Did you know you can go to Yo! Sushi and not eat fish? I always knew there were beef and chicken dishes, but I guess I just overlooked them. B has suggested that we go to Yo! a few times, but I wasn't convinced that he would enjoy it or even begin to be full! On my birthday, I gave in and let him take me for lunch. Anyone who knows me will know that I am not a massive fan of birthdays, so I was loving the irony of the 'Blue Monday' offer in Yo! Apart from summing up my mood, it also meant that we could eat more as all plates were all only £2.20. Although I didn't get my eel, (expensive tastes as always Nicola!) I was pleasantly surprised by the selection available. There is no way that I will be able to recount what I ate - it was all tastey and fishy except my Tamago (sweet omelette) and my edamame beans.
I have always been a fan of sushi, but there are not many bars in Edinburgh. Yo! has moved from it's original location on Rose Street to the top of Harvey Nichols. Obviously when it first arrived in Edinburgh, people were put off by the lack of batter and deep frying of fish (maybe if they had tried the tempura...?) as it was shut for a few years, but it seems to have settled into its new home. B really enjoyed it, and has made it clear that he would like to go back, but I have a feeling this will be limited to Mondays, as to fill up on sushi is an expensive task! It is nice to know that I have somewhere different where I can go to get my fishy fix.
Normally I am someone who avoids chain restaurants, I do not like homogeneous spaces and food. I like variety and surprises and personal touches, be them good or bad, they add to the experience. I am slightly hypocritical though, I like Yo! Sushi - I have been to a few other sushi bars and I like them too, but I find Yo! accessible - and sushi is not a cuisine that I want to be surprised by - I am not yet at the fugu stage! While in Brighton we would regularly eat at the Slug and Lettuce on a Monday, this had nothing to do with pleasure, it was convenient and half price. I am now thinking hard if there are any other chinks in my chain restaurant armour... I don't think that there are, mainly because there are a lot of chain restaurants that I have never given a shot due to my uppityness! Coincidentally - I really went about rectifying this on my birthday; next stop Hard Rock Cafe.
My regular readers will remember that on B's birthday, I chose to take him to a French restaurant, well it was his turn to decide. My cousin Julie and her family were up for the weekend so we had to find somewhere child friendly (refering probably more to B and Her husband Paul than the actual kids...) My aunt and uncle also came along to join in the fun! I have walked past the Hard Rock on George Street many times - and never once felt the need to go in, but in the name of trying something different I was looking forward to seeing what it was like. Afterall there are people who like it so much they regularly seek them out across the world and wear the t-shirts to prove it!
Considering there were 8 of us, in need of a high chair and turning up at 5.30pm, without a booking, we were seated very quickly. Our waiter was friendly/brain washed and delivered us a lot of information very quickly. He could have pulled it off as genuine, if he had not have asked my aunt if she wanted chips with her potato skins. (Now, this could have just been symptomatic of the clientelle, but I am going to go with shameless corporate upselling!) We had all eaten fairly big lunches so no one in the party was particularly hungry, which was a good thing down to the amount of time it took to plough through the HUGE menu. We were recommended the ribs by the waiter, but I don't think Paul needed to wait for the suggestion, as from what I gather he is a fan. This meant that when he did not finish them and lick his plate clean we knew he was either ill, or there was something wrong with them. Now hats of to him, when asked if everything was ok, he said no. It is something that I promised myself that I would begin to do, but, thankfully have not needed to yet. The waiter apologised and they were removed from the bill. Julie had a steak sandwich and as mentioned Judy had potato skins (without the chips!), both of which lived up to their descriptions. My uncle Norrie had a pulled pork sandwich which was returned to the kitchen for being luke warm and then left untouched due to its inability to live upto it's 'tender and juicy' description. (By this time I am feeling for the waiter: "Was everything alright sir?...) The manager actually came over to the table and had a conversation with him about the cooking process - I did not hear what was being said as I was trying on a shower cap with my cousins little girl - don't ask! The outcome was that the pulled pork sandwich was removed from the bill also. I would like to tell you the total 'saving' but the online menus do not have prices. I had a chicken haystack salad, which I enjoyed. It takes a lot of talent to mess up a salad. The 'haystack' element came in the form of long strips of tortilla chips, built up into a haystack shape over the salad. A shameless gimick that probably added a few pounds to the price! B had a burger, and he really, really liked it. B will happily return for another burger, but unless I am in the mood to join him, I think that this is one chain restaurant that I will be giving a miss in the future. One more point about the Hard Rock Cafe; when you order a cheesecake, it comes in a glass.
Tuesday 9 November 2010
Monday 1 November 2010
Tapa
My mother taught me well: "hunt out the bargains Nicola!" Over the years, I have become a master of the red/yellow sticker hunting (depending on supermarket) and I am not ashamed to rummage through the reduced shelves. However, when B came across a website with massive savings on all sorts of things - my brain kicked in with "too good to be true!" But £17 for 6 tapas and a bottle of wine between 2 was a gamble we were willing to take. All we had to do was print out a voucher and mention it when we booked. Simple! I recommend you check out this website (http://www.groupon.co.uk/) if you haven't already, just choose your city...
So, Tapa it was then! I love tapas (true Spanish tapas that is, not just small dishes!) but I have been put off by La Tasca and other chain restaurants. I feel that these do not offer good value for money and I have to say that I have never really enjoyed myself there. We were already on to a winner with Tapa when it came to the value part thanks to groupon, but we were both pleasantly surprised by the portion sizes. In fact - tapas my ass - these were very close to meals in their own right! ("...well not quite" says B.) I know that the idea behind the vouchers would be to get new customers into the restaurant and hope that they will return, but part of me always assumes that there would be a catch i.e. cheaper dishes or smaller portions. However, from the moment we walked in we had excellent service and were treated like 'real' customers!
The menu is clearly divided into meat, fish and vegetable sections which makes it easy for you to ensure that you are going to end up with a nice mix of dishes. I think that is always wise to order a stew with chickpeas as part of my tapa so that there is a bit of sustenance. Patatas Bravas is a favourite too, but there is always a fight for this one, B is not so keen on chickpeas... Being the bargain hunter that I am, I made sure that we got our moneys worth and we ordered the most expensive dish at £7.50, a selection of air cured meat and Spanish cheese. This was not as large a portion as the others, which means quality over quantity - and a relief as we were getting full by this point! The staff were very good at clearing us space on the table as we ploughed through and at no point seemed to be hovering. As I have previously mentioned, I am not a dessert kind of gal, but, and there appears to always be a 'but', (adding no doubt to my butt) - I managed to squeeze one in. It is more of a can't resist if something grabs me, and the almond sponge most certainly did. This of course had to be accompanied with an espresso, so B decided to match me in the dessert and hot drink stakes. He opted for the cinamon "enriched" rice pudding and a white hot chocolate. If you are a hot chocolate fan I think that you should make haste to Tapa, eat a meal and then sit back and enjoy 'the best white hot chocolate' that B has ever had! It was made by melting real white chocolate into hot milk and then garnished with - wait for it - a flump! Hats off to who ever came up with that idea! But hey, I don't touch the stuff, I just sat watching, with envy, at B playing. I had my delicious sponge to console me. I was sooo full, but it was sooo good that I just had to finish it all, oh and B enjoyed his rice pudding, but I think that it fell to the way side due to the hot chocolate.
We had paid upfront for the voucher, but obviously we had to settle up for the desserts and the hot drinks. a fact that appeared to be more obvious to us than to the staff. Up until the end of the meal, Tapa was 'up there' in restaurant experiences, not only since I began this blog, but in recent memory. I have to say, that nothing went wrong, and it was not bad as such - but the chore of trying to get the attention of the staff when you want to pay is certainly a pet hate of mine. I owe you money - it is not really my responsibility to chase you to give it to you, if you don't want it... It is nice to be able to sit and digest your meal and not feel rushed but in this situation we were getting more and more full by the minute, and by the time about 30 of those minutes had gone by, I went to the bar to ask for our bill.
After we waddled home, we (I) went straight on to the website to work out the really cost of our bill. We got around £44 worth, including wine, but excluding the dessert etc. A bargin in deed. The real testament to this restaurant is that we would happily return and pay full price (and I think only order 5 dishes between 2). Also I think next time B would forgo his dessert and proceed directly to flump dipping!
So, Tapa it was then! I love tapas (true Spanish tapas that is, not just small dishes!) but I have been put off by La Tasca and other chain restaurants. I feel that these do not offer good value for money and I have to say that I have never really enjoyed myself there. We were already on to a winner with Tapa when it came to the value part thanks to groupon, but we were both pleasantly surprised by the portion sizes. In fact - tapas my ass - these were very close to meals in their own right! ("...well not quite" says B.) I know that the idea behind the vouchers would be to get new customers into the restaurant and hope that they will return, but part of me always assumes that there would be a catch i.e. cheaper dishes or smaller portions. However, from the moment we walked in we had excellent service and were treated like 'real' customers!
The menu is clearly divided into meat, fish and vegetable sections which makes it easy for you to ensure that you are going to end up with a nice mix of dishes. I think that is always wise to order a stew with chickpeas as part of my tapa so that there is a bit of sustenance. Patatas Bravas is a favourite too, but there is always a fight for this one, B is not so keen on chickpeas... Being the bargain hunter that I am, I made sure that we got our moneys worth and we ordered the most expensive dish at £7.50, a selection of air cured meat and Spanish cheese. This was not as large a portion as the others, which means quality over quantity - and a relief as we were getting full by this point! The staff were very good at clearing us space on the table as we ploughed through and at no point seemed to be hovering. As I have previously mentioned, I am not a dessert kind of gal, but, and there appears to always be a 'but', (adding no doubt to my butt) - I managed to squeeze one in. It is more of a can't resist if something grabs me, and the almond sponge most certainly did. This of course had to be accompanied with an espresso, so B decided to match me in the dessert and hot drink stakes. He opted for the cinamon "enriched" rice pudding and a white hot chocolate. If you are a hot chocolate fan I think that you should make haste to Tapa, eat a meal and then sit back and enjoy 'the best white hot chocolate' that B has ever had! It was made by melting real white chocolate into hot milk and then garnished with - wait for it - a flump! Hats off to who ever came up with that idea! But hey, I don't touch the stuff, I just sat watching, with envy, at B playing. I had my delicious sponge to console me. I was sooo full, but it was sooo good that I just had to finish it all, oh and B enjoyed his rice pudding, but I think that it fell to the way side due to the hot chocolate.
We had paid upfront for the voucher, but obviously we had to settle up for the desserts and the hot drinks. a fact that appeared to be more obvious to us than to the staff. Up until the end of the meal, Tapa was 'up there' in restaurant experiences, not only since I began this blog, but in recent memory. I have to say, that nothing went wrong, and it was not bad as such - but the chore of trying to get the attention of the staff when you want to pay is certainly a pet hate of mine. I owe you money - it is not really my responsibility to chase you to give it to you, if you don't want it... It is nice to be able to sit and digest your meal and not feel rushed but in this situation we were getting more and more full by the minute, and by the time about 30 of those minutes had gone by, I went to the bar to ask for our bill.
After we waddled home, we (I) went straight on to the website to work out the really cost of our bill. We got around £44 worth, including wine, but excluding the dessert etc. A bargin in deed. The real testament to this restaurant is that we would happily return and pay full price (and I think only order 5 dishes between 2). Also I think next time B would forgo his dessert and proceed directly to flump dipping!
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