Curryosity

In the days of Groupon, (other online restaurant offers are also available) it would have been easy to leave a pre-purchased night at Curryosity languishing in my inbox. In an already well represented market, the curry and grill restaurant, inspired by traditional tastes of Pakistan and North India, appears to have little out of the ordinary to offer. So it was with low expectation, that my dining companion and I approached Curryosity, on a cold and drizzly April evening.

 

From the outside, the restaurant fails to impress.  Curryosity’s giant windows, set high above the pavement, only appear to showcase what looked to be a very bland interior. My suspicions were confirmed once inside the restaurant, where the lack of curb appeal is indeed matched by a most uninspiring dining space. The walls, untroubled by pictures, are painted a shade which could only be described as landlord magnolia. The faux leather chairs and wooden tables look like they have been bought from the nearest bargain furniture warehouse and the untended bar, and oversized intrusive TV all help to complete the downbeat look. However, the proof of a good pudding (mine’s a gaajar halwa please) is always in the eating, so I tried to keep an open mind.

After giving our drinks orders to possibly the most polite and professional waitress I have ever met, we began to consider our eating options for the evening. Overly large menus, common in Indian restaurants, can sometimes overwhelm, so I was glad that Curryosity had done some of the work for me. In addition to the starters, the main menu is limited to 20 or so dishes, all of which have been helpfully categorized under 5 main headings, chicken, lamb, seafood, vegetarian and specials.  For each dish there is a succinct description of what to expect, which I found very useful. With our taste buds tingling from the obligatory poppadum’s and pickles, everything from the menu seemed to tempt us. We therefore ordered Chicken Sizzler (£4.50) and Paneer Tandori (£4.10) for our starters, a special called Haleem-7 Seas (£7.90) and Daal Makhani (£6.50) for our main and plain rice and Peshwari naan as accompaniments.          

 

Our first starter arrived on a sizzling skillet of onions, announcing itself to the ears and not just the nose. Four generous squares of firm, creamy pieces of baked cheese, spiced to perfection with that unmistakable tandoori blend, had great texture and great flavor.  The second starter was equally as good.  Served with chunks of charred red pepper and onion, salad, dips and lemon segments, the joyously tender pieces of chicken breasts had taken on all the flavours of its marinade and had been cooked to perfection.  All the chickens juicy goodness happily combined with the sweet, caramelized vegetables on the plate, to create another perfect little starter.  Things were beginning to look up (as long as you didn’t actually look up)!

 

The main courses were equally enjoyable, with the Haleem-7 seas dish earning a gold star.  The meat stew popular in Persian, Turkish and Pakistani cuisine, contains 7 different ingredients including wheat, lentils and lamb.  Brought to us in an unusual arrow shaped dish, the curry had a think, soup-like consistency.  The lamb (and other ingredients) were shredded, so you can’t really decipher what exactly is in the dish.  However, it was clear from the tasting, the 7 ingredients used had all been carefully selected and wonderfully combined to achieve a perfectly balanced and original curry.  I particularly liked the influence the Middle East appeared to have on the dish, detecting cinnamon and similar spices which brought sweetness and an extra dimension to the curry. As suggested in the menu, the Haleem went particularly well with naan bread.  Not only did the naan allow you to mop up every last inch of the sauce, but being thinner than other naan breads it had a lovely crispy top in places, which introduced a crunch and a much needed contrast of texture.  Our other main, Daal Makhani, was rich, buttery and wholesome but perhaps wasn’t the best accompaniment to the Haleem.  Both were wet curries.  If we had chosen two different styles of curries the meal overall would have defiantly been improved.  No points deducted for Curriosity though, that was our mistake not theirs.

 

So after demolishing our poppadums, starters and main courses, we were (not surprisingly) too full to have desert and so opted for a Chai tea instead.  This was a shame because Curryosity have gone to the trouble of expanding their dessert menu beyond the usual selection of ice-creams to include several tempting authentic Indian desserts.  It would be worth remembering that for next time I visit, if indeed there is a next time….

 

So onto the scores!  All in all we had a good experience at Curryosity.  The service was excellent.  The menu is well thought out, well presented and includes some interesting and original specials.  The portions are generous and the cooking is clearly the work of a knowledgeable and experienced chef. The one major drawback for me is the restaurant itself and the lack of atmosphere within it.  However, while the interior may be bland, the food most certainly is not and on this basis Curryosity is definitely worth another visit.

 

Service 4/5

Food 4/5
Atmosphere 2/5
Value 4/5

Total 14/20       

This blog was brought to you by afoodieinleicester and a special guest blogger!

 

 

The Manor House

Faced with yet another cold and frosty spring night, there was only one thing for it, dinner out in a cozy country pub. ‘Officially the best Pub in the East Midlands’ (see website) I thought ‘The Manor House’ at Quorn was where I needed to be.

 

First impressions as I drove through the gravel car park were good. A well-presented building with a friendly vibe. Inside, the bar and restaurant is well maintained and smart in appearance.  With its high ceilings and open plan arrangements The Manor House has a fantastic sense of space but also generates a feeling of warmth and comfort with its mixture of real wood flooring, soft furnishings and rustic tables and chairs.  

 

The bar area was bustling, busy with happy drinkers enjoying CAMRA approved and Cask marque accredited beverages. This helped to create a vibrant, upbeat atmosphere which spilled out into the dining areas creating an ideal ambiance for eating. At ease and hopeful we were shown to our table to begin our evening.

 

The Manor House serves seasonal, locally sourced modern European cuisine.  As a result, the menu reads well. Starters range from £4.95-£725 and include dressed crab, avocado, sea salt & fennel seed tuilles (£7.25) and textures of goat’s cheese & beetroot (£5.45). The main menu had some equally mouth-watering offerings including ‘pub classics’ such as ale battered haddock & chips, mushy peas & tartare sauce (£9.95/£13.95)  and a rather more refined section such as confit belly pork, potted brown shrimp, sea vegetables & sour dough (£15.45). Cleverly, 3 versions of the starters, mains and desserts from the a la carte menu also make it onto a 'prix fixe' menu (two or three courses). Unable to resist a potential bargain, myself and my fellow diner chose our dinners from the discounted menu.

 

First up, tempura tiger prawns. Four deliciously succulent prawns in a wonderfully light batter, served with mixed leaves, balsamic vinegar and a little side dish of sweet chilli dipping sauce.  A simple starter but a crowd pleaser none the less.  My only criticism with the dish was in the preparation of the prawns. Hidden inside the crispy batter was far too much shell which meant you either ate half a prawn or took a bigger bite up to the tail, resulting in you having a mouthful of crunchy shell for the rest of the course. I had the crispy pressed pig’s cheek & pickles.  A racing car wheel shaped disk of breaded and deep fried shredded pig’s cheeks, served with  gribiche sauce (similar to an aioli or a mayonnaise sauce but with chopped hard cooked eggs, capers, pickles and herbs) a salad garnish and a gherkin slice. Again, a very satisfying and pleasing starter.  The pig’s cheeks had a good strong pork flavour, and the sharpness from the pickles in the sauce and on the plate cut through the meat perfectly. Word of warning though, the texture of the pig’s cheeks is unusually stringy and can be quite chewy and so maybe not for everyone?

 

For our main course we both opted for the breast of guinea fowl, herb mash & wild mushrooms. A small but perfectly formed plate of food. A baby leak was precariously balanced on a breast and a leg of guinea fowl which was nestled between three green mash potatoe ‘walnut whips’. Delicate slices of wild mushroom in the sauce added wonderful bursts of deep, earthy flavour which complimented the taste of ‘chicken’ from the guinea fowl and buttery mash. A lovely plate of food, I just wished there was a bit more of it.

 

Still feeling peckish we decided there was definitely room for dessert.  ‘Pudding of the day’ from the main menu was Sticky Toffee. I had a craving for something stodgy, something that would fill me up good and proper.  So I set about trying to persuade the waitress that Sticky Toffee would be a helpful addition to the dessert choice currently on offer to me. She agreed (hurrah) and soon enough I was tucking into a generous portion of (surprisingly) light and fluffy sponge, drenched in a toe curling sweet toffee sauce, served with vanilla ice-cream.  As lovely as it was (and it really was nice) a generous portion of karma was also being served to me that evening. My friend had done the ‘right thing’ and ordered her dessert from the prix fixe menu. Described as ‘lemon, raspberry & chocolate’ we didn’t really know what to expect.  Had I of known this was actually the creamiest of lemon possets served with a refreshing raspberry sorbet I would have been forced to think again about going off menu. Had I known this glass of loveliness also contained delightful little drops of rich dark chocolate and was served with a fanatically large rectangle of some kind of flapjack and shortbread hybrid, I would never of even considered setting foot on the road to Sticky Toffee. ‘Lemon, raspberry and chocolate’ was delicious (damn it).  Definitely the best dish of the whole meal. Last time I order off menu.  Serves me right. Lesson learned.

 

So with the surprisingly substantial and scrummy desserts, the £17.95 prix fixe menu represented excellent value for money. All of the dishes were beautifully presented, cooked well and had something about them that made them something a little bit special.

 

I would happily recommend The Manor House to anyone. I would like to return to see how the a la carte dishes compare to those served as part of the prix fixe menu. Judging by the popularity of the pub (and the fact it’s officially the best pub in the East Midlands) I have every confidence it would be an equally enjoyable culinary and dining experience.

 

Restaurant 4/5

Food 4/5

Service 4/5

Value for money 5/5

Total 17/20

 

 

 

 

 

 

Porto Gomez

Always on the hunt to discover new cuisine, I was intrigued and excited to find out what Porto Gomez, a family run traditional Portuguese restaurant, in Mount Sorrel had to offer.  As it turns out, a rolla costa ride of an experience…..

The best way I can describe Porto Gomez is a restaurant of ‘extremes’.  The first ‘extreme’ is one of extreme confusion.  Trying to enter the restaurant is like a challenge out of the Krypton Factor.  On the front door there was a sign saying ‘restaurant this way’ with an arrow pointing to the left.  So, based on this instruction, and having looked through the window to see no sign of a restaurant, we wandered round to the side of the building.  Discovering there was only an alleyway and no door, we retraced our steps returned to the front of the building.  With no other option we tried our luck through the door (with the sign) and into what appeared to be a 1980s working men’s club. There were no tables or chairs, just a scruffy, bare room with a ‘roofed’ bar running alongside it, and a few empty bar stools.  There was however a barman, so with some trepidation, we made our way towards him to seek advice on the whereabouts of the Porto Gomez’s restaurant.  To my shock and surprise, in doing so, the dining room, slowly came into view.  Unfortunately, we had found the restaurant…it was at the back of ‘the working men’s club’!

When I eventually took my seat, I began to experience a few more extremes…..extreme cold and extreme pain!  The room was so bright and red it actually hurt my eyes.  It was as if I had looked directly into the sun!  I am sure it took at least 5 minutes for them to adjust enough for me to begin to read the menu.   

When I recovered from my temporary blindness, my surrounding eventually came into focus.  I rather wished they hadn’t.  The restaurant was an eclectic mix of all things old, cheap and tacky.  On the right hand wall hung a large oil painting in a dusty ornate gold frame, depicting England’s unspoilt countryside. This was randomly paired with photographs of modern cityscapes, images of (possibly) Mediterranean scenes and some strange nautical ornaments (anchors and the like.)  Oh, and interspersed between these carefully selected decorations, was the odd white blob of Pollyfiller.  The plastic flowers on the tables completed the look which was something similar to a tourist's gift shop in Benidorm.

Despite the restaurant being fairly busy, the somewhat dated interior, and the freezing temperature kind of killed the atmosphere and there was zero chance of any ambience being created. In an attempt to distract myself from the horrors of the room, I turned my attention to the menu.  Unbelievably, it looked promising.  In addition to Porto Gomes’ ‘famous Chicken Piri Piri,’ there was an inviting selection of beef, pork, lamb, seafood and vegetarian dishes available.  I was seeking as authentic a Portuguese eating experience as possible, so I selected the Risoes De Carne/Atun De Carne for my starter (£2.99) and Arroz De Marisco (£22.99 based on 2 people sharing) for my main.  Now, these may sound like exciting, exotic dishes; but believe me, they are not.  My starter translated as ‘Hand Made Meat with salad and dressing’.  I couldn’t help wonder how someone could ‘hand make’ meat? Having tried the starter, I am still no wiser.  God knows what was inside the 2 little deep fried half moon pastries on my plate - a lot of salt and mashed up unidentified…stuff!  Maybe it was meat, maybe not?   They looked and tasted a bit like a Findus Crispy Pancakes.  1970’s food to go with the 1970’s decor!  The Seafood rice dish was equally disappointing.  It was rather one dimensional, in short, a huge bowl of wet, fishy rice.

However, returning to the theme of extremes, my fellow diners experienced something altogether different.  The ‘Sardinha,’ (£4.99) consisted of 2 impressive, plump sardines, grilled to perfection and finished with lots of garlic.  They made an ideal starter.  The Portuguese Chicken "Piri- Piri" style, represented good value for money at £7.99 with 2 pieces of marinated Char Grilled chicken,  served with hand cut chips or rice and side salad. The best dish of all though, was Carne De Porca Alentejana (£10.99).  Chunks of seasoned Pork, with a generous portion of clams, all served with cubed roast potatoes and ‘chefs special’ sauce. Despite it sitting in about half an inch of oil, the dish looked and tasted fantastic!  It was brought to the table in a big rustic welcoming round terracotta dish, and it successfully captured all the rich, deep, smooth flavours of the Mediterranean.

By the time we got round to sampling the deserts we were back to ‘extremely’ bad again. The 3 choices were: homemade chocolate cake, caramel pudding and fruit of the forest cake (I think).  The chocolate cake was heavy and didn’t appear to be made with actual chocolate (anyone for Scottbloc)?   The caramel pudding was pretty bland, and the Forest Cake was straight out of a box, quite possibly Sara Lee’s?

 

So, all in all Porto Gomez was a fairly surreal experience.  To be fair to the restaurant, it did keep its promise of the ‘most authentic Portuguese dining experience possible.’  However, they fail to point out that this experience is based in the 1980’s or earlier!  Having been on a few family holidays around the Mediterranean, I have dined in very similar restaurants to this. The problem is, this particular family restaurant hasn’t travelled well!  In England, it looks dated, tacky and out of touch.  Even being chatted up by the friendly and flirtatious owner at the end of the night had something of the sitcom about it!  So, it is with a heavy heart, that I am unable to score the restaurant highly due to it being uncomfortable in every way possible and inconsistencies with the quality of food.  Therefore, Porto Gomez scores only 10.5/20.

 

Restaurant 1/5
Food 3/5
Service 3.5/5
Value for money 3/5

Total 10.5/20

 

1573 Bar and Grill

This month I’ve been out and about to see what ‘1573 Bar and Grill’ in Leicester city centre has to offer. Located in the grade II listed Old Grammar School at the Highcross, 1573 is a relatively new restaurant which specialises in steak and seafood.

 

Going out for dinner always fills me with delight, but as I walked towards the restaurant on this dark, autumn evening, I felt an extra little flutter of excitement stir inside me.   There is a lovely buzz around the Highcross where the restaurants cluster together. The twinkling silver lights that hang above the streets, and the decorated orange autumnal trees, look so pretty and add a little romance about the place.

 

1573 is situated in a opening at the end of one of the streets leading away from the centre.  Like the area, it too, has real charm and appeal.  The building is solid and handsome, but the warm glow from the windows also makes it soft and inviting.  This theme continues inside. 1573 has been sympathetically refurbished. It makes the most of its natural attributes combining the old with the new with some success. The exposed sandstone walls, and elegant glass stairway helps to create an authentic but contemporary dining space.

 

Staff welcomed us in as we came through the door, and we were shown to our table. Unfortunately, this was the table situated nearest to the door.  However, with no other tables available and the upstairs diners submerge in almost complete darkness from the extremely low level lighting, we stayed put and settled in. Several staff then came in quick succession to take our drinks order.  Just as we were about to place our food order, it became apparent that we had in fact been given the wrong menu.  This was hastily replaced, and we started the ordering process again.

 

After examining the menu, I found myself in familiar territory for a ‘fussy foodie’ trying to decide on what to have for my dinner.  Choosing was proving to be a tricky business.  I was in the mood for the Grilled Curry Marinated Scottish Salmon (£14.95) but I felt compelled to sample what I imaged to be their signature dish - the naturally raised, 21-28 day aged Scottish or Irish Beef Steak. Unable to make up my mind, I sought some advice from a waitress. Unfortunately, she was unable to assist because she “hadn’t tried the dish” herself.  Strange, but I persevered and asked instead for a description of what the dish looked like and what it comprised of. “Fish with a red sauce on it,” was the reply. It was not quite the answer I was looking for. No further forward, I played it safe and ordered the steak.

 

As it turns out, I may have been better off with the salmon. The steak was rather disappointing. The 8oz Ribeye (£14.95), described as ‘juicy, tender, with more marbling and intense flavour’ was not quite any of those things.  The beef itself didn’t really taste of anything except the ‘char’ from the char grill.  The mushroom was bland, the chips were average and the salad came ‘naked’ with no dressing. Flavour did find its way onto the plate in the form of a parmesan and herb crust served on the top of the grilled tomato. The tastiest part of the dish however, was the ‘surf’ on top of the ‘turf’.  The three skewered Cajun king prawns brought some much needed spice and flare to what had been a fairly ordinary steak and chips.  Oh, but this addition will cost you an extra £3.95.

 

The starters we had eaten earlier in the evening were a similar story...nice but fairly uneventful. I had ordered the King Prawns cooked in Garlic, White Wine and Parsley (£5.95). This comprised of four large juicy prawns, served on a slice of toast, with a garnish of salad. Tasty, but I think at nearly £6 they could have been more generous with the portion size.   As with the main, there was a high point to this dish...two of the cutest tomatoes I have ever seen!  Both were about the size of a garden pea….very sweet in every way, shape and form.

 

The desserts are priced at much more than I am willing to pay (£5.25) so our food journey at 1573 ended there.  All in all, it was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some highlights to each course, but also some low lights, (or no lights at all in the case of the diners seated upstairs!)  But what really disappointed, was the level of service we received. As well as the aforementioned mix up with the menus, and the staff’s lack of food knowledge, the drinks were slow to arrive and the waitress didn’t take our food order properly.  This meant that we ended up with two medium rare steaks, instead of one medium rare and one medium.  Additionally, no one person seemed to be responsible for our table all night. As a result we were inundated with staff at the start of the evening, but then completely forgotten about at the end. There was a delay clearing our table, and no one came to issue our bill or take payment.

 

So, despite the charms of the restaurant itself, the service was poor, the food average and so overall, it did not represent good value for money. I had had a steak at the Narborough Arms a few weeks before, which was a third of the price and equally as satisfying.  This was because it was the steak itself, not the accompaniments that was the star of the show. With a score of 13 out of 20, ‘1573 Bar and Grill’ is somewhere I may visit again (if a friend really wanted to go), but is not a restaurant I would either choose or recommend.

 

Restaurant                          4/5

Food                                      3/5
Service                                 3/5
Value for money              3/5
 
Total                                      13/20

The Griffin Inn

Another Friday night and another meal out in one of Leicestershire’s beautiful villages…this time it was ‘The Griffin Inn’ at Swithland.

 

First used as a coaching inn back in the 17th Century, The Griffin is a quite charming traditional pub located in the heart of the beautiful Charnwood Forest. This small, idyllic country village, with its uniform buildings, historical past and close proximity to the great outdoors feels more like somewhere you might expect to find in the Cotswolds than in Leicestershire.  

 

The Inn and its various outbuildings date back to the early 1400’s.  All are located on quite a sizeable estate. At the rear there is a large open grassy area where you can sit and enjoy a pint of real ale or two.  Alongside the Inn there is a Mediterranean styled outdoor veranda complete with romantic lighting and a vine covered terrace.  Finally, adjoining the pub there is the ‘Old Stables’, a newly refurbished events room, so pretty it made even me want to get married there.

 

Once inside, the Inn itself is also fairly sizeable.   You make your way through several bars until eventually reaching the restaurant at the end.  With its high ceilings and exposed beams, the large squared shaped dining room is a pleasing place to dine.  There is a mesonene balcony, home to a colorful display of green wine bottles and a large stone fireplace with a rustic ‘specials’ chalk board hanging just above it.  Despite the fact the room is decorated with a surprising amount of items I recognized from ‘Ikea’, it all comes together to create a well presented traditional little pub restaurant.

 

Like the dining room, the menu is itself was an intriguing collection of traditional pub grub and something altogether more exotic!  On offer was the customary freshly Battered Haddock (£10.90), Rump to Rib Eye Steaks (£10.50-£16.95) and some modern British dishes such as Chicken Escallop, Pan Fried Lambs Liver and Pork Medallions with Black Pudding.  The rest of the menu takes its inspiration from much further afield.  Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Omelette, Lemon Sole, Wild Mushroom and Parmesan Risotto to name a few.  So although fairly small, the menu was varied and interesting.  All the dishes appealed to me personally, so I felt pretty spoilt for choice.

 

My guest and I kicked off our dinner by sharing the marinated olives (£3.95).  A perfect way to start the meal.  A generous bowl of juicy olives, all different shapes and sizes, served with a chunk of warmed bread and quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dunk it into.  Nice.

 

For my main I opted for ‘Authentic Paella’ – a Spanish style rice dish with fish, meat and vegetables.  An ideal dinner for a bright but chilly autumn’s evening. It sure did hit the spot!  A lovely big pile of steaming hot, fluffy rice, bursting with chunks of chorizo, pork, chicken and succulent prawns.  Flavored with garlic, paprika, sweet peppers and what I think were preserved lemon, the dish was perfectly spiced and beautifully decorated with a few mussels and a large prawn, all still in their shells.  The essence of Spain in one, wonderfully satisfying dish.  Very tasty and good value at £12.95.  My only criticism was that it was a little greasy.  My lips were positively slippery by the end of the meal.  Perhaps a little too much oil in the cooking or from the sausage?  Either way it wasn’t an entirely pleasant eating experience and it didn’t feel healthy! That said, by the time I had finished my Paella and my friend her Lamb Tagine, I felt quite inspired.  My mind was racing with recipes and I found myself itching to get back home and back in the kitchen.  A good indicator that I had thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

 

So the food at ‘The Griffin Inn’ was excellent and so was the service.  A number of well presented, polite, friendly staff assisted us throughout the meal.  Even when I tipped candle wax all over the table, allowing it to spill out all over the wooden encased menus and expensive slate place mats, the staff remained cheerful and unfazed by the event.  I also enjoyed the pace of service.  Staff seemed to appear at just the right time, as did the food, with just the right passing of time between the starter and the main.  That said, we did seem to get a little forgotten by the end of the meal.  All the staff suddenly disappeared.  As a result, we had to grab a waiter waltzing past us on his way to the ‘Old Stables’ to eventually get our bill.  But seeing as they were so gracious about my little incident with the candle wax I think I can forgive them for this slight oversight.  Only fair.

 

The website of ‘The Griffin Inn’ says, “we enjoy good food . . .Cooking it. Eating it. Serving and talking about it. This is why so many people enjoy coming to the Griffin”!  Based on what I experienced, I would say this appears to be true.  I think their passion for good food is evident in their menu and their meals.  I for one am certain to return and I am already looking forward to trying out some more of those inspiring dishes The Griffin Inn menu has to offer.

 

Restaurant                          4/5

Food                                     4/5
Service                                 4/5
Value for money                4/5

 Total                                   16/20

Five Thai

FiveThai is a new Thai Restaurant in the centre of Leicester. Previously Lanna Thai, Five Thai is ‘inspired by the five flavours of Thai cuisine’ and ‘aims to provide you with a complete dining experience’. Seeing as I am a fan of Thai food and this one is on my doorstep, I thought I would give it a go.

Five Thai is situated in a slightly strange location.  It’s certainly not somewhere you might stumble across. Although adjacent to THE CURVE, you have to walk right around the front of the theatre, down an ever darkening Rutland Street, until you eventually come across the entrance to the restaurant. However, if you successfully complete the journey your efforts are rewarded.

The building and restaurant itself are quite impressive. Previously a leather factory, this Grade 2 listed building has been transformed into a beautiful, bright, spacious, modern restaurant. The ceilings are wonderfully high and there is a mass of natural light coming through the restaurant from the glass wall at the rear.  This, combined with the white walls, wooden flooring, contemporary furniture and soft subtle lighting creates a really relaxing and soothing environment to dine in.

The restaurant therefore was very pleasant, as was the service. When we arrived, we were immediately greeted by a friendly and upbeat member of staff, who welcomed us in and showed us to our table. He then went through the menu, explaining some of the dishes and was polite and attentive throughout.

 

The menu itself was a little uninspiring. Unusually for Asian food, the menu was quite short and simple, consisting of two salads, six Thai curries, three noodle dishes and three stir fry dishes. Unfortunately our selection was limited further as a couple of items were unavailable.  The waiter reported they been unable to source key quality ingredients locally which was a shame in terms of the impact on the menu but reassuring that Five Thai set, and adhere to such high standards.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel these same high standards were achieved by the time the food reached the table.  Like the menu, the food was also a little uninspiring. To start, I shared a selection of Dim Sum.  A mixed platter, with mixed success. The Satay Chicken had fantastic flavour and was brilliantly moist. The Fish Cake however, was rather rubbery and the Prawn Toast was extremely greasy (even for prawn toast). The four dipping sauces accompanying the starter were nice, but getting them onto the end of your Tung Tong or Spring Roll proved technically tricky as the dishes they were served in were too shallow.  What a tease!?

The Green Curry we shared as part of our main course was again, fairly standard. Six King Prawns ‘swimming’ about in a fragrant, sweet, coconut milk, served with large chunks of Aubergine and Bamboo Shoots. Balanced, but dare I say a little bland for a curry? I dare! The Laab Gai (minced Chicken Salad) delivered more flavour and managed to capture the hot, sweet and sour element Thai cuisine is famous for, far more successfully than the curry. The lime and mint gave the dish a lovely freshness and the chilli provided a much needed spice to the meal. However, the two large salad leaves the dressed mince was sitting on, were a little limp and droopy.  Not quite what you might expect from a restaurant that ‘always strive to source our food locally, enabling us to retain fresh and vivid ingredients’.

 

The salad was not very substantial either. I would definitely have left hungry if that was the only main course ordered and at £12.00 I am not sure it represented good value for money. The same could be said for all the courses, but I think at Five Thai you are paying for the ambience and not just the meal. So I guess if this is important to you and you are willing to pay a higher premium for that type of dining experience, then the prices seem much more reasonable.

 

 

So overall, Five Thai is a memorable place to eat, providing good service and serving average food. Personally, I would prefer memorable food, with good service, served at an average restaurant. As a result the next time I have some Thai food urges I won’t be walking into town to Five Thai but jumping into my car and driving up the A6 to Thai Legend, Quorn.

 

Restaurant                  4/5

Food                             3.5/5
Service                         4/5
Value for money        3.5/5

 Total                            15/20

 

The Bell

Earlier this month I went in search of some quality ‘pub grub’ in one of Leicestershire’s many beautiful villages. As a result, I ended up at ‘The Bell’ in the quaint, little village of Burton Overy, just off the Great Glen bypass.  The village itself dates back to 1086 and was designated a Conservation Area in 1974. So with its historical buildings, thatched cottages and green verges, the idyllic village of Burton Overy seemed the perfect location to enjoy a spot of Friday night supper.

The Bell is one of the more modern buildings in the village.  Once inside, the pub is a pleasant blend of old and new. Dark wood panelling along the walls and bar, coupled with the open fire gives The Bell a traditional feel. In contrast, there is a modern light carpet on the floor and the bar/dining area is filled with fairly contemporary square tables and chairs. Together however, they create a pleasing, warm and cosy environment in which to dine.

Service was from the bar. So we ordered our drinks and took our seats at our reserved table.  There was no menu to view at the table, only a blackboard in the corner of the room. While chalk board menus are aesthetically pleasing, they can create something of an inconvenience when they are the only way of viewing the menu, especially when there are only two of you dining. It’s not always ideal to have to leave your drink, guest and belongings behind, wander across a busy dining room, peer over someone’s shoulder, hurriedly scan the menu, place your order at the bar and return to your seat to eventually ‘start’ your evening. I personally prefer to relax at the table, study the menu and take my time in deciding what to eat. For me, it’s all part of the process and part of the joy of eating out. On the plus side however, a chalk board menu is generally a good indication that the food is freshly cooked and with ingredients the chef has available that day? So based on this theory, I was optimistic that the quality of food would be good and make up for the inconvenience of ordering process.

The menu itself was varied but limited in size. A mixture of pub classics such as bangers and mash, family favorites such as Moussaka and Thai Chicken and bistro style dishes including scallops with black pudding and Gessington Duck. I chose the duck, while my friend opted for sausages and mash.

My friend chose better than I. The three fat sausages from Fleckney were packed full of herbs and bursting with flavour. They were served with a generous portion of cheesy mash and a rich, meat gravy. My duck on the other hand, was a little disappointing. Although it looked very pretty (sliced duck, carefully arranged on a bed of green beans with little green and orange spots of sauce around the plate) overall it was a little bland. The duck was not served pink and so, in my opinion, was slightly over cooked.  Although the meat was not dry, the dish itself was. I found myself beginning to make grand plans for the abundance of gravy that was drowning the tasty little sausages on my friend’s plate. That is just was the dish needed. A big jug of gravy. Instead I had to make do with the blobs of apple and orange sauce, which were quite thick and disappearing fast.  Unfortunately, the sauces weren’t particularly exciting either and they didn’t compliment the meat.  The orange sauce was overwhelmed by the apple sauce which was far too tart. Although not unpleasant, the meal made no impact on me and for the price paid (£16.95) I felt it didn’t represent good value for money. 

Both the main courses were served with a side dish of vegetables which included new potatoes, carrots and green beans. Although cooked nicely, the portion size wasn’t overly generous and it would have been better if the vegetables which accompanied the dish differed to the vegetables served as the side. There are only so many green beans a girl can eat!

As with the food, the standard of service varied. Despite the fairly formal dining arrangement, you ordered drinks and food at the bar. With only two members of staff serving, service was at times slow. There was a delay when it came to clearing the empty dishes from the table and when taking payment which was a little disappointing given the price of the food.

So overall I would describe both the food and service at The Bell as average. While my duck was underwhelming and possibly overpriced, the sausages and mash were hearty and comforting and well worth £9.95. I can’t say I will be in a rush to return to the pub, knowing that for £16.95 I can get a better standard of food and service elsewhere (see Ashfield’s for example).  However the location is extremely pretty and the pub did have a nice feel about it so there is a good chance I might return one day.  I think next time though, I would stick to ordering the more reasonably priced ‘pub classics’ which may be where The Bells strengths’ lie?

Restaurant                  3/5

Food                             3/5
Service                         3/5
Value for money        3/5

Total                             12/20