Daddy Dines & Travels

After reading Stacie Stewart’s, the beehive gal off Masterchef 2009, blog I discovered her recipe for Belly Pork Confit.

I’ve never done a confit, so thought I would try this. It was VERY VERY NICE! I made a slight tweak to the recipe from the link below, in that I added 4 garlic cloves, crushed, to the oil – that was it. Next time I will also get the skin took off at the butchers, as I tried (in vain) to get it to goto good crackling.

The depth of taste was incredible though, and the meat just melted. After allowing it to cool I removed the bones, but there were a few bits of cartilage left, but nothing major. I also divided the slab into 4 pieces.

Try it out, I served mine with champ, peas and carrots http://staciestewart.weebly.com/2/post/2010/03/the-softest-confit-of-belly-pork.html (stupidly I forgot to take a pic)

A restaurant that I have been waiting to goto for some time. The last time we attempted to go I had to cancel due to illness. We finally got to go on Saturday the 7th August, with a couple of very good friends, with all of us celebrating our 11th anniversaries!

After  seeing the venue on the TV show, “The Restaurant” I kinda had an idea of the grandness of the whole place. Turning right into the main driveway you immediately get a feel of how classic this establishment is. After parking the car we walked to the main entrance, through a lavender edged path that cut through some immaculate lawns – one was set for croquet and the other for boules.

On entering we were kindly greeted by the front of house staff, and then ushered to meet our friends who were having a drink in the lounge area. Very nice room too, and comfortable furnishings (which is always good to relax). The menu’s were already on the table, and as our table was booked for 9PM we decided to go for the  Á la Carte which consisted of 3 courses. One thing that initially struck me was the price of the dishes, but this was a 2* Michelin restaurant so hey, it goes with the territory.

I ordered the following:-

Plancha-seared Cornish lobster, warm Jersey Royal potatoes, Oscietra caviar, cardamom; red pepper jus for Hors d’oeuvres, followed by Slow-roasted aromatic Cornish turbot, scallop and citrus fregola for the main, and then finally a selection of cheeses for dessert.

Apart from these 3 courses, we had an amouse bouche with our drinks (I can’t remember what they were – but one thing I did note; there were 4 of us, but only 2 of each choice which was a bit poor as that meant you couldn’t try each one yourself. There wasn’t anything here that was amazing….this was going to set the tone of the meal, which I didn’t realise at first)

Before the first course we had a free course, a small pot of spring vegetables with flower petals in a broth, in a cup about the size of an espresso. This was light and refreshing. The selection of breads were good, and the types I chose were very nice indeed.

So, the first course was delivered, and to be honest, seeing that this was the a la carte option, I thought the portion size was a bit mean. This dish alone cost £42, and I had 1 piece of claw meat, and a few smaller parts of the tail. I was expecting half a lobster for that price! The dish was very tasty, the lobster perfectly cooked, and the little potato pieces deep with flavour.

The main, for me, was the strongest dish of the night. Another perfectly cooked slab of turbot this time, with a flavoursome broth poured over it. Very appetising, but I really should have asked for a spoon as a knife and fork isn’t that great for scooping up sauce!!! Even now, I’ve been to a fair few Michelin restaurants and still not 100% of the etiquette for asking for other things!

For dessert I opted for the cheese board, and what a great trolley and a well versed waiter who knew his cheese! I was asked to choose 5 different pieces, and ended up with a real plateful of cheese, and no skimpy cuts but good portions (pity the other courses weren’t the same eh!). I liked 4 of the 5, and again I didn’t jot down all the names (rubbish I know), but I had 2 blue, 1 hard and 2 others. 1 I remember was a Welsh Cow cheese, which was nice. One of our friends, Dean (a bit of a cheese connoisseur) mentioned about having honey with blue cheese, so we got some and it really works! Make a mental note to try it yourself!

Of the 4 of us who were dining, only Dean and I were drinking, and we had wine by the glass, 1 with each course. I had an Alsace Riesling 2007, Grand Cru Saering, Dirler-Cade (I asked the waitress to write these down) and a Chassagne Montrachet, Les Masuves 2008, finished with a 1985 port with the cheese.

Overall I felt a bit disappointed with Le Manoir. Why? Well I think for the costs of the courses the portions could have been bigger. Each course was well cooked and presented, but I didn’t have one “WOW!” moment in the whole night, which is quite uncommon when fine dining, even with or without a Michelin star. And this place isn’t cheap – the bill came to about £640 between 4 (including a tip) and I personally think the food at “The Royal Oak” tasted better, and cost about £150 for 2 people.

Overall score? 4/10

As part of my aforementioned “using the BBC Good Food” site to help me sort out new dinners in the week, I chose this recipe and really, really liked it. The only thing different I did was to add more herbs (in ours I put some sage, thyme along with the parsley). I also fried them on each side for about 4-5 mins until deep golden brown, then popped them into the oven @ 180 for a further 10 mins (just to make sure as they were quite thick, about 1″)

These are VERY filling, so 2 each is plenty (yeah I realise the recipe is for 4 people, but that would be ok for a lunch!)

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did, here’s the link to the full recipe

During the recent stay in the Peak District, we were looking for a place to eat for dinner. Thankfully I had packed “The Good Food Guide 2010″ (and this really is worth the £16.99 and taken as part of your packing if you travel a lot around the UK) and it definitely helped making the choice of easier.

Around the surrounding area of our cottage was “Pecks Restaurant”, in Moreton, about 15 miles away. The GFG gave this an overall score of 3/10 (even a 1/10 is a good score as it means the establishment gets listed) and a “Seriously impressive stuff” summary. We managed to get a Tuesday evening booking, and the restaurant has introduced a “Bring your own bottle” on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, something I’ve not seen before but also something that more restaurants seem to be doing. It helps cut down the overall cost of the meal AND you can make sure you have a wine that you like, so a win-win in my books.

I was expecting a gastro pub, but this was a bit fancier than that. Being a midweek evening it wasn’t overly busy, I reckon about 30 diners. We all sat in the conservatory area which was large and bright. Tables were laid out very well, and comfortable chairs, which is something basic in my books, but alas some places don’t have. The restaurant have menu’s that cover 1 month at a time, so we had the June menu to look through. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are a set 5 course menu for a non-wallett busting £35! Great value and the overall atmosphere was equivalent to some more pricier places that I’ve eaten at.

The menu had a good selection of courses, and we had decided what we wanted fairly quickly. I like smaller menus as some places have far too much choice, and you really want a selection of mains on a plate. So, this is where Pecks is a bit different to your “normal” restaurant. Rather than just have the waiting staff take your order, they actually parade each dish to every table, explaining what is there, and gives you a chance of looking at it too. Initially this was quite “fun” but it soon became a bit tedious, mainly because of the proximity of the other tables so you heard them get their presentation, then it was your turn, then the next table – we were only a few feet from each other, and there wasn’t that many guests. I think it’s a nice idea, but in this particular session would have easily been done as one presentation to the whole room. Thankfully it wasn’t totally booked out as I reckon you could be waiting a loooooong time between courses. At one point there were 2 waitresses doing the parading, that was quite interesting!

For starters we both opted for the “Courgette and Smoked Bacon Soup”. This was one of the best soups I had ever tasted. Piping hot, nice texture, lardons of bacon, and a deep taste. I wasn’t expecting much from courgette soup, but this surpassed my initial preconception and we really enjoyed it.

For pre-main I chose “Smoked Haddock Beignet with Homemade Tartare Sauce”. This looked better than it tasted, which was a bit annoying. The beignet is basically the same as a profitterole, but a savoury one. The batter was very nice, it was just lacking with filling and had a “weak” taste to it. Mini chose the “Wild Mushroom Risotto with Fried Rocket” – fried rocket eh! Bit 80′s. The risotto was well made, nice and gooey with a flavoursome mushroom depth. Unfortunately the rocket was very salty, which after eating first left that flavour in the mouth.

My main was “Medallion of Pork with Meaux Mustard and Brandy Sauce with Pearl Barley Risotto”. A triumph on a plate. The pork was well cooked, the sauce was umptious and just the right amount of risotto. Something I would be happy to serve at home. Mini had “Pink Duck Breast on Vegetable Couscous with Sherry and Apricot Glaze”. This must have been a midget duck, as the breast was tiny. Well cooked but lacking in flavour, so a bit of a let down. One slightly “odd” thing with both dishes was they were served with “Fresh Market Vegetables and Potato Garni” – for my course this wasn’t too bad (it was a roasted carrot, not really summery!, roast potatoes, and a roasted leek), but roast potatoes with couscous? Seriously? And roasted vegetables in summer time, would have been a lot better steamed.

The menu had “A selection of our Famous Pecks Puddings” and boy what a selection. There were 7 puddings paraded, each one looking glorious. This did take some time, and to be honest I had forgotten what I had wanted as I changed my mind so much. Ultimately I went for a 50/50 split with “Rum and Raisin Cheesecake” and “Key Lime Pie” – the cheesecake was brilliant, deep rum flavours. The lime pie was light and fizzy, another great dessert! I could have had two whole portions. Mini went for the Raspberry brulee. It had the required glass like topping, that gave a clean and crisp crack when broken, but a bit let down by the lack of raspberry flavour.

We scored the courses with the following:-

Me: Soup 4/5, Beignet 2/5, Pork 4/5, Pud 4/5 – 14/20

Mini: Soup 4/5, Risotto 3/5, Duck 2/5, Pud 3/5 – 12/20

The scoring is a new thing we are trying, and we had to remember that this was not a Michelin level place, but the food was a very high level throughout. Service was very attentive too, and not overly fussy.

If you are anywhere near Moreton in Cheshire then give this place a go.

My first visit to the Royal Albert Hall, and my first ballet – 2 first’s in one night is always good

I’ve seen the RAH from the outside a couple of times, and was also very impressed with the interior. Thankfully we had stall seats (4 rows from the stage area) and didn’t have to hike up some pretty steep ones in the cheaper areas.

The only knowledge I have of Swan Lake is knowing some of the score, and also the part in Billy Elliot – so I would say fairly minimal. From the start I was hooked though. The music was clear and filled the hall. When the dancers came on my eyes were everywhere.

This production was different to a “normal” production on a rectangular stage, this allowed for a lot more dancers and a much larger area to work with. The ballerina’s looked beautiful, some were scarily thin (as in you could see every bone in them!) but I guess you don’t want a chubby if you have to lift them!

This production also had 2 parts where they used the dry ice machines to create a “lake” by filling the whole stage area (a fairly huge area) and it looked FANTASTIC when the dancers came out onto it, a dreamy sequence (and I was thinking there would have been some great photo oppurtunities too).

I enjoyed the whole show and I think I will definitely go and see others now. If you’ve never been then I would say give it a go – and this version I think is a good one to see first.

An impromptu visit to the restaurant we visited back in February. As this was our second time I decided to forego the camera and tasting notebook, so this blog will be a fairly short one (hoorah I hear you say!!)

Saturday 5th June was a lovely sunny day, and after a busy day here and there we were looking forward to dining out. Arriving at the pub for our 7PM booking we were met with a friendly greeting and asked if we would like to go straight to our table. As we were hungry and thirsty we decided to go. Our first visit to the pub was Valentines, and as such had a bespoke menu. This time the menu was the usual one they use (you can see it here) and we chose the following:-

Mini had the “Asparagus with duck egg and parmesan”, “Peppered Haunch of Venison with Creamed Spinach and Sauce Poivrade” and “Chocolate Fondant, Toffee Sauce, Pistachio Ice Cream”

I had “Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Parfait with Toasted Brioche”, “Fillet of Black Angus Beef & Veal Sweetbread, Marrow Bone and Red Wine Sauce” and “Chocolate Fondant, Toffee Sauce, Pistachio Ice Cream”. As I wasn’t driving I also had 2 pints of London Pride (1 with the Parfait and it was a great match!). A glass of “Syrah, Viu Manent, Chile 2008″ (lovely, oaky and spoicy taste, medium body) with the beef, and a glass of “Jurancon-Organic, Petit Manseng 2005 ” (a really light dessert wine, but bulging with flavour) with my dessert.

Mini enjoyed the starter, stating that the egg was light and flavoursome, and the parmesan “hollandaise-esque” sauce was yummy. He had the venison back in February and it was magnificent again this time. The mash potato is the creamiest mash we’ve ever seen, you could pipe it using a 0.1mm piping bag and I don’t think it would clog!

Like Mini, I had the same starter as last time. Just can’t say no to fois gras. The brioche bread was lovely and warm, and doorstep thick! The parfait comes with a quinelle of fig and a port reduction – devine. The fillet beef literally melted on the plate as it was cut, really deep in flavour. The sweetbread was very light and dissappeared quite easily This was my first try at marrow bone, and I loved it. Immensely intense flavour of all the best bits in meat, the FAT! Cubes of the marrow bone were scattered across the fillet. The sauce, I am sure, is a reduction of Marmite! I think they mentioned it had a “yeast extract” but I love Marmite, and this is definitely almost identical.

So, all good so far, well not totally. Chips. Yes chips. Chips to me should be crispy on the outside, dry (not dripping with grease) and fluffy in the middle. These chips came in a small bowl, but there were plenty of them to go with the dish. Unfortunately about 60% of them were more like “cripsy potato shards” just like you get when you over boil potatoes that are for roasting, and the split and then these pieces really crisp up. They weren’t in-edible, just a bit too crunchy – “C-, could do better”

Finally the dessert. A very impressive fondant. Bitter dark chocolate powder on the outside, cut it open and light chocolate inner with a gooey, runny chocolate sauce that spills out onto the plate. The pistachio tuille was really strong with the flavour of those labour-intensive nuts. Pity the ice cream didn’t have the same hit (was the same when we had the dessert 1st time round).

As a change to the normal coffee and petit fours, we both plumped for the “Ginger Twist” tea (website here where you can buy it amongst lots of others). The tea arrives in a divine “pot for 1″ teapot. Lifting the lid lets a HUGE refreshing waft of ginger out, really really nice, and a great drink for a warm summer evening. When you drink the tea you also get a peppermint taste in the background. I think we will be putting some orders through the UK branch.

The bill came to £144 (including the 12.5% service charge) which I don’t think is overly expensive, considering my drinks cost about £25, so about £50 a head. Interestingly, en-route to the gents they have snippets of reviews etc. There is one there from 2008, with a scan of the bill. 2 years ago, the Venison was £16 – it is now £24 (so a 50% increase). I know prices fluctuate and things get dearer every year, but I hope this 50% increase isn’t just due to the 1 Michelin Star.

So, if you are anywhere near Maidenhead then you really must take a look at this place. I can see how it got its Michelin star recently; great staff and friendly service throughout, really good food (ok get the chips better and it’s “really fantastic food”) and relaxing environment. You may, as we did on this visit, even see Sir Michael Parkinson.

Just got hold of this years copy. Flicking through it, it is amazing to think that the first 160-odd pages are all London. Sometimes I wish I lived in London, but also wished I had the money to enjoy it all properly!!

Last year I put a post up of the Top 40 Restaurants as voted by the Good Food Guide 2009. Below is the 2010 listing, a fair few changes, new entries and movement. I never did complete the goal of getting the Top 10 done, but had a bloody good go at it!

The Good Food Guide 2010 Top 20

1. Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire (10/10)
2. Gordon Ramsay, Royal Hospital Road, London (9)
3. Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, London (8)
4. Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxfordshire (8)    <— Going to this in August!!!
5. The Square, London (8)
6. Le Champignon Sauvage, Gloucs (8)
7. Le Gavroche, London (8)
8. The Vineyard at Stockcross, Berkshire (8)
9. Pied-à-Terre, London (8)
10. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall (8)
11. Maze, London (8)
12. Tom Aikens, London (8)
13. L’Enclume, Cumbria (8)
14. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (8)
15. The Capital, London (7)
16. The Waterside Inn, Berkshire (7)
17. Bohemia, St Helier, Jersey (7)
18. Hibiscus, London (7)
19. Danesfield House, Bucks (7)
20. L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, London (new) (7)

Will keep you updated with blogs as and when I get to the others!

After many years of thinking “Really need to book at this place” we finally did, and this was Tuesday the 20th April 2010 – worth a note in the diary to reflect in years to come.

If you’ve never been to Bray, it’s definitely worth a visit. At either end of the High Street are 2 3* Michelin restaurants, the Fat Duck, and the Waterside Inn (which I blogged about here). Incredible to have 2 such highly awarded restaurants, in a small village. To top that, just round the corner (kinda) is The Royal Oak, read my blog about that here.

Before you make your way to the Fat Duck, make sure you read the “directions” on the website, as you have to park in the Hind’s Head pub car park. When you come out of this car park driveway, look to your right just around the corner, and you will not see the Fat Duck – that’s because it’s a fairly anonymous looking building. Look up about 20ft and you will see the iconic Fat Duck design hanging down.

Stepping through the door, I was quite amazed at how “small” the place is, with it being quite an old building it’s fairly low ceilings give it a homely feel, and the beams everywhere gives it some age. We arrived at 730PM and was escorted to our table, which was almost bang centre of the dining room. I had got the Fat Duck and the sister pub, the Hinds Head, mixed up as I thought this was going to be a much more compact affair. It wasn’t massively spacious, but you weren’t breathing down each others necks.

First off, some bottled water and then a choice of champagne, which we didn’t partake of. When the menu came I thought “Blimey that’s a big menu!” only to see that 99% of it was bulky leather binding, and the actual menu covered 4 pages, including wines by the glass – nice touch but a bit overkill I think. The choice at the restaurant is only the tasting menu, and this now costs £150 per person (back in 2006 this was around £95 so in 5 years it’s increased by 50% which is a fair chunk)

After informing the staff we had no allergies we got served some bread, which was nice and some un-pasteurised, salted butter (which was ACE as I don’t eat ‘real’ butter that much). During our wait for the first course, we could see other tables getting their various courses, which instilled some excitement, but at the same time gave what was coming away – but hey, even after seeing it and then getting it, it was still very much a WOW feeling.

Fourteen – yes 14 – courses to wade through. Wade isn’t the right word, it sounds like a chore to be done, but it really wasn’t. Make yourself comfortable and I shall begin….

Course 1 – ‘Lime Grove’ – Nitro Poached Green Tea and Lime Mousse

Heston Blumenthal is famous for his zany cooking and science mixes, this being one of them. Before the magic comes, a thin, wooden table is put in front of you on the opposite side of the table. The waiter then brings his ‘kit’ in, which comprised of a siphon which contained the Lime Mousse. This was sprayed onto a spoon and then dipped into the bowl containing the liquid nitrogen. As the nitrogen was denser than the mousse, it simply bobbed about, being ‘cooked’ whilst doing so.

After about 20 seconds or so, the ‘egg’ was lifted out, and the Green Tea powder was dusted over it. To be eaten immediately – so we did. It was cold, but not “brain freeze” cold. The outside was like merangue – the inside was gooey. Just before eating the waiter sprayed a lime infusion above us – I didn’t get a hit off it at all, in fact I got more of the table behind me! But it did add to the dish.

Course 2 – ‘Red Cabbage Gazpacho’ – Pommery Grain Mustard Ice Cream

A very large dish, bit TOO large in my opinion. The spoon wasn’t a real soup-spoon, so it was tricky getting the last bits out, thankfully had bread to dip! So, the gazpacho was quite acidic for my palette, crisp and sharp, but too much vinegar taste. The Ice Cream was sublime. Ice cream, but with heat from the mustard – very nice.

Course 3  – ‘Jelly of Quail, Crayfish cream, Chicken Liver Parfait, Oak Moss and Truffle Toast’

Well, how many ingredients in this course! Wait a minute, I thought you said there was some Moss in this? Where is it then??….

There you go – who said eating at a table was boring! Prior to the liquid nitro being poured to give a very Hollywood Dry Ice effect, we were given a small “breath freshener” which was in a little plastic box

These offered a more intense experience of the moss, so imagine you are walking around in a forest after it has rained – that’s it….

So, prior to tucking in, we were informed of the 4 layers within the main ‘bowl’ and to try and get them all in one scoop, which we did. The overall taste was of the Quail jelly – but it was really ‘beefy’ – and totally overpowered the other ingredients which was a shame as there were so many others. The Truffle Toast was also knocked out by the jelly, I personally think this should have been eaten first, would have got the truffle taste more.

Course 4  – ‘Snail Porridge’ – Jabugo Ham, Shaved Fennel

The famous Snail Porridge. Due to the fact that you couldn’t use flash (although some people did!) and I didn’t have a real macro lens, I had to take a pic of Mark’s dish. It’s a shame I couldn’t get a close-up as the porridge was an INTENSE green in colour, really vibrant and summery. For some reason I thought this was going to be cold, don’t ask me why! It wasn’t. It was fairly warm. The snails simply melted when you bit into them (getting goosebumps typing this, is that wrong?) and the porridge was nice and tender. One minus point for me, which is not what I usually say, but there was too much garlic. I love garlic, but I think it overpowered this dish slightly. Apart from that, I can see why it caused a stir when it first came out!

Onto page 2 of 4 in my tasting notebook!

Course 5  – ‘Roast Fois Gras’, Rhubarb, Braised Konbu and Crab Biscuit

Fois Gras – bring it on. A small helping, but man did this pack flavour! Braised Konbu is the creamy slither underneath the fois gras, it’s edible kelp. Didn’t really taste of anything to be honest! The crab biscuits were fab, really crispy and a deep flavour to them. I was a bit let-down with the rhubarb. It looked really nice on the plate, but it simply didn’t have the intense flavour I was expecting, no tartness, not a lot of much really.

At this point, and with some of the aforementioned dishes having been devoured, I wasn’t ‘blown away’ as much as I thought. The dishes looked excellent, but sometimes the taste didn’t back it up, and also the serving plates were just wrong – more aesthetic over use. Anyways, upwards and onwards – another 9 dishes to go!!

Course 6  – ‘Mock Turtle Soup’ c 1850 – “Mad Hatter Tea”

I’ve never read ‘Alice in Wonderland’ although you don’t have to, to know what happens, who the characters are etc. Also, having seen Heston’s TV show, you kinda get the idea Before the next dish came, the waiters simply laid a bookmark in front of you, to let your imagination get into 1st gear and start going…

“The March Hare took the watch and looked at it gloomily; then he dipped it into his cup of tea….” –

“Have you seen the Mock Turtle yet?” –

“No,” said Alice. “I don’t even know what a Mock Turtle is.” –

“It’s the thing Mock Turtle Soup is made from,” said the Queen.

This got us both talking about Alice in Wonderland, and what the next course was going to be! On the rear of the bookmark it gives a brief summary of what Mock Turtle was – it was an alternative, mock, turtle soup that was developed using calves’ head and feet. This is the first course we had ever eaten that made us feel like schoolchildren again – excited with anticipation of what was coming!

The main dish is bought along with a tea cup. The waiting staff then present a wooden box, with a glass window, open it and retrieve a gold watch for watch for each diner. You are then asked to pour hot water over the watch – VOILA! – instant beef stock, fantastic (I am smiling whilst typing this). You then proceed to pour the liquor over the awaiting dish, and end up with Mock Turtle Soup…

The soup had a reallllly deep taste. The Mock Turtle egg had small mushrooms coming out of it, the meat chunks I thought were ham, but it would appear they were Ox tongue. I found the full recipe here if you wanna do it at home! This dish made us both laugh from start to finish. Even after the plate was gone we were still smirking, and giggling – were they magic mushrooms? or had Heston simply got it so right, it made you feel exactly what he wanted? I expect the latter. The taste stayed in our mouths until the next dish arrived, magic…

Course 7  – ‘Sound of the Sea’

First item delivered as part of this course, is a lovely, large sea shell..

Inside this hid an iPod shuffle, with the headphones poking out (you can just see one behind the shell). The main dish then arrived…

This dish has changed recently, due to the unfortunate outbreak of food poisoning that occurred. It consisted of 3 slices of different fish (I didn’t get what they were but I think 1 was tuna, I’m not a fish expert!); a foam; seaweed and ‘sand’. The sand was tapioca and baby eel (at least that’s what I heard, French accents!). It had an odd texture I thought, not as gritty as sand, but occasionally poppy. This, in my opinion, was the weakest dish. I think I would have preferred the original design that had mussels and the like.

Course 8  – ‘Salmon Poached in Liquorice’, Artichokes, Vanilla Mayonnaise, Golden Trout Roe and Manni Olive Oil

The plate was placed onto the table, and the ‘Manni Olive Oil‘ was drizzled in small drops over it. I wondered why they had made such a fuss about this oil, so I Googled it, apparently it’s the world’s most expensive! As with most dishes, I normally taste each component part on its own, which isn’t always as the cook may want them to be eaten, but I like to know each distinct taste. I was a bit ‘concerned’ about the vanilla mayo – and for me it didn’t work. Vanilla is normally a dessert flavour, and this was a bit too different for my poor brain to work out!

The salmon was really well cooked, but I didn’t get any liquorice taste, which was a shame as I love it. The roe was really tasty – popped and exploded in your mouth, salty yet not overpowering. The artichoke was a nice part to the dish – it gave a little bit of texture, but the roe was the main ‘crunch’ in this dish.

Page 3 of 4 in my notepad….

Course 9  – ‘Powdered Anjou Pigeon’ c 1720, Blood pudding and Confit of Umbles

I love pigeon – shame they are known as flying rats!!!! Pigeon was cooked to perfection, blue. Packed flavour and melted in the mouth. The “umbles” =“humbles,” extra animal parts like gizzards and innards traditionally thrown into the mix when cooking e.g., humble pie, were divine. I didn’t realise exactly what they were until I researched them afterwards, but I also like my offal – which is handy when you eat something you don’t really know what it is!! The crackers reminded me of Quavers, not sure if that’s what was expected but they were really yummy. The blood pudding was quite bland, I think a nice chunk of ordinary black pudding would have tasted better. Baby veg was nice too – one of my favourite dishes of the evening.

Course 10  – ‘Hot & Iced Tea’

This is a real mindf*ck. So, you look at it – it’s an Earl Grey infusion, golden orange in colour. You take the first sip and WOWBANGBOOM – you get COLD, yes COLD tea on the left of your tongue, and HOT tea on the right! WTF?!?! You look into the cup to see if you can spot how they have done it, nothing to be seen apart from some bubble. We suspect some form of alginate gel or something. But we sip it again, and giggle, and look confused, and my brain the hurts. The tea had a lovely floral taste to it and I don’t normally like Earl Grey! hoorah!

Course 11  – ‘Taffety Tart’ c 1660, Caramelized Apple, Fennel, Rose and Candied Lemon

The picture doesn’t really give this any justice – I NEED TO BUY A MACRO LENS!!!!! The amount of work put into this was amazing. Ultra thin shards of caramelized apple which was almost like glass – but in a good way. Quinelle of Blackcurrant sorbet that was nice and sharp. Some small fennel sprouts that were so packed with flavour – I know micro-herbs are grown for this, but wow, it was like a full bulb of fennel! A really, really nice sweet – could have done with being a little bit bigger, but was still very nice.

Onto the last page of this visit…..

Course 12  – “The ‘BFG’ ” Black Forest Gateau

Drool, then more drool and a bit more for luck. I had been looking forward to this as soon as I spotted it on the menu. After remembering the time on TV when Heston made his first interpritation I’ve always wondered what it tasted like, well now was the time. I just looked at it for about 30 seconds, taking it all in. The waiter also sprayed some Kirsch essence into the air, to get your taste buds going…

First off, what’s this stalk poking out of the cherry? I was a slither of dried vanilla pod, twisted to look like a cherry stalk! Now THAT is attention to detail.

I then picked up the cherry and popped it into my mouth. I have never had such an intense, full on flavour from one piece of fruit. I reckon this had been steeped in Kirsch for about 6 months! Fantastic. I then started to cut down the small tower of chocolate, going through 3 layers; mousse, sponge, then biscuits and cream. D-I-V-I-N-E.

The ‘wood’ in the centre is a small tuille of chocolate that leads you to the Kirsch ice cream. Simply sublime. My mouth is salivating just looking and thinking about this dessert. The best I have ever had, and I have had some nice ones.

Course 13  – ‘Whisk(e)y Wine Gums’

I’m not a whiskey drinker, so I wasn’t really looking forward that much to this. When it turned up it was like “heheh, right, wine gums on a picture frame”. I suppose it makes a bit of sense, so you can see where the whiskey is actually from. Each little gum was in the shape of a bottle, about 2cm in height. You simply placed them in your mouth and let them dissolve. Initially you think “hmm, not great this, can’t taste anything” and then, when the last part dissolves, you get a hit of the whiskey. My favourite was number 1, which was the Glenlivet.

Course 14  – ‘Like a Kid In A Sweet Shop’

When this course arrived on our table, we both giggled again, and instantly felt like kid’s in a sweet shop! Reading the menu it bought back memories, especially the Coconut baccy. (on the table from the start was a small form that allowed you to put down what decade you grew up in, and what food memories you had. Mine was the 70′s and Coconut Tobacco was the first thing I wrote without knowing it was in this menu!)

The menu says “Smell me!”. So I reached in and grabbed the aerated chocolate mandarin jelly. Opened the packaging and got a hit of citrus. Popped the chocolate in and thought of Aero bars – I forgot to take a pic!!!! Now this is sweets, so I really need to concentrate (you can find lots of pics in Flickr – just google the missing ones!)

Next, was the coconut baccy

As soon as I opened the ‘baccy pouch’ I was 6 yrs old again. This was slightly thicker cut than I remember but the taste was spot on. I can remember buying this, along with candy cigarettes (heheh like that would ever happen now!) and my 10p Lucky Bag!! Due to mini being younger, he didn’t have a clue about this stuff – thankfully that meant more for me as I snaffed his helping!

After finishing the baccy, I then grabbed the Apple Caramel – again no pic as this sweet didn’t need you to unwrap it! Cutting out the middle man, great idea. Popped it straight into my mouth, and the apple and caramel taste was umptious.

Finally, a little envelope with a wax seal. Inside it was a playing card, the Queen of Hearts

Head scratching time. So what is this? It’s a playing card right? WRONG!!! It’s obviously an EDIBLE playing card. Yes, edible. Nibble the corner and you go into a strawberry filling. This was OUTSTANDING. The amount of work put into this alone is phenomenal….

Phew!!!! 14 courses, 4 hours…..what an absolutely fantastic, amazing, funny, tasteful evening. During the meal we had a bottle of Wiebelsberg Riesling 2005, which was a good choice as it worked with most of the dishes. We left with our memento’s; Alice in Wonderland bookmark, a copy of the menu each, the Sweet Shop bag, and a real happy feeling. Odd that, feeling happy and kinda giddy after a meal – this is the effect you will have if you goto the Fat Duck. Ok, it’s not cheap (the bill was enough for a weekend away) but it’s not about the money. It’s about the experience, and this is what the Fat Duck is all about. You can goto other Michelin starred restaurants and have fabulous food, but this place is on its own (apart from El Bulli which is now closing) – but for a place like this to be in the UK is great. Get there if you can, sell an organ, pimp your other half out or just SAVE!! It is worth every penny…..

What do you do with left-over squid? My recipe of course! It’s a quick and tasty lunch, and really hits the spot.

Ingredients

• 1 Bruschetta (enough for 2 people)
• 1 Garlic clove
• Leftover squid (we had 2 large whole squid portions left over)
• Crumb topping (recipe below)
• Pesto (make your own, or use the jar variety)
• 1 chili
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Zest of 1 small Lime
• Juice of 1 small Lime

For the crumb topping

• 50g breadcrumbs
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 25g grated parmesan
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• salt and pepper

Time to make this

• Marinade time about 15 minutes
• Griddled Bruschetta – 5 minutes
• Sauted squid – 3-5 minutes
• Under the grill for about 2 minutes

How to make it

Cut the squid along one side to open it, then cut it in half.

Lay the 2 halves on top of each other and slice strips, about 1cm wide.

De-seed the chili and chop as finely as you can.

Pop the squid, chili and lime zest into a bowl and mix the olive oil in – add some seasoning.

Leave this to marinade for about 15 minutes.

While the squid is marinading, cut the bruschetta into quarters (half vertically and then horizontally)

Drizzle olive oil over the 4 slices

Heat the griddle pan until it’s nice and hot

Place the bruschetta in, inner side face down. Push down slightly with a fish-slice or something, so the griddle can mark the bread.

Take the bread out of the pan once it’s golden and has the dark griddle stripes (about 5 minutes or so)

Rest to one side. Once cooled rub the garlic clove over the bread

Spread pesto onto each slice of bread

To cook the squid simply heat a frying pan until hot (no need for oil in the pan!)

Drop the squid into the pan, making sure each bit is touching the surface

Saute for a couple of minutes (the squid will start to curl, depending on the thickness)

Once cooked, spoon onto each slice of bread

Spoon the crumbed mixture onto each slice of bread

Place the 4 slices under a pre-heated grill

Keep an eye on the topping – once it starts to golden take it out (probably 2 mins max)

Put the slices onto a plate and squeeze some of the lime juice over each one

Serve with a side-salad – hope you enjoy it!

On May 2nd this year, myself, friends and many others will be walking 10km in and around Brighton to raise money for Stonewall. Mini and me have been donating, via monthly direct debit, to Stonewall for just over 1 year now. We both think it’s a great cause and any money can help them help others – this has to be a good thing!!!

To help donate please visit our team donation page – http://www.justgiving.com/10kforpay

Thanks in advance!!