The Pryordurkins

Posts Tagged ‘BBC’

On Saturday, we went along to Chelsea Flower Show in London with our friends Steve and Russell.  We arrived at around 10am having walked from the Crowne Plaza hotel on Buckingham Gate where we were all staying for the weekend.  Entering through the gates, the memories of my last visit came flooding back.  With the sun shining and it being the last day of this particular RHS flower show the crowds were out in force.

One of the best things about the Chelsea Flower Show is that no babes in arms or children under five are allowed.  As a result you were hard pushed to find anyone under thirty years of age.  We spent the next couple of hours walking round the site, getting acquainted with the layout, taking in the show gardens and smelling the flowers in the main pavillions.

At 12 noon, because we had previously booked a table in the Rock Bank Restaurant, we took our seats for a three course lunch and bottle of champagne.  We were overlooking the main avenue and were quite close to the BBC broadcasting stand so had a great position for people watching throughout our meal.

Having finished up, the afternoon lay ahead with many more show gardens to visit.

It had started to cool down around 3pm when we took a break in the picnic area for a glass of Pimms or two!

We left the show just before the final day sale of exhibits started at 4pm.

Paul started out this morning by visiting a new hair stylist in York where he had a new cut and some colour put in.  (I’ll put the picture up soon!)  By the time he got home I had finished breakfast and was out of bed and showered by 11am.  We both went back into the city for a spot of lunch at 1331, which continues to be consistently good. After a little shopping at Molton Brown and Barnitts, we got home around 4.30 and have now started to prepare for this evenings Eurovision Song Contest coming from Moscow.

We’re expecting the usual camp fest of music and with Graham Norton stepping into Sir Terry Wogan’s shoes as main presenter for the BBC, it will be interesting to see how entertaining he makes it.  (I’m suspecting it won’t be as funny).

Anyway, have a great evening yourselves and here is betting the voting results are just as predictables as ever.

It’s been quite some time since I had to stay overnight in London, but this week I find myself at a hotel in the centre for a couple of nights.  With the trusty MacBookPro I brought with me, I should have a little more entertainment to hand though.  I can play my Itunes, watch any programme from the BBC iPlayer and if the technology allows speak and see Paul using Skype when he gets round to calling.

If you haven’t registered for Skype yet, you should.  You can make free Internet calls, very cheap international phone calls and all with the added benefit of video, so you can see who you are talking to.  Of course, I’ll have to think twice about lolling around the hotel room in dressed only in my socks and pants after hanging up my suit, in case someone ‘rings’ via Skype!

I’ll update the review when I check out of the hotel.  I’ve stayed here before and you can read the last review here.

I’d promised myself last year, that I would not get hooked on The Apprentice, but like every year that went before, I did.  This year I am not going to make the same mistake.  I will admit that I am hooked before it even starts on Wednesday the 25th March on BBC 1 at 9.00pm.  It should be fun watching how this years bunch operate in the current economic climate and rumour has it, Sir Alan Sugar might just lighten up a bit as well.

I’ve already decided on who I will be routing for.  Based on a detailed analysis of ability, past experience and potential  (actually his looks alone), I am supporting Rocky.  A 21 year old from our home county of North Yorkshire.  According to the blurb he already runs 25 sandwich shops across the North East, so should be well placed to make a meal of this opportunity in front of the cameras.  If someone tells us where we can find one of these shops, we might just go and do the infamous pryordurkin.com review as well!

It was spring-like and after a short stroll through the grounds of RHS Harlow Carr we headed off into Harrogate to explore and find a little bistro for lunch. We eventually came across Van Zeller Restaurant on Montpellier Street, a little restaurant that we liked the look of, even though we could not clearly read the menu since the window was steamed up. As it turned out, this place had only officially been open since Fri 13th Feb 09. The owner and chef is Tom van Zeller and according to the advertising is the only chef in Harrogate to have been awarded 2AA rosettes, whilst head chef at the Hotel du Vin, Harrogate. With backing from David Moore (one of the inspectors from BBC2’s The Restaurant) Van Zeller’s is aiming to be the premier dining destination in and around Harrogate.

It had just gone 2.15pm  but the chef was still prepared to accept two more covers. The restaurant is on the small side, which makes listening to fellow diners extremely easy, but was smart and stylish. One table was screened off from the till, and when the couple seated at this table were being served one person was served and then the waiter would run around the screen and the till and then serve the other half of the table. They did make the comment that they felt hemmed in. This place is certainly bijou. We were readily seated, our coats taken, and were glad to note the linen napkins. Two menu options were available, the ‘Du Jour’ which consisted of two courses and a free glass of wine, for the bargain price of £14.95, and the A La Carte menu. We both opted for the A La Carte menu. Michael opted for the game terrine and then the lamb confit with leeks and potatoes, I opted for the salmon balotine to be followed by the lamb too.A little sliver of butter (that was sitting in a little puddle of water) was put on the table but we were half way through the starters before we eventually managed to ask whether we could have some bread to go with the butter. Additionally,  whilst we were told about the free wine, the front of house weren’t so keen in promoting the drinks that we had to pay for and we had to ask for a drinks menu. The drinks menus were given to Michael to browse and one menu promptly dropped one of the fastenings into his terrine. Instead of replacing the starter (or at least removing the fastening in the kitchen) Michael was asked to pick the fastening out of the terrine and hand it over! Michael chose a glass of Shiraz that he said was very nice but looking at the bill when we got home we were charged for 2 Erdinger beers instead (another loss in profit). Michael thought the terrine was ok but had tasted better recently, and the centre of my salmon balotine had ice crystals in it. Not the best of starts. The mains were acceptable but not overly outstanding. Being a cheesecake aficionado, Michael ordered the rhubarb and lime cheesecake but said the two flavours clashed, I opted for the apple tarte tatin but the caramel had been burnt and left a bitter aftertaste. Two double espressos were ordered but they did not come with any cantucci or the like and I could still taste the burnt caramel even after the coffee but I could not find any mint imperials.

Whilst Van Zeller’s is hoping to become the premier dining destination in and around Harrogate,  the front of house need to pull their socks up, they weren’t even half full, and more attention needs to be paid to the food being served ie not to send out frozen or burnt food. Whilst we wish a new business to succeed we don’t feel that Van Zeller’s has yet achieved the standards that they are clearly hoping to attain. The chef Tom Van Zeller did apologise for the frozen salmon though.

Pryordurkin rating: 3 stars.  (We will go back though to see if our experience was just early opening snags)

Telephone 01423 508762

I am not entirely convinced the Restricted Diet our cats were put on by the Vets will be completely successful.

I was enjoying my lunch while catching up with the BBC News when I heard a commotion coming from the kitchen.  Squeaking was very evident.   At least at first!

Being the man I am, I calmly walked in and opened the outside door politely asking our two cats if they wouldn’t awfully mind taking their little friend outside.  (Please note this sentence has been written with my reputation in mind and bears no resemblance to the actual facts).

Having deposited said little fury friend outside, both cats then looked at me with just a little puzzlement in their eyes as I firmly closed the door behind them and locked the cat flap squarely shut.

Settling back down to finish my lunch while the cats clawed at the door, images popped into my head of Paul and I sat around in a circle at the vets Fat Cat Club discussing how best to lose weight (the cats) with other equally put upon owners.

After a weekend that took an unexpected and unfortunate turn for our friends who had originally planned to spend it with us, we woke this morning to find a very nice covering of Snow over much of the UK.  Listening to the excited BBC News presenters (makes a change from the credit crunch I suppose) you would think this was a completely new phenomenon.  However I can remember having to dig my car out of several feet of snow when I was a lad, not so many years ago.

With Priscilla taking ownership of the garage Paul was not best pleased at having to scrape down his car from the snow and ice that had covered it overnight, before taking her off to the garage for some minor repairs.  However the scenes in and around our home in York more than made up for the mild inconvenience.   The picture to the right was taken ‘out back of house’.

We did momentarily think while enjoying what is turning out to be a fantastic British winter, about Marg in Australia and the recent reports over here that they are enduring their hottest summer for many years.  So we thought we’d share a few winter pictures as a little light relief to all those down under.

As the evening sets in, we hear on the news that tonight we can expect another 20cm of snow, so while Paul prepares the evening meal, having taken a few pictures, I’ll now be busy closing all the curtains, turning up the heating and lighting a few candles for an evening in front of the box.

Of course, tommorow is where all the fun starts because I need to get to Reading by 2pm and Paul has ‘volunteered’ to take me to the train station for just after 8am.

We’ll see….

After a late start to the day we headed into the City Centre for a spot of shopping and a light lunch.  On our way, we stopped off at Deans Garden Centre looking to buy a water butt so we could start to collect rain water for the garden come summer.  Unfortunately they didn’t have the 60mm connection kit so we could link it up with our guttering drain pipes, which (as is now usual with the Pryordurkin luck) are non standard.  Anyway, laughingly we thought B&Q might have it in and promised ourselves we would call on the way home (Aren’t we silly?).

Getting into the City we parked up and walked into the centre.  It was packed full of tourists and shoppers alike.  You would think it was the week before Christmas.  Restaurant, shops, cafes and the streets were buzzing with people who generally looked up beat, happy and pleased to be out.  I still can’t quite square this with the pessimistic downbeat doom and gloom messaging you get every time you switch on the BBC news.  I find myself shouting at the TV the more excited the news presenters get with every bit of bad news.  Perhaps a few of them should lose their jobs and feel the pain many others are suffering.  They then might think twice about making things even worse by creating even more worry and pessimism amongst Joe Public.  While I’m on one, I’m curious how much the BBC Downturn logo cost.  This is the second one I’ve seen so far.

Anyway where was I?   Oh yes, we bought a few items from around town, stopped for lunch at Harlequin (which was packed, even at 2.30pm) and then made our way home.  On our way, as mentioned earlier, we called into B&Q to see if they had the connection kit we needed for the water butt.    Guess what?…….

From the outset, my treatment at Castle BMW of York was exemplorary.  Although the showroom looks a little tired compared to the other ‘newer’ show rooms for other car makes on the same Clifton Moor site, the experience itself was first class.  Not one red balloon was in site and the copious amounts of coffee that I did drink were all served up in china cups rather than the plastic one offered when I bought my last car.

With the current credit crunch all the rage and the world falling down around us, or so you would think if you watch the BBC news, I obviously expected a very good deal.  Thinking the sales people at dealerships like BMW would be so desperate they would do anything to sell a car I entered Castle BMW of York two weeks ago looking for a deal.  I went in with a fixed budget in mind, a base-lined specification and the expectation that all I would be able to afford was a second hand car.  After two visits, I had on offer a car that met my base-lined specification and was within the budget I had set.  The only difference I did compromise on was that this time it would be brand new.

What was interesting throughout the discussions and deal making was how confident Castle BMW were with their prices and (like I do) listening in to the conversations of other sales people and customers who were sat around me, there was something re-assuring about knowing they weren’t actually that desperate for business as the BBC news people might have you think.  It reminded me of the Stella Artois adverts – reassuringly expensive.  That all being said though, I was very happy with the deal struck and picked up my new car yesterday.

The handover process was (now to be expected) professional.  Everything was explained; from the vehicle registration and warranty papers I was been asked to sign, to the button on the right hand side of the drivers foot-well, that pops open the boot.  They even made handing over a ‘wodge’ of cash seem relatively painless.  All in all the handover process took two nearly two hours, but a lot of that was down to us chatting about everything other than cars.

Anyway, I am pleased with my experience of Castle BMW, feel sure they will look after me post sale and if they do manage to update their showroom, would get five stars all round.

Pryordurkin rating. 4 stars.

(If you do visit them ask for Simon H’ who looked after me)  Tel:0845 128 6429

We like this shop in the centre of York.  It is quite traditional in style and while some might say it is old fashioned, we say it is based on customer service and quality.  The staff are friendly and attentive except for the odd weekend teenage member of staff but they are quite rare.  It has the usual range of departments from men’s through to women’s clothing, furniture, beds and bedding, curtains and kitchenware.  We especially like the card sections, as they sell very good quality greeting cards, many of which you will not find anywhere else.  They are also very competitively priced.  The clinique counter is also a favourite of ours and we regular stock up on the mens clinique three step products!

It has a couple of tea rooms, both of which seem popular with locals and tourists alike, but we have not got round to trying them ourselves just yet.

Browns have even got themselves onto TV recently with BBC News broadcasting from their shop floor this morning, covering the recent drop in VAT. Apparently Browns computer systems can’t cope with fractions so they have reduced all their prices by three percent which will be deducted at the till.

Rating: 3 Stars.

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