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Address: Market Place RG1 2DT
Telephone number: 0118 9588966
Website: http://www.ninos-restaurants.co.uk/
Date of visit: 15 August 2011
Approximate cost per head: Less than £10 per head with the lunch menu. A la Carte around £17 for a main course
Comments on wine list/beer: A “medium” size list with mainly Italian wines. House wine is drinkable
Likes and dislikes: Too many tables in too small a place – ok when the place is half full. Very reasonable food and wine price – especially at lunch time.
Cuisisne: Italian
Summary:
When Nino first opened in 1980, Reading was a bit of a dessert for Restaurants. There were also The George – Berni’s Inn, Mama Mia and The Hungry Daine. Nino expanded very quickly with a branch (Nino 2) in Caversham and Nino 3 on Duke Street. The one in Caversham changed hands in the 90s and Nino 3 didn’t survive.
The Market Place is just off Broad Street and is a bit of a dead end of Reading ever since Marks and Spencer closed the Butter Market entrance.
I stopped going in the early 90s when I was served tinned peas with my steak. As it is 30 years old, I thought that I should try it again..
The inside is as cramped as ever – tables spaced next to each other – with room for 40 diners. The a la carte menu has stood the test of time and is very similar to the one they offered 30 years ago. They still do veal and Nino still serves and takes the money.
In addition, they now offer Italian tapas – small dishes around £3/4 a plate and a light lunch menu.
I started off with Focaccia (£3.10). Their version is a light thin pizza bread. This is really good. Mama Mia (closed – now a fried chicken place in The Butts (West Street Mall) used to do a version like this. I am not into the thick bready version which is more authentic.
I then had the Calamari alla Romanna (£5.90). Squid deep fried with a crumbly texture with a nice garlic mayonnaise and a bit of a salad. This was fine but not great.
All this was washed down with half a bottle of house red (£5.95) which was quite drinkable.
It’s not a bad place. I must come back and try the veal to see if it is rose veal or Dutch veal.
E
Address: Unit 6, The Old Brewer Quarter, Cardiff, CF10 1FG
Telephone number: 02920 230087
Website: www.latasca.co.uk
Date of visit: 13 August 2011
Approximate cost per head: under £15 for a good feast
Comments on wine list/beer: San Migeul £3.65 a pint, sherry around £4 for a small glass and wines around £20 a bottle – wine list is cheap and decent.
Summary:
On a match day (Rugby International), it is very difficult to find a table unless you book way ahead.
I have come to rely on La Tasca in the City Centre as it is sandwiched between St David’s Centre and the Millenium Stadium.
The Old Brewery Quarter – where Brains used to be brewed – is now a complex devoted to restaurants and bars.
From around 11.30 onwards, the place is packed with hundreds of people wandering around with pints. Certain pubs and restaurants offer “gassy” beers at the front of their establishment. There was a huge queue outside Nando’s – in the same complex – when I got there. La Tasca which is housed in a two story building was packed to the gills downstairs and upstairs – pretty empty at 12.30 – was booked solid.
When I went last year, the Xmas menu (served from late November) was forced upon us as there were over 10 of us.
This time, the tapas a la carte menu was available. From about £18, you can have the set tapas meal.
We (2 of us) had
Pan de Ajo (£2.25) – warmed up sliced baguette with parsley garlic butter
Paella de Carne (£3.95) – this was a tapas portion of mainly chorizo sausage paella – you can get paella for 2 to share from around £10 per head. It was a bit poor, the rice was a bit on the soggy side with no crispy bits and the sausage was added – never fried. Probably came from a big tub that has been kept warm
Croquetas de Polo (£4.35) – this was fine – minced chicken in a semi-solid béchamel sauce covered in bread crumbs and deep fried
Calmares Andaluza (£4.10) – ok but the squid was as not tender as it can be. Bit like thye cheap batter squid that you buy in Chinese supermarkets
Pescardo blanco (£4.70) – top the class. Wonderful fried fillets of fish in a light batter served with garlic mayonnaise
Patatas Bravas (£2.95) – the potatoes were not fried long enough, bit like soggy chips with a nice sauce.
Albondigas a la Jardienera – meatballs with vegetables in a tomato sauce. This was another top dish with nice meat balls – no bones or cartilage as you might get with cheap meatballs.
The San Migeul was fine but I was disappointed with the fino sherry (£4.15). It was La Gitana – you can get a litre for €8 at Madrid Airport. The other Sherries on offer were Tio Pepe and Pedro Ximenez from Gonzales Byass.
This La Tasca is actually a good one as far as La Tasca is concerned – the service is efficient for both drinks and food. The cooking is above average. Above all, it was a match day with nearly 200 diners in the restaurant. The bill was under £35 for 2 including drinks and more than we can eat.
We left at 1.30 when the place was packed and to my surprise, the Nando queue has gone – people must eat fast in Nando’s.
E
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/aug/12/an-a-to-z-of-offal
Pretty good piece of information.
E
August 2011
Address: Exlade Street, Checkendon, Oxon RG8 0UA
Telephone number: 01491 682 020
Website: http://www.thehighwaymaninn-checkendon.co.uk/findus.html
Date of visit: 12 August 2011
Approximate cost per head: Set lunch £10 for 2 courses. Main courses around £16
Comments on wine list/beer: London Pride at £3.40 a pint , Short wine list by the glass or bottle (around £20)
Cuisine: gastropub
Likes and dislikes: set lunch real value for money. Nothing to dislike
Summary:
The Highwayman – a 16 century Inn was one of my “haunts” during my university days. It was a pub in the middle of nowhere, off the Woodcote Road (from Caversham) in a village called Exlade St.
In those days the beer was 6X and it was one of the few pubs along Woodcote Road that was neither Gales nor Brakspaear. The only food it did was Cornish pasties and grilled sausages – both excellent. I stopped going in the 80s when it became a bikers pub. It then changed hands and became Wheelers. That didn’t work out and the pub was closed for several years. I recently heard that it has re-opened and does decent food. So, off I went.
To my surprise, the car park was nearly full when I arrived at 1pm.
The inside is now twice twice the size of the pub I used to know and the inside has been modernised – in the old days, there were a few old tables and the two fire places was converted into sitting areas. The chef patron told me that the place was expanded when it became Wheelers.
The a la carte menu was simple and interesting – see website. I settled for the set lunch which offered 3 choices per course. At £10 for 2courses, it was very good value. I went for the pork rilletts followed by the cheese and potato pie and a pint of London Pride.
The rilletts was strange – it was more like a terrine than the pulled pork I am used to. You get 3 slices of rillettes but only 2 slices of bread. It spread like a chunky pate and tasted fine.
The potato and cheese pie was a glorious creation – very thin buttery flaky pastry with slices of potatoes and a mild cheese sauce. It came with mixed vegetable which was the best part of the meal, you get sliced mushroom, de-shelled broad beans, carrots, broccoli stems etc. They were all cooked al dente – crisp and fresh. This was washed down with apint of London Pride.
This place is all right and I shall test it again with the a la carte menu - soon.
E
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/champagne-ice-breaker/story-e6frg8io-1226110684431
I suggest that you stick with Dom Perignon! Howewver, Dom Periognon is drunk by people with too much bonus, Krug is drunk by footballers. Maybe I’ll stick with Bollinger.
E
August 2011
Address: High Street, Bray-on-Thames SL6 2AB. Parking for The Hinds Head and The Fat Duck are across the road.
Telephone number: 01628 626151
Website: www.hindsheadhotel.co.uk
Date of visit: 4 August 2011
Approximate costs per head: Approx £30 for 2 courses
Comments on wine list/beer: Several beer incl uding Marlow Rebellion on tap – from £3.40 a pint. Wine list has now got wines from under £20 a bottle. Laffite 1994 (bad year) still on the menu at £600 a bottle
Cuisine: Gastropub – British
Likes and dislikes: Still better then the Crown. Some meals are slightly too salty.
Last visit:
Summary:
The Hinds Head is the Michelin Guide’s 2011 Dining Pub of the Year, Its in Sawdays etc.
It has been a year plus since I last set foot in this place. It has not changed. The famous steak and oxtailpudding is still on the menu at £17.50. However, the famous triple cooked chips was not available. Apparently, the potato is not right at this time of the year for triple cooked chips!
To start with I had the Scotch egg (£3.50). It was similar to the ones at The Royal Oak – the chef there trained under Heston. However, the Royal Oak has always managed to keep the quail’s egg yolk runny and the yolk here is a bit on the solid side. I think that it’s because the layer of sausage meat here is a bit thinner than The Royal Oak and so the heat gets through faster.
My Friend J had the Crab on Toast (£9.50) followed by the ribeye steak (£26.50).He is a regular here as he lives round the corner. He said that his food is fine.
My steak and oyster pudding was as usual (I had it 4 times in the past 2 years) slightlyon the salty side. This time, there were bits of kidney in the pudding. As it came with nothing, I had a side order of fries at £2.95. I have to admit that the fries were very good but they were also salted.
The wine menu now starts at £20 and foes up to £600. we had a bottle of Tormaresa which at £28.50 was drinkable.
Like all Heston’s establishments, they charge “top” dollars for everything. J was in The Fat Duck several weeks ago with a group. They ended up paying close to £600 a head.
The Hinds Head is a good place, but I wonder if the Guides are awed by Heston Blumenthal’s name? The food is fine but I have had better food elsewhere in the UK. For example, The Hand and Flower in Marlow, The Hardwick near Abergavenny, Kingham Plough in Kingham etc
I enjoyed my meal very much as J paid for the meal.
E
Address: The Street, Waltham St Lawrence, RG10 0JJ
Telephone number: 0118 9341788
Website: www.thebellinn.biz
Date of visit: 2 August 2011
Approximate cost per head: Sandwiches from £3, Mains around £10.
Comments on wine list/beer: excellent collection of real ale – changes regularly. From £3 a pint. Wines available
Cuisine: Modern British, steaks, burgers, fish etc.
Likes and dislikes: This is a small place so the best place to sit is outside – weather permitting. Dining room is very “rustic” but otherwise it is a drinker and casual food paradise.
Summary:
The Bell is a 14th Century building that has been home to various “famous” people. The house was left to the village in 1608 by Sir Ralph Newbury.
In 2004, the Ganson brothers took over the lease and converted it into a pub.
Inside is a dining room and a small bar with tables. However, there are tables to the front and back of the building.
The “patrons” here take their food and beer very seriously. Guest beers arrive from all over the UK including Orkney. The menu is chalked up on a blackboard so it changes daily. The bread, tomato ketchup etc are all made on site.
It has been a year since I last ate here. On a nice sunny day, I decided that I shall pay it another visit.
As I was sunning myself outside with a pint of the beer – very nice – couldn’t remember the name. There are usually 5 different types of bitter here and a choice of cider. Even the lager is not your standard Becks Vier, Fosters and Carling.
Nearly everyone was on sandwiches or the home made pork pies so I had both – I ordered an egg mayo brown bread sandwich (£3.00) and a slice of pork pie (£2.50).
The pork pie is easily one of the best I have ever come across. It was fully of chunky meat – none of this coarse mince nonsense – and was served with some home made pickle – I don’t eat pickle.
The egg mayo sandwich was also superb. The egg mayo was thick and the bread fresh. A small salad with dressing was also served on the side.
Just then two people rolled up with their bike and I was approached by one of them – he recognised me. He turned out to be R. We both used to live in Sibly Hall when we were post grads.
Well, the one pint became several and it was nice to talk about 30+ years ago as well as all the updates since.
By the way, I have eaten proper meals here before and the standard is high. The home made shoe string fries is 10 out of 10.
E