Sunday, 30 September 2012
Flurt, Pinstone Street, City Centre
Just a quick shout out to this place. Flurt does four flavours of frozen yoghurt: natural, chocolate, strawberry and a fourth which rotates on average every six days or so. I was wandering along to the farmer's market after an unsuccessful day of shopping. I was going to break my diet with fresh cheesecake when I saw two girls walk past with some frozen yoghurt. So I bee-lined for Flurt. Oh my god. I had caramel with strawberries and granola. The small is still sizable and I kid you not, I had such a massive smile on my face I even got ensnared by those people trying to take your money for various charities on Fargate and gave them money! That's how delicious the frozen yoghurt is here. Go there. It will brighten your day considerably.
Ego, Sheffield City Centre
I know this one is a chain, which normally I don't review, but it is a restaurant I hadn't been to before. Ego is a Mediterranean restaurant, next to the winter gardens and one of the precious few restaurants in town that I could find that had a pretheatre menu on a Tuesday. Two courses for £12.95 (James has fixed the laptop so I now have a pound sign) or three courses for £14.95.
We were seated next to the window (which I happen to like) on a square table. The chairs were comfortable enough but they were tricky to sit up in to eat. I had grilled goats cheese to start. It was very salty (I am a salty sea dog) and served on toasted brioche. It was a light dish and piping hot throughout. The only complaint I have is that there wasn't enough of the chutney and balsamic syrup to fully balance out the cloying texture of the cheese, but that's just nit-picky. Overall I really enjoyed the starter and thought it was just different enough to stand up to it being a chain restaurant. James had the pate (naturally) and he enjoyed it a great deal. It came with a chutney that was served in a really cute little glass lever top jar! That was the best thing for me, I wanted to steal it (but I didn't!).
For a main I had the salmon in a cream mustard sauce. It was a tad bland but the texture of the fish was superb. Perfectly cooked and flaky yet moist. James had the steak (again, naturally!) which he requested cooked rare. James is a steak fiend and will judge a restaurant based entirely on how they cook their meat. Whilst he was pleased it wasn't overcooked, it was closer to blue then rare. It needed to be hot through. The vegetables were shared between us which I liked, they were al dente which I don't normally like but with the softness of the fish I needed the bite of the vegetables to alleviate the dish somewhat.
I didn't have a dessert of my own. I'm THAT kind of girl. So I was handed James' fork and shared his tirimisu. I'm a giant tirimisu fan. The dish was soaked with Kahlua. I understand it has to have a healthy whack of it to make the taste right but it was drenched. You pressed on the creamy top and it leaked out. James quite enjoyed it but it was just too much for me. I prefer a bit more emphasis on the creamyness then the coffee liquor.
I would recommend Ego as a pretheatre venue, not least because it is bang opposite the Lyceum and Crucible. It was good for a chain and I would go back. I imagine they would cope quite well with large groups (but I have nothing to base that on). 7.5/10.
We were seated next to the window (which I happen to like) on a square table. The chairs were comfortable enough but they were tricky to sit up in to eat. I had grilled goats cheese to start. It was very salty (I am a salty sea dog) and served on toasted brioche. It was a light dish and piping hot throughout. The only complaint I have is that there wasn't enough of the chutney and balsamic syrup to fully balance out the cloying texture of the cheese, but that's just nit-picky. Overall I really enjoyed the starter and thought it was just different enough to stand up to it being a chain restaurant. James had the pate (naturally) and he enjoyed it a great deal. It came with a chutney that was served in a really cute little glass lever top jar! That was the best thing for me, I wanted to steal it (but I didn't!).
For a main I had the salmon in a cream mustard sauce. It was a tad bland but the texture of the fish was superb. Perfectly cooked and flaky yet moist. James had the steak (again, naturally!) which he requested cooked rare. James is a steak fiend and will judge a restaurant based entirely on how they cook their meat. Whilst he was pleased it wasn't overcooked, it was closer to blue then rare. It needed to be hot through. The vegetables were shared between us which I liked, they were al dente which I don't normally like but with the softness of the fish I needed the bite of the vegetables to alleviate the dish somewhat.
I didn't have a dessert of my own. I'm THAT kind of girl. So I was handed James' fork and shared his tirimisu. I'm a giant tirimisu fan. The dish was soaked with Kahlua. I understand it has to have a healthy whack of it to make the taste right but it was drenched. You pressed on the creamy top and it leaked out. James quite enjoyed it but it was just too much for me. I prefer a bit more emphasis on the creamyness then the coffee liquor.
I would recommend Ego as a pretheatre venue, not least because it is bang opposite the Lyceum and Crucible. It was good for a chain and I would go back. I imagine they would cope quite well with large groups (but I have nothing to base that on). 7.5/10.
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Dada, City Centre, Sheffield
And it was again time for a catch up with a friend from work I see far too little of. We are a wine-and-cheese-partner-come-pick-me-up-I'm-very-drunk kind of a couple when we get together. Generally this means we stumble around each other's houses of a weekday afternoon but we wanted some fresh air. So my friend recommended Dada on Trippet Lane.
Dada mostly does sharing platters, so the choice seemed ideal. We opted for 3 cheeses, pate, chorizo, olives, pomodorello tomatoes, hummous and two different types of tapenade. It also came with a basket of bread and butter and crackers. We coupled this with a chilled bottle of dry white wine. The result was utterly delicious. The tapenades and hummous were home made and tasted like it (in a good way). There was plenty of them, I was eating the hummous with my fingers when we ran out of things to spread it on and the tapenade choices were unusual enough to be interesting. We weren't exactly spoiled for choice on the cheeses, but the ones we did opt for were adequate. Don't get me wrong, they complimented the rest of the board very well indeed, but they were run of the mill cheeses, nothing jumped out at me. The same with the meats. The chorizo and pate added depth of flavour and texture to the board, again complimenting the rest of the choices we made but not something you can't get anywhere else.
I am being harsh here. Overall the deli board was exactly what we wanted. It was a little bit different to the sharer platters offered else where and whilst we didn't pick them, the other options were very ploughman's lunchish and would have made a nice addition to the meats and cheeses. The service was fast and friendly. The venue being what it is, the interior can't help but be dark though not oppressively so. More like a bar in town when they turn down the lights for 'ambiance'. They've altered the decor from when it was a wine bar just enough for it to be obvious the place has changed hands. The only real complaint I have is that we paid the extra £1.50 for bread of the day, for it to be just 3 slices of bread. Considering the amount of spreadable items on the platter, I would have expected twice that.
I would give Dada a 8.5/10. Unusual enough to check it out and definitely one I would recommend should you wish for a cheese and wine day yourself. We will be going back ourselves in hopefully the not too distant future.
Dada mostly does sharing platters, so the choice seemed ideal. We opted for 3 cheeses, pate, chorizo, olives, pomodorello tomatoes, hummous and two different types of tapenade. It also came with a basket of bread and butter and crackers. We coupled this with a chilled bottle of dry white wine. The result was utterly delicious. The tapenades and hummous were home made and tasted like it (in a good way). There was plenty of them, I was eating the hummous with my fingers when we ran out of things to spread it on and the tapenade choices were unusual enough to be interesting. We weren't exactly spoiled for choice on the cheeses, but the ones we did opt for were adequate. Don't get me wrong, they complimented the rest of the board very well indeed, but they were run of the mill cheeses, nothing jumped out at me. The same with the meats. The chorizo and pate added depth of flavour and texture to the board, again complimenting the rest of the choices we made but not something you can't get anywhere else.
I am being harsh here. Overall the deli board was exactly what we wanted. It was a little bit different to the sharer platters offered else where and whilst we didn't pick them, the other options were very ploughman's lunchish and would have made a nice addition to the meats and cheeses. The service was fast and friendly. The venue being what it is, the interior can't help but be dark though not oppressively so. More like a bar in town when they turn down the lights for 'ambiance'. They've altered the decor from when it was a wine bar just enough for it to be obvious the place has changed hands. The only real complaint I have is that we paid the extra £1.50 for bread of the day, for it to be just 3 slices of bread. Considering the amount of spreadable items on the platter, I would have expected twice that.
I would give Dada a 8.5/10. Unusual enough to check it out and definitely one I would recommend should you wish for a cheese and wine day yourself. We will be going back ourselves in hopefully the not too distant future.
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