Category Archives: restaurant review

When I visit a restaurant, I will make some comments about the place.

Petit Paris v Buckinghamshire Floods

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Tuesday started off with a slight precipitation and overcast skies, ended the day with the sun coming out. At the Petit Paris I managed to get a table before 7.00pm and ate their cheap Plat de Jour, there were even people sitting at the tables outside. Summer is here in Edinburgh.

What a difference several hundred miles make. Rosemary rang several times during the day with panic stories about the floods that were about to engulf our home. The water was within 10 millimeters of coming in through the front door. She was unable to get to the DFAS meeting at Westcott where the road she had to pass through had water halfway up the nearby garden walls. Those who did get through had to walk through inches of water to get into the lecture hall and had to contend with a collapsing ceiling. In her words:

I was in work this morning and then had the dentist in Winslow at lunchtime. I was staggered at the water during the slightly scary drive back along the back roads. But I was in Westcott for DFAS just gone 14:00 and it was so flooded (especially at the turnoff just after the derestricted sign) that the van driver ahead suggested I shouldn’t attempt it and we all turned around. I don’t think I’ve ever seen everywhere so flooded. I was a bit worried about our front and the sitting room cos the front garden was very flooded.  I was also worried over the 10 day old lamb in our field.  I couldn’t see him anywhere and feared he had fallen in a ditch and drowned. Risking the elements and suitably garbed, I went out in search of his tiny corpse.  Scattering sheep to all sides and struggling against the suction of the waterlogged land on my wellies, I found him snoozing in a patch of long grass. 

Meanwhile DFAS’s Lecture Secretary says she “had to get the lecturer there! It was certainly bad in Westcott but the car is reasonably high. However, the front entrance was totally flooded and everyone had to go in via the fire exit through 2-3″ water, necessitating a number of people having to take off shoes, and quite a number turned for home. The hall was flooded down one side, a piece of ceiling fallen in near the entrance and we had the lecture in the room past the kitchen! It will certainly be memorable.”

Back to reality and the Petit Paris, good starter of Cray Fish Tail salad and salad potatoes, followed by a Salad Nicoise and then the Creme Brulee all washed down with a binge of red wine.

Ed’s update on floods:  The next day, all visible water has gone from around the house and the sun has shone.  The local rabbits all seem to have survived and I bet the wretched ants have too.

Another early start

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Another early start for the flight up to Edinburgh. Not sure how long EasyJet will keep the 6.55 flight going. It cannot have been more than one third full. As I left home it was a pleasant morning with roosting pigeons on the A41. By the time I reached the Chilterns it had turned foggy. Despite this the flight got away on time and I was in work before 9.00am.

Not a lot to report, other that a nice meal in the Mussel and Steak where I ate their soup of a day, a bean and tomato soup, followed by two fillets of sea bass cooked with a coating of sesame seeds on a salad base.

Rosemary had another man in to look at the Esse. It had been causing us some serious problems, not least the cost of running it with today’s high oil price. Today he was in to cure the smoking problems, he adjusted the flows, tested the flue and lit the cooker. Alas several hours later the same problems came back, smokes and the temperature drops to nothing. The next day he rang with a quote to replace the fuel regulator and put a flue balance in. Over £800. I am afraid the cooker is going to be scrapped and we are going green (?) with a wood burning stove.  But how much will it cost to remove the thing?  Anyone want an oil-fired Esse – buyer collects?

Dusit restaurant

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Met up with Ravi and Maggie in the Oxford Bar at 7.00pm for pre dinner drink. Then onward to Dusit Edinburgh Thai restaurant where they seated us this time. Booking a retaurant is a new concept to me.

We shared two starters between us:

  • Miang – Secret Garden
    A light salad of apples, mangoes, melons and leaves with a tamarind & coconut dressing
  • Koo Saneha – A Loving Couple
    Char-grilled scallops and jumbo king prawns served with garlic and chilli dip

I especially liked the Miang salad.

We then shared three main courses. Much argument, I was going to order duck, but was persuaded to order beef, and Ravi then ordered duck!!!

  • Panang
    A rich, creamy medium red curry with fresh chillies, kaffir lime leaves and holy basil.
  • Pad Ped Prig Tai Ong
    Stir-fry of meat with baby aubergine, imported fresh peppercorns,
    fresh chilli, grachi and holy basil, with beef
  • Ravi’s choice, I can’t remember [Ed’s note: thought you said it was duck?]

The Panang was lovely, nice thick creamy sauce to it, and enough bite to know you are eating a curry. The other two dishes were beautiful as well.

This Thai restaurant has a reputation amongst my friends of being the best Thai in Edinburgh, and I think it is well deserved. The service was good, the waiters were friendly and the food arrived quickly and on time.

Afterwards we parted our ways, but will be meeting up in Essex in a couple of weeks time.

Edinburgh and the Kanburs

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Made it to Edinburgh this week, staying in a hotel on Lauriston Place, a Best Western hotel. The hotel includes breakfast and is slightly cheaper than most I stay in. You can see it’s cheaper because there were tradesmen staying there.

Met up with Maggie and Ravi for a pint on Rose Street. They asked where to eat, so I suggested Dusit in Thistle Street. After one wrong turn we found the place. Alas no booking, so they were not able to seat us. Maggie and Ravi suitably impressed that this restaurant was fully booked on a Tuesday made a booking for 7.30 on Wednesday.

Where to now? I had mentioned the Oxford Bar earlier, being that it is on the same street as Dusit. Maggie, having read all the Rebus novels, was keen on the idea, so off we walked. A couple more pints, and some chicken and mayo rolls were consumed in the side room of the Ox. We completed the tour by walking on to Charlotte Square, and then back down Rose Street, Maggie pointing out all the saunas to us. I am still not sure why.

Ravi Kanbur standing outside the Oxford bar in Edinburgh

Bristol

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Spent three days and two nights in Bristol. Arrived in Bristol on the Monday, called my company to book a hotel. The only one they could find was £150 a night. I was able to find a Premier Inn on the waterfront on Kings Street for £65 a night. Was quite adequate, though the mobile phone connection for 3G internet access on the ‘3’ network was very poor in my room.

Trying to remember what I ate. The first night I ate at a Turkish restaurant called the Bosphorus. Started with a very lovely mezes dish, and then a main course of I think chicken, but not sure now. The mixed mezes was very good.

On the Tuesday evening I ate at a tapas bar, very full for a Tuesday evening, probably due to the band playing in the background. Several glasses of wine later I left.

P&A or Plough and Anchor Resturant

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Due to circumstances, like the fridge not working we were destined for supper at the P&A. Yes, as soon as Rosemary came home on the Monday, she asked why was the fridge not working. Didn’t you notice it was 20 Celsius inside the fridge and what about that horrible smell. I said no, and then related my coffee saga. So out with most of the contents.

So to the P&A for a few beers, and then a trial of their new menu. We have not eaten at the P&A since the new lower cost menu has been in place. We went for the standard menu and had a starter and the main course. Rosemary enjoyed her Thai fish cakes, while I ate some mussels. The mussels and the sauce where definitely up in the much better than average ratings. The sauce had a hint of chili, but was also a creamy sauce. Um it was very yummy. Much better than the Edinburgh Mussel and Steak on the Grass Market.

Main course we both had the same, BBQ ribs. I had been tempted by the pasta dishes. The BBQ ribs are the P&A signature dish, and they are massive. The meat fell of the bones, was a massive amount, very filling and very enjoyable. Yep I reckon the P&A is back on track.

The olde reekie

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This is my second week in Edinburgh. Last week I was here for four days, and this week it is a full week. It’s back almost to the old days, no rain, or at least when I am out walking there is no rain.

So what have I been doing, not a lot really, just working and going out in the evening for a meal. Last week at the Radisson Hotel I forgot to sign my bar/food bill. The next day I remembered and found the waitress. She said no problem, we put it on your room, I know your name, you won’t be able to get away with that.

This week as I had one meal in the hotel, she asked if I would be signing the bill tonight. I visited the Mai Thai for one meal. Had the spicy, hot duck. As usual very good. Last night I ate at the Mussel and Steak. Had a nice steak. Not quite as good as usual and was to my taste a tad over cooked.

Another blast from the past has just completed our comment book. Ashley Pickering, used to work for Walker, and here I am still working for a continuation of the same company.

A day in London & a night in “The Mousetrap”

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On Friday morning, after gasping at the price of rail tickets and underground tickets (& giving up trying to work out cheap deals) we arrive in London.  We go first via a walk along by the Thames to The Tate Modern and admire their crack (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/salcedo-shibboleth-ii-p20335).  We decide on an early lunch in the museum Café 2 where we, from indoors, smugly watch everyone walking around outside getting sodden.  They have amazingly tall metal vases topped off with Singapore orchids on the bar, which look very classy.   We have fried broad beans and bread with olive oil as snackrell-type starters and I opt for a quiche while Steve opts for a mezze plate for mains. 

Then to our Radisson hotel near the BM.  This strikes me as disappointing; I know it’s London but why can’t it be a larger, nicer room for all those points?  And the lift is so slow, too, and the breakfast not included but £16 each extra.   

Amazingly, Steve has spotted a Jessops nearby and we end up in there and he gets a discount off a Tamron 18-250 lens and is exceedingly smug and announces he can sell two of his existing ones. 

We visit the close-by British Museum and admire the wonderful hall, which always impresses.  We have cake & tea and watch the visitors. But we are here To See Things not just Eat Things, so we visit the Lewis chessmen (having seen the Edinburgh based ones we feel we should complete the set) and I end up drooling over the jewellery.  However, one piece of pure Victoriana is so frightful it makes me squeak out loud – a necklace made of the mounted heads of hummingbirds.   

In the evening we finally see “The Mousetrap” in a minute theatre with many empty seats near us (which was just as well cos I swapped at the interval so I could see the whole of the stage).  Very mannered and of its times and I guessed The Murderer, but an experience. 

For some reason, as we walk back, Steve wants more food, so we eat in an Italian place (although The Ivy was opposite!) and both decided we cook better than at home, but the staff are more pleasant.

Back to the Petit Paris

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The day started bright and sunny. It ended in drizzle, though I managed to miss it. Had a quick drink with some colleagues from the bank, before making my way back to the hotel and supper.

Ate at the Petit Paris. The waiter spotted me through the window and beckoned me in. He thought he had not seen me for seven months. I am sure I have eaten there more recently.

Ate a lamb shank, salad and a pitcher of red wine.

Razor clams

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Up at 05.45 to catch the 7.00 flight from Luton to Edinburgh. I had expected to be kept awake during the night by the storm, or my active thoughts which always occur when I am leaving early. Nope.  Had a good night, and woke just before the alarm.

No storm, but it had just started to rain. Luton was fine, though the queues at the security have grown since the summer rush. Must be enforced holidays during the slack period.

Boarded the plane on time, but we sat and sat for ages without moving. The pilot eventually said they were having trouble calibrating the inertial navigation system because of the turbulence rocking the aircraft. They would have to taxi to another area, and then try to re-calibrate. So off he went to near the runway, and parked facing the wind. Another 10 minutes and we were ready, so off we went. The flight, what storm?, it was quite calm, and of course landing up north was pretty quiet as well. The only event I noticed was the very high cloud top. It was ages before we broke through the cloud, and even then we were only just above the top of the storm clouds.

Edinburgh is like Aylesbury; in a construction boom. Grassmarket, where I am staying at the Apex, is totally a building site. Princes Street is a work in progress with new gas mains, water mains and the tram going in. Saint Andrews Square garden was closed all last year for the reconstruction of the garden, it is still closed, but now the road is being dug up for the gas mains.

Had lunch with Mary in a caff near the bus station. Great meeting up with her again.

Ate at the Mussel and Steak. Had the mussel pot for mains, and razor clams for starters. Interesting things, razor clams. Very firm meat, tasting of the sea. Unusual and an experience. Might have something different to eat next time though.