Foodie Review: Giraffe World Kitchen, London Victoria

Foodie Review: Giraffe World Kitchen, London Victoria

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To celebrate the refurbishment of their branch in London Victoria, Giraffe World Kitchen very kindly invited me along to sample some of their delights and new menu. Here's a look at my latest foodie review...

Regular readers may remember that I first visited Giraffe World Kitchen* back in July of last year. Having had such a good experience at their Southbank branch, I was very much looking forward to trying out a new menu and a brand new location - just a stones throw from London Victoria Train Station. As per their usual restaurants, Giraffe offers a wide selection of dishes from around the globe; incorporating a blend of fresh hearty, comfort food within a vibrant and relaxed setting. With my good friend and blogger babe, Fran, at my side, we headed over to try out some of their exciting new plates and offer our honest review...

Myself and Fran have started a bit of a tradition lately in that, wherever we go out to eat, we always seem to order a plate of nachos to share. And that's exactly what we did. To start, we shared their famous Nachos Sharer Plate with Chorizo - created with black bean chilli, Monterey Jack cheese, guacamole, sour cream, jalapenos and chipotle. They also offer a selection of added extras such as chicken and chorizo which I'd strongly recommend. We also ordered the absolutely delicious Halloumi Skewers - served with brown rice and quinoa tabbouleh. I found that these were perfectly cooked - grilled slightly to give it a subtle chargrilled taste but not overdone to keep them soft and flavourful and not rubbery - because there's nothing worse then rubbery halloumi.

For our mains, Fran opted for her usual fish dish with Blackened Salmon - Salmon fillet marinated in world spices, served on a bed of brown rice and kidney beans with corn on the cob and a mango salad. I thought this was beautifully presented and was certainly the most colourful dish compared to my biege plate. Unlike Fran who is far more adventurous than I, I chose the Grilled Sirloin Steak - an 8oz Irish-reared beef steak, served to my choice (rare, obviously) with skin-on-fries and a dressed green leaf salad. You can also add bourbon peppercorn sauce for an added £1.50 (as pictured above). 

The steak itself was pretty much nearly perfect. Beautifully seasoned and cooked very well to my liking although it did have quite a large chunk of fat. I do think, however, that this was much nicer than the first steak I tried at their South Bank branch and, combined with the bourbon sauce, made for a wonderful choice of main. The chips were enjoyable although quite bland in taste and so these did require a lot of salt and vinegar; although I loved dipping them in the bourbon sauce. Definitely order a sauce with your steak.

Finally, it was time for dessert. As you can imagine, I was already pretty stuffed from this mountain of food but it seemed only polite to try out their new dessert menu, right? It was fantastic. For dessert, I selected the Banana Waffle Split (pictured above) - warm cinnamon banana served on a waffle with vanilla ice cream and a lot of chocolate toffee sauce. It was amazing! Unfortunately I couldn't finish it after such a gut bash but it was well worth the giant food baby. The ice cream melted in to what was a banana fritter and combined with the waffle also it made for a beautiful all-carb treat.

Overall, I think that my second visit to Giraffe was even more successful than the first. Unlike the Southbank branch which is slightly more family focused, I personally felt that the Victoria one seems to be more ideal for a evening out with the girls or a date night. It has the perfect balance of vibrancy whilst also having a relaxing atmosphere. I really liked the Moroccan and sixties style of decor and, although it is still suitable for families, the overall feel of the place made for a far better venue to grab some tapas and a cocktail. 

As usual, the service was prompt and super friendly. I could not fault any of the team who were not only fantastic with us, but seemed to be just as brilliant with the other tables too. A huge thanks to Giraffe for allowing us to try out the newly decorated Victoria branch and their menu, we had an excellent evening and I'm sure we'll be heading back soon - if only for that dessert. You can check out more information about the London Victoria branch and their full menu here.  

That's it for another foodie review. Have you been to Giraffe yet? What are some of your favourite world food restaurants? As always, I love reading your comments so please do leave me lots of lovely ones down below. 

Until next time fellow foodies, 

*Disclaimer - All food featured in this post was complimentary and provided courtesy of Giraffe World Kitchen. As usual, all opinions are my own and do not reflect that of the brand. 

Foodie Review: Cosy Club, Bristol

Foodie Review: Cosy Club, Bristol

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Back at it again with another foodie review to sink your teeth in to and today I'm sharing another favourite. A few months ago, myself and Jack went to Bristol to celebrate my best friend's birthday. Stopping off for dinner at Cosy Club one evening and amazed by their decor, I just had to share it. Here's my review...

Once a former banking hall, church and theater, Cosy Club is located in the heart of Bristol's historic Corn Street. As a Grade II listed Neo-Palladian style building, as you walk in, it's hard not to be impressed by the marble flooring, stone work and pretty amazing domed roof. With stag heads, palms and staff dressed in vintage style, it offers a fun and nostalgic atmosphere. But enough about the decor - what about the food? The menu makes for a pretty extensive selection of tapas and comfort foods such as burgers, sandwiches and fried chicken. As well this, they also serve a selection of vegan and gluten free dishes...

Being a busy Saturday night, we did wait quite a while for all of our food to arrive but this was understandable and totally worth it. As a table of 10+ people, I didn't get a chance to photograph any other plates but I opted for the Lobster and King Prawn Broiche served with Bloody Mary mayonnaise and fries. I'll be honest that I was expecting there to be a lot less lobster and so I was really pleased with what arrived. The burger also came with a king prawn on top which I thought was a nice touch.

Given the prices on the menu, I assumed it would be more like an actual sandwich or much smaller so I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be such a filling plate. One thing I will say, however, is that it was an entirely cold dish which had quite obviously had been kept in a fringe before serving. Unfortunately, it probably would have been best served hot and perhaps with a toast bun. The fries however were spot on and overall, I really enjoyed my meal - even more so the prices! I always forget how much cheaper it is to eat outside of London.

Overall, I absolutely loved Cosy Club and can't wait to visit again next time I'm in Bristol. The staff were super friendly and the atmosphere of the place is excellent - totally unlike anywhere I've ever visited in London. The menu itself features an extensive range of amazing comfort foods (big and small) and for the price, I certainly can't complain. I also think that it makes for an awesome spot even if you're just looking for somewhere cool to lounge and drink cocktails. 

So that's it for another (short but sweet) foodie review - have you ever been to Cosy Club? What are some of your favourite places to eat in Bristol? As always, I love reading your comments so please do leave me lots of lovely ones down below.

Until next time fellow foodies,

Foodie Review: World of Snacks Subscription Box

Foodie Review: World of Snacks Subscription Box

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It's no secret to regular readers that I consider myself a bit of a foodie. I love trying new, weird and wonderful foods. Recently, I was approached by an exciting new subscription service which offers a monthly box filled to the brim with sweets and candy from around the world - the aptly named World of Snacks. Here's a little look at my box from Japan...

Showcasing treats from a different country each month, World of Snacks is a subscription box* of sweets and snacks imported from all over the world. Whilst some imported candy is available to buy in the UK if you look hard enough for it, this box also features some unlikely and unusual pieces you're likely to never have tried or seen before. I had no idea what to expect from the box itself and was pleasantly surprised to see just how full it was when I opened it up. Each box contains an array of snacks along with two pamphlets explaining each item and it's ingredients (since most of the packaging is not in English). This box included...

Pocky Sticks (pictured above and below) - Pocky sticks are chocolate coated biscuits which are very popular in Japan. This box included two flavours including original chocolate flavour and strawberry.  

Hello Panda (pictured above in pink box) - I'm pretty sure you can find these in the UK and when I was in Spain these were everywhere but Hello Panda are panda-shaped biscuits with flavoured filling. Seemingly a popular choice of flavour, these are also strawberry. 

Giant Caplico Cone (pictured above) - Available only in Japan, this product is sold as the 'giant unmeltable icecream cone' - a full sized wafer cone filled with strawberry flavoured (Aero-like) bubble chocolate. Oddly, it's really lovely though super filling! 

Panda Chocolate Wafer (pictured above) - Made from airy milk and white chocolate, the only way I can describe this delightful little panda head is to say it's a like a wafer cake. Again quite filling, it tasted far sweeter (and better) than I was expecting. It was almost too perfect to eat. 

Little Bobdog Cola Candy Sticks (pictured above in red box) - These are essentially those chalky fake cigarette sticks we all had as a kid. 6 pieces of hard candy sticks with a surprisingly tasty cola flavour.

Matcha Green Tea KitKats (pictured above) - Probably one of my favourites from the package was that it contained two Green Tea KitKat bars. KitKats are extremely popular in Japan and come in a variety of flavours (including strawberry). The Matcha Green Tea flavour is a regional variety from Kyoto - covered in a green coloured white chocolate infused with matcha green tea. They're rather delicious but, as myself and my friend Sarah discovered recently, a bag of these from a Japanese store in London can cost you up to £20! 

Peko and Hello Kitty Lollipops and Candies (pictured above) - I don't think it would be fair to have a Japanese package without at least one Peko chan or Hello Kitty item. These green lollipops are an oddly refreshing, milky sweet which combines two of Japan's most popular mascots on the packaging. The individual sweets are of the same flavour and taste but are chewy - made also from condensed milk and Uji Matcha Green Tea. Very unusual but oddly delicious. 

Black Thunder Chocolate Bar (pictured above in red and gold packet) - Looking at the translation of these little bars, it reminded me of the Power Sauce bars from The Simpsons. They contain cocoa-flavoured cookie mix, combined with Japanese-style rice puffs coated with milk chocolate.

Soda Soft Centred Chewing Gum (pictured above) - These 3 little blue gum balls have a hardened shell with a gooey soda paste centre which tasted like lemonade. Packaged in a tray of 3, despite looking the same, one of the gum balls is actually a super sour (and therefore the most delicious one) sweet in disguise. These were possibly my favourite of the box - I loved the super sour taste and the soda paste is strange but delicious.  

Plum Seasoned Wakame Seaweed (pictured above in pink packaging) - This is a pack of wakame seaweed stems which have been boiled and softened before being salted and seasoned with plum vinegar. It certainly doesn't look anything special or edible at first glance but being brave, I took a bite. The flavour and texture is very bizarre but it's not bad - it reminded me of a very sweet, gherkin. I'd be interested to know if this is a regular popular snack in Japan.
Spicy Burdock (pictured above in red packet) - I'll be honest, I wasn't brave enough to try this one. This is a pack of burdock which has been pickled in a Japanese concoction of soy sauce, salt and vinegar, spicy ichimi togarashi chilli pepper and bonito fish flakes. Sorry but no. I like that it's included in there for the more brave subscribers though and it is highly unlikely that I'd of come across this otherwise.
DIY Gummy Candy (Pictured in green packet) - The text on this packet translates as 'Make Your Own Sushi Shop' and is designed to replicate the feel of preparing Japanese sushi; which I thought was adorable. The colourful packet is made up of individual pieces of sushi-shaped plum, banana and lemon gummy sweets on a tray to look like rice and various types of nigiri. The instructions say to select a 'topping' and place on top of 'rice', press down and enjoy. Such a cute idea - I imagine this is similar to our version of a gummy burger or marshmallow sandwich. Again, very tasty and probably even flavourful than Haribo.

The subscription has no contract which means you can cancel anytime you like and it was really fun to try some things I never would have thought to pick up otherwise. One very slight criticism (if at all) is that the branding could perhaps be a bit stronger on the leaflets provided and the box itself. In the past when I've tried subscription boxes, the packaging has been stylish and on brand although the current design of this box and information takes nothing away from the quality of the products themselves.

The price for monthly subscription is £13.99 (including postage) which, when I think about it, is a pretty good deal if you love trying new foods and sweets. If you think about the cost of buying imported items individually (Kraft Star Wars Mac & Cheese will set you back a pretty penny), this is quite a good cost effective method. Jack and I had fun trying out all the different products and I really like the idea of getting a different country every month.

So tell me, have you ever tried a food subscription box? What do you make of World of Snacks? As always, I love reading your comments so please do leave me lots of lovely ones down below. Big thanks to World of Snacks for letting me try out their first ever box. If you'd like to try out one of their boxes, you can find more information on their website here.

Until next time fellow foodies,

Disclaimer*: This product was sent to me for the purposes of review. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own and do not reflect that of the brand.