North East stars!

After reporting back on a slightly disappointing dinner at Solstice, I thought I should redress the balance - and the pride of the North East - by talking about a couple of AMAZING meals we had this summer. I've been meaning to write this post for a while, and, indeed, several iterations have sat in my Drafts but I just kept forgetting to get them finished off. As such, it has been a while, and the descriptions may be somewhat perfunctory. But, the important thing to know is that these two restaurants are, as far as we are concerned, among the very best that the UK have to offer and we'd be there every week if we could (just one lottery win away...)

First and foremost, it was a re-visit to Restaurant Hjem which is located in a village called Wall. Oh, how I love this place - it was our third trip and it has never disappointed. Actually, Hjem itself closes at the end of the year, but the couple in charge are opening a new place called Freyja next year which is extremely exciting and, you can be sure, we'll be there as soon as we can get to it.

Hjem itself is sort of Scandi in influence, and with the main man being Swedish they know their Scandi. The flavours are delicate and fresh, everything is neat and pretty and despite the plethora of courses, you never leave feeling uncomfortably full because of the extraordinary balance and restraint. We started with a Lindisfarne oyster - ALL good meals should start with a Lindy, the very best of crustacea - and it just got better from there. The chicken liver parfait tartlet was a particular favourite and we had an absolutely fascinating squid dish served with a turmeric broth - turmeric is so seldom allowed to be the star of the show that it was highly unusual to see it shining so brightly here. There was the signature apple and horseradish dessert that we have had on every visit but never fails to disappoint and the most delicious brown butter financiers and oh, so much loveliness.

Oysters!

Squid!

At the other end of the trip (we stayed in Northumberland for a few days and consumed as much seafood as we possible could throughout) we went to Restaurant Pine. This is somewhere that we've been intending to visit for ages and just never got round to it - criminal really, considering how close it is to us, relatively speaking. I wasn't expecting to love it as much a Hjem but my expectations were confounded - it was remarkable. The flavours here are much, much bolder and brasher and everything is turned up to eleven, such that by the end I felt almost overwhelmed. One of our favourite dishes here was simply described as potato, wild garlic and cucumber which sounds a bit nondescript but it tasted like the kind of garlicky mash that they serve when you arrive in Heaven, and had a cloud like texture to boot. The majority of ingredients here are homegrown and used so intelligently - I defy anyone to try the three month black apple candy (yes, they make it from their own apples and it takes three months to become like the very nicest toffee apple you've ever tasted) and not smile like a loon.

Potato!

Apple!

It's pointless trying to compare these two places, or pick a favourite, because they're different and truly marvellous in their own particular ways. I suppose the only way to end this post is to say - if you find yourself in this part of the world then both of these (well, Hjem only for a few more months) are really worth a trip and it's a fabulous representation of what this very diverse part of the country has to offer.

Restaurant Hjem

The Hadrian Hotel

Wall

Hexham

NE46 4EE

Restaurant Pine

Vallum Farm

Military Road

East Wallhouses

NE18 0LL

Happy meals - nature's bounty

We've been lucky this week; a good friend gifted D some of the produce from his lovely garden, which meant we had a huge tub of tomatoes that were just on the verge of overripe and some lovely plums and greengages. Although we meal plan to the point of almost obsession, the original plan was jettisoned to ensure that this got used.

And what a lovely supper it was too! I cut the tomatoes in half and placed them, cut side up, in an oven proof dish, seasoned liberally with not only salt and pepper but onion granules, garlic granules and a few chilli flakes too. Drizzled with balsamic glaze and added a few thick slices of butter. Then roasted for 50 minutes until the tomatoes were collapsing into themselves and the buttery juices. Stirred through 4 finely chopped anchovies, a small handful of capers and a flurry of Parmesan before adding pasta and some starchy pasta water to create a clinging sauce. More Parmesan and, voila. 

This was followed by a greengage dessert cake, made from this recipe, warmed through in the microwave and served with a good splodge of cream. We don't often have pudding midweek, but this seemed warranted. I liked the texture of this cake very much, a good, dense, buttery crumb with a sweet crust, and the sharp greengages contrasted well. 

The remainder of the fruit has been transformed, by the very talented D, into a spiced compote which will be delicious with yogurt in the coming weeks. I am very tempted to do some homemade granola as well - Nigella has a couple of recipes that look interesting, including one with olive oil.

Solstice, Newcastle: a curate's egg

We were fully optimistic and fully looking forward to our dinner at Solstice last Friday. Kenny Atkinson, the chef-patron, is something of a North-East name, and we had thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at House of Tides a few years ago. So, no reason to think that Solstice wouldn't be equally lovely.

And, in some ways it was. The staff were brilliant, the surroundings were great. But the food...the food was hit and miss.

When it hit, it was capable of hitting very hard. The lobster spelt risotto was among the best things I have eaten all year. I adored the chocolate souffle tart with banana miso caramel (D less sure) and we both agreed that the brown butter poppy seed Madeleines were things of absolute beauty.

Chocolate!

Madeleines!

But when it missed then...ugh. The lobster with spiced carrot puree was horrible. The aged Parmesan tart did NOT taste of Parmesan. The opening course of smoked eel brandade with chicken skin was way too rich. And considering the quality of the beef that was served as a main, it just didn't land properly. The texture was beautiful - the flavour, less so.

Brandade!

So, in summary - a curate's egg. Good in places. Maybe just not entirely to our taste. But I'd recommend HoT over this, and I would certainly recommend plenty of other places in the North East before encouraging you to venture to Newcastle proper.

Recent eats: a new addition to the Leeds pub scene!

Good old fashioned British pub food, done properly, is an absolute joy. You know the kind I mean. All too often, pub food falls into one of two brackets. Either Wetherspoons-esque, with a wipe down menu that serves generic frozen rubbish. Or, a venue that calls itself a gastropub but what it really means is that it is a restaurant with a bar and not actually a pub at all.

Well, a fab new place has opened up in Leeds, brought to you by the people behind the wonderful Empire Cafe. I say new; there's been a pub on the site for as long as I can remember but to say that it was not known for its food is something of an understatement. What used to be The Highland has been rebranded as The Highland Laddie and it is definitely still a proper pub and it DEFINITELY serves wonderful food with a menu that is designed to warm the cockles of any English man (or woman)'s heart.

We went for lunch and between the two of us got through two out of the five bar snacks and two slightly larger plates.

The sausage roll was absolutely delicious - really dense, flavoursome sausage with a good whack of garlic, encased in the butteriest of pastries. Just look at that bad boy! These are apparently made fresh on site every day.

The half pint of crevettes were so sweet and fresh that they didn't really need the accompanying sauce (although I'll never say no to Marie Rose).

The first of the mains (although in terms of portion size it was probably more like a starter) was something a little bit different - lobster madeleines with chorizo butter. This was definitely the kind of dish that you get at Empire - a little bit quirky but with loads of flavour and finesse. The sweetness of the madeleines was beautifully balanced by the funky chorizo.

And finally - the "sliced ham from the fire" with dinner rolls was just the kind of thing you want to be eating in a pub. Simple as can be, but when the produce is this good, why mess with it?

The chorizo butter may well have found its way onto the dinner rolls as well. I neither confirm nor deny.

That's not the end of the story though, because the following week, D was back - tempted by an Instagram post he decreed that he simply had to try the Laddie's take on a cheeseburger. Well, he was not disappointed - despite it's relatively unassuming exterior, he declared this the best burger in Leeds, which is quite the compliment when you consider how many he has consumed over the years.

The menu seems to change on an extremely regular basis, although I'd guess some dishes (like the burger) will prove to be stalwarts. I can't wait to go back in the winter when my guess is that they'll do a fine take on classic pub grub such as pies and puddings. The Laddie is a real celebration of great British pub food and a very welcome addition to already wonderful Leeds food landscape.

Recent eats: an Ambleside edition

One of the lovely things about living in Leeds is that not only are the Yorkshire Dales practically on our doorstep, but we are also surprisingly close to the Lake District. A mere two hour drive sees us right in the heart of one of the most beautiful, albeit dampest, areas of England.

You don't go to the Lakes for the weather, you might well go for the scenery and you should definitely go for the food. Across the Lake District there are 13 Michelin starred restaurants, including L'Enclume which has a full clutch of three stars and boasts chef Simon Rogan, whose influence on modern British food has been so profound. We didn't make it to L'Enclume this time around but we did return to Lake Road Kitchen, an old favourite of ours, which recently earned its first star and is situated in the lovely little town of Ambleside, right on the banks of Lake Windermere.

LRK boasts a twelve course tasting menu with matching wine flight, which, it has to be said, quite nearly broke us (we do not have the appetites and stamina that once we did), but was well worth all the Rennies we had to take the next day to appease our digestive systems.

Two of the earliest dishes were also two of the best - Ora king salmon (a farmed salmon from New Zealand) came with the most wonderful, intense tomato and maple dashi, with little pops of freshness from finger limes.

The escargots with parsley miso were pretty special as well, with the kitchen kindly supplying us with some additional bread so as to ensure we could mop up every speck of the wonderful sauce.

Sauces in general were spectacular - from the fruity heat of the hot sauce served with the grilled octopus, to the rich funky depths of the black truffle-laced chicken sauce that came with a piece of steamed halibut.

If I had one ever-so-slight criticism, it was that the desserts were a little underwhelming this visit. Of the three, the stand out was the vanilla and brown sugar cheesecake which tasted remarkable, but we both thought some sort of crunchy element would have added a bit of variation to the texture and elevated it still further. Still, LRK's underwhelming is most other restaurants really bloody good.

It's a shame we were still so full the next morning, as I really struggled with the wonderful breakfast served to us at The Drunken Duck, a gorgeous little boutique hotel / restaurant / pub just ten minutes outside of Ambleside. This cinnamon French toast with blackcurrant compote, yoghurt and pecans was fabulous but I had to abandon it halfway through. We overheard one party complaining about the lack of Full English but I think that the Duck's imaginative approach to breakfast is a welcome change to your standard bacon, eggs and sausage combination. 

A very happy start to the Easter festivities.

Happy Meals - Variations on a Sunday roast

Before the food - the pedantry. I have noticed that in some post titles I use a hyphen and in some I use a colon and it is irritating me. To the extent that I may spend all day tomorrow going back through hundreds and hundreds of blog posts to try and achieve uniformity. That is all.

Yesterday, D roasted a splendid piece of rolled pork belly, low and slow initially and then blasted with heat so that the meat was juicy and tender but the outer skin crunched loud enough to hear across the room when you bit into it. Just as it should be. The pork sat on a trivet above a tray of apples and onions and cider, and the resulting concoction was just as flavourful as you might imagine, full of bite. We spooned it over the meat where it clung, more a sauce than a gravy and none the worse for that.

I was in charge of sides but decided to do something a little different to a standard complement of roasted roots, and so made, for the first (but not the last) time, a dish of Lyonnaise potatoes and some kale, braised with pancetta, liberally seasoned with black pepper and nutmeg, and finished with just a lick of cream. My main complaint with regards this latter dish is that there was enough of it - the kale cooked down a little more than I was expecting. 

Sunday cooking is lovely - slow, considered...the house becoming steadily more fragrant with cooking smells as the afternoon wends its way into the evening. Sunday cooking is chopping vegetables while perched on a stool at the kitchen island, with a cup of tea to hand and the radio burbling in the background. A very pleasing memory to take into the working week.

A. Wong, Pimlico

At Restaurant A. Wong, they don't serve up courses they serve up collections. The evening menu consists of six collections in total - five savoury and one sweet. When the second collection arrived in front of us, I asked the server in all seriousness, "Are the kitchen trying to kill us?"

Because at Restaurant A. Wong they give you so. Much. Food. Apparently this is typical of the culture - the desire to feed, to feast, to banquet. And fortunately, the food is so, so delicious that you unbutton your trousers, take a deep breath and power on through as much as you can. This is Chinese food done properly, expunging the memories of years of lurid, greasy, sickly takeaways in just three hours and offering a fascinating glimpse into a food culture which is as exciting and challenging and varied as any in the world.

We had the best seats in the house; perched on bar stools overlooking the main kitchen. Prep was done downstairs, and pastry prepared in a cold room off to the side, but the majority of the action took place here in front of our eyes, in an atmosphere of almost preternatural calm. Halfway through service, the main man himself arrived which seemed to make everyone stand up just a shade straighter but otherwise it didn't feel as if anyone was missing a beat and the ballet of the kitchen, mysterious, fragrant and, above all, hot, continued to mesmerise us all evening.

All in all we ate 31 dishes; and with very, very few exceptions they were wonderful. I'll try and pick out a highlight or two from each collection.

Collection 1 was The Banquet - a sumptuous array of eight relatively small dishes. The cured scallop with stuffed crab claw was my favourite here, in terms of flavour and mouth feel it felt like a definite nod to a classic sesame prawn toast, albeit elevated.

Collection 2 was Dim Sum which were a joy from start to finish, although the soup dumpling - "Tangerine fish" with Chiu Chow beef broth and Caviar - was probably the most joyful mouthful. I defy you not to smile as that amazing broth floods your palate.

Collection 3 was Fish. Full disclosure, I wasn't terribly excited about the description of any of the dishes on here but I should have known better. I was surprised by how much I adored the braised abalone with shitake mushroom, sea cucumber and abalone butter; it had an almost smoky quality to it which was immensely pleasing.

Halfway through and we were presented with Collection 4 - Snacks. All excellent, but the soy chicken was generally acknowledged as the favourite - simple (relatively speaking) but classic.

We were both genuinely flagging now and grateful for a short break before the arrival of the ominously named main course (or Collection 5 - Five Flavours). But some of the mouthfuls here were lighter and designed to soothe (chrysanthemum tofu in lemongrass broth) or refresh the palate (Nashi pear with Sichuan pepper). For sheer nostalgia though, I can't not mention the sweet and sour chicken which was both reminiscent of the takeaway classic and yet strangely refined. The candied walnuts here were a wonderful addition, giving, alongside the crispy chicken, a pleasing crunch.

Thankfully Collection 6 - Fruits - was as light as it sounds. A coconut ice with mulberries and yoghurt, and some dainty fruit jellies rounded out the meal and provided a perfect, sweet full stop without overloading our already groaning stomachs. Anything heavier and I would probably have rolled out of there.

An altogether fabulous experience then, and one which I will remember fondly for a very long time. I think anyone with an interest in Chinese food and culture should make a point of coming here to sample the food as it really should be and give it the credit it deserves. Your Saturday night takeaway will never be the same again.

A. Wong

70 Wilton Road

Pimlico

London SW1V 1DE

0207 828 8931

Recent eats: an interminable January

I think January might have lasted forever. And even though we are, let's be honest, over a third of the way through February, February has just proved itself to be something of a January 2.0. Cold, wet, miserable and utterly ennui-inducing. D is only finally now shaking off a cough he's had since before Christmas, I've been feeling rundown and lurgy-ish and none of this has got 2025 off to a particularly dazzling start.

I decided to dust off the blog to do a recent eats post and went searching through my phone for pictures to share - needless to say, found very little. Little by way of food pictures, that is - if you want a picture of the cat asleep on the back of the sofa then I have several hundred iterations. We really haven't left the house very much, one exception being a lunchtime trip to White Cloth Hall, a relatively new Leeds venture which features a number of street food(ish) type vendors. We shared a Jamie Thiccston sandwich from Morty's Focacceria which was an absolute beast of a thing, but delicious for all of that. I would have liked slightly more burrata but, then, I think most things would benefit from more burrata. In general, the ratio of bread to filling was pretty good, there was plenty of salty, slippery mortadella and it wasn't so ridiculously huge you couldn't fit it in your mouth in one go to get the full benefit of the layers.

We've done some home cooking, of course,  and have enjoyed several dishes from Meera Sodha's latest book, Dinner which I commend to your attention, especially if you wish to up your vegetarian and vegan cooking game. Having said that, looking back over the archive meal plan, I think one of my top food moments from January was carnivorous; tucking into haggis, neeps and tatties on Burns night, smothered in a fabulous whisky sauce. Classics are classics for a reason. Oh, and I baked some blondies for my Dad's birthday which turned out rather nicely. 

But all in all not an awful lot to share from these first few weeks of the year. We plod on.

2024: a year in review

This is, above all things, a food blog and so the year in review has to primarily about food. But it is inescapable (for me, at least) that 2024 was the year I lost my Minx Cat. I miss her every single day. We have Millie now, of course, who has brought a great deal of joy, but Minx was a great love. D got me a photo book for Christmas of every single picture he had of her, and I must admit, I cried buckets as I looked through it. She was my girl and I will always, always feel the lack of her.

And now I've made myself cry again so let us all move on and talk about good eats in 2024. Looking back over our year - we went to Mull twice which was wonderful. Barcelona in June - now, that was a foodie trip - and a cheeky long weekend in Vienna. We've also had some fabulous ad hoc meals, including our first trip to L'Enclume since it gained its third Michelin star and fish in a shack on the beach in December.

I'm trying to remember highlights, and it is hard, especially since my memory is appalling. D fell in love with the food of Kiln in the summer, and, I have to admit, I still think about the soy glazed chicken thigh. Returning to Cail Bruich was a pleasure and a privilege; the Isle of Wight tomato with smoked crowdie, basil and elderflower was a blinder of a dish. I had possibly the best beef tartare of my life at The Hare in Scawton - and I've eaten a lot of tartares. And I definitely seem to have rediscovered my sweet tooth this year, although Brett's warm chocolate mousse did nearly finish me off.

Chocolate!

Tomato!

In terms of home cooking, I think that the focaccia that I made for our Easter Sunday feast was one of my proudest achievements of the year - and the credit lies entirely with the recipe. We cooked a Murakami inspired menu for my brother - I am now officially obsessed with Japanese rolled omelettes - and introduced our good friends A&K to the wonder that is D's mussel and saffron soup. Scrolling back through our meal planning spreadsheet, I suspect that the most consumed dish was D's mushroom sauce - served with chicken and pork respectively, always to great acclaim. 

And now onwards to 2025. As I write this, snow lies thick on the ground, the sky is entirely devoid of colour and I could very much do with a nap despite it being only 11am. January, as a month, is a shocker. But I am full of positivity and optimism for the year ahead, once this initial hump has been - well, humped. Happy New Year to everyone.

Restaurant Myse, Hovingham

Myse is the latest project from chef Josh Overington and his partner, who up until a couple of years ago, ran a fine dining restaurant in York called Le Cochon Aveugle. We loved LCA and we loved Josh’s food so we’ve been excited to go to Myse for some time now. 

It was certainly an atmospheric journey, the way passing as it does through the grounds of Castle Howard. As soon as we turned off the A-road, or so it seemed, a fog descended. Rising up ahead, looming into the sky, a great obelisk (which I subsequently discovered was a monument to the 7th Earl of Carlisle). It was just the sort of thing to get you in the mood for a cosy snug and a crackling fire, which, happily, Myse provided as soon as we got through the front door. Then it was off to the large, beautifully appointed room for a quick rest before dinner.

Before I go any further, I must say that there was a lot to like about Myse. Despite a small brigade, and an even smaller front of house team, service throughout dinner ran like a well choreographed ballet (all tables are served the same meal more or less simultaneously). Some of the food was very nice indeed. And let's start with some highlights shall we? For example, serving the fabulous sourdough bread, made every day onsite, with a bowl of chicken dripping (as well as a seeded butter) was a stroke of delicious genius.

A "snack" of braised ox cheek, dipped in Yorkshire pudding batter and then deep fried and served with fermented cucumber gel was as wonderful as it sounds: soft, sticky, rich and then with a last minute sparkle of pickle across the tongue.

Three different dishes of mallard made up the main course proper, all of which were lovely, but the star was undoubtedly a sourdough crumpet topped with liver parfait and mallard ham. Crumpets appear to be having a moment (at the moment) and I am all for it. We should be putting more things on crumpet. And eating more mallard which is all that is good about duck with an extra shot of iron-rich oomph.

A small cup of apple juice, made from fruit from the Harewood estate, was served before the dessert courses. Reader, this has ruined all apple juice for me forever. Crisp, sharp-sweet, it was sensational.

So yes, much to like. But, elsewhere, D and I found ourselves referring to some of the food as "clever" or "interesting" rather than delicious. And while there is nothing wrong with clever and interesting, if it isn't quite hitting the delicious mark as well, then I think that's a shame. The team here are obviously very, very interested in foraging for local and unusual ingredients and in preserving them in innovative ways, and also in being creative in the way in which they employ different cooking techniques, but some of what was served just didn't quite come off - purely for our tastes. 

Also worth noting again that the front of house staff is tiny - and this meant that bar service either side of the meal was not as smooth or slick as it could have been. It's a small detail but, of course, when you're paying a substantial sum of money for an experience, such small details do niggle. Again, though, throughout the meal, the staff were wonderful and that they managed all those covers with the limited number of hands without issue and remaining calm and friendly and engaged was a true testament to their professionalism.

The trouble is, there are so many great restaurants with rooms in Yorkshire and the North East now that if you asked me for a recommendation, Myse would not be the first, or even the second or third that would spring to mind. But I'd be fascinated to go back, maybe for the lunch tasting (which I think is slightly shorter) at a different time of year to see how the cooking style shifts with the seasons - I have a feeling that come the height of summer you'd be experiencing an extremely different type of food.

Restaurant Myse

Main Street

Hovingham

York

YO26 4LF

Christmas officially begins with a final fling at Empire Cafe!

D and I are both working until lunchtime today (Christmas Eve) so we decided a treat was in order last night - since it was practically the end of term (I am in the office today and there are about three other people on a floor meant to hold several hundred. And one of them is here to water the plants).

We decided to make a final 2024 visit to one of our absolute favourite discoveries of the year, Empire Cafe, which I first mentioned on this blog back in May. Since our first visit we have been back several times - including two Sunday lunches - and it never, ever fails to delight. 

Last night, we both kicked off with one of the small plates. In honour of our recent trip to Vienna, I went for the Bratwurst and smoked cheese spring roll.

In Vienna, I discovered a delicacy called Käsekrainer, which is basically a hotdog shot through with melty cheese - this was a slightly souped up version. If you like sausage and cheese and crispy pastry then there is nothing here that you won't enjoy. Although I did think the flavour of the smoked cheese was slightly overwhelmed by the curry element in the accompanying sauce. D has a crab bread and butter pudding served with lobster butter, which, judging by the speed at which it disappeared, was very good (I should also add it smelled fantastic, and I'm not the biggest crab fan in the world).

You really come to Empire for the chicken.

Last night, my half bird came with Kashmiri butter and chilli flakes. Absolutely lush. I've never had chicken this good anywhere else (that I can recollect). Although I find half a chicken slightly too much after a rich starter, so maybe the campaign to get them to start doing quarter birds starts here?

I was slightly gutted to not have any capacity for the mince pie waffle with brandy cream and a brandy snap but may try and recreate something similar at home because, well, why wouldn't you?

Replete with chicken and cheer, we then rolled to the Leeds Everyman to watch a special screening of the Royal Ballet's "Nutcracker". Which was as full of magic and sparkle as you can imagine and a really lovely way to start the Christmas celebrations proper (this morning's trip to the coalface aside).

To anyone and everyone out there - wishing you all a very, very happy Christmas and a magical New Year!

Empire Cafe

6 Fish Street

Leeds

LS1 6DB

Riley's Fish Shack, Tynemouth

Of course, with a storm hitting the country, a red weather warning in place and wind and rain in abundance, it made perfect sense for us to drive out to the coast and choose to eat our dinner in a beach side shack. Seaside shenanigans in December? Why not!

But we love Riley's and, actually, it was one of the most atmospheric meals I think that I've ever had. The shack itself was full of heaters and blankets so it was entirely possible to be cosy while the waves murmured and crashed out in the dark. And the food here is wonderful; if you find yourself in the North East then I wholeheartedly recommend this as a venue, whatever the weather. The only disadvantage is that you have to walk up an awful lot of steps to get back into town, which is not always easy, especially after you've stuffed yourself silly on glorious seafood.

The star of the show was an unctuous squid ragu. I was initially resistant because it came topped with polenta (I am not a fan) but the waiter (and D) talked me into it, and I am grateful to them because it was utterly delicious. Squid should either be cooked very fast or very slowly, and when done slowly it becomes like velvet. But here it was velvet in a sublimely flavoured, deeply savoury red wine sauce. I need to try and recreate this at home.

But a very close second was my John Dory in Cafe de Paris butter. Beneath the blistered skin, the fish itself was as sweet and tender as a kiss and the incredible butter (which includes all good things such as anchovies and capers) was the perfect accompaniment. I devoured it, despite being rather full.

As usual, we over ordered, but were able to take some bits home with us to enjoy the next day in slightly warmer circumstances, which was a wonderful bonus. 

I cannot recommend this venue enough. Yes, on paper it might seem more of a summer jaunt, but I enjoyed our winter sojourn there; it felt oddly otherworldly. 

And a postscript - if you do happen to find yourself in Tynemouth then please, whatever you do, make sure you get to Gerald James and buy brownies. They are amazing and you will be forever grateful to me for the recommendation. You're welcome.

Riley's Fish Shack

King Edward's Bay

Tynemouth

NE30 4BY

Happy meals - Gordon Ramsay’s pork with peppers

 

There are few things my husband enjoys more than a monster pork chop. And these pork chops, from Swaledale Butchers, were indeed monsters. The layer of fat was truly obscene; these were the Marlon Brando at-the-end-of-his-life of pigs. But the meat itself was incredibly tasty and succulent.

One of our favourite ways to eat pork chops is a Gordon Ramsay recipe, which he published in his Complete Cookery Course. It is also available online - here. It's incredibly simple - peppers and red onion cooked low and slow, olive oil, a splash of vinegar, a pinch of sugar. The sweet and sour veg cut through the meat without overpowering or overwhelming the porcine star of the show. As a carb monster, it is rare that I eat a dish which solely consists of meat and veg but it is really all you need here. Although if someone were to offer me some crusty bread for mopping, I'd never turn it down.

Vienna - a tale of two dinners

The idea of being a Michelin inspector...now that, surely, is the dream job? I don't think that I'd be good at it though - I hate criticising people or bashing them and I am cripplingly polite. Seriously - it is a family trait and not a good one. I was musing about this because we went to two one-star restaurants on our recent trip to Vienna and one I adored and one I didn't but it all came down to a completely subjective view of the food being served and that's the thing - how do you divorce subjectivity from, presumably, a set of criteria that deigns something worthy of a star or not? I'm not sure I could do it.

I mean, there were plenty of reasons to like Apron. The service was fabulous - the most engaging, friendly, fabulous staff. The setting was gorgeous - dark, brooding, romantic...but with a table big enough that you didn't feel in constant danger of knocking your water glass over. A create your own tasting menu - yes, really! They have a menu of six starters, two mains and two desserts and you can pick your own five or seven courses for a set price which is extraordinary - I've never seen another restaurant do this. Everyone at the table can please themselves as well - you don't have to order the same thing. Which meant that D and I could cover all ten dishes between us by opting for a five course tasting menu. 

I say five courses, but Apron are out to break you as an eater. Before we even got to these there was a fabulous amuse of minestrone soup and Parmesan cream, some decadent snacks and a bread course that was just bonkers. It came with multiple accompaniments, the best of which was a candle MADE OF BUTTER that melted into a pork gravy. 

Once we got into the menu proper though, I started falling a bit out of love. I just didn't feel that the dishes were quite coherent enough, or sufficiently balanced. Of the starters - for me, the stand out was a glorious mushroom dish which tasted as bosky as you could possibly wish. But any textural contrasts were completely obliterated by the broth that was poured over at the table. Mains were good - I had chicken which is just not done often enough in high end restaurants - but not great. My chocolate dessert really needed some contrast from somewhere - the mango element on the plate was too sweet to balance out the delicious cremeux. Very pretty though.

The next night, we went to Pramerl and the Wolf. I thought that I was done with food at this point; it being the third night in a row we'd been for high end grub. I was wrong though - it turns out, when anything is this good, the stomach will find a way. Not a duff mouthful from start to finish; and I'd walk on coals to have the celeriac and scallop tartlet again, or the dinner rolls basted in bone marrow, or the squid and smoked eel in Parmesan cream. Service again was great, if a little more perfunctory than the night before, atmosphere good. Fabulous wine pairing - lots of interesting, natural wines which seems to be a really big deal in Austria, far more so than here.

One place, then, to which we will definitely return and one to which we will not, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either. I think, when it comes to food, what makes one's heart sing is subjective, and I wouldn't criticise anywhere for doing its thang when its thang just isn't my thang too.

Vienna - cake for breakfast

We have just had the briefest of sojourns in Vienna - three nights, two and a half days, and it wasn't nearly long enough. Usually after a holiday, I am ready to come home but this time...I would quite happily have stayed, even if just for another day or so. What a city! The architecture in the first district is, I think, the most beautiful and spectacular that I have seen anywhere in the world with a new delight around every single corner. 

Of course, being us, greedy as sin, our top priorities nearly all involved consumption of some sort or another. And yes, we did indeed have cake for breakfast. Twice.

The first - at Cafe Demel. This is one of two places that claims to have invented the famous Sachertorte and there is a permanent queue outside for both the cafe and the shop. It's just like you imagine a Viennese coffee shop to be though; ornate and twee at the same time. We breakfasted like kings (or emperors) on the aforementioned Sachertorte, apple strudel and a speciality of the house: Kaiserschmarrn. This last dish was our favourite - fluffy pancakes, torn up into scraps and dusted with sugar, served with apples, raisins and a side of stewed plums. So delicious! I'm going to try and make this at home (there are recipes online although I've not seen one yet that tucks spiced apple in amongst the pancake pieces).

The Sachertorte was...ok. The flavour combination of chocolate and apricot jam is lovely. The rich, chocolate icing was...well, rich and chocolatey although not as shiny as we were expecting (D clearly has absorbed some Bake Off lingo as he wondered out loud where the "mirror glaze" was to be found). And the cake was ever so slightly on the dry side - perhaps deliberately so, as it is served with cream and the moisture was provided by this, the jam and the coating. But, still, onwards.

The Hotel Sacher was just as gloriously Disney-esque inside as Demel, with be-suited waiters and a sweep of red carpeted stairs up to the dining room. Here we breakfasted slightly more sensibly - in that we had actual Viennese breakfast food rather than just cake. But, even so, along with a delicious bread, cheese and meat platter, the Viennese breakfast comes with a Sacher cube (Sachertorte in miniature form). D rather confused the waiter by asking for a slice of torte as well. He didn't feel that the cube would offer true like for like comparison.

Do you know - again it was only ok, and for the exact same reasons. In fact, there seemed to be practically no difference between the two although obviously impossible to fully tell without a side by side taste test. 

Regard that glorious meat and cheese plate, though! The truffled ham, in particular, was fantastic. 

So - Sachertorte ticked off the list - underwhelming, but only slightly so. Kaiserschmarrn introduced to the repertoire - happy days. Ridiculous practice of eating cake for breakfast - not to be encouraged in the normal run of things. 

Where The Light Gets In, Stockport

With so many amazing restaurants out there, and limited time and funds, a place has to be very special indeed for it to warrant a revisit. Last night was our third trip to WTLGI. That’s how much we love it.

It’s a combination of factors that make it so special. The food is wonderful - lots of different influences being effortlessly blended into a coherent whole which is absolutely a style in itself. The wine pairings are always thought provoking, with an emphasis on natural wines being an interesting point of difference. And the staff are SO lovely. Friendly, engaged, full of enthusiasm but not over the top. We always try and sit up at the kitchen counter, and watching the plating up and chatting with some of the chefs is a real treat. 

Last night we ate the fattest of oysters with locally grown ginger and shiso, a celeriac ragu which had so much flavour it would convert the most ardent root veg sceptic, and game seasoned with Middle Eastern spices and served with a silky baba ganoush. Fabulous dishes all. But nothing could beat a dense, dark chocolate and stout cake with chocolate creameux, marmalade glaze and pieces of crispy buckwheat which was utterly luscious without being in the least bit sweet. 

This morning sees us at Manchester Airport about to head off to Vienna where, no doubt, many more culinary treats await. But, wow, the trip is off to a good start.

Recipe corner: slow cooked sausage sauce (ideal for penne)

I hope that I'm not the only person out there that has an absolutely ridiculous amount of recipe bookmarks. I mean, more dishes than I could ever make in a lifetime if you count them up across all the different platforms. And still, they continue to accumulate.

There are some, though, that just lodge themselves in your head. And the fact that I recently cooked a recipe from a blog post that was originally written in 2010 just goes to show that...er, it may take 14 odd years but you might get there eventually. And, when you do, it will be splendifiourous! For this was a truly fantastic dish that I'm glad I finally roused myself to make, and will appear on our food plan again.

I believe that this is originally a River Cafe recipe, via Essex Eating, to ensure that the full credit is here in the post. It is rich and meaty and creamy and the absolute perfect pasta sauce to carry you through the autumn months. 

Ingredients

4 decent pork sausages

tbsp olive oil

Red onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, crushed or grated

1/2 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

Bay leaf

150ml red wine

400g tin tomatoes

Pinch of sugar

1/4 nutmeg

60g Parmesan, finely grated (plus the rind if you have it)

75ml double cream

Serves 2-3 with 75g pasta pp (depending on level of greed)

Over a medium heat, warm the oil and then crumble in the sausage meat, removed from its skins. Cook gently, until more fat starts to render from the sausages.

Now add the onion, garlic and dried spices and, keeping the heat relatively low, cook for 30 mins or so until the onion is golden and soft.

Add the wine, whack the heat up a notch or two, and cook briskly until all the liquid has evaporated. Then add the tomatoes, seasoning with a pinch of sugar to take off the acidity, and add the Parmesan rind as well if you happen to have it. Turn down the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Season with the nutmeg, plus salt and pepper as required (you won't need much of either), and then stir through the grated cheese and the cream.

Serve with pasta (although I actually also think this would be lovely with a cloud of mash).