tasty. Tiny portions of lamb kebabs, spinach kebabs, grilled chicken, spicy potatoes, paneer, spicy mushrooms and stuffed peppers appeared in a long succession of courses - which turned out to be good for big group eating, drinking and conversation. However, we all seemed to feel the variety of small portions made us feel too mentally full to bother utilising the unlimited concept.

We were slightly distracted by the club that adjoins the restaurant - diners get free entry, but the incongruent music made us believe we should definitely steer clear.

Overall:
I was genuinely pleased and surprised to find good quality Indian food in such a touristy spot. The food, whilst not very traditional, was all beautifully presented and tasty. I enjoyed playing name-the-bollywood-star (photo), and gawping at the bollywood videos playing and liked the decor and atmosphere. The service was fine but probably not good enough to justify the hefty service charge. I think value for money was perhaps the area where this restaurant loses points. The unlimited concept sounds like it could be cheap but expensive drinks negate the savings. However the concept is great in that you can try a massive variety of foods even if you are not in a large group. I would certainly recommend to try at least once - I was very pleasantly surprised.

Cake of the Day - Anjana's Blueberry Cheesecake

2009-11-30T08:40:00.004Z

Divinely delicious blueberry cheesecake by Anjana. Utterly delectable - it was very creamy and nicely tangy with a very satisfying base...and beautiful!

Langan's Brasserie, Stratton Street, Picadilly, London

2009-11-27T20:42:00.005Z

Perhaps as a direct consequence of it only being a few years since I was a student at Durham, where fine dining consisted of 'half-price-student-mondays-at-Bella Pasta' and 'all-you-can-eat-Chinese-which-is-even-cheaper-if-you-eat-fast-and-finish-before-6pm,' the majority of the entries on this blog, fall into the cheap and cheerful category.

However, I was recently lucky enough to find myself in Mayfair with someone willing to buy me lunch, so for perhaps one time only, here is a post about a restaurant whose website describes itself "as one of London’s top eateries to be seen in for Celebrities" (not that we saw any, but you get the idea).

Having initially spotted Langan's opposite Green Park station, it didn't appear overly interesting. It had a small neon sign on the outside, and I couldn't see inside. A couple of hours later, ready for lunch, I appreciated the plush interiors as we walked in, and was slightly bemused by the elaborate cloakroom ticketing system. We walked up an ornate staircase to the 'Venetian Room’ where I started to appreciate just how lovely a place this was. The walls were covered with beautiful paintings and but the atmosphere remained relaxed (I later found the ground floor gets manically busy, whilst the first floor is described as "more sedate," but that suited me just fine).

The menu was surprisingly extensive (even for lunchtime) and I appreciated it's handwritten nature (it changes on a weekly basis). Choosing was difficult. I decided against a starter, so that I'd be able to order Langan's Fish and Chips (which came very highly recommended by the person buying me lunch, who was a regular frequenter of the place). I was intrigued to see how it would be presented at such a classy establishment!

I wasn't disappointed. The usual rule of 'the posher the restaurant, the smaller the portions' didn't appear to apply, as my dish was generous. And oh the taste! T he batter was sublime - simultaneously light, crispy and melt-in-your-mouth. The fish was juicy and delicious and the handmade chips were of the perfect chunkyness. Every mouthful was an utter delight!

The restaurant was packed by the time we were midway through lunch. Only then did I realise just why such a comprehensive cloakroom system was needed, and just how famous this place was. The ground floor was heaving, but the atmosphere remained calm upstairs. Waiters were (almost surprisingly) friendly, and urged us to have one of the delicious sounding desserts, but I was so full, it had to be a pot of tea for me instead.

The moral of the story - You can take Writing on Bananas somewhere classy, but Writing on Bananas will probably order chips and a cuppa!

Overall

Langan's Brasserie confounded my prejudices against posh restaurants. It was neither pretenious nor stuffy, and the portions were generous. Food quality was excellent as was the atmosphere and service. Expensive but a truly wonderful place to be taken to lunch!

9/10

Guest Food Photos - Leandri's Duck and Egg Salad

2009-11-15T19:05:00.002Z

Leandri's garlic bread

Beautiful egg and duck salad

Head Chef Cafe, 173 Farnham Road, Slough

2009-11-14T17:53:00.006Z

To refer to 'Head Chef' on Farnham Road as a greasy spoon seems a little ungenerous. Technically, that is exactly what it is - cheap, cheerful, unpretentious and specialising in food of the fried variety. However, it is clear that effort has been made to make the interiors look relatively plush (and as it only opened two months ago - they are still looking pretty good). I'd only visited once before - for an emergency cup of tea whilst waiting for an emergency locksmith. On that occasion I had found it overly bright and slightly loud for 7pm on a Monday, but upon returning for a recovery fry up late on Saturday morning, the atmopshere was far better. There's a large amount of seating and the place was pleasantly full. We'd already checked the menu from the outside as we had to ensure that Rachael's one pre-requisite for a full english breakfast - hash browns - would be met.

We spotted 'Set 3' and we were satisfied, and upon seeing the sheer size of breakfasts that the other diners were tucking into, I was glad I was hungry!

Service was brisk and efficient. Breakfast came with toast and tea or coffee. Beverages arrived very promptly - toast soon afterwards (it turns out white and buttered was the default. I found this slighly amusing, but I liked how no-nonsense it was. I realised that there was little point in ordering a massive fry up if you were going to start being precious about that type of bread you wanted or whether you wanted your toast buttered!)

Rachael, using her hotel manager mentality, started timing how long it would take for breakfast to arrive, now that we had her toast. We both expressed our pleasure at how short a time that was - the toast was still lovely and warm as we dunked it into our beautifully runny fried eggs! Portions were very generous, and the hash browns were excellent!

Atmosphere - Not too loud or bright for our hangovers. A good number of other diners. Pleasant interiors and lovely toilets!

Service - Very efficient but could have been more friendly.

Value for money - £5.95 for a large breakfast with tea and toast was fair, but not as cheap as you might expect. As the prices had been handwritten on the menu, I couldn't tell whether they had put their prices up or down after opening, but they were advertising deals on breakfast during the week.

Overall: 8/10 - provided exactly the no-nonsense breakfast needed after the night before.

Cake(s) of the day - Alex's Salted Caramel Cupcakes

2009-11-01T15:08:00.005Z

Alex made 100 cupcakes for Halloween (ably assisted by his sister Laura). They were all beautifully light, moist and the sponge was red! However the highlight was the Salted Caramel Cupcakes (pictured above with green frosting). The concept sounds unconventional but the end result was mouth-wateringly good. The salt bought out the flavour of the caramel, and the slight savoriness complemented the sweetness perfectly.

Cornucopia Bistro, 6 High Street, Windsor

2009-10-31T09:18:00.008Z

As previously mentioned on these pages, Windsor is full of restaurants of the chain variety, and of the touristy-and-therefore-dubious-quality variety. Yes, there is an excellent seafood restaurant and there's the reliable but far too often-visited Bel and the Dragon, but I was keen to find somewhere new. A chance recommendation from a stranger on a train led to the discovery of Cornucopia Bistro - a fairly new addition to (the far end of - and therefore slightly less touristy part of) Windsor High Street.

Initial impressions were good. However things weren't looking so good when our group of seven was led to a cramped table next to a blazing hot radiator. I suggested we ask if we could sit elsewhere, and we were swiftly relocated to a far roomier table at the back of the restaurant, (as Leandri succinctly put it: 'have you got a bigger table? We've all had to sit really close to each other all day...)'

Space issues sorted, it was time to order wine and peruse the menu. The menu was pleasingly only confined to one page, but it took an age to decide between the 6 equally sumptuous sounding starters. Between us, we ordered them all.

The goats cheese with pear, red onion and rosemary looked quite beautiful.

When the smoked salmon with courgette and lemon blinis arrived, I definitely began to doubt whether my choice of mushrooms had been the right one.

But it transpired that there was nothing to fear! My starter of wild mushrooms in garlic and brandy cream (served on toast), was a heavenly concoction. Juicy mushrooms, intense garlic and a silky cream sauce. It could not have been any better.

Each starter was a good size, full of flavour and cooked perfectly (the other starters were a parma ham, fig and rocket salad, and a crab, avocado and spring onion salad). The mains therefore had a tough act to follow. Mostly steak / meat based (the vegetarian special of the day which no one had opted for, was stuffed aubergine with rattatioue, there was also the 'Cornucopia Chilli,' which won the accolade of being as good as Sharon's home made variety (and innovatively included chorizo).

My lamb shank (pictured) was slow roasted in a red currant and red wine sauce. The meat came off the bone beautifully and the flavours were rich and deep.

Soon it was time for dessert, and once again it was almost impossible to decide between the equally amazing sounding options (the fruit salad was no longer available, but that was no great loss!)

The concept of 'Eton Mess' intrigued our Dutch colleagues, but they were impressed when it arrived in a tall glass. The bread and butter pudding looked mouth watering - once again I wondered whether I'd made the right decision, but yet again, I was not disappointed by my white chocolate and lemon pannacotta. It was creamy but quite light - it tasted a little like a zesty lemon cheesecake, softened by the hint of white chocolate. Quite delightful!

Overall

Atmosphere: A fair number of other diners for a tuesday evening, but luckily giving us a larger table at the back allowed us to be a noisy group without (hopefully) too much disturbance to everyone else.

Service: Endlessly friendly despite our noisy group.

Food quality: Very good with truly excellent starters and desserts.

Overall: Delicious food - would certainly recommend to anyone visiting Windsor. 8/10

Cake of the day and other delights

2009-10-28T07:54:00.007Z

Highlights from the delightful bubbly and battenburg themed party hosted by Amie and her flatmates

Mmm scones...

Home made battenburg

Cake of the Day: Amie's intensely chocolatey and gooey cake of joy

Cake of the Day - Anjana's Divali Cake

2009-10-20T12:21:00.001+01:00

Anjana's latest cake creation