by Cedric | Aug 24, 2019 | General
Before you ask, if you haven’t already, our order from Lychee Garden was delivered to my house, therefore I could not get a photograph of the shop front, as is customary on Cedric Suggests. Hence, the featured image on this post is of a marvellous Spaniel called Holly. Or maybe her name was Poppy. I have no idea really.
The first item on our delicious dinner menu were the Hong Kong style spare ribs, pictured below. These are made by a coating of paprika, brown sugar, fennel seeds, five-spice powder, salt and 2 teaspoons garlic, followed by a baking in garlic with honey, vinegar and soy sauce to make dipping sauce. I can assure you, though I suspect they used sesame seeds instead of fennel, this was quite an astonishing dish. Prepare to get dirty hands, however.
Once I recovered from my inelegant devouring of the ribs, I moved onto chicken with pak choi and rice. This is the dish in the left corner of the below photograph. unfortunately I was unable to get a proper photo of it because of poor lighting and laziness. Delicious by all accounts. Pak choi is a wonderful Chinese cabbage with smoothly tapered leaves. Quite delicious when combined with chicken usually, though I found this dish a tad bland.
Now, the sliced duck with Chinese mushrooms & bamboo shoots stole the show for me. The duck was beautifully cooked and tender to a fault. The marinade was light, almost watery in consistency. The mushrooms were odd looking but no less flavoursome. The vegetables were fresh and generously portioned.
Overall, this is an excellent takeaway with a Birmingham-wide reach. I recommend it to those of you who fancy an economical meal of the highest quality. Let me know what you think about the Lychee Garden.
by Cedric | Aug 21, 2019 | Food and Drink, General
Well well well… who knew Da Michele had an outlet in London? Most of London I suppose. Once I caught wind that there was a place in London, Baker Street no less, where I could sample genuine Neapolitan pizza, I could not but make the long and arduous journey to London. I had to sample Da Michele, I had to know how accurate their pizza was. Let me tell you, dear readers, I was not disappointed.
Poetry could and ostensibly has, been written about Neapolitan pizza. This one was a fine example. Observe the freshly made dough, genuine tomato sauce, healthy helping of fior di latte mozzarella and enormous basil leaves. The combination makes for something really genuine and hopelessly divine.
Above is the half and half. If you look closely at this photograph, you should be able to see individual tomato seeds. This is impressive. Often, less astute pizzaiolos will use some rubbish low quality sauce for the base. To me, this should be made a criminal offence. Da Michele have succeeded in making a genuine Neapolitan dough and excel in each ingredient used for the topping. Everything here is at the height of quality and exceedingly tasteful, as well as tasty.
St Nick, in his astral wisdom (pun intended), went for the Neapolitana. This included capers and, it pains me to say, anchovies. It stands to reason that this slimy salt sliver should be on pizza. Pizza was originally made for sailors in Naples using gone off bread and whatever toppings they had around. Originating in the port of Naples, it should make sense that they put anchovies on this marvellous dish.
Overall, I was most impressed by Da Michele. Sitting back having finished my pizza, I took my napkin from under my chin, wiped my mouth and sighed a sigh of pure joy. This is what it is like to feel Italian. I was thrown back to my time in Rome where this sigh would be a daily experience. They do things better on the continent I think. Here in England, we specialise in hullabaloo. Huxley writes that people waste a lot of time despite knowing better, this is not the case at table in Naples. Every bite is designed especially for the consumer and brings to him a burst of joy incomparable to standard or even extraordinary English pizza. Da Michele is one of two establishments in this country where I have been genuinely satisfied with my pizza. The other being, of course, Alicia’s.
Every man with a little leisure and enough money for railway tickets, every man, indeed, who knows how to read, has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists. to make his life full, significant and interesting. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, most of us prefer to spend our leisure and our surplus energies in elaborately, brainlessly and expensively murdering time.
Aldous Huxley, Jesting Pilate
Stop murdering time and head over to Da Michele. You won’t regret the awakening you shall receive.
by Cedric | Aug 18, 2019 | Food and Drink, General
For the few of you who didn’t hear me shouting about my new job, I got a new job! I find myself in the environs of central Birmingham on a daily basis now. Occasionally, I fall prey to hunger and must sate this urge by dining in fine cost effective establishments. Not since dining at En Diagonal in Barcelona have I tasted such authentic Spanish food. And for lunch too!
The first of the dishes sampled was the Croquetas de Boletus (Wild Mushroom and Bechamel Croquetas). I also sampled the same with meat (Croquetas de Jamón Iberico, Ham and Béchamel Croquetas). I’ll always remember first alighting in Madrid and going to a local cafe for lunch. I had a Jamon Iberico sandwich and was so very impressed with its flavour. Here, too, the Jamon was beautifully cured and sliced finely so as not to choke me. I was terribly grateful for this.
We followed suit, as I did in En Diagonal, with chorizo slow cooked in cider. The Chorizo a la Sidra positively blew me away with its tenderness and unforgettable flavour. Perhaps the dish was a bit too oily overall but I found it remarkably yummy. The Pimientos de Padrón, however, did not impress. I do not know why I continue to order bland food knowing it will only suffuse me with white rage. 
The chicken wings (Alitas de Pollo Crispy Chicken Wings, Sweet and Spicy Diabla Sauce) were quite delicious also.
If my ex still reads this blog, she would recoil in horror at the Patatas Bravas (Rustic Fried Potatoes with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Alioli). I’m not sure how I feel about sauce which clearly emanated from a plastic cylinder but the potatoes themselves were quite satisfactory.
In all, I would recommend this place for an economical and delightful lunch. The flavours are authentic even if the cooking of the economical option is not done with the greatest care. But this is the same across all restaurants. Put yourself in the chef’s rubber shoes.
by Cedric | Aug 15, 2019 | General
Some weeks ago, I took it upon myself to go to Marlborough. For reasons beyond the scope of my understanding, that meant stopping off in Worcester for tea. But I was happy to do so. There is nothing like eating delicious food in an alien place. Saying this, I have been to Worcester several times before while I was a travelling salesman. The city did leave a positive impression and it is a shame I have not since returned.
Until now…
My first course was homemade farmhouse chicken paté. This came, as it invariably does these days, with a caramelised onion relish. Behind my disdain at the lack of originality, I was pleased to see a staple dish well done and not too heavy. The bread was mercifully thin which let me enjoy its toppings and left room for the next course.
Now, the tarragon chicken was absolutely delightful. Made with local new potatoes and fresh herbs, this packed a punch. The dish was cooked very well, not too dry as is often the case. Tarragon is a perennial plant of the daisy family, with narrow aromatic leaves. Its flavour can be characterised as bittersweet, and similar to anise. The sauce itself was delicious, not too stodgy or too filling, which was a relief because I had another side dish to get through.
This side dish is hinted at behind the main dish in the above picture. Loaded chips if ever I saw them. Thick strips of delightful bacon, freshly melted cheddar and delightful crispy chips. This was one step above the Wetherspoons loaded chips, and one price point above them also. Mind you, one cannot go lower in price point than this drinking warehouse behemoth.
Overall, I was impressed by the delightful setting, reasonable prices and excellent waitressing in this old Worcester pub. If ever I find myself in town again, I will go again. Next time, I shall bring more friends!
by Cedric | Aug 9, 2019 | Food and Drink
St Peter’s church stands at the end of Marlborough High Street near to Marlborough College, this was also where Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was ordained on the 10th March 1948. Despite having lived in the Marlborough area since I was eight, I have only discovered it now at the age of 20. The cafe itself is contained within a portion of the church, with a separate area also dedicated to crafts and art produced by local artisans.
The traditional layout of the cafe lulls one into a false sense of security. What transpired soon outgrew what is to be expected. The food and hospitality which followed can be described only as exceptional. Cedric and I both opted for breakfast dishes which was apt for the time we’d arrived. Cedric had the full English breakfast, from which the sausages were the stand out (pictured below), but the hand cured bacon was equally as impressive.
I had the vegetarian alternative to a full English (pictured below), which was a perfect example of culinary coherence. Every aspect of the dish meshed successfully with one another. So much so that, unusually, I didn’t feel as though I was missing out on the meat before me.
A sign of a good cafe is their ability to make something as simple as a poached egg phenomenal. This was exactly what St Peter’s Cafe did. Pictured below are poached eggs on toast, which were divine. Oozing with yummy yolk, these gave me a cocky desire to vault the table and quite rub my face deeply within our guest’s plate. Did you notice the subtle chicken pun there? Overlooked it because chickens don’t lay eggs? Either way, this dish was a winner (and a chicken dinner). That was the last one, I promise.
I was mesmerised by the dessert selection. All are handmade, and from what we sampled, delicious. I had scones with clotted cream and lemon curd. What impressed me was the size of the scone, it was massive and is pictured below, I would highly recommend this.
However, Cedric ordered what was for me, the showstopper: (pictured below)the Belgian waffle. Alas this was the only item that wasn’t handmade. It was topped with warm cherry coulis and vanilla ice cream. The combination of all the flavours was quite astonishing, and the contrast between the ice cream and the warmth of the coulis elevated this dessert.
This was not only exceptional food, but the atmosphere in which we dined was unforgettable. If ever you find yourself in Marlborough, St Peter’s Church is the place to visit. It earned the title of number one place to eat in Marlborough on Trip Advisor. But, if you intend to visit around lunchtime be sure to call ahead and make a reservation, or you may not get a seat!
