Costa Hot Milkshakes

I'm sure everyone is just like me, what the heck is a hot milkshake?
At first, I thought it was hot chocolate with cream on top but it turns out to be hot milk with thickeners.
There are three flavours: strawberry white chocolate, hazelnut chocolate and salted caramel.
Only the salted caramel contains coffee.
Judging by their artificial strawberry frappe I opted for salted caramel.
To my surprise, the salted caramel hot milkshake was bliss and comforting.
I sipped with caution as I expected it to burn like hot chocolate but it wasn't as hot as anticipated.
The salted caramel was a little thick and viscous like sabayon sauce and very different to cold milkshake which is more like melted ice cream.
Overall, I really liked it as it was sweet and creamy yet not cloying with a strong butterscotch tasted and a hint of coffee to balance.
Definitely would get this again.

Trying the new Kebhouze at Oxford Street

I was really excited about kebhouze opening at Oxford Street because of all the media hype and the fact that it was three floors.
Finally tried it one evening.
I was expecting a queue but there wasn't and there were plenty of seats.
I was disappointed it was fast food style so you couldn't see the kebabs being prepared like gdk.
The menu was quite nice as it had turkey and veal mix.
You got different kebab options like little Italy with olives, sun dried tomatoes, padano cheese and the burger kebabs with beef doner and cheese.
The design of the kebab bags and packaging was bright and memorable like lego.
As for the restaurant layout, they have got the building to themselves, the staircase connects to each floor which is the dining area.
Toilets available on first floor for customers.
What killed it was the doners meats.
They were all offcuts unlike other places which use reconstituted meats.
Although both are unhealthy but the doner meat at Kebhouze was terrible.
I already found visible white cartilage on the veal.
For the other beef kebab, the beef had so much sinew that it was inedible.
I had to pick out all the meat.
This is probably the worst kebab I've eaten.
It makes me wonder if the Italian store is the same.

Steakhouse Stack burger at McDonalds

I love black pepper sauce which made me try the Steakhouse Stack burger which is described as a burger with two 100% Irish beef patties, a slice of cheddar cheese, crispy onions, red onions and lettuce served with a black peppercorn sauce, all in a freshly toasted glazed sesame topped bun.

The black pepper sauce was definitely good as expected like the ones at the steakhouse and I loved the slice of cheese which is real cheese and not processed cheese.

However, I felt that two patties were too much as there isn't enough sauce in terms of ratio so next time I am going to just ask for one patty.

Returned and requested for one patty and the burger was really good as expected.

Gyokuro tea at Katsute 100, Covent Gardens

I never shop or go into Uniqlo hence would never have discovered there was a Katsute there.

This cafe is by far cosier than the Angel branch and getting a seat is quite hard.

On this visit, I had the Sakuracha which is described as a pickled salted sakura flower for people with an acquired taste.

However, it was tasteless unless you eat the flower.

I felt that more sakura flowers were needed to infuse the flavour.

The Gyokuro saved the day but then it never fails.

Although the timer was for 3 minutes, I felt that much longer time was required as the colour was light until I waited another 3 minutes.

The taste of the Gyokuro was salted and comforting a bit like seaweed.

When you finished with the tea, you add ponzu to the spent leaves to consume it.

Definitely a match made in heaven with the tangy ponzu and savoury tender jade green leaves.

Also tried the Kuromame cha which was like coffee water with a burnt and bitter taste.

Fujian noodles and Bak Kut Teh at TPT Cafe (Singmalay UK)

Not really a fan of Chinese food but went to tpt cafe when I saw reviews of Malaysians raving about the Malay dishes then decided to give it a go.
We tried the buk kut teh and fujian noodles.
Buk kut teh had a nice kick of dong kwai as well as msg.
There were quite a few ribs in there.
Tofu and dough sticks were a bit oily and not fresh. The star of the show was the fujian noodle.
Not authentic but delicious in my point of view as they were creamy due to the fatty pork.
Although dark in colour, it was not too salty or sweet and the noodles had a nice chew to it.
The prawns was bouncy and tasty and the squid was nice.
There were fishballs too which I don't eat.

I didn't quite get the point of the vegetables because it didn't match the noodles or the sauce.
Overall, not bad.
#ssglondoneats

Chicken tikka Yorkshire pudding at Muffin Break

This was a second visit to Muffin Break (different branch), an Aussie chain in the UK.

I was looking forward to the festive turkey/cauliflower cheese Yorkshire wraps shown outside the cafe but they were not available so why display them.

The staff were baffled when I showed a picture of what was advertised, I mean its Christmas, they are promoting it but do not have it or even attempted to make one but all they pointed to was the Chicken Tikka Yorkshire Pudding in the cabinet.

Anyway, got the chicken tikka Yorkshire pudding which was the best of both worlds and the Christmas panini with turkey stuffing etc.

The tikka Yorkshire was a good idea but the Yorkshire let it down because the texture on one side had not risen properly otherwise good.

The tikka filling was weird/healthy with quinoa and green peppers.

The Christmas turkey panini fared better.

Unicorn cake at IKEA

Made a trip to IKEA again on a food quest but they didn't have the giant meatball at that branch so ended up getting the unicorn cake, garlic bread and some meatballs.