[Restaurant Review] New Padella at Shoreditch

After getting addicted to pasta at Padella, I was delighted to learn that there was going to be a second branch in Shoreditch which finally opened on the 13th of February 2019.

As it was new, decided to try it as soon as possible so went there on a weekday for late lunch.
Padella offers affordable and tasty pastas which changed the scene in London.
They started off at London Bridge next to the Borough market where you will find endless queues of people going there.

Since there is a new branch at Shoreditch, I went and tried it two weeks after opening on a weekday lunch and we were seated within 10 minutes.

The layout of this place is on one floor with seating by the open kitchen, main dining area and another bar table by the other side.

The menu is much the same with the signature gnocci, pici caci e pepi and the parpadelle.

Sparkling water and Still water are complimentary.

As a fan of pastas, ordered the gnocchi, pici and tagliarini.

Started with the gnocchi with nutmeg butter which was a good start.
This has to be my ultimate favourite because each piece of gnocchi is soft and pillowy with a delicious taste of potatoes complimented by the nutmeg.

Next was the Pici cacio and pepe which looks like Udon smothered in delicious black peppery butter sauce.
Each strand is al dente with a firm texture to it.

Last but not least was the Tagliarini with dry chili and garlic.
It was good but I prefer the other one they did with Anchovy butter at Padella, London Bridge.
Still a good option for vegetarians.

Will definitely be back when they change the menu.

Padella Shoreditch
1 Phipp Street

Previous visits to Padella:

Stracci and Parpadelle at Padella - London Bridge:
https://supersupergirl-dining.blogspot.com/2020/02/review-second-visit-to-padella.html
Gnocchi and Anchovy Butter Tagliarini:
https://supersupergirl-dining.blogspot.com/2020/01/review-possibly-best-pasta-at-padella.html

[Restaurant Review] #IKEA £1 #Breakfast

IKEA's breakfast for a pound was so successful last year that they are doing it again this year until 27th March 2019.
The 6 item breakfast includes: 1 sausage, 1 bacon, 1 omelette, 1 hash brown, baked beans and half a grilled tomato.
Vegetarian option includes: 1 vegetarian sausage, 1 hash brown, 1 omelette, baked beans, mushrooms and ½ grilled tomato.

Croydon IKEA was the nearest branch so went there.
It was 10am and there was a long queue already.

As I wanted to try the vegetarian sausage, I decided to order the vegetarian option for £1 since the sausage itself is 60p, so you might as well pay 40p extra for the 6 items.
To summarize, it was a really good deal and the omelette was fluffy and better than I expected.
However the vegetarian sausage was a bit disappointing as I found it a bit too sweet for my liking.

All was good but the cashier could have been friendlier as it was my first time using the FAMILY CARD so I didn't know the cost of the TEA would be taken off after swiping the code but she kept telling me to scan the barcode at the till without explaining.

[Restaurant Review] Shatkora Kebab at Whitechapel Fried chicken

Mile End and Stepney Green have changed so much, there used be lots of fried chicken shops, Middle eastern grocery shops but the whole scene has changed since the London Olympics in 2012.
Areas surrounding Stratford have gentrified and with lots of QM students nearby, coffee shops are a must!

My favourite Perfect Fried Chicken shop has been replaced by Green pepper or something like that and the one opposite Stepney Green station is also gone.

For more fried chicken shops, you have to venture into the Whitechapel side where there is Whitechapel fried chicken and Perfect Fried chicken which is round the corner from Barclays banks.
For convenience Whitechapel is right outside Whitechapel station and this joint has the Shatkora Kebab which is kebab with Shatkora a citrus fruit from Bangladesh.
You would be surprised how busy this branch was as there were so many people.

Anyway, ordered a Shatkora kebab to dine there.

Kebab these days are just not the same because they don't stuff the doner meat inside the bread like how they used to.
It was comforting having the Shatkora kebab again but the citrus flavours were not strong enough and the doner meat was a little dry or it would have been perfect.

[Review] Cake Zone Eggless cakes in Croydon

There are currently two branches of Cake Zone in London at the moment, both on London Road.
I went to the Cake Zone on near Croydon for the eggless cakes.

Unfortunately, the selection was smaller than anticipated because I thought they had eclairs and other goodies according to google map.

For the eggless cakes, there were six choices and they all cost £2 per slice.
There was chocolate, black forest, coconut, strawberry, pistachio and rose to choose from.

It was quite difficult to choose even though it was only six choices but basically it was either the chocolate sponge or the Victoria Sponge.
From the cabinet, the coconut looks the best in terms of the sponge and cream but as pistachio is not always offered I went for that.
As for the chocolate sponge, it was either the black forest or the chocolate slice but as the chocolate cream looked like buttercream I went for the black forest.

Overall I was really impressed with these cakes compared to Cake Box because they are fluffier and the sweetness is just right.
The cream for the black forest is a winner here because it is light and fluffy.
Compared to Cake Box, the slices are smaller and do not look as fancy as Cake Box, same goes with the packaging as it does not have tailored made boxes and sleeves which make it difficult when you carry it home.

Revisited Cake Zone again because I was craving for cakes.
This time got the chocolate slice and the Coconut slice.
I am glad I had the coconut there because the box is not tall enough for it and some for the chocolate as the cream on top gets crushed.
Anyway, the coconut slice was amazing, imagine it like a Victoria sponge with coconut on top.

Tried the chocolate slice as well because the chocolate cake looked different to the chocolate cake base in the black forest.
The taste of this one was also amazing, the texture was just like normal cake and the chocolate buttercream was light and not too sweet with a rich chocolate taste.

To summarize, my favourites picks would be the chocolate slice and the coconut slice.

Cake Zone Croydon.
254 London Road