East Midlands Food Festival

Really looking forward to the East Midlands Food Festival, next weekend, 3rd and 4th October, at Brooksby College, near to Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.

We have visited the Festival for many years, both at the present location at Brooksby College and the previous location on the site of Melton Mowbray Cattle Market.

Having looked through the list of exhibitors, we recognise the name of some, having bought from them in the past. Living in the Melton area, we have been spoiled for choice when it comes to pork pies and stilton cheese, but it still great to meet the producers and learn more.

In particular we will be looking out for:

• Bouverie Lodge - Bison Farm - Great lunchtime burgers too!
• Dickinson & Morris - Home of the quintessential Melton Mowbray Pork Pie
• Jimmy's Farm - TVs best loved farmer
  
• Lincolnshire Poacher
  
• Melton Cheeseboard
  
• The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Co - Our children's favourite
• Gwatkin Cider Co - Keeps Heidi happy
• Old Fashioned Pudding Co - These pies freeze really well and are delicious

There was also a company from the Isle of Wight, selling plaits of garlic. I don't see them on the exhibitors list, but we're hoping to see them again to replenish our stocks. Last year's purchase was great, but was used too quickly.

I don't remember any of these companies at previous festivals, but these will also be on our "Must See" list.

• Chilli Queen and Fire Foods for a bit of spice
• Chapmans Fishcakes

Check this blog next week to see how we got on.

Ocean Restaurant, Tenby

My memories of my Tenby visit are fading fast - how annoying that it is now around 28 degrees at home now that we are back at work?? So I had better get on with the rest of my reviews!

My friend Kate was down for the weekend so we decided to go out for a light lunch as she was off to Manor House Leisure Park with her niece for the afternoon (apparently very good - Anna Ryder Richardson now owns it!).

We were recommended the Ocean restaurant by Kate's Mum (trust me - she know everything there is to know about Tenby!) so off we strolled. The restaurant overlooks the harbour and although lunch is served downstairs, I understand that during the evening you can sit upstairs, overlooking the bay and admiring the lovely views.

It was busy, but they quickly put 2 tables together for us and service was friendly and prompt.

We ordered a fairly light lunch - Greek Salad for Kate, Mussels for Imogen, Pizza for Scarlett, Fish cakes for Jon and then a Ciabatta steak sandwich for me. The food was very nice - the mussels were really tasty, the pizza was good, my steak sandwich was fresh, with a nice salad.

Overall, for a light lunch with a bit of atmosphere head down to the Ocean Restaurant! Next time we are down in Tenby, we will try the restaurant upstairs!

Bar 10, Tenby

As you can see we ate out quite a lot which is always nice when on holiday. We were there for the first few days with our friends Mark and Sarah who also have 2 small children so on this occasion we got the lovely Mrs Lewis in to babysit (I still don't know how old she is but she is definitely over 80 years old!) and went out without the children for a change!
We stopped at the Bush for a drink on the way (obviously!) and then made our way into Bar 10 at around 8pm. This has been a Burger bar for years so not quite my cup of tea so was pleasantly surprised to find it really nicely decorated - uber modern and very "wine bar" with a real buzz to it. For atmosphere this has to be the highlight of the holiday and comes highly recommended!
We had a table upstairs which overlooked George Street so we could watch the world go by as we chatted. The menu was good and included some fish specials as well as some interesting dishes such as good old fashioned liver and bacon.
We ordered some wine and perused the menu finally deciding on starters of crayfish and prawn cocktail for myself, whitebait for Sarah and fishcakes for both Jon and Mark. All were delicious - my prawn cocktail was really fresh, crisp and a delight to eat. The whitebait were a blast to the past and the fishcakes were tasty.
For mains we ordered steak and chips for myself and Mark and the liver and bacon for Sarah and Jon. Again, cooked really well, freshly served and very tasty.
A pretty good meal and well priced although on that night the only thing letting the place down was the slightly unfriendly waiter but having returned a few days later for a light lunch (and a much less busy bar!) the chap was much more accommodating and we had a nice glass of wine with some friends.
This would be in my top 2 places to eat in Tenby at the minute - the atmosphere is great, food tasty and not overpriced.

The Hope and Anchor Tenby

I cannot visit Tenby (and write my blog!!) without mentioning the legendary Hope and Anchor pub down in St Julian Street! Normally when the sun is relentless (not very often!!) it is a pleasant reprieve on our way back from a hard day on the Castle Beach to stop for a cold pint and a bag of crisps but this trip the weather was not good and we only managed this 2 or 3 times. Nonetheless good to see the same old people that are there most nights and funny that the kids' highlight of the entire holiday was watching Frostie on a skateboard (rumour has it he'd had a couple of shandies!) being led by 2 Dobermans until he flipped backwards on his bum amongst general roars of laughter!

Anyway, we went down there for dinner on our last night and had a reasonable meal. The portions are good value as there is always more than enough to fill you up. We ordered as follows: a garlic chicken for Imogen, an 8oz sirloin steak and chips for Scarlett (yes - the 8 yr old!), a Balti curry for Jon and Moules Mariniere for me. Service was prompt and all the meals were good although my mussels were not as good as the Qube (a bit too salty!). The garlic chicken breast was really tasty (highly recommended) and the Balti for Jon was the second curry of the day...oh to be on holiday all the time!

The Qube Restaurant, Tenby

For years, our family friends the Charnocks, had the Pam Pam Restaurant in Tenby and I could never imagine it as anything else, but now it has been updated and taken over by a young local chef and is renamed the Qube Restaurant. It is right in the heart of the town square in Tenby with seats outside in the daytime.

We booked a table for my husband's birthday and the girls were looking forward to it as we had had a good meal there last year.

We were greeted by a really friendly, cheerful waitress who continued to look after us all very well. The decor is still in need of a bit of a revamp but this did not spoil our evening in any way.

We ordered a mussels in creamy sauce to start and Jon ordered king prawns. Both were totally delicious and suffice to say that having had mussels in at least 6 Tenby restaurants this trip, these were the best by far.

We ordered main courses as follows (kids meals are available and are actually free if you eat between 5 - 6 pm but it was a special treat and the girls went "grown up"): Whole lemon sole with butter for myself, Sea bass for Jon, braised lamb shank for Immy and the grilled salmon steak for Scarlett. They were all good - the lemon sole was moist and tasty and Immy managed to finish her entire lamb dish. The sea bass was a little misleading - we thought it was a fillet but came out in a puff pastry case - a bit like a giant vol au vent! It tasted Ok though and there were plentiful amounts of sides to accompany. The garlic potatoes were a little disappointing - the garlic clearly had not been cooked through but it was not a big problem.

We had a thoroughly nice evening (despite the lashing rain!) and although pricey (between £6 and £9 for a starter and £12 to £18 for a main) this was probably the best food we had in Tenby during our visit, along with Bar 10 which I will review separately.

Ronniz Wine Bar, Tenby

Well, we have finally got back from 2 weeks in Tenby and although the weather was pretty bad we still had a lovely time with a few days on the beach and general relaxation!

We ate in lots of places so I am intending over the next few days to review most of them.
Ronniz Wine Bar came as a recommendation and we have eaten nice food in here before but unfortunately things were not good this time!

We have since found out the Matt Ronowitz (who has to be the best chef in Tenby!) has sold this business on and is now the chef at the Qube Restaurant which I shall review later. Location wise it is just off the Tudor Square in St Julian Street - a thriving street that leads down to the harbour.
The concept is great - Spanish Tapas with a "6 dishes for £20" which sounded good as a light lunch for us (2 young children included). They also do other food which includes steaks etc but we were after something light as we were going back down the beach bodyboarding (the kids were anyway!).

We chose 6 dishes which included mussels in a creamy parmesan sauce, squid in a tomato sauce, sole goujons, meatballs, beef strips in a chilli sauce and finally prawns wrapped in bacon in a garlic sauce. We also ordered a garlic bread and a portion of fries for safe measure.

Our mouths were watering as the dishes were described deliciously in the menu. Alarm bells should have rung when our bottle of white wine arrived unchilled in a wine holder with a glass already poured and topped up with ice cubes! This is a wine bar with no cold white wine??

Suffice to say the food took a good while (we were the only people in there - it was only 12 o'clock) though I am not sure why as it was clearly reheated, and tasted so. In fact the meatballs were not even reheated through - they were cold in the middle. Overall thoroughly disappointing when I have had good tapas all over the world.

We did not visit again.