Welcome

I would like to welcome you all to my blog, Critic on wheels. The contents of this blog are purely the opinion of myself and those I eat out with and how I find the food and facilities of the restaurants I visit at the time I visit them. The opinions are merely there as a guide to those who wish totake my views onboard. I do understand that everyone has their own standards and tastes, afterall it wouldn't do for us all to be the same. These are my views of the places I visit from the perspective of someone who is mobility challenged and from the kind of food I like to enjoy, I hope you find it helpful.

Friday, June 10, 2011

An outing to Waterville

Waterville was supposedly Charlie Chaplin's favourite holiday spot and his statue is there in bronze on the sea front for all to have their photo's taken along side. It was quite a blowy day when we visited but at least it was dry. We had a short walk from the car park and looked for somewhere with easy wheelchair access for lunch. we decided on the Bay View Hotel, which was easily accessible . Inside was a little drab , but it seemed quite well frequented.

We ordered from the menu and from the specials board too. Two of our party had fish and chips thinking it should be good in a coastal setting the menu said a portion of cod and a portion of haddock., One of our party asked for just cod which the waitress said was fine but not what he got , he still got one of each, and the portions were quite small a bit like large fish finger size and the batter was tasteless.The chips did appear to be home made and were good but there was no option of mushy peas or any other side order.

Another of our party also had fish from the specials board, Hake with potatoes and ratatouille,the hake was over cooked and dry but the vegetables were nice. another  had another special, tiger prawns in garlic wine and cream sauce with chili and peppers. The prawns were over cooked and hard and the sauce was totally non-descript taste wise with no heat in the chilli's.

The final member of our party had what according to the menu was a BRAZIL burger so was expecting something with spice and a bit exotic. It was obviously a spelling error as the burger was tasteless but smelt of basil. there were some onion rings to accompany the burger and the comment was they were the best part of the meal.

Sorry no pictures this time.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Thunderstone House-Elgin town centre

Hello today I will be reviewing the Thunderstone House which is located in Elgin Scotland. The pub is situated up an alley and if we hadn't been given directions and then asked where to find T.K.Max we may not have actually found the place. The pub was quaint,rustic but clean. surprisingly empty , more so after tasting the food. The menu wasn't huge but had a wide variety of meals and enough for all tastes and appetite sizes. We didn't realise that all meals came with chips and a choice of vegetable of the day or salad.

OK on to the food we sampled, all the members of our party had the £4.95 meal deal which included the soup of the day which alone was around £2,the day we visited it was tattie (potato), leek and Stilton.

The soup was rich and creamy and all the flavours were identifiable and none were overpowering of the others. It really did taste homemade.

 The only thing that could have improved this dish would have been perhaps some crunchy croutons or a crusty cob and butter.




The first member of our party had macaroni, he said that it didn’t have enough bite and the pasta was a bit overcooked unlike that he was used to having at home but the cheese sauce was flavoursome.Over all very filling though presentation wise it didn't look very appealing and the comment at the table on first sight was it looked a bit like vomit on the plate.
 
The 2nd member of our party had Chili,which on the menu said it was very spicy. The party member said she was pleasantly surprised that it did have some heat to it unlike many you get when eating out and it was warming and that it was the only chili that she had, had at a restaurant that had a nice kick. The party member was happy she had had salad and was offered condiments but there was no salad cream available only mayonnaise sachets.The party member did leave some chips but these too did appear homemade as were not all uniform in size.


The 3rd member of our party had Steak and Ale pie,again with a pile of chips. He said that the meat was so tender it tasted like home-made unlike the hard meat you often get in pies. The pastry crust was light and crisp and there was plenty of meat and the gravy/sauce was rich and substantially thick and coated the meat well.

The service staff were pleasant and helpful offering to move tables and chairs for easy access and staff could be seen taking their break at the bar and eating the food served in the pub too.


There were disabled toilet facilities but as the building dates back to 15th century it has obviously just been adapted and was fairly difficult for me to access, as my carer had to hold the door open while I reversed in and side transferred to the toilet, luckily my chair has arms that can lift and fall backwards allowing for easy transfers. Not something you could easily do independently.
Overall if you are in Elgin and in need of some filling and acceptably tasty food well worth a visit in my opinion. 

Well that concludes this review. Please feel free to leave any comments and thanks for popping by.