Further adventures in and around Stoke.

Back in Stoke for a long weekend and a late Christmas of sorts with Josie, we thought we'd make the effort to try some new places to eat & drink. We failed at the first hurdle though, because for dinner on our first night we ended up back in the Steakhouse in Stone (see previous review of Stoke). Rather like last time, the staff were very friendly and highly professional, the food was very good and the beer was excellent. Josie and I had ribs, but Dee pushed the boat out and had ostrich steak. It's not often you see both ostrich and buffalo steak on a menu, is it! I had a pint of Cockahoop from the Lake District to wash my ribs down, it was light, lively and very easy to drink. Our third visit here, and our third excellent experience.

At Trentham Gardens we were delighted to find the ultimate foodie shop. Brown & Green stocks organic, local and ethical food of all types and varieties. Everything from local honey, lime curd and jams to fresh oven-ready game, sausage rolls, pies and cakes, fresh fruit, veg and bread. There are shelves full of interesting sauces and dips, spices and herbs, ales and spirits, all either locally, organically or ethically produced (or a combination of the three). I think they have other outlets at Derby and somewhere in Gloucestershire and I'd certainly recommend a look if there's one near you, because it's like all the best bits of every farm shop you've ever been in all rolled into one.

In complete contrast to the rubbish we were served on our last visit, we had a very good cooked breakfast in Frankie & Bennie's at Trentham. Ok, so it was only eggs and bacon on toasted muffins, but it was all piping hot, well cooked, nicely presented and very tasty indeed. So much so that we went back there for an evening meal (against my better judgement, after the last visit!) and either there is a new manager, a new chef, or perhaps both because the standard was much higher than I expected.

Another day we had a decidedly above average lunch at a place called Taybarns just north of Newcastle under Lyme. The Taybarns chain doesn't seem to have made it to Kent, but there are a few dotted about the midlands and the north, I believe. The idea is simple, it's a one-price eat as much as you like buffet. You pay your £8.99 per person on the way in and help yourself. The range of fresh food on offer is simply staggering! The sections start with fresh salad, then a choice of pasta dishes including vegetable lasagne, garlic bread and warm dough-balls, then on to fish, chicken, chips and mushy peas. After that is freshly cooked pizzas, either pepperoni, mushroom or margarita, then a selection of burgers and barbecued prawns, chicken, corn on the cob etc. Believe it or not, the buffet continues with a choice of three chinese dishes, a couple of curries, prawn crackers, breads and popadums (?...not sure how you spell that!) and other side dishes. Then there is a full carvery, offering gammon or turkey with all the trimmings. And finally, a selection of about a dozen cakes, puddings, fruit pies and gateaux with cream, custard or ice cream. Did I mention you can have as much as you want for £8.99? Everything is cooked and served in full view of the diners, the sheer number of diners means everything is kept fresh as it turns over very quickly. Your empty plates are cleared quickly between visits with a minimum of fuss, you collect a fresh plate and clean cutlery on each trip up to get more. It pleases me greatly to report that the food was tasty, fresh and well cooked. It is produced to a price, obviously, but somehow managed to achieve a high standard. Certainly worth a look if you are in a hurry or have a large group to feed, or even if you simply can't decide between you what you fancy.

We stumbled across a new English restaurant in the heart of Stoke called Baby Russets. We only dropped in on the off chance we could get a bite to eat fairly late on Saturday night and they couldn't have been more helpful! The house speciality seems to be traditional pies. Not the poor imitation pies you get in most places these days, which aren't really pies at all but bowls of stew with a flakey pastry lid, but real pies with crumbly short crust pastry and meaty fillings! I had a steak & kidney pie, Dee had the chicken supreme, and both were very very good indeed. We were also treated to a huge dish of red cabbage, broccoli, carrots, peas and new potatoes, as well as a dish of excellent hand-cut chips (it's sooooo nice not to get McCain or Brake Bros chips for a change!). All the produce is sourced locally, and the veg is bought from the traditional market just 50 yards away. Also on the menu were Scottish rainbow trout, haunch of venison, chicken pie and cheese and onion pie amongst other delicious sounding things. All the dishes were extremely good value, particularly given the enormous portions, with pies starting from just £6.95. They stocked a range of local beers from the Titanic brewery...I tried the Titanic Stout, which was very good but like a lot of bottled beers proved to be far too fizzy for me. We will certainly come back to Baby Russets next time we're up in Stoke, it turned out to be quite a find.

Back at Trentham Gardens, on our last morning we popped in to a café called "Capabilitea" presumably in honour of Capabilty Brown (designer of the famous Italian garden and landscaped the grounds at Trentham). It was particularly worthy of note for the delicious warm brownie I had and mixed fruit muffin Dee chose, and the coffee and hot chocolate were very good too. We sat on a huge old leather sofa and flicked through some magazines from the cafés rack while we drank our drinks and watched the world go by in very pretty and relaxed surroundings. All in all, Capabiliteas was an ideal place to round off a lovely weekend.

The Swan on the Green, West Peckham

The Swan is a real hidden gem, nestling as it does down a dead end road in the middle of nowhere. First opened as a pub in the sixteenth century, The Swan retains many of the traditional features that have been lost in so many other public houses. There is a roaring open fire, many unusual soft drinks including cloudy lemonade and ginger beer, and real ales brewed on the premises. In fact, there are no ales brewed anywhere other than the pubs own micro brewery! The ales mostly follow the Swan theme, there is Cygnet at 4.2%, Trumpeter Best at 4.0%, Fuggles Pale at 3.8% and a seasonal special, Christmas Ale at a head-swimming 8.4%! A couple of lagers, English ciders and Guinness are also available on draught and there is a fair wine list too.

We have eaten here a few times and generally find we need to book in advance, particularly at weekends and on bank holidays and today was no exception. We got the last table available and the place was already busy at quarter past twelve when we arrived. The menu is varied and interesting, with a fair amount of flair and seasonal flavours. There were half a dozen starters on offer, ranging from £6 to £8.50. It was a day for warming, hearty food so I started with bubble and squeak with wilted spinach and a poached egg (which was lovely, although the warm milk sauce was a little unnecessary).

A fairly short menu of main courses includes local pork, lamb, duck, brill, chicken and rib eye steak. Something for everyone (except vegetarians, apparently!). Dee chose a grilled double lamb chop in a mint jus, which came with rosemary carrots, red onions and mustard mashed potato. On paper, that's a great dish, but somehow it just failed to deliver. The mash was perfect, in my opinion at least, but the rest was lacking something. The carrots were just the raw side of al-denté, and the large chunks of red onion lacked finesse. Even the lamb was a little chewy and short of flavour.

My choice, however, showed what we already know the Swan is really capable of. I went for duck confit with rosemary roast potatoes, cabbage and pancetta in a port jus and it was fantastic. Just spot on. The meat fell from the bone, the potatoes were hot and tasty and the salty pancetta with the slight sweetness of the cabbage really worked well. A traditional dish cooked well and presented nicely, and at £13.50 for a pub lunch it wasn't cheap, but it was worth every penny.

There are half a dozen deserts available, grand marnier chocolate mousse and sticky toffee pudding to name but two, but we decided to head home to finish off the lemon torte in the fridge instead.

The pub looks out over West Peckham village green, from which there are several really nice country walks. On summer afternoons one can even sit outside the Swan with a pint and watch village cricket at its finest. Settle down with the mixed cheese ploughman's lunch and a pint of Cygnet and just unwind. Well worth taking the trouble to find, we won't be put off by one poor dish and will certainly be back.

The Smokehouse, Folkestone

On a whim we motored down to the coast today for a wander round Folkestone and, if we could get in, a bite to eat at a new place called Rock Salt. Unfortunately things conspired against us in a big way, as not only was the restaurant fully booked but the fishing boats had not been out yesterday so there was very limited availability anyway! However, their fish & chip shop over the road was open and serving a reduced menu.

The building is a modern conversion of a typical south coast dock building, complete with double hight ceiling dining room and a little take away area. The decor is very inviting, lots of stylish pale blues and greys, and some great steel fish sculptures hanging from the roof add interest. We sat on benches at wooden tables and perused the menus printed printed on the place mats. Apparently a fishing boat had come into Hythe and unloaded a cargo of cod (amongst other things) so there was some fresh fish available. We shared a starter of mussels popcorn, which turned out to be surprisingly tasty lightly battered mussels served with a lemon wedge. Not being huge fans of deep fried things, Dee chose baked lemon sole, while I went for baked mackerel. Both came with a good helping of very nice chips, and both came in cardboard boxes, which made eating with proper knives and forks feel a bit odd. Oh, and yes, there were scallops on the menu, but no, I didn't have them! It's a first, I know....and perhaps if they'd actually had any I might have been more tempted...

The lemon sole was very nice, still on the bone and tail on, but well enough cooked that the meat came away from the bones very easily. The mackerel was very tasty indeed, skin and tail on, but no bones, delicious. There was a good selection of drinks available, including a choice of beers, soft drinks etc. but as the weather was very wintry and the on-shore wind bitterly cold, we went for mugs of hot tea. What we actually got were mugs of hot brown. Shame, because the rest of the meal was really very good and reasonably priced. We will definitely go back, but we'll book in advance at Rock Salt next time. If you fancy a box of fish and chips while you stroll along the front, I'd certainly recommend The Smokehouse though.

After our lunch we went for a good walk round Folkestone, starting on the front and ending up at the newly established Creative Quarter. Here we found a strange mixture of art galleries, shops selling militaria, pop-up clothes shops and trendy looking bars. At the top of the hill was a cosy looking café where we stopped for a decent cuppa and a cake. Fresh & Easy turned out to be a real find, with a huge choice of teas, homemade cakes and tarts, and the best cup of café mocha I've ever had! We shared a strawberry jam tart made on cinnamon pastry and a chocolate ganache tart made on pistachio pastry, both of which were spot on. Dee had a little pot of English breakfast tea, which came with a very cute little milk jug in the shape of a cow.

Folkestone is one of the forgotten places of the south east, but there is much to recommend it. The town is working very hard to drag itself back up to the dizzy heights it once enjoyed, although the High Street is a clone of every other in the country. There are some nice looking bars (a special mention for Googies is in order, beer, coffee, regular live acoustic music, homemade speciality burgers....worth a look!) and restaurants of the quality of The Smokehouse and Rock Salt can only help. So next time you're at a bit of a loose end, drive down to the harbour area and go for a stroll, you might be pleasantly surprised with what you find.

Imperial Dynasty, West Malling

Arguably the best Chinese restaurant in Kent, possibly the south east of England. Ok, so you pay a bit more for it, but believe me it's worth every every penny. West Malling is a nice market town just off the A20 between Maidstone and Wrotham. There are a number of good places to eat, including The Swan and The Farmhouse (see earlier review), as well as several cafés and bars. The High Street has a mixture of old buildings, many of which date from the seventeenth century, there are some interesting little shops too so it's a nice place to visit all round.

I.D. (as it is known) is at the bottom end of the High Street in a charming old building, the dining room features a large inglenook fireplace in which stand three half-sized terracotta warrior statues and in spite of an up to date feel there are still many original features and beams in place. The menu is a mixture of traditional and contemporary dishes, with a number of set menus on offer. Dishes start from around £4.50 and go up to about £9.50, with seasonal specials like lobster and oysters often available at reasonable prices.

We ordered the mixed hors d'oeuvres and Mongolian lamb to start, which arrived quickly and were nicely presented. The lamb came with all the usual accompaniments you expect with crispy duck...the cucumber and spring onion, pancakes and hoisin sauce...lovely! We decided to go with a seafood theme for the main course, huge tiger prawns in a mandarin sauce and a fantastic sizzling dish of scallops (Yes, I know...scallops again!) and king prawns in ginger and sesame with a bowl of special fried rice. Unsurprisingly after all that we had no room for desert, so I can't comment on them I'm afraid. The staff were attentive and friendly, the dining room was nicely decorated in creams and cappuccino tones, a few nods to the festive season without being over the top, all in all a very pleasant place to be. We have eaten here three or four times over the last few years and the whole experience has always been consistently good. There are enough unusual dishes to keep you coming back to try new things, all in all it has to be highly recommended!

Product sites

A few people have asked where they can buy some of the food I mentioned in my last blog, so here's a short list of their websites -

www.coffeelate.co.uk - delicious blend of coffee, Caribbean spices & chocolate.

www.britishsausages.co.uk - I particularly recommend the Churchill and the Knebworth.

www.backyardcompany.co.uk - great jerk sauces, great for warming you up in this awful weather!

Bluewater Glow Food Festival

We went to the first Bluewater Glow food festival on the way to visit Dee's mum down in Devon. The festival was a bit disappointing but there were several highlights. The guys from Coffeelate were there again (see my previous entry on the Ideal Home Christmas Show), so I bought a few more bars...yes Mel, one is for you...The Great British Sausage Co, The Backyard Co and a few others are worthy of mention.

The Great British Sausage Co make really tasty, fairly big sausages. The signature dish is The Churchill, made with pork shoulder meat, black pepper & white pepper. They were giving out samples, freshly grilled, juicy & delicious. They also had venison & port, pork & leak and pork, apple & cider amongst others. When I say they're fairly big, I mean you only get four sausages in a one pound pack!

The Backyard Co make Jamaican jerk sauces, and to showcase them at their best they were griddling a huge stack of jerk chicken breast, offering small free tastes, or a big slab in a bun for a fiver. Guess which I went for? It was fantastic! Just hot and spicy enough to get your lips and tongue tingling but not so hot it wasn't enjoyable. Well worth a look if fruity, spicy sauces are your thing, or you love barbequeing. I didn't get to try any of the hot versions as they'd sold out, but I bet they're worth trying.

There were a few other good ideas, a lady who made biscuits and hand iced each one. She had boxes of Christmas themed ones, clothes and shoes, all sorts! (picture below). Also there was a wonderful chocolate producer that offered single plantation South American cocoa chocolate bars, blends, beautiful looking gift boxes and some really clever chocolate sculptures & figures. Apparently the high heeled shoes (pictured below) are their most popular product!

The Neville Bull in Birling

We went in search of a new country pub to try at lunchtime today and stumbled across a potential winner! Birling village looks like a typical Kentish village, and the Neville Bull looks like a typical Kentish pub, until you get inside. I've never seen a more eclectic mixture of flags, pictures, ornaments, samplers, bits & bobs and goodness only knows what in one place before!

The bar is filled with a variety of furniture, including a big green leather sofa and a mixture of old dining tables, chairs and benches. Every surface is covered with nick-nacks and every flat wall has a picture or two on it. It could be overwhelming but is actually very charming. There is a real focus on local produce, even behind the bar. There was Kentish cider, wine and beer on offer, including a pale ale brewed in Birling village itself. It doesn't get much more local than that! Unfortunately I didn't discover until we were leaving that they offer a "beer bat", a third of a pint of each of the real ales on offer for those who have trouble choosing. Even the fruit juices we're Kentish.

As well as the main menu there was a fairly large selection of specials written on blackboards in the bar. We ordered two starters to share between the three of us, and it's a good job we didn't choose one each because the portion sizes were very generous indeed. We shared a whole baked Camembert with a basket of about half a loaf of hand cut fresh bread (a starter for one person? A whole cheese! Really???) and a portion of eight large tempura prawns with soy and chilli dips. The prawns were delicious, hot and crispy, but the Camembert was a bit disappointing to be honest. It hadn't been baked enough, so it wasn't runny enough to dip the bread in so we asked them to put it back in again for a while. Unfortunately whatever they did to it made it hotter also changed the texture to something akin to an omelette.

Mum and I both chose the steak & kidney pudding from the specials board, while Dee chose the chicken pie from the main menu. Both came with vegetables and chips, which turned out to be a huge dish of cabbage with bacon and cream sauce, a second huge dish of carrots and peas, and a third huge dish of thick, crispy chips. Probably enough of six, and we certainly came nowhere near finishing them. The puddings were fantastic...about a pound of steak and kidney in a shell of suet pudding that was just the right mixture of light & soft on the inside and lightly crisp on the outside. Ridiculously too much for one person, and again, neither of us managed to finish ours. Dee's chicken pie was not really a pie, in that it was actually a bowl of chicken stew with a puff pastry lid. This seems to be the norm for pub pies at the moment, and it's a great shame because you can't beat a real pie.

Unfortunately I can't tell you about the deserts because we were so full we didn't come very close to finishing the main course. What we had was delicious, traditional pub food in a friendly pub with an open fire and a warm welcome, but like the ornaments there was far too much of it. I'm certain we'll go back there, but we won't eat for a couple of days in preparation!