Cocktail Hour: Angel's Oxford

Another cocktail bar review. This one was discovered purely by accident when we went in there for a pre-dinner drink. The reason? My girlfriend decided that walking in vertiginous heels was a good idea and by the time we got close to the restaurant, her feet were hurting too much to continue to our usual haunts. So it was that we ended up in Angel's. It has since become one of our firm favourites and our default for cocktails.

Angel's is what I would describe as a very classic cocktail bar. There is a large bar, an extensive selection of drinks and an air of gentle but unpretentious sophistication. The feel continues with the menu which is clearly laid out and contains a good selection of classic, modern and invented drinks. One feature I particularly like about the menu is, as well as including a list of ingredients, they also have a brief description of the drink and, in the case of the classic ones, a short history of the drink. Another nice quirk is the staff dress code of black shirts with red braces and ties. Anywhere else, it could be a bit naff but here I thought it looked good.

On to the drinks. As always I had a Vesper first. Not only was this on the menu but it was accompanied by a charming warning that it was "quite strong". I reassured the barman that I knew what I was letting myself in for and, in good time, my drink appeared. He wasn't joking. It had a kick like a mule. I almost ordered another one on the spot.

For once in my life I did resist temptation and instead went for a Corpse Raiser No. 2 (in the absence of Corpse Raiser No. 1), a delicious concoction that combined sweet, fruity and aniseed flavours with a rather vivid green colour. Given the prodigious number of alcoholic drinks on the ingredients list, it slipped down with terrifying ease.

In the mean time, my girlfriend decided that none of the drinks on the menu were quite to her taste so was having bespoke cocktails made for her. Judging by the squeals of utter delight and the expressions of various types of ecstasy on her fact I can conclude that she rather liked them. Based on this I decided to ask if a drink could be made based on my particular tastes. What came back was a delicious concoction of whisky augmented by a nice balance of fruity and sweet flavours.

This brings me almost neatly on to my next point; the staff. They are brilliant. As well as being well turned out, they are extremely knowledgeable about their ingredients and have an almost palpable passion for cocktails. When serving the bespoke drinks they genuinely cared about the reception they got. Fortunately, the quality of the drinks mean I doubt they every get a bad reaction.

Happy hour runs until nine most nights which makes the drinks reasonably priced and the music plays at a nice, ambient volume.Best of all, even the bespoke drinks were included at happy hour prices. In fact, my only (minor) complaint is that the seating was a wee bit limited. It was fine when we were there but if it got busy, I can imagine it being quite cramped.

In conclusion; easily one of the best cocktail bars we have been to in the last few months and contender for the best one in Oxford. Excellent drinks, reasonable prices and brilliant staff. Go and sample some of the excellent items on the menu.

TFB

Restaurant Review: The Running Horse

Hampshire is known for it's horses. New Forest Ponies are known internationally despite their habit of picking fights with cars. Moving away from postcards and on to betting slips, a famous stud farm and racing stables are within the county's borders.

Next door is the Running Horse pub. Unsurprisingly, it has a bit of a racing theme. However, despite this, gimmicks are not the stock in trade here. Good food and excellent beer are the front runners.

The pub has recently come under new management. As well as refurbishing the interior, the kitchen is cooking up a storm. Fresh, local produce is very much the order of the day. Not only was most of it alive until very recently (and in some cases, running around), it is beautifully prepared.

My starter was rope grown moules marinier. The mussels were plentiful; the sauce rich and creamy with just the right amount of garlic. It was served with a slice of toast, which seemed like a bit of an afterthought, and a spoon for the delicious sauce. There were enough mussels for a hearty starter and the remaining sauce filled any residual gaps.

The main course was roasted guinea-fowl with fondant potatoes, onion puree and a hazelnut/madiera sauce. It was magnificent. The guinea-fowl was rich and succulent with an intense flavour. The fondant potato light and fluffy with a delicious, earthy flavour. Everything was topped off perfectly by the sweet, rich sauce. There were a couple downsides to the dish. Firstly, the plate was lettered with some green gunk. I can only presume it was there for colour as it didn't look appetising. Painting a strategic bit on the plate might be a better alternative. Second was the fact that the dish was almost 20 minutes late. Unfortunately it had been missed off the order. To their credit, the staff handled it well and with great tact assuring me that it was being cooked at warp speed 6! Was it worth it? I think so.

Dessert was my traditional cheese board. There were a delicious variety of rich cheeses combined with plenty biscuits and some rather nice chutney. A perfect mix of tangy and creamy flavours which rounded off the meal nicely

All of this was washed down with a couple of pints of Tipster, an ale from the brewery owned by the company. Again, the emphasis on local produce! Although the beer wasn't brewed especially for the pub, it was still a nice touch.

The interior of the pub was elegantly decorated without the surroundings stealing the show from the food. A particular feature I liked were the tweed coverings on the cushions of the bench seats. The tables were uniformly large so there was always plenty space to spread out food, drinks and limbs.

Overall, well worth a visit. The delay in my main course lost it a few points but everyone makes mistakes and I'm more than happy to give it the benefit of the doubt for the first time.

TFB

Cogges Farm Beer Festival

Cogges farm is a museum farm in the centre of the Oxfordshire town of Witney. As well as being a fun activity during the day (including a canteen with plentiful portions and VERY local pork), it is building a reputation for being an excellent venue in the evenings staging events like open air theatre.

Far more pertinently (for this blog at least), they staged their second annual beer and cider festival the other week. Naturally I went along... strictly for research purposes you understand!

The tickets were a good start. They were only £8 to book in advance or £10 on the door. For this, you got two half pints, a branded half pint tankard to keep and an informative guide to the festival with details of all the drinks on offer and the events. Further beer tokens could be purchased for £1 per half pint although they were only available in batches of five... such a hardship.

Once inside, there was an excellent selection of things to do. The local radio station (or some bloke with a laptop and a massive i tunes account) was there and providing the tunes at the start of the night. Later there were some cover bands performing (and often making a better job of the songs than the original artists). Along side this was an Aunt Sally arena for locals to play the peculiar Oxfordshire game of, as far as I can tell, indeterminate rules. As well as this, there was a rather fun pub quiz although the section on Witney radio did prove to be a wee bit tricky.

The event was hosted across two adjacent barns, the biggest containing the beer and music with the smaller holding some chairs and tables. There was also a barbecue going strong and providing some much-needed stomach lining. Although the event was here, we were still able to roam free in the farm and mix with the animals. This resulted in lots of people making friends with the Shetland Pony on their way to the loo.

Now the beer. An extensive variety of local ales were on offer. Local here can be defined as within 50 miles of the farm. This is fairly close by anyone's standard but did lead to some interesting geographic scope. Beers were coming down south from the Cotswolds and travelling north from around Reading.

As you can imagine, the big local breweries were represented with a good range of fantastic been on offer from Wytchwood and Hook Norton breweries. Mainly, however, the beers were from much smaller outfits. The whole thing almost had the air of a home-brewing convention although this did not stop the beers being lovingly kept.

The main styles of beer present were lighter ones like golds, blondes and I.P.As which suited the summer theme perfectly. There were plenty of hoppy aromas floating around and mixing with the smells of a summer evening. This was helped by the fact that smoking was banned across the site so we were spared the usual nicotinic gauntlet that hangs on the fringe of doorways. Another huge plus point was the fact that the whole event was dog friendly; a point which came acutely into focus when I befriended a young spaniel puppy.

In fact I have only two very minor complains. First was the fact that there was no facility for cleaning the glasses meaning that they got a bit sticky and clagged up with the flavours of the previous beers. Second was that there were no obvious soft drinks. This wasn't a huge problem for me but it was a bit unfair on the designated drivers. The fact that there was no vegetarian option on the barbecue should probably come in for some criticism but there have been greater offences committed at events.

In short, I had a wonderful time in a fantastic atmosphere where I got to try lots of lovely new beers. If they decide to run a similar event next year I will not hesitate to book it up and will try and convince as many people as possible to go along with me.

Cheers!

TFB

York Brewery

York is an ancient city steeped in history. It Ouses from every pore of every building. Whether it's the ancient history of the Vikings and Romans or the modern history of the chocolate industry, York has a bit of all of it.

The history I am going to write about today began in the mid-'90s, the 1990s that is. A pub chain manager had recently been made redundant and was contemplating his future while drowning his past in the pub. He came up with a wonderful idea (as one often does in the pub). Unlike many such ideas, he actually remembered the idea the next day. It was, to start a brewery within the walls of York city. The first in many a year.

York brewery is the result. Tucked away in the shadows of the city walls, this small brewery produces an excellent range of beers to slake the thirst of native Yorkies and us tunnel-visioned tourists.

The tour begins in the bar where the tour group congregates and sups a warm-up pint. Be aware, tours only happen at specified times so it's as well to check then plan around it. We started in the malt store where we were given a brief history of the brewery as well as an introduction to the malts and the hops used.

Next we move into the main room which houses the mash tun and the copper. As far as the process goes, it is a fairly standard one however the tour is rich in supplementary information. It was hear that I learned about the process of Burtonisation where minerals are added to water in order to give it a similar chemical profile to Burton on Trent: apparently the best water for beer making. We also had an introduction to the mechanics of cask fermentation which turned into a bit of a highlight. My particular favourite was the discussion on yeast strains. York brewery has carefully selected their yeast to ensure it ferments at the top of the fermenter and not the bottom. This prevents carbon dioxide from bubbling through the drink as it conditions and gives it a wonderful smoothness as well as reducing the acidity caused by carbon dioxide dissolving in the drink.

Once we had finished the tour it was back to the bar for a couple of well-earned samples that were included in the price. The tasting wasn't as formal as many I've been to. Rather than talking us through each beer at a time, the staff cheerfully pulled pints (well halfs) and were more than happy to discuss the beers in great detail.

My only major complaint would be the gift shop. It was pleasant and discreet and only really had beer relevant products. Unfortunately they no longer have home-brew kits I saw advertised on the way in. It would have been nice to get my hands on one and have a go at making Yorkshire beer myself.

Despite the above paragraph, it was an excellent tour and one of the highlights of our few days in York. It certainly represented value for money on the entrance price and was a proper beer nerds tour given the detailed descriptions and technical discussions that were going on I especially liked that aspect. Either way, nerd or no nerd, go and have a look round.

TDB

Restaurant Review: Limewood

Like a second album for a successful band, a second restaurant for a successful chef can be a tough challenge. Too similar to the original venture and they run the risk of being branded formulaic and unoriginal. Too different and they risk losing some of the magic that brought them success in the first place. The process can't be any easier with fans and food critics alike, poised with baited breath, awaiting the latest offering. Such were the challenges faced by Angela Hartnett and Luke Holder when they opened their new restaurant in Limewood.

Both chefs have an impeccable fine-dining pedigree, having worked in a constellation of Michelin Starred restaurants. Both have a strong Italian influence in their cooking. This Italian streak pervades through the entire experience. The building itself, set in the middle of the New Forest, was built to reflect Italian architecture with the main bar being set out like a central Piazza. A huge sliding roof allows vast amounts of natural light in and gives the space a lovely, airy feel. More to the point, the bar mixed the first decent negroni I've had since I lived with an Italian! A selection of lighter, less potent cocktails were available for the faint-hearted. I was also impressed by the extensive range of single malts available. Their ranks included some of my all time favourites.

The food had a very strong Italian feel to it with lots of pasta and rich tomato sauces on the menu, which itself was laid out in the style of a traditional Italian restaurant rather than starter, main and dessert.

On the subject of the menu; A3 sheets of card were just a bit big and unwieldy to handle at the table especially when we had decided what we wanted to eat and were ready to continue our conversation. Finding somewhere to put them on the already cramped table was a bit of a pain.

As well as being small, the tables became very cluttered when the main dishes were brought along with various side dishes. Cutlery, crockery, wine and food stayed on more by luck than design. The tables were also very close together. Had it been busier, I can imagine the dining room getting quite claustrophobic.

Despite these niggles, the food was mostly excellent. My starter, an antipasti of meats which were smoked and cured in house, was delicious and beautifully presented on a wooden block. A main course of cockles, plaice and smoked sweetcorn was equally tasty although I didn't really notice the chilli that claimed to be in there. My side of potatoes was delicious but erring on the oily side. Dessert was the usual cheeseboard which claimed to have a mix of Italian and British cheeses. I would have appreciated a brief explanation of each of the cheeses so I could have got a rough idea of which one was which. That said, I liked the concept and (crucially) there were plenty of biscuits to go with it.

For others in the party, dessert was a bit of a let down. My girlfriend's mother ended up having a slice of cake that would have looked more at home in a tea shop and, according to her, turned out to be a bit disappointing. This was mitigated by my girlfriend's dessert of strawberry and basil panna cotta. It looked so gorgeous that I couldn't help but pinch a bit. The strawberries and basil combined to form a beautifully refreshing flavour. This was accentuated by the panna cotta with a deliciously smooth, delicate texture.

As I said, the food at Limewood was delicious. However I think it suffered a bit from stylistic indecision. The website claims it to be 'fun dining not fine dining'. Why fine dining can't be fun I don't know but let's gloss over that. I presume this to mean they were aiming to move away from the formality and fussiness of fine dining towards a more relaxed brasserie style. I'm not sure this has been fully realised. The food and service is just a bit too formal to be brasserie but doesn't quite hit all the fine ding buttons either. Yes, it tasted fabulous but I (and the others with me) found the lack of definite focus a bit unsettling. Ultimately, a lot of thought and effort has gone into designing the experience and the branding around it. This is slightly let down by the food being served lacking direction.

So, with all this in mind, would I recommend it? Yes. The building is stunning; the setting more generally is spectacular; the atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming and (despite the fact that I spent the last paragraph nit-picking) the food was delicious too.

TFB 

York Chocolate Experience

I don't really have a sweet tooth. An egg allergy has meant that most conventional desserts are firmly off the menu. This, combined with a hatred of gelatinous textures, means that I've never had much time for sweet stuff.

There is an exception to this. Chocolate. I love it. Not just any chocolate of course. That would be too simple. White chocolate is too sweet and sickly. Dark chocolate too bitter to do much other than cook with. That leaves milk chocolate. With fruit? Blasphemy! Nuts? Tolerable. As long as they're not peanuts otherwise I get a little bit dead. Caramel? No chance. That leaves nice, simple slabs of chocolate.

For years I have munched down chocolate without really thinking about where it came from or how it was made. This lasted until the other weekend when I visited the chocolate experience in York.

Things started well. We got quite a reception. The staff evidently enjoy the product: nothing to do with their weight, everything to do with the fact that they were all mildly hyper! We got an excellent tour. Our guide gave us an excellent talk on the history of the chocolate industry followed by a detailed description of the manufacture process. The level of the talk was perfect; enough detail for a geek like me but simple enough to keep the kids on the tour entertained. Critically, the talk was punctuated by plenty of free samples.

A particular highlight came at the end. We were given a tutored tasting and a demonstration on how to taste chocolate properly as if we were chocolatier. Now I know that in most cases where chocolate is involve, more is generally regarded at  better but it's useful to have a framework in which I could think about the chocolate in more detail if I wanted to.

Fortunately, the tour wasn't entirely academic. We had a few practical work shops at the end as well. First was making a chocolate lollipop. Sadly this sounds far more involved than it actually was. In reality, it consisted of little more than applying chocolate sprinkles to molten chocolate on a stick. Although not exactly technically complex, the results were tasty! Finally we had a demonstration of making chocolate from a proper chocolatier. As always, it was a pleasure to watch an expert at work and try a few esoteric flavour combinations to boot.

In conclusion, the whole experience was great fun. I learned a lot about the history of chocolate making in this country and a lot about the best ways of tasting chocolate. While the practical activities were a wee bit disappointing, the extensive amount of chocolate available made up for it!

TFB

Cocktail Hour: Love Jericho

Time for another cocktail bar I think. Since my last review was on Raoul's, it seems only fair that I now turn my attention to it's next door neighbour; Love Jericho, unsurprisingly located in the Jericho area of Oxford.

If I was forced to describe the "feel" or worse the "vibe" of Love Jericho, I would probably opt for tropical. The bar area is very colourful with bowls of fruit and bright bottles everywhere. This is reflected in the drinks they make. A strong fruit bias runs through the menu with lots of vivid colours, citrus flavours and citrus garnishes.

When I walked in, I was impressed by the music; mainly that is wasn't too loud and I didn't have to bellow to be heard over it. The turn-out of the staff was also impressive. They were all very smart without being overly formal or stuffy. I appreciate this since, most of the time when I go for cocktails, there is usually some sort of occasion attached to it. If the bar staff are dressed like students, the sense of ceremony is diminished somewhat.

My first drink was, as always, a Vesper. This time, pleasingly, it was on the menu and I didn't have to battle to get the drink of my choice! It was suitably dry and strong with a nice kick to it. Next up was a Jericho Zombie. This was chosen mainly for the name but the list of ingredients also appealed. As you can imagine, a drink with this name had some flaming rum to finish it off. However the showmanship didn't detract from the quality of the drink. It was delicious; fruity while not being too sharp or too sweet. There was also decent strength to it; I'm always wary of cocktails that conceal the alcohol. I know they were invented to conceal poor quality hooch but these days, if you don't like the taste of alcohol, why not get a virgin one?

The highlight came later when I was talking to the barman about my preferred taste in drinks... dry and strong ideally. This ended up in him concocting a delicious green mixture involving vodka, bitters and one or two splashes from miscellaneous bottles. It as wonderful and hit the spot perfectly. Not bad for a few minutes chat over the bar.

Also worth noting is the happy hour which lasts until about nine most evenings. It applies to most of the drinks on the menu and puts their price in the region of a fiver. I think this is a rather good deal for such excellent drinks. Arguably it's cheaper (on a small scale) than buying the ingredients and doing it yourself.

There are a couple of drawbacks. Seating is a little on the limited side and is only possible indoors. Also, during one visit there was a live band. While the performers were excellent, the volume was loud to the point of being intrusive and made it impossible to hold a conversation. Finally, although the menu was extensive, there was a definite emphasis on fruit flavours which was a bit of a disappointment to my girlfriend who loves creamier flavours.

Despite these minor niggles we both thoroughly enjoyed it and have been back many times. It has also been recommended to friends (but not enemies). The drinks are excellent, the staff are friendly and the prices, even at full whack, are very reasonable. Go for a drink if you're in the area.

TFB