So SO Yumee!

I rarely write reviews of anything: books, films, plays, concerts, art shows, restaurants... Anything.

I do write about the Landmark Trust from time to time, because I can’t help myself, and I mention a certain cocktail once in a while, on Twitter, usually on a Monday night when we get the barman to ourselves. I’ve also written the odd film review, but, for the most part, I leave that stuff up to you.

People’s tastes vary so wildly that I can’t help thinking it’d be a bit odd to recommend anything very highly. All I can ever say is that I like something, and I’m never very sure that’s much of a recommendation... Not on its own.

We were in Leicester this weekend. The dort is at dance college there, so we spend quite a lot of time in the city. We have a favourite hotel, and we generally end up chilling there with room service, but we do shop in the town. Leicester has some  nice independent shops in the Lanes; it’s even got a very well-stocked Forbidden Planet, which we discovered recently, and which will, no doubt, become a regular haunt for the husband.

Today, the dort insisted on taking us to her favourite juice bar. She visits every day for a smoothie. They keep her going through some pretty grueling dance classes when eating solid food and trying to digest it can slow her down.

I don’t buy a lot of juices or smoothies. We have a juicer at home, so there isn’t much need, and I don’t buy the bottled stuff.

Yumee is in the Haymarket Shopping Centre on Kildare Walk, and is run by a delightful couple. They make a wide range of smoothies and juices, all from fresh ingredients while you wait. Between us we tried two different smoothies and a juice, and they were all brilliant! I thought my Monkey Biz with banana, peanut butter, mango, orange and honey was particularly spectacular. When the dort has a longer break with time to digest solids, she chooses from their amazing selection of vegetarian take-away food, also lovingly prepared, to order, while she waits, so she gets exactly what she wants. The service was both charming and efficient, and I can’t wait to eat there the next time we visit the dort. If we hadn’t just eaten breakfast we would have walked away with arms full of food!

There are lots of chains for this sort of product, but, as with all things, you can’t beat independents; they have a vested interest in their businesses, and, in this case, the couple that runs Yumee works hard to give the customer the best combination of a fantastic product with great service. Any time you’re in Leicester, I urge you to give them a try.

The man who served me commented that the dort has been good for business, because a lot of her fellow dancers also visit him on a regular basis. I wonder if that’s one of the reasons they’re quite as good as they are.

Quite this good! The dort is the first girl standing with the curly blonde hair.