The Lansdowne Hotel

Modern Contemporary food, unfortunately for me it has now turned into a sports bar, F-in-L didn't complain though.... Although he did grumble about the crazy music being too loud... you can't win them all!

Blossoms

19th August

Me and Jo for lunch.

Eat as much as you like....loads of starters is the way we like to do it!

Aromatic duck, pancakes etc...

All freshly cooked to order is the best way to do 'all you can eat'

Great atmosphere, relaxed and food cooked to order...we love it!

Staff friendly, dining room big enough to allow privacy without loosing the atmosphere!

Pig in the City

23rd August

homemade faggot, chips and peas

galic chicken, jacket pot and side salad

Only complaint, the bottles on the table were of heinz mayo but the pack i got was a cheap version!!!

Dead old fashioned pub, great atmos, sticky floors, friendly staff... loved it!

Rogan in Cartmel


Party of 16 in for dinner, pre booked, pre ordered and pre pre pretty pricey for what we got AND they sat us near the kitchen door which would have been fine if the staff hadn't kept kicking the door as they went in with there arms full of dirty plates!!!
The company I was in totally made up for it tho, what a great bunch of people. Oh yeah the bottle of Merlot we shared was lovely too...! Just as well as one jug of water for a table of 16 didn't last long....for some reason they only had one jug in the whole place so the waiting staff spent all evening running back and forth with refills.


Starters:

A tiny piece of lightly cured smoked salmon, 1/2 tsp of caviar with a dozen rocket leaves does not make a satisfactory starter!!! The pressed guinea fowl was the favoured starter, a big thumbs up all round from those who chose it.

I had the brocolli and blue cheese soup which could have been a little warmer but very tasty.


The beef was so tender it didn't taste of beef (work that one out, but that's the review I received from the diner who had the beef) served with butternut squash puree and a bourgignon sauce was a hit.



Chicken with a cabbage and thyme sauce, beautifully cooked chicken but the portion of cabbage could hardly be seen underneath it and the thyme sauce was soooo salty it spoilt the whole dish.


Dessert was a cheese selection, didn't have enough celery to go around all the cheese which was a shame.

We spent the weekend here The Old Rectory in Torver Nr Coniston staying with Elizabeth & Mitchell the best hosts in the whole world....we had an amazing weekend. There was 16 in our party and the first night we had dinner in the Old Rectory. On Saturday night we ate at a restaurant in near by Cartmell...but more about that another time.

The menu on Friday night was absolute perfect...now I'm a fussy diner, things that other diners wouldn't even notice puts me off the whole experience!!! But everything was amazing!!

The starter was a wonderful spinach and watercress soup, served piping hot. A1

The main course was a very tender braised lamb served with celeriac souffle (the absolute best!) and a trio of green vegetables which consisted of the greenest spring cabbage with just the right amount of crunch, buttered leeks that melted in the mouth and baked baby courgettes with thyme. We scoffed the lot deee-lish-us!! Portions were perfect!

I didn't really want a dessert, as I was so full up. I opted for a small taste of the rhubarb & Mascarpone dessert, it was very tasty with poached fruit topped with a mascarpone cream and sprinkled with crystallized ginger. It was a refreshing dessert but unfortunately it didn't go with my red wine, which by the way, was just the house red but a brilliant bottle of wine! so I opted to finish the wine instead of the dessert (now there's a first!!!) The cheese LOOKED amazing...3 pieces of very good quality cheese with celery sticks. It was the talk of the meal as over half of the diners had chosen this...that's what I'm having next time!!!

A choice of coffees and squares of dark dark chocolate were served in the lounge...I couldn't fault anything...the staff were lovely, dinning room was comfortable, everything was just right!

Elizabeth & Paul Mitchell are very special hosts, if you are looking for somewhere to stay in the lakes, I'd defiantly recommend staying with them, nothing was too much trouble.

Sunday lunch time saw 6 of us here at the Edgemoor Inn. This has undergone a complete makeover lately.

The Edgemoor Inn is in the Village of Edge, overlooking the beautiful, picturesque Painswick Valley.The late 19th century Inn, constructed from Cotswold stone, has picture style windows and is well known for its pretty panoramic views. It also boasts an extensive terraced patio overlooking Painswick & surrounding countryside unfortunatly it wasn't the best day for views but we'll be back in the summer and hope to get a window seat or even better one of those outside tables overlooking the amazing view!

Great food, good service fab value for money...only niggle was the table was too high for the chairs...I know bieng 5ft nothing doesn't help but I felt like goldilocks at Daddy bears table. Maybe the tables in the restaruatn may be a better height for the chairs...who knows, I'll try it next time and let you know!

Borge in Stockton was one of the restaurant we visited while in the north east. They do the worlds best parmo, you can choose from pizza, pasta, burger or vegetarian from the full Italian sounding menu!

There was 6 of us in our party and they had put us on two round tables...not the best when trying to hold a conversation but the atmosphere in the place was great! Lighting suited a romantic meal for two more than a friendly get together but that was our fault rather than the restaurant. The staff were very friendly, helpful and added to the overall atmosphere. It has a great reputation and reviews I found before I went were very flattering. Voted 4 stars by Evening Gazette, Voted number 1 for the best parmo served!

The menu looked very Italian and the dishes that turned up had an Italian theme, but I was a bit disappointed. You get what you pay for and this place is cheap. The world famous parmo looked and tasted like a heart attack on a plate. Too fatty and too cheesy for my taste but is a favourite of one of my guests, so it all depends on your taste buds I suppose.

The company I was in was brilliant so that helped to take away the bad taste the food left in my mouth. Next time I visit I will be commandeering Sonia's kitchen and cooking up my own Italian themed menu.