Finally got round to eating... Chocolate!?

So I'm someone who loves chocolate. Don't we all?! But for some reason, it can sit in my cupboard for ages without me eating it. I get lots of easter eggs, but they sit in my cupboard until around summer, I have even found some at Christmas before! So I must firstly apologise to Choc O' Clock for taking so long to eat and review their delicious treat. They are the first people to have sent me something to review, and I was like a kid at Christmas when it arrived. 

I'm not somebody who is great at trying new things, in fact I would go as far to say that a few years ago I had a bit of a food phobia. So I feel like this blog is helping me get over those fears slowly. I hadn't tried an ice cream chocolate until today, and I was pleasantly surprised. 

A friend of mine had tried one over the summer, and told me that they were a bit weird, and just tasted like ice cream that was unfrozen. So I was apprehensive. 

Boy was she wrong. I loved it. Part of the fun of a cornetto is ripping off the wrapper, which I still got to do with this one. I love the fact that on the packaging it says 'no ice cream included', a clever advertising idea. 

The mini cone looked just like a cornetto from the outside, but with a thick layer of chocolate on top. Cornetto cones are better than any other cone, and this felt exactly the same. 

When I bit into the chocolate, it was not what I expected. The centre was made of a thick chocolate mousse. All of the textures together went beautifully. There was an initial bite of chocolate, which tasted just like the chocolate through a cone of an ice cream, then a smooth, rich chocolate mousse filling, followed by the perfect crunch of the cone. 

Chocolate was throughout the centre of the cone, and at the bottom, you got the best part. The thick dark chocolate which is exactly the same as the end of a cornetto, the pinpoint of the cone filled  with solid chocolate. 

So basically, the ice cream chocolate is up there with some of my favorites, when you want something a little bit fancy to brighten your day, it comes highly recommended.

And the best part? Choc O'Clock sent me 2, so having told you all how yummy the first one is, I can devour the 2nd! 

10/10

Paigey x

A celebratory dinner

On Saturday (yes, if you hadn't already worked out it was anther weekend of dinners out!) we helped D's brother and his girlfriend move into a new flat. It was a fun day, I helped unpack the kitchen mainly, which is my favorite room in the house, I love shopping for kitchenware! 

As a thank you, they took us, and D's dad out for dinner, to Café Rouge in Reigate. We had a great evening, the company was perfect and the service was impeccable. We had a small amount of tesco vouchers to use - and I must admit this is my favorite thing, every time D and I get our vouchers through the post we order Café Rouge vouchers for a little treat - they're worth 4 times your voucher value! 

I was in a bit of a tetchy mood if I'm honest, I wanted the food to be perfect... And sadly it didn't live up to expectations. 

To start, I had chorizo. I expected it to come like it would in a tapas bar - cooked and ready to eat. Instead, it was cold, fresh out the fridge. I still enjoyed it, but was slightly disappointed and it's not a course I would choose again visiting that restaurant. 

Steak, as you will know if you have read my profile, is one of my favorite things. Café Rouge is one of those places where I thoroughly enjoy steak, and therefore tend to float towards it as my dish of choice, and this occasion was no different. I went for a sirloin, with peppercorn sauce, and chips, cooked medium rare. The thing that frustrates me the most, is that restaurants never seem to be able to cook steak to the right level, so I always go for medium rare as inevitably it will be overcooked. I was not surprised, the dish was nice but overcooked, it was more medium-well than rare, and I was very glad I didn't go for medium (which is actually how I like it!) The peppercorn sauce was perfect, not too spicy, and nice and thick, and it tasted amazing covered over the chips. 

We, once again decided to go for a dessert. I really fancied the chocolate pancakes, which came with banana... I love fresh bananas, but am not really a fan of them in puddings. So just to confuse things, I asked for the pudding, without the banana, and with salted caramel ice cream instead of vanilla. It was the perfect pudding, a great combination of hot and cold, salty and smooth, rich and sweet, it was melt in your mouth heaven. And I wasn't the only one who ordered exactly that dish! (The thing on top is crumbled white chocolate - not cheese!) 

I must mention, once again, the incredible service received by the staff. I was being a bit picky, and fussy (which I always have been with food), and he pandered to our every need. If I was being a difficult food critic on purpose, he would have scored 10/10, so for that I thank you. Your staff are excellent.

7/10

Time for bed.

SD 

Paigey x

A beautiful location

I love Cheltenham, this is a known fact among my friends. Particularly those who I grew up with in Surrey, who are always asking me when I'm moving home (never). And places like Zizzi in Cheltenham are one of the many reasons I love it here. The buildings are just beautiful (not to mention it was voted #1 place to bring up a family recently). Now I know I'm extremely fortunate to have found myself a job in the film industry outside of London, but I am so very glad that I get to stay in such a beautiful town.

Zizzi is one of a few restaurants set in an old church, but they have done it the most justice I have seen. They have kept most of the original features, and the kitchen is where the altar would have been - up high so everyone in the restaurant can see it. 

They have an upstairs which overlooks the 'church, which has a piano, and on this occasion there was someone up there playing.

As it is a church, it is very large and open, but luckily it was busy that evening creating a perfect Friday night atmosphere. The only qualm I would have is that there are a lot of tables, much like in any restaurant, so people are quite packed in. 

D and I went for dinner with another couple, big easy and B. Big easy rocked up a little late, having been looking after clients at the literature festival, so had been drinking throughout the afternoon. This made for an entertaining evening. 

We decided to be greedy, and go for three courses! I started off with Risotto balls, which I have had in a different Zizzi before, and it was my first experience of enjoying rice (although a tad different to generic rice). The ones on this occasion were good, but a little bland and dry? Not as tasteful as I remember. I enjoyed the crisp crunch on the outside, and there was plenty of filling, it just could have done with a little more seasoning. My favorite part was the tomato dip that came alongside it, it was fresh and zingy, although it came in a little plastic pot which looked like a takeaway sauce! 

For main course, D and I ummed and ahhed because deep down we both wanted the same thing, and thought we should try something different, but we both ended up going for the same, which was the right choice! We went for a Pizza Piccante, which is basically all the meats and a little spice, along with some extra cheese. The base was perfectly crunchy round the outside and soft in the middle and the toppings were a plenty. Parts of the crust were a little too thick, but other than that it was scrumptious. It did look rather funny at the end when we both had a pile of jalapeño peppers on our plates, as neither of us deal with spice well! 

As it was treat night, it was time for a dessert. D and I shared a melt in the middle pudding with pistachio ice cream (which I requested instead of vanilla). He told me he didn't want it because it tasted like almonds, but he was thinking of amaretto I think. It was great, I'm a firm believer that chocolate puddings should be hot, and this delivered exactly what I wanted. The best thing about a pudding like this is its size, after a big meal I just want a taste of something sweet to finish it off, nothing too big, this was just right. Spongy, moist pudding with a delectable middle which oozed out as soon as the spoon went in. 

All in all a fantastic evening, which ended in good old 'retreat' for some after dinner drinks.

7/10.

Have a great day,

Paigey x

Last but not least

So I've decided I'm going to change the way I blog (I'm new to this so trial and error is key). I'm going to start blogging about places individually, so this will be my last full weeks post with a variety of adventures. I hope this will make it easier for you lovely readers to see where is good to eat and stay! 

So.. I have some treats in store for you today - a bit of everything, from hotels to home baking... And while we're on the subject I was incredibly disappointed with the result of bake-off - I backed Richard all the way! 

Last week I stayed in the Village Urban Resort in Elstree, it was fantastic. I loved the way they had everything in one place, gym (the biggest I've ever seen), two restaurants and a hotel. The staff were lovely, and remembered me from the night before at breakfast. My only problem was the lighting in the bedrooms, I can't stand it when hotels use mood lighting as you can't do your make-up easily, and the rooms here were particularly dark. I imagine in the summer with the big glass windows it would be perfect, but any other time of year, aka now, it just doesn't work. 

I checked into the hotel quite late on Tuesday, and decided to eat there. I looked at the menus, and decided to go for an Italian (it was that or pub food). Perfect choice, I sat down with a book and a glass of wine and relaxed. I had a chicken Milanese (breaded chicken with a tomato sauce, pesto, pancetta and mozarella.) It was lovely and light, and I had it with a side of potatos, which were perfectly crispy. The atmosphere was perfect for me, quiet and chilled with not too many people about.

In the morning I went down for breakfast, and decided to fill up on cooked breakfast. The sausages were cheap, but the hash browns were cooked to perfection, and it kick started the day nicely. 

That evening I went to meet a friend for dinner in Smiths in Bourne, Linconshire. It was incredibly busy, clearly a popular spot for the locals. There was a lovely little bar as you walked in, followed by a variety of quirky little rooms. We sat in the front, at a booth, and both ended up eating the same meal! It was quite noisy, popular with beer drinkers, and I'm not sure I'd revisit but the food was good. There were a few flys about which concerned me, but I think that's because we were sat by the door. I had an open chicken ciabatta with chips and onion rings. The chips weren't what I'd like to see in a pub-type restaurant, they were skinny like McDonalds (I like a good thick potato in the pub) and the onion rings were pretty greasy, but the chicken ciabatta was delicious. 

One thing I always wonder in restaurants - why are they so apprehensive to give you mayonnaise?! They automatically put all other sauces out, but you have to ask for Mayo and they give you the smallest pot in the world! 

I have had a bit of a week of baking this week. We've been watching Jamie's comfort food, and I decided to attempt his shepherds pie (except mine was cottage as I used beef). D told me we are never to use mince again because it was amazing (we used chunks of beef), and the crispy potato base that Jamie Oliver suggested, by lining the oven dish with potato as well as putting it on top, was potentially one of my favorite ideas ever. 

Lemon drizzle cake is my absolute favorite, so this week I decided to attempt it for the first time. I went and bought a huge cake tin, so we could share it about, and collected some fresh eggs from the farm. I used the bbc good food recipe - simple yet effective. It was easy to make and turned out well, I was pretty proud. It was a bit dense in the middle, so in hindsight next time I would probably use a smaller tin, but the outside was moist and light. I'm rather glad there was a lot to eat! 

I was ever so excited yesterday when I got my first ever request on Twitter - from Choc O'Clock - for them to send me some chocolate to sample and blog about. This is possibly one of the most exciting things that's ever happened! So I will try them and that will be the first of my one-product only blogs.

Look forward to sharing it with you.

Paigey x

A little less travelling

I had a lovely week last week - I've been at home visiting my local cinemas! Which means not as many dinners and no hotels... However I've had a busy weekend. And of course when I say not as many, there are still SOME food visits. 

I visited the Picture House in Cambridge for the first time recently, and I must say what a quaint little cafe/bar they have. It's got great character, I had a hot chocolate (which seems to be one of my specialties) which was perfectly sweet, and very visually appealing. 

The weekend started off well... And continue throughout! On Friday, we went out for dinner as a friend of ours is moving to Dubai (jealous... Me?!). We went to the Farmer's boy near Gloucester, known for its pies. Whilst I have been there before and had a delicious burger, this time I decided to go with tradition and have a steak and ale pie, with chips and peas. It was great, you get a lot of choice in there of different pies and pastries all cooked to order. The only complaint I would have is that there genuinely is too much choice - 3 menus, a pie menu, a mains menu and a specials menu, they could do with getting rid of the specials menu. We had a card for our friend, which needed signing whilst we were there, so we sent him off for a walk and he didn't come back for ages - we had to go looking for him! I didn't have a starter, they were all a bit too fussy for me (and I think your learning, I'm a bit of a fusspot), but desert was a couldn't be missed occasion. D and I shared a chocolate fudge cake with cream, and for someone who didn't want any pudding he did a good job of sharing it with me. It was scrumptious, but as I will always say fudge cake should be warm, and it wasn't!! Staff were extremely friendly and attentive, and they have a great app for your phone which gets you discounts. 

I had a bit of a day of baking at the weekend, as we had a lot of fresh eggs to use up. I'm a big fan of Pinterest, so decided to try their Oreo cookie mini cheesecakes, which went down a treat. Add to that some chocolate butterfly cakes, and brownies and you've got a party. 

Saturday saw us heading back to Surrey as a friend of mine was having a leaving do - she's going travelling all over the place (once again, jealous, me?). We met mum for lunch in Strada in Cobham, and as per usual was disappointed with the service - strada always seem to get this wrong. We seated ourselves, had to ask for the menu, and to get drinks, and they forgot a few things. There was a family on the table next to us who seemed to get both waiters attending to them, and we had neither. Nevertheless, the food was good (pepporoni and chicken pizza) and the company was great, although they didn't have any carbonara on the menu which is always a disappointment.  D and I took great pleasure in 'playing a game of tinder' on my mums phone, which is one of my favorite hobbies on other people's phones! 

That evening I headed to L's house for her leaving do, which was great fun. My baked goods went down excellently, we had some scrumptious home-made fajitas and played a rather competitive game of articulate (to which I must add... My team won!). The plates that she had bought were adorable, perfect for the nature of the party, and we all brought wine from around the world, to add to the delicious slushy cocktails. 

I am now away for the week, and stayed in the Hilton metropole Birmingham airport on Monday. I will most certainly say I will not be returning, purely due to the outrageous prices of everything you have to add on (wifi, parking, and the tray service charge for room service was £5!). I am always happy to pay for a tray service, but I felt that was extortionate. Had a pretty big dinner as it had been a long day, and I feel that hotel food is always average. Bruschetta to start, cheese and bacon burger for main with a side of garlic bread, and a chocolate honeycomb pudding with fruit. It was all okay, fair for a hotel meal but ridiculously expensive. And when it came to the pudding, went to eat it and realised they'd left the plastic mould on - great! Had an early start in the morning so went to make a coffee, to my dismay they had forgotten to set out the milk, so at 5am I was phoning reception to get them to bring me some milk. I know mistakes are sometimes made, but that's a bit of a silly one. Also I stayed there to be out of birmingham for the traffic - what a bad idea, the design of their car park is awful and I spent ages queueing to get anywhere near the exit! 

(It looked lovely when it was fully ready!)

Signing off, will have lots to talk about in the next post.

Paigey x