Chocolate from Brussels!!!!

Well, well, well.... guess what?!  My husband will be taking me to Brussels this Spring! He goes there for business on regular basis so I heard about all those great food he has eaten there but this time I can get to eat mussels in Brussels with fries for real... can't wait!

In the meantime he has brought me a box of Belgium Chocolate from Brussels.  This one is by Corne Port-Royal (http://www.corneportroyal.com/en.htm) founded in 1932. Their website informs me that they have some twenty 'boutiques' (yes, boutiques, not shops!) within Belgium, continues in its tradition of authentic recipes that have remained unchanged for over a century and gourmet expertise.

The website also informs me that you use all senses to enjoy chocolate - sight, tough, hearing (huh..?), taste and smell. It says, 'The chocolate should look smooth and lustrous. A well-made chocolate should give as you bite into it. If a praline starts to melt in your hand before you've had the chance to put it in your mouth, that's a good sign: it indicates that it contains cocoa butter. And let it melt in your mouth, pressing the chocolate to your palate to release all its flavours.' Mmmmmmmm...

Gianduja with coffee praline, yummy!!!

A praline is made by caramelising sugar syrup, hazelnuts and almonds together before being ground to varying levels of fineness. This one is Gianduna, a mixture of finely-ground hazennuts and powered sugar to which chocolate is added. Gianduja comes from the Piedmont region of Italy.

I have also learnt that chocolates are best kept in a dry place, away from strong odours and at a temperature of between 15 - 18 degree, and not in the fridge. 

Wow, eating chocolate has moved to a new level after this....

I shall visit few chocolate 'boutiques' while we are there, tasting the real Belgian chocolate in Belgium, however I also want to have Belgian waffles, mussels with fries of course and Belgian beer!  I will tell you all about these when I come back....

That's all forks!

Having lunch again ....

Went to Amber Regent (http://www.amberregent.com) last Saturday for lunch. My husband and I were debating whether we go for Italian or Thai as we walked on Hope Street, then turning onto West Regent Street, Glasgow. I said to him,"I wonder if Amber Regent does any lunch menu...?". To be honest it is not obvious from outside but we found that they do offer lunch special, £9.95 for 2 courses. It is quite a good menu (http://www.amberregent.com/menu/amber-regent-lunch-menu.htm), catering for both seafood lovers and vegetarians by offering variety of choices even for lunch menu.
Naturally, we got to try it and we were very glad we did.

We were the first customers to arrive so quickly took this photo before the place gets busier...

As far as I can remember this restaurant has been here for many many years. The last time we were there was when we took Emily and Maria for Emily's 18 year old birthday for dinner, but I bet they don't remember that much.

Anyway, for starters you have 10 different choices and we both chose Hot & Sour Soup without meat.
It came with a basket of crispy prawn crackers and the soup was really delicious.

Hot & Sour Soup without meat

For main course, you get so many choices despite being lunch menu. I am just looking at their lunch menu online - 11 chicken dishes, 8 beef dishes, 1-2 pork dishes, 10 seafood dishes and 5 vegetables.  My husband had Prawn Dam Po (Chilli Sauce) (... or was it Prawn Szechuen Style?)  and I had Grilled Sole Beijing Style. All comes with fried rice (or noodle). Well, both were very delicious and I really liked the fish.

Photo did not turn out that well but they were really tasty...

Service was very good, very efficient and attentive. Oh yes, the restaurant also passed my toilet check!
I think downstairs must have been recently renovated as when you go down the steps, it suddenly becomes modern in semi dark blue lightening ... it was a bit like a maze or in fact like a labyrinth. I got nearly lost the way back to the restaurant. My husband said "just follow the arrow" and I did and got confused as the door I thought I walked through from the restaurant did not seem the same door to me. But he was right.  I just followed the arrow again and came back to the same door that I rejected earlier.  So I push the door and voila, I came back to the restaurant, Yey! (I must admit I was a bit worried, thinking what I would do if I got stuck in the corridor, imagining myself in the Twilight Zone!!!)

Anyway, according to their website, they are doing the special offer of 1/2 price main dishes every evening (but Wed - Fri you must order before 7pm and Saturday before 6.45pm). This is a great deal. You should look at their A La Carte menu ... so many choices. Just reading the menu, imaging what they would taste like make my mouth watering, Mmmmmm.

By the time we finished our meal, the place was full and so as our stomach but the portion was just right and we left the restaurant feeling really content.

My husband loves Chinese food. In fact he could eat it every day if he has a choice. Maybe we go back there for dinner one evening, taking advantage of the special offer. And I now know that I just need to remember that I follow the arrow from the labyrinth.

That's all forks!

Lunch at Arisaig in Glasgow

My older daughter Emily is very good at finding deals and is always lucky. In fact she is also the sort of person who wins something often if she buys lottery, scratch cards or enter into prize draws. Not a huge win but she is happy with small wins and feels content. Good luck always seems to follow her and she has a good karma.

So she received an additional discount from an on-line website for discount restaurant vouchers. She phoned me and asked if we want to try Arisaig Bar & Restaurant (http://arisaigrestaurant.co.uk) in Merchant Square, Glasgow. The name of the restaurant seems to come from  a small village in the West Coast of Scotland of the same name and serves Scottish food. We checked their menu on website, which sounded nice and booked a table for 2. The online deal was for £9.95 per person for 2 course meal with a glass of wine and Emily had additional discount to put toward this, so definitely a good deal.  We booked a table for 4 for Sunday lunch the other day for Emily, her boyfriend Craig, my husband and me. The restaurant does 2 course lunch menu anyway but the choices of menus between our online deal and their lunch menu are almost the same.

My husband and I arrived at the restaurant, which is inside of the lovely indoor courtyard of the Merchant Square building. A pub across the other side of the courtyard was showing Andy Murray playing against Novak Djokovic at Grand Slam final on a big screen. Emily and Craig were late so we were watching this.  By the time we found out that Andy Murray lost, we were seated at the table, studying the menu. Emily was driving and she nearly hit a car or a car nearly hit her car as she was trying to park. Being so stressed and running out of time they had to take her car to an expensive multi-story car park to park, despite it was Sunday and free on-street parking in the city centre. She normally has good karma but she did not have car-ma on that day!

For starters, Craig who loves haggis ordered Haggis Fritters with onion gravy. Unfortunately he had some mouth ulcer and could not eat much of this dish, shame....

Haggis Fritters with Onion Gravy

Emily had Smoked Brie & Red Onion Tart served with roast tomato and balsamic vinegar dressing. I tried the bit of the tart, which did have smokey flavour.

Smoked Brie & Red Onion Tart

My husband and I had Homemade Fishcakes served with green leaves and tartar sauce, which was nice.

Homemade Fishcakes

For main course, my husband had Breaded Haddock with chips and tartar sauce. It would come with mushy peas but he asked the restaurant to serve without it. Chips were really chunky and big.

Breaded Haddock with Chips minus mushy peas

I tried Vegetarian Bean Burger with salad, chips and spicy fruit slaw from the normal lunch menu. I found the burger (made of mixed beans and vegetables) was rather dry so I put fruit slaw and onion chutney (?) that came on the plate onto the burger to give some softer texture and flavour. Ciabatta roll was nice. Again it came with big chunky chips. I just wanted to try something different, otherwise I would have had salmon from the menu, but I was happy with my choice as we eat salmon at home quite often anyway.

Vegetarian Bean Burger with chips and spicy fruit slaw

Craig ordered Haggis & Clapshot with mustard cream sauce. It looked really nice but again unfortunately he could hardly finish it because of his mouth ulcer. Shame...

Haggis & Clapshot with mustard cream sauce.

Emily had Shetland Mussels tossed in a cider and smoked cheese sauce. It would come with smoked bacon in the sauce but she asked it to be without. The restaurant had no problem accommodating her request. There were a lot of big mussels. I tried one and was very nice and so as the sauce.

Shetland Mussels with cider and smoked cheese sauce

Overall we did have a nice lunch and good value for money. I also thought service was good and attentive. I think it would have much more lovely and lively atmosphere at night, with lots of restaurants within the courtyard being busy and filled with many diners. We saw Italian and Spanish tapas restaurants in the courtyard. Perhaps we would look out for other on-line deals to see if we could go there too.  ..... You probably notice by now that we would not have eaten out this often had we not used all these on-line deals....

That's all forks!

p.s.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. The restaurant passed my toilet check. My husband jokingly suggests I do a blog for toilet checks but I said no.... who want to see pictures of food along with pictures of toilets!  No thanks, I say.  But seriously, I would be weary of eating anything at a restaurant that can't even pay attention to cleanliness of toilets.... would you agree?

Afternoon Tea in Glasgow

At one point we went through a phase of Afternoon Tea experiences last year and have visited a few places in Glasgow.

Let me go back to year 2007 on my birthday - when my husband took me to a "proper" Afternoon Tea along with daughters and my mother-in-law to a famous 5 star hotel with eagle logo and golf courses, located in the central belt of Scotland (I shall not name the name...) for my birthday treat.

It ceremoniously commenced with selecting flavour of tea leaves and then with amuse-bouche (literally translated to mouth amuser, showcasing a chef's approach to the art of cuisine) consisting of series of beautifully flavoured and presented small dishes. As I don't eat, I neither ate nor took photos of any of dishes contained meat but salmon with white cream (see below left) was lovely and so as creme brûlée (below right).

Next, it moved to a selection of sandwiches and rolls with delicious fillings.

And then finally, delectable selections of scones and cakes.

Of course, by this point we were getting really full and could only manage some but not all of them. I especially had an eye on this lovely chocolate cake with gold leaf on it but alas, there was no room in my body to fit this, no matter  how delicious it looked. We hardly touched those lovely cakes sitting on the bottom tier. So we asked a waiting staff if they could box the rest of cakes to go. We were refused - due to health and safety, they said. I remember I felt like I was nearly crying, like a child whose birthday cake was snatched as soon as blowing candles. My husband tried to explain it was for my birthday but to no avail. Due to health and safety and we could stay as long as we wished to take our time to enjoy the afternoon tea, but unable to accommodate our request, they said. 

After all, it is a posh hotel.... commoners like us should not have gone to a place like that and asked for a doggy bag....?!?!?!  We did not make any scene and went home quietly afterwards, without cakes and feeling hugely disappointed... on my birthday...  All I have now are photographs of food we had and we could not have. 

Every time the word 'afternoon tea' came up, I remembered this experience and have had a mixed feeling. 

Then last year, probably fuelled by popularity of British Bake-Off programmes on TV, etc, suddenly everyone is baking cakes and doing afternoon teas. Then many on-line deals for afternoon deals started emerging everywhere.  

One day Emily said, 'Fancy going for afternoon tea but with cocktails?'  So, Emily, Maria and I went to Saint Judes in Glasgow last summer (see my blog for more information and photos, Intoxicating Tearooms at Saint Judes last year). This was the beginning of our Afternoon Tea sampling....

Saint Judes Verdict

WOW Factor	Afternoon teas but with cocktails and procecco!!!  We were WOWed - lovely cocktail to choose, potful of lovely pink procecco and mini cakes!
Service	It was the Winbledon Final, Andy Murray vs Roger Federer; everyone was watching TV but staff kept coming back checking customers if we were alright. And we got extra tier!
Tea Replenishing Factor	It’s all about cocktails….. AND cocktails were really good.
What's to eat Factor	Lots of cute mini cakes. If you don't eat meat, you only have cucumber sandwich to nibble. We did however order some chips afterwards as we wanted something savoury....
Take-home Factor	Best enjoyed while you were there…
Toilet Check	Not a lot of space, not for claustrophobic.
Total Enjoyability	Room was dark with dim lighting but eventually get used to it. We thoroughly enjoyed it.  Emily went back with her friends again…

We then went to Delise of Paradise, off Argyll Street, near Tron Theatre in August. It was not opened that long ago when we went there. The owner was very very friendly and we really hope she would be successful because she was such a lovely lady.

Delice of Paradise Verdict

WOW Factor	We checked their website before we went and raised our expectation too high.... No WOW but the owner was really nice.
Service	All staff and the owner were all very friendly.
Tea Reprenishing Factor	It was a normal tea and coffee....
What's to eat Factor	Cakes were all made at the premises but far too much coconuts used for everything. Could have more sandwich and cakes but it was on-line deal and very cheap so we got what we paid for....?
Take-home Factor	We ate all except coconuts cakes and biscuits so nothing to take home with.
Toilet Check	There is only one toilet for all with disable facility.
Total Enjoyability	Bright decor, nice sandwich and lovely owner but  not much of 'Afternoon Tea' experience as such …

Next we went to Stewarts Victorian Tearooms in the Merchant City of Glasgow. It is elegant with classical music in the background and really put us in the mood for Afternoon Tea. Everything is home made at the premises, the scones came with proper cream and jam, and we got 3 big pots of tea, each time with different flavours of tea. We did not even have to ask for new pot as someone always comes around, take an empty pot away and soon came back with another!!!

Stewarts Victorian Tearooms Verdict

WOW Factor	It lived up to our expectation of Afternoon Tea atmosphere, so we were WOWed. As soon as you step into the restaurant, you will be in the mood for the Afternoon Tea, with classical music in the background, elegant decor and friendly and efficient staff.
Service	Friendly and efficient service.  No problem for catering vegetarians.
Tea Replenishing Factor	Pots are replenished immediately without having to ask and each time came with different flavoured tea!  Really good tea.
What's to eat Factor	Cakes were all made at the premises. Scones delicious and came with proper cream and jam.
Take-home Factor	Best to enjoy at the restaurant with atmosphere, not much to take home with.
Toilet Check	Nice and clean toilets. There was no door knob inside of the toilet I went in but I managed to get out... phew....
Total Enjoyability	Good 'Afternoon Tea' experience with affordable price. Would like to take my mother-in-law sometime as I am sure she will enjoy it. They also do High Tea so we may try that too.

And then during Christmas holiday, we went to Chocolate Factory at Charing Cross for chocolate afternoon tea. They also cater children's birthday party making chocolates and also have good selection of vegetarian light snacks such as sandwich, panini, salad, soup, etc. Scones had chocolate chips in them and you finish off with lovely hot chocolate.

Chocolate Factory Verdict

WOW Factor	The shop was too spacious, a bit cold and less cosy but good for chocolate lovers. Hot chocolate at the end of Afternoon Tea was a nice little WOW -  really good as in photos!
Service	Staff was friendly and accommodating for vegetarians.
Tea Reprenishing Factor	Normal tea but no problem to ask for another pot of tea ....
What's to eat Factor	Scones had chocolate chips in them but nice. Eclair with chocolate cream filling was lovely, but there is only so much chocolate you can eat....  Make sure to leave some room for a small cup of lovely hot chocolate drink.
Take-home Factor	Took home left over cakes but best to eat them at the premises as we were chocolated out and did not manage to eat them at home, shame!
Toilet Check	Forgot to check....
Total Enjoyability	Interesting chocolate experience …  Vegetarian would have good selections of sandwiches and salads to order from menu. Parking could be a problem.

To be honest, after that experience in 2007, I went to all these places, carrying tupperware in my bag in case I may take home cakes that I can't manage to eat, but in the end you never eat them when you go home and left them sitting inside of the fridge for some time, eventually thrown away. So, it's best to enjoy cakes with pots of tea at the premises with the right atmosphere as Afternoon Tea as it is intended, not as Afterwards Tea at home sitting in front of TV.  It's just not the same.

I have also heard from people that the said posh hotel mentioned earlier now allows guests taking home cakes. This does not make me going back there as it only brought me back sad memories. You have no idea how disappointing that was ...  However, let's move on. Maybe we might not have eaten any of those cakes after all had we had taken them home, as you would never be able to recreate that afternoon tea atmosphere and experience you would get from 5 start hotel.

Afternoon Tea is alway best to be enjoyed at the right place with the right atmosphere after all!

That's all forks!

Chez Azra

My daughters, Emily and Maria and I were invited to Ladies Lunch at Azra's house yesterday.  Azra is a beautiful Pakistani lady who is an excellent cook and is also a close friend of my mother-in-law Mary.  I think there were around 12 ladies at the lunch including Mary, us, my sister-in-law and her daughter Rebecca, Mary's friends and some Azra's neighbours. It was a lovely, enjoyable afternoon, eating lovely home-made meal whilst catching up with everyone or getting to know each other.

Azra invites friends over to her house once or a twice a year and this is one event which everyone is looking forward to every year. She prepared lots of food from the previous night with her daughter Tashin. There were so much food... vegetable pakora, fish pakora, savoury potato balls, home made popadoms, roasted vegetables, rice, etc.  We were wondering what kind of butter Azra used to fry potato balls as they are not usual bread crumbs. My mother-in-law Mary explained how Azra made the savoury potato. Mush potato and season this using some spices, possibly touch of curry powder or turmeric. Make them into balls. Soak slices of white bread in water, squeeze any water out and wrap potato balls with this and deep fry!

Everything was freshly made and really tasty and you just want to try everything.

Vegetable pakora (back) and fish pakora (front)

Savoury potato balls

Home made popadoms

Beautifully roasted vegetables

My plate - I wish I can have this again now!

Mary's friend Mrs Mary Brown brought her sponge cream cake for dessert. She is an accomplished baker. She has made many beautiful cakes for her family and her friends including Mary's special birthday or our wedding.

Mary Brown's sponge cake.

Sponge was fluffy and light and so as cream as it was low fat.
It was really delicious!

Azra's friend popped in to bring a traditional Indian dessert called Ras Malai, which is made of fresh milk, condensed milk, dried milk and egg.  According to Wikipedia, this sweet dessert is originating in Eastern India and means juice/juicy cream. I think the dish might have been flavoured with slight hint of cardamon. This is a very very sweet dish and to be honest it is a bit acquired taste with interesting texture but I imagine this, given using milk, could be an excellent finish to spicy or strong flavoured meal as some of Indian dish can be really spicy. 

Freshly made Ras malai by Azra's friend.

Azra also suggested we try Masala Moong Dal - spicy snack made of fried split green gram.
See the packet below.

We finished our meal with teas and coffees. There were still so much food left over. My mother in law whispers to Azra and asked for a doggy bag for my husband on my behalf. She went into her kitchen and came back with a huge plateful of vegetable and fish pakora, rice, potato balls and popadoms for me to take home for him. To this, I could not contain my glee, clapped my hands with excitement whilst everyone laughed.

Well, we all really enjoyed the lunch and it was also definitely a blog-worhty lunch!  Can't wait for another Ladies Lunch event at Chez Azra and would like to thank Azra and Tashin for wonderful meal.

That's all forks.

Do The Mussels

Well, it's new year and people are back to normal eating habits, some people start going on diet, some going to gyms. New series of Biggest Loser (American version) has started on TV and I have started watching this. This programme should inspire us to be active, to have regular exercise for better health and well-being. My problem is that every time I watch this, I always end up being couch potato, munching junk food away. Not a single lesson learnt....

So you need to find a restaurant where you can have something guilt free (a sort of) and it does not break your bank balance.

My husband and I have recently been to Mussel Inn Seafood Restaurant in Glasgow (http://www.mussel-inn.com) for their Lunchtime Quickie deal. For £7.50 you can get a bowl of mussels or seafood chowder with salad or chunky French fries, with crusty bread, a choice of bottle of Carlsberg, glass of wine or soft drink.  For sauce, you can choose from Natural (simply cooked in their own juice), Shallot (white wine, garlic, shallots and cream), Red Pepper (roasted red pepper sauce and basil pesto), Leek (leek, Dijon mustard and cream), Moroccan (chillies, garlic, ginger, coriander and cumin) and Blue Cheese (cheese, bacon and cream). They are doing this deal 7 days a week, how wonderful!

We both order mussels with Natural sauce (Yes, healthy!) with fries (You got to!), and a glass of wine each (Definitely!).  Portion was just right and by the time we left the restaurant, we were happily full, not stuffed and felt almost light to the point that we could actually 'Do the Hustle', ha ha ha.

To be really honest, next time we would probably go for Shallot sauce so that we can mop up all the juice and sauce with lovely crusty bread!  And as we felt so good after the lunch, we went to Tinderbox in Princess Square (See my earlier blog, A little Lisbon in Glasgow) for coffee and ended up ordering a custard cream cake each!  So much for the healthy option....

If there is any consolation, according to Mussel Inn's website, mussels are nutritious, low in sodium and saturated fat and provide a readily absorbed source of B&C vitamins, amino acids, Omega 3 fatty acids and vital minerals including iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium and zinc.  There you go. This does not make me feel so bad!!

Having checked their website, they are also doing pre-theatre menu for £10.95 for 2 course and also if you register on-line now, you get £5 voucher toward your order when spending £20 or more. I think I should get a commission from them telling you all these .....  Not!  They do other seafood as well, not all about mussels so we must go back there again. Anyway, Do the Mussels!

That's all forks!

This was beside our table as everyone was still in festive mood when we went there....