Kim Reviews

I finished a degree so it's only right that I start a new blog

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Shudehill Interchange Car Park, Manchester

Last year I moved to Manchester to finish the final year of my degree. I lived there with my boyfriend for almost a year and loved every last windy, grey, northern minute in that city.

I've been to lots of different cities around the UK and I've got to say Manchester is my favourite. I prefer it to London because it's small enough that you can walk from one side of the city to the other in 45 minutes but it's big enough that it has endless bars, restaurants, pubs and clubs without the London price tag.

On my last day in Manchester we decided to go all out. It was a beautiful day which we kicked off by heading into town for a meal at Jamie's Italian (review to follow). After sitting and gorging ourselves for almost 3 hours we went and lay on the grass in the sun at the Great Northern. We then went and saw Boyhood at the Cornerhouse Cinema (hands down best cinema in Manchester - and it's not even got indie cinema prices) and as we left the cinema feeling warm and fuzzy, we racked our brains for how to spend the evening. We considered going to another bar, but decided we were exhausted and still full and it wouldn't be any fun. I brought up a link I had saved to a Buzzfeed post of the best 10 things to do on a date in Manchester.

One of the suggestions was to climb to the top of the NCP car park at Shudehill Interchange. It was early evening and the sky was already a beautiful colour so we headed for this car park, not really having any idea if it was even going to be any good. The lift wasn't working so we climbed the 8 floors, stopping frequently and trying to ignore the smell of piss.

We were not disappointed. It really was breathtaking. The sun was setting over the peaks and we just stopped for a while to get a thorough 360 degree view of Manchester at its best. I looked out at the student accommodation I first lived in, at the clubs I used to go to, at places I had never even seen before as the sun set on my last night in my favourite city.

It was perfect and one of my most treasured memories in Manchester.

If you're ever wandering around bored, climb those stairs (or get the lift) and soak up that view. It's free and it is stunning.

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Meat Mission, Shoreditch

Hidden, understated, loud and dark. Not exactly a description you'd expect for a restaurant.

On the face of it, it's a glorified fast food joint save the table service and service charge.

But it is oh so much more than that. You can choose from endless lists of juicy, greasy and more and more indulgent trays of meat. 

I went for the cheeseburger and fries for about £12 in total and although they're served on a plastic tray and you get kitchen roll instead of napkins, that cheeseburger and fries was arguably the best I've ever had. I find myself saying this about most burgers and fries I have nowadays but I have to remind myself of the true filthy deliciousness of the food here.

The fries were just skinny potato fries, salted and slathered in ketchup and mayo - by me. But they were so so good. Every bite brought new joy as I looked deep into my friend's eyes and almost wept at how happy I was to be shouting over a bench at him whilst shoving this fatty deep fried goodness into my mouth.

It's not exactly for the faint hearted. It really is as dark and loud as a club - they even have a DJ and their own radio station. But if you feel like surprising yourself on a Tuesday evening, go here. You will not be disappointed. They even add on a tip that goes to charity. Every single customer is encouraged to donate to charity.

They are doing it so so right.

http://instagram.com/meatgram 

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Dogs n Dough, Manchester

Tucked away down an alley just off Albert Square, Dogs n Dough is the mother of all underground bars. It's dark, small and loud but it is so worth a visit.

You're unlikely to hear about this place other than through word of mouth but that mouth is gonna be telling you how god damn cool this bar is.

Happy hour is from 5-8pm every weekday with not only £4.50 cocktails (usually £7.50) but loads of offers on food/drink combinations to match your every desire.

Despite the name being attributed to hot dogs and pizzas, I wouldn't say it's the best place in Manchester to get either of those things. The food is 3-cocktails-deep worthy. It's probably not worth the price and you could probably make a better pizza at home but when you're looking for a drunk snack, they'll certainly fill a hole.

The cocktails on the other hand definitely merit the price tag and are a bargain during happy hour. Since there's so much choice and they all sound delicious, to save you from wasting half an hour choosing one I would in particular recommend Lipstick Jungle or Golden Cadillac but honestly I have never had a bad cocktail at Dogs n Dough.

It's a lovely place to start off the evening or to crash in after you've had a few too many.

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Prague, Czech Republic

Despite being a hotbed for stag and hen activity, Prague is actually a pretty classy lady.

We spent 3 days in Prague and although the weather was average, you can't help but be stunned by the beauty of the city. 

On our first day we fought through wind and rain over the ancient alleged most-beautiful-and-oldest-bridge-in-Europe Charles Bridge to climb the steps to Prague Castle. Prague Castle is not a castle. I have no idea what to call it but it certainly is not a castle. In my attempts to describe it I've gone for 'estate on top of a hill with political buildings where the president lives or works or visits sometimes and a massive church'. The architecture is absolutely stunning, everything is so grand and perfect and the stained glass windows in the church (probably a cathedral, I'm probably being horrendously ignorant) were especially enchanting. Even in torrential rain, it was a lovely place to be and even blanketed by grey clouds, the views from the top of  the hill are incredible. You feel like you're in a Disney film.

Aside from the amazing architecture, Prague hasn't got that much going for it. The food and drink are insanely cheap and if you find some traditional Czech food you'll find the portions are huge and meaty and will satisfy you for days. It's got plenty of hipster markets with wooden bow ties and tie dye scarves. But aside from the sights and the food, there's not a whole lot else to do or see. It's pretty small but dense and a lot of the central areas have been completely saturated by retail but if you're looking for a relaxed weekend of eating and drinking and looking at some fancy crazy-old buildings then Prague is definitely a perfect destination.

We stayed at Hostel Downtown and even though the name isn't too inspiring, I don't have a single bad word to say about them. The staff were lovely and so welcoming when we arrived at 2am, exhausted. The bedroom was huge with proper beds - no bunks! - and a perfectly clean bathroom. It was also really central and impossible to lose. Everything you could want from a hostel.

Prague isn't the best city in the world but with good company it's a great little getaway for a few days.

[kimeatssleepsreads-blog]

Derren Brown: Infamous, The Lowry Theatre, Salford Quays

Given the nature of what Derren Brown does and that I am simply truly, madly and deeply in love with him, there won't be any spoilers in this. Which will probably just make for a sickeningly gushy love letter but if that's all I can do then so be it.

On a perfectly average Tuesday evening in June I went to see Derren Brown. I went because I've been twice before and because I could go a hundred times over and still be shocked and confused and thrilled by what he does. I don't know how he does it and, generally speaking, not knowing is not something I enjoy in life. I'm always asking why or how but with Derren I surrender to the fact that I can never know why or how and that's what makes him so wonderful.

In his most recent production, he bares all as he discusses his sexuality, his adolescence and his hopes, dreams and beliefs with the audience. 

The most important thing about Derren's shows is that you go in knowing nothing. And so I will tell you nothing about what he does because it would take away everything that makes it so special.

What I will tell you is that I don't know anyone who isn't captivated by his tricks. And that's all they are, and he is so open about the fact that everything he does is just a trick. He is not a magician, he is not a wizard, everything he does takes years of planning and hours upon hours of practicing to perfection. But still you get sucked in and you believe that he might just be talking to the dead or that he might actually have just cut someone's finger off.

There are moments in Infamous where I almost feel like it is too unbelievable to be believable. I could only laugh to stop myself from screaming or crying because if he really had been doing what he was doing, it would have been terrifying and touching and deeply disturbing.

In my opinion he is at the top of his game. There is no other person in this field who I enjoy more or who impresses me anywhere near as much as he does and I think a huge part of that reason is because I am so aware of how much time and effort goes in to everything he does. He is basically just somebody who works really really hard and puts on a bloody good show hundreds and hundreds of times from his first to his last.

Infamous was broadcast on Channel 4 recently and I could not recommend it more.

[kimeatssleepsreads-blog]

Boyhood

You've heard about this film. You don't need me to tell you how different and unique it is. But if you didn't get the chance to see it in the cinema, I want to tell you just how much you need to watch it.

For me, watching Boyhood was a lot like watching Toy Story 3. It came at an incredibly important time in my life and I was completely and utterly absorbed into the world of the protagonist and was left heartbroken at the end when the parallels of my own life crashed over me. However, where I cried at the end of Toy Story 3 (I know you did too), I was simply left with the most overwhelming warmth at the end of Boyhood.

Ellar Coltrane's performance is completely mesmerising from start to finish which is even more astounding given that he started at the age of 8 and finished 11 years later.

In its essence, the film follows a pretty normal family do pretty normal things. I think what makes it so captivating is that it's as if you really are watching a pretty normal family do pretty normal things. It could so easily have been totally unscripted and at no point does it feel sensationalised or unbelievable, the simplicity of the performances let you lose yourself in this family's life for 3 hours.

Yes, the film is a good 3 hours long. But I wouldn't have changed it for the world and I don't think you would either. So give yourself an afternoon to watch this film. 3 hours to watch it and an hour at the end to think about how damn good it was and to work out how long you should wait before you watch it again.

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How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

Let me start by saying this:

I love Caitlin Moran.

She is funny, intelligent, strong and 100% retweetable. She is not without her faults. She knows that. I know that. No human being in the world is without their faults. But I believe that Caitlin Moran does just enough to be at least the best woman on the planet, even if she falls a little short of being the best woman in the universe.

How to Be a Woman changed my life. This is not an exaggeration. Before I read it, I was categorically not a feminist. I hated feminists. I hated the word feminism. I believed in women's rights but I was ignorant about how big the gap was (and is) and I was determined not to cave and out myself as a man-hating, negativity-spreading feminist. But then I read How to Be a Woman and about 20 pages in I realised I was going to have to backtrack quite shamefully but pretty damn quickly. It sparked a revolution in my brain. I started reading articles about women's rights almost daily. I started discussing women's rights at least twice a week with my friends, family, anyone that would listen. And finally I started calling out, first my friends, and then pretty much anyone who decided it was a good idea to start spouting misogynistic bullshit in my presence. By fuck does it feel good.

But I am not here to talk about feminism. I am here to talk about How to Build a Girl.

This book is deceptive. It is pitched as fiction. But when you've read How to Be a Woman and when you start reading more of Moran's writing like Moranthology you soon realise that it is simply an embellished autobiography. I wouldn't be surprised if 97% of the events are 100% true.

Despite trying to market her new book as an accurate representation of every girl's journey through puberty, it still felt sensationalised. And maybe that was the point. And maybe it's just really fucking great that she even talks about female teenage sexuality. But maybe the whole book felt a bit borderline fantasy, particularly when she alleged that she was sipping a milkshake from McDonald's on a train from Euston. Utter fantasy.

It was an easy and enjoyable read though and it was the first book I've read in a long time that I didn't put down half way through not to read it for another 4 months. 

It's simply about an intelligent young woman who is a bit weird and doesn't quite fit in and whose family is living in poverty in the midlands. It's about how she finds a way to fit in and even though she strives to become a person that really she never has been and never will be, she owns herself. She knows what she wants and she gets it. Even if it is unrelatable, it's uplifting to read about a normal girl who fights.

It made me laugh and it made me think and I couldn't have asked for much more.

[kimeatssleepsreads-blog]

Why am I writing this blog?

Other than dwindling precariously in my early twenties with no certainties in my life, I mostly really wanted to write about places and things that I have seen or done because far too often I try and find reviews about "that restaurant that does the most amazing cake" but nobody can tell you what else is on the menu or how much it all is or "this city is amazing but I couldn't tell you where to go or how much a pint costs". I also just really enjoy writing.

So in no particular order I'm gonna be writing about books, films, food, bars, cities, art galleries, everything that exists for people to enjoy, that I have enjoyed in the recent past.

[kimeatssleepsreads-blog]

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

As a graduate and a woman I was so excited to read this book. I hadn’t seen a huge amount about it, I’d just seen Rosianna Halse Rojas rave about it 10 million times in her videos and thought it must be a bit of alright.

To cut a long story short, I have massively mixed feelings having finished this book. But to make a short story nice and long, I’ll tell you for why.

There are lots of different elements to this book, it’s a self-helping, data analysing, feel good, feel bad autobiography for middle class white women in their early 20’s. The original Lean In (which doesn’t include stories from people across the globe on a whole range of issues) is almost entirely gender and hetero normative and I found it incredibly difficult at points to get through chapters telling me to not worry about sacrificing time with my family (husband and 2.4 children) for my career - in an office in a city that I have to commute to where everybody works until 8pm.

Coming from such an important perspective as a woman in a position of power in a male dominated environment, I find it incredibly disappointing that Sheryl narrows her story to such a simplistic privileged view of the world. Everything she talks about comes from her personal experiences - in particular her experiences of pregnancy and being a mother. These are really important issues to discuss and they do apply to millions of working women across the world but limiting most of your content to this topic alienates millions of other women who either aren't at that stage in life or who don't have the slightest interest in ever having children. 

Although I felt inspired to be a professional woman working her way up the ranks I also felt like Sheryl had a huge expectation of me to become a professional woman who got married to a man and had children.

It's impossible for every feminist writer to cover all the bases but I also think that in the position of a feminist writer - which Sheryl has quite deliberately slotted herself into - you have to try your utmost to talk to all women of all gender identities, sexualities, races and nationalities. The data was unashamedly skewed to American numbers with the occasional comparison to British stats. What about women in all other English speaking countries and more importantly what about all the women in the world who don't speak English as their first language?

The additional stories at the end of the Lean In: for Graduates edition certainly make it a more wholesome account of life after graduation but I still don't feel like it's enough. I feel like in Sheryl's position there is a huge amount of responsibility to address every woman and to empower every woman with the information that could enhance her career and life.

Despite my frustrations, as a 22 year old, white, heterosexual, cisgendered, British woman, a lot of the content did apply to me and I did take inspiration from advice on career advancement and striking a balance between work and building a life for yourself. I just hoped that it might have answered a few more of my thousand and one burning questions on how to progress in life.

[kimeatssleepsreads-blog]

Home Sweet Home, Manchester

Listed as one of the best brunches in Manchester as well as holding a reputation for the most incredible cakes, Home Sweet Home is a small, cosy café with mismatching furniture and paintings of dogs on the walls.

We went in for lunch on a sunny weekday and were left satisfied if not ever so slightly lethargic.

Unfortunately not pictured as I demolished it too quickly was the Cheeseburger Toastie (£4.50) which is exactly what it sounds like. I struggled to picture it when I read the description but it really is just two slices of white bread with sliced up cheeseburger and burger sauce, toasted. It is delicious and well worth the price. A perfect lunchtime snack.

The Pulled Pork Hash (pictured right, £9.50) is a bit more pricey and to be honest doesn’t look like much more than a mountain of potatoes and pulled pork topped with a poached egg - which it is - but I have it on good recommendation that the sauce makes it and it is more than plenty for brunch, lunch or dinner.

The milkshakes were pretty damn perfect, but having seen Oreo milkshakes pop up in more and more cafés and restaurants I’m not sure if it’s enough to make Home Sweet Home an extra special destination. It’s certainly worth a visit, especially if you’re already in the area, and the cakes are a sight to behold but on this occasion I’m not sure that I’d put it up there with my favourite dining experiences ever.

If you’re looking for a chilled out slice of cake and a shake then it’s certainly a lovely little spot but for restaurant prices I’m not sure the ‘big plates’ live up to the hype.

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Almost Famous, Manchester

Pretty damn famous for somewhere that considers itself not quite there, Almost Famous is one hell of a deep fried burger joint.

I put off my visit to Almost Famous for a number of months after endless complaints about their ‘no bookings’ policy and relaxed service. We decided to visit post-work mid-week and we were met with a calmly bubbling atmosphere (who knows what the hell that is but it was relatively busy for 5pm on a weekday). With Nando’s style service, it’s a little confusing at first and their reluctance to use accepted English to describe their food makes for slightly difficult decisions but we struck lucky in guessing that the portions might be just a tad overwhelming.

There’s no such thing as a regular burger in Almost Famous, they’re all double and stacked high with fillers. I went for the ‘Famous’ double cheeseburger (on the right, £7) which is about as basic as you can get here and we shared bacon bacon fries. The burgers were fine, pretty huge, pretty unfinishable. The burger sauce was relatively heavenly but what I really need to rave about here is the fries (pictured in the middle, £4).

The crispiest, lightest mix of potato and sweet potato fries, coated in seasoning, bacon sauce and the crunchiest bacon imaginable. They are without a shadow of a doubt the best fries I have ever had. They melt in the mouth, leave you desperate for more but stuff you full after a few bites.

The shakes were average. After enquiring after the boozy shakes (not served mid-week to my horror) I opted for a chocolate shake (on the left) and my partner a strawberry. The chocolate was a little too chocolate-y, not quite smooth enough and just a bit of a let down. The strawberry was a perfectly good strawberry milkshake - probably as good as the one from Maccy D’s but for 4 times the price.

But the fries. Oh my god the fries.

If you ever find yourself on Deansgate in Manchester I URGE you to go to the Great Northern and demolish a basket of the bacon bacon fries. You will not regret it.

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Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I could go through everything you could possibly do in Amsterdam but it’s totally dependent on your interests. I’m not huge on tourist attractions and undoubtedly my favourite thing about Amsterdam was how effortlessly stunning it was all hours of the day.

It definitely helped that it was blue skies and 25 degrees every day but I’m also just a sucker for the presence of water. Being in Amsterdam is being in and around water 100% of the time and I can’t imagine anything more blissful.

So there’s a hell of a lot to do in Amsterdam; it’s steeped in social, political and artistic history, but it’s definitely worth setting aside time to get lost. My favourite way to experience any new place is to allow myself to get lost down a side street or along a canal or in a museum. This is incredibly easy to do in Amsterdam. Its theoretically incredibly simple layout is deceptive and means that you’ll probably get lost 10 times within the space of 20 minutes but it’s so small that you’re never far from where you want to be. This is my idea of heaven.

Above are my favourite photos from my 4 day stay in Amsterdam. From top left: Museumplein, Rijksmuseum at night, dusk over one of the countless canals, the I amsterdam sign on the Museumplein, the gardens of Rijksmuseum, the Institute for Gender Equality, the Bloemenmarkt, a house on the canal opposite Rijksmuseum, a residential side street and finally sun set over another of the canals. Everything pictured is a public space and these are the images which will stick in my mind of beautiful Amsterdam.

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The Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

I’ve been a massive fan of Van Gogh for a really long time, I’m talking, he was the centre of the majority of my art projects from the age of 10. I remember doing an interpretation of ‘Crows’ in middle school and writing essays about him in high school. I went to the exhibition a few years ago which showcased the letters between him and his brother Theo which only further deepened my infatuation. Put simply, I love Vincent Van Gogh.

Most recently I gave a presentation on his national identity and whether his significant amount of time spent in France had actually made him more French than Dutch.

Visiting his museum in his country was like the last piece of the puzzle. And I loved it.

Speaking from a 100% biased and emotionally involved perspective, I thought his art was presented carefully and thoughtfully next to both his influences and artists who have since been influenced by him.

It wasn’t necessarily chronological, although it did start with his earliest and end with his latter works. The order made a lot of sense from the point of view of someone who has studied art and dedicated hours to studying the intricacies of style and technique.

Without going through each room and collection in immaculate detail, all I can say is that this museum is wholly worth the €15 entry fee (unlike some other museums in Amsterdam) and it certainly satisfied my desire to immerse myself in the world of Van Gogh on a Friday morning.

I can see how for somebody who isn’t head over heels in love with the man, the collection might have been a bit overwhelming. It is relentless. The blurbs on the wall also did seem to assume a fair bit of prior knowledge. For me, as somebody who has read about the man, his life and his art for hours on end, it was a beautiful addition. But if you just wanted to zip through to get a glimpse of some of his most iconic pieces (Wheatfield with Crows, Sunflowers, Bedroom in Arles) it may well not be worth the queuing, the price of the ticket and the peering over a crowd of heads.