Fabulous Food

When we were in London a couple of weeks ago, we had an amazing meal at Clos Maggiore, a little restaurant near Covent Garden.  Ashley and I had eaten there once before and loved it, and we were just as impressed on this second visit – the friends we were with really enjoyed it, too.

We chose the six course tasting menu, and not content on this occasion with keeping a copy of the menu (I collect menus from lovely restaurants I visit – they make such a nice reminder of an enjoyable occasion), I decided to photograph each course as well.

We had matching wines with each course as well, which were all delicious (and perfectly chosen accompaniments by the very knowledgeable sommelier).

Seared Wild Scallops with Salted Cod Brandade, Herb Vinaigrette.  Probably my least favourite course, as the flavours were a bit disappointing.  But better was to come …

Roasted Goose Foie Gras & Hazelnut, Pain d’épices & Poached Quince – just a delicious combination of textures and flavours, and far more beautifully presented than my crap photo would have you believe!

Slow Cooked Fillet of Cornish Cod “Rougaille” , Vermicelli & Shellfish, Iberico Chorizo Sauce – loved this, the fish was cooked to perfection, and somehow the strong shellfish and chorizo flavours didn’t overpower it.

Caramelized Honey Glazed Gressingham Duck Breast, Roasted Red Plum & Endive Meunière, Ruby Port Sauce – the duck was very strongly flavoured, and I couldn’t eat it all, but the presentation was once again amazing.

The cheeseboard.  Always one of my favourite parts of a meal.

Dark Valrhona Chocolate & Griottine Fondant, Griottine Cherry Sorbet – considering I’m not a huge fan of chocolate desserts, I demolished this in about five seconds!  The cherry sorbet was the perfect accompaniment to cut through the richness of the chocolate.

Goodness, reliving that has made me hungry!  Is it lunchtime yet?!

Watergate Bay Weekend

Got back earlier today from a fabulous night away at the Watergate Bay Hotel in Cornwall, and dinner at Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant.  We had a really lovely time – it’s a stunning location, and despite the view being hidden by sea mist for quite a lot of our stay, it did clear for an amazing sunset last night, and despite an extremely late night (3 am, I believe), Ashley and I were up with the lark for a pre-breakfast walk along the beach, watching the early morning surfers.

Great food, plentiful booze, lots of laughs and good company – all the ingredients for a perfect weekend.

Ashley looking a little worse for wear, catching 40 winks on the bed at around 2.30 am, as the rest of us continued chatting around him!

That Was The Weekend That Was

House we’re buying (and planning to sell again very quickly) in Bovey Tracey.  We went to view it on our way up to Dartmoor on Friday.  It needs the hideous anaglypta wallpaper removing, repainting throughout in magnolia, and recarpeting.  We hope to complete on Thursday this week, decorators in for a week from next Monday, and straight back on the market.  We haven’t done one of these for a while, so it’s quite exciting, and fingers crossed it will net us a nice chunk of money for our planned apartment in Cardiff Bay.

(Ashley’s mum happened to be with us when we viewed the house, and after poking around all the rooms and professing everything to be ‘lovely’ (it’s not – no sane person could describe the current decor as anything other than dirty and tasteless), she went a step too far when she opened the airing cupboard and was heard to say ‘lovely water tank’.  WTF?!)

This is where we went on Friday night – it’s in a little village in Chagford in the middle of Dartmoor and is a really lovely restaurant with rooms.  It was Ashley’s mum’s Christmas present and we had a very nice evening, helped along enormously by vast quantities of alcohol.

I will treat you to a ‘before we started’ shot of Ashley, his mother and William …

And here’s one of me, the morning after the night before …

Every cloud has a silver lining, however, and on this occasion it is that we managed to have a very pleasant time without me wanting to commit murder or having to retire to bed early because I couldn’t stand any more of my mother-in-law’s nonsensical wittering.

On arrival home on Saturday lunchtime, my mind was taken off my hangover by the postman delivering my new books from Amazon …..

… and my new wall quote, inspired by my fab blogging pal Amy, over at Then There Were.  Do you like it?  Ashley hates it!  Which is OK, as I loathe the antique gun that he has on the beam in our lounge.  Horses for courses, it’d be a boring world if we all liked the same things, wouldn’t it?

Axminster & River Cottage Canteen

We left home at around lunchtime yesterday, and planned to have a wander around Axminster in the afternoon, before heading to sample the culinary delights of the River Cottage Canteen in the evening.  Well, a wander around Axminster took all of ten minutes – can you believe, only ONE charity shop?!  Banks, estate agents, and mouldy old-fashioned looking hairdressers a-plenty, but not much else.  Shame.

Here we are outside the church – one of the high points of our tour of Axminster!

Anyway, not to be deterred, we popped to the Co-Op, stocked up on beers for the boys and a couple of bottles of Prosecco for Faye & myself, along with a pile of newspapers and magazines, and spent a lovely lazy afternoon chatting, drinking and reading in the sunshine in the garden of our hotel.

Very civilised.

And then, off to the River Cottage Canteen, where we had a great evening – as you’d expect, it was very rustic, with a laid back vibe, and the food was local, seasonal and really tasty.  Here are some of the highlights:

It was a brilliant evening, and after a good night’s sleep and a HUGE full English breakfast this morning, we were home before lunchtime, and able to spend the rest of today pottering in the garden and enjoying the summery weather.  Let’s hope there’s plenty more of it to come.

What A Fab Weekend!

We arrived back from our weekend in London about an hour or so ago, absolutely knackered, but have had a BRILLIANT time!

Can’t believe how much we packed into 48 hours!!

Our train arrived at Paddington at around 12.30 pm on Friday, and after checking into the hotel (Grosvenor House on Park Lane – gotta love those Tesco vouchers!), we headed straight out for a nice Italian lunch and a few glasses of wine.  Next stop was Games Workshop, which Will had been itching to go to, and he and Ashley spent what felt like ages in there discussing wargaming strategy with all the other geeks other Warhammer enthusiasts.  Thankfully, there was a large Waterstones just next door, so I spent a very happy time wandering round there.    Warhammer strategy lesson duly booked in for Saturday morning, we then headed off for a little light shopping before it was time to head back to the hotel for a couple of cheeky cocktails before a quick change, and off to the theatre to see Oliver.

William loved it, Ashley and I weren’t so keen: it certainly wasn’t anywhere near as brilliant as the Lion King, which we saw last year.  But it was an enjoyable evening nonetheless, and we’ve all been breaking into appalling renditions of ‘Consider Yourself At Home’ ever since!

By the time the show finished just after ten, Will was absolutely hanging with exhaustion (too much excitement!), so we went straight back to the hotel, Will went to bed, and was asleep in about 10 seconds flat, and Ashley & I went down to the lounge for a glass of wine and a snack, which rounded off the evening nicely.

After a good night’s sleep in the comfiest bed in the whole world, we fortified ourselves for the day ahead with a full English breakfast, and then set out for our first stop of the day: Hamley’s!  A jolly hour or so was spent in there (I really really wanted a strange spidery head massager thing, but didn’t get one sadly), before it was time for the boys to get themselves back to Games Workshop for their lesson.  Difficult though you might find it to believe, I declined their kind offer to accompany them, and did some shopping by myself instead! 

By the time they’d finished, it was heading towards lunchtime, so we found a pub with a rather cosy cellar bar and stopped for some light refreshment and a good look through our purchases.  From there, more shopping (mostly of the window variety) ensued throughout the afternoon.  Ashley did offer to buy me a gorgeous little Dior handbag (still trying to get round me subsequent to the marathon debacle, I imagine), but (don’t faint) I declined, as I really, really didn’t need it, and it was VERY expensive, and I’d rather put the money towards the trip to New York that I’m planning for next Spring (don’t tell Ashley yet!).

After a brief rest at the hotel, we headed out to the 28th floor of the Hilton on Park Lane, where we had dinner at Galvin at Windows, which was absolutely fabulous, if hideously expensive.  What a view, though, over London at night – it was stunning.

This morning it was time for a bit of culture, and we visited Tate Modern, which was good (and something else to cross of my 101 list).  A bit wacky and ‘out there’, some of it, but some really lovely pieces of art as well.

And all too soon it was time to come home, to a quiet evening of unpacking and Dancing on Ice, and getting ready for the week ahead, which is already looking horrendously busy.    Before another weekend away next weekend – we’re off to Edinburgh with friends.

Photographic Memory Friday

William’s first day at school.  In some ways, this only seems like yesterday – and yet he looks so little.  Those days are long gone now.  It makes me quite sad.

He’s been staying in Bournemouth with my parents all week, and is coming home later on today.  The house has been very quiet without him – I’m so looking forward to seeing him.

We went out for dinner last night with my friend Becky, to celebrate her birthday.  I was driving, due to my current teetotalism (is that a real word?), and we went to Turtley Corn Mill, which was lovely.  The food wasn’t particularly exciting – just good pub food, but it was very busy (no sign of the recession at all), and the building had been restored beautifully.  It had lovely gardens, including a lake and river frontage, and although I wouldn’t rush back for an evening meal (it’s quite a long drive), I’d definitely go and sit in the garden and have a lunchtime drink in the sunshine (assuming we ever get any again).

Just Perfect

I went out for lunch with my friend Lisa today, to the Cary Arms, the Inn on the Beach in Torquay. The photo above is the view from our table on the terrace – it was just gorgeous.   Apologies for crappy photo quality – was taken with my phone, as I had forgotten my camera – AGAIN!

Lunch was lovely – tall glasses of Pimms & lemonade crammed with fruit, and gorgeous crab and mayo sandwiches on fresh granary bread. 

The Cary Arms used to be a rather grotty pub in a rather fabulous location.  It has now been bought by Peter De Savary and turned into an 8-bedroom boutique hotel and gastro pub.   After lunch we asked to see the bedrooms, and were given a guided tour by the manager.  The rooms are wonderful – luxuriously sea-sidey with a modern twist, and of course with stunning views over Torbay. 

This location and this luxury does not come cheap, of course.  But Lisa and I agreed that it’d be a shame for our husbands to miss out (!), so we’re going to take them there to spend a night and have dinner in this gorgeous location very soon.