Tag Archives: Foodie

Nox hotel Galway

20 Tuesday Feb 2018

Posted by in Food / Eating Out, Travel

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The lovely people at the Nox hotel Galway contacted me a couple of months to see if I wanted to come and stay for a night. Obviously I said Yes! I do have a bit of love for Galway and seem to go for a visit every year. Last year I was there twice in the space of a month, for my mams birthday and the Connemarathon half marathon. So after trying to work out a date, it was pretty busy couple of months with getting married and Christmas 😂we settled on visiting last weekend.

Location

I didn’t know a huge amount about the Nox Hotel and presumed it was a bit out of the city but actually the location is pretty good. After we checked in when we decided to go into Galway for a look around. We ordered a taxi at reception which arrived in seconds and it was €7 into Eyre Square. As it was a dry evening (surprisingly since it is January!) We decided to walk back to the hotel, and it only took about 20 minutes strolling.

Food

Where do I start, the food was really good! I am still thinking of my main course 😍

For starters I went for the chicken wings in cajun spices, and my other half got the Caesar salad.

For mains I went for the Supreme of Chicken, with black pudding & potato terrine (with a sneaky side of chips) and he had steak (love the plate!)

We didn’t opt for dessert and just enjoyed some cocktails 😁

We also had breakfast the next morning in the hotel, this was a buffet in the bar/restaurant and there was also a breakfast menu you could order off. We stuck to the buffet option, and has some emm coco pops before our fry… We had lovely cappucinos as well, I definitely feel that they can be a bit hit or miss on hotels, either too hot or not enough foam but these were lovely and you can see for yourself.

Decor

I loved the hotel decor, not going to lie most of our conversations involved the decor and what we could do with our new house. The hotel is a gorgeous mix of blue, grey, gold and yellow. We are currently decorating our house and every room is pretty much these colours, with a bit of rose gold/copper mixed in.

Bar area

Entrance to the ladies toilets

Reception seating area

Double Bedroom

Another reception sitting area

Service

The staff in the Nox hotel are all amazing. I am not just saying that because I was invited to stay. Yes we recieved some pretty amazing service but I did observe the staff treating everybody else the same. At the buffet breakfast, I presume a lady had been waiting for some bacon, the waiter found her at her table, gave her bacon directly from the kitchen and checked everybody else was ok (it was pretty busy when we went down but the food was constantly being refilled)

Even the reception desk were great, they booked taxis and had maps of Galway available for everybody.

I will definitely be back for a visit, the location is pretty good. Yes you can go stay in Galway city centre but you will pay a lot more. The food is great, the cocktails are great and the service is brilliant 🙂

Amanda xxx

New York..it’s all about the food..

14 Friday Oct 2016

Posted by in Food / Eating Out, Travel

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New York is an amazing city with loads to do and see and of course eat. After our visit in April I have put together a list of a few of the places we had food in.

1. Ruths Chris

A steakhouse near Times Square, pretty sure reservations are needed. It is a dressy place so definitely dress up. It is pretty expensive (steaks are aboit $50-$60 with no sides) but they do a great set menu for $55 and you get a 3 course meal and a side with your steak. Food was pretty good and steaks are still sizzling when they arrive at your table.

I got the caeser salad to start, I am always afraid to get too heavy of a starter before steak.

For mains, obviously a steak! I got creamed spinach as a side, not a fan😝 (it wasn’t this particular one that was bad just my first time trying it) 

For dessert I got a chocolate coffee tart, it was pretty good and I am not a fan of chocolate cakes 

I would definitely give this place a 10/10 food and service was great. 

2. Guys Kitchen

Ever watched Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives? I am always starving after watching that show so when I found out Guy Fieri had a restaurant on Times Square we had to go. We imagined it would be crazy busy and booked online but when we got there it was pretty quiet (which was nice after walking through crazy Times Square). The waiter recommended the burger so I ordered it and it was huge, a layer of mac and cheese on the burger! 

The burger was nice, not as great as I was expecting from watching the show. The waiter was very friendly but our mains did arrive when we were still eating our starters and on a small table it got cramped very quickly. 

Probably wouldn’t go back it was nice but there is plenty of choice around, 6/10 as the food was nice but just a let down from what I was expecting.

3. Juniors Cheesecake.

 I was excited about going here as I had heard some really good things about it. It was ok, I think we went on a Saturday night and it was crazy busy. They were pretty quick at getting us a table so fair play on that. The food was good but we had to wait a long time for it, not really sure what happened but people beside us who ordered the same time as us had eaten and paid before we got our food. However the waiter was did apologise for the wait. I got the pulled pork and my boyfriend got the southern fried chicken.

The portions are huge and the food was nice but I don’t think I would go back. It was a bit of a hectic atmosphere and didn’t feel like you could relax and enjoy yourself. Most of the tables people were leaving probably withing 30 minutes of sitting down. Also no cocktail menu! They make any cocktail you want but don’t do menus for them, I like to look and decide on what looks good 😢 Also we did try the cheesecake and it was nice but never took a picture 🙈

Overall a 5/10, atmosphere brought this place way down for me.

4. Chelsea Markets 

Leaving my favourite until the end 😍. Chelsea Markets is located in the Meat packing district and is an old large building. When you go in there are loads of counters and stores selling food, clothes, anything really, there are also designer sale pop up shops. The food is great, there is an amazing counter that sells tacos 😍 Los Tacos, and they are only about $4 each. I am not the only one who thinks it since this place is 14th of 10007 restaurants in New York on TripAdvisor!

Also I found a doughnut stand, they make them fresh as your ordering and you can pick what you want them dipped in 😍 definitely worth visiting the doughnutery.

Chelsea Markets get a full 10/10 from me 😀

Has anybody got any suggestions for restaurants in New York heading back in 2 months and can’t wait!!

Amanda xxx

Dublin Secrets…

09 Friday Sep 2016

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A secret underground restaurant in Dublin city centre?? I only found out about this place last week and was really excited to try it. The Blind Pig is a prohibition bar based near Grafton st, it has a pretty cool secret door and instructions on how to find the restaurant and get in are all given in your confirmation email with your booking. 

We went this week to give it a chance and it was pretty good. The entrance is pretty amazing and I won’t give anymore away on that as I don’t want to ruin the excitement for anybody. We sat at a high table and were the only people in the restaurant which was actually quite nice (we were there as soon as the restaurant opened). Enough of all the talk time for the details of the food. 

We got mozzarella and tomato on ciabatta as a starter to share, it was really good and my first time eating mozzarella like this. The starter was a little pricey I felt for €10.

For mains I went for the chicken skewers, they actually do a pretty good deal on this dish, €30 for 2 people and it includes house wine. I was awkward and got this for 1 person, it was good and loved the grilled pineapple.

My boyfriend got the pork and it was gorgeous, pork with parma ham and sage. Definitely something I might not get next time (there was lots on the menu I wanted). This main was €19.

I had some wine, and my boyfriend got a granny smith cocktail, I tried it and it was pretty good.

Overall review, waiters were brilliant, extremely helpful and very friendly. The restaurant is gorgeous, it is quite dark though for any people who like to eat in a bright room (my pictures were hard to take and clear picture). Food was good, next time I think I need to try the NY style meatballs.

Hope you go and try it out 😀

Amanda xxx

*this is not a paid or sponsored post in anyway, heard of the restaurant and wanted to try it out.

Possibly the best coffee in Dublin

15 Monday Aug 2016

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I can’t say I am a coffee snob or know what to look out for in coffee, but what I do know is I am quite fussy. I do stick a majority of the time to the overly popular latte or cappuccino but give me a good americano and I am happy. There are a few places around that I will avoid, burnt coffee and too hot lattes are a standard a coffee shop should not be hitting!

I have also learnt from experience you have to try everywhere twice. I have gone to many places and loved it, gone back a few weeks later to terrible customer service and food/drinks. 

My new favourite place is Two Boys Brew in Phibsborough. Yes, I do know the owners but I can’t fault the place. The decor is great, every staff member understands the importance of good customer service and best of all great coffee!! They use 3fe but also have a guest coffee every month with this month being man vs machine. You can get brunch all weekend and some amazing cakes (get a pretzel blondie 😍)

I haven’t had a chance to go during the week to try their other menu but here is some pictures of food from the brunch menu. This is the poached eggs with sourdough.

The amazing salsa with eggs 😍 (and bacon on my second visit).

Here are the hotcakes that are also on the menu, doesn’t it look so pretty!

Now for the coffee, my gorgeous latte

Here is the mocha, look at all the chocolate!!

The price is pretty reasonable, on our first visit we got between two of us the poached eggs with sourdough, the hotcakes, two glasses of prosecco, a pretzel blondie to share, a latte and a mocha and it came to about €42.

Definitely worth a visit to this great place in Phibsborough.

I did say earlier in the post that I do know the owners, this post has been conpletely written on my views of the place and food. I can’t fault the place so can’t say anything bad about it and considering the Irish Times weekend magazine also have it listed at the top of the list for ‘Whats hot’ I am not the only person with this view.

Let me know if you go what you think of it and more importantly what you order. The corn fritters are next on my list, enjoy!

Amanda xxx