Tapas at Grand Central: Tapas Revolution

Tapas revolution is nestled amongst a range of shops and other restaurants on the upper floor of Grand Central/New Street Station. This expanding chain of restaurant was founded by Spanish born Omar Allibhoy and I had also heard so many great things about the Birmingham branch that I couldn't wait to try it out for myself!

 

Despite the hustle and bustle of shoppers nearby, the restaurant and bar has its own enclosed area and when we arrived for our lunchtime sitting we were placed on high stools by the bar overlooking the kitchen and the atmosphere was chilled.

 

 

The staff at Tapas Revolution were super friendly and were willing to recommend us drinks and dishes. We were assured that Omar's vision was to bring authentic yet simple Spanish food to the UK and that everything was cooked from scratch in the kitchen in front of us - even the aioli!

 

There is a good drinks selection including a variety of gins, Spanish inspired cocktails, wine, beer and of course, Sangria! I was recommended a Verdejo white wine from the Spanish region Rueda, it was refreshing with fruity and herbal notes - a perfect accompaniment to a seafood dish. Sam was recommende the Limonada casera which was a homemade lemonade with hints of saffron which gave it the bright yellow colour. He said it was enjoyable and it was nice to try something different.

 

 

Everything on the menu sounded appealing and I liked the way the tapas were split into specials, meats, seafood and vegetables. In the end I chose the lunchtime deal which included bread and aioli to start, one tapas and one main for £9.95 which seemed good value for money. For the tapas option I chose croquetas de jamon (deep fried Iberico ham and béchamel croquettes) and for mains I chose the paella valenciana (included chicken and not seafood too). Sam then decided to chose 3 of their tapas dishes and went for;

 

1) Alitas de pollo a la miel y limon (chicken wings with a honey and lemon dressing)

2) Chorizo a la sidra (spiced chorizo sausage cooked in cider)

3) Calamares fritos (deep fried squid)

 

 

 

 

The first dishes to arrive at the table were the croquetas and the chicken wings and the rest of the dishes followed shortly after. We fully embraced the idea of sharing all the dishes we chose between us in true Spanish style. I wont go into too much detail about the food but I felt the standout dishes were the Chorizo a la sidra which was very tender and the Iberico ham croquetas which melted in my mouth!

 

The biggest disappointment for me was the paella, as you can see from the picture it was extremely stodgy and lacked any authentic flavours. I also normally prefer my paella to include chorizo and seafood along with the chicken too. I felt like it had not been freshly cooked (as was mentioned earlier) and had simply been reheated. The calamares was fried in a light batter and was served with a lovely garlicky alioli but again, I have tried better calamari in other restaurants in the city.

 

Overall, Tapas Revolution is not a bad restaurant and with a few tweaks could be great! However, I do feel there are better Tapas restaurants to eat at in Brum!

 

http://www.tapasrevolution.com/birmingham/

 

Are there any Tapas restaurants you can recommend for me to try around the West Midlands? I'd love to hear what you think!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'To travel is to live'

In just over a week's time, a trip I've been planning since early January is becoming a reality.
Me and Sam are jetting off to Sri Lanka for just over 3 weeks. Whilst we are there we are travelling around the entire country and have planned a good mixture of cultural and relaxing things to do.

The only other time I have properly 'travelled' before was with one of my best friends following our first year of university. We backpacked around Thailand and Laos for a month. We spent most of that time drinking our way through copious amounts of Thai rum called SangSom and partying until the early hours. This trip is going to be different in the sense that I am not the party girl I once was, (I do still enjoy a good drink though) I'm now 5 years older and I'm excited to embrace the Sri Lankan culture and try lots of different foods!

I have already roughly planned our itinerary for whilst we are there but it could change if we are recommended different places to visit etc. Below is a map of Sri Lanka marked with the different places we are planning to stop at.



We plan to spend 1 night in Negombo before travelling over to Habarana where we will stay for 4 nights which will be our base whilst we are visiting some of the sights within the 'Cultural Triangle' such as Polonnaruwa and Sigiriya.
We will then catch a train over to the East coast and stay at Batticaloa (or nearby) for 2 nights to relax near the beach.
We will then head back inland to Dambulla where we will spend 1 night before moving onto Kandy where we have booked to stay for 3 nights during the grand Buddhist festival called Esala Perahera where processions are held annually to honour the sacred tooth relic of Buddha himself.
Following this we plan to take one of the most picturesque train journeys in the world through the Sri Lankan hills and tea country to the sleepy town of Ella where we still stay 2 nights and explore the local area by foot.
The last week or so of our trip will be spent down on the Southern and South Western coast of Sri Lanka. I have booked 1 night in Tangalle, followed by 3 nights in Mirissa which is renowned for its whale watching - although we are visiting the wrong time of year to see them!
I have then booked 2 nights in the Dutch colonial town of Galle, famous for its cricket matches.
For our last 2 nights we have not booked anything although we plan to stay near the coastal town Bentota and spoil ourselves in a luxury hotel instead of hostels and guesthouses before heading to the capital Colombo on our final day to explore the city before making our way to the airport.

Follow our adventures over on Instagram (@propertidyblog) to see how I get on living out of a backpack and giving up my home comforts for 3 weeks!


Comment below if you're travelling anywhere exciting this summer - I'd love to know!

Lots of love,

 

The Smoke haus, Brindley Place

 

Recently a new restaurant called The Smoke Haus opened in Brindley Place. I am already quite familiar with The Smoke Haus as their original restaurant is based in Swansea and I have visited it on a couple of occasions.

 

Fortunately, I was invited to their VIP launch night to try out some of their meaty delights at the Birmingham branch for myself. We were warmly greeted as we walked into the restaurant and were shown swiftly to our table. I was slightly disappointed to have not been placed next to the window as the views across the canals were pretty decent. 

 

Our drinks order was taken within a few minutes. I went for the Strawberry Daiquiri and Sam went for a bourbon recommended by the bartender. My cocktail was delicious but I was slightly disappointed there wasn't more crushed ice in it.

 

 

After browsing the menu which is classic American grill food with several burgers, hotdogs, ribs and other grilled meats to choose from, including a variety of sides, (Is your mouth watering yet?) we opted for a BBQ chicken wings appetizer to share. For mains I ordered the Baby back ribs and I was given the choice to upgrade my fries from several different options including; spiced, cheesy, chilli etc. I decided to go for Sweet potato fries and I also ordered a Mac 'n' Cheese on the side.

Sam ordered 10oz New York Strip steak served Blue with cheesy chilli fries and a side of fried pickles.

 

The BBQ chicken wings arrived promptly and they looked messy yet delicious! I was not wrong, these were potentially the nicest chicken wings I have tried whilst dining out. There was plenty of meat on each wing and they were generously coated in sticky, tasty and rich BBQ sauce. They were accompanied with a blue cheese dip which wasn't to my taste but Sam loved it. The wet wipes were greatly received following the completion of the wings.

 

 

The main meals arrived shortly after the appetizer was cleared away. The ribs looked amazing and sticky alongside a very generous portion of sweet potato chips and a not so generous portion of coleslaw - I wished there was more of it as it was crunchy and creamy! Sam couldn't wait to get stuck into his steak and rightly so, he said it was one of the best steaks he has eaten out at a restaurant as it was cooked to perfection for him. As you can see from the images it looks very bloody, I don't know how he manages to stomach it! Sam also enjoyed his cheesy chilli fries although, our eyes were obviously bigger than our bellies as we couldn't manage to finish it all. I didn't personally try the side order of fried pickles however, Sam said they were ok but not something he would order again.

 

 

 

 

 

To wash all the meaty goodness down, Sam ordered a Blue Moon white ale and I opted for a fruity cider. We couldn't possibly order a dessert as we were stuffed from our appetiser and mains, although they all sounded amazing.  

 

 

 

Overall, I was really pleased with the standard of the food at The Smoke Haus. Our waitress seemed really nervous for most of the evening, however the service she provided was really good. I think The Smoke Haus makes a great addition to Brindley Place and I'm looking forward to visiting again in the future.

 

        (The food at the VIP launch was complimentary. This does not affect my opinion and I was not required to write about the event.)

Exploring Amsterdam in 72 hours

 
After receiving a wonderful surprise trip away from Sam's parents for Christmas last year, we were so excited to visit Amsterdam over the May day bank holiday weekend. We hopped on a flight at Birmingham airport on a Saturday morning super early and were in Amsterdam city centre by 11am that day! This post is dedicated to recommending the best places to eat, drink, stay and visit within 72 hours in Amsterdam!

Accommodation:

After arriving at the airport, getting to the City Centre was super quick and easy. We bought a 3 day travel card which allowed us unlimited rail travel between Schiphol airport and any train station in Amsterdam and also unlimited travel on all buses, trams, metros and ferries operated by GVB. (Be careful there are some buses which are operated by other companies). It took 15-20 minutes to arrive at Amsterdam Central station where we then took a metro to Wibautstraat and our hotel was literally a 2 minute walk away. We stayed at the Volkshotel, once a newspaper headquarters but has now been transformed into a quirky hotel in a great location near the Amstel river. There are several different rooms to choose from and we stayed in the Miss Petite, the smallest but most affordable room. I love how it included everything you could possibly need but within a very confined space - perfect if you are not planning on spending much time in your room! The room also had the most amazing views over the whole of Amsterdam. Besides this, the hotel has a café, restaurant, spacious work spaces, Doka - a basement hideaway and also an area on the roof to take part in yoga sessions and relax in the sauna and hot tub. I highly recommend this hotel as it is so close to the City Centre and it is really affordable.

Must See and Do:

As much as I enjoy sightseeing, we honestly did not do that much during our weekend away in Amsterdam. There's nothing I enjoy more than simply wandering around a new city, getting lost and discovering new sights. However, I did visit the following;

1) Anne Frank House - I strongly recommend that you book a time slot in advance to visit Anne Frank's house. If you don't, expect to be queuing for hours! Despite the queues, it is completely worth it. The experience is both interesting and haunting. When I laid eyes on Anne Frank's original red and white checkered diary I chocked up, it was completely surreal to me. You can get your tickets in advance here.
2) Wander around the Jordaan - A maze of restaurants and quirky shops and located really close to the centre and Anne Frank's house, the trendy Jordaan neighborhood is worth exploring. Whilst in the area we ate at Winkel 43 and The Pancake Bakery.
3) Canal cruise - Amsterdam is a beautiful city and what better way to see it all than on a canal boat. We used a company called 'Lovers Canal Cruises' which cost us €16 each. We hopped on the boat outside Anne Frank's house and the tour lasted an hour. Our guide was brilliant and gave a great introduction to Amsterdam and its history.
4) Eat cheese - There is an abundance of cheese shops in Amsterdam. Most of these shops sell exactly the same dutch cheeses. However, me and Sam thought it was great to visit every cheese shop and eat samples of all the different flavours they had. We were gutted we only had hand luggage with us so we couldn't buy any to take home.
5) Red Light District - All tourists who visit Amsterdam are curious about the Red Light District and flock there at night to see the scantily clad women in the windows of shops adorned with sex signs. Walking through these streets was definitely an eye opener and something we only experienced for a very brief time.

Eating and Drinking:

My favourite topic - FOOD AND ALCOHOL! Every single time I go on holiday or a weekend away I have to research the food and drink scene beforehand so I know exactly where I want to go. Sam is a big ale drinker so I looked in advance at what bars and breweries we could visit, the standouts we visited were;

1) Craft & Draft - Based on Overtoom in Amsterdam Oud West, Craft & Draft is a cool American style craft beer bar. The venue design is modern and there is guaranteed something here for every beer lover. The bar staff are also super helpful and are willing to give recommendations if you are feeling overwhelmed by all the choice!
2) Brouwerij ‘t IJ - Perhaps the most unique location of all bars we visited as it is located under the tallest windmill in the city. There is a brewery on site and a large terrace outside to sit and relax. This was the furthest away from the City Centre. They serve a selection of their own beers including lager, wheat beers and dark ales.
3) Delirium Café - I am not a beer fan myself. However, I have always loved that Delirium offer a range of fruit beers too. Located near the waterfront and with an outstanding choice of over 720 varieties of beer. They also serve food to soak up all the alcohol and the staff are great at recommending you something to drink if you are spoilt for choice!
4) Beer Temple - Saved the best until last, Sam's personal favourite. This craft beer bar has 30 on tap and over a 100 bottled beers, all of which are listed on the chalkboard opposite the bar. The bar had more of a relaxed vibe, you can either sit on a stool by the bar or sit outside and watch the world go by.

 
As for what we ate, we had two solid favourites;
 
1) Foodhallen – You will find the Foodhallen in Amsterdam’s hip Oud-West neighbourhood and it literally translates to - food hall! This indoor street food venue serves a variety of delicious food and drinks! Myself and Sam absolutely love street food anyway and we enjoyed the food and the variety at the Foodhallen so much that we spent both nights there! Its also a great social place which gets extremely busy on the weekends.  My personal favourite vendors were Chicks loves donuts who served the most amazing Korean fried chicken with spicy sauce and De Ballen Bar which served different flavoured bitterballen (almost like fried risotto balls) such as, truffle, goats cheese and chorizo. We also enjoyed some pretty spectacular gin cocktails from the Gin and Tonic bar, served Spanish style in fishbowl glasses. 
2) The Pancake Bakery - After reading some great reviews on The Pancake Bakery we headed there late morning for some breakfast. Located just up the street from Anne Frank's house and situated on the canal you will not miss their small entrance as there is always a queue of people lined up outside waiting for a table. Luck was on our side on this day and we didn't have to queue for long before being led inside to our table in the cosy, welcoming restaurant. The menu choices were interesting and I was particularly intrigued by the 'International Pancakes' options where the ingredients are based on various dishes and flavours from across the world. I would have opted for the Thai style pancake, however my heart was set on trying a classic sweet pancake. In the end I went for a plain pancake with nutella and cream. It did not disappoint but there was no way I could finish it all. The restaurant is quite pricey considering they use simple ingredients but I would definitely go again if I was to return to Amsterdam and next time I would go for one of the savoury options!

 

 
I hope you all found this guide useful! Amsterdam is a great city and I cant wait to return there. Let me know if you've checked out any of these places too and if you have any more recommendations for me!