The Pippin, London Road, Maidstone

Looking for a top quality Sunday lunch in a traditional pub? Look no further the The Pippin on the outskirts of Maidstone. A much extended and improved old building now boasting a conservatory and large bar area as well as a comfortable booth style dining room, The Pippin provided a warm welcome and excellent service.

The first thing that made me smile was the house beer. How many pubs have their own ale on draught these days? Well, Pippin Ale by Greene King is 3.9% and absolutely delicious. Other Greene King beers and a selection of fizzy drinks and wines are also available.

As luck would have it we chose to visit The Pippin just after they launched their new winter menu. The manager was very keen to explain the new dishes and told a delightful story about eating slow roast pork shanks in Austria while on a Harley Davidson club road trip round Europe and thinking "we've got to do this!". Well I for one am very glad he did, it was quite superb! Normally you might expect a lamb shank (they do that as well, and roast beef, all the pub classics, children's meals, etc etc, but a crackling coated pork shank with all the trimmings was just too good to pass up) but out from the kitchen emerged a large wooden trencher with a lovely looking pork joint on it impaled with a sharp knife and served with mash, roasties, parsnips, red cabbage, buttered kale, a home made Yorkshire pudding, gravy and a generous serving of apple sauce. Nicely cooked, nicely presented, well done everyone that had a hand in getting it to our table. An unusual dish, highly recommended.

If by some staggering chance you have any room left after all that, and you really can't decide which of the delightful sounding home made deserts to try then order the selection board. But make sure at least two of your friends will help you finish it, because there is plenty on it. On our board we got a kilner jar of ginger and red fruit cheesecake that was light and tasty, a chocolate torte sprinkled with chopped hazelnuts that was thick and rich, a huge apple and fig crumble that was delicious and piping hot, and a selection of Loseley ice creams and some creme fraiche. It was all absolutely delicious and rounded the lunch off perfectly.

In summary then, nice atmosphere, friendly service, great food, good beer. What more do you want? We'll be back there again soon, I'm sure.

Trying somewhere new

Finding a new place to try can be quite tricky, particularly if it's a special occasion.  A quick poll of the people in my office turned up a couple of suggestions of places where I had previously had very disappointing experiences.  It struck me that expectation probably plays a big part in the event.

One pub that several people recommended very highly outside Bearsted was particularly disappointing when I tried it because I was expecting such a high standard and received nothing better than "pub-grub" in somewhat uninspiring surroundings.  Is that the fault of the pub for not being better?  Or were my hopes and expectations raised by friends and colleagues who had found it to be very good?  Either way, I went expecting to be wowed and wasn't.

I place a very high premium on personal recommendation, and am never short of suggestions when asked for places to try or avoid, so with this new found insight in mind I will be less effusive in my praise of the places I felt really went the extra mile as that may not be the experience on the night you visit.

One of the places recommended to me today in Boughton Monchelsea has let itself down on both the occasions I tried it.  On the first occasion the service was so bad it was virtually non-existent, and when we eventually gave up and went to leave after more than two hours without having got as far as ordering desert, the owner eventually offered us £100 in vouchers to give them a second chance.  In fairness, the food we did get was very good indeed, it's only a shame no waiter or waitress came near us for close to an hour after seating us to find out if we wanted a drink or were ready to order our starters in a half empty dining room!  Having found the food to be very good we thought we'd use the vouchers to give the place a second try some months later.  Sadly, the same sort of thing happened again, we were as good as ignored, in spite of the owner running front of house and being well aware of why we had the voucher in the first place.  It's a shame, because the food was very good indeed, again, but I really object to being treated like that in a "high class" place.

So what is the alternative?  How do you choose somewhere new to eat?  Trial and error seems to yield at least as high a hit rate as any other method of selection.  Still....who doesn't like researching and reading reviews, eh?  I know I do!

Should you find yourself in Canterbury...

There are lots of things to see and do in Canterbury. As well as the obvious touristy things like the Cathedral and Canterbury Tales display, there is a delightful walk around the top of the city walls, a city museum, the Rupert the Bear museum and a variety of boat and punt trips are available. Canterbury is also a really great place to go for a wander round the shops, with a quirky mixture of modern new malls and ancient, beamed buildings off narrow medieval alleys. There is no shortage of choice when it comes to food either, with the usual array of Ask, Cafe Rouge, Pizza Express and so on in prominent locations on the main street.

If you fancy something a little more....interesting, then take the time to find Tiny Tim's Tearoom just down from the Canterbury Tales Experience. It's worth the effort! With traditional favourites likes poached eggs on toast and Welsh rarebit on the menu alongside cream teas and more substantial meals, there really is something for everyone. The building itself is very old and full of character, with low beams and nooks and crannies on all floors. Ok, it's not cheap, but it is worth it. I recommend the Welsh rarebit topped with a poached egg. Delicious!

Having enjoyed a lovely light lunch in Tiny Tim's I suggest a stroll round the corner and down Hawk Street to the city museum. Having had your fill of local history, it is a very short walk down the alley along side the museum to Brown's Coffee House. Go, sit in a huge leather sofa, soak up the friendly atmosphere and enjoy one of the best cups of coffee you're ever likely to try. If you have any room after your lunch, try a slab of one of the delicious cakes on offer too, you won't be disappointed. Places like Brown's are hard to find with the prevalence of Starbucks and Costa etc, so it is refreshing to stumble across a genuine, friendly, high quality coffee house offering so much more than formula menus and bought in character.

Goddard's Pie & Mash and Greenwich Market

Greenwich market is one of those places I can wander round for ages. I love the variety of stalls and little shops around the edges, the mixture of arts and crafts as well as clothes and antiques is always interesting. But the thing I like most is the huge variety of food available there. A truly international mix of authentic street food stalls at the river end of the market provides a mouthwatering scent in the background as you pick your way between the rows of stalls. More of that later though.

Pie, mash & green liquor is about as regional as food gets. Peculiar to East London, traditional pies are minced beef in flakey pastry. Personally, I like two pies, one mash and plenty of green liquor with a liberal sprinkling of white pepper and vinegar on everything. Originally the liquor was made using the juice of the eels that had been jellied, but these days it's pretty much just a gravey-like parsley sauce. Goddard's and Manzie's have been the two main rivals in south east London since the 1890's, both have their fans and both have their strong points. I always thought Goddard's had better pies but Manzie's did better liquor. It's been many years since I've had either, so when Josie suggested pie & mash for lunch today I was delighted! Inside Goddard's was exactly as I remember the Deptford shop looking nearly thirty years ago, with the traditional refectory style long wooden tables and benches, cream tiled walls, and real fast food. Josie chose a steak & kidney pie with mash and gravy, while Dee opted for a chicken & mushroom pie with mash and gravy (philistines...gravy. Really?) while I stuck with my traditional choice. It was every bit as good as I remember, and as good as I hoped.

If pie & mash doesn't appeal then wander along to the river end of the market. There you will find such a variety of food stalls I guarantee you'll find something to tickle your taste buds. There is everything from paella to dim sum, pizza to Moroccan cuisine, crepes to sushi, cupcakes to South African wurst. On a previous visit we tried the teriyaki, fresh tempura prawn and cooked to order chicken teriyaki on sticky rice was the stand out choice. Next time we're there I think I'll try the dim sum, it all looked so good it's really difficult to choose though. It's great to see some slightly more unusual food on offer as well, with Italian fried rice balls stuffed with all sorts of fillings, Ethiopian vegetarian dishes, Moroccan fusion food, as well as some slightly more mainstream things like fresh crepes and fruit with chocolate fondue poured over the top. There is a cupcake stand featuring a vast array of full sized and miniature vegan cupcakes, all beautifully decorated and presented, and a really good baker selling lots of different breads, cakes, pastries and macaroons.

Churros are Mexican straight donuts. Very tasty, covered in sugar and cinnamon.

The guys on this sushi stall were making california rolls and maki rolls while we watched. If it wasn't for the fact that we had sushi Saturday night I would have given it a try.

The food being produced on this dim sum stall looked particularly good. A wide variety of steamed buns, fried and steamed dumplings, char siu pork, all sorts of yummy looking things.

Greenwich is certainly worth a visit just for the history. The National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory, the Royal Park, and soon to reopen phoenix-like from her own ashes the Cutty Sark (one of the fastest tea clippers ever to set sail) in her fully restored glory are all worth the trip alone. Grab lunch from one of the market stalls, or perhaps one of the little independent tea rooms or restaurants around the town in preference to the generic chain places like Nandos or Zizzi. I don't have anything against them, it's just that there is better, fresher, more imaginative food available at very reasonable prices right there in the market.

A day out in Hastings - including Webbe's Rock-a-nore

Webbe's at the Fish Café in Rye came very close to impressing us but somehow fell short. This is particularly galling because, as previously mentioned, their ethos really appeals to me. When we found out that Webbe's have a restaurant right next to the net drying huts at Hastings, one that specialises in fish landed from boats not 50 yards away, we had to give it a try. So at the first sign of a bit of sunshine on a rare mid-week day off together we jumped into the car and ambled off down to the coast through the back lanes to check it out.

It really is in the perfect location, right opposite the new Jerwood Gallery and the fantastic old fisherman's huts and net drying sheds on the front near Hastings Old Town. We walked around the huts and saw a lot of fresh plaice, lemon sole, Dover sole, and lots of fish I didn't recognise for sale from little kiosks right next to the boats that caught them. It's a great part of Hastings and well worth the journey on its own. There is a fishing museum, what used to be a Sea Life Centre but is now an independent aquarium, the East Lift funicular railway and a smugglers museum all within a five minute walk of a large car park. And after lunch I recommend taking a stroll along the old High Street and a rummage through the antique and junk shops found there.

Talking of lunch.....Webbe's presents itself very well. It has the look of a Spanish Taverna on the outside, but don't be fooled because it's a good mixture of classic and contemporary inside. All the tables are ranged across the front of he building, so half are in the windows. If you prefer, you can perch yourself on a stool at the bar and eat oysters and drink champagne, whatever takes your fancy. We were shown to a little table in the window at the right hand end of the dining room. Rather like the Rye Webbe's, the pass and some of the food prep areas are on full view and diners are encouraged to watch their dishes being assembled.

The menu held very few surprises, given the location. A fairly short list of main courses speaks to me of fresh produce and minimal use of the freezer, there were a handful of meat dishes, a couple of salads and ten-ish fish dishes on offer. The refreshing surprise on the carte was a selection of taster dishes on the list of starters, an imaginative idea that we were keen to try. Our waitress explained that each dish was two mouthfuls, or two fillets, and is designed to give you a taste of something without you having to order a whole dish. We chose five different tasters to share as our starter, picking a few slightly unusual things (for us, anyway!) to try. We had salt and pepper squid with chilli jam, potted brown shrimp and toast, sardine fillets with gazpacho dip, soused herring in honey mustard sauce, and tempura cod with sweet and sour sauce. It all looked very good indeed, and we were generally very pleased with our choices. The squid and the sardines were certainly the high points, both perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious. The shrimp and the herring were pretty good, but the cod was very disappointing indeed. It was tasteless and obviously unseasoned, not what I expected from a specialist seafood kitchen.

I'll come back to the selection of starters, or tasters, or whatever you want to call them later. For the main event I went for a seriously local speciality, plaice fillets with brown shrimps cooked in butter, and Dee chose smoked haddock fish cakes on creamed leeks. The waitress advised us that although the fish cakes could be considered a dish in its own right, my plaice came on its own and that I should probably order some side dishes to accompany it. I chose triple cooked chips and a plum tomato salad (at an extra £2.50 and £2.00 respectively) and sat back to wait. As with our starters, the food arrived quite quickly and was nicely presented. My fish was tasty and perfectly cooked, and there was plenty of it. The chips were really good, crunchy on the outside and fluffy inside, I almost wished I'd ordered the classic fish & chips, but not quite. The plum tomato salad, on the other hand, turned out to be a sliced tomato with olive oil drizzled on it. More of that later as well.

Dee's fish cakes were so overpoweringly smokey that neither of us were very keen on them when we tried them in isolation, but when eaten with the creamed leaks the dish as a whole made sense as the flavours worked very well together. The portion was enormous and even with our combined appetites we couldn't finish it all, each cake was the size of a pool ball.

We shared an absolutely delicious chocolate mousse with espresso cream and caramelised banana for desert, along with a very good cappuccino for me and a good quality pot of tea for Dee. Again, desert was nicely presented and each element was perfectly executed. The tiny ball of pistachio ice cream linked the textures really well.

Over all then, a really good meal, you'd think, right? Well.....yes....and no. This is our second visit to a Webbe's restaurant and it is the second time we have left feeling a little disappointed but without really being able to put our fingers on exactly why this should be. Having thought about it for a couple of days, though, I think I'm groping towards the answer.

When I pay this much for a meal I want the chef to have done more than just cook what I order. I want him to put a dish of food together that features elements that compliment each other. The customer should not have to do this part of the process himself! For example, a good chef knows that balance is necessary, and that each dish requires sharp notes to offset rich flavours, saltiness to balance sweetness and so on. So if I have to choose my own vegetables and so on, how do I know what will best compliment the main component? This strikes me not only as simply another way to charge each customer an extra fiver, but extremely lazy on the part of the chef and the establishment! So to return to the taster dishes, how do I know what is likely to go well together, and also compliment my choice of main course? By all means, offer the tasters like tapas, as a stand alone thing perhaps, but if you have pretensions of fine dining I'm afraid you must work harder before the customer walks in the door. Sorry, Webbe's, it was an excellent effort but I don't think we'll be back. There are just too many really good places in Hastings doing really good fish & chips for a lot less money. True, the surroundings might not be as classy, but the fish probably came off the same boat.

On our post-lunch stroll round the old town we stumbled across a little bakery that over-delivered on just about every level. Judges Bakery, as it turns out, is a bit of an institution in Hastings. Fantastic little fruit pies, big fat flapjacks, crusty bread, huge Italian meringues, a fat boy's heaven indeed! Having chosen a couple of little apple pies to have for supper later, we turned to look at the rest of the little shop and found it packed with unusual and interesting produce. Fresh fruit and vegetables, local organic meat and sausages, big slabs of cake, it all looked delicious. Not the place to do your weekly shop, perhaps, but certainly somewhere to visit for ingredients if you're planning something a bit special or simply fancy a treat. Probably not worth the effort of going all the way to Hastings just to visit this shop, but if you're here anyway, walk up the Old London Road and find it. Pick something nice for later, eh?

My birthday day out in London.

Saturday was my birthday, so Dee took me up to London for lunch, shopping and a good mooch round the West End. We caught the high speed train to St Pancras, then jumped a tube to Piccadilly Circus. At this point I still wasn't sure where we were going or what was in store as Dee had done a great job of keeping me in the dark. We walked round the corner into Haymarket, then turned right into the start of Jermyn Street. Jermyn St is probably best known for its tailors and shirt makers, but there are a number of cute little arcades, shoemakers and cafés as well. Well worth a stroll along if you're in the area and fancy seeing how the other half live!

At the far end of Jermyn St is Franco's, a very upmarket Italian bistro and café where Dee had booked us a table for lunch. We were greeted just inside the door by the hostess, who knew it was my birthday from the booking and made just the right amount of fuss of us as she showed us to our table in the main dining room. The restaurant has a very light, modern take on the 1920's look, with beautifully dressed tables and plenty of space for diners. Much of this space is achieved by the careful and clever seating arrangement, where no diners are required to sit facing a wall. We were sat against one side wall on a table that was a generous size for two, and would have been a cozy fit for four, but because we were sat next to each other we were both looking into the room, rather than opposite each other as is usually the case.

We had a glass of limoncello each to warm us up a bit while we chose from the menu (which had a slightly retro feel and look to it, although the dishes themselves were modern takes on Italian classics). Without having discussed it first, it turned out that both of us had decided to order things we wouldn't usually choose. And yes, before you ask, there were scallops on the menu and no, I didn't order them! I figure we'll have our fill of scallops at the Rye Scallop Festival at the end of the month. Prices ranged from around £8 to £20 for starters and from £16 to £30 for main courses which in Kent would be quite pricey, but here in the West End of London is remarkably good for high quality food. There was a very well balanced selection of dishes to choose from for each course, with seafood very much in evidence along side pigeon, beef, veal and lamb dishes. The waiting staff were almost all Italian, which is usually a good sign, and they were clearly keen for us to enjoy our meals. We ordered our starters, a lobster, cous cous and black truffle dish for me and beef carpaccio for Dee, and chose a bottle of 2006 Barbera to wash everything down with from a very good wine list indeed. My dish was packed with chunks of lobster and had plenty of black truffle shavings on top, like all the best Italian dishes the flavours were simple and elegant. Dee's beef just melted in the mouth, and the pepper flavours from the rocket salad and the truffle shavings were balanced by parmesan shavings and really high quality, wafer thin slices of lean beef.

We both went for really traditional main courses, pasta for Dee and risotto for me. Dee followed my lead from the starter and had lobster linguini. Like all good Italian restaurants, Franco's makes all its pasta fresh every day and it really shows. The linguini was cooked to perfection, just the right side of al-dente with enough bite left in it to give good mouth-feel, and packed with flavour. There was no shortage of lobster meat here either, and with a little very light tomato and pepper sauce to pull everything together the whole dish was perfect. My Atlantic prawn and lime risotto was absolutely delicious too, but was a very different type of dish indeed. If I'm absolutely honest, I couldn't pick out the lime at all, although it is possible that the lime is just there to stop the dish becoming too stodgy and if that's the case then it certainly worked. There were very few pieces of prawn, but the prawn flavour ran deep through each mouthful and was strong on the finish. It was one of those dishes that you're disappointed that there isn't more when you get to the end, even though the portion size was generous. As is often the case with risotto, it wasn't much to look at but is certainly made up for that in taste and texture.

By now the restaurant was about three quarters full and the atmosphere was building nicely. There were several tables of Italian diners (another good sign!) and some young family groups as well as several other tables of two. There were plenty of members of staff around, so the dining room filling up had no impact on our service and each passing waiter glanced towards us and our table to make sure we were ok. Dee ordered tiramisu to finish, which turned out to be about the size of half a house brick but light as a feather. The coffee liqueur in the sponge base was far from overpowering, and the sheer volume of cream meant that Dee was unable to finish it. After a long and agonising internal debate, I chose the chocolate torta caprese with home made pistachio ice cream for desert over affogato (a shot of espresso poured over vanilla ice cream), which turned out to be a mistake. Torta caprese is a sort of dry, dense sponge cake, a bit like a dry brownie. This one was a little too dry for me and the tiny ball of ice cream did little to change that despite being delicious because the whole thing was smothered in icing sugar so thick that I had to tap it off each fork full before I could eat it. Such a shame, because up to that point the food had been excellent. The presentation was spot on throughout, with my torta served on a glass dish decorated with piped chocolate saying "Happy birthday", a lovely little touch.

We ordered tea for Dee, a strong cappuccino for me, and a plate of petit fours to finish off. Tea in restaurants is such a hit and miss affair that Dee's expectations weren't high, particularly as the Italians are better known for coffee, so it came as a lovely surprise when the pot of tea that arrived was just right. This cheered me right up, because if the tea was that good I had high hopes of a really good cappuccino and I wasn't disappointed. Strong, rich, full of flavour, what a way to end a meal. Another slight stumble though, as the petit fours did not arrive with the drinks. We reminded the waiter, who was most apologetic and rushed off to sort some out for us. We finished our drinks, and still no petit fours. The maitre d' was quite embarrassed, particularly as it was her that took the order in the first place. So much so that she made sure they weren't on the bill, but put a selection in a little box for us to take home.

All in all, we had a wonderful lunch that was packed full of simple flavours and interesting textures excellently prepared. The presentation was excellent, the restaurant itself was delightful (and if you eat from the set lunch menu, very reasonably priced indeed!) and but for one or two tiny things, our meal would have been perfect. As it was, it was the best Italian meal I have had outside of Italy itself, and better than many I have had inside.

Value for money

There is a discussion to be had about value for money, prompted in no small way by our visit to Broadstairs on Saturday. There are few more depressing places than English seaside towns in the off-season, but Broadstairs is fighting hard to keep itself going. Ok, so there are lots of empty shop units which look like they may well have been bars, cafés or restaurants until fairly recently, but there are many that are open and trading even on a chilly but bright Saturday afternoon in January. And who knows, many may well reopen during the summer season as pop-up restaurants etc.

We had in mind that as we were at the seaside we should have fish & chips, so we had a stroll along the front and a mooch around the old part of town before picking the Submarine Café pretty much at random. It looked fun, clean and more importantly open, so in we went. We had cod, chips & peas with bread & butter and a mug of tea each for just £12 between the two of us. Most main courses were about £5, the deserts were around £2.50. And this is where the value for money bit comes in...about half way through my fish (clearly cooked from frozen, but actually ok) I started to think that I'd rather have paid a few pounds more for something better. But actually, the more I thought about it, the more I thought they had it about right. The food was ok! The chips were good, the peas were nice and the fish was ok, so for £4.95 in a sit-down restaurant this is tremendous value. I'm sure there are places within a short walk that would charge you more, but would what you got be proportionately better? Probably not. If you're out for the day with a young family I suspect you will struggle to find anywhere better to feed your family without spending a lot more money.

Several places stood out as looking worthy of a visit next time we come back, including a really interesting looking Italian place called Posillipo very close to the sea front. Even though it is literally next door to Prezzo's (which was twice the size and had a great looking balcony seating area looking out over the bay) it was packed, while Prezzo's was nearly empty. Certainly worth a look on a future visit, if only for what comes out of the wood burning pizza oven.

Approaching the value for money argument from the opposite direction to the Submarine Café is a restaurant simply called "54". (Can you guess what number Broadstairs High Street it is?) 54 also offers fish & chips, but they charge £14.95 for it. "How can that be value for money?" I hear you cry! Well, for that you get salmon fillet, tiger prawn, monk fish and a scallop in lime & coriander batter with home made hand cut chips in a beautiful looking dining room off tables with white linen and nice cutlery. If it tastes as good as it sounds, then I would argue that in other restaurants we have visited such a dish would cost well over £20. So which is better value for money? Hard to say, and I suppose ultimately it comes down to your personal priorities.

After a bracing walk along the sea wall we stopped at Chiappinis for a hot chocolate and something sweet. I had ice cream (delicious!), Dee had a strawberry tart, we both had glasses of hot chocolate in lovely retro silver plated holders, and it cost exactly the same as our lunches. Somehow lunch felt very cheap, but this felt very expensive. Good value? Not sure, but we liked it. Go to Broadstairs, soak up some of the history, the Napoleonic Eagle, Charles Dickens' Bleak House...or if the weather suits, just sit on the beach and make sand castles...whatever floats your boat!

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 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.