Greggs, Camping and Daredevil

Last week Porro, this week Greggs. I'm no food snob... Well ok, I am a food snob but Greggs is one I let slide. So lunch today was a completely tasteless sausage roll (Tesco's one are much better, more salt) and a nuclear hot chicken pasty with actual radioactive isotopes in it. It was so hot it could melt through a starship door faster than a lightsaber. And it had at least four bits of actual chicken in it. The "white coffee" was so bitter and tasted like cardboard. I actually had to throw that away. But in spite of all this, I'll be back for the same thing (maybe not the coffee) again and again. For pudding I had two chocolate digestives from the work kitchen. Couldn't bring myself to buy three food items from Greggs. What would people think?!

Off camping to west Wales tomorrow. It's gonna rain all long weekend. Fun. But I'm determined to have fun as this'll likely be our only holiday this year. We'll take board games to keep me and Laura entertained and alcohol for the kids... That's the right way around, right? Have found a secret Italian restaurant on a farm that has been run by three generations of Italians. We've booked a meal there. I'll report back. Trying desperately to find indoor things to do in the area. It'll be fine.

Enjoying the second series of Daredevil on Netflix. Half way through it. Elektra's casting is perfect as is the Punisher. Really enjoying it. Maybe not quite as stylish as season one and there was no need for the gimmicky and obviously not one shot, one shot fight scene... again.

Also enjoying playing the new DLC for Star Wars Battlefront. Surprised at how much I've been playing this game. Don't think I would be if I wasn't playing with my dad and two brother's though. They are what make it fun. Just constant piss taking.

So that's it. That's you all caught up with my exciting life. See you after chocolate Jesus weekend.

Take care x

Porro Review

It was out ninth anniversary last week. We booked an early meal at Porro in Llandaf, Cardiff. It's an "Italian-ish" restaurant that specialises in Italian food and Italian inspired Welsh food. Porro is the Italian word for leek, the national Welsh vegetable. We've been there before for my birthday last year where we massively over indulged and drank cocktails, wine, prosecco and ate copious amount of food including the best duck breast I've ever had. No exaggeration. This time there was more prosecco on the table for us when we arrived. This is not something that they do for everyone, but we happen to live next door to the owners. Win. Also, this is the best prosecco I've ever had. No exaggeration.

To start with we had a mix of three dishes that we shared. A salt cod pate with sour dough which wasn't anywhere anywhere near as salty or fishy as I thought it might be. It was actually very light, easy eating. We also had two cheese dishes. A burrata, which is a soft mozzarella like cheese from Southern Italy. This one was covered in herbs and fresh oil with shavings of fennel. Really light and fresh and the herbs brought everything together. The other cheese dish was gnudi. Something I hadn't come across before. It's essentially like a gnocchi but made with cheese instead of potato. This one was in contrast to the burrata, very rich and creamy. Absolutely lovely and a great find. Will be looking this one up in the future.

For my main course I had lamb. It came with broccoli, toasted almonds and chilli, served on a bed of creamy mash potato and a delicious gravy (posh people might call this a jus). The mix of the perfectly seasoned broccoli with toasted almonds and chilli was amazing. Something I've not tried before. The lamb itself was the best lamb I've ever had. No exaggeration. Perfectly pink in the middle. Seared on the outside with great seasoning. Great combinations of flavours and textures. I could've eaten that lamb forever. I don't understand how you cook meat like that. The duck and the lamb on both occasions, cooked perfectly. And the quality of the meat makes a huge difference too.

For pudding, I ordered off the menu. Something I'd seen them post on Twitter during the week. Burnt banana served with hazelnut brittle and salted caramel ice cream and sauce. Oh wow. A taste sensation! I'm not big on sweet things, so when something is a little less sweet or even salty, it's great for me. This is a classic taste combination, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

We also had a bottle of chianti reserva and a limoncello. I've gotta admit that the chianti wasn't what I'm used to. We usually only buy cheap wine haha. This one had a lot going on. I did enjoy it, but last time we went for the montepulciano. Sweeter and easier to drink and if you're like me and only usually drink cheap plonk, I'd recommend this over chianti. Perhaps if we had something a bit richer off the menu, the chianti would have been a better choice. We didn't go for cocktails this time because we had work the next day, but last time we did indulge and they awesome. Great recommendations from the staff too. I guess they've had enough time to sample them all.

The restaurant itself is located in Llandaf village, a stones throw away form the Cathedral. It's a beautiful location and quite romantic, although could just as easily be bromantic. The interior helps with the atmosphere too. Sophisticated, but relaxed. The staff are incredibly friendly but not overbearing. They are very knowledgeable about the menu and can give good recommendations. The soundtrack apparently has been the same since they opened last year and put together by a guy called Tom. The satff therefore are a little bit bored of the music but Tom has a great taste. We entered to The Smiths and were treated to the likes of Beirut and Billy Brag. Perfect tunes.

Here comes the bit about the price. It's expensive. No bones about it. It's not a place I can go to often although I'd love to eat there every day if I could. Four courses and quite a lot of drinks set us back about £100. It was our anniversary and we indulged. But my God is it worth it! Seriously if you haven't been, you should go. Now. It's perfect for a special occasion. They will not let you down.

Food is my hobby. I'd eat out every day if I could. I do eat out a lot, probably too much (I'm going to a local bakery for breakfast now and off to the Plymouth Arms in St. Fagans for tea!). I've been to many restaurants in  Cardiff and elsewhere and can say, hand on heart that Porro is the best restaurant I've ever been to that serves the best food I've ever eaten. No exaggeration.

I had all the intentions of taking pictures of my food to show you, but the moment took me and it was in my belly before I even realised. Oops.

Check out sample menus and book a table at their website.

Blogging With Depression.

..aaaaaaaand I'm back.

That's right, everyone's favourite chronic over sharer is back and ready to roll. There's a funny paradox when it comes to blogging with depression. The best thing you can do when suffering from a bout of depression is talking. Getting it off your chest. Not that there's anything on my chest making depressed, but simply talking can help. Well it's the very last thing I seem to want to do.

I've been down. Very down. For a long time. Christmas was very hard for me. I didn't enjoy it at all and I love Christmas. I've barely been out. Not seen anyone. I'm on medication so it's not all doom and gloom all the time. I'm coping. Day to day is ok. But I'm not my self and I don't want to see anyone.

Well my medication has now been increased and I've been slowly coming out of it. I'm in quite a good place now. And I'm ready to face the world again. The Internet world at least. If I do disappear from blogging again, I'm never far from a computer and you can usually find me on Facebook (feel free to follow), Twitter, Instagram, etc.

It was such bad timing. I'd just gotten the writing bug back and had bought a site domain to start writing news and articles on video games. So that is something I'm going to be concentrating on. Just in time for the conference season. Hope I can keep up with it all.

My PC which I used to edit is bust at the moment. I'm very slowly trying to figure out what's wrong with it and fixing it. If I do get back in to YouTube it'll be with unedited videos for now, which could be interesting.

Life is cool at the moment. Just flowing and all relaxed like. Another reason for not going out much is we are totally broke. Two kids in childcare is stretching us to our limits. Got another couple of years until the younger one is in school, then we'll be absolutely fine again. But now is tough.

But Laura's got her roller derby, I've got my games and we've got Netflix. We've made sure we can still do those or we'll go mad. Played some amazing games recently. Not gonna go in to lists and catch ups, but I might work some of them in to some future articles on my gaming site. But the hype train has definitely hit me square in the face when it comes to No Man's Sky. Actually counting down the days for that one. Thinking about taking a few days off to play it! It's like being in college again.

Currently enjoying the second series of Bosch on Amazon and looking forward to Daredevil Season 2 on Netflix, starting this Friday. Not seen many films but I did manage to go see Star Wars twice. Huge fan and loved the film. Can't wait for it come out on Bluray in April so I can watch it every Saturday morning until I can recite the script by heart like I did with original trilogy.

Off to re-heat a suasage and bacon hotpot I made last night. It's good to be back. I missed you guys.

Take care x