First Impressions of La Vecchia Banca in Bishops Cleeve nr Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

As soon as I walked in, with my family, I remarked “I hope this isn’t too expensive”, merely because, if La Vecchia Banca becomes a treat I fear the footfall will not be sustainable – it was packed, which one could expect in the first week, and I know, Bishops Cleeve wants this restaurant to work.

La Vecchia Banca translates as ‘The Old Bank’, and that’s where it is – the now closed NatWest Bank on Church Road in Bishops Cleeve just north of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. As soon as it closed, everyone said “restaurant”.

The building is beautiful and they have done it justice internally, my only bug bear was the lighting – so bright, why, where is the mood lighting all restaurants should enjoy? The grey walls, dotted with art and shelving accompanied by contemporary and low lit wall lights were blasted by a gazillion lumens from the plethora of  lights dangling from the ceiling – it was like National Lampoons Christmas Vacation – their poor smart meter only making the power company happy.

We were greeted and seated quickly in the backroom, walking past the floral bar situated in the front – it looks good, almost Ivy like. The tables are packed together, but there is plenty of room.

The Bar and Wine at La Vecchia Banca

One test we like to apply to any restaurant is the time it takes from being seated to getting a drink, it’s a basic fundamental, it wasn’t swift but well within the boundary.

The wine list isn’t a wine list at all, it doesn’t mention vineyards or brands, just grapes and appellation. There is no way to know what you’re going to get, you can’t research it. A bottle of Sauvignon Blanc – from where dude? When ordering a Chianti Classico, which is a legally protected appellation in Tuscany, Italy, I would absolutely need to know more than that.

This only means that those who like to pay attention to the wine will need to ask, and those that go for the grape (like that Malbec crap they make in Argentina) won’t even notice. Nit-picking right? I don’t think so, it’s a good signal as to how La Vecchia Banca will operate – this will give them a chance to price the wine, and buy for margin.

You may notice, I am concerned about the prices and value – we all want this to be a success, but if it’s charging more than Montpellier, is it sustainable?

The Food at La Vecchia Banca

The menu is massive, which I often find to be an instant worry – how fresh is the food, it usually suggests lots of pre-made and defrosting, but in an Italian you have lots of Pasta, Risotto, Pizza – so a little deceptive – the proof will be in the eating.

Two adults and two kids, we ordered Calamari Fritti to start at £8.95 compared to TripAdvisors’ number one Italian restaurant in Cheltenham Zitto E Mangia (which is actually in Tewkesbury) £7.50 – which sadly, never arrived. I saw a couple of times the waiting staff not writing down the order. There were a few teething problems, we will return and try again.

A pizza was ordered, Margherita (£12.00 v £11.25 ASK). The base was soft and floppy, I wasn’t sure about the type of oven it was cooked in to be honest, but when you have Casa Gee (which I have only ever had a left over slice of) in the area, renowned for their stone baked pizza bases, you have to be sure. The top was crispy and looked great, but the toppings themselves also had a funny taste to it, like it was distinctly flavoured in some way, I cannot explain it though, almost sour. I’m giving a thumbs down for the pizza.

Things start to improve from this point on – the lasagne was good, looked great, good fun to eat, had an underlying sweetness to it, thumbs up.

We also ordered a risotto, this’ll be a good test, Risotto con Branzino (£17.95) – king prawns, some chilli, saffron and a filet of sea bass. The Arborio rice was al dente, the sauce thick and saffron coloured served in nice crockery that came hot. Thumbs up.

Last up, Linguine Pescatore £16.95 – king prawns, mussels, calamari, chill, garlic, butter – this was gorgeous, and had plenty of seafood in it. I felt this was good value, brilliantly cooked and I had to slow myself from walloping it down. I should have ordered some garlic bread for mop-ups and I wouldn’t have cared who saw me – a bib would have been required. One downside, my bowl was cold, the food was ok though. Had to wait a teeny bit for all four dishes to arrive.

I did look at other diners, and what I saw looked very good indeed.

In summary, I would be worried that it is a little expensive, it’s not Montpellier, it’s opposite a Tesco car park in Bishops Cleeve. Yes, one should try to be amazing, but equally, you want your covers booked. Would people from the wider area make the pilgrimage to Bishops Cleeve to eat in a high end Italian with poor pizza? I hope so, local people that I have spoken to, want this place to work.

The staff are wonderful, there are just a few teething problems, that’s permitted for a new restaurant surely. We’ll be back, and will find out. Work in progress and there is more good than bad.

Atmosphere
Food
Drink
Staff
Value
Overall
Average

PRICE: £££

WEBSITE: VecchiaBanca.co.uk

TELEPHONE: 01242 708 401

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Some people get a little weird about cooking with oxtail – which I sort of get, sort of (I’m being a little polite), but they wouldn’t have an issue with oxtail soup from a can, and it tastes way better when you make it fresh.

Everyone knows, anything you cook low and slow, on the bone, is gonna be awesome, this African oxtail stew recipe is no different.

In terms of the country of origin for this oxtail stew recipe, I could have gone British, it’s very traditional. Oxtail is a fascinating ingredient, used all over the world and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular is a massive consumer and I love African cuisine, which is only going to get more popular, plus it has some spice, which = winner. I’ve tried a few and this one is from Zimbabwe.

I’ve said it’s really easy and it is. 30 mins prep and then let is sit in the oven for 3 hours. Before we get going, whack the oven on full and pop a cast iron casserole dish in there – do this first, put the kettle on too for beef stock.

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You need some big old knackers to make this Chilli White Rum, correction, to drink it. I got an invite to a Halloween party and was thinking about what I might take – so a couple weeks out, I thought, it would be cool to take something hot. I had some Birdseye Chillies, Bacardi and for some reason a really cool skull shaped jar – that was all I needed.

Takes no time at all, only a couple of weeks at most, unlike our Plum Gin Recipe that takes 3 months.

As it gets colder, this is handy at any party – Guy Fawkes and bonfire night, fireworks followed by Christmas and then New Year – this is a perfect little take along. Want to warm folk at a party – give em’ a shot of this.

If you’re a bit concerned about too much heat or can’t wait two weeks, either reduce the chilli count to reduce heat or increase the chilli count to speed the process – it’ll infuse, it’s chilli.

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There seems to be Vietnamese restaurants popping up all over the place – and for good reason, the food is the nuts. How do you make Vietnamese Pho (pronounced fur)?

This is one National Dish we don’t mind posting, we did this as part of a banquet, my good chum @fp_in_the_kitchen and I. I’ll focus on the Pho here though and post the other dishes separately.

Get ready for some good food from ‘The Nam‘, Cheltenham…that’s fucking terrible…

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I’ve been dying to make Pink Grapefruit Gin, I think the colour would be attractive and relate completely to the flavour – Pink Grapefruit is a real treat just as grapefruit.

As with all our Gin recipes, you need to sterilise everything thoroughly, I mean it – don’t piss about here, you could be wasting good Gin.

This is easy to prep and nurture.

The post How do you make Pink Grapefruit Gin | National Dish Recipe appeared first on National Dish.

We like infusing our own Gin and have a growing number of flavours. Fennel Gin is a bit of a surprise – I wasn’t sure how it would turn out – it’s real good, it’s vegan and is a subtle version of Sambuca.

Unlike fruit based Gin infusions, which you would leave for 3 months, fennel needs to be rather quick, cause it goes brown…fear not, we made a recipe, so you’ll be fine.

Our Plum Gin – which is a thing to behold, was created in a very large Kilner Jar, I’ve moved down to 1 litre jars – I can then make more than one at the same time.

The post How do you make Fennel Gin? | National Dish Recipe | Gin Infusion appeared first on National Dish.

Some people find roasting and cooking beef a real challenge, ending up with a disappointingly tough result, especially a beef brisket.

All that is usually missing though, is a little patience and foresight.

Brisket is a cheap (although annoyingly, that is changing) cut of meat from the lower front chest of the cow, just above the front legs – so it gets worked hard and is therefore naturally tough.

Cook it right though and something miraculous happens.

The post Cook the perfect Beef Brisket and pull it with a fork | National Dish Recipe appeared first on National Dish.

I was cooking up some Moroccan Lamb the other day and wanted the best yogurt dip ever to go with all the flatbread and spice action.

This isn’t from Morocco, but who cares, it’s amazing – I’d say it was Middle Eastern, leaning toward Israel.

It’s nutty with Pomegranate – so a crunchy mutha – the textures are really fun.

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It’s getting cold, although you could be reading this when it’s warm, doesn’t matter, this recipe is well fun. The kids and their buddies will love you for this, plus it will get them eating more fruit. It’s really easy. By the way, you need to slice a watermelon so make sure you have a sharp knife – believe it or not, that’s dangerous – so don’t let the kids have it!

The post Have an indoor fruit BBQ for the kids | National Dish Fun Recipe appeared first on National Dish.

The time of year is late August and my two Plum tree varieties – Mirebelle and Victoria are ready to harvest.

I could make Jam but that means eating bread and that ain’t gonna happen. So I’m making Gin!

How do you make Plum Gin? This recipe will have it ready for Christmas.

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