Wot I Ate On My Holidays

[Proudhuff]

Is that it? I was hoping for a full Tour de Farce!

[Buttonman]

Stay (get) cool Tom. Keep 'em hungry for more!

Here's lunch in the Liverpool Mexican diner 'Lucha Libre' which I thought meant 'Free Lunch'. It totally didn't. Nice place though, although a bit hip for my conservative tastes. All benches and ironic film posters for shit wrestling films.

The menu was a maze and as everyone knows Mexican food is all the same; it's only folded differently. Anyway to avoid missing any treats we went for the Street Food platter to share. Not sure which street it was from but it wasn't Sauchiehall for sure. This tray cost about £16 and was very nice although the wife didn't eat her share of the deep fried one. Hopefully the place does well and can upgrade to plates sometime soon.

[Buttonman]

Bonus post for the impatient Tom.

This is our evening meal in 'The Cowshed' which was the number one restaurant in the whole of Liverpool on Tripadvisor at the time of booking. The place is the size of a modest dining room and only seats about 16. We were the second couple in (I'd booked 3 weeks in advance) and I wondered if the hype was real. Happily it soon filled up and the food was worthy of their reputation.

Veggies/Vegans/Fruitarians and other wierdos look away now...



The menu is brief with only three steaks on offer along with notes that they won't do them 'well done'. We went for 'The Greedy Cow' which is all three steaks - flat iron, sirloin and rump - along with two sides - we went for chips (me) and carrots (wife).

The meat was glorious but there was no way any pair would eat all that.



Of course we did! along with the marrow bone (£1 extra) seen here. This was tasty but barely a thimble full of oily loveliness.

'The Greedy Cow' was £40 but she's worth it but was good value especially as a pudding wasn't a possibility.

[Fungus]

Informative!    Made me snort some of my breakfast foie gras!

A menu that dictates how they are not prepared to make your steak? The customer's often wrong, then? Poor.

[Buttonman]

Yeah it may have been a gimmick but I like mine pink anyway so no issue. There was a cauliflower bake offered too but that may have been a trap for nosy vegans.

Seeing as we're here what's for breakfast?

We stayed at the Malmaison in Liverpool at the docks and it was very nice. The wife got a deal and it was only £48 a night - sadly breakfast was extra - £16 a head extra! Still £80 B&B was good value. I of course took total advantage having fruit, granola, toast and pastries before the menu appeared. Their cooked stuff isn't buffet style so you have to order. This was good because it stopped me exploding black pudding all over the dining area.

Here I am with the waffles and bacon with a small brass saucepan of syrup. The waffles weren't the potato kind but nice and fluffly. The bacon was good too - nice and thick with crispy fat. Dear reader, I ate the lot.

[I, Cosh]

Was in Edinburgh for some Festival action at the weekend. Stumbled across a lovely little Sunday market down Stockbridge way and snaffled this egg, cheese and haggis crepe for breakfast. All washed down with a can of Bru, obviously.

[Jim_Campbell]

This may be the most Scottish thing I have ever seen.

[Buttonman]

This may be the most Scottish thing I have ever seen.

Nah the crepe lets it down - sandwiched in fried bread and we'd be talking. Better still : potato scone.

[Buttonman]

Still in Liverpool here's a lovely Chinese :



This is Chy in the centre of town. Highly rated and rightly so.

I always get the salt and chili wings so I can compare and contrast. The wife went for the ribs - small mistake - both portions were massive and after the free prawn crackers we were near stuffed before the mains showed up. The wings were how I like them - crispy and cooked through - looking at you Ginger Slug in Paisley!



For my main I had one of my standards - chicken with ginger and spring onions. It was delicious and I scoffed the lot. I was greedy and had a portion of salt and chili chips - these were quite good but no match for my regular haunt The Royal Garden in Bishopbriggs. Theirs are covered in chili and onions were as Chy's were relatively topping free.

Still a great meal and for about £50 including beers a good value offering for the centre of town.

[Colin YNWA]

I hope when you say centre of town you mean you took the short trip up the road to China Town?

[Dandontdare]

Gotta say BM, despite your culinary indulgences you seem to have shed some pounds, you're looking pretty svelte these days - unfortunately, your big shiny head now makes you resemble one of those bobble head dolls

(you thought that was going to be a genuine compliment for minute didn't ya  )

[lincnash]

Buttie-Man's Belliwheel is conveniently hidden under the table in each shot  .

[Buttonman]

Cheers...or maybe not! Been on a diet all year and got down to 12 st 10lbs from 16st in January. Good to have the capacity to lump it all back on.



Back to breakfast at the Malmaison. Here's me with their knock off McMuffins. Don't know why you needed two but I abandoned the second bun and just ate the sausage and egg. It was a bit dry and although better ingredients, the sum of the parts was less than the Mickey D's offering.

After a stop off at the John Higgins exhibition (recommended!) we made it Barcelona and ended up in a back street grub shop that covered many cuisines. Sadly jack of all trades master of none proved true as this chicken and noodles was at best adequate. The two didn't really blend and although I ate the lot it didn't come together as a dish and it was more like an assemblage of adequate parts.

[lincnash]

My previous post was just for laff's, you do look a very slim man B-M.
Have you thought of bringing the culinary tour Down Under ?.
Entree = Yabby cocktail (Freshwater Crayfish)
Main = Barbecued 'roo tail and backstraps (tender Kangaroo strips from the backbone and tail)
Desert = Pavlova with Kiwi and Strawberries on top (sugary sweet meringue)
Nom Nom Nom.

[Buttonman]

My previous post was just for laff's, you do look a very slim man B-M.

Hey no worries - no offence taken - I have been a fat git 75% of my adult life so the small oases of less fat git deserve all the scrutiny they get!

Desert = Pavlova with Kiwi and Strawberries on top (sugary sweet meringue)
Nom Nom Nom.

Surely not? You know what Jug McKenzie said about NZ!



We are now in our main resort of Castelldefels which is about five miles south of Barcelona - right side of the airport so that's good. It took us a day to find our bearings (damn baggage handlers!) but once we realised the town and beach areas were a mile apart we managed to find sustenance.

The main drag had lots of tempting eateries so I was surprised when the wife agreed to a kebab. This was a tasty packed treat with both chicken and lamb that took an age of eating before I got to the pita. The meat was very nice and although I prefer a spicy sauce the creamy alternative was tasty on a sunny day.