Lunch in The Cube

We had to dash off early this morning as a couple of weeks ago we'd booked to have lunch at Marco Pierre White's steakhouse at The Cube.

The restaurant is on the 25th floor of The Cube and the 360' views of Birmingham are quite spectacular.

It's the glass bit on the top floor.

It's a long way down.

We started off with drinks and nibbles in the bar and then went into the main restaurant. It's quite spartan in decor and the accoustics aren't brilliant. We might have been married 34 years but we do still speak to each other and at times we struggled to hear what we were saying as the live jazz duet was quite loud.

Our starters were excellent. I had potted duck with prunes and Roger had calamari. My main course was described by the waiter as "belly pork cooked for 8 hours, meltingly soft with a crisp crackling and served with butter beans". Unfortunately it didn't live up to it's description and was chewy with a layer of flabby fat on top rather than crisp crackling.

I mentioned it to the waiter who offered me something else but by then Roger had almost finished his excellent lamb and dauphinoise potatoes and I'd finished the butter beans which were really tasty so I'd eaten enough. The Maitre'd came over and offered me a free dessert which I accepted. It wasn't my day as the Cambridge Burnt Cream (creme caramel) that I'd ordered was tasty enough but had the texture of scrambled egg, basically it had been cooked at too high a temperature. The cheese board and glass of port that we shared were really nice so it wasn't a total disaster.

I don't think we'd go back again, but I certainly can't complain about the service or the bill. Not only did they give me a free dessert but they also knocked the cheeseboard, port and pre-lunch drinks off the bill.  Maybe they thought I was a professional critic as I took photos of the meal?

After lunch we went outside onto the smoking terrace to take in the view of Gas Street Basin and take some more photos.

We had a quick look in the Champagne Bar which was only open for viewing today as it was being used for rehearsals by a musical trio. They were very good and sounded familiar but I have no idea who they were.

The Festival's over

There weren't quite as many people at the Festival yesterday, maybe it had something to do with the Olympic Torch passing through Stratford in the afternoon.

This is the floral display on the main town roundabout.

We were in town just as the torch arrived but didn't stop with the other few hundred people to watch it as we were hungry and intent on finding a good Sunday roast dinner.

The Old Thatch Tavern in the centre of town advertised "the best Sunday carvery in town" so we went in, booked a table and bought a pint.  However, after 25 minutes we were told that they'd run out of food so we'd have to try somewhere else. Thanks very much!

Across the road is the White Swan hotel so we tried there.  I'm SO glad the other place had run out as the meal here was fantastic.  For starters I had poached fois gras with maple walnuts and apple and Roger had devilled whitebait.  Both were excellent.  The roast beef dinner was excellent as well and we had the lightest, fluffiest & biggest Yorkshire puddings you could ever wish for. We'll certainly be back here another Sunday.

Sunday at Queen's Head

It being Sunday, we went over to the Queen's Head pub for lunch. We haven't been here before but judging by how busy the car parks have been both last night and today we were hoping for good things. It was very busy but we didn't have to wait very long for a table and as they serve Old Speckled Hen on tap we didn't really mind the wait.

The menus are displayed on blackboards around the pub and there's a good selection of home-made starters and mains to choose from but, as usual, we both chose the roast beef dinner.  At £8.95 this was one of the best Sunday roasts we've had for a long time. It was huge, with a crisp, light & fluffy Yorkshire pudding, plenty of tender beef, 5 veg (broccoli, cauli, green beans, carrots & courgette) really good roast potatoes plus dauphinoise potatoes as well. They even supplied an extra jug of gravy on request.  Together with the Old Speckled Hen it was a perfect way to spend Sunday lunch.

After lunch we took Chico out for a walk down the canal. It's a good job we did really, as the pound between Aston Locks 2 & 3 was empty.  The lock paddles were all shut and there was no sign of a breach so I've no idea why it's empty that but until it's re-filled we won't be going any further.  When we got back Roger reported it to B.W. 

Llangollen

The weather here in Llangollen has been beautiful all weekend. I managed to get all the washing done and dried outside in the sunshine, which made a nice change from having to run the drier for hours. This morning Roger's been painting, touching up all the bumps and scrapes under the gunwales that we picked up over the winter. As the forecast is good again for tomorrow we'll turn the boat round and he can do the other side before we set off again.  The marina is still almost empty with only 4 other boats being moored here, one of which was here when we arrived and is unoccupied.

We went down into town to try and find somewhere for a roast dinner.  Having spoken to a local couple this morning, we tried 2 hotels they'd recommended but both had empty restaurants and their menus were very uninspiring with the meals sounding either "nuked or fried".  I wanted a proper roast beef dinner with all the trimmings. It's the only meal I don't cook on the boat as our oven just isn't big enough for a decent sized joint.  We'd been in the Cornmill pub a couple of years ago so tried there and had a lovely meal. Rare beef, crispy yorkshire pudding and plenty of veggies, just what I'd wanted. We didn't bother with pudding, instead we each had a large ice cream cone on the way back to the boat.

The sunshine had brought lots of tourists into town and many people were down by the river watching canoeists battling with the current and the rapids.  They were very entertaining but that water certainly looked cold!

A fantastic Sunday Lunch

We collected our car today and went over to visit our friend Dave who's just moved out of Tattenhall Marina and into Aquduct Marina at Church Minshall. On the way back we stopped at the Badger Inn in Church Minshall for Sunday lunch.  We last visited this pub about 6 years ago but didn't stay long as it was a dump with miserable grumpy staff.  It was refurbished last year and re-opened in August and I must say that the lunch was fantastic. Very rare roast beef with huge crispy Yorkshire pud, roast potatoes and 4 veg for £10.95  The beef was so tender you didn't need a knife and looking around the restaurant all the other meals we saw were being demolished with gusto which bodes well for the rest of the menu. I just wish it was beside the canal in which case it would definitely become a regular stopping place for us.

International Rescue

On Tuesday evening, our boating friend/chef/neighbour, Rob Owen-Brown, took his boat round to the sanitary station to empty the loo etc. but didn’t come back. Not only had he run out of diesel (they’ve only been boaters for 6 weeks) but his wife Michelle had fallen in the canal, between the bank and the boat, and cracked a couple of ribs. She was lucky! Rob managed to get the boat over to the tow-path side of the canal and they stayed there till morning when we could go and rescue them.

Michelle calls Roger “International Rescue” as he’s helped them fix a few bits on their boat ready for the winter, so as we pulled up alongside we had the theme tune to Thunderbirds blaring from the stereo, much to Rob’s amusement.

Roger tied the two boats together and reversed us both back round the bend and into an empty mooring space. The bow thruster was only used once, but as usual when you manage a perfect manoeuvre there was no-one watching! Rob organised a small delivery of diesel and Roger bled the air from the engine and got the engine going again.

After lunch we took the tram to Bury. I just love Bury Market. It’s huge and a real foodie’s paradise. I had to be very restrained in the meat and fish halls as our freezer is full but the temptation of a big, meaty oxtail was too much and I got the butcher to vac-pac it for me so it’ll last for a couple of weeks in the fridge - if we can resist it that long that is. If you ever go to Bury Market you just have to buy black pudding. It’s famous and delicious too. Normally I get a hot one with mustard to eat while we’re walking round but I had to resist as we were going out for dinner.

Rob had invited us to the Gourmet dinner which is held at the Mark Addy on the last Wednesday of every month. This was the menu:

Game Broth Shooter (intensely gamey, perfect to get the juices flowing)

Line caught sea bass fillet with Menai Mussels (delicately flavoured with beautiful crisp skin & meltingly soft mussels)

Saddle of Hare with Quinn’s Quince (served very rare, quinces for the sauce provided by one of the regular’s called Quinn)

Pheasant Breast with Chestnuts (only one word - superb! )

Vanilla & Saffron Poached  Pear William (pear was still a bit hard for me but it was tasty)

Leagrams Ramshackle Sheep’s Curd (day-old curd made a zingy end to the meal)

Normally so many courses would have me flagging half way through the meal, but the portions were just right and the whole meal was a delight.  If you're ever fortunate enough to be in Manchester on the last Wednesday of the month I’d heartily recommend you pay a visit (and no, we didn’t get a free meal so this is my unbiased opinion).

More from Manchester

Yesterday our friends Martin and Maggie came to visit and after a bit of sight seeing we went out for dinner to a local Japanese restaurant, Sapporro Teppanyaki.  This was the first time any of us have been to a Japanese restaurant but it was an experience I can heartily recommend.  We sat around a huge hotplate (the table seats 8 so would be good for a party) and our personal chef came over and introduced himself as Ben. He brought all the individual ingredients for our meals and once we’d had our starters his performance began.

I must just comment on my starter before I go on. I have never had Tofu before so thought it would be a good opportunity to try it. I’d always thought Tofu would be firm and dry but I was served 3 large cubes which had been deep fried so that the outside was crispy but the inside had the texture of a creamy baked custard. It was topped with fresh seaweed, ginger and garlic and was an absolute revelation. I don’t imagine the Tofu you buy in the supermarket would be as good but I might just have to give it a try.

The main course started with saute potatoes cooked in front of us. Now I know these aren’t particularly Japanesey but they were the start of Ben’s performance as he took turns flipping the potatoes through the air for us to catch in our mouths - not easy to do when you are laughing!

tossing potatoes to other diners at our table

The next part of the act saw him juggling with fresh eggs which he then turned into a giant omelette to go into our fried rice. This was followed by the highlight of the evening when he set fire to the hotplate so that a dazzling whoosh of flames shot up in front of us. It’s very hot and very spectacular and took me by surprise so unfortunately I didn't get a photo.

Once the performance had ended he cooked our individual dishes in front of us, producing 4 very different but very wonderful meals. It was a fantastic night out and one we will definitely repeat.

Today the weather has been awful with torrential rain and hail but it didn’t stop us getting out and about as we took the free shuttle bus to get us into the town centre. There are 3 different routes around Manchester which make it easy to get around for free.

These are the fountains in Piccadilly Gardens which dance to a set routine. When it’s nice weather you often find kids playing in them but it was a bit cold today.

This is a memorial in Piccadilly Gardens. It’s the Tree of Remembrance to the civilians of Manchester who died between 1940 - 1945 in WW2 and stands on the edge of a line of natural trees so most people don’t even notice it.

Sunday lunch

We set off early this morning and were in Evesham Lock by 9.30. We'd just got roped up when a short narrowboat and a plastic cruiser turned up wanting to share the lock. We were quite happy to share but found that the reason they wanted to come in with us was that they wanted me to do all the work for them! It's Sunday and I was in a good mood so I just got on with it, after all they were quite a bit older than me and the guy on the narrowboat claimed he was single handing. They followed us into the next lock and low and behold a woman appeared on the narrowboat, looked like she'd just got out of bed but at least this time she steered the boat while husband got off and helped with the lock. The guy on the cruiser still did nothing except flap about ordering his poor wife who was in the boat holding onto the rope.  You certainly meet all sorts on the rivers and canals.

The reason we'd set off early was that we wanted to go to The Bridge at Bidford for lunch. We hadn't booked and when we went in at 2.00 it was very busy. We got a good table and I have to say it was probably the best Sunday lunch we've had for a long time.  I had salt cod fritters with aoili for starters. They were very light, extremely tasty and just melted in the mouth. Main course was roast beef with all the trimmings. The beef was so rare it almost had a pulse, just how we like it.  I'd noticed that the veg on the adjacent table looked a bit crunchy so asked for ours to be cooked a bit longer as we don't like it like that. We got a large bowl of assorted greens, cabbage, broccoli, peas and broad beans, all cooked perfectly to our taste. For desert we shared a raspberry and rum trifle, well Roger had a couple of small spoonfuls and I had the rest. This was all washed down with a very good bottle of Aussie Shiraz. I'd certainly recommend this place and hope we can make a return visit before we leave the area.

The Bridge at Bidford

We're now back in the marina at Barton, luckily the boat next door has gone so we've got a much better view and it doesn't feel quite as claustrophobic.

Perfect Pies

Today’s blog is specially for my favourite “pie-monster” Martin.

Purely in the name of research on Martin’s behalf, we had lunch in the Fleur de Lys. You can view the menu HERE

They claim to be the home of pies and with a choice of 8 (including 2 vegetarian) plus a special ‘pie of the day’ that is certainly the case.  We couldn’t decide which ones to have, so after a starter of really well kept Abbot and Otter ales we ordered one Chicken of Aragon and one Matador to have half each of both.

At first sight the meals seemed a bit expensive at £10.45 for pie & chips but what a pie! The portion size was just right, the chips were really nice and the mixed veg (carrots, leeks and cabbage) were perfectly cooked too, not hard and undercooked as is so often the case in pubs. This all came with a couple of jugs of very tasty gravy which really made the meal.  The chicken pie was succulent and packed with large plump chunks of chicken, smoky bacon & tarragon. The Matador pie was full of  tender beef, chorizo, green olives and butter beans. It was hard to decide which was best and sharing half and half was definitely a good idea.

2 empty plates says it all!

For desert I had Summer Pudding with ice cream, purely in the name of research you understand, and again it was really good.

This is a pub restaurant I can heartily recommend and we will definitely be stopping here again, after all there are still many more pies to sample.

The live staff were a bit younger,
very friendly and efficient too

Climbing to the top of the world

The weather station recorded -2.7 outside last night and it was quite frosty when I took the dogs out first thing. It soon brightened up and we've had another beautiful sunny day. While we had the engine running to charge the batteries I did the mundane tasks of hoovering and ironing. Of course Roger had to take the dogs out for a walk while I was doing this as Chico is scared of the hoover. That dog is scared of just about everything!

My reward for all the 'house'work was lunch at the Navigation pub, just up the road from our mooring, on Wool Road. They had a selection of 5 guest ales on hand pump and a good varied menu. At 2 meals for £13 you could choose from a wide selection of home cooked dishes all using local produce and including good vegetarian options like veggie stew with dumplings and veggie toad in the hole. We both had the cottage pie with red cabbage which was gorgeous. Even the red  cabbage is home made and spiced with star anise and allspice.

After lunch we decided to walk to Saddleworth War Memorial up on the hills. It's quite a landmark and we've seen it everywhere we've moored from Mossley to Dobcross.

We started off by crossing the River Tame using the stepping stones in the centre of Uppermill. Thankfully, although the stones were displaced by flooding last year, Health and Safety hasn't gone mad here, unlike at the stepping stones across the River Dove in Derbyshire, and the stones are still different shapes and heights. 

Once out of town the roads and paths became ever steeper and within 5 minutes we were out in the countryside. At the top of one particularly steep path we came across our first lambs of the season.

It was 1.8 miles and a climb of almost 1000 feet to reach the War memorial which is also know locally as the Pots and Pans memorial, named after a rock formation a few hundred feet away.

Half way up

The climb to the top took quite a while as it's so steep but luckily there's a bench seat at the top beside the obelisque. The views back over the town and beyond are spectacular and more than made up for the aching legs and pounding heartbeat.

view back over town

When we got back to the boat it was time to move over to the water point beside the Huddersfield Canal Society Transhipment Shed as we were just about out of water. This must be the slowest water point in the country! We stayed 45 minutes and only filled a quarter of the tank but that'll do us for the next two days until we move back into Uppermill and luckily the tap there has really good pressure.

Another Sunday

I just can't believe it's Sunday again, the days just seem to fly by!
This morning was grey and miserable with that awful drizzle that just soaks you through. We took Chico for a short walk today, just over 3 miles along the Pennine Bridle Path to Greenfield and then back along the canal.  Hidden away along the bridle way was an immaculate public dressage ring and we saw the first bluebells of the season just sprouting through the undergrowth alongside swathes of daffodils.

We try to always make Sunday special so after the walk we went back to the Roaches Lock pub to try their Sunday lunch.  3 courses for £9.95 with spicy chicken wings and samosas to start followed by REALLY good roast pork with all the trimmings and an excellent amaretto cheesecake to follow. We couldn't fault any of the meal and with a spicy Shiraz at only £10.50 it was much better value than last Sunday's lunch at High Lane.