[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.