CAMDEN: Deep Fried Candy Bars!

As we entered Camden Market on a rainy Saturday last month we were greeted by rows and rows of food stalls, selling delicious smelling food of all cuisines: Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Brazilian, Turkish, Mexican, you name it! Benches were packed with people seated, eating, talking and generally enjoying themselves despite the rain (it lasted all day...)

A mini poster that caught our attention

We were at a loss as to which cuisine or food stall to go for (they all looked so good!) so we worked our way from the beginning of the market, stall by stall, to the middle of the market, and then all the way round.

At each stall we were greeted by hello's, free samples of tasty food and shouts to come and buy the food. Most of the Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Indian stalls that we walked past were offering boxes of mixed dishes, small at £4 a box and large at £5 a box. The other cuisine food stalls were similarly priced and most of them were Halal as well which was an added bonus!

Before we filled up on all the free samples we were getting we knew that we had to decide on a stall, which we finally did. The stall we chose was on the other side of the bridge, in Camden Canal Market.

This Chinese food stall was selling a range of tasty dishes, mixed in a box, small for £4 and large for £5. Some of the dishes they had to offer included sweet and sour chicken, fried chicken, beef teriyaki, egg fried rice and chow mein.

As you can see from the above photos we chose a mixture of the dishes, along with a spring roll and enjoyed our food seated near the canal, enjoying the beautiful view which can be seen in the photo below.

Now onto our highlight of the day: Eating deep fried candy bars we bought at The Original Original Crispy Candy Co, a stall in Camden Canal Market :D

After hearing stories about the deep fried Mars bar being a popular dish in Scotland, we were keen to try it out for ourselves. Lets face it, chocolate, you just gotta love, and anything that's been deep fried has that melt in your mouth crispness to it. When you add deep fried AND chocolate together....surely it has to be a hit?!

We weren't going to travel all the way up to Scotland to try these wonders out: why would we when we could have it right on our doorstep in London (well as close to our doorstep as it gets :) )

The Original Crispy Candy Co. not only does deep fried Mars bars but a selection of other chocolate bars, all deep fried with their own special buttermilk batter, and all their ingredients are imported from the USA! 

As you can see from the above photo there are 8 variations of deep fried candy bars to choose from: Bounty, Rolo, Oreo, Toffee Crisp, Creme Egg, Mars, Snickers and Lion. After choosing a chocolate bar, it is fried in their secret buttermilk recipe and you are then given the option of eating it coated in sugar (£3) or eating it with whipped cream, sauce and toppings (£4).

When we got to the stall we couldn't decide which chocolate bar to get as they all looked so good deep fried! In the end we decided to try the Lion Bar coated in vanilla and cinnamon sugar.

Here are some of the other things they do at The Original Crispy Candy Co. That oreo milkshake definitely sounds appetizing....mmm

Deep Fried Lion Bar in all its glory!

This close up photo of the deep fried lion bar was definitely needed! It oozes all sorts of happiness :D

Some people may find the thought of a deep fried chocolate bar a bit odd but rest assured when you bite into this, all your doubts will disappear! The crispness of the batter hits you first... Then comes the second layer...a gorgeous layer of chocolate melting into the inner layer of the batter...

...Next, all the other ingredients in the lion bar: the nuts, the chunky wafer biscuit in the middle, are mixed in with the melted chocolate!

It was an incredible journey for our taste buds, one we would make again and again!

One thing we would recommend is to try the deep fried chocolate bar then and there, as Nabs bought a deep fried Mars bar to eat at home later on that day and even though she heated it in the oven it just didn't have the same texture and taste as a freshly fried chocolate bar does.

We will definitely be visiting this place again! Though the next time we visit it might be in Convent Garden...the lady who served us said they may be moving to a shop in Covent garden... Keep an eye out on their website for up to date information! 

We finished off our day with a cup of refreshing mango Taiwanese bubble tea from this small Taiwanese stall just a couple of stalls away from The Original Crispy Candy Co :)

All in all it was a lovely day out in Camden...minus the heavy downpour of rain!

Atmosphere                       9/10

Service                              10/10

Food                                   9/10

Chocolatesushi Rating    9/10

Tea and Cake at Rosie's Deli Cafe, Brixton Market

Brixton Market is one of my favourite places to go to in South London. It is vibrant, full of delicious smelling cafe's, restaurants and food stalls as well as many other stalls and shops, selling everything from fruit, veg and fish to clothes and bags.

The Foxes and Cherries sculpture, Electric Avenue

 I've eaten dumplings, noodles and Jamaican patties at Brixton Market in the past but there are so many places to eat that I haven't tried yet. I was planning to meet a friend in Brixton today and so prior to meeting her I researched the best places to eat in Brixton Market, and Rosie's Deli Cafe came up a couple of times in blogs and reviews.

Rosie's Deli Cafe is a small, comfy looking cafe at the corner of Market Row in Brixton Market.

 
We got to Rosie's Deli Cafe at around 11.30 this morning and aside from two other customers we were the only ones there. This was a good thing though as we got to pick where we wanted to sit. The cafe itself isn't very big inside, the seating area probably extends to 4 or 5 tables, but there are more tables directly outside and to the opposite side of the cafe. We chose a table on the opposite side and within a couple of minutes Rosie came out to take our order.

We started off by ordering a pot of tea with milk to share between the two of us.

Pot of tea - £3

Cup of tea before I added milk

Tea with milk

  I like my tea milky and when the milk wasn't brought out with the pot of tea I waited a couple of minutes then went back into the cafe to ask for it again.

After our tea arrived, my friend ordered scrambled eggs with toast and chilli jam, which looked so delicious that next time I go I might order it!

I went into the cafe to have a look at the cakes and what a selection! There was lemon drizzle cake, carrot cake, fig cake, as well as many others that I would have paid more attention to had I not been distracted by the cakes I just mentioned. The carrot cake in particular looked tasty with a generous layer of cream frosting at the top and it took me a couple of minutes to decide what to get. In the end I decided to go with the fig cake. 

Toasted Fig Cake with Yogurt

  What can I say about this cake? I am still thinking about it, 4 hours after I ate it. I initially ordered just the fig cake but Rosie came out and recommended I eat it toasted with yogurt so I agreed, waiting in anticipation for her to bring out the cake. Rosie knew what she was talking about when she suggested eating it toasted with yogurt because it was delicious!! The slice in the picture may look small but it was extremely filling, in the end I couldn't finish it. The cake was moist even after being toasted and the fresh yogurt added a tanginess to the sweetness of the cake. I would definitely get this again! 

Atmosphere  9/10

Service           8/10

Food               9/10

Chocolatesushi Rating 9/10

Nabs 15/08/13
 

Dessert at Afters

Today I decided to treat myself and went to Afters in Tooting with a friend. Afters is an ice cream and dessert parlour and I have been a fan ever since it first opened but I've not blogged about it at all! Luckily I've kept pictures of nearly all the desserts I've tried there so I thought I would do one big blog which will look at all of those desserts.

 What you see as you walk into Afters: ice cream in the refrigerator on the left side and the seating area on the right side, which you can just about make out from this picture. Afters also have an outside seating area which they open during the summer and when it gets really busy, but unfortunately I wasn't able to take a picture of this.

The Seating Area - comfy pink chairs!!

 As you can tell from the above pictures there is a definite pink theme going on here: pink chairs, pink walls!!

Now onto the desserts!

What me and my friend had today:

Smartie Pants

Banana Split

I ordered the Smartie Pants sundae and my friend ordered the Banana Split. 

The Smartie Pants sundae contained a scoop of strawberry ice cream, m&m's, skittles, 100s & 1000s as well as chocolate and strawberry sauce, it was like a rainbow of colours in the ice cream glass. The picture just doesn't do it justice!

The first spoonful I tasted was an explosion of different flavours, a mixture of strawberry ice cream, softly whipped ice cream and chewy skittles! By the time I got to the bottom of the glass where the 100s & 1000s were I was really full but I couldn't resist a spoonful or two of melted ice cream and 100s & 1000s. Mmm!!  

Desserts that I've tried in the past:

Cakes

Strawberry Cheesecake

Oreo Cheesecake

Fudge Cake

Cake and Custard

Apple Crumble with custard

 Waffles

Waffles with whipped cream, marshmallows and a flake

Waffles with white chocolate sauce, ice cream and a flake

 Milkshakes and Juices

Kinder Bueno Milkshake no1 with whipped cream

Kinder Bueno milkshake no2 with whipped cream and marshmallows

Strawberry Sunset Juice

Cold Stone

Cookie Love

Sundaes

King Ferrero

Mr Whippy

Waffler

Minty Magic

Strawberry Surprise

Brownie Point no1

Brownie Point no2

Knickerbocker Glory

As you can see from the above pictures I am a regular customer at Afters, going there everytime I need my dessert fix. There are other desserts I've tried that I unfortunately don't have pictures of. These include the traditional Falooda, which is a cold drink made with rose syrup, vermicelli, tapioca or basil seeds, milk, jelly and ice cream.

I have tried so many different desserts at Afters that I wouldn't know where to start if you asked me what my favourite one is but if you're visiting Afters for the first time I recommend trying one of their sundaes! If you want something fruity try their Knickerbocker Glory or for something which has more chocolate try the Brownie Point!

Afters has branches in Tooting, Croydon, Walthamstow, Leyton, Ilford and Green Street.

Atmosphere  9/10

Service           9/10

Food               10/10

Chocolatesushi Rating 9/10

Nabs 12/08/13

Roti Joupa

  
We haven't been to Trinidad before, but this Trinidadian takeaway Roti Joupa definitely made us feel like we had stepped off the streets of Clapham into a whole tropical world of exotic beaches, soca vibes and sunny islands. 

We ventured into Roti Joupa around half 12 on a very hot sunny Saturday. The seating area of Roti Joupa was already very packed, it seemed like this place was a hot spot for the local Caribbeans! The friendly afternoon bustle coupled with the soca music playing in the background really did set the Caribbean vibes, you just had to get up and get your groove on! 

One of the customers kindly told us that Trinidadian cuisine is rooted from India. The dish 'Hot Doubles' is a typical Trinidadian dish. He was brought up in Trinidad and hot doubles were served in carts for lunch at school, or as a home comfort food.  We couldn't wait to try them! We just had to order a hot double each, and on a spur we decided to try the Pholourie between us as well. 

Hot Doubles £1.50

A Hot Double is a popular Trinidadian street food, made from two fried flat breads which are filled with curried chickpeas. 

We both ordered one each and were given the choice of mild, medium and spicy at the time of ordering. We went for medium to be on the safe side. 

We wanted to take advantage of the sunshine so we took our food to Clapham Common Park. 

The hot doubles were delicious, starting off not very spicy at all until we got to the curried chickpeas where the spices kicked in with a vengeance. However, once we got used to the spices it was delightful. They were definitely worth the wait (we had to wait around 15 to 20 minutes for our order) and the only thing we underestimated was the size of the hot double. It was not very filling so in the future we would definitely buy two!

Pholourie £1.50

Pholourie are deep fried balls made from split pea flour and traditionally come with a chutney.

For the Pholourie we were again given the choice of mild, medium and spicy at the time of ordering. We chose medium.

The Pholourie were soft and tasty to start off with but they were heavy and filling despite their size. They were also very spicy, almost too spicy to enjoy properly! We would not get them again.

Overall we really enjoyed our trip to Roti Joupa, we will definitely be visiting this little gem again, keen to try out the other dishes they serve, we highly recommend it. :) Tongues blazing, sun sweltering, we were definitely on fire that day!

Atmosphere  10/10

Service           10/10

Food               9/10

Chocolatesushi Rating 9.5/10

On this occasion we only ordered from the Sides Menu but the following photos are of the rest of the menu showing you what else is available to eat at Roti Joupa!