Caribbean style pie mash at Marjays

[Self paid review]

Pie Mash comes from East London and there are not many places serving now because it is losing its charm.

As a foodie, I have to try anything pie mash related.

Enter Marjays which is pie mash with a Caribbean touch, similar to Pie Republic which is inspired by Indian dishes.

The creations are endless, imagine having Chinese or Thai inspired pie mash.

Clearly, it was going to work at Marjays because there are jerk patties which is also pastry.

The menu is simple, you choose a pie and pair it with creamy/garlic mash, steamed veg, gravy and plantains.

I just felt like pies that day so chose the goat curry and jerk chicken.

To summarize, the pie pastry was really good, it was light yet baked to perfection with a lovely crust.

The curry goat is one that I would really recommend because the chunks of goat were tasty and there were pieces of goat shin which is soft and gelatinous in this rich curry sauce.

The jerk chicken was also nice with soft and supple pieces of chicken but I found it a little too spicy for my palate and some sauce in the pie would be good.

It is probably better to get the meal because £5.99 for a pie is quite pricey and £6.99 for the curry goat pie.

The only gripe is that Marjays is located in Boxpark so you have to download that annoying app to get in to buy the buys.

Limited edition stacked with flavour pancakes with chocolate hazelnut spread at M&S Cafe

Pancakes are getting boring but I liked the way they had it at M&S Cafe because it looks like an inexpensive treat chocolate hazelnut spread and strawberries.

As a foodie, it was a good way of trying out their Chocolate hazelnut spread without buying it and the pancakes buttermilk pancakes.

The pancakes were a little burnt and dry but compensated by the chocolate hazelnut spread.

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New ham hock & chicken pie and Rhubarb custard cake at IKEA

Made a random visit to IKEA and it was a fruitful one because they had some new dishes as well as a new cake.

On offer was chicken schnitzel with katsu curry sauce, ham hock & chicken pie and the new Rhubarb custard cake.

I went straight for the ham hock & chicken pie without hesitating paired with mash and the rhubarb custard cake was a bonus.

To my surprise the pie was actually far better than I anticipated because I usually go at the wrong time when food is not at its best.

The pie pastry was crisp yet light and the ham hock fillings was seriously tasty and creamy.

Again, I was surprised that the mash was good as well because it was not too buttery yet had a balanced potato taste.

Finished with the cake which was a bit too sweet but you could really taste the sweet custard in the filling and the rhubarb compote layer was the star but there was not enough of it.

Eating Mexican food with chopsticks! Birria Ramen in London!!

Eating Mexican food with chopsticks! Birria Ramen in London!!

Birria is a Mexican meat stew (traditionally made with goat meat but these days you can also get beef, lamb or chicken.)

The rich meat broth is simply rich and concentrated served with Lime, Onion, Cilantro to take the taste to the level!

Some bright spark in America invented the Birria ramen which is basically delicious noodles in this tasty broth!

Instead of travelling to the states, I was so lucky to find a place in London that serves it at Birria Taco which is located inside another restaurant.

At Birria Taco, they offer lamb or beef birria ramen so we tried both.

The lamb broth was more concentrated and saltier compared to the beef but according to the staff, both broths were meant to be the same.

The best thing were the noodles, I felt that they couldn't have made a better choice of noodles because they hung the broth well and absorbed the flavours.

They reminded me of curly instant noodles with a flat wavy shape.

Every mouthful was bliss because you got this strong meaty broth along with the spices as if you were eating a taco with delicious hot noodles.

The key to this ramen is also the pickles, radish, onions and cilantro but I felt that more onions and cilantro is needed to give it that full on experience.

I also felt that their onion and cilantro could have been fresher as it was not as flavourful as it should be.

To summarize, I will definitely be returning because £9.50 was definitely worth paying!

Hopefully their lamb and beef broths will be consistent in taste.

The location of this place is hard to find because it is hidden inside this other restaurant which has no windows or a see through front door.

On a side, I got trapped in the toilet because the lock was too high in the corner which made it hard to get out unless you really pry with your fingers, so if you had long nails, you would be screwed.

Rhubarb and Jasmine doughnut from Crosstown

Ended up getting another doughnut from Crosstown because it was Rhubarb and Jasmine.
Again, you have that consistently good doughnut base with chia seeds and then there is that lovely refreshing rhubarb jasmine compote that's not too sweet.
However I would like a bit more tang to the rhubarb and a stronger jasmine floral note.
Overall not bad and worth trying and unsuspectingly vegan.

The Pandan doughnut returns along with the new pandan Lamington at Crosstown doughnuts

My favourite pandan doughnuts are back and this year there is a new pandan lamington so tried it because I have already tried the doughnut.
The lamington is like a moist cake which I found too moist.
It was a bit too sweet for my liking because of the white chocolate coating so I recommend the pandan doughnuts.

Trying the SUBWAY plant patty for Veganuary

Went to Subway randomly for a quick fix.
As it was January there were two veg options: the plant patty and vegan steak by Veg Butcher.
The plant patty looked good with pieces of veg in it so tried that with the cheese mix, spinach leaves and mayonnaise for simplicity.
The first few bites were good because it was hot and I was hungry, however it was rather spicy and I didn't like the chewy meaty texture.
It would have been nice without that artificial stuff and chilli.
I just wish that veg/vegan stuff isn't overloaded with spices and salt to mask the tastelessness because in this case there were pieces of veg in the patty and plenty of salad and sauces at Subway to compliment it.