Koffee Pot

One of the nicest places to eat in Manchester, on Stevenson Square in the Northern Quarter. It was also the first place I ever ventured for something to eat when I first visited the city twenty odd years ago. In those days it was a slightly rougher-edged greasy spoon, I remember they served nice steak and kidney puddings, these days it's gone a little bit trendier along with the rest of the northern quarter, but still retains the greasy spoon charm and relaxed atmosphere while serving food that is a little more thoughtfully prepared than one would usually expect. For instance my cheeseburger and chips came with a greek salad and a dill pickle, and was all the better for it. Also does hefty black puddingy breakfasts and irish breakfasts, kippers on toast, that sort of thing. Great views out of window. Has probably taken over the role as Manchester's best greasy spoon, now that the John Dalton Cafe has gone.

Cheddar's cheddar

There are a number of excellent artisan cheesemakers in Somerset producing good Cheddar, but only one of these is based in Cheddar itself. The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company occupies premises in the Gorge, tucked in amongst all the tourist tat shops, and is about the only place in the whole strip that sells anything worthwhile (how I miss those old mini cider flagons with 'oi've just come up from zummerzet' written on them that I remember from childhood). The CGCC goes to great lengths to be faithful to the original cheddar (which dates back to 1170, apparently) - they use milk from cows who've grazed the local pastures, and now they've begun cave-maturing their stronger varieties - yes, they've been stored in the famous cheddar caves, just as the medieval cheesemakers did. They claim it gives it a distinctly authentic flavour. We bought some of this cave-matured Cheddar today, a very rainy August afternoon, and it is very good, with the pineapply tang that is familiar in the best mature cheddar. Behind the shop you can visit the dairy itself, and watch the cheese being made, though now they seem to charge a small sum for this, I'm sure it was free the last time I came, a few years ago. But well worth a visit.

White Horse Inn , Woolstone, Wiltshire

The Uffington White Horse is probably the second most interesting chalk hill figure in Britain, after the rampant Cerne Abbas Giant. The disappointing thing about the white horse, however, is that it is very hard to see, except from above. Almost as if those crazy celts were designing something for the eyes of the gods only, and not for mere mortals to look at. What you get from the ground is a vague impression of limbs and tails, a swirling sense of a figure in motion. The white horse is impressionistic and suggestive in design, like something picasso might have daubed on a dish. But if you want to know what it looks like, wander down off the high hillside and into the village of Woolstone, where there is a very nice village pub called The White Horse and which has the complete design of the white horse on it's inn sign. So then you'll know. While you're there you might as well have a drink and something to eat. Their lunches finish at 2pm, but if you get there after two, they have wonderful bar snacks on offer, which consist of - scotch eggs, cheese-topped pork pie, and pork pie. All home made and each as big as a meal in itself. There were three of uis so we had one each. The scotch egg came with a dish of mustard, the yolk was slightly soft, but it was a perfect scotch egg, as were the pies. While we were there, the bar clintelle seemes to be mostly mechanics, who discussed the trials and tribulations of the mechanics' trade. We sat by a roaring log fire, eating our pies and scotch eggs, listening.

quails egg scotch eggs

Had a dinner party recently, the main attraction of which was the starter, which was quails egg scotch eggs served with a salad of chestnuts and pancetta with rocket. Went down very well. Making the scotch eggs was very easy, if a bit fiddly. They take about two minutes to boil, but are very tricky to peel, because the shells are so thin they turn to a sort of powder, or sand. Quite nice to soft boil them as well, and have them runny. Anyway, just coat them in sausage meat and roll in breadcrumbs. I added sesame seeds to breadcrumb mix. One problem was the coating of sausagemeat opened and exposed the egg during deep frying. This may have been because I didn't coat the eggs in flour before applying meat, or it may be because of no beaten egg being added during the coating process. Will try applying these steps next time, but it didn't really matter, they were still lovely. Main course was individual chicken and tarragon pies with roasted veg. Ramekin dishes are big enough for these, just cut up some chicken and fry them with shallots, add stock, tarragon vinegar, creme fraiche and cornflour to thicken, put into pots and seal with puff pastry, then into the oven for about half an hour. Imagine you can do all the usual variations (mushrooms, bacon etc). The thing is they are very easy but look ultra-impressive. Dessert was wine jelly and cream and/or trifle. The wine jelly was my one serious failure, it just collapsed when out of the mould and looked like a plate of raw liver. Still tasted good. The trifle was madeira cake, raspberries, little bit of sherry, custard and cream and chocolate flake on tope. Simple but perfect, though I probably put in too much cake.

River Cottage Canteen, Bath

One of the restaurants set up by Hugh Fearnley Wittingstall, as offshoots of his River Cottage enterprise (the other one is in Axminster). The idea is a cheap and cheerful environment in which to serve quailty food, locally sourced, at low prices. The Bath one is part of the Komedia theatre in Westgate Street. We went there close to Christmas and it was nearly empty because of the snow. The manager said Bath was a ghost town. But we weren't very impressed by this restaurant. The tables are plywood, a bit like decorating tables, the chairs are fold away stools. One wouldn't mind if the food was in stark contrast, but my wife's ham baguette with mustard dressing was a sad looking thing on stale bread, the salad looked limp, everything a bit bleak. My pheasant, leek and bacon stew was luke warm, the mash too stodgy, the white sauce of the stew a bit gloopy, the pheasant disconcertingly pink (had thought it a dark meat). My daughter's cream tea came with a scone like a brick, no butter (the saltiness of which is an essential ingredient of a cream tea), and vey runny jam. And it cost a fiver. The whole lot cam to thirty quid. My half pint of cider was also luke warm, served in a very plain glass. It looked like a phial of piss. The hot chocolate was very good, however. But it was all rather drab. Wouldn't go there again in a hurry.

Borough Market

A covered market in South London near London Bridge Tube, one of the best food places in the capital, begins to approach the levels of delight of a typical spanish or italian market. Too much to go into here but to give some brief impressions, we made the mistake of viswiting the market having already eaten (in the members' room of the nearby Tate Modern, which was fine - a little box of Moroccan Chicken and potatoes, lots of flavoursome leaves but the thin slices of chicken were flavourless) - so were too full to actually eat anything. Spanish deli selling big haunches of parma ham, being thinly sliced before your eyes. Vacuum packs of sweet chorizo, of spanish black pudding and balls of the same. Huge dishes of thai curry and others being cooked, a contraption that toasted huge semicircles of cheese, the molten layer then scraped off to top potatoes or other things. Turkish delight of every flavour. Lots of parma ham, proscuito and salamis. German sausages. Lancashire black puddings. Melton mowbray pies (looked a bit palid and dry), whitby squid, vast drums of paremsan, every cheese you can think of. Lots of barnsley chops. Bakeries, butchers fishmongers. Go and explore, and go hungry.

marmaris

The Marmaris is a restuarant close to the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath, almost overlooking the Avon and the Poultney Bridge. From its window you can look across the river (you can't actually see the river, it's too low down behind the wall)to the wooded hills above the city. You could almost be looking out across the Golden Horn. Great food here, of the kebab variety, I had a mixed one, which had selection of lamb, chicken, lamb chop, and doner meat with rice and coleslaw. My partner had a shishka, which is basically lamb pieces cooked on a skewer (removed). The meat is nicely cooked. You get a free bowl of olives, chilis and crudites, pitta bread and chili sauce, and afterwards you get a free dish of fruit salad. The service is friendly and quick. Never have to wait long. There is a takeway section adjoining. Unpretentious (well, some little domed work with arabesques and what not) but atmospheric.