Travels With Nate

I love Pulled Pork as it's a versatile food stuff that you can cook and get plenty of meals out of, whether you're going to eat some now and take some to work the next day or freeze it for a rainy day. I also love Chinese food, but I'd never thought about Chinese Pulled Pork until someone invited me to their house for lunch one day a little over a year ago, and fell in love with the Chinese Pulled Pork they cooked so I had to steal the recipe from him and make it myself. Since then, I've probably made it about 5 times and each time people tell me how delicious it is and how the want the recipe but y'all know me, I'm slack at getting on my blog sometimes but here it is... my recipe for Chinese Pulled Pork: Ingredients (some amounts may not be exact as that's how I roll): 1kg Pork Shoulder (rind trimmed off) 1 jar of Lee Kum Hoisin Sauce (from an Asian supermarket as I'm convinced it's better than the same brand you get in the supermarket) Ha...

Sitting on the Baltic Sea, the tri-city area of Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia is not somewhere I’d ever thought of going until we had some time booked off work, searched “everywhere” on Skyscanner and found £20 return flights, but we’re glad we did. How to get there: We got direct flights from Stansted using Ryanair who operate 2 flights there, and 2 flights back every day but it is serviced by other airports in the UK. Once you’re there, it’s only a half hour bus journey into the city centre although if you have loads of luggage with you, Uber is cheap enough. Where to stay: We stayed in a Novotel very close to the centre because we’re a big fan of the cheap convenience of Accor hotels, which cost us about £120 for four nights. Unlike many cities, I would recommend stay right in the centre as public transport is tricky due to it not being on google maps. When to go: If you like cold weather, winter is the time for you! We’ve heard that the Christmas market is ...

We arrived in Nuremberg on Monday night at around 6:30pm and jumped on the U2 to Hauptbahnhof, which was surprisingly quick compared to where airports are located in every other city I've been to, before switching onto the U1 to Frankenstraße. From there it was only a 15 minute walk to our hotel, even with a dreaded wheely suitcase in tow. After chilling for a while we decided to head to a local bar in search of food and beer. Landbierparadies has about 3 bars and a bottle shop dotted around Nuremberg, but the one closest to us was the one on Sterzinger Strasse, only a 20 minute walk away. This small chain is unique in that it is 100% local from the beer, to the food menu to even the soft drinks. The other thing that makes it unique is that the only beer served "vom fass" or rather, on draught, is a frequently changing local Franconian beer, directly from the wooden barrel. We found the bar on a housing estate, with great ease and walked in. It's essentially withi...

Alright, I haven't kept up with my advent calendar because I've had other things to do, but it's cool. I imagine I'll get back on it soon... rest assured that I've still been drinking all the beer! Anyway, last Friday manager of Ten Bells in Norwich, Richard, invited me and a guest along to sample Bullitt's new menu along with the winter cocktail menu. We arrived at 7:30pm and were shown to our table by Richard who left us to peruse the cocktail & food menus. After a while another member of staff came over to take our first cocktail orders - I went for a Cold Buttered Rum which was incredible - it was so smooth with the rum and spices coming through perfectly. My guest went for something a little different - I forget what it's called but it was marvellously sour and bitter with a little sweetness. Our food orders were taken - I got Pork on Pork while my guest got the only suitable option for her as she doesn't eat meat, Taiwanese style hira...

When I first read the press release about this book, I’m sure you’ll forgive me that I didn’t actually read the word “Men’s”. I read “Haynes Pie Manual by Andrew Webb”. That was enough to get me excited. I received the book and thought “Hang on a minute; this is making a few assumptions”. Firstly, it’s assuming at as a man, I don’t have the foggiest idea of how to make a pie (I do – I’ve made many in my time) and secondly it is assuming one of two things – either that pies are foodstuff for men, and men only, or it is assuming that women automatically know how to make pies from birth. To be honest, I wasn’t impressed at this. I then started reading and was thankful that he kept the “Hey manly men, I’m talking to you, you loser who doesn’t know how to make a pie” to a minimum, aside from the occasional “RED MEAT PIE ARE ESPECIALLY FOR MEN. MEN LOVE RED MEAT.” So yeah, he doesn’t talk directly to us men right through the book which is a good thing, but it’s all still rath...

I thought it was about time I wrote a generic post about all 3 subjects I've aimed (and sometimes failed) to cover on this blog because, well, I've been thinking. We all have different tastes. I like one thing, you like another. You may have liked something, and dislike it now, and vice versa. I was thinking how our tastes change and want to share with you some of the things I previously hated but now love. Booze: Back when I first got into good beer, I hated stouts. Yup, you heard that right. I'd try stouts but I always found them way too strong for my tastes, especially considering I used to drink really milky coffee. Then about a year and a half ago my boss started only buying UHT milk for the office, which is fucking disgusting, so I decided to start drinking black coffee. I enjoyed it, despite it just being Nescafe or whatever and remembered "Hang on, stouts are like coffee. Maybe I'll like them now" so I started trying more and more, and I fell in...

As you would have read in my 1 year anniversary post, I detailed a plan to eat a few of the same but different brand ready meals before creating my own variation of the dish. I shouted at Twitter for suggestions and I got a few but I have decided to go with Kavita's idea of Chilli Con Carne. As for the rest of the suggestions, I'll get round to those! I love Chilli Con Carne so this is a great suggestion. I have decided to start with what is possibly the worst I could get (I'm pretty skint right now). Sainsbury's Basic Chilli Con Carne (Tinned) Price: 89p Meat Content: 15% Cooking Method: Hob When I opened the can and put the chili in the pan, it was a stubborn, solid bastard. A few pats and shakes of the can then it eventually came out in a can shaped blob. It's very red and you can instantly see the sheer amount of Kidney beans that's in this product. It's very thick and gloopy and you can guarantee that every mouthful is going to be mo...

Fuck me. Time flies when you're having fun. It's been just over a year since I started Booze, Beats & Bites. When I first started my blog, I didn't think anyone would read my shit, much less enjoy it. I'm still not sure why the fuck you guys read my blog or enjoy it in all honesty. Answers on the back of a postcard please. Anyway, over this past year I've met some really fucking awesome people, drank some awesome beers, drank some dreadful beers, pissed people off, eaten delicious food and listened to some awesome music. I've decided to mix things up a bit now, however, with regards to my BOOZE and BITES posts. BEATS will pretty much stay the same with interviews and reviews. But let me explain my beery & foodie plans... BOOZE: You would've noticed already that my last few beer reviews have been collaborative weird reviews with my good friend Jay . Well, I'd quite like to continue this theme of not reviewing the same beers as 90% of ...

I know I’ve already done my golden pints and golden records but I thought I’d use this post to sum up some things that weren’t included. I ended 2011 at my mate Ben’s house and my first beer of 2012 was Estrella Damm. I love Estrella. This year has been a weird one. There have been highs and lows. I’ve made some awesome new friends and pissed some people off. I’ve had some awesome beers and I’ve had some truly dreadful ones. I started this blog in March and didn’t think anyone would bother reading it but 9 months on, I’ve clocked up over 31,000 views and have 1000 followers on twitter. I honestly don’t know how I’ve built up such a following, considering I’m one of the angriest and most offensive motherfuckers you’re ever likely to encounter. I really couldn’t have done it without the bands, record labels, PR companies, breweries, bars, pubs, other bloggers and above all, you bastards. My readers. You’re fucking awesome. Thank you. Here’s to an even more awesom...

Christmas is the time where everyone eats and drinks too much. That's what everyone says, right? "Hey, don't drink or eat too much. It's not good for your health" Why for one week of the year are we saying eating and drinking a lot is perfectly acceptable? Why this week is it perfectly acceptable to get up and have an alcoholic beverage with your breakfast but it isn't any other time of the year? Why this week is it perfectly acceptable to eat so much disgustingly fatty food that your stomach almost pops? Why am I judged on any day not in December that I'm not working because I've posted online that I'm having a beer with my 20 rasher bacon sandwich? Why is it only acceptable during the Christmas period? Answers on a postcard please. Nate http://www.twitter.com/NateDawg27 http://www.facebook.com/BoozeBeatsBites

I've been struggling lately. Struggling with life and struggling to write. I've been doing loads of thinking and overthinking and I'm not sure what the fuck is happening. However, today is Sunday. Sunday is the one day I can sit back and not give a fuck. I am really hungover. Last night I drank way too much bourbon and passed out on someone else' sofa whilst watching Ghostbusters. I'm quite fond of this person but that's irrelevant because today I have stopped giving a fuck. Picture this scene. It's Sunday. It's cold. I'm at my computer. I'm smoking lots of cigarettes and tweeting shit. I want a beer, I'm hungry and I'm listening to music.

It will come as no surprise to you that I like a good burger and beer. Beer and beef are two of my favourite things. I had drank at The Sir Garnet a few times. It’s a nice, welcoming pub with plenty of seating both inside and outside; nicely situated right next to Norwich market on one of the main shopping strips, Gentleman’s Walk. Image from: http://www.vintagenorwich.co.uk/2012/07/a-sneak-peek-at-the-new-sir-garnet/

27 th January 2012. I decided to take a trip to London. Wendy and I were meant to go on a pub crawl but he had a heavy one the night before so he bailed on me. That left me with a few hours before going to stay on the coldest sofa in the history of sofas to drink awesome beer. I had quite a few beers on the train which probably wasn’t for the best considering I hadn’t eaten since lunch. Euston tap had an IPA festival on so naturally I had to stop there. Beers: Williams Brothers Joker IPA on keg; I’d had it in bottles but justice was not done. Kegged it is absolutely brilliant. Hoppy, quite sweet and citrusy. My first beer by Summer Wine Brewery , Diablo (IPA); again on keg, bloody amazing. Massive tropical flavours... I’m pretty sure I got mango and papaya... and that finishing pine flavour we all love in an IPA. I then had Summer Wine Diablo on cask. I wish I didn’t. Yeah, it was great but I much preferred it on keg. Oh and I was sitting across the ...

My good friend Matt & I have a tradition. Every month on payday we will go to a restaurant and have a bromantic meal. Well... it turns out that way. We usually invite a whole bunch of people but as we know, people are slack and don’t bother so the bromantic date happens. At the end of March we went to The Clipper on St Benedict’s Street in Norwich for an Indian meal after toying with a few ideas and I’m so glad we did. It was a Wednesday night so it was relatively quiet, just a few family groups and some couples so we got seated fairly quickly. After no time at all our waiter – who stayed with us pretty much all night – took our drinks order which, quite naturally, had to be a pint of Cobra. I really like Cobra; it’s quite refreshing but rather fizzy and quite corn-like. I like it but couldn’t help but think “If only King Cobra was still in existence”. As soon as our drinks hit the table, our waiter offered us poppadoms – two each would do nicely with a selection of dips. Th...