Pavillion Cafe - Buxton

As a pre-theatre venue, The Pavillion Cafe was ideal. The menu was very interesting and good value. My partner's Goat's Cheese Risotto was well received though we thought smaller pieces of cheese might have been more appropriate than one large wheel. My Shepherds Pie was tasty and the accompanying vegetables perfect. Banana and toffee cheesecake was not quite as good as it looked - it was beautifully presented, but my lack of enthusiasm was probably as much as anything to do with not really wanting or needing it. I very much liked the sourcing of local products.

Service was provided by some decent and effective young people. I was worried that we might be cutting it a bit fine for the waiting Lucrezia Borgia but they met our every requirement. There is no need to look any further for our next visit to Festival.

9.5 out of 10.

Oriental Buffet, Grand Buffet Whitworth Street, Manchester

I have no reason to supposed that the Oriental Buffet and Grand Buffet are connected other than by being in the same building and by the fact that we visited them for lunch and dinner respectively on a day so wet that walking to discover more options was not practical.

The Oriental Buffet was, to judge by the growing crowd of patrons happy to sit at its formica tables, well known and certainly good value. There was plenty of choice though it always irritates me to see such incongruous offerings as curly fries for the unadventurous. Shouldn't they just go to some fast food restaurant and eat out of a bucket?

The Grand Buffet offering "authentic" Indian food was neither grand nor authentic, merely adequate. Good value again with reasonable if often watery choices and more of the incongruities found below in their Chinese counterpart. I don't believe I have ever seen such a noodle dish (macaroni in goodness knows what sauce); its parentage reflected an unhappy marriage. Of the accompaniments none seemed to be quite cooked, everything unduly floury but it was a nice touch for a buffet when one of the suspiciously non-Indian staff brought round the freshly prepared "garlic" naan to the tables.

Oriental Buffet 7.5 out of 10 for variety; Grand Buffet 6 out of 10 for cross cultured confusion and lack of effort.

Dilli, Altrincham

In Altrincham in the rain you are likely to hasten to the first culinary haven but I had decided on Indian so we were prepared to get a little wet to attain the chosen cuisine. In a street hovering between prosperity and the sharp end of the recession, Dilli easily enough caught the eye.

Service seemed peremptory and charmless but was undeniably speedy and correctly paced. Our starters were delicious especially my partner’s Jhaal Moori, somewhat like a rather elaborate Bombay Mix mysteriously but subtly glued together by some unknown substance. For my Bijnor ki Pakori (in fact potato and onion bhajis) I would have chosen a mint sauce that looked less as though it had just recently been in Waitrose jar, but the flavour was fine.

At first I thought my Rara Murgh unremarkable but that epithet was more properly reserved for my partner’s Pista aur Badam ki Murgh which appeared to have retained none of the flavours of its ingredients which included pistachios and almonds. There is mild.......and there is flavourless. My own dish grew on me and I had to concede the artful distribution of green chilli in it. I was let down again though by the “spicy potato” filled kulcha which I can only say lacked spice and to some extent lacked potato.


Dilli’s self penned accolades are not fulfilled at this branch. I offer their link so that you might try for yourself but my mark is 6 out of 10 for a meal which satisfied my need for Indian food but was redeemed substantially by its starters.

http://www.dilli.co.uk/

Sparrows, Battlefield 1403

The farm shop at Battlefield 1403 and the adjacent restaurant are very likely to provide something you will want to eat. Visiting only for afternoon tea, we did not closely peruse the menu but our items – chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream for me, teacake for my partner – were delivered swiftly. Both offerings were highly satisfactory.

However, these converted buildings now far more retail than agricultural hosted an unwanted and unexpected accompaniment of flies; I award 7 out of 10 for the constant risk of extra protein in my otherwise nice tea.

Telford Services M54

Earlier this year, I set a precedent for this blog by reviewing a motorway service area. Today I am reviewing another.

We arrived at Telford services at the perfect time for lunch and were pleasantly surprised. There were at first far too few staff performing far too many roles between them. This puts unnecessary pressure on them and is a sign of poor management.

However, my steak pie had an excellent crust and a tasty and plentiful filling. My partner was equally satisfied by his half chicken. Both meals were served with chips, peas and gravy. The chips were generously cut and very fresh and we were consulted as to the placement of our gravy.

As the icing on the cake prices have recently been reduced making these two meals actually pretty good value.

I award 8.5 out of 10 for good food spoiled only slightly by harried service.

Caveat Emptor

Anyone seeking culinary excitement in Britain should beware what they buy whether in a restaurant or shop. Those who know what they want, especially if they have travelled a bit, already know this. Britain is afraid of garlic and spices. The most timid of meals are described as spicy. I have eaten dishes which have had no more acquaintance with garlic than possibly having been in the same room during the last 24hrs.


So perhaps then I was not entirely surprised to taste Piri Piri Chicken by The Genuine Food Company and currently offered at Sainsburys. This was not authentic. It was merely chicken, and not very good chicken at that, in a mildly spicy tomato sauce. I commend their use of wild rice which was attractive and quite nice.


I shall be trying their Corned Beef Hash next and hoping that they have not made, well, a hash of it.