The Golden Fleece/Pub Food/Carlisle

After a busy weekend working, my Husband and I decided to go out for dinner. We thought we might try somewhere different, and as we had often passed The Golden Fleece on the A689 from Carlisle to Brampton, we thought we would give it a go.

I telephoned before going to check they had Vegetarian options on the menu, the girl who answered the phone explained that there was nothing written on the menu but the Chef would be more than happy to make me something, and she mentioned curries, stroganoff, stir-fries.

Sounded good, so off we went.

Loads of parking outside, we entered via the back door which lead out onto the carpark.

We were shown into the restaurant part where we had a choice of tables. The tables were nicely set with pretty tableclothes and modern table mats. Pity the background music was the local radio station though, not too bad music, but the repetative commercial adverts were a little irritating. The seats were past their best with the springs collapsing underneath you when you sat, actually once sat down they were quite comfy, but other dinners were shuffling about swapping seats, so they must have been all the same.

The waitress was a nice young lady, very friendly and helpful, but quite inexperienced. She had to go and check almost every query with the Chef, such as what the Soup was (asked by another diner) and whether they could do a dish without peppers.

The menu looked quite good, with some nice options that you don't find elsewhere, such as Duck Wraps, and Pate Stuffed Mushrooms, along with the regular offerings - Gammon, Scampi etc...

To start I chose the Brie, served with chunky pickle. I requested it without onions or peppers.

It did have peppers on, and the salad did taste of onions, so perhaps they had just been picked off. The Brie was lovely, and a nice sized piece for a starter, not too large.

Hubby had the Duck wraps, and he really enjoyed them. So far so good.

Onto the mains. As usual Hubby had Gammon, with egg and chips.

He said it was a lovely piece of Gammon, and the chips were good too.

I asked for a Mushroom Stroganoff, with no onions or peppers. It was offered with rice, but I asked if I could have half rice half chips instead. That was fine.

Unfortunately, when it came it had both onions and peppers in it. It was served by someone who came from the kitchen rather than the waitress, so I politely mentioned I had asked for no onions or peppers, and she apologise nicely and took it away to be re-made, warning me that it would be a few minutes. That was fine as I was nibbling on the chips that had been served seperately.

True to her word 5 mins later a new meal arrived back and I was looking forward to tucking in.

It was horrible!

It had the most bitter taste, of which I still cannot work out what it was. I am usually very good at picking out flavours, having working in kitchens before, but this was like nothing I had tasted before, and I am a fan of Stroganoff so I know how it generally tastes. My tastebuds were rejecting it, telling me not to eat it. It really was quite foul. My mouth still had a bitter taste two hours later, and I only had two mouthfuls.

The waitress walked past a dozen times but didn't stop to ask if everything was ok. I had decided I wasn't going to send it back again, I would just eat the chips. We are not moaners and anyone who knows me knows I eat almost anything.

When she finally came to take our plates she asked if everything was ok, obviously sending a full plate full of food back I had to say something, so I explained it had a really odd bitter taste, and perhaps the Chef would like to taste it. She said she would "pass on my comments", but then stacked the side plate on top before carrying it off to the kitchen.

We waited for some kind of acknowledgement from the Chef via the waitress, but she walked passed us another 4 or 5 times before we finally just asked for the bill. She directed us to the bar.

So we went to the bar to pay, and while the manager (??) was totalling up our bill, my Husband said, "Did the waitress tell you there was an issue with the Stroganoff?" The young lady was standing there looking like a rabbit in headlights, and told the manager that "she hardly touched it, the plate is still on the drainer". At this, to our complete amazement, the manager tutted loudly and throwing the kitchen door open was obviously going to check.

He came storming back and announced to my husband that he would only charge us £4.00 for it - half price. Hubby argued the point saying he was happy to pay for the chips I had eaten (£1.95 a portion on the menu) but not for the meal, as I had hardly touched it. He finally relented but not before giving us a filthy look. He snatched the money, and threw back the change with not a word, then turned and smashed the ticket down on the ticket spike in a temper.

Given the managers reaction I am not surprised the poor girl looked as uncomfortable as she did.

We left!

We were not rude in the slighest, but the service we recieved back was nothing short of disgraceful.

If this was dealt with in a proper manner by simply apologizing and removing it from the bill we would have probably gone back and tried it again, afterall it was just one quarter of the whole meal we had an issue with, but due to the appalling behaviour of the man behind the bar we will never be back, nor will we recommend it to anyone.

As always, here are the contact details, in case you want to try it.

The Golden Fleece Hotel

Irthington

Carlisle,

Cumbria

CA6 4NF

01228 573 686

Feel free to comment.

Chiquito/Mexican/Gateshead

We have been in the Metrocentre many many time, and eaten there nearly every time, but never at Chiquitos. However, after visiting a Chiquitos in Edinburgh and really, really enjoying it, we decided to give this one a go.

Is it tucked away in the corner, just before you go up the escalator to the Train Station in the Blue Mall, opposite Pizza Hut.

We wandered in at around 1.30pm, and were told there was a 30 minute wait for a table, which was fine. We ordered a drink and sat in the bar studying the menu. You are given a buzzer which alerts you when your table is ready.

It was only actually about 10 minutes when we were shown to our table, strangely there was loads of empty tables, around half, so I imagine the wait was a staffing issue rather than a space issue :)

The staff we have met so far in both Edinburgh and the Metrocentre have been excellent, going out of their way to make sure you have everything you need.I did have a meal in mind (Chimichangas) but there was a great lunch deal - £5.95 for one course / £7.95 for two courses / £8.95 for three courses, so we went for that instead :)

We were presented with a bowl of crispy fresh Tortilla Chips and chunky salsa while we waited for the food.

I decided on Corn On the Cob as my starter, you had a choice between Lime & Chilli Butter, or Seasoned Butter. I chose the Chilli one as I had had it in Edinburgh, but I think I got the seasoned one, nevertheless it was lovely and juicy.

Hubby had Garlic Flatbread Tostadas, and I stole a bit :) It was really good, like thin crispy pizza crust dribbled with Garlic Butter.

For mains I had Full House Burrito (Oven baked soft flour tortilla packed with Mexican spiced rice, refried beans, chilli con queso & melting Jack cheese. Topped with ancho-chilli-tomato sauce, sour cream, guacamole & smoky salsa)

Hmmmm, delicious. Gorgeous flavours going on all in one wrap. And I got a cute little green flag !! :)

Hubby had a burger, with fries (skin on), he says it was a really good burger.

We really really didn't need a pudding, but the Banana Taquito sounded way too good to miss out on !
(Banana wrapped in a cinnamon tortilla and fried until golden. Served warm with Cajeta toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream)

And it was, so glad I managed to force it down :)

Hubby had the Churros (Delicious soft dough fried until crispy. Dusted in sugar and cinnamon, with warm chocolate fudge sauce for dipping)

The bill, not including a tip was Just under £33 for two 3 course meals, two large wines and two soft drinks.

Would definately recommend this restaurant chain, so find one near you :)

The website with the menu and restaurant locations on it is...

http://www.chiquito.co.uk/

Feel free to let me know if you have been.

Marcellos/Italian/Sunderland

What a job it was to find an Italian on a quiet Sunday evening in Sunderland.

We went through a few on Trip Advisor, but all were closed. Then we tried Yellow Pages, most were closed as well, except this one - Marcellos.

On the corner of Albion Street in Sunderland, there is a car park on the next corner, we were advised by a Taxi driver when asking for directions to park, not to park on the street.

A nice looking building, we went in and were faced with two doors. On one door was a note "This side closed, use other door and walk down the stairs", so we did.

This took us underground to a cellar restaurant, I love places like this, they are so atmospheric and cosy.

We were shown to a table with a horribly stained tablecloth, one I wouldn't have minded one stain but there was a good 4 or 5 different splodges. The waiter came to light the candle but we asked not to have it (flickering lights cause headaches).

Menu looked good, but the Veggie options were mainly mushrooms - Mushroom pasta and Mushroom Risotto, and a vegetable pizza.

I ordered a 50cl bottle of wine, perfect size, but the wine was pretty rough to be honest. Didn't drink it all, and that is not like me !!

We were brought a slice of bread and given a pat of butter while we looked at the menu.

A really lovely waitress came to take the order and as I fancied mushrooms for starter, I didn't really want them for mains too, so I asked if a dish could be adapted, she had only been there for two days so she went of to get (the manageress?) "Sophia".

When Sophia came over she reached for the candle on the recently vacated table next to us, to put on our table, I politely declined it explaining we didn't like the flickering, to which she slammed it back on the table in a really abrupt manner, like she was having a strop! We could hardly keep a straight face. Anyway, yes, the main could be adapted.

So, I went for the Mushroom starter - A mixture of mushrooms in a cream and whisky sauce on a toasted ciabatta.

The mushrooms were delicious, the different types of mushroom made a pleasant change from just having button mushrooms, and the sauce was really nice, however the bread was half an untoasted roll which was as tough as old boots !

Hubby ordered Garlic Pizza Bread.

It arrived and it was massive !! But he struggled to eat it, well actually he struggled to cut it, in his own words he said it was like "trying to cut through an old tea-towel" he nearly asked for a steak knife. Also they had thrown a good handful of dried herbs in the middle, which clogged up the mouth, so he left the centre.

We were feeling a little dissapointed at the point, and wondering what on earth the mains would be like.

I had ordered a Prawn, Courgette Pasta in a Saffron Sauce (without Prawns), and they totally redeemed themselves. It was delicious, the pasta was beautiful and buttery, tasted fresh and home-made. Really really enjoyed it and was dissapointed I couldn't finish it all.

Hubby had Lasagne, it looked very good, with loads of layers. Again, they redeemed themselves, he said it was lovely.

The bill (not including tip) was around £35 which was for two starters, two mains, a 50cl bottle of wine and a soft drink.

So, I would happily recommend the pasta, but avoid the pizza unless you want jaw ache :)

Here is their website with all their details on it.

http://www.marcellosristorante.co.uk/

Siam Bay/Indian & Thai/Whitley Bay

Having been for a very very windy walk around St Mary's Lighthouse on the North East coast, we had certainly worked up an appetite, so looked around for someone for lunch.


We came across an Indian & Thai restaurant offering an "all-you-can-eat" buffet for just under £10 per person, so we thought we would try that.

Siam Bay is situated right on the sea front, a large painted white building, it has a great view of the sea from it's large windows. You can park in a pay & display car pack just a few minutes walk further down the sea front.

We went in and asked if the had Vegetarian options on the buffet, the waiter happily showed us around the food on offer and there was an adequate amount of veggie food, although a few more choices would have been nice.

We decided we would give it a go, and I thought I would treat myself to a glass of wine, but alas, only French wine was available by the glass, and I really dislike French (and all other European) wines! So I ordered Tap Water, I got a bottle of still water priced at £2.50 ! Still, it tasted nice :)

And onto the food. We wandered down to the buffet for some starters - Veggie Spring Rolls, Samosas and an Onion Bhaji ***.

(***a little note on anyone who has read my reasons for hating onions, I can eat them if I cannot "see" them, so when they are deep fried in a Bhaji I can just about manage them, as long as I don't think about what they are :) )

The food was sadly luke warm, the onion Bhajis not even luke warm, more like room temperature, which was an absolute shame as the food itself had beautiful flavours and was nicely cooked. The salad was lovely, fresh and crisp with a choice of some really good sauces - mint, satay and sweet chilli.

Hubby had Chicken Sesame Toast, Chicken Satay, Onion Bhaji and Tandoori Chicken with a spoonful of rice. Again, everything was luke warm or cold, but he said it all tasted good except for the Chicken Sesame Toast which was soggy and undercooked.

I like food to be red hot, he doesn't generally mind when things are a little cooler, but even he said it was way too cold.

Unfortunately foods without a liquid base does not lend itself to being kept warm in a 'bain marie', they either go cold, go soggy or dry up.

Perhaps we should have paid up and left, but we are not ones for making a fuss, so we battled on.

For mains I had Cauliflower Bhaji, Bombay Potatoes, Mushroom Rice and another Onion Bhaji.

The cauliflower and potatoes were drowning in a pool of orange oil in the bain marie, I fished out some bits leaving as much oil as possible, and to be honest they tasted great, just not sure it was necessary to have all that oil, and they were a good temperature, but the rice was cold. Even though I had tried to leave as much oil in the pot as I could, there was still a good amount left on the plate!

There was desserts on offer, supermarket cheesecake and a host of sliced fresh fruits - hubby had some watermelon as it's his fav, I just finished my large bottle of water - I had paid for it, I was going to drink it !

Now strange as it might seem following this rather negative blog, I would go back to try it again. I believe when cooked fresh and served hot the food would be fantastic, maybe they should drop the buffet and preserve their reputation.

Oh, and the Chef is apparently fantastic at fruit sculpting, I must admit I was pretty impressed at his watermelon !!

The total bill, not including a tip, was just under £25, for two buffets, a bottle of water and a coke.

They have a magnificent website where you can order takeaways, and it shows all the menus too.

http://www.siambay.co.uk/

Let me know if you go or have been :)

The Millers Inn/Pub Food/Sunderland

We were staying at the Quality Hotel just up the road from this pub, and were heading into Sunderland to find somewhere nice to eat after the Hotel menu proved very unexciting.

As we passed Hubby said "Oooo Harvester, not been to one of those for ages", well I hadn't even heard of them so we decided to give it a go.

Situated on the Newcastle Road, it is a HUGE pub with a vast eating area. Loads of parking outside.

We wandered in and were shown to a nice clean table with a sofa one side and chairs the other. A drinks order was taken immediately. Refillable soft drinks, brilliant.

We had a lovely waiter, who was very friendly and kept checking everything was ok. He explained how the menu works - you pick a meal, then a sauce, then a side, and finally you get as many trips to the salad bar as you like.

Plenty of Veggie options, Veggie sausage, Pastas, stuffed mushrooms ..

I opted for a Spiced Sweet Potato Burger with seasoned fries, my sauce was a smokey BBQ, which was lovely.

Hubby had a Gammon, it looked a little small when it came judging by the size given on the menu, and was served with one egg when the menu said "eggs", but it turned out he had been ordered the smaller option which worked out really well as he had filled up rather largely on bread and sweetcorn from the salad bar !

Strangely though, a lot of the sauces on the menu, like the Tartare, the Creamy Peppercorn and Diane Sauce were not ticked with the "V" symbol, I wondered why, so I asked our Waiter, he didn't know either. He did offer to go and ask but I was going to have BBQ anyway, but perhaps it would have been worth finding out if it was an error or not.

The salad bar was amazing. Loads of fresh options, salad, vegetable, fruit, pastas, and lovely rustic style bread rolls, with loads of different salad dressings and sprinkles. But best of all they did a NO ONION coleslaw - I had loads of it :)

We did two trips to the salad bar, hence why we had no room for pudding, it was just so delicious.

We definately need a Harvester in Carlisle, this one in Sunderland is our closest, and at over an hour drive away it's just not somewhere you can nip to for a quick dinner. But we will definately look them up again when we are away from home.

The bill, not including a tip, was just under a fabulous £23 for two monsterous meals, two large wines and two soft drinks.

Check out the website for a list of their other establishments and opening times.

http://www.harvester.co.uk/

Byker Vista/Cafe/Newcastle

We were visiting The Biscuit Factory, a fabulous Art Gallery in Newcastle. Situated on Stobbart Street in Newcastle Upon Tyne, the Gallery itself is worth a trip out - some fabulous exhibits.

Easy street parking around the building, we went on a Saturday afternoon and had no problem finding a place to park.

Within the Gallery is a cute little eatery called "Byker Vista Cafe", you would be forgiven for thinking it was just 'another cafe', but you would be mistaken, the food is magnificent !

There is also an eatery on the side of the Gallery called "The Brasserie Back Door", but the one we are blogging about now is actually IN the Gallery, up the stairs and to the back/right of the building.

We wandered in, and were glanced at by a member of Staff, but ignored. We weren't sure if you had to wait to be seated or just find yourself a seat, so after a few minutes of not being approached we wandered off to find our own seats.

The Cafe was beautifully set with cracked glass tables and pieces of art ceramics to hold the sugar. Large windows with a great view across the top of the nearby buildings.

A fabulous menu, someone had definately put a lot of thought into it and I was pleased to see a good varied selection of Vegetarian food on offer.

I chose: AUBERGINE & WALNUT BAKE - Chargrilled aubergine slices, butternut squash and walnut on a rich tomato sauce topped with a Gryère cheese and sage crumb. Served with house salad.

It was one of the nicest meals I have had in a long time, in fact I was dissapointed when I had finished it, I wanted to lick the plate :) Beautifully presented.

Hubby was chuffed to bits to find "Eggy Bread" on the specials board, you could choose to have it with two toppings, so he had ham and cheese. Again, beautifully presented, and totally delicious.

Some lovely drinks on offer too, and they offer a fabulous array of different teas.

The bill, not including a tip, was just under £16, for two meals, one large wine, and one posh orange and ginger drink.

Will definately go back, and highly recommend you pop in to try if in the area. In fact make a special trip as the Gallery is fabulous.

Website with all the details, including opening times, is...

http://www.thebiscuitfactory.com/

Let me know if you go.

Border Gate/ Pub Food/Carlisle

The Border Gate, formerly known as Carrow House, is situated right on Junction 42 of the M6 Motorway. It has a Premier Travel Inn in the same car park.

Plenty of parking outside. Not easily walkable from the City Centre, but you could get a bus to Carlton and walk up the road.

This Pub used to be a Brewers Fayre, but has since changed ownership to "Table Table".

We often visit this Pub just for a drink or two, and occasionally a dessert :) The reason we like it is that it is all sectioned off into cute little areas with different styles of tables and chairs. So whether you fancy a big squashy sofa to sit on, or a proper dining chair, you can have it - and many other styles inbetween.

The food is OK, nothing special, but nothing offensive either. Portion sizes are a little small though.

They do a two for £10 menu on weekdays up until 6.30pm.

I went with my daughter and her friend for a little girly night out.

We started with a sharing portion of Dough Balls for two and a Garlic Mushrooms.

The Dough balls were very nice, squashy and garliccy and served with four dips - Olive Oil & Balsamic, Garlic Butter, Guacamole and Salsa.

The Mushrooms looked good, and were enjoyed.

I didn't fancy any of the Veggie Options, there was a good few to be honest, scattered over the menu - Quorn Chilli, Veg Lasanga, Pastas - but I fancied something different. I ended up choosing a Camembert from the starter menu, plus some Potato Wedges and we got an "Extra Feast" (Garlic & herb breaded mushrooms, battered whole onion rings and garlic bread) with no Onions :)

The Camembert was quite small, each piece was about 2" big, but tasty enough, and the wedges were nice. The garlic bread was nice, but it must have been laying on some sauce in the kitchen as the underneath was flavoured and soggy :(, and although we opted for no onions on the "Feast" we only got 5 mushrooms in total.

My daughter chose Bacon & Cheese Topped Chicken Breast, and opted for mashed potatoes - no salad. It cost £8.99 and when it arrived looked quite mean, she she is a little eater, and she did enjoy what she had, although the mashed potatoes didn't look all that appetizing.

Her friend had Scampi, came missing the Tartare Sauce which she hed been asked if she wanted, she just had it without as we couldn't catch the waitresses eye.

No pud for me, but the girls had tarts - one lemon and one chocolate.

The nice thing about the pudding menu is you can have a "tasting plate" where you can choose 3 different puds and you get a little bit of each - genuis idea !

It was table service throughout, which is nice, but there was long delay inbetween courses - 36 minutes between starters and mains. Also when people were leaving the tables were just not getting cleared. One family left as we arrived and their table was still not cleared when we left two hours later. One man sat down at a dirty table, the dishes were removed but the table wasn't even wiped for him ! We watched staff continually walk past the dirty tables, when all they had to do was grab a few plates - very odd !

The staff were very pleasant though.

Total bill, without a tip, came to £47 for two starters, three mains, two puds and 4 soft drinks.

Table Table has it's own website with the menu available to view...

http://www.tabletable.co.uk/

And here is the contact details for the Pub itself.

The Border Gate
London Road

Carlisle,

Cumbria

CA4 0AD

0870 197 7054

Feel free to comment.