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Birmingham – not that bad!

12 Jul

I recently spent a night and a day in Birmingham for my job. My hotel was right in the middle of the China quarter, and I had a delicious meal at the Ladywell Walk Cafe, a simple but delicious Chinese-Malaysian restaurant. I had a Crispy Noodle Hotpot. The noodles weren’t actually crispy, thanks to the broth they were floating in, but they were still yummy. There were also fat shrimps, big curled-up  pieces of squid, tender, fatty pork slices, and at least three different kinds of mushrooms all floating around in a subtle but perfectly-seasoned broth. The egg yolk on top added the perfect amount of richness when I stirred it in. The waitress was really nice too, we chatted about America for a bit when she noticed my accent and she made sure my jasmine tea was never less than half full. Unfortunately, I can’t find the exact address on the internet, but it’s directly across from the Ibis Hotel on Ladywell Walk.

The next day, after work was done, I had a look at the Bullring shopping centre before I caught my train. It was… a shopping centre. Unless I have something specific to buy, shopping for clothes holds no interest for me. The only thing I would have been interested in, the bookstore, was a victim of the Great Borders Massacre, but luckily there was an overpriced-but-beautiful food hall at Selfridge’s that kept me occupied for a bit. Here are the donuts I bought at Krispy Kreme. I was going to get a dozen to share out at work, until I saw the price tag. £12 for 12 donuts!!! I used to pick up a dozen glazed Krispy Kremes on the way to work back in the states for a fifth of that price. Still, they looked good, so I got four, for an eye-watering £7.00. The strawberry creme was almost worth it.

I also bought a beautiful porky pie. See that fancy label? That means it has to be good, right? And it was, actually. And shared out over two meals for the two of us, even at nearly £5.00, it was definitely worth it. We had it with salad and slices of cheese and apple two nights in a row. Perfect for a hot summer evening. I have no patience for a cheap pork pie, but there’s not much better than a really nice one.

So, Birmingham. It seems like a pretty cool place, and I think I might go back on purpose soon, when I have a bit more time.

The Phoenix, The Evil Eye Lounge, and House of the Trembling Madness

18 Apr

Both my fella and I live in Leeds – Hyde Park, to be exact – and commute to work in York. I’m writing this blog with the intention of giving equal time to Leeds AND York, with stops around the rest of Yorkshire now and then. So far, it’s been pretty Leeds-centric, but now that the days are getting longer and warmer, the urge to stick around in York after the working day is done will start to hit more and more often. That was definitely the case on Friday, which was just about the most perfect English spring day imaginable.

I finished work around 3:00, which gave me a couple of hours to waste before Matt finished for the day. I decided to be a tourist and take in the York City Walls. I started near Clifford’s Tower and headed west, making my way around the walls,  past the train station and up to Lendal Bridge. I headed towards the minster, stopping in to admire St. Wilfrid’s Catholic Church (not as glamorous as the Minster, to be sure, but still very lovely, and they don’t charge £8 for a look around) before settling down on a bench in the Minster gardens for a spot of people-watching. After that, I had a bit of a wander around The Shambles and tried to block out the tat shops and fellow tourists so I could try to absorb nearly 1,000 years of history. Ducking into the shrine of St. Margaret Clitherow helped with that. It’s just a half-timbered medieval house that’s been turned into a simple, quiet shrine to St. Margaret, who was martyred in the 16th century for harbouring Catholic priests. The lack of “real Yorkshire fudge” and Union Jack coffee mugs really helps you to get your mind around the history and the generations of lives lived on that narrow little street.

As you can imagine, all of this tourism can really work up a thirst. Luckily by this time, Matt was off work, so I met him and some of his workmates at The Phoenix. What a great little place – quiet and traditional, with a small, well-kept courtyard out back overlooked by the city walls. Inside are flagstone floors, working fireplaces (though I hope they won’t be needed for a few months yet!) and small, cozy candlelit tables. The Copper Dragon Golden Pippin ale was gorgeous, and the women’s toilet was sparkling clean and nicely decorated with a vase of fresh tulips next to the basin (don’t look at me like that! Nice toilets are important).

After a couple of pints at the Phoenix, we made our way back to the centre of town to The Evil Eye Lounge. This place is, in a word, strange. But I love strange. It’s hidden away behind a small off-license – seriously, if you didn’t know it was there, you’d probably never notice it – and it’s basically a Southeast Asian backpacker’s bar/internet cafe/cocktail lounge. In other words, the very last thing you would expect to find in York. There’s a covered patio out back, computers to rent by the hour upstairs, and in addition to the normal variety of comfy, mismatched tables and chairs, there’s a big bed to lounge on. This place has so much atmosphere that it almost feels as if the food and drink can’t possibly live up to it – and there you would be wrong, because they are both amazing. The cocktails are delicious, made with care by bartenders who are passionately into what they’re doing. Watching them work is a pleasure. And the food? Well, this is not the place I expected to find some of the most authentic, delicious  Southeast Asian food around. They definitely don’t tone it down for the Western palate. According to one of the bar staff, the secret is actual Thai chefs in the kitchen who make the kind of food they would serve to their friends and families. Thai dishes are made with lashings of fish sauce and hot spices and my Mee Goreng was served with an amazing spicy, fishy relish of peanuts, chilies, and dried anchovies. Be careful, because if a dish claims to be spicy, it’s going to be spicy! I generally add hot sauce to everything and rarely find something I can’t handle, but their Thai Drunken Rice had me in tears the last time I was there (in a good way, of course). If hot spices, fish sauce, and anchovies turn you off, don’t worry, there is a delicious handmade teriyaki burger on the menu, along with some “Evil” falafels and even plain ol’ chips.  Normally, I believe that a culture-and-continent spanning menu is something to avoid (imagine, for example, places that offers donners, pizzas, curries, burgers, and Southern fried chicken. Rarely, if ever, tasty, unless you’re barely sober enough to stand),  but somehow the Evil Eye Lounge manages to be authentic and respectful of all the cultures and cuisines represented on the menu. It’s pretty remarkable, actually. In keeping with its loopy, surrealistic feel, The Evil Eye has a secret. There’s a table with a small drawer filled with notes, drawings, requests for advice, and wishes. I won’t tell you which table it is, you’ll have to find it yourself – and the same goes for our final stop of the evening, The House of the Trembling Madness.

Like the Evil Eye, the entrance is hidden away inside a shop The only clue to its existence is a hand-lettered sign in the window. This place is pure magic. It’s located in a small but perfectly formed 12th century hall with soaring timber beams (some of which, according to one of the bartenders, are rumoured to have come from viking ships) and antique benches and chairs. With only candles and the glow of the lights behind the small bar, it was too dim for photos, which is a shame because I can’t begin to describe how beautiful, mysterious, and romantic this place is. And the beer selection is pretty awesome, too. They’re one of only two places in the UK (the other being Leeds’ own North Bar) serving the delicious Brooklyn Lager on draught. I’ve heard tell of a possible microbrewery being developed on site, as well. The bartender here asked us not to tell everyone about it, and I think he was only half joking, because as soon as this place becomes common knowledge, you’ll have to fight for a seat. So, a compromise – drop me a line, and I’ll give you a clue!

The Phoenix
75 George Street
York
YO1 9PT

The Evil Eye Lounge
42 Stonegate
York
YO1 8AS

House of the Trembling Madnesss
A secret – for now!

Arcadia Ale and Wine Bar, Headingley, Leeds

7 Apr

I biked to Headingley today to get some paint for the bedroom, and it was chucking it down when I finally managed to choose a colour, so I decided to duck into Arcadia to wait out the storm. Arcadia has been a favourite for a while – it’s a lovely surprise hidden away in the decidedly unattractive Headingley Arndale Centre (if you live in the UK, you can probably picture an Arndale Centre without the benefit of me describing it, if you don’t, well, have a look here). Arcadia is a warm, cozy grown-up pub with great ales on draught, wood floors and beams, art deco advertising framed on the wall, and usually at least one or two friendly dogs lying around.  The lack of canned music and alcopops ensure a crowd generally free of drunken 18 years olds, as does the policy of not serving costumed Otley Run participants (I am not proud of the sense of satisfaction I get when I see a crowd of ‘Pimps and Hos’ politely, but firmly turned away by the bar staff). I’ve never really done food here, aside from crisps and pistachios, but apparently they’re doing a new full menu Thursday through Sunday. If they take as much care with the food as they do with everything else it should be a success.

It was very quiet this afternoon, just a few other people having quiet conversations or reading. It gets quite busy in the evenings and on weekend afternoons, but the lack of music and the type of crowd the place generally attracts means it’s never too loud to have a chat, which is something I appreciate in a drinking establishment. I read the newspaper and drank half a pint of Vanilla Porter from Great Heck Brewing Company. It was really subtle and nice, more than just a novelty, which is sometimes the case with unusually flavoured brews – they can taste interesting at first but quickly lose their appeal. I definitely wanted another, but I was on wheels and I had work to do at home.

Arcadia Ale and Wine Bar
34 Arndale Centre
Headingley
LS6 2UE
0113 274 5599

Festival Mexicano!

7 Apr

This may come as a surprise, considering that I have a blog with the name ‘Yorkshire’ in the title, but I was born and raised in America. Shocking, I know! I’ve been here for nearly four years now, and for the most part I’ve pretty much gone native. My Yorkshire puddings could possibly be better than your mum’s, and I have become quite a connoisseur of English cask ales. There have been plenty of great surprises here that completely give lie to the myth of terrible food in England (Cheese! Seafood! Curry! Pies!) – but I do miss Mexican food. I’ve tried a few outlets here in Leeds, and there are a couple in York I mean to try, but I have yet to find anything that goes much beyond edible. Mexican food doesn’t mean ‘cover it with melted cheddar cheese’ – it’s about deep, rich flavours and economical but really fresh ingredients carefully prepared to their best advantage. Cheddar cheese is NOT Mexican – Mexico has its own cheeses, thank you very much, many of which are closer to a mild feta or a fresh goat’s cheese than to Cheddar.  Old El Paso Tacos with minced beef? Don’t get me wrong, I have been known to eat them until I make myself sick – they are tasty in the way that only salt-laden greasy junk food can be – but they are most assuredly NOT Mexican food, any more than curry-flavour Pot Noodle is Indian food.

So, since I can’t find Mexican food, I make my own. Most ingredients are pretty easy to find – cumin, coriander and chiles (though they’re never hot enough!), fresh citrus, economical cuts of meat, fresh vegetables. Unfortunately, there are some things I can’t find at Morrison’s, like various dried chiles, Mexican oregano (MUCH different – and better – than Italian) and most importantly, CORN TORTILLAS. These are key – flour tortillas have their place, but for the most part, corn is where it’s at. So this is where The Cool Chile Company come in. Corn tortillas by post!

A couple of months ago, I ordered four packages of corn tortillas. They make them fresh on site in London and post them out super-fast for a completely reasonable shipping charge. I also ordered a jar of chipotles (smoked jalapeno chiles) in mole sauce,  a jar of tomatillo salsa, and a packet of Chile en Polvo, which is a salty, sour, and spicy-hot powder to sprinkle on fresh fruit (sounds weird but it’s amazing!) It was all delicious, and they even threw in a free packet of tortillas. They freeze great, and I’m just now finishing up the last packet, so it’s time to order some more.  I’m throwing a bit of a multi-gender stag-do type party for a friend later this month, and as he’s a Mexican food fan, we’re having carnitas -slow roasted, fall-apart tender pork with fresh salsa and coriander with corn tortillas to hold it all together and soak up the amazing cooking juices.

Photo blatantly stolen from Wikipedia. Mine actually look better… I make sure the filling is dark and rich and chewy-toasty-almost burnt around the edges. Try not to lick the screen, ‘kay? Save it for later, when I post pictures of my version.

So, Cool Chile Company – highly recommended! The website says they have a stall at Borough Market in London, which I will definitely check out the next time I’m down south. I’ve also seen some of their jarred sauces here in Leeds upstairs at Harvey Nicks.

The Sunday Farmer’s Market at Kirkgate Market, Leeds

4 Apr


My fella and I got up and out of the house unusually early for a Sunday and made a trip to the Leeds Farmer’s Market. There was a serious shortage of stalls, probably because lots of the stallholders were celebrating Easter with their families (those farmer’s market types are so wholesome!), but we still managed to come away with a bit of this and a bit of that.

Fresh eggs from Church View Farm are, indeed, lovely and fresh – I could tell because most of the white sort of holds itself together in a mound beneath the yolk instead of spreading all over the dish, as you can see in the photo. I used  the lovely fresh egg to bind breadcrumbs to some well-trimmed free-range chicken breast fillets from Stanacre Poultry for Chicken Parmesan, a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated by way of Serious Eats. I really like the simplicity of the sauce in this recipe – it’s just garlic, canned tomatoes, and oregano with a touch of sugar. I almost never make a tomato sauce without adding every vegetable in the refrigerator so this is a nice change. The recipe calls for dried basil, but that’s the most useless herb since dried coriander leaves and I would never let it in my house. Dried oregano can be nice, though, especially the Mexican kind, which is less flowery and more savoury (the chicken, by the way, was great – it didn’t rip apart when it was pounded out thin, as badly-trimmed or not-perfectly-fresh chicken tends to do, and as thin as it was it stayed tender and juicy when fried).

Anyway, I digress. We got a few other things at the market but I was silly and didn’t make a note of the stallholders’ names. We bought a tasty coconut cake with coconut buttercream and a layer of jam in the middle. We were able to buy just half, which is a nice touch for singles and couples who might not make it through a whole cake before it goes stale. I also picked up a massive round loaf of sourdough bread with a big, airy crumb,  tons of little swiss cheese holes and just the right level of chewiness.  You can see a corner of the loaf next to the egg in the photo above.  Finally, I bought a tray of mixed mushrooms – oysters, wood ear ( I think) and a few others, which will be going into a mushroom risotto later which will warrant a post of its own.

We did manage to come across a loser – stuffed Italian focaccia breads (mine with pineapple and ham, Matt’s with peppers and mozarella) were edible but bland. We have a couple of pepperoni calzones from the same stall in the fridge to heat up tomorrow, but if they aren’t a major improvement on the focaccia, their fate might be one bite followed by the bin (edit – they were pretty good. A little too bready, and could have used more sauce and less cheese, but we ate ‘em up all the same). I didn’t get the name of this stall either… seriously, I really need to work on my review skills.

The Farmer’s Market in Leeds is on the first and third Sunday each month, but word on the street is that the first Sunday is where the real action is – the market is much smaller on the second Sunday.

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