Friday 8 September 2017

Scotts Sail Away #comesailaway



I don't even know where to begin with this post as it was such an exciting event, but I'm guessing it might be best to start at the beginning to let you know a little bit more about it. I received an invitation to a blogger event being held by Buzzworks Holdings. For those of you who don't know Buzzworks Holdings has an award winning portfolio of bars and restaurants mainly across Ayrshire but are now beginning to branch out across Scotland. I've visited most of their restaurants in Ayrshire, all with the exception of one, Scotts in Largs. This event was being held to showcase some of the favourite dishes from this seasons menu and what better way to do this than on a yacht no less. As well as being able to sample the food we were also provided with the opportunity to meet with some of the staff which allowed us to really get to know the 'ethos' of the Scotts brand. The event was also being held in association with Cloudy Bay wines.



So a group of us bloggers met at Scotts, Largs and were brought down to board the beautiful Lady Lexus. Upon arrival we were introduced to the representatives from Scotts, Peter Govan Buzzworks Scotts Operations Manager and Craig Hogarth Brand Executive Chef of Scotts and provided with a glass of Cloudy Bay Pelorus. We had to opportunity to hear a bit more about Scotts and the Buzzworks brand. Throughout the next few hours we were provided with an amazing array of food and wine. I'm not going to list out each dish as this post would go on forever if I did, however I've taken a picture of both the food & drinks menu - check them out below.




I will admit that I did not try every dish as I'm not the most adventurous when it comes to fish and there was so much food it was just not possible to sample it all. However, every dish was beautifully presented and I really enjoyed everything that I tasted. It has to be handed to Craig, how he was able to prepare this amazing food in such a small kitchen is beyond me. From the starters menu the crispy slow braised ox cheek was my favourite, it was so tasty, even before I had a taste of it the smell had me hooked. The platters were just outstanding in both value and taste. I couldn't even pick just one thing from the platters to say that I enjoyed the most, everything I had was just delicious.







After these courses we took a break and went up on deck to savour the sights. After a little bit of fresh air we had worked up a bit of an appetite to start the main course part of the tasting. I have three favourite dishes here ... the signature seafood platter, slow cooked beef ragu and roast pumpkin ravioli. The fish was so fresh and very morish. Both the pasta dishes were devine, so full of flavour and did not pale in comparison to the more exotic fish dishes.






Last but not least was the amazing dessert selection - I will admit that I didn't get to sample every dessert on the plate as I was completely full however I did have a spoon of a few of them and my favourite was the nutella tart - I had this dish at Scott's in Troon the previous week and was delighted to see it on the plate before me again.


Whilst I drink both red and white wine, red is by far my favourite and the one I would automatically go for. However, I had no problem sampling the white wine and really enjoyed it. The red was my favourite, this was the Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir - it was so easy to drink (way too easy for a Saturday afternoon).

I would like to thank all those involved in the Scotts Sail Away event, it was an amazing experience.

To keep up to date with all the places that I visit and to never miss a post follow me on my social media accounts:- Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

Thanks a mil for reading.

Emma mai xx

Disclaimer:- I was invited by Buzzworks Holdings to sample their new season menu however all views and opinions are my own.

Tuesday 11 July 2017

Pre Theatre Menu - Alston Bar & Beef, Glasgow

Hello there!! It has been a quiet few months for the blog but life has been nothing but crazy (crazy in a good way thankfully). As life has been so busy I haven't really had much time to visit new places or even sit down to write up some blogs. However, when I received the invite to visit Alston Bar & Beef to try out their new pre theatre menu I cleared the decks and made myself available. I had previously visited Alston Bar & Beef and loved everything about it so I jumped at the opportunity to revisit it. Another reason to be excited was that I was going along with Claire from What Claire Baked and Emma & Mark from Foodie Explorers. I was so excited to catch up with them.

So if you have read my previous post about Alston Bar and Beef you will know that I loved everything about it, from the minute I walked in to when I was leaving, you can read the post by clicking here. I felt like I was gaining access to the restaurant by crossing through Platform 9 & 3/4s (if you haven't been living under a stone for that last decade or so you will know what I'm talking about). Another thing I love about the entrance is that once you have gone down the stairs the first thing you are greeted with is the kitchen - I do love an open kitchen. I love the vibe of the restaurant, it is cool and quirky and just such a lovely place to sit back and relax.


So as I said we were there to sample the new pre theatre menu, this is served Monday - Thursday 12pm - 6.30pm and Saturday between 12pm - 4pm. The price of this menu is really good, you can get 1 course for £10, 2 courses for £13 and 3 courses for £16. There is a good selection of dishes for each course which will cater to everyones taste.


To start the night off I went for a lovely gin cocktail - the cocktail menu was so extensive that I just asked our very friendly waitress to recommend one for me - after a few questions I decided on the Raspberry Royale Cocktail ... this was delicious and went down way too easily. So onto the main event, the food....


For starters I went for the crispy goats cheese with pickled beets, heritage tomatoes & salsa verde. I will admit I'm a sucker for goats cheese and beetroot so I'm generally easily pleased with this dish. This dish was so tasty and everything was really full of flavour, I would definitely have it again (and again). For my main I decided to try something else other than steak - I've been here before for steak and loved it but I find I'm increasingly getting messages from people saying that they are meat eaters but their friends/mother/cousin etc are vegetarian and is there anywhere that can cater for everyone. So this time I decided to see if Alston was tasty for non meat eaters also and I went for the grilled vegetable linguine with black olive & tomato sauce w/garlic oil. I really enjoyed this dish, again it was really fresh and tasty. I would advise that it is a huge portion (but don't fear I managed to eat it ALL).


So as if all the food wasn't enough, I had dessert - I had to have it, for research purposes obviously. So I went for the chocolate, almond & sea salt brownie with chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream. This was another great dish, it was so tasty and that little pot of chocolate .... omg it was just yum.


To help wash down the meal I had some red wine, a lovely Argentinian Malbec. The service here was really good .... stop rolling your eyes .... I can hear you say 'of course it was good because they knew they had a table of bloggers' so just check my previous review where I said service was great .... and Alston Bar & Beef didn't know I was visiting that time.

So all in all I loved my meal here, the pre theatre is certainly amazing value and you should definitely check it out.

To keep up to date with all my adventures and to never miss a post follow me on my social media accounts:- Twitter, Instagram & Facebook.

Date Visited: Wednesday, 28 June 2017

Restaurant Details:-
Alston Bar & Beef,
Central Station,
79 Gordon Street,
Glasgow,
G1 3SQ.

Website: click here
Telephone: 0141 221 7627

Thanks a mil for reading.

Emma mai xx

Disclaimer: As I was invited to review the new pre theatre menu I did not pay for my meal. However, all opinions expressed are my own and based on my experience on the night.

Another disclaimer: my photos are shocking 😂😂 the lovely romantic lighting in Alston is a food bloggers worst nightmare but I did my best.