Cornucopia Bistro, 6 High Street, Windsor

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

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

Anjana's latest cake creation

The Jolly Woodman, Littleworth Common, 18 October 2009

This is my new favourite pub. Perhaps I have a thing for old fashioned pubs, hidden in tiny villages, with names that begin 'The Jolly...' (see this blog entry), and my expectations were high, but The Jolly Woodman in Littleworth Common, reached and surpassed them, from the moment we spotted it through the trees.


Initial glances at the website made it look like it could be a bit polished for my liking, but it ticked all my pub boxes - lots of comfy looking nooks and crannies, old-man-pub carpet, exciting selections of locally brewed drink and lovely people behind the bar. Sadly we weren't here for lunch - although we immediately decided that next time we'd come here hungry, as both the menu and smell of the Sunday Roasts were very appealing.

Instead we opted for some 'Welsh Rarebit' flavour Tyrrells. Leandri was unimpressed with the way they smelt, but they had a strong distinctive cheesy flavour, which was actually quite appealing.
The bar staff were grappling with an exciting mulled wine dispenser when we arrived. I love mulled stuff (not just wine - last year Alex inspired me to do my own mulling and make various mulled beverages (wine, cider, apple juice, at every opportunity). It felt like winter was well on its way, so I had my first mulled wine of the year which felt like an appropriate drink to be consuming in this pub. (They were advertising their Christmas menu which looked truly wonderful). There were no raised eyebrows at Leandri's usual order of Guinness and tomato juice (in the same glass), just lovely friendly service.


We settled down for a cosy afternoon, but as the original plan had been to go for a walk in the autumn sun (but we'd been distracted by the idea of the pub as so often happens), I was determined to have a short walk. Particularly as there were a number of exciting looking footpaths into Burnham Beeches from the pub car park.

Our short walk was quite lovely - we encountered unexpected ponds and ducks, and on our way back, another pub! Finally back at The Jolly Woodman, we found a large beer garden that would be amazing in the summer.

Overall

Cosy, cute and old fashioned. A lovely place to be in a really pretty location.

9/10

(I will write about it again after I've eaten there!)

Guest Blog Post from Stefan - Lunch at Mangiare in Rotterdam

Sometimes you run into a little place that looks a bit scruffy on the outside, but their menu looks very tempting. That’s how we found ourselves in a tiny Italian deli in Rotterdam - Mangiare - and we couldn't wait to try their food.

Once we sat down (and luckily we were early) we saw the reason for the mess outside - they are in a temporary location whilst renovating.

The restaurant was full 15 minutes after we arrived and there was even a Dutch celebrity having lunch (Antonie Kamerling), but we were there for the food!

The restaurant does not have a set menu as they use only fresh produce and create something new every morning when the vegetables arrive.

We decided to go for the antipasti with some meat and a nice glass of wine. As the products are fresh it takes a while before they serve you but once they put it in front of you it tastes absolutely delicious. All the flavors are amazing and as everything is cooked to perfection, the dish is gone before you know it.

This is a restaurant I will definitely visit again when they are in their new building.

Overall

Atmosphere - Scruffy but authentically Italian.
Service - Very laid back and friendly staff, although it took a while to get our lunch.
Food Quality - Great although the portions could be slightly bigger and some more bread would be good.
Value for money - Good price for good food.

Overall – 8/10

Stefan

Desserts at The Bee, Burnham - 14th October 2009

There's a lot to be said about going up to the bar and asking 'what do you have?' Not something I ever do, but this is why going for a drink with people you haven't ever been for a drink with before, can turn out to be such a lovely thing. I was mostly expecting a curt response to A's question, but was pleasantly surprised when we were then given a comprehensive run down of all the various boozy and non boozy options by the lady behind the bar - which goes to show - it's a good question to ask! Adrienn ended up with some very exciting 'Prince William' cider, putting my glass of house red to shame!

The Bee is one of those pubs that due to it's proximity to the office, I'd only ever visited at lunchtime, or for a swift post-work drink. I think it has more charm by night and was neither too busy nor too quiet on a wednesday evening. I'd eaten here before, and the food was fine, but not immediately food blog worthy. But as I mentioned before - drinking with new people can lead to good ideas. Good ideas of a let's-have-a-dessert-round nature!

I opted for the classic hot/cold dessert combo - sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice-cream. It had the optimal levels of sweet, hot, gooey amazingness.


Adrienn opted for the chocolate fudge cake and was impressed by how light and moist it was (and just the right level of sweet).

Sadly there was no chance of a cuppa with our desserts, as the bar had run out of milk, but this didn't detract from our enjoyment too much.

Overall
Lovely chilled out atmosphere and staff with old-fashioned good value and generously portioned desserts.