Life's Sweet @ Sweet Beat

If you live in Sligo you may know that an exciting new café has entered the scene. Sweet Beat is a vegan café serving healthy, fresh food. It's refreshing to see something like this in Sligo - although there isn't a massive vegan crowd in Sligo the café thrives and already has quite the following. I'm not a vegan or a vegetarian myself so from this review you'll see you don't need to be to enjoy what Sweet Beat has to offer.

I was greeted by Carolanne, the owner of Sweet Beat, and her sister Denise who was more than happy to show me around and explain the menu. If you frequent Strandhill People's Market you may know Carolanne under her pseudonym Green Warrior.

After a quick tour of the café and a study of the menu it wasn't hard to decide what I wanted to get. I did plan to get one of the super salads as the weather has been nice lately but when I went in yesterday it was a dull day so I went for the vegan lasagne, their Daily Warmer. They also do brunch - avocado toast (which has caused quite the stir, I hear), hummus toast and their own homemade beans on toast. I treated mum to lunch and she chose the hummus toast which she enjoyed but said it was a little too spicy for her taste, which I did agree with. 

As well as all those yummy offerings they also serve raw vegan brownies, chocolate and homemade smoothies and juices. I went for a Rocket Cow smoothie (I assume this is a play on 'raw cacao' - I like it!) made with almond milk, nut butter, banana and cacao powder. 

The service was very quick considering it was the lunchtime rush and they were rushed off their feet. Mine looked and smelled great so after taking a few snaps I dug in. I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't sure how a vegan lasagne was gonna work but it was delicious - so full of flavour. It did taste like a normal lasagne but 'cleaner' and obviously without the mince. It was served with 2 super salads - chickpea and green bean salad and carrot salad, both yummy.

The Rocket Cow smoothie also didn't disappoint - I make this kind of smoothie quite a lot at home anyway so I knew what to expect. It's like a healthy chocolate-peanut-butter smoothie and it was surprisingly filling. So smooth and creamy considering it's totally dairy free. Among the other smoothie offerings was a turmeric smoothie (not sure how I'd feel about that), iced coffee, wheatgrass shot, ginger shot and a beetroot, sweet potato and ginger juice - as well as the usual tea and coffee. 

I was extremely tempted by the tempting brownies on the counter but I decided to be good and I was extremely full up - my lunch kept me going for the whole day.

You can find Sweet Beat on Bridge Street (where Chapters used to be, sob) or check them out on Facebook here. I give it my (non-vegan) approval!

Thanks a million to Carolanne for inviting me along and for the yummy lunch.

Scrumptious Seaside Dining at Trá Bán

I've mentioned Strandhill before in my blog - whether it's for a coffee and a cake at Shells quirky café, watching the sunset with a pint from The Strand or just for a stroll along the beach, Strandhill never disappoints. For fine dining, however, it has to be Trá Bán.

Last week me and my mum decided to head along to Trá Bán for a midweek meal. We'd never been before but had heard great things about it - not to mention all the impressive awards the restaurant (and its sister restaurant in Sligo, Eala Bhán) has won. I was initially a bit worried it would be all seafood - I'm not a fish fan - but I was thrilled to see the menu offered extensive choice for seafood lovers, meat eaters and vegetarians alike. All of the ingredients, meat and seafood are locally sourced so you really know what you're eating. As well as the usual foodie fare, Trá Bán also offers a range of wines and craft ales to compliment your meal. 

When we first went up to the restaurant (situated above The Strand bar in Strandhill) we were impressed by the décor - soft lighting was offset by sheer curtains and projected onto the wall was a light effect to look like waves. It was a very intimate and romantic setting - I can imagine this would be perfect for a romantic meal or something special. 

To start we were served a slate of bread with a seaweed and sweet chilli pesto - it may sound a little bizarre but it was divine and really whet our appetities. For the main course, as I rarely eat steak at home as I find it a treat to get when I go out for a meal, I ordered the sirloin steak. I'm not lying when I say it was the best steak I've ever had. It was cooked to perfection (I like mine bloody but the chef will endeavour to fulfill your request however you like your steak cooked), beautifully seasoned and juicy and served with pesto mash, mushrooms and onions. I don't like mushrooms so mum ate those but she said they were perfect also. Everything on the plate was so tasty and fresh - it made shop-bought steak taste like a McDonald's hamburger! Mum ordered the chicken linguini which I also had to sample of course. It was beautifully rich and creamy and again, fresh and cooked to perfection.

As I had a starter (the chefs in Eala Bhán and Trá Bán make some of the nicest soup ever in my opinion) I couldn't eat another thing until we noticed the chocolate fondue on the dessert menu. Chocolate fondue is one of my absolute favourite things in the world so me and mum decided to share one. The Belgian chocolate fondue is served in a mini saucepan and was absolutely incredible. It was rich, sweet and creamy without being too cloying or sickly - by the end I was tempted to just eat the chocolate with a spoon. The fondue came with diced fruit and marshmallows for dipping - there's nothing like soft fluffy marshmallows and sweet strawberries dipped in warm melted chocolate to finish off a perfect meal. Mmm...

If you're looking for somewhere to enjoy a nice meal for a special occasion look no further than Trá Bán. Beautiful food followed by a leisurely stroll along the shore - what more could you want?!

Trá Bán also offer Early Bird and Christmas menus for the upcoming Holiday season (it's creeping up on us!) here or you can enjoy a meal as part of the Thrill Of Strandhill package - be sure to check out the Facebook page to keep up to date on offers.

Thanks to Anthony and all at Trá Bán for a wonderful evening.