Friday Night is Steak Night at CAU

The first Friday of August Kym was invited to a preview evening of CAU, Carne Argentinan Unica by the way, to give feedback to the restaurant before their opening the following Monday. Such a saint is Kym, she invited me to come with her so we could experience what the latest steak restaurant in Bristol had to offer. CAU is run by the same team who brought us fancy, mostly London based, Argentinian steak chain Gaucho, and was launched as a more accessible and more affordable version. We were welcomed by Edward, our waiter for the evening, into the restaurant and he was enthusiastic and attentive, a great guy. I would describe the decor as how 60s entertainment execs imagined life in space would be, think Space 1999 or 2001: A Space Odyssey and you have CAU's interior down to a tee.

Edward, our enthusiastic CAUboy (yes I agree a totally cringy title)

The menu for CAU, as you would imagine, is largely beef based but other than steak you can order pork belly, a burger, chicken and fish, there are few vegetarian options but largely I would say the choice is mainly a carnivore's playground.  I ordered a large glass of Syrah and Kym tested one of their mocktails, it is worth noting they do a selection of Malbecs as well so you can match your Argentinian steak with a home grown wine.

There were some tempting dishes on the starters/small plates menu we decided that sharing two was the best policy so we opted for the salt and pepper squid which came with chipotle mayonnaise plus a dish of the belly of pork tempura with 'CAUchup'.  Steak wise they all come in grams so I have imperialised them for the sake of comparison to other steak places. CAU offer a fair few options starting with an 8oz rump for £13.95 but they also offer some more unfamiliar cuts the most expensive being an 18oz Tira de Ancho, described as the King of Steaks.

Rib-eye has always been my favourite cut so I decided to order the 12oz version cooked medium rare. Kym opted for the Tira de Ancho, a spiral cut of rib-eye marinated in chimichurri and grilled slowly, although ordered rare, Edward said that the chefs recommend having it medium rare because it is such a thick cut. It is worth noting that all CAU steaks come with chips, thin or thick, or a salad.

salt and pepper squid

pork belly tempura bites

The starters looked pretty tasty, and the portions were fairly generous.  The squid was crunchy and well seasoned with the heat from the chili coming through nicely. I personally found the chipotle mayonnaise a little heavy and cloying for the squid but the flavour of the mayonnaise would be great with chips. If you try any starter at CAU let it be the pork belly tempura bites, wonderfully juicy melt in the mouth pork with a crunchy tempura shell, hugely indulgent and addictive. The self titled CAUchup, made in house, was like a light smokey barbeque sauce and it paired with the pork belly bites very nicely.

12oz Rib-eye

"The King of Steaks"

crispy fries

My oh my, what juicy steaks these meaty beasts turned out to be.  I was pretty surprised by how good the steak was actually, really well seasoned, chargrilled flavour and perfectly cooked, I would go as far to say this was the best steak I have sampled in Bristol so far, although I have yet to try the hallowed Ox yet.  The fries were nice and crispy, I always prefer fries with a steak given the choice so you don't fill up too much on a thick cut chip.  Kym's steak was pretty large but full of flavour and I always enjoy a chimichurri sauce with a steak as it adds a fresh element.

Nicely full we had just about enough room for a scoop of coconut sorbet, they do a little 1 scoop for under £2 for when you want something sweet but nothing too heavy.  All in all CAU offers up some extremely tasty steaks, I was very impressed, I think some of the small plates are a touch pricey but they were very delicious and ours were rich enough to share.  If you like steak then I strongly urge you to pay CAU a visit, it will surprise you.  As a preview evening our food was free but we paid for our drinks and the service charge, this did not influence how I thought about the meal though, I am too opinionated for that. To find out for yourself what CAU has to offer visit their website.

Fish & Chips at The Swan Inn, Rowberrow

A quick mini post about The Swan Inn at Rowberrow.  A couple of Sundays ago I met up with Kym in order to meet the newest member of her family, Rose the Rottweiler. Firstly a disclaimer, Rottweilers get a bad rep, Rose was wonderfully peaceful and sweet, considering we were surrounded by other dogs she behaved herself beautifully.  The Swan Inn is about a 30 minute drive from central Bristol out along the A38 past the airport and is just up a slip road a lovely old pub which has a decent sized outside area where dogs and horses are very welcome to rest up whilst their owners do the same. 

On this warm Sunday we decided to stop in for lunch and sat outside on one of the many tables and browsed the menu.  Although Sundays are when most people crave a roast I did not want to feel completely wiped out for the rest of the day, although the roast pork which came with a side of cauliflower cheese, amongst other things, did look mighty tempting. Kym and I both opted for the fish and chips.

A really large piece of fish was brought to our table it was golden, crunchy and very delicious. The chips were ok but nothing special, just standard pub chips, which was a bit of a shame as the fish was so good. The crushed peas however were very nice so that leveled out the meal somewhat.  The Swan Inn is a lovely country pub with some better than average pub food, nice for a little trip out of the city especially if you have a dog, they make them feel very welcome here.

Rose

Jessie's Sushi Birthday at Stanton House

Two Sundays ago I headed up to Swindon to see my very best friend and partner in crime, Jessie. A trip to hotel Stanton House had been planned for dinner and I was very much looking forward to gorging on Japanese food. Stanton House is a hotel in a country house with two restaurants.  Their Mt Fuji restaurant serves up yakiniku, Japanese barbecue, and has low level tables to kneel at for an immersive experience. Their other restaurant The Rosemary, serves up a modern British menu as well as a Japanese one.  On this occasion we were dining in The Rosemary.

The Japanese menu is pretty traditional looking with agadashi tofu, octopus and scallops on the sashimi part of the menu so I was looking forward to getting stuck in.  After ordering my cup of green tea, I decided to choose some salmon sashimi and temaki plus tonkatsu, which came with rice and miso.  The service thus far was a bit slow and the waitresses returned a number of times to reconfirm orders, however on the plus side we didn't have to wait too long for food, which was a bonus.

salmon sashimi

pork tonkatsu 

salmon temaki

The food was pretty good not the best Japanese I've ever had but definitely a solid effort, the sashimi was particularly good, thickly cut slices of ultra fresh fish that were very delicious.  The tonkatsu was nice and crunchy although the salad popped next to it looked a little sad.  I'd be interested in trying the traditional Japanese barbecue restaurant if I was to visit again but as Bristol has a good selection of Japanese restaurants I don't need to rush back to Stanton House. However it did give me the opportunity to play with my food a little.

shark attack

If Stanton House piques your interest check out their website for more details on Thursdays they do an all you can eat buffet which sounds particularly excellent. Upcoming blogs will be a mini visit to the Swan Inn in Rowberrow and a trip to newly opened Argentinian steak house CAU, expect much meat.

Spanish Wine Pairing and Tapas at Harvey's

Last week we were invited to sample the new Spanish menu and wine matching at Harvey's Cellars. We had not been to Harvey's in over 2 years and felt that it was well worth another trip there. Since our last visit Harvey's adopted a Creole spin to their tapas menu, which is not something I have seen before. However for this visit they wanted us to try out an authentic Spanish menu with wines to match.  What is nice that since our last visit, they have changed a few things and made the decor a bit to make it feel warmer and more welcoming. 

Heading into the back part of Harvey's we sat up to one of the giant barrels.  First we were brought a Bristol cream sherry over ice with a wedge of orange and some imported olives marinated in a closely guarded secret recipe, there was heat, citrus and they were wonderful.  This was closely chased by a selection of cured meats and passata, which was matched with a Macabeo Chardonnay. We were advised by our Spanish guide that spreading passata on the bread then topping with the sliced meat was how they did it in Spain so not one to shun food advice we dived on in.

pork loin and chorizo cuts

The passata was an excellent edition to the bread and cured meat standard tapas dish, it really brought out the flavour of the meat but also freshened it up so it cut through the richness.  After hoovering this up we were served a tortilla and some ultra smooth gazpacho with a quail egg and shredded Serrano ham on top, apparently this is traditionally eaten with the tortilla.  The tortilla was soft and creamy and the gazpacho was a heavenly substitute dip for anything to be honest, perfectly chilled for hot summer evenings. 

tortilla with gazpacho

egg mayonnaise with fresh bread sticks

mixed croquettes

Once we were poured a generous glass of rich Cabernet Merlot and had it's origins and matching notes explained, more dishes appeared all of the same excellent quality.  The egg mayonnaise type dish was given a kick and a fresher taste with gherkins, capers and spring onion, apparently this is popular for lunch on a Summer's day as it is chilled and not too rich. There were some tostadas topped with marinated peppers, onions and topped with fresh tuna and anchovy which would have been perfect on holiday for snacking with a glass of wine.  

The three types of croquettes, cod, mushroom and ham both smooth and crunchy were all equally delicious. I was particularly impressed by the seared octopus with salt and paprika, so smoky and meaty it definitely surprised me how good this tasted.  Obviously no tapas meal would have been complete without some baked chorizo and our final dish was chorizo baked in cider which was once again wonderful, salty and yet slightly sweet.  

We finished the meal with a selection of Spanish cheeses with nuts and home baked crackers, not just your standard manchego but some more unfamiliar ones to sample.  For our dessert we were brought some almond cake and a glass of Spanish Cava, much tastier than normal Cava, which I tend to shun in favour of Prosecco.  The cake was wonderfully light and the almond flavour worked perfectly with the poached pear in wine that came with it.

seared octopus with paprika

A selection of pre-dessert Spanish cheeses

almond polenta cake with wine poached pear

The Spanish menu at Harvey's is exquisite, full of new dishes I had not tried but now definitely want to eat again. The menu paired with wine is £35 per head which is such great value, Rich and I were struggling by the end of the meal.  I do think they should offer these dishes as part of the main menu at all times, the food is worth being available at all times it is that good. This menu is not for the fussy as we were not sure what dishes to expect, you basically will be up for enjoying the surprise.  To find out more about this menu and the other food Harvey's serves check out their website.  This tasting menu was offered complimentary by Harvey's but you can see by the high standard of food this did not impact this review,  I would have paid for this in a heartbeat, one of the nicest evenings we have had out in a long while.

A Monday Night at Bangkok House

Monday we met Rich's parents for dinner, deciding on treating Rich to something full of flavour, that wouldn't hurt his jaw too much and something that he could actually taste through the side affects, Rich's dad decided Thai food would be a good bet for all these things.  As I had heard good things about Bangkok House, mainly from Jamie, I suggested it might be a good place to go to.  We didn't book as we thought at 7.45 on a Monday evening we would be alright to walk on in.

The restaurant is a lot smaller than I expected but We sat down to beautiful carved tables and ordered some Changs and an iced tea for me.  Rich's dad is something of a Thai food expert, having lived over there, so we decided to let him order a number of dishes for us all to share.  I think this is often a good way to go as then you get to try more dishes than normal, which for a food fanatic, more is better.  We ordered the mix starter platter for 4, plus; chicken green curry, some stir fried vegetables, stir fried pork with Thai basil, pad Thai and some chicken tom khar soup, which is one of my personal Thai favourites.

mixed starters

barbecuing our satay

Beautiful mixed starter, the mini barbecue with which to sear your chicken satay on before dunking it in peanut sauce was a really nice touch.  Everything was well flavoured I especially enjoyed the aforementioned satay. fish cakes and the deep fried chicken, which was so crispy I was sad there was only one apiece. Having warmed our appetites nicely with the starters I was eager for the mains, luckily they didn't take too long to appear.

chicken Thai green curry

chicken pad Thai

chicken tom khar soup

The food was great.  Perfectly balanced spices and flavours.  Easily the best Thai green curry and Tom Khar soup I've ever had so far, a complete match made in heaven of sharp, creamy and fragrant, nothing dominating the other, it was absolutely perfect.  Everything went down very nicely it tasted really fresh and cleansing which is how Thai food really should be, not stodgy like I have had in some other restaurants. The only real disappointment for me was that they did not have the fish to make choo chee which is my current favourite Thai dish.  But everything we ordered was really tasty, Bangkok House may well be the best Thai restaurant in Bristol, I just need to go and thoroughly test all the others I haven't tried yet!

Next blog post coming up is the new Spanish menu at Harvey's Cellars, which contains some authentic dishes and not just your usual patatas bravas. To find out more about Bangkok House check out their website.

A Summer Evening at Three Brothers Burgers

Last week Jane and I decided to throw out our normal after work meet up plans of tea and a chat in favour of dinner and a longer catch up. Jane had suggested trying out the Three Brothers Burgers which has taken up residency at the Spyglass on Welshback, well I am always up for a burger, so it was decided.  Although the Three Brothers looks like a pop-up affair I was assured on Twitter by the restaurant that it has taken over the Spyglass permanently, so if you get attached you don't need to worry about separation anxiety too much.  It was just about warm enough to sit outside so we boarded the boat and made our way to the decking area.

For the bargain hunters amongst you Three Brothers do a lunch time offer of burger and fries for £5 from 12pm til 5pm.  Two things to note on the service, the first waiter we felt was a little terse and impatient with us whilst we were deciding what to drink. However the second guy, that took over was great, we had some good banter and fun with him which despite the fact he had just returned from Glastonbury was admirable, definitely recommended.

I decided after much deliberation to go for the Blue Brother's Burger, because it was topped with caramelised onions and Alex James' Blue Monday cheese which is heavenly. Jane decided to go for the Smokey Bro, topped with smoked Applewood cheddar, bacon, house-made barbecue sauce and crispy onions. Bare in mind that sides are not included so we decided to share some fries, seasoned with a secret spice mix and some deep fried pickles served with house-made ranch dip. 

the whole shebang

blue monday from above

As you can see these are some burgers. When they arrived I did think they looked a little small but actually what they do is give you a very thick patty.  The brioche buns were nice and light and held together, which is very important when eating a burger.  Oh my word the burger itself though, heavenly. One of the nicest burgers I have had in a very long time. If i was to describe it in one word it would be juicy. The meat had such flavour and the toppings only helped accentuate that the caramelised onions were sweet enough to cut through the creamy saltiness of the blue cheese.  I wasn't really sure what to expect when I walked in to Three Brothers Burgers but I was impressed by the quality of the burger, they are all cooked medium so if you don't like a pink innard to your patty they will cook it a bit longer for you.   

The skin on fries were large enough for us two girls to share and the deep fried pickles were absolutely delicious, this has been a must try for me for a while every since they started popping up. I didn't really rate the ranch dressing the pickles came with as it had too much dill in but that is my personal tastes. 

inside the burger

On the whole I very much enjoyed my visit to Three Brothers Burgers, there were a couple of issues with service and some people might not like that fries do not come as standard however for a very juicy meat experience you couldn't go far wrong. Our meal came to just over £13 each with a drink which isn't too bad for an evening meal, plus the beer lovers amongst you they offer a pretty big range of craft beers, as is becoming the norm in Bristol. To see what food Three Brothers has to offer check out their website.

An Unplanned Lunch at Caribbean Wrap

Last Friday I found myself unorganised and without lunch. Usually I plan my lunches for the week and take them with me to work, anyway not this day.  So I decided to treat myself to a browse round St Nicks Market, where some of the best delicious lunch delights live.  It had been a while since I had lunched from the market and as it was much cooler than previous days, read rainy, I decided to go to Caribbean Wrap for some warming spices. I have only ever been here once and that was a number of years ago, definitely pre blog.  Caribbean Wrap has a pretty large menu for you to choose from, including various curries, salt fish and ackee and the infamous JFC, Jamaican Fried Chicken.

I chose the standard and popular jerk chicken with rice and peas plus some veg stew on the side. Asked if I wanted small, medium or large I decided to go down the middle with a medium, just as well really as medium, it turns out is pretty hefty. I took the spicy parcel up to a quiet area at work to accompany my current read, James Ellroy's The Big Nowhere in case you are interested.

For the money, just over £5 this was good value. It certainly wasn't the best jerk chicken I have ever had but the heat built up nicely and the rice and peas were really tasty. The vegetables were the only real disappointment, lots of squash seeds left in the sauce and there wasn't a great deal of flavour generally, it just was a bit stodgy.  So if you have a craving for Caribbean food that won't be ignored this will quash your hunger nicely.  You can find Caribbean Wrap on one of the corners at St Nicks Market you will probably be able to smell the spices long before you see the venue