Hey everyone!
How's everything going?
Welcome to a brand new blog post! I went to see Adore Delano a while ago in Manchester, and, I thought that today I would talk to you all about it.
If you don't know who Adore Delano is? Then where have you been for the past few years?! Adore Delano (Danny Noriega) is a drag entertainer, who first got caught the people's eye via the American talent show, American Idol as Danny. Some years later, Danny grabbed the worlds attention, via, participating in Season Six of RuPauls Drag Race, as Adore Delano. Adore Delano is a drag performer who bases their aesthetic on the punk and grunge movements, and from other aspects of pop culture.
Myself and my friend Alex, decided to go to the A Pizza Me tour, as I relate to a lot of Danny and Adore's views on the world and I love Adore's aesthetic and the grunge/punk movement. I was already in Manchester that weekend, to see Panic! At The Disco (read that post here), so it made sense to make the weekend even better by going to see Adore the day after.
We got to the venue and made our way to the balcony to watch the show. The venue increased the excitement for the show via playing songs from other Drag Race alumni and adverts for shows that were coming up from other drag entertainers.
The show started off with a pre show by Victoria Secret, a drag entertainer from Dublin. They started off the night via telling stories and antics and even included a mix of songs based off the story of Nadine Coyle, from lying via her age to get onto an Irish talent show to being a part of one of the UK's biggest airl groups.
After this, Victoria encouraged four of Adore's fans to get onto the stage for a lip sync to win some Adore merchandise. Even though the lip sync became a dance off, it was still amazing to see people get into the groove of things.
When Adore came to the stage, they started off the show with a rendition of, Britney Spears' top hit 'Piece Of Me'. This mixed with the fact that Adore loves Pizza creates the title of the tour. The rendition was amazing and raw. A perfect way to describe the full show. Adore carried on with more songs, played via just two instruments, their voice and a guitar. After some conversations about her life and past, and a couple of songs, a Q&A session happened. Adore answered questions in relation to, Drag Race, All Stars, the punk movement, favourite songs and artists and much more. Adore even makes references to such TV shows via, adlibing during one of the songs they perform within the set to, 'I don't belong here anymore, All Stars.' They also talk about that its their first tour since sobriety and talks frankly about it during the set.
One of the best highlights throughout the show, was when Adore sang, Cher's infamous track, 'Believe'. Not only did Adore perform it with poise and class, but she explained that it was one of her late Dads favourite song, which meant that you could tell that Adore was pouring all of their feelings into the song and everyone in the room could tell this. I loved the slow acoustic version of it compared to the electronic anthem that we all know and love. All in all, I adored the A Pizza Me show at Manchester, and wish that I could have about five pieces more of Adore, because, I'm greedy like that.
Did you attend the A Pizza Me tour? Let me know down below! Do you have a favourite song from Adore? Let me know down below!
Thanks for reading!
Jamie x
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Wednesday, 5 June 2019
Thursday, 28 June 2018
All The Toppings In The World | ,MOD Pizza Leeds City Centre
Hey everyone!
Welcome to a brand new post. A while ago, I got to go along and check out the fairly new MOD Pizza branch in Leeds City Centre, therefore, I thought that today, I would talk to you all about what I got up to and what the pizzas were like. Mmm, Pizza.
Just like other posts, if reading about Pizza isn't your thing, then please go and read a different post. There are nearly 400 posts, so there should be something for everyone on Jamie Sowden.
We (myself and Luke), walked into the spacious establishment which had a sort of, rustic yet Instagrammable boho diner feel to it with wooden chairs, terrific tables and eclectic wallpaper mixed with the stainless steel feel of the counters, mixed with the rustic feel of the Pizza Ovens.
The way that MOD works is that you can order one of their amazing but pre-created topping combination on your pizza, or, you can build your own. From Lactose-free Cheese, to, Gluten Free Bread, to a pizza with Cauliflower, Asparagus, or, Pineapple, to a Pizza with all meat on. The limit does not exist when it comes to Pizza toppings at MOD.. MOD actually stands for Made On Demand. If you're more of a Salad person, then, that can be made to demand too. Want a Milkshake? Well that can be made to your personal order. Chocolate with Salted Caramel? Done! MOD's soft drink selection is a Freestyle based machine, which means that, you can custom your drink to your own liking. Love Cherries? Get a drink with all Cherry in! MOD Pizza's are £7.87 which I think is great for an eat in/takeaway pizza!
I went up to the stand and ordered everything that myself and Luke were about to eat, (okay, I went a bit over the top, but I was excited to eat Pizza), then I received a buzzer to put on our table. This meant that the order comes straight to the table!
Let's talk about drinks first, Luke got a Strawberry Milkshake, because well, he loves Strawberries and Milkshakes. I decided to go for a Chocolate Milkshake with Oreo pieces crushed up into the drink. I loved the dark contrast between the sort of rich chocolate taste with the Vanilla creaminess of the crushed up pieces of Vanilla from the Oreos. The milkshake was thick and cold, which is, everything that you want from an amazing milkshake! I also decided to get a Freestyle drink, mainly because, I have quite a dry mouth so I end up drinking like a fish. I enjoyed checking out what flavour combinations I could have, but when I found Vanilla Pepsi, I knew that I had to have it mixed with a bit of Cherry!
Onto the main star of the show, the Pizza's! Luke decided to go for the Mad Dog, as he wasn't really feeling the Create Your Own. This Pizza consists of, MOD Red Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Pepperoni, Mild Sausage, and, Ground Beef. I decided to go for a Pizza that consisted of BBQ Sauce, Mozzarella, (I was tempted to go for Lacto free due to me and Lactose not being the best of friends, but, I thought screw it), all of the meats, Red Onions, Sweetcorn and, Peppers, with a Blsamic Fig glaze drizzled on top. The base was crispy, the Cheese was gooey, the Meats tasted amazing and the crisp Vegetables went well against the cooked Meats. Y'know what the best part was? That Balsamic Fig Glaze! It was tangy, but sweet, and it just made the whole Pizza pop with taste!
Carrying on with all this food talk, we then got Cinnamon Strips. Yeah, you heard me right. Cinnamon. Strips. These were the best thing in the world. You can choose between Chocolate, Strawberry or Cinnamon Glaze to be embedded in the actual strips. I went for Chocolate but mizing the gooey in the middle, crisp on the outside strips, with, the sweet sugary Cinnamon dip was the best thing in the world. Honestly, I'm tempted to drag friends along just for those strips on their own. Mmm, I want some more right now!
Have you ever been to MOD before? If so then let me know what your favourite Pizza is? If not, then tell me what your favourite combo would be!
Check out MOD here.
Thanks for reading my food based blog post. I hope that you come back next time for another blog post.
Thanks for reading!
Jamie x
Welcome to a brand new post. A while ago, I got to go along and check out the fairly new MOD Pizza branch in Leeds City Centre, therefore, I thought that today, I would talk to you all about what I got up to and what the pizzas were like. Mmm, Pizza.
Just like other posts, if reading about Pizza isn't your thing, then please go and read a different post. There are nearly 400 posts, so there should be something for everyone on Jamie Sowden.
We (myself and Luke), walked into the spacious establishment which had a sort of, rustic yet Instagrammable boho diner feel to it with wooden chairs, terrific tables and eclectic wallpaper mixed with the stainless steel feel of the counters, mixed with the rustic feel of the Pizza Ovens.
The way that MOD works is that you can order one of their amazing but pre-created topping combination on your pizza, or, you can build your own. From Lactose-free Cheese, to, Gluten Free Bread, to a pizza with Cauliflower, Asparagus, or, Pineapple, to a Pizza with all meat on. The limit does not exist when it comes to Pizza toppings at MOD.. MOD actually stands for Made On Demand. If you're more of a Salad person, then, that can be made to demand too. Want a Milkshake? Well that can be made to your personal order. Chocolate with Salted Caramel? Done! MOD's soft drink selection is a Freestyle based machine, which means that, you can custom your drink to your own liking. Love Cherries? Get a drink with all Cherry in! MOD Pizza's are £7.87 which I think is great for an eat in/takeaway pizza!
I went up to the stand and ordered everything that myself and Luke were about to eat, (okay, I went a bit over the top, but I was excited to eat Pizza), then I received a buzzer to put on our table. This meant that the order comes straight to the table!
Let's talk about drinks first, Luke got a Strawberry Milkshake, because well, he loves Strawberries and Milkshakes. I decided to go for a Chocolate Milkshake with Oreo pieces crushed up into the drink. I loved the dark contrast between the sort of rich chocolate taste with the Vanilla creaminess of the crushed up pieces of Vanilla from the Oreos. The milkshake was thick and cold, which is, everything that you want from an amazing milkshake! I also decided to get a Freestyle drink, mainly because, I have quite a dry mouth so I end up drinking like a fish. I enjoyed checking out what flavour combinations I could have, but when I found Vanilla Pepsi, I knew that I had to have it mixed with a bit of Cherry!
Onto the main star of the show, the Pizza's! Luke decided to go for the Mad Dog, as he wasn't really feeling the Create Your Own. This Pizza consists of, MOD Red Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Pepperoni, Mild Sausage, and, Ground Beef. I decided to go for a Pizza that consisted of BBQ Sauce, Mozzarella, (I was tempted to go for Lacto free due to me and Lactose not being the best of friends, but, I thought screw it), all of the meats, Red Onions, Sweetcorn and, Peppers, with a Blsamic Fig glaze drizzled on top. The base was crispy, the Cheese was gooey, the Meats tasted amazing and the crisp Vegetables went well against the cooked Meats. Y'know what the best part was? That Balsamic Fig Glaze! It was tangy, but sweet, and it just made the whole Pizza pop with taste!
Carrying on with all this food talk, we then got Cinnamon Strips. Yeah, you heard me right. Cinnamon. Strips. These were the best thing in the world. You can choose between Chocolate, Strawberry or Cinnamon Glaze to be embedded in the actual strips. I went for Chocolate but mizing the gooey in the middle, crisp on the outside strips, with, the sweet sugary Cinnamon dip was the best thing in the world. Honestly, I'm tempted to drag friends along just for those strips on their own. Mmm, I want some more right now!
Have you ever been to MOD before? If so then let me know what your favourite Pizza is? If not, then tell me what your favourite combo would be!
Check out MOD here.
Thanks for reading my food based blog post. I hope that you come back next time for another blog post.
Thanks for reading!
Jamie x
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Monday, 5 December 2016
Grabbing The Roots Of Great Food | The Potting Shed Winter Menu Tasting
Hey!
Christmas is all about Christmas jumpers, alcohol and food so when The Potting Shed in Bingley invited me to come and try out their new Winter menu, I shouted yes and hopped on the next train from Bradford to Bingley to visit The Potting Shed.
The Potting Shed are a restaurant that are influenced by all things garden-esque with their own gardens. It is the perfect place to be watered and fed in style especially with a homegrown menu that is made fresh on the day via local ingredients. The Potting Shed have a fabulous range of real ales, wines, cool creative cocktails and much more. The excellent establishment has two branches, One in Bingley and one in Beverley which you should go and check out if you can!
Myself and Luke entered Bingley and after some wandering, we found the lovely restaurant, We stepped inside and got to chat to the manager Benji who told us about everything and anything to do with The Potting Shed including their Winter Wonderland which is upstairs. The Winter Wonderland has been transformed into a lovely ski chalet inspired room and is the epitome of magnificent Christmas scenery. He then told us what was on the new menu. I ended up ordering six dishes but in my defense I was sharing them with Luke and I needed to order six to get a taste of what TPS have to offer!
We first ordered a Long Island Iced Tea as Luke wanted to try this cocktail for the first time ever and because LIIT contains a lot of alcohol and boy do I like some alcohol in a cocktail! This cocktail contains Vodka, Rum, Gin, Cointreau, Coke, Sugar and Lemon/ All of the alcohol together with the Coke worked really well together. I loved the mix of Lemon and Orange together. It was super refreshing.
The first starter was Ham Hock Dough Balls. (£4,95) This dish contained Ham, Stuffing and Mozzarella in well dough balls.I love me a good doughy ball. I love how the Ham and Stuffing was against the melting good Mozzarella and Dough ball. The Paprika Aioli that was served with it was amazing! Warming but not pretentious like some dips served with starters can be.
The second starter was Duck & Noodle Spring Roll. (£5.95) This contained Slow cooked Duck and Noddles in a Spring roll casing with salad and a hoi sin dip. I love Duck, I loved Spring Rolls. I liked the addition of noodles in the roll and I adore hoi sin dip! This and the dough balls were excellent starters to have with drinks to catch with some old friends or something like that.
Time for mains!
The first delicious main that we shared was Confit Of Duck. (£12.95) Slow cooked Duck with Sweet Potato Mash, Braised Leeks and a Redcurrant sauce. I loved the Duck but as it is a Confit there were a few bones which I had to awkwardly find a place to put them on the plate. I love Sweet Potatoes but I have never had them in mash form but I loved it! The leeks added a bit of texture and the redcurrant sauce gave it all a luxurious depth.
The Yorkshire Burrito (£10.95) This isn't any ordinary burrito, this is the Yorkshire Burrito and it contained Turkey Breast, Stuffing, Cranberry wrapped in a Yorkshire Pudding with Parsnip Fries and Salad. I love Turkey, Stuffing, Cranberry and Yorkshire Puddings so merging them all together into one is an amazing idea in my opinion, It also makes it a signature dish to TPS as I have never had this at any other restaurant before. I loved the Parsnip Fries as they gave a lovely sort of Wintry twist on fries!
Now onto pizzas! Who doesn't love a perfect pizza?!
The Ham Hock Pizza (£9.95.) Slow cooked Ham Hock, Caramelised Red Onions and Goats Cheese. I loved the contrast between the slightly sweet red onions and the tart goats cheese and then with the texture of the succulent pork. Mmm, so good! I've never had Goats Cheese before trying this pizza so I wasn't sure what to expect but I quite liked it,
The Festive Pizza (£9.95.) Roast Turkey, Stuffing, Mozzarella, Brie and herbs. I love Turkey and Stuffing on a pizza, This is actually what I have on Boxing Day. Myself and Luke aren't massive fans of Brie so we asked for it without which I loved. (Sorry, Brie.)
To go along with the pizza's, I had a Honey and Mint Julep which contains Jack Daniels Honey, Mint and Sugar. I have not had Jack Daniels Honey before but I absolutely loved it. Sweet but refreshing. I could've drunk a lot more of these! Sadly. myself and Luke didn't finish our pizzas but the lovely staff member Naomi boxed them up for us which is lovely. Thank you Naomi!
So, there you go, thats most of the Winter Menu from The Potting Shed. There is a few other dishes but I was already very full from the dishes that I ordered so I don't think I would have been able to handle any more fabulous food. Do go check them out!
Do you like the sound of any of the dishes or drinks that have been mentioned above? Let me know down below!
Thanks to The Potting Shed staff for having me and Luke come and review the Bingley restaurant. Amazing staff!
I hope that you have enjoyed the content and photography within this post and I hope that you come back and read the next post.
Thanks for reading!
Jamie x
This review was paid for via the PR. All views and opinions are my own.
Christmas is all about Christmas jumpers, alcohol and food so when The Potting Shed in Bingley invited me to come and try out their new Winter menu, I shouted yes and hopped on the next train from Bradford to Bingley to visit The Potting Shed.
The Potting Shed are a restaurant that are influenced by all things garden-esque with their own gardens. It is the perfect place to be watered and fed in style especially with a homegrown menu that is made fresh on the day via local ingredients. The Potting Shed have a fabulous range of real ales, wines, cool creative cocktails and much more. The excellent establishment has two branches, One in Bingley and one in Beverley which you should go and check out if you can!
Myself and Luke entered Bingley and after some wandering, we found the lovely restaurant, We stepped inside and got to chat to the manager Benji who told us about everything and anything to do with The Potting Shed including their Winter Wonderland which is upstairs. The Winter Wonderland has been transformed into a lovely ski chalet inspired room and is the epitome of magnificent Christmas scenery. He then told us what was on the new menu. I ended up ordering six dishes but in my defense I was sharing them with Luke and I needed to order six to get a taste of what TPS have to offer!
We first ordered a Long Island Iced Tea as Luke wanted to try this cocktail for the first time ever and because LIIT contains a lot of alcohol and boy do I like some alcohol in a cocktail! This cocktail contains Vodka, Rum, Gin, Cointreau, Coke, Sugar and Lemon/ All of the alcohol together with the Coke worked really well together. I loved the mix of Lemon and Orange together. It was super refreshing.
The first starter was Ham Hock Dough Balls. (£4,95) This dish contained Ham, Stuffing and Mozzarella in well dough balls.I love me a good doughy ball. I love how the Ham and Stuffing was against the melting good Mozzarella and Dough ball. The Paprika Aioli that was served with it was amazing! Warming but not pretentious like some dips served with starters can be.
The second starter was Duck & Noodle Spring Roll. (£5.95) This contained Slow cooked Duck and Noddles in a Spring roll casing with salad and a hoi sin dip. I love Duck, I loved Spring Rolls. I liked the addition of noodles in the roll and I adore hoi sin dip! This and the dough balls were excellent starters to have with drinks to catch with some old friends or something like that.
Time for mains!
The first delicious main that we shared was Confit Of Duck. (£12.95) Slow cooked Duck with Sweet Potato Mash, Braised Leeks and a Redcurrant sauce. I loved the Duck but as it is a Confit there were a few bones which I had to awkwardly find a place to put them on the plate. I love Sweet Potatoes but I have never had them in mash form but I loved it! The leeks added a bit of texture and the redcurrant sauce gave it all a luxurious depth.
The Yorkshire Burrito (£10.95) This isn't any ordinary burrito, this is the Yorkshire Burrito and it contained Turkey Breast, Stuffing, Cranberry wrapped in a Yorkshire Pudding with Parsnip Fries and Salad. I love Turkey, Stuffing, Cranberry and Yorkshire Puddings so merging them all together into one is an amazing idea in my opinion, It also makes it a signature dish to TPS as I have never had this at any other restaurant before. I loved the Parsnip Fries as they gave a lovely sort of Wintry twist on fries!
Now onto pizzas! Who doesn't love a perfect pizza?!
The Ham Hock Pizza (£9.95.) Slow cooked Ham Hock, Caramelised Red Onions and Goats Cheese. I loved the contrast between the slightly sweet red onions and the tart goats cheese and then with the texture of the succulent pork. Mmm, so good! I've never had Goats Cheese before trying this pizza so I wasn't sure what to expect but I quite liked it,
The Festive Pizza (£9.95.) Roast Turkey, Stuffing, Mozzarella, Brie and herbs. I love Turkey and Stuffing on a pizza, This is actually what I have on Boxing Day. Myself and Luke aren't massive fans of Brie so we asked for it without which I loved. (Sorry, Brie.)
To go along with the pizza's, I had a Honey and Mint Julep which contains Jack Daniels Honey, Mint and Sugar. I have not had Jack Daniels Honey before but I absolutely loved it. Sweet but refreshing. I could've drunk a lot more of these! Sadly. myself and Luke didn't finish our pizzas but the lovely staff member Naomi boxed them up for us which is lovely. Thank you Naomi!
So, there you go, thats most of the Winter Menu from The Potting Shed. There is a few other dishes but I was already very full from the dishes that I ordered so I don't think I would have been able to handle any more fabulous food. Do go check them out!
Do you like the sound of any of the dishes or drinks that have been mentioned above? Let me know down below!
Thanks to The Potting Shed staff for having me and Luke come and review the Bingley restaurant. Amazing staff!
I hope that you have enjoyed the content and photography within this post and I hope that you come back and read the next post.
Thanks for reading!
Jamie x
This review was paid for via the PR. All views and opinions are my own.
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Monday, 21 November 2016
A Platter On A Plate | Food Roundup
Hey!
I love food and thanks to blogging, I get to review and talk about some amazing places that serve delicious food so I thought that today I would group them all together and tell you about three amazing food establishments.
The first one is Friends Of Ham.
Friends Of Ham opened up on New Station Street which is inbetween the Train Station and Trinity Leeds in July 2012. FOH started out as a tiny ground floor bar with a 'secret' basement which grew in 2014 as they bought next door and made the establishment bigger to serve more customers. FOH are based on serving you good meat,cheese, beer and wine to the people of Leeds.
We were invited to an event that celebrated Leeds International Beer Festival which meant that we got to try some amazing beers that complimented dishes such as Marcella with Paprika Potatoes and a fried Quails Egg and Chocolate and Raspberry Brownie with Chantilly Cream which was delicious! Myself, Luke and Michelle had a blast of time enjoying the different drinks and food and I think that Friends Of Ham is a great place to go when you want somewhere to meet up with friends or for when you want to go on a casual date with someone! Definitely take someone there if they love cheese, meat, beer or wine!
Michelle took the pictures for this event. Click on her name to go to her website to check out her other photos.
The second place isEpicure.
Epicure is a bar near the University Of Huddersfield and serves dishes that contain local things such as Cheeses or Meat and are well known for their selections of Gin. They are also known for their quirky meal names and is definitely worth a visit if you live or visit Huddersfield regularly.
I dragged myself and Luke there and sampled some of the food, I had a Grumpy Goat Burger with Sweet Potato Fries and Luke had a different burger with a similar quirky name. I loved the contrast of spice and sweet within the burger and I loved how crispy the Sweet Potato Fries were. We were going to get dessert but we were stuffed and we had to get the taxi to the station and then the train home but I would definitely take a good couple of friends there for a delicious dinner and a good natter.
Last stop on the food train is MOD Pizza.
MOD Pizza is an American based company that set up in shop in England earlier this year. They are slowly creating more stores within England such as one within London. They create great tasting pizza's that you can create/customise to your liking. They also create amazing thick creamy milkshakes with mix ins such as Oreo'and Mint Choc Chip.
This week, Mod are are celebrating Spreading MOD which is where they will be donating £1 from every pizza sold and giving it to charity which is an amazing concept in my opinion as it's nice to see brands giving back! The Leeds store are donating their funds to Cash For Kids so if you're from near Leeds then I urge you to go to MOD Pizza to try out their food and to help a good cause!
Have you checked out these places? Let me know down below!
I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post and I hope that you have drooled over some of the food photos in this post. Come back next time for another blog post about some amazing things!
Thanks!
Jamie x
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| Chocolate & Raspberry Brownie with Chantilly Cream |
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| A lot of beer. |
Monday, 14 November 2016
Buon Appetito! | Gusto Cookridge Menu Tasting
Hey!
I was invited to try out Gusto's new menu a while ago and I thought that I would finally talk to you guys about it.
Before visiting Gusto Cookridge, I had never visited a Gusto before which meant that I wasn't fully sure on what to expect when entering the establishment. Myself and Luke finally got to the building after an entertaining Uber ride and entered Gusto Cookridge in a rushed haze to find out that we were the first ones there... (Ah well!)
We were offered a drink and I went yes straight away as I drink like a fish. The wonderful staff at Gusto Cookridge served myself and Luke a Peach and Passion Fruit Daiquiri which contained Bacardi, Peach Liqueur, Fresh Passion Fruit, Lime Juice and Gomme. I loved it. I love Passion Fruit and things like that and it just screamed Summer on a Winter's night!
The starters then arrived. There were things like a meat and cheeseboard and other things but the favourite starter for myself was the Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad. It was different but so delicious. I know that people think that salads are either just a side dish or are meant for Summer but they can be so versatile and can be carried on into the Winter months using seasonal produce.
The next round of food was all about Pizza and Pasta as Gusto's main influence is Italian food. I loved all of the dishes but if I had to choose a favourite Pasta and Pizza then I would choose the Seafood Linguine and the Florentina Pizza. I love anything that has seafood in and I love pasta so a Seafood Tagliatelie is an amazing dish in my eyes. The Florentina Pizza tasted delicious. It had an egg baked into the middle of it which sounds weird but it was so good and I will have to devour a Florentina Pizza again within the future.
Mains time! I loved all of them! The fish dish which was a Fillet of Cod was lovely. It has so much texture going on just from the fish. I loved it but I think my favourite main would have to be the Fillet of Pork Saltimbocca. It was served with Sage and Tuscan Ham with some marvellous mash and Marsala sauce. I loved the soft texture of the Pork against the slightly thicker texture of the Tuscan Ham. The mash was smooth and delicious.
I then ordered another drink. This time it was a Raspberry and Rosemary Sling. This contained Monkey Shoulder Whisky, Disaronno, Chambord, Rosemary, Apple Juice and Lemon Juice, It was so refreshing but the Rosemary gave it a bit of depth.
Last but not least, it was time for desserts. Basil and Mint Pannacotta with a Plum Compote & Vanilla Cheesecake with Cherries. I'm not the biggest fan of pannacottas due to the texture of them but the Plum compote was so Autumnal and warm. The cheesecake was delicious and the Cherries cut through the richness of it.
That was everything. It was time to go so we said our goodbyes and ordered an Uber back to the train station.
Have you ever been to Gusto? Let me know down below.
Did you enjoy this post about Gusto Cookridge? I hope that you come back next time for another post.
Thanks!
Jamie x
I was invited to try out Gusto's new menu a while ago and I thought that I would finally talk to you guys about it.
Before visiting Gusto Cookridge, I had never visited a Gusto before which meant that I wasn't fully sure on what to expect when entering the establishment. Myself and Luke finally got to the building after an entertaining Uber ride and entered Gusto Cookridge in a rushed haze to find out that we were the first ones there... (Ah well!)
We were offered a drink and I went yes straight away as I drink like a fish. The wonderful staff at Gusto Cookridge served myself and Luke a Peach and Passion Fruit Daiquiri which contained Bacardi, Peach Liqueur, Fresh Passion Fruit, Lime Juice and Gomme. I loved it. I love Passion Fruit and things like that and it just screamed Summer on a Winter's night!
![]() |
| Peach & Passion Fruit Daiquiri |
The starters then arrived. There were things like a meat and cheeseboard and other things but the favourite starter for myself was the Roasted Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad. It was different but so delicious. I know that people think that salads are either just a side dish or are meant for Summer but they can be so versatile and can be carried on into the Winter months using seasonal produce.
The next round of food was all about Pizza and Pasta as Gusto's main influence is Italian food. I loved all of the dishes but if I had to choose a favourite Pasta and Pizza then I would choose the Seafood Linguine and the Florentina Pizza. I love anything that has seafood in and I love pasta so a Seafood Tagliatelie is an amazing dish in my eyes. The Florentina Pizza tasted delicious. It had an egg baked into the middle of it which sounds weird but it was so good and I will have to devour a Florentina Pizza again within the future.
![]() |
| Florentina Pizza |
Mains time! I loved all of them! The fish dish which was a Fillet of Cod was lovely. It has so much texture going on just from the fish. I loved it but I think my favourite main would have to be the Fillet of Pork Saltimbocca. It was served with Sage and Tuscan Ham with some marvellous mash and Marsala sauce. I loved the soft texture of the Pork against the slightly thicker texture of the Tuscan Ham. The mash was smooth and delicious.
I then ordered another drink. This time it was a Raspberry and Rosemary Sling. This contained Monkey Shoulder Whisky, Disaronno, Chambord, Rosemary, Apple Juice and Lemon Juice, It was so refreshing but the Rosemary gave it a bit of depth.
Last but not least, it was time for desserts. Basil and Mint Pannacotta with a Plum Compote & Vanilla Cheesecake with Cherries. I'm not the biggest fan of pannacottas due to the texture of them but the Plum compote was so Autumnal and warm. The cheesecake was delicious and the Cherries cut through the richness of it.
That was everything. It was time to go so we said our goodbyes and ordered an Uber back to the train station.
Have you ever been to Gusto? Let me know down below.
Did you enjoy this post about Gusto Cookridge? I hope that you come back next time for another post.
Thanks!
Jamie x
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Wednesday, 15 June 2016
Creating The Ultimate Pizza | MOD Pizza Cardigan Fields Review
Hey,
So like every other restaurant tasting, this one started with myself and Luke getting the train into Leeds. We decided to then get a train to Burley Park and then an Uber to MOD Pizza as I sometimes have a bit of difficulty locating where things are if I have never been there before so it just seemed easier to finally use Uber and get there quickly and safely.
Once we got to our destination, we were greeted by a great guy outside, we had a little discussion about things such as Disney and then we made our way inside. We were greeted by a host and the great guys behind the guys behind the counter which is an amazing feature in my opinion. It just makes the whole place feel more welcoming compared to any sort of Pizza place where you feel a bit uncomfortable because they write the food down, bring the food and thats it.
MOD Pizza is a pizza company that originally started within Seattle just like the very well known Starbucks did... MOD actually stands for Made On Demand and sums up the company very well because thats the concept of the pizzas. They're made on demand of yourself so you can have your pizza however you like it. At the same time of making the pizzas personalised, MOD wanted to make them affordable so families could come and enjoy a pizza and have a great time therefore all pizzas are £7.77 (I think... I know that they are £7 something.) You can even get them ordered which is amazing in my opinion. They have only just set up shot within UK via coming straight to Leeds but they will soon be setting up Brighton. I'm honestly expecting MOD Pizza to take the UK by storm.
We were then greeted by a woman called Celise who told us all about MOD Pizza and basically told me what I have told you above but in a bit more detail. We then chose a table, the manager of the new Leeds store then came up and said hi to us and then told me that I had somehow chosen the only dirty table in the restaurant and then cleaned it straightaway. I mean I chose there because there was a massive window behind me therefore any pictures would have a good chunk of natural lighting but hey ho I pick good tables!
We then discussed what we wanted because there is quite a lot of choice at MOD. Luke finally decided on a Caspian pizza but wanted one of the things changing (thats the great thing about MOD, you can have one of their already combo'd pizzas and change something if you don't like it or build your own) and I decided that I would build my own! Celise then asked if I wanted any milkshakes as I was browsing the milkshake board. I decided to go for an Oreo one as I love Oreos and I chose a Strawberry one for Luke.
When you go up to order your pizza, you are presented with a Subway sort of counter where you tell the person how many pizza's you want etc and then if you want to build your own etc, they write your name down and you move along to create your own pizzas etc. You're presented with sauce, cheese, meat, vegetables and extras. I went for a tomato sauce base because I wanted to let the toppings do all of the talking. I then went for lactose free cheese because I wanted to see what the cheese was like and because well me and lactose don't get on sometimes to put it politely. I then decided to choose Grilled Chicken, Bacon and Chorizo... I love Chicken, I love the crispiness of Bacon and I love the heat of Chorizo! I then decided to go for Roasted Red Peppers, Roasted Red Onion and Pineapple and then topped it off with Roasted Cauliflower and Asparagus. Yes, you read right! I also got some Garlic Strips with Ranch Sauce because I love garlic bread and Ranch sauce!
The Garlic Strips came out first. They were amazing. They were topped with Parmesan which made them slightly salty but it was nice in contrast to strong Garlic. The garlic was pretty strong but I love it when Garlic Bread is extra Garlicky. I'm not sure why but I really do so it was amazing. The base was crispy on the edges but soft and served quite well as a starter/side. The Ranch sauce was to die for. It was slightly tart which cut through all of the garlic. The dip was also quite cool which contrasted really well with the hot temperature of the strips and made it quite refreshing to eat. If I was with a lot of friends then I'd order some drinks and a couple of these and just chat away. These get a 9.5/10. The only problem is that I had to share them!
The drinks then came. They were amazing. If you go onto over to Luke's post (I'll link when its live) then you'll be able to find out more about the Strawberry milkshake! I had a little sip and I loved it and I'm not a fan of Strawberry flavoured milkshakes. The Oreo one was too die for! I love Oreos! Sometimes when you ask for an Oreo Milkshake they just sprinkle some oreo crumbs on top but this one had Oreo running all the way through it and as it had a Vanilla base it literally tasted like the cream and biscuit bit of an Oreo. I mean my stomach doesn't agree that much with dairy but oh my god I would have these again and again and suffer the consequences. 9.7/10. Anything Oreo based could always do with more Oreo added... There's never too much Oreo!
Luke's pizza came out and I had a slice because well it would be rude not to... I did go up and order it and I did make an adjustment to it (removing Blue Cheese and adding Bacon) so I wanted to see if my adjustments were a good move and they were! It was so good! The Chicken, Bacon and Onion together were just amazing and that BBQ swirl made it a tad messy but definitely worth it. I mean you might want to have a few napkins at hand for when eating this. 9.5/10. If you want to read a more in depth post about the Caspian pizza then go and read Luke's post.
My pizza came out! It was delectable! The base was soft in the middle but crunchy on the edges, you couldn't tell the difference in the taste of Cheese from the Mozzarella to the Lacto Free. The succulent Chicken against the crispy Bacon was so good and then the heat from the Chorizo came afterwards. It was a gentle heat which was quite nice! I love Pineapple on a pizza mainly because I love Pineapple. It worked well against the saltiness of the Bacon! The roasted peppers and onions added a bit of softness to the dish which was different. The Roasted Cauliflower was also slightly different. I would never think to put Cauliflower on a pizza but it really worked. It added a slight sweetness and again added that bit of softness to the crunchy Italian dish. The Asparagus added a bit of crunch. All in all a great pizza! 9.8/10. I like to not give anything a bang on 10 because theres always things that can be tweaked with.
I then had one of their homemade drinks. Celise was telling me all about how she had made the Strawberry Lemonade so I decided to go with that whilst Luke went for a Traditional Lemonade. The Strawberry Lemonade tasted like Pink Lemonade Lucozade but more zingy. You could tell that it had been homemade and that it was made with love. It just tasted like Summer within a drink! 9.8/10.
All in all, MOD Pizza serves delicious food and drink at a great price. The restaurant has a great vibe especially with the staff shouting hi and bye when you enter/go. I will definitely be coming back to have more pizza and a good few more drinks. (They also have a Coke shots machine so you can have unlimited drinks which is great for when its really warm or if you've got young ones coming along.)
If you haven't been to MOD Pizza within Cardigan Fields within Leeds then I would urge you to go straight away because it is completely worth it!
I hope that you have enjoyed this post! If you were to make your own ultimate pizza then what would be on it? Let me know down below!
Jamie x
So like every other restaurant tasting, this one started with myself and Luke getting the train into Leeds. We decided to then get a train to Burley Park and then an Uber to MOD Pizza as I sometimes have a bit of difficulty locating where things are if I have never been there before so it just seemed easier to finally use Uber and get there quickly and safely.
Once we got to our destination, we were greeted by a great guy outside, we had a little discussion about things such as Disney and then we made our way inside. We were greeted by a host and the great guys behind the guys behind the counter which is an amazing feature in my opinion. It just makes the whole place feel more welcoming compared to any sort of Pizza place where you feel a bit uncomfortable because they write the food down, bring the food and thats it.
MOD Pizza is a pizza company that originally started within Seattle just like the very well known Starbucks did... MOD actually stands for Made On Demand and sums up the company very well because thats the concept of the pizzas. They're made on demand of yourself so you can have your pizza however you like it. At the same time of making the pizzas personalised, MOD wanted to make them affordable so families could come and enjoy a pizza and have a great time therefore all pizzas are £7.77 (I think... I know that they are £7 something.) You can even get them ordered which is amazing in my opinion. They have only just set up shot within UK via coming straight to Leeds but they will soon be setting up Brighton. I'm honestly expecting MOD Pizza to take the UK by storm.
We were then greeted by a woman called Celise who told us all about MOD Pizza and basically told me what I have told you above but in a bit more detail. We then chose a table, the manager of the new Leeds store then came up and said hi to us and then told me that I had somehow chosen the only dirty table in the restaurant and then cleaned it straightaway. I mean I chose there because there was a massive window behind me therefore any pictures would have a good chunk of natural lighting but hey ho I pick good tables!
We then discussed what we wanted because there is quite a lot of choice at MOD. Luke finally decided on a Caspian pizza but wanted one of the things changing (thats the great thing about MOD, you can have one of their already combo'd pizzas and change something if you don't like it or build your own) and I decided that I would build my own! Celise then asked if I wanted any milkshakes as I was browsing the milkshake board. I decided to go for an Oreo one as I love Oreos and I chose a Strawberry one for Luke.
When you go up to order your pizza, you are presented with a Subway sort of counter where you tell the person how many pizza's you want etc and then if you want to build your own etc, they write your name down and you move along to create your own pizzas etc. You're presented with sauce, cheese, meat, vegetables and extras. I went for a tomato sauce base because I wanted to let the toppings do all of the talking. I then went for lactose free cheese because I wanted to see what the cheese was like and because well me and lactose don't get on sometimes to put it politely. I then decided to choose Grilled Chicken, Bacon and Chorizo... I love Chicken, I love the crispiness of Bacon and I love the heat of Chorizo! I then decided to go for Roasted Red Peppers, Roasted Red Onion and Pineapple and then topped it off with Roasted Cauliflower and Asparagus. Yes, you read right! I also got some Garlic Strips with Ranch Sauce because I love garlic bread and Ranch sauce!
| Making of pizza |
The Garlic Strips came out first. They were amazing. They were topped with Parmesan which made them slightly salty but it was nice in contrast to strong Garlic. The garlic was pretty strong but I love it when Garlic Bread is extra Garlicky. I'm not sure why but I really do so it was amazing. The base was crispy on the edges but soft and served quite well as a starter/side. The Ranch sauce was to die for. It was slightly tart which cut through all of the garlic. The dip was also quite cool which contrasted really well with the hot temperature of the strips and made it quite refreshing to eat. If I was with a lot of friends then I'd order some drinks and a couple of these and just chat away. These get a 9.5/10. The only problem is that I had to share them!
The drinks then came. They were amazing. If you go onto over to Luke's post (I'll link when its live) then you'll be able to find out more about the Strawberry milkshake! I had a little sip and I loved it and I'm not a fan of Strawberry flavoured milkshakes. The Oreo one was too die for! I love Oreos! Sometimes when you ask for an Oreo Milkshake they just sprinkle some oreo crumbs on top but this one had Oreo running all the way through it and as it had a Vanilla base it literally tasted like the cream and biscuit bit of an Oreo. I mean my stomach doesn't agree that much with dairy but oh my god I would have these again and again and suffer the consequences. 9.7/10. Anything Oreo based could always do with more Oreo added... There's never too much Oreo!
Luke's pizza came out and I had a slice because well it would be rude not to... I did go up and order it and I did make an adjustment to it (removing Blue Cheese and adding Bacon) so I wanted to see if my adjustments were a good move and they were! It was so good! The Chicken, Bacon and Onion together were just amazing and that BBQ swirl made it a tad messy but definitely worth it. I mean you might want to have a few napkins at hand for when eating this. 9.5/10. If you want to read a more in depth post about the Caspian pizza then go and read Luke's post.
My pizza came out! It was delectable! The base was soft in the middle but crunchy on the edges, you couldn't tell the difference in the taste of Cheese from the Mozzarella to the Lacto Free. The succulent Chicken against the crispy Bacon was so good and then the heat from the Chorizo came afterwards. It was a gentle heat which was quite nice! I love Pineapple on a pizza mainly because I love Pineapple. It worked well against the saltiness of the Bacon! The roasted peppers and onions added a bit of softness to the dish which was different. The Roasted Cauliflower was also slightly different. I would never think to put Cauliflower on a pizza but it really worked. It added a slight sweetness and again added that bit of softness to the crunchy Italian dish. The Asparagus added a bit of crunch. All in all a great pizza! 9.8/10. I like to not give anything a bang on 10 because theres always things that can be tweaked with.
I then had one of their homemade drinks. Celise was telling me all about how she had made the Strawberry Lemonade so I decided to go with that whilst Luke went for a Traditional Lemonade. The Strawberry Lemonade tasted like Pink Lemonade Lucozade but more zingy. You could tell that it had been homemade and that it was made with love. It just tasted like Summer within a drink! 9.8/10.
All in all, MOD Pizza serves delicious food and drink at a great price. The restaurant has a great vibe especially with the staff shouting hi and bye when you enter/go. I will definitely be coming back to have more pizza and a good few more drinks. (They also have a Coke shots machine so you can have unlimited drinks which is great for when its really warm or if you've got young ones coming along.)
If you haven't been to MOD Pizza within Cardigan Fields within Leeds then I would urge you to go straight away because it is completely worth it!
I hope that you have enjoyed this post! If you were to make your own ultimate pizza then what would be on it? Let me know down below!
Jamie x
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Saturday, 30 January 2016
How To Do Valentines Day As A Single Person
Meow!
Okay so I know that it is a bit early to be even mentioning the dreaded VD words (not the disease from Friends but Valentines Day) but as I have seen a few bloggers publish their Valentines Day orientated blog posts I thought that I would publish mine a bit early. (P.S: Like a lot of my posts, the photos aren't mine but I shall link their source in the caption...)
Alcohol:
The first thing that any single person needs on Valentines Day is alcohol. I am not going to say a specific type of alcohol as everyone has different preferences but make sure you have a good few bottles of your favourite alcoholic drink as you can drink your thoughts/feelings away throughout the day and then at midnight you can always drunk dial your ex yelling at them telling them what they have missed out on...
Netflix/Films/Box Sets:
We all need Netflix or some sort of digital entertainment on Valentines Day whether that is watching whilst 'chilling' with someone or bingewatch multiple TV series on your own within one day. It's a great way to spend the day and also you can live vicariously through a characters relationship... (I'm into living vicariously via Connor Walsh's relationship on How To Get Away With Murder/any of the relationships on Pretty Little Liars...)
Ice Cream:
We all need Ice cream when watching something. You can either think that the ice cream is your ex's heart and then scoop it out viciously or let it melt until it is just liquid and just add some of your alcohol to it and drink it as a cocktail...
Pizza:
We need something carb heavy to soak up all that alcohol... Pizza is also the ultimate food to eat whilst watching something as you can just pick it up and smoosh it into your mouth. You can also make it into a heart shape before baking or you can always just ask whoever you're ordering from to make into a heart shape then you can imagine its someone that you hate and then break their heart into many different pieces...
Bath Products:
Bath products always make me feel that little bit more relaxed so you can have one then when you get out and check Facebook/other Social Media you won't be tempted to throw your phone at a wall because of all the lovey dovey stuff on your screen...
Chocolate:
This is an obvious one. There is thousands of offers on chocolate within the Valentines Day period so you might as well as get them when they're on a discount... You can also play Chocolate Roulette where you pick a chocolate at random and hope for the best flavourwise...
I hope that you have enjoyed this little guide to doing valentines day as a single person. I hope that you have a fun Valentines Day whether you're single, in a relationship, friends with benefits etc. I hope to see you next time for another blog post!
Meow!
Jamie x
![]() |
| http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/02/papa-johns-heart-shaped-valentines-pizza.html |
Alcohol:
![]() |
| http://www.talktofrank.com/drug/alcohol |
The first thing that any single person needs on Valentines Day is alcohol. I am not going to say a specific type of alcohol as everyone has different preferences but make sure you have a good few bottles of your favourite alcoholic drink as you can drink your thoughts/feelings away throughout the day and then at midnight you can always drunk dial your ex yelling at them telling them what they have missed out on...
Netflix/Films/Box Sets:
![]() |
| https://twitter.com/netflixhelps |
Ice Cream:
![]() |
| http://www.benjerry.co.uk/flavours |
Pizza:
![]() |
| http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/02/papa-johns-heart-shaped-valentines-pizza.html |
We need something carb heavy to soak up all that alcohol... Pizza is also the ultimate food to eat whilst watching something as you can just pick it up and smoosh it into your mouth. You can also make it into a heart shape before baking or you can always just ask whoever you're ordering from to make into a heart shape then you can imagine its someone that you hate and then break their heart into many different pieces...
Bath Products:
Bath products always make me feel that little bit more relaxed so you can have one then when you get out and check Facebook/other Social Media you won't be tempted to throw your phone at a wall because of all the lovey dovey stuff on your screen...
Chocolate:
![]() |
| http://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/shop/collections/products/luxury-boxed-chocolates |
This is an obvious one. There is thousands of offers on chocolate within the Valentines Day period so you might as well as get them when they're on a discount... You can also play Chocolate Roulette where you pick a chocolate at random and hope for the best flavourwise...
I hope that you have enjoyed this little guide to doing valentines day as a single person. I hope that you have a fun Valentines Day whether you're single, in a relationship, friends with benefits etc. I hope to see you next time for another blog post!
Meow!
Jamie x
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