Snout to Trotter Tasting Evening at The Salty Dog; What We Tried & Loved

The Salty Dog hotel and bistro in Bangor is one of those spots on our doorstep we always mean to try but hadn't got round to. The special 'Snout to Trotter' tasting evening was the ideal time to dip our toes in the water.

Head chef Tim Brunton served up six beautiful courses, each full of flavour and so different to the one before, but originating with a pork ingredient. The waiting staff were completely knowledgable about the dishes, and accompanying wines. The dining setting is relaxed and bright, with views over the marina and Belfast Lough. 

We will definitely be returning for date nights in the future. 

Thank you to Richard & all the staff for a great evening.

Glorious Mid-Century Art Work by Bangor's Neal McCullough

Hello readers, I've not been able to blog too much recently, so I've invited my favourite local artist who I've featured regularly before on The World of Kitsch, Neal McCullough, to guest post about his current exhibition. Thank you, Neal!

Hey Hey, World of Kitsch Regulars. I’m Neal McCullough from Bangor’s Hand Drawn Creative Illustration. Claire has graciously allowed me to write about my latest illustrated Exhibition currently on in Belfast’s Atelier Design Interiors showroom.

You’ll know my illustration work already, because I designed the The World of Kitsch logo right above this post. Like a lot of World of Kitsch fans, I’m obsessed with vintage illustration and mid-century furniture, so I’ve put together a collection of ten new illustrations showcasing my mid-century obsession called “Asseyez-Vous”

The Asseyez-Vous illustrations were created following meetings with Victor & James at Atelier Design’s hyper-chic showroom in Belfast’s Refound Building, and a lot of the finished illustrations feature little hidden gems from their range of kitsch, retro furniture and textiles.

“Asseyez-Vous” was due to wrap up on 3 May, but has now been been extended for another month, so if you’re in Belfast in May, call in. The showroom is open Wednesday-Saturday. I really hope you like the pretty pictures. Prints range from £10 to £80. If you aren’t in Northern Ireland you can also order prints through my Etsy store too. 

Thanks for having me! 

Cheers, Neal

www.handdrawncreative.co.uk

Design Your Own Love Heart & Win a Factory Tour

To celebrate 60 years of Lovehearts, Swizzels Matlow are holding a competition to design your own Love Heart sweet to win a factory tour, Willy Wonka style. You can enter here.

Catch the Second Half of the Great Ulster a pub Week

The greatest celebration of Northern Ireland’s pub culture is taking place in a pub near you this week.  The Great kicked off on Thursday 1stMay 2014 and runs until Friday 9th May 2014.

The Great Ulster Pub Week is the biggest pub centric multi-venue event seen in Northern Ireland and will showcase all that’s ‘Great’ about the Ulster pub.  Over 160 pubs from right across Northern Ireland taking part in the exciting pub celebration, with hundreds of unique events showcasing great food, great entertainment and great craic taking place.

From live music, magic, theatre productions, poetry readings and pub quizzes to arts & crafts workshops, film screenings, special menus and charity challenges, The Great Ulster Pub Week offers a diverse array of events that’s sure to surprise and delight pubgoers across Northern Ireland.

For further information and for full event listings, visit www.greatulsterpubweek.com or find The Great Ulster Pub Week on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and Instagram using the hashtag, #UlsterPubWeek

Coconut Popcorn from Propercorn, the Perfect Summer Snack

If you are a Birchbox beauty sample service subscriber, like me, you might have had the chance to try the Propercorn Coconut flavour popcorn in this month's box. I absolutely loved it, I'd never tasted anything like that before. Propercorn kindly sent me this pretty box containing each of their flavours currently available. 

The packs are slightly larger than regular crisp packets, but are lower in calories from being hand cooked in rapeseed oil & seasoned with Propercorn's special seasonings. A great snack if you are counting calories and still want snacky stuff. Whenever I diet I always need things like this on hand, because if I cut out everything snacky altogether, the diet only lasts half a day before I give in due to misery!

I've managed to drop from 11st 6lbs to 9st 10lbs since Christmas, so I will be buying lots of Propercorn for the rest of the weight loss journey.