Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Forty (Part One)

'Rather a broken bone than a heart of stone.'

(K. Tolnoe)

This has been one hell of a week, and it's not over yet! Those of you that are observant may notice I am writing this on a Friday evening instead of my usual Sunday, and this is because at the crack of dawn tomorrow (4am to be precise) I am heading to the airport for a quick jaunt to Hamburg in Germany with my dad and sister. As I am sure we will cram lots of antics in despite only being there for 36 ish hours, I thought I would do a separate post recommending stuff to see, food to eat, and mainly, establishments to drink in when I get back on Sunday night, so check back in for that!

Back to this week, and I HAVE to tell you about the most incredible dessert place I tried out on Tuesday with my friend Timna - Icestone Gelato. It is on Oxford Road in the city centre, just near Footage, and I sampled the peanut butter waffle, which had the obvious peanut butter on, as well as chopped up Snickers bars and caramel sauce, served with vanilla ice cream, man it was good!

That evening was Matter of Sound's fifth Band and Bean event at Grindsmith in Salford Quays, and although one band cancelled very last minute (grr) we had Lyons and La Zel, and Taff Jr playing, who were both perfect. The former have a reggae feel to their material, and the guitarist manages to beatbox whilst simultaneously playing the flute which was quite the spectacle! I have stuck a video of them performing on the night above, as my track of the week is in part two of this post, but I didn't want you to have nothing to listen to as you read, and they are a cracking little duo. 

On Wednesday a group of us met up for food at Byron Burger on Deansgate, as a last goodbye to Laura who leaves to travel around South America/ Australia and New Zealand next week. I had the Oreo milkshake, and chose the Byron Burger (a beef patty with bacon, cheese, burger sauce, red onions, tomato and lettuce) and shared sweet potato fries with Ellie. The food, when it finally arrived, was classic and tasty, but the service was shocking; it took the waiter ten minutes to come over for us to order drinks and get the menu, and over forty for our food, which considering there was only us and one other table was unacceptable in my eyes. We had chosen there as we had a voucher for 50% off food, but despite the discount I wouldn't rush back as my experience was marred because of our excessive wait.

Yesterday I went into Manchester with Moj to check out Manchester Food Festival in Albert Square. I got crab fritters from Holy Crab (omgosh, amazing!), rhubarb flavoured prosecco from a cute little metal trailer and we sat and listened to Larkins who I saw at a Sofar Sounds a couple of years ago who happened to be performing inside the tent. We went for an espresso martini by the open fire in Albert's Schloss afterwards, and a final cocktail in Impossible before heading home.

Today I packed my case and am heading to bed soon ready to be up with the birds!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Thirty Nine

'If you laid in your own thoughts, would you sink?'
(Anie Hart)

I started Monday by getting a poem up on Instagram, read it here. The beginning of the week was fairly unremarkable, so I will stick my track for this week in below; it is one that I am sure you will have heard as it is everywhere, but you can't ignore the public opinion when it is this en masse, Cabello is killing it!



On Thursday I went on a date with Moj to a restaurant that we have both wanted to try for a while - Randall & Aubin in Manchester centre. It is the second branch to open, the first being in Soho, London, and is predominantly a seafood and fish place, famous for its fresh oysters. We got the French dozen, served with tabasco, lemon and an onion relish, and they were delicious. As a big seafood fan, I was surprised at how different they tasted from everything else I have previously tried, and varied so much in flavour from the cooked and battered variety, which I sampled whilst in Boston a couple of years ago. 

For main I actually had one of the starter dishes: six Manx scallops served with pancetta and a caper, lemon and garlic butter dressing, and ordered a side of potato gratin to accompany. I would recommend R&A to anyone who likes a chance to dress up and go somewhere a bit classier than the average eatery, but are still conscious of overspending; it is a tastefully decorated, well thought out venue with a tasty menu to suit all budgets. The bill with a tip came to approx 30 quid a head, which I think is reasonable for two mid-price-range courses, albeit that being sans alcohol with my current sober status.

On Friday Aum had a random day off school, so we invited his friend Anay over for a playdate and then I took them for lunch at Pizza Express in Hale, an easy go-to. I tried one of the new pizzas, the Campana (pork and fennel sausage, garlic oil, tomato, mozzarella, friarielli and parsley) it was so huge I had enough to take home for my tea as well! That evening I met up with Lydia and Tasha at The Elk in Hale for a couple of drinks (though still just coffee for me) it was mint to catch up with them both and we had a proper gossip/ giggle.

Yesterday I had a chilled day, cleaned the flat and got some washing done, then rewarded myself with my first alcoholic drink in three weeks at Laura's leaving party for her going travelling, which was at The Con Club. She is a super popular girl so there were lots of people to mingle and chat to, and I surprised myself by not going too overboard on the espresso martinis - I actually feel pretty perky today! I have just got back from having tea at Mum's but apart from that I had a lovely little lie in and then walked the dog today, top Sunday.