Roll That Dice! | Victoria Gate Casino Menu Tasting

Hey!

Welcome to a brand new blog post! I was invited to the Victoria Gate Casino's Christmas Menu Tasting and I thought that today I would tell you all what happened at the tasting.

A big bold black V with one side of the right side of the V cut off with Victoria Gate Casino in big bold black font underneath on a white background. 

We walked into the grand casino and sat down at a terrific looking table with elegant looking glasses and superb silverware. Myself and Luke chatted for a while and waited for the drinks to start to flow. As there were an abudant of dishes to try and share and because my phone was being weird on the night, I think that it's just best to list the everything with the pictures that I think are somewhat okay.

Drinks: 

White Christmas: 

• 50ml Double Cream
• 10ml Creme De Cacao Blanc 
• 10ml Cherry Syrup
• 10ml Goldschlager 
• 1 Egg White
• 100ml Prosecco 

I liked parts of this and I hated other parts of this. I thought that Prosecco kind of stopped the Cherry and Creme De Cacao Blanc coming through but I did love the Cherry Syrup as it gave a fruity note against the creaminess of the Cream and 

Festive Royale 

• 10ml Creme De Cassis 
• 10ml Gordons Sloe Gin
• 100ml Prosecco

I'm not a fan of Gin or Prosecco but I kind of liked this one. I think that it was the Cassis that made me like it so much as I love anything with a Blackberry sort of taste to it. I think the deeper flavour of Sloe Gin worked alongside the Cassis to create a deep Berry drink. 

Christmas Eve Crumble

• 25ml Rhubarb Vodka
• 12.5ml Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 12.5ml Goldschlager
• 50ml Apple Juice #
• 25ml Double Cream 

I loved this one. I think the Apple Juice mixed with the Goldschlager and Elderflower iqueur did it for me. I feel like I could drink a lot of these. I didn't think that it needed the Double Cream but you can be a bit decadent and naughty when its Christmas so I understand why its in the drink. 

Food:: 

Chicken Liver Pate which is served with toasted brioche and red onion marmalade

I loved the sweetness of the Chicken Liver Pate. I loved the Red Onion Marmalade as it added a bit of sharpness to the Pate. I love Red Onion Marmalade in anything as it just makes whatever youre adding it to that little bit extra special. 

Prawn Cocktail 

Juicy Atlantic prawns drizzled in a classic Marie Rose dressing

Sadly, I didn't get to try this but I love a good Prawn Cocktail nso I'm sure that I would have loved it if I did get to try it! 

Petit Camembert with Rustic Bread - 

Rich, creamy camembert with a cranberry centre served with rustic bread

I'm weird with Cheese so I sadly stuck to the Rustic Bread but I absolutely loved the Bread! 

Winter Vegetable Soup -

A blend of winter vegetables served with a rustic roll and butter

(Gluten free option available)

I loved this as it had a sweet but spicy taste to it which you want when its cold in the festive season. I love Christmas spices and Soup! The bread roll was fluffy and soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. 

Roast Turkey Roulade 

Tender rolled turkey escalope with stuffing served with chipolatas, cranberry and a red wine jus

(Gluten free option available)

I love a good Roast Turkey. Do you know what I love more than Turkey though? Stuffing! I loved this as it combined the best parts of a Christmas Dinner into one.

Salmon Fillet 

Roasted salmon fillet in a honey glaze, served with a rich cranberry, ginger & orange sauce

I rarely eat Salmon but I loved the fact that it was served with such a Festive sauce and had a Honey Glaze as it made the fish extra sweet. This dish would be great for anyone who loves Fish. 

,Mushroom & Brie Wellington 

Sautéed mushrooms, cranberries, seasoned spinach & hazelnuts, topped with brie, wrapped in puff

pastry and served with a blue stilton sauce

I'm that 1% of the public who actually likes Mushrooms and I honestly think Mushrooms and Spinach is always a good mixture. I thought that the pastry was a great contrast in textures and I think that this would be great for anyone who falls in the same one percent as myself. 

Daube Of Beef 

Tender slow cooked daube of beef braised in a red wine jus. 

I loved the fact that this was braised as it made the meat extra tender. I loved the deepness of the Jus. I think this dish would be great for a family dinner outing. 

The last four dishes come with seasonal vegetables and roast potatoes. 

Christmas Pudding 

Traditional Christmas pudding served with brandy sauce

People either love Christmas Pudding or hate Christmas Pudding and sadly, I hate it so I didn't try this sadly. 

CHOCOLATE & ORANGE TORTE

Crisp chocolate biscuit layered with a dark chocolate orange truf f le & rich chocolate mousse, f inished with a caramel glaze.

Sadly. I didn;t get to try this as it didn't come to my table but it sounds delicious. 

Lemon & Raspberry Posset

Tangy lemon posset on a ginger crumb base topped with raspberries

I love Lemon, Ginger and Raspberry so this dessert was made for me. I love the difference between the sweet Raspberry sauce, the tarter fresh Raspberries and the spicy Ginger. It was delicious. 

Cheese Plate 

Selection of British cheese served with a delicious plum & ginger chutney.

I didn't really try any of the Cheeses from this but I tried the Chutney and I loved it. I think the Ginger cuts through some of the sweetness from the Plums. 

A clear tall martini glass containing a dark red liquid with a thick white layer on top on a dark wooden table on a dark background. 

A round white porcelain plate containing a square of Dark Brown Pate with an dark red oval of Red Onion Marmalade and golden brown long finger shaped pieces of bread on a dark wooden table on a dark background. 

A dark brown piece of Meat with green spherical Brussels Sprouts with golden oval Roast Potatoes, thin rectangular batons of orange carrots on a white circular plate on a dark wooden table on a dark background.  

A square golden piece of Mushroom Pie with oval golden brown Roast Potatoes, green spherical Brussels Sprouts on a white circular plate on a dark wooden table on a dark background. 

A large rectangular piece of Beef with black charcoal lines on the top of it with green vegetables and golden brown oval roast potatoes 

a square piece of dessert consisting of a golden brown base, a bright white creamy filling and a red raspberry sauce on top with some bright red raspberries and a sprig of mint. 

Check out Victoria Gate Casino Restaurant here. 

I hope that you've enjoyed this food based blog post and I hope that you come back next time for another blog post. 

Thanks for reading! 

Jamie x

Escaping The World For Some Cocktails | #TheEpernayEscape | Epernay Leeds Menu & Cocktail Bloggers Event

Meow!

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you will know that I love a good cocktail! So, when Epernay Leeds invited me to #TheEpernayEscape where there would be cocktails on offer to try then i had to say yes!

Myself, Michelle and Luke arrived within Leeds a tad bit too early as I finished doing coursework early. After an accident with my laptop happened (sadly), we decided to go into Lush as well myself and Michelle are big advocates of Lush. I ended up getting samples of D'Fluff and Karma Kream.(If you want to see the review for those products then click here,)

We strolled to the venue and arrived a tiny bit early so we used that time to have a natter and to find Epernay as it is within a little section called Electric Press which contains a whole host of amazing places including Epernay and Revolution.

We entered the grand venue and met Jenna who had invited us to the event. We had a little conversation, grabbed a glass of Champagne and made our way to the bar. I know this sounds so weird but the bar felt that elegant that I felt a bit like James Bond... A few more bloggers came including Lucinda and Carolanne. We said hi and had a little natter and then Jenna told us a tiny bit about Epernay as I think a good few of us at the event had never been there before which I'm not sure why as it is an amazing venue and a lot of their drinks sound absolutely amazing!

We then had a little talk from the manager of Epernay Leeds who told us what was going to happen throughout the night and to share pictures on social media throughout the night which was possible but my phone has a tendency of dying when I need it to work at the minute so it was a case of using Lukes for the majority of the night and sharing via his account!

After the little chat, the head barman introduced himself and talked to us about how the Summer menu was well more uplifting and Summer like. He began the tasting via creating a cute little cocktail called Blue Grass Smash, This cocktail includes Zubrowka Vodka, fresh Blueberry Syrup that is made within the Champagne Bar and Mint Leaves. I love Vodka, Blueberries and Mint so this was a perfect cocktail for me! It was quite a sweet cocktail which some may loathe and some may love but I'm with the latter and I absolutely adored it! The colour of the drink was so pretty that I could literally sit at a bar for a couple of hours and just look at this cocktail whilst drinking it! There were also canapes throughout the night and the first canape which went wonderfully with this drink was a Caprese Salad. It was just wonderful against the sweetness of the drink!

The second cocktail that was given for us to drink was Koko Kanu. (I love saying this for some weird reason!) This one contained Koko Kanu Rum, Orgeat (which is a syrup) and Raspberries. I loved the colour of this one and it reminded me of Mean Girls due to the bright pink and the fact that it had Koko in the name. I love Coconut Rum so that was a good start for the cocktail but I was a bit indecisive about the syrup for some reason... I loved it on the whole though and it reminded me of Summer and the sort of drink that you might have in Hawaii due to the fresh fruit and Coconut. I think that I would have this drink when I'm out with other people and end up lusting over the colour of the drink compared to drinking the first one on my own within the bar. The canape that accompanied this cocktail was a sort of little Raspberry Pastry thing... I'm not completely sure what it's called but it was Puff Pastry sandwiched with Raspberry Coulis and Cream and oh my god it was heavenly!

The last cocktail that we were all served was The Morning After. The cocktail contains Apriocot Briotte, Portobello Road Gin and Fresh Grapefruit. I love the name of this to begin with as some will interpret it in their own way but it is based off the whole coping with a hangover the morning after a good night. The coloured looked more subtle compared to the others but the aroma and scent of this drink was amazing. Thanks to the Grapefruit, it smelt so citrus like and so uplifting which would be great for waking you up! The canape that accompanied this cocktail was a sort of Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese Bruschetta sort of thing which went perfectly with the citrus notes of the cocktail!

We were then supplied with more champagne and some more canapes in the form of a scrumptious sausage roll which was amazing! I could have eaten them all night with a sort of salsa/good dip! Myself, Michelle and Luke nattered until we were halted to a stop via a business card competition which was to win things from the bar. Michelle won a Cocktail masterclass at the bar which sounds amazing! We all chatted a bit about the offers at Epernay which I will talk about a bit more below then we drunk more champagne then left the bar.

All in all, we all had an amazing night at Epernay Leeds and we all shared the hashtag #TheEpernayEscape out so if you want to find out who else was at the event or what else happened then check out the hashtag! Have you been to Epernay Leeds or any of the other Epernay bars before? If so then let me know in the comments below!

Epernay Leeds also do a Bottomless Brunch where you get to eat brunch within the beautiful bar and have unlimited/bottomless drinks from their brunch selection. I think that this is an amazing way to spend brunch within Leeds especially if you're with someone who doesn't know Leeds that well. It just screams elegance to me!

Thanks to Michelle for coming along and taking the photos! She always takes amazing photos such as ones that are within this post so check her Flickr out if you haven't already by clicking on her name throughout the post!

I would like to thank Jenna for inviting myself and Michelle to this event. I would also like to thank the staff at Epernay for putting on an amazing event! I have Epernay's website to their name within this post in case you want to look at their drinks menu or if you want to book a reservation! I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post! I hope to see you next time!

Meow!
Jamie x

Facebook:

Twitter:

Instagram:

BlogLovin: 

Putting A Spring In Your Step | Black Swan Winter To Spring Menu Tasting

 Meow!

I was invited to try out Black Swan's new menu within Leeds. I went to try out their last menu update which if you want to read about that then I shall link that here. Oh, if you haven't noticed by now, I like to get very detailed when it comes to menu tastings just so I can make sure you're salivating whilst reading this post so it might be best to grab a drink as this is a long post.

Me, Michelle and Luke went into Leeds a tiny bit earlier so we decided to go to Caffe Nero as they had a free hot drink via O2 Priority Moments. We then decided to go to Lush because myself and Michelle love Lush quite a bit. We checked out the new Mothers Day range and looked at the Gorilla Perfumes such as Dear John and Death and Decay. We then went to Schuh as Luke wanted some shoes but it then ended up leading to myself buying some Disney Mickey Mouse Vans as they were on sale from £53 to £19 which I think is an absolute bargain! Thanks to Michelle for persuading me to buy the shoes!

We made our way to Black Swan as it is only a stone throw away from Schuh which is in Briggate. We got to the restaurant within one swift move which is actually an achievement as I normally have no clue of where I am going when it comes to events 9 times out of 10. We entered the restaurant and was told that we could choose either three beers to drink throughout the night, wine or a soft drink if you weren't big on drinking. I was going to choose a soft drink but I threw caution to the rain and decided to try three different beers. I can't remember the three beers rhat I tried as I'm a bit bad with names of stuff the first time around (I remember one having some relevance to rebels?) but they were all lovely! We tried to sip our drinks but we were then told to move upstairs for the rest of the event as the downstairs area for meant to be for customers that were dining out on the night.

We made our way upstairs which was quite a difficult task due to glasses and whatnot so a helpful member of staff took them off our hands whilst we made our way up the stairs. We sat down on a elongated table which was in the style of a bench. We chatted for a few minutes then two lovely ladies came over and sat with us. We then chatted a bit more until our starters came. I'm sorry that I can't remember the names of the lovely ladies that sat with us but if you're reading this then hi!

Please remember that all of the pictures within this post are not mine but are Michelle's and if you click on her name throughout this post then it will lead you to her Flickr where you can see more of the perfect pictures that she has shot.

The first dish that came out to us was the Duck OXO Cube with a Celeriac Veloute and a Celeriac and Apple Salad. I was very intrigued about the OXO Cube concept as it meant that the Duck would have a smoky yet concerntrated flavour due to the addition of the OXO. I loved the taste and texture of the Duck and I would happily buy it if I was dining there in my spare time!

The next thing that we ate was Venison Carpaccio with Pickled Shallots, Sherry Vinaigrette and Nasturtium. I think the Nasturtium is in the form of a crisp. I felt like the crisp thing took over the flavour of the Venison as it dominated the palate as soon as you took a bite of it. I feel like it might be best to try a bit of the Venison on it's own and then try it with the other things after tasting a bit of the Venison on its own. Carpaccio is the thinnest cut you can get on any type of meat which means that it melts in the mouth as soon as you bite on it which it did.

The next thing that we tasted was the Salmon and Crab Scotch Egg with Pickled Cucumber and a Parsley Emulsion. This one was a different one for me as it was a unique twist on the classic Scotch Egg. I kind of liked it though. I got more of the Salmon than I did the Crab though and I think that if you had wedges of lemon to spritz over as soon as you cut into the Scotch Egg then that would make it absolutely sublime! If you're not a fan of Fish or Seafood then you're probably not going to like this one!

I then tried Leek and Pearl Barley Risotto with Crispy Leeks. I really like Risotto but I barely cook or have it as I know how much effort it takes to make a risotto so if I know that I can make a chef or whoever not take the time to make a risotto then I probably won't. This risotto was amazing. The Pearl Barley gave it some texture and so did the Crispy Leeks which turned this dish into extravagant comfort food. (That's the best type of food that you can get!) It's a great dish for vegetarians and non meat eaters alike!

Now onto the mains!

We first had the Pan Fried Seabass with Butternut Squash Puree, Roasted Squash, Baby Leeks and Mushroom filled Pasta. I feel like I should eat more fish than I do as it's good for the brain and all that jazz. I loved the Squash element of the dish as it gave a sweet element to the dish as the fish gave a meaty sort of element to the dish. I love Mushroom filled pasta so I loved that part of the dish. I always love pasta which leads me onto the next little dish.

The dish was Spinach and Ricotta Gnocchi with Artichoke Puree and Artichoke Crisps. I love Spinach and Ricotta pasta to begin with. This gnocchi was quite light compared to normal gnocchi which is quite dense. The artichokes added a sweet yet good contrast.

The other main course that we enjoyed was Pork Belly with Rib and Black Pudding Croquette, Braised Cheeks, Carrot Puree, Roast Chatennay Carrots and Mustard Jus. I didn't get much of the mustard jus but I loved the braised cheeks which I wasn't expecting to love and I felt the same about the Rib and Black Pudding Croquette as I'm not a big fan of Black Pudding. The Pork Belly was sublime. I did think though that the Mushroom Pasta went well with this dish compared to the Seabass just because it contrasted more with the meat compared to the fish.

We also had some Roasted Seasonal Roots. They were sweet and tender and I loved them. I feel like they would go best with something hearty!

We rarely took photos of the mains because we were too busy chatting... Sorry!

Desserts Time!

Okay so first up on the desserts section is Spiced Rum Poached Pineapple with Raspberry and Sorrel Sorbet. I loved this dessert mainly because I love Pineapple. The Spiced Rum gave it a sort of Caribbean vibe but there's also a bit of Chilli in there for good measure which creates such contrast between the Chilli and the sweet Pineapple which literally makes your mouth water.

The next dish from the menu is Dark Chocolate Tart with honeycomb and bourbon-vanilla ice cream. Oh my god, I love chocolate tarts and this one was amazing. It was rich but not too rich as it was sliced up. It's one of those tarts that tastes amazing but you probably wouldn't want to try and eat all in one go. The ice cream was amazing. I like bourbon and I like vanilla ice cream so fusing them two together was an amazing idea!

The last dessert item that we were served was Stewed Rhubarb and Ginger Creme Brulee. (Sorry for not putting the correct accents on top of the letters.) I love Creme Brulee's so I already could tell that this was going to be a great dessert. I was a bit apprehensive about the Rhubarb but it was amazing! The ginger gave a gentle heat to the dish which I loved. If there was any more Ginger in the Creme Brulee then it might have been on the verge of hatred for me as I feel like it would have taken centre stage so I'm glad they had the right amount in this dish. The crack on the Creme Brulee was exquisite and it's the best thing about a Creme Brulee in my opinion!

We then chatted for a bit more until an Espresso Martini shot came around for us which was quite amazing. I'm not the biggest fan of Espresso but it was divine as it was only in a shot form and had a little coffee bean on top of it. The perfect way to end a great event. We then had the chance to talk to the head chef which I thought was a great addition to the night.

So there you go! A detailed post all about the new Winter To Spring Menu at Black Swan Leeds. Have you tried any of the dishes above? If so then tell me what you thought in the comments below! Don't forget to go check out the new menu here!  Don't forget to check out Michelle's photos! I hope that this post didn't make you too hungry! I would also like to thank the staff at Black Swan for putting on an amazing night and for the guys over at I Like Press for inviting me to the event!

Meow!
Jamie x

Facebook:

Twitter:

Instagram:

BlogLovin: