OUTER SUBURBS 24 – BREAKFAST AT POPPY’S KITCHEN

 

 

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Yesterday, I had been going to do an early morning visit to the Somerset Levels, but Storm Callum was forecast to hit the UK from the southwest and, for once, I didn’t feel like hurling myself out into the raging elements at unearthly hours.  Must be getting old.  But, anyway, I chose more sheltered pursuits, and so to a breakfast in Poppy’s Kitchen, a newly opened café here in south Bristol.

You may remember my description of another recent full English breakfast, from a local pub – you can find that here .  I don’t want to take you on a long tour through all of the full English breakfast ingredients again, but I do want to say that my breakfast at Poppy’s Kitchen yesterday morning was the best I’ve had in south Bristol.

OK, OK, a few details.  First class ingredients (incl baked beans, which are not shown): in particular, I don’t think the mushrooms were tinned, and they were large, really succulent and full of taste.  The hash browns were even darker and crisper than at the last meal – wonderful! – and, yes, at top right (some of you Americans might like to look away right now) >>> that’s two slices of Black Pudding!  Finally, the presentation of the breakfast’s ingredients attracted the eyes of even this gastronomic hooligan.

And when I chanced my luck and enquired if the Big Breakfast might possibly be accompanied by chips (fries to you people Across The Pond), there was not the slightest hesitation – and what chips they were!  A large portion, of all shapes and sizes and manifestly cut from actual potatoes (as opposed to being artificially manufactured, extruded, whatever), and fried to a lovely light golden brown.  I’ve always enjoyed simple pleasures, of which one is relaxing in a comfy armchair or sofa, forgetting everything, and letting myself drift away into a daydream and a nice doze – heavenly!  And another of these very simple (and inexpensive) pleasures that never ceases to be an outright luxury is eating chips with my fingers and dunking them into tomato sauce – and I’ve met many others who think exactly the same!  Ah, simple pleasures …
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Anyway, breakfast at Poppy’s Kitchen – the menu is above (click on it twice to enlarge it) – and we shall be going there again!  And, as a final point, the very friendly staff said that they will cook anything on the menu at any time of day – so that, should we fancy a lunch for breakfast, they’re up for it – wonderful!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto each image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it.

Technique: TG-5 at 1600 ISO; Lightroom; Poppy’s Kitchen, East Dundry Road, south Bristol; 12 Oct 2018.

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OUTER SUBURBS 23 – AUTUMN

 

 

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Pavement with autumn leaves, sunrise, and the shadows of railings.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 250 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; rotated 90 degrees right; south Bristol; 10 Oct 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 22 – TWO TREES, A FENCE AND ME, AT SUNRISE (MONO)

 

 

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South Bristol at sunrise.  Turning my back on the blinding glare, I saw my shadow and those of two trees thrown across autumn’s leaf-littered lawn.

The trees’ shadows were longer than mine and, after their stark darkness had raced away across the grass, it was deflected sharply upwards by the flat, brightly lit face of a wooden fence.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 49mm (equiv); 500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the High Contrast Harsh preset, and adding a strong Coffee tone; south Bristol; 9 Oct 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 21 – A FULL ENGLISH

 

 

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I cannot by any stretch of the imagination be thought of as a foodie or gourmet.   I simply enjoy eating (and drinking!!!), I not infrequently over indulge, and I have but one simple requirement – which is, if at all possible, that my food and drink should taste at least reasonable or actually nice.  I am not asking for exquisite gourmet cuisine, nor for world class wines – but then neither do I want to stuff my face with either tasteless supermarket stodge or some liquid that, while undoubtedly powerfully alcoholic, equally powerfully reminds me of cats.  Much as I like cats.

Now full English breakfasts can taste very nice, but one has to be careful.  Loads of eateries produce them, they really are loved here, but their quality varies widely.  I mean, anyone can put together the ingredients and serve them up, but the quality of the ingredients – and to a lesser extent their mode of presentation on the plate – can make or break the treat.

Let’s look at this breakfast.  Firstly – and very crucially – it arrived on a warm plate.  Cold plates can crucify hot food, especially in winter.

Then, the classic ingredients (including modern upstarts like hash browns) were all there.  The rashers of bacon were hiding under the toast – Come on out, we know you’re in there! – and they were tasty.  Sausages can be the Achilles Heel of breakfasts, with an almost corpse-like pallor, no texture and very little taste – but these bucked that trend: they appeared burnt but in fact weren’t, they actually had pieces of meat inside (but I could have sworn this pub had a cat last time I was in … ) and they were tasty too – an achievement for this certainly not up market eatery.

So what else?  Well, real (as opposed to tinned) tomato, not quite fried enough but, as always, tasting like Heaven & Chips when eaten with the bacon.  And tasty mushrooms, probably tinned, but certainly good.  Hash browns don’t usually shake my tree, but these these were both tasty and quite crispy, not bad at all.
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There was a rush of customers just as we arrived and so I expected a hastily cooked meal with very runny eggs, but the eggs were reasonably solid, and the beans – well beans are always good!  And then quite a big and thick slice of black pudding – in the picture, that’s the round black thing with all the little white bits of fat in it >>> delicious!

And the accessories?  Well, toast made from bog standard, thin, white, sliced bread – adequate, and certainly better than nothing.  And finally a big, steaming, glorious mug of hot sweet tea, just the thing for washing down (or dissolving away …) all that fat!!!

Click onto each image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – but don’t blame me if you feel suddenly ravenously hungry or, on the other hand, unaccountably nauseous.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Technique: TG-5 at 25mm (equiv); 1600 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 5 Oct 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 20 – PATH THROUGH MODERN HOUSING 2

 

 

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Path between blocks of modern housing.  There is more housing behind the streetlight, fence and tall hedge.  The pipe on the outside of the house on the left is carrying the gas supply.

Earlier pictures of a paths through modern housing are here: 1 .  Each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 35mm (equiv); 640 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 18 Aug 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 19 – MODERN HOUSING 3

 

 

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Three thoughts.

First: the cold, blank, anonymous  and often indifferent face of the Modern World.

Second: an antenna to connect the inhabitants of the Modern House with the Modern World (and, below ground, cable too).

Third: the far freer, if less secure (these days), Natural World.

There are earlier Modern Housing posts here: 1 2 : each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 53mm (equiv); 500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 22 Aug 2018.

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OUTER SUBURBS 18 – MODERN LIFE 5: BESIDE RAILINGS, AT SUNRISE

 

 

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Pavement, outside a children’s playground, as the sun was rising.

There are earlier Modern Life posts here: 1 2 3 4 .  Each will open in a separate window.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 61mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 6 Sept 2018.

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STILL LIFE 250 – LOOKING AT CHAIRS 26: SOUTH BRISTOL (MONO)

 

 

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The backs of terraced houses in Bedminster, south Bristol: garden chairs on an impromptu and rather stark “patio” that is sandwiched between a garage door and a wired security gate – garden chairs??? – relics of this summer’s record breaking heatwave, no doubt.

The first post in this series on chairs, which contains context and an image, can be found here.  Subsequent posts are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  9  10  11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 .  Each will open in a new window.

Click onto the image to open another version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it.

Technique: TG-5 at 57mm (equiv); 500 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Film Noir 2 preset; Bedminster, south Bristol; 12 Sept 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 17 – STORMY SUNRISE (MONO)

 

 

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A rough, stormy sky: clouds and east-facing houses catch the first, blazing rays of the rising sun.  On the right, a telegraph pole spreads its net of telephone wires to the surrounding houses, and there is another of these poles further up the road.  These are older, semi-detached houses, probably built sometime in the 1930s or 1940s.

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further – recommended.

Technique: TG-5 at 57mm (equiv); 200 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; Silver Efex Pro 2, starting at the Full Contrast and Structure preset and adding a moderate coffee tone; south Bristol; 15 Sept 2018.
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OUTER SUBURBS 16 – MODERN LIFE 4: DOUBLE GLAZING

 

 

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Low angle sunlight, just after sunrise: as Our Star rises, the shadows cast by the houses on the other side of the street creep slowly down this manicured suburban facade.

There are earlier Modern Life posts here: 1 2 3 .

The first image in the Outer Suburbs series, with context, is here: 1 .  Subsequent images are here: 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 .  Each will open in a separate window.

Click onto the image to open a larger version in a separate window, and click onto that image to enlarge it further.

Technique: TG-5 at 100mm (equiv); 800 ISO; Lightroom, using the Camera Vivid film simulation; south Bristol; 6 Sept 2018.
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