The Forest Side

I don’t know where to start with this blog because when we visited The Forest Side last night everything, I mean everything, was perfect. Within 30 seconds of entering the building and being welcomed by someone in a rather nice tweed jacket, we were ushered into the bar and I was trying to persuade Mr Frivolitea that the wallpaper would look lovely in our house. (he suitably brought me back to reality about the size of our house in comparison to the room we were sat in!)I have been looking forward to visiting here for some time and booked it quite a while ago. The chef Kevin Tickle worked at L’Enclume and the menus, using local produce and many herbs and vegetable from the kitchen garden of the hotel, are my kind of eating. We started the evening as we meant to go on, with cocktails. I decided to pace myself with a mocktail called Berry Blast. Mr Frivolitea went straight for the Fennel in Love. Oh my, what a drink! Dark rum, over proof rum, fennel juice, lime juice, Demerara syrup, homemade ginger beer and angostura.

We looked at the menu selection. You can have A La Carte, the Lil Un (6 course tasting menu) and the Grand Un (10 course tasting menu). Mr Frivolitea and I realised rather quickly that we would feel like we had missed out if we didn’t opt for the Grand Un, especially as it had many things we particularly like that you don’t often see on menus such as hen of the woods, sweet cicely apple marigold and goats curd. The attention to detail in the dining room was also wonderful. Staff were attentive but relaxed and there were reminders of Cumbria everywhere including the beautiful central table made from tree roots with a wild flower display. This is somewhere of the highest quality that ensures you feel relaxed and welcome.

Before our first course we were brought some ‘snacks’: Onion cracker with lovage and smoked eel and a carrot cracker with black pudding. The smoked eel snack was particularly good.

Our first course was new season broad beans, poached yolk, ox tongue and hen of the woods.

Our second course was heritage tomatoes cooked in elderflower, goats curd, caviar and tomato consommé. This was an absolutely stunning dish and one of my favourites of the evening.

Alongside this course we were given the most perfect miniature loaf of bread with parsley, lovage and celery butter. Something I am keen to recreate when I get home. The flavour in the butter was truly wonderful.

The third course was venison pastrami, smoked juniper yoghurt, mooli, Corra Linn ( goats cheese) and pickled allium flowers. The pickled allium flowers were incredible. I would very happily work my way through a jar of them!

The fourth course was west coast langoustine, cucumber, mallow, ‘Our Guanciale’ ( Pork fat) and conifer honey. The langoustine was beautifully sweet.

I ordered a glass of Davenport (Bacchus, Ortega, Limney Estate, Daveport, East Sussex, 2014) which was the perfect accompaniment.

The fifth course, one of Mr Frivolitea’s favourites of the evening, was courgette scorched over embers with mint and pumpernickel. The charcoal emulsion on this was amazing and reminded me of the tartare dish at L’Enclume and The French.

The sixth course was line caught halibut, dittander, charred lettuce and razor clam. I’m always amazed at how charring or barbecuing some lettuce can bring out such flavour.

The seventh course was dry aged middle white, mugwort, artichoke ( confit and purée) and daisies.

The eighth dish and the first dessert was a beautiful palate cleanser of ewes milk, loganberry and verbena. Beautifully sharp and fresh.

The ninth course was strawberry, acidic yoghurt ( as a meringue that was like sherbet dancing in the mouth) and sweet marigold. This was an absolutely incredible dish, a dish that I will be talking about for a long time.

Our final course was gooseberry, buttermilk ( as a custard) and sweet cicely soda. The flavour of sweet cicily is one of my favourite things so this was an absolute hit for me and a great way to end the meal.

Well I say end the meal but of course we chose to relax in the lounge with coffee and petit fours. Even here the attention to detail was wonderful. We had meadowsweet icecream that was made to look like a pebble. A bit of a visual test at the end of the evening! And douglas fir infused Turkish delight.

This was a truly outstanding menu. Everything was balanced beautifully and every dish full of culinary surprises. The last time I had a tasting menu that filled me with this much joy was Fera in 2014. I think it’s going to take a lot to beat last night at the Forest Side.

Homeground (again)

Yesterday we arrived in The Lakes, parked up the van and headed straight to Homeground for lunch. We discovered it last year and fell in love with the place. Particularly because it does really decent coffee which we’ve never found before here. The other reason is the hash browns. They are quite simply amazing. It’s just as well this place is 3 hours away from home otherwise I could end up with an addiction.

We made it just in time to have a late lunch. We’ve eaten breakfast and many cakes at Homeground but never sampled their lunch specials.

Mr Frivolitea went straight for the chickpea and bean burger with avocado, caramelised onions, chilli jam and halloumi with a side of beetroot slaw. There was so much flavour in the burger and the dressings and sides accompanied it really well. Mr Frivolitea was a happy man.

I went for the sticky plum pork belly. They’d run out of noodle salad and so knocked up a rainbow salad to go with it that had the beetroot slaw running through it. This dish didn’t skimp on meat either and the meat fell apart, the plum glaze was sticky but not too sweet. I was in a bit of a food coma at the end. A really lovely food coma contributed to by the portion of hash browns we had to order to go with our lunch. There was no option but to have hash browns!

Despite having eaten a huge amount of food we decided to have a flat white and then another. Mr Frivolitea ordered the second coffees and came back with a peanut butter cookie. This place does cakes really well so I shouldn’t have been surprised but I couldn’t believe he could even think about eating more food. However having tasted the best cookie I’ve ever had, I was pleased he had ordered it. This was the best cookie I have ever tasted. Chewy, gooey, peanutty and with an added sprinkle of salt just making it perfect. I was so busy enjoying it I only took a photo of my last bite!

So can you see why we love this place. We will no doubt be back before the weekend is out.

Homeground

We stumbled across Homeground as we walked through Windermere and I am so glad we did. Homeground has been open 3 months and Windermere is definitely the richer for it. There is fantastic coffee for a start (we couldn’t visit without having 2 flat whites)..

Then there are the doughnuts… made by the Homeground team and wonderful. We had malteser cream and apple and cinnamon doughnuts.

Then there are the collection of homemade cakes.

And finally there is breakfast. Yep we went back. twice. It’s THAT good.
On our first breakfast trip Mr Frivolitea had eggs benedict – made with ham hock, a fantastically sharp and zesty hollandaise and sourdough ciabatta.

I had poached eggs, bacon and sour dough toast.

And a side of hash browns. Homemade hash browns. Go to Windermere and try them. You will not be disappointed. Go. Go now.

On our second visit, Mr Frivolitea had Huevos Racheros with smashed avocado that was beautifully garlicky.

And I had the breakfast burger: sausage pattie, bacon, mushroom and egg in sourdough ciabatta with Homeground burger sauce and hash browns. The burger was a thing of beauty and full of flavour. The sharp fruitiness of the burger sauce was a great addition.

This place is great. Truly great. Their passion for coffee and food shines through. I would encourage you all to go but then there’d be no room for me.

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.

Lucia’s, Grasmere

if you’re looking for good coffee in Grasmere then Lucia’s takeaway is the place to go. We had great flat whites and I had a very tasty sausage roll too.

This place is tiny but they make their own scones and pastry goods. Definitely worth a visit.

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.