A hidden gem - The Devonshire Arms, Middle Handley, Sheffield

We visited the Devonshire Arms expecting to find the usual pub grub, so to find a small and exclusive restaurant, with open kitchen, came as quite a pleasant surprise.

Only recently opened, the restaurant in the refurbished Devonshire Arms, initially specialise in fish and seafood dishes - from a contemporary, yet filling take on fish & chips, to a grand seafood platter for two. You'll also find old favourites like roast beef.

Fresh and local produce are used where possible and this is reflected in the prices - you wouldn't come here to dine on a budget. However, whilst I did find the food value for money, I did disagree with the price of the basic side dishes.

It's really great and encouraging to see a place clearly passionate about good food, opening in this part of Sheffield and I sincerely hope that things can only go onwards and upward from here.

4/5

Delicious quality food - Weirmarsh Farm Restaurant, Umberleigh, Devon

Hidden away in the North Devon countryside, Weirmarsh Farm take pride in their small but exclusive restaurant, open only three evenings a week, and offering delicious five course meals cooked from seasonal homegrown, quality produce.

Peter Weirmarsh is your host for the evening, and there's a real sense of a true family business at work here. The menu changes with the seasons - your starter might be Monkfish in a Mushroom and Walnut Crust, or Spinach & Ricotta Tart. A typical main course could be Breast of chicken filled with sautéed leeks and summer brie wrapped in bacon, served in a white wine sauce. The main course was served with a vast array of vegetables including honey glazed carrots and parsnips, and a butternut squash and potato gratin. Homemade desserts including chocolate cheesecake and delicious panna cotta with fruit finish the meal off nicely before returning to the comfy sofas and relaxing with coffee and homemade biscuits.

At £25.50 per head (plus drinks), you really do get more than just value for money. Canapés on arrival in a comfy sitting room, followed by first course, a lemon sorbet, your main, and finally mouth-watering desserts. Most customers were even asked if they wanted a second dessert... which is possibly the worst question you could ask me!

5/5

Visited: September 2009

Millbrook Cottages, Umberleigh, Devon

The beautiful, secluded Millbrook estate lies at the bottom of one of Devon's many narrow, winding roads and is the perfect romantic getaway.

We stayed in the Wheel Room, as we were able to take our cat with us, which was a huge bonus, given that so many establishments are not pet friendly - and to have one of this standard was just perfect.

The accommodation itself was beautiful, comfortable and perfectly kept. No shoddy decor; everything was of a good quality and high standard, and modern, despite the warm and rustic, traditional feel.

The finishing touches, from the generous welcome hamper of local produce, to the heart-shaped chocolates in the bedroom, and fresh eggs and tomatoes outside the door each morning, added that extra level of quality and enjoyment of our stay. Although we sadly didn't get to meet Kate and Bob during our time there, Tom and Renaté were both very friendly, helpful and considerate. At Millbrook, you really don't feel like you are intruding, and are free to roam the grounds and really relax.

Speaking of relaxing, the hot tub, set in cosy woodlands just a few yards from the cottages, was a real highlight. Here you can sit and soak in the bubbles, whilst listening to music and really chill out. I've since been working out how to get one in our back garden!

The grounds are magnificent, with two lakes and a variety of animals roaming freely. We met Goats, Alpacas, Ducks, Cats and about a dozen Hens - whose eggs we enjoyed for breakfast most days! I miss the fresh eggs already!

Millbrook boasts green credentials, and do operate a clear recycling policy, which is something to bear in mind perhaps, when preparing your shopping for your stay. This might be a little extra work, but it's all for a good cause.

Nearby towns such as Great Torrington and Barnstaple offer a wide variety of things, including real markets, with fresh, local produce and a number of small bakers, fishmongers and butchers, again all offering fresh produce.

The coast is within an hour's drive, whichever way you go, as are most things of any interest. But locally, the nearest pub is the traditional style Old George, up in the village, although it is probably better for a drink, than what you might call good food! They do however make very nice large pizzas, which you can order to take away, but despite the generous portions, the rest of the menu was below average, lacking any innovation or even sauces and, well, flavour. But in contrast to that, if you're after a memorable culinary experience, then Weirmarsh Farm Restaurant in High Bickington is well worth a visit - although they only open Thursday to Saturday, so it's wise to book ahead if you want to enjoy this exclusive fine food.

At Millbrook, you have privacy and comfort - it really is an ideal getaway for couples seeking a romantic change of scenery, and I'm sure which ever cottage you decide to stay, your time there will be a very special one.

5/5

Visited: August 2009

Piedaniel, Bakewell, Derbyshire

My wife and I paid our first visit to Piedaniel in June, to celebrate our second wedding anniversary, and this cosy little restaurant proved to be the perfect choice.

Piedaniel has a relaxed atmosphere and is a small, but comfortable and exclusive restaurant. It rightfully prides itself on using local produce where possible, cooked to perfection by their French chef – this was exactly what we had hoped to find in a contemporary French/British restaurant in the heart of the Derbyshire countryside.

The service was very good, warm and friendly but unintrusive and professional. The food was absolutely excellent – for a restaurant of this calibre (which are few and far between around here), the prices were very reasonable and the portions generous.

Piedaniel was ideal for a special occasion, and we look forward to returning. Absolutely excellent.

5/5

Visited: June 2009

Le Javanais, Saint-Malo, France

I have been to Le Javanais several times - no trip to Brittany is complete without a meal there!

The food is absolutely delicious, and the menu huge. So many exciting, fragrant and spicy dishes to choose from, with various curries, noodles and rice dishes. They also have the best dessert I have ever tasted...

A beautiful place inside, very ornate and cosy, and the owners are delightful and very friendly. A real pleasure every time.

At Le Javanais, you can be assured of a beautiful taste of Indonesia. Just be careful of the hot sauce...

5/5

Villa Spicy, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Paris, France

I've been to this restaurant only a couple of times, but on all occasions, I really enjoyed it - absolutely exquisite food. Raviolis and desserts to die for. I also remember having the most delicious pumpkin soup - perhaps the best soup I've had anywhere.

I look forward to going back!

5/5

Barrats of Tyn Rhyl - a sheer delight

Barrat's of Tyn Rhyl seems out of both time and place, set back from a drab and ordinary street in Rhyl. You step inside to a beautiful and welcoming house full of character and history; cosy and comfy sitting rooms with real fires that illuminate the original, decorative oak walls with their ornate features.

David and Elvira were the perfect hosts, and very accommodating. Many places don't give such a warm welcome and I have even felt intrusive or afraid to sit down in certain establishments, but here, we instantly felt instantly at home and able to relax.

Our room was lovely - spacious and comfortable, traditionally decorated but equipped with a modern TV/DVD player (complete with and a mini DVD library to choose from just outside the room) and contemporary en-suite bathroom.

The real highlight of our short stay was without doubt, the food. Exquisitely presented and cooked to perfection - every course was an absolute delight - creative, fresh and bursting with flavour. I haven't enjoyed a meal as much as this for a long time. And that was just the evening meal - at breakfast we were presented with a very generous English breakfast, made to order, with scrambled eggs to die for!

Barrat's is ideally situated in a location where you can easily reach many places of interest such as Conwy, Anglesey and Chester.

Barratts of Tyn Rhyl is a special place, and arguably the best guesthouse we've stayed, serving top quality food - worth every penny and clearly worthy of their AA rosettes. Quality and service like this is hard to find, and I would make the journey again for just for another meal alone! However we would definitely like to return for another, longer enjoyable break.

5/5

Visited: October 2008

Thai at the Travellers - simply exquisite

If Thai food is your thing, or if you are after a new culinary experience, than I would really recommend Thai At The Travellers, in Holmesfield.

The only evidence that this was once a traditional pub, lies in its exterior, as inside, it is lavishly decorated with oriental designs, nice lighting and ambient music to really make you feel comfortable.

All staff wear traditional silken costumes, which look fabulous, and you are treated with grace and respect.

The menu is vast, with choice to suit everybody's taste. I would recommend the red chicken curry or the beef peanut curry, satay chicken skewers or vegetable spring rolls to name just a few. I feel spoilt for choice every time I go there. The food itself is cooked to perfection, and they will happily amend your dish on request.

The only thing to bear in mind with Thai food, is that it can be VERY spicy, so when you see those chillies marked against certain dishes on the menu, beware!

I've never felt disappointed by the food a Thai at the Travellers, and they offer a wonderful discount menu a weekend lunch times, so if you haven't tried, it, this is ideal and excellent value for money.

5/5

Mosborough Hall Hotel, Mosborough, Sheffield

Nice menu, nice place. Shame about the food.

Having enjoyed the (overpriced) bar menu in the lovingly restored, rennovated and extended Mosborough Hall, we thought we would treat ourselves to a special meal in their fancy restaurant.

Firstly the inability to provide us with a glass of sparkling wine or champagne didn't get things off to a good start. So we gave up on the idea of a nice pre-dinner drink and ordered our food.

My wife had ordered something described as a taste of seafood, set to contain crab salmon, etc. But when it came, it was more like a glimpse of seafood, with pathetically small demi-portions of each and a teaspoon of green water, which was supposed to be a gazpacho. At over £10 for a starter, you would expect a lot more, and we've had better from tins at the local Morrisons for considerably less.

My starter - a risotto - was quite the opposite. It was absolutely enormous. Nicely cooked, fair enough, but by the time I'd finished struggling through it, I felt full.

My main came - a beef Bourguignon with potato gratin. I was expecting a kind of stew, but instead, I got a great hunk of beef and a small "frying pan" of stew/sauce, with which to pour over it. It was all nicely cooked apart from the miniscule excuse of a gratin, which tasted raw, with too much garlic and it lacked cream - a vital ingredient for any good gratin.

While my wife's beef fillet was perfectly cooked (well, after being sent back to the kitchen), it came almost like a lump of meat on a bare plate. No mushroom or onion, not even a dribble of sauce to make it attractive. But at £22 one would have expected a LOT more effort.

I couldn't finish my main for being too full of risotto, and for fear of any further disappointment, we asked for the bill, rather than a dessert. At £70 for 2 starters, 2 mains and a bottle of (poor) wine, we felt ripped off, certainly for an incomplete meal.

Most of the food was nicely cooked, but overall the presentation let it down; the food lacked creativity, and everything seemed upside down proportionally. A real shame, given the potential of this place as a posh nosh eatery.

1/5

Last visit: October 2008

Everest - the best Indian restaurant in Sheffield

I've tried most Indian Restaurants in and around Sheffield, but Everest is the one we will always go back to, and do so regularly. The staff are friendly, fun and helpful, and they clearly care about their customers and their food.

We have never been disappointed by what we received and the quality of the food is always excellent, and consistent. Everest's menu caters for all tastes, and if it's not on the menu, just ask and they'll do their best to make it for you.

5/5

Mamas & Leonies, Sheffield

I've never been disappointed with my food order at Mama's & Leonies, whether it be the beef burger, ravioli, spaghetti bolognese, pizza or their delicious calzone.

I have to admit, their pizzas are not the best (I'd favour those from Piccolino), but they still have this nice, home cooked feel about them, as they clearly are. But this is the one area they could vastly improve upon.

Oh, and get some seating that (a) the bigger than average bum fits on/in without having bits dig in you, and (b) doesn't feel like it's on the verge of falling to pieces with your every move.

So not the most comfortable place, but certainly cosy and individual. Always worth the money and well recommended. Proper home-cooked food - booking often advised!

3/5

The Old Vicarage, Ridgeway, Sheffield

Seduced by the hype of the nearby Old Vicarage, we thought we would give it a try for our anniversary, and what a mistake this proved to be.

The atmosphere was cold, the staff pushy and intrusive, hurrying us along when choosing drinks and food. And when the food came, it was clear Nouvelle Cuisine was back in fashion. The portions were insultingly small, barely living up to their descriptions.

It cost well over £100 for the meal - which I might add, wasn't anything fantastic (portion sizes aside), and we both still felt hungry. This was just not right!

If you want to part with a small fortune and come out feeling like you've just had a starter, then be my guest, but this was not my idea of a good meal out and certainly not good value for money.

The positive press and published recipes has obviously gone to the owner's head, and quality of food and customer service have been left aside. It may have received some good press, it may be set in lovely grounds and it may have a Michelin star, but this doesn't mean it's actually any good.

1/5

Zara Indian Buffet, Dronfield, Derbyshire

The idea of an Indian buffet is very appealing, and a new Indian buffet restaurant in a nicely renovated pub in my local village of Dronfield is even more appealing.

Unfortunately the idea remained more appealing than the actual experience.

At Zara, you are met by staff who talk too fast and instantly confuse you over how the whole buffet "system" works. By this point I was already wishing we had travelled to Everest near Sheffield and had a proper Indian meal.

The food itself is housed in your typical hot tray type things, but being unlabelled, you're not quite sure what you are going to get. This included a neon yellow Korma - I'd never seen one that colour before. Anyway I loaded my plate with curries and strangely coloured rice dishes.

All of the food was surprisingly bland, looking and tasting like it had all come from cheap supermarket jars. The colour of some dishes certainly didn't look normal compared to my previous experience of Indian food (and believe me, I've had a lot!).

You might be paying £9.95 per person for starters, main courses, sundries and desserts, but you are clearly over paying! The food was very poor overall - I could have done better at home or been happier paying more for genuine Indian food at another restaurant.

A sadly wasted opportunity.

1/5

Visited: 2008

Undercooked Chicken, from the Sitwell Arms, Renishaw, Sheffield

There isn't much in Renishaw. The only reason one might want to stop off here would be out of sheer desperation. However, we decided to visit the Sitwell Arms Hotel, and try what sounded like an above average, modern menu.

We were however, met with a sorry, rubbery piece of overcooked fish for one dish, and my meal, which consisted of two UNDERCOOKED chicken breasts, without half of the other ingredients promised on the menu!

We complained at such an atrocity of a meal only to be given some wine vouchers "for our next visit"! What cheek. Absolute crap.

Il Lupo, Baslow, Derbyshire

Just on the corner as you go into Baslow, Derbyshire, is located a quaint old building, which houses an authentic Italian restaurant, Il Lupo.

I've been to Il Lupo many times over the last few years. Their pasta dishes and spaghetti bolognese are the best I've tasted (and I've been to Italy), and their meat dishes are cooked perfectly with a range of tasty sauces and served with the most delicious choice of vegetables. And I can't go to Il Lupo and not have their homemade tiramissu - it's delicious.

Situated in the lovely countryside town of Baslow, it's worth the drive to eat Italian food as good as this, providing they feel like having customers! On one of our last visits there, we happened to be the last couple in the restaurant at 10pm, on what was probably not a very busy night. Instead of valuing their remaining customers, our desserts were brought to the table before we had even finished the main course and they started to switch the lights out before it was even 10.30, resulting in us rushing our food and made to feel most unlwelcome.
How not to treat your customers.

Luckily, I have since returned and service has been of the expected quality, and the food still, second to none. Well worth a visit if you're out in those parts and in need of superb Italian food.

4/5

Last visit: some time in 2009

Riverside House, Ashford-In-The-Water, Derbyshire

Finding a high standard restaurant for a special celebration is always tricky, especially when it's your first visit. Set in the quaint, picturesque Derbyshire village of Ashford-in-the-Water, Riverside House is a lovely old building, full of character - at least as far as the decor goes.

Although Riverside House wasn't local for us, we are prepared to travel for good food. Although I had phoned earlier to say we would be a little later than we had originally booked, when we arrived, were met with the most chilly reception, and the manager had to "check with the chef" if it was still OK to serve us! Had we travelled all this way for nothing? We had booked after all, so they knew we were coming! Anyway, once we got the green light for food, we were hurried into choosing our drinks, and then directed to our table by a half-mute, robotic waitress, before we had even finished our aperitif.

The robot brought our starters, with clinically rehearsed lines. There was only us and two other couples dining - the others were clearly staying at the hotel, so in theory it should have been cosy, but with absolutely no background music or anything to give a little atmosphere, everyone's conversation was reduced to a low mumble against the clatter of cutlery, making the whole place feel cold, unsettling and unwelcoming.

Fortunately, the food was fantastic. Everything was cooked to perfection and presented delightfully, clearly worthy of their AA awards. If only we'd felt welcome and able to relax in order to fully enjoy it.

We finished our meal in a deathly silence and went back into the lounge for coffee and homemade chocolates. Two drunken youths staggered into the bar, trying to persuade the manager to let them have some beer. Once he had finally managed to usher the idiots out, he lightened up and suddenly the place became warm and relaxing, with us engaging in friendly and humerous conversation - and even the robot started talking! If only we'd seen this warm and friendly side on our arrival. After a delicious meal, we finally felt welcome and at ease - unfortunately it was too late and we would have to shortly leave.

Overall a frustrating visit. We went for the food, and the food we got was, without doubt, top quality. However the staff need to be more human and welcoming, and the place needs some background music - something classical perhaps or non-intrusive; something to at least provide some ambience and atmosphere while you enjoy your delicious meal.

A place serving food of this quality should have more than just three tables dining. Maybe we caught them on a bad night, but 2 customers or 20, everybody should be made to feel welcome in a place of such standard. Hopefully a return visit will change my opinion - I would certainly go back for another meal, hoping for a warmer reception.

4/5

Visited: 9th June 2008

Welcome!

Welcome to Alex Eats. The purpose of this blog is to chart my experience of restaurants good and bad, particularly around the Sheffield area, but we'll also travel to Paris and beyond. I hope you find it useful.