Tag: British food

Louie Louie – London Walworth Road

On By Bao Bao QiuIn Uncategorized4 Comments
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/

Breakfast at Aqua – The Shard

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It’s the summer bank holiday. It’s raining and the only good thing about today was I got to eat a posh breakfast at Aqua Shard with Miss Posh who says this place is her “local pub”. Joker! ¬.¬” Well she’s called Miss Posh for a reason on this blog!
A table was booked for 9.30 am. I was dead on time, but I don’t think that was early enough for Miss Posh as we wouldn’t be able to get a window seat she says… We got a window seat. 😛

We caught up with gossip for a little bit, ordered our morning drinks and was deciding what to eat all at the same time.
We had placed our order for two Shard Full Breakfast’s… and it took a long time to get to our tables… quite a long time. So we ate the danish pastries, kept on talking and watching London go all grey with the lovely rain spilling over the city. It reminded me of going up the Empire State Building in the rain. ^_^
The danishes tasted ok, a bit crusty so you may experience a lot of flakes coming off… Hmmmm.

Rainy London!
Apparently they usually do re-fills for the orange juice but maybe because it was a bank holiday this didn’t happen… Don’t know…
Orange juice (tasted sour) and my sweet apple juice

Flat white coffee
Finally the breakfast arrived. 
Shard Full Breakfast… as it appeared


Miss Posh said we needed to move the items around to make the plate look a little colourful. Hahah.

Miss Posh’s plate

My plate
As I started eating I felt full after a few bites. Blimey. What do they put in the food? How can this plate of food make me so full already! Miss Posh gave me her black pudding and I gave her a piece of bacon. Swap! Black pudding was nice, better than what I’ve had before, beans looked different, they weren’t too sweet but tasted good. Sausage, mushrooms, bacon, half tomato and spinach all tasted good and was well seasoned. One of my poached eggs was slightly overcooked but I was ok with it.
Brekkie time!
Managed to eat all of it, but the bread was really dry so I left the crusty bits.
This is the bar part…
Total cost came to £65.25. Yeesh. Expensive for breakfast, but as Miss Posh and I see it, we’re paying for the view…>_<""
My geeky rating: 4.5/5
Good points:
– Nice view
– Breakfast is good
– Service is ok… 
Bad points:
– Expensive (but worth it for the rainy view)
– Can be a long wait for the breakfast
Address: Level 31, The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RY
Telephone: 020 3011 1256

Duck and Waffle – London Heron Tower

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Another evening out with Miss Posh. This time we tried out Duck and Waffle which is also located in Heron Tower (the same place as Sushi Samba). Another so-called posh restaurant. Yep. No open toe shoes, no trainers, you must dress in appropriate clothing! 
Duck and Waffle is another fusion restaurant between British and the Europeans. Nice concept… I was expecting very nice combinations from a restaurant like this! 

Miss Posh got there before me and I was late by 10 minutes because of bus traffic. For the first time Miss Posh was early!! … We ordered our food as soon as I arrived. I already knew what I wanted and it seemed Miss Posh was already full from an away day meal she went on. Lucky her! 😛
Finally the food came out… I was a bit hungry!
Miss Posh had the Pea, Mint and Ricotta Ravioli dish. She liked this. I didn’t get a taste.

She didn’t like this corn on the cob with toasted coconut and spiced mayo. It didn’t suit her tastebuds and I didn’t want to try it fearing I would get bits stuck in my teeth. (I told a colleague of mine who knows a lot about food and nutrition the next day about this and she said corn on the cob should only be seasoned with butter. It doesn’t need to be cooked like this… hmmmm….

This is her non-alcoholic coctail…

I have a thing for aubergine at the moment so I asked for the Coal Charred Aubergine… to be honest I thought I would get slices of aubergine with the skin on, lightly spiced with cumin and minimal yogurt. I took a taste of this and thought the cumin just doesn’t go well with the aubergine. Bleurgh. The saltiness flavour came at the end… just not for me this dish.

I also ordered the famous classic Duck and Waffle dish. It looked cool but not completely to my taste. The fried egg was a bit rubbery, I think I even flicked a bit into my eye. ¬_¬”” The duck egg was crispy and very tasty, this went well with the waffle and syrup that came with it. Too bad I didn’t have the guts to clean that duck leg in front of so many people… 😛
Top view

Side view

From the lift we could see the sun ready to set… ^_^

Waiter came to us with the bill without us asking for it (I’m sure we never asked for it). I think I dislike service like that… Total came to £59.63 and I only had tap water! ¬_¬”” The price of paying for what seems posh to us in London. 
My geeky rating: 3.5/5 (I’m afraid I was still hungry… 😦 )
Good points:
– Polite service (except for the person who gave us the bill)
– Duck and Waffle dish was lovely without the egg
Bad points:
– Expensive for a piece of roasted duck leg
– Side plates didn’t go too well with the classic dishes…
– Felt hungry after eating this 😦 Make sure you eat a big lunch before going here… unless you decide on the meals to share

Address: 110 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AY
Telephone: 0203 640 7310

Cheesy Scotch Eggs

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O-hoho. I do love a scotch egg. When I went to Miss Pinky’s one weekend, Mr Picky started about making scotch eggs with herbs and stuff and telling me how they can be made, so now it’s in my head that I have to try this out plus add an extra twist to it.
I have watched a couple of YouTube videos and started reading online with people using grated cheese in the sausage mix but what about a melting cheesy middle part? I couldn’t see any of that online or maybe I’m just searching for the wrong words online.
Well, anyway, here’s how I cooked it (something to do on a cold rainy day).
Ingredients:
– Pack of 8 thick pork sausages (I used Wall’s because it was half price)
– 5 boiled eggs
– 1 egg whisked
– Plain flour
– Panko breadcrumbs (or normal breadcrumbs, I just couldn’t find the normal one in the supermarket)
– Vegetable oil for cooking
– Dairylea cheese slices (or any cheese slices)

Scotch egg ingredients

I used Dairylea cheese slices because that’s all I had ^_^

1. Take one sausage and de-skin it as shown in the second picture below. You may want to use 1 and a half sausages per egg (depending on the egg size and how thick you want your scotch egg to be).

De-skin the sausage
2. Dust the sausage with the plain flour and then mould and flatten into a circular shape, maybe the circumference of a small plate.
Sprinkle with flour and flatten the meat
3. You may want to do this beforehand… Split the cheese slice in half and wrap the egg with one half going from top to bottom and the other half from one side to the other.
Wrap the cheese slices
4. Next carefully cover the egg and cheese with the sausage and ensure there are no gaps in between.
Wrap the sausage meat

 Your scotch egg should now look like this:

A round scotch egg

 Here’s 4 of them

4 scotch eggs

 I used the last two sausages and made a big one.

And the last one
5. Heat up your pan and add some vegetable oil (about 3-4 cm in height). Then dip your scotch egg into the whisked egg.
Dip into whisked egg

6. Then coat the scotch egg with the panko breadcrumbs.

Coat with breadcrumbs

 7. Gently add into your pan of oil and then fry for 5-10 minutes.

Deep fry them

 Keep turning the scotch eggs… don’t panic if your scotch egg splits, you have the extra ones to do!
Don’t panic if the cheese oozes out!!
 8. After cooking, gently lift them out and place onto a clean plate. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes before eating!!
And voila

Nice stuff

So cheesy

Here’s the last 3. I burnt the last one!!

Burnt the last one

This one looks perfect!

This is actually my very first time eating fresh scotch eggs. I’m so pleased with myself. ^__^ Love the cheesiness of it all. 
Have to cook these again but I might change to a different sausage brand.

p.s. They taste really good the next day after being in the fridge… The cheese was still in its melted form too!

Honest Burgers – Brixton Village Market

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As I went back to Mama Lan to take another picture of the place, I thought I might as well and stop by and eat at Honest Burgers which is a few doors away. Mr Picky had a burger there last year and he seemed to like it.
Thankfully when I got there it wasn’t too busy. Perfect timing! I took a bench seat in the corner inside the little restaurant and had a good look at the menu. I already knew what I wanted but had a browse anyway…
Honest Burgers

Inside Honest Burgers Brixton
I ordered the Cheese burger and I forgot to tell them I wanted Stilton cheese, but that doesn’t matter. It came with a big plateful of chips that were salted and almost resembled wedges as some of the chips had the skin on. A different style of chips! The plate I noticed looked very basic and they look like plates that my parents would have used in the 70’s / 80’s. They only give you one knife and no fork is included.
Yummy burger and chips!
The burger itself came in a soft brioche like looking bun that wasn’t sweet. The cheese melted nicely onto the beef burger and this looked very big to eat at first! Well, my verdict is that it tastes better than a Gourmet Burger Kitchen burger. It has a sweet tasting relish accompanying the burger and  the beef burger was very well done, which was what I wanted!
Close up of the Cheese burger
I asked for the curry sauce which was only £1 extra, why not! The curry sauce was a little spicy and it was also salty. Didn’t like the saltiness of the curry sauce so I added ketchup on plate (which was hard to get out!). It’s worth a try though.
Curry sauce

My well done burger
Total price came to £11 including my drink. Wow. A burger joint that is actually worth going to and I would definitely come here again! A very “honest” burger place. ^_^ Bad joke!

My geeky rating: 5/5

Good points:
– Cheap-ish burger meal (better than eating at GBK!)
– Very filling since they give you a lot of chips

Bad points:
– Nothing majorly bad to report here…

Address: Unit 12, Brixton Village, London SW9 8PR
Telephone: 020 7733 7963

Website: http://www.honestburgers.co.uk/

Hunter S Pub – London Southgate Road

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Uh, I’m supposed to be writing about the other American snacks I bought from Dallas, but I will continue that after this post. I must share this!

Miss Pinky and I rarely go up the north side of London, and yesterday we were supposed to go laptop shopping for Miss Pinky, but that didn’t happen as we ended up buying things in TIGER in Wood Green, and then we got lost trying to find this place the Hunter S pub. It was a trek and a half, as we thought it was around Southgate Tube Station… It’s not!! ¬,¬” Miss Pinky, I thought you knew where Southgate Road was…!
Outside Hunter S
The reason why we wanted to specifically go here was because they served beef wellington, which is an English traditional dish. Yes, England has other dishes other than fish and chips! Miss Pinky has been wanting this for a few months now… (and I had to do all the research because Miss Pinky is lazy :P). Other places serve this dish in posh places like in Chelsea and other expensive places. I have searched high and low on the Internet, just to find a place that still serves this one dish in a not too poshy area! And Hunter S was just right… Posh but not too over the top posh for the average Londoner…

I haven’t seen many bloggers blogging about this place. Those that have blogged about it have blogged more about the beers and the decoration, and not much about the food. And those who have blogged about the food haven’t given much insight… What’s wrong with it? I don’t know really!

So as a newbie to this pub, and a person coming from South London heading to North London, I will give a different insight (this will be more about the food and the decoration than the drinks)…

Firstly the decoration is actually stunning! For anyone who loves pubs or bars will find this place a bit of a shock. And if you’re a real animal lover, it’s best not to stare too much at the decoration. It’s mostly full of deer heads, bear skin and birds – are they real or fake? I’m not sure.
Inside Hunter S

Deer’s Heads

Beautiful chandelier! 

The Bar
For people needing to go to the toilet, you will get a shock of your life. Well not that much of a shock, but it’s different to a normal pub’s toilet!! It’s a wacky toilet!! You must observe the pictures…

Now onto the food!! ^_^ There’s one page of it, and I took a picture of the menu (but I’m afraid it’s a bit blurred) because I couldn’t find it on the Internet. I guess it changes from time to time (or maybe not).
One page food menu – sorry it’s blurred!!
Miss Pinky and I wanted different starters to try out, so we ordered the Asparagus soup (forgot the full name). It has quail eggs in it. And the corn bread with beef brisket (also forgot the full name)… 
Our starters
The Asparagus soup tasted creamy but it was a little salty for my tastebuds. It was something that Miss Pinky enjoyed, and it was a small portion. She had most of this!
Asparagus soup and crusty bread
The Corn bread and Beef brisket was delicious for me. It was rich in taste and sweet enough. I think I have more of a sweet tooth than a salty one! The goats cheese blended in well as it took away the sweetness. 😀 This dish actually reminded me of being in Dallas – because of the beef brisket!! Miss Pinky said the starters were definitely teasers before the main dish came out…
Corn bread and beef brisket
It was a bit of a wait in between the starters and our main course. But it was worth it!! Every minute of it. The beef wellington comes with salad, seasonal vegetables and a red wine jus (gravy) plus a bowl of chunky chips. This dish costs £35 for two people. So if you’re going out to try this, make sure you have someone coming with you to share it!! 
Beef wellington, chunky chips, seasonal vegetables, salad and red wine jus

From a different angle
So there were two pieces of the beef wellington, one piece was smaller than the other – I was going to take the smaller piece, but took the bigger piece in case Miss Pinky couldn’t finish it. I could see Miss Pinky wanting that bigger piece, but she ended up being full from her smaller piece, and had a bit more beef steak from mine. Well, the beef was definitely seasoned well, the pastry unfortunately came off too easily. Is that supposed to happen? The salad was ok, but I think I liked the broccoli sticks more as they were crunchy. I’m not sure if I tasted much of the red wine jus (I think I was enjoying the beef to notice the taste really), but I definitely did pour a lot of the gravy onto the beef wellington…
The bigger piece of the beef wellington

My plate ^_^
It was worth coming to Hunter S. It felt more like a restaurant than a pub from the inside, but this is a gastro-pub, and so this is what you should expect! I think I need to trek up to North London more often. The drinks are slightly cheaper than those in Central and South London. There seems to be a whole street in Shoreditch that is dedicated to Vietnamese food – I must have a taste at one those places!!

So total cost came to £61.65 which included four drinks! Just over £30 per person. That isn’t bad considering that beef wellington is hardly cooked and sold in many pubs in London…

My geeky rating: 5/5 (for the funkiness between modern and old decor to the food!)

Good points:
– Funky modern and old decor
– Food was filling
– Although a bit expensive, it was definitely worth it!
– Drinks are cheapish (better than Central London prices!!)

Bad points:
– None really, but their website needs a big update! There are no links, no menus to browse at and no pictures to see… Have to rely on the public more for information!

Address: 194 Southgate Road, Dalston, London, N1 3HT
Telephone: 020 7249 7191

Nearest Station: Dalston Kingsland OR Dalston Junction Overground Station 
Buses: 21, 141 (stop at Southgate Road)



Angus Steakhouse – London Leicester Square

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So after going around the German Market, plus a walk around Covent Garden with my friend Miss Rock who I see only once a year we decided to eat. My friend wanted to eat Westernised style food and nothing Chinese (she’s Chinese too and just got back from Hong Kong – but I’ve just realised that she’s totally British! :-S) Hah! And so I suggested Angus Steakhouse. I have been there before, and I knew I would enjoy the food there!! (I didn’t take a picture of the outside but enjoy the pics of the food :D).

Well you can’t not order a steak whilst at a steak house in which case I ordered the New York Strip, with a side order of chips… I think my egg was slightly under-cooked, but nevertheless I enjoyed it! 

New York Strip with peppercorn sauce

I had peppercorn sauce with my steak. Now this is what peppercorn sauce is supposed to be like! Not that brown stuff from one of my previous posts!

The steak doesn’t come with sides… this is my chips 🙂


Miss Rock had the Chicken Carolina which was very filling but she wanted a salad with it! She finished it, although she had to take a break in between… 😀

Chicken Carolina

In the end, we both wanted dessert… well something cooling to finish off with. Last year we had massive desserts and couldn’t really finish everything! So we both had a milkshake. I had the banana flavour and Miss Rock had the strawberry flavour.

Strawberry milkshake ^^

Yummy banana milkshake

I also ordered a berry cheesecake. I love cheesecake, but I didn’t like the berries. A bit sour. The sauce was nice though!! ^^

Nice cheesecake! 

Total cost came up to £68.25 (includes 2 diet cokes)


My geeky rating: 4.5/5 (just for the slightly under-cooked egg and the sour berries, but otherwise A-ok!)

Good points:
– Good and friendly service
– Steak was cooked medium as it was supposed to be!
– Thumbs up for my banana milkshake
– Got seated by the window

Bad points:
– Berries on the cheesecake were a bit sour (don’t like sour berries)
– Was the service charge compulsory? Yes I think it was… No tip… Sorry… (Check out comment below – it’s not a compulsory charge!)

Address: Angus Steakhouse, 20 Cranbourn Street, London WC2H 7AD

Website: www.angussteakhouse.co.uk


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