Food – Page 3 – Curious Bystander

Dunkeld – Perthshire visit – Part 3

The final stop of my recent visit to the Perthshire region, was a complete surprise when we decided to have a quick couple of hours in Dunkeld.

Note, I’ve been here before, but not to this section of the village, which is difficult to believe as it’s actually quite small here. The other part is Birnam, a quarter of a mile south.

We came here via the A984 from Blairgowrie – what a very pleasant surprise, as the road was dead quiet (it was a Wednesday afternoon), and we happened to go through a delightful hamlet called Spittalfield, complete with café and village green. It also seemed like an ideal area for a bicycle tour, as the Number 7 from Sustrans (and others paths) go through this area.

What was interesting to me (above), was the monied type of feel here, a Monte Carlo(!) of the Highlands; you could almost smell it, and a walk along the High Street proved this as well. We found a wine bar / shop that served me the best sandwich I’ve ever had, but have no idea what the name of the café was The Scottish Deli? – but it was near the Palmerston Cafe, and has only been around the last year. Where I washed it down with a fine, vintage Port!

Later, we walked over the bridge and then made our way back to Glasgow

The Week Ahead – Not much travel but we still have COP26 here in Glasgow / New Bakery – Lilys Bakes; Superb!

As I am still under the weather due to a recent surgery, there is not much travel (I had to cancel several trips), but we still have many things to look at both in the arts and in Glasgow, Scotland, and the UK

If you have not been under a rock, COP26 is still here until Friday, and I will put some more shots of the proceedings during the week. Like below, where a protest with Greta Thunberg was happening on the weekend:

Also, we’ve a new bakery here call Lily Bakes Cakes, they are in the West End and are completely lethal! Honestly, they are sickening in a good way, and though I am not sure if I posted before, due to the fact that they are only open to the public for 2 days, they usually have a queue outside!

A queue for cakes; brilliant I say! Here’s what they did for Halloween – to die for:

Bread meets Bread, West End, Glasgow – Another vegan Burger. . .

This is an interesting spot, as whenever I have walked past it in the past (a good many times), there were always quite a few people inside. I despair, as the burger, ambiance, music were definitely not my scene – though the service was outstanding.

*Bread Meats Bread, Great Western Road, Glasgow*

I don’t know much, but when the three students next to me only ordered tap water, and all three shared a bowl of chips, I sorta got that it would be expensive – it was. £9.00 for a Vegan Burger, but you have to THEN pay more for the chips / fries, what ever they are called nowadays.

Sorry, it seems to me that at every other place I’ve been to recently, the chips are included with the burger. In addition, with my tea (merely a cup), the bill would have approached £15.00; but they conveniently (for me) forgot to charge me for it.

Another “plant” based burger

The other two things that had me, were:

The burger was not beans, falafel, etc – It looked just like real meat; but it also tasted like real meat – as in real meat that had been undercooked.
The bowl of chips contained old and slightly cold chips – Hey, this is NOT that difficult to do correctly – Up your game!

Would I go again? Probably never; not tasty, overpriced, and lastly, as you can see in the entrance shot above, slightly cold as one of the two doors was always open.

2/5

The Thornwood Bar, Glasgow – Worth a Shout

I remember this place, The Thornwood, from a LONG time ago; a story involving a friend, who having been desperate for a pint, was “accidentally” shoved (and presumably lost much of his beer!) by a local inside here, who apparently didn’t take to any “outsiders” drinking in his local.

Lovely late Lunch – A vegan Falafel Burger

My, times have changed, as much has in this area of Thornwood, located on the extreme west of Glasgow’s West End.

This area over the past few years has now become an area filled with more and more cafes, pizza places, bicycle shops, etc – for the ever expanding West End, and for the continuing development southerly, on the River Clyde.

I tried the vegan burger, made from Falafel – brilliant; does what it says on the tin, along with a breakfast tea.

5/5

Warwick, England – A hike along the Grand Union Canal (to Hatton)

The last week, I had the fortune to be in south England for a week, and was based in the charming town of Warwick. Warwick resembled Ludlow (from a few weeks ago) but was on a smaller hill with no castle, though it did have a multitude of older, cute buildings, which I will blog about later in the week.

What I did do, as I was normally in the flat, working; was to go on a short, charming canal walk, with a subsequent visit to a beautiful pub for lunch.

As the map above shows, we started in the centre of Warwick, traversed the Warwick Race Course (more on that later), and continued along the Grand Union Canal for about an hour, had lunch and returned.

Along the way we enjoyed the much hotter weather in the south of England and noted both there and back, a variety of locks known as the “Stairway to Heaven“, that has 21 Locks (!!) in total.

At the end of the outward journey, was the Hatton Arms pub, which resembled more of a hotel complex, rather than a “pub” – though it was still amiable as I sat outside drinking a lovely pint of real ale, with Thai fish cakes and mash – lovely!

Coming back was slightly quickly, as I was going downhill and the return was done via the town centre of Warwick.

More from Warwick and the surroundings later.

Who’s up for a food Festival? Review of Ludlow’s –

It was only a few months ago when I was in Ludlow for a short stay. Very impressed with the “living museum” type of feel, the food, drink, architecture and the Shropshire Hills, so why not try it another time?

I did and was impressed yet again at their Ludlow Food Festival, and with it came beautiful weather as well (Ed; Of course, it’s way south of Glasgow!).

The “buyings” can be sorted into the two types of my faves; alcohol and non-alcohol!

The one thing that fascinated me, were the many alcohol stands on display, mainly aimed at Gin, but also spirits such as Whiskey; English Whiskey! I tried two of the whiskeys, a young one less than 3 years of age, and a casked one – the difference was immeasurable! The latter was like nectar, and I subsequently received a hand written email to contact the distillery, as only 400 bottles are produced each year.

I bought a bottle of the whiskey later at the Ludlow Farm shop just outside of town. The subsequent taste was similar to fire water though I think over ice or mixed it would do just fine; though to be fair it is technically not a whiskey (and it does say that), as it has not been aged for 3 years in a barrel.

The other purchase, was a variety of ales from the local Ludlow Brewery Co. (where we also had a tour – more on that later), with the “Red Dawn”, I believe a ruby ale, being a personal favourite.