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Tuesday 15 August 2017

A date night with some Jerk at Turtle Bay*


Turtle Bay Review

Yet again I find myself drawn to some Jerk and by that I don't mean Chris is a crappy husband. I'm of course talking about jerk seasoning; in particular at Turtle Bay.

Turtle Bay Review

Back in June I had a real privilege of attending the preview meal for the opening of Turtle Bay in Peterborough (which you can read about here).

Since then I've been itching to go back with Chris and experience the restaurant when it's in full swing and try out some more of their delicious cuisine and of course the cocktails.

Turtle Bay Review

2'4'1 cocktails run until 7pm which make them kind of perfect for pre-dinner drinks as well as pleasing your inner rum pirate and I took no time to decide on a Marley Mojito to start before moving onto Carribbean Pimms and Bahama Mamas which all have fantastic flavours to give you Caribbean vibes.

Turtle Bay Review

When I went before we had taster platters to try several things on the menu at once but this time I had the joy of enjoying each course in its entirety. To start, Chris chose the duck rolls: Slow roasted shredded duck, with sweet onion, soy sauce & chilli, stuffed in toasted rolled flatbread, served with sour orange chutney and I opted for the garlic and chilli pit prawns.


Turtle Bay Review

Turtle Bay Review

I have to say I hands down had the best starter and Chris was uber jealous. His duck rolls were delicious- there's no doubt about that but the prawns were just incredible. The whole shell king prawns are grilled over Turtle Bay's jerk pit, and tossed in a herb & chilli garlic butter with roti flatbread.

Turtle Bay Review

The flavours just explode in your mouth with the perfect balance of spice and garlic. The prawns were large and meaty and the flatbread was wonderfully soft and warm.

Oh god why I decided to write about this amazing food on the first day of my diet I don't know because right now I am craving a Turtle Bay takeaway. That's a thing by the way!

Turtle Bay Review

So the starters were a huge success and we were excited for our next course. Chris went for a classic Caribbean slow cooked one pot and went for the Curry Shrimp, King Prawn and Mango which also includes sweet potato, sweet onion chutney, steamed rice and a roti flat bread. And because Chris has a big appetite, he had a side of cheesy jerk fries which of course I had to sample- just to check for poison obviously....ahem...

Turtle Bay Review

I decided to go for a dish from the jerk pit bbq  section of the menu; that I wouldn't normally chose and something I felt would be a challenge to be Caribbean- jerk sirloin steak. I mean it couldn't have that much of a Carribbean twist on it...right? It's steak and chips! Well I ate my words and my steak as I was very very wrong!


Turtle Bay Review

The jerk pit grilled prime sirloin steak came served with spiced fries, a dressed salad & sweet onion chutney, fresh green seasoning all in a creamy coconut jerk sauce.  I asked for my steak medium rare and as you can see it was cooked to perfection.

Turtle Bay Review

The grilled steak and green seasoning, mixed in with the spicy fries definitely shouted Caribbean flavours and the salad certainly packed a punch too, full of life and flavour. It definitely was a unique dish that doesn't even compare to your bog standard steak and chips- it's on a totally different level.

Turtle Bay Review

The final course to finish our Caribbean date was dessert. If you read my post on the preview menu, you'll know I was really blown away and impressed by the puddings so it was inevitable I'd have to indulge once more...

Chris chose the Caymans upside down rum cake which was warm right through with a fabulous kick of rum caramel and ice cream to accompany it. Again I sampled it just to check it wasn't poisonous and could definitely picture eating it as a winter warmer when the colder months come.

I chose the banana and toffee cheesecake because well obviously cheesecake is life and I was again daring the desserts to disappoint me. I love banana but as a flavouring sometimes it can be rather overwhelming so I was dubious that this would be the case but yet again Turtle Bay nailed the flavours. This triple layered cheesecake had crispy biscuit base with incredibly soft creamy cheese that had a very subtle yet delicious hint of banana running through with the toffee.

Turtle Bay Review

I audibly made a noise of appreciation followed by lots of nodding to show my enjoyment of this dessert. It definitely was the perfect way to round off the meal even if I was crazy full by the end of it.

Once dinner was finished we were left to enjoy more cocktails and each others company on the rest of our Caribbean date night.

Turtle Bay Review

Turtle Bay Review

Returning to the restaurant was a real pleasure and the staff were just as attentive and wonderful as they were on the preview night. I left again feeling well fed and full of rum and cannot wait to go back. I'm actually going again in a few weeks with my colleagues so will get to experience the Caribbean social hub in another atmosphere once again.

If you haven't been to Turtle Bay yet I urge you to go. It's fast becoming one of my favourite places.


Friday 11 August 2017

But first, coffee... Two Chimps to be specific

Two Chimps Coffee Review

A few weeks back I was invited down to Two Chimps HQ for a spot of coffee tasting and monkey business... Intrigued to find out more, Chris and I jumped in the car and headed for beautiful Rutland where we were greeted by the dynamic duo whose aim is to bridge the gap between instant/coffee pod drinkers and speciality coffee.

Two Chimps Coffee review

In their head quarters were big hessian sacks full or coffee beans ready to be roasted as they are or ground in their machine just before posting out to their coffee lovers.

Two Chimps Coffee

Two Chimps Coffee

The smell of rich coffee filled our nostrils as we were shown around the equipment and the chimps explained the coffee roasting process to us in great detail. The coffee is sourced from various places, which changes with the seasons. I'd never have thought that one of the places their coffee would be sourced from would be Papa New Guinea but low and behold the beans have a great tasting flavour. For each new bean, a new coffee name is given and as you can see the chimps have certainly had fun with the names!

Two Chimps Coffee Review

My favourite name had to be The Bearded Auntie which claims to be a good all round coffee to drink at any time of the day. Whilst we were there we tried Time Flies, Chimps Don't and Morning Glory- both having very distinct and delicious tastes. I actually tried both types black which is unlike me; normally having a milky sugar filled cup but I could really taste the flavours and milk would have only ruined it- particularly Morning Glory as it's quite a fruity and citrus taste. Morning Glory definitely had a kick to it- perfect for that kick start first thing and had me buzzing whereas Time Flies Chimps Don't is more relaxed and easy to drink throughout the day.

Two Chimps Coffee

I openly admitted my shame to the chimps (and to Chris' disgust) that I am guilty of drinking coffee pods and instant coffee most of the time but they reassured me that their brand isn't about preaching how you should and shouldn't drink their coffee- they just want you to enjoy it.

Two Chimps Coffee

So how did they get into making coffee? Well, like all good things it started as a hobby at home which they loved so much that they decided to kick start it into a business which supplies excellent coffee to surrounding businesses and coffee subscribers all over the country. Their story was truly inspiring and you could see they had a real passion for the artisan coffee they create. Feeling very inspired (and wired!), we were given some coffee to take home and try for ourselves which of course we set about making the next day at breakfast.

Two Chimps Coffee

A little nervous that we wouldn't be able to replicate the taste as successfully as the Chimps, Chris and I followed the easy how-to instructions on the coffee bags to make up a cafetiere of goodness.

Two Chimps Coffee

Two Chimps Coffee

Needless to say, the coffee tasted amazing, again I had it black and we have been drinking it every morning since! Having just run out, we're due to put in an order over on their website and love the fact that there are no P&P charges on top of your order and free first class delivery- High five! The website it also interactive and will ask you questions like when you drink your coffee to determine what coffee they think will suit you best- brilliant!

I've definitely been converted to drinking proper coffee and have steered well clear of the pods at work. I'm really excited to put in our next order and try a new flavour too and would highly recommend you give it a try!




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