McDonalds 2023 spooky new menu

For Halloween 2023, McDonalds have given it a sweet start with toffee apple offerings!

The new items are: Philly Cheese Stack, McCrispy BBQ Smokehouse, Toffee Apple Pie, Toffee Apple, Donut, M&Ms Halloween McFlurry and Twix Toffee Apple McFlurry.

I tried the toffee apple pie and the toffee apple doughnut.

As expected the toffee pie was lush, it was the usual apple filling with a toffee sweet kick and the pastry was also tasty.

The pie pastry was caramel in colour.

The doughnut was a bit like Krispy Kreme but less sweet and the texture of the doughnut was lot firmer and the filling was well filled.

Revisited two different branches for the McFlurry, the first branch for the toffee apple which turned out a disappointment, firstly the McFlurry cup was just the regular ones and the toppings were meagre.

The other branch fared better even though the toppings were meagre, I felt that the galaxy chocolate sauce made it taste nicer.

Revisited again for the toffee apple at a different branch and it was much better.

 

Indian fare at Dine Bangla

I love Indian food and Dine Bangla in Baldock did not disappoint.

There were so many choices for curries and the vegetable section reminded me meals at this Indian Restaurant near by uni in East London because of the usual choices like saag aloo and the prices being 3 pound ish. They didn't have as many options for rice as they did but the mushroom rice was there. Ordered the Balti Rani, Garlic naan, Bindi Bahjee and mushroom rice. 

Anyway, I loved my carbs so the mushroom rice was what I needed and there were many slices of mushrooms. 

The bindi bahjee as a bit different and dry compared to other restaurants I've had it.

The Balti Rani had the right amount of heat which complemented the rice well. 

Last but not last the garlic naan looked the part but it was strangely sweet like a donut. 

Overall, I was happy with dinner and the ambiance and seating was comfortable.

21 Whitehorse St, Baldock SG7 6QB

Spatzle at Bierschenke

Bierschenke is located on Earlham Street where belgos used to be.

Dined here for lunch because they had my favourite German Spatzle with gruyere cheese.
The taste was rather bland and the texture was too soft and foamy like marshmallow.

However, the Goulash with Spätzle is probably going to taste better.

New M&S Cafe Christmas menu: Colin the caterpillar hot chocolate and gingerbread frappe

Christmas is coming and there are so many tempting things on the menu.

One of them is the giant Welsh rarebit crumpet which was lovely and cheesy.

Interestingly up North in Stevenage two were served so it may be that they ran out of the giant crumpets.

Tried the new Colin the caterpillar hot chocolate which is just regular hot chocolate topped with tasty chocolate whipped cream, sprinkles and a Colin the Caterpillar chocolate.
Also had the gingerbread frappe which was disappointing because there was no gingery taste except syrupy cinnamon, the gingerbread man was not served so had to ask for one.

They are also serving the new biscuit tea which was good for people who want to try without having to buy the box.

Avocado show experience

I have always wanted to visit avocado show for the pancakes which is sometimes on the menu online and sometimes not.
Before we went, we checked to see if this particular branch had it being visiting.

On arrival, the menu outside had it so we went in.
It turns out that it is only served at brunch but even the menu outside wasn't quite obvious.
You really need an eagle's eye and attention to detail to spot that.
Same with the website, it should have some small print beside the dish with the hours it is available.

Anyway, dined at the Mayfair branch which was disappointing, the staff had difficulty understanding questions asked about the food.
The state of the seats were pretty impressive.
Last but not least the burgers was just a whole avocado with a patty in the middle with some inexpensive tortilla chips.

Overall, the whole menu was disappointing and not very creative compared to this other avocado themed restaurant in London.

Stylish and quick Vietnamese fare at HOP Vietnamese

Discovered HOP Vietnamese while I was at Bond Street so went in to have a look.

I was impressed by the colourful decor and modern vibes with the self ordering, it feels like LEON but with Vietnamese fare in terms of the design, the concept of healthy food and the speed.

Again, the same story, this is another restaurant founded by a banker/financial analyst bored with their job.

I ended up trying the Bond Street restaurant and the one at London Wall.

The Bond Street branch is compact but has everything while the London Wall branch features a 50/50 space of dining and self ordering kiosks.

My first visit was at the Bond Street branch where I had the peach rice pudding for dessert.

To be honest, there is something similar but not like this in Vietnam but I had to have it because it was so English and rice pudding is dying breed in this day and age.

Unfortunately, it was too sweet because it had caramel sauce as well as peach sauce.

It was supposed to come with peanuts but I changed for coconut.

The next day, I visited the London Wall branch for lunch and had the Satay Chicken hop box.

It was a balanced meal so you get equal amounts of salad, rice and chicken.

However, I was still a little hungry even though I had a side as well because I need my carbs.

Anyway, the satay chicken was simply delicious, the sweetness and creaminess was just right and the chicken was tender because it was thigh meat.

The pork ribs were ok but on the sweet side so I was glad I did not get the ribs HOP Box.

Also had the Naked Broth which was vegetarian, it reminded me of chicken bovril as the taste was yeasty and herby while chickeny even though there is no meat in it.

Overall, I was impressed by the food and definitely loved the stylish foil boxes and how the food was laid out.

Returned again to the London Wall branch and had the chicken pho and Vietnamese coffee.

Pho was the item I least wanted to try because I find noodle soups tasteless but the chicken soup was golden with turmeric and addictive.

The red onions and spring onions took it to another level along with the fresh lime.

The only complaint was the tall noodle cup and narrow top which makes it not very ergonomic to eat because of the long chopsticks which is hard to navigate. 

Finished with the Vietnamese coffee which was moreish. 

I may come back to try the coconut curry and when they have something new.

HOP Vietnamese:

London Wall and West One

Meals for a fiver at Little farm, London wall