The Olive Kitchen, Martock, Somerset cafe review

Located in a tent at the back of a rather chichi looking industrial estate in the Somerset village of Martock, the Olive Kitchen is no ordinary workers’ caff. 

Serving a lunchtime menu of Middle Eastern inspired salads, sandwiches and grills as well as classic breakfast dishes, the Olive Kitchen utilises fresh produce from its kitchen garden as well as meat sourced direct from a local farm. 

To drink, I had an excellent iced americano and a very good Clear Head alcohol free beer from Bristol Beer Factory whilst a friend enjoyed a rather pretty raspberry concoction. 

On the food front, Mrs G was a fan of soft laffa bread wrap (£14) stuffed with a flavour-packed combination of halloumi, sweet potato fritters, gooseberry relish, yoghurt and fresh salad. 

I had the Merguez smash burger (£18), which saw a pair of big-spiced lamb and beef patties stuffed into a soft bun with crispy onion rings, garlic mayo, and pickled jalapenos. Accompanied by crisp fries and well-mayonnaised red cabbage slaw, it was a very tasty burger.

But, the standout was the Olive Kitchen mezze platter (£19), which was a real sight to behold. A kaleidoscope of colours, the well-sized platter was laden with halloumi fries, leek and feta croquettes, sweet potato fritters, broad bean hummus, roasted carrots, spicy rice, and spiced pear chutney amongst other things. It’s fair to say that I was rather envious. 

One mate supplemented their platter with excellent sticky pork belly skewers (+£5) and the other with good Mansaf chicken (+£4).

The Olive Kitchen’s other main attraction is a very impressive looking display of cakes, tarts and bakes.

With a big dinner in store, I shared a slice of raspberry and vanilla sponge. It was just as well, because it was massive. Light and soft of crumb, the tart raspberries balanced well with the sweet vanilla icing. It was an excellent sponge.

A warm piece of pecan pie topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream also got the thumbs up. 

We had a delicious lunch at the Olive Kitchen. With its flavour-packed Middle Eastern inspired dishes, delicious bakes and friendly service, it’s a charming place for a casual lunch.

The Details:

Address - The Olive Kitchen, Stoke Road, Martock TA12 6RR

Web - https://www.olivekitchensomerset.uk/

Telephone - 07380 732437

Holm, South Petherton, Somerset restaurant with rooms review

After 20 years on TV, Great British Menu still attracts the hottest culinary talent from across the UK and has made household names out of chefs like Tom Kerridge, Aktar Islam and Angela Hartnett.

Alongside winning a Michelin star or securing a glowing review from a national restaurant critic, it seems to be the most sure-fire way for a restaurant to secure a boost in bookings.

I recently read Sally Abe’s excellent autobiography where she talked about the increase in reservations that she saw at the Harwood Arms and the Pem during her appearances on the show.

One contestant to put in a respectable performance this year was Nicholas Balfe, a self-taught chef from Yeovil, who previously founded the highly regarded Salon and Levan in London before moving back to the Somerset village of South Petherton in 2021 to open Holm.

Representing the Southwest, Nicholas made it through to the regional finals with some delicious looking food.

Coincidentally, a friend of ours had suggested a trip to Holm the week before Nicholas appeared on the show, at which point I’d never even heard of it. Fast forward a week later and I was biting their hand off for us to get booked in.

Located in a former bank in the heart of the village, clearly a lot of love and dosh has gone into stripping Holm’s building back to its bare bones and furnishing its dining space and seven bedrooms with high end furniture, beautiful fabrics, and chic art.

It’s undoubtedly one of the most stylish and comfy places I’ve stayed in the UK.

But, enough about the interior design, let’s talk about the food. With a focus on seasonal and local produce, Holm’s cooking is contemporary yet not too fussy.

When we arrived, a pair of squidgy chocolate and sea salt cookies waiting for us in our room got things off to a very good start.

Included in our well-priced £357 dinner, bed and breakfast rate was a multi-course tasting menu for two, which would normally set punters pack £85 a head. There’s also an a la carte available if that’s more your bag.

During the evening, we worked our way through a few lovely bottles of wine including a Pierre Chainier Cremant de Loire (£52), a Ciu Ciu organic Pecorino with a nice touch of oak (£45) and a clean Les Cadoles Macon Chardonnay (£54). Slightly disappointingly, despite having a compact wine list, a couple of other bottles we wanted to try were sold out.

A quartet of snacks to kick off the meal were all very good indeed.

Treacly crusted warm sourdough was excellent with silky whipped butter.

A bright and summery green gazpacho hummed with cucumber, garlic and green herbs.

A leaf of green vegetation was the vehicle for delivering flakes of trout and savoury and citrusy anchovy mayonnaise to my mouth.

Golden cube-shaped Westcombe cheddar fries had a good poke of cheese and tang of pickled walnut. But, I do like a melty ooze when cheese is involved, and these were just a little too firm in texture for me.

Onto the first course proper, and slices of meaty cured sea bream were bathed in a palate-livening ponzu dressing and topped with slices of zippy pickled radish and sweet cicely leaves. However, I wasn’t a fan of a definite back note of fishiness to the dish.

Next up was a very good pasta dish. Agnolotti pillows were filled with creamy herb-flecked ricotta and bathed in a potently rich and cheesy pecorino sauce punctuated with the occasional sweet pea. Golden cheese crisps provided very good texture contrast.

Onto the meat course, and a chicken breast and lightly crumbed piece of chicken thigh were served with a piece of charred hispi cabbage topped with a wild garlic salsa verde, a glossy chicken sauce and a blob of punchy wild garlic mayo. However, I must admit that I struggle to get excited about chicken breast, even when it’s cooked as well as this.

The cheese course (£10.50 supplement) divided opinion. I was a fan of soft and creamy Yarlington topped with a big dollop of spiced apricot chutney and fennel seed cracker sticks. Others felt that the cheese was slightly dominated by its accompaniments.

Dessert was one of the standouts of the meal. A scoop of smooth milk ice cream was accompanied by fragrant macerated strawberries.

The knockout centrepiece was a warm strawberry frangipane sponge with a soft almondy crumb dotted with pieces of fruit. Someone really knows how to bake at Holm.

Petit fours were very good too. A dark chocolate salted caramel was reminiscent of a luxury Rolo whilst airy honeycomb was the gift that kept on giving as I was still picking bits out of my teeth for a good while later.

After an excellent night’s sleep, we had a superb breakfast the following morning. Somerset apple juice was accompanied by nutty homemade granola with thick yoghurt and spiced apple compote.

Thick slices of oak smoked trout were joined by homemade hash browns, fudgy yolked eggs, and more of that excellent sourdough. 

If breakfast wasn’t already generous enough then sticky yet not too sweet cinnamon buns were offered for dessert. Whilst Mrs G guzzled hers there and then, I boxed up mine for a mid-morning snack.

We had an excellent stay at Holm and I’m very glad that Great British Menu led me to its doors. Whilst we had a few minor quibbles with dinner, it’s a charming destination and unquestionably one of the most stylish getaways I’ve had in the UK.

The Details:

Address - Holm, 28 St James's Street, South Petherton, Somerset TA13 5BW

Web - https://holmsomerset.co.uk/

Telephone - 01460 712470

Desi Dera, Cathays, Cardiff Pakistani restaurant review

By most accounts it’s a perilous time to be running a hospitality business in the UK.

According to one recent survey, a third of hospitality businesses are now running at a loss and 60% have had to cut jobs to try and stay afloat.

And with businesses like Gary Usher’s excellent Kala bistro shuttering its doors and Bristol’s acclaimed Sonny Stores pivoting to a more financially sustainable approach, it all makes for rather depressing reading.

So, to open a new restaurant in the current climate is a very brave (or bonkers) thing to do.

Especially doing so without any web presence or social media to promote your business.

Which is exactly what Desi Dera, a new Pakistani restaurant on Crwys Road, seems to have done.

Having walked past it the other week, I googled it and all I could find was a registration on Companies House and a pending Scores on the Doors rating.

So, after a few happy hour beers at Pop n Hops, we decided to check it out.

With its gilded décor and functional furnishing, Desi Dera’s dining space is deceptively large. On the midweek night we visited there were just a couple of other occupied tables. The absence of the hum of chatter or any background music gave the place a slightly library-like atmosphere.

Desi Dera’s menu includes familiar grill favourites like seekh kebab and chicken tikka whilst an extensive range of curries includes bone-in or bone-off lamb or chicken karahi as well as specials like nihari and haleem.

With the scorching hot weather, we were both in the mood for grilled meat and so ordered the rather good value looking platter for two (£24.99).

But first complimentary poppadoms arrived as soon as we sat down. This kind of generosity always endears a place to me. Crisp and grease free, they were accompanied by solid mango chutney, mint yoghurt and chilli sauce. However, a side salad looked a little sad around the edges.

To drink, a mango lassi (£2.50) was ice cold but light on fruit flavour. Judging by the logistical challenge involved in preparing it, I’m not sure how many people have ordered one since Desi Dera has opened.

After a reassuring wait alongside the pleasing waft of chargrilling from the kitchen, our handsome platter was delivered.

Standouts were juicy and char-licked chicken wings, well-seasoned chicken seekh and meaty masala fish with a lightly spiced coating. Chicken tikka and lamb chops were both good too but I found them to be a little too salty – Mrs G, a sodium fiend, disagreed. Lamb seekh kebabs had good flavour but were a touch on the dry side.

Beneath all that grilled meat were excellent crisp fries and a mountain of buttery and fragrant lentil-flecked rice.

A pair of whopping naan breads were soft and crisp in all the right places.

Lentil dahl had a compelling meatiness and was a lovely sauce over the top of everything.

Stuffed, I doggy bagged up a meal’s worth of food to take home for my dinner the next day. With its well-priced and well-spiced cooking, we had a very tasty meal at Desi Dera. I hope they manage to find their niche in Cathays.

The Details

Address - Desi Dera, 101 Crwys Rd, Cardiff CF24 4NF

Telephone - 02922972785

Nefis Cafe, Cathays, Cardiff Turkish breakfast review

Ever since Cardiff Turkish breakfast trailblazers Longa opened their doors back in 2019, more and more cafes across the city have started to serve a similar offering.

As the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

One spot dishing out a similar menu is Nefis Café on Cathays’ Crwys Road, whose strapline is a “Taste of Istanbul”.

Located on the former site of Stagg Coffee, Nefis’ expansive outdoor seating area and eclectic inside space make it a comfy spot for all of Wales’ climactic extremes.

On the menu are traditional Turkish breakfast dishes like menemen and sucuk with eggs, baked goods such as simit bagels and borek, and house specials like manti dumplings and hummus with slow cooked lamb.

However, it was the Nefis Turkish breakfast that caught my eye. For £12 you can choose a main from a selection of five dishes, accompanied by a selection of eight sides, bread and Turkish tea. On paper it’s extremely good value – unusually, even more so than the version for two people that costs £25.

Despite Nefis being pretty busy on a weekday lunchtime, my order arrived quickly. And what a looker it was with its ornate centrepiece surrounded by a bevy of treats.

The main event, kavurma and eggs saw scrambled eggs flecked with pieces of intensely flavoured and tender slow-cooked lamb scattered with palate warming chilli flakes.

A little light on seasoning, it really kicked up a gear when it combined with a smear of fragrant and spicy cemen, a harissa-esque red pepper paste that featured as one of the accompaniments.

A generous basket of soft-crumbed Turkish bread was an essential mop for the eggs and selection of sides. I intended to only eat half the basket, but my carb-grabbing reflex got the better of me and before I knew it I’d devoured the final piece.

Out of the eight sides, grilled halloumi and a puck of tangy cream cheese were the highlights. Sweet honey with a dollop of clotted cream was also lovely slathered over the bread to make a mini dessert.

The only real dud was a tepid hot dog in a bland tomatoey sauce. A dollop of jam was decent but light on fruit intensity.

A large glass of fragrant and sweet Turkish tea was a delicious drink.

When I’d just about polished everything off, a complimentary piece of crisp and sugar-soaked baklava arrived to bring a sweet conclusion to my meal.

I really enjoyed my Turkish breakfast at Nefis. Whilst it doesn’t quite hit the same highs as Longa’s version, it’s really excellent value for £12 all in. If you’re in the market for a Middle Eastern breakfast in Cardiff, then it’s well worth checking out.

The Details:

Address - Nefis Cafe, 83 Crwys Rd, Cardiff CF24 4NF

Web - https://nefiscardiff.co.uk/

Telephone - 020 3342 1106