Month: March 2017

Louie Louie – London Walworth Road

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I think I’m about 2 months behind in my posts… sorry…

There’s going to be a lot of cooommmmpetition on the Walworth Road with this new cafe/restaurant (I say in a high pitch voice).

Just before I went to Hong Kong I saw this little corner finally being taken over which has been abandoned for years. It was once a fast food restaurant, then turned into a Nigerian restaurant and now into this new café (that turns into a bar at night). I think I have to see this change over happen at some point.
I missed its opening in December because I kept seeing closed shutters, so I have no idea when it opened… Why do cafés and restaurants open towards the end of the year?!

I woke up early one Sunday morning (it was the day after the skirt-making workshop), I couldn’t sleep, so went out Pokémon hunting in Burgess Park. ^_^ Spent a good time there and didn’t realise part of the lake’s path was closed off… ¬_¬” Irritating. 
As I was walking back, I thought this was a good chance for me to try out Louie Louie. Think I got there just in time for opening time! 

Interesting choice of table plants. ^_^ My favourite! (I have cacti in my office).

My interest of light bulbs never ends.

Ordered a flat white coffee with soya milk which unfortunately costs an extra 0.50 pence. I’ve read other people’s reviews on that, and yes, it is expensive for a different milk. Plus I was expecting a slightly larger glass/cup for it. 😦

There was a lot of choice on the Weekend Brunch menu compared to its normal brekkie menu! But I thought I’ll go vegan for that morning. Just to be on the healthy side… Plus introduce different food items on this blog. I can’t eat meat all the time! 
Kitchen opened at 9.30am that morning so had to wait for a bit for the food… 
I chose this very hearty looking chickpea stew with avocados and mushrooms which came with a leafy salad and toast. It’s for two people, but I did a long walk, so I think I was capable of eating most of it… I even ordered the vegan banana bread with almond butter… Maybe I shouldn’t have ordered that. Too much food. ¬_¬”” (I think other people were curious at my picture taking… LOL! Well, it is a lot of food, and I was on a food mission.).

This is the type of food Miss Vegan would bring into work. Maybe I should learn how to make this stuff…. It was amazing! A little spicy but the avocodo cooled my mouth from the spiciness. The toast went well with it.

Not sure about this salad presentation, but I like the taste of it.

I finally had this banana bread. Miss Vegan tried to make this one day for her son, but it ended like a vegan banana cake… it still tasted great! The almond butter was a bit sticky for my liking, but I found it sweet enough and sticky enough. I think vegans will love this place.

Finished!


Total cost came to £24.41 which includes service charge. It is expensive, but my meal was kind of for two people, so in fact I would have paid around £12 if I was with another person (trying to justify the pricing).

I was full after eating, but not bloated like after eating lots of meat and chips…
Definitely would go again! But only on a very random occasion. ^_^
At night this place changes into a bar too… Heheheh

My geeky rating: 4.9/5 (just because of the tiny coffee!)

Good points:
– Friendly service
– Good atmosphere
– Suitable for vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters

Bad points:
– A little expensive (especially for the tiny coffee I had 😦 )
– Took a bit long for the food – but that was expected

Address: 347 Walworth Road, London SE17 2AL
Tel: 020 7450 3223

Website: http://louielouie.london/

Sewing @ The Fashion Box

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Happy Birthday to me!! ^_^ I will be doing absolutely nothing i.e. not hanging out with friends… contemplating on my age. 

It’s been a tragic week… condolences to the people of London and the victims. We will stay strong!

***

I can’t sew. I mean I can’t use a sewing machine. >_< (But my hand sewing is also very bad…).

My colleague Miss Vegan wanted to learn and we kept talking about it until I eventually decided to give it a go (without her – I gave a chance to decide to go together, but she took forever to decide… too busy at the time). MummyGeek won’t teach me either – she has this belief that I would break her machine – even her precious industrial one (which hasn’t been in use for many years). ¬_¬””
Checked on Groupon for any sewing deals, and one came up showing a two hour workshop for £21 on an introduction to sewing at The Fashion Box based in Seven Sisters Road in North London. For me it was a little hard to find and I had to get two buses to get there. 

You’ll recognise where to get off once you see this gigantic snail painting on the wall.

We were introduced to a basic sewing machine. Singer is quite a popular brand,

At the introduction, I learnt how to set up a sewing machine, sew in straight lines, how to sew in circular patterns and how to insert an invisible zip… almost messed up with the invisible zip!!

My handy work after 2-3 hours. I actually had fun at this workshop.

I was encouraged by Miss Vegan and a few other friends to try out some harder stuff… So I looked on Groupon and other places in London. In the end I chose to go back to The Fashion Box. Next was the dressmaking class, where they provide you with the materials. This was a six hour class. But I unfortunately I made a massive mistake by adding the zip in the wrong parts, but at least the front was ok! I had to spend a bit longer in the workshop trying to fix it, and felt a bit guilty for making our tutor stay longer than he should… Grrrrr… Anyway, took the dress home and asked MummyGeek for help later! 
The dressmaking class is absolutely worth the go at £49 on Groupon (but check if it’s still running!).

The dress after a lot of fixing… gone a size smaller I think…

The skirt making was a week later and was the last workshop available in their calendar in early February…. This workshop was £29 on Groupon – but please do check if it’s still available! You have to buy your own materials for this workshop.
This workshop was less intense than the dressmaking one as there were two tutors – the owner and my tutor from the last two workshops. Don’t worry tutor 1, I was not scared off! The owner is absolutely hilarious and will joke about. He’s a real expert at some shortcuts with sewing machines.

It was a fun session, although I still made a lot of mistakes whilst making this skirt… Had to fix it at home again. 

The final skirt fits! Slightly loose, maybe because I measured over my jumper instead of over my t-shirt. ¬_¬””
For a small fix it took me over an hour ++ to complete… 😦 

I had a good time learning, and I think MummyGeek trusts me a little bit to use her machine once in a while. 

Address: Unit 4. 718-722 Seven Sisters Road, Gourley Street, London. N15 5NH

Website: https://www.thefashionbox.co.uk/

Nearest Tube Station: Seven Sisters

Paldo Rabbokki Noodles

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Bought these Rabokki flavoured noodles some time last year (forgot the price as usual…lost the receipt as usual). Decided to eat them earlier this year before they expired. >_<" Rabokki is a combination of noodles and rice cakes in ddeokbokki sauce.

Also bought some frozen rice cakes from Longdan Express, which come with their own spicy sauce.

This was what was in the packet… Think I’m not going to explain how I cooked them. But I did boil the rice cakes first to try and soften them.

This is how it ended up…

Then added two slices of artificial cheese. >_<""

Taste wise it wasn’t that bad, sweet and spicy at the same time. My rice cakes weren’t as soft as I would liked them to have been.

Enjoyed it… ^_^

Go Vegan World Poster Advert

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Just had to throw this poster ad in for the sake of bad slogans.
I am not against veganism. My colleague who sits next to me is called Miss Vegan, and her food is always amazing! 
I guess this poster was kind of interesting and intriguing… I just can’t understand how “Dairy takes Babies from their mothers”… Huh? Isn’t it supposed to be “Babies takes dairy from their mothers”? According to Miss Vegan, adults shouldn’t really be drinking dairy in the first instance. Babies suck from their mother’s breasts, and the mother’s produce milk by eating, drinking and resting, which is how baby mammals survive. ¬_¬”

In a confused state at the moment…

Sainsbury’s @ Elephant & Castle

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Two months ago a new Sainsbury’s appeared amongst our many supermarkets in the area. Still waiting for there to be a mini ASDA, LIDL and ALDI… Come closer to Walworth Road please. ^_^
Elephant and Castle is becoming trendy at the moment. People are already trying to forget there was a council estate there. Don’t worry, people like me will not forget the once atrocious area!

Before shopping there I went out to the Czech Club with Mr YellowCloak and Ms LǜFù (pictures of food below), then followed Mr YellowCloak to get the City Link train – it’s so quick using this train. Unfortunately Mr YellowCloak told me to get on the wrong train, which didn’t stop at Elephant and Castle, so had to get a bus from Blackfriars… Was very fortunate that I had 20 minutes left before closing time!

It’s quite a big store. Even though there’s a lot of variety, I still prefer Morrisons and Tesco.

There’s even a small Asian section, but I would likely be heading towards Longdan Express for some of my Asian food stock.

Here’s a reminder of the times it opens and closes.

Very conveniently placed near the bus stops (like the one in Waterloo. ^_^ )

Good luck Sainsbury’s Elephant and Castle!

Address: 40 New Kent Rd, London SE1 6TJ

Here’s what I had that evening. Battered cauliflower with salad. Black tea. And I also had an apple struedel. Trying to prove to Miss Vegan that I can be semi healthy on a night out. LOL!

On my way out from Blackfriars, a cheeky fox just walked past me… Not scared at all! I meant the fox was not scared of us humans. >_<"

Jihwaja Korean Restaurant – London Vauxhall

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One day after picking up a package in Vauxhall that I had bought from John Lewis’s website, I decided to go and eat some Korean food. It was also Christmas Eve, and left 2 hours early from work – why not?! My work place at the time almost seemed quiet but could get away and leave the rest of the work for after Christmas. >_<" (I did not regret it at all!).
Do you remember Tiffany’s in Vauxhall? Probably not, as the Korean owner of this restaurant has changed it’s name to Jihwaja.
Wow. I haven’t been there for a while, but there was an absolute revamp of the menu, name of the restaurant and promotion of the tiny location. Amazing.

I sat in the same seat I was in last time. Looked at the menu and thought I want the lunch menu! Unfortunately it was already between 4 and 5, so had to make another choice. Couldn’t order the fried chicken because that was four two people – I think I could have ordered it and ate it… Maybe… 

In the end I ordered the Buldak Spicy Chicken which came with some rice balls seasoned with sesame seeds and seaweed, and on the side was some salad. This was priced at £9.90. I also had a Hite beer. It was Christmas Eve. I needed it.

The chicken was indeed spicy. I had to blow my nose a few times. It had a good mixture of spices, seasoning and veggies.

The rice balls helped with the cooling down of the spicy chicken. They were well seasoned. I wanted more! Maybe I should learn how to make them for lunch. ¬_¬”

Was happy I ordered this, but I what I really wanted was the fried chicken. Heheh. Maybe next time!
Total cost came to around £15-£16… Less than £20 anyway. Bad memory and forgot to take the price down.
My geeky rating: 4.9/5 – just because of my fried chicken situation… maybe I should have persuaded that I could eat the whole chicken. But will definitely make it for a lunch time special!!
Good points:
– Friendly service
– Good portion sized food
– Like the slightly new look – new name and menu
– Still a good place for karaoke!
– They’ve added a bell to the table for staff to come to you… reminds me of Japanese table service!
Bad points:
– Only the bad lighting from where I was sitting

Address: 353 Kennington Lane, London SE11 5QY
Tel: 020 7582 4680

Website: www.jihwaja.co.uk

Ristorante Olivelli Italian Restaurant – London East Dulwich

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A few months delay from this short restaurant review.

Just came back from my holiday, and it was time to go out with my colleagues for Christmas celebrations. One of my colleagues was promoted around October of last year but he wanted to celebrate with everyone being available… and that was at Christmas time. I guess perfect timing! ^_^

We went to an Italian restaurant called Ristorante Olivelli located in East Dulwich, (which I would call a poshy area of Peckham and Camberwell). It seems this restaurant has a few other branches based in Central London and The East Dulwich branch is currently their fourth restaurant. Guess business is doing fairly well for them. ^_^

My Colleague ordered a few starters. One was a vegetarian option (no picture) and the one below was the meat version). There were lots of bits to get through, but there was only a few of us. >_<" My Italian colleague really loves to order a lot, even though we tell him not to overdo the ordering. LOL.

After 3 lots of starters (3 vegetarian and 3 meaty ones) later, some of my colleagues were already stuffed. I wasn’t because I had only had breakfast and nothing else that day…
Tempted to order something big, but just stuck to a lasagna. Safe option! It was pretty good. Nice and hot as it came out. Very cheesy, which is what I like.

Unfortunately I couldn’t finish the rest… 😦 So stuffed from the starters… Never eat too much at the start because you’ll never finish the main meal. I have to listen to my own words more often. >_<"

Mrs SweetTooth was sitting next to me, and she couldn’t finish her pizza either. >_<" My Italian colleague was supposed to remember to take the remainders to work for her… but never did!! LOL.

I’m afraid I don’t know the total cost… I’m sure they spent more than £100 with the amount of beers they were drinking that night. 

My geeky rating: 5/5

Good points: 
– Service was good, they adapted to my colleagues fairly well
– Good food, big portions

Bad points:
– Can’t remember if there were any…

Address: 127 Lordship Ln, East Dulwich, London SE22 8HU
Phone: 020 8693 7034