For the Love of Food - street food festival

 On the last weekend of September, the food festival 'For the Love of Food' came to Leeds. It was all set up on Millenium Square in the heart of the city, and it sure was a different experience.

 With street food from all over the world including Scandinavia, Asia, the Caribbean and more, there was something to suit everyone's taste. There was even speciality food that doesn't belong to a certain part of the world, but that would work anywhere - the one I'm thinking of in particular was a stall that served smoothies out of donated fruit and vegetables that were going out of date, that would otherwise just have been thrown away and become landfill.

The different street food companies are all part of a competition, and they tour England to gain votes to win an award for Best Street Food. You can read more about it on For the Love of Food's website. 

I was really amazed by all the different stalls, with the unique decorations and quirky and unusual menus. All companies had something really unique with their food - either ingredients wise, or the way they were cooking it.

How about this funky street style caravan from Fresh Rootz for example? Doesn't it look unique, if anything?!

Myself and my other half, whom I visited this food festival with, tried a few different dishes - one being this slow cooked venison in a flatbread from The Moocher. Their unique thing is that they cook their food on an original Sankey Army Field Kitchen. It looks delicious, and it was - except for the insanely hot scotch bonnet sauce that almost made me cry!

Being from Sweden, I was extremely curious of what they would serve in the Nordic Street Food stall, and I hurried over straight away...

I almost screamed with joy when I read the menu and saw that they served chanterelles - a sort of mushroom that is classed as a delicacy, and that only grow up north. Me and my parents used to go out in the forest and pick these mushrooms every autumn, but unfortunately they don't grow in England. If you're lucky you might find them in Scotland, but nowhere near the same amounts as in Sweden. 

The wrap looked and tasted absolutely delicious. Very fresh flavours, with sour cabbage and soured cream as well as the chanterelles. I was in heaven!

This is what chanterelles look like when they're fresh - bright orange-yellow, and they smell amazing. I was so close to grab the whole basket and just run off with it ;)

We walked around the food festival for a couple of hours, and it was so lovely just taking in the atmosphere; the Caribbean music that blasted out from one of the stalls and filled the whole square with its rhythm, the fantastic smells from all the food being cooked, and the general noise from happy people munching on food.

I'm loving how it's so trendy to be environmentally friendly nowadays. This is what the people behind The Cauldron says about their company;

-“All our power is supplied from the solar panels on the roof of the van. And all our packaging is 100% compostable. Our mission is to prove that fast food CAN be delicious and ethical and give the towns and beaches in our corner of the world a taste of something different from the usual fish ‘n’ chips and frozen burgers.”

We tried the pulled pork wrap from The Cauldron, and it disappeared so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to take a photo of it. I guess that's the best feedback they can get ;)

We were very happy with our little day out in Leeds at For the Love of Food festival. It was a lovely day, and something different to do. If this festival comes to your city it's definitely worth visiting! Even if you're not hungry it's worth it just for the atmosphere.

The only thing we thought could have been different is that we would have liked to see an option of half sized portions, so that you could have gone around and tried more food without getting too full. Something to think about for next year, perhaps?

Burger blind date at TGI Fridays in Leeds

Last week, I was invited to a ‘burger blind date’ at TGI Fridays.

“A burger blind date??!”, I hear you say.

The invitation said;

Do you lie in bed craving a relationship you can really sink your teeth into?

Are you looking for romance of the incredibly meaty variety?

We’ve arranged a line-up of our sexiest new handcrafted burgers who are all dying to meet you – but choosing your lover for the night won’t be as simple as love at first sight.

So I asked my dear friend Laura from the blog Top Style Advice if she fancied sinking her teeth into a juicy burger and come sip some cocktails with me, and off we went – not knowing what to expect.

We were welcomed by the lovely staff at TGIFridays in Trinity shopping centre in Leeds, and were offered some lovely mahooossive cocktails by some quirky bartenders who thought they could perform magic. To be fair they were really good at flaring, but I don’t know about the family lime trick with the shakers… anyway...

We were then sat down together with a few other bloggers and got presented our date candidates – the sexy burgers!

The menu was set out as a dating profile. It didn’t explain what was in the burgers, but it explained their personality, and you simply had to guess what might be in them and base your choice on that. For example, contestant #2 said;

Down south, everything’s better when it’s smooth... and I’m no exception. One bite, and you’ll be mine. I’m all over everything and I’d like to be all over you. (PS – Think you know me? You don’t know Jack.)

I really liked this concept. It’s cheeky, interesting, and it definitely brings a smile to people’s faces. The one I chose in the end was contestant #5, which said;

Bonjour. I bring a certain je ne sais quoi to this date. I’m rich, romantic and mysterious… but pour your sauce over me and Voila!! I’m Yours.

Based on this dating profile I guessed that it was a French inspired burger, probably with a red wine gravy to pour over it – and I was right! This burger was amazingly tasty. Soooo delicious!

I personally think the event was a success. The campaign was very well planned from the initial email invite to the actual event, and we all had a good time. As a fun memory we all had to pose for a #burgerface photo, which then was printed and framed for us to take home by the end of the evening.

Thank you so much TGI Fridays for inviting me along to this.

Oh, and happy Friday! :D

Review of Blackhouse grill in Leeds

One of my favourite restaurants in Leeds is Blackhouse – also called The Grill on the Square - which is situated on East Parade. Just because of this reason and no other, I have decided to write a review about it.

Me and my boyfriend enjoyed a three course dinner at Blackhouse one Sunday evening in the end of January. So why is this my favourite restaurant? Simple! They serve delicious, high quality food. But that’s not all! The main reason why I fell in love with this restaurant a couple of years ago is because of the atmosphere. The restaurant itself looks lovely with its dimmed lights, and every night they have someone playing the piano and singing. Now, I’ve got a weak spot for musical people with great singing voices, so this is really what tipped me over. 

 

Blackhouse offers quite a wide variety on their menu. However, bear in mind that they do specialise in steak.

Browsing through the menu my eyes were fixed on a tart, which I ordered for my starter. It was a mushroom, leek, confit garlic and cobnut tart with tarragon butter sauce, and it was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten in my life! I’m a sucker for mushrooms, and this tart was spot on. At £7 I don’t think it was too bad.

My boyfriend had the duck spring rolls with hoi sin dip as a starter. Personally I’m not a fan of duck as this isn’t something I’ve grown up eating and therefore find the taste a bit odd, but he really enjoyed this dish.

When it comes to the main dish there’s no question about it! I always order a steak of some kind (usually sirloin or fillet) when at a reputable steak restaurant such as Blackhouse – this time I had the 200g fillet steak. I know it’s recommended to eat it medium, but I can’t stand pink meat so I always order my steak well done. I try to vary the sides, and this time I went for mashed potatoes and a gorgeously creamy Diane sauce. We also ordered in some green beans as a side. The fillet is priced at £22.50 including some kind of potatoes, but you have to order the sauce and vegetables on the side.

I don’t usually have dessert as I get so full from the main dish, but since Blackhouse had an offer on in January for 50% off food we decided to have a dessert to share. We went for the warm chocolate fudge cake, and it was YUM! I always prefer a lighter, fruit based dessert, but since we were sharing I gave in to the chocolaty goodness. Definitely worth the £6 it was priced at.

We had a lovely dinner at Blackhouse in Leeds, and even had a cheeky glass of wine with our meal even though it was Sunday. If you ask me you know I’ll definitely recommend this restaurant. If you don’t want to go for the food, then at least go and have a drink in the bar and listen to the talented pianist.