The Pryordurkins

Posts Tagged ‘lunch’

Now part of the Prezzo Restaurants group, Jonathans Italian Restaurant on Bridge Street in Maidenhead served up my lunch yesterday.  I arrived with a few colleagues and we were shown to a large round table at the rear of the restaurant overlooking an outside patio garden area.  The restaurant was brightly lit, modern in design and freshly cleaned. 

I ordered a soft drink and was nicely surprised to see it served up in a cooler chilled glass.   I then ordered up my Scicillian Pollo and after a short time it was served up by one of the chefs.  I have to say it was very good indeed. Well cooked and nicely presented on a crisp white plate.   I’d opted for a side salad to accompany my meal instead of potatoes and it was just as good.  Dressed with a quality extra virgin olive oil and including warmed sliced bell peppers I would have been happy enough with that alone.

The service was attentive and professional and they took the time to ensure we were always happy with our lot.

In summary it was a stylish place to stop for a quick business lunch and my instinct tells me, it would just as good for an evening dinner.

Pryordurkin rating. 3 stars.

Telephone 01628 780227

We paid another visit to Ambience Cafe Bar at 40 Glllygate York for lunch today.  We wanted something light and quick while out shopping in the City Centre.  As we arrived around 12 noon, the walled garden was starting to fill up with other customers.  We took a seat at one of the plastic tables and waited to be served.  Within moments we were greeted by the friendly owner, who said someone would be with us soon.  A nice touch.

A young guy with a blank look turned up to take our order.  We knew after placing the order, it was unlikely to arrive without problem.   Sure enough my chicken sandwich arrived covered in coronation sauce, despite my specifically asking for it to come plain.  Despite this the sandwich was fine.  Paul had opted for Ham and it certainly looked home cooked.  Accompanied by curly fries (how can respectable places still serve these grease laden things) and a small bowl of soup, it was good value at £5.90 each.

The garden itself is very private and sits within the walls of York City Centre.  It has certainly filled out with planting since we were last time and was as usual very nice indeed.

In summary, this cafe bar, while not exactly serving ‘Gastro’ food, does do what it says on the tin, and provides a nice place to stop and refresh in peaceful surroundings.

Pryordurkin rating 3 stars.

The Pryordurkin effect paid me a visit today while I was washing up some dishes after lunch.   I remember I had put my phone on the kitchen window so it was nearby, as I was expecting several calls.  After I had lifted the dishes out, I went to pick up the tea towel which for some reason I had laid on top of the phone.

Plop.

I watched in slow motion, my telephone sinking to the bottom of the sink, which was full of dirty greasy water, fairy washing up liquid and just a dash of bleach.  I should add the water was also scalding hot, so retrieving said phone was not the greatest fun either.

Having finally scooped the phone out I could see the screen slowly fading away.  I immediately took the battery out and left it to dry.

Despite several hours drying later, I am sad to say my trusted friend has suffered serious brain (chip) damage.  The only thing to do, is put her to sleep.

I then sheepishly rang Orange and explained the evil nature of the Pryordurkin effect.  Thankfully, they have now arranged to courier a replacement phone to my place of work tomorrow.

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.

We decided to take a trip to a second  local National Trust property now that we are fully fledged members.  This time it was Beningbrough Hall near York and within thirty minutes of leaving home we were there.  Pulling into the car park we noticed quite a few people having picnics and given we are still trying to buy our own from John Lewis it made the wait all the more worse.

We spent the next two hours walking around the gardens, grounds and the house itself. (check the photograph gallery).  The grounds, even under a cloudy sky were wonderful to walk around and Paul seemed to fall ever more quiet as we walked through the gardens planted with many varieties of fruit and vegetables which they serve up in the Wall Garden Restaurant which was to be our final stopping point (more of that later).  The house itself includes a good number of paintings on loan from the National Portrait Gallery and (while not our cup of tea) a good deal to keep the kids happy as well.   We did of course happen to play with the virtual portrait computer; the output of which you can see in the photograph gallery!

As mentioned our, final stop was the Wall Garden Restaurant which like many National Trust properties aims to serve up locally sourced and produced food.  We originally planned to stop for a quick cuppa, but when we saw the Roast Beef Sunday Lunch being served up to those people queueing up in front of us, our stomachs got the better of our minds and we had the full works instead.  Followed by home made Apple Pie and clotted cream (for me, not Paul!), it was a nice meal.  The bill came to just over £24, which could be a bit pricey for those with large families, but the quality was certainly there.  The beef was very good indeed.

All in all, well worth a visit.

Pryordurkin rating 3 stars.

Being Good Friday we wanted to have fish for lunch, so found ourselves eating at Loch Fyne on Walmgate in York. We arrived just after 1pm and were invited to wait in the bar area while a table was prepared. The place wasn’t full at all, but they were limiting the number of tables in use because they seemed short of staff. The restaurant area at the back and on the second floor were closed.

After a little wait (with no option being given to have a drink) we were shown to our table which was right beside the main fish counter, which doubled up as a sales point for those wanting to take fish or seafood away with them. The service itself was friendly enough though and we placed our order. I went for the Peppered Mackerel pate (£5.00) starter while Paul went for the Smoked Haddock Chowder (£6.00).  My pate was good as expected but Paul was disappointed with the Haddock Chowder, not because of taste but because it was barely warm.

Throughout our meal I was kept amused by the European looking guy who worked behind the fish counter preparing starters. In all the time I sat at our table I never once noticed him wash his hands, despite making up both fish dishes and salads…

Our mains quickly arrived. I had opted for the Poached Haddock on a mashed potato base (£11) while Paul had ordered the Bream and Rocket (£13). Along with a couple of sides, the mains were again quite good. My haddock was moist and cooked well and Paul seemed to enjoy the Bream. Along with a decent bottle of La Play Chardonnay, the meal was very pleasant indeed, but like I said earlier, I was a little concerned at the lack of hand washing that went on behind the fish counter.  The salads themselves seemed to also be kept in plastic buckets without refrigeration, but given the turnover I wasn’t too worried by that.

We left a little after 3pm, settling up our £63 bill.

Pryordurkin rating. 3 stars.  Telephone 01904 650910

I’ve been itching to re-erect the water fountain that had been packed and wrapped for winter. So with the sun shining and it being quiet on the old work front, I decided to start this seemingly simple task a few days ago. The story goes like this, but be warned you might want to get a cup of tea and a chocolate bourbon as this one could take some time to read:-

Wednesday 1st April (before noon – which was clearly a mistake with hindsight!)

• Unwrap the winter protecting bubble wrap from the base that stands outside. Unwrap the electric pump that had been ‘carefully’ left in the bottom of the base – this is because it is hard wired into the main through a conduit pipe that runs 3ft underneath our garden (long story – ask Paul) to comply with electrical safety standards. (This is an important fact so bear with me)
• Clean the base, collect the rest of the parts from the garage and re-assemble.
• Fill with water.
• Turn power on. Look out garage window to see if the fountain is working. Turn Power off….. Turn power back on thinking I must have imagined turning it on last time, but hadn’t actually which would explain why no water was flowing. Look out window….Still no water…… Curse….
• Take fountain apart, empty water (don’t ask where) and examine pump. Check I’d turned electric off!  Continue to fiddle with pump. Realise it doesn’t seem to turn……Realise it’s seized up over winter….. Curse…..
• Have a cup of coffee to calm down.
• Re-assemble the fountain so it at least looks the part even though it doesn’t work and give up for the day.

Thursday 2nd April (over lunch – I was hungry so not thinking straight!)

• Visit Deans Garden Centre to pick up new water pump for £27.99 (guaranteed for 1 year only!) and some garden string.
• Get home, have lunch, take fountain apart.
• Turn electric off to entire house – you can’t be too careful with electric and water.
• Open electric box at outside wall and disconnect pump. Tie string to end of pump wire.
• At the pump end, pull the wire with the attached string through the conduit. All seems to be going well.
• Take the wire from the new pump and at the fountain end of the conduit attach to string.
• Pull string at the box end…. cable starts to make it’s way through conduit.
• Start wondering what would happen if string breaks inside the conduit. Contemplate having to dig up garden and the three foot trench along with all the now established planting by Paul. Start to sweat as I slowly continue to pull string. String tightens. Realise this needs the attention of a patient gentle measured person. Continue to pull string, but just a little harder……….Curse Curse Curse……. Guess what?…. Yes string broke……..
• Burglar alarm and siren kicks off. Neighbours now looking at me holding a piece of string listening to a siren blaring. They have a look of wonder in their eyes (the alarm goes off, if the power is cut to our house! – see above)
• Put electric cover and wires back in place to make them safe. Turn electric power to house back on and reset alarm.
• Burglar alarm and siren finally fall silent. Bliss… My ears are hurting by now.
• Re-assemble the fountain so it at least looks the part even though it doesn’t work and give up.

Later that day after I’d finished work, I had the idea of taking comfort by searching the web for stories about other poor people who also had a pipe buried 3ft underneath their gardens with no string to pull anything through. I was amazed to discover this is not an isolated problem. Maybe the pryordurkin effect is more common that we thought.  Reading through some of these stories various ideas were offered up.  One involved attaching a vacuum cleaner to one end of the pipe and new string at t’other. The idea being the string would be sucked through. Discounted this on the basis that the pipe seemed to be full of water; I’d have to have the electric to the house switched on, there would be bear electric wires near the entrance of the conduit with lots of water around and the water would be sucked into hoover rendering it ‘baggered’ (see I can think ahead and spot risks). Another idea involved something called a fish tape. Did a bit more research and discovered you could buy such a thing at our local Screwfix store. I headed straight there and picked one up.  I also picked up some nylon string which with hindsight is less likely to break than garden string which was made out of natural fibre (not a great choice thinking about it now).

Look forward to trying the fish tape out tomorrow after work!  Apparently it magically works it way through the pipe by just pushing. Yea right. We’ll see….

Come back soon and find out whether Paul has to move his plants and dig up another three foot trench across the garden to get access to the pipe or see if the fish tape does actually work….

Queue Eastenders cliffhanger music……..

A friend had recommended that we visit Sandside Cafe in Sandsend, just north of Whitby in North Yorkshire. So with the wind blowing, the sun out and a day of relaxation ahead, we set off for the 40 minute drive from York to sample the coffee and cake we had heard so much about.

We parked up (for free) on East Row just as you come over the hill from Whitby and walked down towards Sandsend. Before you get to the bridge you will first come across Sandside Cafe. We entered to find the place almost full, with people enjoying hot and cold drinks alongside large slices of the home made cakes which are displayed to your left as you go through the main front door.

We ordered up a panini for myself, a Lasagne for Paul and two Cafe Lattes and took a seat while the food was prepared. This small wooden cafe is very clean inside and tastefully decorated. With views out across the North Sea, I could happily spend a good hour or here reading a paper, looking out across the waters and drinking what turned out to be very nice coffee. The lattes were served up having been made with freshly ground Rijo coffee beans and were so good we had a second round. My Tuna, Cheese and Red Onion Panini (£4.50) was hot, crisp, fresh and served up with nice salad. Paul’s Lasagne (£4.95) was very good indeed, served up with salad as well, they both made for a very nice lunch.

We couldn’t come all this way without trying the home made cakes (£2.50 a slice). I went for the lemon drizzle cake, while Paul had coffee and walnut. They again were very good but for our liking, we would have preferred them a little more moist or served with cream

All in all though a great place to stop off for a good coffee, snack and piece of cake.  We’ll certainly go back.

Pryordurkin rating. 3 stars

We woke this morning to find the house was quite cold.  As is usual Paul thought I had been fiddling with the knobs again but after a while came to accept that the boiler had indeed broken down.  This would not normally be a problem he thought until I explained our British Gas HomeCare agreement lapsed last year.

Sheepishly he rang the number and discovered they were more than willing to help.  They re-instated the service agreement over the phone and arranged to send someone round after lunch.  We had to pay a little call out charge but this was a very reasonable amount of money given it included any parts that might be needed.

Sure enough as promised a young guy turned up at the door after lunch. He opened the covers…..  and my heart sank.  It looked like a raging inferno had brought carnage to the inner workings of our boiler.

Apparently our gas seal had gone and while I thought it was going to be an expensive write off, he assured me it was not as bad as it looked, was a fairly typical fault and very simple to fix.  Thankfully within the hour we were up and running again, with the radiators pumping out heat much to the relief of our two cats.

Pryordurkin rating. 5 Stars.

This was a return trip for Sunday Lunch to Hazlewood Castle which lies just off the A64 in between York and Leeds.  This time we were joined by my brother and sister in-law and the kids.  The first time we dined here was great.  With good service, good food and good surroundings we were looking forward to another treat.

One of the measures we look for when reviewing places is consistency.  Unfortunately on this occasion, the food and service were not quite as good as before.  We had telephoned ahead to book a table for 12noon and on arrival were shown straight to our table.  No option of an aperitif in the bar beforehand.  The restaurant manager did not even offer to take our coats, so we found ourselves hanging them over the back of the chairs and I had to put my hat on the FLOOR!.

We ordered up our food and having seen bar menus in use last time, I mentioned there may be a simpler option for the kids to enjoy.  However this time, the waiter never gave any option for the kids to order from the bar menu and they had to make do with a kids tailored version of Sunday Lunch. Our drinks soon arrived and after a little wait were closely followed by starters which were nicely presented and very good.  After the plates were cleared we then had what seemed like a long wait for the mains to come out.  When they did, my beef was tuff and on the small size, as compared to last time.  The Yorkshire pudding, which was so good last time, was hard and brittle this time around.  The kids, who love Yorkshire puddings both seemed disappointed.  The vegetables were cooked to perfection though. Desserts followed and these were very good indeed.

Overall as mentioned earlier, this visit was let down by the service and the quality of the main course.  The restaurant manager made you feel as though you were a bit of an annoyance really and certainly not warmly welcomed, which was a pity as the Castle itself, the grounds that surround it were all great.  She seemed to take particular umbridge at being called over to take an extra order of drinks!

Pryordurkin rating 3 Stars. (dropped 1 star since our last visit in January) Tel: 01937 535353