Some of you will know that I am a bit of a foodie and having spent a lot of time in Spain over the last 15 years, I am a big fan of traditional Spanish food, especially tapas. Probably 4 years ago after a London bike show, Carole and I found “Jose’s”, a tiny tapas bar in Bermondsey Street, not far from Tower Bridge. Since then, whenever we have been to London, we have tried to eat there because we feel it is that good. Jose Pizarro, the owner and renowned Spanish chef, may well have thought about expanding his UK culinary empire by offering typical and regional Spanish food delivered to your door to cook at home but certainly the lockdown during this pandemic pushed this wonderful idea to the fore. Okay, I know not everyone takes to things like braised ox cheeks and squid ink croquetas and I also appreciate not everyone has a disposable income to blow £75 on a meal for 2 (that actually feeds 3) but tonight we have enjoyed a traditional Basque menu of pickled, queen olives stuffed with white anchovies and tiny green pickled chillis, red peppers stuffed with braised ox cheeks, croquetas de Jamon, a salt cod frittata, a fillet of Hake in mushroom sauce and a cheese cake with lavender honey, all of which was delivered in a chilled box, ready to finish in your kitchen at home. Absolutely blown away by the flavours and I can highly recommend trying dishes from their finish at home selection as a treat. If you enjoy traditional Spanish food, I don’t think you will be disappointed. I was also delighted to find Tescos stocked a favourite beer, Estrella Inedit, in 750ml bottles that qualified for discount when you bought 6 Andy
Over the past year we’ve had a couple of meals delivered by Tommy Banks’s Black Swan at Oldstead (Michelin starred - https://www.blackswanoldstead.co.uk/) which were beautiful, and a few from our local favourite restaurant - https://devour.co.uk/, which were lovely too though perhaps a tad pricey given we had to do the cooking. We’ve also bought a lot of stuff from the Deli at Devour. Slightly more expensive than the supermarkets but the quality of the food is excellent and worth the extra imo. In fact we must be due some more Italian sausage I’m sure
I always have a jar in the cupboard and peanut butter sandwiches sustained me throughout my early senior school days Andy
I've been back and forth to San Sebastian over the last few years (apart from 2020) and absolutely fell in love with the Pintxos. I'd give my right arm to get my remaining hand on some of that again now. If you've never been just go, 100's of restaurants, proper foodie heaven. Even basic bars have some incredible spreads out Also went to a steak place that featured on TV where they use old milk cows, my God absolutely incredible, simple but done faultlessly.
Thanks for the tip Andy, Have just ordered the Mothers Day Roast Lamb dishes for my wife from our son's for delivery this week.
MrsX wanted a “proper” pizza for her birthday last week - as we had lived in Napoli for a couple of years back in the 90’s I knew that would be a tall order A Because we are so fussy about pizza having been “spoilt” B there’s a fakkin lockdown.. Nevertheless, I did some research on t’internet and found these people https://shop.vaporettopizza.com/ Ordered 4 pizzas (minimum order), selected delivery day ( birthday) and they arrived in a big chilled box. Basically...9 out of 10 for a home cooked (I.e. hot, not stone cold) pizza. Really recommended. I did adjust a bit: Did on top shelf rather than middle Chucked a load of fresh basil leaves on them
I do chuckle at the whole ‘finish at home thing’. £75 for a few ingredients so you can burn it in your own oven
Well, I can’t make a wood fired pizza at home so I though at approx 8 quid a pop each I thought I’d try one. Infinitely better than any national pizza delivery shite or supermarket product, and because it’s bake at home one can make it exactly when needed. Plus, a pretty good effort compared to the real thing.
Had a brief squint at the web site. Mmmmm, Nduja, yum yum. Think I’ll try them next week. Good shout Andy
