[Review] Shadi Bakery freshly made naans and a hidden secret restaurant!

Shadi Bakery is an amazing joint in West Croydon and now there is another branch in Hounslow according to the internet.
Discovered Shadi Bakery in 2016 when I was at West Croydon.

The naans are freshly made and only cost ‎£1 for 3 back then and they still do now.

As I have already tried the naan, this time I had the Zahter Naan which was also ‎£1.

The Zahter naan was amazing and the naan was consistently good as before, it was soft, yeasty with a slight resistance.
The zahter topping was aromatic and I think there was a slight lemon taste as well.
It so was impressive because it so was delicious and non greasy.

I was craving for a zaater naan again with cheese but didn't feel like travelling to Shepherds Bush so went back to Shadi Bakery, unfortunately they do not use Akawi cheese because it is high in fat.

As well as the bakery, there is a secret restaurant at the back serving ouzi and other dishes so dined there because they had chicken livers for £5 which was a good deal since another restaurant a few doors away are serving it for £11.

The most importat thing is that they serve it with their freshly made made naans from the front.

I could tell the livers were reheated in the microwave but they tasted great but unfortunately they didn't give me fresh naan which ruined the experience.

Anyway, after I told them the naan was cold I was given a freshly made wheat naan which was crisp and warm and took the whole experience to the next level with the chicken livers.

Also on the table was sumac which is a refreshing powder made of dried berries which makes the food moreish.

Will be back to try the other dishes.

[Restaurant Review] Roast Dinner at Toby Carvery

Roast dinners and English food are getting scarce these days so the ones that still do it can get quite busy.
At Toby Carvery, they serve the carvery every day but Sunday is the best day to go as all five roast meats are available.

As it can be very busy on Sundays, it really depends on luck as well because the Yorkshire Puddings run out fast and the lines for roast are long.

Although the Yorkshire puddings are refilled, they do take time and the second batch that we saw were not as good as the first as they had not risen.

The roast meat is also like that because it gets dry the longer it sits there.

The location also matters because the quality looks different at different Toby Carvery branches.

Went to the South Croydon branch because the roast and sides looked fab.

To be honest, I was lucky everything was spot on when it was my turn so definitely top marks.

On my plate was Gammon, Roast Beef, Roast Roast Lamb and Roast Turkey should have there but as it wasn't so I got some more on a different plate.
Sides on my plate were Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, mac & cheese, Pork Crackling and beef dripping and plain roasties from the carvery deck.

After you get the roast, the final touch is the gravy and condiments where they have Toby's Special gravy and Vegetarian gravy.

Lashing of gravy and mint sauce make it all delicious.

I was definitely satisfied with the roast especially the gammon ham which had a nice salty kick without being too dry and the turkey was soft and moist.
The best thing was the stuffing, mint sauce and gravy which just makes it complete so that's why I'd rather come on Sundays when everything is there!

The Menu:

Will also be coming back for breakfast because they have the all you can eat breakfast!

[Restaurant Review] Flour and Grape Gigli

With so many fresh pasta restaurants about, Flour and Grape was another one that was worth checking out.
It is located near London Bridge on the corner of Bermondsey Road.

When I got there, I was greeted with a chefs making fresh ravioli and other pastas through the window.

I was lucky that I was early because the restaurant was quite full within twenty minutes after I sat down.

Before you order, they serve you sparkling or non water on the house.

The menu:

There were nine pastas to choose so I had to reduce my choice to one.
Clearly it was going to be the Gigli as I have had my fair share of ravioli and parpardelle at other places. To be honest, to compare I should compare like with like but not every pasta place serves the same pasta with the same sauce.
They also had taglierini with truffle but again I have had countless plates of pasta with truffle.

I ordered the Gigli which is pasta that looks like carnation flowers.
Gigli ~ sausage, fennel, chilli ragu, broccoli fiolaro

When it arrived, it did not disappoint.
Every mouthful was tasty especially because of the sausage and fennel.
In a way, it tasted like the Pappardelle with fennel sausages & peppercorn ragu at Padella except the pasta was different.

The gigli here had broccoli as well which complemented it nicely with some vegetables and green for the visuals but perhaps a little over cooked because the green was a bit dark.
Overall, I was impressed with the pasta and don't mind coming back again if there is something different on the menu.

Returned three years later and the prices have obviously gone up.

This time I had the monkfish Linguine with tomato, garlic, chilli and the Pappardelle beef short-rib ragu.

I was not fond of the monkfish Linguine because it was too salty and garlicky.

The Pappardelle beef short rib was really satisfying while the portion was big with generous pulled short rib meat.

I felt that they executed it better than Padella.

[Restaurant review] Young Vegans Pizza Shop

UK is spoilt for choice when it comes to Vegan foods.
On my vegan tasting journey, I have tried vegan fried chicken, pies, countless burgers but not much pizza which called for a journey to Young Vegans Pizza Shop.

This pizza joint is founded by Marco and Carla Casadei where they make their vegan cheese in house.

Anyway, discovered this place after I tried Young Vegans Pie Shop in Camden which is also owned by them.
Prior to the pizza joint they had a stall at Netil Market which was so successful that they started restaurant located in Bethnal Green in Nov 2019.

Finally tried it one evening and I was impressed with the open kitchen where you can see the wood fired oven and chefs making pizza.

On the other side of the restaurant is the takeaway section.

Photos of the restaurant:

As it was early, I was the only diner there so I took my time to decide which pizza to get.
To be honest, it was such a difficult choice but luckily they were able to do half and half in one pizza so that I could try two different pizza toppings.

Two more pizzas were added on the menu so I was glad I didn't try earlier as I had more choices on this visit.

The Menu:

Analyzing the menu they had two different cheeses: mozzarella and ricotta.
For vegan meats there was Seitan pepperoni, Seitan chickun and ham.
Interesting veggies would be the samphire and Brussels sprouts although samphire is a common ingredient in vegetarian places.

My choice of pizza was really hard as I wanted to try different cheeses and different meats so I ended up getting the Devils Coglioni which had Seitan pepperoni and mozzerella and the Corn of the Dead because it was an unusual combo of pickles, sweetcorn and Seitan Chickun with extra ricotta cheese.

The pizza was so legit when it arrived especially the pepperoni and how fresh the basil leaves were as if they were freshly plucked!

Devils Coglioni:
This was topped with Seitan pepperoni, basil, marinara sauce and mozzarella.
The seitan pepperoni pieces were crispy and tasty which satisfies your pepperoni pizza craving.

Corn of the Dead with extra ricotta:
The pepperoni was classic which was why I had to have the corn of the dead because the topping on this were vastly different.
It had roasted sprouts, creamed corn, pickled vegetable, mozzarella, balsamic drizzle and the extra ricotta I requested.
The taste of this one was a total surprise especially the carrots which didn't look pickled but looked fresh carrots because of its vibrant orange.
Overall it was very appetizing with balsamic dressing and creamed corn.
I liked the sprouts too and wished they were pickled because I loved anything that is pickled.

As I was having this whole pizza to myself, I was trying not to stuff myself by eating the middle first which is probably why the boss Marco noticed me eating the pizza in a strange way :)
Anyway, I managed to eat most of it which was good.
To summarize, their pizzas and homemade cheese were fantastic.

Will definitely be coming again and I would also recommend the mac and cheese if you haven't tried the mac at Young Vegans Pie Shop.

Young Vegans Pizza:
393 Cambridge Heath Road,
Bethnal Green.

Further reading:
Young Vegans Pie Shop review
https://supersupergirl-dining.blogspot.com/2019/12/youngveganpieshop.html