Mocca Moocho, Wakefield

I was hoping for a late breakfast on Saturday, but everywhere in Wakefield city centre seems to stop serving them at 11.30am on a weekend morning. Too early if you ask me, I want bacon and eggs available until at least 2pm, and preferably all day.

I did like the look of Moocho though, the outside tables were inviting in the pleasant sunshine so I decided to make it an early lunch. Quiche was about the nearest thing available to breakfast (it's mostly eggs right? Sort of like a cheesy breakfast pie) so I ordered a cheese and tomato one with salad (£4.95).

The quiche was very generously proportioned with a nice thin crust and a wobbly, cheesy filling. Unfortunately I'd made the mistake of saying yes when asked if I'd like it warm. What they actually should have asked is 'would you like us to blast the shit out of it in the microwave for five minutes?' Limp, soggy pastry was the end result. As we all know, pastry and microwaves do not a happy marriage make. The filling was still nice though.

The salad was artfully arranged but flavourless given the complete lack of dressing or lubrication of any sort. I'll excuse them that because the clientele were mostly getting on a bit, and elderly Yorkshire folk seem to be suspicious of salad dressing. The honourable exception to this rule being salad cream, which I like, but which isn't really dressing at all, more a special category of matter all of its own. I should have requested a sachet but didn't.

A cappucino was ok (about £2). What looked delicious, but I didn't try (too full of quiche) were some scones jam-packed with whipped cream and strawberries. There were also plenty of other cakes available, all of which appeared to be good quality.

Despite the microwave mishap I liked it here. I'll go back for tea and cake at some point, it looks a better option for this than Costa next door.


6/10

Mocca Moocho
10 Cross Square
Wakefield
WF1 1PQ

Box Pizza, Leeds (takeaway review)

After inadvertently spending the hottest day of the year so far indoors ripping out carpets and glossing skirting boards (tedious but necessary) I needed food and sunshine this evening. Pizza seemed like a plan, perhaps with a bit of salad and an ice cold beer. I'd heard good reports about Box Pizza, and given that the average takeaway pizza in this country tends to rank somewhere between mediocre and totally vile I thought it might be worth a shot. I picked up a margherita, a salami with chillies and roasted peppers, and a rocket salad.

The pizzas were pleasant enough, certainly above average takeaway standard. Toppings were good quality but the bases were nothing to write home about. I was hoping for bubbly, charred edge dough but got a limper, cornmeal dusted crust without much flavour.

The rocket salad was good. Plenty of peppery, fresh leaves with roasted cherry tomatoes and a generous covering of parmesan. Including a little pot of dressing was a nice touch too.

£15.60 for both pizzas and the salad. Not bad and easily enough for 3 people. Worth ordering if you're in the delivery area or passing through, but I wouldn't make a special effort. Is there better takeaway pizza in Leeds?

6/10

Box Pizza
The Triangle
2 Burley Road
Leeds
LS3 1JB

http://www.boxpizza.co.uk

The Garden Gate, Hunslet, Leeds

When I first heard about the existence of the Garden Gate I was intrigued. A pub built in 1903 in lavish style, with ornate woodwork, glazed tiling, mosaic floors, etched glass windows and more, all spread over four separate rooms in a solid, brick building. All of this still in situ in 2011 in all its period splendour. And to think this has been hidden away in the middle of a housing estate behind Hunslet Morrison's and I never even knew it was there. Many times over the last decade or so I've bought lunch from that supermarket, and on occasion dined in one of the pubs in the locale (the Punch Clock anyone?), and all the while I had no inkling of the existence of the Garden Gate.

After several years of decline under the ownership of Punch Taverns (no great surprise there), Leeds Brewery bought the pub in July 2010 and set about restoring it to former glories. On the evidence of my first visit today, they are succeeding. The whole building really is a site to behold, I can't think of a pub that rivals it for interesting, historic pub features other than perhaps the Marble Arch in Manchester. Now Grade II listed, English Heritage remarked that ‘the level of intactness throughout is unusually high, and nationally very rare’. A truly fantastic place for a couple of pints, in fact I'd possibly suggest a four pint in-house crawl, downing one in each of the rooms.

Back on topic the original intention of this post was to review the food. My other blog about the architecture and design history of public houses will have to wait. There's a menu of basic pub staples, very cheap at around a fiver each or two for eight quid. My mate and I both opted for the cheeseburger, which unfortunately was rubbish. The burger was a solid, greying, low quality affair, not particularly nice at all. The salad, bun and cheese were ok but that hardly compensates for the crappy meat. Chips were of the bog standard frozen variety.

So in summary, the pub is splendid but probably best stick to the drinks. The food will soak up the booze for not much money, but offer little more. To be fair to Leeds Brewery this may be all the punters want. The pub is hardly in a great location for attracting diners or passing trade. I know they serve good food elsewhere too, having had a really good burger (admittedly at twice the cost) at Pin earlier in the year. Hopefully in time the food can be upgraded a notch or two as more people make the effort to visit this gem of a pub .


9/10 for the pub, 4/10 for the food.

3 Whitfield Place
Hunslet
Leeds
LS10 2QB

http://www.gardengateleeds.co.uk/

Little Tokyo, Leeds

The quest for good South-East and East Asian food in Leeds continues. So far I think there are at least two good Thai places (Saengarun, Cottage, others?), just the one Chinese that's anything to write home about (Red Chilli), no Korean, no Malaysian, no Vietnamese but at least a couple of good Japanese places. I'm including Little Tokyo alongside Fuji Hiro here, as I enjoyed some fairly good ramen there over the weekend.

Little Tokyo is a different proposition, in that it's much more aimed at the evening out at a restaurant end of the market, rather than the quick bite, functional canteen style at Fuji Hiro. The interior here comes complete with a pond full of koi carp, a mini waterfall, and tables and chairs hewn from roughly cut tree trunks, bark and all. Perhaps this is authentically Japanese? Don't ask me though I've never been. The menu is also wider ranging, covering soup noodles, stir-fries, an extensive list of bento boxes and a selection of sushi and sashimi.

As I just wanted a quick meal, and for purposes of comparison, I stuck to the noodles and a side order of dumplings. Chicken chilli ramen was pretty good, the broth having a good depth of flavour and the noodles retaining bite. There were lots of different vegetables in the mix too, adding texture and variety. The only issue was the inclusion of too much hot chilli. I like my food spicy but this contained a lot of birds eye or finger chilli with all the seeds still in. The heat level would have been fine in a more full on dish (a laksa for example, where all the other flavours are an assault on the senses), but the rest of this was quite subtle so the chilli was a bit overwhelming. Still good though, I'm being quite picky here.

Crystal prawn dumplings were also nice, but lacked a bit in the execution. The prawn filling was really sweet, juicy and gingery, but the skins were slightly overcooked and had gone a touch gluey and chewy. Not sure about the crockery by the way, I prefer it plain and simple as opposed to the made in school pottery class approach found here.

With a bottle of lager this cost just under £15, almost exactly the same as a similar order at Fuji Hiro. It was all good stuff, but could have been better. So, on the basis of my completely unscientific sample of one meal at each place, I'm awarding my 'best ramen in Leeds championship' to Fuji Hiro.


6/10

24 Central Road
Leeds
LS1 6DE

Lamb with broad beans, peas and rocket

A perfect summer recipe. Imagine eating this outdoors in dappled sunlight on a warm June night, glass of wine at the ready. Wishful thinking. I actually ate it indoors, wearing a jumper, gazing out the window at the persistent rain. It was still delicious though. Rich, fatty meat offset by fresh, green, vibrant flavours. It even looks pretty, which is unusual for anything I cook.

What you will need (per person):

2 fat lamb chops (fillet or steaks would work just as well)
a small handful of peas
a small handful of broad beans
a small handful of rocket leaves
1 clove of garlic
Fresh mint
Fresh chives
olive oil (preferably both not EVOO and EVOO)
white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

What to do:

1. Pod and shell your broad beans, and pod your peas (frozen peas will do for this, but the beans need to be fresh).
2. Finely chop the mint and chives (about a tablespoon of chives and a dessertspoon of mint per person).
3. Season the chops with salt, chop the clove of garlic in half.
4. Heat some olive oil (preferably not extra virgin) in a shallow pan over a medium heat, add the halved garlic clove and then the chops.
5. Fry the chops until the fat has browned nicely and the insides are still nice and pink. Mine took around 7 minutes, but this will depend on their thickness.
6. When they are done, transfer the chops to a warmed plate and cover loosely with foil.
7. If there is more than a tablespoon or two of fat left in the pan pour off the excess. Discard the garlic.
8. Return the pan to the heat, and throw in the peas, beans and a tablespoon or so of white wine vinegar.
9. Fry for a minute or so, then throw in the mint, chives and rocket.
10. Fry for another minute or so, then plate up, placing the chops on top of the greens. Dress with extra virgin olive oil, and season with salt and black pepper.
11. Serve immediately.

The quantities suggested can easily be multiplied for more people. The only thing I wouldn't change is the garlic. You only want the merest hint of it, so one clove should suffice for 3-4 people.

If you need some carbs I'd suggest some boiled new potatoes. I had a few jersey royals which were very disappointing. I haven't had a single decent one this year, they all seem to go from rock solid to burst and floury in an instant. Has anyone else had this problem? Apart from that this was a great dish, and in fine weather probably another one for the barbecue.

The International, Bradford

I haven't had a curry in Bradford for ages, and if it wasn't for adverse comments on Twitter I'd probably have gone to The Kashmir. Friends and I used to go there fairly regularly some years ago and it always hit the spot. The curries were decent if unspectacular, the seekh kebabs and chapattis better. I've spent a good few hours in the basic basement canteen (the upstairs restaurant bit wasn't the done thing) filling up there for for very little money.

Rumour has it though, that the Kashmir has gone downhill. At this stage if he reads it I'm expecting comment from a friend of mine who still goes there, and who may well consider this post sacrilege. We may have to settle this by going on a Bradford curry crawl, taking in the various contenders including Kashmir, Karachi, Khan's, Shimla and the International.

 
I decided to try International as a result of this review on them apples blog, and I'm glad I did so thanks for the tip off. A starter of vegetable pakoras weren't great, being far too stodgy. They weren't greasy, just the ratio of vegetable to gram flour batter was far too much in favour of batter.

The curry was much better. Afraid I can't recall the name of this (something shahi karahi?) but it was chicken, lentils and egg in a rich, perhaps slightly too reduced sauce. The lentils and chicken were both nicely cooked, and the addition of fresh fenugreek leaves made a pleasant change from coriander.

 
All of the karahi dishes come with a choice of chapattis, rotis, naan or rice. I chose the tandoori rotis which were excellent, crisp and bubbly from the tandoor.

The restaurant is a fairly basic sort of place but the service was lovely. Friendly and attentive with all the little bells and whistles beloved of Indian restaurants (free poppadum, warmed moist towels after your meal, even a chocolate mint with the bill!). Excellent value for just short of £11 including tip.

7/10

40-42 Morley Street
Bradford
BD7 1BA

Country Kitchen Bakery, Wakefield Market

Continuing on the market related theme, what has become of Wakefield market? From what I recall the indoor market was always a bit dull, and now it's just a bit dull in a nice new building.

The outdoor market however was a different matter. Quite large, and always lively with a slightly raffish air, particularly in the far corner where there was a sort of mini funfair section. This had a couple of rubbish rides, a few vans selling doughnuts and burgers, and plenty of youths hanging around. For a short while in my mid-teens I spent every Saturday operating the kiddies roundabout in return for £12 a day and a burger. What I remember most about this is the lingering smell of cheap cigarettes, stale fat and sweating onions. That and the sound of screaming kids who couldn't quite cope with all the excitement that forty pence could provide on a damp afternoon in Wakey. That and the fact that I had to push the roundabout to get it going otherwise the ancient motor would burn out.

As you've probably realised by now, this isn't going to turn into eulogy for the lost wonders of Wakefield market. Given the not particularly fond memories recollected above I'm actually quite glad they eventually bulldozed the lot and built a shopping centre on top of it.

What is disappointing is that the Council didn't see fit to bother with much of a replacement. The new outdoor market consists of a few stalls squeezed into the gap between the new indoor market and the Bus Station, with the new foodhall at the back of the stalls. Both seem to have plenty of vacant space despite being much smaller than the old market place. Where did all the other traders go?

The outcome is that there isn't a proper outdoor market place in Wakefield anymore, it was essentially designed out in the process of redevelopment. Which is a shame.

So, in an even more roundabout way than usual, to the original purpose of this post. In the little foodhall you will find the Country Kitchen Bakery, where for the price of a crap sandwich at many other places you can get a decent quality hot meal. With bread. And a drink. £2.95 is what a large bowl of beef stew, a basket of buttered (well alright marged) bread and a steaming mug of tea cost me. While not the finest stew I've ever tasted it was flavoursome, nourishing and obviously made from scratch with fresh ingredients.

This is why markets are always worth investigating, and are always worth supporting and saving. In amongst the rubbish there are always some hidden gems selling great produce, or cooking good food, and almost always at a better price than anywhere else.

8/10

Country Kitchen Bakery
Wakefield Market Foodhall
Union Street
Wakefield
WF1 3AD