Restaurant Review: Date Night at Est Est Est

So let's make one thing clear before I start this post - I don't celebrate Valentine's Day. That's right, I'm one of those cynics who says that V Day is a load of commercial crap (and I'm right!) The hubby to be and I have never really bought cards or gifts for one another, or gone out on the day itself, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.

But this year, we did end up going out on 14th February - only because it was Rik's only day off work that week! We rarely get a date day these days so we were looking forward to it, and had just decided to go to the cinema and for a meal at the Trafford Centre. We decided to try Est Est Est because neither of us had been before. Also there was 25% off prosecco which was an added bonus...

Of course the TC was rammed, which was a bit annoying, (this is why we refuse to go out on V day) and we had to be squeezed in by the hostess because we hadn't booked ahead. The menu is really varied, and where I'd usually go for a pizza I decided to be different and try a chicken dish. I was really impressed when the chicken breast was served in a heart shape! The romantic in me isn't dead after all.

I really enjoyed my meal but Rik's wasn't as great. He also went for chicken - an escalope with spaghetti. But it kind of looked like a kiddy meal! The pasta was really dry so there was no sauce at all on the chicken. This would have been fine for me as I kind of love dry food but Rik would have preferred it smothered in sauce. So Est Est Est only got a thumbs up from me, but I think we should go again and try something different on the menu as we'd probably enjoy it a bit more.

In terms of the restaurants on offer at the Trafford Centre, I reckon this is still one of the nicest and offers good value for money. I bet they do really good pizzas, calzones and pasta dishes - it's just a shame we didn't get to try them out.

What did you do for Valentine's weekend? Are you the opposite of me and like to do something extra special (and pay premium price hikes)?! J x

Steak: Simple but Sexy

So a couple of weeks ago, it was a Tuesday night and I fancied a steak. The other half had a night off work so I dragged him to Simple in the NQ, where I'd seen they do a pretty good offer.

On Tuesdays you can get two steaks and a bottle of wine for £20....heaven. For that price my expectations weren't too high, but I have to say it didn't disappoint at all.

Yep...from the picture you can see that we also treated ourselves to cocktails and beers too as it was also HAPPY HOUR.

I really can't say a bad word about the food, it was lovely. I even can't blame the man I spotted across the room who was digging into two steaks and a bottle of red alone. While the place itself is nothing fancy (the name gives it away) it was a nice enough bar for a good meal and a few midweek drinks. I also have to give a special mention to something unique on the menu which I absolutely loved:

So this is chicken skin popcorn. Crunchy, yummy chicken skin!! I've always loved it but you don't often find it on a menu. The Simple chefs have decided to mix this deep fried greatness with salted popcorn for the best bar snack of your life.

Have you found any too-good-to-be-true offers in Manchester? Let me know and I'll go try it out and give you my verdict. J x

Restaurant Review: Fazenda, Spinningfields

Last night Rik and I had a Saturday night off together (a rare occurrence) and so decided to head into town and try out one of the many new restaurants in Spinningfields.  We were spoilt for choice with so many amazing eateries in the area, but we decided on the rodizio style restaurant Fazenda - mainly due to our love of meat!

Rik refusing a beard-on photo

I have to say I'm at a loss for words at this place. When seated we were explained how it all worked, with the carvers continuously coming to your table with fresh cuts of meat until you turned your card over to red for a break. We were quite greedy so we were mostly on green to be honest! I have a never ending stomach so an all you can eat situation like this is pretty dangerous for me!



 

On to the actual meats - they were out of this world. All the beef/steak cuts were cooked to juicy medium rare perfection (although they will take requests if you prefer it a different way). I never expected to be eating large chunks of fillet steak on tap, or trying chicken hearts which are a Brazilian delicacy. The staff who came to the table to carve the meat were also extremely friendly and really made an effort to make you feel at ease and answer any questions about the meats being served.

 



With so much attention paid to the rotating meats, you'd be forgiven in thinking that the sides would be somewhat lacking in variety or quality. But yet again Fazenda performed better than expected, with skin-on fries being delivered to the table and an all-you-can-eat salad, rice, bread and vegetable bar to accompany the main event.

 

We couldn't sample the desserts as of course - we had stuffed our faces too much - but for those who intend to leave room the menu looked lovely. Fazenda gets five stars from me for the food, the service and the value for money. We'll be back!

 

 

Manchester is becoming an incredible dining destination - does anyone have any suggestions where we could try for our next date night? J x

 

**As always I haven't been sponsored or offered any freebies for this post, all views are my own and impartial**