Spending my pre Halloween afternoon at Beauty and the Feast in Purley

A few weeks ago, I spotted this girly pink and instaworthy cafe while I was on the bus so I went back one afternoon and gave it a try.

You are greeted with PINK and it's pink all over.

I went for a simple doughnut and cup of tea since I had plans after.

Overall, I had a fun time enjoying my short break while getting some reels for my socials and it didn't break the bank as my bill was only 4.50.

It is interesting they have their own cosmetic brand as well.

Will definitely check out their brunch someday as they do look captivating from their instagram.

Beauty and the Feast in Purley:

114 Brighton Rd, Purley CR8 4DB

Tasty by Greggs inside Oxford Street's London Primark

Earlier this year, Greggs opened their first Tasty by Greggs inside Primark in Birmingham and now they have opened another one inside the Primark at Oxford Street.

It is definitely a treat and a lovely retreat being able to get fresh cream eclairs which is a rarity these days as not many bakeries sell them and only larger Gregg branches have them.

The vibes at Tasty by Greggs are fun and instaworthy with a white phone booth, London Bus and a sausage roll swing.

Anyway, how could I not stop by for some treats especially the apple danish and tea!

Pret's Christmas Menu Eve experience

As a foodie and Pret fan, I was so glad to attend the Pret's Christmas Menu Eve experience which lets you try the Christmas menu which will be launched in Pret and Veggie Pret stores from Tuesday 9 November until the end of December.

The event was such a smart move by Pret so they can see which items will be popular picks and how people like them.

At the experience, you get four tokens to redeem one cold food item, one hot food item, a hot drink and one bakery item.

Christmas Eve Menu:

Pret's Christmas Lunch

- Christmas Lunch Baguette (Cold)

- Brie & Cranberry Baguette (Cold)

- Festive Falafel & Squash (Cold)

- Beet Wellington Baguette (Cold)

- Christmas Brunch Rye Roll (Hot)

- Pigs in Blanket Hot Roll (Hot)

- Hog Roast Macaroni Cheese (Hot)

- Creamy Mushroom Macaroni Cheese (Hot)

- Boxing Day Toastie (Hot)

Bakery

- Chocolate Orange Mini Loaf Cake

- Mince Pie

- Melvin Cookie

- Tiffin

Hot Drinks

-Macaroon Hot chocolate

-Gingerbread Latte

-Praline Latte

It was really hard making a choice because everything is something that you would want to try!

In the end I had the Pigs in Blanket Hot Roll, Brie & Cranberry baguette, Chocolate Orange Mini Loaf Cake and a Praline Latte.

To be honest, I liked them all, the Pigs in blanket hot roll was satisfying with pork sausages, bacon in a delicious mustard mayo sauce complimented by the sweet caramelized onions.

The Brie & Cranberry baguette was another amazing choice taken to the next level by the quality pistachios in it which goes incredibly well with the Brie and cranberry.

For sweet treats, it ended with a rich chocolate orange mini loaf cake and a praline Latte.

Overall, I was so glad to have attended this lovely experience which let me indulge on all these festive treats.

Pret Melvin the Snowman Gingerbread:

This is not new as it came out in 2022.

I didn't have any expectations for this but it was nice because the gingerbread cookie base was not too sweet yet had a proper gingery kick.

Coupled with the icing, it tasted good.

The texture was too my liking as it was not rock hard like teething biscuits but a little bit soft that you can bend it without snapping it.

#ssgpret

Ackee and saltfish

Ackee is everywhere in the Jamaican cuisine so how could I not try it.

I decided to try the Ackee and saltfish as you are more likely to get chunks of it to taste whereas it gets mashed up in the patties.

Unfortunately, you won't find fresh ackee in the UK so it is likely that it came from a can.

My first impression of Ackee and I simply love it, the texture and taste is creamy which makes it versatile for anything so I plan to buy a can of ackee soon.

I would say the texture is really creamy and melts in your mouth.

Although ackee is a fruit and related to lychee, the texture is nothing like lychee with a really delicate texture.

It is so delicate that, it just breaks into smaller pieces when you run your spoon in the dish.

When I asked to see their ackee in the stew, I knew I had to get it because you could see it was still chunky and I did not regret.

New Pot Pie soup from M&S Cafe

For autumn, M&S Cafe have this new Chicken Pot Pie Soup (£4.95) which is basically soup with a piece of puff pastry on top.

It's not the first time I've had soup with pastry on top but coming from Marks and Spencers I had to give it a try.

When it came, it was literally a bowl of soup with a piece of puff pastry on top.

It was so different to the ones I've had before where the pastry is draped on to the bowl and baked in the oven.

Anyway, it was a little disappointing as the pastry and soup were like separate identities and a roll was missing which I found out when someone else ordered it.

The puff pastry was a really rigid hard one with a strong crisp texture, it was like a stale croissant that still holds its shaped reheated for that crisp texture.

The chicken soup I believe are the ones they sell in the chilled section but sadly I found it too salty.

Although I was disappointed with the chicken soup, I definitely recommended the turkey soup because I bought the chilled one and it tasted amazing.

Longboy doughnuts

Longboy doughnuts have been around for ages, but I wasn't really captivated by their flavours.
When I found out about the Coconut Pandan Longboy, I had to get it because I love Pandan.
The main flavour was passion fruit so the pandan wasn't quite prominent as hoped but it was still good.

To summarize, their doughnuts are not too sweet and I find them fruity from the two flavours I have tried.

The Coconut pandan is refreshing from the passion fruit while the pumpkin spice gets its zing from the apple compote.

Longboy doughnuts:

Kingscross

Sevendials

A taste of Iceland - Immersive experience

I was so glad I went to the immersive experience by Icelandair because you get a feel what Iceland would be like.

The ice tunnel was fantastic however the blue lagoon lacked the fog effect that day which was not available.

It was really good they also had samples of glassy Volcanic lava to see as well.

At the end of the trip, you get to try Iceland style soups and skyr which were really tasty.

The lamb soup was the best with tender chunks of lamb which was really comforting.

Will be trying lamb jerky soon.

I felt that the book system could be better because on eventbrite, it was for the schedule events only but there should be more slots of so that people can experience the environment.