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Browns (London)
by nilo0901 We went to Hix for my birthday this year as my wife knows me to be a fan of unfussy, British food served in good portion sizes. Hix is part of a chain of restaurants in London, the one that we visited was in Mayfair and part of Brown's hotel. Hix is a smart establishment full of timeless style that seems to be very evident in this ... part of London with the likes of the Wolsey close by. With this it adds a touch of modernity and the decadent with works of art by contemporary British artists such as Tracy Emin adorning walls and corners. This leads to the restaurant in places having a slightly schizophrenic feel but by and large the juxtapositions work (although the neon sign at the end of the dining room was somewhat off putting). Amidst the art works you will find beautiful wooden paneling and pillars, enormous concrete fireplaces, marble hints and stylish upholstered seating. The dress code is smart casual - they don't insist on wearing a jacket but most there did so anything too casual i would think would seem out of place here. It's a very quiet restaurant with no music and little in the way of noise from fellow diners. It attracts an older crowd and businessmen so I don't think the kind of place likely to cater for large noisy parties. Conversation volume was kept by and large to a hushed whisper. We went for a weeknight dinner and the restaurant was about half full. Our reservation was for 8.30 and that seemed a popular time to dine here as most other diners arrived at a similar time. Upon arrival, we were greeted by doormen in smart attire that opened the door for us. Once inside, our coats were taken and we were shown to our seat which was in a comfortable side booth with an informal semi circular seat. We were promptly offered an aperitif and shown the menu. For our aperitif we both had champagne cocktails and both were classic and traditional but excellent. The range was largely a classic but extensive mix of cocktails and ours were made perfectly using decent dry champagne and fresh and fragrant ingredients. The menu as stated before is classically British an specializes in serving 'proper food'. There is no tiny morsel in the middle of a large white plate with a trail of sauce here. More likely are game pies, slabs of quality meat and a personal favourite of mine... Good old fish and chips. I can never resist the latter and thought the opportunity for a good posh fish and chips too good to refuse, so we both went with it (although the suckling pigs feast at £65 was tempting! As was a 3 course set menu at £32). I was surprised given the surroundings, that when my food arrived, it actually resembled fish and chips! A large golden coated filet with a healthy portion of triple cooked (what does that actually mean?) chips and mushy peas. The fish was very fresh and the batter wonderfully crispy and light. The chips were equally crisp in all their triple cooked glory - large, crispy and fluffy inside... And piping hot! The peas were not too earthy and very fresh and light. It was a wonderful fish and chips and although expensive at £18.75 (gasp!), not horrendously overpriced given where we were. To accompany it, we chose a fine Marlborough white wine from their very extensive list (numerous pages and a little too much to take in). This was pricey at around £45 but delightful and served perfectly chilled in an ice bucket. Service was generally helpful, polite and friendly. We were constantly asked if we needed help with any decision making, particularly with wine where they were only too happy to recommend - and not just the most expensive bottle on the menu! They were courteous and attentive without being too overbearing. The restaurant was immaculately clean and tidy. My only slight grumble would be that the lavatory was quite a way away from the restaurant itself, in the adjoining hotel. No big gripe but would have been nice to not have to have traveled so far. Overall though, top class and highly recommended if you like your food proper. Read the complete review |
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Hilton Hotel Blackpool
by carlz2001uk Myself and my mum have a girly break every year around April / May time when we take the girls away. We always opt for somewhere where there is plenty to do for the children, and this year it was decided that we would take the trip to Blackpool. Knowing full well we could probably go and stay somewhere for £20 a night, we really weren't ... interested in cost per se, and instead wanted somewhere that could offer us a bit more of an upmarket stay and avoid as best as possible any hen and stag do's. I've nothing against hen / stag dos (I've got two myself this year), however I didn't want my girls to be around them, so when we searched for hotels on a search engine and filtered to most expensive first (against every instinct I had!), we settled upon the Hilton which sat in the top three of the most expensive hotels in Blackpool (alongside The Big Blue and The Imperial). Price To be perfectly honest price wasn't even that bad. For £300 we had a 3 night stay in the Easter holidays with 2 adults and 2 children. This didn't include breakfast but more on that later! Booking was easy and we secured the booking with the Hilton directly, and received immediate confirmation. Payment was taken at the time of booking. Arrival Arriving at the Hilton wasn't too bad, my mum is an extremely nervous driver and for some reason I allowed her to drive, so after an extremely slow drive from Halifax to Blackpool, we arrived and realised we didn't know where the hotel was! I suggested we have a drive on the front anyway to gather our bearings and refresh our memories as to where the various attractions / restaurants we wanted to visit were. Aware that the hotel was near the North pier, we spotted the hotel in no time and were happy with its location which is just ever so slightly away from everything without being isolated! I would say it's a fair description that the hotel is one of the last main hotels on the seafront. A tram stop is literally right outside the hotel so don't let the fact that the hotel is in a quiet location put you off. Alternatively, we walked on the seafront to the nearest pier (The North) and it took us a leisurely 5/ 10 minutes. There is ample parking for residents of the hotel which is at a cost of £5 per night, added to your bill. We arrived at the hotel a few hours before our 3pm check in time, however we were still able to advise the hotel we were there and sort out booking in. they advised us to come back in a few hours and simply collect the room key. Check in was easy and the reception staff were friendly. We had booked our stay as a room only basis and were offered breakfast at £14 for two adults with the children eating for free. We didn't want to commit to breakfast on each of the three mornings, but the receptionist advised us that we could head down to reception on a morning when we wanted to eat at the hotel and simply buy a voucher for that day. The room When we eventually headed back to the hotel and collected our room key we realised we had been given a room with a sea view and on the fifth floor should have quite a nice view. We were literally at the other end of the rather large hotel though and it was a bit of a walk once out of the lift. Upon entering our room we were happy but not bowled over with the room. The children were basically sleeping on two camping beds and the mattresses were exceptionally thin. Had they not been 5 and 7 and weigh next to nothing, I would have perhaps made a bit of a fuss, but realised that for them they should be fine. The bed that me and my mum would be sharing was absolutely ginormous and between the two camp beds and the biggest bed I've ever set eyes on, it meant that there was little room left for us to move around in. the bathroom was clean but small with a very thin bath! The flat screen TV with freeview was handy for us with the children, so they could watch a little tv after a full day out. I did see the option for movies and thought I would allow them to purchase a film one evening but when I saw the price of £8 per film I realised they were obviously having a laugh. The films were not even new releases! Tea and coffee facilities were replenished daily, as were the rather generous offerings of toiletries in the bathroom. I have to admit to stealing the majority of these, for my upcoming trip to Las Vegas! I figured the handy travel sized bottles would save me space in my suitcase! The travel toothbrush and toothpaste was also taken, handy for freshening up after the long flight! Daily we were also left a bottle of still and sparkling water (Strathmore if I remember rightly) by housekeeping which was complimentary. We had brought quite a collection of juices and drinks of our own to save us unnecessarily spending whilst away, and unfortunately there wasn't a fridge in the room which I was surprised about. I did ask for an ice bucket from the bar which was given to me without question. This allowed us to cool our drinks each day. The other facilities in the room were the usual hair dryer, trouser press etc. An alarm clock was available but this had so many buttons on that we didn't even bother with it. The view was absolutely beautiful and on all our evenings we were lucky to watch the sun set in a completely clear sky. The room was clean and was cleaned daily. We had an unfortunate incident whereby my daughter was very ill one morning and unfortunately the majority of this 'illness' went all over her bed. Housekeeping were called and they didn't seem bothered one bit, in fact they even apologised to us?! We half expected our room to be charged but they didn't even mention it. We were given fresh towels daily, although we didn't ever seem to have enough for all four of us to use a large bath sheet each and on each day one of us always ended up with a teeny tiny towel! Two dressing gowns were available which I always love. Gym and Swimming Pool When looking at activities to do in Blackpool, we looked at the Sandcastle which is the largest indoor swimming pool with slides etc in the UK and did look fab. It was however on the expensive side and we figured that to make it worthwhile we would need to spend nearly the whole day there, but we had far too much other stuff to do that this wasn't an option. Given that the children are so young and my youngest has only just started swimming lessons, we figured that we would instead use the pool inside the hotel which would be free to use. Upon arriving at the swimming pool (heated), we were quite surprised at how small both the changing rooms and pool were. The changing rooms were almost inexcusably small and was very difficult to use. With one bench and only one cubicle, getting changed to go into the pool wasn't too bad but getting changed out of our swimming costumes was ridiculous. The floor seemed to lack drainage so was absolutely sodden and made getting dry extremely difficult. Our family of four used up pretty much all of the space but when another two families came out it was impossible, added to this was the traffic of people who had to walk through the drying area to get in and out of the pool area, this was the worst thought out changing area I've ever been in! There are lockers in here too but remember to bring change (we left handbags in the room) as you will need it to be able to lock them. There isn't any space poolside to leave belongings (or even towels for that matter). The pool is equally teeny tiny and is okay for the children to splash around in, but would take you approximately 3 seconds to swim from one side to the other! Imagine telling people you'd done 100 lengths of the pool! They'd think you were super fit! There is also a small steam room and sauna, both of which I took advantage of. You can only fit a few people in each though. We didn't make use of the gym, however it is accessible 24 hours a day. Dining Lounge Bar: On our first night we were tired and hadn't had the opportunity to find anywhere that we wanted to eat, so we headed back to the hotel and made our way to the relaxed lounge bar. Nervously looking at the menu, I realised there was nothing remotely appropriate for the children, but we didn't want the formality of the main restaurant (where there seemed to be a selection of children's food). My mum swiftly took charge and collared a poor waiter asking him what was available. 'What would the children like Madam, I am sure the chef will be happy to prepare them something fresh'! Talk about service! Before I had even had chance to glare at the children to make them order something that didn't make me sound like a bad mother, they had blurted out chicken nuggets and chips! Groaning to myself, I politely asked him to add veggie sticks to each plate and off he toddled! When their food arrived, it looked like the chef had gone out and caught the chicken too, they were 100% freshly made and I could have quite happily tucked into them myself. I however had ordered a Thai Green Curry while my mum had opted for the Cumberland sausage and mash. Both were absolutely delicious although on the expensive side at around £15 a main, the portions were generous and the taste exceptional. Wine in the Lounge Bar is absolutely ridiculously priced with a small glass of wine costing around £5 and a large around £8. Bottles were not available to buy. Live entertainment seemed to be in the Lounge Bar nightly however we were back in the room with the children before this started. During the day (or on an evening if you wish), you can also grab a Costa coffee from this bar. Waiters are dotted all over the place so no need to go to the bar yourself. Promendae Restaurant: A more formal area of dining, this is where you will find breakfast served and it turns into a formal dining area on an evening serving either an A la Carte or buffet. We were fortunate enough to find a deal online which saved us half price against the buffet menu which should have been around £25 a head. This gave us a 3 course meal with soup, salad bar, delicious choices on the main meal section and extremely tempting deserts (so tempting I chose two deserts!). Breakfast is equally as tempting with so much choice that you won't know where to begin! One morning I ate muesili, followed by a grapefruit followed by a delicious cooked breakfast and then a blueberry muffin! I was still full at teatime! A selection of fresh juices and teas and coffee are served by waiters, all of whom we found to be exceptionally helpful. My youngest daughter asked for fresh orange juice on the first morning and when it came with bits in she turned her nose up. The waiter was not fazed in the slightest and offered to get her some smooth orange juice, and even came back with a straw too. Checkout This was easy and straight forward. Check out is at 12pm which gives you enough time that you are not rushing. Anything else? The Hilton at Blackpool has been awarded a Green Tourism (Silver) Award. The Business centre and 11 multipurpose meeting rooms are available with wireless internet access. Function space for 800 guests available. Final Thoughts While the rooms are not the most luxurious I have ever stayed in, our stay was for me made up of exceptional service in nice surroundings with fantastic food and friendly staff. I wouldn't hesitate in recommending this hotel and will happily return. Local Attractions Blackpool Tower, including the Tower Eye, 4D Cinema experience and Tower Dungeons Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Nickelodeon Land Blackpool Illuminations Madame Tussauds Waxwork Museum Blackpool Zoo Address North Promenade Sea Front, Blackpool FY1 2JQ, United Kingdom TEL: 01253 623 434 Read the complete review |
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Traveller's Rest Inn (Grasmere)
by Huomenna I have a great deal of fond memories of this pub - no I'm not a local, but my Dad used to take me on a week's holiday to Grasmere ever year and we would frequent the Traveller's Rest (or Traveller's vest as Dad used to call it) for dinner on many an occasion. On one memorable day when we got stuck up a mountain after dark, we used the ... lights from the pub to guide us in the right direction down the mountain side! Until last weekend, I hadn't been back to the area for around a decade and I'd really missed the place, so I jumped at the opportunity to photograph a wedding up in Windermere! My boyfriend and I arrived at our B&B in Grasmere the evening before the wedding, having been driving for 6 hours we were fairly hungry and the Traveller's rest was handily located a couple of hundred yards from the B&B. We popped in about 7.15pm and going through the front door there was a lovely roaring log fire which was an excellent start! Looking around there were only about 3 other tables of guests eating dinner and no one at the bar, a lot quieter than I remember for what I would think was a prime pub day/time. Service at the bar was very polite if not particularly warm - we got a couple of drinks, but my boyfriend was disappointed at the lack of cider available - just Strongbow on tap (which he's not a fan of) or Magner's in a bottle, I don't drink so I'm always satisfied with tap water. We seated ourselves down the far end of the pub in a comfortable middle booth where we browsed the menu - this didn't offer a huge amount of choice and seemed fairly up market. In the end we both chose T bone steak which was on the special steak menu (either 2 or 3 course) with a £5 supplement, we went for 2 course and picked ice cream and sticky toffee pudding as our desserts. I went up to the bar to order (no waitress service) and quite clearly stated my partner would like his steak medium to well done and I would like mine rare. Dinner was served within a matter of minutes - can't have been much more than 5, which to be honest makes me a bit suspicious about if something is freshly cooked! That aside the presentation was nice with the steaks served on wooden slabs and chips in little metal buckets. Unfortunately both steaks were served rare so Paul popped to the bar to ask if they could cook it a bit more, this wasn't too much of an irritation and the staff were very apologetic - we weren't fussed as mistakes happen. Personally I found the steak very tasty although a little tough in a fatty sense around the edges, as I usually eat sirloin rather than T bone I'm not sure if this is normal. The chips were also a little under done for my taste, but still edible. The sticky toffee pudding was delicious - surprisingly it was my first ever time eating this dessert and despite my sweet tooth I did find it on the sickly side, the vanilla ice cream on the side certainly helped combat this. After our food was cleared away a waitress brought us 2 coffee's on the house - unfortunately neither of us like coffee, so not wanting to be rude we said thank you then when she'd gone we gave them to the couple sitting on the next table so they wouldn't go to waste. Next time the waitress came by she noticed we had no mugs and asked if anything was wrong, we had to explain we'd given the drinks away as we don't like coffee at which point she apologised profusely and asked if we wanted anything else. The main gent at the bar also came up and apologised again and by this point it was getting a bit embarrassing - we really weren't upset about the steak being under cooked! We did end up leaving a little earlier than we otherwise may have as we didn't like feeling fussed over so much, but to give credit where it's due the staff were definitely customer focused. I'm, not sure if I'd go back next time I'm in the area - the building is still as I remember it, but everything else doesn't seem quite as good. What I heard from the locals is that Tweedies now seems to be the most popular place to eat in Grasmere, although we didn't get the chance to try it this time. Anything else you need to know... Location: Grasmere in Cumbria. The pub is a little way out from the village centre but is within walking distance, if you head out of the village to the main road and take a left it's a little way down the road on the right hand side. Parking: There's a fair sized car park to the side of the pub. Looks: Personally I find the building attractive in all aspects, but I'm particularly fond of the log burning fire. The ceilings are a fair height but the pub still retains quite a cosy and traditional feel to it. Views: With the location you can rest assured the views are breath taking, you could loose yourself for hours just starting out the windows at all the glorious mountains. Prices: Not cheap as chips but not high end either, I think most main meals were around the £10 to £15 mark. We paid about £36 for 2 T bone steaks and 2 puddings. Read the complete review |
England Hotel National |
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1 review Address: Station Lane / Hotel National / Shipton By Beningbrough / York YO30 1BT / Tel: 01904 470221 |
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1 review Address: Coombe Fields Road / Hotel National / Ansty / Coventry CV7 9JP / Tel: 0871 527 8274 |
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1 review Address: Wilmcote / Hotel National / Stratford-Upon-Avon CV37 9XJ / Warwickshire |
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2 reviews Address: Newbridge Street / Hotel National / Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 8BS / Tel: 0871 527 8802 |
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Address: Woods Hill Limpley Stoke / Hotel National / Bath BA2 7FZ / Tel: 08457 76 76 76 |
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1 review Address: 29 Crescent Avenue / Hotel National / Whitby / North Yorkshire / Y021 3EW / England / Tel: +44(0) 1947 601569 |
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1 review Address: Baxtergate / Hotel National / Whitby / North Yorkshire / YO21 1BN / Tel: 08432 893 947 |
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1 review Address: A449 Southbound / Hotel National / Shorthill Nurseries / Hartlebury / Kidderminster / Worcestershire / DY13 9SH / Tel: 0871 984 6079 |
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1 review Hotel National / A 2 or 3 room B&B in the carriage house of a stately home |
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1 review Address: Granary Wharf, 2 Wharf Approach Leeds, LS1 4BR / Hotel National / Tel: +44 (0)113 241 1000 / Stars: 4 |
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