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Staffordshire 24 Hours a Day 7 days a Week
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Stafford-Stone-Penkridge-Eccleshall-The Haywoods
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Reviews of the Month!
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Find below & in the reviews section to the left, a selection of local establishments that we have given a review. You can find them in our business listings. For those of you who are wondering where the customer comments/reviews are they will be back soon. You can send your reviews to sarah@stafford247.info .
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The Lunchtime Treat!
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A new addition to Stafford this year was the Greengate Deli (part of The Lewis Partnership) offering a mouthwatering selection of specialist & organic foods, pates, pies, sandwiches & salads & hot & cold meats.
Admittedly there is no shortage of sandwich bars in Stafford & many shops offer pre-packed sandwiches but Greengate Deli is definitely worth leaving your desk for at lunchtime!
Sandwiches are made to order & you can choose from the board or make it up yourself. There is also a “Deli Special” or salad boxes like Chicken Caesar. When I saw what the Deli Special was my choice was made- Salmon with Dill & Lime Mayonaisse at £2.75.
The young lady behind the counter was friendly & after taking my order she asked me what kind of bread I would like- baguette, sliced or ciabatta? I decided on ciabatta & it’s worth mentioning that if you want salad you have to be specific about what you want ie, if you’re like me no tomato please! I settled on a few mixed salad leaves.
My sarnie was then neatly wrapped in Greengate Deli paper & handed over, I paid at the till & hurried back to work!!
It was just delicious & very filling-a whole small ciabatta crammed with fresh salmon fillet mixed leaves & lashings of the dill & lime mayo (actually a little too much but that’s the only negative!), I definitely got my moneys worth, not to mention some envious looks from my colleagues back at work (& no I didn’t share!).
The service is friendly & although a little pricier than your average sandwich bar I though it was great VFM!!
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Mill Street, Stone, Staffs, ST15 8BA, Tel 01785 818456 LOCATION!
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The welcome was friendly & we were handed some menus & offered a drink. I went for a glass of the House White- a Chilean Carta Vieja Sauvignon Blanc at £4.50 for 250ml (£11.95 a bottle) & for himself as usual a pint of appley goodness!
The menu has a good choice of starters & mains with a separate section for Pastas & Risottos which of course my radar locked onto straightaway!
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After turning down the offer of dessert & settling the bill we waddled out into the sunshine & promised ourselves to visit The Mill again soon- Stone’s hidden gem!!
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This is a lovely little café & very friendly! My friend & I often come here on a Wednesday for breakfast before we go to the market.
I usually have Toast & Marmalade which is £1.60, you get 2 rounds & they use lovely thick white crusty bread! My friend always has a Bacon sandwich which is £2.65, the bacon is nice & lean & there’s always plenty of it & they use the same crusty bread!
We both have a cup of tea (95p) & sometimes my friend has a glass of orange juice (£1.50), it sets us up well for some bargain hunting at the market!
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The Movie Review!
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Bond 22 starts off with a screech just 10 minutes after the end of Casino Royal with Bond (Daniel Craig) being chased in his Aston Martin through a treacherous mountain pass. It’s a fast & slick cut chase that would leave Q crying over the car he provided (had he been in the film!).
Then after the usual credit sequence this time sang with gusto by the duo (a Bond first) Alica Keys & Jack White we are into the story of Bond hunting the people who caused his lovers suicide right in front of him.
M (Judi Dench) returns with a shocking entrance (sorry, can’t spoil it!) trying to help Bond as he seems to be out for revenge rather than on a mission for her Majesty’s Secret Service .New Bond girls Agent Fields (Gemma Arterton) & Camille (Olga Kurylenko) are great as foils with the latter being labelled `damaged goods` like Mr Bond.
Brutal fights, rooftop chases & an explosive finale with bond getting to grips with the slimily evil Green (Mathieu Amalric), who is part of a new group that is trying to control the world (no change there then!).
In summary this is a fast & furious post `Bourne Identity` Bond with Craig being the hard `blunt instrument` he is in the books. The character is set up now & if they can introduce Miss Moneypenny & Q for support & by adding the odd mood lightener there will be no stopping Bond. Some may miss the Roger Moore esq. jokes or the more outlandish situations Bond got into in the later Pierce Bronson movies but Craig is Bond & leaves you both shaken & stirred!
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Hurricane Close, Stafford, ST16 1GZ, Tel 01785 270700 LOCATION!
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I went for the British Rump Steak with Sautéed Potatoes on a seasonal salad with Mustard Dressing at £7.95 & the Mrs plumped for the Delice of Scottish Salmon with Asparagus & a lemon & chive dressing wrapped in puff pastry served with British New Potatoes & seasonal veg at £9.95. She’d had this before so there were high hopes!
However it turns out that our hopes were too high on this occasion!
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The Salmon fillet itself was fine but the pastry surrounding it was overcooked underneath & the asparagus tips were charred. I’d like to be able to say that that was all but no there is more!
The huge amount of new potatoes were overcooked & dry (even just tossing them in butter would have helped!) & the Veg was tepid & looked rather anaemic!
It wasn’t just us that were unhappy with our meals either!
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Around us were people who had been waiting ages for food or being served food which was cold- the place seemed to be disorganised generally & whilst I was at the bar I enquired as to where the manager was-surprise surprise he wasn’t there!
It’s a real shame as we have had many excellent meals at the Shire Horse, the best part of this evening was the Antipasti!
Staffordshire247 Verdict:To a paying customer the absence of the manager should have no reflection on the quality of food or the efficiency of service.
Very disappointing!!
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