16 things you'll only know if you've worked as a waitress

Waitressing is something that I always thought I'd hate. But, as it turns out, it's something that I love doing ... most of the time. As I've ended my waitress career for the time being (RIP), I thought I'd share this fun little post on things you'll only know if you've been a waitress/waiter too. 
1.) Within 5 minutes of a customer being in a restaurant you already know whether they'll be difficult or not. You're not fooling anyone hun.
2.) The pain of polishing cutlery. NOT. OKAY.
3.) The joy of having a regular customer who actually tips.
4.) The rage that pops up when someone 'kindly' says to keep the change and you realise it's 15p.
5.) The horror of dealing with chefs on a hot day.
6.) The way that customers seem to think that chefs are reasonable people who actually care about what the customer really wants.
7.) The intense pleasure of pouring an absolutely perfect pint, mmm.
8.) The hilarity of a 'posh' customer asking for a pinoT griGio, pronouncing all the letters.
9.) The annoyance of having to remind customers that no, you are not personally responsible for creating the food and so, no, they shouldn't be shouting at you.
10.) Just how angry people get about food.
11.)  The fact that you and your fellow waitresses gotta be sisters with each others backs. You're working all the time and you need someone to keep on your side of heated customer debates.
12.) The fact that the customer is almost always wrong.
13.) Having to pretend that you're the one who's a little slow on the uptake so the customer doesn't think you're (rightfully) blaming them for the problem. This happens more than you would think. 
14.) The fear of carrying a massive tray of glasses around small children running around. Because if one of them trips up, you know whose fault it's gonna be ...
15.) The myth-busting of the fact that young people are rude. If there's a rude customer, 90% of the time they are definitely not a young person. 
16.) How nice it is to put your feet up at the end of the day. PURE. BLISS. 
This is obviously a bit of a tongue-in-cheek blog post, and isn't meant to offend anyone.
Follow me on Bloglovin | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube | Facebook

Restaurant Review | Revolution Bar Plymouth

Confession time guys: I had NEVER been to a Revolution bar until a couple of weeks ago. Apparently that's pretty much some kind of foodie crime as everyone and their mother has been to try some of their awesome cocktails and tasty-ass food. So, when I went to visit my sister in Plymouth a couple of weeks ago (more on that in the near future!) I HAD to give it a go. 
Me, her and my boyfriend all obviously needed to give some of their cocktails a whirl. They had a deal on whereby you got two of the same cocktails for a certain price (possibly £7-ish - don't quote me on that though!). We picked up a couple of Gin 'n' Juices to start. This one was Beefeater gin with elderflower liquer, strawberry puree and a fizzy drink called ting. To be honest, anything that combines gin and elderflower is probably going to be a win in my books, and we all loved this one! 
Next up was Blue Movie. I may or may not have picked this one purely because it has blueberries in - any way to cram some extra nutrients in is a good way right?! This had Absolut Berry Acai vodka in with lemon, apple juice and lemonade. This was definitely my favourite flavour of all the ones we tried, plus the mini milk bottles with candy striped straws these came in were adorable!
Next up we moved onto their 'blank canvas' cocktails. This is Stoli vodka with lemon juice, sugar, soda and a flavour of your choice. Altogether we tried sour berry, big apple, pear drop and most importantly: birthday cake. When my little sister saw this on the menu she HAD to give it a try, and it was oddly quite tasty without being too sweet - it even had a little bit of a sour after-kick. Pear drops was my favourite flavour out of these though, as it tasted EXACTLY like the sweets I used to have as a child, nom! There are masses of flavours to try out, and next time I go I want to give fruit salad and salted caramel popcorn a go, mmmmm. Best of all was that the 'canvas' of these cocktails did indeed arrive 'blank' and you had a little pipette of the flavour and colouring to pop in and mix yourself!
Have I really rambled on that much about cocktails? This was meant to be a short post - whoops! Anyway, on to my favourite part: the food. Although our service was wonderful and our waitress was absolutely lovely, I was totally disappointed by my dessert, or lack thereof. I ordered it at the beginning of the meal, and when it came to the time that they ought to have brought it out I was told that the kitchen was closed. I wouldn't have minded at all if I had ordered it later on, but I've worked in a restaurant before and you can't just not bring food out that someone has ordered at the beginning of their meal. They didn't give me any warning that the kitchen was closing soon and I legitimately almost cried. I mean, I was meant to be getting a salted caramel and chocolate fondue with fruit (does that not sound like heaven?!) and instead I was left with nothing.
However, my starter and main were honestly divine. I went for nachos to start (of course) and I think they were possibly the best nachos of my life. If you've read my Las Iguanas restaurant review you'll know that a restaurant is only as good as its nachos in my opinion. These were so tasty, and Revolution had added vodka to the salsa as a little twist, which made it a bit sweeter than normal, but still totally nom-able. I could eat these time and time again and never get bored. One word of caution: if you're not a fan of spice AVOID THE PEPPERS, they had such an intense after-kick to them I turned into a spluttering tomato after accidentally swallowing one whole. 
For my main I decided to go for something a little different with their panang curry. This came with jasmine rice and was such a nice mild dish. It didn't contain any dairy, as it had coconut milk in instead of cream or yoghurt. My sister and boyfriend both opted for burgers and were pretty envious when this came out of the kitchen!
All in all, we had a great time and I really want to go back again for some yummy food and innovative drinks! *This was not a sponsored post*
Have you ever been? I'd love to hear about your experiences and food & drink recommendations!

Restaurant Review | Las Iguanas

I'm currently effectively obsessed with South American food, so Las Iguanas has become a firm favourite in my restaurant repertoire. Nachos are treats from the gods, and in my mind a restaurant is only as good as its nachos (true story). So, when I got some good news recently, me and the boyfriend headed out to Las Iguanas to try a whole range of goodies. Although the restaurant was busy, we had managed to make a booking just a few hours before so didn't have to queue up. Unfortunately we were seated in a really dark corner so the lighting wasn't as great as I would have liked for photos, but we still received great service throughout the meal.
Here's what we picked:
Cocktails:
I decided I was going to try as many cocktails as possible for you guys and I may have failed a tad - not drinking for a while + three cocktails meant I was fairly KO'ed. BUT, I did get to give four a whirl for you, even if I didn't manage to finish them. 
Strawberry Red (Malibu, strawberry liqueur, lemon & cranberry juices & lemonade.)
This is probably my all-time favourite Las Iguanas cocktail. It's not too sweet, and not too bitter. Plus strawberry flavoured anything is pretty much a winner in my books. 
Vanilla Mai Tai (Havana Club Especial rum, Absolut Vanilla vodka, lime juice, almond syrup & bitters.)
This is one of Las Iguanas' new cocktails this season, but was actually my least favourite of the four. I found it a little too strong and bitter for my liking - I like a good amount of mixer!
Pink Passion Fruit (Pink Pigeon vanilla rum, apricot liqueur, Funkin passion fruit purée, vanilla sugar & pineapple juice.)
This was basically heaven - tropical flavours with vanilla and an extra dose of sweetness, mmmmm. Even my passion fruit hating boyfriend enjoyed this one!
Pisco Power (ABA Pisco, Funkin guava purée, agave, apple & lime juices)
This was recommended to us by a friend and is another of Las Iguanas' new cocktails. Cocktails rarely seem to contain apple juice, but this was so tasty I think they definitely ought to more often!
Food
Now onto my favourite part. A few years ago I would have hated to have a meal at Las Iguanas - spice was my worst nightmare, but now I pretty much fantasise about some of the dishes here on a weekly basis.
Taco Sharing Tray   Me and my boyfriend got this to share as a starter (be warned - it's fairly large!). You get to choose three taco fillings, so we got the braised lamb, chipotle chicken and shredded beef. With this you get a small bowl of salsa and one of salad as well as 6 or 7 wraps. Our one disappointment with this was how little salad you got, but the meat was very well seasoned. My personal favourite was the beef - I would definitely recommend giving it a go!
Nachos
If nachos are on a menu, there's a 99% chance I'll order them, so I couldn't give these a miss. I opted for a standard topping of cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream (NOM). These were fairly standard nachos for a fairly standard price, so I was hardly wowed, but they did the job.
Pato Taquito
This is honestly what dreams are made of. If you only want to try one thing at Las Iguanas you NEED to give this a whirl! It's roasted duck with caramelised onion in a soft tortilla accompanied by cranberry salsa and oh my word it is tasty. I couldn't finish my meal, so took this home with me and it totally passed the test of still being tasty for the next day's lunch!

All in all I had a fab time at Las Iguanas with good service and yummy food. We didn't have to wait too long for anything (bar the bill - it always seems to be the way, right?!) and I would definitely recommend giving it a go if you're a fan of South American food!
*This post was not sponsored, it simply contains my honest review of the food, drinks and service we received on a busy Saturday night*
Have you been? What would you recommend?

Restaurant Review | Summertime at Bill's

When Bill's opened up in my student town of Leamington Spa I was thrilled by the cute decor and fancy lights. But, it took me far too long to actually head there! When I did for the second time this summer I fell in love with their new menu. 
The main was definitely my favourite part of the meal. Marinated chicken skewers with cous cous, salad and flat bread was delicious, and a perfect healthy alternative to some of their less calorie-friendly meals. 
For pudding I got the strawberry eton mess and some green tea. The starter was pate with bread and edible flowers (so pretty!). 
Have you ever been? What did you think?

A First Time For Everything | Sushi at Overseas

When it comes to trying new food I'm a teensy bit of a stubborn person, and so my boyfriend, best friend and sister have been attempting to persuade me to try to sushi for over a year to no avail. But, when I headed to Los Cristianos in Tenerife earlier this summer I realised that I may as well push myself out of my food comfort zone as I was doing it with so many other things over the week that I was away. Unwilling at first to try "proper" sushi, i.e. that containing raw fish, I went for a chicken tempura california roll topped with mango, and it was heavenly (Yo! Sushi really need to get some of this on their menu!). When we returned to this gorgeous restaurant however, I pushed the boat out a little with some smoked salmon and cream cheese maki, as well as some mango maki.

All in all, I'm so glad that my first attempt at sushi was at Overseas Restaurant, and I'm waiting to find somewhere in the UK that lives up to the flavours and quality of presentation we experienced here. 

Where's your favourite place to get sushi?

End of Exams Celebrations | Fine Wining and Dining at The White Horse

Over the past almost year (eeek!) that I've had this blog you've been following my ups and downs through the stress that was the final year of my degree. Now, however, I'm free forever from academia, and to celebrate finishing my final exam I headed to a beautiful local pub in Leamington Spa called The White Horse. If any of you watch Russell Howard's comedy - which I LOVE - you might know that this is his favourite pub to visit in Leamington, his hometown. So, you know, as well as great food and reasonably priced drinks, you might be in with the chance of bumping into someone famous.

As I was celebrating my post-exams happiness, I splashed out a bit in terms of both alcohol and deviating from clean eating. I tend to follow an 8020 lifestyle, although during the stress of finals the clean 80 and 'dirty' 20 may have reversed, whoops. So, I ended up with the blackcurrant curd eton mess and battered hake, both of which tasted as amazing as they looked! 

If you're ever in the area I would greatly recommend popping in. Plus, if you're in the mood for a quick drink, then their elderflower fizz (prosecco + elderflower cordial) is the tastiest little glass of something sweet I've had in ages!

What's your favourite pub destination this summer?

Steph x