Wagamamas

I have been craving a Wagamamas for ages, and couldn't honestly tell you the last time I visited. So when my friend suggested a dinner date to Waga's I couldn't turn it down.

When I first started visiting Waga's I always had the chicken katsu curry, because it is simply amazing. However on more recent visits I started to have the chicken raisukaree, which is stir fried chicken in a coconut thai sauce served with sticky rice.

However since I hadn't been in ages I went back to my roots and thoroughly enjoyed my katsu curry! The crispy chicken and the sauce are divine, and I loveee the salad and the dressing they serve on it!

We also had my favourite duck gyoza as a side. The duck gyoza are served with an amazing cherry hoi sin sauce, and I will order these without fail whenever I visit Wagamama's.

The thing I like Waga's is that you all sit on long tables so it feels very warm and welcoming and the staff are always super friendly and helpful.

However, I just wish I knew how to use chopsticks!

What's you favourite dish at Wagamama's?

Recent Beauty Haul

I have never done a beauty post as all the posts I read the photographs look absolutely amazing! I cannot afford a great camera just yet so my pictures never look the same, so I have never braved a post myself!

However, that said I love make-up and in particular buying and trying new make, so when John Lewis were doing Price Match on many make-up brands, plus my discount on top I jumped at the chance.

The well anticipated Roller Lash by Benefit was even on the price match and I am a sucker for new mascara's so had to buy it. I wear mascara everyday, so I always spend more on eye make-up as I feel I get my money's worth. The mascara is great, I really like it. The bottle is very unique and I love the brush and feel it definitely extends your lashes.

Additionally, I have been wanting to try the new Clinque Beyond Perfecting Foundation and Concealer. This comes with a strange brush, kind of like a concealer one, which I was not expecting. However I am enjoying wearing the foundation/concealer. However because it is quite thick I only wear it for a night out!

Lastly, when working at Harrods I was recommended to try the Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner. I am so glad a customer recommended it, as it has now become my favourite eye liner to wear on a night out. I find it so easy to apply with the ultra-thin brush and have even perfected the perfect flick!! When working at Harrods, I bought two brushes and two of the gel pots and they have lasted me 2 years. However, I needed a new one and this was the ideal opportunity.

I hope you enjoy my first every Beauty Blogger post!

The Collective UK Yoghurts

I was recently recommended these yoghurts by a customer so had to try them.

I bought a mini pot of the passion fruit one as a taster and loved it, so I went back and bought a large pot of Passion Fruit plus Scottish Raspberry as they were on 2 for £4 in Waitrose.

The yoghurts are super thick and are called a live gourmet yoghurt, they then have a fruit layer. The yoghurt is creamy and smooth and the tangy fruit layer provides great contrast and flavour.

I then bought the limited edition Coffee yoghurt and the Russian Fudge one. The 2 for £4 offer had ended at Waitrose and they were now on 25% off the large tub, making them £1.79 for a large tub - bargain!!

All my customers raved about the Russian Fudge flavour, however I must admit it wasn't my favourite - but I think it am more of a fruity gal!

I love iced coffee, coffee iced cream and anything coffee flavoured (I just don't like a warm cup of coffee - I'm strange!), so I had high hopes for the limited edition coffee flavour. It definitely tasted of coffee and was super creamy, but again I think I prefer fruit yoghurts!

I think my favourite is the passionfruit flavour and I will be buying this again very very soon! Maybe I shall try the lemon one next?

Give them a try and let me know which fkavour is your favourite! xoxo

D.I.Y Hot Chocolate @ The Forum

On Saturday myself and a friend visited The Forum on Devonshire Street in Sheffield for the first time for a drink.

We didn't know what to expect but fancied going somewhere other than a coffee chain, The Forum looked cute and is regularly busy so seemed a good idea.

The Forum is a restaurant and bar, but also has a coffee bar on the side of it. We decided to sit on the high stools by the bar and looked at the menu. There was so much to choose from, a large array of smoothies and too many hot chocolate flavours including chocolate orange and rocky road. However the DIY one stood out to me as it seemed fun and different.

For it, you got to choose the chocolate type, either white, milk or dark, I went for dark chocolate as it is my favourite! You then go to choose a filling; flavoured syrup, marshmallows, blackberries, cherries or fresh strawberries. I went for caramel syrup seeing as I love the stuff.

The hot chocolate came on a lovely wooden board, with a mug of frothy milk, then your pot of chosen chocolate drops, a pot of whipped cream and mine came with a jug of caramel syrup.

I poured the chocolate drops into the wamred milk and stirred, I then added a little of the syrup and topped with cream.

It was such fun to make it yourself and I think a great idea that other cafes should do too!!

Thanks The Forum for a brilliant afternoon in your lovely coffee bar. xoxo

Pots of Arts and Waffle House - St Albans

My sister went to Fiji on Sunday to teach for 8 months so before she left I wanted to organise a girly day out for us both. I went onto Groupon for some ideas. I wanted to do something a bit different and didn't fancy a trip up to London.

After searching I saw a deal for painting pottery, so that gave me the idea to go and paint pottery. I looked to see where one was that was local to home and the one in St Albans called Pots of Art seemed good.

We arrived at midday and there were a couple of people in there but it wasn't busy. It was advised to book at busy times but I figured a weekday would be quiet especially as most people have gone back to school and work.

The best thing about this place is that you don't get charged a 'studio fee', you pay for the item you paint and that's it. It was fantastic as many places charge you up to £5 on top of the item you have chosen to paint.

Trying to decide what to do was the hardest part, there was so much to choose from! Did I want to make a money box, or paint an animal, or a plate or a mug?! In the end I went for a simple square plaque.

I decided to put Little Miss Tiny on it, as I am known for being short! I am not the most natural person when it comes to drawing, however I tried my best!

We were there for a couple of hours and then drove to the Waffle House which is the other side of St Albans.

I love the Waffle House and their sweet waffles and was excited to take my sister there as she had never been before!

We were originally going to get a waffle with chocolate sauce and choose extras such as butterscotch sauce and whipped cream. However I noticed a special which had everything we wanted on it plus more.

It was called Knickerbocker Waffle and was amazing! It had chocolate sauce, toffee sauce, vanilla fudge pieces, chocolate shavings and whipped cream and ice cream. It also came with berry coulis but we asked for it on the side. It was such good value and tasted divine. I could eat another one right now!

What a lovely day we had! xoxo

Brothers Birthday

It was my brothers birthday last weekend and his favourite restaurant is Ask, so that was where we went!

We go to the one in Northwood which is a nice one, and the one McFly regularly visit!

For starter I had the Antipasto Classico Board, which came with salami, ham, olive tapenade, bread and salad.

For main I had Pollo Piccante con Pancetta Primi Pizza. This pizza is stone baked, and has a thinner crispier base. It was very tasty and I enjoyed it. I asked for mine with no mushrooms and less chillis!

However I will often have the chicken and mushroom risotto which is delicious, my brother had it this time!

We then all came home to homemade birthday cake which I made.

This was made with 3 eggs, the hummingbird bakery butter icing filling, then cocoa powder and icing sugar with water for the top, drizzled with melted white chocolate - yum! xoxo

Sunny Saturday Brunch in Sheffield

Yesterday morning was beautiful and sunny, so me and my housemate decided to go for a long walk and trample in the woods. We walked around Endcliff Park and Botanical Gardens and it was lovely.

We wrapped up in winter warmers and had a lovely stroll in the winter sunshine. There was not a cloud in the sky!

We then went to Couch, which is a fairly new cafe on Eccelsall Road. After living on the Eccy road for nearly 4 months, we regularly look inside Couch but have not yet ventured in!

We went for Brunch and sat on a nice table right by the counter.

For drink I had an iced mocha. I have never had an iced mocha and would normally go for an iced caramel latte however this was not on the menu! I enjoyed the mocha, but iced caramel lattes are still my all time favourite!

I then had the american style pancakes with maple syrup and boy were they good! There were 3 large pancakes and a generous bowl of maple syrup. Simply delicious!

We even got 10% student discount which was fab!

I very much enjoyed my brunch and will most definitely be returning! xoxo

BBC Good Food Show Birmingham 2014

On Thursday uni took us to to the Good Food show for the day. We had to meet at super early and took the coach all the way from Sheffield to Birmingham, though mighty traffic! 

We arrived and decided to be tactical with our day and worked our way up and down the Isles looking at the stands and tasting lotsa yummy food!

At 11 we went to the Cakes and Bakes stage to watch Phil Vickery do some gluten free cooking. Seeing as I should follow a gluten free diet I found it very interesting as I struggle to bake now I shouldn't eat wheat products (I still do, and suffer the consequences but it's worth it for a slice of cake now and then!). However Phil gave lots of tips of what to add to the batter to make it fluffy and not dry. Phil cooked a plum cake and then a plain sponge (but with ricotta cheese?!!) topped with a sticky coffee and brandy glaze! I would definitely try both and may have to invest in Phil's gluten free baking book!! 

We them continued to look at the stalls. I was too scared to take pictures of the stalls as I was told off for taking pictures before, so didn't really get many of the day!

However a couple of stalls stood out to me. The gluten free baking stand called Delicious Alchemy had the most amazing brownies!! This company make a number of gluten free baking kits and also bread mixes and porridge. I will be putting in an order for Christmas I think!

Additionally the Tarte and Berry stand looked fantastic, I follow them on instagram and it was great to see the actual stand and the products they make. 

The final stand was Curry Dave's Naan Bread Pizza, I think this is such a fabulous idea and the pizza tasted delicious. I love curry and I love pizza so this is the perfect combination, I will most definitely be buying this in store. 

At 2 we had tickets to the Hairy Bikers show, personally I didn't think it was that great and wasn't amazed by what they cooked! I am only a fan of their Asian cooking book, which is excellent by the way! I didn't really find any of their jokes funny and have been to better live shows at previous Good Food shows. 

Overall I had a fabulous day out and enjoyed it all! xoxo

Bills Restaurant Watford

So a new Bills has opened in the closest town to me - Watford. Our closest Bills was in St Albans but we had never visited it. Tonight was the first visit to any Bills restaurant for my family (except for myself, I have been to the one in Hammersmith, London!).

Anyway, the Bills has not even been opened a month. It is situated on the high street in a unit where Holland and Barratt used to be. They have done up the place so well, and it looks like a traditional Bills decor wise. Huge silver pipes on the ceiling, a warm out vintage feel to the walls and lots of cool things hanging everywhere. Not to forget the shelves selling lots of Bills items including chocolate, olive oil and wine.
My favourite section was the super long table which had a beautiful chandelier above it, I took a picture because the whole area looked so nice!

The atmosphere was great, and I did not feel like I was in the centre of (grotty!) Watford, the music was fab and the staff were super friendly.

For main I had the half chicken, served with winter slaw and sweet potato fries. Personally I thought it was too spicy for my palette, however my little brother loved it. However the sweet potato fries were divine.

My brother has the mushroom risotto which was delicious and my dad had the BBQ ribs which were also very tasty. My mum had the chicken kebabs on couscous, however I did not try hers. She said it tasted great though!

For dessert both my brother and I had the cinnamon doughnuts with chocolate dipping sauce. I shouldn't really eat dairy or wheat, so am feeling the effects now. However I tell you, it was so worth it!! The cinnamon doughnuts were warm and soft. They did not really taste very 'cinnamonmy' so if you don't like cinnamon I do not really think this would be an issue! The chocolate sauce was rich and warm too, perfect for dipping the donuts in!

We all had a lovely evening, and will certainly be returning! xoxo