Louis in Jesmond – Newcastle, England Part 4

Posted by Thom and Rose on 2013 Mar 17 in British Cuisine, Europe, Featured, Food, Newcastle, Travel, United Kingdom | 0 comments

Louis in Jesmond is the place to go If you are looking for fine dining in Newcastle and a great place to have Sunday Dinner. It is a classy yet contemporary restaurant on Osborne Rd in the beautiful and affluent Jesmond.
They offer a three course meal for £19.95. Just looking at their menu and photos again has me craving for their Sunday dinner.

For starters, Thomas decided on the Chicory and Smoked Chicken Salad with Perry Dressing and I went with the Prawn Salad with Marie Rose Dressing.

For our mains, Thomas had the Slow Roast Pork Shoulder, Roast Potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding, and Apple Sauce. I love my beef so I ordered the Roast Topside of Hadrian Heritage Beef (medium rare) and Yorkshire Pudding.

At this point I wasn’t sure if I could eat anymore but there is always room for dessert! It was the Peach Melba for Thomas and because I loved the sound of it and was curious to see it I had the Chocolate Marbled Cup and Mascarpone Ice Cream (it even came with a tiny tuile spoon). We also had a bite of Thomas’ mam’s Strawberry Cheesecake with Forest Fruit Compote. All lovely desserts with my favourite being what I ordered and the Peach Melba.

After our Sunday dinner (aka Sunday lunch for non-English readers) we went to Osbournes next to Louis. This was my first experience at a pub/bar in England and it was definitely different from the bars you see here in LA or even Pasadena. I would compare it to a few of the fancy lounges or bars in Vegas minus the loud music. Nearly all of the bars we went to in Newcastle were very clean and comfortable. Most of them had nice booths or big lounge chairs and tables where you could have a nice chat (or banter) with family and/or friends. It was usually a dim atmosphere with a nice ambience. The pubs in England are nowhere near most of the English or Irish pubs we have been to in America (except for maybe Todd English P.U.B at Aria Las Vegas which may come close although being in a casino already makes it very different).

What I found very exciting about Osbournes was their happy hour pricing. The bartender brings over a red button for you to push on and it is linked to the television screen over the bar. You can win a free drink, half off drinks, 2 for 1, and other choices. Sometimes the bartenders are nice enough to give you the half off if you cannot drink 2 drinks at once or I suppose in a reasonable time for your drinks to stay cold. It was here where I discovered Kopparberg cider which unfortunately I have only been able to find in Europe. If you like a sweet cider Kopparberg is the one to try and they have many flavours.

After Osbornes we headed back towards Gosforth to the Three Mile Inn bar which is also connected to Scalini’s Italian Restaurant. The owners of Osbournes and the Three Mile Inn were the same so they also offered the happy hour button. The Three Mile Inn had a more local bar feel to it than Osbournes but it was still good fun. I can’t recall which cider I got here since it has been a few months but I believe it was Bulmers which is also really good. Unfortunately I do not have any photos of the bars and pubs in Newcastle. They are not the easiest places to carry around an SLR camera and calls for the need of a high end point and shoot.

Lesson from a Sushi Master Chef – Newcastle, England Part 3

Posted by Thom and Rose on 2013 Mar 16 in Featured, Filipino, Food, Japanese, Newcastle, Travel, United Kingdom | 0 comments

On the Friday of our first week, Shaun (Thom’s brother) told us we were going to be meeting someone on Saturday morning and that we needed to be dressed up nicely. I honestly had no clue what was going to be happening and I thought we were going to be meeting Hairy Bikers since Shaun got us an autographed book, or maybe even Gordon Ramsay! Thomas knew his brother well though and the next morning he put on jeans and a polo shirt. I was thinking, “I can’t be meeting Gordon Ramsay looking like I’m going out for a stroll!” So what did I do, I put on a nice dress even though Thomas remained completely underdressed…or so I thought.

Around 8 am, we arrive at Shaun’s house and a few minutes later there is a knock at the door and it looked like to me like a Filipino man. Well sure enough it was and I was quite excited to see a Filipino-English man. His name was Leslie and he worked at one of the sushi restaurants in the Toon that we actually walked past when we first went there. Leslie actually turned out to be a Filipino-Japanese Master Sushi Chef. He is from Bacolod Philippines and went to learn the art of sushi making from a Master Chef in Japan. Well….what is a sushi chef doing here? To give us cooking lessons! That’s right! So it turns out I was the one overdressed, but hey all you need to do is put on an apron and you’re good to go.

What was on Chef Leslie’s menu that day? Sushi (of course), Beef Tataki with Coriander Pesto, Aubergine Salad with Harusame sauce, Prawns wrapped in Kataifa Pastry with Kewpie mayonnaise, Udon, Teriyaki Chicken (for the kids) and some filipino dishes such as Atsara (Filipino Pickled Vegetable dish) and Lechon Manok (Roast Chicken).

We spent nearly the whole day prepping and cooking, and learning how to cut the different parts of the fish to make sushi. It was a wonderful learning experience that got the whole family involved. We even got some of them to eat dishes they would never eat otherwise.

Check out the gallery of our Japanese/Filipino Cooking Session here –

Down at the Club – Newcastle, England Part 2

Posted by Thom and Rose on 2013 Mar 15 in Europe, Newcastle, Travel, United Kingdom | 0 comments

One of the things that I love the most about British culture is the Social Club. This is my quick explanation of a social club (per Thomas and things I’ve read online) – Social clubs started out as a working mens clubs. They started out as a place for recreational pursuits and soon turned into a combination of a public house and music hall. Most working mens clubs did not accept women and some clubs required membership. Nowadays, most clubs in England probably accept women.

My first experience at a social club (well my only experience) was with Thomas and his family at the South Gosforth Social Club. I was really surprised that the club had so much to offer – in one night we played Bingo, Pool, the lottery, watched a band perform (played some classic hits!), and had a few drinks. The drinks are a lot cheaper than the bars or pubs you find on the high street or in the toon. There are members of the club and the committee that set up the gigs and run the activities of the club. I was just expecting a game of pool and some drinks from the bar, but this social club actually has quite a bit going on. I’m sure there is more to it than what I have mentioned here but my experience with the social club scene definitely has me wishing we had more of these in America. (Downside is that I don’t think they serve food except for maybe a packet of crisps, and you know me and food! Thank goodness Domino’s Pizza was down the street – by the way get the garlic pizza bread in the UK because you will not find that at any Domino’s Pizza in the US. Perfect cure after a night out.

I wish I had taken more photos of the social club, but these will have to do for now until I get to go back to the beautiful city of Newcastle. I did not win Bingo the first night, but when I did go back to the club a couple weeks later  after the horse races I won £70 in one night and £10 the next. I don’t think the members of the club were too happy that I won considering I was an outsider, but it’s all in the family right? (As Humphrey Bogart would say to Audrey Hepburn aka Sabrina).

Howay Ye Lads!! Newcastle, England Part 1

Posted by Thom and Rose on 2012 Sep 05 in Europe, Featured, Food, Newcastle, Travel, United Kingdom | 2 comments

We’re back!! What an amazing summer this has been! Since June we’ve been non-stop traveling – San Francisco, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Vegas, England, Scotland, Spain, and back to Vegas, San Francisco, and Sacramento. A few days after my last post we flew to Vegas, spent some time at the Cosmo pool, ate at our favorite buffet – The Wicked Spoon (future post) and then we were off to Europe. We were the first few people to fly out of the new international terminal in Vegas so that was really nice. They’re still opening more restaurants and businesses there but soon enough it will be a fully running terminal.

We spent a little over 4 weeks in Europe with most of our time being spent in Newcastle, UK (and other parts of North East England) and a nice week in Spain. It was an incredible trip and it was great seeing Thom’s family again. His big family reminds me so much of my own family and his mam’s personality is nearly identical to my own mom. I knew I would fall in love with the culture before I got there and it helped that Thomas has taught me a few words the last year and a half so that I could understand everyone.

When we first arrived in Newcastle, we were so excited to go out the waiting area to see family and when we came out we didn’t see anyone! We had no way of calling anyone and it turns out they were waiting in the international terminal, forgetting we had a layover in London so we would be landing in the domestic terminal. Anyhow, his brother decided to check the international terminal and found us waiting inside. We were both knackered but the adrenaline rush we got seeing his Mam, Dad, brothers, and nephew had us wide awake.

After driving around to all the Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins houses we had our first meal in Newcastle – and what better to have than good ol’ British Fish and Chips! The lady at Gosforth Chippy was kind enough to cook us a fresh batch. This picture is not really a good representation of how big this lovely piece of cod was but believe me it is bigger than the fish portions you see in America.

I fell in love instantly with Newcastle on our first day. It really is a beautiful place with a mixture of historic landmarks dating back hundreds to thousands of years and your more modern works of architecture.

Our second day in Newcastle we headed to the City Centre aka The Toon. We walked along the Northumberland Street shops (one of the major shopping streets in Newcastle), Eldon Square, Chinatown, and of course St. James’ Park. Thomas had not been home since the Sir Bobby Robson statue was erected so that was a must see for us. It was such a surreal feeling to see St James Park after watching so many matches on TV from our place in California. It was even more exciting that we would be watching 2 London 2012 Olympic Football matches there.

Here are a few photos from our trip to the Toon.

Yo Sushi (inside Fenwick’s on Northumberland Street)

One more thing, if you have never been to Greggs in the UK, well that is also a must! Sausage Rolls, Cheese and Onion Pasties, Pease Pudding, mmmmm. It’s a chain bakery but they serve up lovely treats that you can grab on the go. Greggs was all over Newcastle, but the first one I tried was right on Northumberland Street.

Well that is all for now. More than 30 days in the UK and Spain I have a lot more posts to share – next up the Social Club, fine dining in Newcastle, Master Sushi Chef Lessons, Alnwick Castle, the Lake District and much much more.

Traveling Bikes: South Pasadena and Farmers Market

Posted by Thom and Rose on 2012 Jun 28 in Cycling, Featured, Food, Travel | 0 comments

Last week we opted to stay in our neighborhood for a couple of our bike trips and I’m glad we did because South Pasadena is a lovely city outside of Los Angeles. Our first day around the area we decided to go on the Arroyo Seco Bike Trail. It’s 4 miles round trip and you ride along the stream of water. I was a bit hesitant at first because I thought it would be boring cycling on a flood channel but it was actually quite enjoyable. After we did one round trip on the trail we cycled into downtown South Pasadena also known as the Mission West District. It’s a really quaint part of town with a lot of boutiques and restaurants. You will find an Irish Pub, sandwich shop, yogurt and ice cream shops, an Indian restaurant, and more. I was on a mission to find Salted Caramel ice cream! Unfortunately, on this day I did not find any but on our way back home we picked up a nice bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon at Trader Joe’s. For some reason I do not have any photos of the district. I hardly ever take photos of places I actually live in unless it is food.

Our next cycling trip around South Pasadena and the Mission West District was to go to the Farmer’s Market that is held on Thursdays. Plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables to be found here!

We also did a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar tastings. Makes me miss Napa and Sonoma.

There is a grassy area closer to the Meridian/Mission end where you can sit down and have a picnic which is exactly what Thomas and I did with the roasted chicken and potatoes we got from one of the vendors.

Don’t forget the dessert! One of the main reasons I wanted to come to the market was to have Carmela’s Ice Cream. They had excellent reviews online and I knew they would have Salted Caramel. Since we could have Salted Caramel from the supermarket, we actually decided to get the Lavender Honey Ice Cream which was absolutely lovely!!!!! We would go back to the market just to have that! They are also located in North East Pasadena, but I think sticking to a once a week local farmers market may be a healthier option for us because otherwise I would be driving to Carmela’s everyday!

Hope you enjoyed the photos from the market and just a few shots of the district although I could do with more photos of downtown South Pasadena.

Our next trip was cycling from South Pasadena to Old Town Pasadena and then around to Lake Avenue and San Marino. It was an 11 mile trip with many hills but still a lovely ride. It is a great opportunity to see the beauty of Pasadena from the shops and restaurants in Old Town and Lake Avenue, to the mansions around the Oak Knoll neighborhood. Again no photos since we are there almost everyday but I promise I will take some in the future! Bye for now! Time to continue planning our trip to the UK and Spain which starts next week. Eeek!