Fish and Chips at Catch22

Fish and chips, the signature British takeaway. Synonymous with seaside trips and post pub munchies. The humble chippy has made an appearance in most of our lives at some point. Fish and chips, so British it puts an appearance on every pub menu and if you watch American sit-coms it’s what they think we eat every day. However unless you are by the seaside it can be difficult to find a chippy to sit down and enjoy the crunchy golden delights at your leisure. Catch 22 opened at the bottom of Park Street earlier this year in what used to be a recruitment agency. I was invited by them last month to test out their wares and so one Wednesday evening I took one of my closest friends, Steph for a fish supper.

After sinking a pint at the nearby Hatchett, a pub where we have spent many a weekend dancing away, we headed the short distance to Catch 22. As you enter the counter and frying station are the first things that greet you and it is just like stepping into your local chippy, but with a restaurant with seating out back. The back is actually more spacious than I imagined the walls are covered with 50s B-movie posters, which greatly appealed to me as I enjoy kitsch very much. So you can happily dine whilst being watched by the creature from the Black Lagoon.

There are a number of options on the menu, the standard fare but for those looking for a healthier option they will also pan fry you some fish with garlic and herb or chilli for a bit of pep. They also have a separate fryer for gluten free fish and chips which I know can be a hard thing to track down for the gluten intolerant. A friendly waitress buzzed amongst the tables and we ordered cod and chips, the classic, and steph went for scampi and chips with some battered mushrooms and curry sauce for dipping. We waited about 15 minutes whilst we chatted away about up coming plans, the smell coming from the fryers was intoxicating to rumbling bellies such as ours. The waitress arrived with two plates filled with golden treasures and with gleaming eyes we got stuck in.

The batter on my fish was as crisp as you always hope for it to come but often are disappointed because it has come into contact with steam or rogue water from peas and become a bit too soggy.  My cod had a good batter to fish ratio and the fillet was plump and very fresh. Chips were just as enjoyable, with enough chunky fluffy ones but also some good salty crisp ones to satisfy all fried potato enthusiasts. The portions for both the scampi and the cod were generous, you certainly won't go hungry.

The only real disappointment were the battered mushrooms, no real effort to flavour these with anything that might make them sing out and worth ordering as an extra with your fish supper.  Catch 22 is definitely worth a visit, you'll be warmed by a very enjoyable British classic, that's a cut above most offerings in the city. Plus afterwards you can pop up the road for a scoop of Swoon gelato, if you have enough room that is. Although this meal was complimentary it did not sway my opinion. To find out more about Catch 22 visit their website.

Time for Pho

Pho is a dish that originated in Vietnam traditionally consisting of an aromatic beef or chicken broth with rice noodles, meat, beansprouts and fresh herbs. Usually you’ll find a selection of sauces to mix into your pho for extra flavour and spice. Pho is the healthier relative of ramen. It’s not something I’ve had regular contact with partly because of the expected presence of a great deal of coriander and also the availability of Vietnamese food in Bristol is quite small, but having walked passed Pho a number of times and heard mostly positive things I decided to take a punt.  Kym and I were well over due a catch up so we picked this spot for lunch. Pho is a chain of just over 20, mainly London based, restaurants providing an entirely gluten free menu or options to make gluten free. Most bowls are under £10 so it’s a good place to go on a budget of an evening. 

 

The tables are populated with lots of Pho paraphernalia, fish sauce, pickled chillis, sriracha hot sauce and chilli oil so you can season your Pho to however hot or not you wish.  Wanting to get started on the eating part we made up our minds fairly swiftly I opted for a  Phở tái chín; steak and brisket pho with a starter of crispy squid. Kym meanwhile went for the Phở đặc biệt; prawn, steak and tofu in garlic beef broth plus a starter of spring rolls, with your dip of choice, which in Kym’s case, was satay.

 

Our starters arrived fairly promptly, which was just as well because we were tipping over into hanger. I was advised to squeeze my lime wedge into a pot of flavoured salt and fresh chilli with a quick mix this was a delightfully fresh dip for the small bites of crispy tempura squid.  Spring rolls are often something that is denied to the gluten free but not at Pho. Crispy rice paper rolls stuffed full of pork and veggies, and a creamy nutty satay dip to compliment them, these were some of the best spring rolls I’ve had in a long time. The portion is generous and will satisfy any craving, gluten free or otherwise.

 

 

Our Pho arrived after a bit of a wait and two large steaming bowls were set in front of our widening eyes. The herbs, chilli and beansprouts are thoughtfully placed on a plate so you can add as much or as little to your pho as you wish.   As we both like fairly spicy food we added all the chilli and set about sampling most of the aforementioned pho accoutrements so each of our bowls had a delightful kick. I was particularly impressed with the brisket, it was tender and melted in the mouth. The steak wasn’t as full flavoured as the brisket but with the additions I had made to my bowl it didn’t matter too much. I was hugely impressed with the food at Pho. The service was a touch slow and inattentive at times but it wasn’t bad enough to stop me from returning, which I did the following week with Jane after work. 

 

Pho offers something a little different for lunch in the centre. I would hesitate to recommend going in a lunch hour if you have a deadline but if you have enough time to while a way a lazy lunch it’s an excellent option  and I am looking forward to slurping up my next bowl. To find out more about Pho visit their website.

Vegetarian Dining at 1847

Last week the weather was horrendous, gales, driving rain and cold, basically everything you associate with Winter. After all the fairly mild offerings leading up to December it seemed to catch everyone off guard. It was on such a night of biblical weather proportions that Katherine and I headed to 1847 a new vegetarian restaurant that has opened up on St Stephen's street. I had been invited to sample the menu and for full testing purposes taking a vegetarian friend with me seemed only right. Vegetarian definitely seems to be de rigueur in the Bristol food scene at the moment with Flow opening up a few months back and the Black Sheep on Gloucester road joining suit. Hell even Meatliquor has adapted their menu to offer more veggie options for their new Bristol branch.

The gusts of wind blew us through the door of 1847, named after the date the vegetarian society was formed, and we were greeted very warmly by the waiter. The restaurant is smartly decorated mainly keeping to black and white with a few different lighting features to attract the eye. Katherine and I decided upon a glass of wine each and we were brought some olives and sunblushed tomatoes to snack upon whilst we decided what to eat. We browsed the selection and there were lots of things to tempt the eye. The menus are seasonal so there were lots of warm and hearty dishes to comfort the soul.

We decided to have a starter and main each, I decided upon the crispy egg, which topped pearl barley, celeriac and radicchio and Katherine opted for mushroom and walnut paté which came with pickled quince and smoked butter toast. For our mains I went for the much celebrated 'Fish' and chips, ginger ale battered halloumi, triple cooked chips with savoury lemon curd and pea and basil. Katherine went for Beet Bourguignon, beetroot stew with sautéed potatoes and crumbled goat's cheese. Our waiter also recommended a side of caramelised cauliflower with harissa yoghurt

crispy egg with pearl barley

mushroom paté

The egg for my starter was soft boiled with a lovely crunchy crispy crumb on it. The pearl barley was cooked well but generally under seasoned for me, it could have done with a little twist of lemon too. Katherine enjoyed her paté, and there was plenty of it.

On to the mains. Two sizable plates were brought to us. I was greeted by 3 golden globes of battered halloumi sat on a pea green sauce with dots of lemon curd and a mini friar filled with thick cut chips. Katherine's main was a colourful affair with plenty of textures and the cauliflower looked and smelled wonderful, we were looking forward to tucking in.

halloumi 'fish' & chips

beet bourguignon

caramelised cauliflower with harissa yoghurt

The crunch on the batter on the halloumi was super crisp. I wasn't quite sure how this dish would work but the halloumi was such a great fish substitute, the lemon curd really lifted it up and added to the illusion of fish. I didn't miss having fish at all it was really delicious. The chips were pretty good but we decided that they could have done with a little tartar sauce on the side to further add to the dish. Katherine's beet bourguignon was rich and full of flavour although she said she would have liked a touch more cheese. The cauliflower was great, the harissa yoghurt had a good level of spice and it went really well.

We were too full to attempt dessert but the options were enticing. 1847 does a lunch deal where you can have any main and a glass of wine for £10 which is pretty good considering how generous the portions are. In the evening the options appear to be 2 courses for £19 and 3 for £25 I was a little confused why you can't seem to order just one course as there were no individual plate prices. I was impressed overall by 1847, the food is interesting enough to keep meat eaters interested and veggies will be spoiled for choice by the variety. A little attention needs to be made to some of the starter dishes as I didn't find the selection as interesting as the mains and my starter was a bit bland. But the mains really impressed me so treat the veggies in your life to a meal at 1847 they won't be disappointed. To find out more about 1847 visit their website.

This meal was complimentary but we paid for our drinks, it did not impact my opinion of the food when writing this review.

Lunching at Fuego

Fuego is looking to fire up your soul by bringing their Latin/Caribbean spirit and food to Bristol. I have lunched at Fuego, what used to be My Burrito until two months or so ago, twice. Each time having different items off the menu. The first time Jo and I had burritos one steak and one pork, although suspending the idea that burritos are not Latin American but tex-mex. However they do a handy burrito and a drink for £5.55 at lunch time which is a great deal.  I like the newly revamped seating area it makes it look a lot tidier and inviting as restaurants go.  My second visit, with Sarah, I branched out and tried the chicken Mofongo, at £9.99. Mofongo is a dish from Puerto Rico made from smashed fried plantain, spices, stock and crackling. This is then shaped to contain pretty much anything, vegetables, meat or fish, the description grabbed my attention as something a bit different. 

Firstly the burritos. They were tasty enough, but did not set my world alight, but I did enjoy the range of hot sauces that are on the table to spice up your lunch, the chipotle one was rather delicious in particular. My other main gripe is that the whole shebang was just not wrapped tight enough so it fell apart more than it should, which is not the point really. It sounds harsh but I have strong feelings about compact burritos.

Mofongo!

the whole meal

pinto beans and chorizo

The Mofongo however was a real surprise. A huge plate of food was brought to me and it smelled intoxicating. It tasted even better. It is a little hard to describe but it's a bit like having a bowl lined with stuffing and the stuffing tastes out of this world but then the bowl is filled with a hearty chicken and tomato stew which is smoky. The black beans didn't do a lot for me but the pinto beans and the rice were really nice. I couldn't quite finish my plate, which considering my healthy appetite was quite a feat. Basically the burritos are fine but if you want to taste something extra delicious go for the Mofongo. To find out more about Fuego visit their website or follow them on Twitter.

Burger Specials at Chomp

Chomp is a bit special isn't it? I first tried one of their burgers at one of the street food festivals a couple of years ago and it was somewhat awesome. When I heard that they would no longer be confined to hawking burgers from their van but rather in their own restaurant I was delighted. Chomp opened on St Nicholas street in November and has been hugely popular ever since. 

Armed with Rich, Beth and Mr Popple we went, last month to celebrate the launch of their Chomp House Brew batch #2 by Wiper & True. Well everyone else but me, as I don't drink beer, but they had a special burger to go with it and that I was very interested in. For £15 you got a pint of the brew and a burger which consisted of the below:

So we ordered a round of these burgers and 3 pints plus two blue cheese sauces for dipping our chips in, Beth and I are very classy like that you see. The beer was going down very nicely with the rest of the group I really like the idea of a restaurant having a signature brew adds something extra special to proceedings. 

my drink of choice

Just look at that bun, so shiny and substantial. Quite a tower of meat sat in front of me, covered in melty cheese.  Firstly the best bit about this burger was the pulled beef, they should have this on the menu full time, it was so flavoursome and fell apart, the star of the show in my opinion. The onion ring was particularly crisp and added a different texture to proceedings. One side of my burger patty was quite dark and crunchy, but everyone else's were fine I think mine had just had a touch too long on the grill. The bun was superb, best bun in Bristol I would go so far as to say, burger buns need to be substantial and should not be an afterthought in burger construction. 

As for the rest, lovely coleslaw and the blue cheese sauce was decadently moreish. The chips were tasty but I could have stood to have them a bit crispier for my personal tastes, the seasoning on them was great though. Basically Chomp is rather delicious and provides something a little different in the busy burger market that is Bristol. High quality ingredients and focusing on a small menu makes for a great night out. I am looking forward to my next visit immensely, I might even treat myself to one of their steaks. I have also heard that Chomp's veggie burger is something to shout about so you won't have to worry about getting a limp salad on a suspect patty. To find out more about Chomp visit their website.

Friday Before Christmas at The Cuban

The Thursday before Christmas Rich and I were invited to the Cuban, just off Millennium Square, to sample their menu in return for a review.  I do relish the chance not to cook now and then so we accepted.  Before I continue describing the food, atmosphere etc I have to say this was one of the most disappointing meals out I've had in a long time. It could be that the Cuban was having an off day but judging this occasion alone, they really need to pull their socks up. It was perhaps partly our fault for going in the busy party season. We arrived and were shown to our table, the music was loud, and rather un-Cubanish Shakin' Stevens was playing. 

About five minutes later the waitress brought us some food menus and then shortly returned to ask us what we'd like to drink, these menus we had not had delivered, this was rectified. I decided we should share the mojito taster platter, a classic after all. The food menu is rather uninspiring and mostly a mix of Tex Mex and Spanish style dishes with the word Cuba/Cuban thrown in occasionally.  After trying to find something to get excited about I settled on 'lechon asado con espinacas y chorizo', which is basically pork belly with spinach and chorizo. In it's traditional form, as the national dish of Puerto Rico, this is suckling pig and this would be made with shoulder slow cooked often with orange juice, herbs and spices. Rich ordered mojo kebabs and some padron peppers to start with.

mojito magic

The mojitos were pretty tasty, the lychee one was my favourite it was sweet and sharp enough to be well balanced, so if you fancy a few cocktails you'll be in fairly safe hands here. Whilst we waited for our food to arrive we checked out the decor, Cuban photographs and posters around the place, as expected. The toilets are really rather plush by the way so was somewhat impressed by those.  On to the padrons.

The padron peppers were oily and tasted very bitter. There were certainly no hot ones as is usually the case where 1 in 10 is a firecracker, we didn't finish these as they were pretty disappointing. Hoping that the mains would change things we sipped our way through half the mojitos.

mojo kebabs

rice and black beans

Let's start with the positives, my pork belly main dish was actually really well seasoned and pretty tasty, the meat portion was really generous, even if it did land on the fattier side, even for pork belly. The chorizo was thickly sliced and the sauce was really rather good, it did surprise me considering the standard of the padron peppers. However my rice and beans had no flavour at all, no salt no coconut no nothing, the blandest rice I've ever had, this had to be an accident I can't think that rice would be sent out tasting like that.

Rich's mojo kebabs were scanty on the meat although the sauce drizzled on top was fruity and zingy the chicken had a very spongey, almost cottage cheese like texture which was somewhat unnerving, as if it had been defrosted and reheated in a microwave. The Cuban fries were deemed 'ok' and the Cuban coleslaw was just standard coleslaw like you could get anywhere. For £14.95 and £13,95 respectively the portions were very differently sized and in Rich's main's case, quite pricey.

The food was mostly sub-standard and lacked care and attention to detail. I think on a night where there is live Latin music and you have a few drinks in your hand it could be a fun place to be but the food needs work. To take a look at the menu for The Cuban or find out about their live music nights check out their website.  Please note that this meal was offered by The Cuban in return for a review, this did not affect my opinion in anyway.

A Pre-Theatre Lunch at Thai Edge

Last week, my almost sister in law, Natalie had tickets to the matinee of West Side Story, but before we revelled in all things Bernstein we had to decide on where to go for lunch.  Heading down the hill to the centre we spotted Thai Edge and Natty remarked that she had never been there and loved Thai food. I hadn't been there for a good couple of years and spotted they had a £8.95 two course set lunch menu so we headed out of the cold and into the restaurant.

Thai Edge has four restaurants currently in the UK so I would class this as a mini chain it has an independent feel with the food for sure. As we entered there were a few tables that were occupied but we were ushered to a table in the window, what I think most people will remark upon when it comes to Thai Edge is the decor. It is quite clinical, with the odd dash of purple among a sea of white, it makes the restaurant feel a little lacking in warmth and atmosphere. However we were hungry and as we were handed the lunch menu I was surprised how much choice there was on their set menu. In the end I went for the Tom Kha soup followed by Choo Chee Pla, a fried fish curry, whilst Natty picked the spring rolls and the chicken red curry.

Tom Kha soup

We munched our way through the complimentary Thai prawn crackers with gusto and shortly afterwards our starters turned up. My bowl of Tom Kha soup was pretty large and had all the right flavours I expected, sharp yet creamy the only complaint I had was that the texture of the chicken was a little chewy and dry, Natty was very pleased with her spring rolls however which was lovely and crisp and stuffed full of filling.

Choo Chee Pla

I thoroughly enjoyed my main course, the portion was pretty large it had about 6 medium pieces of fried fish in it with a really moreish, lightly spiced, coconutty sauce I tried to resist polishing it all off but I failed completely.  In fact thinking about it now makes me want to eat it for dinner, it was surprisingly good. So to sum up, Thai Edge's food is mostly pretty good but it could do with a shake up in the atmosphere stakes, I shall definitely be taking up their lunch menu again as it is a total bargain.  To see what Thai Edge has to offer visit their website. 

A Surprise Lunch at Turtle Bay

The other Friday just before 12 I had my uninspiring rice lunch sitting next to me I was contemplating when to take it upstairs to accompany my current read when in swept in our head of division announcing he was taking us all to lunch.  There was a brief interlude while people decided whether to opt for for 4500 Miles from Delhi or Turtle Bay, luckily for the blog the latter was voted the winner.  When Turtle Bay first opened I heard a lot of varying opinions on it some good, some bad and some middling, I was curious, although my Caribbean food aficionado Becky had said that it was quite nice but not authentic, although i hadn't expected it to be really. Caribbean food can be scorchingly hot and as Rich always says, there is no way a chain restaurant would risk that level of spice in their dishes and have people send it back.

So with all that in mind when I walked in I was particularly impressed with the decor, bright, fun and quite the injection of sunshine into this stereotypical January day. I did wonder whether our large party of 20 would be able to just pop down without booking but we arrived pretty early and within about 5 minutes we were ordering drinks and heading to our seats. 

Rum Punch Cocktail

The menu has some Caribbean staples that you would expect like plantain, jerk chicken and scotch bonnets but a lot of items had a twist on it bringing in a few American barbecue favourites. We were all feeling pretty hungry by this point so Sharon and I decided to share a couple of starters the lamb patty and the jerk pit prawns, whilst I chose the street burger for my main.  A number of people had mentioned the cocktails that Turtle Bay did were pretty good and a few people on our table participated but the rum punch cocktail kept wafting over such strong rum fumes that it did put me off a little, but I loved the metal tins they were served in.

Jerk Pit Prawns

Jerk Pit Prawns up

Lamb Patty

The food arrived promptly and I tucked into the lamb patty first, this was nice and spicy and had a lovely comforting texture, and was sad when I had to swap dishes. The jerk pit prawns however were a massive disappointment the sauce you can see in the photos is just oil and smoky, read acrid, tasting oil at that. Plus the prawns were overcooked and tasted of nothing so all that was left was oil soaked flatbread at the bottom of the plate meant to moping up non-existent juice.

Street Burger

When my main arrived I was pleasantly surprised, for £6.95 this was a generous portion and the smell was a delicious one. The burger came with some caramelised onions and pulled pork on top, the pork was nice and juicy and added some smokiness to the burger. The onions were good but I could have done without the whole cloves resting in among them, luckily I spotted them before I bit down to experience the numbness that biting down on a whole clove can bring. The slaw also for me was a little bitter but I am fairly picky with coleslaw so it could have just been me. On the whole I was pretty impressed with the burger, really lovely flavour and nice and meaty plus the spiced fries were nice and crunchy.

one of the bright murals

So on the whole a bit of a mixed bag from Turtle Bay, if someone wanted to go here I would join them but I personally wouldn't be in a mad rush to return but there were some nice points.  For a fun atmosphere and a good value lunch it isn't bad at all but for proper Caribbean food Rice n Tings is a great choice. To find out more about Turtle Bay visit their website.

A Sunday Curry at 4500 Miles From Delhi

Finally a new blog post, feels like it's been a while, I have no excuse, but I hope everyone has been keeping well and enjoying the typical unpredictable weather we have come to expect in Summer. So on Sunday we headed on down to 4500 Miles From Delhi with Jamie, Boz, Phil and Javier to sample the curry buffet. Curry is not something I generally eat at lunch time, it feels way more of an evening meal type of cuisine to me, but here I was ready to be tempted. My first impressions were good, they have done a lovely job of sprucing up the old La Tasca restaurant, which was so dark and gloomy, now the place is wonderfully light and welcoming. 

So after receiving our drinks order we headed on over to the buffet area to see what was on offer. The choices are not as plentiful as one might expect at all you can eat buffets such as Za Za Bazaar and Cosmo but this is not necessarily a bad thing, if it is cooked well. The first options you come to are a mound of poppadoms, chutneys and other starters like tikka chicken wings.

First signs were good, the chutneys are all home made and nothing was swimming in grease it all looked lovely and fresh so I helped myself to a load of poppadoms and mango chutney, some chilli chicken, vegetable pakoras, tikka chicken and seekh kebab. The mango chutney was lovely, fruity but not too sweet like ones from a jar, it was a shame the poppadoms tasted a little stale but I suspect they are quite hard to keep super crisp in a buffet style environment. The seekh kebab was a touch dry but nicely spiced but the tikka chicken was well done, not at all dry and actually had a bit of a kick to it. I think my two favourites of all my starters were the vegetable pakoras, they weren't at all greasy and you could really taste the cumin. The chilli chicken was also really tasty, almost like a sweet Thai chilli chicken. 

What was interesting about the food was that it actually had varying levels of spice in the dishes. It can be tempting for buffet restaurants to keep spice levels at a low to cater for people with a small tolerance for spice, but 4500 Miles for Delhi were a bit more adventurous and some of the dishes did have a good kick to them which was a refreshing change. 

After our starter plate Rich and I moved on to the curries, there were three vegetarian mains, as well as a couple of side dishes, and three meat main curries. I sampled all the meaty mains, chicken tikka masala, lamb rogan josh and chicken chettinad, I also had a spoonful of the palak paneer, a creamy spinach dish with big chunks of paneer. Again I was on the whole impressed, the chicken chettinad was the best of the meat curries but actually I still preferred the palak paneer over all, earthy yet still slightly creamy and it perfectly complimented the texture and subtle flavour of the paneer. What is a nice touch is they bring a bowl of freshly cooked chapatti bread to have along side your curry, and very nice they were too.

curry medley

fresh chapatis

On the whole I was pretty impressed with 4500 Miles from Delhi, the curry was of a good standard and the home made chutneys and fresh chapatis showed care for the small details, I still am not sure if I am a big lunchtime curry person, although the place in St Nicks has tempted me on occasion, but I would definitely revisit this restaurant but perhaps in the evening. As far as I am aware they also do a la carte in the evening which allows for wriggle room for customers who don't really fancy the buffet experience. Buffet prices for lunch are £10.95 for the three course buffet experience or £7.95 for the two. To see what 4500 Miles from Delhi has to offer check out their website.