Living for the Good Life: food

Showing posts with label food. Show all posts

A couple of weekends ago me and B finally arranged a catch-up and decided to start the day off with brunch at Carluccios, one of my favourite places to eat out at the moment.

As usual when we get together, the waitress had to come back and forth a number of time before we were ready to order because we were too absorbed in our conversation that we hadn't even looked at the menu!

For drinks we both opted for bellinis, which were like nectar from the Gods. I drank mine far too quickly and promptly ordered another...it was a Saturday after all!

After much conversation and deliberation, B opted for the Eggs Royale, which after one bite she stated was the nicest one she'd ever had. I went for the herb frittata, with added grilled tomatoes.

It was hands down the best omelette I've ever had, and it takes a lot for me to be impressed by an omelette, trust me!

We devoured the food and the drinks, and were left thoroughly satisfied.

After our brunch, we proceeded to do what we do best - shop and enjoy each other's company.

Love you, B! x

I'm a tesco girl, have been since I started uni, and it's rewarded me over the years. Whenever I get my clubcard points through I use the boost system and convert them into restaurant vouchers, and this time I managed to redeem £30 worth for Zizzi. Not bad I say!

So, me and L headed out for a dinner date, chuffed in the knowledge that the bill would be pretty much on Tesco.

We asked for our favourite table, the one by the window (because we're both nosey), and perused the menus.

It had been ages since we'd been to Zizzi and I was thoroughly craving their delicious offerings.

For drinks, L ordered the Passion Fruit Punch, and I the Sicilian still lemonade, as always.

After much deliberation from L, and little from me (I may or may not have already looked at the menu beforehand and chosen what I wanted...keeno), we placed our orders.

We opted for a starter and a main instead of a main and pudding, and were not disappointed with our choice.

I felt like something different, something other than my old faithful bruscetta, and opted for the fonduta formaggi, which consists of 'a melting pot of gorgonzola, gruyere and pecorino cheese with 'little soul' bread for dipping'.

I was equal parts delighted and horrified at how much bread came with it. Delighted because I am a unashamed bread fiend, but horrified for my waistline.

It was delicious and I completely devoured the bread, leaving a little cheese and instead using the last 'little soul' to mop up a dreamy mix of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic. Though I have to admit I kept offering up bits of bread to L to try and quell my bread-overdose guilt.

L went much healthier and decided on the calamari.

Which he said was good, but didn't have a notch on Piccolino's.

After we'd greedily polished off our starters, our mains arrived.

I chose the superfood salad, swapping the goats cheese for mozzarella, and adding a side of tuscan potatoes.

It tasted just as good as it looks. Though note the additions of MORE little soul bread - I simply felt obliged to leave these as I kind of felt that 6 rolls of bread was ever so slightly excessive, even by my standards.

Hilariously, due to his last minute decision-making on his main and being flustered by the waitress suddenly springing upon him, L mis-read the main dish he ordered.

Expecting a dish of baked pasta to arrive, he was very shocked to see the most ginormous calzone plumped in front of him. Especially as he'd never had calzone before and was bemused to what exactly it was that had been given to him for a minute or two.

Nevertheless, he thoroughly enjoyed the beast of a dish, and astonishingly managed to polish off the lot! I was impressed, and I think he was too - noting that it should have been an eating challenge it was that monstrously big!

We left feeling incredibly full and satisfied, got back home and immediately threw ourselves into bed, falling asleep in no time, knocked out in food comas.

Thanks Zizzi, and thanks Tesco!

On Friday it was my graduation for my undergraduate Sociology degree and of course, it was a brilliant day!

I started the day by getting my hair done at Andrew Collinge, with my favourite hairdresser Louise, so that already started the day off on a good note.

I got my hair cut slightly shorter than usual, but I love it as it's made it feel a lot healthier, thicker and fuller, which it really needed.

Anyway, after the hairdressers I went home and did my make-up, put on my new French Connection dress and new heels and was ready to be picked up by my mum and step-dad. They arrived and came up to my flat and surprised me with some lovely graduation gifts!

I knew I was getting a bracelet from Chlobo, my favourite jewellery brand, but the rest was a surprise.

The bracelet is so gorgeous and it matches loads of my other jewellery, as well as my new tattoo...which you'll be seeing shortly!

They also got me a bottle of Cava (they wanted champagne but didn't have time to buy it hahaha. Apparently it's a nice one though...)

As well as some lovely Decleor goodies.

Presented in a beautifully presented box.

The Hydra Floral BB Cream.

As well as the Aroma Confort Moisturising Body Milk.

I'm really excited to try both of them out as I've never used anything from the brand before.

On top of all this they also got me some fridge magnets from Stratford-Upon-Avon, which I'd specially requested because I'd lost some of my old ones.

I'm a big fan of Shakespeare and I think he's highly under-appreciated these days by my generation, which I think is mainly down to his use in English lessons in school, which makes people fed up with him, unfortunately. Luckily I was brought up with him and will forever hold a love and appreciation for his work.

I was so grateful for my gifts, and after opening these we all headed off to collect my graduation gown and get pictures taken.

After having our pictures taken, we all headed off to either the Student Union (my grandma and grandpa went here to watch a live stream of the graduation because unfortunately they couldn't get tickets), or to the Cathedral for the ceremony.

I met my course friends and we took our seats within the Cathedral, whilst my mum, step-dad and dad took theirs.

The cathedral looked magical, like something out of Hogwarts.

The ceremony took place in all its splendour, and I took to the stage to shake the Chancellor's hand and receive my certificate.

Afterwards, the obligatory pictures with family began.

And I proudly showed off my certificate.

Once the photoshoot was done we headed for a quick coffee to perk ourselves up and then it was off to Piccolino's for a celebratory meal - myself, the boyfriend, my grandma, grandpa, step-dad, mum and dad.

It was a perfect day and evening, and we all left feeling very merry and content, with bellies full of food and wine, and I was officially a First Class Bachelor of Science in Sociology.

Con Amici is really one of the only places to go to eat if you're in Denbigh, and is where I tend to meet up with one of my bestest friends, B. It's an Italian bar and kitchen that offers delicious food at decent prices.

We headed in, were seated and offered both the main menu and the lunchtime specials menu. I rarely look at lunchtime special type menus wherever I am because for some reason I always find they're mostly, if not entirely, full of meat-based dishes, and being a vegetarian that's no use to me. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Con Amici's offerings.

We both opted for water to drink, and deliberated over the menus for much longer than necessary.

Mine and B's problem is that because we rarely get to see each other, when we do, we could talk for Britain. It usually takes the waiter 3 times of asking if we're ready to order before we actually are.

We finally decided to both have exactly the same dishes. Feeling greedy, we opted to have a starter and went for the 'dolcelatte e noci aranchini', described as dolcelatte cheese & walnut risotto balls, red wine poached pears, frisee lettuce & grain mustard dressing.

I'd had this starter before, a long time ago, and remembered how impressed I was by it.

It's a really grown-up dish flavour-wise, and one that I've never noticed in any other Italian restaurant I've been to. The flavours are intense, and the risotto balls are gorgeously gooey, pairing beautifully with the poached pears. I was nearly tempted by the bruschetta, but then I thought that you can get that pretty much anywhere and so wanted to go for this more unique dish.

For main, we went for one of the options on the lunch time specials menu - the 'Gnocci al pesto', composed of gnocci pan fried in garlic butter with cherry tomatoes, black olives, pesto, rocket & grana padano shavings.

Gnocci can be stodgy and too filling sometimes, but this one had a beautiful crispiness to it from the pan-frying, and the portion size was spot on. I can be fussy with pesto because too much makes me feel a bit sickly, but the amount they added was perfect and complimented the tomatoes and olives wonderfully.

We were both stuffed and groaning by the time we'd finished our main, and quickly declined the dessert menu. However, we then proceeded to chat for so long that our main had gone down a bit and we both wanted more and had to embarrassingly ask for the menus that we'd previously shot down so intently.

I was feeling particularly naughty and opted for ice cream, whilst B chose a hazelnut latte.

You get 3 scoops, and I went for two chocolate and one cappuccino.

Unfortunately the chocolate was disappointing, but then I hit the last scoop, the cappuccino, and all was not lost. It was gorgeous - the perfect strength of coffee flavour. I wish I'd of just had all three as cappuccino now!

B's hazelnut latte, like my chocolate ice cream, was disappointing. However, that is mainly due to the fact that we went to Patisserie Valerie not long ago where she had the best hazelnut latte she's ever tasted and so now nothing compares. Maybe there will be a post on that place in the not so far future...

Overall, it was a delicious meal and we couldn't believe how reasonable the bill was when it arrived. Con Amici is our traditional meeting place now, and I'm sure we'll be back again soon.

Check out Con Amici's menus here.

On Wednesday night me and L decided to go out for dinner to somewhere we've been meaning to go to for months, but never got around to it. The entire 3 years I was at university I never once went to The Blackhouse Grill, but always heard good things about it. I think what must have hindered my visiting is the fact that there is only really one main vegetarian option on the menu (bar a salad or two), which is not that surprising considering that it specialises in prime beef cuts and seafood.

The one main vegetarian option they offer is roasted vegetable fajitas, which I'm always a fan of, and so I was keen to give them a go and see how they fare compared to Hickory's, an American-style smokehouse just down the road that I've frequented many a time.

We rocked up around 7.30pm, which is late for dinner for us but seems to be the usual time to dine out for everyone else, and so without a reservation booked we were unsure whether we'd be seated. However, to our luck we we're immediately shown to at a spacious 4-seater table and handed the menus.

We ordered drinks. I deliberated on a cocktail but changed my mind and opted for a fresh juice instead - apple, mint and raspberry - described as 'fresh mint and raspberries lengthened with freshly pressed apple juice and sweetened with honey'. It came beautifully presented, alongside L's choice of Hornsby's cider, which neither of us had ever tried before. It was the nicest cider he'd ever had, and I'm really not a cider fan so I was suspicious, but had a sip out of curiosity, and I have to say it was pretty decent!

Usually I'm a sucker for a starter, however I decided to be sensible and just have a main course due to my tendency of scoffing down a starter and then being full before I've even caught sight of my main.

Of course, I opted for the roasted vegetable fajitas, which came impressively presented and instantly yielded a 'think you've got enough there!?' remark from L.

Naturally, L chose a burger, deciding on the 100% premium beef burger topped with smoked bacon and accompanied with a side of chips and tomato relish. I was feeling naughty and knew I'd be envious of L's chips so I caved in and ordered them as a side.

It was absolutely delicious, and I have to say my fajitas were indeed better than Hickory's!

Overall, I'd definitely recommend the Blackhouse. It was very nicely decorated and furnished inside, with very fast and efficient service, and they even had a live pianist playing. It was a tad noisy, however I think that was mainly due to the very enthusiastic American sitting one table down from us. I'd definitely like to visit again and venture into the starters and desserts. However that's if I ever can make it through a three course meal without feeling like I'm actually going to explode on the spot...

I did a blogger fail and took photos of the place on departure rather than when I arrived so it was dark when I took them, and I also somehow managed to make one of them terribly blurry, so tried to make up for it by taking another one the following day in daylight. There, I confess.

Check out the Blackhouse's menu here.

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