After yet more horrific, hair-tearing days of no Outlook access thanks to Fasthosts server problems I was shocked to receive an unsolicited email of apology from their customer services director. Very nice but still doesn't compensate me for two days of lost productivity Simon!
I am writing to update you on an issue that occurred intermittently for some of our POP Mail customers this week. Whilst this issue only affected a small percentage of our customers I note that your email account was on the infrastructure concerned and therefore wish to update you. Upfront I would also wish to apologise unreservedly if you or your business was in anyway affected by this incident. We are at an advanced stage in the process of implementing an improved and more resilient email platform, and unfortunately we encountered some unusual issues with balancing user access to the service which caused a temporary disruption. This led to a proportion of our email clients only having intermittent access, and a small number of customers having problems over a more prolonged period. Our operations team restored the service for affected customers as quickly as possible, and all mailboxes were fully restored by 6:00pm yesterday. Please note, no emails were lost through this service disruption as all emails sent during the issues were queued and subsequently delivered when the issue was resolved. We are fully committed to ensuring an effective service for our customers and are making significant investments to ensure our services are market leading and regret on this occasion a small number of our customers were impacted during our infrastructure upgrade. Apologies again if you were impacted and thanks for your continued business.
Yours Sincerely
Simon Yeoman
Customer Services Director
Fasthosts Internet Ltd.
Friday 28 August 2009
Sunday 23 August 2009
Shell Island and our Welsh camping Staycation
We're seasoned campers but, for the first time this year, we decided to stay in the UK and brave a whole week of the British weather rather than our usual long weekend jaunts. Now a week or even a fortnight's camping in France is just wonderful - sunshine is almost (not always) guaranteed. But a week in Wales? Well I convinced myself that Shell Island - a new destination for us - would have its own sub-tropical micro-climate.
Alas, it seems Mocras (as it is know in Welsh - one of the few names I could pronounce) does indeed have its own micro-climate - desert storm.
Arriving on our first day we were convinced we had struck gold. Beautiful Shell Island in all its glory and a fabulous pitch among the dunes was ours for the taking. The sun was shining, the kids were throwing themselves down the largest sand dunes we've ever seen, the beer was still cold in the ice box and all was good with the world. The new Weber barbecue was put into action, a fantastic feast ensued and then we roasted marshmallows with the kids around the campfire before tucking them up with their Nintendos and settling down to some chill tunes on the ipod and a few more cold beers. The dogs snuggled up and dreamed of all the fun to come.
Day two and we woke to rather gloomy skies and a rather fierce breeze. Ho hum, we thought. Life is still good. A few hours later and friends arrived and pitched close by. We hadn't even realised we were all going to the same campsite until we got talking at footie training earlier that week. The boys were over the moon to have their mate Baillie in tow and off they all set, back into the dunes only to end up in a rather serious ruck with a bunch of other (older!) kids who were throwing sand in their faces and beating our youngest, only seven, with spades. He came screaming back to the tent, eyes full of sand and ended up with a very badly bruised back. Let's just say words were had!
The clouds showed no sign of clearing and the fierce breeze was gathering momentum, whipping sand off them their dunes at an impressive rate. But we're seasoned campers and we weren't going to let a little inclement weather ruin our evening. The campfire was stoked up once more and we tried to roast the marshmallows but the wind and sand soon put paid to that so we all retired into our tent for red wine and hot chocolate.
Bedtime came and we settled in. All I can say is thank God the kids slept through because, for the rest of the evening, the wind howled, the tent flapped furiously and I was convinced we were going to do a Wizard of Oz at any point.
Luckily our sturdy Outwell Montana (Note: metal poles are a really good move if you want a tent to survive Stonethwaite and Shell Island!) lasted the night but our poor friends woke to find their brand new tent practically flattened around them and duly packed up and headed home to complain to Go Outdoors for selling them a dud!
And so the week went on. Our friends returned 24 hours later with a new tent and a chipper spirit. It was their first wedding anniversary and they were determined to celebrate, if not in style. More drinks and more hot choccies with marshmallows were consumed and our friends endured a couple more days before the wind finally got the better of them and they decided to pack up and leave for a second time - duly ripping their second new tent in a week as they tried to pack in a force goodness knows what wind!
The rest of the week was dominated by grey skies and further (although less fierce) wind until at last, the day before we were due to head home the sun made a much welcome appearance and we were finally able to truly appreicate the glory of Shell Island.
Not that we'd had a bad time. The kids and dogs braved the surf despite arctic sea temperatures, crabbing was a huge success with all of us catching loads of the little blighters. (Told my neighbour earlier but he said I shouldn't go round broadcasting such information to the whole neighbourhood!).
Certainly our crabbing forays were far more successful that Martin's sea bass fishing attempts - despite getting expert advice from a member of the British sea bass fishing team all he managed to catch was lots of seaweed!
We then tried, but failed miserably, to buy some sea bass for supper but it seems that despite their being plenty of them swimming around the waters of West Wales, you can't actually buy them for love nor money. In fact what a dissapointment the local produce - or lack of it - was in general. Apart from a few good sausages and some Welsh cakes in a bakery it seems that every food shop from Barmouth to Porthmadog is full of the usual processed crap available everywhere. Saying that we had fabulous sit-down fish and chips in Barmouth and a fairly nice lunch and lattes in the Rock Cafe (turns out to be a God Squad joint) in Porthmadog. We also paid a trip to Portmerion and thanked our lucky stars we had waited until 3.30pm to pay the half price entrace fee. Very pretty and unusual yes but why is it you have to pay to walk round and look at a hotel and a few rental properties (mostly with Range Rovers parked outside) which only the truly wealthy can afford to stay in? No information, no guided tour, no little plaques telling us about the quirky architecture but we could pay another £3.50 for a guide book if we wanted. Personally, for almost £10 to get into the village in the first place, I would have liked to have had free access to a bit of history. Sneaked a look in the book in the shop and only learnt that the architect was originally from my home county of Northamptonshire. Bonkers then!
So crabbing, fishing, wave hopping, dune rolling, walking, cycling, sight seeing and lots of fun was had by all despite the weather but to be honest Wales (and the Welsh) was a bit of a let down. Beautiful, indeed stunning scenery but why then, when they live in such a gorgeous place, is everyone so miserable? Where were the friendly greetings in shops and pubs? Who is eating all the fantastic local produce that we know exists but could not find anywhere? Why were there scabby takeaways everywhere? And why was every accent we heard Scouse?
And Shell Island itself? A beautiful, truly gorgeous spot with stunning beaches, amazing views of Snowdownia and, on first appearances, probably the finest campsite to be found anywhere. But alas, below the surface, lurks the island's dirty secrets. Broken bottles, cans, nappies, bin bags - all strewn around the dunes. I suppose at least the perpetrators had at least tried to conceal their crap. But then there was the group of youngsters sitting on the beach enjoying a few beers and a campfire that we spotted on a late evening walk back from the sea with the kids and the dogs. No harm in that. Sadly, the next morning we found their beer bottles strewn across the beach and the inflatable dinghy they had with them burnt out atop the remains of the campfire.
One set of neighbours headed off home leaving four bin bags, a broken barbecue and around 50 empty bottles on their plot. (The bins were 100m away!). Two days later the wardens came and cleared the rubbish away.
Another set of neighbours abandanoned camp after their small tents were flattened by the heavy winds. Fair enough but did they have to leave the tents and everything else behind including dirty socks, old flip flops and food encrusted plates? This was four days before our departure and the remnants of their holiday remained after we had packed up and headed home.
At the centre of Shell Island is the main complex which has everything you could need including free (and clean) hot showers, a launderette, small (fairly okay priced) supermarket, excellent camp and leisure shop and nice gift and ice cream/fudge shop, cosy bar, scary, noisy games room (aaargh, the kids loved it!), hideous cafe churning out deep fried crap and creating an aroma of fine grease across the entire complex and decent kids play area. Good for watching the footie (two fantastic Arsenal results in one week) but scarily full of scallies dressed up to the nines in Bench and McKenzie, gold earrings dangling as they consumed WKD and pints of wine and screached at their 'bleedin' kids'!
To summarise, Shell Island has its problems. The rubbish is a big one and, while practical and offering more or less everything you need in an emergency, the central complex could have been so much nicer with a little thought, and perhaps a nod to the local area (and dare I say produce?).
The weather was pants (apart from the last two days) but we'd still go back. Despite our misgivings it's a truly stunning place with plenty of free fun to offer those with young children, dogs and a love of the great outdoors and real camping. Happy holidays!
Now it's Newhaven in the Peak District for the Bank Holiday weekend. Here we go again!
Monday 10 August 2009
How to Cook for Kids if you live on Planet Observer
I had a kid free Sunday evening. I wanted a big newspaper to read. The Observer called - it was the front page flash promising a 10 page magazine feature on How to Cook for Kids that did it for me.
I can't believe I got so angry about it I had to write to the editor (see below).
What utter, utter tosh! Seared scallops and Salmon saltimbocca I ask you!
To read this nonsense (and actually the Observer has done us parents a big favour by publishing this article - at least we won't waste our hard-earned cash on the pretentious book the so-called recipes come from) see http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/09/gastrokid-cooking-kids.
Here's what I had to say to the editor:
Dear Editor,
What utter tosh! As the mum of two young boys and the wife of a chef we have a keen interest in food in our family so I picked up yesterday's Observer looking forward to reading your 10 page magazine special on How to Cook for Kids as flagged up on your front page.
Never in my life have I read such pretentious nonsense! Have our national newspapers totally lost touch with reality?
Salmon Saltimbocca? Seared Scallops? Radish, Watercress and Feta salad? Hello?
Now let's imagine we all had the money to buy ingredients like scallops to feed our kids wth in the first place. Perhaps the residents of Chelsea and Kensington pop into Waitrose or wherever for a few scallops for their little darlings of a weekend but, for the majority of parents, such luxuries would rarely make it onto the menu. Indeed, your own newspaper also carried an article on the rise of supermarket own label goods and for most of us, it's about feeding our families as well as we can on a tight budget these days.
Now, take a class of average 10 year olds and suggest they sit down to sardines and mustard for their supper. I predict a riot!
Not only were these recipes so incredibly wide of the mark as far as most kids are concerned, they weren't even that good.
And it was a case of hunt the missing ingredients in the photography. I might keep the magazine and turn iit into a game for my kids!
Can anyone tell me where the chorizo and chick peas were supposed to be hiding in the Prawn and Chorizo Non-Paella, for examle? And I'll gladly stand supper for anyone who can spot the watercress in the Radish, Watercress and Feta Salad - looked to me like a few radishes sliced up on a bit of stale old ciabatta!
I have a 10 year old son who happily tucked into fois gras and demanded to try horse meat while on holiday in France last year.
He loves a home-made curry, can demolish spag bol in seconds and is in and out of the fruit bowl all day. He also adores burger and chips and occasionally (gasp!) asks for a Pot Noodle when he's going fishing with his dad.
He enjoys a certain amount of salad and veg and can make a mean stiry fry all by himself. But really?
How Hugh (and his practically fruitarian daughter!) and Matthew managed to convince (con?) not only a publisher but also a national newspaper, into publishing such pretentions nonsense in the name of our kids is beyond me! If any parent out there buys this book with the belief that it offers good advice about feeding a family they will be wasting their hard earned cash. Perhaps, by publishing these 'recipes' in avdance, the Observer has in fact done us all a favour.
I dare you to try some of these dishes out on a group of hand picked kids and see what they really think Roasted Chickpea Bruschetta (where was the bread?) or Grilled Courgette. It makes Annabloodybel Karmel look almost realistic.
We're off on our 'staycation' to Wales next week. The chef has plans to smoke mackeral caught by him and the kids. Lovely! The new Weber barbecue will be getting a battering on a daily basis. We've heard you can pick wild strawberries on our campsite.
But we'll also be heading to Lidl in advance to stock up on fruit, ham, crisps, croissants, pasta, beans, cheese, biscuits and all those other things that normal kids like to fuel up on when running around a campsite getting dirty, tired and hungry all day. I think I might even throw a few Pot Noodles in my trolley just for the hell of it!
Yours faithfully,
Michele Hart
0161 282 0545
07796 276672
PS - I don't have a book to sell, I don't have a business to push but I promise you that my husband and I could come up with a better How to Feed your Kids feature than this. Please start thinking about real people and families for a change. We consider ourselves foodies. We try to encourage our kids to eat healthily and expand their palates (something of a challenge with our youngest who is on the autistic spectrum). We cook with our kids and tell them where their food comes from. We grow our own veg. And there's nothing we like more than sitting down to a good home cooked meal with the extended family. We also go to McDonalds occasionally, rely on fish fingers and baked beans or a chippie tea on a Friday when the boys have to be at cricket by 6.30pm and we even let our boys run out to the ice cream van and have a volcano (like a 99 but covered in hideous blue sherbert!) every now and again!
I can't believe I got so angry about it I had to write to the editor (see below).
What utter, utter tosh! Seared scallops and Salmon saltimbocca I ask you!
To read this nonsense (and actually the Observer has done us parents a big favour by publishing this article - at least we won't waste our hard-earned cash on the pretentious book the so-called recipes come from) see http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/09/gastrokid-cooking-kids.
Here's what I had to say to the editor:
Dear Editor,
What utter tosh! As the mum of two young boys and the wife of a chef we have a keen interest in food in our family so I picked up yesterday's Observer looking forward to reading your 10 page magazine special on How to Cook for Kids as flagged up on your front page.
Never in my life have I read such pretentious nonsense! Have our national newspapers totally lost touch with reality?
Salmon Saltimbocca? Seared Scallops? Radish, Watercress and Feta salad? Hello?
Now let's imagine we all had the money to buy ingredients like scallops to feed our kids wth in the first place. Perhaps the residents of Chelsea and Kensington pop into Waitrose or wherever for a few scallops for their little darlings of a weekend but, for the majority of parents, such luxuries would rarely make it onto the menu. Indeed, your own newspaper also carried an article on the rise of supermarket own label goods and for most of us, it's about feeding our families as well as we can on a tight budget these days.
Now, take a class of average 10 year olds and suggest they sit down to sardines and mustard for their supper. I predict a riot!
Not only were these recipes so incredibly wide of the mark as far as most kids are concerned, they weren't even that good.
And it was a case of hunt the missing ingredients in the photography. I might keep the magazine and turn iit into a game for my kids!
Can anyone tell me where the chorizo and chick peas were supposed to be hiding in the Prawn and Chorizo Non-Paella, for examle? And I'll gladly stand supper for anyone who can spot the watercress in the Radish, Watercress and Feta Salad - looked to me like a few radishes sliced up on a bit of stale old ciabatta!
I have a 10 year old son who happily tucked into fois gras and demanded to try horse meat while on holiday in France last year.
He loves a home-made curry, can demolish spag bol in seconds and is in and out of the fruit bowl all day. He also adores burger and chips and occasionally (gasp!) asks for a Pot Noodle when he's going fishing with his dad.
He enjoys a certain amount of salad and veg and can make a mean stiry fry all by himself. But really?
How Hugh (and his practically fruitarian daughter!) and Matthew managed to convince (con?) not only a publisher but also a national newspaper, into publishing such pretentions nonsense in the name of our kids is beyond me! If any parent out there buys this book with the belief that it offers good advice about feeding a family they will be wasting their hard earned cash. Perhaps, by publishing these 'recipes' in avdance, the Observer has in fact done us all a favour.
I dare you to try some of these dishes out on a group of hand picked kids and see what they really think Roasted Chickpea Bruschetta (where was the bread?) or Grilled Courgette. It makes Annabloodybel Karmel look almost realistic.
We're off on our 'staycation' to Wales next week. The chef has plans to smoke mackeral caught by him and the kids. Lovely! The new Weber barbecue will be getting a battering on a daily basis. We've heard you can pick wild strawberries on our campsite.
But we'll also be heading to Lidl in advance to stock up on fruit, ham, crisps, croissants, pasta, beans, cheese, biscuits and all those other things that normal kids like to fuel up on when running around a campsite getting dirty, tired and hungry all day. I think I might even throw a few Pot Noodles in my trolley just for the hell of it!
Yours faithfully,
Michele Hart
0161 282 0545
07796 276672
PS - I don't have a book to sell, I don't have a business to push but I promise you that my husband and I could come up with a better How to Feed your Kids feature than this. Please start thinking about real people and families for a change. We consider ourselves foodies. We try to encourage our kids to eat healthily and expand their palates (something of a challenge with our youngest who is on the autistic spectrum). We cook with our kids and tell them where their food comes from. We grow our own veg. And there's nothing we like more than sitting down to a good home cooked meal with the extended family. We also go to McDonalds occasionally, rely on fish fingers and baked beans or a chippie tea on a Friday when the boys have to be at cricket by 6.30pm and we even let our boys run out to the ice cream van and have a volcano (like a 99 but covered in hideous blue sherbert!) every now and again!
Friday 7 August 2009
Can hotels make the food grade?
I was lucky enough to be invited to dine in the new Park Inn in Manchester last night with fellow foodie blogger manchesterisace.
All glass and funky furniture and primary colours, this is a slick looking hotel which is sure to attract plenty of overnight guests from the Manchester Evening News Arena opposite.
Our evening began with a chilled glass of white on the terrace overlooking the apartments of Manchester's Green Quarter (not much green or trees in evidence although still plenty of mud and diggers and the ubiquitous glass and chrome apartment blocks which have taken over Manchester like a plague in recent years).
All very pleasant. The sun was shining for a change and we enjoyed a happy half hour chatting to General Manager Neil Raw and bubbly Director of Sales and Marketing Jill Browton.
Neil then asked if we'd like to head into the dining room and, rather suprisingly since my fellow diner had been asked to write an official review, we were then joined by Neil for dinner which, while he was pleasant and charming company, we both found a little odd.
Sadly we were the only three diners in the ultra modern restaurant overlooking the ring road and defined by some of the brightest orange dining chairs I have ever seen.
Adorning our side pates were small rubber replicas of a branded mini the hotel has parked outside the front entrance and which apparently Jill uses when she's zipping around the city. Cute and I get the real version but my only thought on the replicas on our side plates really was 'Why?'. Mind you I still pocketed them both to take home to my two young boys so, if nothing else, they would be children pleasers I guess.
So onto the food. We glanced through a decent looking menu offering a range of starters, mains and desserts as well as some well though out lighter dishes and snacks.
On the recommendation of Jill my friend chose the Tiger Prawns which I may have ruined for her slightly by then asking everyone if they had seen the latest episode of Blood, Sweat and Takeaways.
I chose the blackened salmon salad with corander, lime and avocado and it was superb. Practically large enough to be a meal in itself, the large chunk of salmon was moist and beautifully cooked, the salad fresh, zingy and packed full of favour, all presented beautifully to create a true visual feast.
Indeed presentation is sonething they do rather well at the Park Inn if our meal was anything to go by. We were greeted with a selection of gorgeous, warm seeded rolls served in their own paper (?) lined basket on taking our seats and this, along with great service, was certainly most welcome.
Onto our main courses and my companion decided to go for the posh fish and chips option which she said was great. Neil ordered the sirloin steak, medium rare, which certainly looked fantastic and came served with three huge onion rings sat on top and a side serving of sauce, Neil choosing the horseradish option.
Being a mum I am subjected to dodgy burgers more often than I would like but seeing the gourmet burgers on offer on the menu accompanied by fat chips I suddenly really fancied one so opted for the Cheddar burger with aged Cheddar, tomato and pickles.
It looked stupendous. My lovely big fat chips came served, like the bread earlier, in their own paper lined bowl (apparently there's a debate going on as to whether they are in fact fat chips or wedges but who cares, they were great!) and the burger looked a beaut. You need to like your seedy bread here though as, once again, the bun was packed full of seeds like the earlier bread rolls. Luckily I do!
Cutting my big boy burger in half I then put down my knife and fork, picked the fella up with my bare hands and took a huge bite, much to the delight of the GM who said he hates seeing people trying to be smart and eat burgers with a knife and fork. Hear hear!
Expecting a taste sensation full of mature cheddar, fresh tomato and pickles and juicy beef I can honestly say that I felt suddenly very disapointed. This handsome looking burger just did not live up to expectations.
Size wise it was great. Substantial but the burger itself was cut relatively thinly which meant I could clamp my chops round it in one bite (a challenge too far in some gourmet burger joints).
It looked fab. The tomato and pickles were zesty and fresh and it had all the makings of a classic. But something just wasn't quite right.
Deconstructing the assembly on my plate I tried each ingredient separately to find out where the problem lay. The cheddar was certainly lacking and though described as aged I would definitely question its maturity. But I think it was the burger itself that was cuasing me offence although I found it hard to work out why. It was definitely dry and I would have certainly preferred something a bit juicier in my bun but this wasn't the main problem. To be honest it just tasted odd. Almost stale. But it wasn't!
Thankfully the generous size of my delicious starter and the proportions of the burger and chips meant that I could politely leave half of it on my plate delclaring to Neil that I was just too full to manage any more.
Unfortunately this meant I also had to pass on dessert but would have liked to try something from the small selection on offer, especially the maple caramel cheesecake.
Our meal was rounded off by a double espresso and some more pleasant chat with the friendly and likeable GM Neil.
On reflection? Shame about the burger but otherwise a pretty good dining experience for a new city centre hotel restaurant. Presentation was fantastic, service was smooth, the company was pleasant, the salmon starter was superb and the orange chairs were very simply just very bright.
With a few more diners and a bit more atmosphere this could be a good place to grab a bite either before or after a gig at the MEN Arena and I would certainly give it another go. I'd probably order the steak next time though.
All glass and funky furniture and primary colours, this is a slick looking hotel which is sure to attract plenty of overnight guests from the Manchester Evening News Arena opposite.
Our evening began with a chilled glass of white on the terrace overlooking the apartments of Manchester's Green Quarter (not much green or trees in evidence although still plenty of mud and diggers and the ubiquitous glass and chrome apartment blocks which have taken over Manchester like a plague in recent years).
All very pleasant. The sun was shining for a change and we enjoyed a happy half hour chatting to General Manager Neil Raw and bubbly Director of Sales and Marketing Jill Browton.
Neil then asked if we'd like to head into the dining room and, rather suprisingly since my fellow diner had been asked to write an official review, we were then joined by Neil for dinner which, while he was pleasant and charming company, we both found a little odd.
Sadly we were the only three diners in the ultra modern restaurant overlooking the ring road and defined by some of the brightest orange dining chairs I have ever seen.
Adorning our side pates were small rubber replicas of a branded mini the hotel has parked outside the front entrance and which apparently Jill uses when she's zipping around the city. Cute and I get the real version but my only thought on the replicas on our side plates really was 'Why?'. Mind you I still pocketed them both to take home to my two young boys so, if nothing else, they would be children pleasers I guess.
So onto the food. We glanced through a decent looking menu offering a range of starters, mains and desserts as well as some well though out lighter dishes and snacks.
On the recommendation of Jill my friend chose the Tiger Prawns which I may have ruined for her slightly by then asking everyone if they had seen the latest episode of Blood, Sweat and Takeaways.
I chose the blackened salmon salad with corander, lime and avocado and it was superb. Practically large enough to be a meal in itself, the large chunk of salmon was moist and beautifully cooked, the salad fresh, zingy and packed full of favour, all presented beautifully to create a true visual feast.
Indeed presentation is sonething they do rather well at the Park Inn if our meal was anything to go by. We were greeted with a selection of gorgeous, warm seeded rolls served in their own paper (?) lined basket on taking our seats and this, along with great service, was certainly most welcome.
Onto our main courses and my companion decided to go for the posh fish and chips option which she said was great. Neil ordered the sirloin steak, medium rare, which certainly looked fantastic and came served with three huge onion rings sat on top and a side serving of sauce, Neil choosing the horseradish option.
Being a mum I am subjected to dodgy burgers more often than I would like but seeing the gourmet burgers on offer on the menu accompanied by fat chips I suddenly really fancied one so opted for the Cheddar burger with aged Cheddar, tomato and pickles.
It looked stupendous. My lovely big fat chips came served, like the bread earlier, in their own paper lined bowl (apparently there's a debate going on as to whether they are in fact fat chips or wedges but who cares, they were great!) and the burger looked a beaut. You need to like your seedy bread here though as, once again, the bun was packed full of seeds like the earlier bread rolls. Luckily I do!
Cutting my big boy burger in half I then put down my knife and fork, picked the fella up with my bare hands and took a huge bite, much to the delight of the GM who said he hates seeing people trying to be smart and eat burgers with a knife and fork. Hear hear!
Expecting a taste sensation full of mature cheddar, fresh tomato and pickles and juicy beef I can honestly say that I felt suddenly very disapointed. This handsome looking burger just did not live up to expectations.
Size wise it was great. Substantial but the burger itself was cut relatively thinly which meant I could clamp my chops round it in one bite (a challenge too far in some gourmet burger joints).
It looked fab. The tomato and pickles were zesty and fresh and it had all the makings of a classic. But something just wasn't quite right.
Deconstructing the assembly on my plate I tried each ingredient separately to find out where the problem lay. The cheddar was certainly lacking and though described as aged I would definitely question its maturity. But I think it was the burger itself that was cuasing me offence although I found it hard to work out why. It was definitely dry and I would have certainly preferred something a bit juicier in my bun but this wasn't the main problem. To be honest it just tasted odd. Almost stale. But it wasn't!
Thankfully the generous size of my delicious starter and the proportions of the burger and chips meant that I could politely leave half of it on my plate delclaring to Neil that I was just too full to manage any more.
Unfortunately this meant I also had to pass on dessert but would have liked to try something from the small selection on offer, especially the maple caramel cheesecake.
Our meal was rounded off by a double espresso and some more pleasant chat with the friendly and likeable GM Neil.
On reflection? Shame about the burger but otherwise a pretty good dining experience for a new city centre hotel restaurant. Presentation was fantastic, service was smooth, the company was pleasant, the salmon starter was superb and the orange chairs were very simply just very bright.
With a few more diners and a bit more atmosphere this could be a good place to grab a bite either before or after a gig at the MEN Arena and I would certainly give it another go. I'd probably order the steak next time though.
First Korean dining experience disappointingly underwhelming
Described by The Guardian as ‘the best Korean restaurant in the country’ we had high hopes for our visit to Manchester’s Koreana. Having never tried Korean food we were looking for a culinary experience with a difference and, if the rave reviews were anything to go by, we weren’t going to be disappointed.
A word of warning. If your partner suggests driving into Manchester the night before a major cycling event just remind him how easy it is to travel by train. We spent a good hour driving round one way systems and avoiding the big hole blocking off half of Deansgate, at first confused by the fact that every parking bay in the city centre appeared to have been suspended. Then it dawned, the city’s streets were going to be closed off the following day to allow cyclists to celebrate the joy of travelling by two wheels. I almost wished I’d jumped on the bike myself when we finally made it into the new NCP car park at Spinningfields where a notice informed us that we would be parted with far too much of our hard earned cash to spend a couple of hours parked in the city centre on a Saturday evening.
We finally headed down the stairs into Koreana half an hour after our booking time but with the restaurant only a third full this didn’t appear to be a problem and we were shown to our table by the extremely friendly staff, all dressed in traditional Korean white aprons with bands of colourful embroidery.
Service was friendly and efficient and we quickly ordered a bottle of Argentinian Torrontes, sadly flabby and served without a wine cooler, alongside two Emily Bishop style ornate wine glasses and accompanying chilled tap water served unassumingly in half pint glasses.
After much debate, we opted for the set menu which offered five courses and was certainly well priced at £18.95 a head. My partner wanted to try a dish he had seen reviewed, the Bibim Bab which wasn’t on the set menu but which, after a small discussion, it was agreed he could have instead of the choice of main courses on offer.
For our first course we ordered deep fried seafood and the Gu Jul Pan which came served in a traditional four compartment bowl and consisted of deep fried chicken balls, deep fried beef in breadcrumbs, unusual mini pancakes and something else deep fried! Both dishes were disappointingly (and perhaps unsurprisingly) greasy and lacking in flavour.
Next came a bowl of beef consome with mini beef dumplings, themselves quite tasty but wallowing in an uninspiring and almost musty tasting broth. Edible but certainly nothing to write home about.
Our third course included a pair of delicious chicken kebabs, the meat cooked to perfection and dripping in a deliciously sweet teryake style sauce. The mini beef and potato pancakes I ordered (Gamja Buchim) can only be described as bizarre, especially the orange coloured ones which tasted like sweet potato gone wrong but were in fact made from Kimchi, a member of the same family as the Chinese Pak Choi.
So far totally underwhelming.
Our main courses showed some promise. I quite enjoyed my Beef Bulgogi - strips of beef marinated in soy, sesame, garlic, ginger, spring onions and pear, stirf ried and then wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves spread with the accompanying (again strangely musty tasting) chilli sauce. Fresh and tasty but I was disappointed to find some of the lettuce leaves adorned with a fine layer of soil.
After great anticipation, my partner tucked into his Bibim Bab, an earthen pot containing rice, noodles, seafood, chicken, pork and an almost fried egg which he was instructed to mix all together to allow the flavours to fuse. It was, he said, okay.
The highlight of the evening was the home made ice cream and sorbet we chose for our final course. The sour plum wine sorbet was tart and refreshing and the ginger ice cream was a zingy, divine combination of small chunks of ginger and creamy cardamom. Possibly one of the nicest ice creams I have ever eaten.
Despite ending on a high note, we were sadly underwhelmed both by our first experience of Korean food and by the Koreana itself. Nothing was exactly wrong with it (apart from a few minor slip ups in the service and of course the offending dirty lettuce leaves) but it just didn’t live up to expectations. If, as the Guardian says, it is ‘the best Korean restaurant in the country’ I fear greatly for the future of Korean cuisine.
A word of warning. If your partner suggests driving into Manchester the night before a major cycling event just remind him how easy it is to travel by train. We spent a good hour driving round one way systems and avoiding the big hole blocking off half of Deansgate, at first confused by the fact that every parking bay in the city centre appeared to have been suspended. Then it dawned, the city’s streets were going to be closed off the following day to allow cyclists to celebrate the joy of travelling by two wheels. I almost wished I’d jumped on the bike myself when we finally made it into the new NCP car park at Spinningfields where a notice informed us that we would be parted with far too much of our hard earned cash to spend a couple of hours parked in the city centre on a Saturday evening.
We finally headed down the stairs into Koreana half an hour after our booking time but with the restaurant only a third full this didn’t appear to be a problem and we were shown to our table by the extremely friendly staff, all dressed in traditional Korean white aprons with bands of colourful embroidery.
Service was friendly and efficient and we quickly ordered a bottle of Argentinian Torrontes, sadly flabby and served without a wine cooler, alongside two Emily Bishop style ornate wine glasses and accompanying chilled tap water served unassumingly in half pint glasses.
After much debate, we opted for the set menu which offered five courses and was certainly well priced at £18.95 a head. My partner wanted to try a dish he had seen reviewed, the Bibim Bab which wasn’t on the set menu but which, after a small discussion, it was agreed he could have instead of the choice of main courses on offer.
For our first course we ordered deep fried seafood and the Gu Jul Pan which came served in a traditional four compartment bowl and consisted of deep fried chicken balls, deep fried beef in breadcrumbs, unusual mini pancakes and something else deep fried! Both dishes were disappointingly (and perhaps unsurprisingly) greasy and lacking in flavour.
Next came a bowl of beef consome with mini beef dumplings, themselves quite tasty but wallowing in an uninspiring and almost musty tasting broth. Edible but certainly nothing to write home about.
Our third course included a pair of delicious chicken kebabs, the meat cooked to perfection and dripping in a deliciously sweet teryake style sauce. The mini beef and potato pancakes I ordered (Gamja Buchim) can only be described as bizarre, especially the orange coloured ones which tasted like sweet potato gone wrong but were in fact made from Kimchi, a member of the same family as the Chinese Pak Choi.
So far totally underwhelming.
Our main courses showed some promise. I quite enjoyed my Beef Bulgogi - strips of beef marinated in soy, sesame, garlic, ginger, spring onions and pear, stirf ried and then wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves spread with the accompanying (again strangely musty tasting) chilli sauce. Fresh and tasty but I was disappointed to find some of the lettuce leaves adorned with a fine layer of soil.
After great anticipation, my partner tucked into his Bibim Bab, an earthen pot containing rice, noodles, seafood, chicken, pork and an almost fried egg which he was instructed to mix all together to allow the flavours to fuse. It was, he said, okay.
The highlight of the evening was the home made ice cream and sorbet we chose for our final course. The sour plum wine sorbet was tart and refreshing and the ginger ice cream was a zingy, divine combination of small chunks of ginger and creamy cardamom. Possibly one of the nicest ice creams I have ever eaten.
Despite ending on a high note, we were sadly underwhelmed both by our first experience of Korean food and by the Koreana itself. Nothing was exactly wrong with it (apart from a few minor slip ups in the service and of course the offending dirty lettuce leaves) but it just didn’t live up to expectations. If, as the Guardian says, it is ‘the best Korean restaurant in the country’ I fear greatly for the future of Korean cuisine.
The Best Indian Buffet EVER!
Kismet
98-100 Buxton Road, Heavily, Stockport
SK2 6PL
Tel: 0161 480 4470
Phenomenal! There’s just no other word to describe our Sunday buffet experience at Kismet on the Buxton Road, an unassuming looking restaurant sat alongside the busy A6 in Stockport, choked up more than ever this particular Sunday afternoon thanks to road works.
As car after car pulled slowly past, their occupants looking more than a little fed up I wanted to run out into the road and shout ‘Just pull over, park up and join us.’
We’d heard good things of the place but had somehow never managed to fit in a visit before. But with the kids terrorising their grandparents in a caravan in North Wales for the week, we decided it was time to check it out – and are so we glad we did.
Only one other family was inside dining when we arrived around 3pm and, as we were shown to our table by our friendly waiter we glimpsed the huge plate of tandoori chicken, and bhaji they were piling onto plates of fresh salad. It almost made us wish we were only there for the buffet menu.
We ordered two cokes, having partaken of rather more alcohol than we should have the night before (when the kids are away, mum and dad will play!) and were immediately brought our drinks and a basket of freshly cooked poppadoms with the usual chutneys to enjoy.
Munching our way happily through crisp, warm poppadums dipped into the mango and yoghurt chutneys and a fresh onion and tomato one (no lime pickle for me, its one taste I just can’t tolerate), I asked what the form was for the buffet. We were told that our starters would be brought over next, after which we could help ourselves.
Not expecting these, we couldn’t believe it when we were presented with the piping hot dish of tandoori and pakora chicken, onion and courgette bhajis that the other diners had been tucking into a short while earlier. The bhaji were hot, crispy and delicious dipped into the remaining chutneys. The tandoori chicken was superb and plentiful, with two pieces each, perfect with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice from the wedge provided. The pakora chicken was perfection.
By this time the restaurant was filling up and as we moved onto the buffet our waistbands were already feeling the strain but how could we resist? All piping hot, we had a choice of six different curries including a spicy chicken madras and a creamy, beautiful chicken korma as well as a rhogan josh and a lamb and potato karahi. The accompanying Bombay potatoes were as freshly cooked and piping hot as the curries and the chana masala with its al dente chick peas was out of this world. For those with a bigger belly there was also nan bread to mop up the sauces.
Our meal finished with a plate of fresh orange wedges and a shared serving of Shamai, apparently a Bengali version of an Indian dish known as Bombay pudding made from rice vermicelli noodles cooked in milk. Suprisingly lovely, especially served with fresh cream, it was like the Bengali equivalent of my mum’s rice pudding.
An amazing feast with wonderfully cooked, fresh and fantastic tasting food that is miles ahead of most buffet offerings we’ve experienced, our meal at the Kismet was made complete by great service. When we saw a framed Great Moor Junior Football Club shirt (our son’s team) with the Kismet logo on the front it made our day. It seems the restaurant sponsors one of the older age groups.
Things got even better when we were given the bill – just £17 which included 3 cokes. The buffet costs just £6.95 a head (£4.95 for children), runs from noon until 10pm every Sunday and is possibly one of the best value dining experiences we have ever had.
98-100 Buxton Road, Heavily, Stockport
SK2 6PL
Tel: 0161 480 4470
Phenomenal! There’s just no other word to describe our Sunday buffet experience at Kismet on the Buxton Road, an unassuming looking restaurant sat alongside the busy A6 in Stockport, choked up more than ever this particular Sunday afternoon thanks to road works.
As car after car pulled slowly past, their occupants looking more than a little fed up I wanted to run out into the road and shout ‘Just pull over, park up and join us.’
We’d heard good things of the place but had somehow never managed to fit in a visit before. But with the kids terrorising their grandparents in a caravan in North Wales for the week, we decided it was time to check it out – and are so we glad we did.
Only one other family was inside dining when we arrived around 3pm and, as we were shown to our table by our friendly waiter we glimpsed the huge plate of tandoori chicken, and bhaji they were piling onto plates of fresh salad. It almost made us wish we were only there for the buffet menu.
We ordered two cokes, having partaken of rather more alcohol than we should have the night before (when the kids are away, mum and dad will play!) and were immediately brought our drinks and a basket of freshly cooked poppadoms with the usual chutneys to enjoy.
Munching our way happily through crisp, warm poppadums dipped into the mango and yoghurt chutneys and a fresh onion and tomato one (no lime pickle for me, its one taste I just can’t tolerate), I asked what the form was for the buffet. We were told that our starters would be brought over next, after which we could help ourselves.
Not expecting these, we couldn’t believe it when we were presented with the piping hot dish of tandoori and pakora chicken, onion and courgette bhajis that the other diners had been tucking into a short while earlier. The bhaji were hot, crispy and delicious dipped into the remaining chutneys. The tandoori chicken was superb and plentiful, with two pieces each, perfect with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice from the wedge provided. The pakora chicken was perfection.
By this time the restaurant was filling up and as we moved onto the buffet our waistbands were already feeling the strain but how could we resist? All piping hot, we had a choice of six different curries including a spicy chicken madras and a creamy, beautiful chicken korma as well as a rhogan josh and a lamb and potato karahi. The accompanying Bombay potatoes were as freshly cooked and piping hot as the curries and the chana masala with its al dente chick peas was out of this world. For those with a bigger belly there was also nan bread to mop up the sauces.
Our meal finished with a plate of fresh orange wedges and a shared serving of Shamai, apparently a Bengali version of an Indian dish known as Bombay pudding made from rice vermicelli noodles cooked in milk. Suprisingly lovely, especially served with fresh cream, it was like the Bengali equivalent of my mum’s rice pudding.
An amazing feast with wonderfully cooked, fresh and fantastic tasting food that is miles ahead of most buffet offerings we’ve experienced, our meal at the Kismet was made complete by great service. When we saw a framed Great Moor Junior Football Club shirt (our son’s team) with the Kismet logo on the front it made our day. It seems the restaurant sponsors one of the older age groups.
Things got even better when we were given the bill – just £17 which included 3 cokes. The buffet costs just £6.95 a head (£4.95 for children), runs from noon until 10pm every Sunday and is possibly one of the best value dining experiences we have ever had.
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