Good evening,
So, last Sunday we decided to go somewhere different for Father's Day, somewhere which doesn't necessarilly fall under the cheap and cheerful bracket, so we went off down to the Old Mill with the in-laws for Father's Day.
The thinking behind the Old Mill was that they seem to think that they are a bit better than your standard home cooked food-type place, so we imagined it would be ace.
It started well enough, the place was quiet, we got served easy enough and we found a table for 5. Then things started to go slowly downhill...
The menu, to start with, was fixed - 2 courses for £11, 3 for a bit more. Unfortunately, the choice on the menu wasn't that great. Pretty much restricted to Sunday dinner, burger, chicken, veggie option or some form of fish. I went for the burger, Tra and her dad went for the roast and Jackie opted for the chicken.
After 20 minutes or so, the meal came. The burger came with chips and a wimp of a salad. A little bbq sauce in a rammikin at the side, but nothing on the burger... no sauce, no salad, no keen onion... nothing. To say it was bland was an understatement.
The chips were okay, just, but that was about it. There's not a lot more to say about the main course. The roast was apparently nice enough and the chicken seemed to go down quite well. But the burger was largely disappointing in my eyes.
Then, the service took over.... we were left with our finished meals in front of us for a good 25 minutes while a poncy/rather posh table next to us came in, ordered, ate their mains, ordered their deserts and waited for them. Finally, our dessert order was taken, and it seemed that I had the last of the fruit crumble... much to the disgust of the posh table next to us who had already ordered the portion, but who were also now experiencing slow service, and as a result, missed the option to snaffle it! Very grumpy.
The crumble came and went, it was okay but nothing special. The custard was nice, but I reckon it had to be cos the crumble was so dry.
So all in all, not impressed. Having deliberatley gone somewhere to get a nice meal only to receive shoddy service, a poorly constructed menu and a standard meal was a little disappointing. And expensive too.
I'm not sure we'll be going there again in the near future - there's no point when there are much cheaper, equally as good places around and about. So the Old Mill is a ''Boo'' from me.
Sorry to sound so grumpy.
Matty xx
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Friday, 19 June 2009
Syhiba - Sowerby Bridge
Hey there!
On Thursday Mr Logun, Mr Cole, Mr McGoo and I went to Syhiba in Sowerby Bridge after work, we were in there for 17.15 so well before any riff raff and we took our seats. The first thing that struck me was just how lovely and welcoming the owner was ?? (I think she was the owner?).
So we were pointed to the 'table for 4' area and were allowed to chose where we sat, Andy went for the middle table cos he is awkward, but it was suitable enough and gave me enough scope to people watch. One thing I did notice, and it's worth pointing out at this stage is that you cannot book a table her on a Friday or Saturday night...
So, the nice lady came and took our orders, we all opted for the cheap 2 popadoms each with pickle tray to start with - 60p a throw for the popadom so quite expensive in comparison to other restaurants we frequent.
I then ordered the Nawaab-E-Khas, essentially cos that's what I have at Al Nawab. I ordered a garlic naan as a side order as well. The other chaps ordered a variety of dishes, a butter chicken, a chicken rogan josh and a garlic tikka masala.. for you guys who work with me, I'll leave you to guess who went with what.
My E-Khas was very nice, it came it a balti dish and contained both keema and chicken and had a couple of fresh chillies on top. The portion seemed very reasonable though the price was quite expensive in comparison to Mirfield curries (Al Nawab/Kashmir) so I was a little scepticle. After one taste I was hooked... I ordered a garlic naan as a side order - this was one of the best I have ever had (£2.40) and it complemented the dish superbly. For £2.40, the naan was perfect, a lovely size and awesome and crisp and ideal to dip into my curry. Wicked.
I even sampled to chilly on my plate at the end... just cos I was curious...it was warm.
The curry was lovely, not too rich, plenty of chicken and plenty of peppers and chillies thrown in. For once, I actually ate the whole curry and only left a small amount of naan. I can't remember the last time I did that, so that is praise indeed.
The other chaps seemed to enjoy their dishes as well, even if their eyes were bigger than their (Geordie) bellies in some cases.... so...
If you are out in Sowerby Bridge and fancy some food, I thoroughly recommend this place - the waitresses could do without the makeup and the chewing gum, but what they lack in class, the restaurant seems to make up in quality.
So, try it out. I'll certainly go back.
Hope you enjoy it if you do...
Catch you later,
Matty xx
On Thursday Mr Logun, Mr Cole, Mr McGoo and I went to Syhiba in Sowerby Bridge after work, we were in there for 17.15 so well before any riff raff and we took our seats. The first thing that struck me was just how lovely and welcoming the owner was ?? (I think she was the owner?).
So we were pointed to the 'table for 4' area and were allowed to chose where we sat, Andy went for the middle table cos he is awkward, but it was suitable enough and gave me enough scope to people watch. One thing I did notice, and it's worth pointing out at this stage is that you cannot book a table her on a Friday or Saturday night...
So, the nice lady came and took our orders, we all opted for the cheap 2 popadoms each with pickle tray to start with - 60p a throw for the popadom so quite expensive in comparison to other restaurants we frequent.
I then ordered the Nawaab-E-Khas, essentially cos that's what I have at Al Nawab. I ordered a garlic naan as a side order as well. The other chaps ordered a variety of dishes, a butter chicken, a chicken rogan josh and a garlic tikka masala.. for you guys who work with me, I'll leave you to guess who went with what.
My E-Khas was very nice, it came it a balti dish and contained both keema and chicken and had a couple of fresh chillies on top. The portion seemed very reasonable though the price was quite expensive in comparison to Mirfield curries (Al Nawab/Kashmir) so I was a little scepticle. After one taste I was hooked... I ordered a garlic naan as a side order - this was one of the best I have ever had (£2.40) and it complemented the dish superbly. For £2.40, the naan was perfect, a lovely size and awesome and crisp and ideal to dip into my curry. Wicked.
I even sampled to chilly on my plate at the end... just cos I was curious...it was warm.
The curry was lovely, not too rich, plenty of chicken and plenty of peppers and chillies thrown in. For once, I actually ate the whole curry and only left a small amount of naan. I can't remember the last time I did that, so that is praise indeed.
The other chaps seemed to enjoy their dishes as well, even if their eyes were bigger than their (Geordie) bellies in some cases.... so...
If you are out in Sowerby Bridge and fancy some food, I thoroughly recommend this place - the waitresses could do without the makeup and the chewing gum, but what they lack in class, the restaurant seems to make up in quality.
So, try it out. I'll certainly go back.
Hope you enjoy it if you do...
Catch you later,
Matty xx
Friday, 12 June 2009
Nawabi E-Khas; Al Nawab; Mirfield
I love Al Nawab, the family love Al Nawab and I'm pretty sure the guys at Al Nawab love us....
So, we went last night (11/06) for Rich's 30th birthday, early doors so the lickle boys wouldn't be too grumpy and too late to bed - we got ourselves settled (while waiting for Firmin and Sam - hmmm, plan in the bin).
If you've not been to Al Nawab before, it really is the best Indian restaurant in the area, some people (Rich) would say the world - it's that good... but I'm sure there are nicer ones in Chennai.
Anyhoo, the popadums came out early doors to nibble on. I'm struggling to think of a better place for the papad... always seem very very fresh and not these pre-packed ones you get in some places. Served with the usual mango chutney (yummy), onion and mint (yummy) and mint sauce (yummy but with a cheeky kick).
Oliver loved the papad with mint sauce... I know a 38 year old who couldn't cope with that spice, so hats off to the Bear!!
For starters, the wife and I shared the veg samosa - we always do. Pretty damn good as always. The pastry was ace and the filling was mildly spiced, not too overpowering which made it even better for Tra. I spiced mine up a tad with the mint sauce. Very impressed.
My mum went for the mixed starter and struggled through it, so handed me a piece of lamb tikka. Awesome. If you like lamb starters, it's a must!
Main course wise, it was the Nawabi E Khas. This is a new dish off their menu. Essentially, it's chicken in a relatively spicy sauce, cooked with pineapple and fresh green chillies. I'm a massive fan of fruit in curry, and have had this before so went there again. It didn't disappoint. The chicken was lovely, the pineapple was sweet and cooling and the chillies added the spice you would expect. It wasn't a spicy dish though, much more flavoursome that that. That's what I Love about Al Nawab - you get to taste the dish rather than pure spice.
As a side order to my dish I had the garlic naan. I used to be a bit scared of their garlic naan due to the strength of it, but in time you learn to embrace the taste, and it really is a taste sensation (not as much as their cheese and garlic naan but close). It was lovely and fresh, and had lashings of fresh garlic on top. I dread to think what the guys at work thought this morning, but I don't really care cos it was awesome.
As per usual, I left a (little) bit, I was looking for the Birthday Boy to finish it off for me, but he had the Balti Royal - which I must say is a bloody good choice. He ended up pogged so didn't have enough room for mine. I really need to write an additional blog on the Balti Royal.
So... everyone loved their tea, Oliver loved another early sampling of Indian food.
Al Nawab confirmed why there is no need to stray outside Mirfield for a high quality feed and I left the restaurant pogged and sleepy. It really is brilliant, we've been going for 10 years and never had a bad meal. If you're contemplating trying it - go for it, if you're a veteran, you'll know what I mean.
I'm sure this won't be the last blog I write about Al Nawab, in fact, I reckon it'll be the first of many.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy your dish should you venture there...
I'll no doubt be back on here again in the next week or so, until then, have fun!
Matty
So, we went last night (11/06) for Rich's 30th birthday, early doors so the lickle boys wouldn't be too grumpy and too late to bed - we got ourselves settled (while waiting for Firmin and Sam - hmmm, plan in the bin).
If you've not been to Al Nawab before, it really is the best Indian restaurant in the area, some people (Rich) would say the world - it's that good... but I'm sure there are nicer ones in Chennai.
Anyhoo, the popadums came out early doors to nibble on. I'm struggling to think of a better place for the papad... always seem very very fresh and not these pre-packed ones you get in some places. Served with the usual mango chutney (yummy), onion and mint (yummy) and mint sauce (yummy but with a cheeky kick).
Oliver loved the papad with mint sauce... I know a 38 year old who couldn't cope with that spice, so hats off to the Bear!!
For starters, the wife and I shared the veg samosa - we always do. Pretty damn good as always. The pastry was ace and the filling was mildly spiced, not too overpowering which made it even better for Tra. I spiced mine up a tad with the mint sauce. Very impressed.
My mum went for the mixed starter and struggled through it, so handed me a piece of lamb tikka. Awesome. If you like lamb starters, it's a must!
Main course wise, it was the Nawabi E Khas. This is a new dish off their menu. Essentially, it's chicken in a relatively spicy sauce, cooked with pineapple and fresh green chillies. I'm a massive fan of fruit in curry, and have had this before so went there again. It didn't disappoint. The chicken was lovely, the pineapple was sweet and cooling and the chillies added the spice you would expect. It wasn't a spicy dish though, much more flavoursome that that. That's what I Love about Al Nawab - you get to taste the dish rather than pure spice.
As a side order to my dish I had the garlic naan. I used to be a bit scared of their garlic naan due to the strength of it, but in time you learn to embrace the taste, and it really is a taste sensation (not as much as their cheese and garlic naan but close). It was lovely and fresh, and had lashings of fresh garlic on top. I dread to think what the guys at work thought this morning, but I don't really care cos it was awesome.
As per usual, I left a (little) bit, I was looking for the Birthday Boy to finish it off for me, but he had the Balti Royal - which I must say is a bloody good choice. He ended up pogged so didn't have enough room for mine. I really need to write an additional blog on the Balti Royal.
So... everyone loved their tea, Oliver loved another early sampling of Indian food.
Al Nawab confirmed why there is no need to stray outside Mirfield for a high quality feed and I left the restaurant pogged and sleepy. It really is brilliant, we've been going for 10 years and never had a bad meal. If you're contemplating trying it - go for it, if you're a veteran, you'll know what I mean.
I'm sure this won't be the last blog I write about Al Nawab, in fact, I reckon it'll be the first of many.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy your dish should you venture there...
I'll no doubt be back on here again in the next week or so, until then, have fun!
Matty
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