25 Food Questions Tag!

Hi all!

I know I've done a couple of tags in a short space of time, but I love them! I think they're a really good way for people to get to know the person behind a new blog. I also really love food so this is a perfect one for me! If there are two things I talk about most of the time, it is books - which I've already done a blog tag on - and food. So here we go!

1. What's your favourite breakfast?

You can't beat a good ol' crispy bacon sandwich on soft fluffy white bread with lashings of butter, but as I know that is pretty unhealthy, the breakfast I most enjoy is boiled eggs and avocado on seeded toast. I post it so much on Instagram that my friends laugh about it now.

2. How do you drink your coffee?

I'm sorry but I don't. So many times I have attempted to get into coffee but I just can't. I went through a phase of drinking really milky, sugary cappuccinos when I worked in a restaurant just for the caffeine boost, but I am a tea gal through and through, and I take that with just a splash of milk and no sugar.

3.What's on your favourite sandwich?

Ooh that's tricky! I'm not really a sandwich person for the most part, but I do like a Mediterranean sandwich, with mozzarella and pesto. Ooh and I love the bacon, brie and caramelised onion toasties from cafe nero. 

4. Soup or salad?

I would have to say salad. I do like a good soup, but it has to be home-made, I don't like tinned soup at all. I am leaning towards salad right now because it's really muggy and humid as I right this,and anyone who'd eat soup in this weather is MAD!

5. What's your favourite cookbook?

I tend to buy all the cookbooks ever, and then get all my recipes online. I love the BBC Good Food website, but if I had to pick an actual book, Clean Eating Alice's new book is amazing for some healthy and tasty ideas!

6. No more sweets, or no more hearty foods?

I'd definitely say no more sweets. I don't have a sweet tooth at all, apart from the odd treat, but I do love good wholesome comfort food, especially in winter. I'm discovering that what I eat is definitely determined by the weather.

7. What's your favourite cuisine? 

I would have to say either Italian or English, I love pasta but not pizza, but I also love - as I've just said - traditional English comfort food such as a roast or fish and chips.

8. What's your favourite food movie?

I didn't even know that was a thing! I don't really have one.

9. What's your most guilty pleasure?

Probably some form of takeaway. I try not to order them very often, but maybe once every couple of months I'll have a Chinese takeaway and I love it but I also hate it. Bloating is not my friend.

10. What's your greatest inspiration source?

Recipes online or dishes I've seen on menus in restaurants. I love to cook, it's calming to me and I just love it. I will always try recipes I like the look of. They don't always turn out really well but sometimes they do. This is a fish burger, oven-baked chips and salsa I made, and it was really good!

11. Cooking at home or going out for dinner?

I'd probably say going out for dinner just because I HATE the amount of washing up that making a complicated dish produces. I do love to cook for my boyfriend - he once said my risotto was better than any he's made, which is a HUGE compliment from him, he loves to cook - and I often cook for my nan. But you can't being waited on hand and foot when you go out.

12. High end or low profile?

Probably a bit of both. I don't really know what that means in relation to food tbh.

13. What's your favourite restaurant?

Ooh so many! I love Marconato in Hoddesdon and Bite east in Stirling. Marconatos is an Italian which does a ton of different and interesting meats, and Bite East is - obviously - an Eastern restaurant which does REALLY weird foods, but I just get the simple stuff. 

14. I do my grocery shopping at:

Anywhere nearby. Usually Tesco or Sainsburys.

15. The tastiest food I've ever eaten was:

Oh my, I've eaten so much tasty stuff in my life. My Nan and my boyfriend are great cooks, as is my sister and her partner. I've also eaten at a lot of amazing restaurants but I think the blue cheese and chicken risotto my boyfriend makes is fabulous.

16. What's your favourite cocktail?

All of the cocktails that include gin. Love me some gin. I used to be OBSESSED with a cocktail from Monterey Jacks called a Jam and Gin, which was just gin with soda and raspberry coulis. 

17. Coffee with George Clooney or Heston Blumenthal?

I'd have tea with Heston. He just seems kind of interesting.

18.What should not be missing in your kitchen?

A fridge. Even if you don't have anything to cook on, you can buy stuff which is ready to eat and you'll be fine.

19. What's your favourite snack?

It changes depending what mood I'm in. Right now I'm loving Jacob's salt and vinegar cracker crisp things. I don't know what they're actually called, sorry!

20. What's on your pizza?

Ham and pineapple. Lots of both. It's the best and I will argue this to the death.

21. What food do you really dislike?

I'm not a fan of rice or mince. Chilli is my nightmare. It feels like baby food to me.

22. What's your favourite food blog?

It's not really a blog, but I get inspiration from Clean Eating Alice's Instagram.

23. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

I've eaten quite a lot of interesting stuff, but I have such a bad memory. I did have reindeer not that long ago, it was really nice! 

24. What's on your food bucket list?

Just to cook all the recipes I've screenshotted, but that is going to take a long time! I also really want to go to a really fancy restaurant where you have to dress up one day.

25. I couldn't live without:

Meat! I have a dream of becoming vegetarian/vegan, but I just don't think I can do it!

There we go! Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know any of your answers :)

Until next time, 

Jo. 

The Best Day In Woodbridge

Hi all!

It's been a while since I last wrote a post, I'm sorry! I've been really busy applying for jobs (and mainly getting nowhere) and I haven't really done much besides that. On Tuesday 10th, however, I went to stay with my boyfriend in Ipswich for a couple of days, and it was such beautiful weather. It was so nice to spend a few quality days with him, as - as I've written about before - we do not get to see each other as much as I'd like. On Thursday it was such a lovely day, and so we decided to go to nearby Woodbridge for lunch.

Woodbridge is such a lovely harbour town in Suffolk, with many cute little boutique shops and bars. I love to have a stroll around there on a sunny day, it's a beautiful place with a real mix of people. We went to The Riverside restaurant, which is an adorable place right next to the harbour. 

In this picture, James is wearing my sunglasses, don't worry they're not his! I had a refreshing Pimms and he had a pint of beer. We had wonderful service, the man and woman working that day were extremely friendly and accommodating.

We had an oyster each to start, which was my first ever experience with oysters, and in all honesty probably my last! They were nice enough, but just tasted too much like I was swallowing sea water, and I don't understand the point in spending money- £3 for two oysters - on something you don't even chew!

For main, I had the Seafood Stew and oh my gosh it was amazing! It included a piece of cod, mussels, scallops, prawns, potatoes and spinach! I'm sure there was some other kind of seafood in there too but I can't remember exactly. It was honestly delicious and I would definitely order again, even though as I have mentioned in a post before I am someone who likes to try a different dish each time. It was £17, which may be a little steep, but I do think it was worth it for such excellent cooking, I was definitely pleased! James had fish and chips and he said his was lovely too. All in all, I would definitely recommend The Riverside if you are looking for a really tasty meal; people sitting near us ordered tapas and the selection looked wonderful and they all commented on how delicious everything was.

This is my favourite picture of the day, I think it's hilarious! There is a little ice cream stand in the seating area of the restaurant, and I had mango sorbet and James had raspberry ice cream - still wearing my Willy Wonka sunglasses! Again, it was lovely and refreshing to have this on such a hot day, and we ate these while strolling along the harbour and sitting watching the water. It was so lovely to just have a relaxing afternoon, and I'm so happy when we get to have these days because it is great quality time. We then went back to his house and laid in the garden and chilled out.

Until next time (which hopefully won't be so far away),

Jo.

Bo Drake Review

Hi all!

Today's post is a review of Korean restaurant Bo Drake. Bo Drake is located in Soho on Greek Street, and is a inconspicuous but raved about eatery. Described on their website as 'combining sweet and pickled influences from East Asia alongside slow cooked BBQ methods from the Americas and Europe', it is just the kind of food I adore. On a recent trip into London, my partner and I were keen to try this restaurant as we had heard great things.

On entry into the dining area, the first thing we noticed was the atmosphere. Darkened and quiet, it is a nice place for a calm meal. As we went at lunch time, it was fairly quiet and we were seated by the door, which was fine, but we could see a further set of maybe twelve tables through into an alcove, which I can imagine would be a lovely place to sit for an evening meal. 

The waitress was lovely and accommodating. I ordered a lemonade (£3.50! London prices are steep!)  which we lovely and fresh with a very sharp lemon taste, and James ordered a beer, which he enjoyed but was not his favourite. We then ordered a selection of foods to share.

 

This was the Smoked Rib Stack, and this was amazing! It was wonderful and sweet with a slight spice, and the meat fell right off the bone. One of my favourite things to order in a restaurant is ribs, and these were some of the best. However, for £15.50 for maybe 5 or 6 ribs is very pricey. Once again though, it was quality food and in London you are not going to get quality for a cheap price.

This was the Bo Ssam, or rather Smoked Pulled Pork.This was also a really nice dish, served with Ssamjang, Kimchi, Spring Onion Oil and lettuce. I sometimes find pulled pork can become rather dry, but this was lovely and succulent, and the sweet and spicy ssamjang sauce was my favourite, whereas James really liked the kimchi. Again, at £14.80 it was quite expensive for a small lunchtime dish, but you get what you pay for.

These were amazing! This was the Korean Fried Chicken, with soy garlic, grapes and rosemary. Thet were delicious and sweet, and as a lover of all things chicken this was favourite dish. It was beautifully cooked and the flavours all complimented each other fantastically. At £9 for 6 or 7 chicken wings, it was probably the most reasonably priced dish as well. A favourite of both myself and James!

Along with this, we ordered boiled rice, which was tiny portion for £3, but was a nice addition. Overall, we had a lovely lunch at Bo Drake, but a lunchtime meal for two for nearly £60 was a bit too much for our liking, especially as the portions were very small, and this was not made clear on the menu. However, it was very good quality, and I would definitely consider returning for an evening meal. I am a bit of a food explorer though, and I think I will continue searching for the perfect restaurant which is not as pricey.

Until next time,

Jo.