[Restaurant Review] Second visit to Padella

Pastas restaurants are trending especially when they specialize in freshly made pasta of all shapes and sizes cooked in different ways.

There are many notable pastas restaurants out there like Bancone but Padella is different as it is affordable.

It is located next to Borough Market in the heart of a food market!

Padella is so successful that they have just opened another branch at Shoreditch on Phipp Street.
In the meantime, get there early as there are always queues of people!

The menu is simple and concise.

My choices were easy,  as I have already tried the Gnocchi and tagliarini with anchovy butter, the Parpadelle and Stracci were my picks!

There was salt and pepper available but the pasta was tasty so it was not needed.
Water was also provided.

Stracci with Sweet onion, thyme and gorgonzola fonduta:

Started with the Stracci which unfortunately wasn't very hot but as I was really hungry I demolished it quickly.
The onions and thyme flavoured it nicely.

Pappardelle with fennel sausages & peppercorn ragu:

The pappardelle with fennel sausages was also good because the herb and sausage meat tasted like the sausage meat you get at pizza hut.

Desserts at Padella.

Will definitely visit the new branch of Padella and see how it fares!

Gnocchi and Tagliarini at Padella (First visit)

Michelin Status as of 2020: Bib Gourmand

[Restaurant Review] Bancone

Pastas restaurants are trending especially when they specialize in freshly made pasta of all shapes and sizes cooked in different ways.
There are many notable pastas restaurants out there like Bancone and Padella so why not check then all out.

Bancone is more upscale located near Charing Cross station.

They are so successful that there are now two branches with one near Soho at the Golden Square.

However the menu is different for both restaurants so I ended up going here because they had the cavolo nero malfalde with taleggio and toasted buckwheat.

The pasta was visually stunning but it lacked taste.
I could taste the grassiness of the kale but the whole thing was just bland so I had to add some salt to it which made it much more palatable.
Although it was not a good first experience, I think I should go back and try the other dishes.


Bancone Michelin Status: Bib Gourmand

[Restaurant Review] Little Bay Croydon

Stumbled upon Little Bay in Croydon so decided to check it out.

Went in and fell in love with the red velvet decor so decided to dine there.
Little Bay might look ordinary from the outside but you are going to get a big surprise!
The quirky theatrical decor wins it all!

Brunch was a bargain, priced from £4.45-‎£6.45 with a choice of eggs benedict, florentine etc

As I wanted something light I went for the Avocado Toast which was Crushed Avocado with Poached Egg, Cherry Tomatoes, Olive Ketchup and House Hollandaise Sauce.
I think the hash brown was thrown in by accident.

For £4.45, it was more than delicious especially the olive ketchup which was olive paste that complemented everything nicely.
Tea was also included so I felt my brunch couldn't have been more complete!

The only difficulty was trying to capture the beauty of Little Bay as the lighting made it a challenge.

Pictures of Little Bay Croydon.

[Review] Possibly the Best Hainan Chicken at Mei Mei, London Borough Market

Borough Market is constantly developing and evolving with more and more eateries with the rapidly changing food trends.
There is a new area at Borough Market which houses small joints like Mei Mei.
Mei Mei caught my eyes because of those old green tiles found in the East.

Mei Mei is a Singaporean kopitiam inspired joint headed by Elizabeth Haigh who competed on MasterChef in 2011, and went on to win a Michelin star at the Hackney based restaurant Pidgin.
If you like this type of decor there is another one called Bun House which is HK in the 1960s.

How could I not try Mei Mei because UK has relatively better and fresh ingredients than Hong Kong so I tried their Hainan Chicken!

I was really lucky that day as Elizabeth was there as she had a shoot.

The menu is simple, Hainan Chicken, Fried chicken, Curry and even Congee!

 They even had my favourite soda flavoured with my favourite pandan so that was another bonus!

The soda turned out quite small but it tasted amazing, it was not too sweet with a fragrant pandan taste.

As for the hainan chicken, it was definitely the best!

Why? because they use good chicken from ginger pig Yorkshire chickens and the chef slices it properly giving patrons chicken and not rubbish like Hong Kong's randomly chopped chicken laced with dangerous bone fragments.
Clearly the chef will give you the best and not serve if there is not enough chicken whereas HK will give you wings and extra bony bits which should be thrown away.
Visually the chicken is not bruised or grey.
The most impressive thing was the breast meat was silky soft and moist.
I am so glad I tried this.

Will definitely be coming back for the congee and fried chicken!

[Review] Chicken Nuggets at KFC Hong Kong

Went to KFC again because they had chicken nuggets.

As well as chicken nuggets, they had crisps and these Portuguese tarts filled with mochi and red beans.

For mains, had my usual favourite which was rice with luncheon meat, fried chicken and mushroom gravy.

Unfortunately, the rice was rather mushy this time, a cross between congee and soggy rice while the luncheon meat was dry on one side.

Next were the chicken nuggets which come with wasabi salad sauce.
The chicken nuggets tasted really familiar like those frozen microwavable ones.

I would much prefer BBQ sauce to go with the nuggets but then this is Hong Kong where they prefer wasabi.

Ended up getting the crisps as well as it was reasonably priced at HKD10 for 2.

They were quite spicy with a sweet aftertaste and reminded me of the Indian Lay's Masala Magic with the spiciness reduced.

[Review] Lays Maxx Deep Ridged BBQ flamed crisps X KFC

Got these Lays Maxx Deep Ridged BBQ flamed crisps X KFC from KFC which were reasonably priced at HKD10 for 2.

They were quite spicy with a sweet aftertaste and reminded me of the Indian Lay's Masala Magic with the spiciness reduced.