Severnshed, Bristol

I have been out and about on my summer holidays recently and have only just got round to letting you know about where I have been so, here it goes!

I'll aim to do one a day, and have vowed to better keep up with the blog, it might be more varied than just the dinners and I am iming to include some more photographs too.

So here goes....

The Severnshed, Bristol. A rather lovely building for a rainy evening. It's next to the docks in Bristol and unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it. Sorry.

The atmosphere was very lively - with an active bar and a busy restaurant side with several (well-behaved) large hen parties. The music was loud and pop music, so if you like your dinner accompanied by exquisite piano it's probably not the place for you on a Friday.

We'd booked and were glad we did as it was very busy.

The menu is pretty good, with plent of 'activity dinners' that add a bit of interest to the dining experience.

Our 'activity dinners' consisted of....

fajitas - plenty of veg and meat for the 4 or 5 tortillas, dips and nacho crisps. It was plenty to eat and very filling, and flavourful - although not quite as spicy as I was expecting.

skewers - prawn and beef. The skewers are the house speciality. Your meat comes on what can only be described as swords and is de-impaled onto a bed of salad at the table. There was plenty of meat and salad, so much so that the included chips were not really necessary.

and my husband had steak and chips, which was apparently good - but he did feel a bit left out after our interesting dinners!

I did have a pudding, but I can't remember now what it was, only that it was light and sweet and came with a burnt-caramel swirl which was fun.

The rating:

A lively Friday-night venue with great location in Bristol, I'd definitely go again.

The summary:

Food =fun food, attractively presented and good-sized portions

Price = mains £10 - £20 (skewer dinner £15)

Atmosphere =lively, busy and loud

Contact:

Severnshed http://www.severnshedrestaurant.co.uk/

The Grove

Bristol

BS1 4RB

0117 925 1212

On the move....house for sale Long Eaton

Hello blog readers My husband and I are hoping to be on the move. If anyone is looking for a good sized 3 bed semi with no chain in Long Eaton, Derbyshire we've got a lovely house for sale. The kitchen has been newly refurbished and it's neutrally decorated throughout. All the usual details are on Rightmove and it's on for offers over £122,000 (an absolute bargain for the space available). We're moving as me and my hubby want to sell our own houses now we are married and buy one together XX
Happy house viewing!

We've taken loads of photos so you can really get a feel for the place....

French Living

Doubling the blog posts so far is the next instalment.... French Living.

It appears that French Living are making much more use of the light and lively upstairs restaurant now, rather than the basement. I think it's nice to vary the two and whichever you choose the food will be great! They are also open all day which is an additional bonus.

We had selections from the prix fixe menu (offered up-front and centre, top marks!) and had the following:

Starters: Smoked Salmon and Marinated Salmon

Delicate flavours and an attractive plateful, summery dishes unlike the rainy weather outside!

Mains: Hake Basquaise and Venison

A huge slab of venison graced my fellow diner's plate and look well cooked - it certainly appeared to taste good! The hake was well cooked and served with chunky-cut vegetables and rice. 

Puds: Profiteroles and tulle basket

I had the profiteroles, choux pastry with ice-cream in the centre (for the summer touch) and hot chocolate sauce. I'm not normally a fan of deviation from cream in the centre - however balanced with the gallons of hot sauce this was a real winner and the ice cream balanced the sweetness of the sauce well. The tulle basket was chosen as a light finish by my partner and was as expected.

The rating:

Great value for the price with properly French waiting staff and a lively atmosphere. Light and airy upstairs, darkly interesting in the cellar. I didn't want to be anywhere else tonight!

The summary:

Food = Great French food, hearty and with a seasonally-changing menu

Price = A pre-theatre menu, and two set menus (saison £18ish and gastronomique £22) plus a-la-carte

Atmosphere = Busy but not over-loud, feels French

Contact:

French Living http://www.frenchliving.co.uk/

27 King Street, Nottingham NG1 2AY   

t: +44 (0)115 9585885    

e: info@frenchliving.co.uk

Signature Steakhouse, West Bridgford, Nottingham

I can't believe it's my first blog post of 2012! I am going to blame it on my usual dinner partner having moved to Bristol and me therefore not having gone out to dinner. I have been out to dinner, but just not got round to writing it up! Oops. So here's an on-the-day live report.....

A special occasion calls for a special dinner and for my husband's birthday we chose a new-ish special restaurant in West Bridgford, the Signature Steakhouse. The note in the window advertised 5 local suppliers in West Bridgford's Totally Locally initiative, so all to the good.

On arrival at 6.30 there were another couple there having drinks, who left whilst we were perusing the menu. That left us as the only people there for a while, which unfortunately doesn't add to the atmosphere. We were seated in the bar to choose our drinks and to have an aperitif. It's a little odd to have a clothing boutique in a bar / restaurant, but we rolled with it, hoping we'd be moved to the dining area at the back for our meal.

We were indeed taken through to the dining area, which (still just us) had a better atmosphere as it was cosier and the music was sufficient to provide enough background to make us two feel comfortable, but so that we could still chat over it.

My husband's starter arrived very swiftly, and was unfortunately cleared away about a minute before he'd finished chewing the last morsel! The salmon starter was presented nicely and was, apparently, tasty.

The main courses arrived following hot on the heels of the cleared starter, at this point I was thinking that we'd be in, out and done in about 45 minutes! However, in chatting over the dinner and taking time over ordering dessert we had a very pleasant couple of hours.

The main courses were beautifully presented, the steak being high-quality and cooked well and my chicken stuffed with goats cheeses, sun dried tomatoes came with mash, boiled potatoes and a selection of vegetables and was filling, varied, and nicely balanced.

By now there were another couple dining, and a group in the bar - enough to give the place a warm feel.

For dessert we had eton mess and chocolate cake. The eton mess consisted of a variety of fruit (blueberries, oranges, strawberries) and was light, creamy and refreshing. The chocolate cake was served with ice-cream and was rich and an enjoyable finish.

We felt a bit exploited when it came to the bill, with a flyer advertising an 'early bird' deal available until 7pm included within the receipt folder, when we hadn't been offered that menu on our arrival at 6.30pm alongside the a-la-carte, nor was it on the collection of leaflets on the table. My husband noted this on our comment card and also mentioned this to our host, who apologised, but it was a sufficient disappointment to negate a tip (the early bird 3-courses with wine was £18, my husband's steak alone was £22 (and my chicken £14) - so a significant difference). I do wonder how long the restaurant will survive, given the lack of diners, this kind of 'oversight' which won't encourage return visits and the price point of the meal, considering its out of city location and slightly strange clothes shop / restaurant combo. Maybe I'll be surprised.

I'm out again tomorrow, so I'll double the 2012 blog posts after then :)

The rating:

A nice meal, but for broadly the same price as World Service - next time I'll go to World Service. 

The summary:

Food = Varied menu, non-steak dish was also good, presented beautifully

Price = Pricey £72 for two (one 3-course and one 2-course meal with wine) bad that they didn't offer the fixed-price menu and then had the cheek to advertise it when they brought the bill!

Atmosphere = Classy decor, laid-back, calm

Contact:

Signature Steakhouse

100 Melton Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 6EP

0115 981 6249

http://www.signaturesteakhouse.co.uk/

(and for reference - World Service http://www.worldservicerestaurant.com/ or Iberico http://www.ibericotapas.com/)

Chino Latino Nottingham - Red and Black Bliss

We've had a couple of weeks break from the blog due to holidays (not mine!) and work pressures (definitely mine!), but this week we were back with a vengeance.

40% off vouchers took us to Chino Latino in Nottingham. Chino is located next to the Park Plaza hotel and is on Maid Marian way. We've been here only once before (in hundreds of Wednesdays) and there's a reason for it - the menu is EXPENSIVE.

The restaurant is done out in a very modern bachelor-pad type style - all black, red and shiny surfaces. Approaching the restaurant from a sunny September evening it takes a while for your eyes to get used to the dark of the interior. 

The food is billed as 'Eastern Fusion', it's Japanese type offerings with both other Eastern (Thai / Chinese) influences and a Western twist. Novel. 

As it's expensive here people tend to treat it as a treat, and even on Wednesday I felt a bit under-dressed in my jeans and top. Never mind. If I come here when their next offer is on I'll make sure to dress up a bit more. 

The staff were very friendly and bore with us as we had a lot to catch up on it took us a while to even look at them menu let alone decide what to eat! My friend had sussed out that there was a dessert platter (my very favourite thing) so we had to bear in mind that we did not want to be too full with mains.

The food is all served tapas style (i.e. put in the middle to share) so we selected dinners with this in mind.

In the end we went for.....

Seafood tempura to start, accompanied by a spicy mixed veg salad.

There aren't many foods that I don't like, but prawns is one of those things, we'd ordered the tempura as I thought that they'd be easy enough to identify and pick out. They were. The tempura was nice, and kept the fish good and firm, but the surprise was in the mixed veg salad. It was crunchy, very fresh and covered in a dressing that was spicily warming and left a tingly feeling in your mouth. Recommended!

Chicken in a curry and peppercorn sauce, and steak on hot rocks.

Part of this place is the drama of the food and how it is served and prepared, so to fully experience this our beef arrived having what looked like its own spa treatment. Served rare on hot barbecued stones, the beef was drizzled with sauce at the table and we were then left to take the meat off when it became suitably cooked for each diner. Great if you and other diners (as here) like meat done to differing levels. This dish was served with chunky sweet potato chips. The beef itself was tender and slightly salty from the sauce, and went very well with the sweet potatoes. 

The chicken was delicately sliced and served with a small salad. As it turned out we'd ordered really well. The tender salty beef went beautifully with the light, cream curry sauce of the chicken.

The portions are sufficient if you're aiming to eat 3 courses, but if you want just two then I would advise ordering a side to go with the mains. Personally I like having smaller portions as you can try lots of different things without feeling bilious.

Dessert platter.

Okay so it's confession time. This was my least favourite part of the meal. For me, that's unusual I generally like the puddings most. The platter consisted of: 

Two sorbets

A creamy torte-like items with fruit jelly on top

Sticky toffee pud and custard

Lots of fruit and chocolate dipping sauce

I think it reflects the cuisine of the East that there was lots of fruit but I think this place could have been very much more imaginative. They also cut the torte (on a sharing platter for two) into three pieces (I absolutely HATE when restaurants advertise things as sharing for two and then cut the offering into indivisible portions, grrrr). The chocolate dipping sauce was nice, but I must confess the fruit tastes better without so we (okay I) ate it with a spoon later. The steamed pudding contained little ginger flakes which was its Eastern twist.

All in all the verdict is:

The food is great, really different and very tasty - I have been surprised and impressed with the flavour combinations both times I have been here. The waiting staff are friendly and helpful. On the downside the decor is dim, dark and slightly off-putting, and the food is really expensive. I think that there are nicer overall packages in Nottingham city centre (Harts, World Service, Iberico to name a few) where you feel more cosseted for similar price points.

Price: We paid £60 including tip for the above, having had two beers and two lemonades as well, with our 40% off voucher. Mains are priced around the £15-£20 each mark.

Chino Latino - I'll see you next time you've got an offer on.

Contact:

41 Maid Marian Way, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG1 6GD

0115 947 7444 Website

Riverside farm, nottingham

This was the venue for a work lunch to wish one of our colleagues all the best for her maternity leave. As they are a big and busy pub they just need a phone call on the day to reserve a table.

The food usually comes really quickly, however two out of out twenty ordered soup and a roll which took an age to come. They must have just been unlucky.

The pub is busy and bustling and there are two main highlights of any visit....

1. A lovely full carvery, a choice of three meats and absolutely all the trimmings
2. The chance of a 'cake away'

I had a mixed beef and turkey carvery which was everything you would expect, and good value at around £7.

The 'cake away' is a slice of a large selection of MASSIVE cakes. You get it in a box to take away. Even the most hardy pudding eater in our midst made theirs last three days. The box weighed very heavily on the way out!

It's pretty much serve yourself and the staff are friendly but busy so there's not really a personal service. The carvery and (usually) quick non car very service mean that you can get a large work group through in only a little over your lunch hour.

Definitely one to try!
http://www.riversidefarmpub.co.uk/

July - forgotten?

Oh yes, I have given up on remembering July!

Oops.

Must do better on that month's report card :)