A cool Monday afternoon in Sheffield.
Train into Sheffield delayed several minutes as approaches station. No explanation.
A detour for cappuccino at South Street Kitchen. Stunning view across Sheffield.
South Street Kitchen easy enough to find if know how. Take the back way out of Sheffield Station, cross the tram lines, follow the path up the slope to South Park Flats, nestled at the foot of the flats, South Park Kitchen.
My cappuccino weak and insipid. Could be many reasons, poor extraction, low quality coffee.
A big mistake using Dark Woods for espresso. Their single origin coffees are usually excellent, espresso blend not. A Great Taste award sticker no guarantee of quality, indeed usually the exact opposite. No self-respecting roaster would wish to adorn their coffee with such a sticker.
Though I usually get an excellent cappuccino off Motore Coffee, who use Dark Woods. And on a previous visit to South Street Kitchen their coffee was excellent.
Second time I have made a mistake visiting South Street Kitchen, though not sure if the mistake the visit or not staying to eat the food as always looks great.
A detour to Sheffield BID to pick up copies of The Heart of Independent Sheffield a guide to indie businesses in the Devonshire Quarter, then through Winter Garden to Union Street.
Union St was the reason for my visit to Sheffield, or at least Monday, for the Vietnamese pop up kitchen.
Oh what a disappointment. I have never been impressed with Vietnamese food, but never this bad. Noodles and tofu, both were stone cold, not even lukewarm, stone cold as though served straight from a fridge. Myself and a fellow customer complained. We were given our money back. There was then an offer to hot it up. Plate was hot, food not even lukewarm. But even had it been hot, it would still have been a very poor offering.
Union St need to replace these guys.
I like the idea of a pop up kitchen, to try different food, to give the chefs an opportunity, but Union St need to exercise quality control.
Once again no Now Then. Should now be September issue out. I asked. I learnt not published in the summer. Yes, there should be copies. Something going very wrong with distribution. Last week, when I could not find the August edition, I asked of Now Then where to be found. They lacked the courtesy to reply.
It was then head to The Depot Eatery in Kelham Island, a bus ride or tram ride away.
No idea where catch a bus. I eventually found the correct bus, long wait, 20 minutes for next bus, I wander off then learn a different bus due. I head back, catch No 7, I was earlier waiting for No 8 or 8A. I ask bus driver, he tells me he does not know where he is going. He then tells me there is a diversion. I follow route on Google maps, alight at correct bus stop.
Kelham Island a desolate area. Red brick abandoned foundries and warehouses, but I see has potential if the buildings are renovated not demolished.
I find where I need to be, but first look in a cheese dairy, Sheffield Cheese Masters.
I do not stop, head next door to The Depot Eatery.
Do they serve food food? Yes. Kitchen is now closed. I ask when does it close. Three. It is on the dot of three. This is Sheffield service.
I settle for a sandwich. Roast vegetables adulated with some vile tasting gloop. The bread is interesting.
I ask of the bread. I am told brioche bap. It is not.
Next door a bakery. But open warehouse, not ideal for a bakery, or food preparation, as impossible to keep clean.
Coffee is Ozone and Has Been. Ozone a big mistake.
I order a cappuccino. It is served with chocolate.
Why oh why does no one know how to serve a cappuccino? It is not served with chocolate.
Cappuccino ok, better than I expect for Ozone.
Something I have not seen before, Ozone produce what appears to be an annual magazine.
Not busy all the time I am there. But hardly surprising, middle of nowhere, and not somewhere would go out of the way for.
I then look back in the cheese maker, Sheffield Cheese Masters.
Earlier they were preparing experimental blue cheeses.
I raise the same issue of cleanliness. They have built a sealed unit within the warehouse.
The girl I talk to knows little about cheese. She apologises and explains she is new and has only been there a few weeks.
She offers me a sample of their cheese. It reminds me of Cornish Brie. She tells me it is a Camembert style.
Not made from unpasteurised milk. A big mistake if trying to produce quality cheese.
I ask of the cows. She does no know, other than the farm local and claims the cows are grass fed.
I am given rough directions where to find a bus. She does not know of tram as is given a lift in.
I stand at the bus stop in a deserted road. I begin to wonder, diversion, but nothing at the bus stop to say.
A guy comes along. I ask. He says there is a bus now due, but sometimes wait 30 minutes for a bus to turn up. Once on the bus he advises me where to alight for the railway station
Whilst waiting for the bus, I voice my thoughts of The Depot Eatery empty, no one would trek out to. He says because of the businesses around, they do well at lunchtime.
I am at the station early, fifteen minutes before train due. I wander off, detour to Tamper Sellers Wheel. A coffee is tempting, but I will miss the train.
I make it in time for the train, only to find train is delayed. Luckily only by a few minutes.
When it pulls in, packed, many waiting on the platform to board.
Another overcrowded two coach Northern Fail.
A refurbished Northern Fail wifi and usb charging. Only wifi does not connect to anything.
I mention to the guard. He is surprised to learn the train has wifi, let alone knows how to reset it. He says they are not even able to adjust the air conditioning. If too hot, they have to open the windows.
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