Updated: 9 Feb 2023

We went back, after our first review in 2017, and how things have changed since then. Cheltenham will always be the OG, but now they have eight more locations, a new menu, plenty of awards and a win on Come Dine with Me: The Professionals. Has success changed them for better or worse?

It’s still in the middle of nowhere, and by that I mean a residential area of Cheltenham Town – a place like this is out of place.

What do I mean by a place like this? Its shabby chic urban, trying to be cool – why? It’s a Sri Lankan street food tapas bar, so it has to try to look the part, you know, among English terraced housing – it’s pretty unusual to be honest, outside of London anyway.

It’s in an old, neighbourhood, street corner boozer, its painted grey and doesn’t scream colourful South Asian Island in the Indian Ocean, until you get inside where it transforms and you are transported.

It’s not a traditional Indian style restaurant, no sit down white clothed tables with regional music in the background and those little tea light heaters.

The thing you notice the most is how busy it is, packed with cool, good looking people listening to bassey chilled out music. You need to book ahead for this one and I mean it – especially at the weekend.

The dude that decorated this place has a gift. The lighting is sweet and low – tables are hung from chains in the wall, high stool long tables or low with cushioned beer barrels to sit on and the bar is made of old crates and coins.

You’re greeted quickly and ever so smoothly by any number of baseball cap wearing and smiling front of house staff – who care whether you’ve been before or not – they have a story to tell you, and what a journey these guys have been on, with no end in sight.

The story – 5 guys wanting somewhere to live chose an old pub and with the permission of the owner, ‘shoved’ in an authentic and vibrant Asian Tapas Restaurant.

They didn’t win Masterchef and tell the same back story ‘one day I want to have my own place’ but they did go on to win Come Dine with Me Professionals with 38/40 – the numbers don’t lie.

Ultimately, they just did it and now…after all quitting their full time day jobs they now have nine locations:

• Cheltenham – The OG
• Clifton Triangle, Bristol
• Bristol Glos Rd
• Oxford
• Bath
• Reading
• Birmingham
• Cardiff
• Bournemouth

Like any decent tapas bar they’ll tell you to order about three dishes per person and it comes when it comes – just chill.

The Coconut Tree’s new menu has what seems like a surprising volume of vegetarian options – but this in actual fact is quite normal in Indian and Sri Lankan cooking.

We ordered a broad selection –  to see if anything can top the Cheesy Colombo, more on that in a mo.

I have mentioned that it is busy, quite simply, along with all I’ve said, the food is superb, and I mean exceptional without any airs or graces, sometimes not even plates, just the serving dishes and cutlery.

The stand out three on the new menu were:

• Chicken Curry on the Bone – this bangs, and I mean BANGS. If you like spice, this is all you – you’re tasting this again the next day you lucky thing.
• Black Pork, which is slow cooked in spices and a semi dry sauce
• Stir Fried Chickpeas – this is a very lovely little dish that will go nicely with so much of the menu, good for sharing too.
• Cheesy Colombo (the capital city). Think sweet and sour paneer. Yes, this is four and an original dish, I don’t care, Cheesy Colombo is going on any list.

The new menu is very good, lots on there for everyone and still pretty good on the price, bearing in mind the economic challenges.

From this point on, just look at pictures and you can see how to book below.

Check out the image gallery from 2017

You need to go here, remember to book in advance – way more than the week they suggested – it’s popular.

As always – I paid the bill to keep it real.

Thank you Sri Lanka

PRICE: £

WEBSITE: THECOCONUTTREECHELTENHAM.CO.UK

TELEPHONE: 01242 465 758

The post What’s it like to eat at The Coconut Tree, Cheltenham | Restaurant review of hidden Sri Lanka | Updated 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.

Location is often everything, but London of course dismisses that entirely, most places in London have the ability to host great restaurants. In Duddell’s case though, they thought they’d pull the stops out and set up in the shadow of The Shard on St Thomas Street, SE1 – London Bridge basically.

I visited not long after it had opened and had no idea what to expect. I was accompanied by a dear friend of mine who really knows his stuff, so I took a bit of a risk.

At the time the outside was still a building site, the restaurant being located within an old church, St Thomas’s, which was still being renovated. Inside however, everything was in tip top condition. It seems I keep visiting restaurants in dramatic buildings lately – having been to the The Ivy Cheltenham and their Rotunda.

I know it’s new but the staff were so happy and helpful – I would say, they were proud.

It’s an old church, so this place is big and grand with a large bar, plenty of tables, an upper floor for ultra busy times and stunning lighting that leaves you to imagine a bygone era of this building.

Duddell’s London, originally from Hong Kong, is their first restaurant to open in the UK. You might think located within a church that the two cultures would clash, not at all – its a great place to eat.

The menu, fortunately, isn’t too large – which we appreciate her at NationalDish – large menu’s means poor, pre-prepared and  high likelihood of processed food.

As we were already enjoying the wine and having a good catch up, we thought we’d just go for a little mix up and let it come as it came. First off Cantonese Dim Sum Symphony – FUCK! Symphony is a great noun to describe this, you’re hit with some serious colour wrapped around variations of prawn, scallop and king crab. This was quite possibly the finest Dim Sum I had ever eaten, and we both agreed.

I go weak at the knees at the mere mention of Soft Shell Crab and I won’t even care how it’s prepared, which normally is tempura. It was refreshing to see that Duddell’s had tried to mix things up a bit, but not too much – serving theirs with some spicy toasted almonds. It was good – real good. My love affair with this soft centred shellfish continues.

Quick fact for you – soft shell crab isn’t a species, it’s a crab that has recently molted their old exoskeleton and therefore are soft – remove the gills, mouth-parts and abdomen and then you can scoff the rest.

This next dish is something quite special, it takes more than 12 hours to prepare – Cantonese Crispy Salted Chicken. This is a free range, organic french breed – Poulet de Bresse. What’s so special about that? It’s a chicken that has an appellation d’origine contrôlée status.

I have no doubt these guys could make any chicken taste good, but it really does make this dish even more special. It sits in a broth bath of Italian Parma Ham, Japanese dried scallop and shrimp, air dried for half a day and then crisped up in hot oil.

Grab a piece, dip it in the salt (looks like the Himalayan mined stuff to me), close your eyes and basically jizz yer knickers.

Naturally we ordered a few sides, this one in the middle was Wok fried seafood vermicelli Hong Kong Style, bottom right some cute baby pak choi and as you can see, the chicken is taking a beating.

The wine list is pretty extensive with everything covered – we both have a mutual fondness of South Africa and went for Walker Bay Blanc de Mer at £37.

They also give you a few cool little condiments to keep you company – chilli sauces and soy.

In conclusion, Duddell’s London, near The Shard is good, exceptionally good. My buddy was texting his boyfriend as we ate, arranging to bring him here. I would say if he was looking to romance him with food – this’ll do it and it will do the same for you.

Atmosphere
Food
Drink
Staff
Value
Overall
Average

 

PRICE: £ £ £

WEBSITE: www.duddells.co/london

MENUS: www.duddells.co/london/#menu

TELEPHONE: +44 (0)20 3957 9932

The post Duddell’s London Restaurant Review | Cantonese near The Shard | National Dish appeared first on National Dish.

I made a telephone reservation for one, the online booker didn’t offer me anything, which can happen a lot, a call never hurts. The maître d’ was super chilled our and friendly. I requested a table for one at 9pm, “no problem” – I was offered the bar and if a table became free, she would offer me that. I asked if it would fit my laptop – no worries. I couldn’t say no to such politeness, especially as I actually managed to get in.

It’s small, it’s loud, it’s informal and I didn’t even have to say my name, they’d spotted the lone diner – great service.

My seat at the bar, which surrounds the open kitchen was perfect for my relaxed visit – the entire place in fact is relaxed. The music is loud and funky, like the food and people. The decor was warm and rather minimal, which focused on the kitchen, for all to see.

From my vantage point I could see how they were cooking some of the dishes from their ‘good’ sized menu. By that, I don’t mean big, because big menus usually mean poor food.

The menu clearly defines the types of dish available – meat, fish, cured etc. The vegetarian options are excellent, of which there is an excellent range. The wine list is equally simple and awash with Catalan wines.

They served me water without asking, which was great, but did take a while to come to me to take my order, during which time they served me someone else’s dish. One of the front of house came to me not long after and asked if I was being served. I think there was a small communication error rather then anything more spurious. The waiting staff, in actual fact were very good – polite and attentive. I think I had a few of them round me at one point, clearing, pouring drinks etc – they seem like a tight team.

Tapas, it’s always three dishes. I asked how many would be suitable, it was three – so standard tapas rules apply. My initial order choices missed the mark though. They have a raw cod dish – that had run out, as had my other choice, grilled octopus, which prompted a quick run through of about five dishes not available at that time. Let’s put this down to a Wednesday at 9pm and not getting in as much as the weekend, but, it was rammed and people were still coming in, and being turned away.

My three dishes were:

1. Cold roasted vegetable salad – Escalivada £6.50
2. Mussels and clams steamed in white wine with Serrano ham, spider crab butter and toasted ciabatta £7.00
3. A couple of Butifarra Negre (Catalan pork sausage) sliders, which came with green apple slaw, Nevat cheese on brioche buns £5.00

I had a couple of glasses of white wine which were £5.50 a piece.

I would say that’s nicely priced, especially for the location – was it any good though?

The salad was finely chopped, almost like mush, which was served in four distinct lines, so you could either sample each one individually or go across and try all four, or any combo you liked. The four roasted vegetables were tomatoes, aubergine, red pepper and onion – all seasoned with sea salt flakes and a gentle vinaigrette.

To look at, it didn’t look amazing – definitely different, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was packed, and I mean rammed with flavour. The aubergine nearly made me do a little wee in my pants – I was gutted when I’d finished, I tried to make it last as long as possible, but it’s tapas – it took all my willpower not to lick the plate. If you see this, order it – don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

The shellfish next, I don’t know what they were doing back there, but that was the same as the salad, bursting with flavour. The liquor, in which a pile of perfectly steamed plump mussels and clams rested was the real star of the show. I don’t each much bread, but I ate one of the two pieces and drenched it in the sauce. I used a spoon to baste the bread, which resulted in good dusting of narly Serrano ham resting up on it. Only willpower, mine was hardcore that night, kept me from eating the other slice – I did however, tip the bowl to get as much as possible on the spoon.

Finally the pork sliders, two of em. These didn’t compare to the other two and I would argue not a traditional Tapas option. Switching out beef for pork was a nice touch and the burgers themselves were pretty good actually. I felt that after the previous two, these were slightly blander, drier and just not as much fun. The bar had been set very high though.

All in all, a cracking place and you should book, you will need to. The pricing is excellent, the food quality, forgetting they’d run out of stuff was bonkers good, food porn.

Total bill for three tapas dishes and two glasses of wine £29.50.

We paid the bill to keep it real.

Atmosphere
Food
Drink
Staff
Value
Overall
Average

 

PRICE: £ – based on it also being in London

WEBSITE: ramblalondon.com

TELEPHONE: 0207 734 8428

The post What’s it like to eat at Rambla Covent Garden Soho London | National Dish Restaurant Review appeared first on National Dish.

What’s it like to eat at New Moon Tapas, Clifton, Bristol?

First off, this restaurant is situated in a stunning part of Bristol. A great city which has attracted a lot of investment over the last 20 years, Bristol is going from strength to strength – it also happens to be the authors’ home town.

Clifton, where the author was actually born, is beautiful.

Five plus story sandstone townhouses set within an urban village vibe with rabbit warrens of narrow streets overlooked by Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s ‘Clifton Suspension Bridge’ spanning the dramatic Avon Gorge and…it’s even got a zoo. So, naturally, with all that going on, Clifton carries an air of elite superiority – a bit like London. That’s OK though, cause it is lush (sic).

You are spoilt for choice for places to eat and grab a drink, every establishment designed to attract just the right clientele – in this instance…my kids, who’d visited the aforementioned zoo.

I didn’t pre-search, I wanted to have a wander round, browse and pick somewhere – like the tourist I was (in my own hood) and I stumbled upon New Moon Tapas.

A few tables outside, like many places in Clifton, the frontage matches the building, I am sure there are many restrictions (no golden arches here). The large front window gives way to a moody, dark, atmospheric bar area with rather few tables. The layout is all over the place, as you’d expect in such old domestic use buildings – some tables in the front, some out back and more downstairs.

We sat in the front, no reservation as this was a late lunch, I’d recommend reservations for the obvious peak times. I’ve used this space for the main picture, it’s nice. Lots going on, very shabby chic with lots of out of place bits and pieces put to good use – I liked the old birdcage with bottles of wine in it.

Front of house were great, very accommodating as we had kids with us AND a serious nut allergy to deal with. On this point I must fully commend them, they took the nut allergy very seriously, thanked me for telling them, and said information went straight to the chef followed by a warning as to what did and didn’t have nuts – nice work guys.

At one point, I did get called mate, which is a bit poor – but, under the circumstances of ultra careful nut allergy petrified parents, we’ll let that slide.

The food is a bit of a coincidence for the theme of my blog. First and foremost it’s a tapas restaurant, with the usual fayre – but, New Moon Tapas also have a guest cuisine on a monthly basis – our turn was Israeli – check out the blackboard pic for the upcoming themes. This month (September 2017) is the arrival of Nepal – of which we have a couple of Nepalese recipes ourselves.

The selection:

• Patatas Bravas – loads of ways to serve this, ours was ‘sauce on the side’ – I prefer it all in one and hot. The sauce was sweet, salty and smokey, which was nice, but lacked any heat – it needed chilli to lift it
• Crispy Corn Cakes – these were fishcake style…uhhh…cakes of corn. They were good, lovely corn yellow inside, fluffy, crunchy topped with an Avocado salsa and sided with a Mango and Lime salad – was good
• Crispy Fried Calamari – this, served with a char-grilled lime and Sriracha (a Thai chilli sauce) mayonnaise was spot on – it went very quick, carnage – my daughter went for me, scary

•  Lamb Cutlets – these had a lavender and honey glaze – they were, OK. That doesn’t mean bad, but they also needed a lift – Parma Violet flavoured meat, maybe
• Trio of Israeli dip – this is from the Food Tour specials board, Baba Ganoush (we had this on the side WALNUTS!!!), Hummus, Za’atar spiced beetroot with goats cheese served with pita. This was stunning, shame that it’s not available all the time, buts the nature of their little food tour – it does demonstrate they take it seriously though.

Overall for the food, was OK but not blow you away. I’d say very pricey though – which drops the ratings a notch. Drink wise, standard wine list and cocktails.

In summary – nice, not amazing, staff would have got a 5 if it wasn’t for calling me mate, you won’t be pissed off – could be fun for dinner.

We paid the bill to keep it real

Atmosphere
Food
Drink
Staff
Value
Overall
Average

 

PRICE: £ £ £

WEBSITE: newmoontapas.co.uk

TELEPHONE: T: 01172393858 or T: 07521 936362

The post What is it like to eat at New Moon Tapas in Clifton, Bristol? | National Dish Restaurant Review appeared first on National Dish.

I am in Brighton for one night and need to make a decision, I went Spanish and headed for Casa Don Carlos in the Brighton Lanes – without a reservation.

If you don’t know The Lanes in Brighton, imagine a Mediterranean medieval town, with lots of narrow maze like streets…in a British architectural style. It’s rather cool and every other outlet seems to be a boozer, cafe or restaurant.

After a little bit orientation using Google maps (getting lost), I found it, in a fairy-light lit thoroughfare. Plain white walls, tables outside with red and white checked tablecloths, you’d forgive yourself for not feeling like you are in Spain. This feeling increases when you go inside and the lights are bright, the place is tightly packed with tables, all full with people and a real buzz.

We were met by front of house quickly and they had a table for two, within elbow distance of its neighbours. The main and specials menu arrives, including the wine.

I did expect to have have the wine served in a terracotta jug and did notice my neighbour enjoying Sangria from one, but the wine list is by the bottle – the house wines starting at £15.95, I’d say a little more than I was expecting, given the environment; I went for the red.

The general rule of thumb is go for 3 dishes each, we’d selected 5 when the waitress said that would be enough, so we ordered a 6th anyway…on top of olives with bread and aioli.

• Patatas Bravas – obvs
• Gambas al Ajillo – Peeled king prawns with Garlic and Chilli
• Pulpo a la Gallega – Marinated octopus Galician style (north west Spain, that bit above Portugal)
• Pollo al Ajillo – Chicken in garlic and wine
• Pincho Moruno – Marinated pork skewers with paprika and garlic
• Chorizo Don Carlos – I’ve learned that this is a famous local dish, flambéed chorizo sausage

All the dishes were large for Tapas, two were stand out amazing, three were very good and one was iffy. The Pollo al Ajillo was superb, chicken thighs on the bone roasted in the sauce, imagine the best chicken gravy in the world, concentrated – bread to dip at is a must.

The flambéed chorizo was fun and a head turner at the table, but also tasted superb, perfectly cooked with that little added charring.

With the exception of the marinated pork, which was a little tough and dry, the rest were very good indeed. I would go as far as saying, it was some of the best Tapas I’ve every had…quite a claim, and probably why the place was so busy.

We weren’t in there too long, so it’s short and sweet and the bill was just over £62 with a tip, so not too bad, especially as we over ordered. You should go here and order 5 dishes, forget the pork…

I paid the bill to keep it real.

Atmosphere
Food
Drink
Staff
Value
Overall
Average

PRICE: £ £

WEBSITE: casadoncarlos.co.uk

but this isn’t a proper website, actually it’s a joke – WTF?

TELEPHONE: 01273 327177

For more about Brighton take a look at Visit Brighton’s website here

The post What’s it like to eat at Casa Don Carlos, Brighton? | Brighton Tapas Restaurant | Restaurant Review appeared first on National Dish.