Austrian food & Beer in Salzburg (@NLi10)

I decided that the very Austrian place near my hotel would be a good place to have my last evening meal.  It always looked quiet but on going in the beer garden was rammed to capacity and only the inside bits were quiet. I was happy to sit inside and found myself a table in the Industrial Zone (they brew the beer here!)

And here is the beer - in a reusable bottle.  Well I did ask for the big one!

Already shaking clearly the bottle tells you a bit about the beer.  We don't care so much about that in the UK.

Drinking a beer that was made in the room you are in is quite cool though.

But what to eat!

I had the Schnitzel of course - as I wasn't getting off the train in Vienna it only seemed fair to have it here.

Look at that amazing veggie sauce!

And the flat pig was very good indeed.  I could have eaten here every night I suspect and had other regional delicacies.  Yum!!

The beer was pretty good too, it did taste quite crisp and fresh, but I'm really no expert there.

Queen Bee English Ale (Aldi) By @SpectreUK

I am worried about my sweet tooth! I was searching in the cupboard for some marmalade earlier, as I wanted marmalade on toast and boiled eggs for a late breakfast. Instead I spied an unopened tin of treacle at the back of the breakfast cupboard and thought; "why not? I've been to the gym. I should have burned off and still be burning off enough calories for two pieces of toast covered in butter and treacle." So I did. I used to love treacle on toast when I was a lad. It was my favourite breakfast, now it's a Full English with all the trimmings, including black pudding and fried bread. However, today once I'd toasted, spread the butter and taken great joy in winding quite a few spoonfuls of treacle onto my toast, I took one bite and just wasn't that bothered. Cinabar has promised me some homemade flapjacks to further test my tastebuds, which I'm now rather looking forward too…

After all that rambling, I'm hoping I do like this Queen Bee Honeyed English Ale, from the Hogs Back Brewery. I've always loved honey brewed with beer, so I'm not too worried about my sweet tooth here. Having said that, I'd always loved treacle on toast too. On opening the bottle there was a sweet malted barley aroma, mixed with a hint of honey followed by herbal hops to finish. Mmm… my tastebuds were salivating, but they were for my treacle on toast earlier. This 4.2% volume deep golden almost brown ale oozes smooth sweet malty flavours to start with. The honey is well mixed in but clearly adds to the sweetness, whereas the hops have a light yet bitter flavour to finish into the aftertaste that left a little buzz on my tongue. Maybe the bee wants his honey back?

Jammie Dodgers – Jam & Yoghurt Snacks (Tesco) By @Cinabar

It think it is fair to say I expected to dislike these Jammie Dodgers – Jam & Yoghurt Snacks. They struck me as a new product that wasn’t particularly related to the original. Yes they have jam, but the biscuit has changed format and shape and they have also added yoghurt to the filling. I guess they just seemed quite distanced from the original product, and frankly nobody should mess with the formula that makes a Jammie Dodger, it is a British icon after all. These aren’t replacing the traditional product they are just an extra product. The thing I do like about them is that they are packed in pairs, which means good portion control, an ability to put them in lunch boxes and the others stay fresh even after the box is open.

I was disappointed when I opened the box as the packets are quite small, I know you don’t get much for 96 calories. Inside the wrapper were were two thin biscuits with a pattern decorated on the top, and filling of jam and you could see some yoghurt hiding between the sides. I gave one a try and immediately loved them. The biscuit is thin and crispy, but did taste like Jammie Dodger biscuits. The jam really made the flavour too, the yoghurt was a bit more lost but these were such tasty treats that I just really loved them. I wouldn’t want to replace my regular biscuits with these but as a lighter alternative I’m more than happy with these.

Austrian Pastries (@NLi10)

One of the great thing about mainland Europe is the pastries.  Instead of everywhere being a Greggs (sorry Gregg) you get lots of little places making exciting things that you can try - like all these!

So much crazy variety and necessary sugar.  There are sweet and savoury, bread and pastry and so many cakes that I didn't even dare look.

I chose this fruity thing.

Thats basically a turnover, but light and crispy with vanilla custard and actual raspberry fruit inside.  And it was amazing!  Refrigerating the pastries in the shop too means that you get a cool sensation from the filling which is most welcome in the 34 degree heat.  I miss all our little independent bakeries & patisseries we used to have in the UK. 

Actually tourist places like Lichfield and Stratford do have a better range of options. Maybe it's the tourism that keeps these places alive.