food
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Foodie round-up of 2023
Hope you’re all enjoying the festive season! Whilst I was tucking into the mince pies, I realised that there are quite a lot of places I ate at throughout 2023 that haven’t featured on this blog. Therefore, I thought the end the year was a good opportunity to do a round-up post and give a shout out to all those delightful dishes that I enjoyed. Hopefully, this post will give you a few ideas about places to dine if you’re ever nearby. The Recruiting Sergeant, Horstead, Norfolk So we came across this place because I saw it on Google Maps whilst looking for food. We didn’t know anything about it,…
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Eating My Way Through London: Afternoon Tea at Ladurée, Covent Garden
Ladurée Covent Garden is renowned for its exquisite French pastries and delicate macarons, which take center stage in its afternoon tea menu. Ladurée originate in Paris, where they started out baking their famous double-decker macarons in 1862. They’ve since shipped them all over the world, with cute little shops popping up everywhere. I wanted to plan an afternoon tea to celebrate a special occasion and the afternoon tea at Ladurée seemed perfect. I am a lover of French cuisine, so embraced the opportunity to enjoy a quintessentially English past-time with a French twist. I also liked the fact that the vibe was more low-key than other afternoon teas I was…
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Where to eat in Prague (and Dresden)
Food in Prague is hearty. It is also filling and tasty. I was lucky enough to visit Prague recently for a birthday trip, so was keen to try as much of the local food as possible and discover where best to eat in Prague. The local beverage is Pilsner and it is ridiculously cheap (as is all the beer). My partner loves the stuff so it was his dream. I don’t like beer so I wasn’t so keen. However, there are plenty of other drinks to enjoy. Fancy a few ideas of where to eat in Prague? Here is a round-up of some of my favourite places I ate and…
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Bistrot Pierre, Nottingham: Something a little fancy
Up until recently, I honestly thought that Bistrot Pierre in Nottingham was a one-off. I visited a few years back, and it has stayed in my mind as probably my favourite Nottingham restaurant since then. I remembered the excellent quality of the food and how the flavour really hit the spot. But actually (as you probably already know) Bistrot Pierre is a chain, with restaurants in Derby as well as Nottingham. I was excited to get a chance to visit again recently and see if the restaurant is as good as I remembered. We visited late afternoon on a Sunday and had no problems getting a booking. The restaurant felt…
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Dining on the River Seine with Bateaux Parisiens
My trip to Paris was quite a long time ago, but I feel the quality of the food (and the whole experience) of my lunchtime river cruise warrants a place on this blog. I really wanted a special dining experience whilst visiting Paris and the Bateaux Parisiens Seine River Lunch Cruise was just the thing! Four courses, a glass of champagne, and plenty of wine (they really didn’t believe in moderation). Just to add that if you don’t drink alcohol, there are soft drinks and water alternatives. The starters were gorgeous: For the main course, I had the beef, whilst my boyfriend had the salmon: For dessert, we both had…
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Eating my way through London: El Pastor
El Pastor is my kind of place. Mexican food with a buzzy vibe- what’s not to like? One thing to note is- El Pastor does not accept bookings. So be sure to bring a phone and scope out places in the area for a drink whilst you’re waiting. They are good about taking your number and texting you when a table becomes available, so there’s no having to hang about in the rain. Just be aware that wait times can be around two hours. What to eat? Tacos of course! I would definitely recommend getting a few types and mixing it up with the other people you’re dining with. The…
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The Spy Glass Inn, Ventnor
I’m a sucker for a beautiful view, and the Spy Glass Inn in Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight, has that in spades. When you’re standing on Ventnor Cove with its sheer cliffs and turquoise waters, it’s hard not to feel like you’ve found your way into paradise. And that’s exactly what we felt when we visited the Spy Glass Inn, a local pub with great food and an amazing view of Ventnor Cove The portions are generous, and the food is tasty—we both have big appetites but struggled to finish our plates of calamari and chips. They served standard pub grub, but it was very filling and the seafood…
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Bob Bob Ricard, Soho
In late 2021, Claire and I visited Bob Bob Ricard in Soho for an evening meal. Upon arrival, we were greeted at the door and taken to our table. We left it a little late to book, so were unable to get a regular table in a booth, however, we managed to get a bar seat. This still gave us a brilliant experience of the Bob Bob Ricard atmosphere. Bob Bob Ricard’s interior is based on the Orient Express and gives the feeling of stepping onto a train upon entry. The first thing to catch our eyes was the “press for champagne” button, so of course, we gave this a…
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Toffee apple and salted pretzel rocky road
Happy Friday! A little while ago I was inspired to make this yummy toffee apple and salted pretzel rocky road. It’s ideal for when you just need something sweet. Here is the recipe (by John Whaite) if you want to give it a go this weekend! Ingredients:(Makes 12–16) 250g dark chocolate (60–70% cocoa solids), broken into chunks 100g milk chocolate, broken into chunks 125g salted butter 1tbsp golden syrup 50g mini marshmallows 100g caramel/toffee wafers (stroopwafel), roughly chopped 100g hazelnuts, roughly chopped 100g salted pretzels, roughly crushed 100g dried apple, roughly chopped Method: Line a 20cm square cake tin with baking paper. Put both the chocolates, butter and the golden…
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The Highwayman, Berkhamsted
From the outside, The Highwayman looks like a run-of-the-mill former coaching inn. However, it definitely deserves a closer look. At the front of the house, there is an authentic pub, and downstairs at the back is a restaurant. The restaurant is delightful, beautifully laid out with a buzzing and vibrant atmosphere. The main menu had a good selection of food and the prices weren’t sky-high. We both had the pork belly- not only was it delicious, but it was well- presented on the plate. I ended up being too full to have a big dessert, so had an ice cream instead. Darren had the crumble, which looked so appetising that…
