IceDelight - fat free goodness!

Throught the wonderful world of Twitter, I was approached by IceDelight & asked if I would like to review their iced dessert products. I would've been silly to turn that down!

For those who haven't heard of IceDelight before, it's a natural, fat-free (yes FAT FREE) dessert created from natural ingredients by Belhaven Fruit Farm. All of the fruit is grown on the land & then turned into the iced dessert.
                                       

I picked up my tubs of IceDelight, which come in 5 flavours: Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackcurrant, Lemon & Elderflower & Gooseberry. Having never tried the latter as a flavour combination before, I decided to try that first. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised given I wasn't sure if I would like it. It didn't have an overly sour taste that gooseberry can give. Instead you get a wonderful combination of slightly sour yet sweet taste of the gooseberry followed by the perfume of the elderflower. It may not sound great when put into words but you have to taste it to understand! Texture-wise, it is very soft & I would go as far as to say it is in-between the texture of a sorbet & ice cream. 

I tried all of the other flavours as well. The raspberry did not have as strong a flavour as I was expecting, not that it's a bad thing! It still has a distinct raspberry taste to it, as did the strawberry which has a taste quite like a strawberry & cream lollipop! The blackcurrant was a tad strong for my liking but I'm not the biggest blackcurrant fan so slightly biased there! The biggest surprise for me was the lemon dessert. I am not big on citrus flavours, yet despite this being quite tart, I really enjoyed it! I decided to have it with some wholemeal pancakes & it went very well with them. Perfect for Shrove Tuesday next week!!

                                     

Overall, I would say that IceDelight have something very unique & wonderful available. The best part for me was how natural & full of flavour the desserts are without being chock full of calories. In fact, 100ml of each dessert is around 90 calories, YES 90 calories! I couldn't believe it when I read it either!

You can pick up IceDelights in Waitrose as well as individual delis such as Peckhams in Glasgow. A full list of stockists can be found here.

Nucoco Chocolate Making Class

I'd heard of Nucoco Chocolate before when popping into the Good Spirits company but hadn't tried any of their products. When I heard via Facebook that they were going to be running chocolate making classes at the store, I figured I would go along & see what it's all about.

 

          Dark Chocolate & pistachio / Dark Chocolate & rum soaked cranberries (my fav!)

For those who haven't heard of Nucoco, they are a Scottish company who pride themselves on making good quality chocolate. They have a few products including bars, smash bars(larger slabs, smashed up into bitesized pieces) and drinking chocolate. The mix of flavours are also quite different, including Rum soaked cranberry & tablet.

Walking into the room, each desk had a bowl, spatula, apron & printed book per person on it. At the front, there were a couple of machines along with a LOT of chocolate. Before we got our hands dirty (and they got very dirty!), Jackie told us a bit of background about Nucoco & the chocolate that they make. It was really informative & always a good to get a background into a company. Then the time came for us to get stuck in!
                             
                            Jackie prepping the chocolate

One of the larger machines on the table, we were told, was a chocolate tempering machine. What that roughly translates as is, you can melt chocolate in it without burning it or ruining the colour. We were given the choice of making a slab of chocolate or individual bars - I opted for the bars. After receiving our freshly melted chocolate, it then had to be transferred to the moulds. This was a lot messier than it seemed. After putting  the chocolate into the moulds, you then have to scrape the excess chocolate off and bang the mould to get all of the air bubbles out.

                                
There was an array of toppings for the chocolate bars. The good thing about making the bars was that you could use pretty much all of the toppings on them. However, as the room was a bit cold, one of my sets of bars had started to set so we weren't sure if the toppings would stick. Jackie gave me a slab to make as well just in case the bars didn't turn out ok. More chocolate is never a bad thing!
                         

Whilst the bars were cooling in the fridge, Jackie gave us some background into the world of chocolate. We were told about the origins, the different types of cocoa & the different forms it takes before you see it in the bar form you're probably more used to. 
                                
                          Cocoa beans, cocoa plants, cocoa nibs & cocoa butter
The bars were taken out of the fridge once set & as you can see, they turned out not too bad!
                               

The class overall was a good experience, learning about what you're making as well as being very hands on. At a bargain of £20 for the introductory class, it was very good value for money! The next class will be on the 9th of February, costing £30 per person or £50 for 2. Even if it doesn't sound like your cup of tea, the class would make a good present for any chocoholic! 

An average night at The Drake

I had walked past The Drake a few times but never ventured in. Feeling the January pinch, we opted to go there on a 20% off A La Carte deal courtesy of 5pm.co.uk.

Walking in, we went straight upstairs only to be told that there was a function on & we had to go back downstairs. There were no signs signalling this which would've been helpful. When we got downstairs, we were told to take our pic of seats in the back bar area. We chose a big booth next to the fire, which unfortunately wasn't on despite it being chilly outside. The back bar area had a pretty laid back feel to it, with quilted booth style seats taking up most of the area & dimmed lighting throughout.

I'm a big fan of sharing starters because you get much more variety than your bog-standard starter. We went for the "Taste of the Sea" platter. As the name suggests, an array of seafood including smoked salmon, mussels, trout, pickled herring, squid & samphire salad accompanied by bread. For mains we went for the red snapper & king prawn Goan curry & the chorizo & chicken linguine. Unfortunately, the pasta had sold out so the Pollock with chorizo & squid broth was chosen instead.



The platter arrived & the first thing we noticed was that there was one king prawn - bit strange considering it was a sharing platter. I have to say overall, the platter was a disappointment. The best part of it was the squid & samphire salad, which mixed well together although the samphire wasn't as salty as I was expecting. The trout was melt in the mouth  which made up for the strange smoked salmon. I can't even describe what it tasted like but it had some oil drizzled over it which detracted from the smokey flavour you would normally associate. Even Al who is a fish fanatic couldn't handle more than a couple of bites. The rest of the platter was equally unimpressive - plain mussels in hot water & stale bits of bread. We had to ask for butter to go with the bread as there was no sauce in the mussels to soak it up. 

The mains had actually arrived during our starter but we asked for them to be taken away. When we were ready for them, I was impressed with the presentation. My curry came in a dinky pot with a lid, served on a heavy slate board. The pollock was positioned nicely on a bed on samphire (much to Al's dismay at more of it) with scatterings of chorizo. One big down point to the curry was the single shell-on king prawn balanced on top. Not wanting to waste it, I de-shelled it but without having a single bite, my hands were covered in curry, not exactly what I was expecting!  


My first taste of the curry & all I could immediately think of was the type of curry you get from the chinese. It had the same texture, colour & tasted extremely similar. Having never tasted a Goan curry before, I'm still not sure if this is what it is meant to taste like but I assume not. The prawns were cooked well but the red snapper was relatively tough. Al had a taste & asked me if it was chicken I had in the curry!! Apart from that I did enjoy it with the nicely fragrant rice, not overpowered with cloves & a nice chapati to soak it up. The pollock went down very weel & the chorizo accompanied it well. There was far too much samphire in the dish, with most of it being left to the side. 

I was glad we had the 20% discount because I would not have been happy paying £40 for 2 very average courses & only 1 drink each. The Drake is trying to be a bit more upmarket than the skill of their current kitchen staff. If they toned down the menu more, going back to basics & served food more suited to the feel of the place, rather than trying to be too sophisticated. Will definitely be back for a drink!

A market you should visit!

For our last meal out of 2012, we decided to go somewhere we hadn't been before. As I had the choice, I opted for Central Market, a recently opened restaurant in the Merchant City of Glasgow. 

We went along & were seated upstairs in the balcony area which I was quite happy with as you could see everything that was going on. It isn't the largest of restaurants but they can easily accommodate large parties as a table of around 12 with children were next to us. A couple of nice touches Central Market has is to have their oysters on display at the front of the bar, proving that they are fresh & also having a relatively open plan kitchen, allowing you to see exactly where your food is coming from. The toilets are unisex which is quite unusual! Another mention is that a pint of Bierra Moretti is only £4, much cheaper than Italian restaurants in the city - this was a big tick for Al.

                                                    

Central Market's menu can't really be describe as run of the mill. They offer a lot of brunch items, with a range of sandwiches for lunchtime. Their main menu has the usual items such as terrine, mussels, steak & burgers but they also offer more unusual items like sardines, steak tartare & pork shoulder steak. Part of the reason for choosing the Central Market was that they served oysters & I had been wanting them since The Grill On The Corner had run out the night we were in. For starters we opted for 6 Oysters & Sardines to share and for mains I went for the Spatchcock Poussain & Al went for the 6oz Burger. 

 

We managed to get the last portion of sardines available & I have to say I wasn't too sure about them when they arrived as they came whole which meant fish bones!! I have to admit, my first thoughts were soon set aside after tucking into them. They were excellent! The meat fell off the bones & any bones that were left over were big enough for you to notice them. The sardines came with a lime & chorizo oil which really complimented the fish. The lime was a good contrast. We soon tucked into the oysters which came with 3 accompaniments - tabasco (yay!), soy sauce & a red onion viniagrette type sauce. I tried all 3 & they all went very well, with only the red onion one maybe being a bit too tart for my liking.

 

There wasn't a long wait between our starter & main. The spatchcock poussain was delicious! I don't know what seasoning they had put on the chicken skin but it was slightly crunchy with a salty taste to it, really nice. It was accompanied by roast anya potatoes & a sprout salad. It tasted a bit like coleslaw as it was quite creamy but it went really well with the spatchcock & I wish they had a deli section so I could go & get a tub of it to take home!! Neither myself or Al are big tomato fans so when I noticed him tucking into the burger without taking the tomato out I asked him if he'd forgotten. He pointed to the bottom of the burger where the tomato was mushed up & he said it actually didn't taste like a tomato, it was more of a smokey flavour. I had a taste of the burger & to me it tasted a bit like a hot dog! Not that it was unpleasant, just a bit different from the usual strong beef flavour you would expect. The french fries were also nice & crispy & not overly pre-salted.


Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our first visit to Central Market. I've since recommended it to a few people & intend on going back to try Steak Tartare for the first time!

Cocktail & Burger

Having heard about Cocktail & Burger from James Vs Burger we decided to check it out last Saturday. Situated in the former Hippo Lounge on Sauchiehall St, it does exactly what it says on the tin! 

Going in, the place is quite dimly lit with low hanging lights above the tables (yes I did bang my head off one) but it gives it a bit of atmosphere. The menu doesn't have a lot of choice, a few burgers,hotdogs, a couple of salads & some snack items but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. We decided to order 2 C&B burgers and a side of mussel popcorn. As the name suggests, cocktails are also a main feature, with a selection at £3.50 & premium ones at £4.50. 

After munching on our complementary cup of popcorn, our food arrived & it was surprised at the amount of food. Normally when you order a burger & chips, it comes on the one plate & you get a decent amount. Not Cocktail & Burger, they give you a good sized burger, not too big, not too small & a separate bowl of their "stealth" fries. 

c                          

The C&B burger is topped with bacon & cheddar & on first bite, I have to say, the taste was amazing. It tasted like a good quality fast food burger without the horrible after-taste you get from say McDonalds or Burger King. On the side is a couple of slices of gherkin, red onion & cucumber to put on top of your burger if you wish. Unfortunately I didn't realise this & ate it before it was pointed out to me why it was there! 

                            
I don't know why anywhere hasn't thought of mussel popcorn before but it's fantastic! Just like chicken popcorn but with mussels. Really loved this & the pureed tartar sauce that came with it. Not for those who don't like anything too fishy but a must have for all fish fans out there. I'm still a bit confused about why the fries are called "stealth" fries, however, they were pretty good. Nice & crispy & also for the first time I've experienced, pre-peppered rather than pre-salted. 

                            

A big plus to Cocktail & Burger for supplying hot sauce as part of the normal set of condiments. Both of us are big spice fans so this just added to the goodness of the burger. And the fries may have also taken a spice hit too!


I can't believe these guys are doing 2 for 1 burgers all day at such a low price (C&B are £6.95 each) for such good quality. Despite not sounding like a lot to eat, we were both suitably stuffed after our venture to Cocktail & Burger. A repeat visit is on the cards!
                           

Lazy Sunday at Curlers

I've been having a craving for a good Sunday Roast for a while but haven't been lucky enough to get my hands on one. So on Sunday when asked "Where do you want to eat?", all I knew is that somewhere with a Sunday Roast is where I wanted to go. Remembering someone I know mentioning the roast they had in The Curlers Rest a couple of weeks back, we decided to go there.

Writing this, I've realised that was the first time I'd eaten in Curlers after they bought the pub from the Scream chain. I had eaten in the previous incarnation but the food in Scream pubs is enough to put anyone off pub food for life so maybe that's part of the reason!

After deliberating which type of roast to get, I decided on the 21 day aged beef with all the trimmings. Al (my other half) decided on the homemade cheeseburger with BBQ pulled pork, which I'd read good reviews about. We sat waiting for our meal with an Aspall each - very few places in Glasgow serve Aspall on tap so anywhere that has this gets a big tick from me!

Our dinner arrived & all I can say is there was a lot of food on my plate! The beef was accompanied with mixed veg (but no sauteed cabbage as was advertised on the chalkboard :( & someunknown white veg), a big yorkshire pudding, an army of roast potatoes & red wine gravy (which I had on the side). This was right up my street! I have to say I did enjoy the meal & surprisingly the gravy. I'm not a bit gravy fan, hence why I had it on the side but it was really tasty, the red wine giving it a less overbearing meaty taste I've found with other gravies. The only part of it I can really fault it the yorkshire pudding which was a bit too crispy for my liking, but that could just be me!

The cheeseburger with the pulled pork was also a hit. Al struggled to pick it up as the pork was falling out from all angles. I took a sneaky bit & it was really nice. The pork was melt in the mouth, with a nice subtle BBQ flavour whilst the burger rounded it off. By the time the burger was finished, there was enough pork on the plate to fill another burger! The exact description of the fries was "you could get these in McDonalds" & I have to agree. They were of the same consistency of McDonald's but without being drowned in salt. 

All in all, Curlers was a hit all round & we will definitely be back. I want a burger with pulled pork for myself!

Not such a good grilling

On Friday it was one of my close friend's 30th & I took it upon myself to sort out a surprise dinner for him. As he's a bit of a meat lover, I decided on Grill on the Corner - a no brainer, they do the best steaks in town! I did not expect to have such a hassle to not only book the meal but also be seated at our table on the night. Booking a table for 11 was such a travesty - it took me 5 days, 5 phonecalls (despite being promised to be called back) & deposit of £10 each before it was finally confirmed. 

We arrived at 8pm sharp to be greeted by the fire alarm which was going off. We had to stand at the bar area & watch whilst 3 fire engines turned up to figure out how to turn off a faulty fire alarm. 30 mins later (I kid you not!), the whining finally stopped & I was straight over asking to be seated at our table only to be told it would take another couple of minutes as they were pushing the tables together. It wasn't until 8:45 that we were finally seated at our table!! Not only did it take ages but I had dropped off a balloon before we arrived & they had failed to put it on the table before seating us. Not exactly rocket science to put a balloon on a table!! I've been to the Grill a couple of times before so knew that a steak is the only way to go. We finally had our order taken after 9pm - 1 whole hour after we had originally booked the table for!

For starters, I ordered the sharing platter (salt & pepper chicken skewers, thai fishcakes, duck springrolls & calarmari) with my fiance to share. It arrived & it looked pretty appetising. One thing I loved was that the calarmari came with tentacles! Never ever had that before. Overall the platter was very tasty - good calarmari, the chicken skewers had a nice kick to them & the fishcakes had a nice thai flavour to them. The duck springrolls weren't exactly to my taste & the garlic mayo wasn't lacking in garlic flavour - my only complaints about the starter.

Now it was time for the main event! I had been looking forward to this steak since I had booked the meal. I ordered a medium sirloin with champ potatoes & a side of green beans & shallots. I've had the sirloin once before & it was melt in the mouth deliciousness! The steak arrived & first bite was a big disappointment - it hadn't been seasoned!! Of all the things I would never expect from a restaurant that specialises in steak is for them to forget to put some salt & pepper on it. The cut itself was not as good as I had before but not as bad as other cuts that have been passed off as steak in other places. The champ potatoes had also been drowned in butter which took away from any taste the spring onion would have given them. One other member of the party was extremely disappointed with his rump steak which was so fatty despite being described as the leanest cut on the menu! 

For the prices you pay in a restaurant like the Grill on the Corner, you expect first class service, no need to ask to make an order, an amazing steak & a card machine that works!!! However, we didn't get this at all & my feeling is they can't handle large parties on a Friday/Saturday night. My friend enjoyed his steak which was the main thing as it was his birthday & the reason we had gone there but I couldn't help but mention my views to the manager. All I was told was that they were sorry & next time I come to ask for the manager & he'll make sure that we get the best table & best service - not sure if we will be back to take them up on that offer!!