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

The Angel Hotel Abergavenny

Hi all!

One of my Christmas presents was a voucher to go to the High Tea in the Angel Hotel in Abergavenny. I've heard a lot about this place a lot from when I used to work near there and lots from other friends and bloggers who have been.

I was really looking forward to it and I can tell you it didn't disappoint!

We were taken to a dining room where the china was so beautiful! It was all matching and perfectly placed, totally ideal for afternoon tea.

I wore my new black Ralph Lauren dress as its really smart but still chic - I love the leather edging to the V on the neck and the pockets, and it's also got plenty of room for cake!

And considering this amazing stand of food wasn't even all of the food included in the High Tea it was a good idea!

Just look at all of the beautiful pastries, delicate cakes and really cute sandwiches - I couldn't stop staring at all of the food but also couldn't wait to tuck in either.

Let's start with the pastries - coronation chicken, prawns, salmon, beef and stilton as well as cheese scones and quiche. I was totally loving this part as savoury food is my fave.

This was all absolutely divine, I managed to restrain myself from shoving them in one after another but as our time slot was 3pm I was so hungry it was difficult! Some of these also came out warm, it would have been rude to eat them cold right?



Next up we went through the sandwiches - egg mayo, ham and mustard, salmon, and cheese and onion. They were all really nice and the crusts were removed meaning the fillings were right up to the edges, something I personally think is vital in a sandwich!

The last tier was the cakes themselves. For every other level on the stand we had one of each of the pastries or sandwiches, for the middle level of cakes they were all to share or split between us which was fun!

There was tiramasu cake, custard slice, raspberry ripple sponge, lemon roulade, chocolate brownie, profiterole and biscuits. I can't begin to tell you how gorgeous these were, and although they were sweet they weren't overpowering and the lemon and raspberry were so real tasting.
We didn't manage to finish these because there were so many to eat but they do allow you to take home a box of everything that you can't manage!

Apart from the stand there was also a mini trifle each (I can't cope with jelly so I just ate the cream off the top..!) shown below:

There was also a warm scone with jam and cream brought out to you when you were ready for them. I am slightly ashamed to admit that I didn't manage to eat these at the hotel so we brought both of these back home with us and ate them later on. For the record, they may be the best scones I've ever eaten (not including my mums - eating them straight out of the oven is different!) but they really were GOOD.

Aside from the food there was also the tea menu, it's fabulous and super extensive. It is also seemingly unlimited for the duration of the 2 hour slot and I started with a lovely black tea (needed the caffeine for my 3pm slump) and then followed it with a Moroccan mint tea.

They were also really good and I would love to go back and find some more, if I wasn't so thirsty I would have been more adventurous with my tea choices.

I would 100% recommend the High Tea at the Angel Hotel in Abergavenny, it has a wonderful selection of cakes and pastries for everyone and the tea range is outstanding.

The menu for the Angel Hotel can be found here, and the prices for the Afternoon Tea is £21.80 and the High Tea is £26.80. It would be a great mother/daughter day, catch up with friends and family, and I did also see a sophisticated hen party there too!

It gets a full recommendation from me, have you been to afternoon tea at the Angel Hotel? Have you been to any others in South Wales that you would recommend?

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Instagram Inspiration

Hey everyone!

I've been lacking in time, energy and motivation recently but this week I've dropped myself back into my routines and I'm exhausted in every possible way!
Not only have I been cramming 5 days of work into 4 and then getting back into my gym routines I've also been cramming in all sorts of appointments for my new house - solicitors, mortgages and estate agents!

So this week I thought I'd go through my favourite instagram accounts. There are sooooooooo many that I follow to give me motivation or inspiration so I'll be doing a few of these posts to share some of my favourite accounts.

Hazel Wallace has already featured in a few posts (girl crush anyone??) and it is not hard to see why. I've been following for a good while and its amazing to see her reach so many followers, 33.5k is absolutely amazing!
Not only is she absolutely beautiful as well as having a body I can only dream of having, she's super clever being a med student and also makes drool worthy food. Her recent Nandos style wrap has made it onto my meals list for when I move out and am cooking for myself again, every body loves chicken and sweet potato!

Carly Rowena is another absolutely beautiful woman, she is the absolute definition of beautiful abs.
Recently she said on instagram that she gets a lot of negative attention because of her abs being 'too bulky' but I would love to have that kind of definition! It's crazy what people will say to you, I think she'd beautiful and fully admire her dedication to her body. She also has IBS and regularly talks about the pain of bloating and general discomfort, healthy eating and exercise is hard work at the best of times!

Two Bad Bodies is a super fun and inspirational account I found randomly about 2/3 months ago. Two friends who met at uni and found themselves on the track together and have been working out together ever since.
They post regular workouts via their accounts and I can't even describe to you how perfectly synchronised their routines are, you have to watch them to believe it!
It's like watching one person with a mirror down the middle - so impressive and it makes you want to grab your friend and try the routines yourself.
Not only that but they also have a video from the one and only Michelle Obama on their account, these girls are instagram fitness royalty!

Lastly I'm sure we've all heard of Results with Lucy - the fitness business from TOWIE's Lucy Mecklenburgh.
She has changed her own body from being generally skinny to toned and with a core that most of us would be envious of. She also posts regular video clips on instagram of workout ideas and new things to try but it's also fun to follow her for pictures like the pug one below - she's very much a fan of living as well as fitness. Had a bad weekend? Eaten and drunk too much? That's ok, just get back on it this week and enjoy life!







Do you have some favourite instagram accounts for fitness and health? Do you have your own girl crush when it comes to instagram fitness gurus?

I will be writing another of these posts with some food and recipe based instagram accounts, do you enjoy scrolling through instagram for inspiration and motivation?

I'm really determined to get back into a routine and get back into some progression.


L xxx

Birthday!

Hello!

Last week it was my birthday, and it's been a bit of a different one this year. I turned 27 and although that doesn't sound particularly old this year I definitely feel it. Suddenly it was the week of my birthday and I hadn't even thought about what I wanted for it from my parents, and I spent some of the week away with work so it flew by even faster!

I started the day with a favourite breakfast of mine - chia seeds, almond milk, greek yogurt, fruit and a good dollop of peanut butter. It was lush!

I went into work and was met with this monstrous cake - who on earth can turn down what is essentially a giant triple chocolate cupcake. It got me through my 11am slump and my 3pm slump - normally I'm a fan of the 'sugar is the devil' saying but birthdays mean anything goes!



As I mentioned before there has been so much going on this week, one major thing that has happened is that I have finally bought my own house! I am massively scared but also excited, I can't wait to own my own home, decorate it and essentially grow up!

As far as presents go, I had a gorgeous Champneys set from my aunty which was a lovely surprise, I've been working my way through my stash for quite a while and haven't bought any bath products so this will be a lovely treat now that all of my budget will be going on house bills and items!

My mum has also been buying me a few things for the house, we are both fans of the citrus scent so she has got me a citrus candle to put in my kitchen, they're great for getting rid of cooking smells and i can't wait to get more of these to put everywhere all over the house!

She also picked these up from Home Sense, 3 beautiful silver bottles that will be going in my new bathroom! It's a very plain white bathroom with a black tiled floor so it needs a bit of sparkle!

I went out to watch the rugby with a few friends (M included in the middle!)

There were a lot of shots to celebrate me buying a house, in fact the next day I did begin to question if it was even real!

As a birthday celebration I took a day off work and went for afternoon tea with my mum, it was absolutely amazing and I can't rave about it enough. There will be a full post on this soon!

So there was my 27th birthday!

It was short and sweet and I definitely feel like this year is much more grown up. I'm super excited about having a house and although it is pretty small it will be all my own, so any blogs or website you read with interior design ideas please send them my way - I will be writing a wishlist post in future for the design ideas I would love to incorporate into my house.

L xxx