The Fleece, Otley

- Alex Leave a comment

image

Date of visit: Monday 29 October 2012

In an age of easy communication it can be surprisingly difficult to organise catching up with geographically disparate friends. Even those who work with the cutting edge of technology.

A fair bit of last minute to-ing and fro-ing saw us loitering outside a supermarket in Otley, waiting for my mate who had suggested the Fleece for lunch. The food and beer were both supposed to be excellent.

On a Monday lunch time the Fleece was almost empty: hopefully this means that many of the good folk of Otley are gainfully employed. As far as I’m concerned, a generous choice of tables in a pub is always a good thing.

The Fleece is operated by WharfeBank Brewery so in addition to a small selection of real ales from other small brewers, three of WharfeBank’s own beers took pride of place on the bar. I tried a pint of WharfeBank’s CamFell.

The menu is a good size list of smartened up pub classics. Andy chose fish and chips (Steve commented that the piece of fish looked like it had come from a whale), Steve chose the burger (with cheese but no bacon) and I opted for the crispy pork belly with black pudding mash.

Untitled

The mains all hover around the £8-10 mark so this was by no means the cheapest pub meal you’ll find in the north of England, but it was very good. My pork belly (the only thing I managed to taste!) was tender and moist, its piece of crackling was crisp and, perhaps most importantly, it got the seal of approval from the toddler. The black pudding mash also got a thumbs up – there was plenty of black pudding and the chunks were all different sizes. My one criticism would be the gravy which was a bit thick and, um, commercial tasting.

Service wise, the barman we dealt with was super friendly and helpful. He was chatty and efficient and, from what I saw, a real asset to the pub.

As with pretty much everywhere in the UK (it seems!), the Fleece offers patrons free wifi – just ask at the bar for the password!

A big tick all round and definitely a pub worth making a trip to Otley for if you live nearby.

S Cafe, Grange-over-Sands

- Alex Leave a comment

Date of visit:  Friday 19 October 2012

image

A week in the south Lakes with a toddler saw us frequenting a series of farms, aquaria and other outdoor activities. While natives of the area might have declined to join us on the basis that it was too cold or too wet, our enthusiasm remained, ahem, undampened.

We spent some time feeding the ducks in the Grange duck pond. The toddler grew tired of that pretty quickly, preferring first to people watch and then charge around the garden with a stick. After a while of “stick, stick, tree, tree” we decided it was time for a quiet sit down.

S Café advertises itself as selling the best coffee in Grange ‘or your money back’. Grange does have quite a few coffee houses, so this is no mean claim. We didn’t have the time to conduct a comprehensive survey but can report that S Café’s coffee is pretty good.

Untitled

Its coffee cake is also excellent, the vanilla slice rates as acceptable, while the shortbread is best described as poor (soggy and crumbly rather than super short and crumbly). The cakes were all served beautifully presented – with grapes (‘hello grapes!’ said the toddler, ‘pshaw shortbread!’) and a swirly S in raspberry.

Where things go wrong in S Café is the service. The lady who served me had clearly chosen the wrong career. A more dour demeanour I couldn’t have managed myself. At least I would have got the order right … When I asked for an Americano she queried whether I wanted milk (no) and yet she brought out a cappucino (printed docket as aide-memoire clearly no use). She then returned with an Americano – with milk. Why bother asking?

S Café did score quite highly on the child friendly front – while no one in the UK seems to be able to make a froth dominant babycino, S Café did have a generous selection of children’s toys to entertain younger patrons.

While S Café does indeed do a good coffee, the cakes are inconsistent and the service is well below par. Smiling at customers costs so little …

S Cafe on Urbanspoon

Swissotel, Sydney

- Alex Leave a comment

Untitled
bathroom photos – they rock!

date of visit: Friday 12 October 2012

I know this isn’t a travel blog but I love staying in hotels – can you tell it’s something I do infrequently?!

Our stay in the Sydney Swissotel (on Market Street, in the CBD) was for just one night. We were attending a wedding and the happy couple had opted to stay in the Hilton. At the best part of $400 a night it was a bit pricey so most of our group elected to stay at the nearby Swissotel. We snared our rooms for just under $200 a night, which I think is pretty good for a Sydney CBD hotel.

The hotel is a bit odd in that reception is on the eighth floor. The entrance is actually very small and you are greeted by a concierge/doorman who directs you upstairs.

The real reception is very spacious and is right next to the cleverly screened off bar. We didn’t get a chance to critique the bar but it was obvious that it’s had a recent refurbished. Andy was not so secretly disappointed that he wasn’t going to be able to while away a couple of hours there.

While our room was a reasonable size by the time we’d fitted in a cot bed (one of the best we’ve come across, incidentally) and positioned luggage so it was out of the way of small helpful hands, there wasn’t really a ton of space. For me, this isn’t a criticism of a hotel room but quite often you read those type of complaints on review sites.

The bathroom more than compensated space wise. Bath and walk in shower were separate and the shower was very generously proportioned. It was also hot and high pressure – most important! The usual toiletries were provided.

Everyone we encountered was unfailingly polite and helpful but one thing that needs to be addressed is the ordering of taxis. We ordered one at reception but the staff member was unable to give us a wait time, suggesting we check with the concierge. Of course, he had no idea and while we waited an age what seemed like 100 empty taxis went past the hotel.

Overall the Swissotel rated highly and we’d definitely stay again on a similar room rate. Of course, it is a big hotel chain so aspects of the stay were a little generic but if you’re looking for a slick hotel stay in a big city Swissôtel Sydney will certainly do the job.