By Alice | Published:
July 19, 2010
My picture-taking mojo felt a bit low after the long car ride, and it was really gloomy apart from the brief time we ate lunch, however I’m showing these pictures as I want to mention the place that we visited as it was pretty cool. We were heading up to Shropshire to see Simon’s family and we wanted to stop off somewhere for a short break on the way so I Googled ‘Things to do near the M40′ and came across Baddesley Clinton. It’s a National Trust place and is on the smaller side, it’s well worth visiting if you are passing as it has all sorts of interesting things like a moat and multiple Priest holes. As it is on a smaller scale I think it is easier to comprehend that many generations lived out their lives there through all sorts of interesting times. With the huge castles and palaces sometimes I think it is harder to see the human side. The majority of the house is open to the public so you could have a good look around.
Maybe Simon and I aren’t the usual demographic for National Trust places, there were lots of older folks arriving in coaches on day trips. However wherever you find the older crowd it is safe to say there will be good tea, cake, and cream teas. Much nicer than stopping at a motorway service station.
Also posted in Travel & Places |
By Alice | Published:
July 12, 2010
Random adventure time. We paid a visit to The Rosemary restaurant in Stanton House Hotel which is just outside Swindon. From the outside you would not expect this hotel to be the kind of place that we would drive for an hour to get to for lunch as it looks like a business hotel. However this hotel is different because it is owned by Honda who have a factory nearby, so the hotel caters mainly for Honda people travelling over from Japan to the factory. This in turn means that the two restaurants in the hotel are Japanese! There is also a small Japanese food shop with a few essentials that is only open on Sunday afternoons for the Japanese expat needs.
I had heard about this place in a roundabout way, when I last visited Bristol I was flipping through the stockists list in the back of one of my sister’s Harumi cookery books and noticed that it mentioned a Japanese food shop in Swindon. I was intrigued… Swindon? Then after some research I found that this shop is in the hotel and that the hotel serves Japanese food. I also found two old reviews of The Rosemary, one by Jay Rayner and one by Matthew Fort.
We went on Sunday when they have a Japanese buffet lunch, and it was good. I’ve never had Japanese food buffet-style but things are cooked in small portions so it all seemed very fresh. There were all kinds of dishes of a fairly homey nature, salmon teriyaki, yaki soba, curry, fish croquettes, cold soba noodles, maze gohan, tofu, etc. Lots of choice. Of the other diners there were lots of people who looked like locals but the majority were Japanese. The buffet was £11.95 each which seems very reasonable to me, drinks were extra, and you could order additional sushi for £2-£2.50.
If this place was nearer I’m sure I would be stopping by more often. The dining room of the Rosemary was, as the two reviews said, fairly ordinary and not particularily romantic, the more formal Japanese dining room that is open in the evening sounds interesting. As a random adventure it was fun, that is a long way to go for a meal but as it is pretty much half way between Oxford and Bristol I hope that we will have a chance to pop by again. As there is only one other true Japanese Restaurant anywhere near here (that I know of, any tips?) we are willing to travel.
Also posted in Travel & Places, Yum |
By Alice | Published:
May 17, 2010
I was in Brighton today for work reasons but we had a few minutes at lunchtime to go down to the sea. The weather was perfect. You can see two of my colleagues skimming stones in the third picture. Living in Oxford the sea feels so far away, it is lovely to check in with it every now and again.
Also posted in Travel & Places |
By Alice | Published:
May 13, 2010
There’s nice countryside in Shropshire.
Also posted in Travel & Places |
Not always at a desk :)
