Category: Eating out

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Haptik (again)

If you’ve read my previous blog about Haptik then you will know that I love this place. I really admire the commitment of Johnny and Rachel to bring quality coffee and a local art space to Newtownards. I love the feel of the place and I love the fact that lots of local people of all ages have embraced it and go regularly. 

  On previous visits, Haptik had not yet served a breakfast or lunch menu so our visit this time was a great excuse to try some food.

We had Mike’s fancy cheese on toast with mushrooms and spinach. Mike’s Fancy Cheese Co. is an artisan cheese maker local to Newtownards and the main reason for choosing the dish. 

Oh my! It was delicious, the cheese was complimented by the mushrooms, onions and spinach in a creamy tarragon sauce and a sprinkling of nuts and seeds. 

  
The menu at Haptik is small, creative and seasonal and as you already know the coffee is spot on. 

We will keep going as often as we can! 

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Blacksmith Arms, Westow

We love pie, really, really, love pie, so when we saw pie on the menu on a meal out with friends it was inevitable.  (I should point out however that we only eat pie if it’s proper pie. Stew with a hat on does not constitute a pie in Mr Frivolitea’s world).

We’d never visited the Blacksmith Arms before despite it being not too far from where we live. Our friends suggested it for a meal out and I am so glad they did, and three of the four of us had pie.

I chose the chicken and ham pie from the specials board:


Mr Frivolitea chose the steak and ale pie:


The pastry was superb, the pie did not skimp on fillings and the meat was top quality. The vegetables and chips were cooked to perfection.

My only slight criticism, which would not be a criticism for many, would be that the pie was too big, I simply couldn’t finish it and desperately wanted to!

I couldn’t manage pudding after all that pie but the others did. Mr Frivolitea opted for the dark chocolate fondant despite its 15 minute wait time. He confirmed that it was definitely worth the wait, rich and delightfuly squidgy.


Our friends had the specials board pudding, vanilla panacotta with an apple crumble topping and apple sorbet. The apple sorbet was a particular hit.

I did hesitate before writing this blog. The food here was so good that I wanted to keep it to myself!

I can’t recommend this place enough. The food was of top quality, the pub cosy and inviting, and the staff really helpful and friendly. It’s clear that the Blacksmith Arms take huge pride in what they do.

We will definitely be back. A lot.

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Timberyard

Last night we went to one of the most interesting places we’ve eaten in for a long time. Timberyard is tucked in a side street behind Edinburgh Castle and the entrance does not fully prepare you for the wonder inside. The name I guess should give a big clue but as we walked in to the building and saw the big open space of the main dining area my sense of excitement grew. This place is different. Different in style, different in feel and different in quality from anywhere else we’ve eaten recently.

The sense of space at Timberyard is something I particularly liked. This place has stayed true to the building but also in doing so has created an ‘urban’ feel. Its history is on show, it’s not ‘prettied’ up. Timberyard is creative and it’s clever. Everywhere you look there are jars of foraged homegrown fruit, leaves, herbs, preserved in interesting ways.


We arrived a bit early and had a drink at the bar. We knew we were in for a great evening when we needed the soft drinks menu to be explained to us!

Mr Frivolitea opted for the pickled elderflower. A long drink using pickled elderflower syrup topped up with sparkling mineral water. I opted for sourdough and bramble, a short drink served over a chunk of ice. It was literally a chunk of ice and fascinating to be sitting at the bar watching the drinks being prepped and the use of a miniature axe bing used to chip ice to fit the glass. The barman described my drink as like drinking jam and toast, really good jam and toast, and I can’t think of a better description. It is nothing like anything I’ve tasted before. The pickled elderflower was also really interesting and refreshing. Never have soft drinks been so appealing. Oh and they had Nyetimber on the menu and you know we always approve of this. So after soft drinks a glass of Nyetimber each ensured an excellent evening.


We decided to opt for the daily menu rather than the tasting menu. This menu is made of bites, small, large and pudding course.

Before our food arrived we were given some malted sourdough bread with some whipped chicken liver and whipped crowdie, juniper pepper and lovage salt.

We both had bites. I had Mackerel, horseradish, buttermilk, apple. This dish was really creative. It messed with my head a bit and I’m in awe of the processes and precision they used to present the mackerel and the horseradish and buttermilk that felt like snow. It was a really light and fresh start to the meal. Mr Frivolitea had pea, curd, spelt, lovage, shoots. This was a wonderfully light dish, delicate flavour with occasional surprises of sweetness or curd flavour.


 I passed on the small dish but Mr F had the mallard, cauliflower, kolhrabi, elderberry, shallot, black garlic, chard.


Another exciting and creative dish with the black garlic being a particular highlight. For large, we both opted for the venison. Well you would, wouldn’t you! The dish was titled venison, squash, onion, mushroom, beetroot, juniper, kale. The crust on the venison loin added an extra dimension to the dish and the slow cooked venison was deliciously tender.

Finally Mr F had pudding (though I did try a bit of course!) pudding was honey, nut, lemon thyme, oatmeal, milk. Every mouthful revealed something new. It was one of those puddings were if you had one of the elements on its own you might be underwhelmed but put all together it was incredible. The honeycomb was the best we’ve had and the lemon thyme really lifted the dish.


This place is exciting. It’s a place you want to return to, and we will.

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Sesame 

Want to be able to get creative, fresh and interesting food on the run? Well go to Sesame. Sesame sits on Garrick Street a few steps from Leicester Square tube station. The layout reminds me a little of Pret but that’s where the similarities end (for those of you who were worried!) 

  
The interior is vibrant and exciting. 

  
Sesame is the latest venture by Yotam Ottolenghi. I’m a huge fan of his food. I’ve got the cookbooks, I’ve eaten in his restaurants and Sesame is a great next step. Why? Because it means that people like me who don’t live in London but who pass through for work can grab some tasty food at a good price. 

I decided to try a couple of skewers from the flame grill in the shop. I chose the spiced lamb and the paprika and cardomom chicken. 

   

 
Not the best photo of them! I loved the flavour the flames gave the meat. Though I didn’t get much cardomom flavour off the chicken.

I then bought a salad and dip to eat on the train home. 

I love cauliflower and anytime I have eaten a cauliflower dish that Ottolenghi has created it really impresses me. So I chose the cauliflower, tahini and pomegranate salad. It was really delicious.

  
I also chose an aivar pepper, goats cheese and nigella seeds dip. It packed a punch and was lovely and creamy. 

  
The great thing about Sesame is that they also have a small selection of sweets and snacks you can buy too. So Mr Frivolitea hasn’t missed out as some Soffle’s chilli and garlic pitta crisps, some sesame brittle and  sweets are in the bag winding their way back to York.

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Spa and Dine at Cedar Court Grand

 Recently I met up with a friend for a catch up.  We try and do something nice together a couple of times a year and had in the past enjoyed a spa day.  Unfortunately we didn’t have a day to catch up this time so I was on a mission to find something  that felt like a treat and was similarly relaxing.  We’d agreed York was the best place to meet, so I had a look on the Cedar Court Grand website for what they offered on an evening and was excited to see a new package called ‘Spa and Dine’.  An opportunity to have a treatment, use the spa facilities and then enjoy a 3 course meal in Hudsons restaurant. Definitely my thing!

The package was fantastic value for money and we could select from the full menu.  Before our starters arrived they brought a lovely selection of bread.


I chose the hand dived scallops, wakame, sunflower seeds, sea herbs, dill mayonnaise, salmon keta it was beautifully presented and had fantastic flavour.

  

My friend chose the poached ocean trout, hay smoked heritage beetroots, watercress cream, beetroot sourdough.  What you cannot see here is the beautiful glass cloche it arrived in, that when lifted released the hay smoke. 

  

For my main course I chose Fowlers of York’s Atlantic Stone Bass,  fennel, langoustines, coastal herbs, buckwheat, bisque.  Another beautifully presented dish with great flavours.

My friend chose the roasted fillet of East Coast halibut, caramelised cauliflower, brassicas, verjus and brown shrimp sauce.  She commented that she partciualrly enjoyed the texture of cauliflower and how it lifted the dish.   

Finally, for pudding my friend had inspiration of ‘Ferrero Rocher’ pralines, almonds, burnt white chocolate, candied pistachios.  She enjoyed it but it was richer in chocolate than the description suggested and a bit too filling.  Definitely one for the chocoholic. 

  

I had lemon posset, macerated berries, basil, crispy raspberry cake.  The lemon was sharp and refreshing. Just right to end the meal.

 

All in all, it was a great package and a fantastic opportunity to try the food at Hudson’s restaurant.  I can highly recommend it. 

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Lakes Distillery

I have to admit, I was particularly excites about this visit as part of our most recent holiday in the Lakes.  A distillery visit is always something I enjoy and one that also makes gin is a particular win.   

The Lakes distillery has not been open long.  Everything looks new but still somehow connected to the landscape around it thorugh the use of slate and stone. 

  
    

We decided to go on the distillery tour before heading to the bistro for food.  The tour had some great elements to it and clearly a lot has been invested in the displays and rooms. However some elements I didn’t particularly enjoy including the attempts at interactivity through a ‘character’ appearing to tell the history of the area.  I think aimed at children but it just didn’t work for me.  I wanted to know more about the people involved in the distillery, the connection to the local area and what pride they take in their product.  The tasting session was good but again I didn’t feel it made the most of immersing us in the process or the flavours of the drinks. 

  

After the tour we went into the bistro.  I really liked the feel of the place and the design. 

  

We had opted for the 3 course Sunday lunch menu whilst there, though the later evening menu looked particularly interesting. For starter I chose the Cumbrian air dried ham, compressed melon, mozzarella and heritage tomatoes dish. I particularly enjoyed the freshness of this dish and the Cumbrian ham was delicious.
 Mr Frivolitea chose the smoked mackerel pate, pickled cucumber and sourdough. A simple dish but full of flavour.

  

For main course Mr Frivolitea chose the roast beef dinner, something he can rarely refuse!  He really enjoyed it but it did swim in gravy a bit!

  

For main I had the grilled cod with minted peas and tartare sauce. This was ok but I felt it lacked flavour. I love simplicity but this felt almost too simple!

  

The puddings were the best it of the meal all in all.  Mr Frivolitea had the chocolate brownie toffee popcorn and salted caramel icecream.
  

I simply had salted caramel icecream with almond tuille.  

  

Though in some ways I left disappointed, I think the Lakes distillery has lots of potential and certainly the bistro evening menu looked fantastic. I reckon we will return to give ti another go.
 

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Doi Inthanon, Ambleside

Mr Frivolitea and I love Thai food  and this place is so good we’ve been going every year since it opened in 2000 on our annual trip to the Lakes.  The restaurant is owned and run by husband and wife team Chris and Bursara Knight. The appeal of this place is as much about their love of what they do as it is about the food.  There is nothing more wonderful than Bursara’s smile when you walk through the door. You know this is a place where they care about you having a great time. 

  

The restaurant expanded up stairs a few years ago and the design and feel of the place is part of its charm with intricate wood carvings and beautiful Thai crockery. (Mr Frivolitea once embarrassingly asked where they got their crockery from!)

The first thing we always have when eating at Doi Inthanon are the  prawn crackers, wonderfully spicy and ever so moreish.

On this visit we decided to go for a set menu, not something we normally do.  We had the mixed starter: Chicken spring roll, Geoh tord  (pork money bags) pork on sesame toast, king prawn blankets and chicken satay.  All the food here is excellent but the satay is defintely a favourite of mine. I love the flavour of their peanut sauce. 

  

For main courses we had green chicken curry, I can’t visit Doi Inthanon without having it, chicken and cashew nuts and stir fried vegetables. The balance of spice and heat is always spot on here and the flavour in the green curry is the best I’ve had.

       

However the highlight of any meal here is the coconut rice.  It is truly special, so much so that we asked for it instead of the rice that came with the set menu.  

  

I cannot emphasise enough that you should go to Ambleside and try this place and whatever you do, order the coconut rice. You will not be disappointed, I promise. 

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Hassop station

Hassop Station is tucked away in the Peak District countryside, a short drive from Bakewell.  The station is part of the Monsal Trail and a great place to start your walk or cycle ride. I discovered this little place in an article in the Guardian on Derbyshire cheap eats.  We decided to start our day here as we wanted to hire bikes to do the trail.

We arrived first thing and ordered a Hassop Station breakfast to provide us with our fuel for the day (well that was our excuse anyway).  What a fantastic place this is.  The breakfast was really well cooked, with a decent amount of good quality bacon and sausage. However the highlight for me was the tomato.  Normally I am happy to skip the tomato in a cooked breakfast but here they had added thyme and lemon zest.  An inspired decision and one I am copying from now on. 

 

We hired our bikes and spent the day cycling 19 miles on and near the Monsal Trail and then returned to Hassop Station.
  

The Station cafe opens late three nights a week serving stone baked pizzas and a small menu of simple but tasty dishes.   I chose to have the fish and chips (it is often difficult for me to refuse fish and chips if they are on a menu). I am glad I did. The fish was full of flavour and the batter particularly tasty. You can tell that in this place, quality matters.
 

Mr Frivolitea opted for the special of local buffalo burger and chips.  The burger was really tasty and  it was great to see local buffalo being used on the menu. 

  

This is not somewhere to go for a romantic meal for two  but it is a great place for simple, good quality food and with the Monsal Trail on the doorstep, it is a great day out.  

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The Harbour Cafe

If you are looking for fish and chips in Scarborough, then look no further than the Harbour Cafe in Scarborough.  If you’re looking for frills, you won’t find them here, but what you will find is a proper welcome and a great plate of food.

The Cafe sits above the fish market at the Harbour and the view is fantastic. The food is so fresh that when I ordered our fish and chips I was able to watch my batter being made and then the fish being fried.   The chips are not your normal ‘chippie’ chips.  In fact the chips here remind me of the chips my dad used to make at home in our deep fat frier.  

If you’re ever in Scarborough, go here. but make sure you go before 2pm.  They’ve been open since 6am feeding fishermen so thay deserve to close and have a rest in the afternoon. 

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Le Cochon Aveugle

To quote Mr Frivolitea ‘a neon sign means either very good, or very bad things inside’.

We’d heard some good things about this little restaurant in York, finally got round to booking in, and we can confirm this particular pink neon is a sign of VERY good things.

I’m a fan of a tasting menu, I love having no choice and instead enjoying several different plates of food that I may not have ordered. What made things even better was the wine list. Nyetimber on the menu -that immediately puts a big smile on my face (and a bit of a dent in my bank account).

The menu uses seasonal produce, changes every week and costs £35 for 6 courses. The food is creative, interesting and challenging. If you read the menu every week when they put it on Facebook (yes, I do that) there’s always something that makes you sit up and take notice. The menu for our visit included many of my favourite things but in ways I could never have imagined.

Our first dish was a collection of little bites: Radishes with gremolata, Pain de Campagne with truffle butter and beurre noisette, a jar with goats cheese, Yorkshire rapeseed oil, provencal herbs & olive and finally burnt celeriac consommé with passion fruit. It was all beautifully presented and balanced. The highlight for me was the beurre noisette, wonderfully light and full of flavour. I was sceptical about the consommé but I can confirm celeriac and passion fruit work well together.
  

The second dish was textures of cauliflower with yeast, hazelnuts, pickled grape and baby sorrel leaves. Cauliflower is one of my favourite vegetables and this dish did it justice. The variety of textures really showed cauliflower at its best.

The third dish was glazed mackerel tartine (crushed almonds, Parmesan, sourdough) lemon jam, herbs and a soy based sauce. The mackerel was the star of the show and the tartine worked really well with it though I would have happily had more lemon jam.

Then we had a trio of Gloucester old spot, baby turnip, fennel foam, fennel tops and honey glazed apples. Pork and fennel are a tried and tested combination and I really enjoyed this dish.

The fifth dish was a lemongrass  chilli and ginger sorbet with Italian meringue. This was really fresh and zingy and worked well after the rich pork dish.

The sixth and final dish was pate a cigarette with strawberries, rhubarb, elderflower Chantilly and elderflower oil. I love rhubarb and this dessert was wonderfully balanced.

Mr Frivolitea likes coffee equipment and he’d been intrigued by the coffee siphon from the moment we walked in the door. So, we rounded off our meal with coffee and petit fours. The coffee was a fantastic bit of theatre to round off the evening and the petit fours of passion fruit jelly, chocolate and peanut butter lollipops and Bordeaux cakes with rum and vanilla were a final reminder of the quality and creativity of this little restaurant.

  

So, we were done; we’d eaten well, and we were ready to go home, but Le Cochon Aveugle had one last surprise for us. Breakfast! A little parcel of banana bread for Mr Frivolitea and the best florentine I have ever had (as I can’t eat banana).  A really thoughtful touch. We enjoyed our breakfast at Flamborough Head the next morning on our 12 mile walk .

We will be back and next time we will definitely include the wine pairings. £63 for the 6 courses and wine pairings with food of the highest standard – that’s fantastic value!