Tag Archives: Restaurant Review

Review – Bistro 95, Cannock

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Another month, another meal out …. I could get used to this! After a week away from home with work, it was nice to come home and go out for a family meal. We went with my in-laws and the extended family to a new local restaurant in Cannock, Staffordshire. Bistro 95 is the lastest offering from Jo and John Ashmore of Wine & Dine. They have a gastro pub right here in my home town of Rugeley, the Yorkshireman, which just happens to be our “local”, and a bistro in Lichfield called 1709. The new addition Bistro 95 is to be ran very similar to 1709, offering brasserie style food for a great price – 2 course dinner for £10.90 and 3 courses for £12.90.

Now, I’ll be up front and tell you right away that my Brother-in-law, Lyndon Sims, just happens to be Head Chef at Bistro 95, but I assure you that will not influence my review in the slightest, in fact I’m probably more likely to be a bit harsher, just in case!!

It was the first weekend of Bistro 95 when 7 adults and 2 children decided to descend and put chef Lyndon through his paces. The bistro has been revamped and the restaurant opened up into a far more useable space from it’s previous life as 95 High Green. The restaurant is still based over two floors and we were shown to a table on the ground floor, with ample room to fit us, the high chairs and everything else dining out with little ones entails. A peruse of the menu and wine list, before we ordered and toasted to the Chef upstairs.

For my starter I had opted for the English asparagus and Goats Cheese tart with pickled red cabbage, one of the 3 vegetarian offerings.

Bistro 95

The tart was a light quiche style offering which was delicatley flavoured with Goat’s cheese, which worked perfectly with the strong iron of the asparagus. It was served with lovely dressed salad leaves and a pot of pickled cabbage, which I liked but thought unneccesary.

For main’s I opted for the Salmon and rocket encroute with new potatoes, steamed broccoli and dill cream sauce. The salmon was cooked perfectly, as was the pastry surrounding it. The sauce was full of flavour and worked well with the fish and potatoes. Simple flavours, cooked well.

I wasn’t sure I could squeeze a pudding in but in the name of a complete and fair review I ordered the Vanilla Creme Brulee with shortbread biscuit and Rhubarb and Ginger compote.

The creme brulee was lovely, set perfectly and with the required crunch on top. Though not a typical shortbread, the biscuit was lovely and added a different texture, and the rhubarb was nicely stewed but I wouldn’t say the ginger was a noticable flavour, not that this mattered as it was lovely nonetheless.

With a bottle of wine and a couple of beers, not to mention the sides ordered for Little Miss Chief the bill came to a modest £50. This was great considering the size of the portions and the quality of the food and service.

I will definitely going back and that’s not just so I can get Brother in Law to cook for me (it only happens at his workplace!) but it really is another great eatery from the Ashmores.

Review – Aalto Restaurant at Hotel La-Tour

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Whilst many moan about the reluctance of spring and summer to arrive as the last few weeks have been cold and wet, I personally cannot believe how quick 2012 is flying by. Life is full on at the moment with my new sales role at work by day and my Stampin’ Up business by night so when I was recently invited to go out for dinner I couldn’t resist – perfect chance to have a night off to relax and spend some quality time with hubs.

The venue for my night off was to be the newest addition to the Birmingham hotel scene,  Hotel La-Tour, situated right in the heart of the city centre near to the Bullring shopping centre. On arrival it was clear to see the hotel has been designed with the utmost style and sophistication. It was modern but very classic too. After making our way up a very stylish staircase we arrived at the bar where we were greeted warmly by the restaurant manager, Daniel. Whilst we perused the menu for the Aalto Restaurant and the wine list helpfully categorised on an Ipad, we were served with one of their signature cocktails – the 1889, named after the year Birmingham was granted city status.

It was a fruity,light and refreshing drink made with gin, apple, elderflower, ginger and lime and was a perfect start to the evening by not only getting your taste buds going but also leaving your palate cleansed. We also had a pre dinner nibble of lemon and chilli infused popcorn that was strangely addictive.

The menu exemplifies the modern twist on classics that is the ethos of the hotel. It was inspired by michelin star chef Marcus Wareing who has worked closely with the team at Hotel La Tour and head chef Alex Penhaligon to develop the dishes using many local ingredients. There were also a couple of specials to choose from too, so making a decision did take a while as it was all so so tempting.

Once we ordered we were taken through to the restaurant to our table, where we were positioned right behind the chef’s table with views into the open kitchen, allowing us to see our dishes being created by the kitchen.

After choosing our dishes, the lovely Daniel, came over to discuss wine choices. Daniel’s knowledge of the wines was impressive so we asked him to choose one for each of us that would complement the foods we had chosen. I was served with the Bodega Castro Martin Albarino which was a lovely surprise. I love this type of wine which I discovered  on my many work trips to Galicia and it is not one you get in many establishments. Mr CYV was served the Frappato Nerello Mascalese, which was also a great choice as we don’t often choose Italian wines. Daniel explained how he had chosen wines that would work with both of the starters and mains we had chosen and what they would deliver to complement the food.

I opted for the Harrogate Loaf, terrine of veal, bacon, parsely and caper salad which was a beautifully dense meatloaf, studded with pistachio for added crunch and texture. The terrine was wrapped in bacon which gave a great salty edge to the loaf. Some croutons on the side The parsley and caper salad it was served with was a perfect accompaniment with the fresh flavours cutting through the meatiness.

Mr CYV opted for the Mulligatawny, haddock, curry spice, lentils  which was a velvety smooth soup which was packed with beautifully cooked haddock and the lentils gave their usual bite to give some texture to the dish. It was perfectly spiced with such depth of flavour and enough spicy heat to give a warmth to the dish.

For mains I chose the Cornish sea bass, creamed leek, mussels, grain mustard. The fish was cooked to perfection with a crispy skin which I love and the sauce was rich and unctuous. I would never have dared to pair mustard with fish but this worked brilliantly.

Mr CYV opted for one of the specials Lamb Belly, green beans and peas, breaded sweetbread and red wine jus which was also cooked perfectly. the slow cooked belly melted in the mouth whilst the sweetbread was little nugget of delight and the jus brought the whole dish together.

We were amazed not only with the quality of the food but also how the chosen wines matched both courses perfectly.

When it came to dessert I was spoilt for choice but in the end decided on Jaffa cake pudding, warm chocolate, orange cake crumb, cream, which was something devised by Marcus Wareing. Now I expected a chocolate orange pudding but was so suprised to find it actually it tasted like those little biscuits you can buy. It was delicious, the sponge pudding was light whilst the chocolate sauce was rich and smooth.

Mr CYV opted for the savoury choice of British cheese selection, walnut crisps, pickle  and was very happy with the selection of cheeses – a goats cheese from Oxford, stilton blue and an apple smoked cheese.

With our desserts Daniel yet again came to our aid and selected suitable wine to go with them. For my chocolate dessert the Nectar Jerez Pedro Jimenez sherry was perfect and hubs was given the Rivesaltes Ambre dessert wine to complement the cheese selection. Yet again they matched perfectly.

As we retired back to the bar with a coffee we couldn’t help but plan a return visit. I think we will definitely come back to try out the hotel itself too. The food was some of the best I have eaten and certainly deserves a spot in the top restaurants in Birmingham.

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I received the food and drink courtesy of the Hotel la Tour  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 

Midlands Food Bloggers meet at 99 Station Street

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This weekend saw the latest Midlands Food Bloggers (MFB) meet up. I was a little nervous about it all as I had arranged the venue and plan for the day, and just hoped everybody would enjoy themselves. So what did we get up to?

MFB, Community Bloggers

First there was the food, well a MFB meet wouldn’t be the same without some fab food of course! As a community of food bloggers who like to support local producers where better a venue than a restaurant that serves modern British food like 99 Station St in Burton-on-Trent and sources as much as possible from local suppliers. When I suggested a meet up at the restaurant, owners Ross & Susan Boardman, were more than happy to allow a “bounty of bloggers” to descend upon them and also offered some extra special treats.

First off, we got to meet Daniel Pilkington, the head chef, who was full of enthusiasm and information about the products he uses to create their seasonal menu. We learnt that local producers include the farm in Bromley Hurst who supply their 28-day aged Mature Beef, and Freedom Brewery from Abbots Bromley as one of their beer suppliers. The menu features a wealth of dishes that are all created from scratch at the restaurant wherever possible, with homemade sausages, ice-cream and pies delivering a fantastic choice.

We sampled their 3 course lunch menu for a bargain price of £10.95. I opted for the Baked Goats Cheese starter which was served on a lightly dressed salad and with a lovely tomato chutney.

Goats Cheese, Starter

For main I chose the meat option of Sautéed Strips of bed with red onions and wild mushrooms. This was so full of flavour, the beef was tender, not an easy thing to achieve for sauteed strips, and the mushrooms added a depth of flavour.

Beef strips, main

For dessert I was swayed by the Chocolate brownie with chocolate fudge sauce and homemade Vanilla ice-cream. Naughty …. but very nice. Rich gooey brownie with lots of chocolate fudge sauce. My other half opted for the Bailey’s Cheesecake served with some homemade honeycomb.

Cheesecake, Honeycomb

Afterwards we headed off with Susan to her home to meet Ross and learn all about Staffordshire Fine Foods (SFF). Launched earlier this year to satisfy customers who dined at 99 Station Street and wanted to get their hands on some of the menu favourites, SFF sells sausages, pies and smoked products online here or in specialist retailers like Brown and Green.

On my recent visit to Brown and Green I actually purchased some of the SFF smoked salmon and one of the Chicken, Chorizo and Sweet Pepper pies and I have to say that the Cold Smoked Salmon was possibly the best smoked Salmon I have ever eaten. The only one to come close was some Canadian Sockeye Smoked Salmon in Hy’s Whistler which given the provenance was duty bound to blow your taste buds! Here in the UK the SFF smoked salmon far out ranks any I have tasted either shop bought or in a restaurant with a healthy aroma of a camp fireand a gentle smokey flavour it was devoured in no time at all.

During the afternoon we spent a fabulous couple of hours with Ross, savouring his knowledge and enthusiasm on curing, smoking and foraging. We learnt the difference that brining makes to the smoking process with some samples of salmon.

After a sample of some smoked venison and pigeon breast we had a wonder into the local woods understanding what fabulous ingredients can be found on your doorstep if you know where to look. Here we picked some nettles and wild garlic and then headed back to the house to make a lovely fresh broth with some chicken stock that had been flavoured with some of the new air-dried Chorizo that Ross is trialling. It was amazing that such simple ingredients can create such flavour.

We all left with a new understanding of the curing and smoking processes and an eagerness to forage and I cannot thank Ross or Susan enough for welcoming us into their restaurant and their home. Thank you thank you, thank you!!

I look forward to creating something yummy with the sample of chorizo we came home with so watch this space.

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