Harters

PAYSANNE, DEGANWY If you didn’t know the area (or, in our case, done our research), you could so easily miss this place situated in a converted terrace house at the end of a row of shops opposite Deganwy station. The owners have a love of France and its food and they’ve brought their passion to this part of North Wales since 1988 and I reckon they’re doing all they can to please their customers, many of whom were clearly regulars. It’s a small place, under 30 covers although you don’t feel crammed in, and decorated in the style of the bistro in a provincial French town, circa 1970. I loved it! And it’s really hard to seriously fault a place that has warm, knowledgable service and offers a short three course menu for just £25. There’s an attempt to offer recognisable French dishes – such as escargots and cassoulet – but other dishes are in a “modern European” style which happily work either side of the Channel. So, for example, “boudin noir aux pommes” is further described as Bury black pudding with apples and a mustard sauce. It really was rather good, complemented by some well dressed salad leaves, whether it comes from an English, French or, indeed, Welsh, tradition. The other starter – a terrine of chicken breast and red pepper – was much lighter in both texture and taste but was perked up by a wrapping of prosciutto, homemade peach chutney and, again, salad leaves. Fish is sourced locally, even if it not always fished locally. Plaice, however, was local and very good – a generous and succulent fillet, served with a lemon butter sauce (one of several you can request with your otherwise simply grilled or fried fish). Certainly not local was my fillet of escolar. It was a fish I had not heard of before – and having subsequently read of potential health risks if it is not cooked properly wouldn’t be in a rush to order again. It was described to me as tasting somewhere between halibut and swordfish – and that seems about right. Good meaty texture, as swordfish, and a very enjoyable taste (although I wouldn’t be prepared to risk the shits – which is the main adverse consequence). Less successful was the recommended choice of sauce – anchovy and prawn. It was all a bland insipid. Veg for both of us were served separately – a decent, if fairly liquid, dauphinoise potato, broccoli, green beans. Desserts were a mixed blessing. On the one hand, apricot frangipane tart was dense, a bit stodgy and positively parsimonious with the apricot. On the other hand, crème brulee was an absolute belter, the accompanying “Black Forest” compote almost inspired. All in all, this was one of the better meals we’ve enjoyed recently and, without doubt, cracking value for money. It deserves a wider recognition.

KINMEL ARMS, ABERGELE Is it the village pub? A gastropub? Or, as they describe themselves, a restaurant with rooms. I’ve no idea and I reckon the owners aren’t too sure either. We glanced at the evening menu and it’s firmly set in the “modern Brit” style. At lunchtime, the menu is much more pubby which was fine with us. Starters are good sizes and act as a “light lunch” as well. So, for instance, cod goujons brought two generous fillets – crisp batter, just flaking fish, some well dressed salad leaves. There are also starter/light lunch versions of a number of main courses and my partner followed up with one of these. Described as “fillet of beef salad served warm with tomatoes and red onions”, she was a tad disappointed that the “salad” was just the onions and tomatoes. No leaves. No nothing. It put the “light” in “light lunch”. I went with a very delicious Conwy seafood chowder – a rich soup laced with Pernod and white wine and packed with local mussels, king prawns and other assorted fishy bits. Came with two big slices of granary bread. My main course was their “Pie of the Week”. Pork had been braised and then reheated in a cheese sauce with a puff pastry topping. Could have been really good but wasn’t – the pastry was undercooked and the cheese sauce just made the whole thing claggy. Came with chips and red cabbage, sweetened with raisins. In spite of this not being a perfect lunch, I’d still recommend it – decent places along the North Wales coast are few.

Thought they came out quite well in the Ramsay programme. Although as Gordo suggested, a bit overly fussy. I'd happily eat there - or the Scottish place in the programme, for that matter.

Welcome, Colin. Look forward to reading your views on other locaish eateries. John

Good review, David. As always, you and Mrs G seem my sort of eaters. I think the technical term is "greedy bastards"

AZZURRO, BURTON ROAD, WEST DIDSBURY One of a number of decentish neighbourhood eateries within a couple of hundred yards of each other on Burton Road. It’s small – under 30 covers, but you don’t feel packed in. What I like is that, unlike many other Italian places at this end of the market, it has a short menu. Around six offerings at each of the four available courses – antipasti, pasta, main and dessert. Means they can concentrate on doing what they do quite well. Fish is always a “special” here and tonight there were a couple of starters and couple of mains. But what attracted us was the midweek special menu, which takes a number of main menu items, adds in a couple more specials, and charges you £15.95 for two courses, including a bottle of wine between two of you. And not cheap crap, either – turned out to be a pretty decent Cotes du Rhone. We both started with bruschetta. Good bread, nicely toasted. One topped with a cannellini bean mix, the other with very flavoursome tomatoes. A nice and simple, if not stunning, start. Mains were cannelloni and a tagliatelle with wild boar stew. Both were decent enough examples, and hearty portions. Seemingly good ingredients, well cooked although both needed some more seasoning. All in all, a good midweek dinner. http://www.azzurrorestaurant.com/

Thanks, David. I'll report back in due course. I may be some time.....herself has declared that we are to lose weight and generally eat much less red meat. I have tried to argue, unsuccessfully, that pork isnt red meat but more yer beige. I sneaked these into the trolley while she was looking at lettuce or something.

Care to offer the tweaked recipe, David? I assume some sweetness is still required but, like Mrs G, I don't like my savouries overly sweet. Made a rare visit to Morrisons today and picked up two packs of four (less than a quid each).

A return to the GLASFRYN today for lunch, as we were passing nearby. Herself had a very decent Welsh rarebit - nice thick toast, fairly good cheddar, some well dressed leaves. I had an enormous and very tasty burger, topped with bacon, cheese and just about everything else you think should go with a burger. With chips. Nice.

Since I wrote last night, Mrs H reminds me of "No Problem Woman's" best line. Which was to ask if we "were happy with our beverage choices" when she took our food order. Whatever happened to "would you like another drink"? Sort of summed up the place.

Everything I’d read about the Church Green had put me off going but, eventually, it just became one of those places that we had to try, as it’s only a few minutes from home. We so wanted it to be really good – great food, immaculate service, lovely setting. And it didn’t come too far short on any of these counts. But it did come short. In truth, the room’s a bit grim. A mix of furnishing and decoration styles that don’t really come together and a feeling that the dining room has been bolted on to a pub, in a sort of prissy version of a Beefeater. Service was decidedly mixed – one guy was warm, friendly, engaging and knowledgable – an asset to the organisation. On the other hand, the woman taking our order should have been repeatedly stabbed with a fork until she stopped saying “no problem”. Of course, it’s no problem, you’re a fucking restaurant and I’m ordering off your menu. There was a porky amuse - a cube of belly pork, a ball of rillette, some apple sauce. Apparently, they used to serve a larger version as a starter. They should start again – it was excellent. In fact, put it on as a main course As to menu dishes, they were not bad. A bit underwhelming. A bit underseasoned. A bit not hot enough on the plate. And a bit long before it came. Oh, and a bit overpriced. They were also a bit not quite as described on the menu. So, for instance, gnocchi, with Jerusalem artichokes and chestnut sauce also came with Parma ham. Which would have been a bugger if you’d ordered it as the only available vegetarian starter. As it happens, I’m not so I quite enjoyed it – particularly the chestnut sauce which was rich with a nice hint of sweetness. Risotto came with the advertised red pepper and with a cod beignet. The chorizo that was advertised as being in the risotto was another beignet and it wasn’t an improvement. Perhaps more than the other plates, this suffered from not being quite hot enough. Not bad enough to send back and bugger up dinner completely – but not right at this level. Mains were much better. Texel lamb with figs, black olives and basil – great tasting meat (some loin, a little bit of some long cooked bit), figs bringing a seasonal sweetness. Poached chicken was the other main. Came with a “chicken lasagne” – nice concept – layers of chicken mousse and very thin pasta, pressed together. It would be polite to describe this as “delicately flavoured”. None of the desserts floated our boat so we ordered cheese – three localish ones. And, in a spot of thoughtfulness, we were each given a different one so in total we had four to taste. Most had actually spent some time out of the fridge before being plated. Some biscuits, chutney and nicely dressed salad completed it. So, there we are. We’ve eaten at this much hyped place. Spotted Aidan Byrne in the kitchen. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good. It certainly wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be. And it certainly wasn’t as good as it probably likes to think of itself. But it gave us a lot to talk about on the way home.

So, there's good news from Dilli. And there's bad news. The bad news is that they havnt had as many bookings as expected so there's not going to be a buffet. The good news is that means we get to do some cooking under the chef's instruction and there's still starters and mains to be scoffed. Havnt got my Good Food Guide yet, as I've been away, but I gather they're in it now. Well deserved, IMO.

I'm confused now David. I didnt think there were 2 Hunan places. I wasnt paying too much attention at the time. I'd just come out of Ho's and was munching on one of their mini honey buns (well recommended)- whatever the name is, it's directly opposite Ho's (and , therefore, opposite side of road from Red & Hot)

I don't know what the lamb dish at Red Chilli used to look like but David's photo makes the new presentation quite similar to the version of the dish round the corner at Red & Hot (as his, my preferred choice for Sichuan in the Rainy City). By the by, when I was last wandering through Chinatown, I spotted a Hunanese place. Anyone tried it? Can't recall the name, but directly opposite Ho's Bakery.

Regular readers of the Pub Thread will know of my fondness for the (mainly) north western mini-chain of Brunning & Price. I see they also got one in Horsham - the Black Jug.

I get most of my meat from Mansergh Hall, over t'internet. I seem to think that one of the deli type places in Chorlton stocks it if you fancied a try. The sister in law swears by Pimlotts and, whilst we often use Waitrose, we've never popped across the road. Have you not asked them about grain-fed? John

Anyone doing any of the dining deals? We're booked in for the cookery demo and buffet at Dilli. The "taste of asia" (or whatever) at Tampopo. And trying to find someone at the City Cafe prepared to take a reservation for the the "Manchester icons" dinner. Should be a good week.

Certainly one of those issues that tends to divide opinion - and I'd take exactly the opposite preference to you, finding American beef generally bland in flavour and texture in comparision with our own grass fed beef. As for local suppliers of grain fed beef,I'm afraid I don't know of any. There are three decent beef suppliers at Ashton under Lyne farmers market and , as far as I'm aware, all raise their cattle on grass. Similarly, the two main "premium" internet suppliers from the general locality - Mansergh and Rhug Halls - are also grass raised. Perhaps contacting a good butcher might be a way forward. Someone like Axon in Didsbury or Frost in Chorlton may be able to source the meat. However, seeing as grass fed is the more prized, and by far the most common, meat, you may be looking at bottom end imports, rather than locally raised.

Had a decent post-theatre supper in May at Golden Day, on Shaftesbury Avenue,just on the outskirts of London's Chinatown. Hunanese cooking - lots of chili spice. Came off a mention on Chowhound's UK board (which, although I've decided not to play there any more as I don't generally find it much cop, is quite good for lower end "ethnic" London reccs - mainly down to a couple of posters who obviously like that sort of thing a lot).

Mrs H has just seen an advert for a "dinner cruise" (don't laugh) going from the Mark Addy next month. Food by Robert Owen Brown, of course. Trip plus three course dinner is £40 which might be worth a go. LInky link As for the programme, I thought it was very superficial and did little for the region. Disappointing - what with the presenter being from round here. Put me on telly next time and I'll do a damn sight better job about northwest "terroir"

Weather was a bit iffy - but we managed a little stroll along the canal afterwards. The church was also packed with history - for instance, some painted panels from 1450. Pub was surprisingly quiet for a B & P place - apart from a couple of guys having a swift pint, we were the only ones in. Must have hit it on a bad day as the landlady says they make 50 pies every other day.

DYSART ARMS, BUNBURY, CHESHIRE I don’t know why I order starters in Brunning & Price places. They never seem to be a patch on the main courses. My partner has learned that lesson but, for me, some things are deeply rooted in my north western genes. Like seeing black pudding on a menu and being compelled to order it. So it was that a plate of black pudding, bacon and tarragon hash cake arrived. It was a sizeable portion but it needed more – more black pudding that is. And more bacon. And much more seasoning. Topped with a little leaf and with a fried egg draped over it, it looked far better than it tasted. And, whilst I’m having a whinge, let me also criticise the egg – it had a crispy base (something I dislike), yet there was a slight snottiness to the white (something I dislike even more). And I’m not at all sure that the tarragon worked. Not good this. Not vile. Just not good. Far, far better was the main. Chicken and leek pie. Generous portion of chicken, good flavoured béchamel sauce, some bits of leek (more would have been better) and the crispiest pastry I can recall in a long time. This really was a good pie. It came with fried scalloped potatoes and some shredded cabbage and carrot. For my money, as fine a pub lunch dish as I want to come across. Meanwhile, herself was getting stuck in to braised lamb shoulder. Although each pub fixes its own menu, there must be some central guidance as there is always a braised lamb dish of some sort on each one (and burger and ham/egg/chips). Today’s offering came with dauphinoise potatoes, carrot and mangetout. As always, it was very generous portion – with a very good flavour from the long cooking. Another winner.

Great story. Brings together two of my passions in life - good food & military history.

CITY CAFE - AT THE CITY INN HOTEL The City Cafe took a nosedive when David Gale left for the Hilton and we haven’t been back for ages. I reckon it’s now very much back on form. There’s still the very impersonal corporate look to the dining room and service is sharp if lacking in a little warmth of approach. There’s keen pricing here – no doubt due to competition on the immediate plot from Malmaison and Abode – a main carte offers three courses for under £22 and a regularly changed “market menu” gets you three for £16.95. Of course, there are signs of how they achieve those prices in the smallish quantities and some little irritations – such as a single tiny slice of bread being served and no “seconds “ offered. But you’re not going to come away hungry – well, not if you order a side of chips between the two of you. I started with a duck rillette – decent helping of tasty duck meat, perhaps a little dry, topped with some watercress and slivers of apple. I like duck in whatever form it appears on my plate and this was no exception. The main was a pave of beef. Or, to be more precise, a few slices of a pave. It came with a celeriac puree and a few sautéed mushrooms. And two chips – so rather glad of the side order. On the other side the table, Veggie Vera had started with carrot soup. Well seasoned; tasted of carrot. Job done. She followed with a turnover of beetroot and chard – in essence a lattice pasty enclosing the veggies which were almost, but not quite, a puree. Quite clever this as, alongside was a “piccalilli” – some cauliflower florets, gherkin and onion, drizzled with a mustard sauce and scattered with some of those rather twee baby shoots that taste of not very much but do look pretty. Desserts were an apple and blackberry strudel with cream and a bitter chocolate and mascarpone cheesecake served with a praline ice cream. Both served warm and doing their job well, if not exactly edge-of-the-seat cooking. Worth mentioning is their very good range of wines by the glass, which suited Vera down to the ground.

Hey, Bapi. Good to see you back - keep meaning to get up your way to the tapas place. Sometime before Xmas hopefully. John