Blueberry Inn, Pontypridd

The Blueberry Inn in Pontypridd has recently undergone a rebranding. Sadly for me I did not find my thrill in the Blueberry Inn. It describes itself as 'a boutique hotel'.

My impression was that it didn't really know what it was meant to be. When you walk in you enter what can only be describeds as an ordinary pub. There is seating off to the left which is where the food is served but there is nowhere to wait to be seated.

I had booked and so made my way to the bar to be told ours was the table by the window! It was at this point that things started to get even more complicated. The menu, which we will come to later, informed you that you order at bar. Off I went just to be told someone would be over to take our order.

To be fair the waitress was quick and very efficient. She took our drinks order and left us to peruse the menu. Before the makeover Mrs T had visited with her friends from work and raved about the menu. Post makeover I can only describe it as pub grub.

Prices are resonable with light bites starting at £3.00 and sandwiches on Ciabatta from £4.50. We decided to go straight for the mains. I thought it would be nice to continue my search for the perfect steak and the sirloin at £13.95 looked good to me. Served with onion rings and a pepper sauce it sounded ideal.



Sirloin Steak


The first positive about this was hand cut fries. Take note others, this is not difficult to achieve. They were cooked well, crispy on the outside and nice and fluffy in the middle.

The steak was chargrilled and cooked really well. Just on the rare side of medium exactly how I asked for it. The building may not know what it's meant to be the chef certainly can cook a piece of beef.

The peppercorn sauce was a little light on pepper for me but that was just person taste. Accompanied by a decent enough side salad I would say it delivered what it said on the menu.

Fellow diners chose to give the sausgage and mash a go. Three pork chipolattas served on a bed of creamy mashed potato and covered in an onion gravy. Not my choice for an eveing out but they said they enjoyed and to be fair it is the type of thing they enjoy.



Sausage and Mssh

 Because we had one of the children with us Mrs Tonfoodie decided she would share a pizza (£8.95) with said small person. For me pizza is pizza however this one was well made and plenty of fresh tomato. Unfortunately the boy is more of a Pizza Hut type and so this was a little refined for his delicate palate.

Deserts were also pretty standard, the creme broulle looked good at a reasonable £4.50. Unfortunately I didn't get to try it as the will they wont they come to the table to take orders let us down and by the time we realised that no one was coming we had decided to give it a miss.

So three mains with drinks £53.00 was a little steep for pub food. However it was well cooked and the portions were of an ok size.

If it is going to be a success I think then the really they need to decide what they want to be and stick to doing one or two things well instead of trying to be a catch all.

If you like simple then by all means give it a go. For me it was lacking and while I wouldn't mind calling in for a light lunch I don't think it is somewhere I would go for that special night out.

2 T's

Contact details:

T.    01443 485 331

F:     01443 406821
E.    bookings@blueberryinn.co.uk

www.blueberryinn.co.uk

Bella Italia Cardiff

Well dear foodie after months of nothing we come to our second post in two weeks.

I have to say that when friends invited the beautiful Mrs Tonfoodie and myself to dinner at Bella Itialia in the Red Dragon Centre near Cardiff Bay I did not think I would be adding another venue to my search for the best steak in Cardiff.

Six of us arrived for a booking at 7.30pm and from the outside this venue looked very pleasant. As we entered the restaurant there was a beautifully laid table just inside the door. Very nice I thought, sadly not ours. We were shown to the back of the room where two tables had been pushed together to accomodate us, unfortunately wobbly legs (on the tables ensued).

Anyway, not being a great pizza lover and noticing that they served both rump and sirloins I decided I would give it a go. As with the previous post on steak and for the sake of objectivity I decided to go for the rump.

Rump Steak

As you can see from the photograph sadly the garnishes were a little light with the exception of the rocket which seemed to be in abundance.

Before we get onto that let me say this chef knew how to cook a steak. I asked for it medium rare and got exactly that. It was cooked to perfection and tasted delicious.

At this juncture I would also draw your attention to the red pepper and tomato salsa, this was really tasty and served as an excellent accompanyment to the steak. For me it could have been improved if it had been served warmed, but hey ho each to their own.

The button mushrooms were again a good addition to the plate though a few more would not have gone amiss.

We now get to the down side of the dish. Those of you who have read any of my previouse posts will know of my dislike of frozen fries. Well at Bella Italia we not only had to put up with the frozen variety yet again but to make matters worse there were not very many of them.

Now I am well aware that you may be thinking that if I am not keen on the frozen chipped potato a lack of them on my plate may not have been such a bad thing. Ordinarily I would have to agree with you but this took small portions to a whole new level.

In my opinion a very well cooked steak was spoilt by the poor accompanyments. Again sadly this was not the only shortcoming we found.

The pizza Mrs Tonfoodie ordered was supposed to have chicken on it. It is possible that the chicken was so fresh that it was still alive and managed to get up and run off before the bread hit the oven but somehow I think not.

Once again rocket seemed to be the main ingredient on the pizza ad rather than ask if she would like oil as a dressing it was delivered to the table already swimming in it. This was a disappointment as she doesn't like oil!

Although our dining experience was leaving something to be desired, in the interest of fairness I must say that two of our friends ordered a burger and a chicken stew which they thrououghly enjoyed. Being a glutton though using my favourite excuse of research I did try the stew and it was very nice.

Burger Appreciation.

There was one very amusing moment when one of our friends ordered Lasagne al forno and what came to table appeared to be missing one fundamental ingredient, the beef ragou. Apparently this did not distract from the pasta and bechemel sauce being very good. The funny bit those was that said diner was was having a good moan to the rest of us about the meal when our waiter arrived to ask if everything was alright, cue a very British 'Oh yes delicious thankyou' from our friend.

As you may have gathered this has not been my greatest dining experience and as we move on to desert I am sorry to report that this is where things really did go downhill. Now to be fair one of the puds we ordered was described as 'mini', however I don't think any of use were expecting it to be quite so mini.

Mini Lemon Tart

I have added the photograph to allow you to make up your own mind as to whether you would pay £1.95 for this.

We decided to put the knife and fork in the picture to give it some perspective. They are not belonging to some giant they are standard pieces of cutlery.

Two courses with drinks came to just over £100 for six which is very reasonable and to finish on a positive note the service was of a perfectly good standard.

Price and service pushed the rating up but unfortunately I have still only felt able to give this 2.5 T's.

Atlantic Wharf Leisure Park
Hemingway Rd, Cardiff, South Glamorgan
029 2047 2009

www.bellaitalia.co.uk

Celtic Manor Resort

Fellow Foodies, it's been a while but here we are almost at March 2013 and I can hardly believe this is my first post of 2013.

The Celtic Manor Resort is located just off the M4 on the edge of Newport, South Wales. Approaching from the east it is an imposing sight on the top of a hill overlooking the motorway. This may not sound the most stunning of views but really this venue is all about arriving at the main entrance portico with views of one of its golf courses.

Valet parking is available should you wish to arrive in style or alternatively you can park in the underground facility which offers direct access the the hotels main reception.

We had intended to sample the delights of afternoon tea here for my wonderful mother in laws birthday back in December but for one reason or another it ended up being postponed until February.

At the outset allow me to say, the wait was worth it!

There are currently three options to choose from which are the Resort tea, Champagne tea and a childrens option. On this occasion we chose the Resort Tea.

Resort Afternoon Tea

On arrival your waiter/waitress will introduce you to the range of teas available.

These include camomile, blackcurrent and Earl Grey plus others. The option we selected was tea for two persons and at £36 was on a par with hotels of a similar status.

The sandwiches were delicate and very tasty however for someone like myself with a more savory pallet I felt it was quite heavy on the sweet side.

Served on simple but elegant white crockery the tea stand set off the food beautifully.

The selection of sandwiches was, in my opinion, topped by a wonderful prawn with marie rose sauce served in a brioche roll.

The smoked salmon was a delight and there was coronation chicken which was nothing like the yellow stuff you may be used to.

Savory Selection

While the tea and coffee was now flowing freely we moved on to the sweet selection. Dainty but like the beautiful Jilly perfectly formed they were a veritable taste sensation. Not being a particular lover of mango I was very pleasantly surprised by the mango cup, full of flavour while not being overpowering.

Sweet Selection

The lemon meraigne tartlet was light but for my liking slightly lacking in lemon flavour. This being said don't let it put you off.

For the younger members of the family a childrens option is available at £11.95 which proved ideal for our pair.

Childrens Tea

The service is excellent and at no time did we feel rushed or pressured. The experience was completed with freshly made scone with strawberry conserve and cream.

For those looking for a little extra the Champagne Tea comes in at an eye watering £65 for two. The addtions are a selection of canape's, stawberries and cream and a glass of fiz to finish. Make your own mind up on whether you think those additions are worth the additional cost.

I decided to ask each of those present to rate the experience and while I was leaning towards 4 T's the average came out at 3.5 T's.

To sum up the best part of £100 for tea for six may seem slightly on the high side but remember as well as the food you are paying for the experience and I would challenge you to try and get the same sort of value in somewhere like London.

Contact Details

The Celtic Manor Resort
Coldra Woods
The Usk Valley
Newport
South Wales
NP18 1HQ
UK
Tel: +44 (0)1633 413 000
Fax: +44 (0)1633 412 910
Call Toll Free - USA: 1-866-789-5779 | Canada: 1-877-354-2003
www.cletic-manor.com

Miskin Manor

Hello dear foodies, it was only this weekend that I realised I have not posted since September! Time flies and truly waits for no man particularly if you are trying to write something constructive and worth reading. I will leave the latter for you to decide.

Anyway, Miskin Manor is located just off the M4 on the A4119 near Llantrisant. A lovely country hotel which up until recently I had never visited. Our office decided that this would be a good place for our Christmas meal and so off we went. I must admit to my usual trepidation on the old fixed price menu thing.

However there did appear to be a good selection to choose from. At £40 per head I was expecting something rather special and I must say I was not disappointed. From the makrel starter through to the coffee the food was a delight and the front of house team were attentive but not pushy. There timing was spot on with just enough time left between courses to allow for digestion and conversation to be at a premium.


Smoked makrel



I chose the starter of Smoked makrel with a micro salad and boiled quails eggs. The fish was smoked to perfection though for my taste the egg was slightly overdone.

Having said that, each to their own and the flavour combinations were excellent.

I am not normally a salad lover but the leaves were a perfect accompaniment to the fish.

It was at this point that my evening stepped up a gear. One of my colleagues had ordered white onion soup with parmessan. She does not like chees and found the dish overpowering. I dear friends did not and purly in the name of gastronomic research I proceded to consume a second starter.

I have to compliment the chef on the soup it was sublime. Just the right amount of onion and the parmessan dressing was fabulous. An extra little touch was the croutons which were like small bready (if there is such a word) icebergs. The tops were beautifully crunchy and beneath the bread had absorbed the flavours of the soup which was a delight to the palate. The texture was just right.

White Onion Soup with Parmessan and Croutons

We move on now the the main course. Choices were Turkey with the trimmings, pan fried rib eye steak (there was a £3.50 supplement for this), cajon salmon and a vegetable wellington for those of a non carnivore persuasion.

Roast Turkey and Trimmings

As you can see from the photograph I opted for the Turkey. Now as you will know if you have read this blog before I am a confirmed carnivore and am of the opion that get the meat right and most everything else will fall into place.

Boy did they get the meat right. It was beautifully cooked and they did not scrimp on the portion size either.

Served with a selection of winter vegetables which were nicely al dente, it was accompanied by two types of stuffing and the ubicquitus 'pigs in blankets'.

Appologies for the way the photograph turned out it was me who piled everthing on the plate.

A friend had the steak and so as not to miss out on a chance to further the 'best steak in Cardiff' treat I forced myself to try just a little of it.

It had just the right amount of fat running through it and was cooked just on the rare side of medium. If i wanted it be ultra picky I would have had it just a minute longer but then again I didn't order it and was just scrounging a little taste. The mushroom and shallot sauce was the perfect addition and complimented the steak beautifully.

Rib Eye Steak

Another of our number had the salmon but she was too quick for me and I only have her word for it that is was delicious.

Salmon and Crab Rissotto

The salmon was served with a crab risotto and finished with a dill butter sauce.

As you may be aware I am not a great desert lover. This is down to the fact that usually I have stuffed so much previously I am not in the mood for pud. This evening was a exception. The chocolate and chestnut cheesecake was excellent. It was served with a white chocolate and clementine mousse. Imagine a high class chocolate orange and you're not even getting close.

Chocolate and Chestnut Cheesecake

To summarise this was food of the highest quality and I would have no hesitation in visiting here again and also recommending the venue to friends and family.

One slight downside, the bar prices. £20.00 for a bottle of house white was a bit hard to swallow but being the designated driver this did not hurt yours truly!

Bon appetite.

Miskin Manor
Pendoylan Road
Groesfaen
Pontyclun
Mid Glamorgan
CF72 8ND
United Kingdom
Tel: 01443 224 204
Fax: 01443 237 606
Web: www.miskin-manor.co.uk
Reservations & Dining enquiries: - reservations@miskin-manor.co.uk

A Guest review of High Corner House

One of my regular readers on here was out last night at the High Corner House in Llanharan and sent me the following micro blog of her evening. Mind I'm not sure I should advocate or promote anyone who orders their steak well done!

Mrs Helen Owen - take a bow

You will note she started eating before deciding to take a photograph

Andy this picture is just for you. I had the sirloin steak on the reccomendation of Mrs Esther Butcher. As you can see the plate was massive. had a double portion of mushrooms and onion rings due to the fact that many of the ladies did not like these which was a bonus from my point of view. Nice little side salad which was not really necessary but was a nice added touch. Contained both red and white onion so a lot of thought went into the preparation. Only one quarter of tomatoe which was slightly disappointing, none of the other ladies offered me their tomatoes, they obviously like those! My sirloin was very well done. The underneath was slightly charcoaled but still delicious (as I was starving). Now Mrs Joanna Evans on the other other hand had the Rib Eye steak, slightly dearer in price but well worth it. The little odd piece of steak you see in the picture is a piece of her rib eye that she kindly donated to me and very nice indeed it was. The stafff were absolutely fantastic, couldn't have offered any better service so they received a big tip indeed. An evening of great food and great company I highly recommend the High Corner, Llanharan.

The Square,
Llanharan,
PONTYCLUN,
CF72 9NR

(01443) 858275

Is this the best steak in Cardiff?

A blogger has been searching Cardiff recently for the best burger in the city. I have decided to up the 'steaks' (stakes get it? oh never mind). I want to know who produces not only the best quality of beef but also knows how to cook it.

I must say Miller and Carter in Cardiff Bay have in my opinion set the bar quite high for starters. Located across the road from the Red Dragon Centre this sometimes overlooked grill and steakhouse is a gem.

I visited there with a group of friends which was a good idea from a blogging perspective as it gave me the chance to view a number of the menu options. The website gives a good overview of the restaurant and has a variety of menus including; daytime, brunch, younger visitors as well as the main menu that we dined from.

The simply bread board with balsamic and olive oil is a good way to start your evening at £2.50 it is value for money and gives you the chance to nibble while you peruse the rest of the menu.

Starters ranged from £4.25 for a delicious baked cheddar mushrooms served with garlic ciabatta up to £8.95 for a spring onion risotto which to be honest would serve as a main. I have it on good authority that the buffalo wings ($4.95) were excellent though the diner in question was not open to a sharing option (you know who you are!)

Baked Cheddar Mushrooms

I chose these roasted button mushrooms in an Alfredo sauce topped with melted cheddar and served with garlic ciabatta. The ciabatta was toasted well and the garlic did not overpower the dish. The cream sauce was well made and because the mushrooms were roasted first they held their texture beautifully.

I can also recommend the Nacho sharing platter (£7.95). There were easily enough for two and in fact most of us had at least one in my case only in the interest of research obviously.







And so to the main event. The steaks are offered both on and off the bone and range in price from £9.95 for a 6oz rump right up to an eye watering £40.95 for a Chateaubriand. To be fair this is meant for sharing. My choice for the evening was a 12oz rump (£14.95) Something I found very useful is that the menu suggests how to have your particular steak cooked, so even if you are a novice there is no need to get that wrong.

Mine was cooked medium and was cooked to perfection. These chefs know how to prepare a cut of beef.

12oz Rump

The beef was moist and succulent and as the butter melted into the food it added a subtle addition to the flavour combinations.

You are regular readers will know of my aversion to frozen fries of any description and if anything were going to let this meal down I thought it was going to be that, however for once I was wrong. Crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside they complemented the meat well.

If I was being ultra picky I suppose I would have still preferred hand cut chunky chips but that is just me.

An addition to the plate is a slice of onion bread which is again tasty without distracting from the steak itself.

A range of sauces can be added to your meal for an extra £1.95 though with meat this good I would choose to leave it alone and allow the flavours to speak for themselves.

For those who prefer there is a burger option and if you are not a great steak lover don't be put off trying the restaurant as they also have a range of grill options. Amongst our party the Smokey Barbecue Chicken (£10.50) also proved to be a popular choice.



Smokey Barbecue Chicken

 In addition to all of this there are some good looking fish, pasta and salad options also available.

The desserts I have found in places like this are sometimes treated as a bit of an afterthought. Not so here. Prices range from £3.50 for ice cream to £5.50 for a beautifully crafted white chocolate box, shortbread topped with white chocolate mousse and raspberry coulis, with a white chocolate coating and served with a white chocolate sauce. Apologies for the lack of photograph, it had gone before I got the chance to take one.

A good old valley boy, who had not been here before, described his experience as "well good Grub". Coming from him that is high praise indeed.

So the gauntlet is laid down. Is this the best steak in Cardiff? I don't know but I intend over the coming months to have some fun trying to find out. If you have any recommendations of where I should go next on my carnivore odyssey then please do get in touch.

Miller and Carter
Hemingway Road
Cardiff
CF10 4JY
02920 045 1315
www.millerandcarter.co.uk

Adriatic Explorer

I suppose technically this is not a food review though I am going to mention food in the course of the blog. This is my thoughts on cruising and in particular the cruise we have just returned from on the Thomson Majesty, the newest addition to the Thomson Cruise fleet.

We left Cardiff Wales Airport at 8.15am on Friday 10th August on a 3 and a half hour flight to the island of Corfu. As with most holiday airports Corfu is nothing to write home about and therefore I wont change that except to say it was small and hot!




Thomson Majesty


Transfer to the ship took only twenty minutes and to be fair our room steward had our luggage delivered to our cabin before we arrived. I say cabin more of a 10 x 8 box with 4 beds in it, never mind this was home for the week but we knew it was only going to be used for sleeping.

So Thomson Majesty, 10 decks with accommodation on 9 of them, two swimming pools, 4 restaurants 3 bars, 3 entertainment lounges and a casino. All in all not a bad place to spend the week. We set sail at midnight and had a day at sea on the Saturday. I think this is a good idea as it gives you a chance to acclimatise and to get your bearings. It also gave me a good chance to look at the various food options on board.

Breakfast. This was served on the sun deck and in the Royal Cafe. It was a buffet style and unfortunately much of it was suffering from the usual over stewing of the food. On a positive note eggs were cooked to order and the egg Benedict was particularly good.

Lunch. This is where the choices really started but again because of the buffet style of all but one of the eateries some of the dishes did not stand up too well to the hot plates. However should you wish there was a sit down option in the Seven Seas restaurant with waiter service. More on this later when we discuss dinner. Lunch was not bad with a great selection of salads and cold cuts or meat and fish dishes with a choice of potatoes, rice of pasta. For those that way inclined there was also a burger and hot dog station. The children seemed to particularly enjoy this

Dinner. For me this was the highlight. Waiter service in the Seven Seas with exceptional staff and an excellent wine waiter. He really knew his stuff and was always ready with a recommendation for each night. The Chemin Des Pape Cote Du Rhone was a delight. Dinner each evening consisted of 6 courses plus coffee and we were free to mix and match as we chose. As you can imagine your glutton here went for all six and delicious they were too. One evening stood out for me when I started with a seafood timbale served with red and black caviar followed by an exquisite Lobster Themadore. A tip at this point is to tell the waiter how fantastic the lobster was, it got me a second portion!

So all in all if this were purely a food blog I would probably score the food 3 T's overall but the sit down service would score a 4.5.

After the day at sea our first port of call was Koper in Slovenia. A lovely small town in the far north of the Adriatic it was a place that I had not heard of before but was very pleasant. The central town square has a bell tower  with 242 steps to the top (I know because I climbed them). After a walk around the town the afternoon was spent swimming in the sea. All in all a great day out.

Day three. For me what I was expecting to be one of the highlights of the trip, Venice. Of the whole day one of the best parts was rising early to see the ship sail into the port. Truly breathtaking.

Venice from the Thomson Majesty

With a temperature of 37 degrees and five cruise ships in the port it was never going to be a quiet day but I must say despite the crowds this placed did not disappoint. The architecture is wonderful and the only thing that left me feel a little deflated was he amount of graffiti particularly around the Rialto Bridge. Still you cant have it all and to be fair the sail away with opera classics being played over the ships tanoy was something I will remember for a long time to come.

Day 4. Split. Another town, another bell tower. By this time I realised it was either the view or my heart and I'm afraid the heart won the day. The palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian was a sight to remember and that fact that it had stood for so long and was still in use today was a testimony to the builders.

There is a lovely swimming area just outside the town where we spent a lovely afternoon. On a note of caution if you do as we did and rent a pedalo then make sure you have another member of your family to help with the pedal bit and watch out for the current there was a point when I wasn't sure we were going to make it back to shore!

Your intrepid explorer checking the sea temperature.

Temperatures during the week rarely dipped below the 34 degree mark and the crystal clear Adriatic waters were a very inviting way to cool off.

All the family enjoyed the opportunity to take a dip.

Day 5. Dubrovnik. This place quite simply took my breath away. It's stunning old town is surrounded by the most amazing city walls which are almost two miles round and take a couple of hours to walk around. We chose the option to walk half the walls and come off them at the harbour from where we were able to charter a small boat which took us out to sea where we were treated to some spectacular views of the old town.  Although Euros are widely accepted in Croatia you need to be aware that to visit the city walls in Dubrovnik you need to either pay be credit card or have some of the local currency.

One word of warning for those of a nervous disposition the boat trip also manages to give you a very impressive view of one of the many nudist beaches! You have been warned.

If you have the time, and I would suggest you try to make time. There is a cable car system which will take you to a mountain above the town and give you the most stunning panorama of the are. Of everywhere we visited during our week this is the one place where both myself and Mrs T said we would want to visit again. It is the kind of place that would be fantastic for a three or four day romantic break.

Dubrovnik

There is a picture taken in the old town of the beautiful Jilly being accosted by a Macaw. However, should you wish to see it I'm afraid you need to visit my face book page as she has told me not to post it on here.

I don't know why she is so worried about it to be honest I think the video footage is much more amusing!

Day 6. Kotor, Montenegro. The bay in Kotor is known as the worlds most southerly Fjord. As you will see from the photograph below it is well named. The views as you sail into the bay are wonderful and it was well worth another early morning to enjoy the arrival.

Kotor has a fort high above the town, when I say high I am not kidding. You need to be very fit to get all the way to the top, I am not and only got about half way before I managed to convince other families members that they wanted to get back down, thus making it sound like they had brought he trek to an end rather than me.

Entertainment on board the ship was very good with a musical show each evening in the Jubilee Show Lounge and family fun in the Royal Fireworks Lounge. All of the crew of the ship should be commended for their attention to detail and for the effort they put in to make sure we had the best possible time.

Matthew with members of the show team

So to sum up would I go again? Most definitely. One of things we particularly liked about cruising with Thomson is the informality. It works well if you are going as a family and there is plenty for the children to do to keep them amused, in fact one of our problems was getting them off the ship.

If you have never been on a cruise before and are thinking about it then this could be the introduction you are looking for.

www.thomsoncruises.co.uk