Breakfast at A&N Brothers Cafe

A&N Brothers Cafe is another greasy spoon located in South Croydon, there are not many on this street but I liked this cafe.

The staff were friendly and I would say the star of the show has to be the sauteed potatoes which are technically fried sliced potatoes.

They also have the rainbow cake which was quite nice.

 

Trullo vs Padella for Spinach Tagliairini with nettles, nutmeg and egg yolk

It's spring tis the season for nettle!
At Padella and Trullo, Spinach Tagliairini with nettles, nutmeg and egg yolk is served.

A stunning dish of tagliarini in green sauce topped with a runny egg yolk.

Padella and Trullo both belong to Tim Siadatan and Jordan Frieda who are the creators behind these two restaurants.

Trullo first opened in 2010 and then followed by Padella in the 2016 offering affordable pastas staring from £5.

I dined at Padella in 2019 when the basic pasta was £5 and now 2022, it has gone up to £10.

Anyway, my latest visit was the Spinach Tagliarini with nettles which is a seasonal pasta that can't be missed and I went to both Padella and Trullo to see which place fared better.

Interestingly, at Padella the dish costs £14 while it cost £13 at Trullo and now you will find that the prices of pasta at Padella level up with Trullo!!

Padella was my first stop for lunch and these green noodles did not disappoint, they were really flavourful and when you mix that egg yolk, you get a burst of saltiness as there are some salt crystals on the yolk.

After having a great afternoon went to Trullo for dinner.

Started with the Spinach Tagliarini with nettles, you could visually see more sauce on this but the yolk was smaller.

As for the taste, I felt that the Spinach tagliarini tasted better here than Padella because the flavours and saltiness were balanced and there was more sauce.

I was still hungry so I had Tagliarini with chopped mussels, chilli, garlic, and wild oregano.

To my surprised it tasted to my liking so I was really impressed and the taste was so moreish because of the lemon which was not stated on the menu.

However, it appears that it does contain Almafi lemon on their 2019 post on instagram.

The sauce was so good that I needed a spoon to finish the sauce and chopped up mussels.

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Free Food in Croydon

I was randomly in town and there was stall giving out delicious vegan food with a theme FOOD not BOMBS and forks not knives!

The carbs was really tasty with some hot sauce and I loved the vegetables.

Free plant based burger at the Tindle Sides pop up in SOHO

TiNDLE is a Singapore based chicken alternative which can already be found in Hong Kong.
They are finally in the UK offering free burgers for three days at a popup in SOHO.

The meat alternative is made of texturized soy protein and wheat gluten.

What's good about this alternative is that it can be cooked in different ways.

I went along to the popup and tried their burger.

The queue was fasting moving and I got some free merch as well.

Overall, the chicken alternative was not bad but I felt that the texture was a bit mushy and it is similar to the early meat alternatives like Seitan and gluten offered in Hong Kong where the texture is stringy and soft.

However, it tastes really good served in a burger with sauces.

New Rhubarb Strawberry shake and Strawberry salted lime lemonade at Shake Shack

I love the burgers at Shake Shack and the custards as well as milkshakes are amazing as well.

This time I went there for the new limited edition rhubarb strawberry shake which costs 5.65.

Strangely it was served in a paper cup and not a plastic cup hence the photo looks different to the product shot.

Anyway, I was impressed with the taste because you can really taste the vanilla and real strawberries however I was a bit disappointed with the lack of rhubarb tartness.

Apart from that it was good.

Also on the menu I spotted this interesting Strawberry salted lime lemonade.

I sampled a bit but felt that it lacked a salted lime punch to it but you could taste the lovely strawberry and sweetness.

Fish tea and Jamaican red bream fish stew from Brixton Caribbean Food

Brixton Caribbean Food is a popular and busy joint in West Croydon.

From the entrance you will see all the food behind the glass cabinet.

I have to admit, the fish at this place won my heart as I was drawn to the lovely red bream stew with okra.

As expected it tasted amazing and it was only 3.50, the carrots and okra were flavourful and soft to my liking.

Fish tea is a must in Caribbean food, you will find it at almost every Caribbean place.

As well as the restaurant ones, you can also get instant ones at the supermarkets.

I tried my very first fish tea at Brixton Caribbean Food.

Apart from being too salty, the soup was amazing with a strong fish taste and it also had my favourite okra and other vegetables.

The only thing is that you have to be careful with fish bones.

 

Mannish water!

Jamaican aphrodisiac.

It gets its name from the fact that it's prepared by men most of the time and has some "special" benefits.

Mannish water is made from the goat's head, intestines, testicles, and feet.

Jamaican chicken feet curry:

Just like their curries, the chicken feet curry was delicious, you get that lovely heat from the chilli which is short and punchy.

It has the same heat and taste as their curry goat but you get these gelatinous pieces of chicken feet and tasty diced carrots.

I've had my fair share of Jamaican food and this is the only place that has chicken feet and which is a Friday special.

Stewed peas:

This was another delicious Friday special, which is chicken, kidney beans and spinners.