Summer menu at Gusto, Cookridge, Leeds

Well I landed back from my holiday in Zadar (Croatia) this morning and have a serious case of the holiday blues. However the horrendous delayed flight and missed train connections back home may steer me away from planning more holidays for a little while. Luckily I can still experience a little taste of summer as one of my favourite Italian restaurants in Leeds, Gusto,  have just launched there new summer menu. 

No summer lunch would be complete without kicking of with a round of cocktails, I think it's safe to say over the past few weeks, I've sampled more than my fair share.

I went for the dessert peach which was something more unusual than I have tried before and I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with a mix of wine and gin but the flavours worked in a way I wouldn't expect. I'm not sure the mix would be great for a hangover though. My friend opted for a classic Martini which included fresh thyme. 

Cocktails

Lemon and thyme Martini (Bombay sapphire, limoncello, dry vermouth, lemon bitter, sugar syrup, fresh thyme)

Dessert peach (sweet wine, peach purée, lemon juice and Bombay dry are built in a glass, with a touch of soda and a float of red wine)

Starters are always my favourite part of meals as I've said so many times before. Plus the cheese lover in me jumped for joy when I spotted goats cheese on the menu. 

I ordered bruschette with the sweet pepper compote and goats cheese. I can't quite think of a more summery food combination I like more then the mix of sweet roasted peppers and tangy goats cheese. Hayley went for the chicken salad with again the goats cheese and red pepper, I never order salads on menus as I always find them a bit boring and bland but it Hayley said it was nice and had a nice amount of chicken etc in for a starter. 

Starters:

Bruschetta with sweet pepper compote and goats cheese

Romesco chicken salad, with goats cheese, red pepper, rocket and aged balsamic

Next was the main course or "star of the show". I ordered the roasted duck breast and was certainly happy with my choice. I love duck but always panic it will be fatty or not cooked right. I can confirm the duck was cooked pink in the middle exactly how I ordered it and was certainly not fatty at all. The carrot purée was maybe a little too creamy however and wasn't the best of accompaniments for the rich duck. The pickled radicchio worked a little better for me.

I didn't try Hayley's gnocchi, although she seemed fairly quiet whilst eating so I will take that as a good sign.  

Main course:

Pan roasted duck breast, 

with carrot and star anise purée, pickled radicchio and red wine jus.

 Oven baked gnocchi, 

with spicy nduja salami, caramelised onion, red pepper and tomato. 

Before desert it was time for another round of cocktails. I ordered the Milk and honey cocktail, although unfortunately I didn't enjoy this too much. The vodka and Bacardi combined make the cocktail far too strong for me and the taste of cream was lacking so all I could just taste was the milk and vodka, unfortunately no flavour of honey.  

Cocktails:

Dessert peach (as above)

Milk & Honey (Krupnik honey vodka, Bacardi ora, milk and cream, stirred down then strained into a Martini glass with fresh raspberries to finish) 

Desert however could not be faulted. I was pretty full by this point so opted for a refreshing lemon sorbet. Hayley couldn't resist and choose the strawberry and passion fruit mess. I must admit I couldn't resist digging my spoon into Hayley's desert and having a taste. Fresh strawberry and passion fruit, cream and crisp meringue....I think I've said enough. 

Desert

Lemon sorbet

Strawberry and passion fruit mess

I ended my summer evening with a delicious amaretto coffee. 

Amaretto coffee with a cream float

Have you been to Gusto?

You can check out my previous reviews of Gusto here & here. 

Gusto Cookridge - 151 Otley Old Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS16 6HN

SAMMIE

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*Meal provided free of charge, in exchange for my honest review*

Sunday night is pub quiz night

I will be the first to hold my hands up high and admit I'm a lover of the great British pub quiz. More so when say pub quiz is held in my favourite cocktail hotspot /  garden shed The Botanist.  In honour of supporting forget me not, children's hospice, I teamed up with Hayley, Gabby and Kel to compete for the honour of becoming crowned "pub quiz champion". 

Whilst of course, sipping cocktails and tucking into gooey and Camembert. 

Before the quiz began we indulged in nibbles and cocktails. A new addition to The Botanist cocktail menu is the Brewers and Botanists. A beer with a cocktail chaser, designed to perfectly compliment one and other. I ordered number 3. 

I'm quite frankly amazed this is A| an actual thing & B| shocked I've never seen it before. I was more so wowed by the big wave larger which had the most pleasant after taste of mango. The idea is to get beer drinkers to sample more cocktails and vice versa. Although if you want my opinion it's a way to get more alcohol for your pennies and it's now proven it's socially acceptable ordering two drinks at once, outside of a festival. FYI the cocktail chaser tasted like holidays over ice. 

I've never once though of a cocktail complimenting a beer and vice versa, I think we always think of our drinks to compliment our food instead. Be assured this is fantastic. The more I think about it the more I can't wait to go back just for this. 

No trip to The Botanist for me would be complete without cheese, olives and pate in a plant pot.Every time I got to The Botanist I'm always in awe of the amazing presentation and brilliant home cooked style food. Although the range of food at the botanist and more "sit down meal" menu options, are all to die for, you simply cannot beat ripping apart bread and dunking it into cheese with friends.  

The Sunday night pub quiz was split into 5 rounds, your standard questions, most of which had a music theme played by the pianist. A round of riddles and say what you see. A more unusual round of singing "Old McDonnald had a farm"...shall I explain this?? All you need to know was it beat watching country files on a Sunday night. With a round of animal making from pipe cleaners and everyones favourite round...beer tasting! 

All quizzed out and exhausted from all the "thinking" and laughing I ended the evening with another cocktail. If you've been reading my blog a while you will know I favour cocktails over deserts. 

I choose The Chocolate Rose cocktail to end my evening on "Vodka, rose liqueur, rose syrup, liquid chocolate, milk, cream". A rather drinkable, Turkish delight tasting drink which went down a little too easy....Taxi for Sammie. 

Are you a pub quiz fan?

SAMMIE

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The Botanist
67 Boar Lane, Trinity Leeds, Leeds LS1 6HW

Congratulations to the team at The Botanist who raised £300 on the night for; Forget me not, children's hospice. 

An evening with chocolate

Last night I attended a little party night at one of my Favourite Leeds Restaurants,Roast & Conch, the chocolate restaurant by Hotel Chocolate.  Roast & Conch has been my favourite Leeds Restaurant ever since I was graced with the delight of trying their white chocolate mashed potato. If anyone remembers Bodger and Badger, then I would say my love of the white chocolate mash is on par with Badgers. If you don't remember this then...well...YouTube it. It was a 90s Kids TV show about a badger who loved mashed potatoes, or least that's all I can remember about it. 

Where was I again? So anyhow when the invite landed in my email box to attend a launch night,well I was already scoffing the canopies down quicker than you can say...ermm.....mashed potato. 

Roast and conch has quite a unique concept in that all the food and plenty of the cocktails contain chocolate. Now your most likely looking at the fruity little number thinking WHERE'S THE CHOCOLATE! Well the Northside cocktail, contains none other than, chocolate gin! (cocoa gin, blackberries, mint, line, tonic water). I however only had eyes for the salted caramel soother (aged rum, amaretto,cocoa bitters, coconut milk and liquid salted caramel chocolate). Apparently chocolate heaven comes in chilled Martini glasses.

Those canopies weren't upstaged by the drinks either, despite spending a good 90% of the evening chowing down on chocolate roasted cocktail sausages and my dearest white choc mash, the other samples from the menu were't too shabby. 

spiced aubergine, gin cured salmon with a gin & tonic jelly garnish and a banana bread with a cocoa cream. All with a surprise chocolate (or cocoa gin) ingredient.

 Are you a chocolate lover or curious about the chocolate menu?

Currently you can receive 3 courses at Roast & conch for £25 with Pink Gorilla. 

SAMMIE

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Bar Soba Leeds | Restaurant review

Last week Leeds saw the launch of a new restaurant. Bar Soba. Finally a new eatery which isn't a burger bar. Bar Soba is the newest edition to Merrion Street along side, the not long opened Manhatta and The Pit and old classics such as Verve and Mojos. 

With the perfect location selected Bar Soba offers a downstairs bar space, serving cocktails and a range of around the world beers then upstairs a modern dining space. I'm really quite impressed with the interior and the vibe Bar soba has created. Serving up pan-Asian style street food, the bar is unlike any others in Leeds. After attending the launch last week I was keen to actually sit down and enjoy just what Bar Soba had to offer. 

To start my friend Kel ordered the Thai sticky pork ribs £5.25 (sang som rum and lime marinated pork ribs finished with a sticky hosin glaze), I choose the char siu pork steamed buns £4.50 (with ginger plum). My starter didn't come across as very well executed, the sweet sticky pork filling was lost I the mound of "steamed bun" which engulfed any chance of flavour the meal had. I'm not sure if the bean sprouts were simply there to fill the plate, as they added nothing. Other than  making an already dry meal...well worse. I would of like to to have seen some dressing on these to add another flavour. Even my efforts of trying to drizzle a little soy sauce to the meal to add flavour was laughable when it simply seeped through the basket onto the table. The two pieces of ginger plum was nice but not enough to added a "sauce" to the dry meal. 

I had a sample of Kels pork ribs, which looked meatier than my meal and more flavoursome however the pork was greasy to say the least and any hosin glaze that may have been there was masked by the film of grease which filled my mouth. 

Forgetting the mediocre starters we moved onto the main courses. I finally decided on the Miso beer fillet with a honey glaze £15.95 (with pickled shitake mushrooms, tempura vegetables, rice and ginger soy dip) after lusting over most of the menu. 

My views on the restaurant quickly changed when I tried the beef which melted. It was a shame the plate was cold (although it did appear some mild attempt had been made to warm it) as everything cooled rather quickly. I usually expect this when beef is cooked pink in the middle (as I like it) it isn't going to stay warm for long, but I expected the tempura vegetables to be fresher and crisp. It seemed they had no crisp fresh texture and tasted again a little greasy. The rice was plain and had no fragrance or taste which didn't add much to the meal, other than bloat me, which patted down onto my plate also cooled pretty quickly. The ginger soy dip wasn't doing much either. By the time I had enjoyed the beef I was left with a plate of plain cold rice and greasy battered veggies, twiddling my thumbs. 

Kel ordered the Lemongrass and coconut chicken £12.95 (with a light green curry sauce and indonesian fried rice). Kels not as harsh as me when it comes to critiquing food, she did say the chicken was really nice, although she did look a bit taken a back to find prawns in her rice. I'm not sure if it's common knowledge Indonesian fried rice will contain prawns. This could maybe be explained on the menu or by the waiter. Again like the bean sprouts, the salad accompaniment was "undressed" sat looking a little shy on the side of the plate not adding the greatest amount of flavour. 

The one redeeming factor of the restaurant was the staff, attentive always smiling and generally an asset to the place. Don't get me wrong the restaurant is an amazing designed space in a brilliant location,  but far more attention needs to be paid to details...and the bean sprouts. Even the cocktails lacked ambition with what looked like fruit juice poured over cubes of ice, this is a picky one, but when I order a cocktail I want crushed ice. 

There is currently 50% of main courses vouchers at Bar Soba running on Pink Gorilla voucher website. 

SAMMIE

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Scheduled post *currently away on holiday*

The Opening of Cabana Leeds | Trinity Centre Leeds

As I strolled through the Leeds Trinity shopping centre on my lunch a few weeks ago, I notice a boarded up shop location with the brightest funkiest advert for "Cabana". Been the nosey one I am and never wanting to miss out on anything new, I quickly searched Twitter and noticed there was a new Brazilian restaurant coming to Leeds. Cabana. Tonight Cabana (located opposite Trinity Kitchen) finally opened it's doors and I was invited along to sample their delicious Brazilian menu and slip on one or two five cocktails. 

Leeds in quick becoming a haven for new restaurants and many of my new favourites have sprung up this year (see what they are here and here). I've always loved the vibrancy of Leeds and their willingness to embrace anything new. So I'm guessing it was a clear choice to open the first venue for Cabana outside of London (no idea if that's true, but it's clearly a brilliant guess). It seems we have all the burger joints we now need for the next decade, so it was time to bring in something a little different. 

When Trinity Leeds first opened I must admit although I loved the massive Primark, the gigantic Topshop and the addition of a Victoria Secrets, the restaurant department was a little disappointing. In fact other than the new concept of the Trinity Kitchen, most of the dining venues what originally opened first was what Leeds already had, Carluccios, Giraffe, Yo! Sushi, etc, etc. Tick! Although there has been more brilliant venues since, what it needed was something fresh, vibrant, edgy and even fun to create a real buzz going. Tonight I think I have found just that. In Leeds's newest Brazilian Restaurant, Cabana. 

Cabana, (I'm starting to say cabana too much now, to the point it doesn't sound like a real word) is attempting to recreating the warm, uplifting spirit of Brazil in their vibrant up-cycled themed venue. Serving up their take on a true Brazilian Barbecue and fruity cocktail it was really hard not to find anything to dislike about the place. Unless of course your not willing to embrace the awesome atmosphere? 

The food and drink samples kept on coming all evening long and I defiantly sampled everything there was to offer here. It ended up that I needed a good lay down when I got home before I wrote this. Well a rest and a catch up on The Apprentice. 

The food was incredible and everything I tried (almost everything on the menu) was cooked to perfection, thick cuts of steak served pink and bloody in the middle. Which I'm calling the correct way to cook steak. Chicken juicy and tender with the most amazing flavours and lamb which melts in the mouth. Plus more home comfort's such as pulled pork sliders, chicken coxinhas (croquettes of shredded chicken and spices) and sweet potato fries. The menus seemed to have a nice balance for a Brazilian restaurant of not been too "only meat" heavy and offering a few more alternative dishes than I expected. 

Drinks wise, there was a good range of cocktails on offer, mostly sticking to the classics such as Caipirinha's and the more rum and tequila based cocktails (not a problem with me!). There is also some great twists on the classics on the menu, my recommendation has to be the passion fruit and kiwi caipirinha. 

One thing I did spot was the soft drinks menu also looked just as great, no more boring coca cola if your driving, you can still join your friends with something a little more exotic just less rum. If cocktails aren't your thang (not even a spelling error there, I'm just so relaxed with the vibe going on, or maybe it's the cocktails talking and I should change it) there's also Portuguese and Brazilian lagers on offer too. 

At the end of the night I was gifted with some Cabana Bucks, so I can return...not that I need any prompting and introduce the venue to some friends. I actually can't wait to bring my friends along here and show this place of. I can defiantly see this making a huge impact and been in the prime location of the Trinity Centre, Cabana should feel pretty welcome in it's new home too. 

Is this a place you would like to try? 

What do you make of the newest place in town? 

Sammie

Cabana

Trinity Leeds

Lush Christmas 2014 range #Lushxmas

I know it's still a little early but you can't help notice the changes in the shops, the darker evenings and for me my morning order of a ginger bread latte is starting to feel a little more justified. Why? Well it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Apologises now for all of you sat with your head in your heads having just double checked the date yes it is only October but Christmas is coming. for most that's 2 pay days away so if your like me, a little planning goes a long way. 

I'm a massive child at heard and although Christmas means something slightly different now than it did a when I was a little girl I still get pretty excited. All be it I now look forward to singing along to Mariah after a few too many mulled wines, picking out presents for my family and friends, the cold crisp winter mornings and the smell of chestnuts wavering through the city, it's the small things which mean the magical day is on it's way. 

The build up to that big day is what I seem to enjoy the most, the 1st time you see the coca-cola advert, the window displays in the shops changing, the turning on of the city's Christmas lights (all be by someone you have never heard of) and snow fairy comes to lush! 

Lush is certainly a store that fully enters the spirit of Christmas, you may be a massive Lush fan like me or you may just pop in at Christmas without a clue to pick up one or two of their perfectly packaged gifts (I'm looking at the boys here). Yet there's no denying this brand do Christmas and do Christmas well. For me seeing the classic Christmas Snow Fairy shower gel in store is as much a part of Christmas as the John Lewis advert and the Coca-cola truck making it's appearance. So when I got the chance to visit the store and view all the new releases for 2014 Christmas I was oober excited. 

Christmas 2014 has brought so many new lush treats to get excited about, this year along side classics like the Cinders bath bomb and the candy mountain bubble bar, this year also see's the launch of the Christmas hedgehog and drummers drumming bubble bar, reindeer rock and baked alaska soap, the snow angel bath melt and the hot toddy and so white shower gels, plus many more exciting new products. 

The gift range has also incorporated all the new collection this year and the gift range is superb. For me I always look for products that aren't for the bath (I now only have a shower cubical, sobs) however this year Lush seem to have recognised this and I was surprised that there is a whole range of gifts that are suitable. 

My recommended gifts for you friends with showers only would be: Snowtime gift set Including happy hippy shower gel, baked alaska soap and the snowman shower jelly or the First Snow gift set including the first snow dusting powder, shimmy shimmy massage bar, snow fairy shower gel, bubble gum lip scrub, rock star soap, bakes alaska soap and the snowman fun kit. 

However for all you lucky people who have the luxury of having a bath (I really miss mine) I would also recommend checking out the Santa Claus is coming to town gift set*. Luckily for me at the end of next month I'm of for a girls weekend in a luxury holiday cottage so I will be packing the treats with me and taking advantage of a long lush soak in the bath. 

Lush Christmas 2014

Sammie