In the run-up to turning forty last week and the unlikely event that I may have to entertain a few dozen people in Messy Towers I have been studying Frank’s excellent series on Lidl wine. Frank has kindly reviewed the NZ Pinot Noir (€9.99), Rose Champagne (€19.99), Fleurie (€6.99), and Chateauneuf de Pape (€14.99). Take [...]
Category > Review
Dining at The Cliff House Hotel Restaurant
Last summer we only managed to visit the Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore for drinks and, nice and all as they were, we missed the chance to eat in the restaurant. Not so for the summer of 2009, we made our booking early and counted down the days. A 7:30pm arrival for an 8pm booking [...]
Pour Your Own Pint
The pour your own pint system seems to have been around for some time now but not that widespread and not really publicised by Guinness. I’ve looked on the web for a press release or instructions but all I could find were one or two pubs advertising it, example here. To help solve this terrible [...]
Blasta Restaurant, Newtonmore, Scotland
This week messy-chef goes international and I find myself transported to deepest Scotland and the wee Highland town of Newtonmore. For anybody who hasn’t been to the area is it one of the best kept secrets around, an absolute haven for the outdoor type with walking, skiing, snowboarding, mountain-biking, kayaking, clay pigeon shooting, smoking, drinking [...]
Amicus Restaurant / Cafe, Douglas
Douglas Village in Cork is bustling on a Saturday night with loads of reasonably priced places to eat like Barry’s and Eco. Last Saturday we opted for Amicus, where the old Citrus had been in the East Village. We arrived at eight and given a table in the middle of the very busy restaurant. A [...]
Affligem Blond Ale
While the big brands still take most of the off sales in Ireland there is an ever increasing selection of fringe and specialist beers available on the shelves. Some are distributed independently while the big breweries also run their own lines. As part of their International Beer selection Heineken Ireland (based in Cork) are distributing [...]
Great British Food Fight – Jamie and Gordon on Channel 4
Channel 4′s Great British Food Fight rounds off tonight with Ramsay’s Great British Nightmare, stock issue script by now but I have seen mention of it on Twitter and some blogs so thought it interesting from that point of view. The makeover restaurant is in Sheffield so “sheffieldblog” have twittered a link to their blog [...]
Make your own Big Mac with Todd Wilbur
I happend accross a chef called Todd Wilbur at the weekend. Apparently Todd, based in Las Vegas, has sold a couple of million recipe books on how to clone food from chains such as McDonald’s, TGI Fridays and KFC. He used his lab (kitchen) to reverse-engineer things like Twinkies and Big Macs, once he finds [...]
Big Chef Takes On Little Chef [Channel 4, Mon 9pm]
Little Chef, the budget conscious roadside eatery, is suffering from lack of business and Channel 4 have an idea to revamp it. A restaurant makeover program where a celebrity chef revamps the menu and gives the punters quality food within a strict budget. We’re familiar with the plot at this stage however Jamie is laid [...]
SuperValu Grange Home Delivery Service
I love my local SuperValu. I’ve mentioned them on the blog before as an example of how to run a supermarket. They do a fantastic job with their fresh produce, support of local suppliers, advice on cuts of meat and how to cook them from Denis the butcher and, for the most part, their customer [...]
