The European Pizza & Pasta Show 2021

It was great to attend another trade show, this time it was the EPPS 2021 (European Pizza & Pasta Show 2021) which is aimed at sellers and buyers in the European Pizza and Pasta Industries.
The show provides a much-needed opportunity for this £4 billion UK industry to get together with opportunities for renewing contacts and networking.

At the show, there was so much to see that I didn't know where to start first.

As the show is primarily focused on Pizza and Pasta, I will start with these findings first.

You cannot miss the pizza booth in the middle, Caputo mulino (@mulinocaputo) suppliers of traditional Neapolitan flour serving great pizzas with their flour base.

As well as flour, Naughty Pizza (naughtypizzauk) and their chefs were whipping up creative pizzas topped with fancy ingredients such as candyfloss and edible flowers.

Also exhibiting were Scrocchiarella.

Moving on to pizza toppings, there were so many to offer.

First was the classic pepperoni which is made the proper way hence it is called PROPERONI (properoni_uk).

Then there was the PEPPADEW company (@peppadewuk) who specializes in South African sweet peppers some with a fiery kick and some not.

On a sweet note, there was Hot Star honey (@hotstarhoney) where they have spicy honeys ranging from original chilli honey to scotch bonnet.

Scotch bonnet definitely gets my vote because the fiery kick is instant but not long lasting.

There were meatless offerings like meatless farm which I have already tried at other trade shows and there was another one for sausages and bacon which I've lost the details for the name but it could be "This is Italy"?

To get these pizzas delivered, there was a good show case of heated delivery bags by Sweetheat, electric bicycles and the best pizza boxes by The Pizza Box Shop (@thepizzaboxshop).

On the pasta side, there was La Tua Pasta (latuapasta) which is always at The Borough Market.

Their mini doughnuts filled with pistachio was so heavenly.

They were like crispy little gnocchi with a slight potato taste filled with creamy pistachio in the middle.

To take things with a pinch of salt, Saltwell does salt that is 35% less in sodium.

As well as pizza and pasta offerings, I was really impressed with the Super Tuff Menus (@supertuffmenus) as their menus are wipe and washable as well as sturdy and tamper proof.

Last but not least was a sweet ending with Il Gelato di Ariela which specializes in decadent icecreams.

My favourite was the cherry bakewell and pistachio.

Scotch eggs at The Wigmore London

The Wigmore located at The Langham London is famous for its XXL Stovetop Cheese Toastie.

At the moment, they are doing a cheese toastie takeover featuring some guest chefs.

I visited The Wigmore especially for the Scotch eggs and I had a feeling I would like it judging by the food standards from the other restaurants in the Langham group that I have tried.

When I arrived, I was greeted by staff at the entrance who didn't seemed impressed that I was dining by myself but then I was primarily there just to try one thing.

Sat down and observed that many of the XXL Stovetop Cheese Toasties on peoples tables were half eaten which isn't a good sign.

Now to my scotch egg which was described as a Masala spiced scotch-egg on dahl relish on the menu.

I am not too keen on dahl but their scotch egg nailed it for me.

It was two mini scotch eggs filled with quail looking like hedgehogs.

The quail yolk was perfectly runny which was impressive and the crispy vermicelli noodles on the outside were golden.

I loved the way the crispy vermicelli was light and collapses in you mouth without being too hard to cause your upper palate discomfort.

Each bite was so good because the quality sausage meat encasing the quail egg was delicious complemented by the sharp dahl.

This is probably the best dahl I have had because of its sharp moreish notes.

For the photos, no way could I have sliced it in half so neatly but luckily the staff were glad to assist by asking the chef to slice it.

Overall, I was so glad I tried this iconic dish.

Egg hopper at King's Cross Hopper

Hoppers is a Sri Lankan restaurant famous for serving hoppers, the star of the show has to be the egg hopper which must be ordered.

I have been meaning to dine at Hoppers but they only open in the evenings but now as there are more branches, they open during the lunch as well as weekends.

I paid a visit to the King's Cross branch on a busy Saturday where I was seated outside.

In a way it was good because it was quieter outside.

Ordered the Egg Hopper but when it arrived, the hopper was not centred on the plate.

This was a minor issue because I re-positioned it so that it would look good for photos.

What bothered me was the egg yolk because it was over done.

Asked for another one and the yolk was too my liking with some raw egg white swishing about.

In the UK, eggs are perfectly fine raw because of the Lion Stamp so I was ok with that.

The hopper was as good as expected, you can imagine it like a bowl shaped pancake with an egg at the bottom.

Menu:

Marugame Udon 丸亀製麺 opens in North Greenwich at The O2

Marugame Udon 丸亀製麺 also known as Marugame Seimen, a famous restaurant in Asia opened their second branch in London, North Greenwich!

There were long queues on the opening day.

On the day of opening there was a Marugame Matsuri (Mastsuri 祭り= Festival in Japanese) which involved Taiko drumming, Shodo by Koshu (Japanese Calligraphy) and Shamisen.

At the restaurant you choose an udon which is made to order and then you can also choose optional tempura from the tempura bar.

The udon is freshly made just like pasta.

Udon bowls start at £3.45 which will get you the kaamage.

For the desserts, they have unlimited vegan matcha £2.95 and doriyakis.

After you have paid, you can customize your udon with toppings at the toppings station and eat.

Address:

Unit 2.03, The Avenue, Peninsula Square, London SE10 0DX