Cosy Cave Restaurants and Cool Cellars from London, to Liverpool, and Nottingham to Romania

Cellar Restaurant in Brasov, Romania. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Problem
Where can I go that's different, amusing?

Answer
Cave restaurants, cellar bars and underground tours.

Cellar Restaurants and Tours in UK
This week in July 2017 Liverpool city in England discovered a new large underground hall to be added to the existing complex below Mason Street.  The Williamson Tunnels were built by Joseph Williamson, from waterproof solid bricks (unlike the spongey ones used for houses in the city). Liverpool also has a Memorial Garden to him. You can take a quick free peep through the porthole style glass window underfoot Liverpool One Precinct. Or join a tour of the tunnels and see the museum and cafe.

(Whilst in Liverpool see the Beatles museum and Carn tour; the Anglican Cathedral; plus some of the city's free museums. Whilst in this area, visit Chester and North Wales.

Also north of London, Nottingham has many caves carved in the sandstone beneath the city. I have put on my list of places to see on my next visit the
Cave restaurant: Hand and Heart pub, Derby Road, Nottingham.

In Edinburgh, I had dinner in one of the alcoves underground in a pub near the city centre by the book fair during the Edinburgh Festival, an annual event. For recent reviews of The Cellar Door see tripadvisor.


I have also dined underground in Warsaw, Poland.

Underground at The Don, in London. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Would you like something grander? In London I loved the underground rooms at the Don Restaurant, which you can hire for events such as weddings. I dined in the expensive gourmet restaurant upstairs (when they had a half price offer). See my earlier post.

Cellar Restaurants in Europe
I once went through the catalogues of the major hotel groups such as the Relais hotels and Chateaux Hotels and Prestige hotels worldwide, noting all the cellar restaurants. In the Rathaus or town hall of the city centres in Germany you often find an underground beer hall and restaurant serving the local food.

Earlier this year I had lunch in an alcove area in Brasov in Romania. See my post on this.

Websites
LONDON, ENGLAND
The Don restaurant
The Courtyard
20 St Swithins Lane
EC4N 8AD
Tel: 020 7626 606
www.thedonrestaurant.com
www.thesignofthedon.com

LIVERPOOL
http://www.williamsontunnels.co.uk

TOURIST INFORMATION
USEFUL WEBSITES
https://tfl.gov.uk
https://art.tfl.gov.uk/projects/permanent-commission-by-daniel-buren/
www.visitlondon.com
www.londonpass.com

SCOTLAND
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186525-d718615-Reviews-The_Cellar_Door-Edinburgh_Scotland.html
www.visitbritain.org

ROMANIA

Gratar Urban, (Urban Grill), 

Strada Michael Weiss, 

Brasov 500031

Tel: +40 731832033

https://www.facebook.com/GratarUrban/

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer an photographer, author and speaker.
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A French menu translated from The Don restaurant in London

Problem
I was sent details of a half price offer for The Don restaurant in London. I clicked on menu and although I speak fluent French, so I think, I found trouble translating a lot of terms. I'm fine with hors d'oevre for starters. I can tell you that the words are French and literally mean 'outside of (the main) work'.

But I was baffled by b a l l o t i n e. What is escabeche?  Does broth mean soup, a clear soup, or meat soup, or what?  And parfait - how thick is it.  I recognize broth and parfait but, I would like to scan a menu and make a quick decision, or give a precise definition to help another diner make a quick choice when a waiter is hovering with a pencil ready to write your order. So what are they?

My family expert gives these definitions. I suggest you check online and ask the waiter.

Menu / French/Foreign word  - English / Explanation (alphabetically - not in menu order)

B
b a l l o t i n e - pressed (meat) preserved with a seal of air proof and waterproof and fly proof cover on the top or outside, sealed with usually clear aspic, looks like gelatine
blini - Russian for thin pancake, often served wrapped into a long roll around soured cream
bouillabaisse - fish soup of the style served in the seaside city of Marseilles
broth - soup made with some meat and scraps of vegetables, not as much meat as a casserole
C
caramelised - sugar, cooked to turn brown
carpaccio - Italian sliced salami or thin meat, ham
chorizo - Spanish, the z pronounced like the English TH, col cut, sliced cold pork sausage
confit - pressed
consommé - clear soup
crème fraiche - literally cream fresh or fresh cream (the French put the adjective afterwards), a thick sour cream
E
endive - spiky lettuce
escabeche - from the Persian word, a sweet and sour sauce such as fish or meat marinated in vinegar with perhaps lemon, left overnight, served cold.
F
fillet - meat or fish with bone removed
foie gras - gras means grease, French, literally liver fat meaning fat liver,
G
girolle - type of mushroom with a long stem
J
jus - juice or sauce from the meat
L
langoustine - shellfish, a kind of prawn. smaller than a lobster but larger than a prawn
linguini - pasta
Manchego cheese - Spanish cheese from La Mancha, the big dry plain south of Madrid, may be a breed of sheep, cheese made from milk of ewes (the males do not produce milk); hot areas have more sheep, rather than cows
mousse - frothy and spongy with holes or bubbles like a whipped s o u f f l é, but cold, not cooked, can be savoury or sweet dessert
P
pain - bread
panna cotta - Italian for cooked cream, like a blancmange, usually made with gelatine
parfait - could be savoury such as a chicken liver parfait but usually a dessert of cooked cream, eggs sugar and syrup like a custard
pain perdu - literally bread lost, or lost bread, with the egg lost soaking into the bread before being cooked or the bread hidden under the egg, fried
poulet noir - breed of chicken with black skin
purée - liquidised
S
scallop - shellfish (Do not confuse scallop with shallot which is a mushroom SH in Shallot. I use the memory aid: S for shellfish C for can't. S C allop with a 'c' - means  'Can't' eat it, if allergic to shellfish.)
sorbet - water ice (as opposed to an ice cream which should have milk and/or cream)
soufflé - whipped up like a candy floss and cooked so it rises and looks solid on top but full of holes like a sponge or candy floss underneath, considered a challenge because you have to watch it to be sure it rises and sets without sinking again, generally a showpiece dish
supreme - in sauce
T
tartar / tartare - raw, uncooked (often minced or ground meat, but can be anything else)
Tickle more - place name of Dairy where it was first made, goat's English hard cheese, with small holes, Cheddar style - says my tame expert
V
velouté - French for velvety?, smooth texture sauce
veronique - white or lemon sauce? with grapes
vinaigrette - vinegar and oil mixed into a sauce or dressing, often for salad

Foreign Words, Spell Checker And Accents
On this website and in other places the spell checker changes a lot of words from foreign languages into the English equivalent. In Word you can have your computer set to more than one language. I shall try to fix this.

Tips
The Don Restaurant

The Don, 

20 St Swithin's Lane, 

London EC4N 8AD. 

Tel: 020 826 2606.

www.thedonrestaurant.com

A La Carte is currently (July 2017) 50% off to introduce their new chef. 

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. 
I have many more equally useful and entertaining posts on languages, restaurants and places to visit. Please bookmark and share links to your favourite posts.