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.