Pho 68 Review

I had a day off work today so decided to go for lunch somewhere as on my days off the last thing I want to do is cook!

I actually was planning on going to wasabisabi but its closed from 2:30 til 5:30 and it was just after 3 o clock so I walked a bit further down the road and came to pho 68. I've visited here before once on valentine's day and it was delicious and fresh so I was looking forward to it. They have a lunchtime deal on where you can get a drink, a main and dessert for £5.50 which sounds good so I go inside.

Its lovely inside, light green and white with photos and many lights. I sit in the window and there is two other tables in but pretty soon after I get my food they leave and I have the whole place to myself.

I choose honey ribs and aubergine and tofu in black bean sauce, honey ribs being one of my favourite dishes and the aubergine dish is one I had a few times whilst in china and was curious to whether or not it would be similar to this. I also order some plain rice and tap water.

There's free prawn crackers which I am not really that bothered about but they are crunchy and fresh which is good because they haven't been sitting out all day!

My ribs arrive and they look lovely, I attempt to eat them with my chopsticks which proves a challenge and the waiter who must have noticed my struggle brings out a bowl of water with lemon slices so I can use my fingers and wash them afterwards. I get stuck in to the ribs - quite literally they are very sticky with a rich caramel sauce that coated my teeth but in a good way, and tender pork within. I leave three which the waiter kindly puts in a little takeaway box for me.

My main arrives and the smell instantly reminds me of china and the waiter scoops some of the rice out of its little wooden holder into my bowl. I realise the honey coating from the ribs is now set hard around my chopsticks and try to lick it off and the taste kind of reminds me of those red dummy shaped lollipops you get sometimes when you are young on the beach.

I try the aubergine and its so good, silky slices of aubergine with crunchy green pepper and spongy tofu all in a rich dark sauce with spring onions, fresh coriander and those delicious salty black beans. The rice is perfectly cooked too. I can't manage it all so it gets boxed up and joins my ribs which will make a lovely dinner for me tomorrow.

The bill comes to £11. Great value. I'll be back.

Yo! Sushi

I first tried sushi five years ago and really didn't enjoy it but that was back then so tonight I thought I'd give it another go to see if my taste buds have changed.
My friend invited me along to Yo! sushi in meadowhall and I have to admit, I was pretty excited about the idea of just picking your food from a conveyor belt full of different dishes.
My friend warns me that its very easy to get carried away and just keep eating and get a nasty shock when the bill arrives and its £60!

For anyone who has never been the way it works is there are six different colour plates, each is a different price from £1.70 to £5.00 and you just pick the ones you like the look of off the conveyor belt or choose hot dishes from the menu. The waitress counts up your empty plates at the end to work out your bill.

We try many different dishes, its a great place to go if you love to share your food which I do.
I think we tried about 15 different plates all of which I won't list on here but my favourites were the spicy chicken, crispy salmon skin roll, spicy pepper squid, chicken gyoza and the crunchy prawn.
I'm not such a big fan of the thick pieces of raw fish which is why I was pleased to see that they had so many other dishes to offer.

The food was delicious. Theres pickled ginger and wasabi for free as well as your own tap for still or sparkling water so you can help yourself to these, theres also a button for you to call the waiting staff with.
I have rediscovered sushi and Japanese food and I am a fan, such fresh clean flavours that leave you satisfied but not bloated. Hard to believe its a chain restaurant.

I had a voucher for a third off for registering on the website and our bill for three of us came to just under £40!
So if you are in meadowhall be sure to give this place a try for something different, fun and delicious.

Fagans...

...The best full English in Sheffield?

My friend recommended this place to me for their full English breakfasts so I had to go try it.
We step inside and its very cosy. A traditional pub with friendly chatty staff, old photographs on the walls, newspapers, fireplace and dixie chicks quietly playing on the cd player.

The blackboard menu has some very tasty food at great prices most of which are 5.50 including ploughmans lunch, monkfish in bacon and a very impressive looking steak pie that I caught a glimpse of someone eating.
The most expensive item is the rib eye steak at 8.50 now that aint bad at all!

We both order the English breakfast and I decide against chips which I'm sure would have been lovely but a bit too much.
I also order a mug of tea and an orange juice.

The food arrives and its wonderful. A salty tasty mushroom, smoked bacon, proper porky sausages with sage, a grilled tomato, lovely beans, rich, peppery black pudding, brown bread toasted AND fried and a perfectly cooked egg to top it all off.

It was exactly how all full English breakfasts should be, home made and delicious!
I couldn't manage all of it and after stuffing myself I was ready for a kip.
I wish this place wasn't so out of town because it has a lovely selection of ales and ciders too as well as being so welcoming and comfortable but this definitely won't be my last visit.

Hong Kong Wok

I noticed this new place now open where the Vietnamese noodle bar used to be on London road and thought I'd give it a try.
The inside is nicely decorated with wooden floors and a picture of what I'm guessing is the honk kong skyline.

The prices are average and the menu is pretty much identical to the noodle inn which is a few doors down so I go for what I always choose when dining at the noodle inn which is honey ribs.

I also choose aubergine tempura and my friend chooses chicken with crispy fried noodles.
The food arrives pretty quickly and the ribs are a disappointment, not as good as the ones from noodle inn.
The meat isn't as soft and there isn't as much of it.
My friend however, really likes them.
The aubergine tempura is really tasty, very light, crispy batter encasing a soft fluffy slice of aubergine served with a delicious black bean dip.

The chicken is very bland with no sauce just a few vegetables for company sitting on a bed of plain noodles which quickly go soggy from the juices. So a bit of a disappointment there with the exception of the aubergine which was lovely, don't think I'll be going here again.

Gluten Free Cherry and Almond Buns!

I haven't posted a recipe in a while so thought I'd give one for these delicious little buns. I made them at work and a woman liked them so much and wanted the recipe as she'd never tried a gluten free cake that wasn't horrible and dry, most gluten free cakes do tend to be dry but a solution to this is adding plenty of liquid or moist fruits like I do with this one. I used fresh black cherries.

Ingredients

• 150g gluten free flour (I use doves organic)
• 100g ground almonds
• 250g butter
• 4 eggs
  
• 250g sugar
• 200g cherries
• 3 tsp g.f baking powder
  
• few tsp icing sugar
• few toasted flaked almonds
  

Method

1. Remove the stones from the cherries by giving them a little squash with a bowl or similar so the stone is easily removed (important - some juice will come out, you want to save this)
2. Cream together your butter and sugar
3. Add your eggs, mix til combined
   
4. Add the flour, baking powder and ground almonds, mix til combined
   
5. Add your cherries and give a quick mix
   
6. Spoon into cases and bake for 18 minutes at 180 degrees
7. For the icing mix the reserved cherry juice with the icing sugar to form a smooth runny paste, when buns are cool drizzle this over them and sprinkle with the toasted almonds.
8. Eat!

Sharrow Chef Of The Year

Today was the Sharrow chef of the year competition!
I've been looking forward to this as I asked to be on the judging panel (not cheffing as I'm not in sharrow) and they said they'd love to have me.
I arrived and found the organiser who introduced me to the other judge, the third judged hadn't shown up but we found a guy who would be able to help judge part of it before he had to leave to go somewhere.

The first restaurant was East & West who are my favourite Indian restaurant in Sheffield so I was looking forward to watching them cook and tasting the delicious food. The second restaurant was La Terrazza, an Italian restaurant. The other two restaurants All Siam and Cool Runnings didn't turn up unfortunately.

East and West started and it was really entertaining to watch and the guy shared many tips as he was cooking some of which I'd never heard of including rubbing an onion (cut side) against a hot pan as it will stop whatever you are cooking which was in his case a pancake from sticking.

We had a sweet minty coconut drink to start which really helped to whet my appetite and was very refreshing.
Next was the pancake (dosa ) it was not as good as I've had in the restaurant but then they are having to make do with different equipment here so that could have been why. The filling was delicious though as was the next course - Kerala king fish curry, very nicely spiced with the meaty fish's own flavours still managing to shine through.

Me and the guy who couldn't stay long both agreed the flavours were superb, very fresh and aromatic. The third judge didn't rate the food as much though so while we gave him a 9 each, the third guy gave him 8. I managed to get a copy of the tasty recipes to try at home too.

The next chefs came on and they were pretty young, my age but the head chef had been cooking for 10 years because it was his dads place and he used to help out a lot. They brought out a cake they made with ricotta and decorated with physalis which was delicious and everyone loved it.

Polenta with salmon was their main course and it looked stunning on the plate, the chef brought out a bottle of wine for the judges to wash down the meal with which I could only have a sip of as I am on antibiotics but it did taste nice and complimented the meal well.

I gave another 9, it would have been a 10 but the polenta I felt was undercooked.
The other judges loved them and gave them 10 each which made la terrazza the winners of the huge Sharrow chef of the year trophey!

I had a great time, its a shame more people didn't turn up but I'll be going again next year definitely.

Amigos Mexican Kitchen Review

Many times I've walked past what used to be Bohans Irish kitchen on London road and wondered what if anything is going to open next...but not this time as I noticed that its now Amigos, a Mexican kitchen serving traditional Mexican food, cakes and illy coffee.

Being a fan of Mexican food I just have to try this place. Luckily for me its just a few minutes away from my favourite pub as well so after a quick drink in the pub its a short walk up to Amigos to sample the food.

You may remember me mentioning the Mexican food I had at Sharrow festival which I thoroughly enjoyed, well this is the place! So I had high hopes.

The menu has classic Mexican dishes including burritos, tacos, enchiladas and nachos as well as a few cakes and some breakfast items too. Its all very reasonably priced with the most chilli con carne being one of the most expensive items at £4.25 and that's served with sour cream, rice and nachos.

I go for a roasted vegetable quesadilla whilst my friend opts for a chicken mole burrito. The food arrives and is well presented, we also get 4 dips - sour cream, guacamole, salsa and tomatillo sauce.

Without any hesitation we tuck in. I love the crunchy outside of the quesadilla and the delicious filling with the melted cheese and flavourful roasted vegetables with a hint of spice. My friend enjoys her burrito which is jam packed with tasty filling but is somehow managing not to collapse.

The tortilla crisps are also very good as are the sauces, the fresh tomato salsa being exceptionally good with its fresh coriander.
'Let me know if you want any more sauces', says the friendly waiter. We ask for another guacamole and he brings us one at no extra cost.

I have a chat with the owner and find hes been pretty busy which I'm not surprised by as Sheffield was in desperate need of a good Mexican cafe and this little place really hits the spot.
He also tells me he'll soon be doing delivery and also a lot of festivals too. We take a couple of oaty raisin biscuits each and he informs us they are made by his wife at home. All together the bill comes to £4.25 each.

Being this close to my favourite pub and on my way home from work as well as such good value this will definitely not be my last visit! Another wonderful eatery to add to the amazing selection available on London road.