Lunch at Leftfield

To say I enjoy food is something of an understatement. I live for food. I’m always trawling recipe books and websites. Most of my favourite TV shows and YouTube channels focus on some aspect of food or cooking. I’d almost be inclined to call myself a foodie.

To say I enjoy seafood is even more of an understatement.

Coming from a fishing town on the west coast, it’s practically illegal to not enjoy seafood. It’s a staple. The produce is incredibly fresh and always great quality. Oban has as many chippies as it does supermarkets and there are only 8,500 locals to feed year-round.

When I first started going off meat, my parents made me a deal. I could only stop eating meat if I stopped being so picky with my vegetables (although I still hate broccoli and cauliflower) and kept eating fish. It was a little arduous at first, but with a great cook like my Mum, and the produce as great as it is, I was soon converted back to my pescatarian ways.

I’ve been a pescatarian for years now, and adore playing around with recipes, substituting meat for fish and shellfish, to see what sort of textures and flavour  combinations work.

So, yeah, seafood is pretty darn high on my Food Loves list. And good seafood is my fave way to celebrate.

On Sunday, my family and I went to Leftfield for lunch to celebrate my Dad’s birthday.

leftfield edinburgh bruntsfield

It’s a lovely restaurant in Bruntsfield. Bright and open with large windows, it has a real Scandi feel to it. The decor is inviting and the music was a golden selection that included Nina Simone and he Isley Brothers. Basically, I loved it.

Their Sunday lunch menu is really lovely. It’s small, but there really is something for everyone and the flavours are adventurous. Dad and I both opted for starters – he had the chicken pate and I opted for the vegetable pakoras which was light, warmly spiced and completely scrummy.

Their specialty, though, is a seafood platter (although it needs to be ordered 24 hours in advance) which Mum and Dad ordered unbeknownst to Zoe and I at the time.

Now, being an Oban girl, I’ve been spoiled most of my life with great seafood and often lament to Mum and Dad about how it’s just not the same in the city. Leftfield, however, knocked it out the park.

leftfield seafood platter

Every element was prepared differently, and it’s clear chef X knows what he’s doing. Barbequeued crevettes, scallops with curried aubergine, tempura oysters, clams with a delightfully fresh salsa, and that’s just for starters. Mammoth langoustines, melt-in-the-mouth fried squid and half lobsters with claws to boot were waiting to be demolished.

The marie rose dipping sauce was a wonderful accompaniment for the langoustines and the salsa gave the barbequeued prawns a real tang. The lobster claws were my favourite though – scoffed down with gorgeously golden chips and a fresh, herby salad.

I can’t get over how delicious everything was. And how brilliant the service was, too. At £25 a head, this incredibly nostalgic taste of my no-longer-home was an absolute bargain.

We all joked that it was such a shame the next family birthday wasn’t until mine in November, but I’m sure we’ll find an excuse to return for the seafood platter – every day’s worthy of a celebration, right?

Rupi Kaur’s Poetry Performance in Glasgow – A Review

Do not listen to the adage “Never meet your heroes” because then you’ll not get the chance to sHARE A STAGE WITH THEM LIKE I DID!!!

St Luke's empty stage Rupi Kaur Glasgow review

I’m not joking. Rupi Kaur completed her whistlestop UK tour in Glasgow, shrouded in purple and pink lights and smiled down on by the stunning stained glass of St Luke’s on Bain Street. While the east end of Glasgow initially seemed an unusual choice to me, Waterstones certainly introduced Rupi to a warm west coast crowd.

Rupi Kaur Glasgow review

The room was abuzz with excitement. I was so glad to have bagged seats in the second row. It was the perfect view to soak up the palpable emotion that dripped from Rupi’s lips; rich like the honey she repeatedly makes mention of in both her published works.

Key readings were set to music that, at first, seemed odd choices but soon they married perfectly; matched – and mismatched – to stir up feelings I couldn’t put a name to. That’s one of the most magical mysteries of Rupi Kaur – her uncanny ability to unite a room with an emotion, even if it’s foreign to the crowd until she brews it with her piercing words.

Lyrical, smooth and utterly bewitching – Rupi Kaur was showered in clicks (a common sign of appreciation in the slam poetry world), claps and stomping as she roused a solidarity among the audience.

More wonderfully, though, was her interjections with utterly human stories of her friends, childhood, family and female experiences. She jokingly made mention of no longer being able to live now that her book is written – that she must practice what she preaches and accept the compliments that were made for her. She is adorably bashful and thankful for every click, clap and whoop that echoes through the church hall. Some moments, you could hear a pin drop as we hung on her every word. Other times, we were excitedly yelling in agreement with her empowering messages and proclamations of love before the words left her lips.

Being able to share a stage with Rupi Kaur will go down as one of the most unbelievable experiences of my life. I cannot begin to explain the nerves, disbelief, fangirling and admiration swirling through my veins. Words still escape me as to how surreal the experience was. I read her words alongside her – her arm around me, soothing and encouraging – as I prayed I didn’t butcher her art in front of her adoring fans (I only stumbled once or twice, thank god).

I’m still shaking with excitement. I hope someone took a photo or recorded it so I can share it with the world forever and ever. For now, you’ll have to make do imagining me shakily reading the odd numbers and her perfectly delivering the evens.


If she ever comes back to the UK (which she did say she hopes to), I would buy my ticket in a heartbeat. It’s not often you find words that, even on a page, reach down into your soul, set you alight and leave a lasting warmth emanating through your entire being. Hers did, and being able to imprint her own glorious energy to memory and revel in her delivery of such similar experiences to mine is something I could happily experience again and again.

Product Review: Forest and Shore Hallelujah Hair Oil

I’m incredibly excited to tell you about a product I was asked to review: Forest and Shore‘s Hallelujah Hair Oil.

Available on Amazon, my hair oil took 3 days to arrive (and came on a hair wash day, which was highly convenient!).

The packaging

I really love the pale blue and the dainty floral design. The card is slightly textured and soft. It’s a pretty box and I’m not about to get rid of it any time soon!

forest and shore hair oil review box

The bottle

I adore a bottle with a pipette. Couldn’t really tell you why, I think it’s probably the novelty because it’s not a common feature. The glass bottle is frosted.

The hair oil

The oil itself is a warm yellow colour and runs a lot smoother and less gloopy than some hair oils I’ve tried before.

It ticks so many of my boxes – it’s organic, vegan and smells incredible. Made from a blend of essential oils, the most prominent smells are the coconut and lavender. It has a near minty freshness to it.

The directions on the box suggest 2-5 drops of the oil run through from mid to ends of towel dried hair. Despite being an oil, it doesn’t leave a heavy residue on my hands, which I really appreciate. It spreads evenly through my hair (I used 5 drops because my bleached locks really need all the help they can get). I couldn’t find my wide toothed comb, so I settled for my tangle teezer to brush the oil all the way through my hair and settled in for the night.

forest and shore hair oil bottle review

The verdict

Hallelujah is right – this oil is heaven sent!

In the morning my hair smelled fresh and was nearly tangle-free – which never happens. I brushed out the few pillow-made tangles with my fingers and that’s all it needed. It sat perfectly, with nearly no flyaways (although with my hair needing cut and having been bleached a tonne, flyaways are not something I can altogether avoid). It looked healthier, it had more life and stayed soft for days after using the oil.

I’m honestly blown away! I find a lot of hair oils in the shops are too heavy for me. I have a lot of hair and it’s hard to keep volume and life in it without slathering my scalp with a concoction of lotions and potions, which inevitably weigh it down after a few hours and leave it greasy and desperate for a wash. I didn’t find that to be the case with the Forest and Shore oil. It didn’t leave any residue on my pillow, and my ends were visibly tamed. I’ve used it after a few shampoos now, and I’m still loving the results.

forest and shore hair oil review selfie

Being an all-natural product, the hair oil has a shelf life of 9 months. Priced at £15, which is more than I would usually spend on haircare, but because all the ingredients are natural, and it’s a small UK company, I’m not as reserved about spending the money. I did receive a complimentary bottle from the company to review – but I would happily spend the money on a new bottle when this one runs out!

All I can really say is I hope Forest and Shore create some more products soon, because I will definitely be trying them as soon as they are available! Washing my hair has always been more of a chore than an enjoyment for me. There’s a lot of it and it tangles easily. This product makes the whole process a little less daunting and brushing my hair doesn’t leave my scalp tender any more. I haven’t tried it as a scalp treatment yet (going to bed with 2-3 full pipettes of oil on my scalp and through my hair, washing out the following morning), but I’m definitely going to in the run up to my holiday so my skin is in tip top condition for the sun!

Our Valentine’s Axe Throwing Date

Yes, you read that right

The last place I expected to be walking towards at 9 o’clock on a Wednesday night (especially in this baltic weather) was the Biscuit Factory. And yet there I was, bundled up in many layers, psyching myself up for an hour of axe throwing with Tam.

An alternative Valentine celebration

Black Axe Throwing Co, here until Sunday, know how to show couples (singles, and groups) a good time. Greeted by upbeat music, the smell of Geek Pizza ovens working hard and long picnic tables seating an assortment of friends and couples waiting to be shown to the Throwing Area.

The venue they’ve chosen is perfect. The Biscuit Factory, if you don’t know it, is hidden in Bonnington. Housing studios, working spaces and an exhibition venue, this refurbished factory is rugged and somewhat unassuming on the outside. No one would suspect there would be axe-wielding couples on the top floor.

The venue

I have to say, apart from holding this event in a field at a music festival, I can’t imagine a better location.Worn metal beams support concrete walls. The rustic vibe is somewhat comforting, if a little chilly, so I was glad for my many, many layers. Three throwing areas are sectioned off by wire attached to metal beams and at the far end of each sit two well-used targets. Tree stumps hold a pair of axes while they’re not in use and our instructor introduces us to the art of axe throwing.

There’s a palpable nervousness born of the unknown, but the high energy and excitement emanating from every eagerly waiting participant creates an infectious buzz and we were (cautiously) ready to throw some very sharp and dangerous objects at some plywood.

The throwing

We soon find out that this is a refined skill and certainly not for the faint of heart. The adrenaline spikes as you pick up that axe for the first time, feeling the weight of it – and the responsibility not to injure or break anyone/thing. A second spike hits as you release the axe and send it hurtling through the air, praying it 1) lands in the target, and 2) doesn’t recoil and wedge in your shin.

Joining five other pairs at our station, we soon started throwing practice shots to get used to the idea of axe throwing. We were atrocious. But so was everyone else, and the camaraderie and sense of group failure created much needed hilarity to take the edge off the adrenaline-induced danger. Our instructor was great fun, approachable and happy to share his knowledge. I’d like to point out now that he did throw an axe once himself and even he missed, so I don’t feel nearly so bad about my lack of axe throwing skills. An axe murderer in the making, I am not.

Following the warm up, a friendly competition ensued. Safe to say, our team lost, but it was a close call (not that we contributed a single point to our team’s combined efforts). Following semi-finals, a final round and eventual axe throwing champion within our group we had the opportunity to throw axes for more practice/chances to sink an axe in some plywood, order pizza and cocktails (on the grounds that we didn’t come anywhere near the axes again). We didn’t order from Pizza Geeks, having opted for Sainsbury’s own pizzas earlier in the evening, but they smelled damn delicious so I would highly recommend on that alone!

The verdict

It’s not a cheap night out at £20 a head for the basic axe-throwing package sans pizza and alcohol shaped bells and whistles. However, considering the insurance they must have to cover, the fantastic venue and tutelage from our instructor – plus the mere fact that we got to fling axes at a wall for an hour, I’d say it’s totally worth it.

I’m tempted to go back – they’re here til Sunday 18th Feb and it was so much fun!! If you have the time and the money, or are able to catch them at a future event, I would highly recommend buying yourself a ticket.

Fun, therapeutic and completely different – this Valentine’s date will be tough to beat!

Couples who throw axes together stay together

Follow my blog with Bloglovin