Posts by Tom Johnston
Trotters Independent Condiments and Super Meals
Trotter’s Independent Condiments and now Super Meals – Good Guys Doing Good Things www.trottersindependent.co.uk/super-meals 07712 339 275 I had one more restaurant review in the can. It was half done, as I had intended to revisit, the first lunch having resulted in rather too much duplication. When I invite others out to a Tom…
Read MoreMeat Balls – The Sublime…
I’m pretty certain that meatballs will have been with us for as long as we have had meat, and certainly for as long as we have had butchers. My late Ma alerted me to a long established trick practised by unscrupulous members of that profession, sticking a half ounce of mince on the bottom of…
Read MoreTV Chefs – Who Gets Your Vote?
Here in Johnston Towers not a huge amount of TV is watched in normal times. Each of us has our own guilty secrets. And we also have guilty TV watching habits, some of which simply cannot be shared, lest divorce follow, at least as soon as lawyers’ offices reopen. So, sadly, you will hear nothing…
Read MoreSupper Club at The Strawberry Barn – Guest Reviewer David Dickson
Thistly Cross Roundabout Dunbar, East Lothian EH42 1ST 01368 860573 www.belhavenfruitfarm.co.uk The Bill Supper Club 5 courses: £40.00 The Score Cooking 8/10 | Service 4/5 | Flavour 4/5 | Value 4/5 TOTAL 20/25 I thought long and hard about continuing to publish reviews, given present circumstances. I have decided to press ahead with what…
Read MoreSpatchcock Chicken
Spatchcocked and ready to cook I received a very generous Christmas present from my sister in law, a voucher for Nisbets, kitchen equipment suppliers. Never, ever, buy stuff again from chi chi little “kitchen shops”. Nisbets will sell you professional quality stuff at keen prices. (But if you are perusing their price list, remember that…
Read MoreChef Watch – Craig Wood
Featuring Craig Wood, chef and co-owner of The Wee Restaurant, North Queensferry and The Wee Restaurant, Edinburgh. Obviously the restaurants are closed just now, but there is a fantastic takeaway and delivery service available from North Queensferry. See below for details. How long have you been a chef? 32 years. I started part time at…
Read MoreThe Peat Inn
Restaurant With Rooms Peat Inn, near St Andrews, Fife KY15 5LH 01334 840206 www.thepeatinn.co.uk The Bill Set Lunch 3 courses: £25.00 Dinner Menu of the Day 3 courses: £58.00 Tasting Menu 6 courses: £78.00 A la Carte First Dishes: £19.00 – £20.00 | Second Dishes: £28.00 – £35.00 To Follow: £11.00 – £12.00 The Score…
Read MoreChicken, Leek and Red Pepper Pie
First day of spring approaching? Well not if you shove your nose out of my door, it ain’t. After some good feed back from last week’s recipes featuring leeks, I thought I’d dig this one out. Take this pie, break the crust and you get colours of summer, succulent white chicken, pale green leeks and…
Read MoreRestaurants – Let’s Stay Together
Lovin’ you ever, whether, times were good or bad, happy or sad… The Today programme aside, at home I listen to radio relatively rarely. One exception is the occasional half hour of Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs. Today featured the mellifluous (note to self – must look that up in the dictionary) tones of the Reverend Al…
Read MoreFabric
2 Canmore Street, Dunfermline, Fife, KY12 7NT 01383 733430 www.fabricdrinkanddine.co.uk The Bill Lunch and Dinner 2 courses: £13.95 | 3 courses: £17.25 A la Carte Starters: £5.25 – £6.95 | Mains: £8.95 – £26.95 | Desserts: £4.95 – £5.25 The Score Cooking 6/10 | Service 4.5/5 | Flavour 4/5 | Value 5/5 TOTAL…
Read MoreLeeks
This week’s column was inspired by finding a puddle of creamed leeks hiding below some slices of beef at The Peat Inn, the subject of next week’s Tom Eats! column. I am very fond of leeks, but it occurred to me that my use of them tends to be in leek and potato soup, for…
Read MoreRoast Beef No More – Blame The Railways
From time to time I have mused idly as to why we talk today of roasting beef in an oven, yet baking potatoes. The latter term is correct. Traditionally roasting is done by exposing food to a naked flame, either on a spit or grill. Until watching a recent BBC programme on the history of…
Read MoreL’escargot bleu
56 Broughton Street, Edinburgh EH1 3SA 0131 556 1600 www.lescargotbleu.co.uk The Bill Set Lunch 2 courses £12.60 Set Dinner (pre 18.45) 2 courses £14.90 A la Carte Starters: £6.00 – £14.00 | Mains: £14.00 – £24.00 Desserts: £6.00 – £7.50 The Score Cooking 7.5/10 | Service 5/5 | Flavour 4.5/5 | Value 5/5…
Read MoreBeef Hough
Just outside St Andrews in the Cupar direction, you will find Balgove Larder. Farm shops are pretty common these days: this one, pun intended, is a cut above. There is a deli, there are books, of course there is a cafe/restaurant. The latter was choc a bloc, with a long queue for tables. But, best…
Read MoreRestaurants: The Economics of The Madhouse
My mother was the worst of all. In addition to having a great head for figures, she was a very talented cook. No, those weren’t the failings. But take her to a restaurant, then unless she took an immediate like to the place or the people (this happened about 25% of the time) she could…
Read MoreAnd Another Daft Thing!
One of the great things about social media is being able to hear so many of the unbelievably stupid things heard in restaurants, principally (but not exclusively) said by diners. Please let me have examples, the dafter the better. Thanks to Janet Hood for this example from her chef husband Alastair, concerning an organic,…
Read MoreSweet Potato, Chilli and Coconut Soup
Some types of guilt are easier to shake off than others. I blame myself, I really do. Not only did I allow her to go out alone, unchaperoned, I even encouraged it. It was a Friday. We had just come back after a couple of days away. The house was short on provisions and I…
Read MoreHaar Restaurant
Kinnettles Hotel, 127 North Street, St Andrews, Fife KY6 9AG 01334 473387 www.haarrestaurant.com The Bill Dinner Tasting Menu 5 courses: £50 A la Carte Starters: £11.00 – £16.00 | Mains: £20.00 – £35.00 Desserts: £9.50 The Score Cooking 7/10 | Service 5/5 | Flavour 4/5 | Value 4/5 TOTAL 20/25 There is something about…
Read MoreChef Watch – Dan Ashmore, Head Chef Elect at The Strathearn, Gleneagles
This is the first of a monthly series about chefs of note. Do you have a favourite you think should be featured? Let me know. Why did you become a chef? I’ve always enjoyed cooking and felt if I was going to do something for the rest of my life it might as well be…
Read MoreUsing the Search Facility
When the site was launched, I mentioned that there were still a couple of glitches which had to be ironed out. Many thanks to Alan Tomkins of Alpha Tango, and his tecchy man Adrian for resolving them. There are two separate search facilities. While they are straightforward enough, if you haven’t encountered the wonderful world…
Read MoreSpaghetti alla Puttanesca
I’ve been making this for years, generally none too well. Today, by accident, I made one of the best ever. While all pasta sauce has to be big enough to flavour a lot of carbohydrate, puttanesca is huge. Why so? Ah, how to explain without offending the sensibilities of your maiden aunts, should they chance upon…
Read MoreLe Bistrot by Patisserie Maxime
59 – 63 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1RN 0131 225 4021 www.lebistrot.co.uk The Bill Table d’Hote Lunch 2 courses: £13.95 | 3 courses: £16.95 Dinner A la Carte Starters: £5.95 – £9.95 | Mains: £12.95 – £32.95 Desserts: £5.95 – £6.95 The Score Cooking 6/10 | Service 3/5 | Flavour 4/5 | Value 5/5…
Read MoreShopping in Vietnam – How Much Is That Doggy?
The eyebrows of anyone who knows me are likely to rise considerably at the notion of my penning an article on shopping. As a leisure activity it scores as highly in my book as watching ethnic dancing or having bamboo shoots inserted under my toenails. But, dear reader, you have still got to get the…
Read MoreWhy Tom’s Food! Will Never Be Trendy
Now I bow to no one in my admiration of Nigel Slater. In addition to his writing and broadcasting, he is editor of the Observer Food Monthly, which I take from time to time. The latest edition which I read contained The 8th Annual OFM 50 – Everything We Love In The World of Food Right…
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