Ethiopian food at Surrey Street Market

It's been a while since I had Ethiopian food so I was planning to have it again but couldn't decide where.
It just so happens that there were two stalls at Surrey Street market so I tried both of them.

One serves meat while the other is just veg.

The first day I tried Eritrea and Ethiopia Vegan food and the second day I had Elim's.

You got to love injera which is a bit like a pancake and pikelet merged together with a ferment sour taste which is refreshing and moreish.

Personally I liked the meat more because it goes better with the injera.

They had tripe on the menu but sadly it was not available.

Restaurant quality paella from the Paella Shack

To be honest, I don't really get food from stalls because food tastes the best when it is just served.

With stalls and street food, you have to find a place to sit down quickly and often disposable cutlery simply is just not as good as reusable cutlery.

Came accross the Paella Shack where they were serving Fideua which instantly caught my attention.

Fideua is something I usually have at the restaurants so seeing it right there I had to try it.

It is a dish that you can easily manage with a spoon and there is no sauce except for the aioli which means the noodles will not get soggy while you are trying to find somewhere to enjoy it.

As expected, the fideua was so good and full of seafood flavours infused all the way through, the mussels were fresh and delicious. 

The star of the show had to be the calamari which was soft and springy.

Fideua, the dish of the name and also the noodle are short strands of noodles that are similar to macaroni with holes in them.

The aioli was creamy and garlicky just like Lebanese Toum but thicker like mayonnaise.

Overall the fideua was amazing just like the one Chef Martin Currasco did for me if not better but not comparable.

After that meal, I was hooked and went back the next day for more since it was a weekly special.

The following week they had Arroz con Costillejas (pork ribs paella rice) which is a dish that originates from the Murcia region in Spain.

At Paella Shack, they have cooked it with pork ribs, red peppers, rosemary, garlic, smoked sweet paprika, extra virgin olive oil, saffron, tomatoes and paella rice.

Just like their paellas, it was really tasty and the pork ribs they used were fresh. 

As well as fideua and pork ribs, how could I not try their regular seafood paella, chicken paella and black paella so I went back again.
The seafood paella was how you would expect it to be infused with lovely seafood.

The chicken paella was a surprise, it was similar to Valencia paella with beans and cooked with the chicken, the rice was very flavourful.

Last but not least, the ink paella was just as delicious as the seafood but with a lovely cuttlefish flavour along with their calamari.

It turns out that Paella Shack is helmed by Xavier who runs the London Paella School so you can expect restaurant quality Paella which I definitely agree with.

You can definitely see for yourself as seeing is believing because other stalls I have seen, the paellas can be on the dry side especially the meat.

For more information, they put their latests updates on instagram: @paellashack and @ldnpaellaschool

Photos of the making of the ink paella kindly sent to me by Xavier:

Just when I thought I tried everything, they had cod and cauliflower paella which is ideal for fish lovers.

It also comes with apple aioli which is not something you would always get to try.

Although at some restaurants they serve squid ink aioli, peri aioli and stuff like that.

 

nuttea nutty bubble waffle stick

nuttea is a popular Asian beverage brand originating from Taiwan famous for nut based milk beverages and a dreamy milk cap.

It then spread to Hong Kong and now UK!!!

I tried them in Hong Kong but I didn't find it impressive hence I wasn't motivated to try the UK branch.

However in the UK branches, they offer bubble waffle sticks which aroused my curiosity which is covered in this dreamy nut cream.

Finally went one afternoon and tried the bubble waffle sticks.

I felt that the creamy topping was the star of the show, it was seriously creamy and thick.

The bubble waffle texture is just the regular texture which is crispy on the outside and soft in the inside.

Recent pictures show the nut cream comes in a separate tub which is handy.

Funnily enough, the staff were really sensitive when I was getting pictures of the food as if I was interested in taking pictures of them!

Say hej! to the IKEA limited-edition LGBT+ rainbow cake

It has been a while since my last visit for cakes at IKEA so went during the train strike as there was no where to go.
I was lucky to go there before the cafe closed as the cake selection is different from the main dining area.

As well as getting some hot food, I just couldn't resist having three cakes to myself because I didn't feel like revisiting again and often by the time I get there the cafe is closed.

For savoury food, I had the meatballs, plant balls, prawn sandwich and for cakes I had the vegan chocolate raspberry cake, LGBT+ rainbow cake and the strawberry tart.

The meatballs tasted how it should but I was glad I tried the plant balls which were much better with a nice texture.

The gravy tasted slightly different to the meat one.

The prawn sandwich was an open sandwich of prawns on rye bread which is really popular in Sweden.

Finished with the cakes which are good especially the chocolate raspberry vegan which is a total improvement compared to the last as the texure was moist and fudgy like a missipi mud cake.

The rainbow cake was layers of tasty coloured vanilla sponge.

Vietnamese egg coffee at Caphe house

Discovered Caphe House when I was on my food tour in Bermondsey.

I don't drink coffee much but Vietnamese coffee is a coffee that I drink because I love the sweet layer of condensed milk at the bottom.

Vietnamese egg coffee is even better with an additional layer of egg whip on top which is sweet and dreamy.

You can also dip biscuits and stuff to indulge the egg whip gooey layer which I felt was similar to liquid meringue.

Although the coffee overall is extremely sweet, I highly recommended this heavenly coffee.

As well as coffee, I also tried the pho but it was a bit too expensive and the broth could have been better as it was not bold enough and the pho noodles were not as silky as this other place I tried.

In terms of price, it was a bit expensive for the mixed beef compared to other places.

Caphe House serves Vietnamese pho staples plus summer rolls, lettuce wraps & coffee so this is going to be on my list to go soon.

http://www.caphehouse.com/