BOOM Burgers

Have you ever been to Notting Hill carnival before? 

This burger joint is in the heart of it all! 

Notting Hill Carni 2013

Though I (Sammii) didn't visit this place in the summer, nevertheless the jamaican vibes were banging from this little spot on the corner BOOM BURGERS

The soca tunes were trilling when we stepped in:

A small friendly chilled out setting with nice lighting. 

I ordered the signature jerk BOOM burger with plantain fries and a side of jerk wings to share with my entourage. 

The wings were booming! Beautifully crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside, the plantain fries were a little bit hard for my liking..

But how about the main attraction? 

The jerk BOOM burger? 

"Jerk Chicken with fried plantain, rocket, mango and paw paw sauce."

The bun was fluffy and soft, and the spices in the chicken were just right! I loved the mango and paw paw sauce! Divine! The only thing I can critisize on this was that the burger and its insides fell apart too easily! I hardly had to bite before the burger just fell into my mouth. I would prefer the chicken inside not to be so pulled. It was just baby food soft!... But I guess thats just personal preference...

The money shot ;D

Atmosphere- 10/10

Service- 7/10

Food- 8/10

Chocolate Sushi Rating- 8/10

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Inspired Afternoon Tea

How better to relax than a nice spot of afternoon tea? Especially if that afternoon tea is Charlie and the Chocolate Factory inspired! Me and Nabs loved the idea- lets go on a time warp and travel back to the 90's!

This afternoon tea was held at the One Adwych Hotel. Upon arriving we were greeted and shown to the front desk where we were shown to our table.  It was a nice little touch to have the menus with pictures of the families!

First up were the sandwiches! 

The vegetarian option

Cucumber and Chive Creme Fraiche on Wholemeal Bread

Smoked Salmon and herb creme fraiche

Caramelised Onion and Goats Curd Tart 

Leak and Stilton Quiche 

Beef and Horseradish on Onion Bread 

Egg Mayonnaise with Watercress

Cheese

Time for the sweets! :)

Cocoa Bean Financier 

Scone with Clotted Cream and Strawberry Jam 

Cinnamon Swirl Brioche

Candy Floss- they had a secret flavour seasonaly which we were left to guess what flavour it was! 

Gingerbread Pops

Golden Chocolate Egg Filled with Vanilla Cheesecake and Mango Puree 

Chocolate Caramel Milk (Sammii's favourite- you can't go wrong with milkshake and the little glass bottle with the straw just took me back in time)

Nabs here :)

As you can see the sweet selection looked pretty impressive, just as something in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory ought to be! Some didn't taste as great as they looked: I wasn't too fond of the Gingerbread Pop as I found it too dry. My favourite had to be the Golden Chocolate Egg (a combination of chocolate, cheesecake and mango, can it get any better?!)

One thing I would suggest (and this goes for all afternoon teas), if you can only eat Halal Meat and are not a vegetarian, don't say that you want the vegetarian option. Definitely specify (whether you're booking online or via phone, they usually give you space when booking online to add extra details regarding what you can or can't eat) that you can't eat meat unless it's halal but also say that you can eat fish. I made the mistake of saying I wanted the vegetarian option, and wasn't given the Smoked Salmon and Herb Creme Fraiche. I was really dissapointed as I love fish, especially Salmon so don't make the same mistake that I did! I was given a cheese sandwich instead :((

All in all we had a lovely afternoon; the staff were very helpful and the seating area was very comfortable. I went away wanting to watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which is my absolute favourite adaption of Roald Dahl's classic book. I didn't like the 2005 Tim Burton adaption with Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, I found it too serious and a little creepy, seriously lacking the magic the 1971 adaption had!

More Afternoon Tea posts to come :))

Atmosphere- 8/10

Service- 10/10

Food- 6/10

Chocolate Sushi Rating- 6/10

Patty & Bun, James St London.

Today me (Sammii) went on a date to Patty & Bun on James St near Bond Street tube station. One of the top rated burger joints in London! Was it worth the hype?

Maayybee...

Here is the menu..

Easy and simple. 

I ordered the Jose Jose Chilli Burger and a side of chips, the total coming to £11. 

The restaurant is off the main road of Oxford Street, I went on Friday evening for dinner and it sure was a popular time! I had to wait outside for half an hour before we got seated.

The restaurant itself is very small. Loud music... so loud in fact that I had to shout to my friend to have a conversation! One thing I don't like... restaurants that play music too loud, call me a granny but the only height I want triggered when having a meal is my taste buds!

Here comes the neat little parcels...

As always unwrapping the package is always the best part ;)

All of Patty & Bun's buns are brioche buns

However today, the bun seemed not very fresh, the meat and filling however! It hit the spot!

Atmosphere- 6/10
Service- 9/10
Food- 7/10

Chocolatesushi Rating- 7/10

Destination Star Trek 3

Hi! It's Nabs here, It's been a while since I last posted! This post isn't related to food but to my second love: Star Trek! So this one is for all you Star Trek fans out there!

Last Saturday I attended Destination Star Trek (DST) at the Excel Centre. I can't believe it's been a week already, time flies! I missed out on going to the Destination Star Trek in London in 2012 and to the second one which was in Germany in February 2014, so as soon as it was announced that the third one was going to be in London again I knew I had to go!!

I have been a fan of Star Trek since I was young. I grew up watching The Original Series, The Next Generation, Voyager and Enterprise.

I bought my tickets in June as soon as they went up on the website for sale. I bought a standard entry ticket for £29 and 4 photoshoot tickets: Nichelle Nichols, Brent Spiner, a Borg Regeneration Chamber photoshoot and the Next Generation Bridge photoshoot.

I won't go into detail on everything otherwise this will be a very long post, instead I will write about my favourite moments from the day.

Entry was at 9am but I got to the Excel Centre early so I could buy tokens for Brent Spiner autographs. (Autograph tokens are exchanged for autographs at DST).

My first photoshoot of the day was with Nichelle Nichols who played Uhura in Star Trek the Original Series, the 6 films that followed and Star Trek the Animated Series. I also went to her talk in the afternoon and it was a privilege to hear her speak. She is an extraordinary woman: she knew Martin Luther King who encouraged her not to quit Star Trek and she worked with NASA in the 1970s. She was joined on the stage by Robert Picardo, it was an added bonus to hear him speak!


Some of the costumes from the museum:

    


The atmosphere during the whole day was great! Everyone I met was so friendly, the staff were brilliant, everyone knew what they were doing!

Klingon Zone

As well as the Photoshoot sets, the Autograph Area, and the stalls selling Star Trek merchandise, there was also the Klingon Zone where people were relaxing over a coffee or a bite to eat and the Screening Zone where they were showing episodes of the Original Series; at one point my favourite episode 'The City on the Edge of Forever' was on.

My favourite character from Star Trek the Next Generation is Data who was played by Brent Spiner. Queuing in the autograph area waiting to meet him I was both nervous and excited, I mean I was going to see Data, in person! (well Brent Spiner but still!!) He was lovely, and once I started talking to him I calmed down.

 I was lucky enough to see Brent Spiner another two times: firstly when I went to his talk where he was answering questions from fans, talking about Star Trek and other non-Star Trek roles, and was extremely funny. I was disappointed when the talk was over, I was hooked from start to finish. The second time I saw him was during my photoshoot later on in the afternoon though there was barely any time for talking. Still at least I got to see him again :))

The other two photoshoots (Borg Regeneration Chamber and Next Generation Bridge) were extremely fun to do, especially the Next Generation Bridge Photoshoot (I sat in the captain's chair of course!)

Other guests who attended DST included William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, Karl Urban, Bruce Greenwood, Tim Russ, Jeri Ryan.

I stayed until after 6 and really didn't want to leave, the day had been so much fun! I can't wait for the next one!! Until next time....

Golden Gate Cake Shop

Amidst all the bakeries of Chinatown in London, I must say Golden Gate Cake Shop is the one I (Sammii) revisit the most. Being within 1km of this place instantly makes me want to pull myself into a pit stop and grab a bun on the go!

Walking into this bakery- it is a small and humble space. I'm sure everything there would fit into my single bedroom! 

Front window displaying a full variety of colourful tantalising cream cakes!

My favourite bun has got to be the BBQ roast pork bun £1.30

The bread is beautifully pillowy and soft! 

Custard bun- Nabz bun of choice! £1

Custard Tart- £1

The service is your kind of 'no-small-talk-just-here-to-do-business' kind of thing, efficient! But not very friendly! 

Atmosphere- 10/10

Service- 7/10

Food- 9/10

Chocolatesushi Rating- 8/10