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Flat Iron Steak

I had seen some positive reviews of Flat Iron Steak in Bristol, so I thought if I had a chance, I would try it out. So, there I was in Bristol working and decided to walk over to Flat Iron and have some lunch.

I was given a lovely warm welcome and I took a seat. You get a portion of popcorn, not sure if that is a bonus, as I am not really a fan of popcorn. 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 on the blackboard.

I went with the flagship flat iron steak. I would probably have gone with fries as my side, but they do homemade beef dripping chips, which I am guessing are very nice, but they’re not fries. i was tempted by the truffled macaroni cheese and the crispy bone marrow garlic mash. I do like a bit of mac and cheese and truffle adds some extravagance. Some of the reviews I read praised the mash. In the end I decided I would be different and chose the roast aubergine, with tomato, basil, and mozzarella. The two other choices are green salad and creamed spinach.

It wasn’t long before my food arrived on the table. The steak was sliced, seasoned, and presented on a wooden board with a stone insert.

steak

The steak was cooked medium rare, as ordered. The chef had salted the steak and there was a little too much salt on the steak for my liking. The steak was mostly tender and had a good flavour. I enjoyed the steak.

The aubergine came in a separate side dish.

aubergine

This was roasted aubergine combined with tomato and mozzarella cheese. I really liked this dish, nice to have something different to chips or fries.

You also get a free ice cream.

Overall I really enjoyed my lunch and I will probably visit again.

Flat Iron Steak is a chain with twenty restaurants, fifteen of these are in London.

I have visited a similar place in Glasgow, Chateau-X, which does every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday a Steak Frites deal for £15 which includes one side and one sauce. Flat Iron Steak is more expensive, costing more than Chateau-X.

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Tempura-fried haddock

Last month I was attending a conference and meeting at Luleå in Sweden. I travelled from London Heathrow, then there was a layover in Stockholm before flying up to Luleå. Having had a great time in Luleå I made my way home. The flight from Luleå to Stockholm was fine, I then made my way to the departure gate for my flight to Heathrow. 

However…

This was the day that the air traffic control system at Heathrow failed and over a thousand flights were cancelled.

My flight was that evening, after a delay SAS cancelled it. With the number of cancellations, the earliest flight SAS could rebook me onto was three days later. So, SAS booked me a hotel for three days. The hotel was the Sandic Star Sollentuna was a really nice hotel. The restaurant was nice and served a good breakfast and there was a nice choice of meals from the menu in the evening.

On my first night I was too late for dinner, on the second night, I had Swedish Style Steak & Fries.

On my third night I had two courses, I started off with the shrimp Skagen mix on warm sourdough bread.

For my main course I went with the tempura-fried haddock, shrimp, new potatoes, grilled green asparagus, crisp salad, mango aioli, lemon and whitefish roe.

plate of food

After the nice steak the night before, and my nice shrimp Skagen, I was expecting another good plate of food. However, though the potatoes, salad, and mango aioli were nice, the whole dish was let down by the fish. I don’t know why I was expecting fresh cooked fish, what I got was something overly processed. I am guessing it was straight out of the freezer and into the fryer. 

Overall I was quite disappointed.

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Shrimp Skagen mix on warm sourdough bread

As I have mentioned before, In September I was attending a conference and meeting at Luleå in Sweden. I have never visited Sweden before, so was looking forward to going. The journey took some planning, and I travelled from London Heathrow, then there was a layover in Stockholm before flying up to Luleå. Having had a great time in Luleå I made my way home. The flight from Luleå to Stockholm was fine, I then made my way to the departure gate for my flight to Heathrow. 

However…

This was the day that the air traffic control system at Heathrow failed and over a thousand flights were cancelled.

My flight was that evening, and I think SAS thought they might be able to take off, however in the end that was not to be the case. With the number of cancellations, the earliest flight SAS could rebook me onto was three days later. So, SAS booked me a hotel for three days. I now had three unplanned extra days in Sweden.

The hotel that SAS booked me into was in Sollentuna. The Sandic Star Sollentuna was a really nice hotel and I had a room with an extra living room space as well. The restaurant was nice and served a good breakfast and there was a nice choice of meals from the menu in the evening.

On my first night I was too late for dinner, on the second night, I had Swedish Style Steak & Fries.

On my third night I had two courses, I started off with the Shrimp Skagen mix on warm sourdough bread.

Shrimp Skagen mix on warm sourdough bread

This a creamy shrimp salad, that was named by famous Swedish chef Tore Wretman who created the dish in the 1950s and named it after Skagen, a fishing port town in northern Denmark.

My sourdough toast came with a generous portion of Shrimp Skagen mix. I enjoyed it, but I think the dill was slightly overpowering.

It is a relatively simple dish, but is regarded as a classic dish in Sweden and I saw lots of dishes like this across Stockholm. As a result I thought I must try it.

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Teriyaki Beef Donburi and Tan Tan Udon

I was working in Bristol on a Thursday and headed off to get some lunch from the Temple Quay Street Food Market. I had this delicious bento box with beef donburi and tan tan udon noodles from the amazing She Sells Streetfood.

The combination of ingredients in the tan tan udon noodles are wonderful. 

Soft, chewy udon noodles are mixed with seasoned minced pork and fresh pak-choi, all submerged in a rich, creamy broth.  There is always something in every spoonful. Don’t forget the crispy chilli if offered, it adds warmth to the whole experience. 

The beef donburi was slow cooked teriyaki beef rib on a bed of rice, topped with crispy onions and pickles.

The beef was tender and full of flavour. The crispy onions add texture and the pickles and cucumbers salad add the necessary sharpness to cut through that rich tasty beef. So tasty, so nice, so delicious.

One of the reasons I buy this box on a regular basis, is that this is excellent fresh street food, full of flavour and very tasty. Also in a time where street food is getting more expensive (not surprisingly with increased costs of food and fuel) it is excellent value for money at £10 for the bento box.

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Time for a Bastard Burger

I was looking for lunch. I was in Sollentuna close to Stockholm in Sweden. I was stranded in Stockholm after the air traffic control system at Heathrow failed and over a thousand flights were cancelled. 

I did quite fancy a burger and did quite like the look of Bastard Burger.

Bastard Burgers is a Swedish fast food chain serving hamburgers . Since the first restaurant opened in Luleå in September 2016 , the chain has expanded and has nearly seventy branches from Boden in the north to Malmö in the south.

I went with their burger of the day, which was a cheese burger with chips. It wasn’t long before my order was ready.

The burger wasn’t the best looking burger I have had, however I actually quite liked the look, to me it felt like a proper homemade burger. The burger had a good flavour and texture. I liked the accompaniments and the cheese. Alongside were a bag of crinkle cut chips, these were rather good.

Overall for fast food, it was very good.

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Time for some more Sushi Yama

I was looking for lunch. I was in Sollentuna close to Stockholm in Sweden. I was stranded in Stockholm after the air traffic control system at Heathrow failed and over a thousand flights were cancelled. My flight from Stockholm to London Heathrow was cancelled and I was rebooked onto a flight three days later. So, SAS booked me a hotel for three days. I now had three unplanned extra days in Sweden.

I had enjoyed the sushi from Sushi Yama the day before, so I went there again. Essentially I had the same as the day before with some differences.

I had six different sushi, Flamed Salmon, California Roll, Tuna, Salmon & Avocado, Tuna & Chili Mayo, and Avocado.

plate of sushi

As before, my sushi was made fresh to order. My favourite were the tuna sushi. As with the flamed shrimp, I wasn’t sure about the flamed salmon, I am not sure it added anything. I really enjoyed the sushi and it was very tasty.

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Fried Anchovies

I had travelled to Thessaloniki in Greece for five days for a conference. After the conference boat trip a few of us went for a drink and then headed to Kazaviti Thessaloniki for something to eat. I wanted to have the fresh squid, but they had run out. Their other squid dishes were made from frozen squid, so I went with the fried anchovies instead.

My plate arrived with a portion of deep fried anchovies and a salad garnish.

I do like fried anchovies, they had a nice crisp coating. They were very nice, not sure they were fresh though.

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Time for Sushi Yama

I was looking for lunch. I was in Sollentuna close to Stockholm in Sweden. I was stranded in Stockholm after the air traffic control system at Heathrow failed and over a thousand flights were cancelled. My flight from Stockholm to London Heathrow was cancelled and I was rebooked onto a flight three days later. So, SAS booked me a hotel for three days. I now had three unplanned extra days in Sweden.

Close to the Sandic Sollentuna Hotel where was staying was the Sollentuna Centrum shopping centre. In there were plenty of food options.

I did fancy a light lunch, and decided to have some sushi from Sushi Yama. There are set menu choices, but I decided I would choose my own sushi.

I had six different sushi, Nordic Salmon, Crispy Salmon, Flamed Shrimp, California Roll, Tuna, Salmon & Avocado. My sushi was made fresh to order, which wasn’t expected and was a nice surprise.

I enjoyed all the sushi, though the flamed shrimp was my least favourite, it lacked the flavour profile I was expecting. The salmon and tuna was nice and fresh, and I enjoyed the two different maki rolls. The sushi came with pickled ginger, wasabi and spicy mayonnaise.

I was really impressed with the sushi, for what I initially thought was more of a fast food joint, my order was made fresh to order and was prepared quite fast.

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Swedish Style Steak & Fries

In September I was attending a conference and meeting at Luleå in Sweden. I have never visited Sweden before, so was looking forward to going. The journey took some planning, in the end it was more efficient to travel from London Heathrow, have a layover in Stockholm and then fly up to Luleå. Having had a great time in Luleå I made my way home. The flight from Luleå to Stockholm was fine, I then made my way to the departure gate for my flight to Heathrow. 

However…

This was the day that the air traffic control system at Heathrow failed and over a thousand flights were cancelled.

My flight was that evening, and I think SAS thought they might be able to take off, however in the end that was not to be the case. With the number of cancellations, the earliest flight SAS could rebook me onto was three days later. So, SAS booked me a hotel for three days. I now had three unplanned extra days in Sweden.

The hotel that SAS booked me into was in Sollentuna. Not knowing Stockholm, when SAS gave me a choice of hotels I wasn’t clear where they were, so just chose the first one. The Sandic Star Sollentuna was in fact a really nice hotel and I had a room with an extra living room space as well. The restaurant was nice and served a good breakfast and there was a nice choice of meals from the menu in the evening.

I arrived too late for dinner on the first night I was at the hotel. On the second night I went with the Swedish beef with grilled broccolini, tomato salad, choron sauce, and parmesan-tossed French fries.

I thought it looked really nice. It was rather good. I enjoyed the salad and the steak. I wasn’t asked how I wanted my steak cooked, but it wasn’t over cooked. It may have needed some extra resting time, but it was tender and had a good flavour. I am not sure the fries needed the parmesan. The salad was one of the best parts of this dish. It was fresh and I liked the addition of the thinly sliced radish. The choron sauce, a classic French “daughter” sauce made by adding tomato purée to a traditional Béarnaise sauce base was a nice addition.

Overall a very nice plate of food.