Lone Star Grill - Milton Keynes

One of the best things about Milton keynes at the moment is the amazing number of new restaurants revamping and re-opening around. The latest of these is the newly moved and restyled, Lone Star Grill (now in Wolverton), providing a local fix of American Grill diner-style.  

Situated in a couple of rooms just off the main road in Wolverton, the decor is bright, airy and clean. The Jukebox in the corner is a lovely touch and reminded me of my teen years when I swore to myself I would own such a memorising machine (Mrs P hasn't quite let me live that dream out just yet). The decor is a little sparse but I see that as a perfect opportunity to tell us exactly who they are. I know it's easier to throw up a few shabby-chic pictures of fake 50's hotdog adverts or a rodeo poster but why is that? They were all new once you know...

Before the food even showed up we knew we were in the right place as we were instantly tempted to try the milkshakes. I had the mint Oreo while Mrs P opted for the standard Oreo which really hit the spot; thick and creamy they would have been perfect if we could have gone for the 'spiked' alcoholic versions, but we'll have to book a taxi for those next time.

We started with nachos and chicken wings but were not quite prepared for the gargantuan proportions of what followed. The nachos were piping hot and covered in a gooey, melted cheese that clung to each chip like Leonardo DiCaprio on the edge of the Titanic but with an equally predictable conclusion; they went in my gob. I love a good nacho and these were as crunchy as they come. Hidden under them though was a bed of soft, juicy pulled pork that brought a sweetness to the party which was delicious and played very well with the the savoury cheese and the twang of the jalapeño. But that chicken, man alive. Not only are they absurd value at 6 quid for 6 pieces being as they are enormous, but the crunchy coating and sticky bbq sauce (we went for the Korean BBQ option) was fabulous. Easily the best fried chicken I've eaten outside of Memphis. I'll be visiting again soon to get me some more of these fellas - I'll just make sure I am very, very hungry.  Seriously.  I'll need to be mega-uber-ultra-hungry.  

For mains, Mrs P had a Little John burger and I went for the ribs. Again, generous doesn't even begin to describe the portions. The burger was homemade and cooked to perfection.  Mrs P gave up eating it with her hands pretty quickly though as it was soon clear this was to be a very messy one. That said, the taste was all there and the irony of the name amused Mrs P all night. My ribs were cooked low and long with meat that fell away from the bone which I'm sure is a crowd pleaser. I have to say that I prefer the texture and depth of flavour you get from a proper smoker, but then again Mrs P reminded me that the Lone Star isn't a smoke house so I shouldn't be so fussy and just enjoy it like everyone else.

We also had the fries in both sweet potato and standard varieties, which were perfectly pleasant; we thought they could have done with more crispness but generally enjoyed them both. I also couldn't resist the fried pickles against which I compared my experience of these little beauties from the US. This time the tart green gems were suitably twangy and while the Southern style batter was a bit heavy and became a little soggy over the meal, they were still seriously tasty.  I'd like to claim I managed most of the (massive) bowl, but the humungous portions overcame me in the end.

By this point of the evening we were starting to struggle against our respective trouser restraints but we simply couldn't resist diving in for a final pud because, as Mrs P likes to say: 'pudding goes into a different part of the tummy.' OK, so we forgot to take a picture early enough before the damage was done, but at least we kept the lime so it still looked pretty.  This zesty beast finished off our evening in fine form.  

Fit to burst, we ended our American-athon and rolled out of the Lone Star already planning our return for some more of those chicken wings.  So with that in mind, what did I think of the Lone Star Grill? Well, I see them at the very start of their journey. In the UK, 'Americana' is a genre which is dominated by the TGI Fridays, Ed's and Buddys of this world and as far as I can understand it, the habit of hanging random items such as bikes, canoes or aeroplane propellers from the walls and ceilings seemed so endearing that it caught the attention of many different chains in an effort to make a restaurant/pub/office space more appealing and less corporate. They failed miserably of course because all the  stores that opened all had the same pictures, the same furniture and the same canoe's, the more fake and the more corporate they became. 

And so, as the general 'American' food style is fairly standard, how do the new breed of American restaurants make their name? The answer is simple and clear; by looking back at what made American food popular in the first place. Before there were TGI's, Frankie and Benny's or even before there were McDonalds, there were diners owned and operated by mom and pop who lived, breathed and embodied the spirit of what became Americana. Back then, it wasn't retro, it was just Tuesday. 

Injecting personality into the dining experience is one way to ensure a meal turns from just good food, into a really memorable experience for a diner. Personality is never more important than in a service industry and in a crowded restaurant market it's even more so. And that perhaps, is where The Lone Star are only at the start of their journey. For example, as we sat chatting to our friendly and very attentive waitress, she briefly mentioned the owner and the lightning bolt struck; if a man known to his staff as 'Big Kev' opens an American diner, why on earth is he not an integral part of this place? A cuisine built on the premise of generosity should surely be fronted and presented by the representation of that belief? That would then filter down to how the Lone Star creates it's personality, the genuine one-to-one interaction and commitment would leave it's mark and fill the walls not with over-thought examples of a corporate marketing team, but honest and real illustrations of the families, customers and staff that make up the community that will support it. 

Lone Star can't afford to be just another diner, they have to show us why they are different. They have the makings of something seriously stella and I'm looking forward to it.

We were guests of the Lone Star for this visit, but all opinions are very much my own.

Revolución de Cuba - Milton Keynes

I was recently invited to the newly opened Revolución de Cuba and while there were plenty of things that I liked; the décor, the atmosphere, the ridiculous drinks, the cheap 2 for 1 Sunday Tapas deal, the enormous bar, the even more enormous list of rums served from the enormous bar, the cocktail making masterclasses, the newspaper menus, the music and even our unfailingly enthusiastic waiter: Roy. Unfortunately for them, all of these factors were almost entirely negated by the embarrassing plates of food that came out of the kitchen, which is a rather difficult issue for a restaurant, I think you will agree.

However before we get into it, let’s just take a moment and talk about the thoughts behind this new addition to the Theatre District in Milton Keynes.  The website claims to be bringing ‘Cuban Soul’ to Milton Keynes and from what I can see, Cuban soul doesn’t come cheap because doing up this place clearly cost an absolute fortune. Dredged from ruins of the former club Buddha Blue and acting as the vanguard of the re-energisation of the area, the Revolución de Cuba has had more tarting up than Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry combined, which can only be a good thing. The Theatre District has long suffered from oozing footfall over to the Xscape building and the Hub, which has led to outlets coming and going with such quick turnaround at almost dizzying frequency.

But I’m afraid this much needed and very welcome investment only serves to confuse me even further because why spend all that money on everything else but leave out the food in such an obvious way? Now, I’ve never been to Cuba (although I would love to, just in case you were wondering), but I can’t help feeling that this menu is a confusing mash-up of Las Iguanas, Turtle Bay and La Tasca and contains very little of the soul they want to give to us, the punters. We started with a couple of cocktails; a Pornstar Rumtini (served impressively with half a passionfruit but also rather confusingly with a shot of flat prosecco) and Ruby Punch served in an elephant which tasted great - clearly their mixology was as well polished as the burnished top of that bar.

Now we must talk of the food; we started with Nachos, pork belly, chorizo and bread. But you can probably tell there are going to be issues. Firstly, it was all cold and particularly the rum sauce served as a condiment from our ever joyful Roy was practically frozen. But past that, the nachos were room temperature at best, the fat on the pork belly hadn’t been rendered so was chewy and unpleasant but while the chorizo was ok, the red wine sauce that it came with was practically just that. It hadn’t reduced or deepened in flavour in practically any way.

So the starters didn’t start so well, but we moved on with deepening apprehension to the main course. Winners and losers there too I’m afraid. Both paella and sea bass dishes were placed before us and before we really knew what had happened, we had tasted them. The Sea Bass was cooked with the rice all wrapped in a banana leaf, but my suspicions were somewhat aroused when I unwrapped the leaf and it started to crumble into dust, leaving me to believe that it had perhaps spent some time in a unnaturally hot environment.  This did not fill me with confidence with regards to it’s contents. However, I needn’t have worried about being disappointed because the worst was yet to come for beside this over-cooked fish slice (smeared with what the menu described as ‘marinade’ but what was in reality a lime paste flavoured with so much black pepper that it obliterated everything else in my mouth), was a ‘Cuban salad’. At this point we now know two things about Cuba when viewed through the eyes of Revolución de Cuba; one, everything looks amazing and two, they eat raw beans and lentils whilst pretending it’s a salad. But perhaps the paella was better right? True, it was citrusy, fresh and everything that I was expecting the salad to be. But it was also filled with bullet hard prawns, rubber chicken shavings and accompanied by a few watercress leaves which had been rescued from the leftovers of the previous day. 

By this point of the evening, with our expectations dashed cruelly and without mercy, I looked across the table at my dining companion in his tailored suit and immaculately lacquered hair, holding the ear of a ceramic elephant and drinking his cocktail through a straw and I started to wonder what were the life decisions I had made to put myself in this position?

But we pressed on with the determination of an endurance athlete nearing the finishing line and what followed surprised us all because not only were both the brownie and churros well executed and hot/cold as required, they were pretty damn tasty too. The churros were crunchy, sweet and great for dipping while the brownie was deep and chocolatey with enough gooeyness to satisfy all but the most militant of brownie enthusiasts.

So in summary, I’m afraid I don’t bring you a message of universal good news. The Revolución de Cuba is not a restaurant, it is a bar with a kitchen and like so many before it, it’s not managing both parts to the same standard. In fairness to the team there, I understand they recently lost their head chef without warning and so it’s horrendously unfortunate they were left out in the wind this close to opening and I feel deeply sorry for their situation. But the massively high expectation that customers have when they walk through the doors simply isn’t communicated through the confusing and poorly applied menu, which is a real shame. Would I come back? Sure, the tapas menu on a Sunday is a proper bargain, but at least now I’ll know what to expect.


We were the guests of Revolución de Cuba on this occasion but the opinions are very much my own.

Saxby's Cider

Philip and Amanda Saxby are people that you really should have in your life.

They run a farm just outside Wellingborough and do various farm related things, but four years ago they decided that it might worth pressing some apples and making some cider. And that is pretty much what I took away from my conversation with Philip; for them, while making cider is certainly a delicious, refreshing and rewarding way to spend their time, they approach it in a particular and very distinctive way: it’s a whole load of fun as well.

‘It’s a complete contrast to the rest of the farm’ Philip tells me. ‘I get to make something from start to finish.’

It’s something that really resonates with me while I tour round the yard with Philip joyously nattering about the apple trees in his orchard and the oak barrels sourced from France in which he is aging his premium ‘traditional’ cider ready for next year.

Then on to an experiement in mead making, apparently the real proper stuff takes about 5 to 6 years to mature so this won’t be coming out to play anytime soon. And everyone likes a bit of 1Direction action while you’re at it, you know, just because.

Or perhaps some top secret cider made in the champagne style - I have no idea what that will taste like, but I want some!

If you can't tell by now, Saxby’s is all about the product: ‘if you’re going to do something, do it properly’ is clearly a mantra we both agree upon and Saxby’s cider is something that takes that theory into real practice. Philip described the process he goes through with blunt simplicity: ‘We juice the apples, add the yeast and let it ferment, it’s that simple.’ OK, so there are a few other steps to make the whole thing jump through the Health and Safety hoops but essentially the whole thing from apple to bottle takes about 20 feet of barn space. But it's the blending that is the real skill and Philip has got that in spades. Considering that Philip and Amanda have a family and an actual job running the rest of the farm they still find time to coax every drop out of every apple themselves.

‘It’s a much easier process now we know what we’re doing’, Philip tells me. The first couple of years we did it, we pressed 7,000 litres on a hand press. I’m sorry what? You mean this hand press?

7,000 litres of apple juice from that?  “oh yeah, it was a real family job. Everyone got involved.’ I bet they did, and thanked you every second they were doing so, I have no doubt! But now, the big shiny machine in the corner sucks in the apples (bramley when I visited), and produces juice to go in the tanks and pulp that goes on the fields. Admittedly it isn’t the most beautiful of processes but sometimes this level of production needs a bit of ugly. To create a product with a genuine story and with a level of care and attention that goes beyond the clinical sterilised workshops of big business, you need people who are literally willing to put things on the line and risk significant parts of their life to achieve a quality that a team of 20 food scientists simply can’t match, and that should demand respect from the rest of us.

Mmm, apple foam.

  

I’ve tasted Saxby’s products several times over the past few weeks, the Plum Cider (a recent worthy winner in the Northants Food and Drink Awards) as well as the Medium Cider but on this visit to the Saxby Cider headquarters I tasted something else entirely. Pure Bramley apple juice, straight from the press while it was waiting to be blended with a measure of sweet apples. Now, quite honestly I have no idea how Saxby’s might manage to package it up, but I said there and then that that juice was amazing.  How an inedible, cooking bramley apple can produce something so good I don’t know.  But, stick that tart wake-up juice on any breakfast table and you’ve got a winner. Just don’t forget, I said it first!

So I’ve waffled on quite enough and I should probably talk about the medium cider itself. It’s smooth, clear and clean with a sweet but tart tingle that means it’s a very easy drink. You can keep your Strongbow and your Bulmers thanks very much, Saxby’s is best served chilled on a hot day, preferably while sat on a hay bale. Or at least that’s how I felt whilst drinking it. Look out for these guys, they know what they’re doing even if they’re not sure what that is yet.

www.saxbyscider.co.uk

@saxbyscider

Mastee - Milton Keynes

It’s date night and that can only mean one thing: it’s time to get our curry on. No matter where I turned over the past couple of months, be it from my fellow bloggers, or the twitter tidal wave of love I’ve seen, I’ve only been hearing one name: Mastee. So Mrs P and I were surely duty bound to follow in the footsteps of others and see what the fuss was all about.

We rocked up on a Tuesday night, which meant that admittedly the atmosphere wasn’t exactly electric but that’s not a fault, it just means we’ll have to come back on a Friday night to see the place when it's really buzzing. However, with only three tables being served in an otherwise empty restaurant, we were sat in the foyer for an unusually long time while our table was being set but again it was a Tuesday so I can’t hold that against them. Then, as soon as we sat down and opened the menu we knew why people were all of a flutter.

I can honestly say that this is the best looking menu from any Indian restaurant in Milton Keynes. They tick all the right modern Indo-British boxes with Norfolk free range, corn fed chicken, Monkfish and Sea Bass as well as all the Chicken Tikka Masala and Jalfrezi you would expect. But I was actually most impressed by the limited options on the menu, too many times does a Curry House re-hash the same old massive menu, perhaps with a few new names to confuse us every now and then. But very rarely have I been surprised like I was in Mastee; I have never ordered a fish dish in any Indian restaurant except Benares but here I was really tempted by several. The Doi Machli in particular could well take me next time so longs as I've already worked my way through the Railway Mutton or the Roadside Punjabi Murgh. There was just so many dishes that jumped out at me which marked this place out as beyond the ordinary.

I also wanted to try the chops just to see what jiggery was:

But I didn't see it on the menu before it was too late. Next time.

So what did we actually eat? I should apologise at this point for the truly awful photography but nothing kills the mood of date night faster than someone insisting to take photos of their meal before any actual conversation so I had to be quick and discrete. Bad news for you I’m afraid but at least Mrs P was still talking to me by the end of the meal so I feel I made the right decision.

We started with popadoms and chutney, no great shakes there, followed by an off menu tandoori starter. We were undecided about the tandoori shared meal in the menu and our waiter offered to provide a cut down version that we could share as a starter. Great customer service there and an equally great start to the meal. Lamb chop, chicken, lamb shish kebab as well as a good hunk of lamb all marinaded and cooked in the tandoor to fabulous effect. We love a good tandoor and this was a grade A example.

We followed that up with Mrs P’s Thaali, which included Chicken Tikka Masala and lamb balti, along with Sag Paneer as well as rice and a naan. This was served on a tray which we found a bit difficult I have to say. It felt a bit ‘school dinners’ rather than paying restaurant and because it was made of a single piece of metal, it made the food cold very quickly which didn’t help. On the plus side, the curry itself was really good; the balti in particular was at the limit of Mrs P’s heat tolerance but the tender chunks of lamb and rich gravy reminded her perfectly of the time she spend in India. One of the most authentic curries she’s eaten this side of the Arabian Sea, so there is an endorsement if ever I heard one. The rest didn't get quite so much love but was still very tasty.

I, on the other hand decided to have the Achari Ghost, along with a naan of my own. Again, I was so pleased to see an modern Indian restaurant looking to serve modern Indian tastes. The Ghost is a lamb and lime curry with pickle heat spread liberally throughout. It proved too hot for Mrs P but I ate every last scrap of the deep, rich sauce and juicy lamb.

So to all those people either asking if we liked the Mastee or perhaps wondering if it’s worth their time and money, the answer is not just yes, but a big yes to all of those questions. I’m sure the atmosphere is great on a Friday and Saturday (I expect to return to confirm this), the food is new, fresh and exciting and the front of house team are very friendly, welcoming and genuinely lovely people. There wasn’t even a sting in the tail when it came to settling up; four drinks and as much food as we could eat all came in at just under £50, what’s not to like?! It’s now official, the Mastee hits the top of my MK Indian list. Well done guys.

www.masteemiltonkeynes.co.uk

@MKMastee