Bun and Bowl Valentine's Menu Review

On Sunday evening, I was fortunate enough to be invited along to a Valentine's tasting event at The Bun and Bowl in Birmingham. I have never been to The Cube before, let alone this restaurant, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Let's say, it didn't fail to exceed my expectations. I have been meaning to get involved with some 'foodie' events for a while now, so this was the perfect opportunity for me to make myself known, and of course, try lots of exciting new foods. Of course, the company didn't go a miss either. The Birmingham bloggers are a lovely bunch, and I was even introduced to some new faces including the lovely Tasha who organised the event.

Once we had settled in and everyone had ordered their cocktails (which were delicious may I add), we got started on our four course menu. Throughout our meal we were taken through each dish by the wonderful owner who was extremely pleasant like the rest of his staff. We also got to enjoy the likes of Frank Sinatra in the background, thanks to the rather talented violinist.

To start, we were all brought out a curious looking appetiser - a 'cappuccino' of mushroom soup alongside a canapé of toast with wrapped salmon, avocado and caviare. I am not a huge fan of mushroom soup, but I must say, this was very pleasing on the taste buds. It had quite a creamy texture and was just the right temperature to drink whole. I would never have thought of putting soup in a shot glass, but alongside the canapé of toast, this worked perfectly. The salty texture from the soup along with the delicate taste of the canapé made this a winning course. But the fun didn't stop there, to accompany our appetisers, we were each brought out a glass of red champagne, which may I add was also delightful. I have never been a huge champagne drinker but this Moet champagne with Strawberry Coulis was to die for. I would definitely try this again!

                   

                   

Next it was on to the starter - oyster served over ice, topped with lemon juice and croutons. Like many of the other bloggers, I had never tried oysters before (I am not a huge lover of seafood if I am honest), but I thought I would be brave and give it a go! I cant say I was filled with joy. I was warned about the texture beforehand, but what I wasn't prepared for was the overpowering taste of the sea! I somehow managed to eat it but I don't think I will be trying it again any time soon. The struggle to get it in my mouth was enough to put anyone off. Yes I did end up nearly eating the shell too, thanks Ellie! However, there was no doubting that these oysters were fresh, and the perfect aphrodisiac for any Valentine's menu.

For mains we were served a 'slider' burger with a side of fries. The burger itself was made with rib-eye steak - so as you can imagine, delicious! It was cooked to perfection too - medium rare with just the right amount of succulence. I felt like I was eating a mini steak in fact! The fresh brioche bun almost crumbled as I went in for the kill - it was very tasty indeed. Topped with sweet caramelised onions, foie gras and of course the classic lettuce and tomato; this was the perfect little burger. For dips we had two sauces; BBQ and a black truffle sauce which were both lovely. The black truffle was my favourite though, I could have definitely done with a bottle of this!

                  

To bring the event to a close, we were spoilt with one more dish - dessert - leaving the best till last some would say. This consisted of strawberries, meringue alongside a mixture of sorbet. I am not a huge fan of meringue, but this was so light and creamy and worked extremely well with the fruit and tangy sorbet. I loved the use of flavours in this dish and wasn't left craving anything else afterwards. The perfect amount of sweetness; the perfect end to a wonderful evening. 

Have you visited Bun and Bowl before? Their Valentine's menu is priced at £30 per head and there are still a few places left if you are still looking for somewhere to book. This includes one starter, one main and one dessert which is pretty good value if you ask me. I can't say I am a Valentine's expert but I wouldn't mind being treated to this exquisite menu on 14th February. If it's tasty food, great service and a relaxed atmosphere you are after, then get yourself down to The Bun and Bowl. I can assure you, you wont be disappointed! To find out more, or to book a table click here.

*Please note: We were invited to this restaurant to try their Valentine's menu. This meal was complimentary and all opinions are my own.

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The Body Shop Haul

As promised, here is my Body Shop haul including those goody bag goodies I picked up from the Birmingham Blogger event last week. First off in my goody bag was this clever little Starbucks reusable mug, which offers 25p off any future Starbucks drink. I don't really go to Starbucks that often but I am sure this will come in handy for when I do! Along with this we got this delicious bag of popcorn, a Christmas lollipop and some mini Christmas edition body butters. The final little gift from The Body Shop was this Body Shop card which I still need to claim in store (I could be in with the chance of winning £100 off any products of my choice).

As it was 50% off everything in store, I couldn't resist picking up a few treats of my own - it would have been rude not to! After receiving a mini makeover during the event, I just had to get my hands on this amazing bronzer/highlighting kit (see below) which was only £7. I hadn't tried any of The Body Shops make-up prior to the event but I have been promised many great things Along with this bronzer/highlighter, I also picked up one of their matt primers, which again at half price only cost me £8. I usually use the Benefit primer but there is a huge difference in price as you can imagine. Finally, I decided to pick up some of the Hemp hand cream as part of one of my Christmas gifts, a lovely strawberry scented body set and some of their delicious Christmas Glazed apple products. I think the damage was £34 in total which isn't too bad considering how much I could have spent and how much some of the other blogger girls did spend! I am definitely going to be visiting  The Body Shop more often now, especially as I am more familiar with their product ranges and what suits my skin type. Again, I want to thank Abbigayle and the other girls for making this such a wonderful event. Tasty nibbles, bucks fizz and lots of pampering - what more could a girl ask for?

My Body Shop goody bag courtesy of The Body Shop

The amazing bronzer/highlighting kit

Do you shop at The Body Shop? What are your favourite products?

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Birmingham Blogger Meet - The Body Shop

I first heard about this event over on the Birmingham Blogger Facebook page - which if you're from the Birmingham area - I am sure you have heard of by now. This was the second Birmingham Blogger event organised by the amazing Abbigayle, and again, she did us all proud. I went along to this event not knowing what quite to expect. I managed to grab a ticket last minute after rearranging some of my former plans for that evening, and I am so glad I did! What I did know was that this event was being held at The Body Shop in Birmingham which meant lots of shopping and a hole in my bank balance! The Black Friday weekend brought along all sorts of madness. Trying to get through the determined shoppers as well as the German market visitors was a challenge to say the least. I found The Body Shop in good time, bearing in my mind I didn't really know where it was. I can't really say I'm a huge 'Body Shopper' to be honest. I love their products but unfortunately I don't have one on my doorstep so it's not somewhere I regularly visit.  

But back to the event - once everyone had arrived and settled in, we got started with a Birmingham Blogger event favourite - the cupcake challenge. We all had to come up with a cute innovative saying for our cupcakes and upload them to Instagram. After struggling to get wifi, I uploaded my terrible attempt at being witty (as you can see below). After this, we all chose a celebration of our choice as part of the ice breaker challenge. Depending on what celebration we had, we all had to answer a question each. I was asked where I would most like to visit if I had the choice, which for me was a treat in itself as it just so happens that I am going off on my travels next year. The answer being Australia.  After this we got a formal introduction from The Body Shop manager and were split into three groups. In our groups we got the opportunity to go round the store and test out all the wonderful products. Along the way we also had to try and solve the answers to a little quiz Abbigayle had created which listed questions based on The Body Shop ethics. This was used afterwards in a prize drawer at the end of the night. 

My adorable cupcake

The first station

Massage time!

I really enjoyed testing out all the products I must say, including our wonderful hand massages and mini makeover. The Christmas products in particular smelt amazing and I couldn't wait for the interval so we could finally shop. As expected, I got somewhat carried away and ended up buying a lot more than intended. However, I did manage to pick out a few Christmas goodies in my sweep which made me feel a little less guilty. I also got the chance to mingle with some of the other girls, a few of whom I had met at previous events including the amazing Lenny, Kirsty and a couple of new faces including Tashpantz and Sarah. I was definitely impressed with the organisation of the event. Even though we didn't manage to fit everything in, we definitely had an action packed evening. It was a very chilled and went far too quickly for my liking. 

So, after we were all shopped out, it was back to more games and nibbles including the classic charades which was the perfect team building excuse.  May I also add how amazing the popcorn was that evening! We all got given a free bag of this in our goody bags which I will be sharing with you in my next post. After the games drew to an end, it was time for the raffle and competition prize givings before saying our goodbyes. I can't wait for the next event already!

Nibbles and more...

And again...

Body butter heaven

The strawberry products have to be some of my favourite

One of the blogger games was to upload a photo of three to five of your favourite body shop  products - here's mine!

Time to shop!!!!

All of the #bhmbloggermeet beauties together 

Have you been to any blogger events recently? What do you think of this body shop special?

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Birmingham Blogger Haul

Following on from my previous post, I thought it would only be right to do a blogger haul of all the amazing goodies I received on the day of the Birmingham FABB blogger event. I can only say a huge thank you to all the wonderful brands who turned up to the event for all their hard work and contributions. It was such a brilliant day and I met some lovely people!

So to start the day off, we were all given a pink goody bag as we signed in downstairs which contained some amazing samples from some very well known brands. This was followed by a whole range of other goodies as we wandered around and mingled with all the different brands. This included a goody bag from Me Me Me cosmetics who gave us some amazing full sized products including a mascara, some of their gorgeous bronzing balls, eye-liner and foundation. I haven't actually tried any of the make-up yet but it looks amazing. A real up and coming makeup brand, I think Me Me Me cosmetics have a lot of potential. Along with this, for those of us who went and spoke to the other brands, we got given some full sized products from Anovia, another up and coming brand who sell some affordable but amazing beauty products in your local drug stores. Most of their products in fact are priced at only £1 which is unreal. I have been using their shampoo just lately and I must say I am very impressed. It not only smells divine, (something one of the creators of Anovia couldn't help but mention at the event), it also contains keratin, an ingredient that every hairdresser seems to be talking about just lately. 

During my mingling, I also managed to catch up with the creators of Bee Good, a brand I was already familiar with from the last blogger event. I also got my hands on one of Bodhi and Birch's amazing shower gels after testing about 10 different scents on my hand. I cant wait to use this, and just look at the cute little travel bag that came with it (below)!

Just some of the amazing goodies from the FABB Birmingham event including Skinnyboo tea, NKD skin fake tan, Benefit Porefessional and some luxury hair masques

Anovia spoilt us with their full sized treats including this BB Cream

I love the smell of the Bodhi & Birch shower gel

Not forgetting the amazing full sized Me Me Me cosmetics which we all got given

I really wasn't expecting the sheer amount of products we were kindly given on the day - there is just so many to talk about. On that note, if you do want a full review on any of the products listed in this post, then please let me know. I think Me Me Me cosmetics is a must once I have got round to sampling all of the products.

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Fabb Birmingham Blogger Event

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to hear about and grab myself a ticket for the amazing #FABBBirmingham event which took place at the Custard Factory in Digbeth. For those of you who are not familiar with Birmingham, the Custard Factory is one of Birmingham's treasures as I like to call it. It's located just outside of the city centre and hosts a whole load of quirky shops and underground raves. I love it and knew I would be in for a treat from the offset.

To say we were given no information prior to the event only added to the excitement. Would there be food, drink? Unfortunately there was no food and drink on offer which left me feeling a little bit nauseous I must say as I walked around trying to disclose my passing hangover. What there was however were a whole bunch of bloggers and many exciting brands. I don't think the day could have gone any better. This was my second ever blogger event and I was thoroughly impressed. The last event I went along to was organised by a Birmingham based blogger so I cant really compare in terms of content. Not only were we inundated with freebies on the day, we also got the chance to get our hair styled by Toni and Guy and speak to some amazing up and coming brands. There was clearly a lot of effort put in to this event and it really paid off. 

FABB Events host blogger events all across the country in fact, so I will definitely be checking to see if they have any more coming up in the near future. One thing is for sure, we certainly need more events like this in the West Midlands. There is so much potential for brands to mingle with like-minded bloggers and hopefully they will start to see this now. 

One of my highlights from the day has to be meeting the lovely Lauren over at Shy Nature.  We had a right old giggle and she even managed to get secure some work with Style Edit, one of the brands who were sponsoring the event. Unfortunately I don't have enough followers on Instagram at the moment to work with them, but this has only made me want to strive for more. 5000 Instagramfollowers - lets make this happen! Instagram is definitely something that needs to be pushed so if you do have 5 minutes to spare, I would love for you to check out what I have been up to lately on my profile (expect lots more blogging photos). Along with meeting the lovely Lauren, I also met up with some of the other girls from the previous Birmingham blogger event. This included the adorable Rebecca over at Dash of Cheeky, the gorgeous Emma at Emma Victoria Stokes, and not forgetting the wonderful Elena at Lenny Loves Life. It was nice to actually see some familiar faces this time rather than walk around looking a bit lost. 

So there you have it, my second blogger event and what a great day it was. I can't wait to see what the next one has in store. Hopefully I wont have to wait too long!

Have you been to any blogger events lately? What do you think about this FABB event?

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