Coffee Max

Coffee Max is a Halal Italian restaurant on Tooting High Street. I've been going there for years, whether it be for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Over the years I've tried a lot of things, from pizza and panini to a full on English breakfast.

When I go to a restaurant on a regular basis and end up really liking a particular dish I'll begin to order that everytime I go (I'll never try anything new). For a long time it was the panini that was my favourite. My go to panini was the 'Melted Mozzarella' which is made from turkey rashers, cheese, tomato and basil. Delicious! There are a range of other fillings to choose from including a vegetarian option (vegetables, olives, and cheese) and a fish option (tuna, sweetcorn, tomato, lettuce, red onion, and mayonnaise). All the options excluding the vegetarian are priced at £5.95; the vegetarian option is priced at £5.25. All the panini come with chips.

For the last year or two when going to Coffee Max I've always ordered the 'Melanzane Alla Parmigiana' or as I like to call it, 'the aubergine dish' (see the photo below). On the menu it's listed as a starter but the first time I tried it I was so full afterwards that for me it's a lot more filling than a starter is. I usually have it with some bread and that is my meal complete. 

Melanzane Alla Parmigiana £4.75

Melanzane Alla Parmigiana is baked aubergine layered with tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmesan. I love aubergine (one of my favourite vegetables) so I could eat the aubergines on their own and still be satisfied but the tomato sauce and cheese add a beautiful flavour to the aubergine. The bread is perfect for mopping up the tomato sauce and there is a generous amount of bread given so I usually have enough for the entire dish. 

Last week I went to Coffee Max for dinner and ordered my usual 'Melanzane Alla Parmigiana'.

I don't always have dessert after a meal (it depends on how I'm feeling) but this time I really needed something sweet. I usually have the chocolate fudge cake (see photo below) which is lovely! I am a chocoholic but for some reason am not very fond of chocolate ice cream or chocolate cake (I know, I'm weird) but I've literally eaten this cake everytime I've gone to Coffee Max for either tea & cake or as a dessert after dinner and I've never gotten tired of it. It comes drizzled with chocolate sauce and accompanied by whipped cream. I usually have it warm and in the past I've sometimes had it with ice cream (instead of whipped cream). 

This time though I wanted to have something different for dessert and went for the Tiramisu instead. I've eaten Tiramisu in the past and although I'm not a huge fan I do like it. Tiramisu is made using sponge cake, coffee and mascarpone cheese. The last time I ordered it (which was probably years ago) it certainly didn't look as pretty as it did now. The tiramisu was presented in a dessert glass with two Italian biscuits on the top (see photo below). A perfect mix of cake, cream and coffee (perhaps a little heavy on the coffee, I know I know, Tiramisu is made with coffee, what am I talking about?!). I was unable to finish it though (not because of the taste but because there was quite a lot of it and around 3/4 of the way in I was full). 

The Tiramisu and Chocolate Cake are both priced at £3.95. 

Post written by Nabs.

Atmosphere- 8/10

Service- 8/10

Food- 9/10

Chocolate Sushi Rating- 8/10

Chocolate Cornflake Cakes

I wanted to bake something this afternoon but wasn't in the mood for anything complicated so decided to make Chocolate Cornflake Cakes. What could be simpler?! I love these, they taste so good I can usually eat 2 or 3 in one go. This is a brilliant recipe for children to make with their parents as it's safe (no oven involved), easy and quick to make and very tasty!

I used around 3/4 of a belgian chocolate bar and a whole Terry's Chocolate Orange Popping Candy ball. I could hear the chocolate going pop as it was melting in the microwave.

Breaking the chocolate into little pieces I melted it in the microwave for around 1 minute. You can also melt chocolate by placing the bowl over a pan of hot water but I find melting in the microwave is a lot quicker.

Once the chocolate was melted I added in the cornflakes and mixed both chocolate and cornflakes together.

I then added the mixture as evenly as I could into cake cases.

It took me less than half an hour to make the cornflake cakes. I've put them in the fridge for an hour or so. I can't wait to eat them!

Post written by Nabs

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Friday Deal at Jaffna House

I went to Jaffna House on a Friday night with a friend a couple of months ago and I really should have written about the meal I had once I got home or at least the next day. Unfortunately things got in the way which meant that I've left this post quite late, forgetting a few details along the way such as the price! I'm sure it was between £4 and £5 which was very reasonable considering how many dishes this deal contains as well as the large portion of rice! (The price may have gone up since).

I really liked the potato curry which is the second one from the right at the top, it was definitely my favourite. The other dishes included are aubergine curry, fried cabbage, daal (lentils) and spinach curry. I can't remember what the dish on the top right hand corner is. 

The donut shaped snack in the above photo is called a Vadai, it's made of daal, onions and chilli. It tasted nice except I found it a little dry. If you're going to Jaffna House for a meal and don't go for this deal you should try the Thair Vadai where the Vadai is soaked in yogurt (this will make it less dry). Unfortunately with this deal you can't choose and you get the original Vadai (I guess you could soak it in one of the curries, maybe I should have done that!)

Anyway I hope to go back to Jaffna House soon to either get this deal again or try something new. And I'll hopefully be able to write a more detailed post (apologies for the lack of detail in this post).

Written by Nabs.

Atmosphere- 8/10

Service- 8/10
Food- 8/10

Chocolatesushi Rating- 8/10

Coke Float

Nabs here :)

I've been feeling really nostalgic lately, finding myself constantly wishing I could go back to my school days when the biggest worry in my life was making sure I got my homework done on time. As a result of this ongoing feeling of nostalgia I've been watching a lot of 90's shows which is my version of going back in time; Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Blossom (both of which are on YouTube) and Goosebumps have been at the top of my list. I also watched the 1995 film Now and Then earlier this week and in one scene the group of friends in the film are sitting in a cafe where they order Coke Floats. A coke float is basically vanilla ice cream in coca-cola, simple but yummy! Coke Floats can also be made with whipped cream instead of ice cream, I'm going to try this recipe one day!

The coke float was created in the late 19th century but everytime I think of a coke float I imagine a 1950's diner with the jukebox playing. I had a coke float once at Ed's Diner which for me was the perfect setting with 1950's music playing in the background. 

So naturally I've been craving a coke float all week and I thought about going to Ed's Diner or Afters (they do a version with a flake on top) but in the end decided to save some money and make my own at home. All I needed was some coca-cola and vanilla ice cream. Pics to follow :)

An extra big bottle!

I needed cheering up last night so I made myself a Coke Float and what a treat it was! Perfectly delicious, it tasted like a really nice vanilla coke, I'll certainly be having another two or three glasses today!

I put 3 scoops of ice cream into the glass, poured in coca-cola, mixed the ice cream and coke together and voila there you have it: a coke float

Sorry I've posted so many photos of the same thing, I like to think they're from different angles...I think I have a Coca-Cola glass somewhere so hopefully next time I'll be able to make it using that glass.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Nabs here :) 

Last week I treated myself to a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (I promise I didn't eat all of them on my own, I'm not that greedy...)

I bought the above box of a dozen doughnuts for £11.45. The pre-packed box which I think includes the twelve best selling doughnuts is £10.45 but I didn't even look at what doughnuts they had in that box. I knew which ones I wanted and so for an extra £1 I got to choose the doughnuts (the extra £1 is worth it!) Though if I had known that the Chocolate Fudge Cake doughnut (the two doughnuts in the middle of the bottom row) was going to be literally all chocolate (inside as well as outside) I wouldn't have chosen it. I love chocolate but I found it extremely bitter.

My favourite Krispy Kreme doughnut has to be the Chocolate Dreamcake, which is filled with chocolate sauce; it's the one that I've eaten again and again. In the past I have often craved other flavours such as the Original Glazed doughnut. I remember last December when I really really wanted one (the craving was so strong that I wasn't going to settle for an ordinary ring doughnut!) I went all the way to Kingston just so I could buy one (there's a Krispy Kreme on the top floor of the Bentalls store). Okay that wasn't the reason I went to Kingston but eating the doughnut was the highlight of the day. 

You can get Krispy Kremes in some Tesco stores, I've bought my beloved Chocolate Dreamcake in a few, but there is something about going to an actual Krispy Kreme shop or stall and seeing all the lovely doughnuts on display. It's almost magical seeing all the different colours, the different flavours.

Sammii taking over :)
Here are a few pictures of the doughnuts I have bought from Krispy Kremes. Haha yes, and if you don't know it by now, me and Nabz do eat alot!

This is by far my favourite Krispy Kreme doughnut!  The Strawberries and Kreme!- It has a strawberry and cream sauce filling inside!

I have nooo idea what this one was! But it looks pretty still! :)

Creme Brulee Doughnut

 Apple Cinnamon Doughnut

Lemon Meringue Pie

Cookie Crunch- I don't like this one, I found the chocolate very dense. 

Enjoying a Pistachio Krispy Kreme Doughnut with a cuppa!

Valentine's Special- Heart Shaped Doughnut <3 comment-3--="" nbsp="">

A first attempt at making Banana Cake

Nabs here :)

The first time I tried Banana Bread was at work when a colleague brought some in. It was absolutely delicious and I couldn't wait to try and make it myself. 

I haven't baked in a while and so today I decided to make some Banana Bread. I used this BBC Food recipe: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/bananabread_85720

 I think I may have added a bit too much ingredients (I really need a proper measuring set!) and possibly didn't leave the bread in the oven long enough. (I put it back in the oven for another 10,15 minutes after taking the photos that follow).

The recipe listed buttermilk as one of the ingredients and if you don't have that then normal milk mixed with lemon juice or vinegar. I used normal milk but forgot to mix in lemon juice and had to add in a splash after I'd added the milk.

All in all it has turned out okay for my first time making it, I've eaten a slice and it tastes quite nice. It tasted a lot better after I left it in the oven to bake for a little longer. It hasn't quite turned out like the one in the picture (check out the BBC link to the recipe at the top) but practice makes perfect and hopefully next time it will turn out better.

Ideal Sweets

Ideal Sweets is an Indian Sweet Shop and Bakery that recently opened on Tooting High Street. The front is painted in an eye catching red (unfortunately I haven't been able to get a photo).

I've never really been a massive fan of Indian Sweets or Methai (as they're otherwise known; for the purpose of this post I will refer to them as Indian Sweets or Sweets.) The reason being is I've found that they can sometimes be unbearably sweet. I once tried a Chocolate Barfi thinking that as it's got chocolate on the top I'll be able to eat it but I didn't even finish half of it. I do however really like Laddu and I've often found myself craving them. The ingredients include flour, sugar, milk and rice, depending on the type of Laddu. Okay, enough about my likes/dislikes and back to Ideal Sweets. 

On the weekend that Ideal Sweets opened their sweets were half price and as you can guess there were long queues on all 3 days so I decided to wait. I think the first time I went was later on in the week. 

As you walk into the shop you're greeted with a warm sweet smell and a large selection of sweets to choose from. As it was my first visit I asked for a piece or two of mostly everything to be put into the box. The prices are reasonable: a kilo of sweets costs £9 while a half kilo costs £4.

The sweets in the above photo have almost become my standard order (everytime I go these are generally the ones that I get). The selection includes (from the left): Rasgulla, Pista Barfi (the green sweet), Gajar Halwa (which is made with carrots) and Habshi Halwa (the brown sweet and my favourite!) 

If I could only recommend one of these tasty sweets to try I would choose Habshi Halwa, no hesitation! I can probably eat at least 2 pieces if not 3. Habshi Halwa is chewy, sticky, almost like toffee (only nicer). It does contain nuts however and a few other sweets might do as well so if you're allergic to nuts check before buying.

I'm watching my sugar intake so I won't be getting another box for a while...I won't leave it too long though.

Post written by Nabs.

Trader Joe's Cookie Butter

The first time I heard about this gem was a year or two ago when I read about it on a blog. Unfortunately there isn't a Trader Joe's in the UK, and nowhere else in the UK sells it so my desire to try it went unsatisfied. That is until about a month ago when my sister brought me back a jar of the original Cookie Butter. She said there was also a chocolate version which she had considered buying but I'm glad she didn't as I wanted to try the original.  

When I first tried the Cookie Butter I didn't want to stop eating it! Honestly, it tasted wonderful, sort of like crushed gingerbread biscuits with a hint of toffee (that's my idea of what it tastes like, people might get hints of other flavours in it which I've missed).

So far I've tried the Cookie Butter on toast and on pancakes and both times the results have been delicious! When I first got the Cookie Butter I considered eating it with apples (I had read that one of the ways to eat it was as a dip for apples) but I've yet to try this option... Another way I would eat the Cookie Butter is as a sauce for ice cream (sort of like a toffee sauce).

I've already eaten about half of the jar so I'm trying not to eat it as often because once it's finished that's it, until I can go to America myself or get someone to bring it for me again.

If you live in America and have a Trader Joe's near you definitely try the Cookie Butter! :)

Post written by Nabs.