The Chippie four course lunch at Six by Nico for 25

I have always wanted to try Six By Nico which specializes in six course meals.
There are various branches in UK.
It costs slightly more in London probably due to London prices.
The booking system is a bit complicated hence the reason it took me so long to try.
The menu changes every six weeks but evidently the Chippie menu is the most popular.
Fish and Chips is my favourite meal so I seized this I chance when they had the four course offer for £25.
At Six by Nico, everything is reimagined so expect something different.
When I got there, I could see why they are so successful and efficient when busy yet I can understand why there are mixed reviews because some other branches may not be as efficient.
It's like fine dining executed guerrilla/factory production line style.
The menus are designed in a way that they can serve different themes at the same time because if you look closely, it will have the same meat/seafood assembled with different ingredients.
The simplified 4 course I had is listed below or you can order the six course if needed.

 
Course 1: Chips & Cheese
Parmesan Espuma, Curry Oil.
Course 2: Scampi Brandade, Dill Emulsion, Gribiche, Garden Peas.
Course 3: Smoked Sausage
Smoked Pork Belly, Granny Smith Apple, Salt Baked Celeriac, Choucroute
Course 4: Deep Fried Mars Bar
Chocolate Cremeux, Irn Bru Sorbet, Deep Fried Mars Bar

Overall, each course was amazing, the scampi was my favourite because of the dill.
The smoked sausage was a little irrelevant to fish and chips somehow but dessert ended nicely with the reimagined fried mars bar and Iron Bru sorbet.

Crown Cafe Bar, London

Crown Cafe Bar, another old cafe but in Central London.
Everything was displayed in the cabinets.
The sausage stack looked impressive and they were the ones I like.
I think I made the wrong decision because the bolognese was bland while the sauce lacked umami and tomato flavours.
The meatballs were a bit fatty and waxy while there was too much rosemary in the sauce.

Regent Omelette Bar, Weston Super Mare

Regent Omelette Bar, another cafe but this one specializes in omelettes so tried them.
The decor is nice and old.
I was captivated by the Bristol omelette which had asparagus.
For it to be on the menu it must be a popular item.
It made me think that if the asparagus was there all year round whether it would be fresh or canned but canned would make more sense in terms of consistency.
Anyway, for those who cant decide you can also get the six egg omelettes with a choice of 9 toppings.

Disappointing experience at Lavo

Disappointing experience at Lavo.
Booked brunch three months ahead to get poor seating on arrival.
I regretted not walking out because everything from food was underwhelming.
Perhaps management should sit there to experience how cramped it is getting in and out between two tables either side with a 10cm gap which puts you off getting food as part of the self service brunch.
You could place a side plate on the gap between the two tables either side and it could sit perfectly without falling off.
Getting in and out, you had to cause inconvenience to the table to the left or to the right!
There are two floors offering the same food so I guess it depends if you are on the nice/naughty list.
If you are in the know, media brunches often offer more than what is served to showcase the food.
The dessert selection was rather lame that day, it was just the typical stuff you would get at hotel breakfasts and a few cake selections and worst of all those pastry tarts.
They didn't even have the maritozzi buns which was obviously offered on a media day.

Dinky little Maritozzi buns for £2

Dinky little Maritozzi buns for £2

Last year, we saw the trend of these Maritozzi buns from Rome which are buns with a brioche texture filled with whipped cream.

Prior to this, I have tried a few from various places in London but DolceVyTA specializes in them.

You can get the regular ones or the dinky small ones so I had the smaller ones as you can't get them elsewhere in that size.

As expected, it was nice and the bun had a nice chew to it like panettone.

The whipped cream had a strange lemony taste to it.

Overall, worth trying for £2 if you haven't had a Maritozzi before.

@dolcevyta_matteomanzotti

#maritozzi

Soy Cured Egg Yolk musubi from Onigiri KOME

Onigiri KOME, a Hong Kong owned musubi pop up.
I was captivated by the soy cured egg yolk which has an interesting texture.
It's semi solid and fudgey in texture with a strong salty soy taste.

Also tried the Tsukudani Sesame Kelp which was on the sweet side.

Hoping to get my hands on the salted plum and mentaiko cod roe!

Pick and Mix style lunch boxes at L'express Coffee Company

Discovered L'express Coffee Company while dining nearby.
This no frills eatery captivated me because you choose what you want for a fixed price.
Prices start at 6.90 to 10.50.
So obviously for 10.50 you can have everything in the cheaper range.
The 9.50 is probably sufficient as the 10.50 box is just wider.
I chose the 10.50 because for that selection there was lasagne, chicken curry, chilli con carne, peri peri chicken, rice noodles which are all my favourites and additionally I can get anything from the other range like houmous, salad etc.
I got mainly the hot items because it was the things I wanted so imagine how joyful it was having chili con carne, lasagne and curry in one meal.
The chicken curry was really comforting as it was just like the school one while the chili con carne and lasagne were just as good.
The potatoes wedges were to my liking as they were soft and fluffy.
You can also order sandwiches and baked potatoes at the far end.
According to the internet, they used to be located in Holborn.
Will definitely return.
There is seating outside so on a pleasant day it's a great place to enjoy the food.