Squeeze Cafe Review!

November 25, 2015 by Rich - Foodie Reviewer

Squeeze Cafe Review

I can’t think of many local restaurants or cafes, whose whole food ethos revolves around healthy eating? Ok, if you are out for lunch or dinner, you can normally scour the menu and make a healthy choice; ceaser salad no dressing? Or how about swapping lovely homemade chips for a jacket spud with no butter? Sounds a little boring doesn’t it!! I suppose you could argue, what’s the point of going out to eat and worrying about how many calories your stuffing through your mush, and that’s a fair point. But, all I would say is, everything in moderation! A double bacon monster cheeseburger and a slice of chocolate cake once in a while is a good thing right? But, more and more of us are trying just that little bit harder to be healthy. My proving point, just look at the number of gyms that have sprung up over the past few years. Not to mention the rise of boot camps and the current trend of wearable fitness technology! We are all becoming a far healthier bunch. Even me! If you’d of said to me 5 years ago I would be a regular jogging along the seafront I would have laughed at you. But look at me now. Trotting along the promenade most evenings, come rain or shine, being chased by dogs and trying to avoid out of control kids on scooters. Yes, both happen on a regular basis, it’s a hazard I’m sure anyone who has taken a trot along the seafront will sympathise with.

Listen to me babbling on about fitness, you don’t read these restaurant reviews expecting a ‘Foodie Rich Fitness Lesson’ do you? Actually, there’s a thought, how does the ‘Foodie Rich Fitness Video’ sound, the perfect Christmas present for all those who indulged just a little too much over the festive period! Mmm, I think I’m getting a little carried away here! My job is not to be your personal trainer, more of a personal restaurant guide, here to steer you in the right direction of good honest grub. That’s exactly what I'm doing this week chaps, but this weeks eatery just happens to serve up healthy food!

I have wandered past the Squeeze Cafe on numerous occasions, located on Rectory Grove near Elm Road; I’d never really given it a second glance, until I started to follow them on Twitter! As soon as I checked out their profile I could see these guys had won a ‘Healthy Eating Award’ at the Southend business awards. I thought this sounded interesting. After a quick butchers at their website, their passion for healthy eating became apparent, and the menu sounded tasty. So, Lou and I headed off down there for some lunch last weekend. It was absolutely tipping it down, and when we arrived, were guided to our table….on the roof terrace! The roof terrace when it’s raining cats and dogs, are you mad?? But it's undercover, with patio heaters, fairy lights, plants and quirky items of décor, such as a circa 1960’s TV. Pretty cool I thought!

I had earlier checked out their menu on line, so I was fairly certain what I was going to eat. But, I did have a good scan of the menu again, once we sat down, just in case I had missed anything. I said it earlier; it’s all about keeping things fresh and healthy here. For example, where else can you find a whole section dedicated to healthy smoothies and different juice combinations? But not just the drinks, most of the sandwiches are served on healthier granary bread; multi seeded buns with their burgers, even down to organic super food granola for breakfast. So, if you've been hitting the gym hard all week, you can eat pretty guilt free at Squeeze! I nearly forgot, if you are one of those guys, or girls for that matter, who favour the free weights in the gym, why not try a whey protein shot, yep they even cater for your post workout protein fix at Squeeze!

So what did we eat? I was all set to try the squeeze burger, until our friendly waitress mentioned the specials! (the staff are incredibly friendly here, and you all know what I think about service!) Moroccan lamb burger with aubergine and hummus, or slow cooked lamb in red wine with mashed potatoes and broccoli. This was a game changer, just when I thought I new what to eat, I’d gone back to square one! Both specials sounded right up my alley!! I had to send the waitress away, I needed more time to mull over these two dishes, both were very tempting. After a few more minutes weighing up the pros and cons of each dish, we had decided; the slow cooked lamb for me, and the Moroccan burger for Lou. Problem solved, I could try both!!

To drink? If I was going to be uber healthy I would have gone for one of their fresh juice combinations, but it was Saturday, and I wanted a beer! The beer selection is pretty good, some interesting sounding brews from the UK, US and Belgium. I went for a Sam Smith’s organic best ale, and a Chimay red for Lou; very nice they were too, beer with flavour, just how I like it!

Back to the food, my lamb was superb. It was cooked beautifully, I could have eaten it with a spoon, no cutting required here, the meat just fell apart. The mash? Just a perfect accompaniment, and wonderful with the rich red wine gravy. Seasoned perfectly, it was a welcome lunch baring in mind the rain was still pouring down outside, proper comfort food. The beer matched the food perfectly too, I should become a beer sommelier! Lou’s burger was equally good. A meaty homemade lamb patty with aubergine, hummus, and fragrant Moroccan spices. Some burgers you only need to look at and you can feel the cholesterol levels rising! Not this one though, it just looked fresh and natural, and tasted the same! This was the sort of food I try and find on a wet horrible day such as this, and can rarely find it, but today my prayers were answered!

Once finished, our waitress mentioned pudding. Here we go again, the usual apology from me, I just couldn’t find the room. But I was tempted when specials such as pecan pie or homemade brownies are on offer! Maybe I’ll have to pop in for a coffee and cake next time I’m passing.

On the face of it, we didn’t really pick the healthiest dishes off the menu. I mean, lamb stew, burgers and beer doesn’t sound like the choice of the health conscious. If we were that way inclined, a super healthy salad would have been a better option, and maybe replaced the beer for a healthy smoothie, but come on, it was the weekend, so you deserve a little slack don’t you. However, The big point here being, both dishes were clearly homemade, by somebody who cares, with an appreciation for healthy nutrition. No massed produced processed frozen junk here. Just natural, lean ingredients, which result in damn tasty food, which just happens to be good for you! So all I can say is guys, get yourselves down to Squeeze for some seriously tasty, almost guilt free, food!

To book at The Squeeze please visit http://www.leigh-on-sea.com/the-squeeze.html