Geedon my luvver bout time for zum nosebag - its the Exeter Food Festival

In my opinion, the weekend of the Exeter Food and Drink Festival is the best weekend of the year in Exeter. I can't wait for this year's and happily its only a few days away.

(Its so good couple of years ago it coincided with City beating Plymouth at home)

It is held at Exeter Castle and Northernhay Gardens, which are connected by a narrow passageway controlled by a dedicated team of Imperial Storm Troopers (Scouts).

With over 100 producers showcasing everything from wonderful venison burgers to oysters and champagne, you'd be hard pushed to sample everything in a day, especially if like me you are a fan of the ale tent.

I like to confidently stride around the castle grounds embodying the spirit of Jay Rayner (only without the goatee and floppy hair) tasting and judging everything I can get my hands on. Then, after 3 gruelling days of gorging myself on the West Countries finest food and booze, I decide 'The Hungry Soundman Exeter Food and Drink Festival Awards'. Awards so prestigious and exclusive even the winners are unaware of its existence.

Previous winners of The Hungry Soundman Exeter Food and Drink Festival Awards or THSEFADFA (catchy I know), are Toms Pies, Otter Valley Dairy, Bath Pig, Roly's Fudge, Kenniford Farm Hog Roast, Cakeadoodledo, and Branscombe Vale Brewery.

Roly's Fudge

Cakeadoodledo

I am hoping this year to actually getting around to blogging about my favourites, but I might have an enormous food/ale hangover so don't hold your breath.

See you there ma booty...

Chicago aka, Chi Town, the Windy City, the Big Apple... oh hang on, thats not right.

It might not be as iconic or even as cool New York City, it has to compete with the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, countless movies and The Avengers. But Chicago has the Sears Tower, Lake Michigan, Al Capone and is Gotham for crying out loud. The USA's second city is wicked and vying with NYC as my favourite place in the USA.

We arrived on a Sunday afternoon as the sun was setting, my hotel room overlooked Lake Michigan and I had one thing on my mind... FOOD.

Over the week we were there filming we had some great grub, but the one that stands out in my mind isn't a posh, gourmet meal, its quite the opposite!

The Billy Goat made famous by a Saturday Night Live sketch and for being a boozy hang out in the 1920s for heavy hitting journalists, can be found in a dingy underpass where you'd expect to find trolls not billy goats.

Not famous for their hospitality, the front door doesn't really look like a front door and there is a sign that says enter at your own risk! Once inside you can forget the American welcome of big smiles and a friendly host, you grab a seat anywhere thats free and contemplate the menu. That takes about 5 seconds, just as John Belushi screamed in the SNL skit, you have the choice of a CHEEZBORGER! Or a DOUBLE CHEEZBORGER! Dont even think of ordering fries, they dont have those and if like me you dont like cheese, you will be looked at like you are a crazy person complicating things. 

The burger was great, it's served with a shout and left for you to collect from the counter. Then you build it (sauces, relish, tomatoes etc) on your way back to your table. We ate, lit by unforgiving neon lights surrounded by workers straight off the building site, pictures of famous Chicagoans and baseball on the tv. The Billy Goat is kind of like a British greasy spoon, but with beer.

I have to say I loved it, despite all evidence to the contrary, I guess the fact that the Billy Goat just doesn't care what you think and carries on regardless I couldn't help but admire. 


Slightly posher was the Grand Lux Cafe, well just the fact it is above ground trumps the Billy Goat before you see its high ceilings, elaborate lighting and its grand art deco design. It was described to me as a tourist trap, but I think that does it a diservice. 

The menu was huge, and international, I went for the fried chicken. It was as perfectly golden as a californian sunset, as tender as a freshly spanked bum and juicier than a News of the World headline. 

I have to say it was great, massive though, they basically deep fried an entire chicken. Oh and I tried fried gherkins which surprisingly were ace.

On my final day in Chicago just before we flew out I stumbled on a little place called Downtown Dog just in time for lunch. The place was wallpapered in photos of dogs and packed, a city tour guide had stopped by with his group to get them all fed, a good sign if ever I've seen one. 

Copying the locals, I ordered... "One Downtown Dog please and take it for a walk" this was a big meaty sausage with EVERYTHING on it, relish, multiple sauces, a pickled chilli and more. This I have to say trumps the NYC hotdogs I've munched in the past, so chalk that one up to Chicago.

Other honorable mentions go to Niu Sushi - amazing calimari. Heaven on 7 - cajun food with an artists palet of hot sauces. Q - a very plush, very cool BBQ joint. I'd recommend the Q2 with the sweet and spicy BBQ sauce.

More rocky road than Rocky Balboa.

Before my trip to Philadelphia I had visions of me running up those famous steps, chased by a horde of cheering kids and boxing training with chilled cows carcasses as punch bags in an old warehouse. Instead I found myself consuming the equivalent of an entire cow in Longhorns with some of the heaviest eating irons known to man. I guess it was a bit of a workout.

First stop on my Philadelphian food cruise was a burger joint called Five Guys. The tattooed staff there all looked liked they had done hard time, but boy can they make burgers. 

With a ton of fries liberally tossed in the bag, 15 different free toppings and a double burger that weighs more than a new born baby, I knew I was in the right place for my first US lunch.

It left me full, happy and thinking if I was ever down on my luck and thinking about holding up a restaurant Five Guys would be a bad choice.

We were staying out in northeast Philly that is not exactly the culinary centre of New Jersey.  It does however have Chickies and Petes THE BEST SPORTS BAR IN PHILADELPIA! That, in my opinion, has a chef obsessed with cheese.  Everything without exception was drowned in yellow goo, or cheese as you might call it. A great place to watch the game and enjoy a cold beer though. 

Another northeast treat is Nifty Fiftys, a neon lit throwback to the golden age of the roadside diner. Nifty’s lays claim to the WORLDS largest soda machine! I cannot confirm or deny this. I can however, confirm that the milkshakes were very good and very big and they serve great fries.

Cheese steak through my heart.

I've not mentioned my hatred for cheese in this blog before. Basically it stinks, it's mouldy milk and cheese is the devil, but i digress. 

I hate it (cheese) by the way and I was told you cannot go to Philly and avoid the cheese steak sandwich. Well actually, I did go to Philadelphia and I did avoid the cheese steak sandwich... but only just!

My saviour came in the shape of Mister Chubby’s and his amazing hoagies.
Mister Chubby’s is located just opposite the state penitentiary and I cant think of a better way (well maybe one other way, but i wouldn't go to Mister Chubby's for that!), to start life as a free man again, than chowing down on a turkey hoagie filled with sweet peppers, onions, mayo, mustard, tomatoes and anything else you can think of.

The reason for my visit to the USA was that we were filming with the Philadelphia Fire Department. These guys were huge and their size was only out weighed by their hospitality, a real great bunch of guys.

Part of the filming called for us to spend the evening on a nightshift with the boys from Ladder 14 and Engine 45. Something I was very much looking forward to.  Especially when I heard fire fighters were renowned for their cooking and I was not disappointed. Captain CJ cooked us all up a batch of his ‘Hood Bird’, slow cooked chicken in stock with lemon and garlic salt. It was melt in the mouth and served with cornbread, gorgeous!