Lazy Sunday Pizzas at The Hill

A couple of Sundays ago Rich and I decided to have dinner at The Hill with our voucher, co-won with team Wuthering Bites at the bar's Speedquizzing event which occurs every Monday.  That's right 'Getting Quizzy With It', won 3rd place that week and we were proud. The Hill pizza menu is pretty extensive, lots of random  and non traditional toppings like jerk chicken, hoisin duck and onion bhaji, but they also do burgers, flat breads and salads.

It was fairly quiet when we arrived some Olympics on in the background and chirpy bar staff. We decided with the voucher that we would treat ourselves to a bottle of wine and quickly picked our pizzas. Rich went for the crispy duck and hoisin and I went for the Verona which was prosciutto, mushrooms, sweetcorn and Parmesan. The staff at The Hill were lovely, really sweet and friendly, which always adds a little extra to the pub experience.

Duck and Hoisin with Cucumber and Spring Onion

The Verona

These were by no means terrible pizzas the prosciutto on mine was particularly tasty as was the tomato sauce. I would just put them on the level of, nice and alright. The edges were really quite dry where the toppings had not been pushed out enough to the edges and the sweetcorn on mine was pretty stale. Rich's pizza, for a duck pizza was actually not at all dry which was pretty encouraging, but the cucumber was a bit too chunky. I think after the Beerd prosciutto, artichoke, mushroom and olive pizza, which is heavenly, I have been rather spoilt, that's right I have become a pizza diva.

Hoisin and Duck, close up

The Verona in detail

The base was nice and thin on the pizzas however and I think that if I had pizza here again I would go for a simpler topping. I would be interested in trying other items on their menu, but it probably would not be my first choice for pizza. Check out Speedquizzing on Mondays, probably the most frustrating yet competitively entertaining quiz you'll come across. To see details of The Hill check out their website.

Food Blogger Meet Up: The Bird in Hand

A few weeks ago myself and some fellow bloggers, Bristol Bites, The Awkward Eater and Wuthering Bites were fortunate enough to be invited by the lovely Catherine from Red Cherry to sample the menu at The Bird in Hand pub in Long Ashton. An off shoot of restaurant/pub The Pump House in Hotwells, The Bird in Hand is more like it's casual, rustic cousin.

 

The pub is right on a main road which I was not expecting but you walk in at it's nicely decorated with some old adverts and it definitely feels like a classic country pub. The menu was fairly small with about 5-6 choices to choose from for each course, you can mostly forget the pub food classics this menu was gastro pub dining and then some.

I was tempted by the mussels as a starter but with my main already in sight I decided to go for something a bit lighter so opted for the Bulls Heart Tomato with Goats Curd. Gloriously creamy the goats curd did not disappoint the tomatoes were fragrant and well matched, my main gripe was the herb, which I think was tarragon, it did not match or compliment the dish at all, I found myself picking most of it out. Other than that it was really delicious and I would definitely order it again.

Bulls Heart Tomatoes with Goats Curd

Bristol Bites opted for White Bait

For my main I chose Honey Roast Rare Duck Breast with Stuffing, Potato Cake and Bread Sauce. This was delicious the duck was very pink, just how it should be, and the stuffing ball was particularly good as it seemed to be of the pork and sage type variety. As my mum will tell you I get a bit possessive at Christmas over the stuffing, done well pork, sage and chestnut stuffing is heavenly and which is why I find myself guarding and rationing the leftovers a bit too aggressively. My only tiny criticism is the inclusion of bread sauce, horrible stuff even though Rich and a few other people seem to think it's accompaniment of the gods, does it belong beside duck?

Honey Roast Duck with Potato Cake and Stuffing

Duck is more filling than it looks and I was considering the possibility of pudding. I was eventually swayed by the fact everyone else was eager for a sugar hit and opted for the sticky toffee pudding.Usually a pudding in the top 5 of my favourite puddings, as long as you lump it in with syrup sponge pudding as a tie, it can easily be dry and disappointing. It was not the case here, the sticky toffee pudding was luscious and wonderfully indulgent with a nicely rich toffee sauce. 

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Eton Mess

Buttermilk & Elderflower Pudding with Summer Fruits

All in all the Bird in Hand does good food but I would argue the prices might be a tiny bit steep for some people and particularly a village pub type place. But the choices are definitely a bit different compared to your usual pub grub so if you find yourself looking for something a bit different check it out. For more information check their website.

The food was complimentary on this visit but I shall not bow to any sponsor, thus as usual, it is all my own views and personal thoughts.

Post Aquarium Snacking at The Clifton Wine Bar

The day after Rich's birthday weekend we had off and the weather was unexpectedly glorious so we thought as it was a Monday it would be an optimum time to go back to the aquarium whilst it was still quiet. How wrong we were. After paying our entrance fee we headed in to see the place teeming with a school trip full of children. Wide eyed with horror at our peaceful fish viewing being ruined we backed out and had a look round the gallery for a bit. With skill and finesse we managed to move round the aquarium avoiding the school trip but only by missing out on the bay of rays demo.

After skipping breakfast and it being the hour of lunch we pondered where to go for a munch. After throwing around a few ideas Rich decided as we had not yet sampled the food in the Clifton Wine Bar, and it was just up the road from our flat, so we headed up the hill.

Being it was a Monday the pub was pretty empty so we browsed the menu and waiting for something to jump out at us. It was a warm day so we didn't feel like a huge meal each. Starring at fish for a couple of hours had rather influenced our choices.  So we went for one main to share, the breaded whole tail scampi, chunky chips with peas, and some of their tapas snacks. £3.25 each, 3 for £8.95 or 6 for £15.95. We basked in the garden sunshine me with my ice cold Crabbies and Rich with the ever reliable Thatcher's Gold and waited for our food.

Breaded Scampi Tail and Chunky chips

Scampi Up Close and Personal

I know as a little girl I used to adore Nik Naks scampi and lemon flavour I used to eat them in the playground at break and they were always my favourite, until some other kids pointed out how bad they smelled and I felt like I would be a social pariah if I continued to eat them so I gave them up from that point. I don't even think they make that flavour any more. Either way I cannot remember whether I have ever even tried real scampi before, I must have and yet I have no recollection of it. So when I bit into a piece I couldn't quite believe where it had been all my life since the crisps in the playground.

The fish was meaty and flavoursome and the crumb was super crispy. It was definitely love at first bite I couldn't quite believe how tasty it was. The chips were very delicious too and the peas were super sweet and fresh tasting, my mouth is just watering at the memory. The tapas dishes we chose were, deep fried brie wedges with cranberry dip, battered calamari with tartar sauce and mini roast potatoes with gravy dip, it is funny how looking at fish can make you want to eat fish.

Trio of nibbles

Brie Wedges with Cranberry Dip

Battered Calamari Rings with Tartar Sauce

Roast Potatoes with Gravy Dip

First off having roast potatoes with gravy on the menu is a genius idea. Roast potatoes, when done properly, are on par with the meat as my favourite part of a roast. This was amazing the roasties were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and the gravy was thick and flavoursome. Also perfect when you are nursing a delicate head the morning after. Batter is way too heavy for calamari, tempura being the exception. The flavour of the calamari was completely obscured by the coating which was a shame but we found the totally delicious scampi more than appropriate consolation. 

Cooked brie or Camembert is one of my favourite starters, in fact I often bake a Camembert for tapas nights to dip carrots or bread in. We recently had the baked brie at The Bristol Flyer to soak up some wine we'd been having at a friend's birthday drinks, I don't know whether it was the drink talking but it was wonderful. Anyway I digress, the baked brie wedges here were also very nice, cranberry and redcurrant make such a good accompaniments for brie and it's other similar cheese relatives it really cuts through the richness.

All in all I was really surprised by the food at Clifton Wine Bar it was delicious and well cooked, definitely worth a look in, although plan your visit carefully if you aren't a sport fan as they do advertise the sports they show fairly heavily outside. If you are a sport's fan you probably already know and love to hang here. Check out the menu on their website.  

A Quick Lunch at Channings

Channings pub/hotel is 2 minutes from our flat so quite often on a Saturday we will pop in there for a spot of lunch. We have a few favourites which we stick, these reside in the sandwich section of the menu. This time we went for club sandwich stack and chips and the fish finger sandwich also with chips.

Rich and I would argue that they do the best fish finger sandwich we've tasted so far. They have a piece of battered fillet with salad and a bit of mayonnaise. It really is delicious. Apologies in advance for the less than amazing photos on this post, Channings can be a bit dark round the back, which is no bad thing for a pub really.

Fish Finger Sandwich of Kings

Fish Finger Sandwich of Kings

Club Sandwich Stack

Their steak melt is particularly good but I was in the mood for the ultimate fish finger sandwich this time. Their chips are also worth mentioning really fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside, like proper good quality chip shop style. They have a couple of mid week food deals, where you can get a meal from the grill and a glass of wine for under £10, also a curry night on Thursdays.

What I like about Channings is that it is a good standard pub. Big enough space for a catch up with a few friends, home cooked tasty pub food and everyone there seems to be having a good time. This lunch time we saw some lovely old boys watching Trooping the Colour on their big screen, clearly regulars and it was obviously their peaceful haven to relax in.   Although Rich and I did struggle to imagine any other pubs in Bristol screening the parade, it was definitely novel.

It helps that Channings is so close to where we live but it's a good solid pub for friendly meet ups plus their beer garden is pretty large, it is always buzzing in the sunshine. By no means my favourite pub in Bristol but definitely one of the most consistent.

Sunday Snacking at The Brass Pig

I returned from a visit home in Bath, where I had tea with my mum and frolicked with the 4 cats. Here is Bobo playing around the sofa.

Rich and I were due to watch some jazz with some friends at The Brass Pig, which has free jazz gigs every Sunday, early evening. So being we didn't have time to make dinner before going out we decided to sample some of the food at The Brass Pig. The pub was empty when we arrived but the band, The Andy Hague Quintet, had already started setting up.

The menu is a bit more gastro pub with options such as Grilled Pork Loin, spring greens with cranberries, sautéed potatoes & cider gravy and Pan -fried Duck Breast served on a fresh bed of Asian noodles. But they also have a small pizza menu and some light bites. Rich and I decided to share the 'Meatzza' which had chicken, pepperoni, ground beef and chilli on it. We also ordered a side bowl of cheesy chips and bacon strips. Obviously this was not the healthy option but we both craved salt and something quick and easy.

The 'Meatzza'

Cheesy Chips with Strips

The Brass Pig is a bit of an odd venue, in what was previously home to a La Tasca, it's too big to have the pub atmosphere yet too casual to be a real restaurant. I can't help but feel it hasn't quite figured out what sort of venue it should be. Food arrived promptly enough the pizza was very generously topped the pepperoni especially was really thick and tasty. The pizza itself was way too doughy for my personal tastes, I like a really thin base but for those of the doughier persuasion then this is a good solid effort on the pizza front. It wasn't ground breaking but it was nice.

The chips were nice but something was not quite right about them. They were half way between wedges and chips but almost as if they had only been blanched rather than fried properly because they were rather anaemic in colour. The Brass Pig did a good job of pit stop refuelling food, I would be interested to go back to try some of the main menu to see if it is on par with the pizzas. If you enjoy live jazz definitely check out  The Brass Pig on Sundays because the acoustics in there are actually pretty good and you'll always get a good view in a relaxed setting. The Andy Hague Quintet were excellent chilled Sunday jazz, so definitely check them out. For more info on The Brass Pig visit their website

Jazz Dinner at The Pump House

Whilst browsing the list of restaurants involved in the Eat Drink Bristol Fashion event, trying to decide what tickets to buy. I considered all and took a peek at their sample menus online. When I reached the Pump House website what caught my eye was that they were doing a jazz evening a week or so before Eat Drink Bristol started. Rich is a big jazz fan so by this point my mind was made up. The Pump House was out of the Eat Drink Bristol race but still in the spotlight.

When I rang to book I was offered the bar or the restaurant menu, I went with restaurant. I wanted to fully experience everything the Pump House had to offer. So Wednesday last week Rich, myself and Claire went to immerse ourselves in the musical stylings of Bristol born saxophonist James Morton. We were greeted very enthusiastically by their front of house and led upstairs to the dining area.

The Pump House offer a 3 courses for £20 on selected items on their menu which is an excellent deal. Rich and I however weren't swayed by the main courses in the deal, something more thrilling had caught our eyes. The name of our paramour was Celebration of Local Beef. This was a sharing main so Rich bowed out of having a starter in order to focus his full attention on the beef party. Claire and I did decide on a starter however. I went for the slow poached duck egg which sat on top of new season English asparagus topped with hollandaise and with dots of pink grapefruit surrounding it. Claire picked their smoked eel and Parsonage Farm egg with grain mustard mayonnaise, apples and field sorrel.

Slow Poached Duck Egg with New Season Asparagus

Smoked Eel with Parsonage Farm Egg

My duck egg I was informed had been cooked for 5 hours at 50 degrees which seemed baffling that it could taste so creamy and smooth after 5 hours of cooking even at a low 50 degrees. Duck eggs are for me always a rare delight. I hardly ever have them but each time I do I think how I want to eat more of them but I always forget, a bit like pancakes on pancake day. The asparagus was cooked to perfection, the whole dish was a light delight. Sampling Claire's smoked eel I found it to be delicate and much tastier than I was anticipating. I have only ever had eel cooked in tempura as part of a maki roll at a sushi restaurant. The egg was described as perfectly cooked and delightfully flavoursome. You can see from the photo that it pays to get decent quality eggs, just look at the vivid orange of the yolk, no insipid colours here.

A Celebration of Local Beef, Main Board

A Celebration of Local Beef , Steak and Kidney Pudding Side Dish

The Celebration of Local Beef did not give that much away from the menu description: "celebration of local beef with triple cooked chips and horseradish ice cream". When it arrived there were some surprises that greeted us. Some wonderfully rare steak, shredded fried ox tongue pieces, a small steak and kidney pudding and two portions of bone marrow. I pride myself on mostly being up for trying everything but I appreciate that some aren't as adventurous as myself.  The steak pieces were the crowning glory on this board, simply cooked and it really showed off the quality of the meat. The ox tongue was really tasty and slightly crispy it sort of reminded me of the crispy shredded beef you get in Chinese restaurants, salty and completely different in flavour than I was expecting.

The steak in the steak and kidney pudding melted in the mouth, the suet crust was rich and complimentary, nothing like the horrors some people might have experienced from such a dish when presented it at school.  As for the sides, the triple cooked chips were enormous and deceivingly filling but really delicious, fluffy on the inside crispy on the outside, just as chips should be. For me the beetroot was a revelation. I am not that big a fan of beetroot, but roasted lightly it was slightly sweet but still so moist we both couldn't get enough of it. The horseradish ice cream was interesting because once on the plate it melted pretty quickly but the taste was a light cream with the delicate flavour of horseradish. I would argue it could have been a little stronger flavoured but that is just a small quibble. Rich and I were more delighted with the beefy gravy that came with the board, strongly flavoured and perfect with the beetroot and chips.

The only let down for us personally was the bone marrow. I think this is just a personal taste thing because I have never got on with bone marrow that well. I have tried lamb bone marrow before and found it a little nicer in flavour than beef.  It was heavily salted and very rich. I just could not get on with eating salty fat on it's own, but the quality of the bone marrow was superb, in stock or a soup this would be divine, alone however, it was just not for me.

Steamed Cornish Hake 

Claire had the Steamed Cornish Hake with Palourde clams, Clevedon coastal vegetables and Jerusalem artichoke puree. Stating she had never had clams before, proclaimed them to be delicious. I tried a little of the hake and agreed with her that it was a little dry. I think this may be hake in general though from what I have sampled of it in the past. The accompaniments were perfect and complimented the clams and hake beautifully.

Although we were all pretty full we thought it best peek at the dessert menu. I was immediately drawn to the apple tarte tatin with cinnamon ice cream and calvados custard. Readers of this blog may already know how   much I adore cinnamon. Rich and Claire went for the crème brûlée cappuccino with cinnamon doughnuts.

Apple Tarte Tatin

Crème Brûlée Cappuccino with Cinnamon Doughnuts

For me my dessert was quite disappointing. The tarte tatin wasn't caramelised at all and the pastry quite dry. I was really looking forward to a sticky sweet caramel and it was just not what I would call a tarte tatin it was more like a miniature apple pie. The saving grace was the cinnamon ice cream which was absolutely gorgeous. Claire and Rich really lucked out on their puddings the home made doughnuts had a different filling, one was apple and the other chocolate then coated in cinnamon sugar.

Sleepy and full of food we headed down to watch the rest of the jazz and discuss the meal before walking home. The Pump House's food is high quality throughout with some different dishes that you may not have tried before. It is definitely worth booking up for a visit because you will not be disappointed. I am looking forward to going back for the next jazz night and this time sampling the bar menu. To check out events and sample menus for the Pump House visit their website .