The New Inn, Sowood, Halifax

The New Inn sits on a hill overlooking Elland and Halifax. The view from the tables out the back is marvellous and well worth an hour spent gazing out over the moors with a pint (if you ignore the pylons in the foreground). A friend and I did exactly this on Saturday evening, before it started to get a bit nippy and we headed inside for food. The downside to the lofty location is that it's usually freezing.

Inside it's very much a traditional pub interior, and obviously very popular. It was bustling with a mix of both diners and drinkers. The chap in charge (the landlord at a guess) was friendly and efficient, proffering menus and taking our orders as we waited at the bar for our table to become available.

My starter of poached salmon came all sort of mushed up, so that it had the texture of tinned salmon. I'd have preferred it just gently flaked but it was still pleasant to eat; soft, mellow and well seasoned. My companion's chicken liver paté was pretty good, very smooth and served in a ridiculously huge portion. It's not an exaggeration to say it would have stretched to three servings without appearing stingy.

I'm a glutton for punishment so ordered a 10oz sirloin steak for my main course. Steaks invariably seem to be disappointing in pubs (rubbish meat, overcooked, not rested and so on). I find pies are generally a safer bet. This one was probably better than average. It was cooked rare as requested and was tender and juicy so had clearly been rested. Whatever they cooked it on wasn't hot enough though, as there was very little crisping or charring of any description resulting in a rather dull and pasty finish. The accompaniments were a mixed bag too. The onion rings were lovely, sweet and soft onion in a really light, crunchy batter. The chips would have been great if they'd had an extra two minutes in the fryer. Pepper sauce had congealed and didn't seem to have any pepper in it. The tomato, in line with expectations, was pointless and the mushrooms were fine.

Across the table meat and potato pie was going down well. I sampled a mouthful, the meat and gravy were very good but the pastry a bit stodgy.

Everything was very generously proportioned so we didn't have room for dessert. A couple of coffees were provided free of charge as we were asked to move so they could re-arrange the tables to accommodate another group. Not a problem as we were about ready to leave anyway.

I'd eat here again. There were enough good things about the food to make it an enjoyable meal and the service was excellent. It's quite expensive for what is fairly standard pub food though. Our bill came to £46 before service for two courses and two drinks each.


6/10

The New Inn
Forest Hill Road
Sowood
Halifax
HX4 9LB

(2 minutes drive from Junction 23 on the M62)

http://www.thenewinnsowood.co.uk

Café Lento, Headingley, Leeds

The cafés of Headingley have a nice quiet, laid back atmosphere at the moment because most of the students have buggered off for the Easter holidays (I'm not some sort of student hater by the way, I was once one myself in Leeds. Just can't be bothered queueing for seats in cafés). Last weekend I spent a couple of peaceful hours in Café Lento with the sunday papers and a fry-up. Here it is:

Pretty good effort, but not quite good enough to take the full english title from the Koffee Pot.

Plus points: excellent thick cut, meaty bacon; plenty of mushrooms and tomatoes (nice to have something vaguely healthy in the mix); butter for the toast.
Minus points: sausage tasted a bit weird, egg very slightly underdone on the top.

£5.25 including tea and toast. Another worthy breakfast option.

7/10

21a North Lane
Headingley
Leeds
LS6 3HW

http://www.cafelento.co.uk

The Three Horseshoes, Oulton, Leeds

An outdoor pub lunch just had to be done this week. On Tuesday I had a lot of work to get through and there was no way I was missing out on the sunshine stewing in the office from 8 'til late.

The Three Horseshoes is a steady sort of place. Very popular with the pensioners due to their OAP specials. The food is nothing special but it's better than what you'll get in the Hunslet/Stourton area which is nearer to my office.

Ham sandwich, chips, salad

I had the hot roast beef sandwich, and my mate had the cold roast ham sandwich. No idea ff the ham sandwich was any good, but it looked ok. Decent quality ham in generous proportions. Chips frozen but fried properly. Salad probably rubbish.

Beef, onions, gravy, bread. You don't win friends with salad.

For some reason the hot roast beef comes unadorned. Just bread, meat and plenty of oniony gravy. It was pleasant enough. Soft, open textured bread but sturdy enough to handle all the gravy. Overcooked but thinly sliced beef. Thick, salty gravy. This is exactly as I expected it to be by the way, so it's not a criticism. Overcooked beef works with loads of gravy, and that's how the pensioners like it. I'm sure there are some elderly folk out there somewhere who like their meat pink, but not in Yorkshire there aren't (not in my family anyway). Maybe in France or London or somewhere. With a good dollop of hot english mustard I quite enjoyed it. And the sunshine was grand. Both sandwiches were about 6 quid each.

6/10

16 Leeds Road
Oulton
Leeds
LS26 8JU
(by the roundabout at the bottom of Rothwell)

A couple of salads

This week I have mostly been eating... salad. Honest. And there's no meat in it or pies or anything. The unseasonably warm and sunny weather has made slightly cooler, slightly lighter dinners seem appropriate already.  Barbecued meat would also be a winner, but I'm gardenless for another couple of weeks so that will have to wait.

Here are two really good, simple salads for a weeknight meal. Each recipe is enough for one, but they will easily double up or more.

Goats cheese, beetroot and watercress
This is a winning combination. Sweet, earthy beetroot works really well with creamy, tangy goats cheese. The cress adds a bit of crunch and pepperiness, and the dressing a fruity, sour note.

You will need:
50-60g soft-ish goats cheese (I used Chevre)
100-125g cooked beetroot (about half a pre-cooked vacuum pack. NOT pickled)
a big handful of watercress
a lemon
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
2 slices good bread for toasting (sourdough is ideal)

What to do:
Slice the beetroot and put it under a hot grill with the bread
Dress the watercress with the juice of half a lemon, a good glug of olive oil and some salt & pepper
Break up the cheese into small chunks
Turn the beetroot and bread to grill the other side
Toss the warm beetroot with the dressed watercress and cheese
Put on a plate with the toast, drizzle over olive oil and serve with the rest of the lemon to squeeze over.
Eat straight away.

Salmon, cucumber and watercress with yoghurt and dill
This is a rich, cool and creamy salad, quite fatty from the yoghurt and salmon. This is balanced nicely by the aromatic, fruity notes from the dill, lemon and olive oil, and by the crispness of the cucumber and cress.

You will need:
150-200g salmon fillet
half a cucumber
a big handful of watercress
a small bunch of fresh dill (half a small supermarket packet is about right)
2 tbsps greek style yoghurt
a lemon
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
2 slices good bread for toasting (sourdough is ideal)

What to do:
Season the salmon and wrap it in tin foil with a couple of very thin slices of lemon.
Bake the salmon in a hot oven until just done (this will depend on the size of the piece, about 10 mins or so).
While the salmon is cooking chop the dill very finely and mix it up in a bowl with the yoghurt, the juice of half a lemon, a good glug of olive oil and some salt & pepper.
Slice the cucumber into thin strips.
When the salmon is done leave it to cool a bit for a couple of minutes.
Toast the bread.
Toss the cucumber and watercress in the dill and yoghurt dressing.
Flake the salmon and throw it in with the dressed cucumber and watercress.
Plate it all up with the toast, drizzle over olive oil and any excess dressing, and squeeze over the last bit of lemon.
Eat straight away while the salmon is still warm.

Frankies Fish Bar, West Didsbury, Manchester

Fish and chips again. If you'd asked me how often I eat fish and chips before I started writing this blog I'd have said about 2 or 3 times a year. It turns out that once a month is probably closer to the truth. Having a written record of what you've been eating and where can reveal some interesting truths. Since I started this blog it's becoming increasingly obvious that I spend rather a lot of time eating pies, curry, fry-ups and fish and chips. Perhaps the documentary evidence will encourage me to get some bloody exercise done.

Anyhow not to worry, last Friday may have been fish and chip Friday, but this Friday will be very Good Friday as I'm off to climb the Yorkshire Three Peaks again. A 25 mile walk is exercise in anyone's book (we'll be taking loads of pies to sustain us through the ordeal obviously).

These fish and chips were from Frankies Fish Bar in fashionable West Didsbury. The chip shop itself has been rather trendified, and I've certainly never seen such a young and beautiful bunch working the fryers in any chippy before, but fortunately the product itself hasn't been messed around with. Haddock, chips and peas was pretty much spot on. Good sized moist, flaky fish in a nice crisp batter. Chips the right combination of crispiness and a hint of greasiness that I always waffle on about. Sloppy peas. The inclusion of a lemon wedge and a little pot of tartare sauce is the only hint of gentrification, and a welcome rather than pointless addition. The tartare sauce needed more bite though, it was too creamy and not sour enough for my taste.

A very worthy contender, but not quite good enough to wrestle my 2011 fish and chip crown from the Chippy in Hawes. That's still the top of the tree for now for using the king of chip fats, beef dripping, which I'm pretty sure Frankies doesn't, and also for serving an absolute monster of a haddock. More attractive staff at Frankies though, if that's how you rate your chippies (male as well as female, I'm not being sexist).

£5.50 for haddock, chips and peas which is probably a touch pricier than the average in the North, but hardly expensive either. Great stuff.

8/10

Frankies Fish Bar
178 Burton Road
West Didsbury
Manchester
M20 1LH

http://www.frankiesfishbar.co.uk/

The Last Viceroy at Enigma, Horsforth, Leeds

After a good hike yesterday afternoon a few beers and a curry were called for. We couldn't be bothered heading into town so decided to stay local in Horsforth. My drinking companion had been happy enough with takeaways ordered from The Last Viceroy in the past, so we thought we'd give the restaurant a try.

On arrival the door was open but no-one was inside. Strange. The place was completely deserted. After a few moments confusion we realised the curry house had moved into the bar next door, Enigma. They appear to be operating as both bar and restaurant, as a drinking area has been retained at the front, the lights were dimmed and the music loud. It made for a rather incongruous atmosphere as practically everyone in there was dining. Upping the lights and downing the volume would have been a good idea.

To start we ordered the liver and mushroom tikka and the vegetable samosa's, plus a couple of poppadoms and the pickle tray to get the ball rolling. The pickle tray was fairly bog standard stuff except for a nice vinegary coriander and mint concoction that stood out from the rest.

The liver tikka grabbed my attention because Akbar's do this dish, and it's excellent. The liver has a smoky, crusty exterior giving way to a soft, smooth pink centre. Lovely. Unfortunately this wasn't so good. The liver was overcooked, uniformly grey and not very appealing. It was also marinaded in something sweet and sticky, not like any tikka marinade I've ever known.

The samosa's were a complete disaster. Problem number one; - they were those small catering freezer pack ones. I don't know why otherwise decent Indian restaurants put them on the menu if they can't be bothered making their own. Problem number two; - they were still frozen in the middle. Fair play to the restaurant though, they offered us a free round of drinks to apologise.

Things improved rapidly with the arrival of the mains. A fish karahi was richly spiced and absolutely packed full of chunky white fish fillets.

A lamb handi was also good, with plenty of tender shreds of lamb falling off the bones. The sauce was a bit too oily though.

A nan bread arrived on the now ubiquitous nan tree and was very light and crisp. The chapattis also arrived folded and hooked onto the tree. Indian restaurants seem to be getting a bit carried away with these things. It's only a matter of time before one of them invents the meat tree, and a mixed grill will arrive with seekh kebabs dangling from a two foot tall metal spike. Pilau rice was fine.

I don't really know how to sum this place up. The atmosphere is a bit weird, the starters were terrible and the curries and breads were very good. Prices were reasonable (our food bill came to £32 not including drinks or service). A very mixed bag, but it definitely has potential. Decide whether they are running a bar or a restaurant, make a bit more effort with the starters and it could be very good.

6/10

The Last Viceroy at Enigma
145 New Road Side
Horsforth
Leeds
LS18 4QD


http://www.thelastviceroy.com/

Tarka Dal

Here is my recipe for tarka dal. I'm no Indian food expert so it's probably completely inauthentic, but it tastes good. It's a very comforting dish to eat, gently warming rather than eye-wateringly spicy with a soothing nutty, buttery, garlicky flavour. I like to eat this when it's cold and I need a day off from consuming meat.

You will need:

This will make enough for 2-3 people as a main course, or at least 6 as a side dish.
250-300g yellow split peas (chana dal)
1 tbsp cooking oil (groundnut, sunflower or whatever)
a small cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2 cardamom pods
1 small onion
2 heaped teaspoons good quality curry powder (I think the stuff in tins is best. Bolst's is good. You can get it at most asian supermarkets)
3 fat cloves garlic
a big chunk of ginger (thumb sized if you have fat thumbs, if you don't then bigger than thumb sized)
1 fresh chilli
1 tbsp butter
a small bunch of coriander
Salt, pepper and lemon juice for seasoning

What to do:

1. First you need to rinse the lentils and get them cooking. Rinse them in cold water until the water is running clear then put them on the boil in a large pan.

 
2. The cooking time for lentils seems to vary quite wildly so you'll need to check them, but it will probably be around 30 minutes. A lot of scum will rise to the surface of the boiling water. Strain this off with a slotted spoon.

3. Once the lentils are on the boil prepare the other ingredients. Chop the onion as finely as you can be bothered to. Cut the stalks off the coriander and chop them finely (these definitely need to be chopped finely otherwise you'll end up with stringy bits in the finished dish). Also roughly chop the coriander leaves. Grate or finely chop the garlic and ginger, and last but not least chop the chilli.

4. If you're really slow at chopping stuff you might need to check your lentils at this stage. If not you'll have time for a tea break. I suggest a nice strong brew with a couple of hobnobs. The lentils should be cooked through but not starting to disintegrate yet. When they're done drain them and set aside.

5. Warm up the oil in a heavy based pan over a medium heat. Add the cinnammon, cloves and cardamom pods and fry for a few seconds until they start to release their fragrance, then add the onion.

6. Fry for a few minutes until the onion has started to soften, then add the chilli, ginger, garlic and coriander stalks and fry for another minute or two. Make sure it doesn't start to burn at any point as it will go bitter and unpleasant.

7. Now add the curry powder and fry for another minute or two, before adding the lentils and pouring over boiling water. Add just enough water to barely cover the lentils, then simmer for another 5 minutes or so until the lentils start to break down and the whole thing thickens up nicely. The final texture is up to you, I like the lentils to retain a little bit of their shape, rather than be completely dissolved into a uniform mush.

8. Finally stir in the butter. I've suggested about 1 tbsp, but it's a bit like mashed potato in that it can pretty much take as much butter as you can throw at it. I don't know if a 50/50 butter/dal ratio is feasible, but it's probably worth a try if you think your arteries can handle it.

9. Season to taste with salt, pepper and maybe a squeeze of lemon juice, then sprinkle over the coriander and serve with chapattis or plain boiled rice.