The Great Geordie Burger Quest Part 2: Fat Hippo Underground.

Since my first Geordie Burger Quest, I’ve visited quite a few burger toting establishments and I’m now running up a backlog of burger related blog posts. My next visit was a highly anticipated one; The Fat Hippo Underground was probably one of the most recommended to me, via Twitter. Was I in for a treat or a complete anti-climax?

I’d heard the Fat Hippo’s latest venture, a city centre restaurant, tends to get extremely busy, so I booked a table for a Tuesday evening. The restaurant itself is situated next to The Theatre Royal and is entered by stairs taking you into the subterranean burger restaurant.

To be honest, FHU annoyed me before I even got the chance to eat anything. I’d booked a table, four days previous. Despite this, I was told abruptly by our server, as soon as we were seated, that we could only have the table for an hour. Now, if we’d walked in off the street, that would be fair enough, but I’d booked in advance and wasn’t told any of this at the time of booking.

Despite having a time limit for our meal, we choose some starters to begin. I opted for the deep fried pickles, which were encased in a crispy batter and came with a garlic mayo. They were nice. ‘Nice’ is such a crap description, but that’s how they were. They didn’t blow me away, but then I’ve had Meat Liquor’s version and there’s no competition really. The pickles were also really greasy and due to our server not supplying us with any cutlery or napkins, I ended up wiping my hands on my jeans. Lush.

I’d tried to extract some information from our server about the burgers whilst ordering, but any questions were answered with singular words and a ‘can’t be arsed’ gaze. It didn’t seem that I was going to get any help with ordering, so I figured that the ‘Fat Hippo Burger’ would be a good choice. The burger features a double 4oz patty topped with smoky bacon, chorizo, cheese, onion rings and ‘Fat Hippo sauce’.

Our burgers arrived quickly and were piled high onto serving trays, accompanied by hand cut chips, lettuce, tomato and pickles. I’d also added some ‘Problem Child’ hot sauce to my order, to spice things up. So the big question is- Did the Fat Hippo Underground live up for my high expectations? Sadly, in a word- no.

The burger looked impressive, towering on the tray, stacked high with toppings. The chorizo was tasty, however the cheese was a tad on the rubbery side and the bacon was too fatty. I had to remove the onion rings from the burger, they were far too greasy and I couldn’t fit the burger into my mouth with them in (I’ve got a big mouth, but it’s not that big). The combination of the burger and the grease from the toppings was too much for the bun (which was a decent effort, but too soft) and I ended up with most of the contents slopping back onto the tray.

The burger patty itself was a pretty decent bit of beef, which was nicely seasoned. Though despite being asked my cooking preference, my burger wasn’t served pink, not even close. This was probably down to the fact it would be pretty difficult to cook a burger that thin, medium. One single, thicker burger, instead of two might have been a better option. Overall the burger had a lot going on, maybe too much for me to handle, but elements of it were really tasty.

The burger was accompanied by hand cut chips, which I left pretty much untouched, I ate two of them. They were horrible, big chunks of watery, tasteless potato. They were too chunky; there was no crisp to the outside and no fluffiness on the inside. They were just really, really poor. I probably should have mentioned my disappointment to the servers, who did four half arsed check backs during our main course, but by that point I think I’d just given up.

Fat Hippo Underground has all of the elements, to become my favourite burger joint, but it just didn’t happen. Having said that, I would visit again,for some reason I feel like they deserve a second shot. I’ll also be paying the Jesmond branch a visit on my Geordie Burger Quest, to see if the original is better. Unfortunately Fat Hippo Underground wasn’t what I’d hoped for, so I’m going to give them a 6.5/10 and cross my fingers for better things next time round.

Claire.

The Great Geordie Burger Quest Part 1: The Garden Kitchen.

If you've ever read any of our food posts, you'll know that us Trebles & a Mixer girls love a good burger; which lead to me to wondering- "What's the best burger in Newcastle?". I had this thought while having some lunch at The Garden Kitchen in Eldon Gardens, having scanned the menu, there was only one obvious option for me- the cheeseburger.

Whilst chomping away on The Garden Kitchen's offering, I devised a scoring system, to aid me in my quest. Firstly, and most importantly, the burger itself needs to be assessed. The quality of the meat, flavour and seasoning are all to be considered. How the burger is cooked is another important factor, I prefer my burgers to be served pink; so to me, if a choice is offered, I feel its a sign of a good burger.



The Garden Kitchen's cheese burger comes with an 8oz beef patty, I wasn't asked how I would like it cooked, but I overheard another customer being told the burgers were served medium, so it would be "pink inside, but not bloody". However, when mine arrived, it was definitely cooked through, fortunately it was still pretty juicy. The meat itself was of a decent quality, but could have done with slightly more seasoning. Luckily, the chuck steak used in the burger had a decent flavour to it.

The next aspect to consider is- the bun. For me, there's not two words I love more in the world than 'brioche bun'. Personally, there's little else I really want a burger to be served in. The Garden Kitchen's burger was served in one of my beloved brioche buns. Sadly, it was a little dry, but otherwise was a lovely sweet tasting brioche topped with sesame seeds.



I find that the accompaniments to a burger can either make or break it, you can have the best quality beef burger in the world, but if it's smothered in a substandard cheese, the whole thing can be ruined. The Garden Kitchen's patty came with melted cheddar, a slice of beef tomato and crisp romaine lettuce. On the side was a small pot of pickles, which was a nice touch in contrast to the usual two tiny slivers of gherkin which you see in so many other places. For an extra 95p I added a pot of 'dirty sauce' to my meal, which was a tangy, spicy mayo and helped give the burger the extra flavour and seasoning it needed.



This particular burger came with fries on the side, which curiously came in a paper bag, which I didn't really understand and reminded me of how the fries in my local chicken shop are served. After dumping my fries out onto my plate, I was slightly disappointed to see the bog standard, skinny, McDonald's style fries that so many other places serve. They were hot, crispy and salty though and with the help of the 'dirty sauce', I munched my way through them.

Overall, as burgers go, the first burger in my quest was a pretty good offering, with only a few areas letting it down. The Garden Kitchen charge £9.95 for their cheese burger, which I think is an alright price for what you get. The place itself, despite being in the centre of a shopping mall is quite quiet and relaxing, and I found the staff were attentive and helpful.

I'm going to give The Garden Kitchen burger a 6.5 out of 10, getting my top Geordie burger mission off to a pretty good start. Any suggestions of places to try in Newcastle or the North East are gladly welcomed. I have a few restaurants on my list already, but I am always looking for more to try, no matter how big or small.

So- What's the best burger in Newcastle? I'm pretty sure I'm going to have fun trying to find out.

Claire
x   Disclaimer.
I am obviously not a food critic. I'm just your average Geordie lass, who loves burgers. The burger I ate at The Garden Kitchen was bought with my own hard earned pennies and all opinions are my own. Cheers.

Eating Out: The Old Boathouse.

HEY! HELLO! HI! Does anyone remember when this blog was written by two people?? Probably not, because I’ve been slacking for about a year now, leaving poor Bryden to keep this thing going, but I’m finally back! I’ve tried to write a couple of posts to get me back in to the swing of things, but nothing seemed right. There’s been a couple of attempts at tedious ‘catch up’ posts, which I ended deleting. To be honest, I’d kind of fallen out of love with blogging, I had a lot of ‘real life’ stuff going on, with work, moving house etc. and poor old Trebz & a Mixer fell by the wayside. Anyway, let’s pretend I haven’t been the world’s worst blogger for the past year and get down to the important stuff- food. 

Towards the end of last year, my mam kept telling me about a restaurant that she’d visited with my dad a few times and based on her description, I demanded a visit. The Old Boathouse is located in Amble, Northumberland, just up the coast from my parents’ house, and is situated right on the marina, meaning the seafood they sell is literally fresh from the sea. After my dad forced us to participate in a stroll along the promenade, on a freezing cold, bleak January day, we arrived at the restaurant.  As the name suggests the building was once a boathouse for the local lifeboat. Inside the restaurant is quite small, but doesn’t feel cramped, with various nautical décor as you would expect from somewhere named The Old Boathouse.

The food, naturally, focuses on fish and seafood, with a lot of produce brought straight from the local fishing boats to the restaurant (I spied a box of freshly delivered, poor crabs waiting for the chop) with menu staples such as fish and chips, crab and lobster. There are also extensive lists of daily specials on the walls and for the seafood haters amongst you (seriously, what is wrong with you??) there’s non fishy options such as steaks and pizzas, which look equally delicious.

Naturally, as I’m a fan of devouring crustaceans, I opted for the lobster. This is usually served with salad, chips and garlic mayonnaise, but as I’ve been trying (and mostly failing) to curb my calorie intake lately, I asked to swap them to oven roasted new potatoes, which wasn’t a problem. My mam went for crab, which was absolutely huge and delicious, and my dad chose a salmon dish from the specials board. The portion sizes are decent; however there isn’t any scrimping on the quality of the ingredients.

I’ve been back to The Old Boathouse for another family meal since my first visit and I’ve got a feeling it’s becoming a place that we’ll be going to for a long time to come. It’ll be a lovely place to visit in the summer, as there’s seating outside, where you can sit and watch the boats sail past, whilst getting elbow deep in lobster. 

Does anyone else end up with lobster EVERYWHERE when they eat it, or is it just me? I’m talking- on your forehead, in your hair and even in your eyebrows? Nope? Just me then….

Claire

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Eating Out: Dining in the Dark at The Living Room.

If you're a regular reader of our blog,or if you scan through a couple of pages of posts, you'll see that we both really love food. So we were obviously delighted when we were invited by The Living Room in Newcastle to sample their new menu; except this wouldn't be normal dining, oh no, we were 'Dining in the Dark'!


We arrived at The Living Room a bit curious and puzzled about what lay ahead. It was explained to us that we'd be sampling a range of dishes from their new menu whilst blindfolded, then between dishes we'd answer a series of questions and would compete against others in an attempt to be crowned the Dining in the Dark champion. 'Easy' we thought, WRONG! So, it turns out eating blindfolded is difficult, very difficult. You drop your cutlery, you can't find your plate, you end up with food all over your face (that might just have been me) and god help you if you need a drink from your wine glass.








We had arrived straight from work and had major hunger pangs, so had to resist the urge to hungrily stuff the food into our faces (our usual approach) and instead take time to smell and take in the flavours of the dishes. Holding back clearly paid off and it was announced we'd come out on top and we were the winners of a (totally real, obvz) gold trophy!



Despite our difficulties with feeding ourselves, we had great fun and tasted a lot of delicious dishes. Our favourites included- The pork and chorizo burger with a smoked paprika aioli on a brioche bun, Moroccan spiced lamb with apricots, dates and almonds served with giant cous cous, Venison 'shepherds pie' with chestnut Savoy cabbage and the Basil Grande Eton Mess.




'Dining in the Dark' isn't something The Living Room offer to customers at the moment, but they said it's been so successful at the nights held nationwide and they'd consider holding other nights in the future. If you get the chance, definitely give it a go. We've eaten at The Living Room before and were really impressed with the food (they also make some mighty fine cocktails).

Did anyone else attend one of The Living Room's 'Dining in the Dark' evenings or would you try it?


Claire
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Sale bargains- The accessories edition!

I popped to the MetroCentre yesterday to meet my Mam for one of our regular Nandos trips and ended up picking up a few more bargains in the sales.

Pink bow- Dorothy Perkins £5 £1, Floral headband- Miss Selfridge £12 £2, Collar tips- Miss Selfridge £10 £2, Floral hair bobble- Dorothy Perkins £7.50 £1

I recently got my hair cut and seeing as it no longer resembles dodgy extensions, I thought I'd buy some accessories so I can try some new styles with it. I'm also, like a lot of fellow bloggers, currently obsessed with collared shirts and collar details. I can't wait to jazz up plain shirts with these tips.

Also, when I was at the MetroCentre I saw there was a shop selling American candy and snacks. I couldn't resist...

Claire x

Days out: North East Chilli Festival

On Sunday; I battled my two day hangover (Yes, that's what happens when you hit my age) and dragged myself out of bed, to attend one of the more random events I've been to- The North East Chilli Festival. I've recently become obsessed with the Newcastle based Mmm... deli which is where I first heard about the festival which was to be held for the first time at Seaton Deleval Hall.

Having never attended a 'chilli festival' before I didn't really know what to expect, but it was a really great day out. There was a good variety of stalls selling any chilli goods imaginable, the best thing being most stalls had samples to taste.

One of my favourite stalls was Viva la Frida- selling Mexican gifts and household decorations. I loved the heart wall decals and Frida Kahlo items.

Through the back of the hall were food stalls and vendors; selling delicious looking curries, crepes and my snack of choice- fresh, locally caught, barbequed fish wraps. HEAVEN.

Tickets not only granted you access to the festival, but also to Seaton Deleval Hall and it's stunning grounds. It's a shame there were so many screaming kids running around everywhere!

Obviously I went a bit nuts when it came to buying chilli related produce...


HHH mayo, RSJ chilli sauce and Tamarind Chipotle from Mr Vikki's

Chipotle dried chillies from Cool Chile Co

Chipotle Chilli paste from Trees Can't Dance (Can you tell I like Chipotle yet??)

Seaton Deleval Hall ale from Delevals

Salted caramel, wasabi & white chocolate, chocolate & chilli and strawberry & cream cupcakes from Pet Lamb Patisserie
(Check out Katie from Pet Lamb's blog here, which is one of my favourite food blogs) 

Considering this is the first year the Chilli Festival has been held, I thought the organisers had done a great job and I will definitely be going back next year.

Claire
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