Ten Bells

He says...

Oh dear, its been ages since we've posted. How slack of us... So we're going to The Ten Bells on Friday - I've drunk (and been drunk) there on numerous occasions but never knew it has decent food in the restaurant upstairs.

It was, of course, the pub at the centre of the Jack the Ripper murders, and even temporarily (and tastelessly) renamed itself The Jack the Ripper... The pub featured in Alan Moore's brilliant From Hell...

These days its more likely to be populated by East London hipsters than soon-to-be-slaughtered prostitutes.

Menu-wise there's a rather nice sounding grouse with celeriac, blackcurrants and white onion instead... and the featherblade beef with horseradish, swede and onion rings sounds intriguingly odd.

Restaurant number ten in France, perchance?

She says...
 
After the delights of Eastern European food we're back on the salads in preparation for a blow out at restaurant #10.... whenever we find it.

We're off again shortly to hang out with my parents, brother, his wife and child somewhere near Lyon, so could there be a restaurant numero dix to enjoy whilst we're there?



Found! Le Relais Des Dix Crus Hotel looks to be within 40 minutes drive of the villa my parents have rented... oh, on further inspection the hotel restaurant appears to be shut. Damn.

There is this place, but it looks over an hour from the villa, and it would be cheating a bit as it's really dix-sept... http://en.infotourisme.net/restaurant/saint-verand/6713/auberge-des-dix-sept-clochers

Hummm... back to London and there's the Ten Bells in Shoreditch, but Matt's already been there; 10 Cases, which looks great! But Matt's also been there already....

And one I've been to already is Japanese cafe Ten Ten Tei in Soho, which does do very good Japanese food at good prices as the blog on the link testifies. I do love a good bit of sashimi, but good food is NOT the point of our blog now is it....



So, Enfield anyone? Bar Ten's Charcoal Grill's restaurant has a very ordinary menu enlivened by frequent mention of halloumi cheese. Having recently reignited my love of grilled halloumi at, of all places, Nandos, this could pursuade me to trek out to Essex once again.

Three Crowns, Stoke Newington

  He Says... Been here a few times over the years, most recently at the end of former flatmate Ben's (hi Ben) birthday party this year... it was downstairs in the tiny sweatbox of a music venue where they were playing some kind of Balkan white funk meets Italian new jack crunk combination... or maybe I've misremembered it....

Returning...

He says...

My review of Pier 9 is sadly still not written and I suspect it may never happen as my fading brain cells can't rightly recall much about the meal, apart from the Red Arrows and some pirates hanging around.

Let's just say that it was NICE, shall we?

Reason for delay is we've been away on  Summer vacation to Bulgaria and Romania, where we dined on  top local foods like pork cooked in lard here, a lot of buttery tripe soup (better than it sounds) and pancakes filled with chicken. And loads and loads and loads of bloody polenta. Unsurprisingly, many of the locals are FAT.

But the award for best restaurant goes to Casa Hirscher in Brasov, where I had some fantastic swordfish with the ubiquitous polenta and a creamy mushroom sauce - all piled up with a stick through it to show that it's a PROPER RESTAURANT.

NINE: Pier 9

She says...

"Why are you going to Hastings?"
"For a pirate convention"
"No, seriously why are you going to Hastings?"
"To visit a restaurant with '9' in the title"
"Honestly now, stop joshing, why are you going to Hastings?"

Yeah, talk about unlikely. What was even more unlikely was that we'd manage to choose the first magnificently clear and sunny day after many long tortuous days of torrential rain. Go us.

The two hours on the slow train from Victoria was a bit tiresome, but there was much to welcome us at the other end. Thousands of people in fancy dress waving skull and crossbone flags, faces painted. Bands who'd re-branded themselves  (I hope) for the event (The Sex Pirates, The Peerless Pirates) playing in the historical square and on the beach. And not least our friends, Anthony & Lucy, who we'd convinced to join us with their 2 children. Our very jolly party enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the seafront to the restaurant for a late Sunday lunch.

Within a beautifully renovated townhouse overlooking the sea, Pier 9 is part of the Zanzibar Hotel. A smart looking building sandwiched between slightly more shabby exteriors.

We were shown to the back by friendly staff, past a shiny white grand piano (an attempt to bring Essex glamour into sleepy Sussex?), to a cool and relaxing semi-private room looking out onto their tiered terrace. The menu looked great and reasonably priced at 2 courses for £18, three for £24. Our guests were suitably impressed, us relieved.

Starters of potted shrimp and deep-fried seafood (or fritto misto di mare, if you will) went down a treat, whilst my beef carpaccio was the only disappointment all meal. All the ingredients were fresh and individually tasty, but the tarragon mousse and bitter rocket salad totally over-powered the delicate beef. However, my main of  breaded plaice was lightly dusted, expertly cooked and accompanied by a perfectly judged muddle of potato, crab and capers. Matt's lamb and Lucy's pork and chorizo also recieved praise, but Anthony's special - seared tuna with wasabi mash earned a 'sensational'. Well jel.

They also scored major blog points for offering to 'cook anything for the kids'... and the tomato and cheesey spaghetti was, I think, thoroughly enjoyed...




There was a wedding reception booked in from 6pm, which we had been warned about, so we were slightly rushed towards the bill, but through not fault of the restaurant. We would have happily had desserts and more wine though! Nothing like being left wanting more. A really lovely experience, which surely could only be topped by the red arrows doing a fly by for us... oh.

Restaurant #9: 9.5/10

Retrospectively - Peir 1 in Camden

She says...

Saw this on my travels to see a band at the once trendy Barfly in Camden...

Yo ho ho...

He says...

The train tickets are booked - we're heading to Hastings this Sunday. And what a day to choose, for it will be Hastings Pirate Day! In which the city will attempt to reclaim its crown of hosting largest gathering of pirates! The Red Arrows will even be performing a fly past!


Apparently 4,500 people turned out for last year's event. Now this is something I'm genuinely quite excited about.


Time to go home and write our farewell letters to our families...