Ramen Dayo

For my final blog post for my assignment I shall talk about my experience when I went to ‘Ramen Dayo’ for the first time. Ramen Dayo is a small Japanese restaurant with locations on Queen Street in the city centre and Ashton Lane, in the West End. They pride themselves on being the first of their kind in Glasgow being the number 1 place dedicated to providing the customers with Ramen food, which is a popular type of food in Japan.

My initial reason for going to the restaurant was because I had seen the food on a number of peoples Instagram stories and wanted to try it. Before then I had never considered trying Ramen food as I would usually stick to your classic Italian restaurants when choosing somewhere to get food. However the pictures which I had seen looked too good to pass up, so thought why not give it a try.

On first impressionist was as though I had walked into a wee Japanese side street in the heart of Tokyo. It was laid out like a little street which added to the experience. It is clear that when designing the restaurant they had thought about providing the best possible experience to the customers. This, all before I had sat down, gave me a good impression of the place. The employees were very friendly with our waiter taking us to our seats and bringing water to the table without us having to ask. They were also very helpful with the menu as I had never had Ramen food before so it was quite confusing as I didn’t know what anything was. I eventually just went with what had been suggested by the waiter, Tonkotsu Miso with Chashu Pork Belly as an extra. It was also suggested that I should make it ‘rich’ which basically just thickens the broth from what it would be normally This was full of flavours which I would not normally have but surprisingly I was a big fan of it. As well as this I had a side of chicken dumplings which were also excellent. Since this time I have been back multiple times and will continue to go as I am yet to be disappointed.

On average when I have been it has cost me around £11 which I would say is reasonable. It is definitely good value for money due to the obvious amount of effort that goes into making sure each meal is perfect.

Overall –

Employees – 4.5/5 – only complaint would be the time it takes to get the bill sometimes

Food- 4/5 – could be better if they gave you more pork belly in the meal

Experience – 5/5 – would be difficult to beat it anywhere else in Glasgow

Thank you for reading my final blog for my assignment, I hope you enjoyed them all. Please could you share with friend as it would be appreciated

Via Italia

For my penultimate blog post I have chosen to write about the popular fast food restaurant Via Italia. They have 2 locations in the City Centre of Glasgow, one on Sauchiehall Street, the other on Union Street - just next to Glasgow Central Station. They specialise in providing customers with Authentic Italian Food such as "Piada Sandwiches, Pasta bowels" as well as a range of salads. Via Italia pride themselves on their mission to provide everyone with "fresh Authentic Italian food in a warm and inviting atmosphere"(Via Italia Website).

When I first saw the restaurant I always said I would try there one time but it took me about 2 years before I eventually did. When you enter it is laid out as modern Italian like sandwich shop which makes it a pleasant place to be. When ordering your food it is as though you are in a 'Subway' for pasta as you get to choose all the ingredients going in your food from the selection in front of you. If you take a look at the Menu below you see that there are different steps you take to make your order. This is helpful as it allows you to choose exactly what you want in your food rather having ingredients in there that you try to avoid like the plague.

Taking you through my Order

Step 1 - Pasta Bowl- you have the option of which pasta to have so I chose Penne pasta

Step 2 - In this step I chose the Grilled shredded chicken

Step 3 - Napoli Sauce

Step 4 - Rocket, Parmesan Cheese

Step 5 - No Sauces

Step 6 - Focaccia

The finished product I ended up with was as if I had gone to a traditional Italian restaurant, not a fast food restaurant. I would highly recommend that you try this as it is one of the best places I have been for food when I have been in a rush.

The price of the pasta bowl was quite steep however and for the typical student it may not be affordable to eat regularly however it would definitely be worth it.

Thank you for reading and the next blog will be up very soon.

Handmade Burger Co.

For my 3^rd blog I will write about my experience at Handmade Burger Co. This company have been around for a few years now but I have only ever been a few times. However I was in town and thought why not give it a shot. Located on St Vincent Street, it is bang in the centre of town, making it easy to get to. On first impressions the staff seemed to be friendly and rather helpful, allowing us to find a better table than they originally put us at, which was good. As this was at lunch time I chose to just have the Avocado and Bacon burger, without mayo on it. Along with that I got a portion of sweet potato fries. It took slightly longer than I hoped to get the food but was still good none the less. The only thing I didn’t like about the burger was the – what I believe was raisin relish, but if I knew it was on the burger I would have asked for it without. The sweet potato fries were cooked to perfection also. The overall experience in Handmade Burger Co. was good, the restaurant is set out to look kind of rustic with a sort of American theme too, which made it appear as a fun place to eat. Overall I would recommend that if you are a burger lover then this is the place for you. It was easily affordable for students on a budget and what you get for your money is definitely worth it.

Rating-

Price – 4/5 – good value for money

Customer Service – 3/5 - friendly and helpful, ensure we had a good experience

Food – 4.5/5 – only complaint would be the relish

Experience – 4/5 – good atmosphere

Overall rating – 4/5

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed and another blog will be up shortly.

Zizzi

For my second blog post I shall talk about my experience at Zizzi’s. With 2 locations in Glasgow City Centre – one in Prince’s Square and the other in Royal Exchange Square, it is one of my favourite Italian restaurants to go to when getting food in Glasgow. Again I first chose to try Zizzi’s as I had heard from a friend that it was very good. Since the first time I tried it, it has always been my go to choice over any other Italian in the town centre.

When I went for the first time we had to wait for half an hour as the restaurant was completely full. This suggested to me that the food must be good if they are so busy. When it came to getting our table the waitress was extremely friendly. So… so far so good. When I first took a look at the menu I was unsure on what to have as many of the things on it I had never heard of. To start though I went for ‘little soul’ breads which are small, slightly salty rolls. These are served warm and with garlic butter. Other restaurants such as pizza express serve similar starters to thing with their dough balls, which come with garlic butter. In comparison I would chose Zizzi’s as they had more flavour. For my main I had the Italian Hot pizza with a Rustica base. The Rustica base is slightly bigger than your classic base which makes it crispier. Like the name suggests the pizza was very hot, which meant I had to pick the chillies off it. Since then I have asked for no chillies on my pizza but even with them it is still very nice.

In comparison to other Italian restaurants the price for what you get in Zizzi’s is quite expensive depending on what you get. I would say it is worth it now and then but to spend as much as I do in there regularly is a bit steep and because of this it can mean I will chose somewhere else to go which is more affordable.

However, overall the experience in Zizzi’s is a positive one and I would recommend going there.  If however you have limited funds there are alternatives to Zizzi’s which while might not be as good in quality of food they are still very nice.

Thank you for reading, will be back with another post soon

Italian Hot Pizza

Black Rooster Peri-Peri

As many of you who know me personally will already know, I love food. I am constantly asking my friends if they want to go out for food ,no matter the time. It has become one of my worst habits. So for that reason I have chosen to write this blog about the experiences that I have while trying new places to eat. To start off my blog I will today discuss my experience at a small fast food restaurant called Black Rooster Peri-Peri. They have a restaurant in Glasgow and Coatbridge. Before going to Black Rooster, I had heard a number of good responses in relation to the food there and I had also seen a number of Snapchat and Instagram stories of people taking pictures of their food. So like most would be, I was intrigued. This ultimately was the reason for going and giving it a shot.

My first impressions as I walked in the door was that it was very bright and modern inside. Unlike other fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s and KFC, it felt more like a restaurant is meant to feel. On arrival with a few of my friends, we were greeted at the door and shown to a table. The member of staff who greeted us came across very friendly and helpful as we had never been before. They have a similar style to Nandos as in you go up to the counter to order your food and you can pick what spice your food is, along with an array of sides. The spices ranged from very mild to very hot, whilst giving alternative fruity flavours for those who aren't a fan of spicy food. For my meal I chose to have mild chicken strips with curly fries. From what people had told me, even there mild spice still had a bit of a kick and they weren’t lying. The service was relatively fast, considering the restaurant was full which was impressive. The food itself was excellent. It was full of flavour and cooked very well. A few of my friends however had gone for the extra hot and said that it was just too spicy, but that all depends of peoples tolerance for spice.

Black Roosters main competitors are probably the huge franchise Nandos, one of the market leaders in the UK. Arguably I would say I enjoyed it more than a Nandos and for a similar size portion you pay just over half the price of what you could get in Nandos. This will be a major factor when it comes to picking between the two for a lot of people as it seems that their target market is young people in their late teens or early 20s, a demographic known for not having a huge disposable income.

Overall the entire experience was great. Food was amazing and the service was extremely friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend going for those who haven’t tried it yet.

Ratings-

Price: 5/5

Customer service: 4/5

Food: 4/5

Overall: 4.5/5

Thank you for taking the time to read this post and I hope you return for future blogs.