Cheesecake At The Chinese

    This time of year usual sees restaurants and cafes bursting at the seams with families and friends meeting up and celebrating Christmas. However this year everything will be a little different. So whether restaurants are allowed open for sit in dining or not, there are so many amazing places that are offering a delivery and take away service. So if you usually go out with friends or family this time of year but restrictions make it impossible why not bring the meet up home (assuming they let us do that). 

    One of my favourite Chinese restaurants to eat at in Blanchardstown is Ming Court and they have always offered a delivery and take away service. I have been going to Ming Court for years. I always enjoy my meal and I think the staff are all lovely and welcoming. I recently decided to order a take away from Ming Court having not been able to visit for so long. When they do reopen for sit in dining make sure to book a table with them. Its a lovely place for all your special occasions. I have celebrated birthdays there, said goodbye to friends going on their travels and even enjoyed a cosy and spontaneous date night. They offer a huge range of delicious meals and of course desserts. 

    Service in Ming Court is always quick and you are always made feel like you're the only diners even when the restaurant is full. When I ordered even the delivery was quick and this does not mean that the food is any less than delicious. I ordered a salt and chilli chicken which was delicious and I can't wait to order it again. The portions were also very large. The price range is very reasonable especially for the amount of food you receive. I really can't fault it. 

    Ming Court also sells Cheesecake. Now I have been to many Chinese restaurants, I might go as far as saying Chinese food is my favourite. There's one thing that Chinese restaurants usually don't do very well and that is desserts. I have often been left very disappointed with desserts having really enjoyed the previous meals. However Ming Court do not disappoint with their cheesecake. I ordered one with my meal and I received a strawberry cheesecake which was a pleasant surprise (you don't know what you are getting when ordering). It was delicious. It was glazed with a strawberry jam, this is a technique I really want to learn for my upcoming cheesecake recipe. 

    Hands up if you can't wait to get all dressed up and just go out for a nice meal. It's been too long. Let me know your favourite places to eat out and make sure to tell me if they do cheesecake, I'm always on the look out for new places.

 

Caz xx 

Don't Eat Frozen Cheesecake!!

Today's post is a little different. This time around I am warning against buying frozen cheesecake. Just don't do it. If you really want a cheesecake and don't want to make one there are plenty of places that sell cheesecake either in personal slices or tubs or even full cheesecakes. Dunnes Stores in particular do lovely lemon and strawberry cheesecakes that come in personal size tubs. The only thing wrong with them is they can be consumed too quickly lol. Manning's Bakery also do a lovely personal slice of cheesecake however if you show up and they have a good few slices to sell they will line them up into a cake for you if a full cheesecake is what you're after. I learned that by accident. 

Anyways back to what I was saying, frozen cheesecakes are just not good. Now don't confuse what I am saying now with what I said before about using the freezer to speed up the setting of the cheesecake. That is totally different. I mean the cheesecakes that you buy in a box from the freezer part of the shop and then they go into your freezer ready for when you have someone over for tea. 

I've had one experience in particular with frozen cheesecake that stuck with me and not in a good way. I bought what looked like a delicious cheesecake from Aldi. It was a small cheesecake but a little bigger than I could manage on my own but I was hoping to have it over a few days, you know yourself. I took a few bites and decided that it was only fit for the bin. It was not nice and just tasted fake. That wasn't the last of that cheesecake though. It came back with a vengeance a few hours later and made me extremely sick. Now I get the fear every time I get to that part of Aldi. 

I don't know what they do to the poor cheesecake to make it suitable for freezing but they should just stop that right now. You can tell a cheesecake is from the freezer. It just doesn't taste like a freshly prepared dessert. I've learned my lesson and I'm passing on my wisdom to you. It's like most foods, the fresher the better!! 

So go fourth and make delicious cheesecakes. I have sooooo many cheesecake recipes to try out I don't know where to begin. I have a very special one in mind that will definitely be coming in the next few weeks. 

Caz xx 

Cheesecake At Church

Oh happy day, oh happy day when cheesecake washed, it washed my hunger away. Have you ever walked past the same place for years and not really stopped to figure out what it was? I can't tell you the amount of times I walked passed The Church restaurant and not even given it a second thought apart from thinking it looked quite unusual with the extra glass building attached to it. However once I had I was determined to give it a go. I love a good renovation and I love when old meets new. The Church has all the old charm of a church with its stain glass windows and huge organ but it also has a sophisticated look of a high class restaurant. With all things though it had its pros and cons. 

Lets start with the cons and get them out of the way. We were served by two different people. One young girl who was so nice and couldn't be more helpful and then there was the other lady who for whatever reason felt that we didn't belong there and made sure we felt this way. She was rude and if you need to be asked to bring water to the table four times then something isn't quite right. It left a bad taste in our mouth but apart from her any other member of staff we dealth with was extremely friendly. As they say there's always one. Another con is if you're hungry you'll probably stay that way. The portions were small. If you order steak and chips you get five chips. I don't mean that figuratively I mean there were five chips on the plate beautifully displayed but five chips all the same. It's a little pricey for the portions but sure isn't that what fancy restaurants are all about lol 

If I return to The Church I definitely want to eat downstairs. The atmosphere seemed a million times more chilled out and if you bring a picky eater the menu seems a lot broader and less fancy lol The whole downstairs surrounds a huge bar. They also have a nightclub on the lowest floor. There was loads on the menu downstairs that I'd love to try and I even had my eye on the table I'd like to sit at.

They did of course have cheesecake. Let's be honest I wasn't booking a table before I had even checked the menu. I have to be prepared. Their cheesecake choice was Bailey's Cream Cheesecake. So smooth it melts in your mouth. Almost like a vanilla cheesecake and at the last minute a hint of Bailey's kicks in but not overpowering if like myself you're not a fan of Bailey's. It was topped and gorgeously decorated with fruits that complimented it perfectly. A small scoop of fresh cream and a delicate line of a sweet sauce gives the the cheesecake its final touch. Overall a perfect cheesecake and one I'd definitely like to have again. 

Bottom line is I'd go again. The cheesecake made up for the the ill treatment we received upon first arriving. At the moment The Church is closed. Once they reopen I'd definitely recommend a visit and make sure you get some cheesecake!! 

Caz xx

Only The Best Cheesecake Is Good Enough

Oooh cravings are the devil. I recently gave into one of mine. It felt like everywhere I looked I saw The Paddocks. I mean they must be doing something right. Keeping your business going and staying busy during any kind of lockdown is impressive. So I wanted a sneaky Paddocks. I hadn't been there in over a year so it was well overdue and now that you can download an app and the food comes to you well I just couldn't wait any longer and I had no reason to either. 

Thankfully my all time favourite dish was still on the menu Honey Chilli Garlic Shredded Chicken Bowl. This dish is unreal. It's soooo tasty. Usually it comes with half and half chips and rice. However when it came to the chips selection it offered me so much more. I thought salt and chilli chips, that sounds like a winner. More like I felt like a heffer when that food showed up. I realized my eyes were much bigger than my belly. It was sooo much food. Very very tasty but I needed to keep some room for the cheesecake you guys know I ordered. One of those meals will 100% satisfy two hungry adults. No lie. I had the other half for lunch the next day.

Now for my favourite part the cheesecake. Boy do I love the cheesecake options in The Paddocks. I love when picking cheesecake is a difficult decision. I went for the White Milky Bar Cheesecake because who doesn't love a milky bar? Don't answer that it has the potential to lower my opinion of you. The cream was almost like a lemon meringue pie, "It's so fluffy" and way too easy to eat. The biscuit from the bottom was also sprinkled on top with shards of milky bar scattered all over the cheesecake. It was so delicious and mouth watering and the crispy biscuit mixed with the milky chocolate and the fluffy cream was to die for. I can't wait to try the other cheesecakes on the menu like the Kinder Bueno Cheesecake (this can be white chocolate or milk), the M and M Cheesecake or the Malteser Cheesecake. I’m sure they are all delicious. 

My sneaky Paddocks did not disappoint and I'm already planning my next order. I’ve posted pictures of my meal as well as the cheescake just in case you needed any more convincing. Go on have a sneaky Paddocks! Let me know if you do and share some pictures on my social media pages! 

 

Caz xx