Dining in the Dark

You're probably wondering why I've just posted a picture of myself pulling a strange facial expression blindfolded? Well, I'll tell you before you go getting any funny ideas! Last week I was very kindly invited along to attend a blind dinner party by a chain restaurant, The Living Room. The company have a range of restaurants up and down the country but my local one is situated in the Millennium Square, Bristol. I'd never actually heard of the brand before, but the concept of a blind tasting really intrigued me and I don't like to let opportunities slip, so i decided to attend!

(Pictured: Basil Grande and Spiced Moroccon lamb with giant cous cous.)

The idea was to try and identify the flavours and ingredients in the tasters they provided us of their new Autumn/Winter menu, however the catch was, you have to do it blindfolded. Which, by the way, is a lot harder than it may sound. We each were given score sheets to record our answers and away we went with the starters. The food on the menu was very tasty and there was nothing I didn't particularly like, however my ability to identify flavours blindfolded did not go well with the Black forest cured ham which I thought was accompanied by blackcurrant flavours, when it was actually fig, goats cheese, raspberry and beetroot. 

Next up were sandwiches, and we were given a Pork and Chorizo burger with smoked paprika which i really enjoyed! Didn't do so well on guessing the chorizo though.

(Pictured above: Homemade Glamorgan sausages)

Moving onto mains, we were treated with some really delicious dishes. My personal favourite was the Moroccon spiced lamb with giant cous cous (pictured above). But we were also given duck, shepherds pie,  seabass and sausages, all infused with a variety of flavours to give your taste buds an adventure!

Being a bit of a sweet tooth, I was looking forward to trying deserts and I was excited to try the Basil Grande (again, pictured above). Eton mess is one of my favourite deserts but being blindfolded made it hard to guess the key ingredients aside from meringue. We also tried a passion fruit and coconut creme brulee (yum!) and a cheese board. Finally, moving on to cocktails, i thought i'd be good at identifying the spirits after working behind a bar, but what i was certain was tequila turned out to be Quince?! And it turns out, i really don't like Manhattan's. 

Unfortunately my score of 16/40 wasn't good enough to win the Dining in the Dark trophy, but it was still a fun, enjoyable experience and i'd like to thank The Living Room for having me.

"It’s safe to say that The Living Room’s new menu has been crafted to offer something for all diners, whatever the time of day and whatever the dining preference - be it a light bite at lunch or a full three course slap-up meal. With a new and growing Vegetarian category, it also acknowledges the need to cater more closely for this growing population of diners, who often find the choices in many restaurants limited." - Press release.

In other news, I recently made a Facebook page for my blog so make sure you go and check it out and please like it!

Where do you enjoy eating out?