My eating out highlights for September-October 2021
My eating out highlights for September-October 2021 is the latest in a series of occasional posts bringing together some of the great food and drink I’ve enjoyed recently.
I’d love to be able to write full blog reviews for all of them. But I’d have no time to do anything else!
So, here’s some of the highlights. Recommended independent cafes, pubs, restaurants, takeaways and street markets which might otherwise only be seen on my social media.
I hope you enjoy my eating out highlights and will try some of my recommended venues. Or perhaps revisit those you haven’t been back to in a while.
CROWN WHARF, STONE
The beginning of September saw me at Stone Farmers Market for the first time since the pandemic.
After picking up lots of goodies (including goat meat I later made into this fantastic Goat Chilli and Bramley apples to make Apple Butter), I went over to canal side Crown Wharf.
Crown Wharf is Joule’s Brewery’s flagship tap house. Opened at the end of July, this was my first visit.
Inside is the familiar Joule’s style with loads of brewery memorabilia.
Outside, it’s a great spot for a drink overlooking the narrow boats on the canal.
Perfect for a pint of Joule’s Slumbering Monk.
At the time of writing, there’s live music Friday and Sunday nights. Full food menu is in the pipeline, I hear.
A great new addition to the Stone (and Staffordshire) food and drink scene!
ANGKOR WAT, LEEK
Angkor Wat, a tiny takeaway tucked away on Moorhouse Street in Leek, regularly appears on my social media.
But I make no apology for including it again in my eating out highlights. Yes, I ate the food at home and not ‘out’. But, if we didn’t already know, COVID taught us that eating great quality takeaway food can be a real joy.
And the quality here really is outstanding: intense, complex and just utterly delicious.
As you might expect from a place named after the famous Buddhist temple complex in Cambodia, Angkor Wat offers Cambodian food. But there’s other Asian flavours such as Thai and Vietnamese too.
Their menu is reassuringly compact although there’s still plenty of choice. Vegetarians and vegans are well catered for across most of the menu too.
Our shared starters were juicy chicken wings with cooked with garlic & peppers plus sweet and HOT honey sriracha ribs.
THE STAR AT COTTON
From a familiar favourite to a new find for my next highlight: The Star at Cotton.
I loved the quirky style in this country pub and restaurant, both modern and cosy.
For our starter, other half and I had a sharing platter of oven baked camembert. I loved the chewy, caramelised garlic cloves on top of the oozing, warm cheese.
It came with a huge pile of soft rosemary focaccia and a pot of tangy onion chutney for dipping.
For my main course I had lamb rump. This was very nicely cooked, juicy and tender with crispy fat on top. My photo below doesn’t really do it justice, I think.
The accompaniments were good too: black pudding mashed potatoes, creamy Jerusalem artichoke, and a very tasty mushroom foam.
I’ll definitely be going back to sample more of what The Star has to offer.
The Sunday lunch sharing boards (with topside of beef, roast loin of pork, AND half a roast chicken!) sound especially good.
BIG BREAKFAST
Sometimes, I simply must have a proper full English breakfast.
I rarely cook one at home but have a mental note of nearby places where I know it’s always good.
Jackson’s Nurseries, Tea Room and Farm Shop in Bagnall is one such place.
We often buy plants there then sit out on the decking with something to eat. But on a rainy Saturday morning in October, we went just for the breakfast and sat in the cosy new glass covered area.
By the way, my breakfast pictured above is the MEDIUM sized one but still required a lie down when I got home!
RETURN OF A SEASONAL FAVOURITE
Early October saw the arrival of one of my seasonal favourites.
I’m a regular drinker of Titanic Brewery‘s magnificent Plum Porter. If I’m in a pub and it’s on tap, then I’m a happy bunny. I’ve even been known to have a case of it delivered to my home.
But during Autumn and Winter Titanic produces Plum Porter Grand Reserve.
At ABV 6.5%, the Grand Reserve special edition is stronger and matured for longer than the standard Plum Porter.
I had my first taste of the season at the Roebuck Leek one Saturday lunchtime and it was even better than I remembered. Smooth and deeply flavoured, it slipped down all too easily!
To accompany my pint, I had the Roebuck’s famous Totally Locally Burger where all the ingredients are sourced within a few hundred metres of the pub.
For just a fiver you get a burger on a quality bun with bacon, cheese and salad, plus great chips, onion ring and chutney.
It was an especially fitting lunch as that day was the first weekend of Totally Locally Leek’s Fiver Fest. Fiver Fest is where independent local businesses offer loads of special £5 deals and was the original inspiration for the Totally Locally Burger.
For Fiver Fest, I was challenged by Totally Locally Leek to creat a meal for a family of four for £5 and using only local independent businesses.
Read all about it and get the recipe here.
PAIN AU CHOCOLAT
My next eating out highlight is another takeaway, this time from superb artisan baker Live Love Loaf (maker of the bun in the Totally Locally Burger mentioned above).
If you want to get any of their fantastic breads, pastries and cakes, don’t leave it too late in the day. They fly out the door fast!
But, oddly, that recently worked out in my favour as it meant I ended up trying something I otherwise might not have.
Pain au chocolat wouldn’t normally be my first choice of pastry. Until now!
The one I got from Live Love Loaf was a real delight.
Wonderfully flaky, not especially sweet but with nicely bitter sticks of dark chocolate running through.
I’m now officially a convert to pain au chocolate!
MIGHTY SANDWICH IN GETLIFFE’S YARD
Getliffe’s Yard, dating from the early nineteenth century and still with the original cobblestones, is a great example of why so many people love Leek.
It’s a treasure trove of independent shops, businesses and cafés and it’s these one-offs that make the town so special.
Down at the end, you’ll find Leek Bar & Grill. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you can sit out on the cobblestones and take in the view or sit in the cosy interior.
The menu is Mediterranean influenced, noticeable in dishes like Turkish sausage, mezze including a fab mixed platter, lamb meatballs, moussaka etc.
But on my last visit I went for an old favourite: the Big Club Sandwich. As you can probably see from the image, that ‘Big’ tag is no idle boast!
I got a toasted triple decker sandwich stuffed with chicken, bacon, cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise.
With surely no plate big enough to contain it all, the sandwich came on a big wooden board strewn with lots of very good chips.
KEIK, LEEK
The town of Leek is certainly getting well represented in my latest eating out highlights, isn’t it?
On another whistle-stop shopping trip there, other half and I decided to pick up a couple sandwiches and cakes to eat back at home.
I suggested Keik on Sheep Market which we hadn’t tried before.
They offer a small range of sandwiches, but all looked great. This is another place that sources its bread from Live Love Loaf which is a guarantee of good quality in my book.
We both went for the hummus and Japanese pickle sandwich. They came stuffed with loads of fresh salad leaves and fat tomato slices and I loved the combination of earthy hummus with spirals of slightly sweet, pickled carrot.
My cake was a raspberry cream lamington and was unlike any cake I’ve ever had before.
Perhaps you think it looks like an ordinary sponge cake topped with jam and coconut? HOWEVER…
It had an incredibly soft, almost custard-like texture. I’ve since learned, from a Keik Facebook post, that this is because it’s been soaked in vanilla cream.
Absolutely beautiful!
Other half had the more familiar carrot cake, but it was one of the best I’ve tasted. Full of fruit and chunky pieces of nut as well as moist carrot.
I fully expect that Keik will become another regular in my eating out highlights!
GOODBYE TO GALLAGHER’S … FOR NOW!
Sorry if you’re carb-phobic, but here’s another day in Leek and another sandwich.
I know I’ve previously written about how much I love the falafel wraps from Gallagher’s Deli. But I make no apologies for including it again (and despite my dog, waiting for the crumbs, photo bombing the pic!).
Because this is the last one I’ll be having for a while as, from 1st November, Gallagher’s will be temporarily closing for a few months.
But the good news is that this is so they can concentrate on their new venture: Duck Goose.
This will be Leek’s newest cafe and bistro and I think it’s going to be great.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my eating out highlights for August 2021 and that I’ve inspired you to try some of them for yourself.
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Wherever you live, please support your local independent food and drink.
UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, ALL PHOTOS © MOORLANDS EATER & NOT TO BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION