Twisted Burger Company at The Harley - an Exposed Blog Post

“Gooey, unctuous and quite naughty”, is how the Twisted Burger Company describes its burgers. And, despite a bizarre disdain for the use of the word ‘unctuous’ when it comes to describing food, I have found myself trying TBC’s burgers on a number of occasions. This time I had sadly missed out on the press launch of their new menu, but the team kindly asked me to return to try it along with the husband one evening.

With a reputation as a bit of a party bar, you might be glad to know that The Harley is quite easy going and calm when you visit during the day or, as we did, on a mid-week evening. And seated on the stage area to the far front of the building, we had a view across the busy junction and down back into town… which is great for a bit of people watching.

Perusing the menu, we noted that we were a few hours late for breakfast, but we agreed that an early morning trip (they open from 7.30 am in the week) to try out their McBuffting burger could be on the cards. With a bacon patty, a mushroom patty, cheese and a fried egg TBC claim that the McBuffting burger set off good ol’Ronald into an eggsistential crisis….

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WasabiSabi - Tuesday £10 Set Menu Special

Last night I took a trip to an old favourite of mine. And when I say old, WasabiSabi is celebrating its tenth anniversary, which might actually seem quite young. But reaching 10 years is no mean feat for any restaurant in this climate

And in celebration of this special birthday, WasabiSabi has created a "Tuesday £10 Set Menu Special". I, along with Girl Eats Sheffield and Chris, the food reviewer from Easy Moshi Magazine, were invited to try the dishes last night.

On the face of it, the menu is good value; two courses, plus miso soup, for £10. The fact that it's restricted to Tuesdays and then to tables of four may become problematic for those who don't like to socialise mid week. Luckily for me I don't really care what day it is when it comes to having a good feed and I'm happy to work around some of the mid week bargains on offer.

We started with miso soup, always a good appetiser, before moving onto a selection of starters. Usually a platter to be shared between four, WasabiSabi had adjusted the serving for the three of us. I would say there was a decent amount for a starter and I think there was enough to keep everyone happy with a good mix of meat and veggie based items.

Both the veggie and the pork gyoza went down nicely, as did the veggie spring rolls. There's something about wrapping food stuffs in a pastry casing and frying them... Sushi rolls of cucumber and avocado were refreshing and well formed.

Moving onto mains and I'd ordered the the Yasai Udon. This was a big bowl of soup with vegetables and thick udon noodles. It was easily the best looking soup I've ever been served with patterns carved into the pieces of courgette and aubergine. There were also a couple of pieces of tofu and a slice of daikon in there.

Sadly for me, I found the dish didn't live up to its stunning looks. It lacked in flavour and substance and it's only now, as I look back at the menu, that I realise that I could have ordered a spicy soup base. D'oh. A spicy soup base could have been a game changer... as I was pretty disappointed in all honesty.

Despite the lacklustre main, I'm glad to report that service was as attentive as ever and WasabiSabi remains one of my favourite restaurants. But it's unlikely that I'll try this menu again. WasabiSabi is capable of many great things, but you should stick to the a la carte/teppanyaki table to experience them.