Last Day of Summer at Salt & Malt

The first Sunday in September was one of the hottest days in many weeks. The lovely Jane and her partner Harv had arranged a day trip to Chew Valley Lake to sample Josh Eggleton's most recent venture, Salt & Malt. After opening the café last December a restaurant was soon swiftly added on for evening diners. Where they could enjoy a proper fish supper but also offering a wider menu selection than the café such as fresh seafood and burgers. As it was such a glorious day we decided to sit on the benches outside. The café menu offers cod, haddock and fishcakes, all the fish is sourced from Cornwall delivered every day so you only get the freshest produce. We all decided to go for the cod and chips which came with peas and tartar sauce. 

fish n chip lunch (photo credit James Harvey)

late Summer feasting (photo credit James Harvey)

fish and peas up close

Easily the best battered fish I've ever had, it was crunchy without being greasy and the fish was wonderfully fresh. And those peas, flavoursome, ever so slightly crushed with a creaminess to them, I was lucky enough to have some of Rich's peas, I couldn't get enough of them. I enjoyed the chips, although not the best I've had they were very tasty. I could have done with a couple more, but then who doesn't want more chips? 

looking over the lake

Salt & Malt offers lovely food at a decent price, a fish supper to takeaway is £6.95 for example, and on a day as beautiful as the day we went it was extra glorious. Well recommended for a day trip just out of Bristol. To find out more about Salt & Malt visit their website. 

Steak Night at the Old Crown in Bath

Last week I popped over to visit the parents after work. Both mum and dad had been raving about the steak night at the local pub, which had recently had a revamp. So I decided to join them to see for myself, all in the interests of science of course. Weston village really has never had any decent pubs, well not since I've been of legal drinking age, which is not for a lady to say how long that's been so mind your beeswax. We had reserved a table as mum had assured me it got quite busy, particularly on steak night. So we sat down at our table and quickly ordered a bottle of Tempranillo and the steak night deal; 10oz rump steak, fries and salad for £10.

It was nice to receive a thick steak for a change. Mine came perfectly medium rare like I had requested. It was really well seasoned and nice and juicy. Dad's was a bit blue for his liking, because it was a thicker steak than ours, so with no fuss they cooked a bit more and brought back quickly. It was nice to see  the salad not being an afterthought. They had roasted tomatoes ribboned carrots and cucumber and added a nice dressing. For £10 this was an absolute steal. I was really impressed they really pulled out the stops to make sure you have a tasty steak. The only addition would be to have some peppercorn or bearnaise sauce on hand.

People of Weston Village you finally have a lovely pub to go eat in and enjoy. Steak night is on Thursday but you can also enjoy burger night on a Wednesday. To find out more about the Old Crown visit their website.

Bargain Lunching at Mezze Palace

Last week Phil and I tried to get to Three Brothers for National Burger Day. Alas we were foolish and it was full to the rafters. We quickly dug deep into our think tanks and Phil suggested Mezze Palace on Small Street, a Lebanese restaurant that offers a £4.99 two course set lunch deal. Hurrying along as there were meeting constraints we reached the venue in record time and headed down to the restaurant. A small underground restaurant, it's a bit like dining in a wine vault, you can get a mezze starter plate and a choice of chicken, lamb or vegetarian kebab and rice for main. However, outside the deal, there are plenty of mezze and main options if you want to do a bit of mix and match to get exactly what you want to eat. Phil and I swiftly ordered two of the set menu and some drinks. 

For £4.99 the portions are pretty generous. A flat bread each accompanies the starter platter which also consists of a falafel, baba ganoush, keema crisp roll, zingy salad, some extremely smooth and delicious hummus and a warm dolmades which I prefer to cold ones. The starter plate is all delicious and works well together so you can dip everything and enjoy mixing it up, if you so wish that is. 

The main is two small grilled chicken shish kebabs, which you can request to have spicy if you like, a side of keema rice and some tangy yoghurt dressing. The chicken is so juicy and flavoursome, the spicy is definitely hotter than you'd expect but for spice heads it's great, definitely a favourite of mine.

You can't really get many genuine bargains these days but this is a complete steal and definitely one of my preferred sitting down lunch locations. Having said that even in the evening the food is pretty reasonably priced and it's got a nice atmosphere to have a dinner with friends. To find out more about Mezze Palace, visit their website here.