Second Branch of Wendy's debuts in Croydon

I love Wendy's so having one in Croydon is definitely wonderful.
It is the second branch to follow after opening in Stratford, the third branch is due to open in Romford on the 8th December.

On the first day of opening, there were long queues as expected so I went a week after it had opened when the queues were long but bearable.

The layout is similar to the Stratford branch with the ordering on the ground floor and seating area followed by more tables upstairs.

I had the Bacon Cheeseburger, veggie balls and a Junior Frostie.

The bacon cheeseburger was as good as expect because the beef patty was tasty without any gristle. however the veggie balls very salty and dry.

I also had the baked potato to see how the American take on would be.

It is interesting how people today just don't eat baked potatoes anymore and it is really difficult finding a somewhere good for a quality baked potato.

Overall, the baked potato could have been better and the chilli was a bit watery and the mince beef was not that good.

The bacon and cheese would have been a better bet.

Finished with the frostie which is really comforting as it is sweet and heavenly.

Salad options:

Food entrepreneur show 2021 at Excel

It is good to see things almost back to normal with the Food entrepreneur show 2021 at Excel.

There were five shows in one event hosted on the 9th & 10th November with the Restaurant & Takeaway innovation expo, Restaurant Bar Tech live, IDE, coffee shop innovation expo and Street Food live!

First things first, I just had to start on my favourites with local but well known brands like McCains, Burtons biscuits, Quorn and McWhinney's.

McCains Food services really owned it with their perfectly fried chips and the Jalapeno cheese popper were divine.

Quorn was also there but sadly, I did not get to sample the new vegan wings.

I have always been a fan of Jammy Dodgers and cookies so it was really good they were there because I found out that they did my favourite Marmite crackers as well.

My favourite meal would have to be a good fry up which wouldn't be complete without a sausage and McWhinney's sausages are simply the best.

They have different meat ratios to choose from.

Having visited Lutosa at the exhibition in Hong Kong which was a godsend for potato products, it was so good to see them at the London booth.

 

Ben & Jerry's, Froneri ice cream and winners for ice cream.

Froneri distributes so many great ice creams like Kelly's of Cornwall, Cadburys etc.

Ben & Jerry's is another popular brand and I would love to see their small tubs as part of supermarket meal deals as well as for restaurants.

Moving on to drinks and coffees, there was a good range of lattes by Sweet Revolution with unique lattes like chicory latte as well as beetroot.

Australian branded Arkadia had these lovely Dirty and Matcha chais as well as fragrant pomegranite chai tea.

I sampled their Dirty Chai, Pomegranate Chai and Matcha Chai.

Although Pomegranate Chai is not made anymore, it was really aromatic yet when you drink, the taste is subtle.

My next favourite was the Dirty Chai which was sweet and bitter perfect for the mornings.

Last but not least is the Matcha Chai which has nice matcha notes without being too grassy.

My next favourite was the Dirty Chai which was sweet and bitter perfect for the mornings.

Last but not least is the Matcha Chai which has nice matcha notes without being too grassy.

Caffe borbone:

My favourite refreshing yet healthy drink was Juno Bamboo water.

https://bamboo-water.com/

On the alcoholic side, I liked the Strawberry spirits made with real strawberries.

Edible cocktail toppers:

Whiskey Water:

https://estuaryworld.com/product/whiskey-water/

Nettle drinks:

CBD drinks:

O donnell moonshine:

For plant based and vegan options, Heura and meatless farms had a booth there.

Heura Foods are also giving out 5000 Christmas Sandwiches which I hope to try soon.

The sandwich spotlights meat-free turkey with rosemary and thyme seasoning, along with cranberry-infused, egg-free mayonnaise. Herby parmentier potatoes, crispy onions, pickled red cabbage, mushroom gravy, and vegan sausage are featured too.

I finally sampled Grenade protein bars which are surprisingly nice like regular snack bars.

Nando's Giant Billboard with FREE personalized Sauce giveaway

I was so lucky to be able to attend the free personalized sauce giveaway from Nandos at their popup at Observation Point South Bank.
It was a huge billboard loaded with sauces.

The queue to this popup was quite fast moving so I managed get there before it was all given away.

I thought the sauces would be in alphabetical order but it wasn't so my best bet was scanning from the top line to the bottom line.

There was so many names from John, Joanna, Lee etc.

Sadly I couldn't find mine so I picked up one for my dad under his name.

To personalize your sauce online, it only costs a tenner:

https://shop.nandos.co.uk/products/peri-peri-sauce?variant=39470107328759