The Body Shop - Reading, England

Growing up I had a huge thing for lip balms. In fact I had a whole caboodle full of them! So, when I think of The Body Shop the first thing that comes to mind is lip balms. 

After my visit to my local branch last week (for a blogger event) there is a lot more to think of when thinking of The Body Shop. 

Firstly of their campaign against animal testing. 

They still need help to reach their goal of 8 million signatures on their petition to ban Animal Testing.  You don't have to visit a branch to sign, you can do it online via their website. 

Secondly, although I will never not think of their lip balms, I now have a bigger range of products to consider when shopping there. 

Starting with their new body yogurts and face mists! I love a body butter, probably the second thing I think of after lip balms when thinking of The Body Shop, but I find them too buttery and thick for the summer. The body yogurts are smooth and go on so easily and smell delicious. Banana is the scent of the season (also limited edition), but it also comes in almond, mango, strawberry, rose, and moringa 'flavors'. 

The face mists come in varying scents and do slightly different things, but in this heat wave they are essential in helping keeping your face cool and collected. They would be good for anytime of the year really; especially if you work in an office where your co-workers are constantly messing with the thermostat, ahem, and one minute you are hot and the next cool.

Both of these products are worth checking out on your next visit to their store or online. There is also a new extended men's range and of course all the products in scents you've come to love are still available. The beloved body butters can now be personalised for yourself or as a great gift! 

Not only do The Body Shop provide some great products you can use them knowing they aren't tested on animals. 

I was particularly drawn to the satsuma scent and bought a few things for my hand bag! It was a fun night with fellow bloggers and friends, it's always nice to be invited somewhere you already love and admire. Also, on the night Wagamama's provided us with food! Full meals that were delicious along with some samples of their starters! 

*I was invited to visit my local branch of The Body Shop as a blogger for the #gobananas launch, I was not asked to write a review nor was I compensated financially, I was provided with a gift bag with a few products to try out. 

Visit The Body Shop - Reading 

The Oracle, Unit 24, Broad St, Reading RG1 2AG

(Wagamama's is also located in the Oracle on the Riverside!)

COMPTOIR LIBANAIS {restaurant review}

I have been to pretty much every restaurant on the Riverside and even ones that aren't there any more. However, there are only a few I actually go back to time and time again. Now this was my first visit to Comptoir Libanais (literally means Lebanese Counter) since it opened last year on The Oracle's Riverside - it is literally on the river and has a nice view of said river. That aside the food was good and I don't think it will be my last visit to this restaurant. 

My friend and I were in town and decided we were hungry, but we didn't know what for? It's a common thing with us never being able to agree or decide on what to eat. The only thing we did know and agree on was the fact that we hungry, but not that hungry and were looking for a reasonable meal with a reasonable price. 

Eating out is a luxury and that's why it's important to have a good experience. We were greeted when we walked in and pretty much seated right away. The waitress was informative and helped us decide on final choices. The food came so quick and it was delicious. 

As I mentioned above we were hungry, but not that hungry so we both went with a wrap. I went with the Chicken Taouk Wrap - it was stuffed with marinated chargrilled chicken, pickled cucumber, tomato & garlic sauce. My friend went with the Falafel Wrap (he is a vegetarian) which has chickpeas, broad beans, coriander, garlic, peppers, tomato, pickled turnip, parsley and a tahini sauce. 

 

By the recommendation of our lovely waitress we tried the Batata Harra or Lebanese spiced fries with red peppers, fresh coriander, garlic & chilli. They were good and we dipped them in garlic mayo and I believe a chilli mayo. 

I think on my next visit I will be trying the hot and cold Mezze (a selection of dishes). I think I would visit here again, I don't go out all that often and it's nice to know where you can go to get a good meal. 

Comptoir Libanais

The Riverside

The Oracle Shopping Centre

Bridge Street

Reading

RG2 0FB

*I was not asked to visit nor review this restaurant I just figured as it was literally the only one I hadn't visited on the riverside and I had a good experience there that I would share it with you! If you have been let me know what you like to get in the comments below! 

Win a trip to Buenos Aires with Cau {Cau - Reading, Berkshire {review}}

Cau restaurants are giving away a trip to their homeland Buenos Aires and all you need to do to enter is to visit one of their many locations order any Hero dish on the menu, upload a picture with their special Insta-frame and hash-tag #BuenosHeros!

Cau opened up in Reading a few years back and I have to honestly say it's one of the best places in town to get a good steak! Therefore when they invited me in to try out some of their dishes from their menu marked with a "hero" stamp there was no way I could say no!

Best place to always start a meal is with a starter! My friend and I tried the Shrimp Chicharron, which is crispy fried shrimp in an aji amarillo sauce which is a sort of spicy cheese sauce. It was delicious and if you are a seafood lover like my friend and I definitely give it a go!!

The other starter we tried were the Empanadas (I still don't think I pronounce them right) one filled with Spanish chorizo & cream cheese and the other with Spinach, ricotta & date there were two other choices Spicy beef and Spicy creamed corn & Taleggio cheese. I have to say for the ones we tried they were good and I can with all confidence say to try the chorizo one it was so good!

Then of course came the main attraction - Beef! My friend went with Tapa De Cuadril one of their signature dishes cut from the top of the rump and served thinly slice and ash grilled, this apparently is how it melts in your mouth.

Unable to decide I asked the waitress for help and eventually with a little guidance I went with The ULTIMATE Steak Sandwich. And boy am I glad I did! This sandwich has everything you could ever want! Three types of beef - flash grilled tapa de caudril, salt beef, and BBQ brisket served in a toasted ciabatta with crispy onions, dill pickles (my favorite part next to the beef) with a spicy mayo and melty Monterey Jack cheese!

Not being able to leave with out a dessert I tried the Dulce Volcano. It is basically an old-fashioned chocolate volcano except it's not chocolate it's more of a caramel flavor and it's served with an amaretto cream which paired perfectly with it. (see my video on instagram)

The only thing not stamped with a "hero" sign was the Choco Blondie. If you don't know what a blondie is I am not sure why you are reading my blog, however if you don't it's basically a brownie made with white chocolate. They are generally super rich, but this one had just the right amount of sweetness and balanced with a peanut butter frosting how could you go wrong!

Everything we tried was stamped with "hero" and it was all so good I wish I was eating it right now! However there was so much more on the menu to try out!

Follow these steps to enter:

1. Take a selfie with their Insta-Frame (above)

2. Upload to Instagram using #BUENOSHEROES

3. Tag who you'd like to take along

4. Enter as many times as you want by ordering a hero dish when dining!! 

They will also be giving away weekly prizes - Find out more on how to win and the T&C's on their website for more information! 

The Oracle, Bridge Street,

Reading,

RG1 2AQ

If you have never been to Cau before now is the time to visit and try the amazing dishes - as an added bonus you can enter their Buenos Heroes competition!

*I was invited to Cau in Reading to try the Hero menu and to help promote the competition. I was not compensated in any other way - all opinions are my own please see my contact/policy page above for more information. 

The Real Greek - Reading, Berkshire {review}

Tonia Buxton is the face of Greek food in the UK and presenter of the award-winning "My Greek Kitchen" TV series. Tonia has a passion for food, born from an early apprenticeship in her mother's kitchen, and has brought this passion to the development of our dishes at The Real Greek. (from the website)

via

It's amazing how towns and places are constantly changing, I have lived in Reading for 10+ years now and I have watched it grow! The Riverside at the Oracle is like our very own food court and I used to think it had everything I could ever ask for until I visited The Real Greek. It's a great addition to the Riverside and I think if you visit there you would agree!!

Never having experienced Greek food like this before I was very keen to try everything! However, my eyes were definitely bigger then my stomach and I will need to visit again to try some of the amazing looking and sounding dishes on the menu!!

The restaurant is only recently opened and they invited a handful of local bloggers and press to visit I was surprised that Tonia herself was there!! She is as lovely as she comes across on TV and she sat with us and helped us pick out some of the best things to try! We had a nice mix of the hot and cold meze starting with humous, tzatziki, green pea fava, accompanied with flat bread. (pictured above)

We also ordered the limited edition Watermelon and Feta salad first because my friend Alyssia, who invited me out, has never tried feta before and because it is Watermelon month (for a few more days)!! It was defiantly an interesting combination of sweet - the watermelon and salty - the feta cheese, but it was good!

I ordered the prawn saganaki which is tiger prawns in a rich tomato sauce, with spinach, pickled peppers and sprinkled with feta one of the dishes developed by Tonia! I ate those all to myself as Alyssia doesn't like prawns, but we shared a few other dishes. Falafel's served with pickled cabbage and a tomato salsa it all worked really well together!

Then from the grilled meze menu we tried the Med Chicken - grilled rosemary marinated chicken thighs served with grilled vegetables and the Pork Belly - slow roasted with oregano and paprika. Both were cooked perfectly and worked well with the variety of food we had ordered.

There is a lunch and a kids menu that I will definitely be checking out over the summer! There was so much more on the menu I'd like to try as well and a few of the dishes I'd love to have again! These are a sign, in my opinion, of a good restaurant! It's a bit of a tapas feel with a lot of different dishes making up one meal.

As for drinks I generally stick to water when eating out and that's just because I prefer it with my meals, but there is a great list of wines and other alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic including the iconic Greek soft drink, brand est. 1924, Orangeade! And if you are a coffee lover don't forget to try the Greek Coffee! 

At this point I was full. So, full I wasn't planning on eating anything else. However, dessert was insisted upon. I tried the Greek Filo Custard Pie and I am glad I did. It's a filo pastry filled with a unique custard cream and served with ice cream and cinnamon. It was to die for! I wish I was eating it right now. Alyssia went for the Caramel and Pecan Cheesecake which according to her was delicious!

We believe our menu and the atmosphere in our restaurants bring back the memories and the spirit of Greece. Eating in Greece is never rushed. We take our time, engage in discussion and love to share our food with friends and family. It is all about the experience! {from the website}

I have never been to Greece, but my experience at The Real Greek can be summed up by the above statement. Thank you to Alyssia for allowing me to tag along!

The Real Greek
The Oracle (Riverside)
Reading RG1 2AT

*Check out Alyissa's post here!
*My friend Alyssia from AlyssiaRose {lifestyle blog} was invited to The Real Greek to review it and she invited me along as her guest and it's just a bonus that I am a blogger as well! I was not asked to review and all opinions are my own for further information please visit my contact/policy page above.

Franco Manca - Reading, Berkshire {restaurant review}

One of my favorite things about blogging is getting invited to restaurants for openings and reviews! I have been to many over the years some that are just okay and others that are amazing and I have to say that my experience at Franco Manca last week was the latter.

Franco Manca not only has great pizza's, but they have great pizza's at great prices and has a lively atmosphere which is a necessary bonus! We were throughly spoiled with appetisers of various mozzarella balls and meats and before the pizzas came out we were treated to a type of masterclass where we were shown first hand how the pizzas were made!

They make everything on site and use the freshest ingredients. There are only 6 pizzas on the menu and the number 3 changes every so often. They told us that they were planning on adding a 7th pizza soon. So, definitely worth checking out along with their daily specials.

Although the pizza was amazing and the mozzarella and dried/cured meats were delicious I couldn't get enough of the wild garlic pesto; made from wild garlic that the head chefs went and found themselves in Italy it was the best thing of the night! There is a pizza with it dolloped on top and I would suggest if you like pesto to try it!

They didn't leave anything out, we not only talked about wild garlic pesto, but they told us all about how sourdough has natural occurring yeast and therefore is better for your insides. We found out all about how the dough is kneaded and left to rise in wood boxes to help with the moisture before being stretched out and made into pizza! Also how they are cooked in a high temperature oven are baked in something like 58 seconds. 

We also discussed wine and the variety of mozzarella cheese balls! As I said it was a great night filled with great food and great company! If you are visiting the Oracle and in need of food and have a love of pizza at a decent price I would highly recommend Franco Manca!

*I was invited out to visit their press opening event. I was not asked to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. Please see more in my contact/policy page above.

Check out a slideshow of my photos here:

Your 5 Must Haves this Season with The Oracle {Reading, Berkshire}

I read somewhere that we only wear 20% of our wardrobes and it got me to thinking about what I wear out of my wardrobe and I would have to say that it's a probably fairly accurate percentage. I wear the same two or three pairs of jeans and the same handful of t-shirts and/or sweat shirts that depends on the season. The rest sits there and I keep saying yeah I'll wear that one day.

Therefore it's very important to take the time to pick out those items that one can and will wear over and over again. This is the idea behind The Oracle's "Your 5" campaign. I was invited along as a blogger guest to check out what it was all about. 

One of the professional stylist's took me through the must have coats, knitwear, trousers, boots, and skirts before having a quick makeover with MAC makeup.

At each station we discussed the different looks and colours of the season and I couldn't resist the military style coats especially the black one pictured above in my 5 must haves! Knitwear is always a must when the weather starts to change! Sweaters are my favorite because they can be dressed up  and down depending on where you are going.

One can never go wrong with a great pair of black wide legged trousers. It's a must for any and every occasion. Because it's such an important piece of clothing it's in my general opinion to pay a bit more for them. I have bought many of cheap pairs that only ever made it through a few wears.

Boots. I personally have been in search for a pair of boots for ages and I found a pair from New Look that I just had to have! As seen in the picture below. The heal is a bit taller then I'm used too so I will have to practice walking in them.... but I am in love with them!

Last must have item was a skirt, but I am not a big skirt person. I did fall in love with this long black leather skirt and I have been thinking about it since yesterday. It might be that item I go back to buy sooner then later! I will keep you posted!

And before I left I had a quick stop at the make-up counter and had a mini-makeover! She asked what colour I wanted to go with for my lips and I said lets go crazy! Crazy for me anyway! Lately all over histogram I have been seeing people with purple lips so that's what we went for! It was MAC Instigator! I had compliments on it all night!

Today is the last day they will be in The Oracle so if you have moment go see them! Everyone was super nice and informative!!

notes: I was invited along to the event and was compensated for my time. I was not asked to give a positive review. Please see my contact/policy page for more information.