The UK is well-known world over for their love of afternoon tea – scones and cucumber finger sandwiches on a three layer cake stand? To be honest, this is more a front – no one I know regularly have afternoon teas. It is usually treated like a treat rather than a way of life, but it is the epitome of the days gone by where people actually stop and take a breather. Being the busy tourists, we kept running out of time trying to get in line for scones and tea at tourist traps like Betty’s ect. So we were pleasantly suprised when we found a twee teashoppe right smack in the middle of Whitby, a seaside town in North Yorkshire.

More famous for its fish & chips (I will cover this in a separate post!) than hot buttered scones, we were wandering around Whitby when I saw a sign saying ‘There is always time for tea’. Inspired, I turned my head, and saw Sherlock’s across the street. We were enticed by their window display – home made cakes, cookies, scones were all on display complete with a wooden 1920s cash register. Unable to resist, we stepped into this:

It does look like someone’s living room with mish mashed furnishing. I love it! I prefer the shabby chic bohemian style to the polished silver look which is so prevalent in so many teashoppes. Classy is not really my middle name. A rickety stairs leads to more seating upstairs, but all in all I think it holds about 30 covers max. I think it is designed to look like Sherlock Holmes’ front room, with books stacked haphazardly everywhere and bookshelves all over the shop.

There is really no guessing what we ordered, and as I was not very hungry, we just ordered two cream tea sets between the three of us. Their cream tea sets come with a humungous fruit scone with currants, clotted cream and strawberry preserves. It was freshly baked and tasted absolutely heavenly, even better than the crowd favourite of Betty’s of Harrogate. It is not crumbly and dry like most, but moist and buttery like it is supposed to be. The fresh clotted cream is a welcomed change from the whipped cream that is served in Malaysia.

I honestly do not remember the last time I had such delicious scones. It might be the freshness, it might be the lovely huge size, but I am still salivating thinking of it now…I love the currants as well, and I do not usually like currants due to their dryness.

My newly developed addiction to traditional english builders’ tea reckons that this is an excellent cuppa! I hate weak tea, and would much rather make my own at home. It is very hard to be served a cuppa that I really enjoy, and I did with this. The huge pot for two is enough to provide the three of us two cups each…I think there were still some left in the pot when we left.

At £3.75 per set, this was a bargin. I would happily miss lunch the next time and just have their scones. Other than the traditional english, they also offer a variety of tisanes, coffees and old fashioned pop like dandelion & burdock or elderflower presse. Food-wise, they also do panninis and baked potatoes, which can then be polished off with a slice of cake. They specialise in what they called Baker St. Ice …some sort of ice blended drink with dollops of ice cream.

Sherlocks Café
10 Flowergate
Whitby, YO21 3B

Continuing on our ‘Visit Yorkshire’ theme, I thought it might be time to do something traditional over the weekend. So off we went to the Theakston’s Brewery, which is in Masham, about 1hr 15 mins away from Leeds. Masham boasts not just one, but two breweries, both making real ales (a.k.a dark beer) in the traditional way. We’ve been to the black sheep before, but didn’t take actually took the time to go around the brewrey.

At £5.50, both breweries offers a tour around the brewery on weekends and also on weekdays when brewing occurs. The price comes with a free pint, which you can divvy up to two half-pints at Theakstons. They would also very kindly give you 100ml taster of any of their ales. Bacon insisted on going around Theakston’s – not-so-secretly I kept announcing that I hate Theakstons’ … the only ale I’ve tasted from Theakstons is the Old Peculier…which is very peculier indeed, and fairly disgusting. I think it’s abit like marmite – hate it or love it. T&R Theakston Ltd. was founded in 1827 by Robert Theakston and John Wood who ran The Black Bull pub in Masham. The original building is still intact, but it is now the village post office instead of the local piss-up.

me grabbing my 1/2 pint double quick with hand shadow action

It is a short walk from the village car park to the Theakstons Visitor centre. The short alleyway had creeping hops growing on it, making for a very atmospheric walk.I did not take many pictures as the heavens opened up as we arrived; and the camera was more important. After paying our £5.50, we sat at the bar for our first 1/2 pint – between us we had Theakstons XB, Old Peculier and Coopers Ale. I went for Coopers Ale Bottom – the tap featured a fat man with his pants hanging out…only I will pick beer by that! It was way better than the Old Peculier, light with a slight bitterness, I think this is more of a spring ale – they have seasonal ales and Coopers Ale Bottom was what was available on taps that day.

I have not been around a brewery before….even though no pictures were taken, this was what I learnt:

Cask Ales are ‘alive’ and is still reacting – they do not last very long and therefore do not travel well. It needs to be kept at cellar temperature of about 10 degrees for optimum freshness. Once opened,it only lasts a couple of days before going off. So it is available in a variety of sizes, with the smallest being 9 gallons, apparently perfect for a weekend of sales in a pub.

This is why ales are known to be so regional..what you get up in Yorkshire may not be available in London and vice versa. For example, one of my fave ales is London Pride – I have only had it once out of London.

Theakstons is an independent brewery; currently run by Simon Theakston, 5th generation

They sold out to Scottish & Newcastle ( currently part of the heineken group) in the late 80s, but have since been purchased back by the family.

The family (not sure if they’re actually on speaking terms) also consists of Paul Theakston – who founded the Black Sheep Brewery.

The only pasteurised bottled beers they do are Old Peculier & XB

XB, their most famous and popular ale, is actually outsourced to John Smiths’ in Tadcaster.

Do you know hops look lovely suspended in soap??!!

After the 45 minute tour in which we were taken around the brewery, we were heralded back to the bar, where the fun begins. She was happy to let us have taster-size of the ales, but most people chose to just go for a full pint of something – I guess most of them were already fans of Theakstons ale. I eventually found a brew I like – the Traditional Mild tastes excitingly like coffee, even have the same dark look! Being an addicted caffine slugger, I was delighted and giddy with joy – at last, alcohol that tastes like breakfast!

Seeing that it was already 1.30pm, we decided to cap off the Yorkshire experience with lunch at the local pub. We were recommended to head towards the White Bear, a Theakstons owned pub that is located next to the Black Sheep. Hmm.

I love it how menus are on a blackboard instead of a book..I always knew there was a lil bit of country in me! I think the food is slightly expensive, and was initially apprehensive about spending £10 on my Sunday roast dinner (yes, I am a cheapskate, so shoot me) . However, we were hungry and really couldnt be bothered to go anywhere else, so we sat down and ordered our grub. It was a choice of roast pork, lamb or beef – or all three.

I had the lamb, which came with startlingly fresh mint sauce. It was so fresh it tasted like toothpaste! The lamb was not pink, the way I like it, but I like how it was not fatty either. Most roast lambs here are very fatty, I think they must’ve used the shoulder for this one. Comes with yorkshire pud, roast potatoes and lashings of gravy.

Sunday dinners traditionally comes with servings of veg, and I love their veg. Swede & carrot mash, with baby potatoes, brocolli and the best ever red cabbage. I make my own festive red cabbage, but this one is so much nicer than mine! I reckon its the crunch in the cabbage. Yummz. Portions were perfect as well – we had been overstuffing ourselves silly over the past few days and this was just the perfect size for our appetite.

My favourite pix of the day..I love the look of hand-pulled taps. According to bacon (who had worked as a bartender; one of his many reincarnations) one pull is supposed to fill 1/2 pint. This don’t happen in most pubs due to their clogged pipes – reckon they need some prunes .

Theakstons’ Brewery
Masham, Ripon
HG4 4YD
Tel: 01765 680000
E-mail: info@theakstons.co.uk

The White Bear Hotel & Pub
Wellgarth Masham, Ripon HG4 4EN
Tel: 01765 689319
E-mail: sue@whitebearmasham.co.uk

I am a big fan of all things weird and wonderful – especially where my food is concerned. And with Leeds not having the same amount of restaurants that the capital has, one have to be slightly more creative with opening up the palete to new flavours. And one of it is Safran in Leeds, who serves traditional persian (I believe that is modern day Iran?) cuisine.

We first came across Safran in October last year, but it was right before I got my Canon, so the subsequent pictures did the beautiful food no justice. With Mandy in town, it was high time we went again…and seeing that it has been about a 7, 8 month lapse since the last time we were there, it is high time!

The insides were slightly strange, reminds me of our hotel in Egypt. Shudders. This place was right under the railway tracks, so the occasional shudder would shake the restaurant. Darkly lit, there is two rooms to this restaurant, one with a window (shuttered tight) and one a windowless room. Both times we were stuck in the windowless room, guess its the main dining room.

After the last time when we were stuffed by the end of sharing one starter, this time we ordered one starter and two main course between the three of us.

This was the Mixed starter. It consists of a olives, iceberg lettuce, bell peppers, sliced gherkins, lamb kebab,salad, falefel and the world’s best hummous. We had it the last time we were here, and absolutely love it. It is seriously the best hummous in the world, about 1000 times better than my home made hummous.

This, we had the last time as well. Apparently this is a typical Persian ‘khoresht‘ (stew), served with Baghla Polow (basmati rice with saffron, broad beans, dill and butter). The khoresht itself was called Mahicheh (slow cooked lamb shank with tomato puree and spices). The lovely rice was very ‘perfumey’ in smell, all in all a lovelier version of your regular rice pilaf. Yumm. And in case you didn’t know, the portions were humungous…the plate is easily 14 inches in diametre.

I know this dish looks very typical kebab shop grub. Well, it is actually called Joojeh Kebab Makhsoos. This meant a large skewer of minced lamb kebab and a skewer of off the bone marinated chicken breast with grilled tomatoes. The meat was juicy, well-flavoured and generously portion. Lovely. And oh, the naan-like bread actually came with the starter. I love Middle-eastern bread…it is so yummy. It was nearly all I had in Egypt, couldn’t resist the lovely smell coming out from the tandoor. But it is much better in Leeds, how mad is that?

The bill came up to £23 for the three of us – a bargin in central Leeds. Friendly staff, the only thing I would say is that their drinks menu could do with a little revamp. All it said was ‘ask staff for more details’…which is slightly standoffish. Anyway, I would still return…it is interesting, it is cheap, it is yummy. Both times we were there, we were the only non middle eastern customers. If you know Leeds, it is where Megabus drops off, just up the road from the Leeds Parish Church. They do takeaways as well, and are open until 11pm most nights – unlike most restaurants I know!

Safran Traditional Persian Cuisine
81 Kirkgate, Leeds
LS2 7DJ
Tel: 0113 244 4496

I actually really love Red Chilli’s food, one of the better chinese restaurant in Leeds. It is only unfortunate that their waitresses are superbly rude, unknowledgeable and grumpy. Well, not any more.

With Mandy being around, we decided (well, me) to head on to Red Chilli for a lashing of their spiciness. They specialise in ‘traditional’ chinese food, with my faves of Mapo tofu and Tong Po Yuk showing up in the menu. We were greeted by efficient cantonese-speaking waitresses (unlike the slouchy mainland china girls), to my ultimate suprise. Gone are the sulky chinese ones who not only do not understand English, they don’t even understand Cantonese. Not that I mind speaking Mandarin, it is just that no matter what language I speak, they either ignore me completely or reply like they couldnt’ care less!

Anyway, back to the dishes. We ordered:

Bacon chose Painter Daiqian’s chicken, not something that we had before.

Mandy commented that its nothing more than chilli chicken – until she took a bite. Thinking that the tiny red berries are ‘sweet’, she and bacon piled them on, and Mandy promptly started crying. I don’t blame them, as they have no idea what szechuan peppers look like. I do – you never forget once you’ve taken a bite. This dish has a very suprising sweet flavour, mixed in with the super hot liberally applied szechuan peppers=abit like a very spicy sweet and sour. The chicken breast slices have been marinated and therefore has a very soft texture, unlike normal stirfried chicken breast strips which is sometimes tough froim overcooking.

Ma-po Tofu – down as Mrs Spotty’s tofu in the menu

Mapo tofu is one of my favourite dishes of all time. I don’t usually make this at home as bacon do not really like tofu, but this makes me miss it even more. I love the contrasting textures of the stirfried mince with the soft tofu. The spicy sauce flavours the tasteless tofu, making this dish a very good companion to steamed white rice. Red Chillis’ version is slightly oilier than I would like it to be, but yummy nevertheless, and this was not the first time I’ve ordered this dish here.Yumz.

Belly pork claypot. This one is slightly strange. We expected a regular claypot dish of braised belly pork in dark sweet and salty sauce. Instead we got this.

Belly pork meat are sliced super thin, and cooked in a soupy broth. The chef went completely bonkers and threw in loads and loads of chilli in this tiny pot of steaming broth. Cooked with a generous amount of salted cabbage and coriander, this dish suprised me to no end. I love salted cabbage in soup, and the super thin slices of belly pork are so yummilicious. I usually chop away the fatty part of the belly pork, but the thin slices really counters the fats and was lovely just by itself.

This was the amount of chilli that we manage to avoid – because the green is the same color as the salted cabbage, I’m sure that we all had swallowed at least a few each! The pile on the right that is red in color is the szechuan peppers that bacon and mandy did not manage to swallow.

The bill came out to £27.60 for three people with steamed rice. It even came with two slices of orange each as dessert. No charge for chinese tea, my sort of restaurant! I have avoided returning to restaurants that charge me for chinese tea. Stupid, I know…but it does annoy me when restaurants charge me for tea only when I am with non-chinese. And the service was efficient, friendly and quick. No more complains in that department, I now have no reason to not return more often to this little gem in the middle of my little city.

Red Chilli
6 Great George Street,
Leeds
0113 242 9688

We were wondering around York, trying to get into a tea shoppe for the traditional afternoon tea. With the amazing amount of tourists milling about York on a Sunday, it was getting ridiculliously hard to find a tea shop that does not require a 40 minute wait. When bacon said he wanted chips for lunch, me and amanda then headed for the nearest pasty shop…

Whilst she settled for a cheese, tomato & basil, I insisted on the SUPER large steak pasty…

Ain’t that just huge???!! At £2.50, this was a bargin, for the humungous size.

No, I didn’t finish the whole thing by myself, bacon had more than half of it. The pastry was yummy, flaky and not too oily. Filled to the brim with swede, potatoes, carrots and slices of beef, the steaming hot pasty remained piping hot for ages. Flavoured generously with cracked pepper, the pasty was a huge meal in itself. Not something that you should really eat if you’re alone, I would definately think about sharing this if you do get it. I think they have franchises all over the UK, not too sure if they are as delicious as this one! Am glad that we couldn’t find a teashop that could cater to our short timescales!

The Cornish Pasty Bakery
29-30 Colliergate
York, YO1
01904 671 177