Food: Barton Rouge, Exchange Street, Liverpool*

Food: Barton Rouge, Exchange Street, Liverpool*

Wednesday, 5 July 2017

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Last month, I received a VERY interesting invitation to a brand, swanking new establishment that was opening its doors in Liverpool city centre and last week it was FINALLY time to check it out. Barton Rouge has already fully established itself in Chester and Heswall in Cheshire, so I was very excited to go and try out some amazing grub at their new restaurant in the swanky Exchange Street in town. I dragged my friend Emily along for the ride (although, considering everything we’d heard about the restaurant, I’m not sure she was complaining about trying out the menu!)

After giving my name and being handed Liverpool themed wristbands that entitled us to complimentary food and drinks, we were shown to a lovely table right in the centre of the restaurant. There was a bit of confusion tracking down the drinks we ordered (gin and tonic for me, wine for Emily) but that was all resolved incredibly quickly and the staff were nothing but perfectly hospitable for the entire evening.

When we had our drinks and had settled down, servers started offering different canapés to us to nibble on. We tried one that was made up of potatoes in teensy weensy little poppadoms, which were little bites of happiness. They reminded me of the Chat Bombs you can get at Mowgli, which is NEVER a bad thing. We were also offered chicken tikka bites and the MOST phenomenal battered prawns that I have ever had the fortune of eating. I am still dreaming about those prawns. Eventually, a server brought us over a selection of different main dishes to feast on. I’m a bit funny about trying things that I’m not sure I’ll DEFINITELY like, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I actually loved both of the dishes offered and I’d probably order them for myself if I went back independently. Neither of the dishes was too spicy for my very mild palette, which was a relief – one being chicken based, a butter chicken curry, and the other a fried cheese curry, made up of paneer cheese. The cheese curry was phenomenal and definitely wouldn’t have been something that I’d personally have chosen to order. This was all coupled with basmati rice and naan bread perfectly fluffed and ready for sauce mopping.

The restaurant itself was an absolute delight. I loved the beautiful, stylistic decorations that adorned the place- it looked sophisticated and fit in perfectly with the surrounding Exchange restaurants (Fazenda and Stevie G’s own The Vincent just round the corner, I’ll have you know!) The service was fantastic, everyone was incredibly attentive and staff checked on us enough that we knew they cared but not so much that we were talking to them through a mouthful of curry. I’ll definitely be going back at some point to try out the rest of their menu, which I’ve heard is an absolute treat.

You can find Barton Rouge at 26 Exchange Street East, Liverpool, L2 3PH.

Book Review: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Book Review: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Tuesday, 4 July 2017

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I love a good old book-to-tv or book-to-film adaptation as much as the next person, so when I heard that HBO were turning this little wonder into a TV series, I HAD to get my hands on the book and read it first. I am incredibly glad I did.

I’ve read Liane Moriarty before, having read her The Husband’s Secret a few years back and absolutely LOVING it, as well as reading and reviewing Truly, Madly, Guilty last year (but unfortunately not loving it all that much.) Because of this, I was a little bit sceptical as to whether or not I would enjoy it. Because of the hype, I was even more cautious but very willing to be proven wrong.

The story is set around the lives of three women- Madeline, Celeste and Jane – in a small beachside community. They have very different lives: Madeline is a hilarious, sharp and witty character, overwhelmed when her uncaring ex-husband moves into the area and sends his daughter- a daughter whom he fathered the way he ought to have, unlike their own- to the same school as her own young child. Celeste is beautiful, the kind of woman that makes you stop and stare, but harbours a secret that doesn’t bear thinking about. Her twin sons attend the same school, in the same class, as Madeline’s youngest. Jane is a sharp contrast to these beautiful and intelligent mothers – a young girl, clearly unsettled by something that has happened in her past, new to the area.

Someone has died, but we have no idea who.

Who committed the crime? We have no idea on that either.

I was instantly transfixed and pulled into this story because of those two little details. In fact, I was bloody captivated by everything about this book. It read like a book of about 200 pages and I found myself having to physically force myself to put it down for an hour here and there, to savour it for longer, to make it last the day rather than devouring it all in one foul swoop. The characters are incredibly believable and the book was just darn FUNNY. It’s very rare when a book like this one- with MURDER as its main plot line- makes me laugh out loud on the regular. I loved the way that the story alternated between differing perspectives and included witness statements of the main event – an event we don’t find out about until the very end of the tale. Everything comes together and there are absolutely no gaps in the plot; every single thing is accounted for and actually makes sense. I absolutely LOVED Madeline’s character and I’d honestly say that she is everything I aspire to be in life: hilarious, loving, fashionable.

This one of those books where you just want to forget every single aspect of it-  just so you can read it and enjoy it all over again. It covers a lot of pretty difficult themes: mental illness, motherhood, single parenthood, rubbish parenting, domestic abuse, murder. You name it, it’s probably included. But that’s what makes the book so great: it’s relatable, it’s dark and it touches on issues that need approaching. It does this in a beautiful and thoughtful way.

I’m officially back on the Liane Moriarty bandwagon.

5/5 (Mate, I’d give it 6/5 if I could.)

Goodreads: Exploring Children's Literature

Goodreads: Exploring Children's Literature

Monday, 3 July 2017

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If you follow my twitter, you’ll be well aware that I’ve recently got a job as a primary school class teacher. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll also be well aware that I read a LOT. It’s probably no surprise to you at all to read that I’ve been reading books for years and years and I was just as much of a book geek when I was a child as I am now. To prepare myself for my new job, I’ve taken it upon myself to stock up on both classic and contemporary Children’s Literature and get some read over the summer break.

When I was in primary school myself, I remember reading a whole range of different texts. One of my earliest memories is using The Suitcase Kid by Jacqueline Wilson as a guided read text. Jacqueline Wilson was a staple in my childhood bookcase and even now I find myself drawn towards books that she’s written. Her books were also a firm favourite in my most recent class, so I’ll definitely be getting hold of a few of her newer books over the next few weeks. David Walliams is another firm favourite amongst children, although I must admit I was a little bit sceptical at first. However, an early finish one Tuesday afternoon required a class reading session, and the book chosen was The World’s Worst Children 2. I am not at all embarrassed to admit that I probably enjoyed reading the story out more than the children enjoyed listening to it. Walliams’ writing is funny and SO relatable to children. He uses humorous language and JUST the right amount of rude words to make kids chuckle with glee.

One of the best books that I read as a child was one that I picked up in my most recent children’s book haul. Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian is one of the books that I still go back to now, so picking up a beautiful new paperback copy of it was a bit of a no-brainer really. It’s beautifully written and SO SO sad to read. I’ll definitely be using this within my own teaching. I also picked up a copy of Tom’s Midnight Garden, a book that I remember being read by a teacher when I was in year 5, as a class read. Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce is an absolute classic. It’s full of intrigue and mystery and brings back wonderful memories of my childhood.

One of my English tutors from my PGCE year recommended the book Time Travelling With a Hamster by Ross Welford during a lecture so I picked that up, as well as another one of his books, What Not To Do If You Turn Invisible. These are books I haven’t really heard of before but she sold the former to be with such enthusiasm that I felt obliged to trust her judgement on the author as a whole. Discovering new contemporary texts is something that, as a Primary School teacher, I really love doing so I’m hoping that these two books are exciting and will have a place within my classroom too.

Are there any other Children’s authors that I need to be checking out? Let me know in the comments!