The Bedford Belly On Tour: Trinity Kitchen

The Bedford Belly On Tour: Trinity Kitchen, Trinity Centre, Albion Street, Leeds, LS1 5AT

It’s been a while since we’ve been up North and even longer since we’ve had a night out away from Baby Belly (that’s a bit of a lie as she had her first overnight stay with Ma & Pa Belly a few weeks back so we could attend a birthday party but still). So it was with great joy on this rather drizzly night that we had bagged ourselves some babysitters in the form of Ma & Pa Belly in Law.

We had arranged to meet Mrs Belly’s brother & his girlfriend in Leeds city centre to go to some street food event, or that’s what we thought it was anyway.

The new Trinity Centre itself is very deceptive. I recall the last time I was here that the entrance was I think a medium sized Burger King sitting between two other stores. BK is now gone and in its place is the entrance to the centre. To be honest I didn’t even think about it until we stepped inside, it was like we’d just stepped in to the TARDIS from Doctor Who. The place is massive! It’s hard to comprehend how they have managed to pack all of this stuff in to what originally appeared to be nothing but a shop front. I was expecting a small arcade of stores but there were loads of shops, a cinema and the Trinity Kitchen all encased in a multi-level building with glittery lights, chrome and glass fittings and a nice shiny finish.

We met up with my Brother in law, his girlfriend and a couple more pals and headed off to Trinity Kitchen.

The first thing that caught my attention was the music drifting past me before we got there then we hit the Trinity Kitchen which quite simply looks stunning. Neon light strips hang from the ceiling, with chrome piping and extractor fans on display mixed in with wooden support beams and metal frames covered in glass. It reminded me very much of the bar from the 80’s movie Total Recall. A live 3 piece band consisting of banjo, tuba & drums played reworked versions of pop songs including Mysterious Girl, Beat it and a blue grass version of Hotel California. While I enjoyed the band they were a bit loud (although I would say that had more to do with the acoustics of the venue rather than the band itself) and it was hard to hear what people at the table were talking about.

The dining area consists of various food stalls, seven of which are permanent while the others consist of mobile units which to my understanding will be changed each month enabling a wider variety of foods and menus. The permanent stands are Chicago Rib Shack, 360 Champagne & Cocktails, Pho, Tortilla, PizzaLuxe and Chip & Fish. All of these have their own unique style.

The mobile units were serving up gourmet hot dogs, Indian food, Stew & flatbreads and Tea & cakes.

We grabbed ourselves a table and debated what each of us was were going to try out. I had a quick wonder round and decided on Baby Back Ribs, Fries, Coleslaw & a beer from The Chicago Rib Shack which came to about £7.50 (not too shabby). Your order is taken and you’re given a pager which will buzz you when your food is ready. There were the usual burgers etc. on offer here too.

I’ve never been a big rib lover, I tend to find UK ribs are pretty meatless but I was impressed with these bad boys. There was plenty of meat on the bone (good quality too) covered in a thick, delicious BBQ sauce. The fries were really crisp and salty and the coleslaw was as you’d expect it to be but it didn’t really fill me up (because I’m quite frankly a fat bastard) so I stalked the stalls looking for my next victim. My eyes narrowed as I pondered my prey… Mexican? Nah. Hot Dog…. Had one earlier…. Pizza, nah, always have pizza… And then I spotted it… Ah, Vietnamese from Pho’s.

I had a quick scan of their menu and decided to go for the Pork & Lemon grass meatball bun’ with vermicelli noodles. WOW! The bun’ was great. Packed with fresh vegetables & herbs. Every mouthful consisted of a different flavour, BANG fresh coriander, BANG fresh mint, BANG Chilli. The heat from the chilli & sauce was never overpowering though and the meatballs had a crispy texture to the outside while the insides were nice & soft, the lemongrass really came through. I really should have had this first as although the portion wasn’t massive it really was just right and would have filled me up far more than the ribs had done.

Mrs Belly went for something from the Mexican stand (sorry I was too engrossed in my own food to nice what it was) and commented on how tasty and filling was. Everyone else had different things and none of them had any complaints.

It is noticeable that there is no beer on tap anywhere not even at the bar. All beer is bottled (I’m not a fan of bottled beer, overpriced and not enough of it).

Hopefully the sheen will stay at Trinity Kitchen as I really want to go back and try some of the other food stands. If you’re out 7 about in Leeds anytime soon then I insist you give it a visit.

But wait….

The night wasn’t over just yet.

I mentioned beer earlier. Well that’s what we all wanted now. Some beer. Leeds has an incredible amount of bars as you might have guessed but I’m not a big fan of squeezing myself in to some noisy, crowded cattle market. I want to sit down, I want to be able to talk and put my drink on a table that some drunken idiot isn’t going to knock over as he stumbles past all knees & elbows.

One of the guys took us down by the corn exchange to a dimly lit tiny building, a small pub called BrewDog. There was a reasonable crowd but we managed to find ourselves a table. We were all hanging around the bar wondering what to order and I was scanning behind the bar looking at the bottles & pumps for something familiar when the barman approaches.

BM – What would you like?

ME – Not sure, you don’t sell Jeremiah Weed do you?

BM – Not mate, anyway it’s a shit beer!

Got to admit, I was a little taken aback by this quite curt response.

BM – We normally sell beer from our own brewery but this month we have some guest beers.

ME – Great, I still don’t know what you sell though.

BM – Have a look at the menu

He passed me a menu form the bar and stepped back.

Menu? A pub with a drinks menu? Anyway there we all were trying to read this menu typed in 8 point font in a dark bar.

ME – No idea mate, can you just pour me something?

BM – I recommend this.

ME – Fine, I’ll take four.

So he ended up serving us 4 x 2/3 pints (yeah 2/3 pints) of this thick black raspberry stout called (wait for it) Raspberry Beret.

Menu Description: The brew day started pretty badly for our man Jim; it took him over an hour to find the Quantum brewery after the taxi driver took him to the completely wrong end of Stockport. But as soon as he got there he was in the thick of it. With Quantum being a one man brewery Jim was tasked with all the mash work, which he’s described as ‘pleasant’. But luckily all the hard work paid off in this quaffable raspberry stout.  

It was (like its namesake) shite! (I’m not a Prince fan and apologise to all Prince fans out there that do not consider his music to be "shite" I would therefore like you to think of your own parallel to relate it too although it helps if this parallel has something to do with either Raspberry's, Berets or preferably both). I’m a stout fan but this thing was disgusting, I can’t even describe what it tasted like but I tell you this it tasted nothing like a bloody raspberry!

Upstairs was slightly lighter and now we were all sat down we could look at the menu properly. The next beer I chose was pale ale called “Jephers The Big Red Dog”.

Menu Description: After meeting up at the Leeds Beer Festival, the Leeds team and Tom from Hand Drawn Monkey decided to go for something they hadn’t seen before: a red rye saison. Loaded with 15kg of fresh oranges and 10kg of fresh ginger, this beer has an incredible punchy aroma of spiced oranges. Named after the canine-ised version of Hand Drawn Monkey’s mascot, Jephers the Big Red Dog has also been loaded up with additions of Saaz hops and a few handfuls of pink peppercorns, plus extra orange added during conditioning.

Much better although it tasted more like a cold herbal tea. After that I went for a “Pirate Badger Attacks”

Menu description: Aiming their beer squarely at the infamous pirate history of Bristol, these renegades have brewed up an Imperial Brown Coconut IPA. A rare style of beer - as rare as a Pirate Badger some might say - this beer was born from a mad idea and brought to life with the help and expertise of John from Arbor. True to their swabbie roots, the Bristol team took great joy in getting stuck in to the messier parts of the brewing process including breaking up hops and lugging bags and bags of malt.

One of the guys had something called “Dark Matter” which was like drinking a super sour jawbreaker, it was great.

Menu Description: After formulating a massive, eclectic list of suggestions from the staff, including a Spiced Salt Beef Bagel Beer (?), our Shoreditch crew headed to Beavertown to discuss the beer with them. With sour beers having a massive effect on the UK craft beer scene this year, they opted for something that was ‘on-trend’ but also unpredictable: a Berliner Sour Stout. The brew was very different to anything Beavertown had done before and was a real challenge - it ended up taking 3 days to go from the mash to fermenter.

All in all there were some great little inventions in the menu, too many to mention here.

There was some other literature on the table which explained a little more about the Brewery (BrewDog) and about how they hate commercial beer (ah, now the barman’s comment made some sense).

The price on the other hand was a little steep. 2/3 pint on average cost £4.50 while some of the other drinks in the menu cost far more. I think I saw a beer on the main menu costing £25 and another one at £17 (mental), for that sort of money I hope .

I would recommend a visit if you like your beers but beware the power the place has to empty your wallet at an alarming pace, especially if you’re buying rounds!

Most of the beers had quite a high alcohol percentage so it only took a couple to see merriment fall over the group, conversation was lively and audible (which is handy when it comes to having and holding a conversation) and the chuckles came plentiful & heartily.

The night drew to a close far too quickly and as we made our way through the hustle and bustle of the young, old and transvestite street dwellers (burly blokes in mini skirts & cat suits ahoy, well... we were passing through the gay corner of the city) Mrs Belly and I both agreed that the evening had been great from start to finish. And as we were driven away (in a car not by an angry mob) I couldn't help but notice some poor skinny lad honking his guts up in an alleyway... "Ahhh" I thought, "Thank Jebus that isn't me" as I promptly emptied my guts in to the foot well of the passenger seat*.



*I would like to note that I this is a lie, I did not throw up in the foot well of the car we were travelling in but thought it would be a funnier end to the whole review rather than "I went home and everything was fine".

 

The Bedford Belly on Tour: McDonners

McDoner's, 100 Carlton Street, Castleford WF10 1EE
 

I’ve been meaning to write this one up for a while but things have been quite busy these past few months that I never really got the chance.

There’s only one thing I’m going to be talking about here and it’s a kebab, this isn’t just any kebab this is the bastard king of ALL kebabs, it’s a frickin’ BEAST! So, what’s it called then?

This bad boy is known as: The Daddy Munch on Naan Kebab

What’s inside: Donner meat, char grilled chicken, 2 x seekh kebabs & diced lamb served on a tikka naan with salad & chilli sauce!

So, what’s the big deal?

This thing is a monster, I didn’t weigh it but you really do not expect the sheer weight of the thing. It really takes you by surprise when the delivery driver hands it over, you know that feeling where you’re handed something and you misjudge just how heavy it is? Well, it was one of those moment. It was like being passed over a new born baby.

The naan is huge and then you have the meat (now those of you that know me are well aware that I am a self-proclaimed meat activist. I encourage the consumption of meat and think those that do not eat meat should not be allowed any sort of meat substitute, there should be no fake sausages, chicken or bacon. They are ours, you don’t eat meat you leave it alone… I don’t eat fake vegetables now do I? I eat all vegetables And MEAT), man the meat, there’s loads of it! Loads of donner meat, stacks of chicken. You can see why this thing is so heavy and then with the huge salad on top of that and the lashings of chili sauce. I’m not kidding you this is a thing of beauty, but looks aren’t everything.

Taste: Everything here tastes great! The donner meat isn’t too greasy, the chicken has that charred edge to it and the lamb is tender and not at all fatty (which I expected it to be). The seekh kebabs melt in your mouth and the naan is a triumph A TRIUMPH I SAY! All that for £8.00. Frickin’ bargain, especially if you’ve just come back from a good old traditional British night of binge drinking. I do have to say though I struggled with this, I’m not sure if it was lunch that got in the way or something else but I am determined to finish it the next time this bad boy lands on my platter.

I’ve been told these guys do another meaty morsel called: The Tiger Kebab on Naan, it’s chicken tikka, BBQ chicken, donner meat, seekh & beef on a plain naan. It’s been recommended by the same friend who put me on the trail of the Daddy Munch so I know my sauce is good (yeah, I misspelt source on purpose, gotta have a food pun). It’s a dilemma though, I would quite like to try The Tiger but then I wouldn’t be eating the Daddy Munch.

What’s a man to do?

The Bedford Belly On Tour: Abduls

Abduls, Southgate, Pontefract, WF8 1LN

 Ah, the weekend. Those glorious days where you can use alcohol to forget about the week you’ve left behind and start worrying about the week yet to come!

At the weekend Mrs Belly and myself headed up North to her hometown to visit the in laws. While we were there we spent an evening with some good friends and as usual the alcohol flowed, obviously the pregnant (and my personal designated driver) Mrs Belly had to settle for Shhlurr (I don’t know how you spell it) and soft drinks.

We stuck in a movie (the painfully funny “Bruno”) and then set about ordering some munch. The friends we visited keep a folder full of take away menus (very handy), we plough through the folder but always know that despite going through the motions of the ritual rummage we’re going to order from Abduls.

This time I thought I’d forgo my usual Lamb Rogan and try the Lamb jalfrezi instead (I proper dig Lamb!); I stuck to my Onion Bhaji, Keema Naan & Mushroom rice though.

Every dish I’ve ever had from here has been really tasty. The rice is always good, the Naan could be better but naan’s always lose their heat pretty quick and tend to get soggified by the steam when encased in their little foil baggies. The onion bhaji’s are what you’d expect form a good onion Bhaji and the mint yogurt dip you get with them is phenomenal!

One thing I do like here is the wee slice of orange you get on the side salad, I don’t know what it is about fruit in salad but I really dig it!

The jalfrezi was really nicely spiced, I’ve been to quite a few Indians and sometimes the jalfrezi can be a bit over powering. Now I’m not a softie in anyway when it comes to spicy food, in my heyday I’d enjoy a nice Phaal and recently I’ve found the sweaty eye browed joys of Ghost Chilli sauces (in fact I’ve just ordered myself some ghost chilli extract weighing in at 6.4 million on the Scoville scale) but I do like to get the full taste of the spices in Indian food rather than just meat texture and BURN! This jalfrezi found a good balance of both and was also really rich and creamy, anyway there’s always the bullet chilli to wallop down once the main dish is done with.

The place is price like most other Indians, approx £5 - £6 for a main dish and everything else is priced as you would normally expect. The down side is that as far as I am aware they don’t deliver (so always take a non-drinker with you to go pick it up…. *cough*pregnant Mrs Belly *cough*

The only other complaint I would have is the printed menu, looking through it I couldn’t see Keema Naan on there at all but ask them on the phone if they do it and you get a kind of “Of course we do” answer… well, if you do it… PUT IT ON THE MENU FOR GODS SAKE!

You can’t just assume you sell stuff because it’s not on the menu, in which case I’ll have a Panda Rogan Josh please… what do you mean you don’t sell Panda curries? It’s not on the menu so surely by the logic you’ve defined you MUST sell Panda curry… I DEMAND PANDA CURRY!

Panda curry aside if you’re in the area and have a hankering for some good Indian food then you really can’t go wrong with Abdul’s in my opinion.

The Bedford Belly On Tour: Garufa's

Garufa’s, 104 Highbury Park, London N5 2XE

Last Friday I was down in Highbury, part of my job involves onsite customer visits and I was working a lovely couple in their home, this job took most of the day but since my train ticket was off peak only I had some time to kill after the job had been completed so decided I’d go get a bite to eat and have a couple of beers bef...ore making my way back to sunny Bedford.

I asked the couple if there was anywhere they could recommend and they pointed me in the way of Garufa’s which was literally round the corner from their home.

Garufa’s is an Argentinian restraint and is very tastefully decorated, bare brick walls, classic black & white pictures of old Argentina, nice cosy lighting and (at the time) a very pleasant & peaceful atmosphere (although that may have been more to do with the fact that I was the only one in there at the time).

I’m looking at their menu online right now to see what I’d ordered but sadly the starter must have been new to the menu as it has yet to reach the online menu, anyway...

Starter:
Sweet Breads
I ordered this without knowing what it actually was and I have been told that it was testicles (it wasn’t but even if it had been I really wouldn’t have cared), it was in fact the thymus form the throat of a pig. Man! It was AMAZING!!! I cannot stress how frickin’ good it was, I’ve never tasted anything like it in my life.

The sweetbreads were cooked with lemongrass, garlic and olive oil. The taste is very hard to describe, there was the taste of pork but then there was a sweetness (I guess that’s how it gets its name, mind you “sweetbread” is more appealing than “Bits of pig throat”) to it but not a sickly sweetness. As I said hard to describe but if you ever see it on a menu I would just go for it (I’m actually drooling a little just thinking about them).

Main:

The reason I had come here was that my customer had said the steak was out of this world so the obvious choice for mains was steak. A really plump, juicy rib-eye cooked medium, it came with a side salad and I also ordered the “Papas fritas a la provenzal” (Chips with parsley & garlic to you and I chum!).

The steak was indeed “out of this world”, I have never had a steak as good as this before and I have eaten my fair share of cow over the years so I know where I’m coming from here.
Cooked to perfection, juicy but not greasy and so full of flavour, I also ordered a red pepper sauce to go with the steak which I thought was pretty damn good too!

The side salad was small but again, packed with flavour and came with a garlic oil dressing on the side.

Now on to the “Papas fritas a la provenzal”, these were chips but not like you’ve ever had before. Each “chip” was about the size and thickness of a fish finger, you got a good bowlful (just the right amount). They were incredible, really REALLY crispy on the outside and the fluffiest potato I have ever had in my life on the inside. They came drizzled in a parsley & garlic olive oil that also gave off the faintest hint of lemon. Simply wonderful indeed.

 The service staff were excellent and friendly and I was obviously spoilt since I was the only person in there. Please though, do not take my solitude as any kind of indication that this place is at all failing in the quality department (I was in there between 5:45pm – 6:45pm). In fact most tables around me had reserved signs on and about 10 minutes before I was due to leave the place started to fill up.

All in all this was the start of a pretty perfect evening, belly full (and slightly tipsy) I waddled down to the tube station and got myself a ticket to St Pancras, the tube was waiting as I reached the platform (bonus!). One stop later and I was at St Pancras, I wondered on down to the next platform and within seconds of reaching the edge the train rolled up, got on board and it was virtually empty, plenty of nice plush seats with tables.

I grabbed myself a chair and settled in for my journey back to Bedford… I’d only got on the bloody SUPER FAST TRAIN (WOOOO HOOOOO). So, I rocketed back to Bedford, taxied back to Belly Manor, greeted Mrs Belly with a kiss and a cuddle then kicked back on the sofa and flicked on the tube…

Friday night at its best!

Bedford Belly on tour: Angus Steak House, Leicester Square, London A Man Of Few Words

Bedford Belly on tour: Angus Steak House, Leicester Square, London

2nd February 2012

Today I am a man of few words, Angus Steak House is pricey but frickin' awesome!

'Nuff said.






Additional: It has now been over a week since my visit and I am still craving the taste of the steak I ate, I just can’t get it out of my head.

Bedford Belly On Tour: Luton AFC

AFC, 47/53 Bute Street. LU1 2EP

Another weekend, another take-away! Kind of…

I’ve ventured out of Bedford and headed to the bright lights of Luton Town as there’s a gig on at the George II pub. Before the drinks start flowing however I need to fill my belly so my friend and I wandered down the road to AFC.

AFC is obviously not in a grand location, it’s just out the back of the Arndale centre (you may call it “The Mall” now… because renaming it will make it less skanky apparently), across the road from what used to be buildings but is now a waste land car park within the grounds of modern ruins.

When you see the outside of the shop it’s not exactly welcoming, you step in side and it’s not eth most pleasant of places. It could do with a good clean in the dining area the beige hue that seems to be draped over the area may just be down to the age of the fittings.

The guy that served us was for want of a better word, indifferent. He really didn’t seem like he gave a shit whether we would actually order something or not and when we did he still didn’t seem that pleased about it. This might just be a one off as I’ve eaten here a few times before and they staff have normally been quite pleasant. What I did find a bit odd was the random people behind the counter that grabbed food and then popped off out of the shop. Perhaps they were staff going home of delivery staff but they weren't wearing the slinky purple t-shirts the other guys were wearing so in all honesty they could have been anyone… if fact I’m now wondering if I couldn’t have just done the same?

Anyway, we both have 2 pieces of chicken and chips (fries), they ask if it’s eat in or take away (we’re eating in). The food comes and it’s served on a plate, I am in favour of this as takeaways are almost always served in cardboard or polystyrene boxes even if you’re eating in. These items should on be used for walk out or delivery orders since they are disposed of almost immediately and are a massive ecological nightmare.

The chicken comes and I’m disappointed to see two pieces of dark meat. I am by no means a chicken snob who poo poo’s the dark meat & only eats the white meat, I love the dark meat but it’s like the pudding part of the chicken to me. Breast is the mains, dark the afters… The breast should be chicken piece number 1. If you order one piece you get the breast, two pieces should be breast & leg, 3 pieces should be breast, leg, thigh etc.

Putting my disappointment over the lack of breast (stop it!) to one side I notice that the southern fried coating is a bit patchy however the coating is crispy and is holding on to the chicken (In the past I’ve mentioned the floppy batter issue most chips shops seem to have, well this is also noticeable with southern fried coating on chicken at quite a few places too). The chicken meat is very juicy and tasty but a little bit pink in the middle.

The fries are next (which I have smothered in the very tasty Chilli sauce), Remember when Burger King introduced its “Stealth Fries” a few years back? Well, compared to these BK’s fries are frickin' rubbish. What you get at AFC can only be described as the perfect French fry! They’re long, they’re straight and they’re bloody crispy on the outside yet REALLY fluffy on the inside. The vinegar & chilli sauce have not at all affected the structural integrity of the tasty little monster either yet they’re not at all greasy.

For those of you that think magic isn’t real are wrong, it IS real and you can see it, touch it, taste it in the AFC French fries!

There’s a lot more on offer at AFC including kebabs, pizza and curries. Now this is what I don’t like about modern take-away establishments. I feel that a place called AFC (where the “C” stands for chicken) should only sell chicken and side orders. I’ve not eaten anything but chicken from this place myself but one online review I found said this:

  "My korma was vile like chicken in sugared cream the Jalfrezi was also awful the rice was not nice curry so horrible I couldn’t eat it nor could my daughter was an hour late and all cold."

Perhaps I should cut this bit out as I’ve never experienced it for myself but it wouldn’t surprise me. I’m of the opinion that places need to stick to one area, if they did I feel that the quality of said items would improve. I would never order a curry form a fried chicken shop myself because I’d rather go to a curry house where I know that the curry will be made as it should be. In some respect I feel the person who wrote that review kind of had it coming to them.

Enough of that though let me get round to the last item here, at the start of this review I mentioned the inside of the establishment, what I failed to mention was that they have (and this is brilliant) a sink in the dining area!

A SINK, FRICKIN’ GENIUS!!! Napkins just don’t do the job on greasy chicken fingers but a nice hand wash will do very nicely. It’s ugly and a bit odd to see it there but it works. There’s also a hand dryer for after (isn’t that good).

So, to sum it all up. Fries’ = like the God’s themselves have lovingly crafted them , chicken = juicy but a bit pink (something I’m a bit wary of), service & premises = mixed.

I’d give it a 7 out of 10 based on the chicken & chips (French Fries) but will knock it down to 5.5-6 since the inside of the shop isn’t exactly pleasant. I’ve yet to try anything else on the menu so if anyone else here has tried other items on the AFC menu or ordered in then I encourage you to speak up and post your experiences below.