The Fat Hippo, Jesmond.

After hearing a lot of rave reviews for the Fat Hippo in Jesmond I decided on a taking last minute trip one night after work. This was my second attempt in going as the first time we were unable to get a booking. Thankfully we were able to get a booking this time. 

The Fat Hippo is a very small restaurant so book ahead or prepare for a long wait if you haven't already booked. On my first attempt at going it was 6pm and we were told we wouldn't have been able to get a table until 9pm! The place is extremely popular for it's big chunky burgers and triple cooked chips and for good reason - it's probably one of the best burgers I've had in a while.

The restaurant itself is a stones throw away from West Jesmond metro station just near Tesco. They offer a brilliant Happy Hour deal Monday - Friday 5 - 7pm which is 3 courses for £10, 2 courses for £9 or 1 course for £7. We had already decided on getting at least two courses but for an extra pound it would've been rude not to attempt a dessert!  

We opted to get two starters to share. These were deep fried gherkins (my fave) and jalapeno poppers. I wasn't the greatest fan of the poppers. Expecting them to be little morsels of gooey-cheesey-spicy goodness I was somewhat disappointed when they emerged to be rather dry. It was almost like they were bulked out with mash potato or something similar. I would compare them to the texture of falafel. They were tasty - just not what I was expecting. The gherkins were lovely. Encased in an extremely crispy batter they had not lost their substance and still had a slight 'snap'. I would have liked to see these served alongside a blue cheese mayonnaise like how they are served in many of London's burger joints. Both starters came with a garlic mayonnaise.

Deep fried gherkins with garlic mayonnaise

Jalapeno poppers

Cross section of the jalapeño poppers 

After demolishing our starters it wasn't too long before our mains arrived. My boyfriend and I both opted for their American burger. The American consisted of a beef burger patty topped with diced gherkins, mustard, cheese and ketchup. All of the beef burgers are served in a brioche bun. In my opinion burgers always taste better in a brioche bun so I was happy to see this on the menu. The Fat Hippo also serve their burgers medium rare unless told otherwise - another win for me.

The Burgers themselves were very thick and juicy. They definitely had a homemade quality to them. The beef burgers came with a side of triple fried chips so I decided to get a couple of their dips to compliment them. I opted for buffalo mayonnaise and garlic mayonnaise. The Buffalo mayonnaise was very interesting and had the flavour of a hot sauce and a mayonnaise. Slightly spicy yet not too hot. I feel it would have also went very well with the fried gherkins. 

Our burgers

Both being greedy guts we also opted for a side of onion rings which we possibly could have done without due to the sheer size of the main itself. The onion rings were gorgeous though. If these were offered as a starter I would order them. I think they must have been cooked in the same batter as the gherkins as it seemed very similar. I was happy to see that the rings were 'proper' onion rings and not like those cheap onion rings that some other places serve where the insides are like mushed up potato and onion. 

Onion Rings

After the food extravaganza we still decided to share a dessert although we were fit for bursting by then (Again... Greedy guts...). There are a few desserts on the menu yet only two are included in the happy hour choices, these being ice cream or chocolate fudge cake. We obviously decided to get a chocolate fudge cake.

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream

I can imagine that the chocolate fudge cake MIGHT have been bought in as it was very similar to one you can buy at a very popular bulk buy warehouse. That being said this doesn't mean it was rubbish, they do a very nice chocolate cake! Next time I will skip dessert though as ice cream or chocolate fudge cake isn't usually something I would go crackers for in a restaurant anyway.

Although the Fat Hippo is popular I don't think it's popular enough. It is an amazing little gem of a restaurant! I can't wait to go again and I think next time I will try one of their chicken burgers. I spied one from across the room and they looked brilliant.

Bryden x

Links: The Fat Hippo Website

This post has been cross posted from Bryden's personal food blog a northern life to Trebles and a Mixer as it fits in with our theme. I would like to share my experience with our readers.

Eating out: The Breakfast Club, London

On our first day in London, my friends and I needed a good meal to set us up for along day of shopping. I'd heard good things about The Breakfast Club, so we hopped on the tube and visited their location in Spitalfields.


It was pretty busy but we were quickly seated, to browse over the extensive menu. The Breakfast Club offers a brunch menu from 9-5 and a lunch and dinner menu from 12. We all went for bunch and I opted for the All American Pancakes which came with sausage, crispy bacon, home style fried potatoes, your choice of eggs and of course, maple syrup. It was exactly what I wanted. In fact it was better than some pancake brunches I've had in America. My friend had Eggs Florentine which looked delicious and I got slight food envy over.


I would thoroughly recommend The Breakfast Club, if you're looking for something to set you up for the long London day ahead. I'll definitely be returning to try the dinner menu.


Has anyone ever eaten at The Breakfast Club or have suggestions for other places to eat in London?

Claire
x

Eating Out: The Broad Chare

I love eating out, probably as much as I love cooking my own meals. A few years ago I'd eat out on a regular basis with one of my best pals- Jimmy. Sadly, Jimmy went and moved to Scotland (selfish git), leaving me an eating partner down. Jimmy came home for his birthday this weekend, so it was only natural that we should celebrate his birth by stuffing our little faces.
The choice of where we should eat was left up to me, with only one stipulation- it had to be somewhere we hadn't eaten before. I'd read good things about The Broad Chare over on Newcastle Eats and I thought it would be right up our street.




The Broad Chare has a small bar area downstairs serving a large variety of ales and other alcoholic beverages; which has traditional pub features, but with a modern feel. Upstairs there's a dining area, but we were more interested in having a pint and sharing some treats from the bar snacks menu.


We decided to pick a selection of small dishes to share, opting for- The ground rib steak slider, deep fried monkfish cheeks, Scotch egg, crispy pigs ears and a portion of hand cut chips (sadly they were all out of the hand raised pork pies). We were both really happy with our choices, every dish was fresh and packed with flavour. I always think I hate scotch eggs, but it's just poor quality ones I hate and these were a million miles away from the gross, cheap eggs I dislike so much. The steak slider was delicious and has made me want to go back to try the full size version in the upstairs dining room.

My only complaint is that I wish there had been some sort of dip on offer to accompany the crispy pigs ears; which although delicious, were just lacking a little something. Oh and they serve good chips, I will always judge a place on the quality of their chips.

If you're in the Quayside area of Newcastle, I'd definitely recommend checking out The Broad Chare and ordering a Scotch egg or two.

Claire
x

January Favourites.

Claire's favourites...

Products

Aussie Dual Personality Aussome Volume Mousse
I picked this up as a third item as part of a 3 for 2 offer and I like it so much, I've ended up repurchasing it. Not like any other mousse I've used in the past, that has left my hair crispy and sticky, this leaves my hair soft and bouncy.

The Body Shop Chocomania Soap
Like my hatred of hair mousse has been changed this month, so has my dislike of soap. This little bar, exfoliates without drying my skin out. It's perfect for getting rid of dry winter skin and smells pretty good too.

Models Own Pro Nail Varnish- Pinky Grey
I'd been after this for a while and eventually tracked it down, only to find it had been reduced from £8 to £3.20 as it seems the range is being discontinued. It's a shame because it's a lovely colour, neutral but unusual.

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer- Luna
These have been getting a lot of hype on beauty blogs at the moment. A nice little product for a high street brand, I've definitely got my eye on other colours in the range.

VO5 Plump It Up Dry Backcombing Spray
I'm not a huge fan of dry shampoo, but this is a lot less powdery than other dry shampoo sprays out there and is brilliant at boosting my hairs volume throughout the day.

  Buys


I picked both of this months favourite buys during a 'woe is me' shopping session, I'm a big advocate of retail therapy. This lovely over sized Lux coat has originally been priced at £185 in Urban Outfitters, but had been reduced to a mere £40 in the sale.With a little bit of cheeky student discount on top of that, the price went down to the bargain sum of £36! An overall saving of £149!
The boots were another absolute bargain. Like everyone and their grandma, last year, I had my eye on the Topshop Allegra boots. I spent too much time mulling over the £75 price tag and in the end missed the boat. I spotted these in a really cheap, tacky clothes shop in Newcastle the other day for £5, but they were brown. Nothing a box of shoe dye for £6 didn't solve.

Eats



With Christmas, work and everything else, Bryden and I haven't had much time to fit in any hot dates lately to stuff our faces. We finally managed to squeeze in a rendezvous at the coastal town of Tynemouth; to browse the weekend market and try the food at Lola Jeans, which we'd heard good things about.

Lola Jeans has a laid back kind of thing going on, serving a variety of dishes (using seasonal and local ingredients) alongside cocktails and other alcoholic drinks. What we were here for however, was two of our favourite words in the English language- 'burgers' and 'platters'.


If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know- Bryden and I, love us a good burger. Lola Jean's Gourmet Burger with cheese and homemade chorizo salsa (served with amazing triple cooked chips) did not disappoint. As well as sharing the burger we ordered the Steak Platter which came with piles of perfectly cooked steak, salad, pitta bread, dips and chutneys and more chips. They also offer cheese, seafood, chicken and bread platters. We're ordering one of everything next time.


Other stuff


This month has been a very sad and emotional month for me, sadly the inevitable happened- I came to the final Gossip Girl episode :( I hated GG to begin with, but I soon got addicted to the overdramatic lives of Blair, Chuck, Serena et all. It's all Bryden's fault for forcing the season one box set upon me when I was ill once (I HATE U!). So, now I'm lost without a regular dose of American teen drama. Does anyone have any suggestions to fill my GG void?

Next month I'm looking forward to...

• The weather hopefully improving a bit so I can start riding my poor, currently unloved bike again.

• Eating some delicious food at the Street Spice food fair.

• Spending a long weekend in London.

Bryden's Favourites...

Products

1. Nip + Fab Pistachio Sundae Body Butter.  2. VO5 Give Me Texture Spray. 3. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain in Romantic. 4. Blink + Go Long Lasting Mascara

5. Hask Argan Oil (From Primark!!)6. Stylfile By Tom Pellereau
7. No7 Define and Shimmer Pallette. 8. Urban Decay Naked Palette. 

Nip + Fab Pistachio Sundae Body Butter.
This stuff smells absolutely amazing! It's a good dupe for the Laura Mercier Creme De Pistache Body Cream which I managed to pick up quite cheaply in the January sales. The Nip + Fab one smells identical and its a fraction of the price. 

VO5 Give Me Texture Spray. 
I've been using this to give my hair a little bit more grip when I've been backcombing. Lately I've been experimenting with beehives and this stuff has helped a lot.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Stain in Romantic. 
This is something I've worn almost every day for work. Really easy to hoy on in the morning. When it wears off it leaves a lovely stain behind which I then just put my Jason lip balm on top until the end of the day.

Blink + Go Long Lasting Mascara. 
Got this in a beauty box about a year ago and just managed to open it now. It's absolutely amazing and I'll be buying more once this has gone.

Hask Argan Oil (From Primark!!)
This is an absolute bargain at £2.50. I've tried loads of different hair oils (Including Moroccan Oil and Macadamia Oil) and this is just as good. This is my second tube and I can see myself buying another after I've used this one too.

Stylfile By Tom Pellereau
The curved board on this really helps to shape nails. I've noticed you can buy mini versions of this so I think I'll be picking one up for my hand bag.

No7 Define and Shimmer Pallette.
Picked this up on ebay for around £3.00. I absolutely love the two darkest shades in this palette. The palette also offers great pigmentation which I was really surprised with! 

Urban Decay Naked Palette
I'm sure this cult product doesn't really need much of an explanation. It's brilliant. If you haven't got one already you should really consider picking one up. I got this in the beauty bay 'sale' (The word sale used lightly there as it was only like £2.00 off) and I've been using this more or less everyday. I don't think I've used my liquid eyeliner at all this month.

Buys

The January sales had a lot to offer but these were my absolute favourites of what I bought. I'd had my beady eye on the Laura Mercier body care ranges for a while now since seeing them mentioned on the persian babes youtube channel and I was VERY excited to see them in the Space NK sale. I managed to pick up a tarte au citron candle, Creme De Pistache gift set and a Creme Brûlée gift set.




Eats

Fillet Steaks (Homemade)
Celebration steaks with my parents for Steven and I's engagement (Steven proposed on New Years Day - No Ring to show you yet though!)The fillet steaks were just from our local Morrison's and they were lovely!



BBQ Ribs (Homemade)
The meat just fell away from the bone when I went to cut it. They were soo tender!



Chinese with Claire at Hei Hei, Newcastle.
This is the starter platter we had at Hei Hei for Newcastle restaurant week where we picked up a 4 course meal for only £15 per head. 



Next month I'm looking forward to...

• Trying out some new recipes
• Having a nice meal with Steven for Valentine's day (Bleurrrgh I know!!)

Hope you like the new format of our favourites. I think the reason we haven't been able to commit to the favourite posts in the past is just simply because it was in a format that wasn't us. We're not just only fashion or make up. There's soo many other things that we love! We're both really into cooking as well so you can expect to see a lot of our own dishes on here too (If you want any recipes feel free to ask and we can post these).

Let us know what you think.

Bryden and Claire xx

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
x

Eating out: Victory Pub & Kitchen at Village Hotel.

Last week we were very kindly invited once again by the Village Hotel to dine with them, this time in their Victory Pub and Kitchen. We'd been to the Village Hotel previously for a bloggers night out in the Buca di Beppo restaurant, so we were really excited about this opportunity. The evening was an Eat and Tweet night to celebrate the launch of their Great British Menu, which is about the only time you can get away with constantly being on your phone and tweeting mid meal without coming across rude!

On arrival we were welcomed once again by Karen, Adele and the team; the kitchen staff had laid out a selection of starters and side dishes, once everyone had taken the obligatory blog and twitter photos we got stuck in! There is a great selection of dishes on the menu; from standard bar snacks- Victory nachos and Kung fu chicken wings, to the more unusual (and British) deep fried whitebait, potted beef with piccalilli and scotch egg with curried mayonnaise.

After tucking into the starters our orders were taken for the main course, while we waited we were offered the chance to try out the Curry Buffet which was available to the general public through in the rest of the bar. A cheeky plate of curry between courses? Why not! The Victory has various deals and themes running each night of the week and for £8.95 for a selection of three delicious curries and accompaniments, you really can't go wrong!

We both struggled to choose an option from the main course menu as everything sounded good; so decided in the end to both choose a different dish and go 'halfers', meaning there was no dreaded food envy! Bryden chose the Chilli Dog and I went for the Victory Burger. As delicious as the hot dog was, the burger really shone out (Bryden declaring it was one of the best burgers she'd ever had!)- the 100% beef burger was cooked to perfection, smothered in cured bacon and Swiss cheese and served in a delicious, soft brioche bun. Burger heaven!

By the time the desserts came round, we were really starting to struggle! But ever the troopers, we opted again for two different desserts to share. I must admit that although the meal as a whole was extremely enjoyable, we did feel the desserts were the weakest part. Compared to the rest of the dishes we'd tasted, which were really fresh and tasted homemade, the desserts felt a bit 'bought in'. Having said this, it was maybe because I was having major food envy over a massive ice cream sundae a guy on our table had chosen!

We'd definitely recommend The Victory and the Village Hotel to anyone wanting to stay in the area or is simply looking for somewhere with good food and an enjoyable atmosphere.

Claire & Bryden x

(Although this meal was given to us on a complimentary basis, all opinions are our own. We'd only ever be honest!)