Time for a coffee

April 8, 2026

Unlimited Tapas

Down in Ealing there is a branch of Las Iguanas. It took over the site occupied by Bills four years ago. I remember been saddened, as I had some excellent food from Bills, and my experience with Las Iguanas (in Birmingham) was somewhat disappointing. Though I have eaten many times in Ealing, I had never got around to visiting Las Iguanas. The main reason for this is that there are plenty of other choices in the area.

Looking for somewhere to eat, in the end we went to Las Iguanas as they had an unlimited tapas deal for £17 each. Having seen the adverts for this offer, I have been meaning to try it for a while. We did think it might be a bit sketchy, but for £17, it sounded like good value for money.

Save you reading to the end of the blog post, we had a lovely meal and enjoyed ourselves.

You have to pre-book, which to be honest, we did outside on the app and then walked in. It was a quiet Tuesday so it wasn’t busy, and we were offered a table by the window. We were given a menu, but mentioned we were here for the unlimited tapas deal, so we were given the menu for that.

There are 13 choices on the menu, well there are really only 12 as the tacos have a £5 supplement. There is a nice mix of dishes including salads. Alongside you can purchase additional sides such as fries, mac & cheese, and different kinds of salad.

You can’t just order everything all at once, they place a limit. We could only order three dishes (per two people), and we could only order food for 90 minutes.

Out first order was for the loaded nachos with fresh guacamole, fresh salsa, cheese, jalapeños, spring onions, pickled red onions, chipotle cheese sauce, sour cream, a portion of popcorn squid with garlic aioli, and some buttermilk fried chicken with agave aioli.

The nachos were nicely loaded, though some of the nacho chips were soft and chewy, the rest of the plate was delicious.

The popcorn squid was interesting, similar to popcorn chicken, these were small portions of squid covered in a crispy batter. They were interesting, but tasty. The buttermilk chicken was a portion of fried buttermilk chicken sliced and served with the agave aioli.

After finishing off those dish we ordered three more plates of food. We had calamares with garlic aioli, some hot honey fried halloumi with chilli flakes, and a plate of patatas bravas, fried potatoes, chipotle sauce and garlic aioli.

The calamares were excellent, crunchy on the outside, tender and soft in the inside. I really liked the hot honey fried halloumi which were salty and sweet, but not too squeaky. The patatas bravas was very tasty, a nice spicy sauce offset by the aioli.

Our final order of food was some hot honey chicken wings, the roasted red pepper salad fresh red pepper salsa, cherry tomatoes, rocket, pumpkin seeds and pineapple dressing.

These were excellent chicken wings, moist and tender and full of flavour. I have found with other places chicken wings can be somewhat dried and overcooked, these were really nice, and I was impressed. The salad was lovely and refreshing and the fresh red pepper salsa had a real zing to it.

We also had some extra portions of the hot honey fried halloumi and the calamares.

Overall the food was good, much better than my previous experience of Las Iguanas. I could not fault the service which was excellent.

April 7, 2026April 6, 2026

Was this an Ibérico pork cutlet?

I was reflecting on the pork cutlet that I had the Milton Hill House hotel and remembered I had a similar experience at the Marriott Hotel in Glasgow. Checking back through the blog I realised I hadn’t written up that meal, though I did write up the conference dinner at the same hotel.

The menu described the pork as an Ibérico pork cutlet.

What I actually got was two pork chops, a grilled tomato and some chips. I am not confident that what I got was Ibérico pork. It was tasty and did have a good flavour. I wasn’t that impressed with the slightly chewy rind, I would have probably removed it before cooking.

I think it would have been good to have something green on the plate, but I guess I could have ordered an additional side.

The chips were nice, crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

It was okay, but I think it could have been so much better.

April 6, 2026

Another new Bento Box

It was a Friday in Bristol, wanting lunch I headed off to Finzel Reach street food market.

I went to She Sells Streetfood and went with a bento box and went with the same choice I had last time I was there. This was the Beef Donburi and the Katsu Fries.

The beef donburi was delicious as always. It’s a fantastic dish with flavourful tender beef in a teriyaki sauce, not overpowering served on rice with pickles, cucumber salad and spring onion garnish.

The Katsu fries are dressed with katsu sauce and furikake seasoning. On top are two crispy pieces of fried chicken.

This time the chips were hotter than previously, though the chicken was better last time, I think last time it was chicken thigh whereas this time it was chicken breast. I personally prefer chicken thigh for this kind of dish.

As I have written many times, this is one of my favourite street food vendors and the food that Lisa serves is always very tasty.

April 4, 2026

Grilled Pork Cutlet

I was in Oxfordshire for work, attending a conference in Oxford. I booked to stay in the Milton Hill House hotel close to Abingdon. I would then catch the Park & Ride into the heart of Oxford for the event.

I had dinner in the hotel, and for my main course I went with the grilled pork cutlet. This was served with salad and chips.

The plate was served, so I dug in. The pork cutlet was cooked well, it was nice and tender. Wasn’t too sure about the butter it was dressed with, I am guessing it was a garlic and herb butter. For another £3 I could have had a sauce, I always think this is a bit of a scam. If your cutlet (or steak) needs a sauce, then serve a sauce with it. The rind on the cutlet was just chewy and not really edible. I am not sure if the cooking method would actually make it crispy. I would have removed it to be honest.

The dressed salad was nothing to write home about, but it was fresh and zingy. These were described as chips, and these were chips. Crispy on the outside and, for and fluffy on the inside.

In summary it was a nice plate of food. Though it did get me thinking about other pork chops I have had in the past.

April 3, 2026

Homemade Kung Pao Chicken

I took half a pack of chicken drum fillets and sliced into strips. I then coated the chicken with some gluten free flour.

I fried off the chicken in a wok until crisp and brown.

I removed the chicken from the wok and removed the excess oil from the wok.

To the hot wok I added some stir fry vegetables. When the vegetables were cooked I added a pack of Lee Kum Kee Kung Pao Chicken Stir-Fry Sauce and the cooked chicken.

I served the chicken with some sticky rice.

April 2, 2026April 2, 2026

Wonderful Lunch in Venice

Back in February I did a crazy thing, I went to Venice for the day. Actually as day trips go to Venice, I have done a fair few, but this time was the first day trip to Venice from the UK. I have been to Venice before.

I actually though I had written up what I had for lunch that day, I had written about the espresso I had, but not my lunch.

There are plenty of of places to eat in Venice, though as with many places frequented by tourists, some of these places aren’t necessarily that authentic or are over priced. When I visited Venice in the 1990s I did eat out in Venice, but always off the beaten track. So, on this visit to Venice, I was going to do just that. Even saying that there were lots of places I could have eaten.

I did wonder if I would find the place I had eaten some amazing food back in the 1990s, well, cut a long story short, I didn’t find it, it may have closed, changed hands, or as is more likely I just wouldn’t be able to find it.

I had walked through Campo Santa Margherita in the middle of Venice and had seen a few possible places to eat, but it was still early. Later in the day I managed to find the square again and decided I would eat at the Trattoria Pizzeria Antico Capon.

They had an extensive menu, but what has garnered my attention was the Menu del Giorno (or Menu of the Day) for just €17.

This was a two course menu with just two choices for each course. The restaurant had a range of choices, if what you wanted wasn’t part of the Menu del Giorno.

I ordered a beer and alongside came some fresh bread, and packaged bread sticks.

For the first course, the choice was spaghetti al ragu (meat sauce) or spaghetti al frutto di mare (with seafood). For me it was a no brainer, I went with the spaghetti al frutto di mare.

This was a bowl of spaghetti with clams, mussels, prawns, and squid. All brought together with a lovely tomato and red pepper sauce. This was delicious, the pasta was perfectly cooked, as the seafood looked as though it was freshly cooked. This was what you want when you order pasta from a restaurant. Amazing pasta, a homemade sauce and when you order seafood, you want a good proportion of seafood in the dish. With this plate, I got all that.

For the second course, I could choose between the frittura di calamari (fried calamari) or fegato alla veneziana (liver and onions cooked in the Venetian style).

Now normally in any other circumstance, I would choose the calamari, however I was in Venice and I wanted to have something local and special to that region, so I went with the fegato alla veneziana. Alongside I had the choice of patate fritte (fried potato) or insalata misto (side salad), I decided to have the patate fritte.

This was not the best looking plate of food but looks aside this was a delicious plate of food. The fegato alla veneziana was really tasty and full of flavour. Alongside the patate fritte were equally good. I don’t think I would actually order liver in a restaurant, though I did have some lovely grilled liver in an Italian restaurant in London once. However, what I really wanted to experience on my trip to Venice was some local Venetian cuisine, and this was what was on the menu. Despite an initial reservation, should I go for the calamari, I thought no, I am going for the fegato. I was pleased I did, as the dish was excellent.

The weather was dry and though it was cold, it was warm enough to sit outside, and I really enjoyed my lunch, sitting in the square and watching the world go by.

March 27, 2026March 27, 2026

A disappointing Roast Pork Fillet

I had dinner in the hotel, and for my starter I had the pork and black pudding scotch egg with homemade brown sauce.

For my main course I had the roast pork fillet that came with a potato terrine, braised pig cheek, bacon jam, red cabbage, and pan jus.

Overall it was quite a disappointment, it wasn’t bad, it was just disappointing.

The plate looked interesting, but the individual components didn’t really make for a great eating experience.

The focus of the dish should be the roasted pork fillet, which comprised of two chunks of pork fillet. Pork fillet with its lack of fat, can be quite difficult to cook well, and in this case the pork was tough and lacked flavour. I also think the way it was served exacerbated the dryness of the pork. These triangular blocks of pork weren’t that easy to cut and eat either. I think serving it either as medallions, or as a proper chunk of pork fillet would have been a better choice. The braised pig cheek was much better, it was tender and was quite tasty though it was quite a small portion, more a taste of pork cheek. I did think there was too much red cabbage, it did dominate the dish. I was not impressed with the potato terrine which felt like a rather dried out potato dauphinoise. I am guessing it was reheated from some prepared potato. I think if it had been cooked in butter, it would have been better. I also wasn’t too keen on the bacon jam, which I felt didn’t add to the dish. Finally it needed more jus, a jug would have been nice.

It was one of those times where I was inspired by the description on the menu, but the reality of the dish failed to meet my expectations.

March 26, 2026

Roast Beef Smørrebrød

Visiting Copenhagen I was looking for somewhere for a snack. There are lots of choices of places to eat. I had gone to the fifth floor of Magasin du Nord where I planned to get some coffee. They had a wonderful food department in the basement, which reminded me of Selfridges in London. While I was up there I noticed Hallernes Smørrebrød which sold some amazing looking Smørrebrød (open faced sandwiches). They had a lovely looking variety, egg and prawn, beef tartare, chicken, roast beef, potato and roasted pork. I chose one enjoyed the roast pork version. I thought to myself, if I am hungry later, I am coming back for another sandwich. Later I did just that.

I was going to have the beef tartare sandwich, but they had sold out. Instead I had the Roast Beef Smørrebrød. This was rare roast beef with mustard, pickles and crispy onions.

You do need to use a knife and fork to eat this kind of sandwich and it was delicious. The beef was full of flavour and I enjoyed it. It was nice to sit down and eat the sandwich with some lovely views from the fifth floor windows.

March 24, 2026March 24, 2026

Pork & Black Pudding Scotch Egg

I had dinner in the hotel, and for my starter I had the pork and black pudding scotch egg with homemade brown sauce.

The scotch egg was well presented, sliced in half, with a spread of the homemade brown sauce. The egg had a soft yolk. The pork and black pudding was nice, not overpowered by the black pudding. The crispy coating was a little too crispy I thought. Overall though I did enjoy the plate.

March 22, 2026March 22, 2026

A new Bento Box

It was a Friday in Bristol, wanting lunch I headed off to Finzel Reach street food market.

I went to She Sells Streetfood and had something different this time. I went with the Beef Donburi, but instead of the Udon Noodles, I went with the Katsu Fries instead.

The beef donburi was delicious as always.

I enjoy the tender slow cooked beef rib which is full of flavour. I did enjoy the fries, but they weren’t hot, just warm. It was a really cold day, and I think they weren’t that warm when they were served, but I did enjoy the seasoning, the crispy chicken, and the katsu sauce.

I think I prefer the Udon Noodles, but it was nice to have a change.