Trying the new IKEA Plant Based hot dog!!!

As well as the Veggie dog, IKEA has launched a Plant based hot dog this summer.
It was finally available in the UK according to their instagram post a few days ago so I went to try it out.

Priced at 85p, I got two plain ones to try, one naked without the sauces and the other one with basic ketchup and mustard.

The plant based dog comes with green napkins to distinguish it from the rest.

Visually, the dog looks the part and the bun now looks more like a cylindrical panini sliced horizontally from the side.

Before taking a bite, the dog feels the same with the usual firmness and the casing feels the same as the regular ones.

Taking a bite, without sauces and bun the casing had a good snap just like a regular hot dog and tastes ok.

However, the texture was so different, it was like konjac mixed with fat, squidgy and somehow waxy but not as soft as regular dogs.

Now taking another bite with the bun and sauces, it was quite enjoyable and tasty.

It still doesn't beat the regular dog but I would still recommend it because of the price.

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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.