Mrs Woman
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Posts posted by Mrs Woman
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Stevie, La Boheme is now Aquavit (http://www.aquavit.co.uk/). Still owned by the same people I think but now operating a French-Swedish-European-whatever set-up. I haven't seen a cassoulet on their menu in all the 12 years I've lived here unfortunately. I've been a couple of times but neither occasion blew me away.
Regarding the huge jars, I've just bought one back from SW France with duck confit and sausage in. Do I just bung it in a pot and stick in the oven for half an hour? (and add breadcrumbs? I know this is a contentious issue)
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Tim, p'raps better posted in the France forum????
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After watching Friday's programme, I came away with a slight dislike of Matthew Fort. I've always liked his writing and miss his reviews in the Grauniad but he comes across as a bit of a pompous arse on this show. When he said the lobster was "the apotheosis of marine sweetness" in that smug way, I had to restrain my husband from throwing the remote across the room at the TV. I'm not sure I'll be able to hold him back if MF continues in this vein on Friday
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Thanks all so much for the recommendations. The somewhere to stay patr is all redundant now unfortunately as Mr Woman has taken it upon himself to use the Times/Hotel Connexions offer and got us in the Cheltenham Park hotel for £40 B&B. Have heard some mixed reviews about it but mainly about the food and we'd be staying away from that anyway (am hoping the money saved from accomodation will go towards a meal at LCS!).
So apart from LCS, there's just the Daffodil and Cafe Paradiso@Kandinsky of any kind of note in Cheltenham itself? (ooh and Brosh I have just noticed, thanks Richard_D)
Erica, I have PM'd you
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The first wedding anniversary shall be with us in just over a month and we've finally decided we want to go to Gloucestershire, and that we don't want anything too rural (thought about Bourton on the Water but I know it's over-run with day-tripping pensioners during the day). Can anyone recommend some nice B&Bs or hotels that aren't prohibitively expensive?
Also, which is 'better', Cirencester or Cheltenham? I know the latter has LCS but there must be other attractions! restaurant recs for these two places would be good too.
Cheers!
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Thank yuo both, have heard of the place but never actually been! All looks lovely, especially the omelette and dessert option for £5.30
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I shall be in this fair city tomorrow with the mother. Although I was brought up in Notts(escaped, sorry left about 12 years ago) , I haven't been to its 'capital city' for about 3-4 years. Can anyone recommend somewhere for lunch? Nothing too expensive please, and in the centre. Somewhere that does a good value, quality set lunch would be good. Probably smething tradionally French or British (mother doesn't do curries or anything asian except Chinese, bless her).
Ta, me duck!
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The last time I went to Southport, we had fish and chips at some dreadful caff before fleeing the rain and a sudden influx of junior scousers (at Pleasureland or whatever its called).
I've never been here but a Google brings up the Warehouse Brasserie http://www.warehouse-brasserie.co.uk/
according to the Liverpool Echo, a certain Mr Ramsay likes it
http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0100new...-name_page.html
There's also a few listed on Sugarvine
http://www.sugarvine.com/Liverpool/search/...?town=Southport
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I remember in school when they tried to teach me pi are squared!
Everyone knows that pie are round?
SB (likes pie graphs)
Not ALL pies are round...
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I think dunking biscuits (cookies) is pretty common here in the UK but that's probably linked to our obsession with 'a nice cup of tea' - both commenated upon on the great site http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com
Hobnobs, an oaty affair, are generally the best - they keep their shape and can take two or three dunkings. Indeed, as UK comedian Peter Kay says, they are "the SAS of the biscuit world" (dunk me again!).
mmm. must go buy chocolate digestives....
(I must also confess, as a teenager, that I used to dunk McDonald's fries in their milkshakes - mmm sweet AND savoury!)
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Winot, I'm not sure he'd like being called that, even if he knew he was being mentioned on the web. I suppose (if I ever get round to writing another review) he can be just plain old Mr W.
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Hi all. I’m not much of a regular poster (as you’ve probably noticed) but egullet is my daily lunchtime read and has been for nigh on five years, so I thought I’d finally post a review of my own. Be gentle with me…
New house followed by redundancy followed by big wedding has put paid to most eating out in the past 2.5 years but now, six months married, we finally felt we could loosen the old purse strings and treat ourselves to a weekend away. We’d sent some friends to Linthwaite House (www.linthwaite.com) for their honeymoon last year and they loved it, so we were really looking forward to it.
The hotel was lovely (although our chic room was a little small), the view over windermere and the extensive gardens were fantastic (the hotel has its own fishing tarn) and the staff were very charming and helpful. But enough of that, on with the food. It was about two months ago so apologies for the vague descriptions!
Saturday dinner:
Canapés: Parmesan something, pork belly something – neither particularly thrilling, not a great reflection on what was to come. This was followed by a small cup of velvety spicy parsnip soup.
My starter: Gnocchi with lobster and summer truffle was divine and possibly one of the best things I have ever eaten. The gnocchi was as light as air, and the lobster and accompanying sauce beautifully done. My husband was a less enraptured with his own starter of venison carpaccio (served with a little frisee if my memory serves me right), although I think it was a little too gamey for his tastes.
He much preferred his fillet of beef with hot pot veg and swede puree – the small portion of meat he let me taste was melt-in-the-mouth tender. My own main of Goosnargh duck breast with braised cabbage and fondant potato in a Madeira and raisin jus arrived with the duck cut into small squares arranged ‘artfully’ around the plate – I would have much preferred the breast to have stayed in its previous shape but it was cooked well and was tasty to boot.
The sweetness of my pud of strawberry soufflé was offset well by the accompanying balsamic ice cream. My husband decided to try some cheeses from the apparently award-winning UK & Ireland-based board. His (slightly stingy) selection of five cheeses included Blackstick’s Blue, good old Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire and Gold Cross, the latter of which he liked the best – surprising as he usually can’t abide goats cheese.
Tea and drinks followed in the small bar with petit fours of a couple of chop chip cookies (ok), doughnut (yummy) and lovely buttery flapjacks.
Sunday dinner:
Canapés: parma ham rolled around a fig and a small piece of moist cod wrapped in light, almost tempura, batter (it was this canapé that prompted me to try the fish for main as I could tell I was in for a treat).
Problems started this evening with the soup (pumpkin this time) being only warm. We shrugged this off and anticipated our starters. Hubby had gone for the gnocchi after my raving about it, while I opted for seared foie gras on a white bean cassoulet. Both were cooked but alas they arrived tepid. We noticed the table next to us were muttering over their starters too so we decided to point out the error and all was swiftly replaced with much apologies.
Normal service resumed with my dish of sea bass on smoked ratatouille, with scallops on pesto bash and basil foam. I wasn’t disappointed with my purposeful choice of the fish: both bass and scallop were superb, the smoked rataouille not too overpowering and the foam and mash worked wonderfully with the scallops. The other half had lamb (again with hot pot veg and swede puree) but didn’t let me try any!
A choc fondant, with choc fudge sauce and lavender ice cream for me and bread & butter pudding with whisky and honey ice cream for him followed.
We also enjoyed an afternoon tea during our stay of finger sandwiches, two deliciously still-warm scones with raspberry jam and clotted cream, a sharp ginger cake, an average choc sponge and a wicked cream & raspberry tart. We were also spoilt with an ‘extra’ of lemon posset topped with strawberry syrup, which the hubby let me eat all to myself as I am a greedy pig!
I think the kitchen has a reasonably new head chef in Simon Bolsover and he appears to be doing well. Whilst not every dish tried provided fireworks, it was all technically accomplished and very enjoyable. I’d certainly go back for the food alone (although the breakfasts could do with some better black pudding – once you've tried Bury, there' no going back!)
All in all, an enjoyable stay only slightly marred by the dirty look (I didn’t imagine it, my husband saw it too!) the owner (who’d been in the breakfast room earlier barking about property prices) gave us as we headed back up to our room. Goodness knows what we’d done to upset him, perhaps we didn’t look rich enough and he thought we’d be doing a runner?
Aplogies for rambling (if you got this far!)
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Hi overlord, I'm sorry to be a pedantic old fool but it is Sunday LUNCH you'll should b asking for rather than 'brunch'. I know I sound petty but I didn't want you to be going to the Belvedere asking for 'brunch' as you'd probably get something resembling breakfast (or nothing at all if they don't do brunch) rather than the roast beef and Yorkshir pud you were after. Hope this helps!
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Hi Thom!
Unfortunately we got to red Chilli after midnight so it was shut and we went to Kwokman instead. I didn't know about all that health & safety stuff, wish I had as it would have made us go elsewhere and I wouldn't have had such a bland meal. Had some hot and sour soup that was not much of either although it was rather plentiful and had some lovely large juicy prawns in. Even more disappointing was 'pork with aubergine in spicy sauce' - which turned out to be tiny bits of minced pork with a shedload of aubergines in a kind of soy flavoured sludge. Hey ho.
Thanks for the PM, will reply in a mo
Ian Brown was fabulous by the way. He even had the bloke (liverpool fan) singing along to Georgie Best Wonderland (or whatever it is).
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Hello Thom! Hope you and yours are well
We're off to see Ian Brown in that there Manc tomorrow and will be needing sustenance at some point. The bloke is wanting to go to Kwokman again but I may try to steer him to this place instead. Whereabouts is it and do you know what time it's open 'til (as Kwokman seems to be open all night!)
Cheers in advance
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I've seen some lovely little bottles in Vom Fass (http://www.vomfass.net/). They actuslly have them to put their own booze/olive oil/vinegar, etc in but perhaps they would sell you some empty bottles or tell you where they get them from?
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Jetting beef in from half-way round the world? Olly's obviously never heard of this place in good old North Wales
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Have you been here CB? I must admit to having never heard of it despite being only down the M53 in Chester. The Wirral is not exactly a hot bed of great restaurants, usually the more-upmarket chains to keep the posh scousers happy (yes, very much like Chester!)
There's more about Fraiche here
http://www.sugarvine.com/Cheshire/minisite...estaurant=13090
I might endevour to find ths place the next time I venture up that way!
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Another thought-- why have so many Italians emigrated to this part of Wales, where the culture is so different from Italy and the weather so uninviting?
They came to open cafes!
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/2000localin...jectid=11280575
The weather might be uninviting in Wales (althouth south Wales in the summer can be nice) but it is a beautiful country
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I read VPL's Arkle review with interest.
I mean, I know that the Liverpool area (the highest-rosetted restaurant within a 20 mile radius of liverpool, including the city itself, has one rosette...
no more.
Culinary bear, are you saying that Chester is in the Liverpool 'area'??? I ain't a scouser! Yes I know they are quite close but so is Liverpool to manchester and I wouldn't dare say they're in the same area
[goes off in a regionally affronted huff]
Is it not as good as VLS says then? I had hoped the bloke was going to take me for my birthday.
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Been past here a few times as it is just round the corner from the bloke's sister's house (which will be handy for when we finally get round to trying the place out, not far to stumble home). Looks pretty sparse inside, and yes, urmston seems a strange location for a top restaurant but apparently they are redeveloping that monstrrosity of a shopping precint so it is an area obviously on the up
The Independent has a small snippet on it here too:
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/food_an...sp?story=584204
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Hi guys
The follow-up show to the first series of Faking It is discussed here
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=22437&hl=
My explanation of what happened to Ed the chef is further down the 1st page
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Has to be Garfield and his lasagna obsession
The West of Ireland
in United Kingdom & Ireland: Dining
Posted
highchef, to avoid further confusion.
Whisky (no 'e') is from Scotland (i.e. Scotch whisky).
Whiskey is from Ireland.
I have to say I prefer the one with the 'e', much smoother.