Eating Noodles and Sipping Bubble Tea at Cupp

On a recent warm Spring day, Naomi and I decided to meet up for lunch. Browsing local deal app Wriggle I posed to her the options available in the centre and she chose a noodle dish with Cupp, opened on St Stephen's Street just before the new year, which came with a bubble tea of your choosing. The decor is bright, geometric and fun with a few tables for dining in but as the focus is on the bubble tea most customers would probably be taking their tea away.

You can choose from rice noodles in soup, with a supplement of £2 if you want to add beef to the soup, or a vegetable noodle salad. I chose the latter and Naomi went for the former. For the bubble tea I picked my favourite flavour, taro, complete with coconut jelly. There are a few more options at Cupp now since I last visited their other home down in Cabot Circus; grass jelly and basil seeds which can be added to your tea. 

Lovely fresh and healthy ingredients with a sprinkling of crushed peanuts. The actual flavour was fairly mild but luckily I livened up with a healthy amount of sriracha sauce and a good stir. The bubble tea was as great as usual. Taro is quite sweet but there is something about it that I can't get enough of. For £5 for a bubble tea and some veggie noodles Cupp offer up a bargain that is hard to ignore. For a fresh and quick lunch option in the centre you can't go too wrong here. To find out more about Cupp visit their website or follow them on Twitter.

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 Edna's Kitchen

My first trip to Edna's was one that was long overdue. I have no excuse at all. Edna's is two minutes from my office. Anyway after all the good things I'd heard, especially from my desk mate at work I decided to meet my friend Abi there, it was a sunny day after all. Abi is vegetarian so my choice for lunch was perfect. Edna's Kitchen is the little hexagonal hut at the top of Castle Park, they do pittas, wraps and salad boxes all vegetarian and some vegan.  I decided to go for a salad box which is £5 and comes with cous cous, crunchy salad, a stuffed vine leaf, falafel, houmous and optional chilli sauce. 

Oh Edna you minx. Why had I been resisting your charms all this time? Best houmous I've had from a falafel joint and the chilli sauce has quite a kick. I personally prefer my stuffed vine leaves to be warm but that is personal preference. The falafels were the stars of the show crunchy but soft in the middle, not dry, and full of flavour. Short and sweet but if you want a falafel salad box or a pitta stuffed with falafelly goodness, look no further than Edna's Kitchen, does the best falafels in town. Great choices for veggies and vegans alike so get on down there. For £5 I was stuffed so it's a good feed for sure. To find out more about Edna's Kitchen check out the website.

Lunchtime Munching at Eat-a-Pitta

The other week I was bereft of lunch and then the fire alarm went off. Despite being earlier than I would normally take lunch I thought as I was outside I would head to St Nicks and forage for fodder. In recent weeks my team mate So-Ting had been in the habit of bringing up a box of falafel and hummous from Eat a Pitta to munch on, and I had sampled a few of these and they were extremely good.  So I decided that as I was already outside it was as good a time as any to finally sample a proper lunch myself.

I decided to go for the falafel salad box, which comes with 5 falafel and all the salads and sauces for £4.50, pitta on the side is 50p extra,  but the salad box looked big enough to me. So topped with the hottest hot sauce and the falafel on the top warming me through the plastic lid I headed back to the office to enjoy reading James Ellroy's LA Confidential and my lunch.

Eat a Pitta already has a great following and now it count me among them. Great fresh tasting salads, I particularly enjoyed the gherkins, and the falafel were the crunchiest I have ever sampled but never dry inside which is the key to a good falafel. Plus if you just feel like snacking you can buy 6 falafel with hummous for just £2 or 10 for £2.50 a total bargain. The only slight question mark I have is over the hummous it is very smooth but I like a little more zing to my hummous, but it is still very nice. If you want to find out a little more about Eat a Pitta visit their website for more info or get yourself down to St Nicks and sample away, don't be put off by the big queues they have a ticketing system and efficient production line that moves along fast.

Post Christmas Treat at Bocabar

Firstly Happy New Year to you all, hope you had a lovely Christmas. The first blog of 2014 is upon us! In the vain hope to prolong the Christmas celebrations a last minute pizza date at Bocabar with Kym was arranged after work on Friday, it wasn't twelfth night after all so surely it still counts as festive celebrating right? Anyway I hadn't been to Bocabar for over two years so a visit was woefully overdue it was embarrassingly late really if I think about how often I used to frequent this place, that's moving areas for you. Bocabar is situated down at Paintworks and those are some lucky devils working there having this place for a local. 

Bocabar is a pretty large space, being a former warehouse and all, and is bedecked in fairy lights and soft leather sofas are strewn about the place for the loungers and tables for more upright nibbling.  They offer more than just pizzas, with lunch offers and mezze to snack on during the day and roasts on Sundays.  As it was a Friday we decided it was a wine day so ordered a bottle of Malbec and tried to narrow down the huge number of pizzas on their menu, luckily Kym had written a shortlist. The good thing about the pizzas at Bocabar is that there is an enormous amount of choice and the ingredients they use are really good quality you can taste it throughout.  In the end we decided to go for the Fazenda Chic and the Wild Cogumelo. 

Wild Cogumelo in all it's glory

Fazenda Chic

Fazenda Chic upclose

Wild Cogumelo

The Wild Cogumelo was a feast of mushrooms; chestnut, portabello and field plus soft goat's cheese, pine nuts, watercress and truffle oil.  What the Fazenda Chic offered up was ham, tomatoes, Exmouth blue cheese and also crowned with watercress.  These were some big pizzas very thin base, which I really like, the main quibble I had was that the pizzas themselves didn't seem that hot but in our case it meant we could eat it quicker. 

The flavours on both were really great it was refreshing to try some new pizza topping combos and I think that the veggie Wild Cogumelo was my favourite as it was such a great combo of flavours and texture with the pine nuts and watercress. The Fazenda Chic, the tomatoes were a bit crunchy but blue cheese, if you are a fan (and I am a big fan), is one of my new favourite pizza toppings, it may not be traditional but boy is it delicious.

The gripes I had with with Bocabar pizzas were minute and I really recommend them, I just think at nearly £14 for most of the pizzas, and it is pizza we're talking about, they are a tad expensive for a regular afterwork treat but I am looking forward to returning when I am next paid. To check out what else Bocabar has to offer visit their website.

Marrow Pickle From Vale House Kitchen

It's cold it's getting darker of an evening, basically we're all considering hibernating about now.  The upsides are eating lots of comfort food.  One of my favourite things to do of a dark evening is open a bottle of red and consume multiple cheeses. My cheese nights are some what legendary to those of whom have sampled them, the last I think consisted of 10 different cheeses to sample from and all the nibbles that go with such a board of delights. Anyway one of the recipes I learned on my course at Vale House Kitchen was marrow pickle, now marrow is not really one of those vegetables that people get all excited about, or even seem to think about in passing, however this little recipe might change all that.

You will need (makes 1 jar - easily multiplied for stockpiling or presents)
1 inch round chunk of marrow
1 small chilli
1 tsp pickling spice
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup caster sugar

De-seed and cut of some of the tough marrow skin but leaving about a third then slice into 1 centimetre chunks, then salt the marrow and leave in a bowl for 10 minutes. Afterwards squeeze the marrow slightly to get rid of any excess water and leave it on a clean tea towel. Slice the chilli in to small rounds.  Meanwhile heat up a pan and pop in the sugar and cider vinegar, let that dissolve and then pop in all the spices and chilli, simmer until the liquid has reduced by a third.

pickling marrows

Continue to cook the marrow until tender but still crunchy, we popped a lid on top of the frying pan to help and once the liquid has thickened spoon into a sterilized jar, this should keep unopened for about 3 months. I ate most of mine the following evening with a mature cheddar cheese, it was so much better than I could have even dreamed, crunchy and with a little kick.

almost ready to be sealed

inside the pickle jar

So I urge you all to give marrow a chance, this recipe will change your mind and will really help with saving the pennies in the run up to December. Let me know how you get on with Tim's recipe and what you pair it with. I am going to give it another go in a week or so and try and convert more people to marrow. Next blog posts will be on afternoon tea at Cox and Baloney and a curry at the Jubo Raj.

Goodbye Dinner at The Thali Cafe

The other week we had to say farewell to Carla for she was leaving Bristol to return to London. So her final meal was booked and she had chosen the Thali Cafe, the Clifton branch. This would technically only be my second visit to a thali, I once went many moons ago to the first cafe in Montpelier and although it was around 6 -7 years ago I remember it being very tasty. So I was pretty excited about making a return visit. The Thali Cafe (well the Clifton one at least) offers five main thali choices and a couple of sides and starters. I was pretty keen to recreate my first experience so I had already decided to have the Northern thali. This is their signature dish a vegetarian curry assortment including a curry with fried paneer.

Menu peek

decision making

Sarah, Rob, Rich and I decided to share some poppadoms and chutneys for our starters and we all amazingly went for different thalis. Rich picked the lamb kofta thali which was the one that almost swayed me, with spiced meatballs, in a coconut, tomato and cinnamon sauce. Sarah and Rob chose the Mogul thali and the Southern thali. With all the aromatic smells wafting round the restaurant our stomachs were practically growling in protest luckily the arrival of poppadoms and chutneys saved us in time.

chutney selection

You kind of expect to have mango chutney as standard when you order poppadoms and to be honest that is what I generally stick to because I am not a fan of lime pickle and slightly unbothered by raita. However The Thali Cafe offers little twists on the classics which were a welcome change. There was a tomato and tamarind one that reminded me of lime pickle but actually nice, slightly tangy but totally moreish. Even the mango chutney had an added zing with some chilli in it for a kick. As you will probably be able to tell we made short work of our poppadoms and chutneys, we were still hungry but we were now able to wait for our mains without wondering whether to steal some of the food on the table next door to us. 

Kofta Thali

Southern Thali

Northern Thali

Excuse the photo quality the light was not great but you get the general gist of what we ate. I sampled some of the sauce from Rich's lamb kofta thali and it was divine, so aromatic and the cinnamon really came through, this is definitely what I will be sampling next time I visit. Rob's Southern thali was a Goan fish curry but the fish had been coated in crispy crumb which made it a little bit different, it also looked really good. The paneer curry in my vegetarian thali was really light and the sauce was yummy I was impressed. However the winner I think for all of us, the one that stole the show, was the lentil dhal it was creamy and so well flavoured it made me want to make dhal at home and eat it more often. The only thing we all weren't keen on was the vegetable, mainly potato dish which I thought was a bit like a saag, it tasted a bit under seasoned.

I cannot wait to return to one of the thali cafes they are a bit different from what the normal curry house  offers and perfect for Summer because the curry is lighter and does not make you feel like you need to snooze immediately afterwards, dare I say it it almost feels like a healthy curry. Also it is the perfect place to feed vegetarians, vegans and gluten free people all together as it offers options for all. It will definitely be one of the options I offer up to my sister's vegan boyfriend when they next visit Bristol for dinner. So if you haven't already visited one of the cafes of this Bristol institution get thee to a thali cafe now. To view menu options and find out more about their origin story visit their website.

Pizzas at Pepe Nero

The other weekend Carla had invited a small group of friends out for one of her farewell to Bristol dinners and she had chosen Pepe Nero. Her Italian half craved a decent pizza and having heard from reliable sources that Pepe Nero offered true authentic Italian pizzas it would be folly to resist the opportunity to visit before she left for London. Pepe Nero can be found on the corner of Bond Street in Broadmead, a site historically held by  Italian restaurants Bottelino's and for a very short time, Fratelli's. 

We headed upstairs to the small seating area, Pepe Nero predominantly operates as a spot for a quick lunch time grab bag and also takeaway in the evening, they will even deliver to your door. They have a wide variety of toppings to choose from including the option for vegan cheese which is definitely something you don't see that often. I went for the crudo and panna pizza; Parma ham and double cream whilst Rich went for the Pepenero; bacon, olives, mushrooms, salami, ham and peppers.

crudo and panna

The Pepenero

Placing the toppings on top of the pizza, instead of cooking them at the same time, the Italian way, I am assured, is rather awesome. You could taste the quality of the deli meats much more easily than if they were cooked in and covered with cheese. I was extremely impressed by the high quality of the pizzas a great deal of topping generosity. The bases were I think the best you can get in Bristol, light and crisp but not dry. I did think the cream stated in my pizza of choice would be more apparent rather than mixed in with the cheese but it was still really indulgent and tasty. 

Crudo and panna upclose

A bargain for under £10 these pizzas are the jewel in the pizza crown, although I still also really like the pizzas at Beerd. The service at Pepe Nero was swift and polite and we were all pretty impressed, and I am looking forward to trying their takeaway service as a little weekend treat. To see what else Pepe Nero has to offer, visit their website.

Pre Theatre Dinner at Falafel King

Jamie and I were on our way to the Redgrave theatre on Percival road and we needed to stop for a quick bite to eat, my first suggestion was Falafel King. Jamie, having never been to this Bristol institution, readily agreed and we met outside ready for a quick dinner. I have been to Falafel King on Cotham Hill a number of times and it never disappoints, definitely the best falafel you will get in town, and so far I have yet to have a falafel to rival it ever, although the ones at Maroush in London came very close if not equal to. I ordered a small pitta where as Jamie went for the salad, two meals for under £10, a total bargain.

Falafel in pitta

falafel salad

falafel salad up close

We waited about 5-10 minutes for the food to be prepared as it was a bit busy but once it arrived we tucked in. Jamie was really amazed to see how much food came with the salad option at such a cheap price. It looked so fresh and delicious next time I might be tempted away from my usual pitta option, which was excellent as always. One of my favourite elements of Falafel King is their chilli sauce, I didn't overload mine quite as much as chilli fanatic Jamie but I love a little for a good kick.

Most people are already aware of the greatness of Falafel King I just wanted to shout loud and proud how much of a fan I am. They often have live music in the evening where you can snack on meze and enjoy some shisha so for all your falafel cravings and needs this is the best place in town. For more info on live music schedule or opening times check out their Facebook page. Next week I want to finally write up my first foray into katsu curry, so then you can all have a go at making it.