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All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

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Cocktail Masterclass at L’Ortolan

July 11, 2019 By All That I'm Eating 14 Comments

L'Ortolan mixologist at cocktail masterclass
Jayson mixing up cocktails

This was a gifted event.

Having eaten there before I was really looking forward to this cocktail masterclass at L’Ortolan. I thought the idea of pairing cocktails with canapés was really interesting; wine, beer, cheese and charcuterie are all well matched but how would it work trying to match the complex, sweet flavours in a cocktail with a canapé?

The masterclass was held by Jayson, L’Ortolan’s resident mixologist and Marco, GM, was on hand to answer any questions. There was quite a collection of bottles, jars and ingredients on the bar containing dried fruits, flowers, freeze-dried raspberries and all manner of different colours and flavours of syrups. All the syrups that are used in the cocktails are made in house which I think really gave the cocktails an added edge. read more

Filed Under: Cocktails, Events, Restaurants Tagged With: Reading, Restaurants, review

Israeli Pop Up Dinner Reading

July 29, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 12 Comments

Israeli Pop Up Dinner - table laid

I love the idea of a pop up restaurant in someone’s dining room, probably because I’m a nosey parker. I’d love to open up my living room to see what it would be like but my lounge/dining room is about the size of a telephone box. Laura, Anu and I started talking on Twitter and as it turns out they host pop up dinners at their house in Reading. The meal I went for was Israeli themed; having no knowledge of Israeli food I couldn’t wait to find out more about it.

Traditional Turkish coffee with cardamom and iced Turkish delight sweets

We started outside with the chilled Turkish coffee. I really liked the flavour of the coffee with the sweets and the spices and thought it was a great way to kick off the meal. It was also a good opportunity to have a chat and get to know the other diners. 
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Tomato festival galette with garlicky goat’s cheese

We sat down to our first course, the tomato festival galette. They had used a fantastic selection of tomatoes; some from the farmers’ market and others they had brought back from travels afar. I was amazed at how intense the tomatoes were and really loved this dish. 

Lavash (crackers; cumin, fennel and sesame), pistachio and feta dip, beetroot dip with za’atar, goat’s cheese and hazelnuts, homemade labneh

After this we had various different crackers in all sorts of shapes and they were so good. These came with three fantastic dips, I don’t think I could choose a favourite, very different to your normal ‘chips and dips’!

Roasted vegetables and salad with hummus and kuku sabzi (a Persian fritter with fresh herbs and walnuts)

A short while later a big bowl of roasted vegetables, including heritage carrots and beetroot, and salad arrived with the best hummus I have ever tasted. The kuku sabzi was sort of like an omelette; so full of fresh herbs and flavour it was almost entirely green.
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Pistachio and turkey meatballs with pomegranate molasses

The turkey and pistachio meatballs were really good. It was the first dish that included meat but with all the flavours and different vegetables I didn’t even notice its absence. They were surprisingly spicy and the pomegranate molasses gave a lovely sour sweetness.

Shakshuka; traditional Israeli breakfast (onions caramelised in cinnamon butter with mint and fried soft yolk eggs) read more

Filed Under: Restaurants Tagged With: Reading, Restaurants

Malmaison Reading

July 15, 2013 By All That I'm Eating 9 Comments

Malmaison Reading inside

This was a gifted meal.
A leisurely lunch is a very enjoyable thing. Relaxing with some food and wine watching the world go by is something that I like to do. The experience is vastly improved if you happen to be on staycation and can sit there without a care in the world. That’s what I did when I went to Malmaison for lunch; I organised it with them for a time when I knew I could sit there without any time pressure.

Malmaison has a modern feel; exposed brickwork, black and white pictures and spot lights mean that the interior overall is dark but the light at your table is quite bright. Much better than when you go somewhere that is dark everywhere and you put your fork into your dining partner’s dinner, or worse, your eye.  read more

Filed Under: Restaurants Tagged With: Reading, Restaurants

Forbury’s Restaurant and Wine Bar at Reading

May 23, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 8 Comments

I have spent much time wandering around Reading trying to find somewhere half decent to eat that wasn’t the London Street Brasserie. I feel like I exhausted the Brasserie a long time ago and if you’re wondering, they do fantastically good puddings. I wanted good food at a reasonable price and I found exactly that.

Forbury’s looks a bit pretentious from a distance but when you read the blackboard outside you’ll find you can have 3 courses for £14. For that price, you can’t complain! It’s a really airy, modern, light space with all these newfangled flower arrangements and the like but what they are truly about is wine. What I am truly not about is the waiter being so obviously uninterested in us when we declare that despite being in a wine bar we’d rather not have a glass of wine. He looked like he was about to vomit each time we raised our offensive soft drinks to our mouths.  read more

Filed Under: Restaurants Tagged With: Reading, Restaurants

Hello I’m Caroline

Welcome to my site All That I’m Eating. You will find inventive recipes using seasonal and foraged ingredients as well as everyday easy meals and a few indulgent recipes too.

I believe humble food doesn’t have to be hum drum so whether you’ve oodles of onions, superfluous sausages or apples aplenty I hope you enjoy having a look around.

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