Ideal Home Christmas Show taste tests

Dee and I went up to Earls Court to have a mooch round the Ideal Home Christmas Show last weekend.  The show itself was split fairly evenly into demonstrations, sales booths and show areas.  Needless to say we tried just about everything anyone offered us, and in the process discovered a few little gems!

The highlights for me were -

A coffee / chocolate bar called "Coffeelate" which is a lovely crumbly mixture of real coffee and darkish chocolate.  Deeply satisfying on a number of levels.  The stand selling it was generous with their samples and was only selling this one product.  It was nice to be able to meet the man behind the idea too, he is rightfully very proud of it.

A bit of a left-field choice, but next in line for a re-positioning in the market place (following the huge success Magners have had in marketing the cider and ice idea) is Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry.  They were there in force, with cute little stands like gardens complete with astro-turf and garden furniture.  The generous samples they were handing out were shot glasses of sherry with a slice of orange and a chunk of ice.  Not much of a departure from the traditional glass of sherry, perhaps, but then neither was adding ice to cider!  It certainly made it a much more appealing drink, and if you've got a bottle tucked away at the back of your drinks cupboard I'd recommend trying it that way.

Debbie & Andrew's sausages were handing out chunks of their fantastic sausages, sizzling away on a row of George Foreman grills on their little stand.  We know their products of old and always look out for them at shows as there are often deals to be had.  The traditional Lincolnshire pork sausages, pork and apple, and Toulouse varieties are our favourites.  They are meaty and low in fat (for a sausage!) and taste just as good cold the next day.

My personal favourite was a great drink called "Fireball".  I went to visit their stand to try the bourbon (which was very good!) but then the guy asked if I like cinnamon.  As some of you may already know, I'd eat a toadstool if it had enough cinnamon on it, so I jumped in.  He poured me the smallest thimble full of whisky I've ever seen, but that turned out to be enough.  It is well named indeed!  A blend of cinnamon and Canadian whisky, the feeling of warmth that spreads out as it sinks down has to be experienced to be believed.  It's fairly strong, at 33% it's not full strength but you'd never know it.  The highlight, though, was trying it again but mixed with apple juice....like a good apple pie in a glass!  What a stunning drink, delicious!

Amongst the better food stands was a butcher who had brought a griddle plate and was selling steak sandwiches the like of which you've never seen as well as joints, steaks, various cuts of fantastic looking meat.  Not what I expected to see at an Ideal Home Show, but he clearly knew his stuff.

There were a vast number of stands selling flavoured vodka of one type or another, toffee or fruit flavours, but they were all missing something.  An original idea perhaps?

The champagne and oyster bar next to the fashion catwalk was fun too, with a choice of oysters with tabasco, lemon, salt & pepper or au natural and a selection of champagnes.  Dee had a glass of Laurent Perrier Premier Cru, while I went a little up-market and opted for the Grand Cru to see if we could honestly tell the difference.  Well, we certainly could!  The Premier Cru was very good indeed, light and refreshing, but the Grand Cru was as smooth as silk and absolutely delicious.

All in all it was a good show, lots of new products being showcased and plenty to look at, try on, taste or just stand and watch.  Worth the trip up to London, without a doubt.

Loch Fyne update

Just a quick update to my earlier review of the Bluewater restaurant....it is absolutely unforgivable to put a slice of mouldy lemon on a seafood platter.  It wasn't just a bit manky, it was actually white with green patches.  On a slightly less foul note, it is also ridiculous to provide three slices of bread with a sharing platter for two people.  And while I'm being critical, my monkfish and chirizo risotto was so salty I couldn't taste the fish at all.  I suspect it will be a while before I come back for another visit.

The café right outside Loch Fyne didn't cover itself with glory either!  After a few hours of shopping we stopped for coffee there because the cakes looked lovely, but after several minutes of standing aimlessly at the counter, and then several more sitting at a table after being directed there by a waitress, we gave up waiting to order and went upstairs to Costa Coffee instead.  I'm glad to say that Costa did us proud.