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Address: Station Road, Bransford, Worcester, WR6 5JH
Telephone number: 01886 833399
Website: http://www.bearatbransford.co.uk/
Date of visit: 30 September 2010
Approximate cost per head: Around £20 for 2 courses
Comments on wine list/beer: Very reasonable wine list from £14.95 a bottle.
Summary:
This pub/restaurant is listed in the Michelin Guide.
The building (approx 150 years old) is sited off the main Powick Road.
There is a dining room (tablecloth and linen napkins) and a pub area (mats on wooden tables). It’s the same menu for both areas and the same price.
The Bear offers 3 separate menus + a lunch time bar menu. There is an a la carte which is quite short, specials of the day chalked up on a blackboard and fish of the day chalked up on another blackboard.
Le’ts start with the drinks. My guest and I shared a bottle of cava rose at £23. This is suddenly getting very popular within the past 3 years. At one time, you can only get rose cava in Spain.
I had chicken liver (£5.75), followed by fish (hake), chips and mushy peas (£12.50). My guest had the crab, prawns and crayfish wrapped in lettuce leaves and then the grilled place. I did not taste any but the wrap looked a clever invention. It was made up like prawn cocktail with a Caesar dressing and parcelled up with lettuce leaves – rather than shredded and mixed in a cocktail glass.
My liver was served pink in a soup bowl with a heavily reduced sauce. It was just liver and sauce. The fish was a large piece of battered fish with mushy peas and chips piled up on a plate. The chips were not greasy and were not salted. However, the mushy peas were salted.
They have an interesting selection of dessets but what caught my eye was the cheese board – nearly all Lightwood cheese from down the road. http://www.lightwoodcheese.co.uk/
It was quality food served in quantity. However, they don’t do food presentations here – I am surprised that they are in the 2010 Michelin Guide as I thought that the Guide is heavily into presentations.
E
Web site: www.applebeesfish.com
Date of visit: 16/04/2010
Approx. cost per head: £28 al la carte, £14.50 set lunch (2 courses)
Comments on wine list/beer: Small but decent choice of wines by the glass. Approx £5 a glass
Media link:
Review:
Applebees is a bustling fish cafe and fresh fish shop at the entrance to Borough Market. We visited on Friday lunchtime and the restaurant was packed. The fresh fish counter which offers an interesting variety of very fresh looking fish was also busy.
The decor is modern and uncluttered although the tables are all very close together to maximize use of space. The kitchen is an extension of the bar so you can see the cooks at work. The first few tables are opposite the fish counter but are a bit more spacious. The fresh flowers at one end of the bar help made a pretty transition from the fish counter to the cafe proper.
We had a short wait for a table and service was a bit slow but given that every table was full this was forgivable.
I was torn – all the starters sounded amazing – Oysters, Salcombe crab, scallops, salmon, king prawns … and an equally good choice of main fish dishes. I settled for two starters – scallops with aubergine puree and watercress, and king prawns with chilli, coriander and rocket. Both were delicious. The 4 plump scallops, complete with roe, were cooked to perfection, melt in the mouth sweet. The aubergine puree was creamy and mild a good contrast to the peppery watercress. The Prawns were fat and tasty and the chilli sauce was surprisingly delicate. My friend opted for the set lunch – marinated salmon followed by skate with sauté potatoes and vegetables. The skate looked thick and meaty and the vegetables crisp and plentiful. Very Moorish bread but you have to ask for it.
I’ll definitely go back and will take a cool bag for some fish shopping too.
Name of restaurant or pub: Zilli Fish
Location: 36-40 Brewer St, London, W1F 9TA
Web site: http://www.zillialdo.com/
Telephone number: 020 7734 8649
Date of visit: 8 October 2009
Approx. cost per head: £19.90
Comments on wine list/beer: Run of the mill London list and prices
Review:
I was looking forward to this as I have seen Aldo a lot on TV.
However, I was disappointed. The food was par for a Soho restaurant before the 8pm performance (theatre).
We had the set meal, mussels and sardines to start with. The sardines were in my humble view previously frozen. The mussels had a chilli kick which was unusual but pleasant. Main courses were sea beam on a bed of ratatouille and a sea food tagliatelle in a lobster bisque. The ratatouille turned out to be the highlight of the evening – perfectly cooked and not mushy. I wasn’t mad about the seafood ratatouille as it only had bits of tuna in it and no other fish.
We also had a bottle of house champagne (ok) and the poached pear for desert. The pear was poached in mulled wine – very acceptable.
The service was excellent but overall, the food didn’t give me a I want to come back feeling.
Eddie – eddie@bottlesandcooks.com