Lunch at Prezzo

Recently while my friend was down visiting me for the weekend and we went for lunch in Manchester city centre before she got the train home.  We wandered through The Printworks looking for somewhere to eat and came across Prezzo where neither of us had been before.  At a quick glance the menu looked pretty good so we went in.  First impressions were that we were ignored and walked past by a lot of the staff until finally Louise asked the next staff member we saw for a table.

However after this disappointing start everything got a lot better!  After properly reading the menu there were loads of things I wanted, a pretty good vegetarian selection.  Although a lot of them involve goat's cheese and butternut squash so if you're not a fan of them it might not be so good!  Fortunately I love these two things and went for the Goat's Cheese and Vegetable Risotto which had butternut squash, courgettes and green beans in it.  Louise went for Spaghetti Carbonara, but we were really hungry so decided to share the Large Bread Board as a starter.

The bread board turned out to be AMAZING!  How good does it look?!  It's made up of tomato and pesto bread, mozzarella and garlic bread, rosemary flatbread and ciabatta with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping.  I could just eat this over and over...  This was £5.35 between us.

I nearly forget to take a photo of my main and had started eating when Louise reminded me ha, hence why it looks a bit dishevelled!  Sometimes risotto can be really creamy, sickly and samey but I really enjoyed this.  It wasn't too creamy, with the creaminess mostly coming from the goat's cheese which there was a perfect amount of.  The different bits of veg made it more interesting too.  It's quite a small portion considering it is £10.95 but I don't mind as it was the perfect size for me, I managed to finish it with ease and without feeling too full.  I think if I hadn't had the bread before I'd probably been able to eat more so I'm glad we decided to have a starter.  My only criticisms would be that I'd have preferred larger pieces of butternut squash and probably a slightly larger portion - only because I have a fairly small appetite so it might not be enough for other people! 

I'd really like to go back and try some of the other options I was eyeing up!  See their menu here.

Have you got a favourite at Prezzo?

<3

Dinner at Chiquitos

At some point before I moved down to Manchester, Chris and I went on a wee date to Chiquitos and I thought I'd share my meal with you and do a mini review!

We started off with a plate of nachos to share - it was just the normal size though not the bigger one.  They came with cheese, salsa, jalapeños, sour cream and guacamole with some green stuff sprinkled on top?!  Coriander maybe?  They were really good but there was something else which had a funny flavour to it, a bit of a minty edge which was unusual, we weren't sure what it was!

For the main course I had roasted vegetable fajitas which were pretty epic!  It was two huge skewers of vegetables with more underneath then on another plate were your sauces and wraps.  If you ran out of any of those they would refill for free which I think is great.  We both got a couple more tortillas but I still couldn't finish my veggies.  There were green and red peppers, red onion, sweet potato and courgette I think?  Chris got chicken fajitas which were a similar layout but actually looked less than mine!

We also got sweet potato fries which were really good, we added them into our wraps haha.  We probably shouldn't have got these as we had so much food already, and if I known I'd have sweet potato in my fajita skewers I probably wouldn't have bothered.

For both our meals and drinks it was about £40 which I think it quite a lot considering it's more tex mex rather than an authentic mexican restaurant but I would still go back on occasion.

What's your favourite Mexican restaurant?  I went to Pancho Villas once and I'd really like to go back there.

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Makeover the World Campaign

RSPCA are holding a campaign called Makeover the World to raise awareness of animal testing for cosmetics.  To participate all you have to do it dedicate a makeover and share it on social media, using the hashtag #MakeoverTheWorld.

So here is my entry!

They ask that you don't mention any product used - perhaps in case it causes some controversy over brands who test? However all the make  up and tools used in mine are cruelty free and if you want to know any specifics just ask in the comments and I'll get back to you!  

The unfiltered version haha!

I wore this make up for a wee lunch date to La Barca in Helenburgh which is a Spanish tapas restaurant.  Yum!

Also if you could please sign their petition which is to be sent to Estée Lauder companies, Johnson & Johnson, Kao, LVMH, Proctor & Gamble, Shiseido, L'Oréal group and Unilever!

<3  

Birthday Celebrations at Òran Mór

On Febraury 4th it was my dad's birthday so to celebrate went to the cinema (Jack Ryan: Shadow Agent) and then to Òran Mór for dinner.  The Òran Mór is a bar/restaurant converted church at the top of Byres Road, Glasgow.  We'd never been there before so weren't quite sure what to expect!  We ate in the main bit which is also the bar, called the John Muir Room.

For starters, my mum and I shared nachos which came with salsa, cheese, jalapeños, creme fraîche and guacamole.  The plate was huge!  I am so glad we shared as if I'd ate that alone I wouldn't have managed much for the main meal.  It was amazing, definitely one of the best nachos I've had - especially because they come with guac, yum!!

My dad had vegetable pakora which I didn't try but he seemed to enjoy them.  Also a good size portion!

For my main course I had Goat's Cheese and Caramelised Red Onion Salad with a side of chips.  I didn't feel like anything too heavy so I went for this, but got the chips for a bit of substance!  The chips are honestly amazing, I love big chunky homemade ones which still have the skin on.  They also came with garlic mayo which is probably my favourite dip ever!  The salad was nice but I found it too much to have as a main course, I'd prefer a smaller portion as a starter given the choice.

My mum had a Salmon Burger.  We've never come across a salmon burger before so weren't sure what it would be like but she said it was really nice.  It came with chips, salad and sort of salsa sauce.

My dad had a Beef Burger which also came with chips and some salad.  He said it was a really good quality homemade burger - it's made with 100% Scotch Steak Mince.

Here is a link to the Òran Mór's website and this is link to the menu for the John Muir Room.

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