The Butcher's Arms: Abbotskerswell: Devon.

Having been very remiss about remembering my duty as a roving reporter, I thought today was a good day to make amends. (Note the use of alliteration!)

So on a lovely mild and sunny day in December, the week leading to Xmas, it was time to visit and review the other local establishment in the village of Abbotskerswell, “The Butcher’s Arms”.

On first moving to this village over 5 years ago, we were warned that “The Butcher’s” wasn’t a great place for food, but in the last couple of years, with a new chef, it has improved by leaps and bounds…or so we were told!

It did not disappoint. The food is all cooked on the premises and the chef actually brings the food out to the tables when not too busy.

Four of us enjoyed a good meal. All four plates were well presented and there was plenty of quality food on the plate to fill even the emptiest of tums.

Sue had a board special of Meat Lasagne, chips and salad, which was well presented and equally good in the tasting.

Colin had one of his favourite dishes: a Fish Bake , which was equally good and again well presented.

John plumped for the Cod in Beer Batter with new potatoes which he polished off with no hesitation.

I was so very tempted to have the Steak with Stilton and Walnut sauce, but as my tummy hadn’t been so good this week decided to have a Rare Rump Steak with new potatoes, salad and coleslaw and onion rings. The steak was almost perfect, but lacked a crisp outer coat to cover the lovely juicy centre.

We decided against a desert as we were quite full and decided that a mince pie and coffee at Greystone (our place) would just finish things off nicely.

We dressed casually.

We drank J2O, beer, and fizzy water.

The cost was £41:75....not bad for a pub lunch !

General rating for: -

Presentation 4/5

Food 4/5

Ambience 3/5 sadly there were few people in at the height of lunchtime

maybe due to their being no Xmas lunch menu????

Service 4/5 

It is lovely to have two such good local pubs with excellent food in a small village like Abbotskerswell. We are, indeed, blessed.

Stann & Olly's, Belfast

Black Friday in Belfast is generally the last Friday before Christmas. This is when 90% of business Christmas parties are held and as a result, the city centre is thronged. Despite being booked into another restaurant on the trendy Lisburn Road, we spotted the eyecatching Stann and Olly's diner on the Dublin road when parking the car. We were running slightly late anyway so decided to kill two birds with one stone by letting our intended fellow diners begin without us and trying out the diner!

As Laurel and Hardy fans both, we found it hard to suppress a smile as we walked to the US style diner. The walls are covered with pictures of the famous comedy duo and large screens run their silent movies non stop. We were immediately brought to a large booth and the charming waiter decided that Leo would like a pint of beer whilst I was to apparently have one of his home made Strawberry Daiquiris! The Daiquiri, which was made in my view, was wonderful!

From the extensive menu we selected Cheesy Nachos (£4.25) and Ribs with home made BBQ sauce (£4.05) for starters, with Leo opting for the Bacon and Cheese Burger (£8.75) whilst I chose The Marilyn Monroe, a wonderfully described BBQ chicken burger. The food arrived promptly and was far better than one would expect for the archetypal US diner. Both starter plates were completely cleared but the portions were so big that I did not quite manage to polish off the Marilyn, not for the lack of effort though- it was superb!


The bill came to a reasonable €34.55.

Whist chatting with Richard, he told us that they were only open for three weeks and that this was a “soft opening” before the proper launch in January sometime. If they manage to keep up these great standards, expect Stann and Olly’s to be a roaring success!

Stann & Olly's
18 Dublin Road
Belfast BT2 7HN

028 9023 1213

Blackfriars, Newcastle

Blythe's Verdict
As a lunchtime treat on our little trip to Newcastle, to bathe in the glorious majesty that is Britney Spears' effulgent splendour, we popped along to Blackfriars, which boasts the UK's oldest dining room. It showcases local produce from the region, and if you ask nicely they'll even stretch to a mead-fuelled banquet in monastic and comely wench gear (although for that, you apparently need to bring your own spoon!).

The place is tucked neatly away, strangely enough just on the edge of Newcastle's Chinatown. It's probably not the kind of spot where you'd expect to meet four revellers fuelling-up for a Britney gig, but we were probably not your typical Spears devotees (they were already queuing outside the Metro Radio Arena, as we sat down to lunch).

Friendly waitresses welcomed us to the dining area that radiated medieval chic from every carefully turned stonework arch. And if we thought we'd escaped the tendrils of TFGE's topic of the month, 'from the tree', we were wrong, as an ancient looking item was growing in the very restaurant, clutched to a corner for dear life.

The lunch menu showed an attractive looking lunch deal, with two courses available for £12, from a generous selection of freshly prepared dishes.

In a rare aberration, I was tempted away from my usual furrow, opting to start with the black-pudding topped with a poached egg, served with brown sauce.

Soup wasn't far away, though, as Milo opted for the spiced parsnip soup. I had a little taste and it had a real depth of flavour, was rich and dark, indicating real good carmelisation from roasting the parsnips, and was quite unlike your usual version of this classic soup.

My starter was excellent. The generous slab of home-produced black pudding was expertly prepared. The poached egg offered just the right amount of goo to moisten the dish, with the fruity notes of the brown sauce adding a tidy little finish. The micro-herb coriander made the dish look very pretty, but lead it off towards a powerfully divergent vignette, so perhaps could have been replaced with something equally pretty, but a touch more subtle.

MJ's smoked salmon starter was good, although the texture was a little unusual.

The risotto looked good and tasted good.

I was hung-up on whether to go for the steak or the shepherd's pie, but our waitress steered me towards the latter. It was an excellent piece of guidance. Delving through the potato topping revealed beautifully tender pieces of lamb, with nuggets of sweet carrot. It really was first class.

The accompanying vegetables were simply prepared, but beautifully fresh. The ingredients could be allowed to speak for themselves, and they eloquently did so.

The fish and chips, sampled by Hannah and Milo, looked very good. MJ enjoyed her main course portion of the risotto, too.

We were pretty full after that, but we contemplated the desserts, momentarily. We opted for coffees to round out what had been an enjoyable introduction to Newcastle's dining scene.

Overall, I was impressed by Blackfriars. It has translated the impulse towards showcasing local ingredients into an excellent and varied menu, offering good hearty fare. The setting is something rather special, too. I'd recommend you pay it a visit, next time you're in the neighbourhood.

Scores

Blythe scores Blackfriars:
4/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for setting
3/5 for service
Giving an overall 14/20

MJ scores Blackfriars:
3/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
4/5 for setting
3/5 for service
Giving an overall 13/20

Today's Lunch Questers were: Miriam, Hannah, Milo, Blythe

We wore: pony bling, tweed, ninja badge, all-purpose clubbing footwear.

We ate: spiced parsnip soup, risotto (starter portion), black pudding, smoked salmon, risotto (main course portion), fish and chips (x2), shepherd's pie

We drank: Pilsner Urquell, water, coffees

Total bill: c.£70

Elephant & Castle, Dublin

If you type "Elephant and Castle Dublin" into Google, it will automatically prompt you to add "chicken wings" to your search, such is the popularity of the house dish.

Elephant & Castle, in the centre of Dublin's bustling Temple Bar tourist hub, has been open since 1989. It differs from most other eateries in the area in that the majority of the clients are local, it is always busy and it is extremely rare to walk in and get a table immediately.

We arrived at about 3pm on a Friday afternoon and were lucky to be seated within 5 minutes. The waiting staff were busy to the verge of being overworked but took our drinks orders immediately.

I ordered an Elderflower Cordial, whilst Leo plumped for the "Home Made Ginger Beer" while we perused the extensive and unusual menu. It was immediately noticable that most of the customers just ordered "the wings", some not even needing a menu to make their decision! I ordered the Pear and Stilton Salad, with toasted walnuts (€12.75), while Leo went for the Smoked Haddock and Gruyere Omelette (€10.75) and we agreed to the likeable waitess' suggestion that we "share a side of fries".

The omelette was cooked to perfection and the two ingredients complimented each other perfectly, whilst the salad was fresh and crisp. Suffice it to say, all plates were cleared with many shared nods of approval and an unusual (for us), lack of conversation!

The bill came to €33.00 and as as we left, our table was reset and had two new occupants about to be seated. I only hope they ventured beyond the ubiquitous chicken wings and enjoyed some of the almost hidden gems on the Elephant & Castle's menu...

Elephant & Castle
18 Temple Bar,
Dublin 2,
Ireland
(+353) 1 679 3121
www.elephantandcastle.ie

Trago Mills: Devon

Trago Mills: Devon

The blurb tells us that: -

“Thousands travel from far and wide to save fortunes on the biggest range of discounted goods in the West Country from carpets to paperclips - and to enjoy the superb family leisure facilities set in 100 acres of rolling South Devon countryside, including magnificent narrow gauge Steam Railway, Supakarts and Family Go-Karts, all weather skating, Bumper Boats, Trawler Rides and Swan Pedalos, Trampolines, Aquablasters, Orbitors, Shooting Gallery, Remote Control Cars and Cruisers, Forklifts and Mini Diggers, Slide Complex, Fun Dungeon, The Den Animal Park, Fort Trago, Picnic Area, Edwardian Penny Arcade and the finest 00 Gauge Model Railway in the UK!”

This is Trago Mills in Newton Abbot, Devon. It is the sort of place you find all sorts of things which you don’t really need, but that could be useful in the future!

We found ourselves there once more…we seem to find ourselves there quite often as the prices are reasonable and they are brilliant for DIY bits etc. Our friends were going there and we said we would meet them there for lunch

The new restaurant…it opened at the end of the summer season… is bright, clean, spacious and really quite boring. There is a predictable fare of Lasagne / Roast Beef / Fish and chips / Meat or Chicken Pie etc. The puddings consist of bread and butter pudding or apple and raisin pie and a selection of buns. I guess that is what your tourist wants and to be fare it was quite busy…mostly with retired people!

Dave and I went for the Roast Beef dinner and Colin, Sue and their friend went for Cod and Chips.

The Roast Beef dinner consisted of 2 thin slices of beef a few boiled potatoes, a few roast potatoes and a dry, but perfectly formed Yorkshire pudding with a choice of 2 out of 3 awful vegetables of frozen peas, carrots and some sort of tasteless swede!

Dave had asked for an extra helping of roast potatoes instead of boiled and he was happy with the mega amount of potato on his plate...but I prefer quality to quantity and that was definitely missing.

The Cod on the plates of the other three were huge, but I think the batter made up for some of the length.

Colin’s cod was certainly more battered than the other’s. Colin said that it was ok, except for the same tasteless frozen peas.

The saving grace was that we had not spent a fortune on this meal and it filled empty tums.

The tea and coffee was good value: 80p per cup / pot. I was pleased to see a jug of tap water, which reminded me of school dinners, but at least I didn’t have to pay for it!

Roast Dinner

Mel gives Trago : -
2/5 for food
2/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
giving an overall /7/15

Colin gives Trago: -
3/5 for food
2/5 for presentation
3/5 for setting
giving an overall 8/15

Price

£4:99 for each plate of food

80p for a pot of tea or cup of coffee

No one could face the puddings.

For me it is a place to eat if there is nowhere else.

Lime Lounge, Bath

This is a lunch quest update from Blythe’s sometime widget advisor, Angus and his travelling companions Helen and Kate, who all find themselves in Bath and in search of an independent lunch location. Bath is, of course, famous for its geologically heated spas, both historic and contemporary, so it seems appropriate to mention that prior to searching out lunch, our group enjoyed the atmosphere of the Roman Baths.

Included as part of the tour is the ability to sample a glass of the earth warmed natural spring water which apparently contains 43 minerals! Quite how this mineral count compares to Edinburgh’s trusty tap water is not known to me, and what properties these minerals impart was also not explained.

Anecdotally those in the queue seemed agreed they are “very good for you” although I am not sure this could have been backed up by a double blind clinical trial. Having all tried the water, I can report that both my dining companions screwed up their faces, and Kate reported that “it tastes like blood and there was too much iron”! This is actually not an unfair representation of the effect of drinking warm and slightly salty water.

Your correspondent found it reasonably palatable (perhaps I have hitherto undiscovered vampire tendencies?) and ended up drinking two glasses hoping for a double dose of goodness. All I can authoritatively report is that I wasn’t the least bit thirsty come lunchtime.


In terms of presentation the spring water is served from 3 spouts emanating from a two foot high Edwardian styled stone urn on a large stone pedestal, with the spa water flowing into the mouths of three ornate leaping fish. It goes without saying that this knocks into a cocked hat pretty much anything that even the most ostentatious contemporary bar can rustle up.

My scores for the spa water at the Spa Fountain at Bath Pump Rooms are as follows:
2/5 for food (or maybe this should be taste, as water having no calories doesn’t constitute lunch, anyway, while not unacceptable, “bloody water” doesn’t score highly for flavour or “mouthfeel”)
5/5 for presentation (I feel Edwardian urns should be used to dispense my beverages more frequently)
5/5 for service (which came with a smile, although that may have been the server’s bemusement at the number of punters willing to queue up and drink warm slightly salty water )
4/5 for setting (the Pump House is a bit cavernous and feels like Barbara Cartland might be wheeled in at any moment)

Water contains no calories (even naturally warmed water with 43 minerals) so we move on to find lunch and walked up towards the Royal Crescent, the famous row of Georgian residences overlooking Bath.

Having concluded that while it was all very nice, really what was needed was some food. Luckily the Lime Lounge in Margaret’s Buildings was just a minute’s walk away and provided a table outdoors and the offer of fleece blankets to keep us warm! This is a tradition I first encountered in the evening at in beach side bars in Estonia and one to be recommended as the sign of an establishment that understands it clients and their needs. Having said that, we turned down the offer, as the sun was still shining and the walk up Bath’s valley sides had warmed us up.

Service from our waitress was friendly and bubbly, and refreshingly like being back in the US, where keeping the punters happy is pretty much the norm. We kept our food order simple, and ordered the soup of the day and cream scones.


We can report that the Pea soup tasted and felt properly home-made (with proper bits of pea in it) and had nicely presented balsamic vinegar drizzled in lines on the surface, which both tasted and looked good. The bread served was warm and tasty, although I would have preferred to see more bread, and the butter served in a dish rather than the little individually wrapped butters, which are seem impossible to eat without ending up with both bread and knife handle covered in butter.


The scones were warm and moist and the cream served in proper dish, with individual jam samples and quickly got demolished by Kate. As a seasoned fan of the muckle big Scottish scone, I would say these were a bit on the dainty side, and in an ideal world, they should be a wee bit more substantial. However, there were no complaints from my companions. A debate did start on the order in which scone, jam and cream should be combined. We all agreed the scone goes on the bottom, but after that we failed to agree whether cream or jam follows. (Answers on a postcard please, c/o Mrs Trellis of North Wales).


As far as drinks go, your correspondent had a very tasty latte and Helen and Kate had bottled coke (skooshy coke would be outlawed if they had their way), which came with plenty of ice, lemon and lime and therefore met all the key criteria.

Margaret’s Buildings is a pedestrianized street of Georgian blonde stone full of the kind of shops which fit the browsing category, including a shop offering to fulfil both “my Alpine needs” and sell me strudel from its basement strudel bar! So plenty of quirky goodness available for those that like to browse.


Our outside table had an elegant vase with equally elegant flowers (which provided a good subject for photography), plus, without asking, an ecologically sound refillable bottle of tap water (another US dining habit that it’s good to see appearing as part of the UK dining experience). Inside the Lime Lounge was a compact bistro with a lively lunchtime buzz, and the menu looked easily extensive and attractive enough to warrant an evening visit.



Scores

Angus scores Lime Lounge:
4/5 for food (very tasty, but bigger scones please)
4.5/5 for presentation
5/5 for service (where nothing was too much trouble)
5/5 for setting
giving an overal 18.5/20

Today’s lunch questers were: Angus, Helen and Kate

We ate: Pea soup, and scones with cream and jam

We drank: spa water earlier, followed by Latte and Coke

Kate wore: A look of disgrace as her mother tries to tell her that the jam goes on the scone first and then the cream gets splodged on top.

Helen wore: Military jacket and heels, and a look of bemusement at Kate’s response.

Angus wore: The smile of someone enjoying weekday autumn sunshine on his face.

Total bill: c£20

www.limeloungebath.co.uk

Musa

Following Scotland's much welcomed three-day summer, I thought I'd celebrate by heading to the granite north. Actually, this trip had been in the diary for a while, as I was heading there for my friend Arlene's 40th birthday celebrations.

Tweed-clad and thoroughly hungover, I emerged on the platform at Aberdeen station looking rather bewildered. I soon got my bearings and headed for the little station cafe with a merry band of fellow revellers. I took coffee, in attempt to waken-up my liver bile.

Once joined by the birthday girl, we headed out in to the big bad world, alighting upon Musa, after a little wander.
Musa is a Brewdog house, featuring their unusual brand of super-strength beers. Aside from these alcoholic 'delights', it features a quirky two-tier layout, and a simple menu augmented by a good array of daily specials.

I needed comforting sustenance, so opted for their soup of the day, the currently ever-presented celeriac, this time married with courgette, followed by a plate of risotto. My fellow diners, Heather and Ravi, opted for liquid refreshment in the form pinot grigio and a twig-water concoction called 'zeitgeist'. Alistair joined me in a risotto adventure, with the birthday girl opting for an interesting sounding dish comprising smoked haddock and a poached egg.


My soup was fair, but the flavour combination didn't realise particularly satisfying results. The effect was a non-specific savoury taste, which though pleasant enough didn't really excite. It had texture trouble, too, as it hadn't been blitzed to a smooth velvet, but equally didn't retain enough of a rustic coarseness.


The risotto fared much better. I opted for the smoked haddock and crayfish from their specials menu, rather than their main menu's wild mushroom. It was beautifully suffused with smokey sweetness, and although the rice was a touch underdone, it was a satisfying plate of goodness, highlighting some quality local ingredients.



Arlene's main course wasn't a looker, but it had an alluring aroma. I think she was pretty happy with her choice.


Musa struck me as reliable but unspectacular. Next time I'm in town, I'll probably try somewhere else, but it did the job of restoring me to something approaching a reasonable sense of wellbeing, so for that I will remain thankful.

Scores

Blythe scores Musa:
3/5 for food
3/5 for presentation
3/5 for service
3/5 for setting
giving an overall 12/20

Today's Lunch Questers were: Arlene, Alistair, Heather, Ravinder, Blythe.

We ate: celeriac and courgette soup, risotto, smoked haddock with poached egg.

We drank: Brooklyn lager, pinot grigio, something called Zeitgeist, unleaded coke, leaded coke, water.

We wore: the simple weeds of frustration at the lack of a Scottish St Luke's summer.

Total Bill: c.£50

Musa
Exchange Street
Aberdeen
http://www.musaaberdeen.com/

The Beardmore Hotel

I don't get to the west quite as much as I once did, but today my travels took me all the way to in Clydebank.

The Beardmore is owned by the NHS, attached to the Golden Jubilee Hospital, and offers excellent conference facilities. Indeed, it's Scotland's current 'Conference Hotel of the Year.'

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the lunch, but was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a very cheery woman who ushered in the prospect of a plate of hot food in the hotel's main, simply appointed, dining room.

From a curious array of hot buffet selections, I chose coley with half a baked potato and vegetables.


I had a pretty bad experience when I last ate coley, at Spoon. On that occasion, the fish was way too salty. This time, the two pieces of fish could used some more liberal seasoning and a few extra chives and a good twist of pepper to give the chive cream sauce a little more oomph wouldn't have gone amiss.

The fish was pretty good, though, and wasn't as horribly overcooked as fish can be sometimes when served this way. The potato and veg were decent enough, with the veg retaining a good crunch.

Overall, this was a pretty good conference lunch. A bit more attention to seasoning, particularly with the sauce, would have elevated this, but it was a very acceptable plate of food.

Scores

Out of 20, Blythe scores The Beardmore
3/5 for food
2/5 for presentation
3/5 for service
3/5 for setting
giving an overall 11/20

Today's Lunch Quester was: Blythe.

I ate: coley in a chive sauce, baked potato and vegetables.

I wore: a charcoal suit befitting an ashen-faced Tuesday.

Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre
Beardmore Street
Clydebank
Glasgow
G81 4SA
www.thebeardmore.com

KLM and Schipol

In the times I've flown with KLM, I've usually had pretty good experiences. Flights have generally run to time, food has been totally passable, and as a transit hub I've always really enjoyed Schipol.

Today, I had an early flight from Istanbul's excellent Ataturk Airport, leaving at the ungodly 5.50am. This meant that KLM were going to feed me more of a Breakfast Quest, but let's apply a little in-flight poetic licence.

The coffee beat the shit out of Air France, almost resembling something you might be comfortable drinking on terra firma. Their breakfast was a little more problematic.

First off, the attendant handed me the cellophane-wrapped item with no indication that was what contained therein was hot. Not a good move, particularly given my sensitive, girlish paws.


Next up, the item was a real mystery meal. As I bit in, I was pretty sure it was some sort of sweet pastry, perhaps an apricot croissant. By halfway, I would have said perhaps simply a "fruit" croissant. Then the next bite had a little stringyness to it. Cheese? Indeed it was. An inspection of the label revealed it was a cheese and tomato croissant.

Given that I was flying back from Turkey, where kunefi (which I tend to refer to as cheesy bird's nest) is a popular dessert item, perhaps this was some curious attempt at satisfying a multi-cultural audience with something that could be perceived as both a savoury or sweet breakfast item, depending on the training of your tastebuds. But then a piece of carrot cake arrived afterwards to undermine my generous interpretation.

So, basically KLM have managed to give cheese and tomato the taste of jam. Well done them, but I'd really rather they'd kept this remarkable breakthrough to themselves ;-)

The carrot cake, one of Cake Quest's "Big Three" was very moist, but had a rather disturbing sugary crunch to it, that felt like rawness. I suppose I should admit that this is the first piece of carrot cake I've ever eaten (I don't really do dessert, as you may have heard), so I don't have a frame of reference, but it was pretty good aside from the curious crunch, although way too sweet for anything beyond occasional consumption.


On this first part of the journey, KLM provided me with a couple of memorably weird items. I was wide awake with the intense sugariness, so that might be considered a positive for anyone who might want to be awake at this hour. For me, I could have lived without it.

Onwards to Schipol, where I initially stuck to my initial routine: head for Murphy's, drink beer and phone home. But four hours in the boozer from 8 until 12 is pushing it even for my liberal tastes, so I decided to venture off in to previously unexplored regions of the airport.

I'm bloody glad I did, as the place was extremely impressive. First priority was to see whether my comprehensive failure to find some quality items of Istanbulian tat for MJ's delectation could be addressed with the acquisition of some clog/tulip/windmill-based Dutchness. Aside from a brief dalliance with mugs in the Rijksmuseum shop (I know - in the frickin' airport!) that had two big handles that had something to do with your grandparents' ears, it soon became clear that the answer was no, sadly. My failure to engage with Old City tourist tat is something I will seek to rectify on the next visit to my favourite city.

I digress. My wanderings led me to 'The Brasserie', which was a fairly standard looking place, but I had a feeling it would suit my needs pretty nicely. Their 'intercontinental breakfast' was a poorly concealed Full English. I opted to augment the offering with a side of scrambled eggs and a glass of cava (why should't baked beans be served with sparkling wine?!). The real joy here was the proper cripsy bacon, which is something you rarely see in The Netherlands. The rest was good stodge which I was grateful to devour.



Further wanderings led me to a cafe which served me a cappuccino that did the job. This rounded out a really good stopover, which flew past in a couple of hours of wandering, appreciation, and enjoyment.

It firmly reinforced my view of Schipol as an enjoyable airport, far in advance of the shitstorm that is CdG, where you can happily spend a couple of hours with minimum fuss and maximum relaxation.

For the short hop home to Edinburgh, we were once more thrust back in to decided mediocrity. How difficult is it to get people on-board the plane?! The staff didn't have clue one. The service was as poor as you could possibly imagine.

Given that this was a lunchtime flight, we were in coffee and pretzels territory. The coffee was the same quality as the previous flight, so pretty decent, and the little salted corn chips were really very good.


So, overall KLM have some weaknesses, but they're so well served by their hub at Schipol that you can forgive them some of their whimsical forays in to the land of culinary weirdness.

I ate: hot cheese and tomato croissant, carrot cake, intercontinental breakfast, corn chips.

I drank: coffees, sparkling water, cava.

I wore: linen travelling suit.

Air France, International Airspace

Why shouldn't we review airplane food, as well?!

From Edinburgh to Istanbul, I had to negotiate two short , with a little stop in Charles de Gaulle.

The initial hop to Paris takes around 90 minutes, and allows only time for a little light snack. This took the form of this little array of goodies:


I have to say that the rose wine was very acceptable. Its light crispness coupled with a real sense of pink grapefruit gave this a really refreshing quality. If I were to be so bold, I might suggest that it would make an ideal breakfast wine, if you were ever looking for such a daring item. The pretzelly things were standard saltiness. The 'coffee drink' was so appalling that Air France should be ashamed on themselves for even bothering, particularly given that they seemed more than capable of producing a much better approximation of an acceptable beverage on my next flight. I decided to forego the biscuits.

Upon landing in the horror dimension that is Charles de Gaulle, I had the obligatory bus ride to the woefully poor terminal 2F. Here, you are given two culinary choices: bad sandwiches in the brightness; or bad sandwiches in the less bright. Having spotted a couple of friendly-faced fellow travellers testing merlot on comfy sofas, I turned to the dark side ;-)

I saved myself the agony of the woeful food, sticking to leisurely drained pints of adequate Heineken.

Basically, CdG is to be avoided, unless you're planning to bump in to people who will ensure your time there is enjoyably spent in easy banter and light boozing, or if economic conditions make your trip there pleasingly pecuniarily prudent.

The flight to Istanbul is around three hours, meaning you have a chance to play with an airplane food tray. My great guilty pleasure in this regard is the sense in which I feel compelled to eat dessert, a course with which I have an uneasy relationship, and with Air France this usually means something rich and chocolatey. Imagine my horror on being confronted with this:


Where's my blinkin' cakey treat?

Oh well, on with the game of identify the mystery attempts at food. The starter veggie thing, like a little caponata, I guess, was pretty good. The courgettes retained a little crunch, and there was flavour in evidence. The cous cous main had that flavour, too, although it probably shouldn't have bothered. The roll was bad, the cheese was good, but no butter, not even upon request! Sacre bleu! ;-)

The red wine was pretty ordinary, but they did get the coffee much better, and they finally produced a piece of fruitcake to ease my lack-of-dessert torment.


Overall, Air France aren't great. As a national carrier for a nation of gastronomes, they're a complete disgrace. People must sit in CdG scratching their heads thinking 'this is supposed to be France, non?' Their airplane food is OK, with their wine generally decent, but nothing can make up for the woeful airport experience.

I fly KLM on my return journey, so look forward to another slab of Dutch butter cake with my rubbish coffee, next week.

I drank: red and rose wine, lager, coffee, "coffee drink" approximation.

I ate: pretzels, caponata, cous cous, bread and cheese, fruit cake.

I wore: linen travelling suit.

Il Forno, Roerkade, Roermond, The Netherlands

Fresh off the heels of my trip to Vice Versa, I sampled another of Roermond’s wonderful restaurants, Il Forno, just a few doors down. Now, I like Italian food. A lot. And I like fish. Even more. In this restaurant I had fish cooked in an Italian style. Winner.

For me the quintessential Italian restaurant should have several qualities - free flowing, cheap but wonderful wine, an atmosphere where you are at home laughing your ass off with friends or family round the table not worrying if the waiter will tell you off, and above all absolutely no menu. Just give me what you have that is fresh. Il Forno does all of these things and much, much more.

From the outside, Il Forno doesn’t really give the impression of being a good restaurant or a bad restaurant, just somewhere you might get some grub. Inside, there are maybe 20 tables catering for parties of two or ten with a small bar on the right had side and kitchens through the back. The first thing I like about this restaurant is that it is run by a bona fide Italian chap called Leo who loves his football (as testified by the Inter Milan shirt proudly hanging in the back), and his wonderful Dutch wife Frances. There is nothing worse than going into an Italian and having some ned moaning “boanjoorno” at you - I demand authenticity!

After being seated, my Dad, my wife and I ordered drinks (a beer for me, and wine for them) and waited for our waitress. We were asked only one question - would we like meat, fish or a combination? Fantastic! We all plumped for the fish. About ten minutes later appeared three small dishes on which sat a huge mussel generously smothered in a tangy tomato and basil sauce and covered in parmesan, grilled in the oven. Seriously, a little bite of heaven. As an amuse bouche (wait, think Italian....amusio bouchio) it was unrivaled. Next up came a seafood bisque. I am yet to find out what was in it as every mouthful was different but equally scrumptious. There was definitely calamari, tuna, some form of white fish (haddock maybe), mussels, clams and an array of herbs all mixed in with fresh tomatoes. I was truly sad to finish this dish and would have been happy to finish my meal with another bowl of the same! For main course came two pieces of expertly grilled fish - we reckon they were sea bass and sea bream, served plain with a wedge of lemon and a drizzle of garlic and parsley sauce and a side dish of pasta with jumbo prawns for us to share. It was wonderful in both its simplicity and tastiness.

We followed it up with a cappuccino for me and espresso for Dad and the wife. It was proper Italian stuff - rich and with an aroma which reminded me of a wonderful afternoon spent in Roman cafe’s with the wife last year. After a cheeky complimentary limoncello (Dad went straight for the grappa) we headed for home, suitably full and ready for an afternoon snooze.

I should add that I have been to this restaurant many times, probably thirty, and every time I have had the fish, every time it has been completely different and every time it has been wonderfully tasty. You can phone ahead to request something special, a whole lobster or a dozen oysters, and Leo and Frances will do their utmost to find them for you. I can’t vouch for the meat as the fish is so good I have never gotten around to trying it, but the diners around us did and they looked suitably impressed.

I love this place, and so should you. If you like fresh fish, expertly cooked it an authentic Italian atmosphere then this is your place. The only problem is that it is in the south of Holland. If it was in Istanbul, I would be there every week.

Food 5/5 - fishy goodness
Presentation 4/5 - simple rustic Italian
Service 4/5 - no hassle, very relaxed
Setting 4/5 - damn you for being in Holland!

Overall 17/20

The Court farm Inn: Abbotskerswell: Devon

Before I get down to writing the important review of my recent lunch quest, here is a little about the Village of Abbotskerswell in Devon where you will find two very good Inns: The Butcher's Arms and the Court Farm Inn.

Abbotskerswell was once owned by Ethelhilda, one of King Alfred's daughters. She owned the main manor house in Saxon times. During this time the area that is now known as Abbotskerswell, was known as Cress Springs in the Abbot of Sherborne. In 1806, Abbotskerswell was recorded in the Doomsday book under the name of 'Carswelle'. From this the name Abbotskerswell derived some years later. So there is your potted history lesson of a village you have probably never heard of in Devon.

The Court Farm Inn is where we decided to celebrate our friend, Dave's, 65th birthday. On arrival we were greeted with warm, friendly smiles and were directed to our table. The main menus were already on the table, but we were given an A4 sheet with the specials of the day, which saved us from having to go to the other side of the bar and try and memorize all that was on the special's board.

The birthday "boy" decided on the Smoked Haddock Fish Cakes “A combination of smoked haddock, mozzarella cheese, potato and spring onion in a crispy crumb coating, served with chipped potatoes and a crisp salad” It was beautifully presented and he thoroughly enjoyed this, but he wasn’t keen on the salad. In hindsight he should have asked for vegetables instead, but that was really his own fault!

His partner, Sue, decided on the Chicken Supreme.
“Butterfly breast of chicken topped with a creamy smocked bacon & parmesan sauce, served with sauté potatoes and fresh vegetables” Sue was surprised, at first, the chicken was in one piece as she had eaten the same dish in other places, and it had always been made with small chicken pieces. Also, she had not realized that it came in a bacon and parmesan sauce. She shared a healthy looking bowl of vegetables with Colin. She also enjoyed her meal.

Colin chose a Lamb Shank, “slowly braised in red wine and rosemary, served on a bed of creamed mashed potato” He shared a bowl of vegetables with Sue. Again, the presentation was very good and Colin said it was delicious. The meat was cooked beautifully and simply fell off the bone!

I was the only one who chose from the specials menu and I selected the Half a Roast Duck “in Plum and sweet chilli sauce on bed of stir fried vegetables, new potatoes and topped with parsnip crisps.

The Duck was beautifully cooked in its sauce and the stir- fried veggies were very tasty!

And so to the puddings…all made by Debbie on the premises...

Sue ordered a Fruit Pavlova Meringue.

I ordered a Lemon, Ginger Crunch.

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Both deserts were beautifully presented and absolutely delicious, but Sue’s Pavlova was HUGE!!!! She couldn’t finish it all.

A successful meal and a very enjoyable evening.

Scores

Food 4/5
Presentation 4/5
Service 5/5
Setting 5/5
Giving an overall 18/20

Lunch Questers were :Dave, Sue, Mel and Colin

We drank: red wine, white wine, local beer.

The Total Bill came to: £69.25

The Claycutters, Chudleigh Knighton

Where to lunch is a very important decision that one needs to make carefully, especially in retirement. The reason is that we are older and wiser (or so we believe) and have had good, bad and indifferent experiences of dining in various eateries all over the country and indeed in many far away places too.

Today we were going out to lunch with friends who are Devonians: John is a retired farmer, who hasn’t quite retired and he and his wife Sue run a B&B in Teigngrace, Devon. Maybe there should be a B&B Quest (great idea - Ed)

Being born and bred in Devon they know many local people and it is through the “word of mouth” wire that eateries are praised and recommended or, alas, bow down and die.

Neil and Julie, formerly of The Highwayman’s Haunt at Chudleigh have recently taken over the management of this pub and John had heard some good things about the menu and the staff, so we decided to try it out for ourselves.

The place came across as a traditional yet quaint (in the good sense of the word) pub with a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff. There are many seating areas to choose from with the addition of a patio area.

As well as the traditional bar and a la carte menus, which are packed full of local, seasonal produce, they provide a Light Lunch menu where one could select a main course for £6.95 or a main and a desert for £8.95. There are also specials on the blackboards, which change daily. I was also told that they offer an extensive wine list and choice of well-kept Real Ales.

So to the two menus, which were both good, interesting, varied and reasonably priced. We decided to order from the Light Lunch menu, as John and Sue had warned us that the portions were very generous.

Colin chose the roast of the day, which happened to be turkey. It was well presented and obviously sourced from fresh produce (I just hate frozen veggies!) The gravy was homemade. His only criticism was that the turkey was over salted, though it was nice to see chunks of turkey and not just transparent slithers.

Sue, John and I all went for the beef and onion pie with new potatoes and peas. It was a move away from my regular type of meal and I was not disappointed. It came piping hot and was absolutely delicious. Underneath the dramatic puff pastry was locally sourced, minced, rump steak blended with onions to give a tasty and satisfying kick to the palate. The potatoes were plain and sweet and I did add a touch of mayonnaise to them, which livened them a little. The peas were few, but the pie made up for that. The verdict from all was positive.


Our choice of drinks wasn’t too imaginative as we didn’t want wine at lunchtime. Sue and I had J20 apple and mango, (no ice…don’t you just hate it when your drink is watered down by melting ice!) John had an appletiser and Colin had half a pint of Otter bitter.

We all decided that we were glad we didn’t go for the full menu as having seen some of the other customer’s orders it was extremely generous and too much for us for a lunch.

The couple opposite us had the Chicken Korma option, which looked wonderful. There were beautiful big chunks of chicken on a bed of rice, served with poppadoms. When I asked her what she thought she said she was disappointed as it was rather bland and very “70’s”, with too many things like raisins and not enough spice!

And so the desserts. Colin decided that as I had made apple and blackberry crumble the night before, he wouldn’t partake, but the rest of us decided we would.

John ordered the blackberry and apple crumble and when it arrived, his heart sank. It was huge, but he managed to finish most of it and thoroughly enjoyed it. The custard on the side was a nice idea as then he could put as little or as much custard on the crumble as he wanted.

Sue and I both have a weakness for proifiteroles, so that is what we ordered, and we were not disappointed. 5 fresh profiteroles topped with clotted cream on home made chocolate sauce. I thought I had died and gone to heaven, and so wonderfully presented. The waitress even came back with a longer handled and smaller spoon to make it easier to eat. Oh yes…to die for!


So that completed our lunch as we decided we didn’t have any room left for coffee! We'll be going back to sample the full menu sometime soon!


Scores

Food 4/5
Presentation 4/5
Service 5/5
Setting 5/5
Giving an overall 18/20

Lunch Questers were Sue, John, Colin and Mel

The Total Bill came to: £41.70

The Claycutters
Chudleigh Knighton
DEVON TQ13 OEY