Fine Dining - Going up for seconds

Hot sausage

2011-10-17T22:25:00.001+01:00

The other night, I made Ravinder Bhogal's really delicious sausage roast.One of the best bits was making the lovely winey, oniony, balsamic vinegary gravy.

As Rav herself says, you "can't go wrong with a hot sausage". Ravinder's got a book out! It's ace.

Two ’ages

2011-10-10T18:37:00.001+01:00

This is what I'm cooking for tonight's tea. It's a cabbage and sausage hotpot from the book Spooning With Rosie. I made some adjustments to the recipe, mainly for convenience, but also because I'm only cooking for two and not four. (The original recipe calls for 12 sausages and I used a bag of ready-chopped green cabbage, mixed with leeks instead of the white cabbage in the recipe. Lazy). So it's probably not quite as Rosie would make it. (I also added garlic, some chilli and a bit of cinnamon). Anyway. It seems tasty enough. Hurry home, @disappointment!

iPhood 2

2011-10-03T22:52:00.001+01:00

Just seeing if BlogPress is better than Google's Blogger app...

iPhood

2011-10-03T22:31:00.001+01:00

A quick blogging-from-the-iPhone test. If this comes out alright, it could see a resurgence of posts on That's Fine Dining. (Which is what everyone wants, clearly).
Oh, this is tonight's tea. A souped-up Cajun chicken thing from Markses, with pasta and a tomato sauce with harissa and loads of dried herbs and spices in it.

Square meal

2011-10-03T22:19:00.000+01:00

We don't usually go in for a square picture on That's Fine Dining, but Instagram makes everything look so damn tastier and fancier. So we make no apologies. A lovely beef roast and a nice pint of Sambrook's Wandle at the Vauxhall Griffin.

Sunday best

2011-09-25T18:44:00.000+01:00

A fry-up at Canteen (never had such a cress-heavy full English breakfast before) then a lovely lamb roast at the recently refurbished The Ship in Kennington. My companion had the beef. Now what's for tea?

A postcard from Nottingham

2011-09-04T12:19:00.001+01:00

Oops, soz. I haven't updated this blog for ages. I'd like to say it's because I've been on holiday all summer, but really it's because I've been all busy like.Anyway, here's a nice picture for a Sunday lunchtime: @disappointment's Sunday lunch. This is totally live blogging, by the way, as he's eating it RIGHT NOW. Check out the bonus paprika on those roast potatoes. Naughty!

Go west

2011-06-10T11:22:00.002+01:00

A daytrip to Aberaeron. Mainly spent eating. A sandwich on the seafront, a Welsh cake at the lovely Hive On The Quay and then finally, a sandwich in a lay-by just a mile outside of Lampeter.

Pork/pie

2011-06-09T11:02:00.001+01:00

A nice couple of pork chops, followed by a lovely apple and blackberry pie with low-fat icecream. Low-fat! I know. Wow.

Tearoom with a view

2011-06-09T10:54:00.003+01:00

Welshcakes and scones in the tearoom at Rhossili. Here's that view:

Pressday Pret

2011-05-27T17:33:00.001+01:00

A Pret A Manger Thai noodle salad with crayfish and that in it. Not satisfying enough for pressday, to be honest.

Pig pie & shark sandwich

2011-05-26T09:05:00.004+01:00

A really, really delicious ham hock and pea pie at the Three Kings, Clerkenwell. Amazing. Then our team, Shark Sandwich, came third in the pub quiz. Not bad, really.

Traditional Welsh fayre

2011-05-18T18:38:00.004+01:00

Lots of tasty Welshness at the cafeteria in Gelli Aur Country Park: a Welsh cake and a pasty. Filled with cawl! (Bit specialist, that last one).

Party like it's 1971

2011-04-08T18:03:00.003+01:00

My dad and his family enjoying a nice spread. The processing date on the edge of the photo is "MAR • 71". Maybe they were celebrating Decimal Day.

Two hungry men

2011-04-04T21:47:00.001+01:00

A breakfast at Jury's Inn, Brighton.

Saucy

2011-03-17T23:40:00.001Z

An embarrassingly shit tea: a salad cream, German mustard and chilli sauce sandwich. Yes. I pretty much loved it, to be honest. Soz.

Alphabet treat

2011-03-16T00:05:00.004Z

A basic tea. Alphabet spaghetti, livened up with some chilli sauce, chilli flakes, some sauerkraut, a splodge of German mustard and a bit of cheese. I ate it too fast and burned my mouth.

Dinner at Daniel's

2011-03-05T19:21:00.003Z

A smashing dinner, cooked by our friend Daniel. Mushroom risotto with some ace salads out of a Jamie Oliver book, then a sort of Eton mess thing that was very brilliant. Thanks Daniel!

Sunday Simulcast

2011-02-20T10:35:00.006Z

Sometimes in the '80s, before we had fancy TVs, if BBC2 or somebody was going to show a concert, they'd link up with Radio 1 or something, so you could watch the concert on your TV while hearing it in glorious stereo sound via your radio.
Well, last week, it was my turn to DJ at the Sunday Supplement at The Vauxhall Griffin, and I thought I'd do a link up between my two blogs, so that you could benefit from the full sensory experience. While DJing, I ate a nice roast beef dinner (pictured above). And if you'd like to see what I played, have a look over at Kiss & Make Up.

Saturday night and Sunday morning

2011-02-06T15:57:00.004Z

A tandoori hot pizza from Domino's and a chicken, stuffing and fruity chutney sandwich from Pret. Oh dear.

The twelve eats of Christmas: 12

2011-02-06T10:25:00.003Z

Lamb chops, chips and a visit to the salad bar at the Old Bridge Inn, Llangennech.

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The twelve eats of Christmas: 11

2011-02-06T01:15:00.004Z

Mince pies and mulled wine, over the holidays.

The twelve eats of Christmas: 10

2011-02-06T00:55:00.002Z

A delicious chicken tikka sandwich – yes! – in the cafeteria at Llanelli North Dock.

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The twelve eats of Christmas: 9

2011-02-06T00:43:00.004Z

A roast beef dinner, in between Christmas and New Year. At Christmas, I'd eat turkey until the cows come home, but I suppose it's nice to have a change.

The twelve eats of Christmas: 8

2011-02-06T00:17:00.003Z

A nice bit of mackerel.

Bolog blog test

2011-01-31T19:43:00.001Z

Having a go at blogging while I cook. It might be going horribly wrong. The blogging, I mean. The pasta sauce tastes nice.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Wincott St,Lambeth,United Kingdom

Mince around midnight

2011-01-30T11:50:00.003Z

Bolognese on toast. The perfect, late-night, post-Push The Button supper. I made it following the Jamie Oliver recipe but tweaked it a bit. Soz Jamie.
In other news: I'm determined to get the rest of the Christmas photos up BEFORE THE END OF JANUARY. There are only five more sets to go...

The twelve eats of Christmas: 7

2011-01-20T21:25:00.001Z

A lovely, yolky bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast. Thanks Mum!

The twelve eats of Christmas: 6

2011-01-20T21:21:00.004Z

Back in Wales. Straight off the train, to the Beefeater. Brains, paté and salmon. We're at the halfway mark! Phew.

The twelve eats of Christmas: 5

2011-01-20T21:19:00.002Z

A very fine Boxing night buffet. Thanks John & Andy!

Test Dogs

2011-01-17T22:31:00.001Z

Location:Kennington Rd,Lambeth,United Kingdom

The twelve eats of Christmas: 4

2011-01-15T21:08:00.002Z

A Boxing Day lunch treat: cold ham and turkey, loads of pickles and bubble and squeak, made from the veg leftover from Christmas Day.

Manhattan Pizza Odyssey

2011-01-15T18:22:00.007Z

A $5.50 "special slice" from Ray's Pizza - pepperoni and chicken escalope

$1.50 pepperoni slice from 2 Bros Pizza in Hell's Kitchen.

The practical difference between the two pizzas - apart from the chicken - is that the $1.50 slice is best enjoyed by dragging the toppings and cheese off with your teeth, and throwing the base over your shoulder.

Meanwhile, this pizza came from The Irish Pub on 7th Avenue.

You might think that there's something wrong with this picture. You're right. It's a picture of a pizza with large florets of broccoli planted into it.

Brisket For A Biscuit

2011-01-15T18:08:00.005Z

Half of a brisket sandwich from the Stage Deli. A tiny slice of bread is perched rakishly on the fist of meat, and it's all set off beautifully by a large dry gherkin. Here it is again, from a more daunting angle.

Breakfast The Fey Way

2011-01-14T21:49:00.004Z

A breakfast sandwich from the Stage Deli in Manhattan. Fried sausage, fried egg, extremely fried streaky bacon, all served between two thick slices of very fried bread. The only thing that isn't fried is the cheese, but to their credit, they did melt it slightly to bring out its own natural oils.

This sandwich has a name: it is called the Tina Fey.

The twelve eats of Christmas: 3

2011-01-09T22:32:00.005Z

The main event: Christmas dinner at Marc & Sam's. A lovely prawn cocktail and a really great main course. Turkey AND ham. No room for pudding.

The twelve eats of Christmas: 2

2011-01-07T00:15:00.003Z

Starting Christmas Day off with a delicious bacon sandwich at Marc & Sam's house.

The twelve eats of Christmas: 1

2011-01-06T22:33:00.004Z

Christmas Eve. Poached eggs at Canteen then lentil chilli and banoffee pie at Marc & Sam's house, a meat-free start to the holidays.

Two soups

2010-12-13T22:20:00.005Z

A nice warming bowl of homemade cawl. A nice warming bowl of onion soup from Concrete. Ready to order, sir?

Roll with it

2010-11-22T23:04:00.000Z

Some chicken thighs in tomato sauce from Marks & Spencers, eaten while watching Nigella cook "an unusual slow-cooked melt in the mouth Asian Braised Shin of Beef topped with a crisp hot and sour shredded salad".

English gentleman

2010-11-22T21:35:00.002Z

A slightly poncey full English breakfast with an alarming-looking fried egg and a quenching drink made from cranberry, rose and elderflower or something at Canteen. Nice. I had a peppermint tea too, which was very refreshing.

Hanging over

2010-11-18T23:55:00.003Z

An apple juice, an Earl Grey tea and an absurdly floppy microwaved cheese and tomato croissant at "tea drinking place" – ahem – Yumchaa – AHEM – in Soho. A hangover cure of sorts. All on a nice tray with elephants on. Lovely and relaxing.

BSMEats

2010-11-18T23:47:00.002Z

Some asparagussy faffiness, some cute bread all tucked up in bed, abundant glassware, Sir actual Tom Jones (not pictured), a man on a motorbike (not pictured) and a lot of red wine (not pictured) at the BSME Awards 2010.

Agora: Too Meaty For Crows

2010-11-18T19:06:00.004Z

Agora is a chain of restaurants that brings meat to your table, and slices it into your plate until you have to have to go outside and have a sit down, away from the meat. But before that happens, you get to take your plate to a salad buffet, which - for a salad buffet - contains a lot more meat than you'd think.

On this plate: garlic rice, chicken stroganoff, peppers, lumps of cream-smeared chicken, stuffed olives, salami, flavoured wet carrots, roast "bliss" potatoes and a pickled gherkin, all set off with a certain amount of powdered substance that I can't honestly identify. I thought it might be nuts, but it didn't taste particularly of nuts.

England sandwich

2010-11-18T00:11:00.003Z

Posh chain restaurant Leon have drastically faffed around with their breakfast menus. It's out with the breakfast baps and in with the slightly silly breakfasty "New York Breakfast" open sandwiches. And these. Which I could get addicted to. Bacon and cheese grilled sandwiches. Toasties, basically. Tidy. It's nice to have a reason to eat cheese for breakfast.

I said "breakfast" and "sandwich" a lot there...

Hi, my name's Ribzilla

2010-11-17T15:43:00.005Z

A limited-time special from Famous Dave's. The Ribzilla is a single rib, snapped with some force from the body of a cow. It's basically a steak hanging from a large bone, that you can rip out and use to ting your empty glass, letting the waitress know you require more beer.

The item kissing against the middle of the rib is a plain, sweet muffin. There is something perverse going on here, and I'm not sure I want any part in it.

Flashback…

2010-11-17T00:47:00.001Z

to last Sunday's roast dinner, again at the Griffin.

Let's get quizzical

2010-11-17T00:27:00.003Z

A really delicious beef casserole, enjoyed by a member of the Ménage à woof team at the Vauxhall Griffin quiz night. Especially delicious with a generous dollop of brown sauce.

An ideal for living

2010-11-14T11:33:00.002Z

A perfect night in: sausage pasta with mozzarella on top, premixed gin and tonic in a can and The Seeds Of Doom on DVD.

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit

2010-10-31T11:39:00.002Z

Slightly poncey Welsh rarebit with a poached egg on the side at Canteen.

Dream of protein on a plate

2010-09-26T19:27:00.004+01:00

A Sunday roast - the first of the autumn - at the Vauxhall Griffin.

The spirit of the (saus)age

2010-09-26T19:09:00.004+01:00

Some snacky sausages for a Saturday night at Zeitgeist @ The Jolly Gardeners. I love how the sausages are presented to look like they're in bed together, their meaty heads resting on a mustard sachet pillow.

From bad to wurst

2010-09-20T22:50:00.007+01:00

Homemade currywurst. And then the following night, the leftover sauce used up with some chicken goujons. Lush. There's a currywurst museum!

Edit:
ANIMATION!

Tart tart

2010-09-11T17:47:00.002+01:00

A really delicious bakewell tart brought in to work by Emily and an exceedingly crumbly gooseberry and elderflower tart from the Royal Festival Hall.

Twin dins

2010-09-11T17:19:00.002+01:00

A pair of chicken dinners.

Mega bites

2010-09-11T17:10:00.002+01:00

These aren't just pork bites filled with tomato chutney, these are Marks & Spencers pork bites filled with tomato chutney.

Healthy competition

2010-08-29T12:10:00.002+01:00

A cheese burger, potato salad and a halloumi kebab at the spectacular Wine Vs Cheese Vs Pie Vs Mash yesterday.

Prize gala

2010-08-25T23:50:00.006+01:00

A slice of gala pie with some tangy homemade plum chutney and lovely chunky piccalilli, pre-quiz sustenance at the Vauxhall Griffin. Recommended!

Archives of pain

2010-08-14T13:56:00.003+01:00

A chocolate croissant and a black coffee outside the National Theatre. Somebody was playing the guitar.

Fine wining #1

2010-08-10T23:29:00.003+01:00

Presenting Evita peppermint liqueur, number one in an occasional series of interesting boozes. £5 from a shop on Turnpike Lane.

Butchers boys

2010-08-10T22:55:00.004+01:00

Cockles and laverbread, deep-fried brie, garlic bread, lamb, steak and pork. Loads of excellent home-cooked Welsh loveliness at The Butchers in Llanddarog.

Flamin' gala

2010-08-10T22:53:00.003+01:00

Pies (pork and gala) and plenty of other Welsh goodness at Tenby indoor market.

Brecwast

2010-08-08T23:40:00.003+01:00

Two breakfasts at the lovely Plough hotel in Rhosmaen, South Wales. A poached egg and beans on toast, and then the following day, a vegetarian breakfast involving an impressive Glamorgan sausage.

The intense hummous of evil

2010-08-08T10:52:00.002+01:00

A vegetarian meze platter to share at The Gate, before heading off to see Manic Street Preachers at the Hammersmith Working Men's Club.

Kats!

2010-08-04T22:29:00.003+01:00

Consecutive katsus from Tsuru and the Blue Sky Café.

Self-assembly breakfast

2010-08-04T22:24:00.002+01:00

A bacon and fried egg sandwich on the roof terrace at the Blue Fin Building.

Our daily bread

2010-07-22T17:36:00.002+01:00

Greggs autumn/winter press day.

Domenica

2010-07-19T23:20:00.003+01:00

An Italian-themed Sunday tea. Bruschetta followed by Disappointment's hearty lasagne.

Small fry

2010-07-14T09:16:00.002+01:00

Breakfast at the Blue Fin, eaten off a tiny plate, Liz Hurley-style.

Triple carb alert!!!

2010-06-30T22:53:00.003+01:00

A tomato and emmental toasted sandwich PLUS potato salad PLUS crisps at Concrete.

Windermere 13: Bring me fun

2010-06-27T19:38:00.003+01:00

A visit to Morecambe. A Bring Me Sunshine cocktail at the Midland Hotel ("Eileen Woodhouse created this heady mix of champagne, Pimms, orange juice and grenadine. So stand on one leg and enjoy the Eric Morecambe way"), then a KFC Zinger Burger meal (oops). Fianlly, back home for Philip's delicious carbonara.
Life's too short to be spent having anything but fun
We can be so content if we gather little sunbeams

Windermere 12: Philip's birthday

2010-06-27T19:24:00.006+01:00

Birthday celebrations at the Mason's Arms. I had the spam fritters with homemade brown sauce, followed by a lovely bit of lamb with dauphinoise potatoes. My companion had the steak burger with chips and onion rings. Then back to the house for cake.

Windermere 11: Re-make/re-model/re-heat

2010-06-27T19:20:00.002+01:00

Tuesday night's chilli, Wednesday's lunch.

Windermere 10: The mobile office

2010-06-27T19:14:00.003+01:00

Dealing with important correspondence and a slice of millionaire's shortbread in Grange-Over-Sands. Hot desking.

Windermere 9: Something beginning with "ch"

2010-06-27T19:03:00.004+01:00

Cheesy beans for breakfast, chips at Bowness-On-Windermere, and lovely chilli for tea, cooked up by Log and based on the Leon cookbook recipe.

Windermere 8: Suitable for vegetarians

2010-06-27T18:59:00.002+01:00

Sam and Karen's awesome meat-free paella. High five.

Windermere 7: Alfresco

2010-06-27T18:53:00.003+01:00

A nice bit of quiche and a sausage roll from the butcher in Grange-Over-Sands and some salad, eaten in the garden of Barrow Wife.

Windermere 6: Monday breakfast

2010-06-27T10:43:00.002+01:00

Windermere 5: Dog's dinner

2010-06-27T10:39:00.002+01:00

Nova's tea.

Windermere 4: Load of old croque

2010-06-27T10:34:00.003+01:00

A chip butty, a slightly grim croque monsieur and a club sandwich at the disappointing Woolpack Inn.

Windermere 3: Pie

2010-06-27T10:30:00.004+01:00

John's shepherd's pie. Delicious.

Windermere 2: Piccalilli circus

2010-06-26T16:13:00.002+01:00

A ham sandwich, with piccalilli, eaten at the Masons Arms half way through a long walk.

Windermere 1: Friday night & Saturday morning

2010-06-26T11:31:00.004+01:00

We went away to the Lake District for a week, and stayed here. Chips for tea on the first night, then Andy made a fry-up for breakfast the following morning. Lovely.

The Coffee Mill

2010-06-15T14:53:00.004+01:00

Beans on toast, a nice cup of tea and a magazine that it was impossible to read while eating at The Coffee Mill, in the precinct below King's Reach Tower. Think of the IPC sub-editors that have eaten lasagne and chips in that place over the years...

Leon

2010-04-26T21:55:00.000+01:00

A hearty tea at Leon Bankside.

Fried

2010-04-26T21:52:00.001+01:00

A fry up on Newburgh Street, after seeing the Covers exhibition.

Sandwich 3D

2010-04-13T23:13:00.003+01:00

It's better than bloody Avatar!

Manchesterfood

2010-04-13T21:30:00.005+01:00

Chicken curry and chips at the all-you-can-eat Buffet City and, the following morning, an all-you-can-eat breakfast at the Premier Inn, Portland Street.

Nagasaki dolls are burning

2010-03-14T12:58:00.002Z

A delicious curry in The Coriander on Kennington lane. I plumped for the jhal puri, followed by the special lamb chops. My dining companion had the chicken cooked in a naga chilli sauce. Hot.

Home grown

2010-03-11T22:15:00.003Z

A roast dinner, cooked by my dad. The beans were grown in the back garden.

Mumbly

2010-03-08T22:36:00.004Z

A toasted mozzarella, pesto and tomato sandwich – with salad garnish and crisp garnish – at Verdi's in Mumbles.

Club class

2010-03-01T23:33:00.003Z

As it's – still, just about – Saint David's Day, I wanted to upload something Welsh. But I didn't really have anything to hand. So instead, I thought I'd upload, over the next few posts, some pictures that I took on a recent trip to Wales. Here's an Eat. club sandwich and a black filter coffee bought at Paddington station, photographed on the 12:45 train to Swansea at the start of my journey.

Give us this day our daily bread sauce

2010-03-01T23:16:00.002Z

A roast chicken Sunday dinner, at the White Hart in Kennington. The veg especially was delicious, but they'd run out of bread sauce.

Soaking up the atmosphere

2010-02-18T22:07:00.004Z

A pre-pie pint of Brains Dark - not John Smith's, as the glass would have it – at the Old Bridge Inn, Llangennech.

Tricol-ugh

2010-02-09T14:37:00.000Z

Ludicrous new starter in Pizza Express.

Pie test 2

2010-01-30T12:30:00.000Z

Beany goodness

Pie test

2010-01-30T12:25:00.001Z

Testing out mobile blogging with this very fine sausage and baked bean pie (with chips and beans).

Our Pillars breakfasts

2010-01-28T21:46:00.003Z

Following on from the previous post, here's what we had to eat in Pillars.
Me: Sausage, egg, beans, fried bread
Disappointment: Sausage, bacon, beans, fried bread
I'm sure that's not a hair in my egg...

Going underground

2010-01-28T21:13:00.004Z

We spent our last night in Wales in Cardiff. We stayed at a nice hotel in the city centre, but because of some mix up, breakfast wasn't included in our room rate and it would have cost us an additional £17 each or something ludicrous, which is pretty steep for some sausages and beans. Instead, we popped around the corner and went to Pillars, a large basement café, and paid less than seven quid between us. For me, Pillars is something of a Cardiff institution. I've been going there since I was little, and it's not really changed very much. The photos at the top of this blog are taken from the display outside. Back in 2008, I ate this pie there.
You can see what we ate in the next post. Thanks to Disappointment for the extra photos.

Llanelli breakfast number #2

2010-01-18T21:11:00.003Z

This rather neat breakfast (plus toast, not pictured) was eaten on our second morning at the Stradey Park Hotel. And with that, we said our farewells to SA14.