[Review] Festive Fried Chicken at YO! Sushi

YO! Sushi is an English chain of sushi restaurants by Simon Woodroffee.
The first branch appeared in Soho, London in 1997, since then they have restaurants all over the world including UAE and Saudi Arabi.

As well as sushi, they have a good selection of vegetarian dishes.
It was the festive fried chicken that brought me to YO! Sushi again.
According to their instagram post, fried chicken is Japanese Christmas tradition.

JFC Festive Feast box (£8.50) is available now featuring crispy Japanese Fried Chicken, special dipping sauce, YO! Fries, Miso-Butter Sweetcorn & Coleslaw.
As well as chicken, they have the Vegan JFC Festive Feast box (£8.50) which includes Vegan Chick*n Nuggets, special dipping sauce, YO! Fries, Sweetcorn with Miso Butter, & vegan Coleslaw.

Since I was there to try it, why not order both.
The staff were really helpful and did half and half for me so that I could try both the chicken and vegan chicken nuggets.

In terms of chicken, I thought it was a bit dry so the vegan chicken nuggets fared better even though they were a bit bland.

Chicken:

Vegan Chicken nuggets:

The fries were addictive as they were deliciously sprinkled with seaweed flakes.

Last but not least was the coleslaw, I absolutely loved it because it was creamy and not too overwhelming.

Overall I would definitely recommend the fried chicken and I will be back for their vegetarian dishes as it has been quite some time since I last had YO! Sushi.

[Review] Wing Loon Cafe (Olympic Cafe)

A while ago I saw some interesting pictures of Hainan Chicken at this place which was basically chicken with gravy on top of rice.

Although it didn't look like the real deal served with yellow rice and sauces it aroused my interest.

Other food at this place looked good so I decided to pay it a visit as the table settings was basically like a Chinese greasy spoon cafe.

However on Tripadvisor it was called Olympic Cafe while it was Wing Loon Cafe on google.

In a way Olympic Cafe sounds better as it matches the decor and style.

When I got there, it was indeed Wing Loon Cafe so they must have changed names at some point.

There were so many things I wanted to try but decided to order the Hainan Chicken first.

On the drinks menu, they even had English Tea as an option as well as Thai Tea.

English Tea was a must for me as it totally matches this place!

After I paid, I was given some cutlery wrapped in paper just like the ones you get in greasy spoon cafes.

I was impressed when my food came, it looked exactly how I saw it on the pictures.

Lean white meat topped with gravy on top of rice which was a bit too soft.

The chicken breast meat was soft and tender which was pleasing and the gravy was so damn delicious just like this other Chinese joint in UK.

The gravy was just how I liked it, although it was a little salty but definitely heaven compared to the horrible stuff in Hong Kong.

Went back a few week later and had the Crackling roast pork with noodles and it was guaranteed crispy as the name suggests with a delicious crispy layer of pork skin.

Also had the roast pork noodles, again it was flawless.
The noodles in soup was really comforting.

Green tea:

Chicken, mushroom and noodles soup:
The portion was much bigger than anticipated because it looked small on google and straw mushrooms were used instead so I was a bit disappointed.
However the chicken you get is good with generous quantities.

The menu:

Wing Loon Cafe (Olympic Cafe):

130 Lower Marsh,

Waterloo

[Review] Le Hanoi - London Leicester Square

To be honest, I am not a fan of Vietnamese food because Hongkongized Vietnamese food has put me off it especially the cloyingly sweet broths which are a recipe for disaster but loved by the locals there.

Anyway, went to Le Hanoi in London which is located in Chinatown.
Before commenting on food, the service was really friendly and attentive which explains why people like to dine there.

I am not sure if this is a new restaurant but the decor by the staircase looks like it was left from the previous restaurant.

Moving on to the food, tried the rare beef pho and lemongrass tea.
Although the pho was too soft, it was miles better than the weird broths in Hong Kong and the hanger steak slices were so damn good.

The lemongrass tea is made with fresh lemongrass which is a bonus!

Le Hanoi:
https://www.instagram.com/lehanoilondon/

[Review] Old Tree Daiwan Bee

Small restaurant, expect to share tables with others.
Typical Hong Kong style service (not friendly service).

Food crawl at Seven Dials Market, London

Street food has been taking the storm in UK for years now like the Borough Market.
Enter Seven Dials Market which is a spacious modern foodhall which equips independent businesses with permanent fixtures while there is a comfortable hall for people dine in.

There are two floors, the street level one features a Monty's deli, club Mexicana and The cheese bar with the world's first cheese conveyor belt restaurant.

On the lower ground floor you have pasta, Asian food etc.

To summarize, depending on how successful the restaurants are, you might find restaurants coming and going quite fast just like other food courts/halls.

During covid, it was frustrating trying to dine there because you had to scan a code.

However, you can go in as you please now but not the same for boxpark which still needs a code.

The only thing I dislike about food courts and halls is the noise.

The latter restaurants appealed to me so I dined there for dumplings, Mumbai Toast and pandan puff.

My first stop was yum buns because the dumplings looked good.

There were so many dumplings choices so I went for the mushroom as not places have it and the fact that it was drizzled with chive oil.

At first, it smelled like garlic baguette but it actually tasted really nice especially with all that mushroom in it.

Next stop was NaanStop express for the mumbai toast which was a bit disappointing because I found it a bit bland but the cheese was amazing.

The Dahi Vada would have been a better choice.

Third stop was ong ong buns for the pandan puff because I simply love pandan.

As I was full, I had that at home.