foodie Archives - A Little Lyrical

24Jun 2016

Wagamama – New menu items, taste test!

by Lyric ⋅ 4 Comments

Wagamama – New items on the menu!

We were delighted last weekend to be invited to try out some of the new menu items at Wagamama in the Trafford Centre. Wagamama at the Intu Trafford Centre is the largest Wagamama site in the company and even has a mezzanine floor. This particular branch opened back in October 2015.

We decided that after a busy day helping at the school summer fair we’d all built up a healthy appetite for some yummy tea.
My 4-year-old is a Wagamama pro, given the choice when we eat out he would hands down chose Wagamama every time. He’s been eating out at Wagamama since he was very young. We love it because it’s so family friendly. The staff are always very accommodating of children and the children’s menu at Wagamama gets my stamp of approval as lovely, tasty healthy foods for children. He loves that he gets his own special children’s chopsticks and he certainly know how to use them.

We were sent the invitation to try the new menu items which included Duck Donburi, Steak Bulgogi, Tamari Chicken, two new juices and a new side of shredded duck wraps.

Hubby is a real foodie and so he didn’t need asking twice to get stuck in. If you haven’t been to Wagamama before they will always tell you that no matter what you order, the food will be brought out as its ready, this keeps it hot and fresh. Wagamama at the Intu Trafford Centre has a wonderfully long open kitchen that really shows off the chefs skills.

The smell wafting across the restaurant definitely sets the scene of the food to come. Being a large restaurant it was quick and easy to get seated. Each time I’ve been I’ve been seated straight away, as every parent knows hungry children don’t like waiting! So settled in our booth we quickly set about choosing the food.

The boy loves having his own children’s menu to choose from and Flixster just enjoyed the crayons and paper!

We quickly decided to try the Duck Donburi , shredded duck wraps and repair juice from the new menu. The boys chose mini chicken ramen as its his favourite and for Flixster we chose mini chicken cha han as I figured he’d like it. The food came out as it was ready smelling delicious and looking amazing. The children’s meals were still very hot (as you’d expect) so they spent quite a while tucking into the steamed chicken gyoza and shredded duck wraps I should have ordered more!

Hubby and I barely got any! What we did taste though was lovely. We often order the steamed chicken gyoza in Wagamama and it was lovely as always. The shredded duck wrap is new on the menu, the boy lovely it but wasn’t sure about the sauce at first, I think he was expect ketchup so the fruitiness really surprised him. He did ask for more though so it was a hit!

It was hubby who ordered the duck donburi it came in a bowl with the fried egg on top. You are supposed to break the yolk of the egg then fold in kimchee and stir up the rice with the donburi duck for the full experience.I tried some and it was delicious. I just couldn’t stray away from my absolute favourite thing on the menu (I’m pretty sure it’s a favourite with lots of people) number 42 the yaki udon!

Once everybody dishes had arrived and the sides had been hoovered up we set about eating our own as well as sharing round. I love the children’s chopsticks in Wagamama, so easy even my 2 year old can use them!

All the food was as always delicious! We loved the new Repair juice with Apple, Kale and Pear. Even the boys tried to share it with us. I was hesitant as I knew it had kale in it but all I could taste was the Apple and Pear, a really lovely drink.

Luckily the children’s menu has milk on it which Flixster loves so he was easy to distract with that!

We were so full after the yummy food we couldn’t fit in a dessert which was a shame as they all sounded so nice on the menu. The boys even had to have half of their meals in a takeaway box to eat later in the day. I love that Wagamama offer to pack it up so readily and always have the best boxes and containers on hand to safely keep the food from getting everywhere.

Many thanks to Wagamama for inviting us to try the new menu items. We love how family friendly it is and how the food is consistently yummy, delicious and fresh! We’ll be back soon I’m sure, especially considering the boy keeps asking to return!

17May 2016

Printworks Manchester – A family day out

by Lyric ⋅ 1 Comment

When hubby and I first started dating around 11 years ago, our first date was spent in the Printworks Manchester, back then if I remember correctly the Printworks to me seemed to be full of bars and clubs, with a couple of restaurants thrown in as well as the Odeon cinema. I wouldn’t have thought of it then as a family destination. Todays trip has changed my perspective. Having spent most of our day there today has defiantly changed my mind and I’m grateful we got the chance to go and have a family day together.

Family Time at the Printworks

We started the morning with a trip to the Odeon cinema to watch the new Angry Birds Movie which was just released the day before we visited. It was Flixsters first time at the cinema so it was exciting for him to be having a ‘first’ too. Although he had been before when he as only a few weeks old, he was fast asleep in a sling on my chest so that doesn’t count! This time he had his very own seat and his very own childrens snack box. I wasn’t sure what to expect with a film based on an app but the film was pretty funny in parts, even for adults!

I really like going to the cinema on a weekend morning as it’s usually full of other children so you know you that even if your little one talks it won’t be disturbing other peoples film experiences which is great as most people there will be understanding and have children themselves. The boy has been going to the cinema on weekends with one of us since he was about two and a half so he’s very used to sitting and enjoying a film, he takes after his dad who’s film mad!

The family snack deal went down very well with everyone and at £9.99 for two childrens packs (with popcorn, snack and drink), a medium popcorn and two adult drinks I thought that was pretty good considering what you would expect to pay normally for each individual item.

Towards the end of the film I did take Flixster out for a little walk and then we watched the very end of the film from the exit corridor so that he wouldn’t be disturbing people, but it was only the last few minutes of a 90 minute film for someone who’s just turned two I don’t think thats bad. For the rest of the film he mostly sat watching and enjoying the big screen, it went far better than I had expected!

After the film i could tell he was tired as it was hitting nap time so we popped him into the buggy and off he went to sleep as we had a little walk before lunch.

Lunch at Frankie and Bennys

Lunch was booked for Frankie and Benny’s which in the Printworks is almost opposite the cinema entrance. All the restaurants in the printworks look nice but I picked Frankie and Bennys as its somewhere I’ve not been for about 10 years. When I was dating hubby we went a few times but it never seemed to change much so I guess it sort of fell out of our radar. The boys had never been to Frankie and Bennys either so it was a nice treat for them.

We were seated in a booth which was great for the children as hubby and I could block the exits and easily stop them from running around, sometimes when you sit at a table I seem to spend the entire meal repeating the words “please sit down”. The staff were very accommodating with the buggy too which was lovely of them, so we were able to have Flixster asleep next to us at the table whilst we had some food. He did wake later on in the meal and helped finish the chips and the dessert.

The boy was super chuffed at his childrens menu, he loves being able to make his own choice of food and I love that he can feel grown up by reading and making his choices.

Our waiter who if I remember correctly was called Janis was great with the boy, he really made him feel welcome which is lovely when you have children, you feel more relaxed about the meal and get to enjoy the family time together.

As we were there at lunch time we choose our food from the lunchtime menu, I went for the fish with salad as I’m following a health eating plan at the moment and hubby went for burger. The boy also went for the build your own burger choice and decided to have it with cheese , bacon, ketchup and some fries and beans as side orders. We also ordered a starter of dough balls to share.

I’m glad we did share them as there were lots to go round. Sometimes with dough balls at other restaurants you’d don’t get very many but I think the portion at Frankie and Bennys was just right.

My food was lovely and the salad was nice and fresh which to me is always a good sign, hubby said his burger was yummy and the boys plate was gobbled up pretty quickly and finished off by Flixster when he awoke from his nap! thankfully the soft drinks were unlimited refill which I prefer as you don’t have to worry about the cost or how thirsty you get, you know what you’re paying up front and theres no hidden extras when you get the bill!

The childrens’ meals came with a choice of drinks and as milk was on the menu thats what the boys ordered, milk lovers the both of them as they don’t like fizzy drinks.

I skipped dessert but there seemed only one obvious choice for the boys to share and my boy had already spotted it on the menu! It was the Ice Cream Candy Shop, you do pay a little extra for it as its not part of the kids included desserts but having seen the enjoyment my two had with it, I’d would treat them to it again next time. It does say great to share and I would say it was two much for just one of them so I’m glad they did share it between them. It came in a little wooden crate with a bowl of ice cream and various sweets to sprinkle on as well as a little jug of chocolate sauce. Upon seeing it for the first time the boy exclaimed “This is the best day ever!” which made me laugh quite a lot!

It even came with a little paper bag to take any remaining sweets home which was a nice touch!

Hubby choose the waffle and ice cream on recommendation from our waiter, he was not disappointed, I could smell how nice it was from across the table and sadly he had already tucked in before I got a photo!

By the end of the meal we were all perfectly satisfied and came out having had a lovely family day together, the trip has proven to me that the Printworks is much more a family destination now, and I look forward to more days out there together in the future to try out some of the other restaurants although the boy is already requesting to go back to Frankie and Bennys!

Thanks from us to the Printworks for inviting us to come and enjoy some family time together!

08Jan 2016

Dear Boys….. A memory of Christmas 2015

by Lyric ⋅ 4 Comments

Dear Boys… A memory of Christmas 2015

Dear Boys,

Another fabulous Christmas has been and gone and now we are looking straight in the eye of a new year, which is already filled with so much promise, excitement and gratitude. I just wanted to take the time though boys to write about our Christmas so that as it starts to fade from your memories you will be able to look back at this letter and remember.

The Build Up to Christmas

The build up to Christmas for us was hectic, we had just moved into our fabulous new home but everything was in chaos, the house was still half full of boxes and we seemed to be constantly trying to unpack and sort (just as we are now still). We’d had a few awful bugs which went through us all (literally) However we did manage to fit in some lovely Christmas activities though which included a trip to Winter Wonderland (an indoor theme park) and also breakfast with Father Christmas at a forest school.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve started early (as it always does with you two, one day I hope you will sleep later than 5am!) and we went downstairs to find that the elf had gone back to the North Pole but had left a Christmas eve box for you both.

The box had new pj’s (which is a tradition now in our house) for you both, a couple of books which I get out every year as I think they are lovely Christmas books. There was also the Muppets Christmas Carol dvd as that’s the one I always hold back to watch on Christmas eve as a family. It’s something I always did with my mummy when I was living at home so I like to carry that on. I’d also put in some hot chocolate, that we could have with the film and some minion popcorn which I know the boy would love. Lastly there was a Christmas jigsaw which I thought would be fun to do, as it turned out I ended up doing it on my own and some reindeer slippers for the boy. I didn’t get any for Flixster as he just doesn’t keep them on long enough. Then at the back I slipped in the usual Father Christmas plate and some reindeer food.
During the day on Christmas eve we just spent time together as a family, daddy had to spend most of the day in the garage building your play kitchen as we hadn’t had time to do it before. I took Flixster out for a walk for his nap to a local mill shop where I went to look for some Christmas place mats as I realised we didn’t have enough for the next day.
As it started to get dark I could feel the excitement building, the boy wanted to get the reindeer food out on the lawn, so we had made you both some tea, put the new pj’s on and stood at the front window scattering the food from the window onto the grass, which was followed by drinking hot chocolate and watching the muppets Christmas Carol.

After hot chocolate it was bed time so that we could wait for Father Christmas to come (we put out the obligatory mince-pie, carrot, milk and magic key of course!) and mummy and daddy could have some dinner and settle down to wrap the final bits!

I love that Father Christmas always leaves snowy footprints on the carpet!

The morning came very quickly and of course you were both up early. The stocking on your doors kept you busy whilst we all got ready and dressed. When I was a child we couldn’t go down until we were dressed and altogether as a family (well at least my mum was there!) A quick photo on the bottom of the stairs to capture the moment and then into the lounge to see if he’d been..

After a few presents had been opened we moved to the kitchen to start preparing our first treat for the day a fabulous daddy special breakfast. We took the play-doh toy sweet shop with us. The boy had wanted this for so long, I’m really not super keen on play-doh and even less so on mixing the colours (shock horror) but it was worth it to see your face and the fun you’ve had with it. It was the first time I’ve seen you playing quite nicely together and it made my heart feel warm and fuzzy.

The breakfast (which was more brunch) was so lovely and I was thankful throughout the day for having my family around me, food on the table and presents under the tree. I am so lucky to have so much to be thankful for.

Soon after breakfast my mum and dad arrived as we had invited them to come to ours for Christmas day, it’s the first time in 9 years we’ve been able to do it as we now have a bit more space to host people, rather than having to drag the table to the middle of the living room.

The boys played with Grandma and Grandad whilst hubby and I sorted out a starter. We put Flixster down for an early nap so that he’d be awake in time for the main dinner in a couple of hours time.

We did a trio of mini starters which consisted of tomato and basil soup with a slice of baguette bread, pate with crisp bread and prawn cocktail on a lettuce leaf. I’m sure I could have come up with fancy names for it but I like to keep things simple.

I’d looked forward to setting the table for so long, all the time we knew we were moving I was planning the Christmas table in the back of my head. I wanted it to be amazing to look at visually, I love Christmas so much. After a break of an hour or so it was time to serve the main event.

I have to say it was delicious, hubby did most of the cooking as its his thing. I helped with a few bits and the presentation of course!

Even Flixster ate way more than he normally does which was endorsement indeed! We all throughly enjoyed sharing the meal together around the Christmas table.

After dinner we were all very full and the boys were ready for a play again with a ll the wonderful things they had received as presents. They were very lucky, we tried not to buy too much as we are grateful for them having both sets of grandparents who also like to buy a gift or two. It was time for another tradition from my childhood, tree present’s. These were the very last present’s of the day hidden inside the tree, there are always a low value gift that’s usually a novelty, maybe a magazine, a tiny toy, bubble bath etc. I wanted to carry this on with the boys so I have done tree presents every year. We passed them around and everyone enjoyed the last of the presents.

The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking coffee and just being us. Grandma and Grandad left after the sun had gone down to go back home and we wound down for bedtime. Exhausted and happy the boys were put to bed and we had time together to reflect on the day (and eat the traditional Christmas day eve cheese and crackers!)

Another fabulous year together and another fabulous Christmas day, exhausted, happy and grateful we tucked ourselves up in bed to start again the next day.

So boys more family festive memories were made.

Please always remember I love you both unconditionally….forever.
Mummy