Bristol Bath and Beyond Food Reviews

Rating: 4 (out of five)

Price Range: £££ (out of 5)

Type: Indian

Location: Downend Bristol

Atmosphere/Occasion: Relaxing evening

Date of review: 7/08/08

Website: www.tamarind-bristol.co.uk

Review: On entering you'll notice that Tamarind is slightly more spacious and better lit than most Indian restaurants. Actually getting a table on a weekend however can be a feat, but this popularity can be quite reassuring as the customers don't come in the droves every week out of habit! The only downside of this popularity is that the waiting staff are often working at close to a frenzy and as a result you can often feel a little rushed. However despite the busyness of the restaurant the waiters still manage to create a great rapport with the customers and the owner always pops over to your table to ask if your food is good and somehow seems to know half of his customers by name.

The menu is extensive and packed with a number of contemporary Indian dishes including tikka lamb chops, red snapper and salmon curry as well as all the old classics, this is a far cry from standard balti houses of the 90's. This variety and quality is reflected in the price which is slightly higher than your bog standard "curry house".

On my last visit with my wife, half way through demolishing our poppadoms our starters arrived, I had ordered a mixed kebab starter which came on a sizzling skillet containing chicken tikka, lamb tikka and shish kebab all of which were cooked to perfection and smothered in the hot onions in which they were cooked. My wife had a prawn puree, unlike the often drab damp puree you can sometimes get the chapatti was crispy and the prawn curry inside was vast to the extent it was difficult to wrap. Both of us were worryingly full after these two courses but could barely keep the smiles of our faces as they took our pristine plates away and although we probably could have done with another 5 minutes our main courses arrived shortly after. I had the King Prawn Megna, although the 3 prawns looked more like baby lobsters and biting into them you could tell they were freshly delivered that day, the sauce (which was brimming) was that of a medium curry full of onions and fresh chilli's although the chilli's hadn't completely effected the sauce and instead gave it just a pleasant tang. Accompanying my curry was a mushroom rice, plain nan and sag bhaji (spinach curry), all were delicious, the nan was fluffy and served hot (not to be taken for granted), mushroom rice was plentiful and easily enough for two and the sag bowl was brimming and delicious although possibly a little to garlicky. My wife ordered a Chicken Samba which was similar to a korma but with a slight citrus kick, im afraid to say however I only managed a small spoonful of the sauce which again was plentiful and spot on. We bagged up the remains of the samba and sag and rolled ourselves out of the restaurant, thoroughly content.

Overall the food couldn't be knocked, if I was being picky I would mention the lack of side salad with the prawn puree and probably the one clove of garlic to much in the sag. However my only real criticism was that we felt a little rushed as we got through all our 3 courses in about an hour! But the real question is would I go back? You bet, in fact im there on Friday!! but this time for take away.

Rating: 2 (out of five)

Price Range: ££ (out of 5) (meal deal is a £)

Type: Traditional pub fare

Location: Chipping Sodbury Bristol

Atmosphere/Occasion: Traditional pub, when you feel like dressing down

Date of review: 8/08/08

Website: N/A

This is a traditional stone built pub which when you enter has a nice wholesome feeling with an atmosphere of a traditional local boozer. We bought a drink at the bar and walked through the dining area which unfortunately didn't have the charm of the front of the pub (where you can also eat), instead it was located in what appeared to be an extension. The menu was a throw back to good traditional pub grub of the 90's, before pubs appeared to either be a chain pub or a gastro pub. The menu was full of all the old pub classics, scampi and chips, ham eggs and chips, but also had a few specials such as lamb shanks, steaks etc. I opted for the incredibly cheap meal deal of 2 courses for £7.95, I had the ham egg and chips for main and a apple crumble for pudding, what I was pleased about was that all the food had obviously been cooked freshly from scratch and watching the lasagne and roast of the day come out you could tell this wasn't a boil in the bag! My main arrived containing 3 thick slices of ham and 2 fried eggs, the ham was thick and had the texture that suggested it had been bought straight from the farm and possibly then baked on site and the chips were obviously made fresh and not fried straight from the freezer. The apple crumble reminded be of my school dinners and was a hearty portion that I couldn't finish, the custard however was obviously made from powder and was a little thin but otherwise was pretty enjoyable. The food was no frills, but fresh, hot and home made using good produce.

Reading this review you might think the mark of 2 points is a little harsh, the reason for this is I am comparing all eateries together, with other places specialising in food, (the oak being more of a boozer that serves food) which is a little more sophisticated and served in nicer surrounding, the Oak however does exactly it says on the tin, simple food served at reasonable prices in a traditional boozer. Would I go back? Well I wouldn't go out of my way to visit, but if I was in a mood where I couldn't be bothered to cook or dress up I would be happy to go back again.

Rating: 4 ½ (out of five)

Price Range: ££££ ½ (out of 5) (although could order more cheaply)

Type: Sea food

Location: Arlingham (A38 towards Gloucester about 40 mins from Bristol)

Atmosphere/Occasion: Relaxing evening

Date of review: 11/08/08

Website: www.fishattheoldpassageinn.co.uk

We pulled up at the restaurant about 1.30 on Sunday afternoon after a beautiful drive through the country to reach it, the first thing that strikes you is the location, which is literally located right next to the Seven Estuary in a completely secluded spot only interrupted by the pretty regular dog walkers or rambler who were taking the opportunity to use one of the 3 regularly used walks around Arlington.

The restaurant is well laid out and has the feeling of being quite refined but not so pretentious that you feel out of place in Jeans (which I incidentally had on), we were sat in a private dining area however the main restaurant also had a nice airy feel with all tables having great views of either the estuary itself or the well manicured country gardens. We were treated while we perused the menu to a collection of delicious home baked breads, all served with a delicious home made tapenade and the acquired taste of seaweed butter. The menu is heavily dominated by fish in fact only about 3 of the main courses didn't involve fish, given we were celebrating both my birthday and my brother recent engagement I decided to throw caution to the wind and ordered scallops thermador for starter and lobster for main. The starter involved 3 scallops that were served in their shells and piping hot with a delicious creamy cheese sauce, that literally left me scrapping the inside of the shell with the remainder of the bread (our second plate full!), the scallops weren't the largest and I would have liked an extra one but, they were incredibly fresh (probably kept in a tank) and plump and had that delicious slightly sweet taste that only a fresh scallop can really provide, delicious. After selecting my live lobster in the kitchen it arrived about 10 minutes later looking slightly less perky, I had opted for the Americano which was slightly spicy and then covered in gruyere cheese and baked and served with fresh chips and salad, it was incredible the lobster was fresh (couldn't be fresher) the meat was succulent and cooked to perfection, the spice was nice but didn't in the slightest over power the taste of the lobster, the gruyere although tasty probably didn't really add anything to the dish. The chefs had even removed all the meat from the claws so we didn't have to bother cracking anything.

Despite us all being stuffed we ordered desert, I ordered fig tarte tatin with brown bread ice cream, which was sensational, I love figs so was always going to be a winner, but the ice cream was a pleasant surprise and was nice a light (almost like a sorbet), I also tried some of my wife's giant Rollo, which was a chocolate moose with caramel filling and served with tonka bean ice cream, which again was delicious although I must admit the entire dish would have been a bit to rich for me. Would I co back? Every week if I could afford it, but at £60 ahead I couldn't! But having said that the majority of mains such as sea bream etc where a more affordable price around the £16 mark.

Rating: 4 (out of five)

Price Range: ££££ (out of 5)

Type: Bistro style Restaurant

Location: Caldicot

Atmosphere/Occasion: Romantic evening

Date of review: 22/08/08

Website: www.calcotmanor.co.uk/food_drink/gumstool.htm

Review: Driving to this country manor house on the edge of the Cotswolds is a treat in itself and when you arrive you can't help but be impressed by 14th century old farm house that has been converted to a beautiful hotel with restaurants. But entering in the restaurant you certainly don't get the feeling you are eating in a hotel restaurant and the Gumstool is a great restaurant in its own that is hugely popular, indeed in previous visits I have seen Princess Anne and Jonathan Ross eating in the here (not together I might add).

The menu here is comprehensive offering a selection of fresh fish and meat options and does weekly specials menu. For starter I opted for the seared scallop and avocado salad with crispy pancetta, putting these ingredients together could only have one conclusion and that was an incredible taste explosion! Scallops were meaty and delicious but still with that touch of sweetness showing they were fresh and I was content that the starter hadn't disappointed. For once I ignored the fish (although from previous trips I can recommend the skate wing, plaice and monkfish!) and went for a slowed cooked rib of beef. The beef arrived in a red wine sauce and with the sides of peas and mash I had selected. It was a deceptively large portion and the meat must have been cooked for at least 5 hours as there was definitely no need for the knife. The sauce was rich but not too thick or over powering and the mash which was smooth and creamy was definitely a good accompaniment.

Unfortunately I was beaten and couldn't manage a dessert, which included old favourites like fruit crumble, sticky toffee pudding (had this before and is highly recommended), Cotswold ice cream, Eton mess but judging by the clean plates and groans of approval coming from the near by table the other customers were more than content.

So am I going back, absolutely im almost a regular!!

Rating: 0 (out of five for the skate) 2 (out of 5 for the scampi)

Price Range: £££ (out of 5)

Type: Mix of Traditional pub fare and fresh fish

Location: Iron Acton, Bristol

Atmosphere/Occasion: Slightly grotty pub.

Date of review: 27/08/08

Website: N/A

From the outside this pub offers so much, it's a large and dates back at least 150 years and is set in the beautiful historic village of Iron Acton surrounded by fields. Unfortunately the inside doesn't quite match, the pub has changed hands numerous times in the last few years, from a poor cheap chain pub, to a Thai restaurant, back to an English pub, then an Indian restaurant and now the new owners have inherited somewhere that has quite a unique décor with a pretty soulless feel about it. The new owner however do appear to be turning things around, they now offer live music on weekends and some of the locals are starting to return.

The sign outside advertises the fresh fish and they have a fish board inside recommending, monkfish wrapped in parma ham, whole plaice, Skate wing, Sea Bream, Sea Bass, Scampi etc. I went to the bar to order the monk fish which was out, my second choice the plaice unfortunately was also out so I settled for my third choice of skate wing. It came over served with new potatoes and salad but the skate wing looked shrivelled, I cut into it and was firstly notice that the fish came away mushy almost as if it had been over cooked, I flipped the fish over and was treated with a smell akin to bleach! I took another mouthful and this time got a kick of what tasted like gone off medicine and was inedible and I was informed by the people I was dining with that this stench was ammonia. I took the dish back and the staff where very apologetic and the owner came over himself to give me a full refund, they also gave me a portion of scampi free of charge, this portion was huge (possibly because of their error) and tasty and served with freshly fried chips and peas. But to be honest it did little to quell the nauseous feeling I was getting from the Skate.

So would I eat here again? Well not for a long time that's for sure, but being an ex-local I do feel they deserve another try, but im not looking forward to it!

Restaurant Review
Rating: 2 (out of five)

Price Range: £££ (out of 5)

Type: Indian

Location: Chipping Sodbury

Atmosphere/Occasion: Relaxed, typical Indian restaurant.

Date of review: 29/08/08

Website: N/A

Set in the beautiful and historic Chipping Sodbury, this Indian restaurant is set in an authentic Tudor building and inside you can still make out the majority of the original interior, although it is dressed in the standard Indian draping's you would find in most Indian restaurants, although having said that it doesn't really look out of place. The menu is pretty typical onion bhaji's, prawn purre, samosas etc for starter and a pretty extensive main menu, full of balti's, bhuna's, Khari's, massalla's, Korma's etc. We ordered some poppadums to start and when they came over they were crisp and warm and served with the standard chutney's, but it is worth noting that the chutney bowls were plentiful and this is a particularly benefit to me as I like to pile the chutney high!.

For Main I ordered a Lamb Dopiaza and after the promising poppadums, I was left a little disappointed as my curry had a big layer of Ghee (fat) on top, this is quite common with Indians but this was excessive. When I dished up the meal I notice that not only was Lamb in pretty small chunks (I prefer larger chunks), the meat was also pretty fatty and tasted more like mutton than lamb, the sauce was OK and nicely spiced, but lacked any real big chunks of veg or meat to get your teeth into, you probably could have eaten the entire curry through a straw, the rice was fine and the Nan was nice and fluffy and tasted like it was straight out of the oven keeping its heat where a nan that was prepared earlier and reheated would have gone cold.

So would I return? I definitely wouldn't go out of my way as I think there are better Indians in Bristol, but we were invited by friends and if I was invited back again and we couldn't persuade them to go elsewhere I probably would.

Restaurant Review:

Rating: 4 (out of five)

Price Range: ££££ (out of 5)

Type: Gastro Pub

Location: Burton

Atmosphere/Occasion: Romantic evening set in picturesque pub

Date of review: 19/09/08

Website: www.ohhcompany.co.uk/the_old_house_at_home/index.html

Review: As you can see from the image this restaurant is set in a beautiful traditional country pub which is covered in climbing Ivy. Inside matches the outside with wooden floors, 2 open fire places and the old beams still on show. It's difficult to call this a Gastro Pub as it now really serves as a restaurant, which has received quite a bit of good press (including former national pub caterer of the year), however they have kept a few pub favourites on the menu. The ambience in the restaurant/pub is a relaxed one and you feel like you don't want to leave the place as your are sat at the thick old wooden tables, with the dim light from the candles coupled with the hearty meals making you feel like grabbing a bit of shut eye in between courses.

They have divided the mains into 6 sections, fresh fish and sea food, poultry and Game, Meat, steaks, vegetarian and finally to keep the pub link a traditional meal section, this is of course on top of the specials board. The prices aren't cheap but the class and refinement oozes from the menu and with meals such as cod wrapped round crab, herb crusted rack of Lamb, fillet steak stuffed with mushrooms and cooked in Guinness sauce, you will struggle to choose. We skipped starters and had bread and olives, for main I order the fillet of pork served on mushrooms Bacon and cabbage in a Dijon Mustard sauce and my Wife opted for lamb cutlets from the specials board served with whole grain mustard mash and port glaze (don't worry if you don't like mustard most dishes don't come served with it) my fillet of pork came with ample sauce and presented to the high calibre you would expect for £17, it came served with a great selection of veg, including pea and Swede mash, red cabbage, carrots and broccoli and I opted for chips from the various potato options. Taking the first bite of the meat with sauce I actually made an audible groan of appreciation, this was completely involuntary, the sauce some how although tasting of Dijon was not in the slightest over powering. The bed of mushrooms, bacon and cabbage was always going to work, but the pork was cooked beautifully and considering pork can often be a little tough this seemed to melt in the mouth. My wife's lamb was equally good, cooked to perfection involving 5 meaty cutlets served on a huge lump of mash. Given the rustic yet homely feel of the place, eating these meat delights seemed only right and from previous visits I cant recommend the rack of lamb highly enough.

The puddings did have a more traditional feel, with crumbles, sticky toffee puddings etc on offer and we both opted for the bread and butter pudding, which was as close to perfection for a bread and butter pudding as there can get and as I ate it I had a vision of some 60 years grand mother covered in floor baking away to prepare it in the kitchen.

So would I eat here again? I would walk across hot coals to go back.

Takeaway Review:

Rating: 0 (out of five)

Price Range: ££ (out of 5) (although they should have paid me!!!)

Type: Take away fish and chips

Location: Downend Bristol

Atmosphere/Occasion: Sh@thole takeaway- for the times you want to spend the whole night with your head in the toilet!

Date of review: 19/09/08

Website: N/A

Recommended to me by a friend (who has since retracted the recommendation), I popped out for take away fish and chips. Entering in the take away the first thing I noticed was there was no one else in the shop (strange for a Friday evening) and the second thing I noticed was that the hot counter that would normally be full of fish was empty. I foolishly over looked the lack of customers and took the lack of prepared fish to be a sign that they would cook all ordered fresh! I wish I had heeded those early signs and left then, as what was about to unfold was my worst meal of the year.

I ordered my wife the cod and I went for the 12 piece scampi meal. The first thing that struck me was that the 12 piece meal was actually only made up of on six pieces! When I mentioned this to the server they said they no longer do the 12 piece meal and now use bigger scampi pieces instead, if that was the case the previous pieces must have been tiny as these looked pretty average sized to me! When I bit into the scampi however I was glad I hadn't argued further as the scampi was unrecognisable and looked like grey mush and tasted like salmon paste that had been left out in the sun, it was also severely undercooked. As if this crime wasn't enough the first chip I bit into contained piece of grit, at which point the rest went into the bin. The only upside of the meal was the number of calories I saved on eating that night.

So would I return again? NO every time I even think of this meal I shudder and start up a cold sweat.

Resturant Review:

Rating: 3 (out of five)

Price Range: £££ (out of 5)

Type: Bistro

Location: Water front central Bristol

Atmosphere/Occasion: Upbeat, a night out with missus coupled with a few drinks.

Date of review: 19/09/08

Website: http://www.firehouserotisserie.co.uk/menu.html

Review: I went here with a group of work friends and we wanted somewhere a bit upbeat where we could have a couple of cold beers and this place fitted the bill perfectly. The restaurant mainly seems to focus on its gourmet pizza so that's what we had. The restaurant has a feeling of being pretty trendy, with the back ground music and decor providing an upbeat vibe that suited its central location. I went for a Goats cheese pizza with pesto, artichokes, Olives, sun dried tomatoes and Rocket. When it came, as the description lead you to believe this was a seriously good home baked pizza and although the dough was thin like an Italian style pizza these anything but the traditional type. All the Mediterranean toppings where top quality and gave it a delicious salty taste, which contrasted well against the peppery rocket. Although it had to be said I spent the afternoon necking pint after pint of water, however nonetheless me and my colleagues were left satisfied.

Apologise if this review appears short but it difficult to talk at length about pizzas.

So would I eat here again? Absolutely, probably my favourite pizza place in Bristol.

Restaurant Review: Piccolino Restaurant

Rating: 3.5 (out of five)

Price Range: £££ 1/2 (out of 5)

Type: Trendy Italian Restaurant

Location: Cabot Circus Central Bristol

Atmosphere/Occasion: When you feel like getting dressed up, but don't necessarily want to pay through the nose.

Date of review: 07/10/08

Website: www.piccolinorestaurants.co.uk
Entering in the restaurant I immediately felt underdressed. The restaurant was packed with trendy 20 and 30 something's sipping wine and showing off their designer gear. The restaurant was lit primarily by candles and the big mirrored walls gave you the feeling that the restaurant was actually a lot bigger than it was. A couple of trendy well groomed guys with strange haircuts took our coats and showed us to our table.

Looking at the menu I immediately liked it, although to be honest with the trendy lighting I was struggling to read it and looking around I wasn't the only one as people where lifting the candles to help better illuminate the menu. What I could read however had a nice balance of traditional Italian fodder in pizza, pasta and risottos which were all very affordably priced, then a selection of more expensive fish and meat dishes meaning it catered for more than one budget. For starters we opted for the antipasti, which included, king prawns, calamari, mushroom and goats cheese bruchetta, parma ham and melon and salami among others, to accompany this we had a garlic bread pizza with tomato topping. This was exceptional, all of the ingredients where of the highest quality and my fears at finding out the place was a chain where immediately extinguished, it was the kind of starter that you could have gone on eating forever, even my wife who was sceptical was the left thoroughly satisfied. I had ordered the Veal Milanese for main, which among other dishes was off the menu, then was left to choose again while the waiters hovered over my shoulder shouting out recommendations and in the end I was kind of forced into having the chicken in breadcrumbs stuffed with ham and cheese then wrapped in ham, served with ratatouille and a side of roasted new potatoes. The chicken was pretty good, but didn't quite live up to the starter and was pricey for what you got, the potatoes also weren't that crispy and I got the impression they boiled them then fried them briefly for a couple of minutes. It was still tasty though and nothing on the plate was unpleasant, I just guess I had my heart set on the Veal.

There was a few teething problems as you might expect from a new restaurant for example the main course arrived without our starter plates being removed and obviously they had run out of a few items, but overall we were happy and I would definitely go back, though I would probably stick to the cheaper items, as I think if I wanted to splash out there might be better places to cook my £21 fillet steak.

Restaurant Review: Jaflong

Rating: 2 (out of five)

Price Range: £££ (out of 5)

Type: Indian Restaurant

Location: Lower Bristol Road, Bath

Atmosphere/Occasion: Relatively casual and typical Indian just on the edge of town.

Date of review: 09/10/08

Website: N/A

The restaurant is located on the edge of a pretty busy road a 10 minute walk from the city centre, but a different world compared to attractive historic Roman town of Bath. The restaurant is like many other newish curry houses which is housed in modern building without any real atmosphere and decorated with minimal budget. The restaurant specialises in Bengalese curries and has a few unusual dishes on the menu, we had some poppadums which tasted fresh and where served with a nice selection of chuckneys, which I washed down with a flat pint of coke. I ordered a curry form the special which contained chicken, lamb and paneer cheese, given that we were on work time we were in a bit of a rush and we become increasingly frustrated as the chef appeared to go to India to pick up the rice. When the curry eventually came we had about 5 minutes to get back to work but opted to be late for once. On inspection the curry didn't particularly jump off the plate and what was most worrying was the grated cheese on top which coupled with the chunks of paneer in the curry made it a little to much! The sauce was quite tasty with a slight sweet and sour tang, but it overpowered the mild paneer and was slightly sickly come the end of the curry, the grated cheese also just seemed to taste wrong. The Nan it was served with was nice and was obviously made freshly, which explained the wait and the rice was fine.

So would I go back? In a word no, the others I ate with said there meal was fine, but to be honest if you are in Bath there are a lot better Indians in much nicer locations.

Restaurant Review: Pudding Club

Rating: 4.5 (out of five)

Price Range: £££ (out of 5)

Type: A fest of heavy British puddings

Location: Three Ways House, Mickleton

Atmosphere/Occasion: Relaxed party atmosphere.

Date of review: 11/12/08

Website: http://www.puddingclub.com/index.lasso

Located in the north of the Cotswolds the pudding club has now become infamous, receiving media attention from among others, the times food supplement and Rick Stein and I had to book a table 3 months in advance to secure a table for my wife's birthday. Located in a hotel in Mickleton in the North Cotswolds, we arrived a little apprehensive but excited, we got a drink and congregated with the rest of the "club" in a foyer area outside the restaurant where a huge blackboard displayed the 8 puddings being served that evening and right at the top barely legible was the 3 main course options for that evening. One of the owners and the compere for the evening gave us a brief history of the pudding club which has been running 1985 and introduced each of the evenings 7 puddings with people roaring approval as each one was announced, that is until the banana and cinnamon pudding was announced which was greeted with a chorus of Boos! We were then directed into the restaurant where we sat on a series of long tables. I usually hate this! But actually such was the atmosphere small talk wasn't hard to come by and the fact our neighbours were complete foodies helped.

For main course I had a beef stew, with veg and new potatoes, it was fine but I must admit I got the feeling that everyone saw this course as something of a formality, with people trying to reserve room for as many of the 7 puddings as humanely possible, the most favoured tactic seeming to be to avoid the carbohydrates, I must admit I could never condone such behaviour so defiantly polished off both mine and my wife rolls, more to prove a point than anything else (I would later regret this action). The main course plates were removed and anticipation began to build in the room. Fortunately we weren't left waiting for long as the "precession of puddings began", this involved each of the puddings being announced to the room in a fashion similar to a boxer entering the ring with the crowd literally going wild with applause, that was until the banana and cinnamon who had seemed to take on the role of the pantomime villain entered this arena of decadence to a chorus of boo's, I must admit it is the first and probably the only time I will ever feel sorry for a pudding.

We were then called up to a counter holding all the puddings by table, the pudding I sampled first was the sticky toffee and date pudding, with the server asking everyone else if they wanted a large or small portion, but he dispensed with this formality with me a he served me a bowlful, you then went to a second table were you had a choice of custard, chocolate sauce, extra toffee sauce and Jam, I opted for extra toffee and custard. It was without doubt the best pudding I have ever tasted, the sponge was incredibly moist and you could tell it had been steamed and despite the fact there was an endless supply, I still licked the bowl. In no particular order I then made my way up for a chocolate sponge with a thick chocolate sauce which was delicious, then came the underrated banana and cinnamon sponge pudding, which was tasty but didn't quite live with the company it was keeping, however I would like to think it clawed back a little self respect. Next trip I had the apple crumble and custard, which is normally a favourite of mine and this didn't disappoint in the slightest. I noticed as I went up for pudding number 5 that numbers of people in the queue were starting to dwindle, but I pushed on regardless with the old school favourite of Jam Rolly Polly which was stodgy and thick and made me think why the hell I hadn't had it since I left school! Although at this point I must confess I almost passed out and had to go for a stroll round the car park, my goal of double figures had gone out the window and my only aim now was to sample all 8 puddings. I came back into the restaurant reinvigorated with just 2 left, first up was the bitter but tasty Lord Ramsay which was a sponge pudding with marmalade served with custard, which meant finally came pudding number 7, an incredibly poorly timed (by myself as you can eat in whichever order you want) syrup sponge pudding, which was nice but incredibly sweet and not a good one which to finish on when you are literally ready to burst, but I had reached my target and slumped into my chair unable to even touch the glass of wine I had left. Most of the others had finished well before me but a couple were going back for seconds and I must admit I felt like a little less of a man in comparison but I consoled myself with the knowledge that not one of my portions was a half serving.

To finish off we marked each pudding and voted for our favourite, the overall vote from the room gave a podium finish of (drum roll), in third place Jam Rolly Polly, second apple crumble and in first place the sticky toffee and date pudding. It has to be said though, that if you were given any of these puddings in any other setting you would have been happy and they were all delicious, I was absolutely stuffed and ended the evening with a 1 mile walk trying to digest some of it. So would I go back, well it was great fun and the puddings were fantastic, but I don't think it's the thing you would do too often, but I would definitely recommend it! The only criticism I could find (and this is scrapping in the barrel) was a lot of the puddings were sponge based, I was also stuffed but I will have to take some of the blame for that.

Afterwards the owner stood up and explained why every Friday the meetings always serve 7 puddings, he explained this was told to him by the founder of the club when he inherited it from him over 10 years ago and this tradition will live on as long as the club and this simple reason was, there are 7 letters in custard. How true.

Rating: 3.5 (out of five)

Price Range: £££-£ (out of 5)

Type: Italian

Location: Bath

Atmosphere/Occasion: Vibrant Italian restaurant

Date of review: 22/12/08

Website: http://www.jamieoliver.com/italian/bath

The last time I visited this restaurant was with my parents for lunch, they don't take bookings but as we got there early it didn't take long to get a table. The restaurant has a nice relaxed yet vibrant vibe about it, with cured hams hanging from the bar and freshly made pasta left to dry on the side. For starter we all ordered the anti-pasti with bread and a huge wooden chopping board was brought out containing 4 different types of cured meat, some buffalo mozzarella and some parmesan with Chilli Jam and served with a sprinkling of Olives for good measure. This was all delicious, the olives were served cold and Jamie's boast of the worlds best olives was hard to disagree with, the cured meat was salty and wafer thin and the mozzarella oozed from the middle like a perfectly executed chocolate fondant might, all in all it was an excellent starter, simple ingredients and stereotypically Italian (in a great way).

On my previous visit I opted for the chicken cooked under the brick for my main course and as it came with no sides, I order a side of chips and salad which made the meal quite expensive and to be honest it was a little underwhelming although the chicken did have a nice crisp skin. So on this trip I went for their freshly made pasta dish which worked out pretty reasonably priced given sides weren't required, the dish I had was tomato based served with spicy sausage broken down into almost bolognaise consistency, served with the thick ribbony Pappardelle pasta. I rarely order pasta as I cook a lot of it at home, but this was a tasty dish and a generous helping, the sausage had a nice level of spice and was a nice contrast to the thick ribbons of freshly made and perfectly cooked pasta. I also tried my mum's chicken Caesar salad which was served with the same chicken I had on a previous visit and my dad gave his Buffalo burger a good reference. I think my mum summed the meal up saying "it was very nice without being completely overwhelming" and I have to agree, I would definitely go back mainly as my wife loves pasta, but I think the atmosphere and menu for me probably lends itself more for a lunchtime visit.

Rating: 4 (out of five)

Price Range: ££££ (out of 5)

Type: Gastro Pub

Location: Box

Atmosphere/Occasion: Romantic evening or relaxing lunch in the country

Date of review: 18/03/09

Website: http://www.ohhcompany.co.uk/the_northey/

The Northey is part of the Old House at Home range and as with the other two restaurants has a feel of a restaurant set in an old country pub, complete with oak beams and a log fire place. The menu is full of hearty fare with dishes that show the skills of a well trained chef. For starter I had a ham hock terrine accompanied with home made cranberry relish and a basket of freshly baked bread. It was delicious with large meaty chucks of ham balanced well against the sweet relish which I thickly spooned onto bread and I would have happily polished off another two portions.

My main was a fish pie cooked in a creuset casserole dish, with no accompaniments except for a plate, a large serving spoon and some more bread. The first thing that struck me was how big the portion was! On ladling out a spoonful I was able to see the pie was made of grated vegetables of onions, courgette and cabbage served in a white wine and cream sauce with a mix of white fish and langoustines. Normally my concern with the fish pie is that you just get the left over pieces of fish but this clearly wasn't the case, the fish was bountiful and along with the vegetables must only have been cooked lightly and not over done, in fact the vegetables still had a real crunch about them and the filling was topped with creamy mash and cheese. It was delicious and I struggled to finish it. My wife had a more unique but no less delicious dish of a rump of lamb in a red wine jus served with a medley of vegetables and the unique but delicious sweet potato filled profiteroles.

Regrettably we had to pass on the pudding with a heavy heart as we were just too full, but we left with a smile on our face after enjoying a delicious, relaxing and romantic meal all rolled into one. The only things I would warn you are that it can be empty on Sunday evenings and conversely for Sunday lunch and Friday and Saturday evening it is very popular so make sure you book.

So would I go back? I took my parents there 2 weeks later.