Spring 2020

A little round-up while we wait for everywhere to open again 🙏🏼

It’s a tough time right now. Could be worse though, you could be in the restaurant business 😵 I really feel for all of you guys, and I hope you all make it out of the other side and smash it. That first weekend out of lockdown is gonna be wild.

Anyway, here’s some bits and bobs from the last few months which I haven’t got round to writing up, or will be coming as soon as we can get back out and get some tables booked.

Barrio Comida opens (again) in Durham

It’s been a long time coming but Barrio Comida, home of some of the finest tacos the UK has to offer finally opened up again, this time in a permanent home in Durham. HALLELUJAH!

We went along a couple of times in the opening week, and well, let’s just say expectations were met, and far surpassed. I’ll do a full post on it and try everything on the menu again once we’ve been a couple more times, but you already know it’s so, so good… 👊🏼

Butchering at Block & Bottle

I got a butchery class for my birthday last year which I finally got booked in recently. The guys at Block & Bottle are top notch for so many things, and this is another fine string to their bow.

Think: here’s a lamb, and now we’re going to dismantle it. A really good way to spend a few hours, with some great scran, convo, beers, and even a bit of learning. I’m a bit more confident in trimming a rack of lamb now, and I’d recommend the classes to anyone interested in picking up some less-practised skills. The classes only take about 6-8 people, and the Block & Bottle guys always give a really personal touch anyway 👍🏻

They’re still open and doing delivery, so keep the guys in mind for your beer and fresh and cured meat needs during these tough weeks.

Lot of time for cooking

Being in lockdown has of course meant lots of time for cooking which is I guess the silver lining in the cloud of not having been in a restaurant for four weeks now. I’m not gonna go into ‘recipe blog’ territory, but this Sicilian pie has been made a lot recently, and you guys loved it on Instagram.

It’s really easy to make, and for a home cook who doesn’t have access to a proper pizza oven, ticks most of the boxes a pizza lover needs. I did this one with foraged wild garlic which was worth stinking for a week for.

Another easy recipe was this onion tarte tatin with honey & mustard which was the poshest cheese pasty ever. Bit of ready-made puff, caramelised-ish onions, mustard, honey, and some thyme. Lovely stuff with a nice fresh salad on the side. Knock one of these up, YOU CAN DO IT.

Some great takeaways

And if not home cooking, we’ve had some great takeaways from restaurants trying to pivot. Takeaway beef shin lasagne from Zucchini Pasta Bar was brilliant 💜 and katsu curry and wagyu burger from Bao Bar has still got me clamming with excitement to go back there. Unfortunately, they’ve both given up on takeaways for now, so be sure to get back to both restaurants to give ’em your support when you can.

Manjaros always seems to come up in the parmo discussion, and this was bloody excellent. I think they’re still doing BOGOF on half parmos which is a cracking offer at ~£9. I think it’s probably the best parmo I’ve ever had, though I was very, very hungry at the time. I wasn’t particularly interested in their Charlotte Square sit-in restaurant, but I reckon we’ll be headed there again soon now I’ve had this. Really good. Where’ve you had a good takeaway from in the lockdown? Give me a shout on Twitter.

Pleasantly surprising curry

Having seen all the blogger trips to My Delhi, I wasn’t holding my breath that it’d be any good – think Dabbawal++ however 90% of what we had in what was a  huge meal was quality. This was I think the butter chicken and a lamb curry. The chips are battered… 🤤

We were a little bit pissed, so there’s that. But we’ll definitely be going back. The lunchtime offer is good value for about a tenner for 2c. And there’s a lot to take in on the menu. Again – My Delhi are on the takeaway bus right now, so no better time to check ’em out.

Trip to LDN

It’s been far too long since we ate anything in the capital and so while our trip was mostly beer + gig oriented, we made sure to check out a few places which had been on the list for far too long. Unfortunately the queue for Padella outstretched my patience, but we managed to get a lunch at Murano which frankly opened my eyes to risotto, and was just great in every regard from sommelier to overall service when we arrived quite early for our booking.

Best bakery smash & grab at St. John, and obligatory fantastic tipsy pizza at Pizza Pilgrims. See you all again soon, you beauties 👋🏻

So many beers

Speaking of beers. How easy is it at the moment to just grab a cold one from the fridge and think ‘what the fuck is going on and when is this going to end’? My beer stores have been depleted after just a couple of weeks of WFH.

I’m an absolute sucker for a beer box. I get one every month via the Northern Monk Patron’s Society which is always a treat and contains the freshest releases from one of my favourite breweries. This month had a deep fried Mars Bar stout, and a slightly sour rhubarb pale which has helped me through some boring days and nights.

Also got a Mikkeller Beer Mail box for Christmas which had an awesome selection. Think, spontaneously fermented beetroot, cherry berliner, and some great IPAs. Again, I find these are a great way to support a brewery in tough times, and it’s surprise beer by post, what could be better?

Not all a blogging fairytale

I’ve deliberately not shared any horror stories in here for the longest time, because frankly, I do my best to avoid shit places these days. But it’s not all Michelin stars and ‘best meal ever’. A wander down the Quayside market is usually a good afternoon for eating, but this ‘philly cheesesteak’ (nope) – can’t remember who it was from, but there’s only one guy van there doing them, was absolutely awful. I don’t eat too much stuff anymore where I struggle to finish it but this was just wrong on every level. Try again, guys.

Then at the opening of The Purple Peacock, much disappointment followed. These guys have turned the dial way in favour of style vs. substance. Do people like this interior styling? To my tastes, this is bloody horrific, but then mebs I’m not the target market 🤷🏻‍♂️

Food wasn’t up to much anyway, not that we saw a lot of it. In a world where first impressions count, I can’t say I’ll be back anytime soon/ever.

Weekend in Leeds

We love Leeds. It’s class. Again, this was an alcohol-led trip to see a band, but we did sneak in some fantastic scran. The Swine That Dines is a tiny indie which we’d been following for ages, and on a Sunday does a Pie Dinner 🙋🏻‍♂️

Could not have enjoyed this more. We got 3c + a bottle of good wine for ~£50 and every bite was beautiful. It’s the kind of restaurant I love to discover, and to find it was as good as expected was an absolute joy. Chicken & mustard / beef shin pies were outstanding, alligot/minted carrots sides were mega comforting, starters and puds (treacle tart/rhubarb fool) were simplicity defined. If you’re in Leeds, be sure to put this on your list – there’s a solid bistro menu any other day, but do try and get in for Pie Sunday. That gravy…

The next day, a lazy brunch at Layne’s Espresso did the job. This was the deep and tangy, spicy sweetcorn fritters which was a cracking (healthyish?) feed. Coffee is best in class, too. It’s just in the triangle of Bundobust and Friends of Ham, making this one of the best streets anywhere. Leeds has a great number of superb places at the minute, and I actually can’t wait to go back in June, fingers crossed 🍻

So here’s to when this has all blown over, we can leave the Winchester, and get back into our favourite Newcastle restaurants. See you soon 💜