good Polish Portions at good Polish Prices

Sometime over easter holiday, there appeared a new restaurant around the corner on Gloucester Road. EasyJet orange chairs, paintings of the Beatles on the wall, and a sign that beckons you to come in and enjoy “Delicions Fresh Polish Food.” The delightful misspellings and half-translations don’t stop there. Really, it is part of the appeal that not everything has been translated properly into english. It adds a new dimension of authenticity of the experience. As I have learned, it is fun to go into a restaurant in a foreign country where you don’t know anything on the menu. In your home country (or at least one which shares its language with you) you would expect to be able to read menus clearly. Chopin provides the perfect balance of the experiences.

This is, by the way, a review. As far as I can tell, this is the second review of Chopin to hit the interwebs. A not so thorough search on the googles indicates that a Mark Taylor beat me to it.

So. My first experience was probably within a few weeks of the restaurant being opened. M and I headed there for a cheeky “Beef Stroganow” before dinner. We got it takeaway and it took about 10 minutes, what one might expect for a takeaway. Nothing to be surprised about here. We got home and opened the box, delighted to find a massive load of meat and gravy. This was definitely the hearty fare that we expected. The two of us split the tab, which was £4. Very cheap for a large main course, even if it didn’t have any vegetables with it – though, if we had sat down to eat it, it would have come with bread.

The next visit had ulterior motives. We had just booked tickets to Poland and needed a hostel to stay in. The only hostel in Rzeszow required phone booking. M, A and I headed to Chopin for lunch. We dined on massive baked potatoes and hearty soups before lectures. The waitress/hostess/lady who works there, was very sweet and tended to the table probably the perfect amount – she made sure that we had everything we needed without being pesky. This is when we learned that she doesn’t speak much english. Generally fine as the menu is numbered, but when we asked if she could make a phone call for us, she stalled. She got the chef out to handle us. Very nice chap as far as we can tell, was amused to fine we were going to Rzeszow, and said we should go to Warsaw instead.

I came to frequent the restaurant more, hitting it three days in a row at one point. The food is hearty, fresh and served in large portions. The prices are pretty much as low as possible. Side dishes are all 99p, but these can easily be a starter for their size. I personally love the fried beetroot and the cabbage. Every day has a special deal on, which I have taken advantage of twice. Once was a free starter of bread, pate and lard, which is surprisingly nice. Not a big fan of pate, but this one was nice, and the lard mixed in was an interesting substitute to butter on bread. Sunday is pork chop schabowy day, and their fried pork chop (comes with cabbage and chips) is only £5.20, a decent discount from the usual. At one point, there were six of us having dinner there. each of us had two or three courses and a pint. The total was less than £60. At least two of us eked out three courses on a tenner.

This is my review of the pork chop. One review (yes, that only other review), doesn’t rate it highly, claiming that the flattened pork chop schabowy could have been anything, chicken, veal, pork, cork or a shoe insole. The author is certainly right, it could have been anything, but for those who would prefer to ignore skepticism, this is not a relevant point. I would like to add that while it could have been anything, it tasted like a fried pork chop. People are less likely to confuse tastes, such as pork, chicken, and insoles, if they know how to tell the difference between the items. So, if one thinks that the pork chop schabowy it could have been chicken or veal, it is probably an indication that all of the chicken, veal and insoles they have had actually taste of pork. I have been fortunate to have good quality and diverse foods in my life, and I am inclined to say that it tasted of pork. I am not an authority on how insoles taste, so I do not speak with the authority Mr. Taylor has. One housemate even gave a good rating to their burger, not what I would have thought to have at a Polish restaurant, but well done nonetheless. Bigos, which is described on the menu simply as “Bigos” is delicious, various smoked meats in cabbage. Potato thug pie was enthusiastically recommended by the waitress, and it turned out to be some sort of large potato pancake folded over a meaty gravy-y filling. For £7.20, this is a cracking deal for hungry people who don’t want to be hungry anymore. Or even for those who just like the rich taste of good meat in a tasty gravy. You cannot lose.

I have eaten many other things there, and sampled off other peoples plates as well. These things I found to be good. My main complaint was that the chicken soup with noodles was very hot, and the layer of oil on top (its the same in Poland, I found) keeps the soup from cooling off. So, it was a bit hot. There are times (about half the time I have been) when they run out of things in the kitchen. They always come up with an acceptable substitute, as far as I can tell.

So, to summarize:
Large portions.
Hearty food.
Meat.
Very cheap.
Really, really cheap – £10 for three courses and a pint.
They find it jokes when you tip in Zloty.
Excellent rail links: walking distance of Redland station and Montpelier station.

This is where it is.

Really, cracking resteraunt. I don’t think they know anything about profit margins, and seem to be having a hard time drawing in customers. It is very nice inside and the staff are about as lovely as they come. The ad hoc substitutions and minimal english make the experience exciting and authentic in a whole new way. Go there. Its delicions.

This is the part where I load the post with keywords in the hopes that it will be picked up by the great algorithm by which we search the interweaves: Chopin Bristol Gloucester road arches fresh Polish food takeaway take away eat cheap good Chopin restaurant.

Ah, and here is the address/phone number:
217 Cheltenham Road
Bristol BS6 5QP
0117 904 3573

sewing machines

Recently i walked into a charity shop up the road and was greeted by a foot pedal powered Singer sewing machine:

For only £95 you could be the proud owner of a classic foot powered sewing machine. For the anyone too lazy to pump their feet, an electric motor had been installed also. That could be removed, and a band put on to make it fully functional again. The drawers were already stocked with brightly colored thread:

I remember we always used to have a broken Singer table on our deck. The foot pedal was cracked. The top had been replaced with a few 2×6’s. It was always a bit of a mystery to me, but the crank turning the flywheel was always fascinating. Ingenious.

Moving on to today. Another charity shop (they are in fierce competition around here) is selling a hand cranked sewing machine. Much more compact and practical i should say:

For £40, this one just needs a little oil and love. Only comes with black thread, which is a bit of a drawback.

If anyone is interested in getting one, let me know and ill see if its still there!

today i overheard that blackbeard was from bristol

yes, i know these posts are coming a bit fast right now, so, there are three from the past couple of days if you wanted to read them in the right order.
i went up to cabot tower again today, as it was beautifully clear, and i knew that it would be open. and wow, the view from up there is simply amazing with no fog, i might go back to watch the sunset if its still open…
i got a 360 degree picture while i was up there, its quite large, and flickr made it quite small, so just click the link below for the full size image. dont mind that some buildings fit together really strangely, its the concept that i was going for.
http://jrtaff.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/city-360.jpg
the gardens on brandon hill are some of the most pretty gardens i have seen. this is the water garden that spills out from the tower and treks down part of the hill. the hill slopes down into the rest of the city below it.

there are more pictures on flickr, including what is said to be the longest crescent in europe, wills memorial building with the scaffolding coming down, and a better picture of the college green. that was quite nice, and ill add something onto this if i end up getting back up there for sunset, if its open is suppose.

hallows eve (i love this city)

this is what lonely dance floors do. the sit.

ghosts.

“Put your hands up for Detroit (I love this city)” seems to be the most popular song in all of Bristol… it is played every night, every where.

This is the panorama i pieced together, half of the Lizard Lounge dance floor.

and an unrelated nighttime picture of the clifton suspension bridge:

you should check them out on the flickr to get a better idea what they look like.

this is what fog does:

Before:

After:

Here is the fog that was promised. Everyone who has ever heard of England has heard of fog. It comes and goes here, settleing in thick for a few days, or just passing with the sunrise. Today was one of those days where the fog hangs around. Rain was involved of course, but this is a fine example of what the fog can do to a city. The most distant thing that i can make out is probably about a mile away, while i can usually see clearly the four miles to the horizon. (Probably would see more if the hills werent the last thing there was).
In other news, it was acoustic night in the JCR last night. Representing D-Unit, James kicked it off with some excellent covers and one or two original songs before rushing off stage to attend another concert nearby. After the second act the entire front row got up (all D-Fry) to get to our pizza break. Ed and I followed up the performances with a few games of pool against various people passing through.

950 miles from rome, 120 from london.

There are two points in the world that are 950 miles from Rome, and 120 miles from London. One of them is quite an exceptional place.
Cabot tower, on Brandon hill.

I went for a walk today, not having much else to do, and wandered into the Brandon hill park. I found the door to the tower opened, and went inside. A long spiral staircase of brick and concrete leads to the first platform, maybe two thirds of the way up, the winds whipped around and the view was impressive. A narrower staircase leads up to the top platform, 100 feet total, 334 feet above sea level. Engravings note distances to major cities and local landmarks from the top. The view was incredible, and i learned that the far hills (the horizon that i can see when its not quite so foggy) are only four miles away.
I didnt have my camera, but i could imagine a huge amalgamation of photographs might work for a massive 360 degree view…
And i noticed, even Banksy had to have a go at the tower with a “Caution: Giraffe” stencil inside at the top.

Ill go sometime with a camera. It is quite a beautiful park, and i have a few pictures of it (the one at the top of this post) but there is so much more to see there. Quite an amazing place, and it is so quiet and friendly in the middle of the loud happenings of Bristol.

as promised

cabot tower from my window. in a bit of sunshine.
It is a lovely day today. I got to sleep late after dad called to tell me that they would be here around 1. Then that got bumped back to 3. Ed might go fly his kite at the downs today. As its warm and breezy today. But there is always wind above the bridge, so i guess thats always fair game for the kite flying crowd. Driving in the cotswolds today? and tomorrow is Brecon Beacons! im excited, very much so.

in the land of harry potter.

well… i arrived in bristol today (wednesday). this morning, through the thick clouds to the nice little airport. customs was about as easy as it gets. straight off the plane you show your passport to the agent, get your bag and walk through the line that says “nothing to declare” you pass a sign that threatens (politely) punishment if you actually should have declared something, and then youre out of the airport! its easier to get into here than it is for me to get back into the US.
ride into town.
cafe lunch in clifton after checking out my room, quite a view involved there. we saw the door to clifton hill house (CHH) was open so we popped in. Pat, the cleaning lady, gladly showed us my room, saying it was the best one because it had a view, and was on the quiet end of the hall. i will try to put up pictures.
quite a lovely little town. busy, but lovely. i do like it so much. it is quite a diverse town i must say. of course, largely british people, but you can hear many languages walking down the street. a whole host of european languages, then a smattering of middle eastern and asian languages in there. and the people are about as diverse. a lot of indians, and plenty of asians. but from the sounds of accents floating around, there is a large amount of europeans milling about this town. the streets are a tangled mess, and most of them quite narrow. a street will have multiple names, or be known as something, and labeled as something else. some roads go through ninety degree turns and come out with the same name on the other side! quite wild. but i am starting to know the lay of the land near me. and i can identify a major building or two. You do have to be careful about looking the proper way when crossing the street.
tour of the precinct at 3 with a few other international students. a few germans on a year abroad to improve their english, we chatted about the mysterious workings of the german university system.
For dinner, we strolled about up Whiteladies Street and found a slew of indian restaurants (five within a few feet of each other!) to chose from. We chose Jubo Raj, where i had a most amazing Lamb Tikka Marsala. Wow. They do have good indian food here. Oh yeah, the pre-dinner exploration yielded 3 Banksy stencils and after dinner I spotted another one. check for those wherever i am posting pictures.