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.

BunnyChow- Nothing to do with eating Rabbits!

BunnyChow! Nothing to do with eating rabbits!

To be honest when my friend first invited me to try a bunnychow out I (Sammii) had no idea what it was! She described it to me as a bread box filled with a stuffing, with a cute little lid! Cute name, cute lid! I was sold! BunnyChow first started off as a pop up van in June 2013, since then, it has opened a permanent residence in Shorditch BOXPARK and more recently its new Bunny Bar on Wardour Street, Soho. 

Yesterday I visited its newest branch on Wardour Street, opened in September 2014. 

A little bit of history behind BunnyChow

The food bunnychow is a South African street food, it consists of a hollowed out piece of loaf of bread filled with curry. Stories say that the bunnychow originated when workers from India were brought over to South Africa to work the sugar cane plantations. They needed a way to transport their lunch. 

#no-dish-washing-required

I chose the Bangcluck Bunny "Chicken, squash, beansprouts & Thai ginger sauce"- £6.50

I loved the subtle ginger kick in the sauce, it tasted just like a Thai green curry minus the fire. The sauce was a bit too thick for my liking but I liked the generous helping of veggies on top. The chicken meat on the other hand... I thought this dish was meant to come with chicken??

The way the sauce soaked into the walls of the bread loaf, was one of the little joys while eating this. It reminded me of dunking bread into a bowl of soup on a sick Winter's day in front of a open fire. BunnyChow is one of the be-all's of comfort food. 

Monkey Gland Bunny-"Meatballs, peppers & Monkey Glad BBQ Sauce"- £6.50

I enjoyed the Monkey Gland Bunny more than the Bangcluck Bunny! The sauce was a nicer consistency- one which soaked into the walls better.

For me, once the novelty of eating your food from an edible bread box wears out, I would find no reason to eat this again. 

The staff of this branch were on top form, they were very friendly and helpful, even gave us a few samples to help us choose which Bunny to buy, and an extra sample during our meal! One way to get on the good side of me- free stuff! Especially free food! A friend who gives you food is a friend for life I say! 

There were alot of BunnyChow branded goods to choose from as well!

        

Atmosphere- 7/10
Service- 10/10
Food- 6/10
Chocolate Sushi Rating- 6/10

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