http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/food-drink/the-50-best-food-websites-2313883.html

See if you agree!
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July 2011

http://fishandchipsat149.co.uk/

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July 2011

Address: 6 Brindley Place, Birmingham B1 2JB

Telephone number: 0121 633 4944

Website: http://www.edmundsrestaurant.co.uk/

Date of visit: 13 July 2011

Approximate cost per head: Set lunch and pre-theatre £18 for 2 courses or £20 for 3 courses; a la caret £30.50  for 2 courses or £42.50 for 3 courses; Tasting menu £63.95, another £25 for pairing wines – 4 glasses.

Comments on wine list/beer: Simple but decent wine list at around  400% mark-up.

Cuisine: haut cuisine – French technique using British seasonal ingredients

Likes and dislikes: pretty good food. However as they are strong on plate décor, some of the meat dishes can be a bit dry through a lack of “enough” sauces

Summary:

Last week I received an email from Edmunds saying that their chef de partie has recently won the young chef of the year award at a local competition.

http://edmundsrestaurant.cmail2.com/t/ViewEmail/r/032AE2EE8BE80C2B/BB6F17E0BCAA064B2018F019E6F15D33

As my daughter lives in Birmingham, I thought that we could have dinner there.

Edmunds is one of those restaurants that doesn’t answer phones so if you want any last minute changes, you have had it.

We left a message for a booking and they rang us back to confirm that everything is in order.

Edmunds is based in Bindley Square – off Broad Street. Bindley Sq is full of modern buildings and restaurants – no retail shops.

The restaurant is modern, plenty of light and has cover for about 40.

When we got there at 7, we were the first to arrive. However, the place was fully booked – Wednesday night! – and by 9pm, every table was taken.

We went  for the a la carte and ordered, tian of crab and crayfish , rabbit ravioli and salad of quail. The tian of crab and rabbit ravioli were both described at really good.

My quail salad was a bit strange as the plate had on it a small dollop of celeriac puree, breast and leg of quail, poached quail egg and two stocks of parsley – not a single other vegetable or salad leaf in sight. When I queries about the salad, I was informed that the dish was dressed like a salad and it wasn’t a real salad. Blow me, increasingly, restaurants uses terms just to improve the description of the dish e.g triple cooked (chips) when it is not, Carpaccio, when the ingredients wasn’t raw etc. Well, the quail was fine – on its own.

Before the starter, we were served perfectly round wholemeal rolls (warm) and a freebie soup of potato leek soup with truffle oil.

For main courses, we had the pork and the pan fried cod. The pork was pork served 4 ways, loin wrapped in prosciutto, cheek encrusted in a ball of thin fries, the belly roast etc. It all went down like a treat. The cod – substantial piece- was served in a soup bowl with a purple pink liquid – some form of fish stock enriched with red wine and cream. On top of the fish were prawns and slices of squid. All main courses were served with a decent portion of vegetables – beans, potato and carrot – on the side. All perfectly cooked.

For afters, I had the cheese whilst A settled for passion fruit cheese cake. J had the cappuccino and petit fours.

The cheese (£3.50 supplement) was about 7 small bits of mainly British cheese with French and Italian also being represented. They were all artisan cheeses.

The bill including a bottle of arbarino (£39) came to just over £180 for 3 including service.

Overall, I was impressed – service, food decor; the place is on the verge of a Michelin star. The set lunch and pre-theatre at £18 is really good value.

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http://www.foodsfromspain.com/icex/cda/controller/pageSGT/0,12779,35868_6863650_6865450_0,00.html

I am a subscriber to Spain Gourmetour – a free publication from ICEX (Spanish Institude for foreign trade). To get this magazine, write to your local Spoanish Embassy (foreign trade dept).

In this month’s magazine, they announced a new website with info on products, recipe etc. It is really good. Try it!

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/outdoors/outdoor-equipment/8625980/The-best-outdoor-cookers.html

This is a good article. Goes beyond your normal gas or charcoal BBQ.

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July 2011

Location: Calle del Coso 80, Zaragoza 50001, Spain

Telephone number: Spain  976 46 82 00

Fax: Spain 976 46 82 11

Website: www.hoteles-silken.com/hotel-reino-de-aragon-zaragoza

Cost per head: From €19

Wine list: Good selection of well-priced Spanish wines.

Date of visit: 1 July 2011

Summary:

We visited this restaurant in this 4 star hotel on a few occasions in the past and on passing on this day we noticed that the evening menu sounded very promising so we decided to give it a whirl! Like on previous occasions, the restaurant was very quiet but this did not put us off!  The menu is shorter compared to that on previous occasions and it now has two starters followed by a choice of either fish or meat followed by a choice from two desserts, bread, water and wine (white, rosado or red) and it costs a very reasonable 19 Euros per person. We decided to share one each of the main dishes and one each of the desserts so as to try different things.

Having ordered, our knowledgeable and friendly waitress (Ana), came with the water and the red wine which was a young red wine from the Somontano area of Aragon; it was the Bodegas Vinas del Vero red made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes from the 2010 vintage and it turned out to be a very fruity and well-balanced wine with a long finish and soft tannins and it went well with the starters and both the fish and the meat dishes. At the same time, Ana brought us 3 different types of bread rolls and two different cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oils to taste. Both oils were from the Redonda estate in Valle del Jalon in the Aragon province and both were from the Arbequina olives; both were very rich and tasty with the first (La Redonda) made from olives from the estate not being as spicy as the second (Ajus de la Finca) which was from a small parcel of trees on the estate. This was like comparing single vineyard wines with regional ones and the difference was enormous.

The two starters of Endivias y cogollos a la parilla al aceite de miel, bacon y avellanas and Sopa fria de guisantes y virutas d eparmesano were both very Nasty and of excellent quality (and this comes from someone who never has soups if he can help it)! The main dishes of  Lomo de merluza en jugo de marisco al anis (we checked that the sauce did not have bivalve shellfish in it because of my severe allergy to mussels etc) and Musclo de pato a la naranja y cebolletas agridulces were excellent, well cooked and in generous portions. The first dessert, Sandia tostada al caramello de cointrau, was good but not very intense due to the very high water content of the watermelon but the second one, Crema de chocolate blanco y frutos rojos was excellent and the combination of red fruits and chocolate was very tasty.

All in all, a very good experience worth repeating since the menu changes daily.  At lunchtimes it may be necessary to reserve a table since the restaurant is busy with business people but there is normally no need to reserve in the evenings. The restaurant does of course also offer an a la carte menu and a very good and sensibly priced wine list covering all the main wine-producing regions of Spain but it is strong in Rioja and Aragon wines. The fixed price menus are nevertheless excellent value for money and well-worth trying.

SECOND VISIT, 10 July

Having spent the weekend near the coast in Salou, we drove back to Zaragoza in the afternoon of Sunday. Many restaurants in Zaragoza are closed on Sunday and/or Monday nights but this hotel restaurant has changed its policy and is now open all week for lunch and dinner so we headed there to check the day´s menu. As it seemed promising we decided to go for a short walk and to return at 8:30 when it opened for dinner rather than go back to the apartment and come back later.  Ana remembered us from the last visit and we had a good chat then decided to order half a bottle of a rosado wine to have before the meal. We looked at the list and we chose the one from Bodegas Chivite in Navarra; this is made by my friend Fernando Chivite who has been running this family winery for many years. The wine was the Gran Feudo Rosado 2010 and as usual it was very refreshing, powerful, very fruity and with a long finish; a very good refreshment after the long drive back from the coast and at only 6 Euros!

Again we had the 19 Euro menu and we chose the red wine again as last time and again it was very good. This time the starters were a White bread, almond and garlic cold soup with olive oil and raisins and a Salad of smoked salmon and spider crab and both were excellent. The main dishes were a Fish casserole in a seafood sauce (it contained salmon, cod and monkfish chunks) and Roasted young lamb shoulder with potatoes, which was cooked to perfection and, to my surprise, had been taken off the bone. For dessert we both opted for the Raspberry and cacao cake which was very nice but we did not try the Vanilla ice cream with bourbon.

Again, we were not disappointed with another very enjoyable meal! Although we thoroughly enjoyed our aperitif wine, we were disappointed that the wine list did not include more half bottles for people dining alone or who are driving especially now that the drink drive limits seem to have been lowered in most of Europe.

Demetris Savva

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/magazine/bittman-throws-another-melon-on-the-barbie.html?_r=1&ref=dining

Note the article talks about non beef not meat free or vegetarian.

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July 2011

http://www.jpost.com/ArtsAndCulture/FoodAndWine/Article.aspx?id=228421

Gone are the days of just latkes and chopped liver. You can now get kosher versions of nearly everything. For example “kosher” dim sum uses chopped fish and lamb instead of prawns and pork.

I once went with my friend H (he is an orthodox Jew) to Bevis Mark (city of London) and I asked him what makes a bottle of wine kosher? His reply : when it is handled by a Jewish person – including the pulling of the cork and the pouring.
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Address: 141 Caversham Road, Reading, RG1 8AU

Telephone number: 0118 9590093

Website: http://www.standardtandoori.co.uk/

Date of visit: 10 July 2011

Approximate cost per head: Less than £20 for main course, rice and starter. Sunday buffet £7.95

Comments on wine list/beer: Large Gurkka £4.25. Wines available

Cuisine: Nepalese

Likes and dislikes: Nothing to complain about re the restaurant- decent food, good service and very reasonable prices. Parking could be difficult.

Summary:

Yes, it is absolutely true. The Dali Lama ate here in 1993 when he visited Reading. Another interesting fact is that he is not a vegetarian.

Some years ago, I bought a few Americans here for a business dinner. One of them wanted to kneel down and kiss the floor but we persuaded him that it is not normal in the UK to go “celebrity mad”. In fact if the Dali Lama turned up, autograph hunting is definitely out.

Very little has changed in this place since they introduced the “tandoor” to Reading in the early 80s. The menu is nearly the same except for the Sunday Buffett and the lunch time thalli. Before this place, Indian food in Reading was confined to Rogan Ghost, Chicken Madras or Biriani.The curries werealso more yellow and watery. In the past 10 years, curries seemed to be moving to a sweeter and thicker sauce – everywhere!

In terms of structure, they bought out next door and double the size of the place in the late 90s. Recently, they have redecorated the place.

I went on a Sunday at 1.30 and the place was nearly empty. I don’t know why, because it was the best Indian  (Nepalese) Buffet I have eaten for a long time. There was a big salad bar, all the fried stuff – onion bargee, samosas, mushroom and okra, spinach, nans,bombay alll, aloo gobi, rice and 6 other hot meat dishes. The food here has improved since I last ate here some 5 years ago. In those days, they had a master sauce and the dishes were differentiated by the addition of tomatoes, onions, cream and chillies. The different dishes now taste very different.

As with all buffets, the nans and the tandoori chicken and all the deep fried bits were not quite at their best after they have been left on the heat for an hour plus. Go there at 12 and it will be perfect.

This is one of the few restaurants in the Reading area that have been around for 30 years and the food has improved.

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Address: 232 Shinfield Rd, Reading RG2 8EX

Telephone number: 0118  987 1481

Website: http://www.greeneking.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=4

Date of visit: 8 July 2011

Approximate cost per head: Around £5 for a main course

Comments on wine list/beer: only Greene King IPA on tap, wines are available. In fact, Greene King house winbes are very drinkable.

Cuisine: Pub grub

Likes and dislikes: Greene King Pubs offer value and quality eating at the budget end of the market. The top end of The Greene King range – Abbotts is drinkable but the normal Greene King IPA is a dreadful pint – taste of nothing

Summary:

I went to my dry cleaners (Polar) to pick up some dry cleaning.

Polar has been taken over by a Polish gentleman – it used to be managed by Larry who was Irish. I am pleased to say that it is as good as ever. In fact, under the new owners, they have increased their range of services. They now do shirts as well as leather cleaning.

As I always park in The Maidens car park, I felt that I should offer them my custom.

At that end of the Shinfield Road, there are two pubs – The Sportsman and The Maidens. The Sportsman used to serve Morlands  and The Maidens used to be part of the Courage Empire. They are now  part of the Greene King empire.

The Maidens have always been a bit of a working class pub. In the old days, they use to have strippers in for Sunday lunch – so I was told. Apparently, all the old boys would be reading their News of the World whilst the dancing was going on. They would only lower their papers to have a look in the last minute.

The pub is a pretty large and one corner has been taken over by a pool table with the usual large flat screen for showing “live” sports.

I had a pint of Greene King IPA as it was the only bitter on offer. At £2.30 a pint it is nearly a £ cheaper than any other bitter on the market but it is tasteless. The only good thing is that it is at the lower end of the alcohol scale so you can have a pint and stay well within the limit of the breathalyser.

The menu offered the normal pub range – burgers, steak, fish and chips, curry etc.

I had the fish and chips (£3.79).  It came on a large plate with tartar sauce, chips, peas and a large piece of battered fish. This is one of the best fish and chips at £10 and under anywhere. In fact, I have to say that I have never had a bad meal in a Greene King Pub – Air Balloon, Wee Waif, Elephant and Castle etc. They were all inexpensive. So, if you are in a rush and just want to stop somewhere for lunch, you can’t go wrong with a Greene King Pub.

By the way, the table tops of The Maidens were not sticky, another plus point.

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