I’m The Luckiest Guy I Know - #fff #50

Trying to prepare this @foodfightfriday contender is difficult—I’m going through all of the recent menu items in my head. ‘Should I show’em the falafel wrap and yalanji we had at the Lebanese restaurant or the fish’n’chips from Flying Squirrel in Leeds, home of The Beatles?’ 🤔 Ooh! I know, the tea and biscuits we had at King’s Cross Station in London, the first temporary passenger station that opened in 1850 where Queen Victoria was amongst the first passengers en route to Scotland—nah... who wants to read about that rubbish? Danget! This is almost as difficult as deciding what table we want to eat at—window, corner, booth, table....

Is there an echo in here? :I’m the luckiest guy I know-õh-o0Oo-ōo-_o-oo: It’s nice to be back at kitchen #fff with you, thanks for hanging out with me, happy Friday! Preparing this contender ain’t no joke, though, really—cover images are important. Like Harley’s—looks are 80% of comfort, same goes for a #food cover image, you only get one shot. Here it comes—ready?

Falafel, pickled beets, red cabbage and shredded carrots topped with a spicy mustard and saffron dressing (there’s more). Hummus and house made naan bread (that’s not all), three vine-leaf wrapped, spicy rice-stuffed dolmas (not done yet) and a garden salad topped with banana peppers, tomatoes, green olives, shredded lettuce, a balsamic vinaigrette in fancy swirls and all of the other produce you see in the bowl—all kinds of goodness:

(Still not done) But that’s all I could fit in the picture without standing up in the crowded, elbow to elbow, Persian restaurant in West Yorkshire, UK and making even more of a scene than we already were by trying to make all of that food fit on one table. So, I did what any other seasoned food fighter would’ve done—I took two pictures. :flash: :flash:

Vegetable stew with red lentils, green beans, diced jalapeños and zucchini with a side of fried white rice topped with vinegar and saffron—Bon appetite, lads:

It’s a joint with a five star rating on TripAdvisor out of 909 reviews called Classic Persian Restaurant in Bradford, UK—a city and metropolitan borough. Eh, you know what it takes to maintain five stars out of 909 reviews on any website and this restaurant did not disappoint—delicious! I can’t say enough good things about it, Pura and I didn’t leave anything on the table, in fact, we just ate there last night and I don’t think I’ve completely digested everything yet. Too much? Did I take it too far with that one? You know me—always sugar-coating the #truth. 😉

Dessert isn’t my thing—it never really has been. Pura, however, that’s a different #story. Before we left, she had a slice of baklava topped with minced pistachios and drizzled in honey and, in case you’re wondering, I’m pretty sure that’s the first time I’ve ever used “drizzled” in a sentence.

Can you believe we got all of that food, at a five star restaurant, for 23 pounds (£23)? That’s less than $30 USD with the tip included. You can’t feed two people at an Applebee’s in the states for under 30 bucks. We’ll definitely be going back. Two 👍🏿👍🏿 up!

And, since it doesn’t get dark here until half of 22 (11:30pm), the night was still young bright. We called for an Uber and caught a ride across town, down a few single-lane, cobblestone roads to Junoon.

It looks like a strip joint doesn’t it? Don’t worry, it’s not a strip joint, not that I’m against... never mind—that’s a completely different post. Anywho, 🤔 about the strip joint Hookah lounge! Junoon Café is a hookah lounge in Bradford. Ever been to one? Me either, it was our first time. C’mon, I’ll show you how it goes down.

What happens is, you walk inside this really fancy, night club type atmosphere, hi-tech lighting having joint with purple flowers across the entire ceiling and pick the flavor you want in the water of the hookah you’re about to smoke—it’s kind of like a tobacco but not really. We went with a 50/50 mixture of raspberry and skittles.

I don’t know if it’s customary or not to have tea at any other hookah loung—I doubt it. But, when you’re in England, the country that doesn’t have coffee pots in hotel rooms and instead come furnished with tea kettles—you order fancy yourself to a spot of tea. Skittles and raspberry flavored hookah with a pot of fresh, hot off the oven, jasmine-mint tea:

Same place next week, deal? You know the name of the kitchen—you know the day. All it takes is something food related, it doesn’t get much easier than that. Have a great weekend everyone—cheers, aye!

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