Displaying items by tag: lunch

Yes, she took a group of children to the brasserie in the White Lion in Aldeburgh, where Jason cooks, which I thought just proves my theory about East Suffolk and London, and then I found out that she was born in Ipswich!

Are they so busy here at the Museum of East Anglian Life that they have run out of food by 1pm on both the days I visit? The broccoli soup and cheese scone was very nice but the only thing left on the menu. And no, we can't 'wait for half an hour' until you sort yourselves out in the kitchen!

We’d long been planning to try this place when going for walks along the docks at Woodbridge, particularly when it regularly announces fish soup and seafood platters.  Finally we got the chance at the weekend.   It’s in a great spot for watching the tide and the boats and the menu is appealing, with a good choice of wine by the glass.  I went straight for the fish soup and the boys started with oysters which they loved. 

Then I became obsessed with the size of the tiny kitchen and the absence of any cooking smells and it became clear that the food must be cooked elsewhere and reheated at the restaurant.  Nothing wrong with that, but if I go back I will either go for afternoon tea (cakes looked delicious) or for a cold seafood platter and mixed leaf salad.

Hidden away in the Old Fox Yard in Stow, it's worth a visit for the Peach Flan alone, a retro delight decorated with loads of squeezy cream. In fact the whole cafe is a riot of signs and hundreds and thousands.

Crespolini

(Italian Spinach and Ricotta stuffed, vegetarian pancakes)

Make up a batch of pancakes, either plain or Buckwheat, using the pancake batter recipe

For the filling:

• 500g/1lb ( raw weight) of spinach leaves
• 500g/ 1lb Ricotta cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Steam the spinach until tender (microwaving in a cling filmed container works very well for spinach, don’t add water)

Drain any excess liquid from the spinach and add the Ricotta cheese, salt and pepper to taste, mix well.

Divide the mixture between the cooked pancakes and roll up. Place the pancakes in a single layer in an ovenproof dish.

For the Béchamel sauce

• 600ml/1.5 pints milk
• 1 onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cloves
• 6 black peppercorns
• 50g/2oz butter
• 50g/2oz plain flour
• Pinch grated nutmeg (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 100g/4oz Parmesan Cheese

(for those of you in a real hurry, forget the onion, cloves, bay leaf and peppercorns and just go ahead making the sauce with the butter, flour and milk)

Impale the onion with the cloves and place in a saucepan with the bay leaves, peppercorns and milk.

Bring to a simmer and then leave to stand

Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour, cook over a low heat for a couple of minutes

Strain the milk into the flour and butter and stir well (a whisk is best to avoid lumps)

Cook for a few minutes and add the grated nutmeg if using.

Pour the sauce over the pancakes and sprinkle over the Parmesan cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven 190C/380C Gas 4 for 30 – 40 minutes, or microwave, and grill the top.

Yes, so am I. Tell us where yours is and we'll tell everyone else to come to it.

Stopped for a bite to eat at lunchtime on Friday, you have to duck your head to get in this quaint tea room on the edge of Suffolk at Oulton Broad. Home made cakes are their speciality and their ginger and carrot cakes were especially good, but we had ordered a cheese and tomato quiche before we saw the board with home-made sausage and onion pie or pea and ham soup on it .  You will need to be friendly with your neighbours as these tables are close together but when your coke comes on a saucer with a doily you know you are in the right place and the whole meal with a pot of tea was only  £10!

Home made leek and potato soup in that new tea room next to the bakery. A bit too thick and lumpy with potato and not enough salt but better than anything from a tin. Served with bread but is it from the bakery?

Visited Thorpeness Golf Club and hotel for the magazine and surprised to find that anyone can go there to eat. All day bar snacks sound nice (Omelette Arnold Bennett among other things...) but I had celeriac as a vegetable with my pork - first time ever served this in a year of writing about Suffolk restaurants.  Chocolate tart with hazelnut pastry was fab - buttery and dark.

On the way back from Suffolk-meets-Islington Satis House in Yoxford I see free marrows on the side of the road and lots of pumpkins as we near Halloween. Have already made pumpkin soup at home so don't buy one, and fed up with marrows/courgettes.  Stop at Yoxford pub on the way home and visualise the home made casserole or delicious sandwich I would like to find on their menu, unlikely on a Monday I know. Choose liver and onions. Yet again served vile dry chunky liver, glutinous gravy, frozen veg and huge pile of instant mash that you could plaster a house with. At least it didn't have redcurrants on it like the one I had once on the way to Newmarket once.