Review: Tapas at The White Hart, Dartington nr Totnes, Devon

We were staying overnight in one of the newly renovated rooms at Dartington Hall.  The check in was friendly and swift and we were shown to smallish but very pleasant double en-suite, through a lovely low arched 'hobbit' door overlooking the quadrangle.

We had enough time to unpack and have a look through the cupboards and then we had a reservation at 630pm in the bar for English Tapas.  The offer at the moment is £4.50 for a plate of tapas or £9 for three of them.  The bar has been removed from the White Hart - the bar is now in the dining hall and the pub is full of tables and chairs - it does seem cosier and more welcoming.

There was no Spanish meatballs, jamon, Manchego cheese or anchovies in sight.  I was surprised to have tapas as our menu but it was like lots of interesting and full flavoured starters.  Recommended.  Full (changing) menu at the base of this post.

Not wanting to miss out, we chose almost everything.  Particular favourites were the Roast Pork with Apple and the Duck Salad.  Next time we go, I quite fancy having one 'tapa' as a starter with some bread and then four to share (between two) for main course.

Then we watched A Hijacking, a Danish film.  I loved it, my partner fell asleep during it.  And then a short walk across the path to get back to our room where I slept very soundly.  It is very quiet.  My other half reported that the bedding (ie duvet) was feather and made him snuffle.  He declared the breakfast delicious - I skipped this and had a shower instead.

Overall we had a fab time - our only issues if we had any were that the duvet was feather filled (I believe), there were three tiny pieces of crab shell in my crab cakes and one of the knobs fell off in the shower (it was stuck on with Blu tack!)

My friend collected me at 945 (check out is 10am during the week) and we visited the local Dartington shops and had a cup of tea.  A very relaxing 24 hours!

I went to Dartington as a guest and it was free of charge.  I was not required to be biased in my reporting in any way.

Served daily 12pm – 9pm

All British Tapas Dishes £4.50 each or 3 for £12.95

Opening offer, through May & June buy 2 British Tapas Dishes, get the 3rd Free (per person)

Pan seared Lamb Cutlets with a creamed mash swirl and a pea puree

Slow braised Pork Belly with apple three ways and black pudding

Mini Cottage Pie

Ham Hock terrine with piccalilli and garlic croute

Deep fried crispy Whitebait

Seared King Scallops with cauliflower puree and pancetta crisps

Thai style crab balls with a lime mayonnaise

Gravadlax of Salmon with a chive blini and a sweet mustard dressing

Wild mushroom risotto with white truffle oil (v)

Goats cheese terrine with a Waldorf garnish (v)

Salad of watercress, feta, pea shoots and broad beans (v)

Mediterranean vegetable filo pie with roquette and balsamic glaze (v)

Sides £2.95 each

Basket of fries

Basket of sweet potato fries

French beans in garlic butter

Broccoli with toasted almonds

Parsley new potatoes

Side salad

Hotel Chocolat Easter 2013 Review: Beau Bunny Choc Egg

Time for Easter already?  Well it's time to start thinking about it.  Hotel Chocolat kindly sent me a Beau Bunny to sample or give away....I chose to sample it.  They don't seem to sell this from their website in the same format - you can have either the egg or the mini eggs, but their shop may have a more diverse range.  They seem to have turned MR BB into a bit of a 'product' but he is quite cute and the chocolate was OK so I don't really mind.

 I'd like to point out there was nothing wrong with their P and P.  The white scratch on the top of the egg was made by me in my eagerness with some scissors to rip off the ribbon and cellophane.

 So it was a nice transfer of a rabbit plus 6 mini eggs.  We all preferred the 3 caramel filled ones, the other three were 'praline' and we are not that mad on nuts.

The large itself I didn't have a problem with,nice and thick with a good flavour, but my partner said it tasted a bit of coconut which is not necessarily good for a premium chocolate.

Overall 8/10 - enough for three of us to share as a dessert, or for one person at Easter
They are suitable for vegetarians and all of their chocolate is ethically sourced.

Riverford field kitchen- food bloggers' delight!

A fantastic lunch was held on Friday 22 Feb at the Riverford Field Kitchen, near buckfastleigh. We were supposed to go for a trip around the farm first but

a) it was too cold
b) we arrived bit too late so we sat and had a hot drink

Marcus woodsmoke kindly gave me a lift and seemed to be of same opinion.

The food was superb. Great quality and as well cooked as you would dream of. The company was excellent. Lots of food bloggers to natter with
 Choclette 
queen_frugal
country woodsmoke 
and hungryhinny  plus Guy Watson who owns the farm, two PR girls from Riverford who were really nice plus partners of Choclette and frugal queen . A lovely trestle table full of good food and fine foodie conversations.

The menu - using the best produce from the farm - so fresh and local - cooked just minutes before we ate.

The tables laid up before we embarked!

Our beautiful table.

Some good inspiration to browse

The amazing sticky toffee pudding with homemade custard.  Delicious (and no supper for me!)

Hoorags - 'Trendy' Bandanas

Is a bandana ever trendy for a cancer sufferer?  Not sure about that but this Winter Willow one that is $14.95 from Hoo Rags is pretty good.

They sent it to me to review and as a Xmas present and I was delighted.  I wear a variety of bandanas from the Force Cancer Centre in Exeter, UK which are only about £3 each.  They are thinner in material and width than the Hoo Rag but serve the same purpose.  Keep my baldy head from view and keep me warm from this bitter English winter.

 You can also twist them, wear them as a snood, scarf, topknot, beanie...but I prefer to just wear as a simple hat...

Overall, a nice design, keeps me warm (maybe) trendy.  It's a tricky time, all gifts are good!

Review: Archies Loft, Coverack, Cornwall. Pizza with a view

When staying in Coverack, The Lizard we always try to make time to pop into Archies Loft.  It is owned by Roskillys the local ice cream family, and they basically sell freshly made cookies, pizzas when they are ready and ice cream.  There is no indoor seating, but a couple of tables and chairs outside to sit and munch on your homemade goodies.

 The seagulls look well fed (and unusually quiet!)

I love it there.

The Lovely Lido Revisited!

We enjoyed Clifton lido so much in feb 2012 that we went back there in November.  We had lunch downstairs in the tapas bar, rather than upstairs in the restaurant. My personal favourite was the tortilla, Spanish omelette, and my partner was pleased to enjoy the scallops cooked in the wood oven, just like we had last time upstairs. The fresh bread, just still warm was incredible.


We also managed to do a few lengths in the pool, and spent a while in the sauna, steam room, shower and freezingcoldbucket area.

All exceptional!

I even met S. in the sauna who I was about to spend 48 hours with at the Penny Brohn Centre in Ham Green.  True coincidence.

The food was as yummy as I remember and the overall feel of the lido is very relaxed and quite luxurious at the same time.  I really like the new toiletries in the shower areas that are made by the Cowshed people but branded as Lido products. Nice smellies!

Cancer update

An update: I have now have had two operations to remove cancerous brain tumours.  I had an MRI scan yesterday and not yet had the result.  7 weeks of radiotherapy from 8 oct-23 nov to zap it into obliteration I think.  It is not how life was supposed to be but it is how it has turned out.  Shame for my food blogging and food crit as I was really enjoying it.  My poor parents are also having to deal with my brother in law who is worse than me with a similar thing. I would like to thank my husband and two kids for being superstars when life throws such a curve ball at us like this.  Thanks for your well wishes and I shall concentrate on getting better as advised!

18 December 2012
--------------------------
As of mid-December I have had 33 sessions of cranio-spinal radiotherapy and my third 'tumour' has shrunk by half to about 3mm in size and has not spread. All good news. So I am feeling nauseous and wobbly but optimistic. I will need another MRI of my brain and consultant appointment in late jan 2013 and probably will have a whole day of Stereotactic Radiotherapy under general anaesthetic.

How do I feel? Sick, tired and worried. But 10 times as good as I did in August. I wish I just felt completely fine and normal but hey...the photo is of Freya's birthday cake that she made herself as I was too grotty to make one. Another side effect has been totally going off food!