A Foodie Eats: Cafe Andaluz Aberdeen

Where can you go for delicious tapas cooked fresh and delivered hot to your table within 10 minutes of ordering? Cafe Andaluz. That's where.

Located in the heart of Aberdeen, they also have restaurants in both Edinburgh and Glasgow (which I have also been to previous to this visit), the restaurant is bustling and beautifully decorated with a warm atmosphere. The menu is vast and I had trouble deciding what to have. It's split up between vegetarian, seafood and meat dishes as well as side orders etc.

I went for a visit with Mama Orchid for a pre-theatre meal. I had booked the table about 2 months in advance as I had heard it gets booked up pretty quickly.

We ordered five tapas which from past experience would be ample for us. We decided on calamari, battered chicken with honey and wholegrain mustard seed, aubergine with cous cous, tomatoes and cheese, croquettas and paella.

The food came really quickly but it was still amazingly fresh and hot. Bonus points already for being at a 'Vanessa temperature'. The winning dish of the night was the aubergine. It was deliciously flavoured and of course the melted cheese on top was divine. The calamari however was still delicious but lacked flavour. The squid was beautifully cooked and not rubbery at all and although there was fresh rock salt scattered over the top; it lacked a certain something that would have made this dish taste amazing.

I was pretty full on the five tapas that we shared costing around £5 per tapas - obviously this price will vary depending on what you order. Me and the boy were given a food voucher for this restaurant so I will certainly be back another time to sample more of its delights.

Vanessa

x

04. The Sunday Journal

Hello, hello again! Haven't I been on a blogging roll this week? I'm trying not to anger my blogging flow, I want this to carry on! Another Sunday Journal for you this week for you to feast your eyes on :)

On Friday night, I hosted my first ever quiz night for my work colleagues. It was so much fun. Although I wasn't drinking, my work colleagues were still in good humour and seemed to enjoy my eccentric take on a quiz night.

I've been busy with my printmaking project for uni and this week I had suffered an injury involving a lino cutting tool and my finger. The worst thing about cutting at home is that my flat isn't warm enough to get a smooth cut hence the jagged cutting and the unintentional cutting of fingers. Still on my test print. Pretty sure it's like three weeks until I have to submit something. Ai.

I went to see Hairspray in the theatre last night and it was so good! I bought the tickets as a birthday present for Mama Orchid last month so we had a girly night out. I do love a wardrobe malfunction during a show and the cast and audience were in hysterics when Claire Sweeney's outfit burst open!

A Sunday well spent brings a week of content. I am very content right now. Coffee and walnut cake is cooling in the kitchen waiting to be iced and I'm spending a chilled out Sunday with my boy.

How are you spending your Sunday?

Vanessa

x

Les Mills Fitness Classes - Body Pump

Credit

January is a time when the gyms are cashing in from people who want to work off their indulgences over the festive period. I've been going to Les Mills classes at my local gym for just over a year now and I feel like now is a good enough a time as any to review some of the classes if you want to dip your toe in the group exercise world.

I'm starting off with my favourite class. Body Pump. Lifting weights has come with the stigma that you will just become muscley and look a bit like the hulk. Wrong. Body Pump is a full body workout that tones, increases your core strength and adds in a little bit of cardio in there too. The idea of lighter weights and high repetitions means you build athletic muscle. Think about getting rid of those pesky bingo wings! The classes can be either 45 or 60 minutes long. The 45 minute class just omits the bicep and tricep exercises but everything else remains the same.

I would recommend you speak to the instructor when you first start to get an idea of the kind of weights you should be starting off with and they can give you some direction. You will need: a barbell with a variety of weights (as you will be adding and taking off weights throughout the different exercises), a mat and an exercise step. Your gym will be able to supply this to you in the exercise room. For your first class, I would start at the front of the class. It's a scary thought being in the eye gaze of the instructor but this will allow you to see the instructor and their form/timing. This will help you through the class and make sure you are doing the moves correctly. Listen to the instructor and watch them. It bothers me so much when people just go and do their own thing thinking that what they're doing is correct. It can be dangerous to yourself and others around you and you could seriously hurt yourself. Serious bit over.

Brace yourself. You will be squatting, lunging, dead lifting, bicep curling and chest pressing your way through 60 minutes of a total body workout. The class is motivating and exhilarating. Once you finish one class, you'll be raring to go to your next. Les Mills launch new 'releases' every 3 months so exercises are never repetitive. If you have a cool instructor then you'll find they'll mix it up a lot with other releases too. I aim to do a Body Pump class 3 times a week which some weeks isn't always possible (hey, we bloggers have other things to do too!).

What is your favourite Les Mills/exercise class?

Vanessa 

x

A Foodie Eats: The Dunavon - Bryson's Restaurant

When a leaflet came through my door with the new launch of their gastro pub for The Dunavon in Aberdeen, Dyce, I was salivating over the vast selection and variety of the dishes. Me, the boy and one of our good friends decided to pay this place a visit. The restaurant is called Bryson's Restaurant but I believe the entire place is actually called Dunavon. It's not clear which name they actually go by...

We went on a Saturday night and I was sure to book a table. My first impressions making the booking over the phone wasn't great, the man on the phone sighed his way through the booking making me feel like I was an inconvenience to them. I decided to shrug it off and look forward to what would be a delicious meal. The table was booked for 7pm but we had arrived slightly early at 6.45pm but we were seated promptly.

The atmosphere was buzzing with many diners in good spirits. The interior looked really nice and cosy, certainly a place that I would go on a first date. We sat there for about 15 minutes without menus or an offer of a drink whereby the boy had to get up and approach someone at the bar for a menu. The server was apologetic and took our drinks order thereafter. We did notice there was only 3 or 4 servers that night for the whole restaurant and perhaps understaffed.

Then we were in for another wait to order food. Not a good sign again but by looking at the food passing by our table, it looked like we were in for a treat. When we finally ordered and had some good chats, our meal came and it looked delicious!

I ordered the Black Mac n Cheese and sweet potato fries. The mac and cheese had black pudding scattered over the top with bits of bacon mixed in with the pasta and bound together with creamy cheese sauce. It was divine! The boy ordered the steak mince burger which looked really good but he commented on the fact his fries didn't look up to scratch.

When our plates were cleared, we decided to skip on pudding at the risk of waiting longer but when we asked for the bill, it never came. We then paid at the bar to save the server another task.

Overall, the meal was fantastic and at a 'Vanessa temperature' which equates to being very hot! But the service let the whole thing down and in total we were there for an hour and 45 minutes and we only had one course and one round of soft drinks. We would go again but perhaps once the crowd has died down after the launch of their new gastro pub and perhaps on a weekday but I'm so sorry Bryson's....you won't be seeing us again any time soon :(

Vanessa

x

0.3. The Sunday Journal

Happy Sunday Orchids :) Can you believe we're almost into February? That means it's my birthday month! Yay! This week has been hectic. Not only in my work life but my personal life too. My kitchen in my flat was getting re-done so I've not been able to eat/cook properly hence the convenience and fast food. This in turn has turned me a little chubby as I haven't had time to go to the gym. Believe me, I just have to be in the presence of a Mars Bar to put on weight! Next week will be filled with salads and healthy foods :)

I've been busy with my self-study semester at my Printmaking course at university. I've started my test print and inked up this week. Feeling a lot better about it now. Just need to do another 5 prints and I'll be well on my way!

I've booked an impromptu trip to London for the end of March. I got invited along by my friend and her cousin so I thought it would be a good idea to visit one of my favourite cities in the UK. Bring on the amazing food and shopping.

Generally this week has just been a boring 'getting on with life' kind of week so unfortunately I've not had much to report. I hope you all have been more productive than me!

Vanessa

x

02.The Sunday Journal

How are we coming to the end of January already? So looking forward to February though, best month of the year...not just because it's my birthday next month :)

I went down to Kirkcaldy in Fife this weekend to see one of my best uni pals who has just bought a beautiful new house and just got engaged! I had such a great weekend talking weddings and having a good catch up and her house is beautiful too. Congratulations to my best girl. You rock at being a grown up!

The second semester of my printmaking course at university has kicked off (if you haven't read my post about my new hobby, read it here) and it's an self study semester where I will have to put my final piece of work in an exhibit in March. I'm already stressed and panicking about my work and I'm feeling so uninspired lately. Throw some good ideas at me folks!

Me and the boy have started planning our holiday this year and Barcelona is on the cards. So excited to eat lots of tapas and explore the beautiful city.

What have you guys been doing this week?

Vanessa

x

0.1 The Sunday Journal

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you've all had a wonderful day. Back in my blogging hay day, I did a series every Sunday, cleverly called 'Sunday Summary'. I'm bringing this blogging tradition back now dubbed 'Sundazed'.

Working a 9-5 job means I try and do as much as I can during the evenings like going to the gym, spending time with my lovely boy or see friends but this week a lovely thing called a migraine decided to occupy my brain and basically turned me into a painful mess of a human. The boy took care of me so well and I'm back to full health now. Hooray!

The Revenant was so good. Go see it. Someone give Leo an Oscar already!

Me and the boy spent our Saturday evening in Stonehaven, a beautiful coastal town, with some friends and it was so lovely and relaxing. The Chinese food we ordered was utterly delicious. It's a shame it's a 30 minute drive from me :(

Fresh lemon with green tea is my new favourite thing. It's so lovely and refreshing after a meal. Give it a go. Seriously.

I hope you guys and gals are having a splendid Sunday evening and ready for the week ahead!

Vanessa

x

New Year, New You?

Credit

Happy New Year little Orchids! I'm well aware that this post is near on 2 weeks late and everyone has churned out their New Year posts outlining their resolutions, hopes and dreams for the coming year. I used to do the whole 'new years resolutions' thing but I felt like they didn't work for me personally. It made me feel like a failure when on the second week I've chomped through an entire tub of Celebrations when I've vowed to not eat any more chocolate. Truth.

I turn the ripe old age of 26 this year and it's kind of kick started something in me to complete a challenge list. I've thought long and hard about the goals that I want to achieve before I turn 30 thus being a '30 before 30 challenge'. I want to do a separate post on this so keep a beady eye out for that.

In the meantime, I want to maintain some healthy and realistic goals:

Continue to make my new flat a home

Be healthy - whether that be eating more healthily or making new gains in the gym

Be more adventurous

Cook more good food

Explore Scotland more

So, here are some of my 2016 goals! What are your resolutions this year?

Vanessa

x