So I have been slacking on my blog and I know you guys are waiting, so sorry.
I looked online for a nice place that was close to the hotel. I have been told that there is only one pub in the village of Alconbury, but that is not true. I have found two so far. One is located in called The Black Rock Grill at The Manor in Alconbury. http://www.manorhousealconbury.co.uk/ourmenu.php
I looks just like every other pub when you first enter. A small quaint place with random tables in the main area and a bar in the back holding up the locals. However, this place was slightly different, in the back of this pub was a very POSH restaurant area. It looked like a nice place for a date night out with the wife. As my wife is not here I sat in the bar area next to the fireplace.
I ordered a Kronenborg 1664. It's a nice Belgian Ale, not like most Belgians where it is sweet and overpowering, it's a real ale "pulled" from the tap and delicious. I suppose it's what the Belgians had in mind for an ale before Americans got their hands on it.
Just like the pub itself, the menu has typical pub fare and a more upscale menu also. As it is called the Black Rock Grill, I go for the 10 oz black rock grilled rib eye. If you have never had a black rock grilled steak, I suggest you try it at least once. They cut all the fat off the steak, they sear it on both sides and then bring it out on a piece of black volcanic rock that has been heated to 400 degrees Celsius. So the meat is still raw and you get to cook it just the way you like. Mine came with roasted vegetables and chips (fries). The roasted veg was awesome, carrots, bell peppers, onions and mushrooms. They also brought out a plate of seasonings (steak seasoning, salt and black pepper) so you can make it to taste. The one problem with the black rock is that the steak is still cooking. So you have to plan out how you are going to cook the meat and eat it at the same time. If you like your steak rare the fist few bites are awesome, but if you don't eat fast, by the end the steak gets to be mostly well done. It's more of a minor problem as the steak here was one of the best I have ever had and it was cooked to my taste and liking. Perfect.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
England Day Three
So I decided to head down to the local pub, Stuckeley's Country Hotel http://www.stukeleys.co.uk/. I've driven by a few time and it look like a nice place and it is. It looks like an old English lodge (which it is) with low ceilings and wood everywhere. Seriously feels like being in a Dickens book. Being a Thursday there were not that many people in the bar. I belly up and order a St Austell Tribute Premium Cornish Ale. It's light in color, but full bodied and crisp. It's very well balanced.
The menu is not that extensive, but most things on it look good. I go for the Cumberland Sausage in an onion gravy served with mashed potatoes and peas. Which, it turns out, is a good choice. The sausages were a little over cooked, but the onion gravy made up for it. I am a whore for sauces, especially onion sauces.
For my second beer I went for the King Green IPA (the official beer of English Rugby). This beer has been brewed since 1799, so needless to say it was good. Probably one of my favorite IPAs. It was not as hoppy as most IPAs. It had a light flavor and finish which makes it dangerous, you can drink a lot of these and not realize it.
Like I said there are not many people in the bar and that makes it easier to talk to people. The bartender, Trevor, and I start talking about America and how he wants to go. I tell him not to expect what he has seen in movies and he states that if it is not exactly like "Coming to America" or "Beverly Hills Cop" he will be pissed. Obviously joking, but it does strike up a conversation between Trevor, Shane (another bar patron and Trevor's friend) and myself. We talk a lot about the differences between American and Brits and the misconceptions that each has of each other. Eventually the conversation settled upon "Family Guy," which is Trevor's favorite show, and I settle upon a Guinness being my last beer of the night.
I finish my beer and pay up. Only £17.80, very good deal. I stuck around for a bit after my pint was finished because the conversation was so good. At one point Trevor asked me if there were pubs like that one in America. I told him that there were pubs, but they were bigger and louder... just like everything else in America.
The menu is not that extensive, but most things on it look good. I go for the Cumberland Sausage in an onion gravy served with mashed potatoes and peas. Which, it turns out, is a good choice. The sausages were a little over cooked, but the onion gravy made up for it. I am a whore for sauces, especially onion sauces.
For my second beer I went for the King Green IPA (the official beer of English Rugby). This beer has been brewed since 1799, so needless to say it was good. Probably one of my favorite IPAs. It was not as hoppy as most IPAs. It had a light flavor and finish which makes it dangerous, you can drink a lot of these and not realize it.
Like I said there are not many people in the bar and that makes it easier to talk to people. The bartender, Trevor, and I start talking about America and how he wants to go. I tell him not to expect what he has seen in movies and he states that if it is not exactly like "Coming to America" or "Beverly Hills Cop" he will be pissed. Obviously joking, but it does strike up a conversation between Trevor, Shane (another bar patron and Trevor's friend) and myself. We talk a lot about the differences between American and Brits and the misconceptions that each has of each other. Eventually the conversation settled upon "Family Guy," which is Trevor's favorite show, and I settle upon a Guinness being my last beer of the night.
I finish my beer and pay up. Only £17.80, very good deal. I stuck around for a bit after my pint was finished because the conversation was so good. At one point Trevor asked me if there were pubs like that one in America. I told him that there were pubs, but they were bigger and louder... just like everything else in America.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
England Day One
Landed in London early in the morning and started my trip to Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. The car I rented did not have a GPS unit in it so the rental car agent said "How about we give you an upgrade to a car that has a built in GPS and then you will save money. See the portable GPS is 16 pound a day"
"Sure, that will work." I said. Thinking that would be a wise idea.
"Well the only unit we have with a built in GPS is a new Audi. How does that sound?"
"Great, Let's go with that one!"
It's a quick bus ride to the Hertz lot at Heathrow. I get to the car and its a beautiful brand new Audi. I get in and it is just like climbing into a space ship. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to start the car. Once that obstacle was overcome it was time to set up the GPS for the trip. As I messed with the GPS unit it became clear that it did not work. Thinking that it was probably me and not the GPS, I went in the Hertz office near the parking lot, which is not the same as the one in the terminal where I rented the car. I explain the situation to the attendant and he comes to the same conclusion that I did... I probably do not know how to use the GPS.
We both go to the car and he tries to get it to work. Well I am not an idiot, the GPS did not work. So after about an hour of trying to get another car with built in GPS or just getting a portable GPS, he finds a portable GPS. He looks at the rental agreement and says "You know it would be cheaper for you to go with the car you originally rented and have the portable GPS." Damn it! The first guy swindled me! Stupid conversion from dollars to pounds! So I go back to the first car. A Toyota Auris Hybrid, not quite the Audi. The attendant helped me program the GPS for High Street, Huntington, Cambridge and I was on my way.
After a few hours of driving on the left side of the road in rainy England my nerves were about shot, but luckily the GPS said that I was nearing my destination. As I pulled into the village my stress level skyrocketed. Freeways were a breeze compared to village driving where there are no rules or sides of the road! I reached the middle of High Street and found a parking spot. I got out and found the first pub I could. I crossed the street and walked into "The Saddle" (26 High Street, Kimbolton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 0HA) http://www.the-saddle.co.uk/home.
It's a nice quite place, there was a polite twenty-something-year-old girl working the bar. The bar itself was small and had a cozy feeling. Nice and clean and you can tell it was newly remodeled, but still had its Old English charm. Other than the bartender there is another girl in the bar. She obviously works there, but is not on shift. They talk about work and the goings on of the village, but it does not seem like they are ignoring me. More like I am just one of the regulars and this is just how shit goes.
Drink Numero Uno in the UK: Guinness
Cost: £5.30
After my first pint I was feeling better so why not have two. I tell the girls where I am headed and ask them if I am close, they discuss it for a bit and then proceed to tell me that it is about 25 mins away still!!! So much for GPS. Well they give me directions and I finish my second pint and out the door I go. Just before I left they did play "American Boy" by Estelle, could have been a coincidence... maybe. I make my way toward my hotel and can tell I am close, but I have to go to the bathroom and don't think I am going to make it. Just my luck, there is a pub on the way. I pull in and this pub is strait out of "Trainspotting," a run down little place with not much going for it other than a usable bathroom and beer on tap. I order.
Drink: Badgers Choice Smooth
Cost: £7.60
I should have stuck with the Guinness. The Smooth was good, but not worth the price. This place was seriously scary. I finished my drink quickly and got out of there before I got stabbed or some soccer hooligans kicked my ass for not knowing who played starting forward for the 1976 Man U team.
"Sure, that will work." I said. Thinking that would be a wise idea.
"Well the only unit we have with a built in GPS is a new Audi. How does that sound?"
"Great, Let's go with that one!"
It's a quick bus ride to the Hertz lot at Heathrow. I get to the car and its a beautiful brand new Audi. I get in and it is just like climbing into a space ship. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to start the car. Once that obstacle was overcome it was time to set up the GPS for the trip. As I messed with the GPS unit it became clear that it did not work. Thinking that it was probably me and not the GPS, I went in the Hertz office near the parking lot, which is not the same as the one in the terminal where I rented the car. I explain the situation to the attendant and he comes to the same conclusion that I did... I probably do not know how to use the GPS.
We both go to the car and he tries to get it to work. Well I am not an idiot, the GPS did not work. So after about an hour of trying to get another car with built in GPS or just getting a portable GPS, he finds a portable GPS. He looks at the rental agreement and says "You know it would be cheaper for you to go with the car you originally rented and have the portable GPS." Damn it! The first guy swindled me! Stupid conversion from dollars to pounds! So I go back to the first car. A Toyota Auris Hybrid, not quite the Audi. The attendant helped me program the GPS for High Street, Huntington, Cambridge and I was on my way.
After a few hours of driving on the left side of the road in rainy England my nerves were about shot, but luckily the GPS said that I was nearing my destination. As I pulled into the village my stress level skyrocketed. Freeways were a breeze compared to village driving where there are no rules or sides of the road! I reached the middle of High Street and found a parking spot. I got out and found the first pub I could. I crossed the street and walked into "The Saddle" (26 High Street, Kimbolton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 0HA) http://www.the-saddle.co.uk/home.
It's a nice quite place, there was a polite twenty-something-year-old girl working the bar. The bar itself was small and had a cozy feeling. Nice and clean and you can tell it was newly remodeled, but still had its Old English charm. Other than the bartender there is another girl in the bar. She obviously works there, but is not on shift. They talk about work and the goings on of the village, but it does not seem like they are ignoring me. More like I am just one of the regulars and this is just how shit goes.
Drink Numero Uno in the UK: Guinness
Cost: £5.30
After my first pint I was feeling better so why not have two. I tell the girls where I am headed and ask them if I am close, they discuss it for a bit and then proceed to tell me that it is about 25 mins away still!!! So much for GPS. Well they give me directions and I finish my second pint and out the door I go. Just before I left they did play "American Boy" by Estelle, could have been a coincidence... maybe. I make my way toward my hotel and can tell I am close, but I have to go to the bathroom and don't think I am going to make it. Just my luck, there is a pub on the way. I pull in and this pub is strait out of "Trainspotting," a run down little place with not much going for it other than a usable bathroom and beer on tap. I order.
Drink: Badgers Choice Smooth
Cost: £7.60
I should have stuck with the Guinness. The Smooth was good, but not worth the price. This place was seriously scary. I finished my drink quickly and got out of there before I got stabbed or some soccer hooligans kicked my ass for not knowing who played starting forward for the 1976 Man U team.
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