The Pryordurkins

Posts Tagged ‘summer’

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?…….

Dusty fancied a little Italian for lunch yesterday, so with no luck on the hunk front, we settled for a Pizza restaurant.  Zizzi Restaurant at 2 Lendal in York was quiet when we arrived at around 12.30 and after a little wait at the meet’n'greet point we were seated by a young European guy with a very nice accent.

The restaurant is a large wooden floored affair split over two levels.  We sat near the front windows on a small square table just big enough to hold a plate, a glass,  paper napkin (arghhhhhh) and a rather grubby plastic menu announcing their new Summer range.

I ordered up a tomato bruschetta (£4.35) while Dusty went for a selection of breads with olive oil (£3.75).  To drink we both when for a Peroni beer, which was then served in ice chilled glass.  A nice touch.

While waiting for the food we were joined at the next square table for a couple of large elderly Americans who with some disdain eventually placed their orders as well.  It was fun listening into their comments especially on the wine they tasted.  Behind us another couple sat and for the remainder of our meal, managed to annoy us as only some (most) people can.  Apparently they had a train to catch in 35 minuted, so could the service be sped up please.  Presumably ahead of the rest of us who had already ordered and have equally busy lives! 

Back to the food.  The starters were awful.  The tomato bruschetta was cheap, stale and had no flavour or seasoning.  Paul’s bread were flat and tasteless.  The olive oil served up was just as bad. 

The mains soon followed and were a real disappointment.  Dry cardboard with some ketchup slowly warmed up would have been better.  Tasteless, little by the way of ingredients and a real let down. 

There are a number of other places to eat in York where for the same price you can get much better pizza’s served up.  Caesars (see our review) being one of them.  We really regretted coming into this place.

The only redeeming factor, was the service was generally excellent.  The staff were very pleasant, friendly and to our waitresses credit, sensible enough to knock the cost of our pizza of the bill as a result of our complaint.

Score 1 Star. 

Tel: 01904 644000

After having spent a couple of hours with Christine, Graham, Jessica and Marissa exploring the old Roman Baths, we stopped at the Pump Room Restaurant for afternoon tea.  The place was busy with tourists taking advantage of this splendid setting to rest their weary feet.  We ordered up afternoon tea of scones, jam, clotted cream and tea all of which was freshly served up by friendly attentive staff in crisp old fashioned waiting uniforms.  A very enjoyable hour quickly passed as we tucked into the extra (free) tea and scones they provided because we had a small wait at the beginning, while listening to the live orchestral music playing in the background. 

Score: 4 Stars. Visited May 2008

Telephone Number +44 (0) 1225 444477
Opening
Open 7 days a week: Winter (Oct 1st – March 31st) 09.30 – 16.30 Summer (April 1st – September 30th) 09.30 – 17.30 Times may vary

Getting back from London, we decided to go and try a different Thai Restaurant that had been recommended by one of Dusty’s colleagues. Not holding out too much hope we headed of to the Sangthai Restaurant, which is about 2 miles south of York on the A19 past the Designer Shopping village. We turned into the grounds and drove through what seemed like their front room (if you go, you will see what I mean) and headed down the beautifully landscaped driveway to the parking area. At this point we were not quite sure whether we were in the right place or had inadvertently drove into a private household. Anyway, parking up we headed back up the drive way to see the welcoming sign of the Sangthai Restaurant and a smartly presented man waiting to greet us.

Showing us to our table our hopes continued to improve all the time. The décor was very nice indeed. It was like entering this gentleman’s house for a meal with the family. Tastefully decorated and spotless throughout we noticed the proper cloth napkins (I have a thing about these!) and our senses were filled with the wonderful aromas of authentic Thai cooking. Settling down at our table we were very pleased to see the old favourites on the menu accompanied by a decent drinks menu. Dusty settled for sparking water, he was driving and I went for a Chilean Savignon Blanc which was crisp, freshly opened and very good.

Getting quite excited at this point we decided to try out (purely for research purposes) three different starters. Ordering Gai (Chicken) Satay (we had to compare the sauce to that of the Siam House), we also asked for Tung Tong (golden parcels) and Kanom Pung Nah Moo (Pork Toast). Our drinks arrived quickly and we continued to watch the place fill up around us, listening in to other diners conversations and taking in the scenery. Outside the front are a number of very tastefully planted conifer. Someone who clearly has an eye for detail had planted a wonderful assortment of trees in the ground that just added to the quality of this place.

The starters arrived and were presented alongside a traditional set of thai dipping sauces. We tucked in with much gusto and every bite confirmed that we had truly found an excellent Thai Restaurant in York. They were clearly home cooked, prepared with skill and experience and accompanied by excellent dipping sauces. The peanut sauce was substantial in taste and quality. A completely different experience from that served in the Siam House previously visited.

We were very happy indeed. I decided (as if I needed to at this point to try the cutlery test) and made sure I had used some of my main cutlery while eating the starters. Without a flicker, they quickly replaced them with clean fresh cutlery.

Our main courses soon arrived and I ordered a second glass of the excellent wine. Again the meals were presented in a tastefull and professional manner. We dived in without delay. Sharing our meals we enjoyed Gaeng Keowan Gai (Thai Green Chicken curry) and Gaeng Pet Phed Yang (Red Thai Duck curry) along with steamed rice. Aromatic, Fragrant, Colourful, Delicious and Hot are only some of the words I can use to describe the dishes. They were excellent. Mopping our heads from the ‘heat’ we worked our way through the meals, the Red Thai Duck being slightly hotter and enjoyed every last drop. Noting that they also do takeaway we were now content with the world.

Getting back to the serious issue of research we had to finish of by sampling the desert/coffee menu. I ordered hot chocolate, Dusty had a decaf cappuccino and we decided to try the Belgian truffles. The drinks matched the rest of the meal in quality and the Belgian truffles went down treat.

If you fancy a cosy night out, if you want to show off to friends/colleagues, or if you simply want to have an exceptional Thai meal, then this is the place to go in York. They have plenty of cosy rooms and an outside seating area for those balmy summer nights. Enjoy…..

Score: 4 Stars. Visited June 2007