Tuesday Tasties No. 44 - Yalla Yalla - A Review

I have finally been to Yalla Yalla this place has been on my London hit list for what feels like an age. Naturally this meant it had a fair old bit to live up to, not least of all because Time Out have just included it in their Top 50 London Restaurants.

Yalla Yalla is a street food style restaurant dealing in traditional Lebanese food, as I've never had Lebanese food before I was pretty excited to try something authentic! We visited the original branch which is tucked away in Soho just off of Brewer Street. They don't take bookings, however, now I've finally been here I can see why! 

The place is pretty small, and it's decorated with lots of scarves, wooden tables and multi-coloured cushions which give it a nice authentic feel. I think the air-conditioning was broken when we visited but this didn't really bother us to much. In a way, it actually made us both feel as though we weren't really in London any more! I did feel a little sorry for the staff as they looked a little flustered but this didn't stop them from doing a great job, they were friendly, polite and happy to answer our questions on what to order. Serious Kudos are due there as I couldn't work in that sort of heat.

You've got a couple of choices when ordering here, you can either go for the Meze (I'd recommend around 3 dishes per person here) or go for a main which comes with rice. As it was our first time here, we went for the Meze and ordered 6 dishes.

The first basket of pitta bread was free (thanking you) and we used this to mop up all the yummy juices. I thought you'd like to see what we ordered, so here we have Soujoc on the left, spicy Lebanese Sausages and on the right there's Hommos Shawarma which is chic peas with lamb.

Apologies for the blurry photo here, the flash was distorting my images! Here we have the Chicken Rakakat which is pastry filled with chicken, garlic and harrisa and a dip. I think the dip may have been tahini based as there was a sesame element to it.

Here we have Kibbe which is essentially lamb and pine nuts which are deep fried. I've realised as I'm posting my pictures we didn't actually order anything salad based, please rest assured that there are lighter dishes such as Fattoush and Tabboule on the menu as well.

The final two dishes we ordered, one of which I forgot to take a picture of is Jawaneh Meshoue which is above, namely chicken wings. The other dish was Makale Samak which included a medley of prawns, white bait and squid with minted yoghurt.

All in all our experience was fab, the bill was under £40 including booze and service which I think is pretty amazing considering the quality of the food and the rather peachy portion sizes. The Makale Samak plate was enormous and I'm pretty sad I forgot to take a photo, clearly I was to busy enjoying my food. Ad and I are hoping to visit again soon.

Have you been to Yalla Yalla? What did you think?

Outfit of the Day - The Crop Top

This season, the crop top is back in fashion, and it's back with a vengeance. The main questions I'm sure you've all be having are as follows:

1. How the heck can you style a crop top without flashing the flesh?
2. Is it possible to wear it without looking like a 90's grunge queen?
3. Do you need rockin abs?

I think (fingers crossed you'll agree) that I've sussed this one, or at least I'm certainly taking a step in the right direction, although you'll have to forgive my rather nonplussed expression, it was incredibly incredibly warm. Anyways, lets take a look shall we?

Today I'm wearing:

Skirt: Primark - High-waisted Skirt with Panel Detailing - £13

Top: River Island  - Crop Top - £10

Shoes: Primark

Bag: Marks & Spencer

As you can see, the skirt is high-waisted and sits just above my belly button. This means that the skirt is sitting at the narrowest point on my body. This is a big plus for me for a number of reasons, the first of which being, you don't need rockin abs as most of your stomach is covered up. The second is that it works to hide a food baby which is unavoidable when pottering about with me. Ladies don't look at me in disgust, it happens to the best of us, especially after one to many ice creams.

On closer inspection, you can see this crop top is really floaty so it's not in keeping with the whole 90's grunge thing which is a look I was keen to avoid at this stage. I'm not massively body confident (who is in this day and age) so a body con crop top was never going to be my weapon of choice in trying out the trend either.

As this particular top is pretty sheer, I've popped a more fitted top underneath to preserve my modesty (ha!). The top is slightly longer than most of the crop tops on the market, but what this means is there is literally the tinniest gap of flesh between my skirt and top. As I've said above, as this is at the narrowest part of my body, it's naturally pretty flattering without screaming "hey there, check out my midriff why don't you!".

Now lets take a closer peek at this bargain skirt shall we? I got this at the start of Wimbledon Season, white was everywhere and I kinda wanted to be a part of that without spending a small fortune. I spotted this skirt in Primark last month and I just had to have it. The cute cut-out detailing is shaped like tiny little flowers and is a fake leather type material. This makes the skirt look so much more expensive than it actually is!

The picture above gives you more of an idea of how high waisted this skirt actually is, if I stand upright and correct my posture a little you do get more of a glimpse of my tummy, but that's not really necessary for your viewing pleasure.

I finished off my outfit with some cute cut out flats, when in London, and especially around Covent Garden, heels are not ideal. Trust.

My make-up is pretty much identical to what I was wearing in my last OOTD post, Lancome Air De Teint as my base and the Hourglass Dim Infusion on my cheeks. On my eyes I've used a couple of shades from the Chanel Les Ombres Palette in Vendome using the highlighter shade all over the lid and the lighter brown shade in my crease. 

A weapon which I added to my handbag for this trip is the Avene Thermal Water Spray which helps to refresh make-up and cool you down. It's been a total life saver on these humid days and has stopped me from over heating. I'd recommended keeping your peepers peeled for it as it's another multi-functional beauty treat.

What are your humid weather beauty tips? Do you prefer to skip make-up all together or do you pull out a Waterproof arsenal of goodies? 

Have you tried the crop top yet?

Tuesday Tasties - No.43 - Boho Gelato - A Review

This is one of my favourite spots in Brighton, it's a tradition for Ad and I to pop in EVERY SINGLE time we head to Brighton.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Boho Gelato it's a traditional Italian style ice cream parlour which serves both the safe flavours of vanilla and chocolate, but the reason I head here is the not so conventional flavours which vary from week to week.

Everything is made fresh on location using Sussex milk, however, there are also treats for Vegans and those we aren't able to enjoy Dairy so be sure to ask when you pop in, the staff are more than happy to help. Everything looks gorgeous doesn't it?

It was pretty tough for me to get a photo through the glass, but the flavours I can spot here include Cherry Bakewell, After Dinner Mint, Strawberry Basil & Black Pepper Sorbet, Alfonso Mango, Chocolate and Nutell-esque.

This time, I opted to go for three scoops (I had a voucher which gave me three scoops for the price of two so it seemed rude not to) and had some of the Lavender & Honey, Jam Donut and Strawberry Basil & Black Pepper.

The portions are pretty generous and despite being quite an odd mix of flavours, everything works pretty well together. This is especially the case when everything starts melting and melding into one big mess of flavour. You wouldn't think the lavender would work with the strawberry, but trust me, it really does.

Can you tell I'm pretty chuffed to be getting my Boho fix? I can assure you that this didn't last that long, it was so toasty I was just grateful for something cool me down a little.

If you fancy heading to Boho Gelato, then be sure to keep your peepers peeled for the sign below.

Have you been to Boho Gelato? What did you think? What are your favourite flavours?

Hourglass - Dim Infusion - Ambient Lighting Blush - A Review

Since I started blogging, the Ambient Lighting Powders from Hourglass seemed to be on everyone's hit list, however, at that time, I'd never even stepped into a SpaceNK let alone heard of Hourglass and didn't really see what all the fuss was about.

As time went on, I thought to myself 'maybe I should give them ago, they could perk up my skin,' but I never got around to swatching the powders and there always seemed to be something else that I actually NEEDED in the skincare department which took precedence.

Eventually, I'd built up enough points to secure myself a £5 N.dulge voucher to treat myself with and I thought to myself it was about time. Ooooooo can't you just feel the tension, how will this story end I hear you cry?

Well, regular readers of my blog will know I am a lover of multi-tasking products. I strolled into SpaceNK many moons later, determined to leave with a treat to myself, something that I actually wanted and ended up grabbing the Ambient Lighting Blush from Hourglass, a fusion of their much loved Ambient Lighting Powders (which I'd been so desperately seeking to try it took me 6 months to get around to it!) with a delicate swirl of colour.

Some of the shades looked a wee bit scary, so I opted for Dim Infusion which is a pretty peach shade.

We, by that I mean you guys of course, are no doubt aware of my concern with powder blushes and pores in the summer months, but this one is actually different as it doesn't contain talc! It's so lightweight I can barely feel it on my skin (or see it when applying my make-up in the morning for that matter) but step outside a BOOM, a transformation takes place and your skin has this wonderfully subtle yet glowing flush.

I think part of this is down to the fancy technology which exists in the Ambient Lighting Powders which is designed to reflect light in such a way, it makes your skin glow and seem almost perfect.

If you're after a blush which is highly pigmented and delivers a big pop of colour, this probably isn't for you, the colour I got was very subtle as I've said above. These are probably buildable but as I'm so pale I haven't really tested this theory.

Highlighting wise, I'd say again, the effect is very subtle, I couldn't spot any glitter or shimmery particles which makes this great for daytime use. I've no idea how this stuff works but for some reason my skin did seem to have more of a soft-focus style natural glow.

All in all, I'd say this is worth a look if you're a natural loving make-up girl like me and fancy a real treat, this isn't a need product that's for sure, but it's certainly earned itself a permanent place in my everyday make-up bag.

At £28 a pop this certainly isn't cheap but it's one of the best powder blushes I've tried. Plus, whilst not really relevant to it's performance as a product, check out that marbling, it's gorgeous and each blush is done by hand in Italy meaning each one is unique.

Have you tried the Ambient Lighting Blushes from Hourglass? Which shade did you go for?

Outfit of the Day - A Deeper Shade of Blue

And there's nothing I can do.....oh Steps, you were so very very random.

Moving swiftly on, currently in the UK it's warm and very sticky, like seriously sticky. Our flat is so warm I've taken to wearing shorts, loose fitting dresses and generally anything that won't cling to my body. Outside of the office, I've been following the same non-cling rules as it just makes everything that much more comfortable.

Today I'm wearing some sale bargains and some golden oldies:

Shorts: Oasis - Scarf Print Ditsy Short - £18.00 (reduced from £28.00)
Top: Topshop Jersey Vest - £6.00, there's something similar HERE
Jacket: Oasis - Loved By Mollie - Mid-Wash Carly Denim Jacket - £45.00
Bag: Marks & Spencer - Indigo Collection - Sadly it's sold out in the sales!
Boots: Clarks
Shades: Rayban -New Wayfarer (2132) - £75

The shorts are made from a nice thin material and, as they're not fitted in any way shape or form, I can see me wearing these a lot over the summer. The material kinda feels silky (but at £18.00, they're obviously not made from silk) against the skin and I like the addition of little pockets which are sneakily hidden on the sides.

I'm not sure why I chose to tie my jacket around my waist, as you can see, the weather was glorious so I didn't even need to bring it with me but I'm one of those girls who would rather have and not need, than need and not have. I think tying the jacket this way adds a kind of 90's feel which again, adds to that slouchy relaxed feel of the outfit.

I reckon the prints on the shorts (does this print remind anyone else of the old-fashioned Willow Patterns?)  is complimented nicely by the lace pattern on the bag which you can see in the first photo. As I wanted the print to be the focus of the outfit, I kept everything else pretty simple, picking out one accent colour to bring the outfit together.

Hot weather means minimal make-up, so it should come as no surprise that I'm wearing the tried and tested combination of Lancome Air De Teint and the Hourglass Dim Infusion on my cheeks. On my eyes I've used a couple of shades from the Chanel Les Ombres Palette in Vendome using the highlighter shade all over the lid and the lighter brown shade in my crease. 

To help my eyeshadow stay put for longer, I've used the Benefit Stay Don't Stray Primer all over the lids. On my lips I've used my Dior Lip Glow not least of all because it contains a light SPF. 

Do you have any summer staples to help you keep cool?

Tuesday Tasties No.42- Bills - A Review

It's no secret that Ad and I love good food, so on a recent trip to Brighton I decided it was about time I headed over to Bill's to see what all the fuss was about. I'd heard it was the place to head to for good, no fuss grub and it's safe to say, things were scrummy.

The menu was full of things which took my fancy including burgers, fish finger sandwiches, mac 'n' cheese and fish pie. It was actually pretty tough to make a decision, looking around at what other people were eating didn't really help as everything looked scrummy. 

Before I move onto the food, I felt it necessary to share with you the tiny little salt & pepper shakers, how cute are these? Oh, and the pretty rustic/warehouse feel with vintage tins for your cutlery, the chillies hanging from the ceiling and the slates telling the story of Bill's floating around the room. Oh, and there were lots of little treats which you could take home with you including fudge and even the beer. All these little touches made me feel relaxed and ready to stuff my face (ever the lady eh).

To start we opted for the crispy lemon squid which was cooked to perfection. The coating was crunchy without being overly oily and the squid was soft with no hint of rubberyness in sight. The other big plus for me was that there were 6 pieces which meant no arguing over who gets the extra piece!

It should come as no surprise that Ad opted for the Bill's hamburger with guacamole and skinny French fries. The burger was apparently well seasoned, with tasty sauce although Ad isn't sure if there was guacamole or not, of course he only realised this the morning AFTER he'd eaten the burger. C'est la Vie. 

I also went for a burger (don't go rolling your eyes at me!) but I fancied something lighter in the form of a chicken and chorizo burger. The chicken was juicy with a nice smoky flavour although my love of chorizo means that I would have happily accepted a wee bit more on my burger.

Overall, the food was lovely, tasted fresh and really hit the spot. The atmosphere in Bill's was wonderful and the ascetic really appealed to me as I'm not one for being overly formal. The staff were lovely and friendly and seemed genuinely happy to be there which just adds to that welcoming atmosphere.

All in all a great experience and I reckon we'll be back for more. I was suffering food envy when I spotted the fish finger sandwich and for that reason, I need this dish in my life.

Have you been to Bill's? What did you think?

You Beauty Discovery - July Beauty Box

I cancelled my Birchbox subscription quite some time ago as I hadn't really been excited by the contents for some time. Given the price I decided to save my pennies (well they were inevitably spent elsewhere) until I found something that really took my fancy.

One of my beauty obsessed colleagues in the office has been subscribed to You Beauty Discovery  for quite some time and I'd noticed on more than one occasion, she'd been receiving some pretty darn peachy full sizes, all for the tidy price of £6.95 a month including delivery! As such, I caved and thought I'd give it a try for myself.

As with most beauty boxes, the You Beauty box is also small enough to pop in your letter box. The main difference between the You Beauty box and Birchbox are the following:

1) The magazine comes with money off vouchers/freebie vouchers as well as tips on the products

This is a big plus for me because if I like the product, I'm inevitably going to want to go out and purchase it so some money off or a freebie with my purchase certainly increases that temptation to spend.

2) You get to pick TWO of your samples each month

Whilst this means there's no surprise in what to expect, it means that you are going to get to try products that you're excited about and you actually want to try! Products this month included a FULL SIZE Miss Manga mascara from L'oreal and a L'Occitane En Provence Shampoo & Conditioner at 75ml each. I decided to go for the Dr Bronner's Lavender Soap (34g) which smells divine and a Green People Sun Lotion (20ml) as I've fancied trying this for a while.

3) The sample sizes are pretty darn generous!

My real gripe with Birchbox was that some of the sample sizes were incredibly small. As I've said above, there are often full sizes with You Beauty, although you need to be quick in order to nab them. Even if you don't manage to grab a full size, the 75ml L'Occitane sample is still pretty impressive.. Even my samples above were pretty generous.

4) You still get some other beauty extras

This months extras included a Dove Men Shave Cream which is quite handy to travel with, although I probably just use this on my pins. I also got a perfume sample and some Egyptian Magic which I know I love so am delighted to have another sample to play with.

5) They do limited edition boxes included ones from Mio and CFW.

This is another peachy thing, I won't waffle but seriously you should check these out. The Mio box includes Mio Body Brush, a Zumba Fitness DVD and a gym bag. Good times all round eh?

Overall, for £6.95, I think the contents are pretty darn good, I love the vouchers, the sample sizes are pretty generous (if not full size) meaning you get much more bang for your buck. Beauty lovers, I do think this box is worth a nose if you're on a budget but still want to treat yourself or try something new.

Have you tried You Beauty Discovery before? Did you get any exciting samples? Have you ever had full sizes?

Embracing Geekdom......

If you and I are to continue being friends, I feel that there a couple of things Id' like to share about non-beauty related bits and pieces which totally rock my socks off when I find a spare few minutes!

Some things you might not 'get' but that's ok, so long as you're down with how I roll, who knows, perhaps my post will inspire you to embrace your own inner geekdom a wee bit more.

I'm a Playstation girl through and through - I had a PS when it first come on the market many many moons ago. My Dad actually bought this for me and my sister to share and I remember us taking it in turns to play through levels of Tomb Raider.

Then came the PS1 (which was a dinkier version), a PS2 (slim line all the way), Ad has a PSP and finally there's our PS3, the first one we had was the original but we've since got the slim line version as ours was obviously stolen (BOOOOOO!) which annoyed me immensely, mostly because I'd lost all of my gameplay! It's a seriously sad time when the data from that game you spent hours completing has vanished in the blink of an eye.

Final Fantasy VIII will always have a place in my heart- Ad and I recently completed 13 which was a massive effort on our part (around 65 odd hours of gameplay I'll have you know) but it was so satisfying to finally complete a FF game. Anyone who's a fan of the franchise will know how long these things take to complete.

I've played most of the FF games, but VIII is definitely my favourite. I've never completed it as someone who shall remain nameless, accidentally deleted my game when I was on the final boss, the PS3 was pinched and now I'm playing it through for the third time. Fingers crossed it's third time lucky.

I frikken love the Minions - who doesn't? They're super cute, I have some slippers named Dave and Horhe and a cuddly Minion on my bed named Steve. Oh yes, they're all named, if Gru finds the time to name his employees then I can find the time to name my newest companions.

Fun fact, I actually noticed that the Minions do occasionally speak sense, they actually say Kampai in one scene which is actually Japanese for cheers. True story.

I do cos-play - probably because I never quite grew out of dressing up. I really enjoy pretending to be someone else for the day. Sure people staring and blatantly taking a picture of me without asking is a little frustrating but once I'm where I need to be, the atmosphere and the crowd are always amazing.

It's not about flashing the flesh, it's about making an effort and having fun. If I happen to make a few random strangers smile on the way, it's just a cheeky bonus for me. It's also kinda cool that it's something that Ad is quite happy to play along with as well.

Apparently, I have one cos-play pose, please excuse me.

I'm trying to learn computer coding - try being the main focus here. My brain isn't the most artisticly wired but I love a challenge which is why I'm sticking at it. Computer coding is massively nerd, especially when I starting talking integers floats and whatever else I'm playing with this week.

Whilst some people may think the above is just plain weird, it's ok, I'm cool with me and my friends seem to be pretty cool with it as well.

Are you a Playstation fiend? Big fan of animation perhaps? Be sure to let me know! 

Tuesday Tasties No.41

It's been a while since I graced these pages with a recipe I know, don't take this to mean I've not been cooking, but I've been trying out some new bits and pieces which I want to be just so before sharing with you.

In the meantime, since my visit to Joes Southern Kitchen, I'd been craving Macaroni and Cheese, nothing beats a good old Mac 'n' Cheese, it's pure indulgent comfort food. Not that it's comfort food weather of course.

Macaroni Cheese

 

For this dish you'll need the following, the optional ingredients I've marked with a * so you can leave these out if you prefer.

• 250g macaroni
• 250g cheddar or any other cheese which you like, ensure it's grated
• 250ml evaporated milk
• 2 eggs
• A pinch of nutmeg
• Salt & Pepper
• Smoked sausage, chopped *

A per usual, stick your oven on at around 200 degrees and grab an oven proof tray. I like to slightly oil mine to ensure nothing sticks.

Cook your pasta as per packet instructions, I've used dried so it'll need to be in the pan for around 10 minutes.

Once cooked, drain your pasta and sling it back into the same pan, you don't want to have any extra washing up to do now do you? I take this opportunity to stick in the sliced sausage so it can warm through a wee bit.

Now it's onto the best bit, the sauce. Add the cheese, evaporated milks and eggs and the nutmeg to a food processor.

Now give it a frikken good blitz.

When you have everything combined, add it to the hot pasta and sausage and give everything a good stir before seasoning to taste.

Tip the mixture into your oven proof dish and whack it into the oven for 10-15 minutes until it's golden and bubbling and looking scrummy.

This mixture is enough to serve four so I'll no doubt have another portion for my lunch this week, not that I'm complaining, this stuff is awesome.

What do you turn to as a fail-safe comfort dish?

This recipe is adapted from one I've seen in the Nigella Express Cookbook, I've just added a couple of extras as Ad likes meat in almost every dish!

Estelle & Thild - Eye Balm - A Review

I hate products which contain one to many ingredients, in particular I prefer to seek out products which are free from Parabens and Mineral Oils, these things are just not good for the skin. As I've said before my skin always seems to react pretty badly when I use anything with those sorts of ingredients for any prolonged period of time.

This leads me nicely onto Estelle & Thild which I've spotted many a time in Selfridges but didn't really know much about it and therefore never parted with my cash. As of late, I've done a wee bit of digging around and the specifics you need to know include the fact that it's a Swedish Organic brand packed with ingredients which actually work and that all of their products are free from Parabens, mineral oils and sodium laurel sulphate.

In short, this brand is right up my street given my love of brands such as Origins so I thought to myself I'd grab a couple of bits when I next needed a new cleanser or the like.

Those plans were kind of shot when I spotted quite a few bits from their collection in none other than TK Maxx, yes, you read right ladies, TK Maxx and at ridiculously marked down prices. I picked up a few pieces and I'll be sticking the reviews up as and when I've had a chance to really use the products.

First up is the Eye Balm which is fragrance free and cost me a whole £7.99 (it's normally £26.50). Whilst it's free from fragrance, I would say that there is a a slight smell which is almost akin to lanolin (if you've ever used Dr Lipp you'll get me).

The product itself comes in a handy pump bottle and promises to reduce puffiness whilst hydrating the eye area using a combination of Vitamin E, Shea Butter and Beeswax. Other ingredients include chestnut and black elderflower, but, as I've said, these aren't really detectable in terms of smell but they work to protect the delicate skin around your eyes none the less.

The texture isn't as thick as I'd expected given the product is called a balm. It's quite difficult to describe the texture and consistency,  it's not as light as a lotion but it's not as a heavy as a cream either. It has a slightly oily feel to it as you'd expect from a balm but it doesn't sit on the skin and is quickly absorbed.

When I first used the product there was an oily fluid which came out of the pump along with some product, but this only happened on my first use and hasn't happened since.

I've been using this as part of my evening routine as I fancied something a little more intensive on the hydration side. As the weather has been getting hotter, the air con has reached maximum levels and this is playing havoc on my skin resulting in a couple of small changes, this being one of them.

I've been using this for a couple of weeks now and I've really enjoyed it, it sinks in ridiculously quickly and the skin around my eyes feels nourished without feeling oily. In the mornings I reckon it actually looks perkier around there with no dry patches in sight. 

For £7.99 you definitely need to pick this up, especially if you're a fan of skincare with a focus on natural and organic ingredients. As an indicator of what to expect from Estelle & Thild, I'm impressed, so much so, I must resist the urge to pick up everything else I spotted in TK Maxx!

Have you used Estelle & Thild before? What else should I try? 

Tuesday Tasties No.40 - Joes Southern Kitchen - A Review

So I've finally been able to tick another restaurant off of my London Bucket List and this one was a good'un. As I'm sure you've gathered by the title of this post, I have been licking my fingers at Joes Southern Kitchen in Covent Garden.

I was smart enough to book our table for 6:00 on a Friday which not only meant the place was buzzing, but it also meant happy hour on cocktails. Me being me I took full advantage ordering a couple of tasty cocktails from their happy hour selection. In the picture below are a couple of Mojitos, a French Martini and a Margarita. I should point out there were four of us, albeit there are two cocktails missing from the below, we were a greedy bunch.

Myself and my girfriend also decided to go for their cocktail of the day as it were, a Stoli Lemonade which was far to easy to drink and on some level, a wee bit to pretty given they were decorated with tiny little flowers!

Now it's time to move onto the good stuff, the food! For those of you who aren't familiar with Joes, think deep Southern style cooking so soft shell crab, amazing chicken and tasty shrimp. As it was my first visit, the only thing that was on my hit list of things to scoff was a Big Apple Hot Dog topped with what can only be described as the most amazing pulled pork I have ever tasted.

To absorb all the alcohol I also went for a side of fries with chicken salt which, again, were delicious and crispy. Seriously, this hot dog was AMAZING, lovely and smoky and actually meaty, none of that processed rubbish here ladies!

The boys of course went for Southern Fried Chicken, Ad opted to have his with Whipped Tatties and chicken gravy and my girlfriends husband to be had some Southern Fried Tatties.

I am salivating just thinking about those whipped tatties, they were creamy and buttery and just melted in your mouth (naturally I stole a bite or two, for the blog of course) and that gravy, holy moly, seriously good stuff!

The Southern Fried Chicken was crisp and not greasy at all, I also spotted that there were very few bones which is always good to see as it means plenty of meat for us carnivores. Apologies for the photo, it was quite dimly lit in there!

Here's another one so you can see the chicken in all its chickeny based glory, so so good, albeit I didn't quite have food envy as my hot dog was so good, I was far to busy a Homer Simpson Doughnut moment.

The final teeny thing which worked it's way to our table (aside from an extra portion of that melt in your mouth pulled pork) was this super cute slider. Whilst I didn't pinch any, it certainly looked delicious and if it was half as good as the rest of the food, I bet it was scrummy.

Overall, I was seriously impressed with Joes Southern Kitchen, I thought that perhaps the cocktails would be scrummy and the food be OK but I was very very wrong. This meal is seriously one of the best I've had out in a while, I'm still salivating two days later and can't stop talking about it! Mr Y, if you're reading this, we need to go and scoff as the pulled pork is a thing of delight.

If you are planning on visiting soon, be sure to book, this place gets busy!

Have you been to Joes Southern Kitchen? What did you think?