New Tastes...

Lucha Libre, Manchester

Last night my friend Timna from university came to visit with her boyfriend Sam. I organised for a few of us to go for a meal and drinks in Manchester so we had something to entertain us, and to keep my mind off this weeks' happenings!

I chose Lucha Libre, a Mexican street food restaurant that is in the Great Northern in Manchester. Tasha has been to the one in Liverpool and said it was lovely, so I was looking forward to it.

After booking a table, we arrived and sat down and were explained the premise of the place - it is similar to tapas in that the dishes are small and come out when they are ready, so they recommend choosing three each. We got some nachos with guacamole and salsa to nibble while we chose. I opted for the chicken and chorizo empanadas (£4.50), and the prawn tacos (£5.75) - which were mini versions of the soft variety as opposed to the crunchy crisp type ones. Aside from the prawns, they also had minted quacamole, coriander, chilli and mango salsa in, an interesting combination of flavours that worked well - the hotness of the chilli was soothed by the cool mint guacamole, really delicious. Each of mine were nice little portions, I could have eaten a third dish but decided to hold off, however some people got burritos which were ample as a singular dish, yet they were only £6-8!

A few people got desserts, but I didn't really fancy anything on the menu so got a cocktail called the Gecko instead. It was amazing - Hendricks gin, elderflower foam, apple tequila and soda; I was lucky not to have discovered it earlier in the evening or I could have spent a lot of money on them!

Altogether the bill for me came to £28 and I had extra wine to everyone else and the cocktail, so I was pretty happy with that. Its a good place to go with a big group, but next time I think I'd like to share lots of dishes rather than ordering my own, as it makes it a bit more sociable!

Spring Performances...

Pygmalion at Leeds Grand Theatre - 5 stars *****

On Saturday I went to visit Jasmine in Leeds with Mum, and the three of us went to watch Pygmalion at the theatre as a belated Mother's Day present. When we arrived we were told that there were spare seats nearer to the front, so despite paying £24 for balcony seats, we got ones worth £36!

I studied the George Bernard Shaw play as part of my GCSEs, so am familiar with the storyline, but Jasmine and Mum weren't, so I was interested to see what they thought. Henry Higgins was expertly played by Alistair McGowan, who put his accent talents to great use, creating brilliant comedic value. In fact, the cast as a whole were very good, although a couple of actors had to have stand ins, one of whom awkwardly forgot some lines - but it wasn't that noticeable. I particularly liked the portrayal of Higgins' housekeeper, Mrs Pearce, a brash and blunt Irish redhead, determined to knock some sense into Henry. Rachel Barry did a sterling performance of Eliza Doolittle, though her animalistic calls did get on my nerves a little! 

The set was a hugely detailed one, that was fully moveable in order to create different scenes. It was very different from a lot of the lower budget performances I watched with school. A main 'box' was in the centre, which could be moved around in order to change from outdoor to indoor scenes, and create doorways for entrance and exits. Props were used to great advantage in my opinion, although McGowans facial expression and mannerisms alone were enough to bring the stage to life.

Overall the Grand's production was a great success, and I would have gone back to watch it again given the chance. The relationships between characters, particularly Higgins and his mother, played by Rula Lenska, were very believable, and a number of lines and deliveries had the audience in stitches! It also had its moments of sadness, and infuriation, which is always the a sign of a good play. Pygmalion was a chance and lucky find, which my mum and sister both thoroughly enjoyed.

Weekly Update!

Fish, Steak Pizza & Prosecco!

On Monday Mo came to mine and cooked a really nice bit of salmon with veg and potatoes for tea, makes a change for it to be so healthy! Tuesday I had fish again, but at the Country Club, this time it was sea bass with crab and cauliflower salad and asparagus and was amazing as per usual. On Wednesday Tasha came to mine and I made a spaghetti bolognese and we booked the hotel for our holiday - so excited!

I babysat on Thursday and then on Friday went out to Manchester for a meal and drinks (see previous post). Yesterday I got up early and drove Mum and I to Leeds to see Jasmine as a belated Mother's Day present. We bought her a ticket to the theatre to see Pygmalion, and went to Ask in Headingley for lunch beforehand. We got the mixed Panzerottini (filled dough balls) and a sharing platter of meat, cheese and bread as a starter, and then for main I had the most amazing pizza type thing that was a rosemary and sea salt flat bread topped with steak, rocket, tomatoes and grana pardano. It was absolutely huge, and tasted phenomenal, the waitress recommended it and I'm glad I trusted her judgement!

We were really full, and pushed for time afterwards so skipped dessert and went straight to watch the play, which was really good (see next week's post), and then I drove back home and quickly got ready for a night out! Emily and Natasha came to mine for predrinks, and then we met my friend Amanda in Manchester and went to Neighbourhood. It was a really fun night, we were on the prosecco and the music was awesome, we stayed so late and got free shots! 

Today I felt pretty ropey, I'd stayed at my parents so was in bed until lunchtime, then had a bacon and egg sandwich and was given a lift home. Mo came round and we've just had a much needed Chinese, though it took nearly an hour and a half to arrive, not the best on a hangover!

New Tastes...

Byron Burger, Manchester

Last night a group of us wanted to go out somewhere for dinner and a couple of drinks, so I suggested Byron Burger, on Deansgate in Manchester. It is always rammed when I walk past, and has a sort of 50s vibe going on, so after looking at the menu (pretty cheap) I thought it was a good choice.

We booked a table for 8 people with no problem, and ordered some drinks whilst perusing the menu. It is quite limited, but I like this as it shows that in theory, what they make should be top notch. I have been to a few burger places recently and if truth be told, I'm not even a huge fan of them (hell knows why I chose the restaurant!) so I decided to be different and went for the veggie burger. 

It had a huge portabello mushroom, pepper, tomato, spinach, red onion and aioli on, and was supposed to be goats cheese, but I swapped it for some Monterey Jack instead. I really enjoyed it, and got the skin-on fries as a side, which were really tasty. We shared a bottle of wine and all the guys had beers, so we just split the bill for ease, with a tip it came to just over £20 each, which I thought was decent for what we had.

Afterwards we went to a new cocktail bar with a similar vibe to Alchemist called Elixir on Deansgate for a couple of drinks, before moving on to Liars Club, a last minute decision as I missed the last train, so thought I might as well stay out late if I was forking out £25 for a taxi home! It was a really fun night, a good distraction from the monotonies of life!