40 B4 40-Roux at Parliament Square



No. 24A: Roux at Parliament Square, London, SW1

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The strange numbering of this entry is created due to this entry breaking the 40 B4 40 rules. On this occasion my wife is not in attendance, but she has sanctioned my reporting on my day out with my bald red faced surrogate wife, Alistair.

Unlike our last foray into the big smoke, which ended a bit messy, this was far more of a sober affair. This time we were off to hear Prime Minister’s Question Time at the Houses of Parliament. As ever, the Palace of Westminster looked resplendent and the walk through St Stephen’s Hall was, as always, impressive. 

Having watched the ‘Speaker’s Procession’ through the Central Lobby, we were soon in the fully packed Public Gallery above the House of Commons. The view was excellent, and the glass panelling installed after someone threw flour at Tony Blair did not really effect the experience too much.

Our expectation to see David Cameron, and the other bloke, was short lived as Nick Clegg was standing in due to the Prime Minister being in the Middle East. For obvious reasons no one is told the Prime Minister is leaving the country in advance.

The best questions came from the floor, and some of the humour was quite sharp. Harriet Harman did not have her best day at the despatch box with her questions appearing somewhat weak. All in all, Nick Clegg seemed to handle the session pretty well.

It is interesting to know that the Despatch Box on the Government side houses a Bible and a Koran. The Opposition box contains a burnt Bible, dating back to the destruction of the Commons chamber by a German bomb on 10 May 1941 during the Second World War. Few know that the House of Commons was destroyed during the war, as there was a news blackout at the time to prevent the British people for being demoralised.

Having enjoyed our visit to the heart of UK democracy, it was time for a beer. In the shadow of Big Ben is St Stephen’s Tavern, an nicely preserved historic inn, and we were soon inside tasting their wares and admiring the architecture. The pub is owned by Hall & Woodhouse, who of course are the new owners of The Beach House (Ex: Westover Hall hotel) in Milford on Sea.

 

After a couple of pints and a good chat, it was time for lunch.

We did not have to walk far, as Roux at Parliament Square is just down the road. This is Michele Roux Jnr’s second restaurant after Le Gavroche, housed in a Georgian Grade II listed building of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.   The restaurant is contemporary and luxurious, combining period features and modern furnishings and the listed building was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the architect of London’s iconic Natural History Museum.

 

On this occasion, rather than eat in the restaurant, we had previously decided to eat in the upstairs ‘Pembury’ lounge & cocktail bar.

 

Being a lunchtime, we had resisted the cocktails, and sat enjoying some beer and wine as we read the menus, it was surprising to see that their were no 'set lunch' offers in the restaurant.  The restaurant menu was solely a'la carte, and whilst enticing, also expensive.

 

Fortunately for us, the bar menu was the opposite price wise.  Alistair is a big fan of tapas, and I am a big fan of picking at food, so although it was not a tapas menu we decided to order a portion of most of what was on the menu.  It would of course been rude not to try as much as possible

 

As we awaited our meal in cosy armchairs by the fireplace, we enjoyed a bowl of Pork scratching with smoked paprika (£2), which was like a pork popcorn. Not long after we were moving to a table laden with food!, which included;  Pea and mint aranchini (£5), amazing Pepperdew peppers stuffed with feta cheese (£5), Pork & apple sandwich du jour on organic sourdough (£8), which was just like a hog roast sandwich, Home made scotch egg, piccalilli & secrets farm salad (£8), hmmm yummy, House cured salmon, crème fraiche, toasted multiseed (£8), Selection of cured Iberico pork, pickles & sourdough bread (£15), which was delicious.

 

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As you can see, the menu had a bit of a pork theme going on.

 

Saldy, due to over ordering the 'picky bits', one thing we did not try was the the Seasonal pie and mash, which today was Hare. However, it did look great value at just £15, and now marked down as one for next time.

 

To round off our lunch we had the Selection of sweet bites (£9), which all bar one had a lemon theme and included; posset, cake bites, macaroon, and I think the most amazing brownie I can remember.

On leaving, we bumped into two high profile cabinet ministers in the lobby, fortunately they did not recognise us, and we were not drawn into long conversation providing our advice on what next strategic move the government should make.

www.rouxatparliamentsquare.co.uk 

 

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Angels' Wine Tower Bar at the Radisson Blu Hotel

How about this for a wine rack!  We had a business meeting and lunch in the Angels' Wine Tower Bar at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Stansted Airport, the bar is underneath this monolith containing 4000 bottles of wine in a spectacular glass storage tower.

 

If you are wondering how the wine is retrieved, it is collected by the restaurant's acrobatic bar angels, who soar into the tower on harnesses to retrieve the appropriate vintage. yes, ...really!

 

www.radissonblu.co.uk/hotel-stanstedairport

 

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If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.

 

 

40 B4 40-The Marine

No. 24: The Marine, Milford on Sea

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Friday night, and we had decided on a Chinese and catch up with friends.

 

Indeed, it was they that introduced us to the best Chinese takeaway we have ever experienced.  To me a takeaway is synonymous with delivery, however for this one we drive to China Town Takeaway Restaurant in Highcliffe.  A tough challenge I know, but one I can undertake when I know how great their crispy duck is.

 

As we all enjoyed our meal, the restaurant standards once again shone through, the sweet and sour balls were light and crispy, the prawn toast probably the best I have ever tasted, ribs full of meat & flavour, in fact everything was great.  I recall my first ever takeaway in the 1970's was sweet & sour pork, and the taste even stirred memories of my youth!

 

As we chatted, our friends mentioned that they had booked Sunday lunch at The Marine.  Their intention was to try out the new menu by the new head chef, Mark Speller.

 

By pure coincidence, we had done exactly the same, even the booked arrival times matched, so all of a sudden our bookings had merged to a table of four.

 

Having enjoyed our Chinese, some wine and a few beers, it was soon time to see if I could get up from the table and walk the short number of yards home.  I did, but only after unsuccessfully trying to convince my wife to call us a taxi.

 

Arriving at The Marine the welcome was as warm as usual. Quickly enjoying a pre-dinner pint, the café appeared to be doing a brisk trade, and that was not surprising with the £10 Meal Deal offering homemade favourites like pies, hot pot and casseroles. Soon we were taken to our window table in the upstairs restaurant. On entering you cannot miss the glorious sea views. The restaurant has a feel of ‘casual fine dining’, everything was quality, from the fittings to the tableware, however, there was no feeling of a need to dress up, everything was about the quality of the food.

 

Having caught up with our friends the night before, the girls still had no problem talking nonsense continually. Nothing new there then.

 

Our started served and devoured, and the Crab and prawn tian with tomato coulis and brown bread was considered delicious, however, the Double baked smoked Haddock soufflé with spring onion and cheddar cream trumped it by being simply amazing.

 

The menu was extensive, with several choices of meat, fish and vegetarian, indeed a nice set of options for a Sunday lunch. Whilst more expensive than a traditional pub Sunday lunch, it still felt good value.

 

My main course was a first for me, Keyhaven lamb. Yep, the little lambs you can see from the window running in the field next to Sturt Pond. The lambs are bred by Simeon & Lisa Morgan at Aubrey Farm in Keyhaven. Being raised in salty fields by the sea they certainly take on a favour of their own. My meal was Pressed Lamb shoulder with fondant potato, spring greens and mint jus. You could really taste the lamb was different, and it was a pleasure to eat. Other dishes we had included the Dexter beef, and Guinea fowl. All had been enjoyed with a cheeky red wine, which at £17 was a fair price.

 

For sweet, my wife abstained (as usual) but the rest of us were more sensible, having the Milford Mess with home-baked choc chip cookie, Apple and rhubarb charlotte with clotted cream ice cream and Cheese & biscuits.

 

Meal over, we all had very satisfied ‘food bellies’, Mark Speller's new role as head chef was looking more than promising, and I had high expectation of an afternoon nap ahead.

 

If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.

www.themarinemos.co.uk

 

40 B4 40-The Carlton Club

No.23: The Carlton Club

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The day started quite calm and controlled, with an exciting sales team meeting, a busy atmosphere and some fun banter in the office.

Alistair, my CEO and mate, and I were both strangely dressed and at times receiving odd glances, of either curiosity, sympathy and on rare occasions undeserved admiration. For the time since the last wedding or funeral, we were wearing jackets and ties. This code of dress was not by choice, but by instruction of the place we were going to later.

My wife dutifully dropped us off at the station, and by 3pm were in the bar at The Cavendish Hotel in Jermyn Street, Mayfair, London. As we sat and chatted about our current crazy business opportunities over a beer, and then another, we were served a dish of nuts. The salted peanuts were tasty, the chilli peanuts removed a coating from the top of my mouth and I am pretty confident that even a starving orangutan would not have enjoyed the ridiculous wasabi nuts any more than I did. At the time we did not consider the time of 3pm to have any relevance, but as our day unfolded it was to become so.

As usual, our conversation had slowly deteriorated in direct line with the alcohol consumption, and it soon occurred to us it was time to move on to our pre-evening event meeting place. Around the corner was The Blue Posts, a traditional London inn tucked away beside the Ritz hotel. Inside the choice of beers did not disappoint and soon we were enjoying our next pint. As we had started our second ‘Blue Post’ pint, a number of the ‘significant industry faces’ started to arrive. Lively conversations ensued, over another drink of course.

Suddenly, someone realised it was 7pm and we were supposed to be at the evening event we had all come to attend. At the same time, a quick glance in each other’s eyes, and Alistair & I realised we had started drinking far too early!

Another brief walk, around another corner, and we were in St James, being signed into The Carlton Club. The evening event was our Industry Trade Association Patrons Dinner. We enjoyed our welcome glass of bubbly as we said hello and quickly caught up with many old friends. A glance around the room and it was quickly evident that there was some significantly important and influential people in the room, and then Alistair and me.

The Carlton Club was just as you may expect a gentleman’s club to be, with sweeping staircases, ornate ceilings & wood panelling. There was also slight feeling of faded grandeur, and a lick of new paint here and there would not have gone amiss.

As we were called to the private dining room we were greeted by our host for the evening, Brian Binley MP. The room had portraits on the wall that included Willie Whitelaw, John Major, Sir Geoffrey Howe and some bloke in a pair of rather fetching tights. The private room had a table to seat our party of eighteen, and the dresser in the corner was groaning from what must have been at least 24 prepared bottles of wine.

Wasting no time, our glasses were soon filled by the swarm of waiters, to be followed soon after with our first course. Our menu informed us we were drinking Macon-Uchizy 2009 and Chateau Lafitte 2009 Premier Cotes de Bordeaux, and each of the waiters must have been trained at ’eagle school’, as they could spot any glasses that had less than two mouthfuls left from over one hundred paces. As we set about eating the well-presented and thoughtfully cooked menu below, the guys doing the ‘wine glass spotting’ were filling everyones glass almost every nano-second. Before the end of the starter my jacket was off and tie askew.

Carlton Club Patrons Dinner Menu

Sea Bass, Tiger Prawn & Cabbage Terrine with Samphire and a Tomato & Lemon Dressing
Breast of Duck with Israeli Couscous, Salted Lime Apple Puree & Red Wine Reduction
Peach Sorbet
Roasted Sirloin of ‘Aberdeen Angus’ Beef with Horseradish Rosti, Braised Cabbage Parcel, Crispy Bone Marrow, Glazed Baby Turnips and a Shallot & Parsley Jus
Raspberry, Lemon and Basil Milles Feuilles with Milk Chocolate Ice Cream & Chocolate Tuiles
Filter Coffee with Club Mints

As we finished our main course, the evening’s chairman commenced a ‘round the table’ discussion on a number of topics pre-submitted by the patrons. As the ‘hot topics’ created some heated debates, some great comments and a few ridiculous one’s were heard, we were both still able to comprehend what was going on, so things were going well. Indeed, we were really enjoying everyone's company, although we could not confidently say that this was reciprocated. Topics over, some ego’s bruised, and some learning & understanding gained, we were taken up the grand staircase to the member lounge. If you have ever seen a seventies movie where the spy meets the MP in a gentleman’s club, this was the location. All leather chairs, hushed tones, some important looking political figures and a few that looked like they simply sat in the house and made up the numbers.

As I conquered the massive winding staircase, I was greeted with a voice from afar; “Excuse me sir”. “It’s alright, I’m with him” I said. “No sir, I wanted to ask if you would please put your jacket on”. A simple request, but breathing was tough enough in the heat of the building, and finding the energy to get my arms through the holes was quite a challenge. “Could I ask”; I said. “When I pass out from heat exhaustion, can you get an ambulance quickly?”. Quick as a flash, the smart official said; “You will be fine sir, we have plenty of first aiders in the building”.

Having made the most of The Carlton Club's lounge hospitality (& bar), last orders were called. Some bright spark then suggested we go for a nightcap. Soon we were back outside The Blue Posts pub, but it was shut. At this stage, any sensible person would have seen that as an omen that it was time to go home. We, as you would expect, didn’t.

The eminent group of professionals were now a meandering crew of motley party goers, but still bright enough to find another pub that was open, and the fun and frolics continued until closing time at 1am. Of the 14 or so people still standing, around three or four sensibly decided it was now time to go home. We were in the other group, and at the same time blissfully unaware we had missed our train back home more than an hour ago.

Magically, as always happens in a group, someone had another bright idea; “I saw a nightclub over the road that’s still open, let’s go there”. “OK” responded the one’s that could still talk without slurring. A remaining coherent group member negotiated with the club’s door team and we were all soon inside. The décor was as glitzy as expected, the bar prices as extortionate as you hear, however, the ladies wandering around with their clothes having fallen off was a bit of a surprise, not least to the two ladies who were in our group. Having already ordered drinks it was too late to run, but they soon got consumed and we were on our way.

Outside, the dark side of London were plying their trade and it was definitely time to go home now. It then of course hit us that we had no train to get home on until 7am. Whoops, ….there was only one thing for it, and we hailed a black cab. The simple words “Guildford please” lit up the dark coloured eyes of our Hackney cab operator. Back at Guildford we hopped out, and smiled with complete acceptance of our self-inflicted calamity, and paid the nice man £125.

As we stood on the drive, Alistair engaged his brain and said; “I live in Ash Vale, how do I get there now?”. “No idea”, was the helpful reply, “But come in for a drink and we will think it through.”

As we shuffled up the drive, we made a pact to be as quiet as possible, both knowing that waking my wife would result in an unprovoked attack with the nearest blunt instrument. Once inside we were convinced we were like fluffy footed door mice, but our dogs rampant barking sort of disturbed the calm. Thankfully, my wife slept through the massive storms of the eighties, and never even flickered.

As we sat in the kitchen chatting over the day’s events, Alistair was also considering his options, and I was pouring two drinks for us. As Alistair drunk what he was given, and I weirdly enjoyed a Baileys, we noticed the clock. It was gone 3am, and a full 12 hours since we were sitting in The Cavendish.

“How am I getting home?” was the final evening’s question. A short joint consideration, and his wife had been sent a text and Alistair was off up to crash in our spare room.

I have to ask myself ‘At what stage does a 56 year old man grow up?’. I suspect Mick Jagger hit it on the head when he said; ”The older I get, the more immature I become!”.

Never again.

www.carltonclub.co.uk
www.thecavendish-london.co.uk

If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.


The Carlton Club - My Wife's Version of Events

Having waved my wonderful husband off at the station at 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon, looking dashing all suited and booted, and wishing him and our colleague and friend, Alistair, a pleasant evening. I returned home to my work to then get ready for my good pal Nikki coming round to get her nails done, have some food, and chill out in front of the TV. Perfect girls night in, with no husband to annoy me. Having had a call at 5.30pm to find out they were on their 2nd pub or pint, I don’t remember, I knew they were in for a good night, and didn’t expect he would be home before I went to bed.

Having waved Nikki off in a taxi around 11, I stuffed my face with the food we hadn’t eaten earlier (v. Fat) and off to bed. Prior to going to bed I sent the obligatory ‘you OK?’ text, to which I received no response. Silly me, usually I bypass my husband with text messages and send them directly to Alistair as I usually find that does get a response. Not this time – oh well – they were together so off I went to sleep.

Woke up quite early (for me) this morning around 6.30, glanced to my right, confirmed husband had returned from night before. I am a particularly heavy sleeper, and even though he is a particularly noisy husband, it appeared he had successfully appeared at some point between midnight and 6.30am – excellent.

Wanted to get my cleaning done this morning before work – so even before my 2nd cup of tea (totally out of character now on two counts) – I had sorted the dogs out and was wandering about with the duster in hand. I was just about to go up to the spare room to do the ironing when, what could be best described as the Hunny Monster with a Bad Head, stumbled down the stairs. ‘Morning Dear’, I cheerfully offered with a wave of my duster and a cuppa, to be greeted with something incomprehensible, followed by the question ‘Where is Alistair?’. Well this one stopped me in my tracks, as I had not considered I would need to know where Alistair was at this time in the morning. Off shuffled the Hunny Monster with the Sore Head, and it came back to mumble ‘He is in the spare room but not moving very fast’ – brilliant – two of them. It was going to be a bad day, but I had a plan.

First question done – ‘Alistair, does your wife know where you are?’ – affirmative. OK on to important stuff then.

My car was due into the garage today, there was nothing in particular wrong with it, but I thought it would be prudent to get it checked out before winter to make sure it was all ready for the cold. Unbeknown to my husband however, I had suggested to the garage that instead of the courtesy vehicle they usually clutter my drive with, they might like instead to furnish the drive with a shinier newer model, so that I could let my beloved husband look at that all day instead of the crappy one. I thought it would be better for his hangover!! The shinier newer model by coincidence also happened to be for sale I should mention at this point.

So when some of the fog started to clear around 11am, and I deemed it safe to broach the afore mentioned (but not yet observed) shiny object sitting on drive, I announced that before we went to our meeting at lunchtime, if he hurried a bit and got showered and dressed, we would have time for me to take him for a test drive in this pretty vehicle. He was delighted, I could tell!!

I am a shopping ninja at the best of times, but even I surpassed myself today. By 2pm, not even having had the chance to return home after the lunch meeting, I reminded him he had a mobile phone, and there was a reason why the word phone was prefixed with ‘mobile’. He was still in an unfit state to drive, so rather than waste time sitting next to me talking, I suggested it was a good opportunity to call the garage and discuss the shiny new vehicle, since he wasn’t doing anything else. I did not even need to pull the ‘you came in at 3am after being in a bar where apparently ladies clothes fell off’ manoeuvre. I will save that one for next time. New car coming next week – I am such a lucky girl to have such a lovely husband spontaneously buying me nice things.

Editors Note: The things you have to do through fear!!

40 B4 40-The Tamarind Tree

No.22: The Tamarind Tree, Wokingham

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Having just had a great time in London celebrating my son Matthew's birthday, it was now my birthday on the 9th October.

 

As they had enjoyed our company so much at the weekend, my wife had arranged for them to enjoy our company again!

 

This time we were going to their house to visit what they claimed to be one of the best curry restaurants they had visited.  (& over the years I have taken him to many!)

 

On this occasion, and quite surprisingly my wife felt drawn to write a review on TripAdvisor, so here she goes:

 

I have to admit, Indian food is not my 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice of cuisine - I have to be in the mood for it.

 

Considering Indian is the husbands 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourite food, and it was his birthday, and his son recommended this restaurant (and treated us), that was plenty of good reasons to go :-).

 

From the time we walked in, we had a friendly welcome and good service. The meals on the neighbouring tables all looked lovely while we made our own selections. The chutney tray was the one of best my husband had ever seen and we happily tucked into the lovely fresh papadoms while we continued browsing the menu. Everything was described well and we all went for something other than the usual choices.

 

When the food arrived it looked and smelt delicious, it tasted even better. The place was busy even on a Tuesday evening and clearly a popular place for good reason. The nann bread was light and crispy, not the usual heavy doughy stuff you get, the meat was clearly good quality as the chicken was delicious. Good ingredients really make the difference.

 

We left feeling well fed but not having big stodgy food belly's. If we get invited again to this neck of the woods, we will most certainly be back, and if all Indian restaurants were as good as this one, Indian food would almost certainly make my top 3 favourite choices.

 

Matthew: Chicken Tikka Bhuna Balti | Kayleigh: Chicken Tikka Masala | David: Chicken Pathia | Ella: Shobuj Chicken. Marinated pieces of chicken cooked with yogurt, chilli, garlic & coriander.

 

So, there you go, my wife's first review, and I agree with every word. (Now, that really is unusual, I am sure normal disagreements will resume soon!)

 

 www.thetamarindtree.co.uk

 

If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.

 

40 B4 40-Lowlander Café

No.21: Lowlander Café, London WC2

After weeks of meticulious planning between my wife & my son's girlfriend, we were off to the West End.

 

Having arrived the night before for a birthday treat, Matthew & Kayleigh were busy enjoying a romantic two night London stay, little did he know Daddy was on his way! (NB: This is being written late, the date was 6th October 2012)

 

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On arriving it was time for lunch, so we popped into the Lowlander Grand Café, a traditional style European café & brasserie in Drury Lane in the heart of London.

 

The decor has the feel of a grand European café, with packed tables, floor to ceiling bar stacked with an unimaginable array of beers and a really friendly and buzzing atmosphere. They served 15 European beers on draught and some 50 by the bottle, they ranged from elegant Trappist ales to exotic fruit beers, from majestic Belgian golden ales to Dutch micro brews, the only sadness was, we did not have time to try them all!

 

For lunch we settled on a proper Steak Sandwich, full of a marinated, flash grilled 4oz sirloin steak in a warm baguette with mushrooms and home made relish, and a Lowlander Club Sandwich, consisting of a warm, toasted baguette packed with succulent chicken, bacon, avocado, egg mayonnaise and fresh greenery, both were ordered with frites, or course!

 

Tasty, fun and great value was the best way to describe our flying visit.

 

Next, it was time to put into action our covert plan, so sneaking low level passed parked cars, and ducking across the road, we were soon at the door of the pub.  Our surprise meeting was about to take place.  Through the window we could see Matthew perched on a bar stool, looking like a garden gnome who had got the cream. Kayleigh was looking around as if she was expecting a herd of wildebeast to crash through the door any minute. Well, it soon did, ....and as Matthew turned, his face went stark white as he realised that his romantic weekend had just got cut short!

 

As he recovered over another beer, we revealed we were taking him to a puppet show for his birthday.  How he managed to hide the obvious immense joy from his face we will never know.  Drinking our beers up, we were off.  This time being able to walk normally down the street.

 

A few doors down and we were soon at The New London Theatre, and another bar.  This time we were all waiting to take our seats to watch War Horse. By now Matthew had accepted our intrusion was not the disaster he first thought, and we got some Maltesers and Chocolate Raisins.  The girls were well stocked with tissues, but us tough boy's knew sweets divert any emotions.

 

The show was simply amazing at every level.  Incredible, awe-inspiring, clever, and any other superlative you can think of.  It even had truly funny elements.  Some say at times there wasn't a dry eye in the house.  Me, I'm saying nothing.

 

A fantastic experience over, it was of course now time to eat.  So, off to China Town.  As we sat and relived the afternoon over crispy duck, sweet and sour, and all the usual Chinese treats (excluding pak choi, as that is the devil's vegetable) we laughed and as always, really enjoyed each others company.

 

All too soon it was over and time for fond farewells, As we headed off to catch our train, and they headed back to their hotel, Matthew's face had just a hint of over-eating, a warm smile and a barely hidden relief that that his romantic weekend still had twenty four hours to run without us!

 

On the train home we basked in our great day, and even more so in the two wonderful people we had just spent the day with.  Life really doesn't get much better than being with the one's you love.

www.lowlander.com
www.warhorseonstage.com

If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.

 

40 B4 40-The Beach House

No. 20: The Beach House, Milford on Sea

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As we reach the halfway point in this momentous challenge we have conquered 20 restaurant of our 40, and still have plently of time to go. The challenge is going well, can't say the same for the waistline. 

Our dining partners on this latest venture, were my son Matthew & his girlfriend Kayleigh, they had also been with us for dinner at The Raft on Saturday night.

 

Having eaten with pleasure in The Raft several times, it has already featured in this challenge and did not qualify for another entry, however that does not stop me reporting that the food in this funky Milford on Sea village dining spot was again excellent. Baked camembert, potted prawns, stoned baked pizza’s, brownies and home-made meringues, were just a few of the things we shared, along with a few pints of Estrella Damm beer, some smooth Pinot Noir wine.  The meal finished with a complimentary ‘Flaming Zambooka’, which ensured red and smiley faces all of the way home.

 

Sunday morning, and big decisions needed to be made, - ‘Where to go for breakfast?’.  First decision was that we were walking.  Our first choice was The Marine, as we already knew that they did a really tasty and varied all day breakfast menu, and the ‘full English’ has a generous 2 local pork sausages, 2 rashers of bacon, grilled tomato, field mushroom, 2 Flambard’s free range fried eggs and toast, at only £7.50.  This is fantastic value, not just for the price, but also for the quantity and quality. The Needles Eye Cafe also offer their tried and tested breakfast specials.  However, we wanted to try somewhere we hadn’t been to before in Milford on Sea.

 

In the village, Bon Appetit, Polly’s Pantry and Inger-Lise’s do nice fresh breakfasts, all of which we have tried and have never been disappointed.  However, none of these were open until 10am, and hunger pains could not survive this long.

We had noticed the previous evening that The Raft now served cooked breakfasts. As always, the food selection has a twist and looked tempting, however, the 10am starvation barrier was yet again in our way.

 

Having never tried the breakfast at The Beach House, we decided this was to be our destination. The ‘old’ Westover Hall Hotel was sadly no more, and still holds many happy memories for us.  Not least, that they had always served an excellent and coupious breakfast in a relaxed, yet formal manner.  Whilst pricey, the 'Westover style' had always made it well worth the money.

 

When we arrived much inside was as before, but the dining room had changed.  The room was now an eclectic mixed on odd wooden table and chairs, reflecting that change from boutique hotel, to a pub restaurant with rooms.  The spectacular sea views from the dining room were as delightful as ever.

 

Breakfasts were now cheaper and the menu had plenty of choice.  We went for a mixture of ‘Full English’ with pork & herb sausage, crisp streaky bacon, grilled tomato, flat mushroom, hash brown, tin loaf toast and poached egg (£7.00), Fresh fruit salad with low fat natural yoghurt (£3.50), and Bubble & squeak with flat mushroom (£6).  Beans and other additional bits were also on offer for an extra 50p per portion, so naturally these were added to our plates.

 

All of the ingredients were fine, although we could not work out whether the mushrooms had vinegar included somewhere. My wife particularly enjoyed her bubble & squeak, and it was nice that the butter for the toast was fresh and came in triangular knobs.

Also, the various sauces came in individual pots, and not those irritating plastic packets, most of which that take ages to work out how open, and then split, before exploding across the front of my shirt.

So, if you are looking for breakfast in Milford on Sea village you can’t really go wrong, everywhere will offer a breakfast worth having.  Probably best to try them all!

*On the Beach House website you will find their daily menu, however the breakfast menu does not appear to feature at the moment.

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The Beach House Pub Restaurant
Park Lane, Milford on Sea, SO41 0PT | 01590 643044
www.beachhousemilfordonsea.co.uk

If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.

 

40 B4 40-Egan’s

No. 19: Egan’s, Lymington
 

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Having never visited Egan’s in Lymington before, we and our friends, C&T, decided this would be ideal for a Friday lunch.

 

Egan’s is the highest rated Lymington restaurant on trip advisor and has been owned by the Chef John Egan and his wife Debbie since opening in 1999.  The welcome was warm welcome in a building which was once a police station, however the separate bar and dining rooms had more of a feeling of a house.

 

The restaurant was obviously popular, as most tables were taken and our first glimpses of the food was encouraging. 

 

The menus arrived, and our drinks order was taken.  As we dribbled over the day’s offerings, we were pretty impressed that there were eight choices for both the starters and main courses, and at £15.95 for 2 courses, and £17.95 for 3 courses the value was excellent.

 

Of the eight starter options my wife was struggling to choose from four she would have really liked.  Eventually we each plumped for: Smoked salmon & avocado terrine with crostini and quails egg, Pan-fried tiger prawns in garlic butter with mixed Italian leaves, Chicken livers & bacon with red wine jus.  Trish had passed on a starter as she already had her eye on a pudding.

 

Soon we were offered a selection of home-made breads, Date & walnut, Sun-blushed tomato and another one I can’t remember  Generously, as many slices as you wanted were offered, and it would have been rude not to try them all, along with the delicious real butter that is now banned from most domestic home fridges.

 

Having polished off our starters in double quick time, and grabbed a taste of Colin’s excellent liver & bacon, we chatted as we awaited the main courses.  Trisha was gamely eating with her one un-broken hand, and as always the conversation was in fine form.

 

The main courses did not disappoint.  Indeed, the creative presentation made mouth’s water even before tasting.  An air of complete satisfaction ensconced the table as we each enjoyed our choices of; Plaice fillets with soft herb & parmesan crust, leek & cheddar mash, Minute steak with rosti potato, button mushrooms and peppercorn sauce, Roast chump of lamb with pea mash, honey baked parsnip, redcurrant & rosemary jus, and Sea bass fillet with smoked haddock champ, lobster & chive sauce.

 

To round off the perfect lunch a sweet was of course in order.  Colin has his traditional Cheese and biscuits, Trish went for the Selection of ice creams & sorbet in a brandy snap basket, which she had set her eye on in the first sight of the menu, my wife of course abstained, and I was deliberating over Bread & butter pudding with clotted cream & crème Anglaise, or Chocolate tart with white chocolate mousse.  The waiter, seeing my painful indecision suggested I had both.  So I did, and it was a fine decision for the taste buds, if not the strain on the scales.

 

As Colin was the day’s driver, our alcohol consumption was significantly tamer than usual, but this did not deter from the dining pleasure.  In fact, it is nice to remember the meal a bit clearer than normal.

 

In a nice way, this was a bit like fine dining in the late nineties with a modern menu.  The dining rooms had a quaint style, the service was traditional and the superb ingredient were masterfully cooked.  One to come back to certainly.

 

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Egan's
24 Gosport Street, Lymington, SO41 9BE | 01590 676165
www.eganslymington.co.uk

If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.

40 B4 40-Vesuvio



No. 18: Vesuvio Italian Restaurant, Bournemouth

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We really enjoyed the last Bank Holiday weekend of the year.  My brother and sister in law came to stay for a few nights, and as usual there was no shortage of village entertainment, as we visited the Milford on Sea Carnival, watched the start of the Needles to Torquay Powerboat Race, and the RNLI Search & Rescue exercise on the beach.

 

My brother is an excellent cook, just as I am a pretty good diner, and naturally food was central during the weekend.  So, Saturday night was a special visit to Verveine, and as always the food was superb and the dining experience pure theatre.  Sunday afternoon we had afternoon tea in The Marine in a slighty larger group that anticipated.

 

To explain, Peter & Nicola’s newly married daughter & husband were staying with Nicola’s mum in Ringwood.  Knowing they were all eating at Versuvio’s in Alum Chine on Sunday evening, a surprise was planned for them, as we made a covert call to the restaurant to increase the booking from 3 to 7.

 

What came as a bigger surprise, was when my niece & her new husband called saying they wanted to see us all, and asked if they could pop over with Marion on Sunday afternoon.  Nicola wanted to think quickly on her feet, but instead descended into a panic and hung up.  After exploring a number feasible excuses, Nicola called back, forgot them all, and said; "Yes, come on over”.

 

So, with all of us having spent the Sunday afternoon together, they headed home, and we got ready to arrive at the restaurant early for what was now a slightly strange surprise.  Over a beer, and plenty of peeping, they turned up and they were as shocked as we had been when they had asked to come over earlier.

 

Vesuvio is an Italian Restaurant positioned right on the beach at Alum Chine in Bournemouth.   First impressions were good, the interior was modern and with an air of quality in the design and fittings.  In the corner a duo were playing soothing background jazz, which gave the place a nice atmosphere.

 

The menu reflected the head chef’s respect of the traditions of Italian cuisine, with fresh meat and seafood locally sourced and delivered daily, as well as homemade pastas and classic Italian specialties.

 

As we all made our choices we were able to take in the panoramic views across the bay from the Isle of Wight to Old Harry Rocks.

My wife and I chose to share a starter of Gamberi Alla Diavola, butterfly freshwater prawns in chilli & tomato sauce served with garlic ciabatta, (I say ‘we chose to share’, what I actually meant was ’my wife told me she was sharing mine’.)  I was allowed to have a main course to myself, so we had Tournesdos Rossini, fillet steak set on a crouton, with paté & truffles in a rich Madeira sauce, and Vitello Alla Milanese, breaded escalope of veal with spaghetti Napoli. (Although my wife substituted the spaghetti for chips – good girl!)  There were many other dishes on the table, but I can’t recall exactly what, as many included pasta, and that’s too boring to write about.

 

Sweet of course had to be Italian Profiteroles, and by this time my wife had returned to true form and was thankfully watching her figure again.

 

By all the comments made around the table, everyone had enjoyed their choices and the portions certainly ensured everyone was full.

 

After a lively evening of conversation, and catching up on some things that had been forgotten during the afternoon, it was time to leave.  After plenty of wine and a few beers, I was up for creating another surprise, but my wife’s threats of removing an important part of my anatomy if I threw anyone in the sea, ensured I was on my best behavior all of the way home.

 

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Vesuvio Italian Restaurant
Seafront, Alum Chine, Bournemouth, BH4 8AN
Tel: 01202 759100 or 01202 765096
www.vesuvio.co.uk
 

If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.

 

40 B4 40-The Hand and Flowers

No. 17: The Hand and Flowers, Marlow

As my wife’s birthday celebrations moved into Day 3, our friends Jon & Stacey arrived for our expedition to The Hand & Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.  A burst up the M3, around the M25 and we were soon heading across the River Thames into Marlow.

The whole car were enthralled about my Marlow Bridge story, they hung on my every word as I explained about how we had crossed the chain bridge in Budapest, which had been built in the same style and by Englishman William Clark.

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The Hand and Flowers is the first and only pub dining rooms to be awarded the coveted Two Michelin Stars, they are also the current AA Restaurant of the Year 2011-12.  The restaurants head chef and owner is Tom Kerridge, a former winner and judge on BBC’s ‘Great British Menu’, and of course he was the headline show at Milford on Sea Food Week 2012.

Arriving at The Hand and Flowers, the quaint old Tudor style pub building was teeming with staff and full of content diners. The interior décor was not the traditional ‘Michelin star’ dining room with crisp white table cloths and fancy furnishings, this was very much a pub, with wooden tables and chairs, a bar at the centre and a buzzing atmosphere.  We soon recovered from our long journey with a couple of pints of Czech beer, and of course white wine for the ladies.

As we made our way to our table, the low ceilings proved a bit of a challenge for my tall friend.  Although he had been warned of the low beams on a couple of occasions, he simply lost control of his gangly body, and thumped his head solidly on one of the beams.  Fortunately, we did not laugh ….too much.

On most occasions when booking restaurants, I tell the restaurant that it is my wife’s birthday.  I just love it when she gets a surprise treat, and has no idea why.  For once, the birthday booking information I had given was true, and at the table my wife was given a birthday card from the Hand and Flowers team.  A nice touch to start our afternoon experience.

Being good friends, it was only right and proper that dining should be a communal affair, and before we had even ordered we all entered into a pact to taste each other’s courses.  Not one of us wanted to miss out on this culinary extravaganza.

As soon as we looked at the menu we knew we were in for a pretty special experience.  The only difficulty was going to be able to choose what not to have.  Our waitress helped us through all of the menu options, and throughout the afternoon it was clear that all of the waiting team who looked after us were very knowledgeable about all of the dishes and happy to help with whatever anyone wanted.

At this stage it is worth mentioning that Stacey & Jon are successful restauranteurs, and Jon is a bit of a wine expert.  Indeed, he has this weird ability that the more wine he drinks, the more he can’t stop talking about grape varieties and regions.

Jon had been reading the wine list since we arrived and was contently murmuring to himself occasionally.  In the meantime, more beers were ordered.  Eventually he suggested the Pinot Noir, and went into a long explanation of where it came from and the grapes therein, we just wanted another drink, so we all agreed.

Having ordered and awaiting our starters, a complimentary dish of crispy whitebait arrived at the table served in a newspaper cone, alongside was a basket of soda white bread, wholemeal bread, butter and two pinch pots of salt & pepper.  Having not seen salt & pepper served with bread before, it was explained that the butter was unsalted, and we were invited to add our own personal taste for seasoning to the bread.  We did, and it was a new delicious way to eat the staff of life.  The Hand and Flowers has built its reputation on serving the finest rustic ingredients, with a twist and imaginative flair.  We were beginning to see why this restaurant is so highly acclaimed.

The starters arrived, and soon the table was laden with Blowtorched Scottish Scallop with Warm Beef Bouillon, Salt Cod Scotch Egg with Chorizo and Red Pepper Sauce, Glazed Omelette of Smoked Haddock and Parmesan, and Moules Marinière with Warm Stout and Brown Bread.  A quiet air of complete satisfaction covered the table as we all tucked in.  Unusually, the moules were served out of their shells in the beer sauce, and the tiny ‘Hovis’ style loaf looked as good as it tasted.  Indeed each dish received top marks, and the haddock omelette contained heaven in every spoonful.

Between the courses the girls were still yapping about shoes, handbags and bracelets etc.  Having started their conversation on leaving home, we were still waiting to see if either of them was ready to take a breath yet.

Jon and I were enjoying our wine and chatting using regular breathing and pauses, I was also ignoring his explanation about the origins of the Pinot Noir grape.

The main courses arrived next.  Somehow two of us had mistakenly chosen the same lamb dish, so one valuable tasting opportunity had disappeared.  Included in our feast was one of Tom’s signature dishes; Slow Cooked Duck Breast with Peas, Duck Fat Chips & Gravy.  We also enjoyed the Essex Line Caught Cod with Pastrami, Morels Herb Crust & English Asparagus, and Essex Lamb “Bun” with Sweetbreads & Salsa Verde.

To ensure we did not go hungry we had also ordered some side dishes of Salt Baked Potatoes with Garlic and Parsley Butter, and Hand & Flowers Chips.  As we ate we were in gourmet heaven, the duck was amazing, and the accompanying gravy was more like an elixir from the gods, the ‘Lamb bun’ looked like a work of art and we could not fathom out how the ‘pear shaped’ bread containing the meat had been created.  The salt baked potatoes were cooked and served inside a rope tied pastry loaf.  Apparently, this was an age old recipe, but we had ever seen or tasted anything like it.

As you may imagine by this time we were pretty full and well oiled.

Soon another charming waitress arrived with the sweet menu.  Now, if you have seen Tom, you will know he is a big bloke, and it is great to find a chef who not only loves great food, but is also passionate about creating fabulous puddings.  Our waitress also loved Tom’s sweets, and took us through a magical descriptive journey of everything that was available.  I simply sat in a trance like state, tasting each plate in my head, and then I spontaneously broke into a ‘pudding dance’, gyrating in my chairing, arms waving, and singing repeated choruses of ‘I love puddings, I love puddings ….’

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Choosing a single sweet was traumatic, but knowing we had a ‘sharing pact’ relieved some of the anxiety.  Thankfully, my wife had still not taken breath in her nonsensical conversation with Stacey, so I ordered another pudding on her behalf.

Choices made, Jon was once again engrossed in the wine list, mumbling to himself several times before choosing and ordering Sauternes sweet wine from Château de Malle Sainte-Hélène to accompany our puddings.

A short while after ordering the maitre d’ appeared, and it was really nice when we found out that Tom had arranged a complimentary glass of Italian Moscato to accompany our sweets.

A trail of waiters then appeared with our glorious puddings; Tonka Bean Panna Cotta, with Poached Strawberries, Liquorice Meringue and Strawberry Ice Cream, a cooked to order Raspberry Soufflé with Kaffir Lime Ice Cream and Warm Toffee, and two portions of Hand & Flowers Chocolate Cake with Salted Caramel and Muscovado Ice Cream.

My wife gave me one of ‘her looks’ as a pudding was placed in front of her.  Awaiting the ritual chastising I get on these occasions, she amazed the whole table by saying; ‘Ooo, that looks nice’.  As the spoon reached her mouth, there was a short delay, and she smiled, sat back, and then started an impromptu ‘pudding dance’.  The sight was surreal, but seconds later our entire party were dancing in the chairs and much to the disdain of some other diners, singing; ‘We love puddings, we love puddings ….’.  I can’t even begin to explain the explosion of delicious sweet loveliness on each plate, and the masterful combination of the combined flavours as we ate.

A quick show of hands, and the Panna Cotta was voted the best pudding in the world, closely followed by the Chocolate Cake!

We were all full and extremely satisfied, we had experienced a master at work and a demonstration of classic flavours and unique combinations throughout each of the courses.  Surely lunch cannot get better than this… but I had a plan.

I had (through a slightly alcoholic haze) come to the conclusion that we could not leave without having tried every sweet on the menu.  This desire was driven by no sense whatsoever, other than it felt like something that just had to be done.  My wife of course protested, Stacey was still singing and Jon had the wine list back again.

As one, of what was going to be a total of seven sweets, had to be cooked to order, we were happy to have twenty minutes of so to let our digestive systems attempt to create some room, and of course have another drink.  Amazingly, on her trip to the ladies, Stacey did not fall over, which is her normal course of action when we all go out together.

Our final challenge arrived; Glazed Cox’s Apple Tart with Meadowsweet Ice Cream, Warm Pistachio Sponge Cake with Melon Sorbet & Marzipan and Vanilla Crème Brulée served with a mini tankard of whisky barrel aged beer.  Surely beer and crème brulee does not go together, but it did!  Challenge complete, we were satisfied that any choice of sweet from the menu would get anyone’s taste buds buzzing.  Our only remaining challenge was how we could lift our bodies to get to the car.

Tom Kerridge can be found in the kitchen on most days, however we had picked one of his few days off.  This had no effect on the food or service, (the kitchen had 14 chefs!) and every dish was served exactly as we would have expected had he been behind the stove.

On the journey home the girls continued to gabble on, whilst the two boys took a well-deserved power nap, only interrupted by the occasional poke in the ribs and scream ‘to stop snoring!’.

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The Hand and Flowers

126 West Street, Marlow, SL7 2BP

www.thehandandflowers.co.uk

If you are wondering what the 40 B4 40 Dining Challenge is all about, please click here and all will be explained.