Dublin in December, GBK

So for Lee's birthday being the 'great' girlfriend that I am (someone has to tell me even if it is coming from me), I bought a weekend in Dublin/Cork. We arrived on the Saturday to a bright clear day which always makes the early start a little more bearable. We checked into the Academy Plaza just off O'Connell Street because the location is great and the rooms don't feel too corporate as well as very helpful staff.

During our day in Dublin we pottered around the Christmas market drinking plenty of mulled cider....it was cold so we needed keep warm. As well as picking up some fudge along the journey. We then took a walk around Pheonix park passed the lake and finished our drinks on the peaceful benches.

That evening, we went to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen on South Anne Street, We had been the previous year and GBK is a mile better in Ireland. I discovered that it was actually set up in Ireland which must be why it is so good. We shared onion rings to start which were huge, the batter wasn't greasy and actually had this uneven crispy texture rather than just one solid lump. For my main I had the avocado, cheese, bacon burger which came with relish, gherkin and I order a side of fries. The burger was big and juicy with the cheese melted enough so it oozed. And the fries were hand cut, crispy yet soft inside and salty. On top of that unlike in the UK you get a refillable drink so you can keep washing your food down. Lee had the special goat cheese covered in breadcrumbs which came with rocket and a sweet jam. I unfortunately haven't seen this option in UK but hopefully it will come soon.

The total meal came to around 40 euros and I can say that GBK in Ireland is great! The sizes are bigger, the staff are really friendly, quick service, refillable drink and the food is just that little bit more yummy.

Cau Cambridge

For Lee's 26th Birthday despite him being a vegetarian, I took him to Cau in Cambridge. I have been wanting to go there for quite a while to have a steak as the menu and word of mouth had gotten me excited. And I thought why not try somewhere new for a birthday as a bit of a treat.

When you walk into the restaurant it is slightly surreal with the ceiling painted with grass, mirrors all around, white plastic benches against the wall and skies on the walls. Despite this unexpected interior which is quite eccentric, it has a relaxed atmosphere making it a lovely venue for special occasion which is still at lunch time.

Lee had tuna and I went for the cheese and bacon burger (a classic burger combo). We both ordered chips with me choosing thin chips and Lee choosing the triple cooked chips. Then as a treat on the side we shared the truffle mac and cheese. The burger was good with proper bacon which wasn't streaky and didn't have loads of fat on. The burger was cooked medium rare and was lovely and moist. It didn't come with loads of extra fillings like relish or a gherkin but with the sides was more than filling. I think the best bit of the main for me was the mac and cheese (a timeless childhood classic). It was so moorish and filling that the small pot we had did us well.

For dessert we shared the chocolate brownie which came with melted marshmallows on the top, vanilla ice cream, crumbled biscuit and dried raspberry crumbs on the side. This was definitely a dessert for sharing. Whilst the brownie was soft on the inside and had a crisp top and bottom, it was very sweet. The melted marshmallow, I hadn't had this before on a brownie but it was delicious. So googey and sweet.  The presentation of the dessert also made the meal that bit more out of the ordinary.

The meal came to around £60 for two mains, two chips, mac & cheese, brownie, and two smoothies. Not the amount I would spend on a normal lunch out but for a birthday meal which felt more than usual, it was a reasonable price to pay.

It was such a lovely lunch although the burst tyre on the way home was definitely not ideal considering that I had desserts to make for my parents' Christmas party the following day. Along with cleaning as we were having a party that night for Lee's birthday. Thank goodness our stomachs were full of delicious food to get us through.

King Cross Real Food Festival

I spend five days a week commuting to and from London and the commute is not exactly the most fun experience. Especially during the winter when I rarely see daylight during the week and it is usually wet and windy on my walks to and from the station. So sometimes it is nice to have a little pick me up.

That pick me up has come from the food festival which is running at Kings Cross several times a month called the Real Food Market with coffee stalls to cake stalls to savoury stalls. So whilst I am usually in a rush to make a train, it is nice when I do have an extra 10 minutes to have a potter round.

The other day I did just this. On Thursday 4th December when I had a long weekend, I made a pit stop before catching the train to the Outsider Tart stall to get a few cakes. I made the wise choose of the cheesecake brownie.

This brownie was a real over indulgence with the cheesecake top which had swirls of chocolate running through it. It was moist and didn't try out your mouth. Then the base of the cakes was a cross of a brownie and biscuit base. It cost about £2.50 for each brownie and for the size of it (you could definitely cut it into two and save one for another day), I definitely wasn't complaining. It isn't something you would buy everyday as it is quite heavy but it was a great treat which was incredibly moreish and not too sickly sweet. 

Ptown brownie

As part of our three week trip to America, the middle section was in Cape Cod in Provincetown. Until the point when we started planning this trip, I had never really thought about going there so I had no real expectations of what it would be like. It was amazing! Provincetown reminds me of a mixture of Brighton and San Francisco.

It is so relaxed with the seaside vibe and weather board painted house making it incredibly picturesque with Commercial Street the main street in the town running parallel to the sea for over a mile. There are little art galleries, jewellery shops and cafes with delicious cakes, making it a wonderful day of popping in and out of the shops. The second selling point was the love of dogs. I have never been anywhere before where dogs are so celebrated, to the point that there is a special water fountain at dog level. The third selling point was the fish, so fresh and delicious and so much choice. The Lobster Pot lives up to its reputation of being great. From the outside it doesn't look particularly special but when you go upstairs you are sat looking out over the sea and then the tuna dish I had was unbelievable. It came with mashed potato and a mango sauce.

Now I ate a lot of fish in Provincetown but I also had a lot of sweets while I was there from Salt Water taffy to brownies. The brownie I had whilst I was there was a coconut brownie. I love coconut and I love brownies so it sounded like a perfect combination. It was good don't get me wrong but the you want a small piece because it can become too sickly. Also if there isn't enough condensed milk or liquid mixed with the brownie then it can be quite drying in the mouth. Potentially have a liner layer of coconut with more liquid would make this brownie an excellent combination.

Still I enjoy an interesting combination and this is a recipe I am going to try out to see if I can work out the perfect combination of the two parts. I would rate this brownie as a 6/10.

Amazing trip to Ptown!!! I want to go back x

Christmas Shopping - Byrons

On Sunday in order to finish the Christmas shopping, we headed to Milton Keynes. I was feeling pretty festive as I went to see 'it's a wonderful life' on the Saturday at boutique cinema club ( I have never seen the film which is pretty shocking but I loved it! Although I felt pretty bummed out for most of it, the ending just made it). I was looking forward to shopping, the festive lights and the ultimate high of having finished the Christmas shopping.

The shopping was enjoyable as I had a list of who we needed to buy for and a rough idea of what to get them so it wasn't too painful. I even treated myself to a Pandora silver bangle because I had a gift voucher from my cousins. But after about 2 and a half hours I was having an energy depletion.

So we finished our shopping around 3pm and headed for a late lunch at Byrons. I have been to the Byrons in London on Rathbone Place. I love it in there with the booths and bricks and metal lighting. The one in Milton Keynes has the same style but isn't as cosy but has the industrial feeling.

I went for the Byron burger which has the addition of mature cheddar and bacon. The mature cheddar was proper mature cheddar which you can taste. It is melted onto the burger and then streaky bacon layered on the top with the burger cooked to medium. The bap is a cross between a brioche bap and a burger bap. We shared a side of fries which was more than enough. They were thin, crispy and salty....just the way I like them.  I was also given lee's gherkin which made me very happy.

I was pretty full after the burger but the brownie with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream was just too tempting to refuse. The brownie was soft but had a solid feeling to it rather than being crumbly and had that sugar grain running through it. The chocolate sauce was dark which complimented the sweet vanilla ice cream. The portion was quite big considering the richness but of course I finished it.

The total meal cost £35 for two drinks, two burgers, one fries and two desserts so not bad at all considering that our waitress was also incredibly friendly and laid back, I left feeling very full having hit my savoury and sweet tooth.

London Date night

So on Friday 17th October, Lee and I had a date night in London. He met me after work. We weren't entirely sure what to do but we had both said that we wanted to see the poppies at the Tower of London so that was the first stop. Unfortunately, TFL let us down a little bit meaning we arrived just as it got dark. Having said that we were still able to take in the scale of the poppies. It was unbelievable how many had been planted and especially the poppies falling from the hole in the wall.

After walking along the Tower of London we went for a few drinks. The Gin and Tonic was thoroughly enjoyable. For dinner, I had passed Bodeans several times so it was on it had begun to stick in my mind. After googling the menu and running it by the vegetarian it seemed like a sound choice.

Bodeans doesn't have a booking system however, the process is easy you walk into Bodeans and put your name down on their waiting list which is controlled via a tablet. They send you a text message giving you a link so you can keep track of where you are in the queue as well as sending you a text message when your table is ready. It is all very simple and means you don't need to hang around the bar but have the freedom to go off somewhere else while you wait. Which is exactly what we did.

When our table was ready we were seated in the downstairs of the restaurants which is done up with dim lighting, stag heads, American booths in a deep red, and dark wood all adding to a cosy but exclusive feeling.

We each started the evening with a Caribbean daiquiri which were delicious if not a little awkward to drink because they were in large cosmopolitan-esk glass. For starters we shared a bowl of nachos (which came in a hot bowl) which had plenty of proper mature cheddar smothered through the layers of nachos. Piled on the top of the nachos was sour cream, guacamole and salsa in abundance.

Next came our main meal and another alcoholic drink (this time we just stuck to wine and beer)....I had the BBQ grilled chicken burger which came with chips and Lee had the grilled veggie sandwich which came with sweet potato fries. The chicken in my burger was very moist and the chips had a nice crunch to them and I had a good beefy tomato to accompany the chicken. The condiments on the table were a nice touch especially as the BBQ chicken didn't have much BBQ mayo with it. I really enjoyed my burger although I wish that the plate had been hot because I take a while to eat my meal so it was cold by the time I finished. Also adding the extra bacon was definitely worth it as I got two large slices. But for those who aren't a fan of fat on bacon might want to cut it off. Lee's veggie burger although I didn't taste it, I could see over the table had a huge slab of goats cheese inside it as well as being stuffed with peppers and mushrooms.

I was pretty stuffed by this point so didn't think I couldn't manage a dessert but I thought I have to ask if they had a brownie. And they did! And it was a chocolate fudge brownie, As I was feeling pretty full, I decided to share the brownie with Lee and just as well I did as it is was a biggen. It came with ice cream and a chocolate fudge sauce. The brownie itself was hot and had a chocolate cake texture with hints of gooeyness.

For what was a meal which filled us up and delicious and we had drinks and we had a really friendly waiter the price of the meal was really good. It came to around £60 in total including the tip which I thought was a good price for a meal which ticked a lot of the boxes.

Bodeans is currently only located in London....fingers crossed they expand to have one in Cambridge soon.

Thanks Bodeans

Date Night at Pizza Express

Last Friday, Lee and I decided to have a date night as we hadn't been out just us two for over a month. So after work on Friday 10th October, I met Lee at Hatfield to go for dinner. The original plan was to go for a quick dinner at Pizza Express using Tesco Clubcard vouchers (trying to be sensible in the run up to Christmas) and then go an see Gone Girl. However, a small spanner was thrown into the works when there was an accident on the A505.

We could have wolfed down a main and made the film but instead we decided to just take it easy...we spend our lives rushing around and that was the last thing I wanted to do on a Friday night. Instead, we went all out on dinner, having three courses and wine.

So the link to my blog is that Pizza Express have recently introduced a brownie to their dessert menu. Two small little brownies covered in icing and a selection of cream, ice cream and mascarpone to choose between to accompany the brownie. Thick brownies rather than soft melt in the mouth but they were rich in taste and had a paper cracked top which I love. So for £5.45 you can't complain too much.

I have always thought that the desserts at Pizza Express let them down a little but they have upped their game. It wasn't just brownies which have been added to the menu, they now also offer Honeycomb cream slice and chocolate cheesecake.

A lovely chilled evening even if it wasn't quite to plan.