Staycation 2021 – Day 5 (Dojima Sake Brewery, Fordham Abbey)

Monday, 21st September 2021 – Dojima Sake Brewery Did you know that sake is now brewed in the UK? No? Nor did we until a couple of weeks ago, when I was hunting around for interesting places to visit on our staycation. It looked intriguing, and was over the same direction as Ely. We were…

Staycation 2021 – Day 1 (Tinwood Estate)

Thursday, 16th September 2021 In the face of Covid, and the resulting price hikes for any form of accommodation in the UK (because the owners/landlords know they have a mostly captive audience), we decided we would have a genuine staycation and would spend a week or so at home, going out for the day to…

Food 2020 – The Ambassador General Store, Trishna

Saturday 14th November, 2020 – Ambassador General Store, Trishna Seafood Experience I got wind of the Ambassador General Store restaurant box delivery scheme through one of Jay Rayner’s restaurant review columns in The Observer and promptly noted the details for future use. Having eaten at Trishna back in February, and having loved the experience, the…

Food 2020 – The Folly/The Brothers, Towcester

Saturday 7th June, 2020 – The Folly/The Brothers, Towcester We have had a somewhat up and down relationship with The Folly Inn, our most local gastropub, over the years with some very good food and some that really hasn’t hit the mark, along with service that can be very hit and miss but can also…

Food 2020 – The German Gymnasium, London

Tuesday 10th March, 2020 – The German Gymnasium, London This was the last meal I ate out prior to the Covid-19 lockdown kicking in. And it wasn’t planned at all. I’d been in the office rather than working from home, and had walked back to Euston from the City as per usual. I arrived at…

Food 2020 – The Oxford Kitchen, Oxford

Saturday, 29th February 2020 – The Oxford Kitchen, Oxford We haven’t been to the Oxford Kitchen since it got its current – and much deserved – Michelin star, partly because we’ve not been in Oxford much, and partly because as a result of the award it’s a lot harder to get a table now than…

Food 2020 – Pompette, Oxford

Thursday, 27th February 2020 – Pompette, Oxford, Alsatian Wine Dinner Sometimes, when doing other things, you blunder across something unexpected but welcome. Such was the case in Oxford the other weekend, when we went to a talk at Blackwell’s bookshop and then needed to find lunch afterwards. There was a place in Summertown that had…

Food 2020 – Trishna, London

Saturday, 15th February 2020 – Trishna, London As part of a trip to London to go to the theatre, we do like to go and have a good dinner somewhere, and with Trishna, over in Marylebone, we certainly seem to have struck gold. We made our way over from a performance of Uncle Vanya in…

Food 2020 – Pompette, Oxford

Saturday 8th February, 2020 – Pompette, Oxford Oxford is a strange city in food terms (not as dire as Cambridge, though it remains a mystery given the amount of money washing around as to why precisely there aren’t many good and/or high end restaurants in either city). However, of late Oxford has improved considerably, with…

Food 2020 – Akasaka, Milton Keynes

Monday, 3rd February 2020 – Akasaka, Milton Keynes We had a date to go to the theatre in Milton Keynes, as we had tickets to see Sandi Toksvig on her “National Trevor” tour. As Lynne was working in the office that day (which is in MK), we decided I would pick her up from the…