Archive for the Eating Out category
Review of Pizza Hut, Boldon, Sunderland
Posted on Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 16:51 by Michelle
Just before the children went back to school, we had a night out at the
cinema, (Wednesday of course). As there are so many restaurant voucher
codes around we decided to make a night of it and go to Pizza Hut after
the movie. As there are 5 of us I made a reservation. We got to the
restaurant on time to be greeted by a very friendly manager who informed
us that they had been unusually busy, but had kept our table (nice of
them). But, he went on to say they had run out of every pizza base
except Italian. The kids said that would be OK, and I was having pasta.
So we sat, we waited quite a while to place our drinks order and then ordered the food. Two of the pasta dishes were off, they had ran out of prawns, mushrooms and chicken toppings. Some of this was relayed back to us after our order was placed. Anyhoo as we eat out so rarely we remained upbeat about it and enjoyed eating out together. When the starters arrived I was quite shocked at the size of the portions, they were tiny, their sharing plates were the size of side plates. I normally would not have thought too much about it, but Chris and I had just recently eaten in Pizza Hut in Leicester Square, if I was going to be ripped off anywhere I'd expect it more likely to be there. I commented to our server and was told they were the standard size but as I was unhappy she would take them from the bill.
The food when it came was no better than OK, Dave had meatballs, and as this is something we cook quite regularly at home, he was very disappointed in the quality.
The kids love to eat out, to them it feels like a real treat. For me, apart from not having to do the dishes, I'd much rather eat in and eat good quality, well prepared food, at a fraction of the cost.
Italian stalions would not drag me back into this Pizza Hut, and as they have a fair bit of competition up there, with a Frankie and Bennies, McD's and a pub serving food all in the same complex, I'm very surprised they can get away with such shoddy service.
| Edited on: Mon, Feb 02, 2009 16:52Posted in Eating Out (RSS), Family (RSS), Food (RSS), Frugal (RSS)
London on a budget
Posted on Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 17:43 by Michelle
London is always very expensive, but as my children have gotten older it has become one of the few places we can go where everyone is happy.
I used to live in London so always feel comfortable there and usually know my way around. We traveled to London by train, and as I have a family and friends card and booked as soon as the dates went on sale the return journey was less than £50. I know there are lots of complaints from those who live in London, but as an infrequent visitor I love the public transport there and it puts my local public transport to shame. I keep an Oyster card on automatic top up so that I don't have to worry about fares for me, and kids are free (on buses) until they are 16, but the last time we went we were asked a few times for their cards. Now kids over 11 have a Zip card, that wasn't available to kids outside London when I had been before, it is now, but you have to apply 3 weeks before you go and I had not realised. However there is still a £1 daily travelcard available for kids (up to 4 children with 1 adult) which gets them on the buses and tubes and covers all zones. It is off peak so not to be used until after 9.30am. I'm not sure how the pricing of this works as the first day I was told it was £2 each as I don't have a travelcard on my Oyster but the next few days I was only asked for £1 each.
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Sorting out our accommodation is always my first priority. A few times I have managed to bag a room at The Hoxton when they have had their £1 specials and it is a lovely hotel. The bar is quite trendy (and expensive), but there is free wifi and some PC's for general use in the lobby. It is a short walk to Old Street tube and there is a fridge in the room where they put a pint of milk and a bottle of water which is a nice touch. The breakfast bag they leave is nothing to write home about, yogurt, banana and OJ, but when you've paid less than £60 for 3 nights, who's complaining. It's not really a family hotel, but a great place for a girly get away or romantic weekend.
The last twice we have been I have managed to get a family room from the Travelodge at £9 per night. This is a spectacular price when you consider that 4 of your can sleep comfortably in a family room. I've stayed in a few Travelodges in the capital and would give those near Kings Cross a wide birth simply because they are very dated and a bit grim inside the rooms. This time we were in the fairly new hotel on City Road. The train from Newcastle takes us to Kings Cross and the bus from there stops right outside the travelodge door. The rooms are clean and spacious, but if you do stay there, take ear plugs, there are some clubs nearby and of course some guests returning late at night. One of the great features of this hotel for those on a budget is their buffet breakfast. This is not haute cuisine, but eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, as well as toast cereal and muffins to help yourself to as much as you want, although already good value for money at £7.50 any children in the room eat free with a paying adult. To use my recent trip as an example 3 nights with an eat as much as you like breakfast every day for 4 people, (me and 3 kids) at a total cost of £49.50.
I did encourage the kids to eat heartily at breakfast and that really kept the price down. When we were wandering about during the day, a stop at Starbucks (or Tesco Express) late afternoon and we were fine until dinner. For dinner I printed off vouchers before we went. So we had lovely meals at Yo Sushi and Pizza Hut, as well as one costly, " lets walk into the next place we see" but very nice Indian. The Pizza Hut we went into was in Leicester Square, I'd normally not venture in to somewhere 'so touristy that it does not matter what the service is like' but the vouchers had to have a named shop on them, and I knew I'd be able to find that one. I was very pleasantly surprised, The service was quick the portions were generous and the staff were pleasant.
Getting around always takes up the majority of our time as I prefer the buses but can't work them out, but I did get to visit the Dr Who exhibit at Earls Court with Chris while the girls spent their Christmas money at Camden. We also had a great time in the Science Museum in the Launchpad area, I've been to the science museum before so think that bit must be pretty new, as I don't know how we can have missed it. There is something similar in Newcastle in the Discovery Museum, but my kids know that inside out. I'm very pleased that we went to Launchpad on a weekday when the schools were back in and when there were not a great deal of tourists in the city because it was still pretty hectic in there.
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Our highlight was the ice cream in a lovely Italian place called Ciao! just off Leicester Square, they have a gorgeous Eraclea which is a sort of hot chocolate custard. It's similar to chocolat and churros in Spain. The kids loved the ice creams and the staff were attentive and friendly. It became somewhere to drop into after a long and very cold day of walking and I sincerely hope it is still there the next time I visit.
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|Posted in Eating Out (RSS), Family (RSS), Food (RSS), Money Saving (RSS), Travel (RSS)
Pizza in Aldeburgh
Posted on Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 12:03 by Michelle
This weekend was parents weekend when parents of children who attend Summerhill are allowed to see their kids, (It's not quite that strict, but almost). We had arranged to couchsurf another parent who has a house a few minutes walk from the school. This worked out very well, there were 3 sets of parents all in, and it was really lovely to feel homely with my kids, it's normally very difficult to think of things to do to fill in the time. When they were smaller we went to soft play, swimming pools and bowling, but now with petrol being so so expensive driving in to Ipswich works out really pricey, and there isn't a great deal to do locally, not that they want to go swimming any more and they are too old for soft play.
After picking them up we headed in Aldeburgh for something to eat. Chris will only eat outdoor reared meat, and I hoped we'd be able to find something but he ended up with a vege pizza from Prezzo I am sure a few other parents have mentioned this place and it was OK. I probably wouldn't go in again unless the kids asked to, it was a bit expensive for my pocket, the pizza's were nice, stone baked etc, I had the spinach with Chris and thought it bland, but we all loved the olives that came as an appetizer.
Aldeburgh is a quaint town on the the East Anglian coast. It is close
enough to London for the more affluent to have second homes there, which
shows in the boutique type shops that line the front street. It is a
very pretty town, although it's beach has nothing on South
Shields, the beach at Aldeburgh is a shingle beach, and unless you
like that crippled feeling, best not walked on in Crocs! After eating we
had a walk down to the sea and worked off some of the carbs. 
The seafront is lovely to walk along the houses are so prettily decorated, and this one has to be the smallest house I ever saw. I'm not even sure if it could be lived in. It looks as though there may be enough room for a sitting room and kitchen downstairs and bedroom and bathroom upstairs, but it would be squeeze. It looks only slighter larger than a beach hut.
Before leaving on the Sunday we went for a mooch around Snape Maltings, Dave and Chris had a hilarious game of guess the price in the shop, OMG that stuff was expensive. We went to the nearby Crown for lunch, which served their own home reared pigs. I was so pleased to be able to get Chris to eat some meat, umm that sounds so 'Jewish mother', it's not that I have any hang ups on what he eats, but he doesn't eat a 'good' vege diet and at his age I worry, tch, who am I kidding, there's always something to worry about. Anyway the pub was lovely, it looked as though it could fall down around you if someone sneezed hard, but they had Aspall's cider and a large and varied menu. We'll deinfintely eat there again. Looking it up for the blog, I can see it has received quite a few good review from travel and food writers, so if you're near it, or going to Snape Maltings, stop and have some supper.
|Posted in Eating Out (RSS), Family (RSS), Summerhill (RSS)
Gateshead Taybarns - The Ultimate Eatery
Posted on Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 19:57 by Michelle
We just returned from having 'wor tea' at this recently opened restaurant. I was searching for something on the internet last night, and you know how you end up going down rabbit warrens of information...well I stumbled on a review for the above. I thought it had to be worth a try and could add to our restaurant repertoire, which is one other buffet type place, and a lovely Italian, that we go to on birthdays and anniversaries.
When I found the restaurant I realised we had been in before in the buildings previous incarnation as a Brewers Fayre. The service today was certainly faster than that, possibly as it is now serve yourself.
The food was OK, it was nothing special, and if you're only paying for yourself as part of a group then it's pretty good value.
We went before 5 to take advantage of the lower cost (£5.95) and for 4 adults, me and the 3 kids, (who are adults at 10 in Taybarns) it came to just under £30 for the meals and a refillable glass. Now I could do a pretty spectacular meal for £30 at home, in fact I can get most of the weeks shopping for that, but I would have to do the washing up.
It wasn't very busy when we got there, but there was a queue coming in when we left. There was a good range of food, salad, roast meat and veg, a wok and pizza counter as well as the dessert section.
It hasn't been open very long, and was very clean the seating is contemporary, and it was a pleasant experience. It couldn’t help but remind me of the eat as much as you like places in the states, Golden Corral etc. I can foresee openings of many more restaurants of this ilk.
For some reason on the Taybarn site this is called Taybarns Newcastle, but as far as I know Swalwell is Gateshead, it's certainly south of the river. There seems to be snobbery around all the new or good things being classed as being in Newcastle - or the oft coined Newcastle-Gateshead as if it's become one town!
- Newcastle Hilton - Gateshead
- Newcastle Marriott - Gateshead
- Metro Centre - Gateshead
Posted in Eating Out (RSS), Money Saving (RSS)