Blog
5 September 2010
I’ve had comments that all we ever seem to do – based on my blog posts – is eat, eat and eat some more. Perhaps I should just turn this into a food blog so that I’ve got an excuse to keep stuffing my face. Anyway, this is going to be another post about eating as Suzy and I decided to take a few days off work and enjoy a week of indulgence to celebrate one year of marriage.
“Confusion” Food?
We started the celebrations on Saturday night with a meal at Spice Market Cafe (371-373 Ecclesall Road, S11 8PF) which we’d recently discovered was part of the ever-growing Relax, Eat & Drink family of restaurants owned and run by award-winning Sheffield restauranteur Richard Smith. (Artisan is another one of theirs which we enjoyed a couple of years ago.)
We’d read some reviews describing the “East-meets-West” menu as being a “mish-mash” and “confused” but even Richard Smith says himself, “There’s no authenticity to this restaurant whatsoever – it’s Brit spice.” I guess some call it fusion food but my mum called it confusion food when I described the menu to her. Whatever you want to call it, Spice Market Cafe is probably a love-it-or-hate-it type of place.
Personally, I loved the Black pudding wontons served with sweet and sour cabbage and apple chutney and thought the Fisherman’s appetiser board (consisting of curried smoked haddock, crab spring roll, crispy king prawns, salt and pepper squid, salmon fish cake and SMC dips) was a great variety of fishy goodies for two to share. Our mains of Slow braised belly pork, crackling, noodles asian vegetables and miso gravy and Teriyaki cod, sesame long beans, noodles and crispy king prawns were a bit disappointing though. They weren’t terrible, but just seemed to lack something by comparison to our excellent starters. However, the desserts certainly made up for it. We were a bit spoilt for choice but decided to share Toffeed bananas with sesame seeds and banana sorbet and Chocolate samosas with orange dipping sauce. It was lucky we shared as both were so rich and sweet that I don’t think I could have eaten a full portion of either one. Mmmm!
Sunday Lunch
The day afterwards, we met up with my sister and brother-in-law and coincidentally went to yet another Relax, Eat & Drink establishment. (And no… this post isn’t sponsored by them!) This time, it was The Cricket Inn (Penny Lane, Totley, S17 3AZ) which we’d been to a few times before. Not only do they have top quality ales by the award-winning Thornbridge Brewery but they also have an excellent Sunday lunch menu. I had their huge Steak and Thornbridge Ale pot pie made with cheddar, thyme and grain mustard pastry, dripping roast potatoes, buttered vegetables and pie gravy and it was absolutely delicious but left no room whatsoever for dessert. As always, their specials boards and Sunday roasts looked great too. I can’t believe they still don’t take reservations at weekends though, so be prepared to wait for a table on Sundays (although we were lucky and only had to wait five minutes).
Whitby
We also escaped Sheffield for a couple of days and ended up in Whitby where we’d heard they had good seafood, fish and chips, and a nice clean beach.
When asking people where to eat in Whitby, you’ll almost certainly be told to visit The Magpie Cafe. With long queues outside the cafe (as forewarned) we decided to join the slightly shorter queue next door for their takeaway, where we got some lovely cod and chips.
After spending the afternoon walking along the beach, we had planned to go back to The Magpie Cafe for an evening meal as their restaurant menu looked great but the queues were still ridiculous and we were hungry. Faced with a number of seafood restaurants, we perused all their menus, read a couple of online reviews, and decided to try The Marine Hotel (caution: Flash website).
I enjoyed their Marine crab cakes made from lightly spiced cod and crab, served with a pleasantly hot and spicy sweet chilli jam, and Suzy had an equally enjoyable Lobster salad with a mango salad and dressing.
For main course, Suzy chose the Pan fried fillet of Sea Bass and chive mash with a prawn, parsley & lemon butter. With mussels being unavailable, I opted for their platter, which I didn’t realise at the time of ordering would include half a lobster, a fillet of sea bass, a fillet of sea trout, a whole mackerel, pieces of battered cod, king prawns and squid all served on samphire.
Needless to say, I didn’t actually manage to eat all that even after sharing some with Suzy. With both of us unable to face any of their desserts, we decided to walk along to the amusement arcades and let all the fish go down before grabbing a sugar donut and waffle with chocolate sauce and cream.
We stayed overnight at the excellent Heathfield Bed and Breakfast Guest House where Linda served up some Whitby kippers and poached eggs for breakfast the following morning that I think might have been the best kippers I’ve ever eaten. If you’ve only had the pleasure of boil-in-the-bag kippers, it’s worth visiting Whitby just to taste these!
With our bellies full once again, we started our journey home, visiting the historical Whitby Abbey and the picturesque Robin Hood’s Bay along the way.
You can find more photos of Whitby on Picasa Web Albums.
Labels: food, photos, restaurants, travel
18 July 2010
I can’t believe it’s July already. Time literally seems to have flown by since I started at Google in January. They say that happens when you’re having fun. And fun I am having. In March I visited our Zürich office. If you’ve never seen photos, you need to take a look. The BBC has a story and video from when it opened in 2008 too. A couple of weeks ago, I visited our Amsterdam office for a day and back in May I had the pleasure of visiting our headquarters in Mountain View. No matter how many photos I’d seen and stories I’d heard, nothing really prepared me for the scale of the place. Cycling between buildings to attend meetings and having to choose between a dozen or so different places for lunch takes some getting used to. Not that I’m complaining, of course!
Since the trip was also my first time in the United States, I decided to make the most of it and spend another week in San Francisco with Suzy. We stayed at the Hotel Triton, a boutique hotel themed around pop culture, where we had a corner room on the fifth floor overlooking the Dragon Gate entrance to Chinatown.
As seems to be the tradition for these types of blog posts, here’s a run down of what we got up to, which is more for the benefit of my memory than anything else… so feel free to skip the words and just look at the pictures.
Saturday 15th May 2010
After meeting Suzy at the airport and checking in at the hotel, we wandered around the local area looking for a place to eat, going full circle and ending up at Mikaku across the road from where we were staying. Their bento boxes were excellent and their choice of saki looked equally impressive.
Sunday 16th May 2010
We got up early and grabbed a quick breakfast at Starbucks before heading down to Howard Street so that we could join the Bay to Breakers crowds. I only found out about this crazy phenomenon a couple of days prior when a colleague warned me about it, suggesting that it was the type of event that tourists generally want to either avoid or embrace. After reading that it basically involves a 12km run, followed by pretty much the entire city in fancy dress, with music, drinking, dancing and nudity, we decided to go and take a look. If you’re ever in San Francisco at this time of year, I’d definitely recommend checking it out. This was the 99th year it’s taken place, so I suspect 2011 is going to be absolutely huge.
We walked about 5 miles of the route and saw a bit of Golden Gate Park before turning back to get some lunch. Then we went to Jacks Cannery Bar to rest our legs. I sampled a couple of local ales and Suzy had the best Bloody Mary I’ve ever tasted.
For dinner, we decided to try one of the many restaurants in Chinatown. With so many to choose from, we read tons of online reviews before settling for Chef Jia’s Restaurant (925 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA 94133) as recommended by the SFGate Chinatown page:
Chef Jia’s: Every guidebook ever written on SF has probably mentioned the House of Nanking, but few seem to shower its neighbor, Chef Jia’s, with equal praise. We don’t see why. Huge lines form for Nanking, but Chef Jia’s food is just as good (if not better) and cheap – and the restaurant is less crowded. One warning: Order “hot” only if you really mean it.
They were right about the queues for the House of Nanking, that’s for sure. We’ve no idea what the food’s like in there, but Chef Jia cooks nice big portions of Chinese food that tastes great. Chef Jia’s place is a bit worn in places and was empty apart from one other couple when we got there, but its tables soon started to fill up with locals and people wanting to avoid the Queue of Nanking.
Monday 17th May 2010
We skipped breakfast and ventured out into the torrential rain to take a tour of Chinatown and its tacky tourist shops, elegant rooftop temples, and a back alley that was used in Karate Kid Part II.
We ended up in Little Italy and went to Caffe Delucchi for lunch and picked a couple of nice hearty dishes from their breakfast menu that were really tasty; Polenta with Pulled Pork for me, and Italian Frittata for Suzy, which she washed down with an Italian strawberry cream soda.
The weather didn’t improve much after lunch, so we got even more wet walking to Lombard Street, taking a trip hanging from the side of one of the famous cable cars up and down Russian Hill and Nob Hill, then strolling along The Tenderloin to the Civic Center before heading back to the hotel for a rest before dinner.
I’d been told that we had to try Lulu’s whilst we were in San Francisco, so I’d already booked a table via their website a couple of days earlier, and I’m pleased to say that the food lived up to the high expectations. They were mega busy, so the service was a little slower than you’d usually expect from a good restaurant, but we didn’t really mind as we were enjoying the atmosphere of the place and the food was delicious, so we were surprised when the waiter brought us two complimentary dessert wines after our main course as an apology for the poor service. They clearly have high standards and know how to treat their customers, which certainly makes a pleasant change!
Tuesday 18th May 2010
For breakfast, we made a quick stop at the Brioche Bakery (210 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133) to pick up a croissant or two, walked up to see Coit Tower and then walked down to Pier 33 so that we could hop on the 09:30 ferry that we’d booked online with Alcatraz Cruises so that we could spend the morning on Alcatraz Island.
About.com says that Alcatraz is “only an abandoned prison, the weather can be unpleasant, it stinks during seagull nesting season, and it takes up almost half a day to go there and back.” To which I say, “So what!? It’s unique and has a fascinating story.”
Even though we got the first boat of the morning, there were still things we hadn’t seen on the island four hours later. The main reason we left was that there are no places to eat or drink on the island unless you take your own picnic, which we’d recommend doing so that there’s no need to rush back to the mainland.
After successfully breaking free from Alcatraz, we made our way to Pier 39 for some lunch. We’d been wondering what San Fransisco’s local speciality dish was before we arrived since there was nothing that really came to mind. Once you’re there, it’s quite obvious that clam chowder served in a bowl made out of sour-dough is a favourite though. Prices and quality seem to vary a bit but we opted to eat ours at Chowders which was fine.
Pier 39 appeared to be the most touristy part of San Francisco. For a city that must attract so much tourism, San Francisco has mostly managed to keep its identity, but Pier 39 makes up for this a bit.
We spent the remainder of the afternoon watching the seals at Pier 39 and exploring the rest of Fisherman’s Wharf, including a visit to the Musee Mecanique where they’ve got an impressive collection of antique arcade machines and video games, mostly for 25¢ per play, and quick potter around Ghirardelli Square.
Being down near the water, we figured we’d try to hunt down some good seafood for tea. Having read reviews online, it seemed SFGate had hit the nail on the head when it said, “Look in any San Francisco guidebook and you won’t see much on dining at Fisherman’s Wharf. No one takes the time to really check things out. Instead, writers dismiss it with a casual wave of the pen, saying there’s nothing good.” Regardless, we opted for Nick’s Lighthouse (5 Fisherman’s Wharf) since they seemed to have some decent crabs and other seafood available from the takeaway counter outside and SFGate didn’t say anything too bad about them. Despite being overpriced because of the location, the crab would probably have been the most sensible thing to order. Our seafood platter was disappointing, the wine was expensive and the service wasn’t great. It was the only place during our trip where we felt we didn’t want to leave the 18% tip that’s expected at most restaurants in San Francisco.
Wednesday 19th May 2010
Following a quick breakfast from Boudin Bakery & Sidewalk Cafe, we hit Macy’s, Bloomingdales and the Westfield San Francisco Centre for a touch of window shopping to work up an appetite. Ever since arriving in San Francisco, I’d been determined to enjoy a stereotypical American meal, consisting of huge portions of buffalo chicken wings and ribs or a massive burger. Although San Francisco’s numerous and varied restaurants are fantastic, unless we were just looking in the wrong places, this is one cuisine that it seems to be lacking.
Thankfully, The Cheesecake Factory on the top floor of Macy’s seemed to have the menu I’d been looking for. Their starter of buffalo wings the size of chicken drumsticks was plenty for two to share and was really enough for a lunchtime meal, but I’d already ordered a portion of beef ribs for my main course and Suzy had chosen a burger. But for a moment, we thought we might never get to taste them.
Whilst waiting for our main courses, our waitress told us that there was a bomb scare in Union Square – right outside Macy’s – and that she was going to leave, along with about half of the staff. Although there was no official evacuation plan, she gave us the option to leave too. I had no idea whether this was a regular occurrence or something more serious but the waitress seemed pretty panicked and the rest of the staff clearly didn’t know what to do. Suzy joked that we should just stay put and enjoy our “last” meal together. Fortunately, one of the waiters announced they’d been given the all-clear about five minutes later, just as our main courses arrived. Perfect timing!
Despite the bomb scare, we both thoroughly enjoyed our meals. I’m not sure I’ve ever had beef ribs before but these were melt-in-the-mouth-good with so much meat on them that I had to leave two to take home for a snack later, along with a generous slice of Key Lime Cheesecake to share.
After wandering around Union Square and Downtown a bit more, we went back to the hotel and got the ribs and cheesecake chilling in the minibar fridge before nipping out for a quick drink with a mate who had just moved to San Francisco. It wasn’t until we got back to the hotel that we found out — thanks to Twitter users — that the whole of Union Square had been evacuated and they’d even sent in a bomb disposal robot while we were waiting for my ribs!
Thursday 20th May 2010
We grabbed another quick breakfast from Starbucks on our way to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market where we found several really good specialist food and cookware shops in The Ferry Building Marketplace.
We bought two massive wrap sandwiches from Golden Gate Meat Company (caution: terrible website jingle) to eat later and then hired two bikes from Blazing Saddles so that we could cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge and see it up close. Once we’d reached the other side, we enjoyed an ice-cream in the tiny Mediterranean-like city of Sausalito before catching the ferry back.
For our last evening in San Francisco, we grabbed a couple of huge and delicious slices of pizza from Escape from New York Pizza down the street from our hotel and then jumped on a streetcar to join a fellow Googler for drinks down The Castro.
Friday 21st May 2010
On our last day in San Francisco we’d planned to sample some burritos but decided not to bother dragging our suitcases around for a few hours and just had a lazy morning in the hotel, getting our money’s worth by staying right until check-out time, and then made our way to the airport thoroughly exhausted and ready for another holiday…
Not quite as stereotypically American as I was expecting it to be, I thoroughly enjoyed San Francisco and I can’t wait to visit again!
Labels: food, google, personal, restaurants, travel
16 November 2009
In my last post about my surprise trip to Jersey, I left a bit of a cliffhanger, which was mainly to give me more time to write this post. But I can now reveal that my final surprise of the weekend was an evening meal at one of Jersey’s Michelin-starred restaurants!
After a drink and some bar snacks in our hotel bar, Suzy booked a taxi to take us to Ocean Restaurant at The Atlantic Hotel. On arrival, I could tell why she didn’t book a room at this hotel for the weekend; wooden floors, stone walls, chandeliers, expensive art-work... the place was like a palace!
Since we were a little early, we had another drink and some more bar snacks, being careful not to ruin our appetite, and then perused the menus. Given our previous experience and Christian’s more recent comments about the price of the wine at The Old Vicarage, which is the only other Michelin-starred restaurant we’ve visited, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the wine at Ocean Restaurant started at around £18 per bottle.
Despite being tempted by their tasting menu, we both decided to choose from the à la carte menu. And here’s what we ordered:
Abuse-bouche
Sole Goujon with Lemon Foam
Starter
Suzy: Ham – Pressing of ham knuckle, maple baked foie gras, roasted langoustines, artichoke purée
Tony: Scallops – Pan roast hand dived Jersey scallops, honey baked pork belly, creamed cabbage
Main Course
Suzy: Beef – Tasting of Jersey beef miniatures, dauphinoise purée, onion rings, beef marmite
Tony: Venison – Roast loin of Scottish venison, autumn vegetable dauphinoise, d’Agen prune jus
Pre-dessert
“Something like lemon meringue pie served in a shot glass but without the pastry”
[Sorry, once again this wasn’t on the printed menu we brought away, so that’s my lame description!]
Dessert
Suzy: Chocolate – Hot chocolate soufflé, white chocolate ice cream
Tony: Coffee – Coffee panna cotta, espresso jelly, white chocolate quenelle, whisky foam
We would have loved to have tried the cheese board too, especially after seeing the huge selection of cheeses get rolled out on a trolley for the table next to us, but we honestly couldn’t have squeezed in another mouthful!
I generally don’t like coffee-flavoured desserts, but the coffee panna cotta tasted great. In fact, everything we had was cooked to perfection. The flavour combinations were all spot on, the presentation was outstanding, the service from the staff was of the highest standards, and the atmosphere was perfect too.
Sounds pretty good, eh? That’s because it was! Seriously, it’s easy to forget what amazingly good food tastes like. When we were on our honeymoon, we did have some really good food, but it’s clear why Ocean Restaurant has a Michelin star – as well as three Rosettes in the AA Restaurant Guide 2009 – and all those other places we’ve visited don’t.
Ocean Restaurant definitely gets our recommendation!
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
4 November 2009
As a belated 30th birthday present, my lovely wife booked a surprise weekend away for us both. I only found out where we were going when the airline made the final call for the flight. All I knew until that point was that we were flying, didn’t need any foreign currency and I needed to pack some smart clothes! So I was very pleasantly surprised, in the dash for the plane, to discover that the destination was Jersey. It was somewhere we’d never been and I’d heard it’s a beautiful place to visit. As always, food played quite an important part in the trip, so keep reading for mouth-watering menus...
The Hotel
After our short flight, we decided to walk from the airport to our hotel in order to see a bit more of Jersey. After 20-30 minutes of walking, we reached St Brelade on the south coast and walked a little bit further along the beach to the luxurious L’Horizon Hotel & Spa. We were told at the desk that we were lucky to have been given a corner room which had a balcony and sea-view. And very nice it was too!
The view from our room at L’Horizon Hotel & Spa
Lunch at the Oyster Box
After dropping off our bags and hanging up our clothes, we wandered back along the beach to get some lunch and ended up at the Oyster Box. Since we knew where we were going for dinner, and suspected it could end up being quite a big feast, we decided to have something light. Which is a shame, because their menu looked excellent and we could have benefited from the annual Tennerfest offers, which basically promotes fixed price menus at hundreds of eating establishments across the Channel Islands.
Anyway, we ordered three Special No. 3 Royal Bay Oysters, Grilled with Garlic Butter and Chorizo to share, Suzy ordered Chancre Crab Risotto with Chives, Rocket and Parmesan and I had Tuna Sashimi and Salt & Pepper Squid with Wasabi Mayo and Soy. The restaurant was really fresh and modern, everything was beautifully cooked and tasted great (although Suzy thinks there was too much “salad crap” on top of her risotto which she pushed to one side). I am now also a fan of wasabi mayonnaise and reckon it would go brilliantly with chips!
Deep Tissue Massage
My next surprise was a deep tissue back massage. After getting changed into our robes and slippers, we made our way down to the spa facilities at the hotel, which felt very odd to be honest! I’d been having some problems with my shoulder and, according to the masseuse, I have bad posture too, which is good to know. After she straightened up my shoulders, I actually felt much better. I’ve now got to learn how to sit up straight. After spending some time in the sauna, steam room and salt-water swimming pool, we went down to the bar for a quick drink before going out for dinner.
Dinner at the Crab Shack
Next to the Oyster Box where we went for lunch is the Crab Shack. Although part of the same group, the Crab Shack is a lot more relaxed and casual than the Oyster Box but the food is definitely just as good. For her starter, Suzy had the Crab, Scallop and Clam Soup and, since we were in the Crab Shack, I obviously had to have 2 Chancre Crab Claws with Mayo. Both were delicious. For main course, Suzy had a huge portion of Tempura-battered Local Fish and Chips with Peas and I thoroughly enjoyed a massive pot of Thai Moules and Chips.
Thai Moules and Chips at the Crab Shack, St Brelade’s Bay
The main courses were good but we would both have appreciated better chips; Suzy would have liked fewer fresh-cooked chips and I would have preferred long fries. It was clear they were very busy as they had to borrow staff from the Oyster Box, which was apparently uncommon for a Friday night, according to the waitress who kindly apologised for the slow service, so we were lucky to have got a table since they don’t let you make reservations unless there are at least six people.
Bicycles
For my next surprise, Suzy had arranged for us to hire a couple of bikes from Jersey Cycle Tours. Most people seem to think this isn’t much of a surprise since it sounds more like hard work than fun, but I’d wanted to hire some bikes when we were back in Lismore so I thought this was exciting! First we had to quickly remind ourselves how to ride a bike and then we set off along Jersey’s fantastic cycle routes...
Jersey War Tunnels
Our first destination on the bikes was Jersey War Tunnels, the site of Hohlgangsanlage 8, the German Underground Hospital built by German occupying forces during the occupation of Jersey during World War II. (Thanks Wikipedia!)
Jersey War Tunnels: Entrance tunnel
The tunnel complex hosts a fascinating and heart-wrenching exhibition about Jersey’s history and its German occupation during World War II. The educational exhibits really make you empathise with the people of Jersey. If you visit the island and don’t know much about its history, I would definitely recommend a visit.
St Helier
After some lunch in the café at the Jersey War Tunnels, we got back on our bikes and headed to St Helier, where we had a quick mooch about the shops and market before pedalling back to St Aubin to drop off our bikes before getting ready for my last surprise of the weekend, which I’ll save for my next post...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
8 October 2009
Saturday
In order to break up the long drive home from Scotland, we decided to stop over in the Lake District for the final night of our honeymoon. After searching online for somewhere that served good food, I fortunately came across The Cedar Manor Hotel & Restaurant in Windermere which had excellent restaurant and hotel reviews. Although their website says they only allow stays of two nights or more at weekends, I gave them a call anyway and was lucky enough to find that their ‘Coniston’ room was available for just one night. This room has a view of Lake Windermere, which we were just about able to see through the trees.
The view from our room at Cedar Manor Hotel
After exploring the area and grabbing a sandwich from Lazy Daisy’s in Windermere village, we headed back to the hotel for a relaxing game of Mastermind (borrowed from the hotel lounge) and then got ready for the final evening meal of our honeymoon...
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Terrine of Wild Boar with Home Made Pear and Raisin Chutney and Cardamom Rye Bread
Tony: Potted Shrimps – Morecambe Bay Shrimps with a Sweet Cucumber, Dill & Rocket Salad
Main Course
Suzy: Lamb Rump with Black Olive & Basil Crust, Couscous and Mediterranean Vegetables with a Red Wine Jus
Tony: Medallions of Pork Fillet with Grilled Polenta, Buttered Spinach, Wild Mushrooms and a Smoked Paprika Cream Sauce
Dessert
Suzy: Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Truffle Cake with Honeycomb Cream
Tony: Glazed Lemon Tart with Poached Seasonal Fruit
Complemented by their freshly baked homemade bread, this meal was the perfect end to our honeymoon. Once again, we found local ingredients cooked to perfection in really healthy sized portions... and by ‘healthy’ I guess I really mean ‘unhealthy’ since they were pretty big! The staff were really friendly and the lounge and restaurant both had a sophisticated yet relaxed atmosphere. If you want to sample the food at Cedar Manor, I would definitely recommend booking as they were mega busy!
Sunday
Cedar Manor Hotel
After enjoying our wonderful honeymoon and filling ourselves with course after course of great food, everything finally caught up with me and I had a bit of man-flu on the last day. Even the Grilled Grapefruit followed by a Cumbrian Grill (Gold Medal Winning “Pinks” Cumberland Sausage and Dry Cured Bacon, Lancashire Black Pudding, Mushrooms, Tomatoes and a Hash Brown) which I had for breakfast didn’t make me feel any better. So after Suzy finished her Fruit Compote and Yoghurt followed by American-style Pancakes with Dry Cured Bacon & Maple Syrup, we decided not to bother going on any crazy long walks and just settled for a quick visit to Lakeland to check out the useless yet essential kitchen gadgets before heading home and settling back into reality...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
1 October 2009
Thursday
After filling out stomachs once again, we made our way to our next hotel which was An Lochan, Tighnabruaich on the Kyles of Bute. Previously known as The Royal Hotel at Tighnabruaich, An Lochan is a grand old Victorian building some modern touches.
Upon arrival we were greeted by John, the very friendly hotel manager who seemed to work every waking hour and yet was still always cheerful. He seemed to be so excited that he had a couple on their honeymoon that he couldn’t wait to tell us that they’d be giving us “a wee bit of complimentary fizz” to help us celebrate!
The view from our window at An Lochan Hotel
When we arrived, there was a small wedding about to take place. Everyone was waiting for the bride to make her entrance down the stairs and looked a little disappointed to see Suzy and I make an appearance instead! To avoid getting in their way, we went for a little walk down towards Tighnabruaich and then went back to the hotel to check whether anyone had uploaded any of our wedding photos to Facebook! They had, but the Internet connection was practically non-existent, so we viewed a couple of them and then got ready for yet another slap-up meal...
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Langoustine Ravioli with Carrot & Courgette Salad, Tomato & Dill Vinaigrette and Shellfish Foam
Tony: Pan Seared Scallops with Black Pudding, Apple Puree and Curry Oil
Main Course
Suzy: Loin of Gloucester Old Spot Pork with Caramelised Apple Sauce, Wilted Curly Kale, Roasted Black Pudding and Saffron Mash
Tony: Taste & Texture of Aberdeen Angus Cross with Fondant Potato, Fine Beans and Truffle Sauce
Dessert
Suzy: Glazed Lemon Tart with Vanilla Poached Strawberries and Mascarpone Ice Cream
Tony: Summer Berry Pudding with Elderflower & Champagne Sorbet, Berry Coulis and Crisp Mint
My starter was absolutely perfect. The hand-dived local scallops were juicy and went really well with the classic combination of black pudding and apple puree. The curry oil was a nice touch for a bit of spice too! Suzy was a bit disappointed with her langoustine ravioli as the other items on the plate were a little over-powering for the delicate flavours of the langoustine.
Again, my main course was out of this world. I love dishes which include beef done two ways. The differences in taste and texture really complement each other. I first enjoyed this style of dish at The Supper Club (now closed and known as Moran’s) and this was even better than I remembered it. I think the truffle sauce was the winning factor. Suzy was a bit disappointed with her pork though. It was good but nothing special. (And I think she was just a bit jealous of my meal!)
After desserts (both of which were great) we had a quiet drink in the cosy Shinty Bar at the back of the hotel.
Tony having a Bloody Mary in The Shinty Bar at An Lochan
Friday
For breakfast, Suzy had fruit and yoghurt followed by kedgeree and I had cereal and a full Scottish breakfast, complete with black pudding and haggis!
We then spent the day in the small town of Dunoon. One of the few places to visit in Dunoon is Castle House Museum, which is right next to a viewpoint which offers some great views of Dunoon and across the Firth of Clyde towards Gourock.
Looking over Dunoon from the viewpoint near Castle House Museum
The museum is contained in a few rooms of the house and offers all sorts of information on the surrounding areas and exhibitions about local history. (Some of the exhibitions do look like school projects but that just adds to the authenticity!)
On the way back to the hotel, we took a few more photos of the views of the Kyles of Bute and then had a very quick visit to the tiny Tighnabruaich Village and Port before going for a walk down the stony beach before dinner.
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Carpaccio of Venison with Caramelised Shallots and Rocket & Parmesan Salad
Tony: Platter of Garlic Roasted Langoustine caught by Arthur in the Kyles
Main Course
Suzy: Spicy Beer Battered Fillet of Halibut with Salt & Vinegar Chips and Tomato & Shallot Salad
Tony: Pan Seared Fillet of Seabass with Fine Ratatouille and New Potatoes
Dessert
Suzy: Summer Berry Pudding with Elderflower & Champagne Sorbet, Berry Coulis and Crisp Mint
Tony: Coffee Crème Brûlée with Milk Ice Cream and Pistachio Biscuit
Once again, I thoroughly enjoyed everything, especially the huge langoustine on my starter, although I was a bit disappointed with the size of the fillet on the main course. And once again, Suzy thought the venison was over-powered by the rest of the flavours on the dish and thought the fish and chips was nice but average. It’s a shame really as the hotel is great and the food was good, but I think we had much higher expectations given the standards at the previous hotels we’d visited and the fact that An Lochan has received several awards and acknowledgements. The desserts were both really tasty again though. After finishing those, we retired to the Shinty Bar again for a “wee dram” before bedtime.
Saturday
For our final breakfast in Scotland, Suzy had fruit and yoghurt again, followed by smoked salmon scrambled eggs on toast and I had cereal and kedgeree. Then we made our way back to Dunoon to catch the ferry across to Gourock so that we could make our way back to our last destination, this time across the border in England...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
Thursday
Inverawe Smokehouse
After leaving Port Appin, we stopped off at Inverawe Smokery, where we took ourselves around their small but very informative tour and then bought some smoked salmon pâté and smoked Brie (which our subsequent hotels kindly stored in their fridges for us) from their shop before continuing our journey to Loch Fyne Oyster Bar in Cairndow for lunch.
Having thoroughly enjoyed a few meals at Loch Fyne in Sheffield, we couldn’t resist calling at the original oyster bar. (For what it’s worth, I’ve read quite a few bad reviews of various Loch Fyne restaurants but we’ve always found them to be excellent...)
Lunch Menu
Starter
Suzy: Oyster on ice with Chilli and Coriander Dressing and an Oyster with Garlic Breadcrumbs
Tony: Oyster on ice with Chilli and Coriander Dressing and an Oyster on ice with Shallot Vinegar and Tabasco
Main Course
Suzy: Whole Lemon Sole in Parsley Butter
Tony: Bouillabaisse with Aioli and Crusty Bread
Dessert
No room! It was only lunch time after all!
The first time we had oysters at Loch Fyne, we thought they were a bit salty and gritty. All the oysters we’d eaten while in Scotland had been sweet, succulent and really tasty, and Loch Fyne Oysters were no exception. If you’ve tried oysters and didn’t like them, I’d definitely recommend trying them again if you ever visit Scotland. Once again, the main courses didn’t disappoint either. Suzy’s lemon sole was huge and really tasty (so she tells me) and my bouillabaisse was full of various types of seafood and was absolutely delicious!
After lunch, we got back in the car and drove alongside Loch Fyne on the A815, A886 and B8000, and made a quick stop to stretch our legs at Otter Ferry before reaching our final hotel destination in Scotland...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
29 September 2009
Tuesday
After lunch, we drove through some really heavy rain to The Pierhouse Hotel & Seafood Restaurant in Port Appin where we were greeted with “You must be Mr and Mrs Ruscoe!” and the news that we’d been upgraded to a better room because we were on our honeymoon!
The view from our window at The Pierhouse Hotel
After dropping off our bags in the room, we both had a quiet pint of local beer in the residents-only lounge and were pleasantly surprised with a card from the staff congratulating us on our marriage. We then had a chat with the friendly owner, Nick, before getting ready for dinner.
When we went back downstairs, we were given a complimentary glass of champagne and led to the best table in the house, which had been sprinkled with heart-shaped confetti!
The food here was fantastic, using really good locally supplied ingredients which were perfectly prepared.
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Cajun Chicken & Crab Fritter with Garlic Mayonnaise Dip
Tony: West Coast Scallops – Seared Plump Local Scallops served with a Caponata of Aubergine, Pine Nuts & Pesto
Main Course
Both: Pierhouse Platter – Outstanding Seafood Caught from Lismore, Loch Etive, Loch Linnhe, Mull & Inverawe. Langoustines, Scallop, Oyster, Mussels, Fresh & Smoked Salmon, Rollmop and Fresh Bread.
Dessert
Suzy: [Sorry, can’t remember!]
Tony: Homemade Sorbets – Rosewater, Strawberry and Guava
After dinner, we retreated to the residents’ lounge for a coffee and a Scotch. Since I’m still learning about which whiskies I prefer, Nick recommended one for me based on some others I like, so I now know that I also like Macallan but unfortunately can’t remember which one I had!
Wednesday
For breakfast, we both had porridge made with Scottish oats and then Suzy had poached eggs while I had kippers before catching the small ferry to the Isle of Lismore.
Lismore is a small island with very few signs. After walking down the road for a little while, we gave up trying to find the café and followed a sign to Port Ramsay. After reaching the end of the road there, we turned around and made our way back to the ferry, where we then saw the signs for hiring bikes! (If you ever visit Lismore, I would recommend trying to book some bikes to hire in advance unless you’re seasoned ramblers who don’t mind walking without knowing where you’re going!)
Castle Stalker from Castle Stalker View
For lunch we went to Castle Stalker View to get a closer look at Castle Stalker. Then we visited Oban Distillery and had a taste of some cask-strength Scotch whisky during the tour before buying a bottle of the normal stuff to bring home. To give the alcohol a chance to work through my system, we took a look around Oban and McCaig’s Tower before heading back to the hotel.
The Oban Distillery
Although we were within walking distance of a couple more hotels and restaurants, we decided to eat at The Pierhouse again since we’d already spotted a few more things on the menu that we wanted to try.
Dinner Menu
Starter
Suzy: Smoked Halibut and Swordfish with Caper Berries and Salad
Tony: Pierhouse Oysters – Chilled and served with Spicy Chorizo, Raspberry & Shallot Vinaigrette
Main Course
Suzy: Soy, Sesame, Garlic & Chilli Stir Fried Tiger Prawns served with Rice Noodles
Tony: Seaweed, Lemon & Pepper Crusted Fillet of Cod served with Sugar Snap Peas
Dessert
Shared: Whisky Ice-Cream followed by a Selection of Cheeses
Thursday
For breakfast, we both had cereal followed by a full Scottish breakfast, then left the friendly staff at the wonderful Pierhouse and jumped in the car to drive to our next destination...
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
Monday
Since it was pretty much on our way to our destination, we stopped off in Edinburgh for a few hours to grab a sandwich and have a look around Edinburgh Castle.
Suzy and Tony at Edinburgh Castle
Then we battled with the city centre one-way system, with most of the roads still closed from the Edinburgh Festival and tram works, before finally getting out of Edinburgh, ditching the sat-nav, and taking a more relaxed scenic drive through the woodlands of The Trossachs heading for Balquhidder.
After driving for six miles down a single track road heading for nowhere, we eventually arrived at Monachyle Mhor Hotel and were shown to our exquisite room, complete with spa bath, with just enough time to relax for a moment before getting ready for dinner in their restaurant.
Canapés at Monachyle Mhor
Chef Tom Lewis – who you may have seen in the Great British Menu series shown on BBC2 in 2006 – produces some really special food. Here’s what we had:
Dinner Menu
Canapés
Both: Mackerel on toast, tomato and basil gaspacho and breaded balls of haggis
[Sorry, these weren’t on the printed menu we brought away, so those are my lame descriptions which don’t really do them justice!]
Amuse Bouche
Both: A Ballotine of Truffled Confit Chicken with Red Wine Shallots
Starter
Suzy: Hand Dived Orkney Scallops with Brown Crab Risotto, Buttered Spinach and a Shellfish Velouté
Tony: Perthshire Lamb Fillet and Ratatouille Tart, Aubergine Purée, Fine Beans with Tomato and Olive Emulsion
Soup
Both: A Demitasse of Broccoli Soup with a Crispy Goat’s Cheese Topping
Main Course
Suzy: Highland Beef Fillet and Cheek with Sautéed Spinach, Celeriac Purée, Ginger Carrots and Tarragon Jus
Tony: Scrabster Halibut Bourguignon Roasted Shallot and Garlic Purée, Samphire, Celery and Broad Beans
Homemade Puddings
Suzy: Double Roasted Peach Cobbler with Pecan Biscotti and Spiced Peach Sorbet
Tony: Dark Chocolate and Tonka Bean Pavé with Salpicon of Pineapple, Glengoyne Whisky Ice Cream
The conservatory restaurant at the front of the building offers some relaxing views of The Trossachs looking out over Loch Voil. Our table was in one of the alcoves, so felt even more special and romantic. The good service and excellent food here got our honeymoon off to a great start. It was definitely worth that six-mile drive into the middle of nowhere!
Monachyle Mhor Hotel
Tuesday
Despite being pretty full from the previous night’s meal, we still managed to enjoy the wonderful breakfast. Suzy had yoghurt and fruit compote followed by scrambled egg with smoked salmon and I had homemade muesli followed by smoked haddock with poached egg.
After a mooch about their garden and shop, we had a quick chat with Tom, the owner, before continuing our drive through The Trossachs, stopping at several viewpoints to take some photos along the way before having lunch at The Bluebell Café.
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
As you would probably expect, we went on honeymoon after we got married.
We decided on Scotland since we’d never been before and had heard great things about the food there, particularly the seafood, which we both love to eat. I guess it’s also the type of place where you wouldn’t usually want to spend a lot of money to live in luxury for the week, so it seemed like a good time to treat ourselves to something we might not get chance to do again.
Since it was one of the few things I had to organise for the wedding, I decided to put my feet up and delegate the responsibility to a company called McKinlay Kidd who specialise in planning short breaks in Scotland.
Given a brief of “a romantic break / seafood trail combination” McKinlay Kidd sent me a free, tailor-made proposal which described all the hotels, restaurants and routes we’d be taking. The proposal sounded ideal, so I booked it after doing a bit of research to find out which hotels we’d actually be staying at. (The proposal doesn’t actually name the hotels, presumably to try and discourage people from booking directly with the hotels after receiving the proposal, but it didn’t take much effort to work it out.)
McKinlay Kidd say they include a £7 per person per night service charge in their fees which they guarantee to refund if you believe that arranging your holiday through McKinlay Kidd hasn’t met your expectations. I found that booking through them was only around £15-20 more expensive in total than it would have been had I booked with the hotels directly, so I’d definitely recommend booking through McKinlay Kidd if you’re planning a trip around Scotland to save yourself all the extra hassle of dealing with several different companies.
A week or two before the honeymoon, they sent me a pack containing a touring map of Scotland, some brochures, directions and our hotel accommodation vouchers, so we were all set for Scotland!
Since I’ve been trying to write this post for the past three weeks, I’ve decided to break it up into more manageable chunks. As each one becomes available, I’ll also link to it here:
And if you’d rather just look at the photos, they’re available in my Honeymoon set on Flickr.
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
29 May 2008
For Suzy’s birthday last Friday, we went to Loch Fyne in Sheffield. I’d passed the restaurant a few weeks ago and liked the idea of having a good seafood restaurant in Sheffield but was worried they’d not know what they were doing. Little did I know – until visiting their website to get their number for booking a table – that Loch Fyne has 40 restaurants all over the country and they’re experts in oysters, shellfish and seafood!
The Sheffield restaurant only opened on 7th April this year but it’s already getting lots of good reviews. Luckily for us, we managed to catch the end of their Seafood Festival which had been going on all week to celebrate their 10th anniversary. This meant we got to enjoy a spectacular seafood platter from their specials board which included:
- 1 Whole Lobster
- 1 Whole Crab
- 6 Oysters
- 4 Langoustines
- 4 Crevettes
- 4 Queen Scallops
- 6 King Prawns
- 1 Razor Clam
- Squid Legs
- ...and a large bowl of hot cockles and mussels
Their standard menu offers a similar platter but you have to choose between either crab or lobster. (The kitchen actually forgot to include our scallops. I just assumed they’d none left, since everything is dependent on availability, but when I mentioned this to the duty manager during a chat after the meal, he sounded surprised and immediately brought us four to try.)
We washed all that down with a bottle of Pinot Blanc and followed it with a selection of cheeses with oatcakes, a crème brûlée to share and a coffee. The bill came to exactly £100, which isn’t super cheap but is more than reasonable and definitely worth it.
The staff at Loch Fyne are well trained, attentive and extremely polite, the quality of shellfish is excellent and the ambiance of the place is really relaxing. It’s quite easy to forget you’re still on Sheffield’s Glossop Road in what used to be a poorly lit kitsch Irish cocktail bar called Hanrahans (and then Casa, then Hanrahans again and then some American bar and grill).
They open for breakfast at 09:00 (I assume they serve more than just kippers) and their website says they do a two-course set lunch for £11 from 12:00 until 19:00 Monday to Saturday. Sunday lunch is £12 for two courses or £15 for three courses, although the site also says that’s not available at all restaurants, so check with them before visiting.
And there’s not much else I can say about the place except that if you like shellfish, get to Loch Fyne!
Labels: food, personal, restaurants
6 February 2008
The other weekend, I took Suzy to The Old Vicarage in Ridgeway Village as a treat to celebrate that we’d managed to put up with each other for seven years. The restaurant had come highly recommended by a few people, although each one had warned me about it being expensive but absolutely worth it for a special occasion. So with my credit card firmly in my hand, I booked a table...
We arrived at 18:20, about twenty-five minutes earlier than expected as our taxi was ten minutes early and I’d completely forgotten that we only live about five minutes away from the place anyway. This didn’t seem to bother TV-chef and Michelin-starred owner of the restaurant, Tessa Bramley, who met us at the door with a warm welcome and took our coats before taking us through to one of the lounges where we could read the menu while enjoying a glass of champagne.
Just as we were choosing what to eat, some canapés arrived. We had onion chutney samosas, mini burgers, mini cottage pies made with deer, olives and cheese straws, all of which were fabulous and prepared our appetites for what was to come. After choosing our starters and main courses, Tessa came and sat with us to help us decide which wine we would like to go with our meal. Even with our terribly inexperienced wine-talk, she managed to narrow down their hundreds of wines to just a few by asking what sort of wines we did and didn’t like. Little did she know I’ll drink anything and everything and have probably never had a bottle of red wine over ten quid! A few minutes later, a waiter came with the bottle for us to check before decanting it. It looked fine to me – the bottle had some guy’s signature on it and it wasn’t even in a plastic bottle...
Shortly after being seated at our table, our napkins were placed across our laps and our wine was poured. (By the way, we didn’t even have to carry our champagne to the table. Instead, one of the waitresses carried them on a silver tray for us and remembered whose was whose, if you can imagine that!)
The next choice we had to make was which bread we wanted. It wasn’t just a case of “white or brown” either; we could choose from white, wholemeal, walnut, onion (I think) or black pudding. Suzy was boring and went for wholemeal but I obviously had to try black pudding bread, which was amazing and would be absolutely perfect for breakfast sandwiches.
For our surprise appetiser course, we got a small fillet of sea bream in a Thai broth (or “Thai bride” as I heard one of the waitresses accidentally call it). As with everything so far, this was lovely, as were the starters. I’d chosen the scallops, which were the biggest, fattest, juiciest ones I’ve ever had, cooked perfectly and served with a cauliflower cream, and Suzy had goose liver and smoked goose liver in a kind of long slice of terrine.
For main course, I’d ordered beef and calves liver, which came served with a small, light, crispy-yet-melt-in-the-mouth Yorkshire pudding, mashed potato, vegetables and a horseradish foam. Suzy had fillet of deer with parsnip chips and mashed potato. These were both perfect examples of fairly simple food cooked excellently and presented in an exquisite manner.
After a short break to let our food go down, we then ordered a lemon tart and a selection of cheese and biscuits to share, followed by coffee and a selection of chocolates and petits fours to finish off the meal perfectly.
The Old Vicarage is perfect for special occasions or whenever you just want to splash out a couple of hundred hard-earned British pounds sterling of the realm on truly excellent food, with really good wine and special surroundings. Even though the place is very posh, you feel right at home, with friendly chatty staff that are really approachable so you don’t feel at all uncomfortable. They also usually offer a seven course tasting menu but had unfortunately taken it off the menu on the night we went as they were short staffed, so we’ll definitely be going back to try that one day.
Now get saving and get your table booked!
Labels: food, personal, restaurants
5 December 2007
Last Friday night, we went with The Rileys to Fahrenheit Restaurant in Wath-upon-Dearne. Chris and Dawn had been a couple of times before and had been wanting me and Suzy to try it for a while. Since little Baby Riley will be popping out in the new year, we decided to book a table for the four (and a half) of us before they get lost underneath a pile of nappies and toys! Having already heard and read what Chris thought of Fahrenheit back in September, I had quite high expectations. And I’m pleased to say that I wasn’t disappointed...
After we’d been shown to our table and our orders had been taken, our waiting staff brought us our complimentary rollmop pickled herring fillet appetisers, which was a nice touch. I don’t remember ever trying this before but it was very tasty and just enough for one mouthful. Shortly after finishing these, our starters arrived. I had the Thai Style Crab with Fine Noodles, Lemongrass, Ginger & Spicy Chilli Dressing (which was lovely and fresh tasting), Suzy had the Marbled Duck & Pork Terrine with Sage Infused, Orange & Hazelnut Dressing (the little bit I got to taste was really good) and The Rileys had Charantais Melon with Pear, Rocket and Parmesan Salad (Parmesan cheese apparently goes very well with melon but I didn’t get the chance to try it for myself). I don’t usually eat bread with my meals but the bread they served was really soft and fresh, so I gladly made an exception.
Something you don’t see much of in restaurants these days is an intermediate course. But with Fahrenheit being the perfect place it is, we had a choice of two! Dawn had the Lentil Soup and the rest of us chose the Passion Fruit Sorbet. Very pleasant.
After cleansing our palates, we tucked into our main courses. The Rileys had Braised Lamb Shank with Spring Onion Mash, Rosemary & Redcurrant Sauce (I tried a bit of Dawn’s and it was melt-in-the-mouth-good), Suzy had the Grilled 7oz Sirloin Steak with Oyster Mushroom, Red Pepper Infused Hollandaise, Balsamic Reduction (cooked exactly as she wanted and enough to satiate her appetite, despite thinking the steak wasn’t very big when she first saw it) and I had the Pave of Salmon with Curried Mussels & Deep Fried Leeks. All came served with a selection of mixed vegetables. It’s unusual for me to order salmon in a restaurant – not because I don’t like salmon, I just usually find something else I prefer – but the waitress quite literally sold it to me when she said the curried mussels were Thai-style rather than Indian-style. The salmon was cooked to perfection with nice crispy skin and served on three large mussels in a Thai green curry sauce with a scattering of deep fried thinly sliced leeks. Lovely!
As far as I’m concerned, everything about Fahrenheit is great. It’s in a brand new building which makes it look good from the outside, the decor is modern and elegant on the inside, the staff are smartly dressed and polite, the tables and chairs are comfortable and big enough to allow you to relax during your meal, the menu has just the right number of choices available, the food is well presented and excellently prepared, and the prices are quite reasonable.
Fahrenheit definitely gets the Tony Ruscoe seal of approval!
Labels: food, personal, restaurants
2 November 2007
Last month, Suzy and I spent 10 nights in Canada. I realise this post will probably be a bit long and boring for most people, but hopefully it will be of interest to anyone planning on going to Toronto, and will also help to remind us in years to come of what we actually did!
WARNING: Very long and potentially boring post coming up! If you’d prefer to look at pictures, you can just view my Toronto, Canada set on Flickr...
Day 1: Monday 8th October 2007
We checked in at Manchester Airport with Zoom Airlines, where we found all their staff to be smiling and unusually cheerful. By booking Premium Economy seats, we got more luggage allowance, more leg room, free alcoholic beverages, a choice of meals, free headphones and priority luggage. Not bad really for about £50-80 extra each way. After a quick stop in Glasgow to pick up some more passengers, we began our flight to Toronto Pearson International Airport.
For our in-flight meals, Suzy had chicken and vegetables and I had Shepherd’s pie, although it may have been Cottage Pie since I heard it called both and couldn’t tell whether it was beef or lamb. Both were served with melon and chocolate cake. Later, we got a ham and cheese sandwich for a snack. Not bad food really (although Suzy says her chicken was a bit grey). During the flight, we both watched Live Free or Die Hard and Shrek the Third which were good enough to keep us amused for a while. Suzy also watched some of Evan Almighty.
To get from the airport to the hotel once we’d landed and waited all of about two minutes for our priority luggage, we went with the TTC route, catching the 192 Airport Rocket bus to Kipling Subway station and then the subway for the rest of the way. When we surfaced from the subway, we got our first glimpse of Downtown Toronto and were quickly shown how polite and helpful the people of Toronto can be when a woman stopped her car in the middle of the road – despite the traffic lights being on green – to ask us if we were lost and needed directions! (I guess our luggage, maps and the ‘lost’ look on our faces gave us away as tourists.)
After finding the Metropolitan Hotel (booked via Expedia) and dumping everything in our room, we went for a quick wander around the area to get our bearings and then had a drink and bite to eat in the hotel bar.
Day 2: Tuesday 9th October 2007
Breakfast at Over Easy (56 Yonge Street) was good, although most things on the menu seem to come in large portions, mostly fried and served with home fries. After breakfast, we walked to the CN Tower (which we couldn’t really see due to the mist) and booked a table in the restaurant for Saturday night. We then walked up through Chinatown on our way to GreekTown on the Danforth. (Apparently I insisted on walking but once we realised how far it actually was, we eventually got the subway.)
GreekTown is an inconspicuous place; you’d never know that this is the largest Greek neighbourhood in North America. Some of the street signs are in Greek and there’s an occasional Greek restaurant, but apart from that it looks pretty normal. For lunch, we had really tasty authentic Greek gyros at Messini (445 Danforth Avenue) which each came served with a huge Greek salad.
After all the walking and eating, we headed back to the hotel for a power-nap and then went around the corner to Spring Rolls (40 Dundas Street West) for a Thai meal. The menu there has almost too much to choose from and everything we saw looked really good – and in keeping with what we had experienced so far, the portions were massive and really good!
Day 3: Wednesday 10th October 2007
After our McDonald’s breakfast in Atrium On Bay, we wandered down to see the old and new Toronto City Hall at Nathan Phillips Square where there was also a small farmers’ market. After taking a few photos and listening to Suzy read The Rough Guide to Toronto, we made our way back to Chinatown for lunch, going through Kensington Market on the way.
Since we were in Chinatown, we went for an authentic Chinese lunch at Bright Pearl Seafood Restaurant (346-348 Spadina Avenue) during Dim Sum Happy Hour. For anyone like us who’s never had Dim Sum served in the traditional way, the whole experience may seem a little strange.
The dishes are wheeled around on small trolleys by waitresses who sometimes sing what they’ve got (in Chinese) between stopping to offer you one. If you want whatever dish they’ve got, you simply take the plate (and not just one prawn, like I did) and let them mark it off on your sheet so that they know what you’ve had. We tried things like fried prawns, steamed beef balls, steamed pork in rice roll (I think) and steamed squid with curry sauce. Mmmm! If you’re ever in Toronto and like Chinese food, you must visit Bright Pearl. According to their website, Dim Sum Happy Hour is 09:00 to 11:30 and 13:30 to 16:00 (Monday to Friday) and you can get 15% off between 09:00 and 11:00 on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays.
I could’ve stayed there all afternoon and tried one of everything but Suzy wouldn’t let me because she wanted to take me on a Suzy Tour of the University of Toronto buildings. These all appeared to be well maintained, and the atmosphere around them felt pretty friendly and welcoming.
Again, after all the walking, we headed back to the hotel and I started to read my copy of the NOW magazine which I’d picked up earlier. While browsing the week’s live music listings, I read that Klaxons were playing in Toronto at The Opera House and that tickets were still available.
Having seen the extremely posh and impressive Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts – Toronto’s Opera House and home to the Canadian Opera Company – earlier that day, we went down to see if we could buy tickets on the door... only to find that we actually needed to be at The Opera House which is in a completely different class! (It’s basically like the Leadmill but in Toronto.) Anyway, we got a streetcar to near the venue and got some food from The Real Jerk (709 Queen Street East) where we had some really tasty homemade Caribbean cooking before the Klaxons gig. (I’ll be covering the gig in a later post...)
Day 4: Thursday 11th October 2007
For breakfast, we called in Subway across the road from our hotel for BLTs. Despite ordering two six inch BLTs on different bread, the shop assistant insisted on charging us for one foot long instead, explaining that it would be cheaper and that the customer is always right! After that, we got the subway uptown to Casa Loma.
Casa Loma is described as being “Canada’s Majestic Castle” when really it’s more like a mansion, or even just a big house, with one hundred rooms; old buildings and castles are something the Brits do much bigger and better than the Canadians! Casa Loma was a fascinating place with an intriguing history. More recently, it’s been used in various films, including Chicago, Cocktail, The Pacifier, The Tuxedo and X-Men. If you want to know more about it, I suggest you read the Wikipedia articles on Casa Loma and Sir Henry Pellat.
Since we hadn’t finished looking around by lunchtime, we had something to eat at Druxy’s in the basement of Casa Loma. I got the best roast beef deli sandwich on an onion roll, complete with a proper helping of beef and some Dijon mustard that was so hot it came down my nose, and Suzy had a roast chicken and guacamole sandwich. Eating places like these, where they’re inside the attraction, are usually overpriced and poor quality but this place was pretty reasonable considering the freshness and quality of the excellent sandwiches.
After we’d finished at Casa Loma, we headed back Downtown and checked out a few restaurants we’d read about.
In the evening, we went to Hard Rock Cafe (279 Yonge Street) for some cocktails at the bar before being shown to our table. Oddly, the barman advised me not to have a Joe’s Bloody Mary – “a headbangin’ combination of rich & spicy Bloody Mary mix, Absolut Citron vodka and Joe Perry’s (of Aerosmith) mango tango hot sauce” – as they’re often returned because it’s not what people are expecting. But after a pint of boring lager, I had a couple of these anyway and they were fantastic! Naturally, we ordered and ate too much, especially considering we were already nearly full after sharing the Jumbo Combo starter!
Day 5: Friday 12th October 2007
We woke up and realised that for the past few days we’d been eating lots and lots of meat and not much fruit or vegetables, so went to Richtree Market in the Eaton Centre for a fruit salad and cup of fresh mango juice before walking down to the see the buildings on the waterfront. We had contemplated getting the ferry across to the Toronto Islands but as it was cold and windy (and, frankly, my feet were still aching from all the walking around we’d been doing) we decided to give it a miss.
Instead, we went on a tour around the Steam Whistle Brewing brewery, located in an old building shaped like a horseshoe which used to be home to a steam locomotive repair facility. (The similarity between the name and location is apparently a coincidence, as the owners had already decided they wanted a steam whistle like in the Flintstones before they found the premises.)
On the tour, we learnt all about the company and what makes them different, and I got to sample quite a bit of their premium pilsner lager which is nice and crisp and apparently won’t give you much of a hangover because it only uses just four natural ingredients.
We left before I had time to test that theory and I finally got to sample a hot dog from one of the carts we’d walked past every day since we arrived.
At night, we’d booked a table at Fisherman’s Wharf (69 Richmond Street West) which had won the WHERE Toronto Most Memorable Meal Award 2007 for the Seafood category. Once we were at our table, we were a little worried about what sort of meal we were going to have as I could hear an American man on a nearby table saying how the meal he was eating was the worst meal he’d ever had in his entire life and that they should have gone to the steakhouse like he’d apparently said in the first place. As it turns out, he was probably sulking because his friends didn’t want to go to the steakhouse.
Our starters here were pretty average, but the seafood platter for two which we had for our main course was great... but only if you like to eat prawns, mussels, scallops, crab, oysters and a full lobster, otherwise you may as well go to a steakhouse instead.
After our meal, we went for a walk and saw loads of teenagers running around the city wearing different coloured fluorescent necklaces. After trying and failing to figure out what was going on, we eventually stopped some of the kids and asked them. It turns out they were playing a huge game of urban capture the flag.
Those crazy kids!
Day 6: Saturday 13th October 2007
On our way to the Royal Ontario Museum, we stopped at Tim Hortons for a sausage, egg and cheese (they put cheese on everything) breakfast bagel and a coffee. The museum’s housed in a pretty impressive building where they’ve literally fused modern architecture with the original church-like building. When we went, a few of the rooms were empty as they were re-jigging their exhibits but what we did see was pretty interesting, particularly all the First Peoples artefacts.
For lunch, we went to Sushi Train (750 Yonge Street), our first proper sushi restaurant where all the dishes go round on a conveyor belt. The plates are all colour-coded according to price, ranging from $2.00 to $5.50, so you just take what you want and the waitress adds up how much you owe by counting your empty plates. I could have stuffed my face with sushi all afternoon but didn’t want to spoil my appetite too much as we’d got a table booked at the top of the CN Tower for early evening.
You obviously can’t go to Toronto without visiting the CN Tower. Although many people say it’s expensive to eat at the 360 Restaurant, it’s actually pretty good value because you get to go up in the lift and check out the lookout and glass floor levels for free providing you purchase a main course, saving around $25 each. We managed to book a table for 17:15 which meant that we would get to watch the sunset at 19:45 and see Toronto in daylight and by night.
After doing 15 MPH in the lift up to the restaurant, the first thing you notice is how fast the restaurant turns. It takes 72 minutes to do a complete revolution but when you see the room moving it does feel like it’s moving pretty quickly. And when you get to your table, you then realise how high up 351 metres actually is. Our table was right next to the window, so we had a fantastic view and were able to take lots of pictures in between each mouthful. The food was tasty, it was well presented, the service was excellent and the location was amazing. Definitely recommended.
Day 7: Sunday 14th October 2007
For our last full day in Toronto, we had a McDonald’s breakfast somewhere on Yonge Street and then walked down to St Lawrence Market, dodging all the people who were running The Toronto Marathon on the way. After that, we walked to the The Distillery District, a national historic site which represents the “largest and best preserved collection of Victorian Industrial Architecture in North America” formerly known as The Gooderham and Worts Distillery. Today, it’s basically a load of expensive boutiques, studios and coffee shops which is occasionally used as a backdrop for films. All we bought was a couple of drinks and two massive slices of cake from Café Uno.
After walking back Downtown, we went shopping in the Eaton Centre. Thankfully, neither of us are serious shoppers, so it only took a couple of hours before we’d finished and were having a hot dog from the usual place for a mid-afternoon snack.
In the evening, we had a nice meal at the Pickle Barrel (312 Yonge Street) – once again, good food and massive portions – and then we had an early night in preparation for leaving early the following day to go to Niagara Falls.
Day 8: Monday 15th October 2007
We woke up early, packed our suitcases and went to Starbucks across the road from our hotel for breakfast. Shortly after that, we checked out and waited for Auntie Wendy and her husband Vic to pick us up in their massive people carrier. (Auntie Wendy was a school friend of my mum’s who emigrated to Canada when she was about 13 years old. They kept in touch for years via airmail and more recently moved to email and the occasional phone call.)
After two or three hours on the road, we arrived in Niagara Falls, parked up near the SkyLon Tower (in a dodgy car park for $5 rather than the official one for $10) and had a few sandwiches before walking down to see the falls.
Before we went, I didn’t realise that “Niagara Falls” is actually the name for the set of waterfalls which includes the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, American Falls and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls. (In fact, I only learnt that the falls were shared between America and Canada a few weeks before we went!) Nor did I really know how HUGE all the falls are. As you get nearer to the Horseshoe Falls, it suddenly feels like it’s raining, but then you realise that it’s just the spray! And it’s only when you stand right next to the top of the falls and can see the sheer volume of water throwing itself over the edge that you realise how amazing the waterfall actually is.
Of course, we went on the Journey Behind the Falls, where you “experience the awesome spectacle of one-fifth of the world’s fresh water crashing down 13 stories to the basin below” from both the side and behind the falls, and the Maid of the Mist, which takes you up close to all the falls on a boat ride. Visiting the falls in October when it was almost out of season meant we got a good, clear view all along the wall overlooking the falls and didn’t have to queue to do anything.
Also at Niagara Falls is a stretch of buildings which contains amusement arcades, souvenir shops, waxworks, museums and other attractions; it’s a bit like Blackpool only smaller and possibly cleaner. After seeing all this, Vic and Wendy took us back to their house in the quiet community called Port Elgin, called at a Swiss Chalet for some tea (or supper) on the way.
Day 9: Tuesday 16th October 2007
After a long and lazy lie in, we finally woke up and had breakfast, which was when I realised that bagels aren’t so bad after all (especially cinnamon and raisin ones toasted with butter) and Suzy realised that Canadians buy milk in bags rather than bottles! Imagine that! After getting over the shock, Vic and Wendy took us on a tour around Downtown Port Elgin (which is actually just a main road through the village) and to see the beach and their boat which they’d just pulled out of the water for the winter.
After soup and sandwiches for lunch, we then went on an educational trip to the visitor centre at Bruce Power Nuclear Generating Station where Vic used to work. Learning all about nuclear fuel and how a CANDU reactor generates electricity may sound like a dull thing to do on your holiday, but it was actually really interesting – and we got to see some Wild Turkeys walking down the road on the way there!
In the evening, Auntie Wendy made us a lovely steak pie for tea and then we just watched TV and relaxed.
Day 10: Wednesday 17th October 2007
After more bagels for breakfast, we took a ride out to the small community of St Jacobs, home to many Mennonites. On the way, we saw one of the few roundabouts in Canada and stopped at Picard Peanuts Ltd, where we saw the most varieties of nut-based products we’ve ever seen. You get to try before you buy, so after sampling almost every type of nut on display, I bought some Wasabi Peanuts and Blazin’ Hot Peanuts... and they are both MEGA HOT!
St Jacobs itself has quite a few tiny shops and museums. We went to The Maple Syrup Museum, Home Hardware Exhibit, Electricity Exhibit and Telling The Mennonite Story at the Visitor Centre, where we went on a “multi-media journey” to learn more about the Mennonites and their beliefs.
Later that afternoon, we went to At The Crossroads restaurant for an all-you-can-eat-buffet. There was an excellent variety of home-style cooking hot meals, salads and homemade desserts, and it was excellent value for money. Needless to say, I definitely got my money’s worth...
Day 11: Thursday 18th October 2007
In the morning, Vic kindly cooked us all bacon, egg and home fries for breakfast before we left Port Elgin and made our way to Wendy’s sister’s, who lives near Toronto airport. On the way, we stopped for a coffee and cookie at Starbucks and looked around the huge Chapters bookstore, Wal-Mart and Fortinos, where we bought a roast chicken and Caesar salad for dinner.
After dinner, we got dropped off at the airport, checked in and got on our flight home. We decided not to watch Mr. Bean’s Holiday or Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban but did watch Wild Hogs which was pretty funny in the early hours of the morning.
For tea / supper / breakfast (what do you call that meal they give you on an overnight flight?) we had beef ‘something’ with vegetables and rice, served with a strange salad that wouldn’t have been out of place on a kebab and a weird chocolate brownie which didn’t seem to be cooked. I thought it was all pretty good. Suzy wasn’t convinced. Later on, we got a cheese and red onion sandwich for a mid-night snack (that hyphen’s there because it’s a snack you have in the middle of the night and not necessarily at midnight) and managed to get about 30 seconds of sleep before arriving back in England.
Any questions? Is there anything I’ve not covered?
Labels: food, personal, restaurants, travel
