Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Reviews and Food Musings

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Fed up with celebrity chefs drizzling sauces over undercooked pieces of meat? I am!

I regularly dine out and am happy to share my restaurant experiences, and musings on food with you.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Fat Fears Close Burger King

Fat Fears Close Burger King

Burger King has spent $3M closing 21 restaurants and rescuing its franchisees in Britain, as the British consumer starts to shy away from fat laden burgers.

Burger King now has 578 locations in the UK, so there is still the opportunity to buy a burger.

Despite this new found fear of fat, some 66% of adult Brits are still obese!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Cock Au Vin

Cock Au Vin

My commiserations to the staff and customers of Zizzi's restaurant in the Strand, who had their dining experience interrupted on Sunday by a man who came in, dropped his trousers, and cut off his penis.

They do say that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but even so!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Cadbury's Taken To Court

Cadbury's Taken To Court

In the wake of last year's salmonella outbreak in chocolate bars, Cadbury's is facing an appearance in court.

Cadbury Schweppes faces prosecution over the outbreak of salmonella that forced it to recall a million chocolate bars.

Birmigham City Council has accused Cadbury's of placing "unsafe" chocolate products on the market, and of failing to immediately inform the authorities about the contamination.

Cadbury's will also be prosecuted for failing to identify hazards from chocolate bars contaminated with salmonella, and of failing to identify "corrective actions".

The cost to the company of having to deal with the infection is estimated to be around £30M, plus the consequential damage to its brand value.

Cadbury's has been summoned to appear before Birmingham Magistrates' Court on 15 June.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Cocktails Are Good For You

Cocktails Are Good For You

Finally the news that we have all been waiting for; cocktails are good for you!

US and Thai researchers have discovered that adding fruit such as strawberries and blackberries to eg rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits boosts the antioxidant nutrients in the strawberries and blackberries.

The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture say that any coloured fruit might be made even more healthy by the addition of alcohol.

I'll drink to that!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

The Ultimate Bacon Buttie

The Ultimate Bacon Buttie

Scientists at Leeds University have just announced the results of a study that they have been conducting into bacon sandwiches.

They were commissioned to test more than 700 variations of bacon sandwich, varying cooking method, type of oil, cut of bacon and type of bread.

They have now perfected the recipe for the ultimate bacon buttie.

It is: N=C+{fb(cm).fb(tc)}+fb(Ts)+fc.ta.

This shows how to make a sandwich that balances the force in Newtons required to crunch through the cooked bacon, with factors such as the temperature of the sandwich and the cooking time.

Back bacon needs to be grilled under a pre-heated grill for seven minutes at 240 degrees.

The bacon should be served on slices of white farmhouse bread 1-2cm thick, with sauce added to taste.

Dr Graham Clayton, who led the research team, said:

"We often think that it's the taste and smell of bacon that consumers find most attractive. But our research proves that texture and sound is just, if not more, important.

While there was much debate within our taste panels on the smoked or unsmoked decision, everyone agreed that tough or chewy bacon is a turn-off.

So, if you want to cook the perfect bacon buttie at home, our recommendation is to choose thinly sliced bacon with just enough fat, grilled in a hot oven and served with dollops of your favourite sauce
."

The research was commissioned by Danish Bacon and Meat Council as part of their 2007 promotional campaign, which is all about bacon sandwiches.

As far as I am concerned, crispy bacon is a turn off; I prefer it lightly grilled.