Time for a coffee

July 7, 2026July 7, 2026

Remembering the Sushi at the Hare and Tortoise

Sometimes when eating out, I don’t get a chance to write up the meal I had. Usually for another reason I am checking out that date or location and find photographs of a meal I had. This was the case here, when back in June 2024 I was staying in London at the The Hand & Flower in Olympia. One of the places I would go for dinner in the area was the Hare & Tortoise in Kensington. This is a London chain specialising in Japanese food.

I went with a selection of sushi. I had the Essential Sushi Box which came with ten pieces of sushi: salmon nigiri, tuna nigiri, octopus nigiri, prawn nigiri, 3 salmon maki and 3 tuna maki.

This was a lovely fresh selection of expertly made sushi. I enjoyed the fact it was (as it should be) made with raw fish. My favourite of the ten was the tuna nigiri.

I also had the California Maki which was an inside-out seaweed roll filled with omelette, avocado, crab stick, cucumber and mayonnaise, garnished with tobiko.

These were beautifully presented and I loved the flavour and textures of the maki.

That really should have been enough but I was intrigued and tempted by the Kani Gunkan or snow crab sushi.

I should have resisted temptation, the snow crab was very watery and lacked flavour. It was not quite what I was expecting.

Despite my (slight) disappointment with the snow crab, the sushi I had were delicious.

June 30, 2026June 30, 2026

Luigi Ugo Cromer Crab & Crayfish Ravioli

I had seen this pasta, Luigi Ugo Cromer Crab & Crayfish Ravioli, before on the shelves and decided that I would try it out at some point.

Free range egg pasta filled with crab leg meat, pollock, crayfish tail meat, lemon juice, herbs and red chilli. Indulgent British Cromer crab and succulent crayfish, delicately wrapped in fresh, free range egg pasta parcels Crafted with the finest British free range eggs, each delicate pasta parcel is filled with sweet crab meat, and succulent crayfish tails. A squeeze of lemon, fresh coriander and a hint of red chilli lift the seafood’s natural sweetness and add warmth, creating a vibrant, restaurant quality ravioli that delivers a truly indulgent experience.

It take a few minutes to cook.

I served mine with some olive oil and parmesan. I think though it did need a squeeze of lemon juice. It did have a good crab flavour, something I have found missing from other crab filled pasta I have had. These were quite big ravioli and just a few would make a great starter.

June 29, 2026

Barbecued Chicken

I do like barbecued chicken and these chicken thighs I cooked were delicious.

I marinaded the chicken in some Italian garlic seasoning and some olive oil. This was then cooked on the barbecue.

I have a new smaller barbecue, so needed to take care to ensure that the chicken was thoroughly cooked. It can be easy for chicken to be cooked on the exterior, but still undercooked internally.

June 27, 2026June 27, 2026

Valencia Paella

It was hot, but the Temple Quay market was running. It was a Tuesday so there are fewer traders. Making the decision to go for something different I headed to the Riceminster stall for some paella. It was a lovely hot day, the weather felt quite Spanish like, so it was certainly appropriate to opt for the paella.There were three options available, vegetarian, seafood, and Valencia with chicken.

I have always enjoyed the paella from Riceminster, though I don’t have it very often. I should remind myself of what I wrote the last time I had paella from Riceminster. Back then I wrote:

This paella came with chicken and green beans. It was really tasty and I enjoyed it, I do think though next time I will go for the vegan or the vegetarian paella (which is a little cheaper) as I am not sure if the chicken added anything to the dish. It was nice, but I think I would have enjoyed the paella without it.

I forgot about this, and on my most recent visit I ordered the Valencia paella again.

It was nice and tasty, but again I think I wouldn’t have missed the chicken. Maybe that I have had it twice and thought the same, the next time I have paella from Riceminster I will go for the vegetarian option.

June 23, 2026

Tim Hortons has closed

I saw that Tim Hortons in Weston-super-Mare has closed. The plan is that it will become McDonalds, whilst the McDonalds that is already there will become a Taco Bell. I use to go to Tim Hortons, mainly if I was charging the Funky Cat using the InstaVolt chargers, I would pop in for a coffee and a doughnut. In the past I also would get the odd Too Good To Go bag there as well, however over the last year they only did a 2330 time for collection, which was too late for me. When I went it was never that busy, so not too surprised.

June 22, 2026

Pork Chop in a Cider Sauce

When venturing down to Exeter or South Devon, one of my usual places to stop, mainly to charge the car, but also for a refreshment break, is Darts Farm, which also has a quite incredible farm shop.

I was there charging the car, so first I stopped to have an iced coffee (it was one of those really hot days) I then took a wander around the farm shop. One of the items I did buy that day was a pork chop from their butcher counter.

To cook the pork chop, I got a hot frying pan, and added a splash of olive oil. I seared both sides of the pork chop and also cooked the pork chop side to render the fat and crisp up the crackling. I then added some salt and pepper, butter, herbs and garlic and basted the chop for a few minutes before placing in a hot oven to finish cooked. I poured the butter onto the chop.

While the chop was finishing off in the oven, in the hot pan, I added some pancetta, once that was nearly cooked, I added some finely chopped onion. When the onion was softened I added some chopped mushrooms.

I then added some cider to the pan, which I then reduced. I took the pork chop out of the oven and let it rest. With the cider sauce reduced, I added some crème fraîche and freshly chopping parsley.

I added the sauce to a plate, and then placed the pork chop on top.

The sauce was really nice, full of flavour. The pork chop was excellent. Tender, moist and full of flavour. I would certainly get the chop again from Darts.

June 21, 2026

The Pizza Rocket

It was a Thursday, I was working in Bristol, the Temple Quay street food market was on, they had a bundle of traders booked. I knew where I was going for my lunch.

Now, the question was, would I go for She Sells Streetfood, which to be honest I have been doing a lot lately, or would I go for something else, and would I go for something new.

There were a lot of choices, some old favourites were there, some I hadn’t had in a while, but there were some new faces as well.

One stall was intriguing, which was Get Dipped, who sell French dip sandwiches, with every sandwich you get a pot of gravy. Whilst writing this, I saw that they are also in St Nick’s market, so I might try them there.

In the end I thought I would try a pizza from The Pizza Rocket. They sell wood fired Napoli style pizza. As I wondered what to have, and watched, they got one of their cooked pizzas out of the oven for a customer. It did look good.

Now my only reservation was that one of the specials was ham and pineapple. Yes it was Italian prosciutto crudo, and an interesting sounding chilli pickled pineapple, but even so, ham and pineapple, authentically Italian, I didn’t think so. Other choices included a Mariana, a pizza with no cheese, and a spicy salami option.

I did order, and I ordered a Margherita, which was £11. I had to wait a couple of minutes, but my pizza was ready. I was asked if I wanted some fresh rocket on top, so I said yes.

This was a lovely freshly cooked pizza. A Margherita pizza is a good test of a pizza place. The crust was excellent, the sauce was nice and there was a generous amount go cheese. I really enjoyed it.

June 20, 2026June 20, 2026

A significantly better ploughman’s

I had Packwood House on my list of National Trust properties to visit for a while now. There is a lovely house here as well as some magnificent gardens. I really enjoyed exploring all the different rooms. Though not authentically Tudor, the early 20th century restoration, which is being conserved, is delightful. The upper floors are lovely. I really enjoyed the long gallery and the great hall at the end was unexpected. After exploring the house, I headed back to the café which was at the entrance. There is both inside and outside seating.

After my previous experience of having a ploughman’s lunch at Stourhead, a National Trust property; when I recently visited Packwood House I wasn’t sure if I would have the ploughman’s or have something different. In the end I did get one as I had another previous but positive experience at Killerton House. This time the plates was significantly better than the one I had before at Stourhead. I got bread this time.

On the plate was two slices of pork pie, slices of apple, a chunk of cheddar, a chunk of stilton, pickles and chutney, coleslaw, mixed leaves and a hunk of bread with some butter. True there was a stick of celery on the plate, but for the purposes of this review I ignored it.

The cheese was good, and the pork pie was also nice. It was a great combination overall of flavours, texture, contrasts, and it was also all nice and fresh. Delicious. I liked the presentation and it was what I wanted from a ploughman’s lunch.

After eating my lunch and drinking my green tea, I headed back to the house, well the gardens. I enjoyed walking around the collection of Yews, and the spiral terrace at the end of the garden was a intriguing surprise.

I had a lovely time at the house, and would go again in the future.

June 17, 2026June 17, 2026

Another burrata and tomato salad

I really like this simple salad of fresh Italian burrata cheese with tomatoes.

For this salad I took a selection of tomatoes I had in the fridge. This was some small cherry tomatoes, a few Isle of Wight heirloom tomatoes I had left over from a punnet I had bought at M&S, and a couple of Isle of Wight tiger tomatoes that I bought from Dart’s Farm.

These I sliced, some into halves, others into slices. I surround the drained burrata cheese. The salad is then dressed with salt, pepper, olive oil, and white wine vinegar.

After photographing the salad, I added some torn basil leaves.

Burrata is an exquisite Italian fresh cheese with a unique texture. It starts with a pouch of fresh mozzarella, which is then filled with a rich, creamy mixture of stracciatella—shredded mozzarella curds and cream. The name “burrata” comes from the Italian word for “buttered,” which perfectly describes its luxurious consistency. When sliced open, the firm outer shell gives way to a soft, spilling interior. This creates a delightful contrast between the solid exterior and the milky, buttery filling.

Delicious

June 16, 2026

Something different

I was working in Bristol on a Friday, I headed to the Finzel Reach street food market for lunch. Though there was quite a bit of choice, I headed to She Sells Streetfood and ordered a bento box. This time I went with the beef donburi and for a change I had the chicken katsu curry.

The beef was delicious as always.

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

I have had the chicken katsu curry before, and this time it was just as good as it was back then.

This was crispy chicken with katsu sauce on top of rice with pickles and crispy onions.The chicken freshly cooked had a crisp coating. The katsu sauce was nice, not too spicy, but with a hint of fruitiness.

Both dishes were delicious.