Foods that I have grown to love... or moved away from.

I got to thinking today, as I peeled the foil off my yoghurt and went in for a big lick... I used to HATE licking yoghurt lids, the slightly congealed nature of the yoghurt on the foil would turn my stomach, but now, I look forward to it, and extra treat, and feel especially youthful as I walk out of the kitchen wiping a big blog of white off my nose.

What changes about us in regards to taste? Or, what about us or our environments changes our tastes?

I feel myself moving away from blue cheese lately, in fact I will almost always opt for milder flavour over a strong mature cheese. Why now? I'm not pregnant, and no more hormonal than any other time I can think of.

I remember when I was a child, at one stage I developed an obsession with scrambled eggs done in the microwave. I was very young but I was allowed to make this my myself. So one day, after many days of scrambled eggs, I was rather sick after a hearty serve. Needless to say it took me years to have eggs again.

I've done the same with milk, bourbon, and was put off lamb for a good few years after an unpleasantly strong piece of perhaps-too-old lamb was served to me.

But it doesn't just take a violent evacuation to bring on the magnetic reversal.

I've always been very proud to announce that there's no food I don't like. Offal is fine, all veggies are delicious in my eyes, any fish or seafood is a treat, I grew to love coriander and the same with ginger. But despite that, my preferences consistently change in an almost tidal way, today I like this, next week maybe not so much so.

What foods did you used to like but not anymore? Or used to despise but now can't get enough of? And do you know what brought on the change in you?

I would love to hear.

Places for a drink: UK (roadtrip)

The Weston, Bath

Really friendly staff, fantastic food!

The Pig and Fiddle, Bath

Very lively of an evening, heaps of outdoor seating.

The Slug and Lettuce, Bath

Pub chain, good drink specials, lovely off street beer garden.

Land's End Restaurant and Bar, Land's End

Not the cheapest, or most atmospheric bar, but fantastic views.

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Cadgwith Cove Inn, Cadgwith

 As far as small town pubs go, this place is it. Lovely pints of cider while looking out to the bay, or watching the locals doing what they do.

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Godolphin Arms, Marazion

 Great view from the beer garden! Food nothing to write home about.

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The Fire Engine Inn, Marazion

Sweet wee pub just out of town, homely, great views.

 Lulworth Cove Inn, Lulworth Cove

Fantastic staff, Cracking food, lovely ales on tap. Big beer garden.

George Inn, Warminster

Lovely interior, as well as outdoor seating, Steaks to die for, nice range of drinks on tap.

The Old Bell Inn, Warminster

Charming workers' pub with chatty locals and a great beer garden off-street

The Manor Hotel, Llandudno

Absolutely stunning interior, beer garden overlooking the bay and both Ormes. Great drink selection for such a small place.

Ocean's Bar, Pier Head, Llandudno

THE most relaxing place to have a pint on a sunny day at the end of the pier, but apparently gets crazy in the summer. Very memorable.

Roadtrip Eats

I have been exploring the United Kingdom, and thus not doing much food writing, but here it is finally: what I ate while I was away.

As I was on holiday, I was a little lax with my photography and didn't capture everything- which is a big shame, but weather it be a B&B, chip shop, or a top steak, I enjoyed my eating while away.

Here is a chronological look at my Roadtrip Eats.

Bath

Tonight was a surprise treat for me, and a reservation had been made in advance by my travel companion.

Brasserie Brunei in Bath had a relaxed atmosphere, reasonable prices and a fantastic looking menu.

For starters: Chicken Liver Parfait with toast... a very tasty starter indeed, everything on the board was complimentary to every other element, the apple jelly cubes were just lovely.

Main: Lamb loin with potato Dauphinois and asparagus.
This dish was divine, the meat was as flavoursome and moist as any lamb I have ever tried, the asparagus tender and crisp, I was slightly disappointed that the potato wasn't a little more saucy, but still very tasty.

Dessert: White Chocolate Box
Crisp white chocolate enveloping white chocolate mousse encasing raspberry coulis.
The ice cream was actually supposed to be on my dining companion's plate, but he didn't mind me having it. YUMMO!

Bath seemed to have a host of fantastic looking bakeries and patisseries, every window displaying beautifully baked treasures such as these.

A pub close to our accommodation was The Weston. Friendly staff, nice decor, and delicious food.

 Utterly wonderful crispy encased gooey inside deep-fried brie.

Rump steak served with wonderfully crunchy, golden chips, salad and coleslaw (I also ordered onion rings, which were proper yummy too).

Marazion

I really got a taste for cider on this trip, trying a pint of a local brew in most towns. This Cornish Rattler was one of my favourites!

Room service at The Godolphin Inn, Marazion. 

The meals that we ate in the restaurant were only so-so, but this room service that we had on our balcony overlooking St Micheal's Mount was lovely, with the best sausages I have ever tasted.

I wish I could have brekky on a balcony with that view everyday!

Lulworth Cove

A very standard Inn turned out to be a wonderful culinary surprise!  Lunch (not pictured) of smoked haddock and spring onion fish cakes with some of the best chips I had ever had was an absolute delight, and I couldn't wait till dinner!

The Larder Board- Fish... with roasted Mediterranean vegetables, toasted bread, prawn salad, mackerel pate, jalapeno coleslaw, olives and relishes was an absolute delight and the presentation was comely and wholesome!

I decided to try the clotted cream ice cream which was stupendous, while G splurged with the mini puds... £1.99 each or 6 for 9.99

Warminster

We stopped at George Inn just outside a small town called Warminster as a base for easy access to Stonehenge and Cheddar Gorge.

Lunch at Rosie's Tea Room of Canelloni with ricotta and spinach was remarkably good and a huge serve, it was also served with a full baguette. I can proudly say I ate it all.

On a friday night, the restaurant and Steak House at George Inn filled up quickly, which is generally a great sign. Reserved signs topped most tables, and after perusing the menu, I could see why, it was grand!

Starter of tiger prawns in garlic and chili butter with delicious soft and crusty white bread. These prawns were brilliant... like Australian good! The butter was totally dunkable, and I made use of every scrap of bread!

A real treat for me was the 16oz T-Bone. Steak of course, is my favourite food, T-Bone is my favourite cut, so this made me very happy.

T-Bone is not a commonly found cut over here, so I positively jumped at the chance. I ordered it med-rare and it was cooked to perfection! Served with mushroom and grilled tomato,

I also ordered new potatoes, soured cream and garlic butter. (Yes my arteries weren't too impressed)

This is the face of pure bone-gnawing pleasure!

So much cider!

Cheese plate at Cheddar Gorge featuring Cheddar aged inside the caves at Cheddar Gorge.

Cheddar inside Cheddar Gorge

Llandudno

Once in the beautiful town of Llandudno, North Wales I had a craving for Chinese, and a taxi driver recommended 'East'

We opted for the Superior Set menu for 2 which contained

Chicken Sweetcorn Soup

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House Combination Appetisers

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Crispy Aromatic Duck

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Fillet Steak in Black Bean Sauce (Sizzling)

Chicken with Lemon

Shrimp Fried Rice

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Dessert and Coffee

We asked if we could change the soup to the hot and sour soup, and that's what we got, it was rich and delicious and full of meat and veg.

The appetisers were a show stopper with wan tons, spring rolls, prawn toast, chicken skewers, ribs and a divine crispy seaweed salad.

Crispy aromatic duck: the most succulent roast duck meat I have ever tried. 

The mains (oh boy, I was stuffed my this stage): The fillet steak was lovely and sizzled on the hot plate, it was so tender and still pink in the middle, quite a feat!

The chicken was lovely as well, flavoursome and meaty.

A big surprise was how many big bursty prawns were in the rice!

We didn't need dessert at all, but it was included so who were we to say no. G's chocolate cake, and my wonderful banana fritters with vanilla ice cream- one of my all time faves.

I'm going to make a bold statement and say this was the best Chinese I have ever had outside of China, and I am quite happy to argue that point out to anyone willing to listen. Certainly not what I was expecting in Wales!

Okay, although I didn't get pics, a big honorable mention must go to Fish Tram Chips in Llandudno.

Located just beside the tram stop, I decided to grab a quick feed here before our drive back to Edinburgh, and it totally blew me away. Best batter on the cod, perfectly cooked, fresh fish and wonderfully crisp chips. Well done guys!

So there we have it, I didn't capture every meal I had, but did enjoy most! And came back a might heavier than when I left. I do feel that I have experienced a wonderful view of the UK from a culinary perspective as well.