Gordon Fong: Food, drink, restaurants, reviews and life in general. #southbourne #bournemouth

Could I have the Special Blardy House Mary

The Larder House hosted the 2015 Dorset's Best Bloody Mary competition on Sunday 27 September. They had the actual main competition for those in the trade, another competition for the Bournemouth Bartenders League and a side event for members of the public like me.

(Just for clarification before you get in too deep that is article is about the public event and not the winner of the real competition, which was Dave Hall representing Urban Beach Hotel.)

I never really drank Bloody Marys until I started going to the Larder House. I tried at other places but generally spat them out as they were just warm alcoholic tomato juice. Well James the owner tagged my name on a Facebook post about the event and so I took up the challenge.

Having been sat on the other side of the bar as it were, I've watched the guys enthusiasm when it comes to what they do, how they present it and the story behind it all. At the very least I've got to give it a good effort and it all started with the story. This is all going to sound like nonsense but bear with my own self-indulgence. I wanted to capture elements of my life and I guess the family's journey from East to West. OK, put those sick bags away.

A visit to Tyneham and Worbarrow

There is so much that we haven't done in Dorset that is on our doorstep, even though we moved here in 1996.

I haven't been inside Corfe Castle yet, only did the Swanage steam train last year, been for one long walk from Eype over the lovely West Dorset hills, sat down on Durdle Door beach this year and the unfinished list goes on.

So, this weekend we had friends visiting and wanted to take advantage of the surprise sunshine and head off for the day. Well, after attending a children's birthday at Farmer Palmers Farm Park, which is usually great fun and we got to see the pig race this time.

We went to Lulworth Cove first, which is always a treat. Can be very busy at times, but even in October, November when the tourists have gone, it is still a nice place to visit on a clear day. Then, we sought out the village of Tyneham. It's been mentioned to us before and as we were near and also on the way back to Swanage, we took a drive up the windy narrow road towards it. Be ready to pull into the side of the road to squeeze past each other's cars.

Larder House Pig Night - August 2015

Following on from the Seafood Night only two days earlier, it was back again to the Larder House for a Pig Night that would include a 3 course meal and a demonstration on butchering half a pig.

This would be a bone crunching, sawing, cutting graphic affair so not for the faint-hearted but definitely one for those that appreciate food and where it comes from. The pig’s head sitting proud on the cutting table gave everyone a nice warm welcome.

Larder House Seafood night - August 2015

This was a Wednesday night, a “school night”, and it was a busy week as on Friday I’d be back at the Larder House for their pig butchery night.

Given it wasn’t cheap, I allowed myself a cup-a-soup at work for lunch in readiness for the night’s feasting.

We were sat out in the courtyard, with about 20 of us joining in. Now with the huge glass doors in place, it means it is a lot more comfortable as the heating lamps have a fighting chance of keeping us warm as opposed to a the smallest of breezes taking it all away.

James set up the display of the night’s lovely goodies. I come from a seafood family so this was just wonderful. All set out for us to see there were large brown crabs, lobster, langoustine, oysters, razor clams, scallops and mussels. A touch of samphire and lemons to complete the display and we are ready.

Furleigh Estate Wine Tour

English wines is big news these days, especially English Sparkling Wines. Quality is way ahead of what it was and now the sparkling wines are challenging and beating the best of France.

We took a trip over to Furleigh Estate over in West Dorset when my cousin Mary and her friend Sue were over, for one of their tasting events. We have previously been to Wickham Vineyards before and that was an enjoyable little tour that was done without a guide, just with headphones. Nice weather also helped, which is never guaranteed here in the UK.

Furleigh Estate is just North of Bridport and a good hour and 20+ minutes away from Bournemouth. The large barn conversion was a nice open space and had plenty of tables for people come the tasting part. At Wickham, because you could turn up any time, the tasting was down by the sales counter when we were there because of smaller numbers.