Good morning, good afternoon and good evening wherever you happen to be reading from. We are playing catch up, and we plan on getting the 40 eateries that we are behind by pushed out through January. How are we going to do this you ask? By doing 4 at once, scaled down, and giving a clear and concise review of each eatery. The eateries in question today are:
- Fika – Chilton Polden
- Fabrica de Pasteis de Nata – Malaga
- Nata 7 – Funchal
- George & Dragon – Long Hanborough
Fika, Chilton Polden, England
Review: This café is located in a small complex in the small village of Chilton Polden in Somerset. Here you can also find a gym, small shops and a small selection of animals such as horses, deer & donkeys. The breakfast bap that we had was very filling, proper sausages and bacon, topped with a hashbrown and tomato sauce, can’t go wrong with it! The coffee was good according to my husband, but I was underwhelmed by the milkshake, personally, I prefer a nice thick milkshake made with ice-cream, but this was on the thin side. Service was good however, as was the décor inside, and the presentation of the food items.
Gourmet Gauge: Good breakfast bap, underwhelmed by the milkshake, was very quiet when we arrived, but the décor inside was nice. Service was attentive and the price point for it all was good too.
Taste: 8/10 🥄
Presentation: 7/10 🍽️
Ambience: 7/10 🕯️
Service: 8/10 👨🍳
Value for Money: 7/10 💰
Total: 37/50 Worth A Visit!
Click here to see where they land on our Gourmet Gauge Scoresheet!
You can find their website here:
Fabrica de Pasteis de Nata, Malaga, Spain
Review: This place holds joint first spot when it comes to one of my favourite sweet treats…a pastel de nata. A classic custard tart with flaky pastry. In my eyes, the flakier the better, and the more “burnt” it is on top, the more intense the flavour. This place got it near perfect. Crispy edges, lovely skin on the top that had been charred. This venue was tucked off one of the streets leading to a central plaza, and had an array of flavours available. The service was good, as was the value for money.
Gourmet Gauge: One of thee best pastel de nata’s I have had. Not too much you can improve on to be completely honest. Service, ambience and value for money were all brilliant too.
Taste: 9/10 🥄
Presentation: 8/10 🍽️
Ambience: 8/10 🕯️
Service: 8/10 👨🍳
Value for Money: 8/10 💰
Total: 41/50 Highly Recommend!
Click here to see where they land on our Gourmet Gauge Scoresheet!
You can find their website here:
Nata 7, Funchal, Madeira
Review: The second eatery where the main attraction is the pastel de nata. This I believe is a franchise/company that is based throughout Portugal and perhaps Spain. I ducked in during a walk, once again, it was another top tier pastel de nata. Crispy on the edges, caramelisation on the top. The ambience wasn’t as good as the one above, felt quite cold inside, not because there was no heating, just the décor made it feel cold.
Gourmet Gauge: Equal on taste compared to the one above, but the charring/caramelisation was a tad better. Service & value for money was very similar in comparison to Fabrica de Pastais de Nata whereas the the ambience was rated slightly lower.
Taste: 9/10 🥄
Presentation: 9/10 🍽️
Ambience: 7/10 🕯️
Service: 8/10 👨🍳
Value for Money: 8/10 💰
Total: 41/50 Highly Recommend!
Click here to see where they land on our Gourmet Gauge Scoresheet!
George & Dragon, Long Hanborough, England
Review: One of our more recent visits. We headed here on a day out to visit Blenheim Palace as well as doing the Silverstone Lap of Lights over the festive period. We wanted somewhere nearby to have lunch, and hence the visit to this little pub. I went for the festive burger, which came with a turkey burger, topped with pulled pork, with a stuffing mayo. On top a pig in a blanket was stabbed through using a skewer and it was accompanied with chips, onion rings and a gravy boat to dunk the whole thing into!
In terms of the food, the presentation and the taste was top tier, even the caramel cheesecake for dessert was very nice. The ambience of the place was very good too, with the dining area being filled with plenty of wood, as well as festive decorations being up, making the place feel very cosy. The only downside was the service, and it wasn’t all of the service. It was great, up until we finished our mains. Then our plates got left on our table for quite a while, they even asked if we wanted the dessert menu, and they still left the plates there. Eventually they got moved, but we also noticed that on numerous occasions they were just stood their talking rather than focusing on the customers.
Gourmet Gauge: Fantastic tasting food with lovely presentation, ambience was cosy and warm and the value for money was pretty good for the portion sizes that we got, service let the place down. This could of easily been in the top 30, but alas.
Taste: 9/10 🥄
Presentation: 9/10 🍽️
Ambience: 8/10 🕯️
Service: 6/10 👨🍳
Value for Money: 8/10 💰
Total: 40/50 Highly Recommend!
Click here to see where they land on our Gourmet Gauge Scoresheet!
You can find their website here:
The Results:
So from todays bulk reviews the leaderboard for these 4 end up looking like:
Fabrica de Pastais de Nata 41/50
Nata 7 41/50
George & Dragon 40/50
Fika 37/50
🌍 Over to You, Fellow Taste Trekkers!
Have you ever found yourself exploring a vibrant city with a craving for good food? Or maybe you’ve stumbled upon a hidden gem during your own travels. We’d love to hear your foodie adventures and recommendations—drop us a comment below and let’s swap stories!
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