The Poacher’s Inn is the nearest eatery/pub to our house. In a previous incarnation as Ted Amber’s it was an ok pub and a pretty poor restaurant that was barely above the level of a carvery.

The place was bought maybe 18 months ago (or even longer?) and reports have been steadily good. I had a pub lunch there recently and was very impressed so we decided to try the full restaurant last night.

It started badly with no record of the booking we had made a few hours previously but they slotted us in and we were first to dine at 7pm. Service was genuinely friendly throughout with none of the fake bonhomie you often get. The place itself is above the pub with sloping roof, an intimate feel and tables not too close together.

I liked the look of the menu immediately since they were unafraid to have seafood up-front and center. A small set of starters and mains always impresses me more than the kitchen sink approach where you know the freezer and microwave are the main cooking tools.

We were both interested in similar dishes so we made sure to get different things. Missus went with a “Tapas” starter and I went for “Thai” fish cake. I put both in quotes because I’m not sure how accurate either description is. But that doesn’t really matter since both were gorgeous.

The Tapas was a wonderful selection of mussels, shell-on langoustine, salmon, goats cheese, hummus and olives. The fishcake was a big ball of crab and prawn, jam packed with flavour and with a plum sauce (more like diced plum than sauce but beautiful nonetheless).

For main I had scallops and cauliflower puree which was cooked to a tee and very tasty. D’Wife had seabass on a bed of risotto which she adored. In all cases the fish appeared to be ultra fresh and so much better for it. The side veg was a bit of overkill even tho I enjoyed one I couldn’t identify (Fennel? Celeriac?). The big chunky chips were very tasty but we didn’t need them to be honest.

Both of us were too full for desserts which did look lovely. I’d like to have seen a couple of lighter ones on the menu tho. We went with double espressos instead which were fab.

It wasn’t that cheap, coming in at €103 including €27 wine but we thoroughly enjoyed the meal, the music and the feel of the place. As I said in the summary, it is such a joy to have somewhere this good within walking distance of the house. The reputation is clearly spreading too since I have a lunch invite there for next week where the person said “the chowder is gorgeous”.

A big hurrah, Bandon is finally becoming somewhere that foodies can visit. Take that, Clon!

This is less of a review and more of a vote of support. Last week Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall kicked off a campaign to get people eating Free Range Chicken. He did this through a series of compelling programmes comparing intensively raised chicken production with Free Range.

Because no-one would let him film in a “normal” chicken production unit, he was forced to build his own. He split it down the middle with half as free range and half as intensive. Watching the differences become more and more apparent as the birds grew was a real eye-opener for me. Whilst we mainly buy free range, I had started to become dubious about the differences when I saw the same producer names on both types. But after watching this, I’m a total convert.

Quite simply, the methods used to intensively rear chicken are disgusting. If you want to eat meat that has been sitting in its own shit for its entire 39 day life, go right ahead but apart from any issues of animal welfare, if you want to see where Bird Flu will make the leap to humans in Europe, that’s where it’ll be.

Hugh’s campaign to get shops and restaurants in Axminster using free range were reasonably successful even in Tesco and the local kebab shop. His efforts with a local working-class community  to rear their own birds, whilst laudable, teetered on the brink of condescending. However the emotional scenes during slaughter did drive home the reality of where your meat comes from.

I’d love to know how many people who eat frankenstein chicken also support a ban on fois gras. I know which one I have a much bigger problem with.

I did think the focus on whole birds was mis-directed. Most people only eat a full bird once a week. My feeling is that the bulk of chicken sold is skinless chicken breasts and ready-meals. This obsession with breast meat should be tackled too since it addresses the issue of cost head on. We have 1KG of free range drumsticks sitting in the fridge. They cost €4.99 and will give us a fabulous meal when we roast them up in the oven with some spicy coatings.

One thing that interests me hugely is the numbers angle for a company like Tesco. Looking at it as a simple punter, surely pushing higher margin products like free-range benefits the bottom line? Whilst in the 70’s and 80’s when everyone was broke, price wars on a loaf of bread could cause people to change supermarket, is that really the case nowadays? I find it bizarre that somewhere like Tesco Wilton will be jammed with “Value” chicken plus a few exorbitant organic ones whilst being out of stock of free range constantly. Increasing demand for free-range will increase supply and drive down cost and hopefully make the Frankenstein Chicken just a short term historical aberration.

I was a bit shocked to see the Tesco manger in Hugh’s programme using a green-screen VDU. I assumed all their real-time analytics would be in multiple large screen dashboards showing exactly what was happening where in the shop. Maybe that’s why Wilton rarely has free range?

There is surely a huge PR coup to be had by the first supermarket which goes 100% free range on chicken and eggs whilst using the “animal welfare and customer health” advertising angle?

If you can catch the repeats of this, please do. If not, at the very least sign up for the Chicken Out campaign and if you have a blog, add the badge to it like I have done.

We all know to expect snooty service in Paris but I’ve rarely found that and have enjoyed most meals that I’ve had there. So I was a bit gobsmacked by the Jean Marie Le Pen supporters running Buddha Bar in Paris.

The “evening” unfolded like this.

1. We’re at Le Web 3 conference in Paris and we want to get some food. We also want to do so near the NetVibes party later on Rue de Rivoli
2. Tariq Krim says that it isn’t a good area for food but Buddha Bar is ok.
3. Four of us take the tube over, arrive into Buddha Bar and I ask if they have a table for 8 people (the expected number)
4. Stormtrooper behind desk snaps “have you a reservation”. No, sorry, we don’t.
5. Stormtrooper snaps “for how many?”. We say 8.
6. Stormtrooper snaps “how many here now”. Emmm, only 4.
7. Stormtrooper snaps “well come back when there are 8″. Oh ok.
8. We go to the Bar. Then the beer rip-off story happens.
9. Three people cancel on us, so we are now 5 and we go back to desk
10. Stormtrooper snaps “yes?”. Emmm, we’d like a table for 5.
11. Stormtrooper snaps “have you a reservation”. We were just here 15 minutes ago.
12. Stormtrooper snaps “how many here now”. Emmm, 5.
13. Stormtrooper picks up walkie-talkie and shouts into it. Someone shouts back.
14.  Stormtrooper snaps “follow that woman” and turns away from us
15. Stormtrooper II shouts into Walkie talkie and points down the stairs
16. We descend and encounter Stormtrooper III shouting into a walkie talkie
17. She brings us to a table
18. That’s it. We never received any other service from them
19. After 40 minutes without menus, water, bread or anyone to flag down, we walked out.

If I’d had a few drinks on me I’d probably have found it hilarious but as it was actually the worst non-dining experience of my life. You’d be better off in McDonalds.

We walked up Rue de Rivoli and found a nice pub bistro doing steak, frites and wine. A decent solid meal. I only wish I’d written the name of it down.