La Tasca, Meadowhall, Sheffield

It's been a while since I've had a rant on here. I didn't go to La Tasca specifically with a whinge in mind, really I didn't. I went because I was hungry and it was convenient and I'd heard rumours of a revamped menu and attempts at doing things properly and I even got invited to a jamon carving shindig there a while back with the promise of genuine iberico de bellota.

So I went to La Tasca feeling vaguely optimistic that it would have morphed into one of those satisfactory-never-going-to-be-amazing-but-will-do-the-job-once-in-a-while sort of chains, instead of just being completely shit. Well I'm really glad I didn't go to the freebie ham carving night, because it's never much fun moaning about free stuff. If this meal was a fair representation of the place, it's still very much in the completely shit camp.

In photographic order rather than level of crapness I bring you: patatas bravas. Limp, mealy spuds in a sauce tasting exactly like tinned tomatoes with stale smoked paprika stirred through without the benefit of being cooked afterwards. The spanish omelette I couldn't fault as I like eating wodges of the supermarket bought ones (Lidl or Mercadona will do nicely) on my holidays and this was the same as those.

Croquettes were manchego and spinach, not a combo I've ever encountered before (what's wrong with ham or chicken?) but they were at least crisp and greaseless. It was just a shame they tasted of absolutely nothing.

We inadvertently overloaded ourselves with more of the same pappy potatoes by ordering a lamb and potato stew and a portion of octopus with potatoes. Given the headline billing you could reasonably expect lamb and octopus to have been the main ingredient in each dish though. Sadly not.

The lamb amounted to four gristly bits of disappointment in a weak broth with lots and lots of potatoes. The bread on the side was that clever sort of bread that looks like good bread until you eat it and realise it's slightlier crustier aerated Kingsmill in disguise (see also: speciality breads from Asda).

The octopus was predictably chewy (except for the occasional random tender bit) and bland, but at least it came with lots and lots of potatoes.

Last and pretty much equally least; the house green salad. A speciality of Navarra, the Spanish region famed for bull-running and manky mixed leaves in a cheap balsamic dressing.

I'd be a lot more forgiving of the general awfulness of the food if we'd had really great service and it was dirt cheap, but neither was the case. The service approach seemed to be grab whoever's nearest and try your luck. The beer I ordered never arrived and it took ages to get someone to fetch the bill. The dubious positive was the literally less than five minutes it took for all the food to arrive. Some sort of turbo microwave system?

The icing on the cake is that La Tasca is actually quite pricey. We paid about £30 for this load of rubbish. That might not be an expensive meal for two, but it's actually quite a bit more than you'd pay for a comparable meal at a proper tapas place.

In spirit of investigation I've checked the menus for a couple of places I like to make sure I'm not talking bollocks here, and an equivalent six dishes at either the splendid Bar 44 or the excellent Salt House Tapas would cost you slightly less, and would be about fifty times more appetising.

Awful in every way. Don't give them your money.


3/10

http://www.latasca.com/ Sadly everywhere.

Noodle Inn, Sheffield (revisited)

I've eaten at two of the restaurants in Sheffield's Noodle Inn mini-empire before (see here and here), enjoying the meal on both occasions but finding it tricky to work out what they're actually best at, the almost novel sized menus proving a challenge.

A repeat visit to the original Noodle Inn on London Road enlightened me further in one regard: their roast meats are very good indeed, especially the belly pork.

Three roast meats and noodles in soup brought a competent broth, bouncy noodles, plenty of greens and a ridiculous quantity of meat for the £7.50 price tag. The belly pork was a dream, the thin layer of crackling fracturing on the bite to give way to melting fat and tender flesh. Spot on, and it didn't even lose the crunch after sitting in the soup for ages. Many a gastropub charging twice the price for the stuff could learn a thing or two from these lot.

The duck and char sui pork were also good, but it's the belly pork that's sticking in the memory, and that I'll definitely be back for.

Service was brisk and to the point, but that's fine by me. You come here to get fed not for someone to be all nice to you. £7.50 for a huge bowl of noodles, or £11 with a beer and service.

8/10

156 London Road
Sheffield
S2 4LT

http://www.noodleinn.co.uk/

Edit: The website has disappeared. Surely they haven't closed down in the last fortnight or so since I was there? http://www.noodleinncentro.co.uk and http://noodleinnhotpot.co.uk/ are still online...

The Rutland Arms, Sheffield

This is going to be a very brief post, for the simple reason that it's boiling hot and I can't really be bothered. The sooner I finish the sooner I can return to lolling around drinking ice cold stubbies of cheap French lager with my tongue hanging out like an overheated labrador. Just the latter bit like a labrador by the way, you shouldn't give your dog lager, not even in this weather.

Anyhow I'm just about bothering because I've been meaning to rave about the Rutland Arms for a while now. It's a rare gem of a pub, a pleasing mish-mash of traditional and modern melded together to form something a bit special. Old school pub decor and layout, beer choices to keep both the trad cask crowd and craft nerds happy, a mixed clientele and a lively atmosphere.

The food is an interesting proposition too, managing to do classic pub grub alongside something a bit different but with absolutely no nods to current fads or fashions. There are pies, sausages and carb-fest booze soaking chip butties in various guises, but also keenly priced and creative sounding vegetarian and fish dishes that pop up on the specials boards. Salads that sound worth the effort too, now that the heat is upon us.

I was last there a couple of weeks ago when it was still a bit fresh out, so I had the pie; chicken, mushroom and stilton. I'll excuse the china bowl with a pastry lid format, 'cos it was very nice. Lovely crumbly pastry and a soupy, cheesy filling rammed full of actual proper chicken pieces, you know like thigh meat and stuff. Great work. Nice chips too, but the veg was a bit pointless.

About seven quid for the pie, and good beer at normal pub prices. A damn fine pub this, you really should go. I've only been in chilly weather, but I'm pretty sure there's a beer garden.

9/10 for the pub, and what the hell let's call it an 8/10 for the food.

Rutland Arms
86 Brown Street
Sheffield
S1 2BS

http://www.rutlandarmspeople.co.uk

Noodle Inn Centro, Sheffield

After a few false starts I've finally eaten a really good Chinese meal in Sheffield. The Noodle Inn restaurants come highly recommended from those in the know, and after a solo visit to the original branch on London Road a while back I was almost convinced, but the gargantuan menu made it tricky to pinpoint the good stuff.

The new branch in town has a slightly more focused approach, there's still a lengthy Cantonese and Sichuan menu but no dim sum list to complicate things further. All of the main dishes are available as one plate meals with rice, a great option if there aren't enough you for a full on sharing feast (and if your dining companion isn't a spice fiend).

Gong bao chicken (it might have been kung pao on the menu here) was a cracking rendition. Laced with sichuan pepper and chilli and coated in an addictive sticky salty-sweet sauce, there are few things more pleasurable than scooping this stuff up with chopsticks. It's not just the flavour that satisfies, but the mouth feel; soft chicken, the crack and yield of nuts (cashews rather than peanuts strangely), tongue tingling pepper, fluffy rice.

A plate of salt and chilli chicken wings were also damn fine and utterly more-ish, as you'd expect meaty wings fried to a good crisp and smothered in fried onions, garlic and chilli to be. 

Sweet and sour chicken's not really my cup of tea, but A was happy with hers and it looked like a decent version. Only veggie spring rolls were a pointless, but then they always are.

The one plate meals are all under a tenner, remarkable value given their enormity. We took home enough leftovers for another full meal. In total we paid around £28 including a drink each and service. Free ice cream for afters too!

I'll definitely be returning to Noodle Inn. The keen pricing and name suggests a pile-it-high noodle bar, big on quantity but lacking in quality, but don't let that put you off as the food is far better than that provided you order carefully. A Red Chilli style Sichuan knees-up is definitely on the cards.

8/10

15 Westfield Terrace
Sheffield
S1 4GH

http://www.noodleinncentro.co.uk/

The Milestone, Kelham Island, Sheffield

Having really enjoyed a meal at the Wig and Pen last summer I was really looking forward to a birthday tea at sister restaurant the Milestone. The formula here, the original one of the two, is more or less the same. High end pub food with a few gastro flourishes, served in simple surroundings, with set menus offering remarkably good value.

We ate from the early bird menu which gives you three courses and a drink for only £16.50. Hard to beat for what can feel like a special occasion meal for under twenty quid.

A salad of beetroots, truffle, whipped goats' cheese and pickled nuts felt pretty special, even though I couldn't detect the truffle (I'm not sure I've ever detected the truffle in any dish where it's presence was advertised. Maybe because it's used in such miniscule quantities or maybe I just wouldn't recognise a truffle if it slapped me round the face). The nuts added an extra textural dimension and a hit of acidity to the tried and tested earthy beetroot and dairy combo. Lovely stuff.

The mains were toward the more straightforward, pubbier end of the spectrum, and strangely what I didn't love quite so much. The burger was fantastic in almost every way: sturdy bun with a bit of chew to it, house made burger sauce and pickles, rustly chips, a high quality patty with a distinctive beefy flavour. The only let down was that it was a little overcooked, just that bit over so a little succulence and pinkness had been lost.

We shared both mains, A's choice being the Yorkshire mushroom macaroni cheese, truffle (allegedly), madeira and rocket leaves. The madeira was present in little jelly cubes that melted into the pasta creating bursts of fruitiness, a clever touch that reminded me of eating a cheese and chutney (or even cheese and jam) sandwich. The whole was suitably cheesy but it did lack some of that gooey unctuousness you get from a baked version.

Puddings were very much on the more ambitious side of things; quaking pudding, apple and celery, honey and walnut tart sounded and looked a bit complicated. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with celery, appreciating it's value as a base for better things but generally running a mile from it in salads or as a dipping utensil, so it's certainly not something I'd normally choose in a pudding.

Would I choose it again in a pudding? I might, it was perfectly pleasant though I'm not really sure what it added to the dish. The quaking pudding, in essence a baked egg custard minus the pastry, was a delight, all wobbly nutmeg-y loveliness. The tart, eaten on the same spoonful, provided the pastry and a sweet, nutty contrast to the mild custard. Apple in lurid green puree form prevented the whole from cloying.

You couldn't mistake the other pudding, a vermillion-bright assortment of goodies, for anything other than a plateful of rhubarb. Jelly, puree and candied pieces were all alive with flavour, but the mousse was a bit dull. Fun, but to be honest I'd rather have a crumble.

Service was good, and it's worth repeating that the three course early bird menu will cost you just £16.50 including a glass of wine or a pint. Outstanding value for cooking of this standard. I'm not sure I chose the very best dishes this time round, but I am sure that you'll be very well fed at the Milestone.

7/10

84 Green Lane
Kelham Island
Sheffield
S3 8SE

http://www.the-milestone.co.uk/

The Stag's Head, Nether Edge, Sheffield

This is more an ode to spring than a review, but never mind. Is there any finer feeling than that of the onset of spring?

It felt like Spring on Saturday. There was a chill in the air, but just a hint of warmth in the sun. Enough to make you turn your face instinctively to soak up anything on offer. It was the light that really made the difference though. Full light rendering everything bright and fresh, not the fleeting, blinding light you get from a glancing winter sun.

So being outside felt right. And the pub felt right too. The Stag's Head, a recent Thornbridge takeover (was it not just The Stag until recently?) did the job admirably. Picnic tables in the sun, well kept, quality beer and traditional, ungussied pub grub.

I couldn't fault the pie, a proper full crust effort with a dark, almost marmitey steak filling. Great clods of homely mash and peas on the side, and a jug of onion gravy. Completely satisfying, and warming to the core, setting us up for one more pint outdoors.

So we drank another, then down the hill to warmer climes to drink some more. A perfect Saturday afternoon.

£6.50 for pie, mash, peas and gravy. Pint essential. Al fresco dining recommended.

8/10

15 Psalter Lane
Sheffield
S11 8YL

http://mystagshead.co.uk/home.html

Zeugma, Sheffield

Zeugma is a proper ocakbaşı, a Turkish grill house. It's a small, basic but welcoming restaurant where people come to feast on meat. There are other bits and pieces; salads, dips, stews and pide, but these are really just an overture to the thrill of the grill, which sits in pride of place in full view at the heart of the restaurant.

Our snacky things were an excellent precursor to the kebabs. A generous basket of fresh bread arrived with a dish of little salty olives and gherkin slices, all complimentary and sufficient enough to comprise a starter if you're not being greedy.

We were being greedy, so plates of halloumi and hummous were added to the mix. I can't quite put my finger on why halloumi is such a good thing, but it is. On paper chewy cheese conjures up thoughts of cheese strings or some other horrible, processed muck. In practice halloumi manages to be chewy yet delicious. This had a really more-ish salty sweet flavour to complement that satisfying but slightly strange texture, and worked a treat with the pickles.

Hummous was the best I've eaten in a while, a bit grainy but otherwise creamy and nutty and essential scooping and mopping goodness for the bread.

Iskender kebab was a dreamily calorific concoction of buttery bread smothered in tomato sauce, charred minced lamb kebab slices, smoky grilled peppers and tomatoes, and yoghurt as good as any I've had in a long time. Yoghurt so smooth, creamy, tart and fresh I'm seriously considering calling the restaurant to find out who their supplier is.

The Iskender was a winning combination, but a very rich one, so sharing something a little less full on made sense. Chicken shish was a more staid proposition but still a very accomplished plate of food. Standard Turkish plating of rice, bread, grilled veg and salad, but done well and with wonderful generosity. 

We finished with tea, Turkish for me and apple for A, which was served with a couple of cubes of Turkish delight, a nice touch to end the meal.

Service was swift but we weren't in the least bit rushed even though the place was full. £45 including service for all of the food and a couple of beers. Highly recommended.


9/10

146 London Road
Sheffield
S2 4LT

http://www.zeugmaiki.co.uk

Zara's, Crookes, Sheffield

There are few better ways to get over a preconception or prejudice about food than a blind taste test, which is how our meal at Zara's got off to an unexpectedly good start.

If you'd asked me to pass comment on an Indian restaurant that boasted of its 'adventurous chef's specials', then went on to present me with a tray of chutneys in an unlikely combination of fruity flavours I'd tell you it was in all likelihood a load of gimmicky rubbish, and that the food would be crap. There's plenty of precedent for this, nonsense being a particularly speciality of 'Indian' restaurants trying to differentiate themselves from the competition.

One particular example springs to mind, a restaurant where the food was described in indulgent detail, beautifully presented, and brought to the table by the chef himself who introduced himself to my mother by kissing her hand. Shame it all tasted like shit.

Back to Zara's, the chutneys here were presented without fanfare alongside a plate of poppadums and dishes of the regular quartet of curry house offerings (yoghurty, oniony, lime pickle, sugary mango). We proceeded to really enjoy their balanced, interesting flavours whilst failing miserably to identify the contents of all but one. As it turned out they were apple and coriander, tamarind (I got that one right), mango and apricot, and date and coconut.

Grills for starters proper showed a fair bit of skill; seekh kebabs, chicken tikka and tandoori wings were all deftly cooked and properly spiced with no unnecessary colouring. The seekh kebab was particularly good.

Curries, both from the 'Chef's specials' part of the menu, were satisfying if not as good as what went before. One contained shatkora, a lip curlingly bitter-sour citrus fruit apparently used as a flavouring in a lot of Bangladeshi food. I liked it but only in small doses, more than a few mouthfuls being a bit overbearing.

The other was a lamb dish, allegedly Goan style, that was intensely flavoured with mustard seeds and quite strong, gamey meat. I liked this too but the thick, slightly too oily sauce did seem a bit off-kilter with the spicing that would have suited a thinner, soupier curry.

Accompaniments, like the rest of the meal, veered between excellent and just ok. Peas pilau was a fine bowl of rice, rich with plenty of tempered spice including cumin and cinnamon. On the other hand the naan bread was a bit limp.

Zara's is certainly a cut above your average high street curry house and some things are done very well. Did I mention they also do some really nice fruity chutneys? Service was fine but the food did take an age to arrive. We paid £46 for pickles, poppadums, starters, mains, sides and two large bottles of beer to share.

7/10

216a Crookes
Sheffield
S10 1TH

http://www.zarasrestaurant.com/

Graze Inn, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield

Graze Inn is the most recent opening from the Thornbridge stable, who seem to be taking over pubs, bars and restaurants in the city with increasing frequency. To my mind this is generally a good thing, as my experiences so far suggest they run a quality operation.

It's not my favourite one of the bunch, the sleek modern styling isn't really my cup of tea and all the grey felt a bit cold and unwelcoming on a snowy January day. The menu is a bit of mish mash of current foodie trends, with a particular focus on rotisserie chicken and 'British flats', as in the same thing 'invented' by Jamie Oliver proto-chain Union Jack's a year or so ago. That thing being a pizza, basically.

Now that I've finished being snarky about the concept I should point out that this is another good quality operation. Who actually cares if I don't much like the menu or decor if the food is worth eating?

A basket of bread with oil and vinegar was an unexpected treat, not something you'd expect at a casual restaurant where main courses are under a tenner. Best of the three were the slices from a nutty granary loaf.

A half rotisserie chicken with a choice of any three sides is keenly priced at £9, the chicken not being of the very finest quality but cooked well with bronzed skin and moist flesh, even throughout the breast.

The sides were all good too, the pick of the bunch being more-ish sweet potato fries and a well dressed salad. It was nice to have a bowl of proper frites for the regular fries too, rather than the chunky irritations that are so hard to avoid these days.

Service was efficient and the bill just £26 for a whole chicken, six sides, a pint of well kept ale and a large glass of Sauvignon Blanc. To sum up, it's a bit like a new chain place opened by any of the usual corporate suspects, but with better food and better booze at prices that are more than reasonable. And that can only be a good thing.

7/10

315-319 Ecclesall Road
Sheffield
S11 8NX

http://www.grazeinn.co.uk

Marmadukes Café Deli, Sheffield

A Twitter recommendation brought me to Marmadukes in search of good coffee. They use a Monmouth espresso blend and that quality really shines through. My flat white was a beauty, smooth with a bold, fruity flavour. Excellent stuff.

Other than the coffee there are good looking cakes, sandwiches, savouries and salads to be had, and the café is an attractive place to sit for a while, either inside or at one of a few tables outside on Norfolk Row, a pleasant pedestrianised side street. Blankets are provided to keep out the chill, a nice touch.

I ate on this visit too, quiche lorraine and salad. The quiche was perfectly fine but the salad was no more than a garnish. If you're charging £1.50 extra for salad, then a spoonful of some of the proper salads behind the counter might be a more appropriate choice than a very small handful of limp leaves, even if they are properly dressed.

The added leaves brought the cost of the food up to six quid, which I wouldn't take issue with at all if it was a proper plate of savoury with salads, but it wasn't that. The coffee was marvellous though, so maybe stick to that and give the cakes a try.

7/10 (a combination of 9 for the coffee and 5 for the meal)

Edit: see comments - Tim the cafe owner says the lack of a proper salad was their mistake, I should have been offered one from the counter. I'll pay another visit sometime soon, defo for coffee and maybe for food too.
22a Norfolk Row
Sheffield
S1 2PA

https://www.facebook.com/marmadukescafedeli

Review of the year 2012

Here we are at the start of another year. The last two have passed with frightening speed so it's time for my second annual end of year list-o-rama. Or the Northern Food Awards 2012 if you will.

I'm not going to call it that though, as it's a very important sounding title, as if there were judges and voters and such like, whereas in practice it's an entirely subjective round-up of the best things one person has eaten over the course of a year.

Still, there's a lot to like on this list. As with last year many of my winners are small independent businesses doing great things, and they deserve your support. Go forth, eating and drinking, into 2013.

I've kept the categories broadly the same as for 2011, give or take a couple of minor tweaks and additions. The only real difference is that I just don't have the time to write about them in such great detail this year.


The winners (and loser)

Best meal of the year: Wedgwood, Edinburgh

I dined in more upmarket restaurants in 2012 than the year before, some of which were almost in the fayn dayning category! Most of these were good, but none really that great apart from a meal at Wedgwood back in June.

Wonderful hospitality, excellent cooking and probably the single best thing I consumed in 2012, that raspberry and elderflower palate cleanser.


Coffee shop of the year: Tamper Coffee, Sheffield

Sheffield's best coffee shop, run by a lovely chap from New Zealand, proved to be a great introduction to the city. Carefully made, bold tasting coffee, lovely sandwiches and cakes, and delicious pies.

My rediscovery of the world of coffee continued apace throughout the year (in tandem with my new found tolerance for caffeine) so honourable mentions also go to Pink Lane Coffee in Newcastle, North Tea Power in Manchester, Mrs Atha's and of course last year's winner Laynes Espresso in Leeds.


Lunch spot of the year: Café Mozaic, Ashton-under-Lyne

A veritable orgy of kebabs and salads and tagines can be yours for under a fiver at Ashton-under-Lyne's marvellous Cafe Mozaic. Just look at it! Crucially the quality is also very high, making ploughing through the lot a delight and not a chore.

Also in the running were the Whitworth Gallery Cafe in Manchester for their fine soups and salads, Sesame in Leeds for dreamy fishfinger sarnies and Bragazzi's in Sheffield for first rate Italian deli sandwiches.

Best Fish and chips eaten in 2012: Murgatroyd's, Yeadon, Leeds

There's no wonder Harry Ramsden's went bust with Murgatroyd's round the corner. It has everything you could want in a fish and chip shop. Which means fat fillets of haddock in crisp, light batter, chips with creamy insides, crunchy outers and just a hint of grease, and a side of sloppy peas or curry sauce. All for not much money, washed down with a can of pop, sat at a picnic table in the dark, ravenous after a game of football. Splendid.

The best of the rest included seaside chippy visits to Sullivan's in Hornsea and Ernie Beckett's in Cleethorpes.

Indian meal of the year: Akbar's, Leeds

A difficult one this. The thing is, I didn't eat any truly fantastic Indian food in 2012, certainly nothing to match up to the best from last year. All the really interesting Indian restaurants in the North remain firmly stuck on my 'to do' list, so the prize goes to Akbar's. 

The food is nothing spectacular, but always satisfying, reliable and tasty. They also deserve a round of applause for coping admirably, service never missing a beat, despite having an enormous restaurant full of drunks every Friday night (yes Greek Street, I'm looking at you). Oh, and I don't care what anyone says, I still like the naan trees.

Chinese meal of the year: Silk Road, Camberwell, London

No contest. The best Chinese meal I ate in 2012 by a country mile. Silk Road how I love thee. You can read my review to get an idea of the food they serve, but only a visit will do it justice. Go to Camberwell.

Lamb skewers. Salivating.

Home style cabbage. Salivating more.

Other Asian meal of the year: Thai Aroy Dee, Leeds

The only repeat winner from last time around. What can I say? As with Silk Road, Thai Aroy Dee was best in class by a country mile and it just wouldn't have been fair to look elsewhere.

Honourable mentions also go to Saengarun Thai in Leeds, Little Hanoi in Sheffield and to I Am Pho in Manchester for their banh mi.

Breakfast of the year: The Breakfast Club, London

Another tricky category this. Up until last week the full English at Booth's was coming out on top. It was certainly accomplished, but didn't seem worthy of 'best of the year' status. I've obviously foregone a few proper breakfasts in favour of bacon sandwiches.

And then up popped the Breakfast Club, handily located just around the corner from our budget hotel, with a rather confusing offer of a shit bacon sandwich and an absolutely bloody lush plate of French toast with roasted apples, cinnamon and syrup. So good we had it twice in two days if truth be told.

Pub meal of the year: Town Hall Tavern, Leeds and Wig and Pen, Sheffield

The Town Hall Tavern is definitely a pub, the Wig and Pen? I'm not so sure. Either way it's a dead heat between these two. 

The THT served up very competent pub grub of a style and substance you'd expect to pay a lot more money for (including the splendiferous pig cheek scotch egg), whereas the Wig was a tad more upmarket, definitely more in restaurant territory with highly accomplished food that represented great value.

European meal of the year: Franco Manca, Stratford, London

Last year this was my Spanish only category. In recognition of the fact that I didn't eat as many Spanish meals out in 2012 (despite actually going to Spain), and did eat the odd French and Italian meal, I've expanded the category.

All of Europe may have been under consideration, but pizza still won. Pizza as good as any you're ever likely to eat, now available in a shopping centre. Please tell me they're opening at Trinity Leeds. Pretty please. Or even Meadowhell.

Also deserving of a mention: takeaway from Italian Express in Sheffield, tapas at Lunya in Liverpool, and Art's Cafe in Leeds.

Pub (or bar) of the year: North Bar, Leeds 

This was the most difficult category to pick. I didn't spend a great deal of time in the pub in 2012, and have yet to really fall in love with a Sheffield boozer since I moved here in the summer (I'm sure some potential favourites are out there, further exploration is necessary). 

Over in Leeds there were old stalwarts and new openings that failed to set my world on fire, a reminder that running a great pub or bar is no mean feat, so to do so consistently for over 15 years is an achievement in itself. Well done to North Bar, always reliably good, and somewhere I did at least visit regularly in the first few months of 2012 (as well as on and off for fourteen of its fifteen years, having first darkened the door back in '98).

Holiday meal of the year: Crab in Cornwall

From ferocious, struggling beast of the deep to my plate in an under an hour. It had to be the fresh spider crab we ate in Cornwall back in June.

The sweet, succulent flesh was a revelation, unadorned save for a few lettuce leaves and some buttered bread.

Daily feasts on the terrace in Spain also took some beating. Did I ever mention that I really like ham? Now I'm thinking of all things pig, pork scratching and lard butties in Brno weren't half bad either.

Worst meal of the year: Cote, Ealing, London 

I'm always envious of the London-dweller when it comes to food. The seemingly unending procession of exciting new eating opportunities never ceases to amaze, and it's no surprise that some of my 'best of the year' prizes always head South. 

Having said that London also boasts an even greater number of chain restaurants where the staff really do not give the slightest toss. Breakfast at Cote in Ealing was a case in point. 

Also atrocious in 2012 were Frankie and Benny's in Rochester and Trafalgar Fisheries in Sheffield.

Best thing I've cooked this year: I finally cooked the perfect steak.

..or at least as close to perfect as I'm going to get. In brief, here is how to do it: buy quality and thick, dry age in fridge, salt early, very hot pan, flip often, watch temperature, butter at the end, long rest. 

I was also pretty chuffed with the lamb and aubergine curry I cooked in September, but other than that it was a fairly poor year for my culinary skills. Must try harder in 2013.

Noodle Inn, Sheffield

I'm on the hunt for really good Chinese food in Sheffield, I'm sure it's out there somewhere as there are plenty of options and what looks to be a sizeable Chinese community in the city.

So far what I've eaten has been uninspired, so given a good few recommendations I'd received for the place I had higher hopes for Noodle Inn. It's hard to tell after just one meal, especially when dining alone with little opportunity to give the menu a good going over, but I'd say it just about delivered.

The Sichuan section of the menu warrants the most attention, as apparently they have a chef who hails from there, but there's also a great long list of Cantonese stuff and even a separate dim sum menu.

Beef flank with noodles in Sichuan hot and sour soup was a monumental bowlful, so much so that I barely got through more than half of it. The meat was the star here, whacking great hunks of gelatinous long braised stuff, intensely beefy and worth the effort taken in prising every morsel from it's protective layer of wobbly fat.

The broth, in comparison, was disappointing. It was a bit one dimensional, sour with plenty of chilli heat but not much else to offer, and only the merest hint of Sichuan pepper numbness (though perhaps that's all this dish is supposed to have?) The noodles, which I think were a potato starch variety, were good and sturdy, but not really my favourite type being overly glutinous.

A side order of steamed prawn dumplings from the dim sum menu were slightly overcooked, the skins just starting to stick a little, but the sweet, bouncy prawn filling was spot on.

The bill was just £11.90 including a soft drink, and there's free ice cream for afters if you want it (I didn't, it was pissing icy rain outside and I was in a hurry). Service wasn't exactly enthusiastic but everything arrived promptly enough. On the whole this was good, and the menu definitely deserves further investigation. I'll be back.

7/10


156 London Road
Sheffield
S2 4LT

http://www.noodleinn.co.uk/