Gor blimey, a trip to the East End last night culminated with a meal under Hoxton station rail arches at Beagle. A restaurant that only opened this year with two rooms - bar and restaurant - both big and noisy. We liked the interesting menu and high quality ingredients used in all of their dishes but their service was some of the best we have experienced; very knowledgeable, very friendly and unpatronising young staff - who are clearly having everything explained to them in the kitchen and probably tasting most of it too - hooray! Mutton was served pink with a plate full of runner beans and anchovy. The Essex Bird in the picture (from Radwinter Wild Game) is partridge, with Jerusalem artichokes and watercress. It's still early in the season for partridge so wait a little longer for the weather to get cold, then they will have a nice layer of fat to make the meat more tender.
I love you Tracey - I buy the Independent on Saturday just for you. Now I've got that out of the way let's see where she went. This time she came to eat in Beccles, at Upstairs at Baileys, and gave it four stars (out of five) for the food. With lots of seafood, stews and casseroles and chefs brought over from Barcelona to cook it all. Haven't been there yet but will be going there very soon - when I've remembered where Beccles is.
Imagine our surprise when we went for lunch yesterday at Tom's new restaurant 'Picture' because Tracey reviewed it in the paper on Saturday and I remembered I hadn't been there to see what he is doing after Arbutus (and of course because he was in BSE at the Angel before that) and Giles Coren was there having lunch too! What a buzz! Does this mean that here at simple old suffolkfoodie we are going to places WITH the critics?
Anyhoo, enough about us, look at the food! £15 for a three course lunch with two choices, with free bread and the kind of service we should be expecting everywhere. Our water was replaced three times - as we drank it - without any fuss or hovering, and it was tap water which wasn't charged for either. We had a carafe of house white which was a lovely fruity Chardonnay. I had the plum tomatoes with goats curd salad dressed with merlot vinegar as a starter, the other choice being potato and fennel soup with smoked bacon and parsley. Followed by courgette and oregano risotto with grilled artichoke while the others had Elwy Valley lamb breast, with coco beans and cavalo nero, and for dessert I had marscapone and vanilla yoghurt with redcurrants glistening like rubies on the top, or there was chocolate mousse with scottish raspberries and honeycomb. Yum Yum Yum.
Nice sunny place, wonderful food, great hosts, not very busy on Saturdays (at the moment...) and only 90 minutes from Suffolk - take note - people-who-charge-£15-for-crap-burgers. And Giles Coren is much younger in real life than he looks in the paper - you will have to take my word for it, he left before we could get a picture of what he was eating.
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They offered us another meal, we went back, it was much nicer.
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welcome cocktails - pisco sours
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the preparation
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ingredients and equipment
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Martin with his new book
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the mixture is ready
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tasting the results
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And what fun it was! On Aldeburgh beach, in a fishermans hut complete with Page Three wallpaper out the back, we had a Pisco Sour - a Peruvian cocktail with enough of a kick to make me give Johny Cakes half of mine because I was driving. Then the masterclass where we made sea bass ceviche under the expert guidance of Martin Morales, whose book we are giving away in our competition and who is our latest Dish of the Day. Then a four course dinner, with another cocktail and shared at two big tables with all the other pop-up diners, including two Peruvian ladies who live in Ipswich and Stowmarket and gave me an even better insight into the food and culture, and who might even be persuaded to do their own food thing in the future.
Things like this don't happen every day in Suffolk - we were very lucky foodies.
The only table for four at this popular and crowded restaurant was at 5pm or 9pm so we went for the latter. I say crowded because it wasn't just busy - it was packed. We had to wait for our table so had a drink at the bar, which by 9pm you need to get in minutes, then nice starters (onion rings and Moons Green beer sticks, a delicious and great value biltong) Another wait for mains to arrive so that eventually we asked where it was, and then huge disappointment... (I think we were really a bit over-excited, Mark) Meat with little flavour, over-cooked chicken, a rare steak that was ordered as medium, so went back to be done again. A rare rib of beef (for two to three people) that we were told 'takes a long time to cook' and 'is best served medium to melt the fat marbling the meat', which I thought was gristle, but why not tell us that when we order? And the ensuing feedback to the concerned front of house staff that we feel will contribute, is embarassing and pointless for a restaurant of this calibre. Yes we like the cow in formaldehyde artwork but the meat could have come from the case hanging above us. The only good thing was the bill, at £35 a head it was a lot less than we expected. But then we're from Suffolk - where some of the steaks are proper good.
Wow! I just ate Plaice Florentine at Zest; the training restaurant attached to West Suffolk College. It was absolutely perfect. They have a sweet trolley too, and today it featured a Malted Chocolate Tart, Strawberry Bavarois, Rose scented Creme Brulee and a hot option of Sticky Toffee Pudding. You can't buy the ingredients for the £9.50 charged for 3 courses. Book a table and see for yourself. They also do a fabulous new takeaway menu.
More...
The Mince Pie Project is a 72 hour mince pie marathon, raising funds for Galvin’s Chance and Crisis. You have just a day left to bid and could bag yourself a fantastic box of mince pies made by a top UK chef.
Last Friday night, late - nearly 10pm, suffolkfoodie and gang felt peckish and had to think hard where to get a good late night snack in Bury St Edmunds. Then we remembered the newly opened Graze... We were welcomed with a smile and enjoyed some impressive small plates of excellent food. One of our favourites were the Haggis and Rabbit Bon Bons. The wine was good too!
Well while we are in London we might as well go out for breakfast too...so here we are at Albion, the cafe at Boundary - Terence Conran - for a full English and kidneys on toast. It was listed as £ rather than £££ in our guide but at £8.50 for kidneys (just kidneys, no sauce, on dry toast) it soon adds up. But couldn't fault the ingredients and we were asked if we prefer streaky or back bacon which is a nice touch as I always prefer streaky, given the choice. Apart from thinking the waiter was going to ask us for a pound to get a hot drink (strange uniforms...) it was a nice start to the day.
Paul Foster is making his name with restaurant critics and is due to appear on The Great British Menu on TV next month. He's Head Chef at Tuddenham Mill. Lunch today was very good indeed with the menu featuring some interesting herbs, some of which I believe are foraged locally. Pictured is my main course of potato terrine, artichoke, mushrooms and watercress. I am pretty sure the plate has chickweed on. What does everyone think?
A set lunch is £20 for two courses and £25 for three courses, with both an amuse bouche and very generous plate of home baked breads. A bit of a treat for a Monday!