Location: 58 Headley Road, Woodley, Reading RG5 4JE

Web site: www.redrosewoodley.com

Telephone number: 01189440908

Date of visit: 26 October 2009

Approx. cost per head: £10 plus

Comments on wine list/beer: Stick to the beer – Kingfishere or Bangla

Review:

This is a neighbourhood Indian Restaurant that only gets busy during weekends. It does a roaring trade in takeaways and home delivery (free on orders over £15).

On the night we went, we had chicken tikka masala and the tandoori chicken with rice, nan and a couple of side dishes.

The tandoori was excellent and you get 4 legs when you order a whole chicken. I have always found this strange – a whole (or as they say “full”) chicken always comes with 4 legs and chicken tikka and the rest of the wet dishes are only “breast meat”. Have the Indians (or Bangladeshis)discovered genetic manipulation long before the rest of the world?

The nan bread was excellent and is one of the dish that you can only appreciate in a restaurant – they go rubbery when stored in a bag.

For side dishes, we had sag aloo and mushroom bajee which were fine.

I wasn’t entirely happy with the chicken tikka masala as it looked too red (unnatural) and tasted too sugary. I wish restaurants would stop using red dyes. Other than this, we had a nice meal. The service was good and apparently, this was rated as one of the top 100 Indian Restaurant (UK) a couple of years ago.

Parking is at the front of the restaurant. Its on the 63 and 65 bus route.

Eddie

Coming soon:

Christmas gifts and another Food Market Review. Recipes etc and improved index.

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I am off to Vancouver this week and will report back.

For those of you that have never been, Vancouver is like a calmer, less polluted version of Hong Kong. They have newspapers in Chinese and 2 Chinese TV stations when I was last there. They also have a huge Asian population – mainly chinese.

I have had some good meals there although I am not in favour of their version of “fusion” cooking. I prefer the Aussie version.

In terms of wine, the local icewine is fantastic and they have various types from pinot noir to cabernet sauvignon. They also have the German versions from Muller Thergau to Riesling. I shall bring back a couple of bottles for the monthly competition.

Vancouver was where I had a pot of tea with one tea leaf. Yes, I was in a chinese restaurant and was served very very weak tea. When I investigated, I found a single tea leaf in the pot. I also had lobster thermidor which turned out to be shrimps. So its not all roses here.

The famous local delicacy is “smoke salmon” which is not what we considered to be smoke salmon here. I shall write up a piece on this sometime.

The local beer in Granville Island is very good. They also have a great market in Granville Island.

Eddie

Location: Bath Road, Knowl Hill, RG10 9UP

Web site: http://www.birdinhand.co.uk/

Telephone number: 01628 826622

Date of visit: 24 October 2009, updated 22November 2009

Approx. cost per head: £17

Comments on wine list/beer: Camera Pub of the year 2007, 2008. Wine by the glass – good selection, better average. Will serve tap water with meal.

Review:

This is a charming coaching Inn on the A4 between Reading and Maidenhead and have been in the hands of the same family for several generations.

They have an excellent range of beers with new guest ales almost every week.

 The patrons are mainly diner who live by. No music. There is a formal restaurant which serves “slightly more” up market food than the bar.

The bar offers an intertesting selection of food ranging from a selection of mezze via fish and chips to roasts and fish.

On the day we went, we had the T Bone which unfortunately was cooked well done when we asked for rare but then most of the people who eat there doesn’t do “pink or bleu” meat. We also had the “de rigor” fish and chips which was excellent. The moussaka was slightly on the herby side and the steak and kidney pudding was slightly dry. We had profiteros with chocolate sauce for deserts which was pronounced by some as the best they ever had.

On the whole, this is a very cosy pub with a real fire during winter. The meals are good but don’t expect gastro pub type standard or cooking. Main courses are around £10.

There is a large car park to the front of the pub.

Update:

Went in to try the Sunday roast, between us, we tried beef, lamb and pork. The plates were huge and were covered with a good portion of meat and vegetables. Everything was cooked well done. This is not a place for rare beef, I recalled that  we had a well done steak despite asking for rare in the last visit. Roasts from £10+. By the way, they don’t do fish and chips on a Sunday.  

Eddie@bottlesandcooks.com

Subject: Restaurant Recommendation

Dear Eddie

Some ex work colleagues are gathering in Reading for a meal out next month.
What would be your recommendation for a good value for money evening out. It would need to be fairly central
Look forward to hearing from you
tobymilner66@googlemail.com

Eddie replies:
Reading is fast becoming a hot spot for an evening out. The centre is now well served by restaurants. When I was a student here, there was only a choice between Berni Inn (George Hotel) and Reading Steak House (no longer exist).

For a group (say 6 to 10), I would recommend …

•    Sweeney Todd (pie and beer)
•    Dolce Vitae (Continental/Greek)
•    Pepe Sale (Sardinian - Italian)
•    China Palace (Chinese)
•    La Parada (Tapas)
•    A Taste of Siam (Thai)

All the above restaurants can cope with large p[arties and you would get away at under £20 a head + drinks. There are also a range of restaurants from Piri Piri chicken to sushi at the riverside (Oracle) but I am not aware that they have large tables for big crowds to sit together. There is a new LSQ2 opening near the cinema. I have not been but the old LSQ2 (Green Park) was excellent for a quick bite before football or rugby at the Madjeski.

For curry afficiandos, I recommend Bina or Standard Tandoori. Both of these are in Caversham – 20 minutes walk and if you must have pizza, try Pizza Express which has the lowest amount of saturated fat – according to the Sunday Times.

Afterwards, there are plenty of bars that stay open into the early hours in the morning – Revolution, Sakura….. However, these places seem to attract the under 30s.

Eddie

I went to a Shiraz tasting at Reading University on 21 October 2009.

In all, there were 14 bottles from my cellar – all collected on my 2003 trip to Australia - see previous article. 18 people turned up.

The SCR wine stewart and I opened the bottles at 4pm and we graded the wines according to the “sweetness”. The wines were decanted, filtered and returned to the wash bottles.

The most interesting fact was that they were all big on bouquet when we decanted it around 4 ish and at around 6pm, some of them have completely changed their character and have moved onto new hights.

Here is a quick summmary:

The Paringa Estate 2000 was very smooth and “merlot” like. This wine developed very little with the exposure to air. According to an Australian present, Mornington Peninsula – where Paringa is based – is very south and the temperature is normally too cool to cultivate shiraz.

As expected, 2002 E&E Black Pepper Shiraz (Barossa Valley)was excellent and had a bit of “pepper” kick. But what was surprising was that 1998 Bowen Estate (Coonawarra)developed a very peppery and even peppermint after taste at 6pm when it showed no signs of this at 4pm.

The 1998 Lawson’s Padthway, Orland Wines (Rowland Flat)) had a disel after taste and this was a winner of  several Gold Medals. By the way, I don’t believe in Gold Medals as I was at a wine show earlier this year and less than 20% of the wines on show were entered in the various competitons. The Gold Medal winners in several catergories were ok and no more.

The 1994 Stonewell, Peter Lehman (Barossa Valley ) was amasingly young despite the age and is still slightly tannic. This will keep easily for another 10 years.

The Two Hands Wines  – Bella’s Garden (Barossa Valley) and Lily’s Garden (McLaren Vale) were as expected big and plummy, almost inky. These wines developed very little between 4-6. They were almost releasing their full potential immediately.

The real stars of the show were 1999 Octavius Edition X, Yalumba  (Angaston) and St Andrews, Taylor’s Wines (Clara Valley). They were both highy complex wines that lingered on your palate.

As a result of this tasting, I am reconsidering my stance on Shiraz. I think that most of these wines need to be decanted and left for a couple of hours to develop before being served. I tend to uncock and finish the bottle within an hour.

(See my previous article for the list of wines at this tasting. Some of these wines are not marketed in this country. The only wines that are easily available are Two Hands Wines and Peter Lehman.)

Eddie@bottlesandcooks.com

Location: 136 High Street, Teddington, TW11 8JB

Web site: www.restaurantnoel.co.uk/index.htm

Telephone number: 0208 9773344

Date of visit: 20 October 2009

Approx. cost per head: £20+

Comments on wine list/beer: Very simple wine list, normal price.

Review:

Went there with a few friends. The first thing I noticed is that Teddington High St is full of this type of restaurants.

For starters, we had spicy prawns, foie gras (a slice not pate) and fish croquette which turned to be the size of a fish cake. The food was beautifully presented and my friend heaped praises on the foie gras. My “fish cake” was nice and crisp and not greasy. Starters are around £7. I had one of the spicy prawn which was quite nice.

For main courses, we had seabeam, roast cod and a warm salad of roast vegetables with girolle (chantarelle). The salad had a sweet dressing – probably using a fig vinegar. The roast cod was thick and cooked just right. My friends left the skins which were crisp.

I recalled that – many years ago – I was in Koyto as a guest of Sony and I was taken to a restaurant which served me crisp fish skin as one of the courses – I was assured by the chef (via a translator) that this is the best part of the fish and it was – the rest of the fish was served as shashimi. So, eat up your fish skin next time you cvome across it.

On the whole, this is a very good neighbourhood restaurant at a very reasonable price.

We had a bottle of Spanish white which was fresh and had a very strong grapefruit citrus flavour at under £20. In my view, Spanish “dry” whites are excellent value for money. A bottle of a less tasty gavi would set you back around the same.

Park in the pay and display behind the pub or on the High St.

 I have to admit upfront that I don’t like Shiraz but I like Hermitage. Ok its the same grape. Let re-phrase myself – For a number of years I have tried to experiment outside the golden brotherhood of French, Spanish and Italian. In fact, I can honestly claim that I have spent thousands of pounds trying to educate my taste buds with “new world” wines but my conclusion is that I still prefer old world wines.

This week, I have put up 14 different bottles of shiraz from my cellar at a tasting at Reading University. The purpose is two fold: to see what people think and secondly, to get rid of some of the excessive stock I have.

The story goes something like this: In 2003, I was in Australia following England in the Rugby World Cup. Like most tourists, I went for a walk around “The Rock” where David Campese owns a “shirt” shop. As I walked towards Circular Quay, I noticed that there is a wine shop cum wine bar opposite the ferry terminal. I walked into the shop and looked around. The manager and I chatted and I said to him that I didn’t like Shiraz. Well, I left 30 minutes later with 10 cases to be shippped to England.

For the past 6 years, I have struggled to consume these 10 cases. Well, there are wines I began to like e.g. Two Hands but the vast majority was : I would drink it but I would not buy it again. As a nearly a bottle a day man (for the past 30 years), you can tell that its not my favourite drink.

The winers on show this week are:
2002     Bella’s Garden,
2002    Lily’s Garden, Two Hands Wines, McLaren Vale, Walkerville, S. Australia   

2002    E&E Black Pepper Shiraz, Barossa Valley Estate, Marananga, S. Australia   

2001     Oscar Semmler Shiraz, Dutschke Wines, Lyndoch, S.Australia   

2000    Estate Shiraz Special Release, Paringa Estate, Mornington Peninsula, Victora

1999    The Octavius Edition X, Yalumba, Angaston, South Australia

1998    Ampelon, Bowen Estate, Coonawarra, S. Australia

1998    Lawson’s Padthawy, Orlando Wines, Rowland Flat, S. Australia

1998    Metala, Langhorne Creek, Saltram Wine Estate, Angaston, S. Australia   

1998    Petaluma Coonawarra, Piccadilly, S. Australia

1998    Rosehill Shiraz, Mount Pleasant Wines, Pokolbin, New South Wales

1998     St Andrew’s Shiraz, Taylors Wines, Clara Valley, Auburn, S. Australia

1997    Eight Songs Shiraz, Peter Lehman Wines, Barossa Valley, S. Australia   

1994    Stonewell Barossa Shiraz, Peter Lehman Wines, Tanunda, S. Australia

I’ll tell you what everyone thinks later this week.

Location: Sonning-on-Thames, Berkshire, RG4 6TN

Web site: www.thefrenchhorn.co.uk

Telephone number: 01189692204

Date of visit: 14 October 2009

Approx. cost per head: £50

Comments on wine list/beer: Very extensive and expensive wine list. Expect to pay around £100 for a decent bottle.
Review:

This is one of the great restaurants in the UK. Thats my view (and also Michael Winner’s). It has everything, decent food, great views, excellent service and a top wine list.

What’s the downside? Its on the expensive side and they can’t do “crispy” chips. However, there is no extras in gratuity and side orders

 The cooking can only be described as “old school” grill room style haute cuisine. Most guides describe this place as English or French. Its a bit of both.

I have been coming here for over 20 years and amazingly, the menu stays about the same – except the price.

The top two dishes on the a la carte menu for many “old timers” are grilled (or pan fried) dover sole and roast duck – done over a spit in the bar and finished off in the oven. By the way, they serve vegetables as part of the course so there is no side orders. The duck is considered by many foreign visitors (my guests) as the best they have ever eaten. Everything is on the generous side so starve yourself before you go.

For starters, you can have foie gras, smoke salmon, asparagus, crab salad, soup de jour etc.

My usual starter is asparagus followed by the grilled dover sole but for a change, I tried the seafood ravioli (starter) on the winter menu – it was more like a lasagne, very cheesy and rich.
They also have an evening menu (£25+) and a lunch menu (£15+).On Sundays and bank holidays, its a set lunch (3 courses) at £45.

The place is frequented by regulars with a few visiting business men/women. Service is included in the price  so, you can go for that bottle of wine and not pay another 12.5% handling charge.

Car park is across the road from the hotel. However, take a taxi, get a non drinker to drive or stay overnight in the hotel.

Eddie@bottlesandcooks.com

Location: 27 City Road, Winchester, SO23 8SD

Public transport/parking:

Web site: http://www.sweettreatco.co.uk/

Telephone number: 01962 808343

Date of visit: 10 October, 2009

Review:
Born in 1967, I spent quite a bit of my pocket-money during the 1970s in sweet-shops just like this one. Well, perhaps the shops of yesteryear were a little less colourful than this, and a bit less “polished” – more North-East England and less Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meets Disneyland. But the rows and rows of jars of sweets—ranging across the palate of my childhood from wine gums to various flavours of sherbert to aniseed twists to fruit salads to midget gems to what used to be called sweet cigarettes to all sorts of licourice to you-remember-it-they’ve-got-it—are all the genuine article, delivered to the twenty-first century high street via some highly-sugared miracle of time-travel worthy of Tom Baker himself.

If you live in Winchester and have children, I recommend you take them as soon as possible. If you do not have children then no matter – go anyway. In fact, I think I enjoyed visiting this shop more than my son, aged seven. I left with a smile-inducingly large bag of wine gums—the original type, slightly hard unlike the feeble, too-soft imitation variety one usually finds in packets—while my son opted for a lolly pop about the size of his head. Children these days have no respect for traditional values, I am pleased to report. As I left the shop someone I know was driving past and caught my smile. He beamed back at me with complete understanding.

If you live elsewhere your inner child will have to make do with a virtual trip down memory lane by shopping on-line.

Before we left this splendid confectionery shop I told the owner it was quite possibly the best shop I’d visited in the last twenty-five years, and wished him well with his old-new business venture.

Damian@bottlesandcooks.com