O’Neills Pub Food Review

April 9th, 2010

Irish pub chain O’Neills is the perfect place to eat if you’re looking for a good, quick, great value meal. The food is Irish-sourced traditional pub classics ranging from a good old Irish stew to Irish Cheddar and Ballymaloe Relish Melt sandwich.

The main all day menu at O’Neills is quite large and they also have a small “Taste of Ireland” menu which has a choice of seven meals for just £3.49! The main menu has a choice of all day breakfasts, pies, steaks, grills, sandwiches, salads, sharers and a massive range of burgers. The “Taste of Ireland” menu has Irish Stew Crock Pot, Chicken Crock Pot, Limerick Ham and Irish Cheddar Quiche, Irish Cheese and Bacon Burger, Lemon and Pepper Salmon Skewer, Irish Sausages and Colcannon and Sausage Coddle.

O'Neills Taste of Ireland Menu

As regular visitors of O’Neills, we have tasted many things on their main menu and the “Taste of Ireland” menu. On our last visit I had one of my absolute favourites,  the Seafood Crockpot, which has salmon, mussels, prawns and smoked haddock in a creamy sauce topped with colcannon and melted Irish cheddar. Served with a wedge of Irish soda bread for just £5.79 it’s a delicious bargain! My partner had the All Day Irish Breakfast with Irish pork and herb sausages, bacon, fried eggs, white pudding, potato bread, beans, grilled tomato and Irish soda bread for just £5.49. The sausages and bacon are top quality and some of the best we’ve ever tasted, the white pudding and potato bread are a tasty addition to the breakfast too.

The visit before last we had food from the “Taste of Ireland” menu, I had the Irish Stew Crock Pot, which is mutton and root vegetables cooked in a pale ale, rosemary and thyme gravy and again served with Irish soda bread. It is a very tasty Irish stew, it always has plenty of tender mutton and the gravy is delicious. My partner had the Chicken and Mushroom Crock Pot which is chicken breast in a creamy mushroom and brandy sauce, served on colcannon and topped with melted Irish cheddar. The chicken was moist and not over-cooked which chicken breast can often be in a restaurant, and the mushroom and brandy sauce finishes the dish beautifully.

We are big fans of O’Neills, the food is fantastic, it’s always served quickly and piping hot, there is a great choice of condiments including my favourite Ballymaloe Country Relish (which they will also sell you separately to take home), and it is fantastic value. There are a good range of drinks, including, of course, Guinness and if you want to experience a mighty St Patricks day party, then O’Neills is a good place to do so.

We highly recommend O’Neills, the staff are friendly, the food is good and the atmosphere fantastic – a good all-rounder indeed. The one and only downside, is that under 18’s aren’t allowed in the pubs, even just to eat – which is a shame because our kids would love the food.

How To Make Triple Cooked Chips

February 17th, 2010

Especially for National Chip Week 2010 this is how to make triple cooked chips, they are crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle – the best chip recipe in the world!

Ingredients

4 large Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm thick chips.
2tsps sea salt.

Directions

  1. Place the chipped potatoes into a large bowl of cold water and leave to soak for half an hour.
  2. Rinse the chips and put in a pan of cold water with the salt. Bring to the boil and cook for about 10 minutes.
  3. Drain the chips and run them under cold water then pat them dry with some kitchen towel.
  4. Put the chips on a baking tray and put them in the freezer for half an hour.
  5. After half an hour heat up your deep fat frier to 130°C. Take the chips out of the freezer, pat dry again with kitchen roll then cook them in batches of about 10 chips for 5 minutes until they just begin to colour.
  6. Drain and put them back in the freezer for another half an hour.
  7. After the half an hour heat the oil up to 180°C and cook them for around 3 minutes until they are crisp and a lovely golden brown.
  8. When they are ready, drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with sea salt, and that’s it, the most delicious triple cooked chips!

National Chip Week

February 15th, 2010

This week is National Chip Week, when the nation’s favourite traditional fast food is celebrated throughout the country.

In America chips are known as french fries or just fries, but of course here in the UK they are known as good old chips, delicious deep fried strips of potato.

The first chip fried in Britain was supposedly at Oldham’s Tommyfield Market in 1860.

There are many different types of chips “thick cut chips”, “shoestring fries”, “steak chips”, “crinkle cut chips”, “curly chips” and many, many more! They can be coated with spices to make “seasoned fries” and of course some people even leave the skin on the potatoes (which I personally think is just plain lazy!)

I have to say, my absolute favourite chips are chip shop chips, nothing beats them, no skinny fries, no oven chips – but the great traditional chippy chips!



Red Chilli Restaurant Review

February 7th, 2010

Last week was our second visit to the Red Chilli Chinese Restaurant and, yet again, it didn’t disappoint!

Red Chilli Restaurant serves the finest Beijing and Sichuan dishes and has restaurants in Leeds, York, Manchester, Bacup and Atherton.

Inside The Red Chilli Chinese Restaurant in Leeds.

Inside The Red Chilli Chinese Restaurant in Leeds.

The menu is vast and there are some very interesting sounding dishes, such as Eight Treasure Shark’s Fin Soup, Stir Fried Pig Intestine With Pickled Vegetable and Sichuan Mrs Spotty’s Beancurd to name but a few, there are also some “normal” sounding dishes, including Stir Fried Shredded Pork with Red Chilli and Sizzling Beef Fillet with sauce.

Red Chilli Restaurant isn’t the cheapest restaurant around, but the prices are reasonable and the food is delicous and well worth it.

We ordered just two main dishes and one portion of egg fried rice (which was more than enough for the two of us for lunch – we even had enough left over for a doggy bag!) We ordered the bizarre sounding Big Grandma’s Stir Fried Frogs Legs and Spicy Mutton Ribs, both portions were very generous and absolutely delicious. They also have a set Lunch Menu, which is £8 for three courses and four set banquets which range in price from  £36 for two people to £52 for two people.

The service at Red Chilli is good, the restaurant looks good and has a nice atmosphere. This will definately be a regular place for us to eat, reasonably priced and excellent food – what more can a person want!

Huevos Nevados Recipe

February 1st, 2010

When in Spain I had a delicious dessert called Huevos Nevados which translates as Snowy Eggs. When I came back to the UK I tried tosearch for a recipe for Huevos Nevados, but couldn’t find one anywhere. Then I realised that I should actually be searching for recetas de huevos nevados (which means recipe for snowy eggs). I was searching in English instead of Spanish – doh!

This is a simple recipe for the delicious Spanish dessert  Huevos Nevados.

Ingredients
1ltr milk
200g rich tea biscuits
6 eggs
1 cinnamon stick
rind of 1 lemon
300g sugar
ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Put the milk in a pan with the cinnamon stick, lemon rind and 200g of the sugar and heat gently.
2. Seperate the egg whites from the yolks
3. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, add the other 100g of sugar and whisk again.
4. Add spoonfulls of the egg whites to the simmering milk and cook gently for five minutes.
5. Carefully remove the cooked egg whites from the milk and place on pieces of kitchen roll to absorb the milk.
6. Strain the milk.
7. Add the egg yolks to the milk, one at a time beating as you add them.
8. Gently heat the custard and add the lemon rind.
9. Place the rich tea biscuits in the bottom of individual bowls, pour over the custard and add the cooked egg whites to the top, finally sprinkle with ground cinnamon.