Trying alternative parmos at the Prickly Pear Bistro, Middlesbrough

Today I've got my first food review as This Northerner, and I'm pleased to say it's a good one.  Last night, I went for tea with my friend to a fairly new restaurant which is a based out of town in a local business centre. The Prickly Pear Bistro, located in the TAD Centre in Middlesbrough, has not been open very long and has already made my hit list of places to try. I've been following their Instagram closely over the past couple of weeks and I was excited when an opportunity to visit recently came up.

We went to the restaurant straight from work and it was relatively quiet until around 6.30pm. The space itself is beautifully decorated with lots of greenery, wooden beams and well-placed lighting.

As well as its normal menu, the Prickly Pear Bistro has a separate menu that displays its 35 different parmos which take inspiration from locations across the world. There's even a map on the back which shows you the place each parmo hails from. Among the countries which inspire the humble Teesside delicacy to step it up are the USA, China, Italy, Greece and Japan.

For any readers outside of Teesside, the parmo is a Middlesbrough staple which involves deep-frying a chicken breast covered in breadcrumbs, slathering it in bechamel sauce then covering it with cheese and sitting it under the grill to make it oozy and gooey. They are so delicious but so very bad for you.

After much deliberation, I decided to go for the Tropicana inspired by Hawaii, which is topped with ham and pineapple, whilst my friend chose the Mac Attack, taking inspiration from the UK, which was topped with macaroni cheese and bacon.

I try to be quite cautious when it comes to picking items from a menu as I've had some terrible meals when I was trying to be adventurous, so I was worried about my choice. I've never had any other parmo than just an original and I thought the extra toppings may have ruined it. How wrong I was.

When it arrived the portion size was massive and it was accompanied by chips and a decent-sized salad. Although a bit pricy for a regular-sized parmo at £13.50, you really did get value for money with the quality and quantity of food. On request, we were provided with garlic sauce, although it was a shame to learn this was an extra 50p. When I dug into my parmo, I was so pleased with my choice. The chicken was fresh and perfectly cooked and it was topped with thick ham, bechamel sauce, two pineapple rings and heapings of cheese.

I'm already a fan of pineapple on pizza, so pineapple on parmo seemed like the obvious next step. Oh my, it was so tasty. The combination all worked so well together. I don't know if I can go back to a normal parmo ever again. The parmo topped with macaroni cheese that my friend ordered was also delicious, so I'm told, although I didn't actually get a bite! It definitely looks like one I would order myself in the future.

Although a bit out of the way, I would recommend a visit to The Prickly Pear Bistro. Although the menu is heavy on the parmo-front, there are a few other options that should keep everyone happy. With so much choice, I'm already planning my next visit and whilst I do, I'm whittling down the parmo that I want to try next.

Going Vegetarian at The Waiting Room, Eaglescliffe

For two birthdays on the trot now I've visited The Waiting Room and on both occasions, the food has been delicious. The Waiting Room is a vegetarian restaurant located a stones away throw from Eaglescliffe train station. 

Its menu changes seasonally and is always full of amazing creative items that won't make you miss having meat for the night. We visited on Friday night and this year sat in the back conservatory area. With its reclaimed cinema seating and eclectic decor, this area sits away from the main eating area at the front, giving you a feeling of privacy.

Having already surveyed the menu before we visited, I was pretty sure of my choices. For our starters I picked the hazelnut, mushroom and parsley pate and Matt chose the goats cheese, spice red onion and almond baklava. Both were very nice, but I kind of wish I'd picked Matt's dish as mine was a lot of hazelnut and not as mushroom flavour as I'd hoped. 

For our mains, I wanted to go with something that I knew I would enjoy. Last year I decided to go for items that sounded nice and were a bit of a different meal for me, but I ended up being disappointed as I'd gone too far out of my comfort zone.

On our most recent visit, I chose the infamous and highly-recommended puy chilli wholemeal enchilada and Matt went for the roast garlic, courgette and spinach buckwheat galette with an organic poached egg.

When mine arrived it was massive! It tasted amazing, so full of flavour and heat from the chilli. I didn't manage to finish it all but they kindly packed it up for me to enjoy the next day (which I did). Matt thought his dish was gorgeous with a good mix of flavours and the addition of the egg on top really tied it all together.

Although we were both bursting at the seams, for a birthday meal it would be rude to not get dessert. Matt went for his regular, sticky toffee pudding, and I chose the chocolate pecan brownie. The sticky toffee pudding did not disappoint and the brownie was super decadent and gorgeous with the ice cream.

Overall I really enjoy visiting The Waiting Room. There is always something different to try and as I'm a fussy meat eater, I know I'm always going to enjoy all the vegetables!

Have you visited The Waiting Room?

Dining at the Lotus Lounge, Yarm

How exciting is winning a competition? Getting pulled out of the hat to win something for nothing is a pretty epic feeling and I did just that last month on Facebook. Lotus Lounge randomly selected me to go for a two-course dinner with a plus one with a bottle of wine thrown in for good measure.

Before going for our meal, neither myself or Matt knew much about Lotus Lounge as a restaurant. It's a pretty well known establishment as a bar, but as for food, I wasn't convinced. When we walked into have our meal to where I thought we might be sat downstairs in the bar, we were then shown upstairs to a part I never knew existed. Upstairs was clearly where the majority of the Lotus Lounge's food is served, if not all, as it was bright, full of tables, boasting its own bar.

It was quiet when we arrived around 6.30pm on a Saturday, but as we ate more people filtered through. When offered the wine menu, we both had a nosy but not knowing anything about wine or really liking it, we were at the mercy of the waitress but in conversation, I did mention I like Prosecco and asked if it was an option. At first, she said that it wasn't part of what we'd won, but then when she went away to get our wine she came back with a bottle which was a lovely surprise.

We both decided to have a main and a dessert and funnily enough, we picked the same for both. For our main meal, we decided on the 8oz sirloin steak which was accompanied by chips, salad and a red wine and thyme butter. I also had a Bearnaise sauce whilst Matt had Poivre. I thought the steak was delicious. It was super tasty and I loved everything that went with it.

For our dessert, we chose the chocolate pudding with peanut butter ice cream. The pudding itself was very cake-like but came away very smoothly and with the ice cream it was divine. The only let down was the plate, or rather the slate which was a bit awkward to eat from.

At the end of the meal, I briefly spoke to the lady I'd been chatting to on Facebook to arrange my visit and she was lovely, as were all the staff. I'm really pleased I had the chance to visit the Lotus Lounge as it wouldn't have been first on my list to try for food but now I'd happily go back.

Have you tried the Lotus Lounge for food?

Stepping into Summer with Turtle Bay's new menu - Middlesbrough

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to take Matt to Turtle Bay and show him what it was all about. Having visited on the press night with my fellow Teesside bloggers, I was invited back to try out the new menu and review which I was happy to oblige.

We popped along on a Friday night feeling extremely hungry after a long day at work. I started with my favourite cocktail, discovered on my last visit, the Marley Mojito. I'm not a fan of normal mojitos but this one is so refreshing and fruity with ginger beer, watermelon and melon liqueur.

We both had a tough time deciding what we'd get for our mains as there were so many delicious sounding meals listed. I really wanted to have the beef ribs again after trying them before but the two-way chicken burger caught my eye. As we don't have lamb at home, Matt decided that's what he'd be trying. 

My burger was a spicy panko-crumbed chicken fillet topped with pull jerk chicken, crisp gem lettuce, fresh pineapple chow & herb mayo accompanied by fries and coleslaw. I did enjoy my burger as it was unusual to have the two types of chicken, but I did kind of wish I'd chosen the beef ribs as it was something different. Matt's lamb was grilled and jerk marinated served with coleslaw, sweet potato mash, green seasoning and sweet onion chutney. He really enjoyed the lamb and said all of the different aspects worked really well together.

We both ordered another drink before our next course with Matt ordering a Red Stripe which was on draught and I delved back into the cocktail menu. Sounding very Caribbean,  I chose the Bahama Mama which had coconut rum, banana liqueur, pineapple juice, pomegranate syrup and bitters. It was super sweet and tasted very familiar to something I'd had before but neither of us could put our finger on what it was.

For dessert, I decided to have the rum and raisin bread pudding as I'd tried some at the opening event and knew I had to have a whole piece. It was soft, ooey-gooey and warm, perfect with the ice cream. I finished the lot. Matt was more safe with his dessert and chose the dark chocolate brownie. He said it was nice, tasted home-made but could have done with more ice cream.

Turtle Bay has definitely cemented itself really well in Middlesbrough with almost everyone I've spoken to having a good word to say about. We will definitely be back as we've still got a lot more cocktails to try and so many more food options to taste.

The afternoon tea that embodies Teesside - Skelton Mill Tea Rooms

The humble parmo. I've spoken about my love for it before and explained what one is. A parmo is a Middlesbrough 'delicacy' which includes fried chicken, bechamel sauce and CHEESE! In Middlesbrough, it will be hard for you to find someone who doesn't like the parmo. Recently my Mum came across an afternoon tea that included one rather than the usual sandwiches. That's like two of my favourite things combined into one which meant I had to visit and try it out.

Located around 10 minutes from Middlesbrough, Skelton Mill Tea Rooms is just off a country road surrounded by greenery. As well as the tea rooms, on the site, they have glamping pods and a vintage/shabby chic shop.

Having booked our time slot and pre-ordered our afternoon tea, it wasn't long before we were presented with a stand full of gorgeous food and a plate of chips. The staff were super friendly and couldn't do enough to ensure we were happy.

With our parmo and chips, the tea rooms included two pots of garlic sauce, a bowl of salad and some buttered bread. Although I had not long had my breakfast, I practically wolfed down my portion as it was really tasty and something so different for an afternoon tea.

After the parmo, it was time for the scone. As I'm not one for fresh cream, and they'd already pre-creamed the scones, they kindly gave us another scone (raspberry and white chocolate) for me to have with butter and jam. This was the perfect consistency for a scone, very light but also solid enough to ensure it didn't crumble on my plate. The flavours of this one were really nice and complimented each other perfectly. I'd definitely be back for 'cream tea' if it included these scones.

Last but not least was the cake. In my opinion, the selection of sweet treats wasn't the best with only a small chocolate cake and a little jelly and custard, but to be honest, by this point I wasn't bothered. The parmo and the scone filled me up, so I was happy with the delicious food I'd already had. Having said that, I did spot some delicious cakes on the sideboard, so I definitely think I'd pop back just for cake.

Myself and Mum thoroughly enjoyed our time at Skelton Mill Tea Rooms. The staff were exceptionally nice, the food was so good and the price was very reasonable. For our parmo afternoon tea for two, it was only £20! Usually, you'd pay that much per person at some places.

If you live in the area I would definitely say you need to visit if you are fond of the humble parmo.

For more afternoon tea reviews, click here!

Our new work lunch spot - Aurum Lounge, Middlesbrough

Everyone loves to get out of the office at lunchtime, especially on a Friday, to go and out to eat. Sometimes you try to be healthy but other times it's all about the treats.  I work just outside of Middlesbrough town centre and there aren't many places to eat lunch around us that are great. Most places are too expensive, over-run by students or the food just isn't the best.

If you want the good stuff you have to trek all the way to the other side of town and then you are cutting into your time to eat. Recently a restaurant has opened 2 minutes from my work and I've just tried it out, not once, but twice.

The Aurum Lounge is a restaurant come shisha bar, offering a menu of organic gourmet food. From burgers and salads to steaks and extravagant desserts, Aurum Lounge provides the lot. I first visited with my Mum and I had the chicken burger, whilst she had the parmo with mushroom.

I really enjoyed my chicken burger, although it was a little too spicy for me, but then I'm just a wimp with spices! Mum's parmo was nice, although I think it could have done with more bechamel sauce.

The second time I visited was a week later with my friend from work and we both decided on the chicken wrap. Although it still had the spicy taste, this time it seemed a lot milder and I really enjoyed it. All the food is really good quality and they take great care in preparing your meal.

I really like the Aurum Lounge, it is a really calm, chilled out vibe. All the staff are friendly and happy to help with any request. I will definitely be back to try out more of their menu, maybe even tasting one of their desserts!

Pre-match day date at The Fork in the Road, Middlesbrough

This weekend my boyfriend and I decided it had been too long since we'd been to a Boro match together and got tickets to see Saturday's game. We wanted to make a little day of it so said we would go out for food. You all know how going for food makes me happy and when he asked me where to go, I instantly said The Fork in the Road.

Opened just before Christmas, The Fork in the Road is a not-for-profit business that focuses on offering opportunities to those who need help getting back into employment including recovering addicts, ex-offenders and the long-term unemployed. The Fork in the Road adds another restaurant to Middlesbrough's bustling food scene. Located just off Bedford and Baker Street, its in the perfect location for a great night out.

We visited at lunchtime, around 1.30pm on a Saturday, and were attended to brilliantly. There were a number of members of staff walking the room ensuring everyone was happy with their food and happy to help if anything extra was needed. We were handed the lunch menu and were pleasantly surprised by the great choice. I'm quite a fussy person when it comes to food but this menu catered brilliantly and there were many options I could have picked.

In the end, I decided to go for the Pie of the Day which was Steak and Blue Cheese. Matt went a little healthier and chose the Belly Pork and Chorizo Salad. It took a while for our food to arrive but I think it was down to the fact that I chose the pie! When it did finally arrive we were both happy with the presentation and of course the taste of our chosen dishes.

I was apprehensive about the fact my pie had blue cheese in it as I know it can be overpowering. This pie had the perfect balance with the cheese just adding something a little extra. It was quite a rich pie but it was softened by the fact I had mash and a selection of green vegetables to accompany it. Matt really enjoyed his salad and was pleased it was topped with a perfectly poached egg.

Before I wrap up and tell you that you all must visit The Fork in the Road, I must comment on the decor. They've really done a great job of making the restaurant feel elegant and modern whilst also keeping elements of Middlesbrough's heritage. I love places that play an ode to our location history instead of trying to modernise everything. I would definitely have a lot of their style elements in my home. I know I've been rabbiting on about the decor for a while but I think it definitely adds to the experience of a restaurant as it's all about the atmosphere as well as the food.

I'm thrilled that we have yet another fantastic restaurant in Middlesbrough that I can tell everyone about. If you are in the area and looking for a delicious lunch or a yummy dinner, I can't recommend The Fork in the Road enough.

Indulging in a whole load of Mexican food - Mohujos, Stockton

As you may well know, I'm a lover of Mexican food. Whenever there is an opportunity to get a burrito I'll take it. I'm always cooking up chicken fajitas or chilli con carne at home and knocking back the guacamole and tortilla chips. It's my favourite cuisine. In Middlesbrough, there aren't many independent places that I know of that serve good Mexican food. We have Chiquitos of course, but quite frankly it's pants.

I've written on my blog before about Mohujos Burrito Bar on Bedford Street which is a descendant of the original Mohujos which sits across from the River Tees in Stockton. Before Christmas myself, my Mum and Sister all paid a visit to the OG to see if it was any good.

As it was the festive season, we decided to go all out and start with the Grande Nachos to share between the three of us. This was a large plate of nachos covered in chipotle chicken, salsa and loads of delicious cheese. On the side we had guacamole and sour cream, these could have gone on top but my sister is super fussy!

These were delicious, we stuffed our faces and soon realised the mistake we'd made as we were pretty full. Our leftover nachos were taken away and our main courses came pretty soon after which none of us were ever going to finish.

My sister picked Chicken Enchiladas (oven-baked tortillas with cheesy enchilada sauce filled with chipotle chicken and smothered in more sauce then topped with Jack cheese), I had Chicken Tostadas (fried corn tortilla baskets filled with refried beans, mixed beans, red pepper finished with guacamole, sour cream, cheese and salsa) and Mum chose Nacho Chicken (chicken breast with salsa, cheese, tortilla chips, guacamole and sour cream). Each of our dishes was very yummy with lots of good quality meat, fresh salad and tasty sides it was just a shame we were all too full to finish!

Although we were literally bursting at the seams, my sister said she needed some churros. I mean to come to a Mexican restaurant and not have churros is pretty much against the law, so she got some. Myself and Mum had been on the cocktails having around three each including Daiquiris and Mexican sunrises. There was a good list of choices, but they didn't come out looking pretty enough for any photos. Instead of dessert, I asked for a hot chocolate with a shot of Kaluha which was a little too strong for my liking!

We left Mohujos full of delicious Mexican food, feeling a little bit tipsy and vowing that we would definitely visit again.

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Sampling Thai food in Stokesley - Y'Thai Restaurant Review

Since first trying Thai food in Dublin I've grown very fond of it and have really wanted to eat more of it. Around Middlesbrough, there aren't many known Thai restaurants, but one that I have heard of is Y'Thai in Stokesley. Stokesley is a cute little town, around 10 minutes from my house, which has a high street very similar to Yarm with lots of cobbled streets. In terms of food places, Stokesley is quite undiscovered for me. 

When Christmas comes around its a time to meet up with friends and catch up over food. This provides a chance for me to try out lots of new places that have been on my list for a while. I'd been dying to go to Y'Thai so I was glad when my friend was up for a visit.

Although I always want to go for Thai food, I'm not that adventurous. I love vegetables and chicken, but I won't do pork or seafood and get funny about beef in restaurants, so it reduces my choices on the menu. For starters, I chose a classic, Thai vegetable spring rolls. These were lovely and served with a sweet chilli sauce which was quite hot! My friend picked Dim Sum with hot soy and chilli, a favourite of hers. They came very well presented with a lovely little side salad.

For my main meal, I chose Kai Pad Nam Mun Hoy, which was fried chicken with vegetables and oyster sauce. If I'm honest it wasn't very special in what it was, you could probably easily make it at home, but it was very delicious and I ate it all up. Rachel chose Pad Thai Pork, as an alternative to her usual chicken, which included noodles with egg, beansprouts, ground peanuts and vegetables.

After we pursued the dessert menu but felt that we were too full for dessert although there was a nice little selection to pick from. Overall it was a lovely visit. The restaurant is in a great location with good parking, its quite big and spacious and they provide great service. I'll definitely be back to sample more of the menu and next time I might be a bit more adventurous.

Exploring Sunderland's foodie scene - Sunderland Restaurant Week 2016

Trying new restaurants and new types of food is my favourite hobby. If I could eat, eat and eat and not get fat, I definitely would. I love cooking at home, but you can only do so much until you fancy someone else cooking up something fabulous for you.

I was recently invited to a 'Safari Supper' which involved a food-laden tour around some of Sunderland's brilliant eateries. In preparation for Sunderland Restaurant Week, Sunderland BID invited local bloggers down for an evening of delicious food.

For the 'Safari Supper,' we had the chance to eat at five different restaurants/bars sampling what they had to offer during Restaurant Week. I've never been to Sunderland so having the chance to visit and see what amazing food places they had was brilliant. We started off in Cafe Purple which was a stunning bar filled with luxurious seating and extravagant lighting. In here I met up with all the other local bloggers, finding pals Tasha and Sarah amongst the bunch, and we enjoyed lots of different cocktails with an enormous cheese board! The variety of cocktails that were brought out was staggering, they pulled out all the stops for us. I, of course, loved the Cosmopolitan but I was definitely also a fan of their gin-based cocktail too.

From Cafe Purple, we headed next door to Port of Call. This bar was right up my street as it was decorated all nautical with lots of ship memorabilia adorning the walls. Here we were plied with more cocktails and other nibbles including mini cheeseburgers which were the cutest and tasted really good. We didn't spend long here before we were carted off to the Funky Indian for our first course.

Situated underneath a Prosecco Bar, the Funky Indian serves up Indian street food in tapas-style. Our guide at the restaurant spoke about how at the Funky Indian they wanted to do things a little different and take inspiration right from India with a twist of cultures that have over the years found their way into the food. We were given some delicious food consisting of masala fries, spiced chicken poppers, Bombay pav, deep-fried cauliflower and seekh kebab. It was all utterly gorgeous and I'm dying to go back!

When we'd pulled ourselves away from our Indian food, we walked along to Angelos Ristorante where we were served some great pasta, pizza and meat dishes fresh from England's top Italian chef, Nello who works as their head chef. There was a mushroom pasta dish that we tried which was absolutely beautiful, I'd definitely have it if I visited again.

After all our savoury food, it was time for the sweet! We walked again to Sweet Tooth Delivery, which we actually also have in Middlesbrough. There was cake galore in their display case in all different colours and flavours. We all chose a piece of cake to try, I decided on Chocolate Mud Pie. As it was getting late, I opted for mine to go and had it at home. It was lovely, just what I needed with a cup of tea after the drive back from Sunderland.

Having the chance to try so many fabulous places in Sunderland has definitely wet my appetite for going back in the future. If I can spare the time, I'll be popping up in Restaurant Week when I can get more for my money!