People always talk about finding hidden gems, unassuming street food type places. Sadly these are a rarity in Britain, apart from those places that make it their business to ‘look’ that way. But I actually found one, on Fishponds Road in Bristol – nowhere near Clifton.

It ticks the boxes:

• Hidden – Fishponds is not trendy or fashionable and people don’t go out of their way to visit. Fishponds is a place where people live.
• Unassuming – no wanky bollocks here, it is what is says it is and does what it says it does; and it does that superbly.
• Streetfood – it serves the very heart of what you’d expect Jamaican food to be, it actually has ‘a jerk guy’, he’s the dude that makes the kick ass sauces.

Like I said, I was full of beer after watching the rugger and was heading back to play some post match Snooker and drink more beer. Obvs I needed to eat and obvs I was thinking Kebab, we all were. You don’t have to walk far to find a Kebab shop on Fishponds Road, so I thought don’t go into the first one you see, and then I found it, Mamma P’s Jamaican Food.

I love spice, I love sweet heat and prefer rice and beans to flatbread (most of the time) ergo, love Caribbean Food (and Floribbean food actually). In there….alone, not caring about peer pressure, I didn’t need my mates, I felt I was about to find something great.

The chain, Turtle Bay is pretty good actually and I love West Indian food but I just knew that Mamma P’s was gonna be different.

Their menu is varied, from sit down to take away, I was doing a take away and went for a Jerk Chicken with Rice and Beans, loaded with hot sauce. It’s insane, the rice and beans were fluffy and not stodgy, the Jerk was zingy and the chicken shredded, perfect. So much so I started throwing drunken compliments at them and demanded a selfie with Mamma P.

We were lining up and they shouted out for the Jerk Guy to join us, that’s what they said, this is the Jerk Guy – I love the Jerk guy. All the staff here are so friendly, it really is a cracker.

I wish I had more photos, I don’t, so go there and take your own – but you gotta go there – say hi to Jerk Guy for me, the Jerk Legend.

Atmosphere
Food
Drink
Staff
Value
Overall
Average

PRICE: £

Website: mamma-ps.co.uk

MENUS: Order online, but not great selection for some reason – take a look here

TELEPHONE: +44 (0) 117 239 6718

The post Mamma P’s Jamaican Food | Fishponds Road, Bristol | Restaurant Review appeared first on National Dish.

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.

The post Chilli White Rum Recipe | Chillies in Bacardi for Parties not just Halloween appeared first on National Dish.

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…

The post How do you make Vietnamese Pho? | National Dish of Vietnam appeared first on National Dish.

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.

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.

The post This is the best yogurt dip ever | Middle East and North Africa | National Dish Recipe appeared first on National Dish.

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.

The post How do you make Plum Gin? | English Plum Gin | National Dish of England appeared first on National Dish.

Poussin is a french word used exactly the same in English, which does not necessarily make this a french dish, so I have credited both countries. But – how do you cook Poussin?

Also known as Spring Chicken, Poussin basically means ‘young chicken’, which is less than 28 days old and half a kilo.

My two beauties are corn fed and were acquired from Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly, London – raaahhhh.

The post How do you cook Poussin? | Corn fed spatchcock Poussin with fennel | National Dish Recipe appeared first on National Dish.

The Bottle of Sauce Cheltenham has been open for nearly year, celebrating it’s first birthday this Christmas, but is it still any good – that’s assuming it once was?

I didn’t go ‘The Sauce’ when it first opened, everyone was talking about it – which for some reason put me off, I’d normally be well up for something new. Anyhow, I thought it was time to take a look and see if it still lived up to the hype.

From the outside you’re entering an old corner boozer, step through the doors and the first impression is very cool, not a place for fuglies. It’s like a giant Banksy expo, almost every wall has been thoroughly muralated.

A large bar greets you, with plenty of pumps, optics and of course, those taps on the back wall hosting ‘the craft’ drink selection.

It’s a building of many rooms, a real rabbit warren. There are some tables in the bar areas, some private rooms, a good sized courtyard located next to another building, aptly named ‘The Canteen’.

The whole thing is about as urban as you’ll get in Cheltenham – Centre for the Cotswolds.

The music and atmosphere match the aesthetics, and you can either just use it as a bar or go to eat – either formally or informally. It’s almost American but absolutely not, it’s still executed in a very English way – they’ve done well.

Lower priced drinks and cocktail are often available at happy hour, between 5pm and 7pm – The Bottle of Sauce really wants you to visit after work, and often will incentivize you – following them on social media is a good way to keep abreast of any opportunities.

My visit was was with a small group for lunch. I was being ultra healthy and went for some Carb Free, Gluten Free spicy as hell, Angry Chicken Wings – Wing Sting Hot Sauce – Jalapeño. The Bottle is very much in to modern thinking when it comes to the food offering, very aware of health and allergens – that really is a good thing.

The guys mostly went for burgers, which if I’m honest, is the staple diet here. The serving method is fun though, all the sides come out first and the the burgers follow on a baking tray – and then it’s every man and women for themselves.

I literally couldn’t take the picture fast enough and only caught the last one, gannets.

All in all, the food is great, it’s not complicated food, but that’s not what you want in this environment – but the quality of the food itself, is superb.

the setting is really cool, I mean ultra cool. I’ve been there again since this visit, in the evening and it was heaving, so we went in to the courtyard, I’ll grab a new pic next time – it looked great at night.

I’d have to say, you should go here at least once, you’ll probably go again, which for me, is tomorrow…

We paid the bill to keep it real.

Atmosphere
Food
Drink
Staff
Value
Overall
Average

 

PRICE: £ £

WEBSITE: thebottleofsauce.com

TELEPHONE: 01242 256156

The post What’s it like at The Bottle of Sauce Cheltenham? | National Dish Restaurant Review appeared first on National Dish.