An Evening at Sika in Powerscourt Hotel ~ The #AAFoodies Experience!

Coming at ye with a little something different this week, in the form of a peek inside an evening with the AA Foodies and a look at exactly what Sika in Powerscourt Hotel have to offer by way of heavenly eats. 

I was over the moon last week to receive an invite to join the AA Secret Inspector and some other food enthusiasts at the AA Hotel of the Year Powerscourt Hotel, Resort and Spa, Enniskerry Co Wicklow for what was billed as the AA Foodie event of the year; they weren’t wrong! If you’re a regular reader round these parts you’ll know that while I often review hotels, I also give you recommendations on where to eat and what to see in the locality. Today’s post however is all about food, glorious food.

Powerscourt in all her glory

Last Friday I was really nervous, although I knew some of the people attending through social media I hadn’t actually met any of them. I really needn’t have been worried at all as when I arrived at Powerscourt I met Vicky from the AA at the door; she’s so lovely and immediately put me at ease. We proceeded into the reception area of the hotel where we were greeted with a glass of bubbles and a very warm welcome. We had time for a quick chat so we could get acquainted with each other. I met Darina who was recently a contestant on the Great Irish Bake Off, she’s friendly and so funny, and we had a giggle or two before we were ushered down to Sika Restaurant itself.

We had the honour of sitting at the Chef’s Table in the heart of the kitchens in Skia, an AA Rosette award winning Restaurant. I had the pleasure of sitting between my home baking hero, Catherine Leydon and Niamh, the AA foodie of the Year. Chef de Cuisine Peter Byrne introduced each dish from his Black Truffle Dinner, a 6 course tasting menu; as did George the in-house Sommelier. George told us about the particular wines he had chosen for each dish and his reasons behind each choice. We were thoroughly spoilt on the night.

The majority of the produce used on the truffle themed menu was sourced locally with the emphasis staying true to the Sika ethos, based on two key factors quality and seasonality. Each course was constructed with a lot of care taken to get the taste, balance and presentation just right. As we were at Powerscourt I was expecting fine dining, all of my expectations were not only met but entirely exceeded. I was mesmerised watching Head Chef Paul Byrne and his team of Chefs work their magic, before each and every dish got the final seal of approval before they left the pass. It was a wonderful experience to spend the evening chatting with like minded people over scrumptious food.

So what did we devour? What DIDN'T we devour is an easier question!

• Truffled Jerusalem artichoke soup with toasted hazelnuts

• Torrontes, Crios de Susana Baldo, Valle de Cafayete, Argentina

• Knokdrinna’s goat’s cheese, blood orange jelly, beetroot, charred cucumber  

• Gruner Veltiner Wolfsgraben, Sepp Moser, Austria

• Terrine of foie gras, radish, herb salad, toasted brioche

• Jurancon, Clos Uroulat, Charles Hours, France

• Wild halibut, savoy cabbage, stuffed chicken wing, truffles cream

• Masetto Bianco, Endrizzi, Alto Adige, Italy

• Sirloin of Irish rose veal, buttered leek, chanterelle mushroom, artichoke, truffled potato purée

• Pinot Noir, Nuits-St.Georges, Louis Jadot, Burgundy, France

• White Chocolate mousse, orange, truffle ice cream

• Moscatel, Floralis, Bodegas Miguel Torress, Penedes, Spain

If you’d like to follow some AA Foodies on Twitter you can search #AAFoodies for lots more photos & insights from the night or follow these fab folk: @AAInspector @GourmetGrazing, @EatDrinkRunFun, @gamebirdFC, @eatsleepchic_ie, @_melaniemay, @emma_ratcliffe, @CatherineOdlums & @darinacoffey

Pic via the gorgeous Steph over at EatSleepChic.ie

Tell us, have you stayed in Powerscourt or dined in Sika before? Would you consider them for a treat now? I know I'll be returning to stay over and Sue has made me pinky swear to bring her with me!

Disclaimer:

*As stated above I did not pay for my meal, nor have I

been paid for this post. I was lucky enough to be chosen 

as one of the #AAFoodies. If you’d like to dine at Sika Restaurant 

bookings can be made online at HERE or by calling 

01 2749313; prices start at €51pp - worth every cent IMHO. 

Monday's Moments ~ 08/02/16

How do, Monday? How do indeed! We're back to regular giving of thanks and counting of blessings and this week has been no different. I'd love to hear what's going great in your world today, pop me a comment, get in touch on one of our other platforms or ya'know say thanks directly to whomever is chasing your Monday Blues away:

1. Managing to get in a movie night last Saturday with Aaron, they're a rare occurrence these days and even rarer that the three of us will be home to partake. As an aside, both Tucker & Dale vs Evil (stupidly funny slapstick horror) & Housebound (darkly hilarious NZ horror) on Netflix are worth your time. We both loved 'em both!

2. While at the Benefit launch of the Bold is Beautiful campaign last week I bit the bullet and allowed the artist there to draw a caricature of me. Delighted I did, as despite it resembling a young Esther Rantzen (see HERE) it also depicts yours truly as a super hero. 

Great fit for the campaign but also great choice of artist as normally those lads look at you, identify your greatest complex AND MULTIPLY IT A THOUSAND TIMES. Not this time. 

3. One of my very best work pals was transferred to a different section over a year ago. Short of catching her at the occasional break I've been pining ever since. Yes, I'm a grown woman. No, I don't care. Well, she's only gone and gotten a transfer back!! 

I'm giddy at the thought of having her in the office & fairly sure she was over the moon to hear she was coming back to me too...

4. I made a new rule this week: If you knock on my door then I won't be voting for you. It's now Adam's job to answer the door and lie that he's too young to vote and I'm not home. 

The thing is he's now taken to coming up with ever more elaborate excuses as to where I am. Today I was 'Gone to Rosslare to pick up her sister because she couldn't risk the airports' (!) The bewilderment on canvasser's faces leaving is almost enough to get up from the couch for, ALMOST. 

5. Getting the mail to invite me back to Midday! I was bowled over by support from you lovely lot for the trial days and have no doubt that the fantastic reaction across all platforms helped in TV3's decision but they've invited me back. I'M GOING BACK!

So tell us, what Moments mean there's no Monday Blues around your way today? 

Do share!

Goosebumps - Movie Review

Who's In It?

Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush, Ryan Lee and Jack Black


What's It About?
Zach believes his new neighbour is abusing his daughter and sneaks into their house to rescue her. After accidentally opening a locked book, he discovers his Neighbour is R.L. Stine and his locked Goosebumps manuscripts release the monsters into the real world.

Any Good?

I remember growing up with Goosebumps, reading the books in primary school then watching the show because Are You Afraid of the Dark was too scary for me. I'm delighted to say that the film really captured the feel of the (pretty bad looking back) tv show with a bit more comedy.

The movie is pure cheese (as was the show, which is on Netflix!), but the monsters themselves looked great - in a B movie way. It's not that the monsters were bad, they were actually fantastically animated in both design and movement; but they were obviously designed for 3D in some scenes and it gives them a weird look.

I'd mentally blocked out Slappy for YEARS

The cast actually is made up of younger people which surprised me, because the main character who's my age (20) looks about 30. The younger characters were just the usual teenage movie actors, but I really liked Jack Black as R.L. Stine and Slappy. He was mostly himself as R.L. Stine, but as Slappy he did his best Joker impression to remind me how much that doll freaked me out.

I'd been cautiously optimistic when I first read about this movie a few years back, but I really enjoyed it. It opens as a bit like Fright Night, but becomes it's own as the film goes on. It's a great B-style movie which I had a lot of fun with, I'd recommend it for new kids and people who grew up with the series. 

Rating: 

Revealing the Secrets of Secret Hotels!

I’ve been booking loads of hotels around Ireland lately as my husband’s new job requires a lot of travel. While using the usual booking sites to find the best rates and I’ve come across “Secret Hotels” on lastminute.ie. They’ll give you a description of the secret hotel and tell you it’s at a better rate, sometimes up to 45% off regular rates. But you won’t know the exact hotel until after you’ve booked. Well I’ve figured out the secret about secret hotels. Thus taking the mystery out of it before I click “book” so I can make an informed decision as to whether I’m making a great saving or not; I'm all about calling out travel 'bargains' that aren't bargains at all.

With a little detective work you’ll most likely find the name of the hotel. First thing to do is keep an eye on the url as sometimes the hotel name will pop up there. If it doesn’t Google is your friend, simply copy the description of the hotel and do a general google search. This either gives you the name of the hotel or narrows down your search significantly.

Ssssh.... it's a secret locaysh!

If you still have a couple of possibilities you can then use the description to triangulate using Google maps, for instance, they’ll usually tell you if it’s within walking distance of a landmark or near a certain restaurant. 

Eeeee - it's a mysteryyyyy

I was searching for a hotel in Belfast last week when I was offered a “Top Secret Hotel” Modern 4-Star Hotel In Belfast City Centre**** I Googled the description and came up with a handful of hotels so by method of deduction, I worked out that it’s the Clayton Hotel as they have a pool. There was only a Euro or so price difference between lastminute.ie and lastminute.com (UK site). I’d say this was just due to currency conversion.

Which hotel were we staying in here? WHO KNOWS?!

By going direct with the hotel getting their “best available rate room only” it was €223.39(£169.32) withlastminute.com as a secret hotel room only it was £135 (€178.11) so I made a saving of €45.28. My only reason for using the UK site to book was that I also Google searched for a promo code for lastminute.comand found one giving me a further £5 (€6.60) off but it would only work on the UK site and not the Irish site. I made a total saving of €51.88 for my husband’s 2 night stay.

I have to laugh though as I made the saving for my husband’s company not for us as it’s all on expenses. This budgeting and bargain hunting obsession I have is an illness!

Ahoo, where could this be?

Stone Travel Detective Work REVEALS...

Here are a few more hotels I have worked out using the steps above:

Trendy 4-Star City Centre Hotel with a Plush Spa**** Malmaison Birmingham

Historic 4-Star Hotel, with Contemporary Style, in the Centre of Belfast**** Malmaison Belfast

Iconic 5-Star Hotel in Southern Amsterdam***** Hilton Amsterdam

Modern 4-Star Hotel Near 3Arena**** Clayton Hotel, Cardiff Lane

Centrally Located 3-Star Hotel near Trinity College Dublin*** O’Callaghan Mont Clare

Great Hotel in the Heart of Dublin*** Maldron Hotel Pearse Street

Wonderful and Convenient 4-star Hotel near the River Liffey**** The Ashling Hotel

Lively Hotel Right in the Heart of Temple Bar*** Temple Bar Hotel

Have you ever booked a Secret Hotel? How was it?

Monday's Moments ~ 01/02/16

I've just about calmed down enough to get our Monday's Moments post back on track and back in their rightful home. If you're not familiar with the concept, and I'm guessing with the new influx of peeps (*waves maniacally*) some of you might not be - these are Monday's Moments. Where I give a nod, a wink and many, many thanks for little and LARGE things that have happened the week before - meaning there's no such thing as Monday blues 'round these parts. It's so cathartic and you should definitely try it!

Anywho, in no particular order of deadliness this week, we have: 

1. Being interviewed by the Sunday Business Post as one of the country's leading bloggers on the clarifications from the ASAI about non declaring of sponsored posts. I'm so thrilled that they got the tone just right too. In every answer I reiterated that we are one of the most influential and vocal online communities there are, there's a real strength in that and when we recognise and utilise it we're pretty unstoppable. 

2. My baby boy reaching 20 years of age. Two decades. I can no longer say I have teenage sons because, well, I don't. It's all very weird and very exciting, just like every single year of the past twenty have been. We're definitely lying about our age from here on in though, just FYIsies. 

3. Getting the call from Debenhams on Friday evening to ask what I'd be wearing on the tellybox on Monday! When I replied that I hadn't a notion they promptly invited me in to see the wardrobe WIZARD that is Mairead! I can't tell you how grateful I am to be treated with such kindness & generosity; I CAN tell you that Mairead is the same Mairead that got me into a two piece when I hadn't worn a two piece since I was 9 years of age. Let's face it, I needed the help!

4. My debut on the TV3 Midday panel! I'm currently pinching myself that I've been given the opportunity and trying not to well up, while scrolling through the most supportive texts, tweets, facebook posts and Snaps. The girls made me feel so at home from the minute I arrived so it's quite literally a blur. This is deadly. You're all deadly. Just deadly.  

5. Our beloved Pops getting the final all clear from his Oncologist last week! It's been a long road and I know many others aren't half as lucky but the universe has given us something incredible. The universe and the hard work & dedication of every single health care worker, nurse, doctor & surgeon that Dad had the good fortune to be cared for by. Thanks will never be enough for every one of them. 

So tell us, what's going on in your world? 

What Moments mean you're forgoing Monday blues altogether?