Sarah74

Ah - Sam is one of the reasons my friends and I are going so often Mojitos there are lovely and he is an absolute star.

Went back on Saturday, place was buzzing which was lovely to see. Himself had the liver on my recommendation (which I now remember was 'calves liver saltimbocca') and the only surprising element was that they had cut it up. Seemed quite bizarre to me. I had plaice with capers which was just lovely (gentle really) and a good fishy taste. Pudding was cheese board (choice of five - he chose westcombe cheddar and westcombe caerphilly plus a Somerset brie) The pieces were small but came with some great rough sesame seed biscuits and some chutney and all was finished so clearly was good! I had chocolate nemesis which was very soft and as I haven't ever had the original I'm not sure how correct or not that is. But it was fab. Just pure chocolate indulgence with a bit of creme fraiche and a shortbread biscuit. Lovely lovely meal plus one glass of wine and some Diet Cokes. £56. Brill!

It's been over two years since I posted a snivelling little post about having nowhere local to eat (well) and now, as of last Friday, my prayers have been answered! The Archangel in Frome - a labour of love for the renovation team and a stunning result. The bar/restaurant looks fantastic and the food is lovely. Cocktails in the garden then melt-in-your mouth liver with mash and for my friend duck, a duck confit pie and thick wedgy chips. Add a bottle of rose prosecco and the evening was perfect. http://archangelfrome.com/home.html PS The chef is John Melican who has a very good pedigree I believe but it's actually all the staff and the obvious passion that has gone into the place that make it such fun. PPS I'm in no way associated with this place (more's the pity!) Their PR team - local networking, Twitter etc, seems to have spread the word probably more effectively than any agency could have done.

I'm quite taken with my newly adopted home town of Frome actually - there is Cheap Street with a grocer, deli, cheese shop, health food shop, old fashioned sweet shop and a baker - then Catherine Street with some quirkly little vintage shops (not vintage food!) and some cafes as well as the best butcher around. I managed to do all my Christmas shopping there last year - didn't spend any money in high street conglomerate type shops. Felt most chuffed! Sarah

Thanks everyone (particularly PhilD ). Lots of ideas and no need to have too big a pocket I think. Cheltenham is a bit of a trek to be honest but Bath is do-able, particularly when they deign to open the A36 again..... Happy. Thank you. Sarah

117 views and not one response. Seems there is a need for somewhere delectable to eat. I feel a change of career coming on.....

Have moved slightly away from my base for the last 4 years (between Shepton Mallet and Wells) to Frome. Oh. It's closer to Bath (yippee - handbag shopping) but it seems to have nowhere brilliant to eat. We went to the Mill at Rode on Friday night. Oh dear. Style over substance which is a shame because it's in a great spot on the river. Bland, boring food. Bland, boring food which cost us £41. We have been twice to Bruton House which is lovely - it is like eating great food in someone's dining room and they are brilliantly friendly and it is lovely (have I said that?) but it does cost us about £80 and that is with one of us not drinking. All I am asking for is somewhere to have a good evening meal out for not too much money within 5/10/15 minutes of BA11. Or, if anyone is wavering about opening such an establishment near me soon PLEASE DO. And I promise I will frequent it. Thanks in advance if anyone has any ideas. Sarah

Can't vouch for awards and the like, but have always enjoyed eating in Cafe Romna in Wells. Interesting Indian food and usually packed, as it has been since it opened.

Hi - just an update to say we tried the Ship in Distress at Mudeford but were really disappointed and wondered whether anyone had any thoughts? The fish was good - I had monkfish and scallops which was really well cooked, sweet and just enough food to keep me happy. He had brill fillets with chinese vegetables (and samphire) and a green salad which again was really good. The problem was the atmosphere, ambience, feel etc etc. It was like eating in an old people's home. Terrible canned music, terrible pink and cream decor, old fashioned (and not in a good way) service. We were really rushed through as well - arrived at 8pm out by 9pm!!! We weren't drinking (school night and all that....) and the bill for two mains and two puddings (again - lovely) was £50 + £5 which isn't bad. On a Tuesday night the place was half full with older couples and a family which I'm sure speaks volumes for the food. It is just such a shame that I felt like I was in a canteen. We won't be going back.

Great - lots of options. Thanks so much.

I've recently started seeing a nice chap who lives in Bournemouth and we want to try and have a summer of eating! A shared passion really. I did a search on here but the threads were fairly old so I was wondering whether anyone had any up-to-date thoughts? I would like to try Pebble Beach at Barton-on-Sea for the seafood and I know that the Ship in Distress at Mudeford is rated by a few. Thanks in advance oh wise ones. Sarah

We ate at the Old Spot last night to celebrate my birthday. Was chuffed to pieces when it opened on the site of the once okay local Market Bar which went downhill extremely fast when they thought £13 was good value for a badly cooked burger. Anyway, Wells is my local town and basically there hasn't really been anywhere to eat unless you felt like a curry (Cafe Romna - lovely) or some amazing fish (Goodfellows - run by Adam Fellows ex-Charlton House/Michelin star). So the Old Spot is very, very welcome. Arrived to be greeted by two nice glasses of champagne as a girl friend had dropped in earlier in the day to request them (so sweet!). I started with Chicken livers on toast, mushroom duxelle and green peppercorn sauce. Hearty, tasty, pink liver with lots of mushrooms. A really autumnal starter and it hit the spot. Husband had Steamed mussels with cider, thyme and cream which were good. Very small mussels (time of year perhaps? or just because they are sweeter?) with a rich sauce. I couldn't really taste the cider (for some reason I thought they had ginger in them!) but other half wolfed them down. Good portion sizes too - really decent amount of food for a starter. I then ate Monkfish poached in Pistou broth which was delicate - tasted very pesto-ey (word?!) and the broth was good, full of beans, cucumber, tomato and A.N. Other pulses. A light dish - good chunk of monkfish and lots of soup. Himself had Bavette steak and calves kidneys with red wine sauce and horseradish (and a large dollop of mash). Yum. Good, chewy meat very rare with a smokey taste and the kidneys were delicious. Again, hearty is the word I would use here. A lot of horseradish I think mixed with creme fraiche so it wasn't too strong. We had a bottle of Pouilly Fume something something (sorry, I'm not good with remembering the names of wine) which was perfect for my meal. He wasn't drinking much and anyway, it was my birthday..! He had a coffee and I had Chocolate fondant, caramel sauce which was perfection. Crispy outside sponge, oozing, gooey chocolate. I know it's been done to death but it really is such a star pudding. The caramel sauce was lovely too although there was masses of it. Total £62 which wasn't half bad. It's 2 courses for £20, 3 for £25 if you are interested. Also on the menu: Potato soup with duck confit and truffle oil Spiced aubergine salad Pork terrine Butternut squash risotte Fillet of place with samphire, brown shrimps and beurre blanc Roast partridge with cabbage and bacon and bread sauce Boiled orange cake with blueberry compote Plum and almond tart Red wine jelly with strawberries, creme Chantilly and pastry wafers Cheeses Can't wait to go back again. Maybe I should have a weekly birthday?

Laugh out loud - thanks for that.

I ditto everything that everybody says - I am 19 weeks pregnant and it is only in the last two weeks that I have been able to even read about food, let alone eat anything. Oh, and the smell of alcohol - BLEARGH!! I found cold food the best and also, as soon as I decided that I should eat, I had to go for it. Any wavering and the desire was completely gone. I really enjoyed mashed potatoes and peas when hot food was called for but the smell of the oven heating up was almost enough to put me off. My poor husband made lots of things that I thought I wanted and then ended up eating two portions himself! Good luck to you both - it does pass.

He is starting to take over the world....(well, the media/person-in-the-spotlight- right-now world) The Independent - Hell's Kitchen I thought last night's programme was so positively tame that it felt like a different show - and what about the gratutious 'Gordon takes off his shirt' shot?!

Thanks very much Bapi for the B&B information.

Excuse the resurrecting of an old thread, but I didn't feel that my review warranted a whole new one! We had lunch at The Fox Inn, Corscombe, Dorset on Saturday and it was tremendous. Well worth the getting lost in the countryside and the completely stuffed feeling for the rest of the afternoon. It is a pub (a prize-winning gastro-pub no less) in most of the Good Pub Guide type books but it really is in the middle of nowhere. I feel it is worth a detour if you are going anywhere on the A303 through the West Country and I am thinking about holding my 30th birthday party there and trying the B&B accommodation. I went with Himself and made notes so that I could bring a proper account to the eGullet altar of reviews! I started with 'open cap mushrooms with garlic butter' which did exactly what they said on the tin. Very earthy, very garlicky and completely delicious. Himself had a 'gratin of crab, salmon and skate' which was good - like a fish pie without the potato. Not sure that the flavours of the various types of fish came through individually though but loads of food for a starter. We also had fresh bread and (local) butter which come with all starters. To follow I had 'pan-fried fillet of seabass with sautéed mushrooms and chorizo' which was fantastic. Two large fillets, loads of different types of meltingly tender and delicious mushrooms (I definitely spied shitake and chestnut in there) and large chunks of salty chorizo. The mixture worked really well together and was satisfyingly chunky enough to really fill me up. I hardly needed the roast baby new potatoes, courgettes, celeriac, swede and carrot which came as a side (included in the price) for both me and Himself. He had 'braised rabbit with olives and tomatoes' which was a really good, country dish (and relatively cheap at £9.95). It also had peppers, onions and bits of fennel in it. He had to pick the meat off the bones which I think satisfied some sort of primeval urge.....! Again, lots of food and we really should have stopped there. But, in the interests of providing a full and honest account, we went for puddings which actually were a bit of a let-down. I had 'apple crumble' which was bland and was mostly apple with only a tiny bit of crumble sprinkled on top (but it did come with a dollop of clotted cream which was lovely). Himself opted for 'lemon crème brulee' which was okay but the crème was "too moussey and not enough like custard" to satisfy a complete crème brulee addict. A filter coffee and a couple of soft drinks and the bill came to £55 (not including service) which is pretty impressive. Didn't look at the wine list - sorry. Other bits to note: the pub is full of knooks and crannies which makes it feel quite intimate but I noticed a lovely light conservatory at the back with a large oak refectory table (which I eyed-up for my birthday party). There is no smoking in the restaurant until 10pm (unless the other visitors don't mind) which I think is a good thing but it might put others off. The menu lists the local suppliers and all the members of staff working behind the bar, in the kitchen etc. The Fox Inn, Corscombe, Dorchester, Dorset DT2 0NS 01935 891330 / dine@fox-inn.co.uk (website www.fox-inn.co.uk doesn't seem to work)

Just wanted to say that I love your blog and over here, in cold, rainy England, your words and pictures have been brightening up my week! My husband can't get his head around the idea of a food blog, but as he is a computer programmer (and therefore spends an interminable amount of time looking at lines of code), I don't feel the need to explain. I think it is almost food porn and that's good enough for me!!

I have to say that I was truly scared by Mrs Aikens - Tom seemed almost to cower whenever she addressed something directly at him and her begging him to say something, when, quite frankly, he looked dead on his feet, was cringeworthingly embarrassing. Although I am only a newbie in this whole food game, I was so impressed by the time, effort and love that Tom and his staff put into the whole experience. I have always been impressed by sheer determination to succeed and this programme (along with this thread!) have encouraged me to book a table ASAP.

We have a fantastic gastro-pub in the heart of the Mendips, Somerset. It is called the Wookey Hole Inn and besides serving a varied selection of Belgian beers it also provides us and our nearest and dearest with some great food. Interesting, hearty, solid mediterranean cooking. Also ate the best chocolate brownie with organic, local ice-cream EVER here last weekend! You can view a selection of the food on their website - Wookey Hole Inn They've recently opened another similar venture further south (Long Sutton, near Langport) called the Devonshire Angel which seems to be replicating the succes of its cousin. Not yet eaten there myself but FYI, the website is Devonshire Angel

Not so smart as some of the suggestions but the Wookey Hole Inn, which is opposite the Wookey Hole caves attraction, does some really good dishes in a very funky setting (think buddhas, good Belgian beer and Glastonbury Tor pictures!) Can get quite busy on a Friday and Saturday evenings though so probably worth booking in advance if you are interested. Website here Wookey Hole Inn if you are interested I also second Charlton House in Shepton Mallet for a 'dinner' rather than a supper. We also had the most fab cream tea there the other day.

For pure unadulterated fish, then the Fishworks Seafood Cafe at the top end of Whiteladies road is great. We have eaten there recently and went for the sleeves up, no glamour dish of 'everything from the front row and everything from the second' approach (i.e. seafood platter). We had a whole lobster, crab, oysters, scallops, clams, mussels, prawns big and small along with an excellent bottle of wine and some roasted butternut squash (random I know but I love it!!!) Byzantium - I went there at lunch time last week and it was like eating in a morgue. No atmosphere at all. But the food was good and apparently it is so popular that they are already booking for Christmas. BTW - excellent thread as I have only just moved down here and would really love to hear all your recommendations.