The Kitchen Tea Room Howden Review

So far this month it would seem that all I've done is eat out, last week I think I ate out every single day which is brilliant for my taste buds but not so much for the Slimming World scales at the end of the week (I took the hit of a 2lb gain this week, so I'm trying to reel it back in!). Anyway, one of the reasons I was eating out was because it was my Nana's birthday. Me and my mum wanted to take her somewhere she'd never been before for lunch so after a little think we chose The Kitchen in Howden.

I'd hazard a guess and say that most of you probably haven't heard of Howden; it's a small town in East Yorkshire within easy access of York and Hull (the M62 is literally a mile or so away so it makes it really accessible from any direction). The Kitchen in Howden is actually a second shop which was opened after the roaring success of the one opened in Snaith (a small village near Selby) so I knew it had to be decent if it was popular enough to warrant two shops!

The Kitchen is a shop and a tea room offering absolutely loads of choice both to eat in and takeaway, judging by how busy it was for the whole time we were in there, it's obviously just as popular with take away orders as it is with people wanting to eat in. There's so much choice even for take away orders and the dessert cabinet looks absolutely incredible!

After a short wait for a table we were seated together on a table for 4, we got the menu out and had a browse for what we fancied. As much as I was very tempted by the afternoon tea I ended up trying to be good; I ordered a Salmon and Prawn Salad and a Skinny Latte however because it was my Nana's birthday I encouraged her and my Grandad to go for the afternoon tea, purely because I wanted to see what it was like.

Everything was brought to our table swiftly by the waitress who was really friendly and attentive, I was so impressed with the little touches from the word go:

Everything from the flowers in the milk bottles in the middle of the table to the little milk churn they served milk in and the spoon which was designed in such a funny way to make it rest on the side of the latte glass, it set the scene perfectly for what was to come. The only trouble we had was fitting everything on the table because it was a fairly small space for 4 people but we managed, we just made sure we got rid of the bits we didn't need once we'd used them.

When the food arrived I couldn't believe the size of the salad for a start, I usually find that salads are a little bit lack-lustre in most places but The Kitchen made one of the most impressive salads I've ever tasted in any eating place.

The bowl it was presented in was absolutely huge and it had some lovely little additions like a small pot of olives and some homemade bread with cheese and peppers (served in a little plant pot - too cute!). The fresh cooked salmon was absolutely divine and there was more than enough to leave me feeling full when I'd eaten it, for £7.95 I thought it was very reasonably priced and it was so tasty.

Next, onto the Afternoon Tea which was very impressive indeed.

(Mum and Nana failed miserably at getting out of the photo, but look at my Nana's face, she looks made up doesn't she, haha)

What you see here is for two which is priced at £18.95, again very reasonable and around what I would expect to pay for Afternoon Tea of this standard. I assume that every one served is different in terms of sandwich fillings and which selection of cakes you get but there'll always be a scone with jam, cream and butter in the middle. Of course if you have any allergies or intolerances I'm sure The Kitchen would be happy to tailor your food around that.

For the sandwiches there was fresh salmon and cream cheese, ham and salad and cheese and pickle (I think, I obviously didn't eat any of them and to be honest they were demolished before I had a chance to look at them properly, I'm lucky I got a photo!). I thought the bread made a nice change to traditional crustless sliced bread although my Nana said it was a little too stodgy for her by the time she'd finished (my Grandad's answer to that one was 'well you didn't have to eat it all, did you?' haha!).

The second shelf had two traditional home made scones with a pot of cream, butter and a mini jam jar full of jam (argh, all the cuteness!). The cream was beautifully light but really nice and creamy, no complaints or areas for improvement whatsoever on this bit!

The final course was the selection of homemade cakes; there was a huge fruit tart, some chocolate brownie and two squares of caramel slice. A nice little choice so you could have a taste of each without being over-faced by it. I was surprised my Nana and Grandad ate it all but the fact that they managed every little bit is testament to how nice it must have been! If you wanted, you could upgrade your afternoon tea to include a glass of pink bubbly each which would take the price to £29.95.

Overall I was well impressed with The Kitchen and I will definitely be visiting again; if you are considering a visit I would recommend ringing to try and reserve a table especially if you're thinking of going on a Saturday as I imagine that will be their busiest day for eating in the tea room. We were there on a Thursday and it was still very busy, but I guess you have to expect it when the food is this good!

Red's True BBQ Leeds Review

There are some food experiences that I just know from the word go that I'm going to share on here, Red's True BBQ was one of them. Situated right near the Corn Exchange in Leeds, Red's is an American style BBQ restaurant offering different types of meats smoked low and slow with glazes and rubs. They go on an annual pilgrimage to the Southern States of America to meet and learn from the worlds best BBQ joints to bring back stacks of new ideas to keep it as authentic as possible for us UK heathens who don't really have a clue what a proper BBQ really is. 

Red's has definitely taught me a few things about how BBQ-ing should be done.

Firstly, the menu is immense and it does take a while to get your head around it; we had a really helpful server who showed us the ropes and gave us some recommendations because we were a little bit overwhelmed with choice. We decided to order a couple of things from the 'Little Plates' menu just to eat while we were deciding which turned out to be a very good call because we got a little taster of what was to come. The service was lightening fast, they were literally with us within about 5 minutes of ordering which I was really impressed with.

On the left we have the BBQ Rib Taster which is a selection of Red's legendary pork ribs, they are so unbelievably tender, moist and tasty; definitely the best ribs I've ever tasted. On the right there's the BBQ Wrapped Jalapeños, we chose these because it was something different that we'd never tasted before. They were definitely tasty but a little too hot for Kayley to handle (I know, it's a jalapeño but she insisted the one she had was hotter than any she'd had before), so hot that she had to ask the server for something to cool her mouth down because the Diet Pepsi she had wasn't cutting it; so she recommended a milkshake (more on that later). 

We eventually decided on a selection of meats from the 'Meat Combos' list because neither of us wanted to leave feeling like we'd missed out so here goes...

Beef Long Ribs, Mashed 'Taters, Giant Onion Rings 

I've never tried beef ribs so after the pork ribs were so amazing in the starter this was an obvious choice especially as the server recommended them. They were melt-in-your-mouth tender smothered in the amazing Red's Unholy BBQ sauce. I think ribs can be a little thin on the ground where meat is concerned and they can often be more bone than anything else but these were the total opposite; so much meat! The mashed 'taters with white gravy were a gorgeous alternative to fries and I felt like I was really getting an authentic taste of how they do it in Southern America; white gravy is an odd concept but it totally works. As for the onion rings, don't be fooled into thinking 'there's only two, that's not enough' because they are massive; I didn't actually eat any of them but Kayley said 'They were really crispy, probably double fried and the onion inside was huge'.

Black Angus Beef Brisket, 7oz Pulled Pork, 2 Mild BBQ Wings & Corn on the Cob

This was what is known as a 'Meat Combo'; three types of meat plus a Divine side. I'm going to start with the BBQ Wings because they were probably my least favourite and what I would leave out next time; they are massive on the face of things and different to any other wing I've had (they're usually tiny, aren't they?) but the amount of meat on them was a little disappointing, what was on there was tasty but there just wasn't enough. The Brisket however was plentiful and so, so moist. It's obvious that it's been cooked as low and slow as possible because it was so flavoursome and just melted in my mouth. The Pulled Pork was to die for; the server said that it was a really popular choice and I can totally see why. If you wanted to make more of a meal of the pulled pork you could do because there was an option to have it with slaw, crackling and apple sauce (I've just eaten and the thought of that is making my mouth water).

Alongside your meats there's a selection of sauces available on the table which I was really impressed with and it meant that for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel the need to ask for mayo (I also thought it would be a cardinal sin to ask for such a thing in a place like Red's). My favourites were probably Kansas City BBQ and North Carolina BBQ (who knew there could be so many variations of BBQ sauce?!), the Judas Ketchup would be a good one to try if you're a red sauce lover because it's a sweeter take on the regular stuff which makes it a perfect combination for the meats.

There wasn't really anything that tickled my fancy on the dessert menu but I was glad that we had the milkshake for pudding because it was really nice and creamy. Kayley chose the Banana and Peanut butter one and it was just what we needed as something sweet after a meaty main. As you can see, it was served in a milk bottle which although simple, was a really good idea I thought!

The bill came and it was just under £60 which although quite pricey, I thought was fairly reasonable considering what we had eaten and drank. We left the server a nice tip (American style!) because she was so nice and helpful and I walked out knowing that I would definitely be back as soon as I could because it was a brilliant eating experience both in environment and quality of food. 

Leeds city centre isn't the only Red's True BBQ, they also have restaurants in Headingley, Nottingham, Manchester and Shorditch. You can view the full menu online which I highly recommend before you go because it'd be less overwhelming if you had an idea of what you might want to try before you get there.