Fat Bottom Foodie

Afternoon Tea Time

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

Last month, I went to the Six at the Baltic in Newcastle. Located on the quayside, it is known as the place to get yourself some fancy food

For my birthday last year I was gifted a voucher for afternoon tea from my boyfriend and due to lockdown back in March, we were unable to go

Finally, the time came and we booked ourselves in to go and enjoy the afternoon tea

When seated, we were given a lovely glass of fizz, it was delicious. It went down a treat while we were waiting for our cakes and scones to arrive!

The 3 tiered afternoon tea finally arrived and my initial reaction was simply, wow!

The cake that caught my eye was the dark chocolate and hazelnut mousse as it had a little raspberry on top

The little finger sandwiches were: chickpea curry, cheese and chutney, cucumber and cream cheese & egg mayo

The choice was lovely, I really enjoyed them all. My favourite one would have to be the chickpea curry sandwich, as it was something a little different

As a non cucumber lover, I surprisingly enjoyed the cucumber and cream cheese one. I think this was because the cucumber was finely cut

Moving onto the best bit…the cakes!

The options were: dark chocolate mousse, cinder toffee, hazelnut, banana & date cake with peanut buttercream, strawberry & mascarpone victoria sponge, lemon & blackberry macaron

My favourite dessert was the mini dark chocolate mousse shot, the flavours were intense and rich, making it very moreish!

The honeycomb placed on top was divine too, even though it got stuck in my teeth

My least favourite would have to be the lemon & blueberry macaron, as it was too tangy for me. I was not a fan of the texture either

Other than that the other cakes/desserts were tasty and you cannot fault the classic victoria sponge cake!

On the middle tier there were also fruit scones & cheese scones with clotted cream, jam and butter to spread on them

Overall, this was a lovely present idea as it made for a wonderful day out & we had to take some of the cakes home in boxes as we were stuffed!

I would highly recommend going or at the moment using their takeout service to have an afternoon tea from the comfort of your home if you really fancy having the lush cakes. It’s also good to support local in these challenging times

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Steak Burgers @ Chapters Tearoom

Hi my fellow foodies! Hope you’re all well

The other week I had a lovely day in Durham. I walked by the river, popped into some shops, enjoyed some much needed fresh air and had some lovely food

We went into Chapters tearoom. I hadn’t been before but I had only heard lovely things about it from fellow northern foodies

We ordered two bottles of full fat coke which came in a cute jam jar glass before we browsed the food menu

I really wanted a burger so I ordered the steak burger, as did my boyfriend

It came in a brioche bun, the steak was topped with melted cheese and caramelised onion

The steak was quite juicy and combined with the cheese and for just over a tenner, I would recommend going if you’re in town and wanting some lush cheapish dinner

The chips were delicious as they were chunky and salty! (The perfect combo if you ask me) They even came in a cute little sieve like metal holder, which is very Instagrammable for foodies like myself. I also loved the wooden slate that the food came out on, very cute and different

Even the salad was seasoned with a balsamic vinegar, sea salt and black ground pepper, so it was just all very lovely

The vibe in Chapters was lovely and calm with cosy interior and they had some cute artwork hung up which I wish I asked where it was from

Anyway, as it was chucking it down outside, we decided to stay a while longer as we didn’t want to get wet outside or leave the cosy café

We ordered another round of drinks and chatted away for another hour or so. If their ice cream parlour upstairs was open, we would have gone up to grab an ice cream or freak shake but never mind. That’ll make for another trip to town

I’ll leave you with a closeup of the juicy streak burger to end this weeks review. Try not to drool!

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Italian Alfresco

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

Last month we went to the Italian Farmhouse in Coxhoe

With the new covid restrictions we decided that sitting outside eating pasta sounded like the perfect Friday night!

It was the most fun I’ve had in a while!

After ordering a bottle of pinot and basically downing a glass (it had been a looooong week) we ordered our starters

There was no need to decide what we were having as the Farmhouse is our favourite local

I ordered the breaded mozzarella in a bed of rich tomato sauce

My friend ordered the polpetini on a lovely crusty piece of bread with the same sauce

The cheese pull on the breaded mozzarella was insane! I was that hungry I could’ve ate about 5 of them…I’m a little pig I know

I tried my friends polpetini and the meatballs were juicy and tender, just beautiful really

I liked the garnish for photo purposes but I don’t like to eat it, so I gave mine to my friend but other than that I would definitely recommend these starters for those who are visiting the Italian Farmhouse

10/10 for both of the starters!

(Here’s a cheeky close up of the mozzarella starter as it deserves all the recognition it can get)

Moving onto our mains, we decided to go halfy half with pizza and pasta as we both couldn’t decide what we wanted to have, typical really

The pizza we went for was the pesto chicken pizza, it had hints of garlic and it was lovely and cheesy

It also had the same rich tomato base that the starters were smothered in

We decided on the arrabiata pasta for a bit of a kick. It was spicy but a nice contrast with the garlicy chicken pizza

For dessert we ordered another bottle of Pinot, classic Friday night behaviour

After polishing off two bottles of crisp white wine between us, we went to the COOP and got another to sit in our garden at home

The night overall was fantastic and the wine kept us warmer than we expected. Sitting on a picnic bench wasn’t ideal but we made the most of it while it’s still allowed!

Expect to see more posts from the Italian Farmhouse in Coxhoe in the near future as it is so close to where I live

For just under a tenner for 2 courses, I don’t think you can go wrong for classic Italian scran

Don’t forget to check out @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram for more tasty meals

Takeaway Takeover!

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

I thought it would be fun to do a takeaway takeover for this weeks post, as it seems that I have been eating in more than I have been eating out lately!

So, I have rounded up some of the best takeaways that I have had in the past few weeks (naughty I know)

It was hard to choose the best of the best as my local takeaways are all top notch in my opinion

Especially as we’re in a local lockdown it’s been harder to eat out and do my thing

First off we have the Dragon Chinese in Bowburn, County Durham

This is my go to Chinese takeaway for a three reasons…

1. You can pre pay on card (stops cash handlining with corona kicking about)

2. Their chips are elite! They’re golden, crunch and come in a HUGE bag

3. FREE prawn crackers with your order, get in!

My favourite order (to share with my family) is a beef chow mein, chicken chow mein, portion of those golden crunchy chips, egg fried rice and a tub of curry sauce to drizzle all over it

Unreal for a Friday/Saturday night!

Next up, we have the Indian takeaway, Dine @ Home in Wallsend, Newcastle

When it comes to a curry I am a bit of a spice virgin….embarrasing, I know

So with this in mind, my order is a chicken tikka masala, pilau rice with a garlic naan (the best bit)

I think the garlic naan is unreal, especially when it has proper chunks of garlic butter on it and it’s super warm and soft

My boyfriend ordered a beef madras as he clearly doesn’t have nay taste buds! I dipped a bit of the naan bread in it and it’s FAR too spicy for me

With this, he also ordered pilau rice. He also likes to share some of my garlic naan with me instead of ordering his own, but I don’t mind!

The naan is perfect for dipping into the curry sauce after all

A lovely combination of flavours

The final takeaway in the line up for this post is fish and chips from Davisons in Bowburn, County Durham

I ordered a battered sausage, portion of chips, mushy peas and a cod (which I halved with my brother)

It was lovely to have a bit of sausage and fish as I couldn’t decide what I wanted to begin with!

We had our own big soft white buns, so I ended up making a butty with both sausage, fish peas and chips!

It cannot be beaten, if you haven’t tried this yet…now is the time, trust me

Being indecisive had it perks I suppose as it was lovely having a bit of sausage and fish on my plate (and in my bun)

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, I think it’s nice to mix it up a bit sometimes!

Comment below if you’d like to see more mashup/takeover posts, or if you prefer more in depth reviews of one meal out/in

In the meantime, make sure that you check out @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram for more daily posts of takeaways and treats!

Girls Night @ Uno Momento

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

Ever since I heard that the Italian restaurant, Uno Momento, was opening in Durham city centre I had to go and try it out for myself!

After reading the reviews and scrolling through pictures of the place, it looked pretty impressive

On arrival, the venue was much smaller than I thought but it looked very cosy still. We were sat in a booth upstairs, which was roomy for five of us eating

We were able to order our drinks straight away, two fruity ciders, two g&t’s and a pint of strongbow, with a jug of water for the table

Now, onto the food order! We waited over an hour and a half for our food to come, which was quite disappointing

Luckily, I hadn’t seen my friends for a while so it gave us plenty time to catch up and have a drink while doing so

When the food arrived, I have to admit it was worth the wait. We all opted for the 50/50 option, of half pizza and half pasta

It’s such a great option if you can’t decide on what meal you want to eat, especially as their menu is pretty extensive and tempting!

First of all, I ordered the Pollo pizza. The toppings were chicken, garlic & cheese, and to my surpise it came with a sweet but tangy BBQ base

The cheese pull was unbelievable, which is a good indicator as I usually end up giving pizzas with a good stringy cheese pull a higher rating. Cheese is the main topping on a pizza afterall!

It had a lot of garlic on it too, which is great as I am absolutelty obsessed with it (even if the smell lingers)

Next up, the mushroom penne pasta with the parma ham and rocket pizza

A lighter option if you want to enjoy the taste of pasta and pasta but with a few more veggies ontop

There was no cheese on the pizza, as it was purely tomato based. Despite this, I have to agree that it looked rather lovely, even if my friend was struggling to cut through that delicious ‘crunchy crust!

We have the tagliatelle up next. This looked so rich and tomatoey (if that’s even a word!), doubled with the chunks of chicken mixed in with the pasta, this dish looked like a carb feast

The pizza was topped with parma ham, jalapenos, pepperoni and cheese. A delightful mix of toppings I’d say

My friend stuggled to mop her plate clean with this order, so by the sounds of things, it is the perfect pizza/pasta combo for all you hungry foodies out there

Last, but not least! We have the beautiful creamy pasta loaded with peppers, veggies and a kick of chilli. I was very jealous of this pasta choice, as the smell was incredible

The pizza to go with the lucious creamy pasta was the chicken and musroom one with cheese and yet again, chilli! My friend really bigged up this combo and she was right, it looked fantastic

Overall, Uno Momento was very cheap and tasty too, which is what I like to look for in an Italian restaurant

I will be visiting again when the world isn’t as crazy!

Don’t forget to check out the foodie Insta @fatbottomfoodies for more lush food!

Birthday Steak!

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

At the beginning of this month I turned 22! So to celebrate, my boyfriend took me away on a surpise trip to the Lake District

We stayed in a cute little B&B with outstanding views of the mountains from our room. Most importantly, we ate a lot of outstanding food while we were there too!

As it was my birthday night, we booked into Brossen steakhouse. It had great reviews, so it seemed like the perfect place

Steak is one of my all time favourite meals but I only really have it on special occasions, so this was certainly a treat for me

As we entered the steakhouse, my first impression was simply ‘wow!’

Our table was located close to the ‘hole in the wall’ style view into the kitchen. We were in awe watching the chefs cook the steaks. We were also very hungry from the delicious smell too

The waitress came to take our drinks order, so we went for a bottle of cripy pinot grigio, as it is my wine of choice. We were able to tase it before we comitted to the bottle, which is always a nice touch

Time for the best bit…the mains!

We both ordered the sirloin steak with a side of triple cooked chips

I ordered my steak meduim-rare and my boyfriend ordered his rare. Both were cooked to perfection for our tastes and the middle of the steak was so tender and juicy

The cut of the meat was perfect as it was thick instead of flat, which gives you a big chunky bit of meat to cut into

It came with a cute little pot of peppercorn sauce, which I drizzled all over my steak. I saved a bit of the sauce to dip my chips in too

I’m not really the biggest fan of tomatoes, but it was actually nice. It was warm, sweet and it complemented the steak well

Even the salad was lovely, as it was well seasoned with salt, pepper and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

The triple cooked chips were beautiful as you could taste the beef dripping caoting, so crispy and thick. They were very filling and it was a struggle to finish them all off

Overall, it was such a beautiful meal for my birthday. A gorgeous treat indeed. I would reccomend Brossen steakhouse to those who are in Keswick!

For more lush food, check out @fatbottomfoodies on Instagram

Greek Food Galore

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

I was in town with my friend and we finally decided to visit Acropolis Street Food. Located in Grainger Market, this little gem of a place surely has an incredible reputation, so why the heck haven’t I tried it!

Local foodies have hyped Acropolis up for months now, as they have their spot in the Grainger Market as well as attending numerous events in their little foodie van

So, what did we order you may ask?

Indecisive as ever, it took me a while to browse the menu but I went for the Chicken Gyros tray

This feast included, tender chicken, pitta bread, crispy golden fries coated with Tzatziki and a side salad

The chicken was to die for, it was seasoned beautifully and tasted extra yummy with the Tzatziki sauce on it

I couldn’t finish the whole tray as I was absolutley stuffed! I regretted not finishing it though as it was so delicious

As I’m a greedy pig, I ordered some hallumi bites as a side. These were salty, soft and sweet…bloody lovely!

Dipped in the Tzatziki once again, they were perfect and it added the spice that a hallumi bite needs

The food bill came to under £15, including a can of pop to wash it all down with. What a great price!

The atmosphere was lovely as you didn’t feel as if you were sat in the middle of such a busy market

All I can say is, what a beautiful little addition to the expanding food scene in Grainger Market

What a great way to support local and to enjoy some beautiful food at the same time. I highly recommend!

Feeling peckish? Check out @fatbottomfoodies for some lush foodie pics

Date Night @ Pizza Punks

Hi my fellow foodies! I hope you’re all doing well

Last Saturday it was date night, so we paid a visit to Pizza Punks in Newcastle. Located on Grey’s Street, its in the prime position to attract a lot of customers. It is a busy street afterall!

Outside the restaurant, there were a load of picnic benches with people sat eating pizza and sipping on cocktails. It seemed very inviting from the onset

We had pre-booked a table as on Friday night, it was bound to be busy, especially at tea time. Our greeting was friendly and we were promptly shown to our table, which is always a great start

The table was next to the bar, but it meant that we could watch the bar staff shake up the cocktails (their cocktail menu was extensive!)

After much consideration, I went for the ‘strawberry smash’ cocktail, it sounded sweet and juicy. It came and it was baby pink, filled with ice and garnished with mint leaves and a paper straw to save the turtles, of course

I wanted to make sure I sipped it slowly, as unfortunately they did not do 2-4-1 cocktails! Maybe that was because it was a Friday, I’m unsure…but it was £7.50 for one. For me, that was a bit on the pricey side, but at least it was tasty

Now, lets talk about pizza! It is called Pizza Punks afterall. I opted for the ‘messy mexican’, and they didn’t lie it was MESSY as hell

The toppings on this were cheese, nahco cheese, nachos, jalapenos, peppers, onions, salsa and the logo of the restaurant squirted on the pizza in sour cream. Incredible if you ask me

It was hard to eat this pizza gracefully, but luckily I had a napkin both on my lap and tucked into my top. I am clumsy afterall…

My partner ordered the ‘salt and chilli chicken’ pizza which looked equally as tempting as my ‘messy mexican’ did. I asked if we could swap a slice for a slice and he agreed, so I could get a taste for his pizza

This pizza was a bit too spicy for me, as the toppings were, chicken, chillis, chilli oil, peppers, onions and cheese. If you’ve got a high spice tolerance then this is the pizza for you.

The atmposhere was very cool, indie music was playing and the staff were alternative in their apperance (coloured hair, piercings ect) which was great to see. The punk theme was very visible throighout the whole restaurant

Altogether we paid £12 each for our pizzas & the same on a cocktail and a pint of beer. So, it wasn’t too expensive but I do still wish that they did 2-4-1 cocktails

I hope you check out Pizza Punks very soon!

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Eat Out To Help Out…Sure Thing!

Hi my fellow foodies!

With the current Eat Out to Help Out scheme thats available Monday to Wednesday, it is so tempting to eat out three times a week

In Newcastle alone there’s still so many places to try, so it’s the perfect time to venture out and eat at a great price

Last week I went to the Purple Peacock in Newcastle, with a group of friends. Their set menu for the scheme included 3 courses for £10. Absolute bargain!

We ordered drinks first, my friends ordered double G&T’s, whilst me and my friend went a little bit wild and ordered 2-4-1 cocktails. Why the heck not!

The cocktails we ordered were a Singapore sling and the Purplre peacock pornstar, both were super sweet and refreshing.

The Purple peacock pornstar was the same as a regular pornstar martini but the twist to make it purple was a splash of chambord. It also had an edible rice paper garnish, which was a nice addition to the drink (although mine went pretty soggy)

The menu had a handful of options per course, which I prefer as it prevents staring at the menu for too long trying to decide what to get

For starters, we ordered spring rolls, tofu dumplings and chicken tikka. I had the spring rolls, which were packed full with beef. The outside was delicious and crunchy, which made a nice contrast with the tender beef and veg filling

We were all were curious as to what the pink sauce was, but it turned out to be a tasty and refreshing beetroot hummus!

The presentation of each starter was spot on and we all had a taste of each others. They were tasty and not too filling, which left enough room for our mains

For mains, the majority of the group opted for the Hong Kong chicken dish. This came with soft egg noodles, spring onion, peppers and some spices. The chicken was so soft and was complimented by the flavours in the noodles

My friend ordered the sticky pork belly to get something a little bit more exciting. The pork looked so juicy in the sticky glaze. It was served on a bed of creamy mash with some crunch leeks and a drizzle of peppercorn sauce

Once absolutely stuffed from savory food, we tucked into our desserts. We had nutella filled doughnuts with a chocolate and orange drizzle on top, eton mess and a chocolate orange cake

The mini doughnuts I had were so soft and gooey. When I halved the donut with my spoon, the nutella flew out! So tasty and not too filling either. Would order these again for sure

As I hadn’t tried the Purple Peacock before, I was impressed by both the food and the atmosphere. We sat in a funky birdcage booth for the five of us, which was very Insta worthy

I hope this was enjoyable for you! See you soon for the next review

For regular foodie content, check out the Instagram page at @fatbottomfoodies

Italian Farmhouse

Hi my fellow foodies! Last week I went out for my first restaurant meal since lockdown started in March

As you can imagine, for a foodie it was very strange not being able to go out for meals. I was lacking content if anything, so i had to improvise and get my apron on

Anyways, I’m more than happy to be out and about again, eating good and sticking to social distancing rules

I ventured to the Italian Farmhouse in Coxhoe for the special occasion, as it’s local and serves great quality food

We ordered from the set menu, where you can get 2 courses for 7.95 or 3 courses for 9.95! I bloody love a bargain

I decided to order a bottle of pinot to share while we browsed the menu

First course: Potato skins with a garlic dip and a little bit of salad

It was a good job that I was starving before I left the house because this starter is filling

The cripsy skin on the potatoes made them super crunchy and delicious, and I do love myself some garlic dip

I was far too hangry to take a picture of the starter so I’m sorry about that…call me a pig!

Second course: Spicy pepperoni pizza

The pizza was lovely and tasty. The cheese pull was unreal and the chilli oil added a nice warm glow to my mouth

I really enjoyed this pizza, as it was a proper pizza oven pizza, so it had some depth to it. Delicious!

Third course: Chocolate fudge brownie & Eton mess

I had the chocolate fudge brownie as I am a big fan of gooey desserts. It was served warm with ice cream on top, which was a lovely contrast

The chocolate sauce drizzled over it made the presentation 10/10

I did have a spoon or two of the eton mess and the rasberries were super sweet but super tasty. Very impressed by the desserts to say the least

Both the food and the interior were highly impressive. It was a lovely atmosphere for a local italian and I will be back there very soon

I hope you’ve enjoyed this review!

Don’t forget to check out the Instagram page for more foodie content @fatbottomfoodies