Handy location, bus stop right outside, very family-friendly.
Newton Lane, Chester
They are a really nice group. I hired them once and would recommend them to everyone. It's really easy, I just emailed them and we set it up from there.
After the obligatory surf lesson with Surf's Up we tried an afternoon's kayaking with Matt from Cornish Rock Tors. We pootled around some lovely coastline around Port Gaverne and even saw a seal. Kids had a great time. Top fun.
These two cafes are open air. They give you a good introduction to the atmosphere of Brighton and Hove. They're inexpensive, the food's certainly not gourmet, but they're good places to meet up with friends, and do what Brighton does best - people watch!
The Pavilion Gardens Cafe is bang in the centre of town next to the Royal Pavilion and performers often stop by - well recommended for a free and impromptu show.
Fantastic area. Beautiful scenery, great little villages, pubs and shops. We stayed in a couple of cottages we found on the Lovetoescape portal - loads to choose from. Why holiday abroad when the exchange rate is bad, home has so much to offer.
www.lovetoescape.com/l2e/Holiday_Properties/CumbriaCottages.html
A fantastic venue for a wonderful lunch. I highly recommend this award-winning cafe, run by 'The Modern Caterer'. The menu is packed with a number of mouth-watering choices, all of which are home made. A main course plus a drink will cost around £5-£6 so not expensive for good food. Great to call in just for a coffee to take in the pleasent atmosphere. Also during fine weather outside tables are available to enjoy your meal alfresco.
Located inside the Whitworth Art Gallery, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6ER and opposite the MRI Hospital
Opening times:
Mon to Sat 10am till 4.30pm
Sun 12noon till 3.30pm
Perfect position at the foot of Helvellyn. Great for walking, and close to Ullswater.
Gillside Campsite, Glenridding, CA11 0QQ. 017684 82346
www.campincumbria.com/gillside_campsite_glenridding.html
I visited this diner in Leicester yesterday lunchtime and was really looking forward to it. I ordered and received my meal - the burgers were awful and tasted like a burger van burger. The burger was a chargrilled cardboard brown disc - you will not attract return visits serving burgers of such a low quality.
I then paid £1 each for two toppings - cheese and pineapple (one four pence cheese slice and one small slice of pineapple) - a topping should cover the top of the burger not just the centre of the burger.
My wife had a steak wrap! Soggy wallpaper wrapping up gristle and boiled, not fried, onions!!
The standard of food is without doubt the worst I have ever experienced.
This is a little gem located in Morley Green just outside Wilmslow and a short distance from Manchester Airport. I recommend the all-day brunch. Not exactly cafe prices but this is not your average cafe, it's an upmarket version. Good service and excellent home-produced fayre.
Morely Green, Wilmslow, SK9 5NU 5mins drive from Manchester Airport, 10 mins from Hale Barns
A self-catering annexe apartment for two, within easy walking distance of the train. You can take a bike, hire a canoe, or visit the alternative and wacky town of Totnes where Riverford Farm foods originated. Everything is organic and green. Little riverside allows you to go for a wild swim in the river right outside the door! Hire a canoe and go shopping down the river or to the pub. Great cafes and pub grub.
Near the sea and near the moors - fantastic situation for everything. Great carbon-free getaway for two.
www.littleriverside.com
Phone John & Debbie Carnegie on: 01803/866257.
I would highly recommend the Guy Fawkes Inn in York. Being right beside the Minster, this hotel surely has to have the best location of any in the city. Following recent renovations, the hotel is also now very stylish and, probably more importantly, I found the staff to be friendly.
On the downside, it is not cheap and the hotel does not have its own car park. However, the Guy Fawkes Inn is certainly not the only York hotel to suffer from these problems.
25 High Petergate
York, YO1 7HP
0845 4 60 90 20
www.guyfawkesinn.co.uk
A monthly market (held every first Sunday) which takes place either inside or outside the Milgi bar on City Road (an eclectric bar/bistro with video art, squashy sofas, chandeliers and a good line in cocktails and homemade pop).
It's a bit of a hotchpotch of jumble, young designers, live music, DJs, the odd random performance artist, maybe a BBQ, maybe some nice hot soup...
It's genuinely really great for hand printed tees and pumps, jewellery, second-hand books, vinyl, vintage-rummaging, people-watching, cake-eating, cocktail-drinking... And sometimes it happens at night too, which can be very, very good.
Milgi, 213 City Road, Cardiff, www.myspace.com/northcotelanemarket
In Hope Street just off Great Victoria Street. It is a lovely bistro, serving a small menu of local produce. Fish always on the menu. Staff are helpful and pleasant. I have never had a bad meal there.
Ginger
7-8 Hope Street Belfast BT12 5EE
Tel:+44 (0)28 9024 4421
It is astonishing to come across acharming and friendly inn off a highway between Lechlade and Burford and have the most memorable pub lunch of chicken liver and brandy pate and a yellowfin tuna nicoise that didn't taste of dishwater, and all on a Monday after visiting William Morris's house at Kelmscott (which was closed, so we needed cheering up, and got it). The most beautiful village of old houses made of sublime Cotswold Stone - walks, woollen mills, beautiful things to buy, heaven - we will stay here next time- Tadeus Pfeifer, Basel
Filkins, Oxfordshire - website
thefivealls.co.uk/
Darbucka is a Lebanese restaurant. I was in there celebrating my engagement to my fiance on Friday, and my fiance was told to move very rudely in Arabic, as the waiter figured that my guy was from that part of world.
I have going there for the last four years, but I would advise anyone wanting the Middle Eastern experience to go elsewhere.
They effectively ruined one of the most important days of our life.
Darbucka Restaurant/Bar
www.darbucka.com
182 BASEMENT St John Street
Clerkenwell
London EC1V 4JZ
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7490 8772
It's a small cockle stall selling, yep you guessed it, cockles. But they also do the MOST amazing hot chocolate with bits of Mars Bars floating in it and topped with marshmallows. Very indulgent and naughty but a great winter warmer.
The Hard, Portsmouth. Between Portsmouth Harbour train station and Portsmouth Historic Dockyard's entrance.
This is a really good bar in Southwark, great for an after work drink and not too expensive for where it is! (good chips too)
Home to the world famous Irish music session fronted by the award-winning Grace Kelly.
Holder of the world record for biggest Irish session held in a pub.
Session every Wednesday, live Irish music every Saturday and Sunday. Friendly staff, cosy atmosphere.
Opening Times
Monday 11am - 11pm
Tuesday 11am - 11pm
Wednesday 11am-11pm
Thursday 11am - 11pm
Friday 11am - 12midnight
Saturday 11am - 12midnight
Sunday 11am-11pm
www.myspace.com/unionpub
Union Irish Music Lounge
845 Stockport road
Levenshulme
Manchester
M19 3PW
0161 224 1271
Gardenstown is a gem of a village with pretty painted cottages surrounded by sandstone cliffs and the north sea. Mitchell's Cottage is on main street just a one-minute walk from the atmospheric local pub Garden Arms. The cottage has just been renovated with a superb dining kitchen, working fire in the sitting room for those cosy nights in and a big shower bath to soak in at the end of the day. If you're exploring Scotland don't miss Gardenstown and Mitchell's Cottage.
Feed the ducks under the bridge on the north bank of the Tyne. There are loads of them, so watch them fingers.
Down the hill past the Lloyds Bank, take the little path to the right of the bridge.