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The Old Keswickian is a traditional fish and chip shop in the centre of
Keswick at the heart of the Lakes. It doubles as a take-away and eat-in restaurant which is popular with locals and tourists alike. The shop uses local Cumbrian produce and is perfect for a quality fish
supper after a hard day's walking!
It's got the authentically cheesy name, the friendly Italian (?) family running it and, like nearly everywhere in Herne Bay, it is quite full of old people. Fish and chips are super fresh and the clean, but a bit dull, cafe bit looks out onto the sea (via a main road).
Herne Bay is generally worth a visit. A lot quieter than Whitstable, the demographic skew also means that there are alot of funny charity shops, old fashioned fruit and vegetable shops and a cool icecream parlour, just down from Ernies.
The beach is good for a blustery walk along shingles and it is a lot less crowded than Whitstable can get.
77 Central Parade, Herne Bay Telephone: 01227 366 471
Sycamore Gap on Hadrian's Wall is the perfect place for a romantic proposal. If you're looking for that special place to pop the question or just a romantic location to spend with your valentine then this is the place. The Romans were a romantic bunch, they celebrated romance long before us with the festival of Lupercalia which was celebrated on 15 February. There are some lovely hotels in the area too if you want to make a trip into a romantic stay. www.hadrians-wall.org.
Hadrian's Wall spans the north of England. Sycamore Gap is situated in Northumberland near Housesteads Roman Fort, around 12 miles from Hexham.
The (almost) private dining experience must hold a rare treat status for most people and in the sleepy town of Coppull, Chorley, it's even more of a treat to find such a place. The Coppull Moor has one sitting (usually at 8:30 in the evening) and a fixed price (around £35 last time I went). For that the pleasure of getting a room which you share with very few other people is wonderful. The food is generally of a good quality though sometimes the strain of serving everybody at once shows through. The menu is imaginative (desserts wear thin on repeat visits however) and the biggest gripe is that this place is so undersold. It's one of those places where a little more work on its offering and promotion would deliver in meaty handfuls.
311 Preston Rd, Coppull, Chorley.
Tel: 0871 7149510
Superb food, but book early it can be busy
Commercial Street, near junction with Seagate.
One of the many pleasures of eating at The Jumble Room is the feeling that you are almost sat in front of the telly with your food on your knee.
There's no TV, I hasten to add, but the knockout indulgence is all there with the added benefit of the food being amazing, heartwarming and restaurant quality. The staff are so friendly you may start thinking they are actually long-lost relatives and scratch your head a bit when they ask you to pay the modestly priced bill.
Langdale Road, Grasmere, LA22 9SU
015394 35188
www.thejumbleroom.co.uk/
Good restaurants in Chorley are hard to find and, despite the awful titular pun, the Thyme & Plaice offers consistently good food from a menu that changes every two months. Family owned and run, the restaurant strikes the balance between friendly and professional and the decor is equally well balanced.
Wigan Lane, Chorley, Coppull, PR7 4BN.
Tel: 01257 480287
The Silk Road Restaurant is the best place to uplift the spirit. I go there sometimes when I am tired or need to see a friendly face, and it never lets me down. The decor takes you straight to the Mediterranean and the music, cuisine, entertainment and staff all help to create a wonderful feeling of well-being. They always have live entertainment at the weekends - catch the Brazilian/Latin jazz if you can - but you will need to book a table. It is more like a club than a restaurant - I always meet people I have met in there before. When they have live entertainment or a DJ, the atmosphere is just fantastic as the whole restaurant joins in with the dancing. I love the staff and Teresa, the host, is great. She gives the best hugs. I don't think there is anywhere like The Silk Road - in Brighton, London or even Istanbul!
Silk Road Restaurant
8 Arcade Road
Littlehampton
West Sussex
www.thesilkroadrestaurant.net
01903 722055
Its above Sam's Chop House on Chapel Walks - absolutely wonderful place. Gorgeous bar and marvellous restaurant upstairs. The staff were wonderful and the food was real top drawer stuff. (and I know my Thai food)
Very impressed. My new favourite place.
Chapel Walks (above Sam's Chop House)
www.chaophraya.co.uk
Tel: 0161 832 8342
A beautiful, gothic-style, top-class hotel which whisks you away to another world. It's luxurious, the staff are great and the Secret Garden restaurant serves fantastic food. You do have to book well in advance, but it's definitely worth it!
Right next to Edinburgh castle
www.thewitchery.com
Simply the best Thai restaurant in Leeds. Tucked away behind the impressive Town Hall (or City Hall, I always get them mixed up, basically the massive hall on Headrow).
Cheap with mains at less than a fiver and starters about £2. Friendly staff and a convivial atmosphere when it's full. Keeps funny opening hours though, its open through the day but closes at 10pm.
Worth popping into the Victoria Hotel just along the road afterwards for a swift one.
39 Great George Street, Leeds LS1 3BB, Tel: 0113 245 9224
I've written a personal guide to visiting Stirling:
www.europealacarte.co.uk/Scotland/stirling/index.html
What is it? A bar that serves food and fantastic cocktails and also has an internet cafe and a shop selling all the booze you've just drank in the bar. But that doesn't do it justice.
It's simply the best bar I think I have been in for a very long time (besides one in Prague and I'm not telling you where that is because it's mine. ALL MINE. OK?).
Spread over 3 floors, the ground floor is home to the shop, internet lounge and the bar itself. To describe it as 'a bar' is an understatement on a parallel with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon being merely a garden. This place is a mecca to booze. I counted 17 seperate types of Absinthe on the wall. 17!
The first floor is home to another room, decked out with comfy seating where you can spread out and lounge around, also a couple of raised bed/seats with curtains and a shedload of fabric in general, along a Thai type theme.
The third floor has yet another room with large sofas and chairs, and as an added bonus it's non-smoking. You do feel a bit detached from the rest of the bar but get enough of your crowd in there and it's more or less all yours.
Food, although I haven't tried it, looked tasty (spying on the plates as they came out) and entirely Thai.
It's worth taking a stool at the bar and watching the lads behind it create cocktails from the mammoth list.
In a word: quality.
42 Stonegate, York, YO1 8AS 01904 640 002
Punjabi Indian restaurant a little way out of town (about 1.5 miles) but worth making the effort for.
Staffed by possibly the smiliest gents I have ever seen or met. Not massive portions by some standards, its all about the flavours, which are consistently a notch above other curry houses around and about. Still a proper good feed though, and all at a belting price.
Raja's has almost a permanent place in the Leeds Good Food Guide.
There are many many other ethnic eateries along the same road (Roundhay Road) so it's worth a look if you're not bothered about Raja's, but there are no bars in the area (except for a well dodgy Irish bar).
If you crave booze give me a knock, theres always beer and wine in the fridge, and I live just round the corner from Raja's.
186 Roundhay Road
Leeds
LS8 5PL
0113 248 0411
A really rather lovely bar, just out of town, but definitely worth the little walk. A relaxed atmosphere with massive battered sofas to fall into, and a mix n' match attitude to the rest of the furniture. Usually has a bit of an exhibition on the walls too. Definitely worth eating there too. Small but perfectly formed menu which never fails to taste absolutely gorgeous (lamb shank being my particular favourite at the moment), which can be eaten in the informal restaurant bit in the back of the bar whilst watching the chefs do their thing in the open kitchen.
Reasonably priced too. Separate daytime and evening menus.
Another excellent place to either start a night or just to have a few quiet bevvies in.
76-78 North St, Leeds, LS2 7PN 0113 295 6060
Cafe bar by day, thronging bar by night. Another excellent bar with an excellent music policy (bearing in mind my bias towards indie/rock).
Does do food but I haven't indulged yet as it's always been rammed to the gills when I've been, usually late in the night.
20 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 1AJ 0113 305 0372
A dark and cosy bar in the week, gets louder towards the weekend. In my eyes the best music policy in town (indie/rock) and superior to Mojos (next door) as it doesn't get so bloody rammed, and you can actually get a pint and usually a seat.
Well recommended cocktails too. Open until 4am.
12-14 Merrion St, Leeds, LS1 6PQ 0113 244 4080
Its a right after the Grand Theatre and Arcade and the chavtastic hellhole that is Gatecrasher. next door to Mojos.
Couple of decent curry houses on the same street, of which the Elephant Cfae is probably the better.
A cellar bar on New Briggate, sandwiched between and under North and Franks. A nice little bar with a lovely atmosphere and a good taste in music, usually along jazz/blues lines but branches out now and again.
As can be expected, busy on a weekend, but good for a quiet drink and a light snack when you're knackered from shopping on a Saturday.
Usually has live acts on in the week.
20 New Briggate
Leeds
LS16NU
If you pass North you've also just gone past the entrance to Sela, turn around and look for the red door!
Far and away the cheapest pint in town (it's a Samuel Smith's establishment), squirrelled away up an alleyway off Briggate.
Always guaranteed an 'eclectic' mix of clientele due to the prices (read: winos, students, alternative types, office workers, a proper cross-section), but that also guarantees a cracking laugh.
No jukebox, no tellybox, you actually have to talk to your mates. One night when I was in one room descended into an informal football trivia quiz, with about 20 people all nattering away and throwing in questions.
Does do food, cheap, but I've not had the pleasure yet.
Angel Inn Yard, Leeds, LS1 6LN - 0113 245 1428
(basically go up the alleyway next to Music Zone, opposite Harvey Nicks, on Briggate)
An excellent wee bar close to the Corn Exchange. Pricier than most but worth it with a laidback, friendly atmosphere and a quality mix of music varying every night of the week, including live sets from local talent. Also worth checking out Wire, the club next door.
10-12 Call Lane, Leeds, LS1 6DN - 0113 245 7101
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