A few weeks ago, myself and the Snack Warrior family went to Harvester for lunch having not been for quite some time. As with every visit, there appeared to be a NEW menu for us to give a whirl - Pork Belly and Pasta were listed, to name a few. As I am boring, I stuck with my usual of a Burger but wasn't going to pass up a NEW Starter and a NEW Dessert!
Mac & Cheddar Cheese Bites
"Cheese please!" I exclaimed when my £4.50 Starter arrived, still toasty warm from the fryers. The 5 Bites, that were marginally smaller than Golf Balls in size were piled up in a little bowl and topped with a tomato salsa which smelled suspiciously spicy!
Scared to go anywhere near the Salsa, I opted for the plain lil fella first, who was beautifully golden brown and crisp. The interior of soft pasta and super duper stringy cheese was delightful in both taste and texture with a contrast to the crunchy exterior. A hint of what I assume were chives paired up with the fairly strong chedder, a treat and gave another flavour dimension. Going back to the scary Salsa which I eventually built up the courage to try.. Fresh Tomato was certainly apparent but then the spice kicked in, I got upset, salvaged the Bites I could and chucked the rest at BSW - Next time I'm ordering without! A solid starter and a solid 4 out of 5 from me.
Red Velvet Cake
Yes, you have read that correctly.. RED VELVET CAKE! This wodge, served with whipped cream and strawberries cost £4.99 (Ish?) but I essentially had it for free thanks to a £5 off voucher - Winner!
Delightful shot in it's half eaten state! The texture of this cake was a weird one.. And not actually cake at all but more of a dense brownie! I am not sure if this was due to the fact it had only just been removed from the fridge but it didn't appear to soften up even towards the end. Taste wise, all I can say is SWEET - Very very very sweet. The more than generous cream cheese frosting did have the signature taste but the sponge itself didn't reflect Red Velvet at all.. The only way to describe the flavour in its entirety was pink! - If one could taste such a colour that is! The shards of chocolate topping and coating the side, did go someway to cut a bit of sweetness but at the same time.. Not really. As for the fluffy cream and strawberries with sauce, I have no idea of its purpose as although nice enough, it didn't go with the cake whatsoever. Cloying to say the least - It's a 2.5 out of 5 from me.
Well, it's a mixed bag of NEW here from Harvester - The Mac & Cheese Bites are delicious and I would most definitely order them again (Minus the Salsa of course) whereas the Red Velvet Cake is just Diabetes central! I can't see the latter going down well with anyone who isn't under the age of 12 which I guess works out pretty well as the Chain now allows you to order an entire Birthday sized Cake of the stuff - On your own head be it when you've got 20 hyperactive kids to wrangle for the afternoon!
If anyone has tried any other of the NEW offerings from the Restaurant, I would love to know your thoughts and feelings.. If there are some hidden gems, I may even take another trip myself!
