The Italian Boys Putney | Restaurant Review

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

Putney, London, has a lot going for it. One of those things are Italian restaurants and one of the best is the newly refurbished The Italian Boys on Putney High Street. They have a good menu with a large selection of food to choose from. It takes us ages to choose what we want but the staff are patient and don’t rush us. We order some prosecco to start and it is very good wine. Some of the best prosecco I have ever tasted.

We finally decide on our starters: I have the Calamari Grigliati Con Polentina Fritta: Fresh grilled squid, pan fried polenta stuffed with peas & mint, slow roasted herbs & cherry tomato dressing and my colleague has Gamberoni Al Prosciutto Croccante: King prawns wrapped with crunchy Parma ham & lentils sauté. The calamari dish is superb, just make sure you add all of the ingredients together and don’t eat them separately. The chef really knows what he/she is doing and has an excellent grasp of flavours and the knowledge to put them together to make a stunning dish. I was incredibly impressed. The prawn starter was also superb, the sauce it came in was amazing and this dish made even the humble lentil into an ingredient worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant. We cannot praise the starters highly enough: just absolutely amazing.

For our main we had the Merluzzo Con Pancetta Croccante E Uova Di Quaglia: Pan fried filet of cod wrapped in crunchy pancetta served with clams & quail eggs with spinach & butter sauce and the Ravioli Di Zucca Con Pancetta: Ricotta & pumpkin ravioli, pancetta & rocket with butter sauce. The mains were just as good as the starters: absolutely amazing. The cod dish is unique and delicious and the ravioli is first-class. The food is so good that this restaurant is unforgettable, you think about the meal you had long after and you just have to go back for more.

For dessert I had ice-cream and my colleague had the Torta Della Nonna. The ice-cream was great. You get three scoops and I had chocolate with cookies, strawberry and a very alcoholic rum. This was superb ice-cream, showing that Italian Boys even gets it right on the simple things. The Torta Della Nonna is a Tuscan dessert known as ‘grandmother’s cake’, it was also brilliant.

The Italian Boys is a must go to restaurant for all Londoners, not just those in Putney. Both the food and the service is first-class.

Address:157 Putney High St, London SW15 1RT

Phone:020 8780 1988

Hours: 7:00 am – 11:00 pm

http://www.theitalianboysrestaurant.co.uk/

Bones Restaurant Review

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

Bones is a gorgeous and trendy looking new all day restaurant from Joff and Simeon Goodman, the guys behind the organic and fairtrade store, The Grocery. Situated in East London, it has two floors and is busy. We sit by the window and it has beautiful light, and is great for people-watching.

We start with a Burrata with basil oil, chilli flakes and sourdough bread and Beetroot and also Vodka cured salmon with rye bread and horseradish cream. Both are great. I love my vodka cured salmon, it tastes great and the horseradish cream and rye bread are both top-notch and work well together. The Burrata is also great and works well with the other ingredients. We thought it should have come on a bigger plate but other than that: we had no complaints. We also have some cocktails, they are a little watery but the food makes up for it.

Next up is a sharing dish of Roasted rack of lamb with herb crust and braised baby gem, along with Tuscan Panzanella salad with tomato, roasted red onions, croutons and garlic, and a side of Purple sprouting broccoli with chilli oil and lemon. The lamb is delicious, the herb crust and braised baby gem really add to the dish, the salad is wonderful and the broccoli is good, if a little bit too spicy for me. The food is excellent and the ingredients are a great, unique mix.

We were pretty stuffed so for dessert I have some ice-cream and sorbet and my colleague has the Raspberry and black cherry cheesecake. The ice cream is very good and so is the cheesecake.

We had some good English Breakfast Tea to finish. The food at Bones is great and the staff are passionate. A great restaurant with brilliant food. Recommended.

BONES

52 Kingsland Road

London, E2 8DP

www.ieatbones.com

Tel: 020 7003 9008

Twitter: @BonesRestaurant

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bonesrestaurant

Super Fast Suppers, Chicken & Pesto Parcels

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

With all the bank holidays we have had are you seriously exhausted after a long weekend of fun and partying, are you in need of a really triumphant meal that you can be proud of and are you looking for a very quick and heathy supper to cook in a jiffy. Here is one of our fast feasts just for those of you that want amazing and great food but just don’t have the time to slave over the hob for an hour. We give you Chicken & Pesto parcels. These take just 5 minutes to prepare, so look no further and stop googling “Fast meals for the family” just make sure you check out our site from time to time as we are the ones that will help you in the kitchen with step by step pictures too!!

You will need:

Chicken breasts (1 per person)
Red and green pesto
Celery salt
Fresh basil (dried of you can’t get to the shops)
Cherry tomatoes
Sides of your choice
Tin foil
35 minutes of prep and cooking time.

Grab the chicken and slice it up into thick strips, place on a sheet of tin foil load all the other ingredients on top. Really simple and really beautiful to the eye. You can add cheese and bacon bits if you have them or go crazy and add a good dollop of chilli for a really wicked kick.

Place these babies in the oven for 30 minutes and serve in the foil with your sides. We decided to chow down with balsamic mini roast potatoes, homemade coleslaw and a colourful salad.

Perfect for the busy family and perfect for those waistlines too!!

For more recipes and delicious fashion advice hop over to www.slbstyle.com or ask Sarah anything about food to fashion on Twitter @sarahbacchus

Five Guys Restaurant Review Manchester

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Matthew Radway

I think it’s fair to say that a Five Guys burger is an event – or at least it certainly seemed that way when I visited the newly opened restaurant in Manchester’s Trafford Centre.
Five Guys has some rather fanatical customers; to give an example, when this branch opened on Monday there were people queuing for a burger 3 hours before it opened. The staff are passionate about the food too (refreshing for what is essentially a fast food restaurant) and the novel touch of being able to totally customise your burger with a range of toppings for no extra cost all adds to the feeling that your burger has been lovingly and carefully prepared.

Arriving, I was talked through the options by the friendly staff member who took my order. The burgers aren’t cheap in comparison to other fast food chains (a meal there can easily set you back £10) so it’s worth adding a good number of the toppings.

Drinks include free refills from a machine which allows you to choose a base fizzy drink and then add a flavoured syrup if you wish. I had coke zero with orange which was less horrendous than it sounds. Again, it adds to the ‘total customisation’ experience.
My colleague and I watched as our burgers were prepared (the kitchen is entirely open to view) and it was nice to see the manager encouraging and motivating her staff. It certainly seemed to be a very pleasant working environment. The burgers arrived surprisingly quickly considering the extensive queue that had formed. I chose a cheeseburger with ketchup, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, gherkins, mushrooms and grilled onions. My colleague had a bacon cheeseburger with ketchup, mayonnaise and mushrooms. We decided to share a portion of chips.

Now, that sounds like a fairly standard amount of food. It wasn’t, it was huge. The chips were lovely but we didn’t need them with the burger being a meal in itself. You can get a little burger but the burgers are so delicious that I think it’s worth just filling up on them and forgoing sides.

My colleague and I agreed that this was the best fast food burger we had ever experienced. All the ingredients are fresh, nothing is frozen, and the beef patties are hand made on site each morning from prime Irish beef.

As I sat in the restaurant having finished my burger I tried to come up with a three word summary for how I felt about the burgers and my colleague piped up with the perfect description: “delicious heart attack”. I cannot wait to return.

The Heathrow Experience

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

The new Heathrow Terminal 2 opens on the 4th of June 2014 and its set to be the best, most opulent and tremendous one yet. With 62 fabulous shops and fine dining areas all for you the traveler. This meticulously designed experience is all about the passengers. Making it a truly wonderful visit, you will just long for more time to wander about, shop and even have a luxury relaxing massage, shower and a nice rest before your flight. This sounds too good to be true but trust me I had the chance to test this all out recently and boy oh boy was it good!! Each shop has travel in mind and each and every one has thought of everything from keeping the kids happy to keeping you completely spoilt rotten.

Thomas Pink has a new state of the art personalised digital touch screen shirt maker. The Personally Pink gadget where you can choose the shirt, collar, colour, size and all the little details of your choice and they will create your shirt and get it specially delivered to your home within about 4 weeks. You now can be your own shirt designer and no one will have the same as you!

Cath Kidston, the British known institution of vintage kitsch is the best place to drop in for gifts and all those amazing holiday items you always want to purchase last minute. The shop will feature unique travel inspired designs at the terminal.

The amazing Sunglasses Hut have a very cool device called the Magic Mirror that allows passengers to try on frames with virtual technology!! I spent ages trying on the coolest new designs. The store is set to also feature a Luxury room with some High end fashion brands. On leaving the event I looked into my goodie bag and low and behold they had popped a pair of the latest Folding Ray-Bans in the bag! What a fab event and we all got totally spoilt.

Having some fun at the even! Its not all work and no play at Frost. Work hard play hard, haven’t you heard our motto!!Dixons Travel is my kinda place. This new Leica camera is on my ultimate wish list. All hand made and a photographers dreamy dream. I did joke and pretend the pinch it but with a price tag of around £4000 I decided it wouldn’t be a good idea if they ever wanted me for a Photo shoot!! Now on the other hand these babies below are more in my price range, the latest sound box that connects to your phone wirelessly. The sound that was heard coming from these was tremendous. I need one for photo shoots that are in extreme places without electricity. Just imagine this dinky little number by the pool playing your favourite tunes or sitting sipping a nice glass of red while watching the sun go down, with delightful chill out music in the background. Whats brilliant these are just under £100 too!At the World Duty free bar we got to sample the cocktails and whiskeys. I opted for my all time favourite that is a Virgin Marry. I have to say it was possibly the best one I have ever had. Compliments to the gentleman creating them.The World Duty Free section will be offering whisky tasting, complimentary facials, massages and treatments, all are amazing I can reassure you. Now for the highlight of the day for me and that was the Plaza Premium Lounge. This will be the only independent lounge offering the most exquisite taylor made massages. With an incredible array of highly trained and courteous staff, this company has you and only you the passenger at the heart of what they are offering. First class treatment that fulfils every wish, every tiny little desire you might require. It will have 5 sleeping suites, shower rooms, business centre facilities, Wi-Fi workstations, private resting areas and a free restaurant, not just a cold buffet either, but with really sublime hot food, delicious Moorish premium dishes . For just £38 you can have 2 hours of access that includes all the above and you could even have a an exclusive wellness spa massage, you must book when you know you are visiting Terminal 2 as the massage I had was sublime. All this and there is also a Champagne bar. I really need to book a holiday and hope for delays!! Their ethos is service and superior service at that. Sleek, contemporary and accessible to everyone, Five star luxury at reasonable prices. Their products are delicious too, and the candles…well the candles. You will just have to visit them to experience this for yourself won’t you! Tearing myself away from all that for a spot of salmon sampling and caviar slurping. Nothing else would have done it mind you. Caviar House and Prunier offers incredible Balik salmon, caviar, chocolate and champagne. Every one of us at the event was overwhelmed at the flavours. I was instantly taken back to my childhood sitting on my fathers boat, lapping up the sea breeze and the salty air. This caviar not only tasted triumphant but made me feel like I had been whisked off on holiday. The ice bar was amazing, full to the brim with treats.With all this going on at the Terminal would you need anything else, oh yes you could. Personal shopping is the ultimate experience in its self and at Heathrow its all complimentary. With over 400 outlets at your disposal you can book a consultation with one of the accredited stylists fluent in 38 languages. Heathrow has thought of everything thats for sure.Now for some fun foodie news as Heathrow also welcomes Heston Blumenthal and his fantastic team to Terminal 2, with the opening of The Perfectionists’ Cafe. Celebrating all this is British from burgers made by grinding the meat grains in the same direction to create the most juicy and delicious burger you have ever eaten. Crunchy fresh cooked chips with a wicked batter coating. Pizzas cooked in wood burring oven and the option for a 15 minute menu if you are in a hurry.

I can’t wait to fly with Heathrow and want to thank them so much for hosting the mind blowing #ExperienceT2 it was by far the best press day I have been to this year. With 2.5 Billion invested in this development you are really in for a wonderful holiday right from the moment you step into the airport. Right what flights are setting off from Terminal 2….?!!!

Follow them on Twitter @HeathrowAirport and Follow me too if you like for more reviews, fashion and fun on Twitter @sarahbacchus Jump on over to www.slbstyle.com for more lifestyle, fashion and beauty.

Bills Putney Restaurant Review

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Catherine Balavage

We had heard amazing things about Bills in Putney. Our neighbours recommended their breakfast, saying it was ‘first rate’. Of course this meant we went in with high expectations. Which always makes it harder for a restaurant to impress.

The restaurant was very busy, all of Putney seemed to be here. We had a look at the menu and it looked great. As did the decor, the shelves were filled with product from Bills.

We started off with the Bill’s Prawn And Avocado Cocktail with spicy salsa and cocktail sauce with deep fried tiger prawns, ciabatta crisps and lemon. It looks superb and is very unique. However, I misjudged quite how spicy it would be and I couldn’t eat all of it. There could also be more avocado.

My colleague had the Crispy Duck Salad: spring onions, apple, radish, red pepper, coriander and watercress with a soy and lemon dressing. The salad was okay but not hugely impressive. It was quite bland and needed more dressing. For mains we had Bill’s Fish Pie: queen scallops, smoked haddock, salmon, tiger prawns, peas and baby onions topped with an English mustard and cheddar mash. The pie is very good with a generous variety of ingredients.

My colleague had ‘Sugar and Spice’ Marinated Half Chicken served with a Curried Slaw and Sweet Potato Fries. This was also good, the sweet potato fries were amazing in particular. We were very impressed with the mains after our so-so starters. Everything at Bills seems quite unique and has a twist. They make brave choices which sometimes work and sometimes don’t, obviously depending on a persons taste. Bills is a good place for something unique and different however.

For our dessert we had amazing warm cinnamon mini doughnuts with strawberries and a chocolate sauce- they were amazing. My colleague had lemon meringue pie cheesecake in a glass, with yogurt ice cream, which was also good.

146-148 Putney High St, London SW15 1RR
020 8780 2818

Finding Fennel

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

Fennel is one plant that is more commonly used when dried and in curries. If you are looking for recipes for fennel the bulb itself they can be eaten raw and is delightful added to a salad. Here is a really simple dish you should try. Keep the flavours delicate as fennel has a rather a distinctive aniseed flavour. It pairs really well with celery and Lemon.

Eaten with a light tomato and basil salad for lunch, it’s a perfect healthy and rather wonderful way to keep your skin clear and also keep those dreaded pounds off too. After a weekend indulging in a few glasses of bubbly or your favourite wine, fennel is an ideal snack as its a diuretic and it has liver protecting properties when eaten raw, so it will help get rid of toxins. It is an amazing source of vitamin C, a good way to get fibre in your diet and not only does it taste great it will help to reduce elevated cholesterol levels. What a wonderful little plant this is!!

Here is a filling and easy dish to prepare for lunch or even a side dish with a nice slab of grilled salmon for supper. I have an amazing salmon and strawberry recipe I will share with you soon too! Keep your eyes out for that. Anyway back to the fennel dish.

You will need:

1 Fennel bulb
1 Lemon
6 celery stalks
2 tbs Olive oil
Ground black pepper
Tomatoes
Basil leaves to garnish

Slice up the celery and fennel in a food processor.

Add the freshly squeezed Lemon juice, Olive oil and lashings of black pepper. With clean hands get stuck in and it mix up. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with Sliced beef tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil and a few basil leaves. Really simple and totally mind blowing on the taste buds.
For more recipes from Sarah visit www.slbstyle.com or Tweet her @sarahbacchus and have a healthy week guys!

Salmon & Strawberries

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Sarah Bacchus

As I promised in one of my other articles here is the ultimate meal. This has to be the most wonderful of dishes and when you try this you will feel like you have created the most delectable supper ever created. You will want to take credit for it but I know you won’t right! Surely you will tell everyone where you came across this brilliant recipe…. Who am I kidding you going to have a dinner party and dazzle in the compliments for weeks afterwards!

This dish will make your guests talk about how amazing you are in the kitchen, you will enjoy the accolade for eternity. Now just make sure you make it soon or you will be the one complimenting the chef.

Salmon has a very distinctive flavour that some find a little over powering and some really don’t ever have it due to this. This recipe will tenderise the flavour and give it a new twist. One that will send your pallet on a seductive journey to heaven. Its also a a very heathy supper as its very low in fat and high in protein. With all the good omega oils from the fish, perfect for glowing skin.

All you need for this dish is

Salmon
Strawberries
1/2 a glass of white wine
A pinch of salt and pepper

Also some simple side dishes of either roasted balsamic new potatoes and green beens or anything you like, it works well with pasta and rice, so let your imagination go wild.

Slice up the strawberries. Lay the salmon fillets in a baking tray and pop the slices on top.

Add the wine and the salt and pepper. Then cook for 30 minutes in a preheated oven gas mark 6 or 200c

Serve up and get ready to be taken to a place you have never been before! This dish is perfect with a nice cold glass of Pinot and lots of friends. Just so you can soak up all the comments! All good I promise you.

Have fun cooking this everyone and make sure you send me a little tweet @sarahbacchus to say het that was amazing. Once you have tried it you will be sharing this with everyone.

For more recipes visit www.slbstyle.com

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