Essence, Stratford 30/08/2012

Me, Jayne, Sam and Andy wanted to go for a lovely meal before I went to America for three weeks and I looked on trip advisor at the best restaurants in the local area and Essence in Stratford was voted the best restaurant in Stratford out of 115 so as soon as I saw it I knew we had to go! The restaurant is quite difficult to find as its in Old Red Lion Court set back from the main high street but it's a lovely little location but it's definitely a hidden little gem as its a gorgeous resturant with lovely decor and brilliant service! 

ASK, Solihull 23/08/2012

My friend Sam recently got back from Mexico so me & Jayne decided to meet up with her for dinner for a catch up and ate night shop as it was a Thursday night. After shopping for a while it was about 7pm and we decided to go to TGI's but it had over an hour wait so we went opposite across to ASK an Italian restaurant which is very good as I have mentioned previously! It was sooo busy and therefore lacked in good service but it was understandable and I let it go more than I usually would as it was incredibly busy! But we did wait about 10 minutes for a waitress to come and take our drink orders then another 5 minutes to receive our drinks and another 15-20 minutes for the waitress to come ack and take our order which is too long and made the experience not up to the standard I enjoy but the food at ASK does make up for it.

We decided to share a starter but I completely forgot to take a photo of it as we were so hungry we all just dived straight in! But I can describe it, it was an Antipasto starter that included, mozzarella, smoked prosciutto, Milano and Finocchiona salami, chargrilled peppers, capers and olive tapenade; with fresh rosemary & sea salt bread. It was gorgeous! I love starters like this and all the opponents both together and served separately but this starter was perfect the ingredients all go so well together and for £11.75 it isn't cheap for a desert but neither is it too expensive and it was worth every penny, the menu says its a sharing platter for two people but there was enough for three people to share it!

It took me a while to decide on a main course as there are so many yummy choices and I loved the pasta I had about a month ago but didn't want the same thing twice so decided to try something different.

Linguine Con Frutti Di Mare

This pasta included king prawns, mussels, clams and squid in a rich tomato sauce with garlic, white wine and parsley for £11.85 which I felt was very good for the amount of fish you received in the pasta dish! It was really nice however I did prefer the previous fish pasta I had but this was still really good! I had no squid though but asked for extra mussels as mussels are my favourite! The sauce the pasta and shellfish were in was really good, very rich in tomato and garlic flavour which I love as so many tomato sauces aren't rich enough but this one had a lot of flavour and worked really well with the fish and pasta! A 8/10 dish and I would have it again but I would like to go back to ASK and try the other dishes and I'm sure I will at some point in the near future as its a very good Italian for a reasonable price.

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Giraffe, Solihull 24/08/2012

Me, Rachel & Faith, a couple of friends from work went for ... Yes you guessed it! Another shopping tripping to Solihull and lunch. We all didn't want to spend a lot of money so decided to go to Giraffe as they do a lunch time menu for only £5.95 plus a drink which is very cheap for a meal! The decor in Giraffe as I have mentioned previously in my blog is very bright, light and colourful with a wide range of choices on the menu. The lunch time menu only has 4 choices but that's enough for a quick lunch meal.

The girls went for the Deli Lunch Burger but as I've had that so many times I decided to go for something different and a new addition to the lunch time special menu.

Bacon Chop with Fries, Fried Egg & Pineapple & Ranchera Salsa

This was so good and I ate every last bit! I swapped the fries to sweet potato fries as I love sweet potatoes and these were gorgeous, they were so crispy on the outside but soft and sweet on the inside! The bacon chop was cooked perfectly and so was my fried egg, runny ... How it should be! The salsa was unusual and I didn't really like it as it was cold and a bit too sweet for me with the savoury flavours but I would definitely eat this meal again and would rate 8/10 for the flavour and the price!

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Slug & Lettuce, Solihull 13/08/2012

Me and three friends I work with decided to go to the Slug & Lettuce in Solihull for lunch on a Monday as they do 2 for 1 on every course throughout Monday and as the restaurant is fairly cheap anyway this deal makes it even better! We sat down in a spare booth which was hard to find as it was very busy as the Slug & Lettuce attracts a lot of working people in the area especially on a Monday lunch for this brilliant deal!

We decided to not have starters and go straight to mains as the deserts are supposed to be really good here! I went for a sandwich as I was going out for dinner later this night so didn't want to be too full!

Philly Steak Sandwich & Chips

As you can see from the picture it wasn't massive but it was so filling it didn't need to be any bigger! It was 6oz steak, served in ciabatta, with BBQ sauce and melted cheese, lettuce and sauteed red and spring onions with chips and coleslaw on the side. The steak was a little bit chewy for my liking but as it was in a sandwich it wasn't too bad and the sauce, cheese, salad and vegetables made it very tasty and I did thoroughly enjoy it and for only £8 it was extremely cheap for the amount you get! The chips could have been crispier but for that price I couldnt really complain. I wouldn't say this is a perfect meal by any means but for the price and for a quick lunch time meal in your hour lunch break this is a perfect restaurant especially on a Monday but is very cheap every day and the drinks are cheap but the decor and feel of the restaurant isn't particularly very nice as its very studenty as it turns inot a bar/nightclub on the evenings it isn't particularly warming inside but it's average food at a very good price!

We decided to share two deserts between four of us as we would then receive the 2 for 1 offer and as we were all pretty full I definitely couldn't manage a whole desert! We all decided to go for the same desert as it sounded the best one on the menu and in fact I wasn't overly impressed with the other deserts.

Cookie Cup Explosion

This was a cookie biscuit base, filled with chocolate brownie, marshmallow pieces and chocolate honeycomb, served with vanilla ice cream. Don't be fooled-it's not as good as it sounds! I was highly disappointed with this desert as the description made it sound so appealing but it tasted very bland and the biscuit base was very salty! I didn't taste any marshmallow pieces or honeycomb which was a disappointed and I wolsnt have this desert again but for £5 it is a good price but it wasn't even worth £5 if I'm perfectly honest! The best bit was the vanilla ice cream!

I would give this whole meal 5/10, I wasn't overly impressed but for the price it is the standard you would expect as the whole meal only came to £7.50 each including drinks so I would go back if I wanted a cheap lunch but I wouldn't go for dinner here.

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The Vintner, Stratford 17/08/2012

The Vintner in Stratford is supposed to be a really good restaurant and as I've never been and was in the local area I met up with Jayne and our friend Andy for a late lunch as its one of the few restaurants in Stratford that still serves past 3pm. The decor inside was gorgeous, really old fashioned but it had a modern twist, it wasn't very busy in there as it was nearly 3 and he waitress found us a table straight away. We sat down and ordered some drinks firstly whilst pondering over the menu.

For starter we decided to have just have one between us as we weren't starving and we didn't fancy a particularly heavy starter.

Garlic Ciabatta with Mozzarella Cheese

This is a very simple starter and something I would go for usually but I love mozzarella and thought this wouldn't be too filling sharing it between three of us. But this was lovely! It was so tasty and the garlic wasn't too overpowering and the mozzarella went really well and was so gooey melted on top of the bread which was perfectly crispy and not burnt or too soft! Over all it was a very god starter and a good price at £4 as it was enough for three people to share but I would recommend sharing it between two people.

For my main I knew what to have as soon as it caught my eye on the menu! Two of my favourites rolled into one, burgers & pork!

Vintner Piggy Burger-a Vintner classic burger topped with BBQ pulled pork.

WOW this was to die for!! I felt like I went to food heaven when I bit into the succulent, juicy, gorgeous burger! It was a classic normal beef burger in a bun with BBQ pulled pork on top which was so perfect and melted in my mouth with every bite! It was a massive burger and I had to cut it up in sections to eat it but it was good, the beef was cooked at medium rare, just how I like it and the pulled pork was so juicy and tender and was covered in such a nice salsa! Even when I was full I had to keep eating and for £11.95 I felt this was a very good price for the standard of the burger, it could have been more expensive than that! I would give this burger 10/10 definitely and would go back to this restaurant and try some other dishes even though I would tempted to have this burger again!

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The Bell, Tanworth 12/08/2012

The Bell in Tanworth is a restaurant I have never eaten before and it's only 3 miles away from my house! Jayne has heard a lot of good Inge about it so we decided to try it out one Sunday night around 7pm to test out their Sunday roast dinners! The restaurant was really gorgeous inside but wasn't very quiet but as they stop serving at 8pm on Sunday it probably gets very busy during the afternoon rather than during the early evening. The restaurant was quite dark which I don't really like but the decor, tables and chairs were really modern and it looked incredibly clean!

They have a limited menu on a Sunday but there is still a lot of choice with 6 choices of starters, 4 different roast dinners, 6 other main dishes and 8 deserts so they is a wide range of choice! We decided to share a starter and a desert as they do a deal if you have a roast dinner and a desert for £16.95.

We took a while decidedly a starter as all of them sounded really good but we wanted something quite light as a roast dinner is very filling and heavy.

Prawn & Crayfish Cocktail with Salad and Warm Buttered Brown Bread.

This starter was so good! It's a old classic starter but it's always a favourite of mine and is a nice twist to have the crayfish with it as well as prawns. The cocktail sauce was really yummy and the salad tasted really fresh! The warm brown bread also went brilliantly with the cocktail and was a nice added touch as the butter was already melted into the bread which I really enjoyed! Over all a really good starter for £6.95!

For the main course I decided not to have a Sunday roast as I was going for a carvery the following day but I went for something for similar.

Belly Pork with Spring Onion Mash & BBQ Sauce.

This main was GORGEOUS! Belly pork is one of my favourite meats as I love how crispy it is but it has to be cooked perfectly and this was definitely was it was so succulent on the inside and melted in the mouth but was crispy on the outside as it should be! The spring onion mash went incredibly well with it as well and was very creamy and so tasty! The BBQ sauce was so good and wasn't like usual BQQ sauce, it tasted like it had soy sauce in it as well so it was almost like a teriyaki style sauce than a normal BQQ sauce that can be quite sweet. But this was a gorgeous main and was so filling and I felt for £12.95 it was a really good price!

We still had a little bit of room for our desert to share but as we were quite full we decided on a light desert, nothing too heavy.

Berry Eton Mess

This was a gorgeous desert also and had a slight twist from the usual Eton mess as it included chocolate as well as the fruit and meringue which was a really good touch and something I've never tried before but we both thoroughly enjoyed it and for £5.95 it was also a good price!

Over all I really enjoyed this meal and would definitely go back to this restaurant and try their Sunday dinners! A 9/10 meal!!!

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Meadow Farm, Redditch 6/08/2012

Me and my friend Amy met up at Meadow Farm in Redditch which is a 2 for 1 restaurant near where she lives as she was going away for a long time travelling so we decided to have some dinner out not that I need an excuse to eat out! 2 for 1 restaurants are usually pretty basic and cheap but have pretty good food and you can't really complain when your getting one of the meals free!

They have a massive menu with a lot of choice including burgers, fish and chips, curry, pasta... Basically anything you fancy at very cheap prices. The most expensive main on the whole menu is £12.75 for a Sirloin steak. They also have an option on the menu for 'Mighty Meals' which are bigger portion size meals. I decided to go for one of these meals at £11.75.

BBQ Chicken Melt-two chicken breasts stacked with bacon and BBQ sauce topped with cheese served with chips and salad.

As you can see the portion sizes are massive and I couldn't finish it all and for £11.75 you definitely get value for money! The chicken was quite dry however but the BBQ sauce, bacon and cheese hid this slight problem very well and made the dish actually rather tasty. The chips were very good, crunchy on the outside but soft & fluffy on the inside. The salad was very poor, the lettuce looked very off and not fresh at all! Over all I would give this meal 6/10 but for only £15 for the two of us I didn't really mind but the service wasn't great either as they were very busy! A good restaurant if there's a big group of you and you want a cheap meal but not a place for a romantic meal for 2!

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Loch Fyne, Knowle 4/08/2012

For my mums birthday we decided to go to her favourite restaurant as she loves fish, Loch Fyne. I have been many times before and always enjoy it and can never fault the food and this time was certainly no exception! It was a Saturday night do was fairly busy as expected... Glad we booked especially as there was 8 of us! The menu is brilliant at Loch Fyne and I always struggle to know what to have as it all sounds so good! The special board on this night had really good options also... Decisions, decisions, decisions!

It took for a while to decide on a starter but eventually came to a decision, me and mum decided to have two oysters to share as I have only tried them once before and wasn't sure about them.

You get a choice of either 1, 6 or 12 oysters with a choice from,

traditional with ice, tempura batter with chilli jam or grilled with garlic and herb breadcrumb.

I decided to go for 1 traditional oyster on ice as it came with a horseradish dip, a garlic one and Tabasco anyway. Oysters definitely look strange but do taste better than they look! You tilt your head back and let the oyster slide in straight down your throat so you almsot don't even taste it! The garlic dip that came with them was gorgeous though and went very well!

After my oyster I went for a starter that was featured on the special board

Smoked Salmon Pâté with White Crusty Bread

This was a beautiful starter, I love smoked salmon and I enjoyed it even more as a pâté as the flavour of the smoked fish really came through and the white bread complimented it brilliantly! I loved this starter and couldn't fault it in any way, I even asked for more bread as it was THAT good!

For my main course I went for another choice featured on the special board

Grilled Hake with two King Prawns in a Garlic Creamy Sauce served with Fries

This main was indescribable! It was beautiful... Bite after bite was so tasty! The hake was cooked perfectly, so flaky and fresh and the two king prawns were so good and went with the hake very well, the prawn shells are fiddly to do but it was worth the wait as they were so succuelent- bouncy and full of flavour! The garlic cream sauce covering the hake and prawns worked incredibly well as the garlic wasn't too overpowering but gave the dish that extra flavour! Even the chips were cooked perfectly! I can't say a bad word about this meal and I ate every last bite! 10/10 ... PERFECT, PERFECT, PERFECT!!!

I even had room for desert .. This time the desert was from the normal menu!

Lemon Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream

This was also very good! Lemon tart is always a favourite of mine and is quite a light desert to eat after a big meal, the pasty was cooked perfectly and wasn't too well done so was flaky and soft. The lemon was very refreshing and the vanilla ice cream gave this desert an extra added touch! I would rate this desert 9/10 I've had better lemon tarts but it was still fantastic!

Over all this whole meal was so good and probably one of the best meals out I've had it a long time! I wold recommend this restaurant to any fish lovers and even if you dont really like fish they have other options and the decor and service is so good that anyone could go here and have a brilliant experience!

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Toby Carvery, Bromsgrove 29/07/2012

Me and my boyfriend Joe decided on a Sunday to go for a Carvery in Bromsgrove. It was just a Toby Carvery so was going to be fairly cheap but they are usually pretty good! It was VERY busy when we arrived so we got a drink at the bar as he waiter said it was only a 20 minute wait for a table. It was probably a big longer than 20 minutes once our table was ready but it was ok as it was still early. Once we sat down we both decided to go for the carvery at £9.49 each which is a Sunday price, between Monday and Friday it's £5.95 which is very cheap! £9.49 is very good also though! The Carvery que was extremely busy and took around 10-15 minutes to get to the food they have a choice between, Gammon, Turkey, Beef and Pork and you can have a miture of all 4 if you want which is good as a lot of carverys only allow you to have 1 or 2. You also get a massive Yorkshire Pudding with it and there is also sage and onion stuffing if you wish. The choice of vegetables is very large as well with a choice of peas, sweet corn, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, parsnips, cabbage, leeks, mashed potato and roast potatoes!

I went for pork, beef and gammon as I'm not a massive fan of turkey and luckily they had some crackling left ... My favourite! I also had a Yorkshire Pudding, roast potatoes, peas, stuffing, carrots and LOADS of cranberry sauce.

As you can see I definitely filled up my plate! Probably a bit too much but it's an all you can eat so why not?! The meat was a little bit too dry for my liking as I like my beef cooked on the rare side and this beef was cooked lost well done so I wasn't very keen on the beef. The pork was extremely dry, almost as if it had been left out for a while which was surprising as it was so busy! The crackling was gorgeous though as was the gammon! The Yorkshire pudding, stuffing and vegetables were my favourite bit! The roast potatoes were very crispy which is just how I love them! The vegetables were slightly over cooked for me and were a bit soft but for the price you can't really complain and carverys have to appeal to the mass audience so therefore cook food one certain way that majority of people enjoy and for the price I definitely felt that it was value for money and I did thoroughly enjoy it and was very full after! I would go back again for a carvery and would give this meal 7/10!

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Crabmill, Preston Bagot 20/07/2012

Me & Jayne met our friend Andy here for lunch as its only a couple of miles away from Henley so was easy for us all I have also been to The Crabmill before and was impressed then!

I didn't even need to look at the menu when we sat down as it was between 3-6 the Crabmill do a limits menu of sandwiches or pizza however I had this sandwich e first time I visited the Crabmill and knew I wanted it again!

It's a pork, apple and leek sausage baguette with whole grain mustard and caramelised red onion jam.

This sandwich last time was to die for however I was slightly disappointed this time, I felt the baguette cold have been crispier it was a bit stale but the sausages were as gorgeous as last time and over all I was extremely happy with this and for £6.50 it isn't cheap for a sandwich but it is worth the money I just felt the bread was better last time. We shared a bowl of chips with our sandwiches as well which were perfectly crunchy and very tasty!

We decided to have some deserts so me & Jayne ordered two and shared them, as usual! We went for

Vanilla Panacotta with Strawberry's, Raspberry's & Honeycomb

&

Chocolate Brownie withVanilla Ice Cream

Both of these deserts were delicious and I couldn't fault them in anyway by their taste I did feel however that the chocolate brownie could have been slightly bigger as I was paying over £5 for it, it was quite a stingy portion! However both deserts tasted gorgeous and I would have them again! The Panacotta was very fresh and light with the fruit complimenting very well, giving it that hint of sweetness, the honeycomb worked very well also even though it was very hard to bite into! The chocolate brownie was very rich and chocolatey but extremely enjoyable and the vanilla was very refreshing against the richness of the chocolate especially as the ice cream had the real vanilla pods in it which makes the ice cream taste even better!

Over all another good meal at the Crabmill and I am very intrigued to see what the dinner is like at this place! 9/10 lunch!

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The Beeches, Hampton-in-Arden 17/07/2012

Decided to go for another lunch date with my friends, Laura and Jayne and I decided we should go somewhere different and I had heard a lot about a little restaurant in Hampton in Arden that had very good reviews so I thought we should give it a try and as Laura lives in Hampton it was easy.

The restaurant is very nice looking both outside and inside and has gorgeous gardens out the back which would be lovely to sit out there in the summer. The inside was also lovely with big real wood tables and flowers everywhere.

The menu was really good and a lot of choice! We had some bread and oil t start whilst waiting for Laura. They do these tasting plates you can either have 3 or depending if your sharing or not. They do say the 3 sharing bites at £11.95 is for two people to shar but you could have it to yourself whereas the 5 sharing bites are £17.95 for three people to share. I decided to go for the 3 sharing bites to myself as my main course.

I went for:

Crab Fishcakes with a Cucumber & Green Pepper Relish, Crispy Duck Spring Rolls with Plum Dipping Sauce Parma Ham with Melon & a Sweet Sauce.

I wanted the chicken wings but they had run out which was a bit of a disappointment as I found it quite hard to chose a third option.

As you can see the portion sizes aren't massive but as your getting 3 it is enough for one person, 5 wold definitely be too much! The salmon Fishcakes were gorgeous and had a lot of flavour and the sweet chilli sauce went very well with them. I would give the Fishcakes 4/5 I would have given them 5 if they had more salmon in them. The duck & Hoi sin spring rolls were more like duck & Hoi sin in a wrap but they had a lot of flavour and Hoi sin is one of my favourite tastes I thoroughly enjoyed this and would give them 4/5 as well, I probably would have preferred the, if they were actually spring rolls as I love the crunch of them but they were full of flavour and the duck was cooked perfectly! However the third dish, the Parma Ham with melon in a sweet sauce was very strange, the sauce it was covered in was incredibly bitter and I couldn't even eat it! The Parma ham itself was lovely as Parma ham usually is but it was spoilt with the melon and the sauce, I know melon is a popular fruit to go with Parma ham but I just really didn't enjoy this dish and wish they had the chicken wings on offer! Over all I was happy with my main course thou and think those taster dishes work very well for one or more people to share.

We decided to have a desert as we weren't too full. I went for:

Lemon Tart with Raspberry Sorbet

This was GORGEOUS! It was a massive desert for the price ... the tart was so yummy and the citrus taste really came through and was so smooth with no lumps, the raspberry sorbet went very well with it as well and complimented the sour of the lemon extremely well! Overall this was a brilliant desert and was probably the best part of the whole meal!

I think The Beeches is a very good restaurant with a lot of choice on the menu and I would definitely like to go back for dinner and see what it's like then! I rate this restaurant very highly if you want very good food and brilliant service, however it's not very cheap but you pay for quality! Just don't have the Parma Ham!!

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ASK, Solihull 12/07/2012

Once again me & Jayne decided to go for a lunch and shopping trip in Solihull but we decided to try ASK the Italian as I haven't been for years and nor had Jayne. We decor of ASK is quite bright inside with greens and oranges, it's very bright inside as well which gives it a good feel! The menu at ASK is so good and has so many choices I didn't even know what to pick! I decided to go for the

Ravoli Marittimo £10.35- crayfish, crab, salmon and ricotta ravioli parcels in a creamy tomato garlic and basil sauce with juicy little prawns.

The portion size was just perfect, not too big or too small and I was very happy with that. The pasta was so good! The sauce the pasta was in was gorgeous and had a perfect blend of tomato and garlic! The ravoli was cooked so well and all the fish went brilliantly with it! I was extremely happy with this meal and felt it was definitely worth £10.35! I would have this again 100%!

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The Finest Catch 11/07/2012

A new restaurant opened up just outside Henley called the Finest Catch, where this restaurant is located has been many different food places in the past but they have never worked and always shut down after a couple of months so I was apprehensive about this one but I had been reading the reviews on Trip Advisor and they were all brilliant so me, mum and dad decided to give it a go and go one night!

The decor is very good, it's set out like an American diner with black and white seats and booths and a massive jukebox in the room! It's got an amazing atmosphere, incredibly busy and only 6pm and it continues to stay busy until they finish serving! The menu was brilliant, very simple with not a lot of choice but is so reasonably priced you cant complain! The drinks are so cheap with a glass of presecco for only £2.75 or an unlimited bottomless soft drink for only £2! You can chose to have the £5 meal option which is a smaller meal or the £7.50 option which is the same meal but a bigger version, however I'd advise people to get the £5 unless you are starving as the £5 meal is definitely big enough! You also get a choice of sides from, mushy peas, garden peas, baked beans or pickled onions for only an extra £1! As its a fish and chip restaurant I decided to try the £5 haddock and chips with a side of peas.

As you can see the portion size is definitely big enough! The fish is incredibly fresh and the batter is so light and not too heavy or greasy as batter can usually be. The chips are perfect also, crunchy on the outside but soft and fluffy on the inside! Perfect meal for £6! I couldn't even manage to finish it all but it was yummy, every last bite was! Definitely going back and would use this restaurant as a regular takeaway!

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Mortons, Dickens Heath 4/07/2012

Mortons is one of mine & Jaynes favourite restaurants and we go quite often so we decided to go for lunch one day we both had off work! The whole menu at Morton's is sooo good and it's always really hard to decide what to have and especially this time as the special board all sounded so good as well! We decided to have two starters and share them between us we went for:

Tandoori Chicken and Mango Salad

&

Prawns with Chorizo and Chilli

Both of these starters were GORGEOUS! The tandoori chicken salad was so fresh and the chicken and mango complimented each other perfectly as the tandoori chicken was slightly spicy but the mango gave it that fresh taste and calmed the spicy kick down a little, the salad was very good and full of flavour! A brilliant starter and something I would have again! The prawns were also very good, cooked perfectly, bouncy but not chewy! The chorizo and chilli complimented with the prawns incredibly well! I couldn't fault these two starters at all and was so impressed! We ate every last bit and were already full and our mains hadn't even arrived yet!

For my main I decided to go for,

Sea Bream topped with Bacon on a bed of caramelised onion mash and salsa verde.

This was also AMAZING! I wish I was hungrier when this arrived as I couldn't finish it all but every last bite was as good as the one before and was so beautiful! The sea bream was cooked perfectly, really flaky and light! The bacon on top was so good, perfectly crispy and surprisingly worked really well with the seam break which I never expected to go together as a good combination. The caramelised onion mash was also a new taste for me but that was so yummy and also worked really well with the rest of the dish and the salsa verde just finished the meal off with a perfect ending! Idols definitely give this meal 10/10! Perfect, perfect, perfect!! I just wish I would have eaten more!

Once again Morton's didn't fail to impress me but this meal more than ever!

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The Baraset Barn, Warwickshire, 20/06/2012

Once again me & Jayne decided to go for lunch and we thought we would try out The Baraset Barn in Alveston. It's another resturant in the chain that includes the Crabmill and The Orange Tree both of which I have previously mentioned. But we have heard that this particular restaurant is one of the best out of all the restaurants in this chain.

The decor is gorgeous, really nice tables and setting. We sat at the bar looking at the menu with a drink for a whole whilst the waitress found a table for us. The menu was quite unusual and had a lot of different dishes on it but it looked very nice. The service was pretty good, the waitress came back about 5-10 minutes later telling us our table was ready, we walked through to the restaurant which wasn't very busy at all so we couldn't work out why we had to wait for our table really but we were ready and looking forward to our lunch!

For my main course I decided on a typical favourite of mine, burgers! They are definitely my weakness and as soon as I read about this burger I had to order it! It was a, chop steak burger, iceberg, blue cheese, crispy onions, pickles, tomato salsa and fries. I decided to add bacon to it for an extra £1 so that made the burger £13.95 over all which I don't think is too bad for a burger however it certainly isn't cheap either!

The portion size wasn't massive which is good as with a starter it can be very filling! The burger itself was realllly good! The beef was cooked perfectly, medium rare and all the stuff that came with it made the burger extra special! The chips however I was slightly disappointed with as I found them a bit too soft and they weren't crunchy enough. However for £13.95 I was impressed and was very full after!

Neither of us particularly rated the Baraset Barn very highly and I wouldn't put it one of my favourites out of the chain of these restaurants however I probably would go back again for dinner & see if it's better!

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Mogo, Solihull 17/06/2012

Me and my friend Rachel went to Mogo in Solihull for lunch as we were on a shopping trip there and neither of us had been here before and I had heard a lot of good thins about it.

The decor isn't amazing but it's good for a quick lunch. The menu has quite a lot of choice but they do this special lunch time deal with is a main and a drink for £5.50 which is perfect so we decided to do that. They only had 3 choices but you don't need a lot of choice for a cheap lunch time offer, they had:

Chicken burger with chips & salad

Quarter of a chicken in peri peri sauce with chips & salad

Or

A mango salad

Me & Rachel decided to go for the quarter of chicken with chips & salad. I had it mild as I'm a wimp when it come to spicy food!!

As you can see the portion size is very reasonable for a lunch time, I couldn't even finish it all! The chicken was succulent and cooked very well, it even fell of the bone... Just how it should be! Even though I hadn't mild it definitely had a kick, was gave the chicken some taste! The chips were cooked perfectly as well, crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. The salad was slightly stingy as the lettuce seemed a bit off but for £5.50 you can't really complain! Overall I was happy with this lunch and would go back again!

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Cafe Rouge 14/06/2012

Me and Dad were in Birmingham going to watch my mum n theatre so we decided to go earlier and get some dinner first. I suggested Cafe Rouge as dad hadn't been in years and it's another one of my favourites! I know, I know I have a lot of favourites but I love food, who can blame me?!

We went to the Cafe Rouge outside on New Street as it wasn't far from the theatre, I love the decor of Cafe Rouge, proper French cuisine style! We were shown to our table, menus were given to us and the waiter asked us what we would like to drink, the service was excellent! We took a while looking at the menu and I knew instantly what I wanted for my main, my favourite dish ever at Cafe Rouge! Dad was ordering of the prix fix menu so I chose a starter.

I went for the small dish at only £3 which included crusty French bread and cured meats!

I love starters like this and the Salami was gorgeous and the bread was so fresh! I loved this starter and wasn't too filling either! Perfect for £3!!

For my main I ordered (without any hesitation) the Confit of Duck with Plum Sauce, Dauphinoise Potatoes and Green Beans.

As you can see the portion size is fairly big and not a bad price at £12.95. The duck is so succulent but crispy on the outside and the plum sauce it comes with is to DIE FOR! I love it! Even the Dauphinoise are lovely as I'm not usually a fan of creamy potatoes but the ones here are cooked beautifully! The green beans compliment the dish well and give the dish that healthy side! This is a perfect main and I would order it again and again!

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Thai Kingdom 2/06/2012

For my dads birthday we decided to go to the Thai Kingdom in Stratford as Thai is his favourite food and we haven't been to this restaurant in years! The decor inside is lovely and the service was brilliant! For starter we decided on a sharing mixed starter.

This included prawn toasts, chicken satay sticks, chicken wings, duck spring rolls, wan tons and chilli prawns. This came with a selection of different sauces including sweet and sour and plum sauce. This was a gorgeous starter and every part of it was yummy!

For main we decided to chose three different dishes and share them between us.

We went for:

Chicken curry with cashew nuts and vegetables

Sweet and Sour chicken

Monkfish in a coriander and chilli sauce

And a side of bok choy in oyster sauce.

All three of these dishes were really good and full of flavour! The sweet and sour chicken wasn't as overpowering as it sometimes can be which was a nice touch. The chicken curry was so good and probably the best dish! It was so succulent and had a lot of flavour! I wasn't as keen on the fish dish but mum loved it! The bok choy was also really yummy as bok choy is one of my favourites!

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