Giraffe, Solihull 28/02/2012

I met Jayne and her sister Jemma in Solihull for a quick lunch in Jemma's lunch break and we decided to go to Giraffe in Solihull as it is cheap and cheerful with good quick service! The restaurant inside is really bright and colourful which gives the restaurant a good vibe!

We were shown to our seats and given some menus each to look at! The menu is really fun and has a lot of different choices from thai to curry to burgers! There is definitely something for everyone in this place!

All three of us decided to go for the same meal as it sounded so good and Jayne had tried it once in the past and really liked it! This was the 'Rodeo Chicken Burger' which included grilled chicken breast with melted cheddar, fried mushrooms, bbq sauce and onion rings with lettuce, tomato and mayo. All for £10.95 which I feel is a brilliant price for such a massive burger! I opted to have the burger with sweet potato fries for an extra £1

As you can see the meal was massive! The sweet potato fries were really crispy but soft on the inside and tasted so gorgeous! They were sweet but not over powering! The burger was massive and had to be cut with a knife and fork as it was too big to pick up!! All the different flavours made this burger one of the best burgers I have ever had! The chicken was grilled perfectly and the extras inside it made this burger amazing! All three of us loved it and finished every last crumb!

Over all this was a lovely lunch time meal and filled me up all afternoon and was a very reasonable price as they accept NUS student discount as well so we got 20% off the whole bill!

Cafe Rouge, Solihull 23/02/2012

Me and Jayne were out shopping in Solihull and we got hungry so we were trying to think of somewhere to eat and as Jayne has a free trial of a taste card where you get either 50% or 2for1 at certain restaurants and Cafe Rouge is included in this deal so we thought why not?! Cafe Rouge is always a good choice and tonight was no exception!

We sat down and ordered our drinks whilst we were mulling over the menu we decided we would have starters and mains and decided if we had room for a desert, as the taste card works over all three courses this would a very certain option!!

For staters we decided to get two and share them between us we 

went for:

Moules Marinieres which is mussels steamed with garlic, shallots, white wine and cream served with french bread 

&

Crevettes a L'Ail which is king prawns cooked in a 

chilli and garlic butter served with french bread

Both these starters were gorgeous! The mussels were perfectly cooked and the sauce they were in was very tasty and the prawns were so succulent with a spicy yet sweet sauce! This was a brilliant starter for taste and the fact it wasn't too filling was a good thing as well!

For mains we both went for the same thing as it sounded gorgeous and I have had it in the past and throughly enjoyed it! It was Confit de Canard which is a crispy duck confit with a plum sauce, french beans and creamy dauphinoise potatoes topped with Gruyere cheese. However I swapped the dauphinoise for herby mash potato.

The portion size was very reasonable and filling! The duck was amazing, was so crispy on the outside which is just how I like it but the meat fell apart in my mouth! Was amazing and it went so well with the plum sauce which was the perfect combination of sweet and sharp with actual bits of plum in the sauce which gave it a really good touch! The mash was really creamy and buttery and had just the right amount of herbs in it and the french beans set the whole meal of very well and was a good touch! Overall a brilliant choice for a main course and I could eat that every day!

We decided to have two deserts as the whole meal was so lovely! & as we got 2for1, why not?!

I had the Tranche au Chocolat which was a warm melting chocolate cake served with light creme fraiche, but I changed this (as I always do with menus ha!) I had the cake cold with ice cream. Jayne opted for the: Gauffre Belle-Helene which was a sweet vanilla waffle, topped with white chocolate ice cream with a warm poached pear and rich sumptuous chocolate sauce.

The chocolate cake was so yummy and wasn't dry at all which chocolate sponge can tend to be. Jayne seemed to thoroughly enjoy her waffle as well, the pears on the side was yummy as they were warm and sweet!

This was a lovely meal with brilliant service and was even better as we got half off the whole bill at the end!!

Jamies Italian, Birmingham 15/02/2012

Me and a friend, Kat from college went shopping in Birmingham and decided to go for lunch at Jamie Oliver's Italian in Birmingham because neither of us had ever been before.

The interior of the restaurant is cool, its made out to look industrial and almost kitchen like. We were shown to our seats and for 12pm on a Wednesday lunch time it was pretty busy! The waiter took our drink order and gave us a menu each, I felt the menu wasn't that exciting and could have had a lot more variety on it! For a Italian restaurant they didn't sell any pizzas, which I felt was very strange!

The menu was pretty basic with only a few choices for different pastas and hardly any meat choices which I found very disappointing!

I went for the 'tagliatelle bolognese' with was a mixture of Ragu of beef, pork, herbs, Chianti, Parmesan and herby breadcrumbs. We also had a side order of nachos.

I found the portion was a good size, I couldn't actually eat it all but that was also down to the fact that it wasn't very enjoyable! The nachos were the best bit and even they weren't that great! They were really salty and had a weird texture, however the salsa they came with was very tasty! My pasta was just really plain and tasteless, there wasn't enough sauce on the pasta which made it really dry and the sauce had absolutely no flavour! I wouldn't go back to this restaurant and was very disappointed for a restaurant that is supposed to be a famous chefs restaurant and the kitchen was an open kitchen and I could see there was about 10 chefs, so with 10 chefs in the kitchen and a famous chef owning the restaurant and when I was paying £10.25.. 

I expected a lot a lot more!

Miller & Carter, Dickens Heath 14/02/2012

Me & Jayne like to eat out a lot haha! & one lunch time we decided to go to one of our favourites:

Miller & Carter which is a steakhouse. We decided to go to the recently new one that has opened in Hockley Heath to see if it is different to the one in Dickens Heath which is where we usually go.

The restaurant is massive inside and is really spacious and lovely. The seats and table are always big and really comfortable. We had printed out a buy a starter or desert for free voucher online so we decided to go for starter and main as they had a sharing starter which included:

Crispy Calamari

Buffalo Chicken Wings

Garlic Bread

Baked Cheddar Mushrooms

& 

Onion Loaf

Served with garlic & chive mayonnaise and BBQ sauce.

This was a MASSIVE starter but why not when its free hey?! The mushrooms were actually really lovely and I don't really like mushrooms that much but in the cheese sauce they were very tasty! The calamari was really nice and crispy and wasn't too chewy which is unusual for calamari, the onion loaf is always a firm favourite of ours as you get it as a side with your main courses at Miller & Carter so we have eaten this a lot, its like caramelised onions crisped up in the oven, really yummy! The garlic bread was just as expected to be honest! 

Over all a very very good starter and it would usually be £10.95 which is quite a lot for a starter but we thoroughly enjoyed it (knowing it was free made it taste even better ha!)

For main courses we both went for steaks, you've got to really seeing as it is a steakhouse! I had the 8oz Rump steak and upgraded to have some ribs on the side and Jayne ordered the 8oz Sirloin steak, we both had them medium rare as this makes the steak taste very succulent and it isn't dry! 

Just before your meal is bought out to you the waiter brings you a lettuce wedge with a choose of toppings,  you can choose between garlic & chive mayonnaise with Parmesan shavings, classic cocktail sauce with croutons, bacon with honey mustard or crumbled Stilton and blue cheese dressing. I went for the honey mustard and Jayne opted for the blue cheese.

These wedges are a good mouth refresher to eat with your meal. The sauces on them are lovely and I really think this is a good touch!

Rump with Ribs

Sirloin

As you can see the portion sizes are massive! You get a lot of chips, some more onion loaf on the side, a tomato, rocket and your steak with a herb butter melting on top! The steaks were so perfectly cooked, they were beautiful and the chips were crispy on the outside but soft on the inside! The food at this restaurant really is yummy and as a regular at the Miller & Carter in Dickens Heath, I feel this one in Hockley is a lot better! I think the steak was a better cut of meat and was cooked perfectly! The steaks aren't cheap with my steak and ribs being £16.50 and the Sirloin being £14.95 but we really feel that the food is worth the price!

Over all a brilliant restaurant and the new one in Hockley Heath is now our new favourite over the Dickens Heath one!

The Boot, Studley 13/02/2012

Me and my friend, Jayne had been to the cinema and wanted a nice meal atferwards so we decided to go to The Boot in Studley which is a lovley little country pub. The menu is really nice and has a very country feel to it. Hearty food!

As soon as I looked at the menu I knew I wanted the 'slow cooked pork belly glazed in maple syrup with a a light jus, braised red cabbage, mashed potato and home-made onion rings'
This grabbed my attention straight away as pork belly is one of my favourite things in the whole world!

I thought the presentation was pretty good as it isn't an easy meal to plate up with all the stodgy type of food! The belly pork was so succulent however it could have been slightly crispier for me! The mash was perfectly creamy and the cabbage was gorgeous, had the right amount of sweet and sharpness in it. The onion rings could have been slightly more crispy but the jus the whole meal was covered in had a lovely taste and made the whole dish better as it could have been very dry without the jus!

Jayne ordered the 'pan fried Barbury duck breast marinated in honey and black pepper, dauphinoise potatoes, curly kale in a plum and roasted beetroot sauce'

The presentation of this meal was brilliant and she said it was a gorgeous meal!

Overall a brilliant meal for both of us and a massive portion, good value for £12.95 for the belly pork and £15.95 for the duck I felt! I would definitely recommend this restaurant for a good hearty pub meal that will really fill you up!