Dinos hotdogs opens at Boxpark in Croydon

Dino's a brand of hotdogs inspired by the streets of Brooklyn available in glass jars as seen in the supermarkets have opened a hotdog stall in Croydon.
As a foodie, I had to try them out.

On the menu, you can go for classic or global.

It really really nice that they let me customize the hot dogs.

I started off with some basic dogs with some of their special sauces like chimmichurri mayo, piri piri.

Then I also had a Classic to appreciate simplicity.

To summarize, I really like their dogs because they are tasty and the classics are the best especially with sauerkraut, mustard and ketchup.

The chimmichurry mayo was a bit too creamy for my liking, I was expecting the sauce to be green like pesto consistency.

The piri piri glaze turned out to be another good one but the piri mayo wasn't needed because it was too creamy.

Last but not least the bun, it was nice and soft but I prefer the basic white ones because I find brioche too sweet.

Awful service for a Joyful hot chocolate at Half Million

There used to be a few branches of Half Million but now only one on Oxford Street remains.
I rarely complain about rude service but this place was so bad that I would not return.
I have been meaning to try this place for hot chocolate so did that one afternoon.
The barista could obviously see I was taking pictures of the making of this hot chocolate.
Anyway, I was taking a picture of the hot chocolate and even though that person knew I was taking a picture, that person moved the drink towards me which I couldn't quite understand.
As a foodie, I asked what the lighter coloured chocolate pieces were and that barista was really snappy about it and answered white chocolate which does not look like it.
Definitely not Joy of Chocolate as advertised.

Italian AMICI at Ashford and French bluewater

Went here for some Italian fare.

Originally, I wanted to order the Tagliolini al Nero con Granchio, Nduja e Gamberi £17.95 which is 

Black squid ink pasta with spicy Nduja, king prawns, crab meat, in white wine, garlic, and topped with crispy calamari.

They said it was really spicy because of the Nduja but I only wanted that dish because of the squid ink pasta so they suggested getting this other seafood pasta instead.

In a way, I regretted not asking if they could just use squid ink pasta for the other dish.

Anyway, also had this other buccatini dish which was also in a tomato based sauce.

Overall, I felt that both pastas tasted really similar as the tomato base was the same.

To be fair, their lunch time sets are really good value with the starters and dessert options.

Apart from that, it was a really nice restaurant and the ambiance and setting was good.

AMICI ASHFORD

30 North St, Ashford TN24 8JR

A refreshing and appetizing curry Laksa at Normahs

Discovered Normahs, a Malaysian hole in the wall eatery at Queensway Market which is basically like a ghetto with lots of fascinating shops and restaurants in a fancy area.

Peering in the eatery, I saw promising bowls of curry laksa so went there a week later.

The menu was the usual with nasi lemak, curries etc but I felt the star of the show was curry laksa so obviously had that.

The curry Laksa did not disappoint as the soup was thick so the soft egg noodles hung the broth nicely.

It was really moreish because the curry laksa soup was refreshing with a gentle spicy kick that was balanced well by the tamarind.

The taste of this curry laksa was similar to butter chicken curry with a hint of tomato.

Will definitely return more frequently if it wasn't for the location.

There are so many different Laksa variations so you just have to find the one that is to your liking.

Laksa variations: curry laksa, assam laksa, Laksa Sarawak, Ipoh, Siam, Singapore etc.

Trying Mauritius style food at Tooting market

Spotted this Mauritius restaurant on my Tooting visit as I left so made a trip back to try it.
The food on offer was interesting because they had soup noodles as well as dim sum which is also in soup so tried them both.
Both turned out very Chinese in style so nothing to be excited unless that's your cup of tea.
The dim sum soup was interesting as it was literally fish balls and shao mai in soup, however if you google the boulette chouchou dim sum soup it should have chayote vegetable.
When, dim sum soup came, there was no shao mai as shown so I was told they were sold out but they managed to get me some.

Also I ordered the soup noodles with prawn, lamb and egg but there were not prawns which was probably a blessing in disguise because it was just those chilled peeled prawns from the supermarket.

Other, than that, the noodles were quite nice but I think I would have liked thinner egg noodles.

Anyway, I will definitely be back to try more Mauritian dishes!

World’s first pickle-based pop-up Pickled themed afternoon tea

A few weeks ago I went to an Afternoon Tea Pickle Pop Up where it was the world’s first pickle-based pop-up in London to celebrate the brined cucumber.

So basically everything in the afternoon tea had pickle in it.

Priced at £80 per person, it was quite expensive but I was glad every item was unique, different and unusual.

The most memorable item was the chocolate fountain where you dip the pickle in.

I seriously thought it would taste weird but the pickle was one of those sweet ones that were not sour so the sweetness and the dark chocolate actually tasted nice together.

Overall, nothing was overly shocking so the afternoon tea was rather enjoyable.

The only thing that could have been improved was the colour of the afternoon tea stand as it did not contrast the food as it was green, I felt that I had to plate the items on a white plate to get a better picture.

I couldn't understand by they didn't serve the sweet and savoury together in a two tiered stand instead of serving them separately.

Also, when I left, no one reminded me there was a jar of pickles to take home.

Afternoon tea menu:

Sweet:
Pickle-shaped Dill and Lemon Macaron
Gherkin Shaped Pineapple and Dill Pickle Mini Cake
Pickled Jelly Trifle
Dill Pickle Cupcake Bite
White Chocolate and Dill Pickle Mini Donut
Dark Chocolate Dipped Dill Pickle

Savoury:
Dill Pickle and Goats Cheese Finger Sandwiches
Smoked Salmon and Dill Pickle Cream Cheese
Bloody Mary Parmesan Palmiers
Pickled Deviled Eggs
Scones:
Buttermilk Scones with Pickled Strawberry Conserve & Clotted Cream
Mocktails:
Pickled Ginger Beer
Pineapple Pickled Tonic
Cocktails:
Bloody Mary Lite
Rhubarb Dill Cucumber Gin Fizz
Champagne and Prosecco available at an additional cost
Pickle Afternoon Tea dates:

Address: 5 Kirby Street
London, EC1N 8TS
The Pickle Afternoon Tea starts at - £80 per person
The ticket price includes an afternoon tea menu, a welcome drink and a jar of pickles to take away with you.
“The last pickle in the jar is the most pickle.”

Afternoon tea for two at M&S Cafe for a tenner

Tried the new ingenious afternoon tea at M&S Cafe for a tenner.
I'm so glad M&S are finally on the bandwagon when other places and cafes are already serving similar things.
To be honest, most of the items can be bought at M&S but I love the way you can order it as a tea set now because its something that would be a popular demand as nothing beats M&S quality and it would be good to see Greggs to a similar thing too.
I think I was the first to order it as it took them a while to figure out the items.
The macarons were missing but later brought to me.
The sandwich selection was either egg or seafood but for the egg you just get egg whereas the seafood is an assortment of sandwiches.
Overall, I really liked the afternoon tea and the macarons and mini cupcake takes it to another level.