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Galloping Gourmates, WhereOnEarth. ., Stanford le Hope (2025)

20/08/2025

🍤 “ 𝕊𝕖𝕒𝕗𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕊𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕊𝕥𝕪𝕝𝕖 𝕒𝕥 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕠𝕟’𝕤, 𝔹𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕨𝕠𝕠𝕕” 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕟…❗️

🚙 Nestled just along the A128 in Essex, Masons Restaurant Brentwood Essex offered an ideal stop for our August Galloping Gourmates Luncheon…

🤔 Hard to believe after 30 years, we hadn’t sampled this local venue !

🍻 We began, in keeping with our traditional, 0% beers — this month’s choice being bottled Bitburger 0.0— a crisp and refreshing opener to the meal and a very comprehensive 🍷 wine menu, if participating…?

🍤 Starters set the tone well, with both of us selecting the assorted chilled Seafood Assiette: a well-balanced plate that highlighted the kitchen’s deft touch with fresh ingredients and a very artistic presentation including a tasty crispy topper.
🐟 For the main course, Frank opted for the grilled Sea Bass Fillet while I chose the roasted sea reared Trout. We also shared a side of very decadent cauliflower cheese, ample for two…❗️

🍽️ Each dish arrived elegantly presented, the seasoning precise, and the flavours clean yet satisfying…👌

😬 Too full to attempt dessert, though the options were certainly very tempting…❗️

☕️☕️ We rounded off nicely with a couple of black Americano coffees each.

🫵 Throughout, the service, Kezia was attentive yet unobtrusive, reinforcing Mason’s reputation for polished hospitality.

✅ All in all, Mason’s delivered a dining experience that combined great finesse in the kitchen with excellent service, in a fairly newly redesigned restaurant area, with private dining and wedding options, deceptively large inside, despite the compact looking exterior!— a destination well worth a visit.
😋😋😋

(**Much more detailed dish info in final photo, incase the pics aren’t self explanatory…!)

29/07/2025

“𝔹𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕠𝕗 𝔹𝕖𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕕!” 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 @ Pig & Whistle Restaurant…

🚙 This month I continued my searches for quality restaurants located in the middle of nowhere. This time I came up with the Pig and Whistle just outside of Chelmsford and a true find.
🍺🍺 As now the norm we started with our non alcoholic beers which on a hot day were very welcome, all the more so as roadworks had taken both of us through a maze of country roads.🚧
✍️ For our starters we both plumped for the duck breast with carrot 🥕 puree, pickled carrots 🥕 hazelnuts and shimeji 🍄‍🟫 mushrooms…📷
✍️ One word..👌delicious❗️
😎 For the main course Chris went for the Great Garnetts trio of pork consisting of, Belly, Tenderloin and Olde English sausage. This all accompanied by mash potato 🥔 , pickled beetroot, beetroot puree, braised fennel and cherry 🍒 jus.
📷 It looked spectacular and, according to Chris, was matched by its taste.😋
✍️ I went for the Spinach, Garlic 🧄 and Lemon 🍋 Tagliatelle 🍝 which was very tasty with all the ingredients playing their part.
✅ Very nice.
✍️ It says a lot about the portion size of the mains and the starters as we had to forgo any dessert for fear of exploding 💥 or more realistically dozing 😴 off on the way home🚙
✅ Bearing in mind it was Wednesday lunchtime the Pig & Whistle was very busy.
✅ The service was excellent and the food was good value.
✅Would recommend a visit but make sure you book 📕 in advance❗️
Galloping Gourmates

09/07/2025

🛺 𝕊𝕨𝕚𝕗𝕥 𝕎𝕖𝕕𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕃𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕙…❗️
🥯 𝔹𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝔹𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕝-ℕ𝕠𝕡𝕖 ❎❗️
✅ 𝕊𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕕 𝔹𝕦𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕣…𝕐𝕖𝕡🍔
✍️ ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕟…

Just half the Galloping Gourmates nipping upto Corringham to the Bricklanebagelco Corringham for a midweek treat…
Simply…
🥓 BACON & CHEESE 🧀 💥 SMASH BURGER 🍔
(DOUBLE JUICY BEEF 🥩 PATTY, AMERICAN 🇺🇸 CHEESE 🧀 , SMOKED DANISH BACON. 🥓 , KETCHUP 🍅, LETTUCE 🥬& TOMATO 🍅 ON A BRIOCHE BUN)
✅ Each Patty hand made by Greta from locally sourced beef from Reeds Family Butchers , smashed and griddled to order…and perfection…👌

✍️ Well, what can I say except, I’ll be back, cooked to perfection, still moist, quality ingredients, smashing-ing service too…
🛺 Go pick one up or get one on Deliveroo etc…!

30/06/2025

𝕐𝕠𝕦’𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕃❤️𝕍𝔼 𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕣 ℍ𝔸𝕋𝔼 𝕚𝕥…❓
“ℝ𝔼𝔻 𝔻𝕀𝔸𝕄𝕆ℕ𝔻
𝕊𝕋ℝ𝔸𝕎𝔹𝔼ℝℝ𝕐 & ℂℝ𝔼𝕄𝔼
𝕆ℕ 𝕊𝕆𝔽𝕋 𝕊𝕎𝔼𝔼𝕋𝔼ℕ𝔼𝔻 𝔹ℝ𝔼𝔸𝔻”🍓🍶🥪…‼️
🚨 𝕆𝕍𝔼ℝ 𝕋𝕆 🫵 🚨

Marks and Spencer

13/06/2025

⚓️𝔸 𝔽𝔸𝔹-𝕦𝕝𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕃𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕙 𝕒𝕥 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℙ𝕚𝕖𝕣 ℍ𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕝, 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℚ𝕦𝕒𝕪, ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕨𝕚𝕔𝕙…🚢

☀️ On a beautifully sunny day in Essex, we found ourselves at The Pier , perfectly perched on The Quay in Harwich, with a front-row view of the harbour where the legendary Radio Mi Amigo 106.8 ship is docked. The setting alone—on the outside balcony overlooking the calm waters—was enough to make the lunch experience a bit special…!🚢

🍺🍺 We began our meal with a couple of chilled Low-Tide alcohol-free beers, a refreshing start to what turned out to be an exceptional dining experience. The Galloping Gourmates starters consisted of :
🦈 swordfish skewers and the smoked salmon 🍣 soldiers—both starters arrived beautifully presented and packed with flavour.👌

🍽️ For mains, I went with the thick cut lamb (chunky) chops— served pink to perfection, alongside a crisp pecorino butter lettuce salad 🥗 and buttered baby new potatoes.
🐟 Frank’s poached monkfish wrapped in Parma ham 🥓on crushed new potatoes 🥔 , asparagus , lemon crème fraîche, white wine & chorizo sauce was equally impressive: delicate, tender, and expertly prepared.🙌
🍚 To finish, we both indulged in CHILLED RICE PUDDING Confit pineapple 🍍 , mango 🥭 gel, coconut 🥥 granola & shavings a simple, yet comforting, and just right for the warm weather—accompanied by a couple of strong Americanos.☕️☕️

🌟 What really stood out, beyond the excellent food and stunning view, was the service. Our young server was attentive, friendly, and added to the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.
✅ Everything was presented with care and flair, as you’ll see in the photos.

🦞 In other news…! We were both tempted by the days ‘Special offer’ of lobster 🦞 Thermidor 🧀 salad 🥗 and chips 🍟 , however, we’ll save that for another visit…(their website photo attached) …. Enjoy…😋😋😋
Chris Meads
RADIO MI AMIGO 106.8 FM Harwich

.8

04/06/2025

⬅️ 𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕎𝕖𝕕𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕕𝕒𝕪’𝕤 Galloping Gourmates 𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕟 ✍️ 𝕠𝕗 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝔽𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕜…𝟚𝟠𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕒𝕪 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟝…
🚙 Lad's lunch 🥙 out took us to Margaretting, Ingatestone, where Bartellas Restaurant is situated in the Ivy Hill Hotel. The restaurant itself is smart and modern and with a very traditional feel to it.😉

🍺🍺 As usual, we started with a beer, on this occasion, low alcohol Ghost 👻 Ship 🛳️ . Very nice.😊

🦐 I started with a crayfish and Prawn 🦐 Cocktail 🍹 while Chris had a Smoked Salmon 🍣 and Crab 🦀 Roulade.
My cocktail rather than being served in a glass came encircled in a cucumber 🥒 ribbon and certainly no shortage of prawn 🍤 and crayfish. Great presentation and great taste.😋
Chris's salmon 🍣 and crab 🦀 was equally well received.👌
For our main courses Chris had the Chicken 🍗 with Parma Ham while I plumped for the Pan Seared Sea 🐟Bass.
Both dishes with their accompanying vegetables were demolished with gusto.😛

For our dessert 🍨 we were both drawn to the Tropical 🌴 Meringue 🧁on the basis it would be a light finish to the meal. It was and also a delicious meringue with mango 🥭 and passion fruit . Admittedly it bordered on a sugar overload but well worth the risk.
☕️ We finished with coffees and a complimentary chocolate 🍫 truffle of the chef’s 👨🏻‍🍳 own making, more sugar and yet again delicious.

🏨 In all the Restaurant ticked ✅ all the right boxes.
🤝 Welcoming , good service 👌, good food 🍱 in ample portions and reasonable 💷 prices.✅
🫵 Well worth a visit.✅

26/05/2025

🚨 𝕃𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕪 𝕟𝕠 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕟𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥, 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕪 𝔹𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕞𝕪 𝕊𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔹𝕣𝕦𝕧-𝕚𝕟-𝕃𝕒𝕨, 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕦𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕩 ℂ𝕠𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝔼𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕄𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕒𝕟 𝕗𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 Marley's Turkish Restaurant 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕗𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕘𝕙 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕥…🚙

👌 A typical ‘Turkish’ influenced menu with some very unusual sounding ‘Specials’ dishes too…❗️

🍻 All enjoying the welcoming flat bread and dips whilst perusing the menu, along with couple of draft ‘Efes’ for the lads and a refreshing fruit drink for Sis…

💃 Sis went for a starter of HUMMUS KAVURMA…🥘 Pan fried lamb and pine nuts , served on a bed of hummus
and we went for the PAN FRIED CHICKEN 🍗 LIVERS Sautéed chicken liver with butter 🧈 and herbs🌿 , served with red onion 🧅

😱 Unexpectedly large portions of each, very, very tasty and nicely herb spiced and so tender too…👌

👊 For our mains, Lamb chops for moi and Chicken 🐓 Princess (chopped chicken breast filet’s, sautéed in a creamy Parmesan 🧀 sauce) for Sis 💃 and the Mixed Kebab grill for Bruv, all served with traditional Mediterranean shredded salad 🥗 and Rice 🍚 with Bulgar wheat 🌾 …

👏 All perfectly cooked and as you can see from the pics 📷 , very colourfully presented, yet again, very generous portions, all very slowly enjoyed by one and all…😋😋😋

🖐️ We really delayed any decisions on “to have or not” a traditional Turkish 🇹🇷 dessert of Baclava…❗️
🧐 We finally decided to ‘share’ one between us, as we were each pleasantly ‘stuffed’…

🚨SHOCK- HORROR🚨-they’ve run out-I guess as it’s so popular, Damn’n’blast, I’ll have to have an Espresso ☕️ Martini 🍸 instead…
There’s lots of Turkish 🇹🇷 style restaurants popping up all over and I must say, this one is well worth a visit some time soon if you’re in the Sussex area…🚗

🫵 Enjoy…✅
🙏 We certainly did…✅

Mary Hanmore
Chris Meads

24/05/2025

ℙ𝕖𝕟𝕦𝕝𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕓𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥, 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕩 𝕔𝕠𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕪𝕖𝕥 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝔹𝕣𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕙 The Greedy Breakfast 𝕚𝕟 𝕃𝕖𝕚𝕘𝕙-𝕠𝕟-𝕤𝕖𝕒, 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥 Galloping Gourmates 𝕞𝕪 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥 Scroobius Pip …
🏚️ What a tiny place, or so I thought, until we went to their upstairs via the novel Smeg SMEG fridge ❄️ door to a cosy seating area and sat down to scrutinise the ‘Newspaper📰’ menu’s…

🥸 Such an eclectic mix of breakfast/brunch combos, ranging from Full 🥓English🍳, to all the various Benedict’s, the on Toasts🥪, Waffles🧇 and Pancakes 🥞 , sweet,savoury , 🫵 decide…
😎 I chose The Greedy Benedict.
Sliced breakfast muffin, hash browns
, crispy 🥓bacon with 2 poached 🥚eggs and cheese🧀 sauce…❗️
For my son, the Chicken 🍗 , Bacon 🥓 , Egg 🥚& Waffles 🧇.
Boneless Southern fried 🍗chicken, crispy bacon 🥓 , fried 🍳egg and traditional maple 🍁 syrup 🍯 all on an American style waffle 🧇 ❗️

☕️ We caught up over an americano while our food was prepared downstairs in the open kitchen and in no time at all, here it was…❗️
👌 The most deliciously presented Benedict I’ve ever seen and the most decadent Waffles 🧇 , complete with a pot of pouring maple syrup…❗️
🫵 We challenge you not to ‘ZOOM-IN’ on the photos and lick 👅 your lips 💋 …⁉️
🫶 Perfickly runny poached eggs, crispy bacon and crunchy southern fried chicken…⁉️
🌀 A really refreshingly buzzing atmosphere and an equally busy yet so obliging staff…✅
*️⃣ A great new ‘early’ dining experience for me, I don’t often do breakfast/Brunch, however, this was certainly worth the extra effort to get a shift on first thing…❗️
✅ Thoroughly recommend, it’s worth the effort and as a bonus, just around the corner is Wilma's Bakeryy’ so we called in for a cookie 🍪 or 🍪three,🍪,it’d be rude not to…❗️

22/05/2025

🚙 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕩 𝕔𝕠𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 ‘𝕄𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕒 🏝️ 𝕀𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕’ 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕪 ‘𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕖𝕣’ 𝔹𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕕𝕒𝕪 🎈 𝕃𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕙 𝕠𝕦𝕥 Seafood At Dawn 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 5️⃣ 𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥Galloping Gourmatess…’𝕤 Val, Linda, Jan, Sheila ,Carol…🫵
😎 It was good to introduce my friends to this ‘gem’ just an hour and bit from base… notGalloping Gourmatess first visit and from the praise after, won’t be their last visits either…⚓️
😉 Starters from a great varied selection and between us we sampled grilled garlic 🧄 mussels (moi), potted crab 🦀, mackerel 🐟 pate, cured herrings 🐠 and garlic 🧄 scallops…(huge servings, all complimented by salad and breads…👌
😉 Onto the mains and as often for moi, Skate wing Special, along with Perfect Seafood 🦞 platter, seafood 🍤 linguine, Sea bass fillet, Seafood 🦀 pancake and a portion of Seafood 🦑Loaded Chips 🍟 to share for our guests…
🫵 Everyone agreed that the food, portion size and service were top notch and amazingly we took our time to digest and enjoy a couple of sticky toffee pudds, Lemon 🍋 posset and dairy ice cream 🍨 too…!
All rounded off nicely with a few Americano ☕️ coffees…😋
Along with a fine selection of local beers, wines and of course a couple of jugs of Pimms for the Ladies…
👌(What a gorgeous way to spend my actual BIRTHDAY‼️)🙏
😉 We recommend you visit soon…⚓️Seafood At Dawnn onVisit Mersea Islandd…🏝️
Nice1Paige…🙏

14/05/2025

🛫 𝔸 𝕡𝕣𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕂𝕃 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 Galloping Gourmates 𝕖𝕝𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝔸𝕌𝕋ℍ𝔼ℕ𝕋𝕀ℂ 𝕄𝔸𝕃𝔸𝕐𝕊𝕀𝔸ℕ & 𝕊ℝ𝕀 𝕃𝔸ℕ𝕂𝔸ℕ ℂ𝕌𝕀𝕊𝕀ℕ𝔼 Claypot Kitchen…
ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕡𝕠𝕥 𝕂𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕟, ℍ𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕔𝕙𝕦𝕣𝕔𝕙…🚙
🌎 A wide selection of truly authentic dishes on a comprehensive fusion of cuisines…
🥭 MANGO LASSI for all and WHITE RICE 🍚 + CRAB 🦀 MASALA CURRY 🍛 main course for me,
And around the table to share,
RAITA + PAPADAM NASI PUTIH
BUTTER 🧈 CHICKEN 🍗
NASI GORENG KAMPUNG
NASI PUTIH KAMBING
RENDANG
📷 Not the prettiest looking dishes, any of them, nonetheless, balance of spice and vibrant flavours all a mouthwatering delight, each and every dish devoured…(my whole crab 🦀 a challenge to dissemble and savour the crab meat…!)
🔎 Really tucked away along Tadworth Parade, unassuming from outside, a real gem for those who know…⁉️
😉 Nudge, nudge, Say No More…

https://www.facebook.com/share/1AUBengdsA/?

07/05/2025

𝔸 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕡 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕞𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕜 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 Galloping Gourmates 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕕𝕪 𝕗𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝔹𝕚𝕣𝕥𝕙𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕝 ‘𝕠𝕦𝕥- 𝕠𝕦𝕥’…!, 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕤 “𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕥𝕖 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕥, 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕎𝕒𝕝𝕜, 𝔾𝕣𝕒𝕪𝕤, …now The Pasha Lounge a brand new Mediterranean restaurant, opulent refit inside, a wide very varied Menu, along with a decent range of cocktails…🍸🍹🧉

😋 The set men, two courses and a drink for £16:95 , we really couldn’t go wrong…❗️

😋The Borek 🧀 followed by the Chicken 🍗 Shish and a small Madri 🍻 for me and a really impressive glass of ‘House White’ 🥂 for the ladies, the same starters/mains for us all, followed by Affogatto’s, Baklava and ice creams too…☕️🍧🥧

😉 All in all, smashing quality food, great range of drinks, as always delicious desserts and friendly, chatty service too…!

😉 Good to chat with Frank and will certainly add to the “ real” Galloping Gourmates future destination’s…🚙

Galloping Gourmates

20/08/2025

29/07/2025

09/07/2025

30/06/2025

13/06/2025

04/06/2025

26/05/2025

24/05/2025

22/05/2025

14/05/2025

07/05/2025

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