Fifi & Ally - afternoon tea

Since my daughters, Emily and Maria, are on SlimmingWorld regime, I have been also trying to cut down rubbish and fat from my diet but that has not been working. Clearly ... and it is such time that one also wants to eat something sweet, dessert, cakes, creams, YES, let's have another Afternoon Tea!

So we have just been to Fifi & Ally (http://www.fifiandally.co.uk) (Princes Square, 48 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, G1 3JX) for afternoon tea through on-line deal.

The voucher deal notes: £14 instead of £30 for a decadent Prosecco afternoon tea for two including a choice of delicious gourmet sandwiches, mouthwatering cakes and meringues, tea or coffee and a glass of Prosecco each, saving 53%.  The voucher further informed us that a selection of finger sandwiches including mature cheddar, Argyle hot smoked salmon, tuna mayo and hand-cut ham; a selection of Chef's organic cakes and scones with cream and jam, a choice of English breakfast or Early [sic] Grey tea or coffee each and a glass of Prosecco each. Wow, sounds very promising, so off we went.

I was salivating with thoughts of mouthwatering cakes and meringues.

The Afternoon tea started with a glass of Prosecco, which was quite nice. Emily was driving so I had her glass as well, ha ha ha.

Cheers or Kampai!  Emily with glasses of Prosecco 

Then came the Afternoon tier stand....  how do you tell if they are organic? Are there any meringues they promised? Cakes are rather tiny and so as scones.....  After all, technically we only paid £7.00 each but it was not certainly worth £30 for this ...?  I think it was fine for what we paid for.  Once we settled in that argument, we started enjoying the food.  I liked the hot smoked salmon sandwich. Somebody else liked the carrot cake.  It was just .... everything was small... it was like eating Afternoon tea sample.  Never mind, it was only £7.00.  Yes, yes that's right, it was only £7.00, don't forget....

It did not take that long to finish all neither. You know, all the other afternoon tea deals we have been, this was the only place we ate all. At other places, we could not finish all and even took some home afterwards. But not here, at Fifi & Ally, you get sample size for £7.00 and it was fine for what we paid for. Just remember that....

Meanwhile, Craig ordered his Chicken open sandwich with salad. You can't see it properly but underneath the heap of rocket leaves, there were mass of chickens hidden too. I don't eat meat but even I almost fancied eating his as it looked delicious and 'a lot' on the plate.

Ah, they also brought us tea - in a tiny pot with tea bag...

I say I only talk about positive and never complain about food in my blog, so I am very sorry today ... To be fair to Fifi & Ally, it was what we paid for and there was nothing wrong about the food they served.  The problem was probably us ... I think we all had certain expectation from Fifi & Ally; we expect them to be expert in cakes and desserts and were looking for them to showcase what they are good at - cakes and dessert.  We should never have had high expectation to begin with.
Do we go back to Fifi & Ally?  Probably not because there was no USP and there are so many other places to try, still it was good to go there and try their afternoon tea. After all, I had an extra glass of Prosecco from Emily so by the time we left the place, I was like Brewhaha, ha ha ha!

That's all forks!

Love Sarti - Glasgow .... lunch menu

Everybody who knows me knows I love Fratelli Sarti (http://fratelli-sarti.co.uk), so much so my husband and I alternate our almost weekly visits between Renfield Street restaurant and Wellington Street Restaurant for my Sarti-fix! They also have Bath Street restaurant but unfortunately we don't have enough body to split our time to include that branch!

What I like so much about them is that the quality of food they serve is excellent and always consistent, service is excellent - everyone works there is really friendly and gives you such a warm welcome. Sarti is like my 'Little Italy' that every time I go there, I want to go back to Italy for holiday or reminisce about the great time we had in Italy!

Considering the numbers of times we have been, I tend to order same things off the menu so I have recently declared to my family that I would start ordering dishes off the menu top to toe!  So far,  I am not doing that well as I am kept distracted by the lovely selections of dishes available in lunch menu.

The other day we went to Renfield Street restaurant and ordered from lunch menu.

For starter, I have chosen Insalata di Calmari Calda (warm marinated calamari served on a crispy salad).  I love squid and this is really a delicious dish!

Oh, I also like their focaccia to mop up the sauce and with a glass of Rose! 

For main course I had Raviolli del Contadino (large hand-made ravioli filled with grilled vegetables and served in tomato and cream sauce).  I really really enjoyed this one!

To finish off with fine meal, I like to have a lovely cafe macchiato. And they gave us a bit of freezer cold limoncello  as digestivo!  Yummmmm!

You see, this is the reason why I keep trying different things in lunch menu.

I promise I will order something off the main menu next time....

That's all forks!

dragon-i in Glasgow

31st January 2014 was Chinese New Year and I have just thought about the time, well, good few months ago, when my husband and I went to dragon-i (http://www.dragon-i.co.uk) restaurant in Glasgow.

The restaurant is directly opposite the Theatre Royal and is conveniently located.  We went there to try as we got on-line voucher deal for 2 course meals for two with a bottle of wine. Considering it was Friday evening with lots of theatre goers and group eating dinners, the service was excellent and the meal was lovely.

For starter, I had Tom Yam Gong (Thai chilli seafood soup with lemongrass, cherry tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms) whilst my husband had Jiao Yeem Choi (Tempura vegetables, wok fried with fresh chillies, garlic and rock salt).  I loved the soup with lots of seafood.  Vegetable tempura was good but personally I would like to have had some dipping sauce with it.

For main course, I had Jhing Yu (steamed sea bass on a bed of pak choi with fresh ginger and spring onion topped with soya sauce) served with garlic butter fried rice.  I love sea bass, steamed with soy sauce and ginger. This is what I love to eat when I go to Chinese restaurant, so I got to try dragon-i's sea bass. I really enjoyed their sea bass.

My husband had, I think, Lat Gee Hoi Sin (grilled tiger prawns, scallops and fish tossed in a chilli tomato, pepper sauce topped with fresh coriander) served with garlic fried rice. Well, I am actually reading this off the menu on-line as I can't remember the exact name and what was in it but I have just realised that the photo shows lots of mussels too and I wonder if it is the same thing ....?  This is what happens when you don't update your blog straight after you went to restaurant. Anyway, my husband enjoyed it and it was delicious as it looked in the photo.

I then had a pot of jasmine tea - it was good that they didn't serve a tea bag. It was a proper loose jasmine tea and it was nice and refreshing.

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal. They also do lunch menu, according to their website. 2 courses for £7.95 and 3 courses for £9.95!  As we don't eat meat, choices for us are rather limited however there is quite a good selection if you eat meat. It's a pity that the place is a bit away from main bustle and hustle of the city centre and you forget it's actually situated at a very convenient location.

I got another on-line voucher deal - 3 course meals for two with a glass of wine each at Lychee Oriental Restaurant in Glasgow. I shall tell you all about this once we go there and this time I make sure I blog about this straight after our dinner.....

That's all forks!

Pasta la Vista in Glasgow

I have mentioned the other day that my daughters are on Slimming World (http://www.slimmingworld.com) diet so I have also been preparing meals to support them, using low calorie oil sprays and trying to come up with healthy option for dinners.   But, you do need to enjoy your life and we can't resist temptation to eat out sometime, right!

Well, my husband, my younger daughter Maria and I have recently went to Coia's Cafe in Glasgow (http://www.coiascafe.co.uk) and we really had a fabulous dinner.

The highlight of the evening for me is their Linguine alla Pescatora (seafood linguine), our favourite pasta at this restaurant (see my earlier blogs, 'SEE'food in Glasgow, Cafe Coia for everyone and Great Seafood Soup in Glasgow). It's £15.45 but abundant with lots of seafood - langoustines, big scallops, calamari, mussels, king prawns - there are so much on the plate that I can only finish half of it, in fact it could feed for two. I ask for a doggy bag at the end of the evening and the next day I ate this for lunch, definitely there was more than enough for one left! It' definitely worthwhile to try this pasta!

Cafe Coia's Linguine alla Pescatora - mixed seafood with garlic, chilli and tomato sauce

Use these to tackle langoustine shells ...

Maria and I had not had mozzerella cheese for some time since Slimming World commenced in our household so we decide to have Insalata Caprese (tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil with extra virgin olive oil) for starter. That was nice and refreshing.

For main course, whilst I had seafood linguine, my husband had Tagliatelle Alfredo (creamy sauce with tomato, pesto and Parmiggiano Reggiano).  I confess. Earlier in the week, we had already been to Coia Cafe (so this was our 2nd trip to this restaurant in the week .. so much for Slimming World....) and he had seafood linguine then, he went all vegetarian for a change, well, almost except cheese and cream!

Tagliatelle Alfredo

Maria could not decide whether she would go for chicken dish or pasta, so decided to choose Pollo Milanese (chicken breast coated in breadcrums with spaghetti promodoro) and she could satisfy both of her wishes! You should see the size of the plate ...  I think she was really happy with her choice.

Maria's Pollo Milanese

No matter how full we are, we always have room for dessert ... Maria had Chocolate Chip Cheesecake - a baked New York style cheesecake with chocolate chips, decorated with chocolate chip pings on a sponge base! It came with vanilla ice-cream and whipped cream. I had tried a little and it was really yummy!

I had tried Gelato Affogato - vanilla ice cream topped with crushed Amaretti biscotti and served with a shot of hot espresso for pouring. Affogato means 'drowned' in Italian, so ice cream is drowned in espresso! This was really good.  Just thinking about this makes me want another one right now!  The combination of cold ice cream with hot espresso with crunchiness of amaretti is really addictive...

Well, we had fantastic meal at Coia's Cafe! Seafood linguine is excellent! It was definitely Pasta la vista, and I WILL BE BACK!!

That's all forks!

Slimming World inspired Minestrone

Well, I have been keeping up with cooking healthy for the family since I am inspired by Slimming World which my daughters are doing for diet! In fact in the matter of one week my husband already lost almost 1.5kg (apps. 3 pounds) and since we are not eating ready meals, our weekly food shopping bill has gone down too! What a bonus.

Anyway, I have just made minestrone soup for the first time in my life and I think I have done a very good job of it - it's really tasty and I did not realise how easy it is to make this.  So, I got to share this recipe with you.

Slimming World inspired home made Minestrone Soup

I have used:
2 x small onions, finely chopped
2 x cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1.2 x carrots, diced
3 x celery sticks, diced
1 x 400g can of chopped tomato
1 x Knorr vegetable stock pod (dissolved in 800 ml hot water)
1 x can of cannelloni beans, drained
50g x small pasta (any shape)
1 x bay leaf
1 tsp x dried oregano
Handful of flat parsley, chopped
4 - 5 basil leaves
salt and pepper
low calorie cooking spray

1. Spray the bottom of a large saucepan with low calorie cooking spray and put the pan on a hob with a medium heat.
2. Once the spray oil turns translucent, fry garlic and onions for a few minutes but be careful not to burn them.
3. Add chopped carrots and celery into the pan to fry further few minutes.
4. Add tomato, vegetable stock, bay leaf and dried oregano, bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Check and skim the surface of the soup every now and again with ladle during simmering.
5. Add cannelloni beans and pasta and cook further 10 minutes.
6. Chop flat parsley and basil leaves and add to the soup with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Up to this process it is Syn-free.  (Syn is, according to Slimming World, food that would jeopardise weight loss if not controlled.).

I then had the soup with a wholemeal bread and little bit of grated parmesan cheese. It was really yummy!  I am going to take some to work for lunch tomorrow too!

Happy dieting and that's all forks!

Tamie's 5 minutes meal

If you are looking for Jamie Oliver's Jamie's 15 Minutes Meal, you are mistaken. This is Tamie's 5 Minutes Meal, ha ha ha. This really means minimum effort required and no measuring cups and spoons, perfect for a lazy cook like me!

My daughters Emily and Maria are on Slimming World (http://www.slimmingworld.com) diet. Personally I don't think they need to be on diet at all but that's what they want to do so I shall support them by cooking healthier at home.  I am not strictly following the rules but I am kind of intrieged and interested so I have been using low calorie frying oil spray to cook and trying to make sauces from scratch instead of emptying jars of sauces.  Never know I may also lose some weight ???

Anyway this recipe is quick, easy and very healthy salmon recipe and also our family favourite!

Salmon and vegetables cooked in a bag

You need:
1 x a fillet of salmon
1 x potato
1/2 x courgette
Some broccoli
some cherry tomatoes
chilli
slice of lemon
parchment paper

1. Cut parchment paper big enough to be able to hold salmon and vegetables and place on a microwavable dinner dish.
2. Wash all vegetables.
3. Slice potato very thinly and place slices on the paper, spreading out as if you are making beds of sliced potatoes. Repeat the same with courgette.
4. Put salmon fillet on top of the bed of potato and courgette slices.
5. Put the broccoli and cherry tomatoes around the salmon fillet.
6. Sprinkle some chopped chilli
7. Place a slice of lemon on top of the salmon
8. Fold the parchment paper to create a bag
9. Put the dish into microwave and cook for 3 - 4 minutes, depending on wattage. (Our microwave is 900W so it cooks in 3 to 3.5 minutes.)  Stand for 1 minute and Voila! 
10. You can squeeze lemon juice over the salmon or soy sauce to taste if you like.

Hope you try this and find out how easy it is. Let's get healthy and slimming!

That's all forks!

Nippon Kitchen in Glasgow

Last November, we went to Nippon Kitchen (91 West George Street, Glasgow G2 1PB), fairly new Japanese restaurant in Glasgow, for Emily's birthday lunch. It's a bit pricey but there are good selections in menu. In fact there are so many to choose and we wanted to try from the menu that we took ages to decide what to order!

Emily, my husband and I ordered Bento box sets, which came with miso soup and rolled up sushi.

Seafood maki (roll-up) sushi as part of seafood Bento Box set.
Accompanied with pickled (pink) ginger and wasabi (green).

My Ebi-katsu (fried king prawns) Bento Box.
With grilled teriyaki salmon, vegetable gyoza, rice and radish pickles.

This is Emily's Vegetable Tempura Bento Box.
With edamame beans, vegetable gyoza and rice.

Maria ordered Chicken-katsu Japanese-style Curry with Rice that smelt really yummy.

Oh, for starters we also ordered potato croquettes, agedashi-dofu (Fried Tofu with sauce) and Inari sushi (sushi rice wrapped with tasty fried tofu bags), which are all our favourite.

Potato croquettes and agedashi-dofu

From top to clock-wise: Inari-sushi (brown sushi) in the back,
miso soup and maki sushi.

Miso soup had tofu, spring onion and lots of wakame seaweeds.

I know, I know, I should be able to make all these at home (because of my background) but I just don't as they are time consuming to make and also we don't deep fry foods at home so I can't make agedashi-dofu (fried tofu in tasty Japanese soy based sauce).

Anyway, although they are not cheap, overall we really enjoyed our meals. We went there over the weekend so there was no set lunch deal available, in fact I don't know if they do any lunch deals during the week. I hope they do and we would definitely go back there again.
Oh, I did the toilet check and it was a nice modern toilet facility with Dyson hand-dryer and was in pristine condition so they passed!

I have been watching some Japanese TV cooking programmes on NHK World and am now contemplating to make more Japanese dishes at home as they are heathy but also all chefs are so slim!  I am also thinking of doing Nabemono - cooking lots of vegetables and whatever meat or fish/seafood you wish in a big pot with boiling dashi stock, then dip cooked ingredients into a soy sauce and eat them. Think fondue but Japanese style without cheese to get a picture!

I have noticed that there are now quite a few Japanese restaurants in Glasgow. Well that's a great progress! What I need now is a proper Japanese supermarket so that I can buy everything I need to make Japanese food more often. Till then, I just need to make some regular trips to Chinese supermarkets to stock up some Japanese stuff or order on-line from London, or we just nip into Nippon Kitchen for another doze of Japanese!

Gochiso-sama!

That's all forks!