Food, lifestyle & travel blog – Milton Keynes, London & beyond.
Lunch time. A sea of blandness, beige and Sainsbury’s meal deals. Stodge.
I’ve recently started branching out and seeking sensibly priced grab-and-go alternatives to the endless drivel of lunchtime packaged sandwiches, discovering a whole new world of quality and flavoursome food at establishments across London (predominantly Fitzrovia) like the Bang Bang Vietnamese Canteen on Warren Street.
Continue reading “Lunching at Wrapchic, Goodge Street London”
Hot on the heels of our recent Deliveroo coming to Milton Keynes post, with some corporate stuff out the way, we feel that it’s about time for us to return to what we’re all about and love… local artisan food and drink.
Regular readers of Two Men About Town (TMAT) will know that we love the Milton Keynes food scene; whether it’s exploring new ventures such as Taco Shack Milton Keynes, new pizzeria Murati’s in Wolverton, Affamato Pizza, community cafe Heavenly Blends… or more well known but no less special haunts such as The Swan at Salford, The Black Horse in Woburn or Percy’s BBQ Takeaway, we’re blessed in the city town with a bursting melting-pot of fantastic local business offering home-cooked and locally-sourced grub.
Continue reading “Local grub at the MK Feast, Bradwell Abbey in Milton Keynes”
You know what? I fancy a take away tonight. You probably do too but then comes the age old question; curry, Chinese, pizza or kebab? If you think about it a bit more, you might come up with a couple of other options; Thai, or BBQ maybe but what you really want is a plate of pasta or chicken from your favorite restaurant. But the truth is that you can’t be bothered to go out and they don’t deliver… or do they?
Continue reading “Deliveroo and Jamie’s Italian, Milton Keynes; a review?”
Stratford Road, Wolverton is hardly a go-to of high-end gastronomic delight; Dixy Chicken, Silver Sea Chinese, Al Kebab Hut but to name a few. Oh, and a rather run down (but admittedly good) hand car wash and a petrol station. Not then a likely location then for a new (and credible) authentic family-run pizzeria.
Continue reading “Muratis Pizzeria; Pizza from a Wolverton hand car wash.. you’re joking, right?”
Skiiing is fun, don’t get me wrong. But Canada is big. Really, really, really big and it’s got so much more going on in every season that doesn’t involve strapping yourself onto two giant lolly sticks and pushing yourself off the side of a mountain. So if you’re a little overwhelmed with the place, need a few suggestions about what to do and where to go that isn’t skiing and that won’t disappoint, take a look at a few of these tips from Mrs P and I. They certainly aren’t exhaustive but you can be damn sure you won’t regret doing them.
Continue reading “10 Amazing things to do in Canada that aren’t skiing”
As quintessentially British as a bowler hat in the rain, the Maytime Inn sits proudly at the centre of the smallest village I’ve ever seen. It seems to be becoming a bit of a habit now that Mrs P and I are asked to go and offer our totally unwarranted opinion on the merits or lack-thereof of these little pockets of English heritage and so it was that we were called back to the Oxfordshire countryside for another testing evening, although why all these people want to hear what I think is still beyond me!
Still, never one to disappoint, I have to say that first impressions of the Maytime, were impeccable. I would not have asked for a better evening as the sun beamed down and winding our way down the absurdly small lane leading us into the village actually felt like we were driving into pub perfection – hills and fields on the right, quaint little cottages on the left and a beer garden that smelled of mint and rosemary in the afternoon heat.
As a foodie, there are three things in particular that get me excited. “What are they?” I hear you ask… well my friends, let me share them with you:
If you haven’t already guessed, I was rather looking forward to trying out the very latest entrant to the ever-growing Milton Keynes food scene, Taco Shack. Popping over to Wolverton on a sunny Thursday evening, I found the chaps parked up in their new pitch just outside of the Co-Op and Agora Shopping Centre. It was time to get eating. Oh boy!
Continue reading “Taco Shack Mexican Street Food, Milton Keynes: Review”
Have you ever been somewhere that looked like a postcard from a faraway tropical paradise? I hadn’t. That is, I hadn’t until I arrived at Excellence Playa Mujeres, Mexico.
In dire need of a break owing to a big promotion at work and having tackled a whole host of stressful life changing events, I booked my fortnight trip to Excellence Paya Mujeres via Thomson – I figured a few weeks away in the sunshine was just what I needed. Having previously treated myself to a week in Dubai, I opted for Mexico and Excellence Playa Mujeres based on the endless photos of golden sandy beaches, all-inclusive luxury and the promise of lots of sunshine. Oh, and the cocktails. Definitely lots and lots of cocktails.
Continue reading “Excellence Playa Mujeres Resort, Mexico Review: A little bit of paradise?”
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone is as much of a British institution as strawberries and cream, fish and chips, the Red Arrows, unpredictable weather and queuing. So *obviously* I was excited to once again go to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit, especially as a huge Formula One fan.
Last week I may have mentioned that I went to The White Horse, this week I’m back in Milton Keynes(ish) as Mrs P and I were invited to the Swan at Salford to check on their new Summer menu. Sister pub to the Black Horse in Woburn, The Swan Salford is a different propersition altogether and is situated on the corner of the main road through Salford. Well, I say main road but the village is so small that it only has two roads to choose from so you couldn’t really miss the Swan even if you tried!
I like pubs. Pubs are great because they show exactly where Britain’s contribution to world gastronomy came from. The French may have invented the cafe, the Italians are rightly proud of their Osteria’s and the Germans can hold their heads high with a good Beirgarten, but my heart is down the pub and I feel that hauling these pockets of British social cohesion back into relevance one pint of social beverage at a time is the best way to remind ourselves why it would be a terrible thing if they were to disappear.
Having then set the scene for this review, Duns Tew is about as English a village as you might ever hope to visit. Mrs P and I drove along the high street amusing ourselves with stories of an alternative universe where we could afford to move there. Before long though, we pulled into the White Horse and it was everything I had hoped, the place looked fantastic – and full. Very full.
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