The English Seaside Crab Sandwich

The English seaside came back into vogue this year with the collapse of the Pound against the Euro. Since Victorian times the English have enjoyed a stroll along the promenade and some seafood from a stall on the front.

Fewer and fewer seafood stalls exist, but you can still find a fair few in the West Country.

The King, Queen and Emperor all rolled into one of hedonistic delight has to be the Crab Sandwich.

A secret the English wish to keep to themselves, the best of the best, none of this Club rubbish. The fishy alternative to a packed salt beef or pastrami on rye and every bit as good if not 100% better.

Crusty light white bread that must be freshly baked. A smear, and it must be a smear, of salted butter followed by a second smear of home made mayonnaise that has been shown a pot of English mustard: Only the vaguest hint of mustard and no more.

The crab meat should come from a big Cock crab, roe just adulterates the taste, the crab must be freshly picked that day and should have been gently boiled in a proper Court Bouillon. The brown meat, just forked, is spread a quarter of an inch thick on one slice of bread, then heaped on top, no less than an inch thick, better if you can manage two, is just cooled white meat in big chunks from the claws, a squeeze from a large organic lemon and a pinch of cayenne to finish.

Greg Wallace would say food doesn't get better than this!

Xiang - Hong Kong in Bedfordshire?

You once had to go to a China Town in one of our big cities to get good, or should I say authentic, Chinese food. Even now it is very rare outside of places like London.

You will be pleased to know then that in Dunstable (Beds, Bucks, Herts borders) a wonderfully authentic Dim Sum restaurant can be found. Run by the sylph like Jenny and her uber brigade on Hong Kong Chefs.

Xiang is fantastic every way you look at it, great food, great service, great prices and extensive range of authentic dishes. You only need to look at the number of Chinese guests to know how special this place is.

Now I go all the time and their fresh crab, lobster and fish dishes are a must but for today drool over a small selection of dim sum. Chocks away....















Siu Mei: prawn and pork steamed dumplings, meaty, fishy parcels of goodness.



Roast Pork Chung fun: the Chinese forerunner to pasta (they invented it you know!) stuffed with sweet caramelised roast pork, in a light soy jus.



Steamed Bean Curd Rolls: crunchy oriental vegetables and large succulent prawns, wrapped in bean curd skins and steamed in a meaty oriental "gravy", a real find these are (Yoda).

Crispy Roast Pork: a generous portion of perfectly executed roast belly pork, most of the fat rendered with crisp skin and moist meat, comes with a couple of dipping sauces, plum and a gravy.

Paper Wrapped Prawns: Big succulent prawns wrapped in melt in the mouth pastry.

Sweet & Sour Crispy Spare Ribs: Meaty, crunchy morsels of moist porky goodness dressed in a light sweet and sour dressing.

Roast Pork Puff Pastries: Caramelised Cha Sui, and a good amount too, wrapped in egg washed puff pastry and baked to perfection, served warm and great for dipping in fiery hot chilli oil.

Roast Pork Steamed Buns: Just like the puff pastries but Cha Sui steamed in a light sweet bread, forget the chilli oil though!

Crispy Squid: Strips of melt in the mouth squid lightly battered and ready for your favourite dip, Greek Boys eat your hearts out!

Cafe Japan - Sushi at it's best

Now that Cafe Japan is opening more often for lunch during the week a Wednesday visit usually results in an immediate table. The days of frantically trying to park and running to be at the door at 11.59am are thankfully a thing of the past.

The lunchtime set menus are superb value, but remember they only take cash.

Hyper polite Chefs chorusing in Japanese some greeting at the door and then drooling over the menu, how I look forward to this.

We had the Super Deluxe assorted sushi - three pieces of super fresh o-toro roll, then 10 pieces of nigiri and gunkan, including, sake, o-toro, uni, sweet shrimp, yellow tail, ikura, tuna, scallop: a bento box of fried chicken with sake boiled salmon, pickles, salad and the fluffiest rice. Further sides of prawn tempura roll, a little extra o-toro and uni nigiri, sesame spinach salad and the addictive miso soup filled us to the limit.

Smiling staff, a very modest bill, and the Chefs chanting a goodbye in Japanese as we left, oh how elated the Emperor must have felt after every meal.

Should I be telling you about the Gem that is Cafe Japan? Probably not as this value and quality needs keeping for the chosen few, but then will anyone read this blog?

Shrivenham Defence Academy

I wanted to avoid the 24/7 hell of the roadwork’s between junctions 16 and 23 of the M25 where the widening work is running everyone’s lives; you know cones everywhere and no one working.

Big mistake......cross country via Aylesbury, saving 30 miles but someone had decided to close the Northern route round Aylesbury, a diversion into a honking mayhem of mini roundabouts and my blood pressure was rising and then the phone rang......

The Headmistress from Rodean? No Henrietta from BBC Radio 4, “We’re trying to track down Professor Richard Holmes, we want him to discuss the Bosworth news on PM today......”

An hour of legally dubious phone calls followed, “No I haven’t got him yet......what about Dr Mike Jones?.....or Frank Baldwin?.......Hell I can’t do it........look he’s in a car on the M1 but hasn’t got his phone with him.............or it could be turned off”

And all the time the sweet voice of the Sat Nav was getting lost, until SHIT where the fuck am I?

An hour and a half had turned into three but I had arrived at Shrivenham, and a new joke came to mind – How many Civil Servants does it take to man a reception desk?

After much debate and negotiation I had my car park pass and map, through the check point and ready to check in........the room this time.

So what about the food I hear you say? Well I don't want to offend so that's all folks.