Tarantino's Italian Restaurant, 51 High Street, Hornchurch, Essex RM11

Guest contributor: Adam

For our 9th wedding anniversary, my wife and I headed to Tarantino's
Italian restaurant in Hornchurch, after being recommended it by a
work colleague.

Well, thumbs up to her, for this place was everything I'd been told it
would be. Firstly, the service was really friendly. I think this is
partly due to the place being local, with another branch in Brentwood.
Very much a family affair then, and all the better for it. It avoids
any sense of corporate blandness you sometimes find in Italian
restaurants, though nearby Zizzi doesn't do too badly in this respect
despite it being part of the ASK group. Tarantino's has a regular menu
plus a couple of weekly changing specials.

I was told that the portions would be large, and that the quality
would be high. Both assertions were not wrong. I'm a big lad.

For my starter, I ordered baby back ribs with honey barbecue sauce,
and that's exactly what I got - the taste was both tangy and sweet - ,
with the ribs falling off the bone. The portion on the platter was
main meal sized. My Dearly Beloved had meatballs which were the best
I've tasted, made of a combination of beef and veal, very finely
minced and evidentially made using quality meat. Again, a larger than
average portion. So far so good.

Next we both had a tagliatele dish. Mine was served with creamy tomato
and garlic sauce, with strips of scotch steak. The beef tasted like it
was not from the cheapest cut - I guess it came from sirloin, and was
very tasty and perfectly cooked, so chewy enough without arguing with
the teeth. This was, perhaps, the best pasta dish I've ever eaten. The
sauce was delicious and robust, matching the steak strips perfectly,
and the pasta firm and not claggy in the slightest. The Wife also gave
her pasta dish eight out of ten, though I never tasted any of hers as
it contained broccoli. I'd rather die before eating this.

Mrs Wife was full up after this extravaganza of flavour and so went
straight to coffee. I ploughed on with strawberry cheesecake, which I
would rate highly, though it didn't have the wow factor of the pasta.
Big portion though, so gets 7 out of 10.

Overall, I'm going to give this place a highly recommended rating. I
do love Italian and it is quite easy to get a pasta dish right. But
it is very difficult to make a pasta meal exceptionally well, and
that's just what they've done here. Its won two awards, one being the
"Best Regional Italian Restaurant" award. With good reason.

Despite Essex's reputation of being a food desert, Hornchurch is an
area of well-kept secrets, with Bonaparte being better than most
French restaurants in London I've tried. Tarantino's has barged its
way into my "restaurants I now love" list. Out on a limb in the RM
postcode area, all these delights are skipped by the London critics
who tend to stick around the West End, Mayfair and Kensington, plus a
few of what I'd imagine can only be the local haunts of particular
journalists. Great if you live or work there. However, for us in the
far eastern suburbs, Hornchurch is an unsung oasis.

Ssssshh. We'll keep it to ourselves before all those peasants further
west discover it.

Cafe Za Za 117 New Road Whitechapel London E1 1HJ

Last week I was in Whitechapel and I intended going for a curry at the New Tayyab on Fieldgate Street.  I got given help across New road and ended up discussing local eating places.  The guy helping me said I was near Cafe Za Za which  served Mediterranean food at cheap prices.  I was curious and this lead to a change of plan.

 

I sat down in this cafe and asked for help with the menu as I cannot see to read it.  the girl who read the menu spoke poor English but I was able to get the idea of the food on offer.  Meals seemed to be mainly pasta based with every flavour of chicken imaginable.  as readers of my blog will know, I am amazed at the love affair this area's Bangladeshi population seems to have with chicken.  but this place did pasta with Coronation chicken, pasta with Italian chicken, pasta with spicy chicken and pasta with chicken and pesto and many others besides.  Hidden in this deluge of chicken were a few oddities such as pasta with fresh minted lamb, vegetable lasagne and pasta with tuner.

 

I was feeling disheartened and thinking of reverting to my original plan when the person reading the menu told me that Cottage pie was a special.  Cottage pie is nice and comforting and is a dish I sometimes use to gage the quality of cafes so I went for it.

 

The potato was really nice and creamy.  there was a bit of gravy but not too much.  the mince was very finely minced, probably too finely minced.  a small amount of curry spices had been used which gave the dish a nice taste, one that was enhanced with a liberal lashing of chilli sauce!

 

over all though there was not enough mince and the mince was too finely chopped so there was too much potato texture to make it a really good cottage pie.  At £5.00 the price was reasonable without being exceptionally good value for money.

 

The coffee was disappointing. I think it was filter coffee but of rather low quality. it tasted a little bitter and it was certainly not strong enough.  I also had a pain au chocolat which had been microwaved.  there was far too much pastry and only a little chocolate.  It tasted anything but home baked.

 

On the whole , staff were acceptably helpful without being outstanding.

 

My impression of this place is that it is run by Asians who want to dabble with Mediterranean food  without having to really cook too much.  there is far too much premade cheap food that does not taste as though it has been done fresh with care.  It is not bad but I just came out of there feeling slightly underwhelmed by the mediocrity of Cafe Za Za.  It is just too average and unremarkable and it certainly falls below the standards of many budget Italian coffee shops.

 

I give cafe Za Za 5 out of 10 as it does rather flatter to deceive and did not really live up to expectations.

wild west beef jerky

Wild West Beef Jerky is an online retailer selling Beef Jerky.

visit www.wildwestjerky.co.uk

 

I ordered samples of all 3 varieties of beef jerky sold at this site in different flavours.  Beef Jerky is dried cured smoked lean beef.  The Jerky on this site is sold as Tender Bites which are small nuggets of quite tender jerky, Gourmet which is traditional American slab beef jerky and All Natural which is described as premium beef jerky.  I think over all the Gourmet is my favourite.  the Gourmet hot and spicy and the

All natural Extreme heat both carry a good spicy kick which should bring a smile to your face while the traditional and Teriyaki flavours will suit those with less of a need for mindless spice!

 

My order was despatched within 3 working days and it was sent by royal mail which is great since I was out when the order was delivered.  If this happens with a royal mail parcel you can have the order delivered to a post office, have it redelivered or collect it from the sorting office.  this is far more flexible than having to go to the depot of a currier company.

 

Jerky is often compared to Biltong which is dried meat with an African tradition see the Savanna at www.thesavanna.co.uk to buy Biltong.

 

The Wild West Jerky site describes Biltong as being tougher and less versatile than Jerky and I would agree with this though the biltong is tougher so flavours can be released more slowly.  I liked my jerky so much that 5 packs lasted barely 12 hours!  maybe the product could have been despatched on the day it was ordered rather than a day or 2 later but this is a really minor gripe.  I give this store 8 out of 10.

Minster Tavern, 1 Minster Place, Ely CB7 4EL

The Minster Tavern is similar to a whetherspoons pub.  It is part of a chain called Town Pubs.   for information about the pub including menus visit http://www.greatvaluepubs.co.uk/theminstertavernely/

 

I visited this pub on Saturday evening and Sunday lunch time in Ely, primarily for food.  they had Spit fire on while I was there but that was the only real ale.  I would say that the food is of higher quality than whetherspoons and prices of food are in fact cheaper .  Most meals cost less than £5.

I think the spit fire was just over £2 a pint so it was a few pence dearer than whetherspoons.

 

On the Saturday night I had Steak on Moroccan flat bread.  I got about 5 ounces of reasonable quality rump steak cut into strips served with chips and salad garnish along with a bowl containing plenty of chilli sauce which was really quite hot.  also for £1.25 I got 3 corn on the cobs cooked in butter with Asian spices which I thought was good value for a side dish.  I really thought this was considerably better than most of the food I have had in whetherspoons pubs.

 

On Sunday we visited this same pub for a roast dinner.  I have to say this was more disappointing.  a roast dinner and a pint for £4.99 is excellent value but there were some problems with the food which could have been avoided.  The mash was cold.  the roast potatoes and parsnips were underdone.  I chose roast beef and this turned out to be slow roasted top side.  It was melt in the mouth tender and really nice.  On the Sunday I had Belgium Chocolate Waffles and Ice Cream.  they just met expectations though there was meant to be a chocolate sauce.  while this was there I do not think it was thick enough.  If you like chocolate as I do then the range of puddings at the Minster Tavern is great but every pudding is chocolate!

 

If the roast on Sunday had been well cooked I would have given the Minster 8 out of 10.  My only criticism would have been disappointing real ales.  I am concerned however about the unnecessarily poor quality of the roast on Sunday so regretfully I have to give this pub 6.5 out of ten.

street cafe 4 High Street ely

The Street Cafe may sound as though it is posh.  Maybe you think Paris or perhaps you think of pasta dishes and good Italian coffee.  Or maybe you think of the various attempts to give the UK a bit of European street culture.

 

Forget all about these ideas.  The Street Cafe is a Greasy Spoon cafe lifted straight from the east end of London, or that is exactly what the food is anyway.  If you want the crappiest sausages, sweaty bacon, bubble and squeak that was frozen or a big mixed grille of lamb chops, pork chops, burger sausage and chips that is in fact all fried then you are in the right place.

 

The food is very cheap and plentiful but like many of these kind of cafes the quality is not great but it will do, particularly if you are quite hungry but relatively broke.  I had a breakfast of sausage, bacon, egg, hash brown, beans, 2 slices of toast and a tea for £4.99

 

OK every expense had been spared in purchasing some of the ingredients.  the sausages were of predictably low quality and the bread was on a par with a supermarket's basic range.  I generally avoid the coffee in these kind of places.  I find tea is a much safer option.  But for just shy of £5 what can you expect?  I certainly came out of there full for sure and did not need to eat again until tea time.  staff said hello and goodbye when we left and they were generally quite friendly.  the food was hot and freshly fried so while quality did not exceed expectations I would say that, for its market, this cafe is on the good side of average.  I give it 6 out of 10. 

ely cathedral

While visiting Ely last week, we wondered into the cathedral.  this is easily the largest building in Ely.  Mark and Debbie were certainly wooed and wowed by the size and magnificence of the place but, apart from wondering briefly about the history of the toilets and what they had been used for in the past, my chief concern was the quality of the cafe!  If you want other facts figures and info visit the cathedral website at www.elycathedral.org

 

the cafe is a typical churchy affair selling mainly pastry.  there were 2 vegetarian quiches, sausage rolls, various sponge cakes,a few rather basic sandwiches in the cheese and tomato, ham and tomato or plain cheese style and of course tea, coffee and juice.

 

I opted for a mixed pepper quiche with coleslaw and salad leaves.  the quiche was home made and maybe someone had made it at home then hidden it in the cupboard for a while and forgot about it.  It was rather dry. not stale but I am glad it was a small one.  the coffee was I think made from ground rather than instant coffee but it was not of the highest quality.  After a wonder around then this cafe was a welcome break.  Staff were quite helpful and friendly.

 

I can not give this more than 5 out of 10.  If you are visiting the cathedral then by all means go there for a cupper and something to eat but this cafe is not an attraction that stands up in its own right and it is not worth a special visit for purely culinary purposes.

USA Fried Chicken, 3 Forehill, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4AA

Last weekend I paid a visit to Ely with some friends.  After the customary Friday night of gentle beers we decided to go for something to eat.  My friend Mark fancied a kebab so we went out on the look out for one.

 

Fairly near the centre of Ely we discovered USA Fried Chicken which seems to sell most of the fast foods that are popular in the UK with the exception of curry.  It sold fried chicken of course, chip  shop food such as fish, pies and chips, pizzas, ribs and kebabs. 

 

It seems that the chips were made with real potato though when we got there they had been sitting in the fryer for a while as it was at about half 10 just before the big pub rush.  Mark and myself went for Doner kebabs which I would describe as above average.  you could tell the meat was lamb. it was not too greasy. the pita bread was freshly toasted. there was plenty of cabbage and onion and the chilli sauce was quite hot though maybe a little thin.

 

Given that this is not a specialist kebab shop, I would have to give the quality of the kebab 6.5 out of 10.  Doner meat is generally too artificial and I would have liked the whole thing to stay together better but in general I would say a good effort for a non-kebab specialist.  Staff did ask us what we wanted as well rather than just assuming we were drunk so we just wanted everything.