So Salsa

Went out with the with the work gang last night for double birthday celebrations - mine last week and Dave's on Monday! We went to So Salsa on Castle Street - tapas restaurant. We got 2 plates each.

Me and Julie both got:

Pan Seared Scallops - Romesco, flaked almonds & charred spring onions - £9

The red sauce was cold which was weird because I wasn't expecting it to be. The scallops were nice but could have done with a crispy outside.

I also got the:

Seafood Paella - King prawns, calamari & mussels - £7

You only get 2 prawns, 1 big piece of squid and 2 mussels. It was nice and very garlicy!

Julie and Dave both got the:

Chicken & Chorizo Paella - A classic Spanish rice dish - £7

The same as the seafood paella but instead of the seafood bits it had chicken and chorizo

Dave also got:

Salt & Pepper Chicken Pancakes - Peppers, onions & sweet soy sauce - £6.50

Not sure what I was expecting this to be like but it definitely wasn't this! Like a Chinese duck and pancake

Rosh got:

Halloumi Fingers - Fried halloumi & honey dressing - £6.50

Don't see no honey dressing!

Rosh also got:

Calamari - Crispy squid rings, with garlic mayonnaise - £6.50

Rosh couldn't finish it so we finished it for her and these were bland didn't have any taste and felt like they were over fried.

Me and Julie both got churros

Stuffed Churros - Crispy warm churros filled with chocolate, coated in cinnamon sugar with a chocolate dip - £7

These were nice and warm - could have done with more cinnamon coating and it came whipped cream. I thought it was ice cream so was gutted when it wasn't.

The food was nice, all the food came out quick considering they just come out as and when they're ready it was just the churros that took a while but they were nice and hot when they came out so were freshly made. The menu is a bit strange as you think the name is Spanish and the tapas but they do spring rolls and salt & pepper pancakes which isn't Spanish at all. They have a big menu to choose from definitely something for everyone on there.

Went and had a drink down the road at Castle Street Townhouse (where the photo was taken) then we went to the Liverpool pub for a bit. I got off at 9pm because I wasn't drinking while they all stayed out later. It's always nice to have a catch up out of work and we've been trying to arrange this for a few months but just couldn't find a day that worked for everyone. Our next one probably won't be till Christmas now!

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Pinterest || Last.fm

Gino's

Went to Gino's last night with a few people from my team in work - Julie, Rosh and Dave as it was my unofficial leaving meal as I'm starting a temporary new job next week! (I wish it was my official leaving meal, hopefully soon...)

We haven't seen each other since March last year as we've been working from home since then. Once we were all together didn't even feel like it's been that long as we do all keep in touch and speak to each other. It's weird going from seeing each other everyday to then it being over a year since we last did.

Heard good things about Gino's and I finally got to try it! It's so hard to book a table there we ended up booking it for 3:15pm otherwise the next available was 10pm.

Dave and Julie both got Calamari as a starter which looked nice! It came with red pepper, courgette and a garlic mayonnaise. Dave insisted I try some and it was nice.

Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli - Sage butter & toasted almonds

I love ravioli but it's always such a small portion, you get about 10 pieces of pasta. It was really nice and I could have done with so much more!

Pappardelle with Meatballs - Beef & pork, tomato, chilli & parsley

Dave's pasta looked so good.

Didn't get a photo of Julie or Rosh's...

Julie got the King Prawn Risotto - Asparagus, pea, leek & pecorino cheese which also looked really nice and wanted to try but wanted pasta. Should have asked if I could have had pasta instead of rice.

Rosh got the Lasagne - Slow cooked beef ragu, tomato pecorino cheese & basil pesto. This sounded better than it looked.

Crema Catalana - Catalan style crème brûlée

This was disappointing as I LOVE creme brûlée. It just didn't taste nice. The top layer was horrible and the dish was dead shallow so there was hardly any custard under. One side was ice cold and the other side was warm. Should really have sent it back.

Dave paid for dinner and it wasn't cheap. So thanks again for dinner Dave!!

We couldn't book any where else for after so ended up just walking around Castle Street to see if we could get into any bar or pub but everywhere was fully booked and couldn't accept walk ins. We ended up Manhattan Bar and Grill - they let us have a booth for 30 mins then we left and went to The Cornmarket which is a proper old man's pub. It was nice to have a catch up as I won't see them again till September when I'm due back.

Thanks for dinner and my gifts! Will see you all very soon!

Twitter || Instagram || Facebook || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Pinterest || Last.fm

Neighbourhood

Went to Neighbourhood on Castle Street last night for dinner as one of the girls Jess on my team in work was leaving.

Chicken satay skewers

Breaded turkey stripes with broccolini, biscuit, honey butter, spicy sausage gravy

Rosh got the NBHD burger served with fries, beef, emmental, special sauce, salad, gherkin

Soft serve ice cream

We had a table booked for 4:15pm, we were a table of 14 all eating and there was one other table when we went in. We all got the £18 3 course meal apart from Rosh who just ordered a main when we got there from the bar.

The service was awful and so was the food. The staff were rude and just not attentive even though there was no one there. It wasn't like they were rushed off their feet, they just all looked miserable in there which I'm not surprised as I wouldn't want to work there.

Rosh just got a burger which she ordered at the bar and they put a £2 service charge on it with her drink. They were bringing the drinks over then the waitress just brought out a pair of chopsticks and soy sauce as Karen was having sushi so Rachel thought she forgot about the rest of the drinks and reminded the woman and she was so snotty to her. They were doing 2 for 1 drinks but only a very selective few to choose from. Chloe got a cocktail with a lid in it. The bottles for the tap water were filthy. When the food came Rachel asked for mayonnaise and the waitress just rolled her eyes at her - she should have offered sauces you shouldn't have to ask for it never mind get an eye roll! 

Karen got the steak which she had to pay an extra £5 for then had to pay £4 for a side of chips. Why would you get just a steak on its own with no sides? The chips didn't even come out with the steak, they brought them out like 10 minutes later when Karen had pretty much finished her steak. 

I changed my side of chips for broccolini. The turkey strips weren't even nice they had no taste to them and I would have been better off going to KFC. Anne got the same as mine but her turkey strips were so burnt we sent them back and it did come back a lot better.

Rosh couldn't even eat her food as she said it's the worst thing she's ever eaten. There was no taste, was cold and she wasn't expecting the burger to be black. It doesn't mention anywhere on the menu that it would be black so that was definitely off putting and a bit of a shock.

The best bit was the ice cream. The ice cream was actually really nice - a bit too much popping candy but I'd have that over any of the food. The place is just very pretentious for wannabe Instagram models. The interior isn't even nice and there was no locks on any of the toilets. There was no toilet seat in one of the cubicles and the toilets were filthy.

Definitely would not recommend or go there again. The drinks and food are over priced and they put a £37 service charge which we got took off. The staff don't deserve a tip for the "service." Don't think I've ever been anywhere as bad as that. I got a sore throat later on in the night and this morning after eating the food.

We went to Wetherspoons after - would have got better food in there and saved money on both food and drink!

Hope you had a good night Jess even if the restaurant was rubbish.

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Pinterest || Last.fm

Santa Maluco

Went to Santa Maluco on Castle Street with Danielle. The only other place I've been to on Castle Street is Izakaya. It's really the only place you can sit outside to enjoy the heat wave we've got at the moment and I've been to nearly every place on Bold Street.

I sadly don't have green hair no more! I had it dyed back last Monday as filming is over. I'd love to have kept the green hair but I just wouldn't keep up with the colour and didn't like it fading. It was stopping me from doing different roles as I stand out too much as well. It was just easier to go back black since they were willing to dye for me. It's been a really fun 4 months I've loved it but it's back to reality of having normal hair!

A full pizza is 18" which is massive when we saw everyone else eating it. There was no way we could even have half each so instead we just got slices as they were £3 each.

Danielle got the Mac & Cheese - macaroni & cheese on a pizza

I got What The Duck? - basically crispy duck on a pizza. Hoi sin sauce, duck and cucumber

I also got the BBQ Club - pulled pork, marinated chicken, red onion, bbq base

Danielle also got the Ma-Donner - minced lamb, mozzarella, cabbage, onions, srirachai yoghurt dress and mint dressing. She wrote it down but it just never came & wasn't on the bill. So we just left it.

The 2 slices I had were nice, I enjoyed them. We sat outside & basically there was no service at all. We sat down & she came to take our food & drink order that was it. Throughout the meal they never came over & at the end when we asked for the bill they didn't bother to ask if we wanted the card machine or anything. 

They do a thing called Rodizio where it's all you can eat pizza which is common in Brazil. You pay a fixed amount then they just bring you different samples of pizza throughout the time you're there until you basically say stop you've had enough. It sounds like a good idea but I don't think I could manage more than 3 slices of pizza. They do both savoury and sweet pizza. Worth a try if you like pizza and want to try different ones!

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Pinterest || Last.fm

Izakaya Liverpool

I went to Izakaya on Castle Street for sushi as my birthday meal but service was awful and the people on the table next to us & behind us waited an hour before their food came so ended up getting their meals for free it was that bad. They were so short staffed, the place is only small but they should have been prepared for it since it was bank holiday, the weather was so nice & Liverpool had been playing. 

We got the Sake Nigiri - salmon on rice

Philadelphia Uramaki - salmon, cream cheese, cucumber

Aubergine Dragon Uramaki - green beans, takuan, kanpyo, carrot, chives, aubergine, miso & agave sauce, hot sauce

Hoi Sin Duck Temaki - duck leg confit, hoi sin sauce, cucumber, spring onion, sesame seeds

Looking back now at the photo I've just realised we ordered the Tuna Maki & that didn't come but we got charged for it. The sushi looks nice but it really wasn't as good as it looks. The hand roll was basically empty inside like 2 slices of duck, 2 slices of cucumber & spring onion with hardly any hoi sin sauce. 

The wasabi on the side - not that we were going to eat it was like toothpaste/chewy defo not how wasabi is meant to be like.

Mushroom Vegetable Gyoza - looks so unappetising 

David got the small squash katsu curry with sticky rice & picked veg.

So disappointed with the food & sushi definitely wasn't a good choice to eat before drinking & was definitely still hungry after it! We waited ages to even get the bill. 

I know that sushi takes time to make as you need to make it fresh on the go but there was only 1 chef making sushi when all the tables were full! Definitely won't be going back again. David told them it was my birthday & they said they don't do anything for birthdays not even a cake or a free drink! We should've went next door to Santa Maluco for pizza at least that would have been filing & the service looked much quicker!

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Pinterest || Last.fm

My Birthday

Last night I went out for food & drinks for my birthday with Danielle & David. David was home for the bank holiday weekend - I'd like to say for my birthday but more for his nephew's birthday but he make it out so I guess it was for mine too!

We went to The Clubhouse in L1 for a cocktail then headed to Castle Street for food. We went to Izakaya the sushi place again. It wasn't good at all though. I'll be doing a separate blogpost for that for how bad it was!

After we went to Matou at the pier head for drinks.

Matou's outdoor seating has the best views! We definitively should have come here for food! Would've been full for sure. 

After this we went into town. Went to Maccies around half 1 as we were starving. Ended up home after 3am. Danielle's boyfriend Matt had to pick us up as we waited about 40 minutes to try & get an Alpha taxi but just couldn't get one. We used the app & rang them up, they didn't seem to be trying to get us one! Eventually got in had about 3/4 hours sleep & was back in the gym this morning for circuits. I was fine just a bit tired slightly crashing now trying to write this post but couldn't nap!

Head to toe in Zara!

I had a really good birthday thank you Danielle & David for last night! I'm dragging it out even longer as I'm going go-karting with Kelly & Callum from work next weekend finally!

Got the best birthday present off Callum from work, he surprised me with The Killers Hot Fuss vinyl on Thursday in work. I don't even own a record player & currently have 2 vinyls just for show now! 

Kelly got me the best birthday card as well as I have a real issue with age! 

Twitter || Instagram || Tumblr || Bloglovin || Google+ || Pinterest || Last.fm