Eating out on a shoestring - affordable treats!

Eating out on a shoestring - affordable treats!

As you all know by now, I'm a big fan of eating as cheaply as possible but that certainly doesn't mean I'm not a fan of eating out! Quite the opposite in fact - Mr Kate and I love eating out and saving the pennies eating #SOS food means we don't feel quite as guilty when we do spend in restaurants!

However, we have recently become avid Groupon deal buyers which makes eating out even more affordable! For those of you who haven't yet discovered Groupon, new offers are posted every day at http://www.groupon.co.uk with cut-price deals from businesses offering their wares to new customers.

Groupon offers discounts on all kinds of products - literally everything from teeth whitening to garden tools - but my favourite offers are the local restaurant deals. Today I bought a great deal for one of my favourite restaurants in Northampton - a tapas restaurant called Les Olives (http://www.lesolives.co.uk/).

The deal was £15.50 for two people for a starter and five tapas to share. Most of the tapas cost around £5 to £6 each so, depending on what you end up choosing, the deal sees savings of up to 61%. And the food is absolutely great at Les Olives!

Unfortunately this deal has now sold out on Groupon's website but keep an eye out on the site as new deals are posted at midnight every day. I've now become a little addicted to checking just before I go to bed or first thing in the morning - and I'm glad I did today as the Les Olives offer sold out in just a few hours!

We had a lovely meal out recently from a Groupon deal of two courses for two people with limoncello and coffee for £24.50 at Gian Biaz - a very good quality Italian restaurant in Northampton (http://www.gianbiaz.co.uk/). Mr Kate's slow roasted shoulder of lamb with four bean casserole would normally cost £16.95 on its own and they certainly didn't scrimp on the portion sizes!

Another cracker was a deal for four people to have a two-course Indian meal at the Imperial Raj (http://www.imperial-raj.com/), with wine, for £29. I treated the parentals to this one and at that price a meal out for four didn't break the bank like it normally might!

Some other deals I've bought recently and am going to be redeeming soon include:

- Afternoon tea for two with a cocktail each at Borjia (a fabulous bar in Northampton - check them out at http://www.borjia.co.uk/) for just £14.99.

- Gastro pub meal for two for £15 at the Olde Red Lion in Kislingbury (http://www.theolderedlion.net/). These folks were winners of the Northamptonshire Food Awards last year so I'm expecting good things!

I'd thoroughly recommend trying out a Groupon deal - I've loved trying out new restaurants for next to nothing! And the restaurants gain too - we've been back to some of them as full price customers so it's win win all round! I say I've been back as a full price customer but actually we've been given money off vouchers at the end of the meal - a fiver off the total might not be as good as the initial Groupon deal but it's certainly helped to lure us back after a great night out on the cheap!

Watch this space for my reviews of the Groupon deals I'll be redeeming soon!