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Family, food, festivities

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

Gareth’s party marked the end of festivities and although it’s been very busy, it’s also been very enjoyable. Working backwards, yesterday afternoon we buzzed down to Kent to celebrate Gareth’s 50th. We’d never been to a surprise party before. Shrouded in secrecy for six months before, Debs arranged the catering, guests and venue. We even played a part, making pasta and rice salads yesterday (to pre-determined and costed recipes) to take down for the spread. It all worked terribly well and by the way things were going, a good time was had by all.

Monday was the final day of Christmas family celebrations. Early afternoon we went up to Lowestoft to belatedly exchange presents with Ean and Vikki. A relaxed afternoon was spent at House 3, where we even met the usually reclusive Boo. Suitably (and enjoyably) fed, watered and caught-up, we all then went to mum’s to enjoy yet more food. Dinner was followed by two games of cards and before we knew it, it was time to head for home, not least as we had to feed the two cats next door.

Christmas itself was spent with Nik’s family in Galleywood on the day itself, where, due to the volume of presents, we all must have been good last year. Boxing Day saw mum and Bart come down and congregate on the house, along with Geoff, while Sal, Dan and Will popped in for the afternoon. Sunday was a day of recovery, visiting Geoff for a King’s Tower cold buffet the only excursion. That took us up to yesterday of course, when we left with mum and Bart for the journey to Suffolk. We then had just two days’ rest (the only of the two-week break) before it all started again.

Sandwiched between Christmas and New Year was my 36th birthday on New Year’s Eve. Lunch was eaten on a quiet and cold Mersea Island, while as tradition dictates, we spent the last evening of 2009 on the rug in front of the fire with Oscar, some warm Camembert and a handful of crackers. Post-carbonara at Verde’s of course. New Year’s Day was a repeat of Christmas Day, with the day spent at Andrew and Sheila’s and all of the Chelmsford clan.

So, lots of food, lots of family and lots of very nice presents. The start of 2010 has to be, more than ever (and in financial terms as well as fitness thoughts), a slimmed down one, though…

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Center Parcs, Elveden Forest

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Bikes at Center Parcs

Even the bikes had a holiday. We spent five days deep in the woods last week, staying at the Center Parcs Elveden Forest holiday village, swimming in the heated pool and cycling on the car-free forest tracks. Nik has been Center Parc-ing many times before, but I popped my forest villa cherry at the 400-acre Suffolk resort. And not only was it very relaxing to be away from the stresses and technology of modern life, it was different to go away this late in the year. Even if it was only to the next county.

Center Parcs villa nameplate

From our flat-roofed, two-bedroom, Seventies chic-inspired Comfort Plus villa with its floor to ceiling glass windows to the well-organised central hub of restaurants, shops, and sports facilities, you can see why parents take their kids out of school during term time to make the most of the fresh air and the lull before the Christmas rush. Most Center Parcs holiday villages are the same; a ‘Subtropical Swimming Paradise’ and associated facilities forms the heart of the resort, and the villas are spaced around it, almost in concentric circles.

Heron at Center Parcs

There’s a lake between each two rows of villas, and paths which link them all. The accommodation really does appear to have risen up from the forest floor; trees surround them on all sides and the vast glazing areas really do give the best views of the natural wildlife that just happens to be an added attraction. We had ducks and geese most days, and we managed to encourage the lakeside heron to come and pose for pictures, like a grumpy old man in a morning coat. We’ve also never seen so many squirrels in one place. They’re very tame, too. We almost had one in the villa as he was being very cheeky.

Squirrel at Center Parcs

Yes, a stay in the forest can be very expensive. We booked late and managed to get a good price and do it affordably, and I can’t stress enough that the villas are the best way to do Center Parcs. Yes, there is an on-site hotel at Elveden Forest, but you may as well go somewhere else if you want to do that. The beauty of the Center Parcs setup is that you’re away from everything, living among the trees and nature. It would make the perfect eco-village. Naturally, we self-catered, too, which also cuts down on the cost, and with a supermarket in the central hub, you’re never far away from civilisation or more groceries.

Center Parcs Comfort Plus Villa

The whole experience could be classed as a form of posh camping. And there’s nothing wrong with that. You can take and pay for as many or as few extra activities as you like. Our only major expense was the hastily-acquired bike rack for the car, but we figured that even if we used it twice at Center Parcs, we’d more than recoup the cost. Yes, it’s true that at most posh campsites you don’t get to swim in the outdoor rapids under a blanket of stars or zip down a tunnel of water, which, after weaving through the exotic plants gaining some speed, spits you out into a plunge pool feeling about 12 years-old, but they’re all part of the Center Parcs appeal. And it’s those parts (along with the safe cycling) which will make us look forward to returning to the woods.

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A belated birthday

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

We buzzed up the A12 again to Suffolk at the weekend, to, somewhat belatedly, celebrate Ean’s 30th birthday. That was in the early afternoon, though, so in the morning we made an early start, and revisited some old haunts. First stop was the Little Chef just outside Darsham and before Blythburgh, where we took in breakfast.

I don’t think you can go wrong with a Little Chef, if it’s good honest food you’re after. They conjure up memories of coming home from Volkswagen shows, as we used to stop off at numerous ones on the A14 after a day of looking at German cars. That was always for tea; I’ve rarely done the first meal of the day.

The Darsham eaterie was almost empty, with only two other tables occupied. People came and people went while we sat looking at the slightly yellow ceiling, old ventian blinds and painted red wood panelling. I don’t know what year it opened, but I don’t think the place has changed much. But that’s part of the appeal; slightly run-down and nostalgic buildings reminiscent of a motoring age gone by, coupled with good and efficient service.

Surely the Heston Blumenthal made over restaurants lose some of that appeal?

Satisfied and full, we arrived in Lowestoft not long after, and bumped into mum, in of all places, Morrisons. We’d gone in to look for Will’s Christmas present and spotted a rather familiar blue Renault Clio in the car park. After we’d surprised mum (and after she’d stopped bumping into people she knew), we all drove into the town centre, where we’d arrange to meet for coffee.

I can’t remember many coffee shops in the town, and Caffé Nero and Starbucks are still conspicuous by their absence, but a gingerbread latte in Costa was just what I needed. We quietly caught up with mum’s news, before she gave us an unofficial tour of the main High Street – somewhere I haven’t been for many years.

It turned out she hadn’t been there for a while either. Many of the well-known Lowestoft names have since disappeared; Morlings music shops have gone, while Chadds has adopted Palmers’ name, as the Great Yarmouth firm owns it. In many ways, the main shopping area reminded me of Basildon – there are many cheap or budget shops, and not many of the young, hip and trendy names you find somewhere like Norwich or Ipswich. And maybe that’s the reason why – they have them, so why should Lowestoft?

At mum’s we could have been eating out. Pizza Express pizzas were accompanied by delicious doughballs, garlic cheese bread and salad, finished off with a small or large glasses of champagne, depending on who was driving. Rhubarb crumble followed, and once the table had been cleared, we cracked open the Trivial Pursuit, for yet more rose-tinted fun.

Like so many things last weekend, I hadn’t ‘done’ Trivial for ages either, but usefully, the pink questions were still ‘Good Times’, so culture vultures can still answer posers on music and TV and anything associated with those mediums. The legendary blue and orange (‘Places’ and ‘Sport and Leisure’ respectively) weren’t as hard as I remember either. We were playing the ‘family edition’ after all.

Coming up from behind, Ean and Vikki were the undisputed champions, though. A multiple-choice question from the middle of the box handed them victory (multiple-choice should never be allowed as the final question), which in a way was good, as we could have been there all night. At just over an hour, it was the quickest game of Trivial Pursuit that I’ve ever played. Nik and I left just after 6pm, to wend our way back home. It didn’t matter that we celebrated Ean’s birthday two weeks late – it was just as much fun doing it belatedly.

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Dunwich Forest Dartmoor ponies

Monday, October 19th, 2009

We hadn’t been to Suffolk either visit the county in general or to catch up with mum and Bart for some time, so this weekend we packed the car with rucksacks and headed up the A12, arriving in Lowestoft in time for breakfast on Saturday.

Fully fed and watered, we stopped off at Norwich for the afternoon, where we visited my old college haunts, drunk coffee in Gentleman’s Walk watching The Puppet Man (who we thought had retired) and bought chess pieces and a model car from Langley’s who now have even more of a selection of diecast cars than they used to.

But, one of the highlights of the weekend (aside from popping around to Ean, Vikki and Boo’s) was walking in the Suffolk countryside yesterday – something we’ve missed since I moved down to Essex. Dunwich Forest held our chosen paths for strolling through the flora and fauna.

Why Dunwich? Well, two reasons really – we’d never been before (and it’s a walk mum and Bart do regularly), and there are now at least 25 Dartmoor ponies walking around the forest, too. Grazing in the newly-created project area, the little horses were brought in by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust from special breeders from the West Country.

Dartmoor pony in Dunwich Forest

A rare breed in the UK, the ponies have had Dunwich Forest as their wild home since December last year, and will help turning the area into a ‘wildlife rich landscape’, according to the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The Dartmoors’ grazing will be an important management tool in the creation of a New Forest-style landscape, and will be managed by the Forestry Commission.

It made for a more interesting walk certainly. A stroll down any of the forest paths could result in a pair of soft-furred guardians protecting their green-leaved snacks, perfectly amenable to being stroked and cooed over. We counted 17 of the small four-legged beasts, the largest number mum and Bart had seen in all the time they’ve been walking the forest.

But cute though they were, we didn’t want to get stranded in the dark among the pine trees, so once Bart had found the right path back to the car, we called in at The White Hart at Blythburgh for a bite to eat before we pointed the car south and headed for home, in time to enjoy a Sunday evening in Chelmsford.

Although it appeared to be a usual weekend visit to my original home county, it was actually one of old memories, new beginnings and new discoveries (old college visit and The Puppet Man; Ean, Vikki and Boo’s new house; and the pony-filled forest respectively). Maybe even more so than last time, it was good to be back.

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Flint House Restaurant, Lowestoft

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

Reviews are naturally subjective by their nature as it’s the opinion of the reviewer that comes forward, but we enjoyed such good food here, our dining experience is more than worthy of a few lines.

Mum and Bart (below) took us out, and have dined at the Flint House on more than one occasion recently. So much it seems, that on the Saturday night we visited, the personal service was second to none. It’s one of their favourite places in the town to eat, and it’s easy to see why.

2009_mum_bart_flint_house

Easy to find in the High Street, the unassuming exterior leads into a smart and welcoming interior; all wooden floors, white and deep-coloured walls, and coastal-themed pictures. We were seated in the bar area and were brought flavoured nuts and nibbles while we browsed the menu and took our first sips of the Adnams Fizz we’d ordered.

The area surrounding the Flint House is steeped in history. Situated off the High Street are a series of scores (possibly derived from the Norse ‘Skor’ meaning a cut or furrow), ancient thoroughfares linking the road with others below and behind the buildings atop. The narrow lanes are though to have been originally created by people treading paths in the sloping cliffs as they walked between the High Street and the beach village.

One of these ancient pathways, Wilde Score has direct links to the Flint House itself. The Wilde family lived in the building from 1588 to the 1740s. Constructed in 1586, the Flint House is the oldest house in Lowestoft, and although nearly all of the cottages in the scores are now just parts of the town’s history, the building which now houses the restaurant still stands. Sadly, the look-out tower built by local sailor Sir Thomas Allin does not, although I have my doubts as to these days whether you would need to see any Dutch man of wars approaching anyway.

Our own Dutch man recommended dishes from the extensive menu, and after we’d made our choices and ordered, we were taken and seated upstairs, in a table in the corner with a view of Gulliver, the town’s solitary and imposing wind turbine, who was barely peeping over the tree tops outside. For a Saturday night, we thought it quiet, but as the short waiting time for our meals elapsed, slowly the tables started to fill.

The starters duly arrived, and the ham, quail’s egg and salad dish was well judged and tasty. With plates quickly cleared, the mains arrived in good time. Bart and I chose the sumptuous lamb’s liver and lamb chop with new potatoes and vegetables, which was smooth, rich, and delicious. In especially good service, mum requested that the piece of fresh plaice that came with plaice goujons was replaced by more of the breaded fingers, which the chef duly changed.

The desserts were equally as good, even if we didn’t really need them. My banana fritters, with vanilla and white chocolate pannacotta were presented nicely, while Nik’s Eccles cake and earl grey tea cream sounded intriguing and tasted even better, all served up in a half-filled large teacup and saucer. The strawberry sundae meanwhile was (I’m told), very fruity and cooling, the perfect end to a perfect meal. All of the desserts looked great, with as much care and attention taken over them as our first two courses.

With the mint teas and coffees that finished off the evening, we were brought petit fours, which we didn’t eat. But no worry, they were wrapped in silver foil, and we took them home to enjoy later. It’s that word again – service – and something that will bring diners back again and again. If you enjoy good food, in very pleasant surroundings, with excellent service, then the Flint House is for you. It’s at the very least a four out of five.

  • Flint House Restaurant Ltd, 80 High St, Lowestoft, NR32 1XN
    Tel: 01502 573640

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