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All the weather pundits had forecast heavy rain storms for our neck of the woods.  These would last the weekend and our time to relax and enjoy each others company would be a wash out.  However, this time round, the pundits had it wrong.  We’ve had a fantastic warm weekend.  Waking up late on Saturday we perked ourselves up with a couple of fresh strong coffees before heading off to Whitby for some fresh air.  We parked up at the Abbey and walked into town, stopping briefly at the Khyber Fish Restaurant where we enjoyed a very fine meal.  As we were leaving we noticed in their window, one of our reviews.  Paul popped back inside to mention this to the Manager and it seemed they were really pleased with our earlier review.  The manager said it had brought some new customers in as well.  We certainly know a few of you who have visited on our recommendation, so it was good to hear the manager appreciate the positive review. 

Having filled ourselves on Fish and Chips, we headed out along the pier and headland before setting off along the North Beach for quite a long and very scenic walk. It was a beautiful day, with blue skies and fantastic surf covered seas.  Like us, many other people had decided to ignore the weather warnings and were out enjoying the beach.  We walked back to the Abbey along the top of the banks taking a few little breaks to rest our weary feet, catch our breath and snap some photographs.  Back at the car we made our way home arriving just before 6pm.  A long, energetic and sunny day at an end.  You can see all the pictures in our Photo Album.

Sunday started quite early as usual for me.  I woke up around 6am, fed the babies, fiddled with my Toshiba and took Paul a strong coffee to get him started.  Later that morning we went back to Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens where the latest Autumn plan fayre was in full swing.  A visit to Betty’s, a walk around the gardens and a drive back took the better part of four hours, after which I retired to the coach and Paul went into the garden to tackle the weeds!

Back to London tomorrow ;-(

It was when I started talking about Mavis in the third person that I knew I had a problem.  Commenting to my colleagues about what Mavis might think was the final straw.  That and double the workload in maintaining two websites.  I’ve therefore put Mavis and Dusty back in the closet and our reviews have returned to their roots.  Us.

With two colleagues, I found myself having dinner at Sergio’s on Great Titchfield Street in London last night.  We took an outside table at around 8pm and the place was buzzing with customers.  The atmosphere hits you straight away and with the addition of a beach and a little sun, we could almost have been on the Mediterranean.  The service was quick and professional with our waiter suggesting a wine that turned out to be very drinkable indeed.  A smooth, light Red from Italy that cost £24.95. It was so good, we eventually ordered up another.

The restaurant on the main floor caters for around 100 covers, the decoration was warm, welcoming and around the walls; scattered pictures of the owner with many a celebrity figure.  Downstairs they seemed to have a function room available for private hire. As we walked to our table I noticed linen napkins and well set tables inside the restaurant but unfortunately the same didn’t apply to our table outside.  We had to make do with paper napkins and no condiments.  We did have bright coloured lighting and overhead heating to keep us warm though.

I ordered up a Vegetable Soup (circa £5) to start with and for my main opted for the Roma Pizza. (£9.50).  The soup was nicely seasoned and full of little fresh crunchy vegetables.  My Pizza was just as good and went down a treat; aided by the beautiful red wine.  My colleagues both seemed to enjoy their lot as well and were it not for the red wine, I might have remembered what they actually had.  As it goes though, I do remember them both saying they were very impressed with the food, the atmosphere and service and that they would visit again.

An added extra for me was the amount of very fine eye candy walking by along Great Titchfield Street and with the banter of my colleagues keeping the mood light and fun a very enjoyable evening was had by all.

Our total bill came to £116, but included two bottles of wine (£50) and a few beers, so in reality the food and service was very good value indeed.  (This included a £1 cover charge and 10% optional service charge)

Rating: 4 Stars.

With few options available to people working in Regent’s Place the Pret a Manger shop attracts many a morning rush hour customer.  Lunchtimes are no different with queues coming out the door between 12noon and 1.00pm.  What I don’t understand is why. 

Yesterday I stopped for lunch and bought a jalapeno chicken wrap, latte coffee and a packet of crisps.  This lite lunch cost me over six quid and what made it worse was the lukewarm tasteless coffee and the dried out (high calorie/salt/fat) chicken wrap I eventually managed to un-peel from the copious amount of brown paper it was served in.

Rating. 1 Star [...] Continue Reading…

While I sat having breakfast in my hotel’s soulless restaurant; like many other guests, I ignored everyone making slurping, coughing, grinding noises by reading my paper.  The Times reported today that Marks and Spencer are dropping their upmarket “It’s not just food…. It’s Marks and Spencer’s food” advert campaign for one that will be replaced by Dell Boy actor David Jason.  I think this is a good thing given the advertising campaign mentioned would have one off two effects on me.  Either I would melt into the moment and quickly run to my nearest Marks and Spencer to buy [...] Continue Reading…

In Bloomsbury sits the Balfour Italian Restaurant on Marchmont Street, London.  We arrived at around 7.30pm this evening and took a table for two.  There were ten other diners eating what looked like nicely prepared meals, so we looked forward to our own.  I ordered up a Tomato Bruschetta at £4.95 and a Rib Eye Steak at £12.95.  My colleague ordered the Goats Cheese at £5.95 and Penne Pepperoni at £7.95.  To drink we asked for a bottle of white Pino Grigio at £14.50.  The restaurant is small on the ground floor, with seating for around 30 covers.  There are [...] Continue Reading…

The lady at Peter Maturi in Leeds, certainly answered the questions we asked with confidence.  The Jura Impressa F70 after a little haggling was ours and we left the store happy.  Getting it home, the set up was fairly straight forward and having read the instructions to the letter, our first home made frothy coffee was a reality.  Sturdy, simple to use, yet capable of handling a variety of different settings to suit taste, this machine has certainly proved to be the best we have ever bought.  Time will tell of course, when the novelty wears off, but for the [...] Continue Reading…

While pondering a major purchase, Dusty and I took a break in the Espresso Bar at Harvey Nichols in Leeds.  We had to wait about 5 minutes to get a table because it was so busy, but with lots of eye candy on show and walking by, this was not a problem.  The maitre’d showed us to our small square table where we would have a great view of the talent that are Leeds men strolling up and down the Victoria Quarter Arcade. For a moment we were nearly tempted by the afternoon tea for two.  At forty pounds though, [...] Continue Reading…

The last couple of weeks had been quite busy so we were looking forward to a quiet weekend. Saturday had us venturing into Halifax in West Yorkshire, where Paul was on the hunt for a particular plant at Dove Cottage nursery. This time I was wise enough not to expect a decent cafe where I could sit sipping coffee and eating cheesecake while Paul did his thing with plants, but I was in accommodating mood so didn’t mind. Afterwards, because we were near Bradford, we called up Graham for tips on what to see. After leaving the car we [...] Continue Reading…

A short drive from junction 27 on the M62 between Leeds and Manchester is the Dove Cottage Nursery and Garden on Shibden Hall Road, Halifax.  Specialising in hardy herbaceous perennials and grasses Dusty wanted to visit to pick up some particular plant that is only available here and in one other nursery in the UK.  They don’t sell candles, smelling paper or serve meals for the over 60’s.  They simply specialise in plants and seem to do it very well.  Run by Kim and Stephen Rogers they have a small family business on their hands which caters for the [...] Continue Reading…