Food in 2015

So I decided to back up my phone and discovered that I had taken a LOT of photographs of food in 2015 so thought I would share a few in my first blog post of the year. 

My favourite food of the year had to be at Manchester House to celebrate my birthday in May. The food, service and theatre was the best I have ever experienced and we plan to go back for my birthday again this year.

My second favourite was Seven Park Place in London

The passionfruit souffle was to die for (apparently only 10% of customers manage to finish it - yep I was one of the 10%!)

Seven Park Place Lychee martinis and mojitos made it up there with the best cocktails we've ever tried

Just before Christmas we decided to get the train to Manchester to have a wander around the Christmas markets and ended up in Piccolinos where we enjoyed several cocktails (porn star martini being my new favourite!) and possibly the best pizza I've ever had

Although I'm on a constant diet; life is too short not to enjoy cake so 2015 also included lots of visits to tea rooms (see my post on The Cake 'Ole in Skipton here)

I'd heard amazing reviews about The Midland Hotel in Manchester so we treated ourselves to afternoon tea and although everything was lovely, I just wasn't blown away.

They did however serve the nicest mini meringues I've ever tried

My lovely friend Klair (Love Umbrellas) introduced me to a little tea shop in Rawtenstall, Lancashire called A Right Royal Tea Party in the Summer and it was nicest afternoon tea I've ever had.

Did you discover anywhere new to eat or a new favourite cocktail in 2015?

Ruthie x

Seven Plate 'Blind' Tasting Menu

Grenache is one of our favourite local restaurants so I was super excited to find a deal on Amazon for their seven plate 'blind' tasting menu for £49 for 2 people.

The deal is available Wednesday to Thursday 5.30pm until late and on Fridays from 5-7pm. Unfortunately when I phoned to book Fridays were all booked up until the end of August due to the popularity of the Amazon deal so we decided to go on a Thursday evening. With it being a school night we booked for early doors and were home with our PJs on in time to watch Love Island (anyone else secretly loving LI?!)

All seven courses were yummy and included a delicious parfait, mini fish cakes, lamb main course(was so tasty I forgot to take a photograph!) and THE BEST Eton mess ever. The mini meringues were superb.

Grenache are taking part in a 'chef swap' and will be working in collaboration with Tom Parker from The White Swan in Fence, Burnley where they will swap restaurants for two nights. These nights are described as 'for hardcore foodies only' so they certainly have our names on them! More details here 

We have been to Grenache several times and have always been impressed with the food, service and atmosphere. 

Do you have a favourite local restaurant? 

Ruthie x

June Highlights

June Highlights

June was a busy one with lots of food, family & friends (3 of my favourite things)!

Me & T had been meaning to visit The Midland Hotel, Manchester for afternoon tea for a while and after seeing the recent behind the scenes programme on Channel 5 we decided to book and were not disappointed. Highlights were the raspberry meringue and chocolate brownie. The fizzy vimto jelly was a bit of a let down and just tasted like jelly to be honest! The atmosphere, staff and presentation of the afternoon tea were lovely. At just under £20 each it was a lovely treat, but I have had better afternoon tea experiences for a lot less money.

My lovely friend Michelle invited me to join her to review Boogie Nights at The Lowry which was a lot of fun for a random Wednesday evening, check out Michelle's review here

We spent a leisurely few hours wandering round Northwich's artisan market and tasted THE best scones ever! Have you been to an artisan market recently? There are lots in the North West and we intend to visit a few more. Check out http://themarketco.co.uk/ for details of future artisan markets in the North West.

I joined the What's Good To Do review team in June and had the opportunity to review a lovely make-up pouch by Tillyanna (sold on Not On The High Street) and Brewers Fayre, Dalesway. Why not pop over and have a look at the reviews here of things to do in your local area http://www.whatsgoodtodo.com/

Other June highlights included Father's Day at TGI Fridays in Prestwich; celebrating my newphew's 9th birthday at Calico Jack's in Skipton & seeing the legend that is Kylie at Haydock Races with some lovely ladies.

I'm taking part in #mystylephotochallenge over on Instagram if you fancy following me there.

I hope you've enjoyed my first post & I look forward to seeing what fun July brings! Any feedback would be appreciated!

Ruthie x