Time for a coffee

November 13, 2026

Ribeye Steak at The Brasshouse

I was in Birmingham for a conference and had arrived the night before. I was staying near Brindley Place and there are quite a few places around where you can eat.

In the end I found myself at The Brasshouse. I realised I had eaten there a few times before.

I went with the ribeye steak for my main course and some calamari as a starter. However the calamari arrived at the same time as my main course. I had ordered via the QR code on the table. I hadn’t realised that I needed to order the food separately, so my starter arrived at the same time as the main course.

My main course was a 10oz ribeye steak, it came with chunky chips, onion rings, mushroom and grilled tomato.

It was all okay. The steak wasn’t that tender and it lacked seasoning. The chips were okay, the onion rings were alas overcooked. Not much more to say about the tomato, mushroom, or the limp rocket leaves.

I wasn’t disappointed I was kind of expecting what I had. It was a nice meal, and was good value for money.

November 12, 2026

Reflecting on delays

I have been reflecting on some eating experience over the last few years. I do think that the growth of food delivery services such as Deliveroo and UberEATS has been a double edged sword for the hospitality industry. In some ways it means sales have increased as they are now getting more orders in, however this is having a negative impact on the in-restaurant dining experience. It has to be said most of these experiences have been at Wagamama.

I wrote back in 2021 about my experience at Wagamama in Edinburgh.

Overall we had a nice meal, the place was busy, but the service was attentive. It was noticeable though how the number of takeaway and delivery orders were impacting on the service to the customers who were actually sitting down in the restaurant. We know that there has been a huge growth in the demand for these services during the pandemic, but I am not so sure that restaurants have worked out how to manage the whole process, especially now that there are more people going out to eat in the actual restaurant.

I also wrote this about a branch of Wagamama in Bristol.

As for the service, I was less than impressed. I know at Wagamama the food arrives when it is ready, so dishes won’t be served together. Normally I am alright with this, but this time the first two dishes arrived quite quickly, the other two took much longer to be served. By the time the final dish arrived, we had nearly finished our food. We ordered some more drinks, and they spent a lot of time on the bar, before they were brought to the table. There appeared to be a fair few staff. I think part of the issue was they were being inundated with online takeaway orders which was swamping the kitchen.

Another branch in Bristol I wrote about another experience.

I was a little disappointed that our food didn’t arrive at the same time, I know that is the operating model for Wagamama, but even so the delay between our dishes was quite lengthy. My son had his dish for quite a while before my food arrived, and then there was a further delay before the final three dishes arrived. Not as bad as another table, where their side dish arrived well after they had finished their main courses. So much so they had to take it home. I think part of the issue was that the restaurant had a lot of Deliveroo type orders so was busy cooking those.

I have had similar experiences in Ealing and other branches of Wagamama.

Hedging a guess, I think the core issue is that the restaurant will have been designed around the number of covers it has to serve. In other words, there are a number of tables and seats in the restaurant. You would design the kitchen, the kitchen staffing model, the waiting staff model on that number of covers. What food delivery services do to this model is that they distort it. The orders bear no reflection on what is happening in the restaurant itself. You could have a busy restaurant and then get an equivalent number of online orders that you need to fulfil. It’s as though your covers effectively doubled. The people who suffer are those actually eating in the restaurant. The online delivery orders have to be completed and ready in a set time, whereas the diners sitting at a table can be told there is a delay. If this had happened once to me, then you could say it was a one off, however it has happened quite a few times now.

I will say my most recent experiences at Wagamama have been much better, but I think that was because I was eating at an off peak time rather than the core dining time.

November 11, 2026

Ramen DAMBO

I was thinking about where in Wimbledon to get something to eat. Every time I had passed Ramen DAMBO in Wimbledon there had been a queue outside. To me, this is a good sign. Yes, it can mean that the place is fashionable, usually though it means the food is good.

I do like ramen and so it was pretty much a no-brainer to give Ramen DAMBO a try. Ramen DAMBO is a Japanese chain, but they only have one branch in the UK. As well as branches in Japan there are also outlets in the US and Canada.

We joined the queue, but it wasn’t too long before we were invited in and we sat at the counter.

We sat and checked our menu and our order. You are literally given a piece of paper, and you mark off what you want.

There is only ramen on the menu. You can either have the pork chashu option or the vegan version.

There are four options for both the pork and vegan ramen.

The classic ramen, a milder shio ramen. There is also the miso ramen, and the negi-goma ramen which comes with sesame oil and roasted sesame seeds.

When we went there was an Autumn special of Ginger Tonkotsu Ramen

You can choose the thickness and firmness of your noodles. Likewise you choose the richness and thickness of the broth.

I added Karadare, which is a spicy sauce to my ramen. You can also add some toppings, I went with ramen egg and extra pork chashu.

It wasn’t too long, before our bowls of food arrived.

After a couple spoonfuls of the broth, I immediately understood why this place was so popular. It was amazing, the richness and intensity of flavour just blew me away. I could have had a bowl of that broth. The pork chashu, which is braised pork, was tender and full of flavour. I enjoyed the Karadare and egg as well. The egg, with the soft yolk, was lovely and added to the ramen.

This was probably the best ramen I have ever had. Actually it was the best ramen I have ever had. It was rich, tasty and delicious. Would I go again? Of course, I almost wanted to order another bowl straight away.

November 9, 2026

Black Sheep Breakfast

Usually I have breakfast in the hotel when I am staying in London, however on a recent visit to London there was an issue with my booking and I didn’t have an included breakfast. Rather than pay up, I headed off to the location for the event I was at. This was Triton Square, Euston, London.

I headed to Black Sheep Coffee for some breakfast. I quite like Black Sheep Coffee but reflecting I actually don’t go there very often.

I used the touch screen to see what they had for breakfast. I am not a fan of these screens, they feel very impersonal and make the whole eating experience rather too transactional. However they do give you a chance to find out what is on the menu, which may not always be obvious, and where appropriate customise as well. I went with a flat white with skimmed milk, and a breakfast muffin. I took a seat and waited for name to be called.

It wasn’t long before the muffin and coffee was ready. I did have to go to the counter to pick it up, went up twice, once for the muffin and then again for the coffee.

The coffee was excellent, I have found coffee from Black Sheep Coffee to be really good, and this branch was no exception.

The muffin was tasty, the muffin itself was soft and fluffy and the bacon and egg had that savoury tone you want from a breakfast muffin.

I enjoyed my breakfast and I left to attend my event.

November 8, 2026

Toasted cheese sandwich

I made myself a toasted cheese sandwich using some sourdough bread from M&S.

I took two slices of bread and filled it with cheese. I then took a frying pan and added some oil and butter. I put it on a low heat, placed the sandwich in the pan and put the lid on.

The concept is to crisp up the bread, but also melt the cheese.

I enjoyed it.

November 7, 2026

Soup and a Scone

It was a rather misty morning in November when I made my way over to Wraxall to visit Tyntesfield. The National Trust owns Tyntesfield, the property is an ornate Victorian Gothic Revival house with extensive garden and parkland, not far from Bristol.

After enjoying my exploration of the house, I headed down to the Orangery to see the pumpkin display. I then took a leisurely walk back to the house, and Home Farm. There I had some soup and a cheese scone. Usually when visiting Tyntesfield there are quite long queues for the cafe, however this time I must have timed it just right, as there was virtually no queue. By the time I finished my food, there was a much longer queue.

They didn’t have pumpkin soup, but they did have leek and potato. I was tempted by the pie and mash they had on the menu, but wasn’t overtly hungry.

I took a seat and it wasn’t long before my soup and scone arrived.

The scone was excellent, light and cheesy. It would have been nice warm, but even so I did enjoy it.

The leek and potato soup was delicious, thick, warming and just what was needed on a cold misty day in September.

November 5, 2026

Lightly Dusted Calamari

I was in Birmingham for a conference and had arrived the night before. I was staying near Brindley Place and there are quite a few places around where you can eat.

In the end I found myself at The Brasshouse. I realised I had eaten there a few times before.

I went with some calamari as a starter, however it arrived at the same time as my main course. I had ordered via the QR code on the table. I hadn’t realised that I needed to order the food separately, so that my starter arrived before the main course.

This was described as lightly dusted calamari with a sweet chilli dip. I am not I would describe it as lightly dusted. The coating was nice and crispy and the squid was okay. There was a large garnish of pickled red onion, not sure that much was needed.

I think the best way to describe the calamari, was, it was okay. It was kind of what I expected though.

October 29, 2026

Tiny Rebel

I was visiting some friends in Cardiff at the Tiny Rebel bar. As I was driving I had an alcohol free beer, however the only one they had was the Tropical IPA.

Pineapples. Mangoes. Peaches. Passion Fruits. We’ve got the lot. And we’ve only gone and put them all together. Banging.

It was, well let’s just say it was interesting. It was a little too fruity for me.

I also had some crispy chicken tacos, which were very nice. Interesting fusion of ingredients, fried chicken, grilled peppers and onions, Chinese seasoning, and curry sauce. They were tasty, but the flour tortillas felt a little stale.

October 28, 2026

Hill Lamb Osso Buco

I recently tried the Sainsbury’s Discovery Hill Lamb Osso Buco.

Slow cooked bone-in Welsh Hill Lamb leg in a tomato and white wine sauce with onions, carrots, bacon, rosemary, bay leaf and a sachet of parsley, lemon zest, garlic and olive oil gremolata.

This is from a new modern chef-created range of dishes by Sainsbury’s; that also includes Angus Featherblade, Braised Beef Cheeks, Coconut & Chilli Chicken, and Baharat Spiced Lamb Rump.

With the Hill Lamb Osso Buco it is a simple matter of removing the lamb from the pouch, and putting it in the oven to heat through.

I served mine with mash. I did feel that there needed to be a lot more of the sauce, and there was minimal carrots and onion in that sauce too. The slow cooked lamb was very tender and I did like it.

When I bought it, it had a Nectar discount, but since then it is now back at full price of £18.50. I am not sure I liked it that much to pay that sort of money. It’s an interesting recent tactic by Sainsbury’s with their slow cooked Discovery range. They also have a Texan inspired craft BBQ selection as well. These were similarly priced. I haven’t seen similar dishes at M&S or Waitrose. I wonder if they will be successful?

October 27, 2026

Back to Flat Iron

I had seen some positive reviews of Flat Iron Steak in Bristol and tried them out. I enjoyed my meal and decided I would visit again.

I was given a lovely warm welcome and I took a seat. The menu is quite limited. Pride of place is given on the menu to the Flat Iron steak. They also have specials of a ribeye and a cheeseburger. On the day I was there they also had two wagyu specials of skirt and bavette for £24 each on the blackboard.

I decided I would try the ribeye steak, which is more expensive than the flagship flat iron steak. This time I did go with the homemade beef dripping chips, which to be honest was more like fries, and were over-cooked for my liking. I think I should have gibe with the truffled macaroni cheese or the crispy bone marrow garlic mash. I was even tempted by the kale and parmesan salad on the specials board.

It wasn’t long before my food arrived on the table. The steak, which wasn’t sliced (as they did the flat iron) was seasoned, and presented on a wooden board with a stone insert.

The steak was cooked medium rare, as ordered. The steak was mostly tender and had a good flavour. I enjoyed the steak, however it wasn’t as good as the flat iron. In the end I was to be honest a little disappointed. I suspect part of it was that the last meal I had at Flat Iron was excellent, this was okay, but compared to my previous experience I was a little disappointed.

Though, as with last time, the service was excellent. You also get a free ice cream, however as it was cold and wet, I decided not to have it this time.