Old People Eating

Having spent yesterday fossiling on the Jurassic Coast beach at Lyme Regis in lovely, late-summer sunshine we called in to Bridport at the start of the journey home. Café Bean is a small, well-appointed coffee shop near the centre of this small Dorset town, selling coffee (obviously) as wells as cakes and pastries and, more importantly, breakfasts. Two breakfast baps were ordered. Both with bacon and egg, but each with a different third item. One with mushrooms and one with sausage. Big, soft, floury baps, properly cooked bacon, sausage and mushrooms and, no gurgly bits in the egg. Splendid.

On a beautiful September day we travelled to Devon to visit some good friends and spend a couple of nights with them. We revived our knowledge of Topsham, the delightful small town at the top of the Exe estuary, explored the quaint Devon and Exeter Institution, in Exeter, and then prepared for the main event that had been planned a few months previously; a trip to Lympstone Manor, the upscale hotel and restaurant owned and run by Chef Patron Michael Caines MBE. The location is outstanding, being on the western side of the estuary, just near the Royal Commando training facility, and the manor overlooks a view past their vineyard and across a lawn that sweeps down towards the water's edge Aperitifs were enjoyed as we studied the menu before agreeing on the Estuary Tasting menu. The two other options were another tasting menu that included land based dishes (duck and lamb) and an à la carte selection that appeared to be selections from the first two. Once the choices were ...

Just because we could we broke our journey to Pembrokeshire with an overnight stop at Symonds Yat. The Saracen's Head Inn is on the western bank of the Wye river, in a deep gorge, the 'yat' from which the name derives. The weather was kind and, therefore, the first impression of the location was very positive. Having been driving for a few hours and arriving at what a good friend would call beer o'clock we enjoyed a drink seated on the riverside terrace. Entertainment was provided by kayakers performing Eskimo rolls, two young men struggling to stay on a paddle board and an itinerant guitarist nearly playing a selection of rock song intros. Dinner was booked for 7pm. We kept things simple with only a main course each. One Haddock and chips with mushy peas and one Venison faggots with mash and seasonal greens. Good pub food. Unpretentious, well cooked and presented. The single glass of Rioja was underwhelming, but pub wine generally is. All-in-all, a very enj...

Following on from our lunch at Bun House and having enjoyed, but not as much as we had hoped, Crown Jewels, we set off in search of an early dinner, the buns having by then worn off. Al Murray was a no-show for the show and whilst the unnamed understudy was ok, it did detract from the event. No matter. We walked around Covent Garden, Seven Dials, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Seven Dials (you get the idea) for quite sometime, sharpening the appetite and looking for somewhere that, ideally, would have allowed to sit at an outside table, not near traffic, with a nice atmosphere away from the overamplified rickshaws with their tourist torturing music, with something to look at, that wasn't empty of customers and that had the right food with not too much wheat or carbohydrates in general. Hmm. We eventually stumbled upon SuperStar Korean BBQ in Central Piazza, St Giles. We weren't able to be seated outside, but the modern restaurant had high ceilings a...

This is almost the start of our next holiday so, with any luck, there should be a few additions to our collection of eateries. First up, Bun House, Lisle Street.  On a whim, we had booked tickets for a comedy play at the Garrick Theatre called 'Crown Jewels', starring Al Murray and others, so despite the train strikes we had set off from home in good time and made our way to London by using the Metropolitan line. Not as bad as I had feared. It delivered us to the West End in plenty of time and so we looked for a light lunch that would save us both from hunger throughout the play and also from the risk of needing a post-lunch nap. Lisle Street runs parallel to the northern edge of Leicester Square and is famous for being part of London's China Town (assuming one is still allowed to call it that? What else could it be called? 'London's area full of restaurants serving cuisine influenced by that of a region found a way of in the East'?) where street foo...