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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Newcastle Fashion Week.

Newcastle fashion Week kicked off this weekend, amongst the first events was the fashion weekend held at Northumbria Student Union- a mix of shopping, demonstrations, make overs, (minor) celeb spotting and catwalk shows.






We popped down to the event on Sunday and found a range of stalls from vintage to independent companies to high street stores such as Primark, Warehouse and Miss Selfridge. There was even food on offer, such as the delicious looking cakes by The French Oven.






While we were there we caught one of the catwalk shows which featured the best offerings from the high streets stores of Newcastle for this Summer.







If you want to check out any of the other events Newcastle Fashion Week has to offer you can check out the website- here.

Have you been to any of this years events?

Bryden & Claire
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Newcastle Fashion Week t shirt.

I love Newcastle. I do moan about it from time to time, but when it comes down to it, I bloody love this little city. What better way to show my love than with this canny t shirt celebrating Newcastle Fashion Week designed by Electrik Sheep? What's even better is that ALL of the profits go to the charity Cash for Kids; as us Geordies would say- BELTA!

If you fancy wearing your Geordie pride on your chest, get yourself down to Fenwick as quickly as possible (they're limited edition) and grab yourself one for ten quid. Gaan on pet!

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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Urban Outfitters A/W 2012

A few weeks ago,we were kindly offered by Urban Outfitters to go down to their Newcastle store for a tour of their Autumn/Winter collection, which is split into two sub collections- ‘A Modern Beat’ and ‘Tarot’.
‘A Modern Beat’ features this seasons trend of the androgynous, teddy boy and beatnik style. Key details include- studded collars, zips, novelty knits and stripes. The idea behind this trend is ‘boy meets girl’; which Urban Outfitters have covered really well, mixing girly, mod style dresses with tough biker jackets and slim cigarette pants with feminine detailed shirts. Think Alexa Chung and the girls from The Like and you’ve got ‘A Modern Beat’. While big designers such as Marc Jacobs, Sonia Rykiel and Marni have all featured this style in previous and current seasons; Urban Outfitters offer a more affordable option.




In contrast to the sleek and tailored look of 'A Modern Beat', Urban Outfitters second collection- ‘Tarot’ offers a more relaxed, thrown together, bohemian appeal. It was explained to us the aesthetic idea behind this collection is the image of the ‘well travelled woman’. As with ‘A Modern Beat’ layering is key, but his time the look is created using uneven hems, mixed with decorative lace and tapestry, all topped off with jewellery featuring mystical symbols and precious stones. There’s a strong gyspy style, but with a more sophsiticated feel of the 'boho’ looks of Sienna Miller and pals in the 00s. Abbey Lee and Mary Kate Olsen were used as muses when putting together this collection and it’s easy to see why.



In addition to the UO house collections, there are also a variety of designer labels. These vary from store to store and meaning some of the pieces are exclusive to the Newcastle store alone. Labels available include Mink Pink, Evil Twin and Cheap Monday; but the supply is always updating and evolving.







One of our favourite aspects of the collections and UO in general is how well put together the wall and table displays are. Shoes, handbags and jewellery are all displayed alongside clothing garments to give a good sense of how the collections can we worn. UO has one of the best ranges of accessories on the high street, from a covetable range of shoes and handbags, to an amazing array of jewellery and even make up.







Urban Outfitters are determined to set themselves apart from other clothing stores in the way that they offer so much more than dresses, heels and shoes.As well as female and male clothing departments; UO also have homewear and media departments(featuring books and music), as well as showcasing both regional and nationalart. Currently on display in the Newcastle store are pieces by Prefab 77.











The only complaint we have is that we wish that some of theclothing came in larger sizes, as some items must be no larger than a size 12/14. Having said that, If you’re looking to update your wardrobe for the upcoming colder climates we would definitely recommend checking out what UO have to offer.

Bryden & Claire x

Disclaimer: All opinions are our own. This is not a paid review but were lucky to be gifted an item each from their collection. Many thanks to Charlie from Urban Outfitters for this opportunity and the lovely Ash from the Newcastle store for showing us around.