Giles Coren On Pistachio Doughnuts
This was a classic comment from his restaurant review in The Times on Saturday.
Oliphant, who had been here before, insisted I try the pistachio doughnuts and honey syrup, but all puddings taste like mashed sugar cubes to me and I ate it only out of politeness. For all I know, it may be the greatest pudding ever made. You’d need to ask a fat girl.
I feel like that about puddings too!
A Leon Built Like A Tardis
This Leon in Carnaby Street looks very small.
A Leon Built Like A Tardis
But inside it is rather spacious, with seating for a hundred or so. So it’s a true tardis, which of course we know is larger on the inside than it looks from the outside. i had gone for breakfast before I did some shopping.
My Leon Breakfast
This restaurant is ideally placed for Oxford Circus, so like today is a good place to start your shopping.
Note the tea mug, that would satisfy the most fussy builder.
leon may do real food, but they also do real mugs in quite a few of their restaurants.
A Disastrous Attempt At A Meal
I tried to eat in Nuremberg and found it difficult. Eventually, I was served a meal, but as you can see it was cooked in flour.
A Disastrous Attempt At A Meal
I’ll say this though, they didn’t charge me.
What seemed lacking in all my searching was a restaurant that was serving something like a salad Nicoise.
Eventually, I bought a good fruit salad from a stall.
it Salad From Nuremberg
At least I got a fork with it.
Inside And Around Le Meridien, Budapest
I stayed in Budapest at Le Merieden. Not the cheapest hotel, but I got a reasonable deal and I could trust the food for breakfast. These pictures show the hotel in its very central location, on the major interchange of the Budapest Metro.
They even offered to bake some gluten-free bread, as I left. That sounds late, but I suspect they hadn’t realised I was coeliac before.
They did find me an excellent restaurant though called Rezkakas. I did take a Hungarian celiac travel card.
I’d certainly stay in the hotel again.
Jamie’s Italian At North Terminal, Gatwick Airport
I was surprised to see a branch of Jamie’s Italian at Gatwick and that it had the full gluten-free menu as well.
Wild Rabbit Tagliolini
I had a wild rabbit tagliolini.
The only problem was the texture on the table, that made it difficult for me to write. But food, wine and especially the service were all very good.
It was also good to see a decent gluten free offering in an airport.
I do like to see rabbits working!
Blankets At Carluccio’s In St. Pancras Station
Carluccio’s in St. Pancras Station has started issuing customers with blankets.
Blankets At Carluccio’s In St. Pancras Station
I’m not sure, but I’ve used that restaurant for some years now and I’ve never seen the blankets before. A few customers outside had the blankets wrapped snuggly over their laps and around their legs.
Has this winter been that bad? Or are we all getting soft and feel the cold more?
I did find the blankets mentioned in Trip Advisor for March 20th this year.
A Beagle Comes To Hoxton
One of my Internet trawls found this restaurant, called Beagle, that is opening in Hoxton. I paid it a visit today.
It is conveniently situated underneath the railway arches of the East London line at Hoxton station, just behind the Geffrye Museum.
One of the staff said they would be doing gluten-free food, so I think I’ll give it a try after it opens on Monday the eighth and when I return from my travels to Budapest.
The designers seem to have done a good job.
I wonder if it will set a precedent for stylish restaurants in stations on the London Overground!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to eat and drink your way in a complete circle around London!
Eating Off The Menu
On Saturday in Manchester, I noticed that Carluccio’s were serving vitello tonnato as a starter. Now it is one of my favourites.
So today, when I ate with my son in their restaurant near Oxford Circus, he negotiated a large portion for me, to eat as a main course. It went down a treat.
Coeliacs like me, often find that what is on the menu can be easily modified by the removal of an ingredient, from a dish with gluten to one that is totally gluten-free.
A part of Carluccio’s gluten-free menu is created by taking the standard dishes and removing something like bread and it is a technique used in quite a few restaurants.
But some restaurants aren’t so flexible, when it is obvious to those with rudimentary cooking skills like me, that simple changes can make a meal gluten-free.
These will not get my custom!
I’ve talked here with respect to coeliac disease, but it equally well applies to other dietary and other preferences.
I also remember a few years back, when I spoke on the radio to a well-known celebrity chef about his attitude to providing gluten-free food. He said, that providing you need it, when you book the table, no good restaurant should ever refuse to provide something suitable.
He said, that if they do, then they are not a good restaurant! And they are not worthy of your custom!
Following The Horsemeat
The horsemeat in food saga goes on and on, with Findus lasagne, the latest product to be cheval-rich, according to this article on the BBC.
In all of the problems reported, there doesn’t seem to have been one, which has occurred with a gluten-free product.
It is also reported that a drug called bute is found in some of the meat. This led to some wag on the radio, saying that these products will be good for your gout.
It will be interesting to see, if we’ve changed our eating habits in a couple of months.
I haven’t! But then, I never knowingly buy or eat food from the bottom of the pile and I doubt most of the restaurants I visit, source their meat in that area too!
An Irreplaceable Winner
Michael Winner who died yesterday, is one of those people you just can’t replace. You can always put him down as another Great British Eccentric like Patrick Moore or Henry Blofeld, but in some ways he was more than that!
He may not be looked upon as a great director of films, but he did make some good ones, although not all were to my taste. I remember the film, West 11, being discussed in the papers in the early sixties. It was one of the first serious roles for that tragic actress; Diana Dors. And then there was Hannibal Brooks, which must surely be one of the most unusual war films ever. But look at the credits and cast lists of his films and he certainly could persuade the best to work with him.
But no-one is saying this morning he didn’t have lots of personal charm.
As to his restaurant reviews, I can always remember C, searching for them in The Sunday Times and then having a good laugh.
I doubt, we will see the like of Michael Winner again!
The Anonymous Widower 