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Rene and Bert have been here this week, so we had an excuse to go to Rococo in West George Street. We did want to go to Etain but they are closed for refurbishment at present.

Rococo is in the basement of one of the Blythswood Hill tenement blocks, but is light and welcoming, with large leather banquettes and comfortable leather armchairs. Service was attentive and friendly, although they failed the water test at Stage 2*. Surprisingly, the restaurant was only half empty at 8pm, and there were only two tables occupied by 9.30pm, and this was the start of the payday weekend!

The food was well executed and tasty, and presented well on large plates. Most of the ingredients were locally sourced, and the chef was accommodating enough to convert one of the starter dishes into a main course.

Amuse bouche: deep fried ball of duck confit (the oil was a little too hot, so the breadcrumb shell was a touch hard).

Green bean salad, red onions, chicory.
Ballotine of French rabbit, girolles.
Tian of crab, guacamole and tomato relish.

Loin of wild venison, cabbage, bacon & mushrooms
Oven Roasted Fillet of Scotch Beef with Glazed Green Beans, Roasted Gnocchi and Root Vegetables, Truffle Jus
Roast pigeon, pea risotto.

Caramelised apple mille feuille with salted caramel
Pepper cannelini with lemon ice cream and strawberries
Trio of panna cotta.

Coffee and (home-made) petit fours.

We all agreed that the star of the meal was my caramelised apple mille feuille.

* The water test
Points are awarded for:

• Stage 1: Providing a jug of iced tap water when requested (a bonus point if it appears unrequested);
• Stage 2: Leaving the jug on the table. If the restaurant is one of those pretentious ones that seem to think that diners can’t be trusted in pouring their own drinks, then the maximum time a water glass should be empty is 5 minutes.

Portadown suffers, not entirely unjustifiably, from a negative public image. It is therefore not the first place you would look for high quality grub.

I had lunch in the Yellow Door Deli with my Mum today. The front of the shop is the bakery and deli counter, and the front window is full of freshly baked loaves. There is a surprisingly large eating area at the rear of the deli, which was busy but still warm and welcoming.

As soon as we ordered, the waitress brought us a small selection of breads - wheaten, sourdough, cheese-topped white, tomato, herbed. I was a bit more full than I intended when the rest of the food arrived. I’ll be more prepared for that the next time.

There was a wide choice - various sandwiches using the in-house bread, soups and main courses. Mum chose the fusilli pasta with chicken in a cream sauce, accompanied by sourdough garlic bread. She pronounced it “lovely” with a big smile on her face! I chose a sandwich - confit of duck, hoisin sauce and sesame seeds on a sourdough roll. It came with nicely dressed leaves and small portions of greek and potato salad. Nicely packed and just the right amount.

We declined the offer of cake or patisserie for dessert, simply beacause we were both full.

Looking around at the other tables, the other dishes looked equally good. In particular, the brown stew came in a large bowl with potatoes and caramelised root veg. Had we been there for breakfast, there were some further tempting things on the menu (French toast with bacon and maple syrup for example).

Overall, this was a real find. OK, it’s made it into the Guardian directory and UKTV food heroes, but it was so different from the more typical Northern Irish lunch offerings that it is worth a visit. There’s not many places in Co. Armagh I could say that about.

My only negative comment is about their website. Not only does it use Flash rather than proper XHTML, but it has white text on a light yellow background on some pages, with no way of changing font size or colour, or even selecting the text to highlight it. Some screens are unreadable. Sack your design team and find someone who knows what they are doing!

A brilliant 2 night stay at The Samling. We stayed in the Tyan - a large room decorated in a traditional Lake District blue pattern - very like something produced by the Timorous Beasties. Usual sumptuous bathroom, great to relax in the bath after walking round the Fairfield Horseshoe.

The best thing about the Samling is that they serve breakfast in your room - we therefore had breakfast overlooking Lake Windermere both mornings - see the picture for the view. We ended up ordering most things on the menu, but the French toast, maple syrup and fresh fruit was the definite highlight.

The restaurant is quite good too - the particular highlight for us was the roast fig with goats cheese ice cream, which we each had both nights.

Friday
Cheek of Gloucester old spot, langoustines, celeriac puree.

Noisette of lamb
Sea bass, lasagne of Cornish crab.

Whole roast fig, fig turnover, goats cheese ice cream.

Saturday
Ballantine of ham, piccalilli, souffle of Mrs Kirkham’s cheddar.
Foie gras.

Venison (loin & shank), haggis ravioli, neeps & tatties.

Whole roast fig, fig turnover, goats cheese ice cream (again)

Service was excellent throughout the weekend. The staff were really friendly and approachable, and made the stay a real pleasure.

Following the historic rugby victory last night, we walked round to Barbarossa in Cathcart. We had booked before Ron McKenna’s 25/30 rating last weekend in The Herald, and had heard other good things about the place. We ate:

Smoked duck salad with orange and mango
Seared West Coast scallops with black pudding and potato puree

Lobster ravioli with sage butter and king prawns (one each!)

Cheesecake with orange sorbet and chocolate
Creme brulee

Ratings: 17/25
Food: 8/10 Well cooked, good ingredients. The ravioli was particularly good.
VFM: 2/5 Overpriced for what it is.
Service: 4/5 Friendly and relaxed, but a bit quick to start with.
Atmosphere: 3/5 Good table on the mezzanine.

Throughout 2006 we continued 2005’s habit of going away for more weekends and holidays. There was a lot of repetition of 2005 (if you find a good thing, why change it), and these were the highlights:

Best Restaurants

We usually try to go to two or three restaurants with Michelin stars each year, these are the best…

1. Hibiscus, Ludlow. Still the best restaurant ever, although this year may have been our last meal with them, at least in Ludlow, because they are rumoured to be closing around Easter 2007 and moving to London or the SE in the middle of the summer. The highlight for 2006 though was the savoury ice cream of foie gras, warm emulsion of brioche, balsamic vinegar caramel.
2. L’Enclume, Cartmell. Simon Rogan’s Introduction menu gave us 12 courses of gastronomic genius. Very experimental and unusual.
3. The Stagg Inn, Titley. The Stagg normally marks the start of our Ludlow holiday each year. The bar serves the same food as the restaurant in a more informal setting, and the food is predictably excellent - in fact the Stagg was the first UK pub to be awarded a Michelin star. The beef this year was superbly tender.

Best Cheaper Eats

This category is for more “normal” eating out!

1. Water Prince Corner Shop, Charlottetown, PEI. Superb lobster supper - bread roll, mussels in white wine broth, boiled lobster with drawn butter and potato salad.
2. The Old Fish Factory, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The best seafood chowder with biscuit followed by boiled lobster and drawn butter. It might be touristy but the food was good.
3. Red Onion, Glasgow. Jacqueline went there for her work Christmas night out and had an excellent meal with good atmosphere.

Best Hotels

Places we have enjoyed staying in this year.

1. Trigony House Hotel, Thornhill. This is a small Edwardian country house in the Dumfriesshire countryside, with comfortable rooms and good food. A great place in the autumn with views over the garden to the misty hills. Two things particularly impressed me this year - the first was that although we had to curtail our trip to one night because Jacqueline had been taken ill, the hotel only charged us for the night we stayed; the second is that because of the Scottish smoking ban it is now completely non-smoking (hurrah!).
2. Le Germain, Toronto. Luxurious modern hotel in the heart of Toronto’s entertainment district.
3. Shipwright Inn, Charlottetown, PEI. Run by English couple, Trevor and Judy Pye, this is a welcoming B&B with sumptuous rooms, big baths, good breakfasts and an all-day supply of tea/coffee/drinks & cake.

Best Breakfasts

1. Trigony House Hotel, Thornhill. A full Scottish is their speciality, including a really good haggis.
2. Shipwright Inn, Charlottetown, PEI. The breakfasts varied each day and included fresh PEI fruit, home baking - bread, cinnamon buns, muffins - and delicious hot breakfasts.
3. Le Germain, Toronto. In keeping with the hotel’s urban ambience, breakfast is a relaxed affair - cappuccino, fruit, cinnamon buns eaten while sitting at tall tables reading the Globe and Mail.

Best Food Shopping

1. Fencebay Fisheries at Glasgow Farmers’ Markets. Fresh fish, great hot smoked salmon - the arrabiata is particularly good, dressed crab, home-made salmon and trout pate. Where we buy most of our fish now.
2. Iain Mellis. I’m only permitted cheese a couple of times a year (to keep cholesterol and blood pressure down), so visiting Mellis is a fantastic treat. Just as well we don’t live around the corner any more!
3. Jo-Ann’s Deli Market and Bake Shop, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. Serves the most wonderful sandwiches (in particular their lobster sandwiches) and cakes. Local fruit and veg is also fantastic.