Street Food Circus

Hey there!

This weekend has been about catching up with things, I've caught up on the boring house things like cleaning and washing and also blog photos and painting my nails.

I caught up with some friends on Friday night at the Street Food Circus, luckily I went to the gym straight from work so not only was I super hungry but felt like I was justified in my huge binge of food....right?

We shared a few different meals to maximise our feast, we shared a burger from Got Beef (already a huge fan of theirs and this was a great burger!) and then we went straight to Meat and Greek. I haven't ever had any food from them before but I've heard amazing things and it did not disappoint. We shared the chicken souvlaki with halloumi and it was bloody good!

Next up we shared the cod bites from Big Fish Little Fish, the fish was amazing and the chips were covered in salt and rosemary....yum! The peas and tartare sauce were also great but I did think that this was overall a bit too salty for my liking - still great though!





I finished off my feast the only way i know how. Science Cream!

It has long been a favourite of mine, and the flavours were still the same as those from when I went the week before. With the gym as a justification I ordered the big guns - the Freakshake containing peanut butter ice cream, 'jelly' sauce, marshmallow and caramel brownie.

I made the mistake in assuming it was a milkshake with some marshmallows, berry sauce and bits of brownie sprinkled on top.....it wasn't. It was a beasty milkshake with a huge amount of berry sauce at the bottom, a brownie the size of a normal dessert and where you would normally have whipped cream on a frappe, homemade veggie marshmallow!



I was really impressed with the marshmallow, I've never had anything like it and tucked into it without hesitation. The shake itself was also great and I love PB so it was a favourite, but the berry sauce and the brownie was too much overkill for me. The berry overpowered the PB flavour and the brownie was quite stodgy. In my opinion, peanut butter goes with berries, salted caramel, brownie and marshmallow....but not all at the same time!



This was all from this weeks offering, but I have also been a few weeks ago and had the ribs from Hangfire Smokehouse - utterly wonderful but definitely worth sharing unless you don't fancy eating much else! The two ribs I had were both a similar size, and that was similar to the size of my forearm. My arms aren't huge, but imagine them as ribs and that's the amount of meat I had to get through!

After this I managed to share half a pizza covered with chorizo and honey - yes that's right HONEY! It was really good and now I might just put a swirl of honey on any meat pizza I eat in future, it was yum!

The Street Food Circus is definitely worth visiting though it does make me sad that it wasn't on for longer. There are only two more weekends left for eating your body weight in delicious food so I'd recommend going asap!


L xxx

Life!

Well it has been a pretty long time since I've done a Life Update - so make a brew, take a seat and browse my recent happenings with me!

Of course, I've been stuffing my face with street food as that's generally what I like to do with my spare time. This time it was the Winter Social from Depot Cardiff and *finally* I was able to see all of the umbrellas in their glory!

How pretty are they?! I love the snowflakes hanging from them.

I shared a few different dishes with a friend and we had a Merry Cheesemas burger (Wensleydale and cranberries on a burger, yum!), Crab Flatbreads (also yummy with so much garlic) and finally a pulled pork bun with winter slaw. I was very full at this point but clearly i still had room for one of my favourites - Science Cream!

I'm not one of the biggest fans of ice cream but the offerings from Science Cream are just perfect, the ice cream is made in front of you with fresh cream and liquid nitrogen. The result is the smoothest ice cream in existence, so I chose Sticky Toffee Pudding on this occasion and it really did have hot sticky toffee pudding with it and a dollop of salted caramel sauce, so much drool.

I had to go home and lie down afterwards.

I've also been changing a few things with my look. By that I mean, I bought a new palette and got my hair cut - I'm not one for drastic measures!

The Gwen palette is outstanding, both outside and in. As expected the Urban Decay eyeshadows are the most pigmented and silky as always and the colours are beautiful. Our post is here if you'd like more info!

As for my hair, I had a fringe cut in! It's taken some getting used to - mainly as if my hair is a mess I usually just scrape it back but now i have to do something with my fringe....I've bought lots of dry shampoo to cope though!

It normally looks a bit fuller than this, I was going for the Zooey Deschanel look so I need to wait for it to get a bit messier and relaxed. I definitely like the change though!


I've also been keeping busy with papercutting, although I haven't shown much on the blog or twitter. My latest creation is for my bedroom and is a classic Paper Panda design, you should checkout her website. I've been planning on making this for an entire year so I'm pleased that I've finally got to the framing stage, now it's just time to decide where on the wall it needs to go!

I'm thinking a gallery wall which probably means that I will need to make a whole lot more before I can put anything up!

Another paper related hobby I've been getting into is colouring. I have a fair few books now but you always need a few topics to keep you interested. The Harry Potter one is a current favourite, though it is taking me forever to complete each page.

Lastly I've been on a real health kick the last few weeks. I'm really missing having more control over my diet and exercise, and the thought of Christmas eating filled me with dread. That and if I indulge too early I will unfortunately make myself ill, so I need to control myself and then I can enjoy Christmas Day itself.

So I've been roasting loads of veg and making cous cous with soy sauce in batch. I then pair this with tuna, chicken or feta cheese for my lunches so with a good breakfast and this for my lunch I knew I wasn't going too wrong.

I've also been trying to exercise as often as possible. M gave me her spare 30 Day Shred DVD so I've been doing it as often as I can. 20 minutes is not much to ask and I know I have at least that to dedicate to myself every day and keep my eating in check. It's haaaaaaaaaaaaaard work don't get me wrong, but I've decided to just get stuck in and not wait until January to make changes.

In an effort to try more healthy recipes I have also finally made Cauliflower Pizza!

It was a really long process to make, not only to grate the cauliflower but to dry fry it for 15 mins and then bake it for 40 mins before even adding the topping........I was starving!

It did really taste like a pizza though so I was impressed, I just wouldn't make this for myself on my own and would probably just save myself for a real pizza!

It's been such a busy few months and I'm looking forward to a few days off over Christmas with my family. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

L xxx

Science Cream

Hey Guys

With us being scientists as soon as we heard there was an ice cream shop called Science Cream we were instantly intrigued. Science Cream is based in Castle Arcade off of St Mary Street. The arcades in Cardiff are full of amazing little unique shops and cafes (We were eyeing up Madame Fromage for a tasty lunch stop soon!).

Science Cream is an amazing concept that freshly makes ice cream per individual order. They do this by adding liquid nitrogen to kitchen aids which instantly freezes it! How amazing is that. Because it's frozen so quickly by the liquid nitrogen it makes creamy ice cream with fewer particles of ice!

As soon as we walked in we loved it. The guys behind the counter were in lab coats, the ice cream mixers were in conical flasks and utensils were held in beakers. The geeks in us were happy.

There is a big board up behind the counter advertising the days flavours, toppings and sauces. They also have gluten and dairy free options on the menu as well as vegan choices! It seems there is a kitchen aid for eat flavour as well with it's own utensils so there is no worry about mixing them up.

L opted for a salted caramel ice cream with salted caramel sauce and homemade brittle. I was fancying something black forest eqsue and couldn't resist the malted ice cream with chocolate and raspberry sauce and meringue

Here is our ice cream being made as we wait just after the liquid nitrogen has been poured in.

We both opted for Moroccan mint teas to accompany our ice cream. I was happy to see it was loose leaf as I'm becoming a bit of a tea snob and much prefer loose leaf lately!

My ice cream as you can see above was pretty big. This was the regular option which comes in at £3.50 for ice cream, a sauce and topping. Considering all the sauces are handmade and some of the toppings too I think it's a reasonable price for a large portion. The ice cream was also some of the creamiest I've had.



L's was the salted caramel flavour with peanut brittle and salted caramel sauce and was completely addictive.

We'll both definitely be back for more.

Have you tried Science Cream yet?

Love L and M

xxx

Street Food Circus

Hi there!

As promised earlier in the week, here is my review on the Street Food Circus, it opened up just last weekend.

Situated behind Radisson Blu hotel in Cardiff right next to the No Fit State circus this was an impressive event, though my photos don't seem to do it any justice!

Having kickstarted the Street Food trend in Cardiff to begin with, SFC have really done an amazing job this time with the Street Food circus. They had an amazing array of food from pizzas, hotdogs and churros to Lebanese, Greek and Hokkei - the Asian takeaway run by two Masterchef finalists.

Below shows my choosing from Hokkei, beef brisket, kimchee and black beans in a soft doughy bun - it was pretty amazing!

What was most pleasing to me at the bar was the discovery of Pimms Cider Cup - as an avid cider and Pimms drinker I'd like to congratulate the inventor of this amazing beverage. Hands down this will be my drink of the summer and I can't wait to have more! (I was driving so only one bottle for me this weekend!)

The idea for the Street Food events is that you eat from a few different stands to experience a variety of foods that you might not otherwise have tried. I did play it safe this time, I knew I would love the Asian food from Hokkei and my second choice was the infamous Dirty Fried Chicken (DFC).

Arguably most famous for their controversial logo, their chicken has been raved about by many and as a chicken fan I couldn't leave without trying it.

It most definitely didn't disappoint, the chicken was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It came with a pot of sauce of your choice and a homemade slaw. I liked this but as someone who can't really deal with celery I couldn't finish it off.....sorry DFC!



Between the two ends of food stalls there is also a massive circus tent with the bars inside, and plenty of seating. There are your usual rows of chairs and tables and also a few random vehicles and sofas to sit on and devour your food. It's also decorated with bunting and a disco ball - who doesn't love a disco ball!

There were so many more food places I wanted to try, the HangFire Smokehouse and Dough boys stands are some I have seen a few times at events and am still yet to try, the Lebanese food and the stand selling the Welsh cockles and crab in flatbreads.
I need to go back and sample more food!

Have you been to the Street Food Circus? Do you have street food events in your cities?

I'd fully recommend trying out any event like this, though I am a big food enthusiast!

L xxx

Life

Hello there!

I thought it was about time i wrote a life update post...the arrangements for buying my house are all still going through so I've been busying myself with some outings to keep me sane but not spending all my cash.

Essentially I've been stuffing my face at a whole host of places around Cardiff and thought it was about time I shared them with you!

First up was the Street Food Warehouse event that was held in Cardiff Arms Park grounds, I enjoyed this and went twice with two sets of people, the food range was pretty good and seemed to improve as the weeks went on.

The Philly Cheese Steak stand was definitely something that I knew I'd be trying out, that much meat in a bun with some amazing bbq sauce and mozzarella was always going to be a fabulous combination and it didn't disappoint!
We also tried some rosemary fries from the Meat in the Middle van and they were really good too. The best part about food festivals like this is the fact you can eat from so many different stands in one meal, I do love variety!



If I'm honest on this evening I was much more excited about the cocktails and they were strong, fruity and everything you wanted after a long week at work.
We sure did line them up!



They have many more events planned for the summer and I'm looking forward to Pop Up in the Park, I've no idea where it is yet but it sounds fun to me!

I've also been to the Millenium Stadium for Judgement Day -  a clash of  rugby teams from South Wales, essentially East v West.

The teams were the Cardiff Blues v Ospreys and the Scarlets v Dragons, its a double game that I normally go to with my family every year. This time it was just me and my dad and we shared a few pints of cider over the fair few hours that we were sat there.



I managed to get this panoramic shot at the end of the game when everyone was leaving and they were opening the roof up. I love going to the stadium for games, the atmosphere is awesome!

I've also been checking out Five Guys, M posted recently about her trip to Five Guys in Bristol and now that it has arrived in Cardiff I had to go and see it for myself.



I ended up choosing the bacon cheeseburger with fries - all burgers are double burgers so be warned, you do need to be hungry when you visit!
It was everything I wanted from a burger and fries. The place is just like a Mcdonalds or Burger King but the food is better, and therefore more expensive.
The burger itself was unbelievably good, it was juicy and cooked to perfection. I couldn't stop stuffing my face with it and the fat was running down my hands - it was messy and dirty and so much fun.
The fries were also pretty good and the drinks were impressive with 120 flavours available from one machine - however I'm a Sprite kind of person so I wasn't very adventurous!

I would fully recommend you check out both Five Guys and the Street Food Warehouse events, I've also visited the Street Food Circus event and will be posting about that this week too!

I have to say having eaten all of this food recently, i was relieved when my latest magazine of Women's Health arrived on my doorstep.

I need to get back in the gym so I don't undo all of my hard work, and this was the perfect motivation!

What have you been up to recently? More importantly, what have you been eating??

L xxx

Street Food Warehouse Cardiff

Hello there!

Happy bank holiday weekend!

Hope you're enjoying the seemingly good weather, fingers crossed it lasts. We both went to the first night of the Street Food Warehouse event in Cardiff  on Friday night. You might have noticed that we are food enthusiasts, food is literally our favourite thing and we'll do anything to try out new food and eateries especially in our local area.

Street Food is getting more and more popular and why on earth not - festivals and events dedicated to food is just the ideal kind of evening for us. WE LOVE IT.

The first thing we did was a quick lap of the site, it's always good to check out your options and formulate a plan. We'd already decided we were going to buy one of everything and share it, but choosing the order was tough!

The site was fairly small but it had plenty of tables to stand at with outside heaters and a marquee with long bench tables to sit at with other people enjoying their food.

They also had a Warehouse Weekly newsletter with all of the food vendors named with information about each. Unfortunately Dough Boys weren't there when we were which was a massive disappointment, freshly made pizza is like gold dust and we were disappointed they weren't there.

That said we made our choice on our first meal and drinks choices and sat down in the marquee.

Passion and Smoke was the first vendor we saw and smelt - it was enough to make me want to jump behind their counter and just get stuck in with a fork. They had beautifully cooked pulled pork and beef brisket with burnt beans and mac n cheese - you could buy these separately or buy one meal - the special no less - and try them all.

Which of course we did!

The Big Betty special cost £9 and consisted of a bun containing the beef brisket, pulled pork, homemade slaw and gravy, plus a generous side of Somerset mature cheddar mac n cheese.

All of which had been cooked inside Big Betty herself, an authentic American pit smoker:

The Big Betty Special comes with a 100% recommendation - the mac and cheese is super creamy and just like your mums should be, and the meat is just out of this world, it falls apart in your mouth and the bread soaks up all of the gravy and its just WOW. Get it, you will not regret it!

We also made good use of the cocktail bar:

We both had a few each, needless to say we were fans of the fruity drinks as it was but the fact they came in chinese takeaway cartons was even better!
So cute and quirky, and also really delicious. Fully worth the £5 price tag.

Next on offer was Rad Burger, juicy burgers with grilled halloumi and a side of rosemary fries too if you want. 

We skipped the fries due to wanting to try more courses but seeing other people eating them I did want them, they looked perfectly cooked and the rosemary seasoning looked great!
Here's the burger, I always loved seeded buns so this was a good start.

Again the meat was really good, the halloumi was too but I would have liked more - can never say no to more cheese!

Next was M's favourite - Mr Churro!
Almost every food festival has churros and I am rather partial to the melted chocolate sauce that comes with it, yum!

Last on our food menu was one of the Pastel de Nata from Nata and Co Portuguese bakery. Having seen them on the StreetFood Warehouse Facebook page we both knew we had to try it, it was described as a custard cake, in pastry.

Their food all looked amazing and the chorizo bread would have been amazing if we had room!
There were so many more tarts and sweet pastries that we wanted to buy and take with us but we didn't have room in our bags either.

The Pastel de Nata did not disappoint, as someone who is not a fan of jelly and therefore not a fan of custard slices, I wasn't sure if this would be something I would like. I would buy these forever if I could! The custard wasn't jelly-ish at all and was perfectly formed, it was gorgeous.

One vendor we didn't manage to try was Meat in the Middle, who sold burgers, fries and hotdogs from a lovely red ice cream van.

They also had Pitch Eatery at the event but my photos have turned out so blurry they're unuseable! Nightmare. I've looked them up on Facebook though and will certainly be dropping in, the food looks amazing.

Unfortunately we didn't have any more room but also we didn't want another burger, the only downside we could see to the Street Food Warehouse so far was that a lot of the food was too similar, lots of meat in buns and a bit more variety would have been preferable.

Another thing we liked? The copious amount of kitchen roll available on the table, this is a place for eating and not worrying about what you look like!

We'd definitely recommend going to the Street Food Warehouse whilst it is running, you can reserve tickets if you require or turn up and queue at the time slot you want, it's £2 per person.

Hopefully we will go again and there will be a bit more variety there, Dough Boys would be a great addition as would a chicken or spicy food vendor, Thai or Indian would also break up the burger type foods.

Do you like going to food events like this? Are you a fan of slow cooked meats like pulled pork and beef brisket?
How cute are cocktails?!

L and M xxx