Waiter! There's a pig in my dinner.

We went away for the weekend. Well, part of the weekend anyway, for reasond that may become clear.

The Best Western hotel in Alsager (I name good places when I review them, there's no reason why I shouldn't name ... less good ... places too) looks lovely on its website, and indeed at first site on arrival it looks not bad. I suppose I've been to enough business hotels in out-of-the-way places not to be surprised at stale air in the bedroom or the repeated requests to know what time I want to be seated for dinner. Or the resigned feeling of realising that the view from one's window is of the kitchen waste bins.

However, there were a few special touches that this place had to offer:

When I was asked (again) what time I wanted dinner and replied that I would await the arrival of my friend, you'd think that they would mention that she had cancelled her reservation. No.

When we went to dinner and were invited to take drinks in the cocktail bar, you'd think that they would offer cocktails. ("would you like a drink?", "How about a mojito?", "Er, don't know what that is"). No.

When arriving at the table with our bottle of wine already there and opened (not opened in our presence, tut tut), you'd think that someone would pour some for us. No.

When finally one of the waiting staff brings our main course and finally offers to pour the wine, you might think that they'd know not to fill a red wine glass up to the brim. No.

When you've ordered beef medallions with an oxtail suet pudding, you'd expect to get something close to that, rather than pork medallions. No.

When you point out to the waiting staff that pork is in fact, not beef, you'd expect a bit more than a shrug and "I'll mention it to Chef". No.

I could go on. Breakfast was amusing, in a David Brent kind of way. Checking out brought a moment of levity when we were asked if we'd enjoyed our stay.

To be fair, they did discount our bill. But I don't think we'll be rushing back.

Dinner in Dunster

We had a quiet meal out, while in Cornwall: the Saturday after Christmas is not a busy time for the restaurateurs of Dunster.

A fish restauruant, with a concentration on local ingredients, Myn was in her element.  She went for shelfish ravioli, and while I was trempted by the tuna steak, I eventually plumped for the pork chops with a honey mustard sauce.  This actually came with something reminiscant of melted Christmans pudding: very tasty, but incredibly filling.  This meant that I had no room for pudding, so Myn enjoyed a cheese platter, while I nibbled on a grape.

There was a good winelist, which was varied and evenly priced.  

While the place was pleasantly decorated on the inside, the cottagy style, with the nicnack-filled windows made it look a bit like one of the several "expensive tat" shops that fill the High Street, so you might not particularly identify it as a restaurant from the street, or that it is open.  Walking through the door, I was half expecting to find myself in somene's from room, rather than a restaurant.

While there's no way of knowing what this would be like in a busier time of year, it was a good meal with attentive service in a pleasant atmosphere. 

Doobedoobedoo

We ate out at Dukes Grill, in Dukes 92, on the canalside in Castlefield. No bad.

It was a little cold, and the walk along the canal itself to get there made us readt for some warmth whne we arrived. Pity about the broken crokery outside the main entrance. They weren't busy and were certainly keen to serve us, so we repeatedly asked them to give us a little time to actually read the menu... In the end, I plumped for the 6oz ribeye bavette steak, beaten thin and marinaded overnight in garlic and olive oil. Myn opted for the beef & horseradish risotto and we had a side order of honey roasted root vegetables, with a bottle of Berri Estates shiraz.

Myn enjoyed the risotto, which (from my small sample) seemed to be ideally cooked: not chalky and not stodge. However, my steak was incredibly salty. It was also very tender, and the marinade had given it a pleasant taste. But my goodness, was it salty.

"How are you enjoying your meals?"

"Very nice thanks, but this steak is very salty"

"But they've only been marinaded in garlic and olive oil: it shouldn't be salty"

"Maybe it's my taste, but it is definately salty."

Eventually, they agreed that the marinade was too salty and offered us a free dessert. I had a sticky toffee pudding and Myn had a chocolate toffee brownie. Both were good, and neither - I'm glad to say - showed any sign of having been near a cream aerosol can.

The surroundings were pleasant enough. However, the music was a bit loud and one got the feeling that had the bar been full, then the noise would have been quite overpowering. Also, the back door opened directly into the restaurant area, which let in a cold blast every time it was used. So: overall not bad, but with a few provisos. Would possibly go again, but only if I wasn't after anything in particular. There are other placed to go for pizza / pasta / risotto, or for good steak, or for good fish. There are some excellent wine bars around that offer food and there are some great pubs you could visit.

In other words, Dukes 92 does high-end pub food. From that perspective, it does it well enough, but you may want a glass of water if you order a steak.

goo goo g'joob

Dinner was out this evening: we went to Walrus, on Manchester High Street.  Most satisfactory.

Myn started on tempura squid, while I enjoyed thai fishcakes.  Mains were crispy pork and a beef mussaman curry, both served with a sufficiency of sticky rice.

Now, regular readers of this blog will be reminded of some menu descriptions from our time in Cambodia.  Indeed, the full menu included many items that gave me a brief flashback to many an evening spent trying to decide how to feed twelve hungry mouths.

Anyway, the food was lovely; the house wine was a surprisingly pleasant ugni blanc / colombard from Gascony; and the service was faily attentive, well informed and quite attractive.  The decor is a little eclectic / modern Japanesee, but not startlingly so for all that.

Would recommend it, and would definately go again.  A Rob Rave.