Monday, January 28, 2013

giraffe, 304-305 The Loft, The Gallery, Westfield Stratford City, London E20 1ET

Giraffe is now a medium sized restaurant chain  with 46 restaurants in the UK.  It has a reputation for selling fairly healthy food though it is a bit expensive.

 

Myself and miss s decided to take  advantage of an offer giving us 40 percent off our food bill and we also got half priced wine as well.  My over all verdict on the food here is that the portions are quite generous though the menu was a little unimaginative and I would not want to pay the full price for the food.

 

As usual with Westfield Stratford restaurants, the atmosphere is far from intimate.  It feels and sounds as though you are eating in a walled off area in a shopping centre which is true but places like Kings Cross station do a better job of allowing units to create their own atmosphere.

 

for starters then I had olives which were fairly plain but good quality. and I had them with a barbecue duck tostada which was duck in orange sauce with salad in a crispy tortilla a bit like a taco.  this was tasty though I thought there was not much duck.

 

Miss s had   something called Pot Stickers which were essentially Chinese style chicken dumplings.  I didn't try these but she said they were tasty.

 

For mains I had baby back ribs with skin on fries and crunchy coleslaw.  the baby back ribs were nice and tender and smothered in barbecue  sauce.  they were messy but the meat fell easily off the bones.  The fries were crispy but there was no skin in evidence and I can't say whether they were frozen or not.  generally I like fries thicker than these were though the fact that they were properly cooked meant that I didn't mind them.  the coleslaw was a real disappointment though.  It was just salad with a bit of extra cabbage in vinegar.  no mayo or anything to make it creamy!

 

Miss s had chicken with  garlic in parmesan  breadcrumbs (posh chicken Kiev basically) served with mash.  she said she quite liked this though she was not keen on the mash as it tasted instant.  I didn't try it so can't say.

 

Miss s still felt hungry so she had a BBQ Chicken & Smoked Cheddar Quesadilla which came with salad and some of that horrible crunchy coleslaw which as I have already said was particularly grim.

 

 

Miss s did not have a dessert but she had a cointreau hot chocolate instead.  I had the frozen vanilla yogurt which tasted more of yogurt than vanilla though it was acceptable.  I wish I’d gone for the fruit sorbet instead.

 

I finished off with a cointreau hot chocolate myself and miss s had 2 of them.

Over all the food was reasonable, with a few exceptions.  the menu is not extensive but it seems that most dishes are cooked quite well.  without the food discount it would have cost over £45 each and while the quality of the food was pretty good, it was not mind blowing and at full price it would have been rather expensive.  given the helpful nature of the staff, I give this restaurant a 6 out of 10.

 

I can see no reason not to eat here unless coleslaw is important to you, though given the price tag it's not a place to go on a tight budget.

 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Royal Beacon Hotel Exmouth EX8 2AF

I visited this hotel with 3 other friends on the 21st December for a Christmas dinner.  Unlike other places I have visited, it was not necessary to choose the menu in advance.

 

For starters, I had Ham Hock Roulade  with soused carrot purée, piccalilli and poppy seed toast

 

This was a reasonably generous portion and the quality was good.  It came served on a wooden board but the food was quite easy to eat so this was not a problem.  I found the soused carrot purée a bit on the strong side for me but then I don’t always like overpowering vinegar.  The piccalilli was absolutely beautiful however.  it was homemade, it had enough vinegar to give it bite and it was full of crunchy vegetables.  The extra toast went well with the ham hock roulade which bulked out the starter nicely.  I would also say that the ham hock was a bit on the salty side even though ham generally is quite salty anyway

 

Debbie had the Pan Seared Scallops  with fennel puree and crisp Parma ham.  This was a nice dish but there were only about 4 scallops    which I thought was a little bit on the mean side especially as they were served on a large dinner plate.

 

Roy had the winter vegetable soup and this had a lot of different chunky winter vegetables in it and it was of good quality.

 

Martin had the Baked Camembert  with Garlic, Rosemary & Thyme with crusty bread 

 

He particularly enjoyed this and thought it was a decent sized starter.

 

For my main I had the Country Beef  with Yorkshire pudding, a rich red wine jus and honey shallots

This turned out to be a cut of top side of beef which was tender and really flavoursome.  I felt however that the roast potatoes were a little soggy and generally a bit underwhelming.

 

Roy had the Traditional Roasted Devonshire Turkey  with an orange, cranberry and

chestnut stuffing, bacon roll and a turkey jus 

 

this was also a reasonable portion and he said it was quite well cooked.

 

Martin went for Roasted Cod Fillet  with a pea and parmesan risotto and bacon lardons.  He was recovering from a stomach bug though he got no vegetables with his meal (see below).  He said it was well cooked and quite easy on the stomach which is what he wanted.

 

Debbie had the Grilled Fillets of Sea Bass  with crab risotto and shellfish bisque.  She felt there could have been more of it and gain she had no veg but she said the food was of generally good quality.

 

When we got the main courses delivered, a dish of vegetables arrived separately consisting of broccoli, carrots and parsnips.  These were fine with roast dinners but I’m not sure they were the best choices for Martin and Debbie.  Roy and me therefore ate the vegetables.  There was probably enough vegetables for 3 decent portions so we did eat plenty but there was no way enough for 4 people.

 

I think that each person should be given a bowl of vegetables or the fact that one bowl is for 4 should be explained.  It may be that if we had asked, more veg would have been given.

 

For pudding, Debbie and myself had the cheese and biscuits which came with celery, apple and quince jelly.  This was quite nice but there was only a brie and a cheddar   cheese.  I’d have liked a blue cheese as well and in general it came on a big plate but it was quite a small portion even though the quality was quite acceptable.

 

Roy had the Christmas pud which he said was quite good and Martin had  the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice-cream and baileys anglaise   I believe.  He said this was pretty good but baileys anglaise   is really  Baileys custard and it would probably be clearer if they stuck to that rather than trying to be pretentious.  If I’m wrong here I’m happy for there to be comments posted!

 

In general we all thought the food was of reasonable quality.  Staff took our orders while we were in the bar and called us through to the restaurant when the starters were ready.  I thought this was a nice touch that got the evening off to a good start.  We thought that the portions were perhaps on the small side as the meal cost  £22 for 3 courses, but Christmas meals often do not represent best value.  I would have to give mine a 7 out of 10.  Poor slightly soggy roast potatoes  and a rather limited selection of cheese were my only real complaints  though the quantity would probably not  have been enough if the veg had been divided up between 4 people rather than 2.