Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.
. Normally I have to turn these invitations down as, although not very far, I’m not in London. Fortunately for this occasion I was in London anyway. Maille had a stand at Spitalfields Market where you could try some of the products they make. I was surprised to find they made
Sometimes I find I go to a pub and my expectations are extremely low. I dread opening the menu to find a selection of dull and unimaginative offerings of which I don’t really want to eat any. I had this feeling when I went to The Rising Sun for the first time and what greeted me on reading the menu was such a pleasant surprise.
I have to say I think my jaw visibly dropped. I was expecting fish and chips, sausage and mash and mushroom risotto. Having a menu like the below raised a different issue entirely; what to choose when everything sounds so good. It seemed to have all the in vogue stuff on it: Gloucester Old Spot, rabbit, barley broth, smoked bone marrow and pig’s cheeks. It felt like a more modern version of what you might have found cooking there 100 years ago. There was much deliberating.
The Orange Tree on the High Street seems to be where Life on Mars meets Bargain Hunt; an interesting place for the eyes to fall on anything from an old telephone sign to local art on the walls. None of the tables or chairs match, in the best way, and the lighting is such that everyone looks slightly yellow and romantic at the same time. Next to our table was a sign advertising the names of the local suppliers and farms used in their food, something they are clearly proud of. Full support is given to Hugh’s Fish Fight for all the fish on their menu. There is always a different cocktail of the week, soup of the day, pie of the week and several specials to choose from coarsely scribed on the blackboard.
The Vineyard has had a recent makeover and the addition of the glass floored cellar makes for a great entrance. It’s a little unnerving when you walk across a glass floor at any time but particularly when walking above a cellar that holds 5000 bottles of extremely fine wine. The picture at the end of the cellar has a story behind it and our sommelier for the evening, Yohann, was more than happy to explain it. It is based on a wine tasting that occurred in France in 1976 when French wine was considered the best in the world. The picture depicts a famous Parisian blind wine tasting between French and Californian wine. The upshot being that Californian came out on top every time, much to the shock of the tasters as the painting shows, and it was this tasting that was said to change the wine world forever.
You can tell a lot by smell, I found, but the taste and texture were better indicators of what it was that you were eating. I thought it would be pretty easy and I was quite surprised at how hard it was to identify something like broccoli! The first thing was a butternut squash and dolcelatte tart; not something I would ever order but I really enjoyed it. Although I thought it was pear, walnut and blue cheese. Close I suppose.
There were two things that I tried that I was really surprised by: Moroccan lamb with giant couscous and the homemade vegetarian Glamorgan sausages. I would be unlikely to order either of these but after having tried them I was surprised how much I liked them.
I don’t like wasps very much and if they try to involve themselves in my food I swipe them away with whatever I have to hand: in this case, the pub menu. It all happened so slowly, to be honest we should have seen it coming as we were both sat on the same side of the park bench. There I was wafting the wasp away getting more and more ferocious with each swish and before I knew it I was harnessing my inner gymnast as I realised the bench was falling over. We were both desperately trying to stay afloat of the bench and at the same time stopping our drinks from tumbling to the floor. We must have looked ridiculous as somehow, when the bench was righted, it immediately fell over with us on it. I grabbed my cider as it flew towards my face but the beer, most unfortunately, covered us both.
The meal started with an amuse bouche of gazpacho. This is the second gazpacho I’ve ever had in a restaurant and was decidedly more flavourful than its predecessor. When it was brought to the table it had crab in; I cannot eat shellfish but it was whisked away and a replacement brought in no time. It had an intense tomato flavour, was chilled without being too cold and I really liked the chives instead of the parsley you’d normally have. A really refreshing, clean way to excite the palate before the rest of the meal.
I remember reading a book a little while ago which talked about British smoke houses. The author was concentrated on the Norwich/Lowestoft area and there had once been something like 30 or 40 smoke houses and now, just one. I thought I would be lucky to ever see one but it turns out there is one in Brighton! Does it get much better than fresh fish smoked a few metres away from where it is sold? I didn’t manage to try the fish; for some stupid reason I couldn’t see the shop nearby. I blame the heat. I will absolutely be visiting them next time.
Everyone has ‘that’ restaurant. For some ‘that’ restaurant can be a guilty pleasure, shrouded in memories or just because you love it and can’t quite put your finger on it. For me, The Valle D’Oro at Newbury is the restaurant I always call upon when I need something. Sometimes it’s to fill a hole with so much cheese I can barely walk, other times it’s just because I love it. Why do I love it? I cannot be specific as all the aspects of being there work together to ultimately provide an evening you cannot leave without feeling satisfied.
The last time we were in Bath there was a tiny little restaurant which had people queueing out of its doors; there wasn’t a hope of getting in. This time however The Real Italian Pizza Company had a few spare tables that we were grateful to sit at and get out of the rain.
The menu is unsurprisingly dominated by pizzas; without tomato, without cheese, with whatever you want. If you don’t fancy a pizza, there are a few other options but I would wonder why you would be in this restaurant if you didn’t want pizza.
