Restaurants Archives - Page 4 of 8

Tomatitos at Hay-on-Wye

September 21, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 4 Comments

Tomatitos restaurant Hay on Wye - All That I'm Eating

I had heard rumours that Hay-on-Wye is a book lover’s paradise. In case you weren’t aware I love books but could probably be accused of having a few too many. Hay-on-Wye was somewhere I’d always fancied going, just for a nose around mind you, to see what it was all about. We weren’t too far away when we were in Wales so went for the day. It’s a real classic English town, picturesque and with a huge array of antique emporiums and book shops. And Tomatitos at Hay-on-Wye is a really good tapas restaurant.
We wandered around the town for a little while looking for somewhere to have lunch and stumbled on a place called Tomatitos; a quick look at the menu told us it was tapas which is always a good thing as far as I’m concerned. I can try all sorts of different things; a bit of this, a bit of that and everyone can dig in. We sat outside, the sun was shining, the food was good and we could have (I’m not joking) easily been in Spain. read more

Israeli Pop Up Dinner Reading

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

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.

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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A Trip to Madrid

June 22, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 14 Comments

Last week I jetted off to Madrid in search of churros, tapas and sunshine. I managed to get three out of three so no complaints from me. Around a two hour flight from London it’s far enough to be ‘away’ but not too far stuck on a plane. Before I went I knew next to no Spanish other than what I had learnt from watching Fawlty Towers so you can imagine my delight when, on arrival at the hotel, the receptionist’s name was Manuel. We landed late afternoon, had a quick glass of vino tinto and then got some rest ready to explore the next day. read more

Matsuri at St James, London

May 28, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 8 Comments

This was a gifted meal. It’s been all go in London for me this month; I also managed to squeeze in a dinner at Matsuri St James. This was a meal of firsts for me: sushi, teppanyaki, sake and plum wine were all new to me and what a great way to be introduced to them. (I had tried sushi before but I don’t really think it counts as it came in a plastic tray from a well-known high street chain). As restaurant meals go this has to be one of the most fun places I’ve been to. I loved the buzz (about the place and from the other bloggers and writers there), the drama (there was flaming ice cream) and the venue. Oh, and the food. Teppanyaki is something I’ve always wanted to try; I love the idea and the theatre of watching your meal get cooked in front of you. And yes, that’s me having a go at cooking the black cod for the other guys on our table; I hoped I didn’t ruin it but everyone was very polite either way! Matsuri St James is a joint venture with Kikkoman, the soy sauce company, and they have been running in London for 20 years.

You might have noticed a lack of fish and shellfish recipes on my blog. The reason being I am intolerant to shellfish and the OH isn’t a fan of fish. While everyone else tucked in to their sushi, it looked lovely, we had the above vegetable sushi with soy sauce to dip. I liked that they looked like mini gardens surrounded by rice and they tasted honest, clean and fresh.
We then had tempura vegetables which were light and crisp. I loved the salt and spices that came with it to dip in. I was enjoying a fresh and slightly syrupy chilled sake (Houraisen – WA, Aichi Prefecture, Junmai Ginjo) with this course. read more

The John O Gaunt at Hungerford

May 20, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 5 Comments

I discovered a liking for beer on a trip to Bruges last year. Hungerford is an awful lot closer to me than Bruges and luckily for me the John O Gaunt have a selection of Belgian beers on offer. I have been over there a few times and it’s always busy; I have learnt that booking is essential. They offer a range of meals; some pub classics, some light meals and snacks and all reasonably priced. If you click to open the picture below you’ll read the bottom bit of their menu which I thought was quite amusing!

I started with the Scotch egg. I have to say I’m used to ordering a Scotch egg and it arriving hot with a liquid yolk in the middle so I was a bit disappointed to have this one arrive cold. You could tell from the consistency of the yolk that it would have been perfect if served hot. Having said that I did like the sage and onion flavour of the pork and the homemade brown sauce was very nice. There was also a big bowl of courgette and Stilton soup which I thought was an unusual combination as courgettes don’t have much flavour but it was generous and tasty. read more

The UK Blog Awards and Three Very Different Places to Eat in London

May 1, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 14 Comments

I am very pleased to say that I got highly commended in the UKBA14 for individual food and drink blog! The evening was good fun and I met some lovely fellow bloggers; it was also a great excuse to spend some time in London and see friends I haven’t seen for a while. I know there are plenty of blogs about London restaurants and places to go but below are the places I ventured to (one Michelin restaurant, one breakfast club and one traditional pub) and can say are well worth a visit.

Kitchen W8 was recommended to me by Fiona who writes the fab blog London Unattached. Whenever there’s a cooking show or a chef on TV I always wish I could remember where they were so I could go. I envisage a clean cut restaurant, great service and fantastic food on a not too expensive set menu. This is exactly what Kitchen W8 does. Known for being the most reasonably priced Michelin star restaurant in London they offer three courses for £23.
Due to tube problems we arrived very late for our table but the staff were very kind and seated us; I’m so pleased they did.
We started with heritage tomato salad with sweet and sour peppers. The tomatoes were the perfect ripeness, temperature and texture, the peppers were punchy and the Kalamata olives added a lovely saltiness. I am a sucker for tomato anything and this was beautiful.
Main was breast and shoulder of lamb with heritage carrots and new season peas. It tasted as good as it looked (below). Sweet carrots and peas, the lamb was meltingly soft and there was a sort of pulled lamb crispy coated treat on the side of the plate which I could have eaten forever. We had a lovely carafe of Cabernet Sauvignon with this too.
Dessert was vanilla parfait with mango, passion fruit and lime which was just the right amount of sweetness and sharpness to finish the meal.
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The Good Life Farm Shop, Me vs. Quiche

April 14, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 9 Comments

Salmon and Courgette Quiche from The Goodlife Farm Shop

This was a gifted meal. I love a good nose round a deli or farm shop. Despite supermarkets always launching new products I think they are behind the independents for the new, interesting and exciting brands and flavours. Chocolate, popcorn, rubs, gin, mixers I always find much more tempting and varied brands in a farm shop or deli. On a recent trip to The Good Life Farm Shop near Winchester I was treated to a bit of lunch and I thought this was the ideal time to find out if I don’t like quiche as much as I think I don’t.

I tried the quiche of the day which was salmon and courgette and as it turns out, I quite like quiche. A lifetime of avoiding any quiche apart from my Granny’s was over. The pastry was crisp and crumbly, the filling soft but not mushy or overly eggy, well seasoned and a generous amount of salmon. I’m a quiche convert.

The salted caramel cake that followed was sublime; made by a lady called Mama Brown. The wedge I had was huge (as all sweet things should be!) and the caramel on top of the cake and in between the layers tasted great; without that strange caramel flavour you can sometimes get. Being well satisfied just gave me another excuse to peruse the shop; I saw it as ‘walking it off’!
Thank you to The Good Life for my lunch. All opinions and words expressed are my own. read more

The Walmesley at Audley Inglewood, Kintbury

February 21, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 10 Comments

This was a gifted meal. I remember hearing a while ago on the grape vine that Audley Inglewood would have a restaurant as part of the retirement complex so it was great when I was invited to try their new restaurant The Walmesley. They sent me a sneaky peak of their tasting menu and were more than happy to amend their plans to eliminate any fish and shellfish and I couldn’t wait to try it.

As you drive up to the building it’s very impressive and welcoming and it’s rather luxurious throughout the bar, restaurant and everywhere else we saw. I like that the restaurant is laid out in such a way that it feels busy but you can’t hear anyone else’s conversation and that a two person table is large enough to fit everything on comfortably without fear of dunking your elbow in your dinner.

I was very surprised at the wine list; the wines started at around £16 a bottle and there was a good selection over varied prices. Considering this is a fine dining restaurant the wines are much more varied and reasonable than some of the pubs around here. read more

No 5 Bridge Street at Winchester

February 6, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 6 Comments

I love a trip to Winchester; I always forget how big and yet small it is. That sounds a bit weird but I always forget about the other smaller roads that come off the main street that house some great independent shops and restaurants. We walked past No 5 Bridge Street on our way in and I thought it looked nice and suave, we went back around lunchtime to check out the menu and it all sounded great. The kind of food I wish I could be bothered to cook at home and here it all was, ready to eat. Lots of local produce on offer it was hard to know what to order. You have to check out the below menu because it looks and sounds great. Nibbly bits, light meals, mains and grills all full of potential. I really liked the layout and decor in the restaurant; I wish I’d got a picture but there were too many people around as it was absolutely rammed. When a restaurant is full of people it’s normally a good sign. The other thing I really liked was that you could reserve a table, but, if they were all booked there were plenty of tables in the bar areas. The staff were all very nice, if not a little rushed, and we sat down to peruse the offerings. Sadly for us, and our wallets, potential was all there was. The presentation of the below bread with dukkah, olives and rapeseed oil was lovely. The experience of eating it, not so much. If you’re serving bread with thick crusts, I think the crusts have to be crusty rather than chewy. I also think the bread should be a little bit warmed. This bread was dry and chewy. The dukkah was very nice as were the olives. The falafel smelled fantastic and it looked good. Unfortunately the chickpeas were either not soaked or cooked for long enough or were too chunky because the flavour was quite raw and a bit unpleasant. The hummus was excellent.

I have a bit of an issue with barbecue sauce; I only like some of them. I love pulled pork and the sound of ‘pulled pork burger, toasted brioche bun, ranch dressed slaw, our BBQ sauce and skinny fries’ sounded right up my street. They were only too happy for me to have the sauce on the side which I know is a bit of an unusual ask. The portion size of the meal was actually quite small, maybe I’m greedy, but the other meal ordered (more on that in a minute) also seemed quite small. Maybe they just have really big plates.
The pork in my bun was actually a bit cold and the bottom of my bun really soggy. It seemed like all the pork in the kitchen is ready to go with barbecue sauce already on it (which makes sense) and when my request came in they washed it under a tap and didn’t dry it very well. The whole thing just got soggier and soggier as I ate it. I did like their barbecue sauce (I know I’m picky) so ended up putting some of it on the bun after all! Ranch dressing is one of my favourites but the ranch dressed slaw didn’t have much taste at all; even the vegetables. All in all, for something that sounded punchy and interesting it was actually a little disappointing. Maybe part of it was my fault but I think all the components of the meal should be equally as good as each other and taking just one away shouldn’t make that much of a difference.
The other meal at the table was ‘Chestnut flour suet pudding, wild mushroom stuffed, truffle mash and mushroom gravy’. You can never really make a suet pudding look good but as they go, this one looked pretty appetising. The suet pastry was overly sweet and very dry, the sweetness could have worked really well with the earthy mushrooms but it was just a bit too much. The pudding was absolutely full of mushrooms so they weren’t at all skimping on the stuffing but somehow they lacked a real depth of flavour. The mash was ok and the gravy was ultimately there to act as a lubricant because it didn’t taste of much either. We left disappointed which is not the feeling you want after a meal. read more

A Trip to Cambridge

January 2, 2014 By All That I'm Eating 14 Comments

I really rather like Cambridge. I’ve been up a few times now and I think it has to be one of my favourite cities. You’re never quite sure what is going to face you round every corner; some wonderful architecture, a cobbled street, a garden or a glimpse of the river. I think part of Cambridge’s charm is that so much has been discovered there and is still being discovered today. Behind every window you pass someone could be uncovering the answer to a question that has puzzled everyone for years. read more