Showing posts with label Swansea. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Swansea. Show all posts

Tuesday, 30 September 2014

Raw Like Sushi - Nishimura, Swansea

Sometimes a girl has gotta eat and she doesn't want a sandwich for lunch or some soup, she wants some fancy pants sushi.  In honesty I am a big fan of Japanese food and when I heard there was a new one opened in Swansea a mild longing became a full on I WANT get in my mouth now!

So I grabbed the Mama, as The Hub is not a fan and is engrossed in a new Video Game and as I have worked like a bitch all last month and it is near pay day said I would treat her to lunch.  From outside it is nothing special really a plainish looking shop front with a small bench in front of the window, that I prayed I wouldn't be seated at as I would have felt like I was eating in a fish bowl but I think my Mum who is a self confessed nosy parker would have liked this, apart from this there was a very long Japanese style dining bench, so if the idea of sitting next to a stranger freaks you out this is not the place for you.

So the food we both had a main and a side which we shared.  For my main I had Chirashi Don which is sushi rice topped with Salmon, Octopus, other types of Sashimi, egg, prawn and something called amarbi which is a sweet shrimp and a miso soup.  It was beautifully presented but bad blogger me forgot to take a picture, but they did have a picture on their website.

Image taken from Nishimura's own website

If anything it was even prettier in its presentation.  However, as soon as I ordered I realised I had made a mistake as it was served cold although nice I wouldn't get this again as I discovered I don't like Sashimi as much as I thought some of it was just to like munching the seabed for my liking and I do like hot food better than cold as a rule.  Also the Amarbi (sweet prawn) was very strange and not something I would go out of my way to eat again as a sweetish/pickled prawn is odd and left as starange sensation in my mouth.  I warmed the rice by mixing it with the miso and that worked well for me.

My Mum's Main was a lovely Seafood Hotpot but we didn't read the menu carefully enough as all the other Hotpots came with noodles but the seafood was just vegetables and seafood which is great for something light but if you wanted something more substantianal I would get some noodles or rice to accompany.





I thought this was lovely packed with seafood and veggies with a nice delicate taste and was a hit with both me and my Mum.  We also had some Gyoza which were perfectly cooked hot tasty, crisp without overdoing it and not oily they were such a hit no pictures were taken.

Finally we had a rainbow Sushi this roll was crabstick and cucumber inside and topped with different toppings of tuna, salmon, sea bass and avocado and was lovely and colourful.  This sushi was fresh soft and tasty, served at the perfect temperature and frankly a work of art to look at.


Following the success of this I bought some spicy dragon roll sushi to take home, it was nice but not as good, but the packaging was cute with a sticker on the box with the restaurant logo on it and chopsticks.



 The service was good attentive but not intrusive and very polite, we were also the only caucasians in the place when I arrived which I always think is a sign that it is a good authentic place.  I am a bit cack handed so I tend to take training chopsticks (as I am trying to learn for my planned South Korea adventure) with me that I think got some amused glances from the men next to me but when I forgot them and Mum went back for them the older ladies nearer the counter seemed to think they were clever.  So I will leave you with a pic of my training chopsticks do they help?  Well I can eat well with them but don't feel that my actual chopstick technique has improved tremendously so maybe I will update.



If you want to know more about Nishimura, they have a pretty good website with location a full menu complete with pictures.

Thursday, 25 September 2014

Yours Clothing - Swansea Opening

A confession apart from the £1.00 dress I have never shopped in Yours I have no idea why I just haven't!  I have seen a lot opening first Llanelli when I was living in Wales, then Ashford now I am back in Kent and I have still never been as I worked on the opening days then sort of forgot as they are not places I go shopping.

Anyhow I am visiting Swansea as I am sort of between here and Kent at the moment and I got a e mail to say a new store was opening on the 25th so it seemed rude not to go.

What can I say I liked it as apart from Evans in the Quadrant there is no other plus size stores in Swansea and New Look took the Inspire range from in the store in Swansea centre, so apart from Primark and Boots I didn't venture much into Swansea itself.

My apologies I didn't take any pictures of the store itself but if your local or visiting it is in the main shopping area of Oxford Street on the opposite corner to Top Shop.  The ladies in the shop were fabulously helpful and it was jam packed with pretty clothes with some good functional pieces like jeans and vests tops at good prices, I felt like the price point was a bit lower than Simply Be who I have used and do use.


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These ladies were super helpful the lovely girl in the the purple top took pictures for me in the changing room, sought out jeans for me, offered to get different sizes and implored me to buy a dress that I am afraid I didn't as I felt I needed more functional clothes.  Whilst the other lovely lady pointed me in the direction of the sale downstairs and who can resist a sale.

First I tried a lovely lace dress which had in my mind a slight Gatsby vibe to it, this is the dress the sales assistant thought I needed to buy and which I might at a later date.


I also tried a very floaty pink dress on that reminded me of summers days, it was very pretty and girly but maybe not quite me.


Then I tried some Jeans which were a good fit but a little long, a vest top which was a lovely fit and nice and long and a Kimono top that I liked but me and Kimono's have a bit of a love hate since the first time I wore one when the hub said I looked like a cross between a art teacher and Keith Lemon cheers for that love!


Finally I tried on a very snuggly warm purple cardie which I did buy again The Hub is not a fan but I really don't care as it is warm and I love the colour.


In all i was impressed with my first visit and felt there was quite a wide range of clothes and I used my £5.00 discount on some vests and the a purple playsuit (I didn't get a pic as I rushed down to the Sale whilst Mum queued) that caused controversy when Betty Pamper dared to wear it with bare legs and the trolls came out to play which I think I can rock this winter with the purple cardie, tights and biker boots.  Whilst my Mum treated me using her £5.00 off voucher to the Purple Cardie.

Some final words from the changing room wall on how the morning made me feel, I found this to be a warm welcoming store which will give plus size ladies more choice in Swansea.


Wednesday, 19 February 2014

OOTD Primarni Queen

So to celebrate the wet weather we continue to have I went shopping today in Swansea in my Duck dress.  Personally I don't think Swansea is that amazing for shopping it has a lot of the usual High Street Suspects but I do think that it has a good Primark, reasonably good Debenhams and a pretty good Boots, but everywhere else is just okay and I am always irritated that New Look stopped doing the Inspire range although you can get it in the New Look on the retail parks at Forest Fach and Morfa Park, I did go to both today on my way back but it was a bit meh.  However, I did get quite the Primarni haul which I will show you tomorrow.

So for this adventure I felt layers were the name of the game, so I wore a very old Duck Print Primark Dress, a Pink Primark Cardie and leggings from George at Asda with some Ballet flats from Marks as comfort is the name of the game for me when shopping.   This was accessorised with a pink bow from Janine Basil that always makes me feel a bit like Hello Kitty.  I would have liked a nice pink lip too but I have a awful cold sore that is making me feel a bit like a leper so a spot of carmex was popped on instead.


The best photo of a bad lot as my official photographer was wanting to watch Curling,



Love the bow, hate the hair but that is about to change!

Not the most fashion forward shoes but easy to slip on and off.


Dress - Primark (old)
Pink Cardie - Primark
Leggings - Asda
Ballet Shoes - Mark and Spencers
Pink Bow - Janine Basil

So where do you love to shop where you live? What is like?  and what are your top tips for wearing when shopping?