[Review] hans grill pizza stone

Somehow pizzas at home never taste the same as restaurants which led me to think to observe how they makes pizzas at restaurants.
As well as pizzas, delicious naans also have some magic to them in the sense that there is something that can distribute heat well so that the dough is uniformly crisp and soft in the middle.

This is where the pizza stone is needed, hans grill specializes in pizza stones where it helps distributes heat evenly.

Instructions are simple, you just put the stone in the oven, turn on the oven to heat the pizza stone, then slide your pizza on to it.
The time depends on how thick your pizza is and how you like your pizza.

Pizza stones comes in different shapes, they can be round or rectangular.

Personally I like the rectangular pizza stones because it allows you to make round or rectangular pizzas or put other items on the side whilst your baking the pizza.

As the instruction says, you pre heat the stone by putting it on the lower rack, turning on the oven for 30-40 minutes.

Then you turn down the heat once the stone has got hot and then slide your pizza on to the stone.

The pizza shovel was easy to use, I dusted the wooden shovel with flour to ensure that the pizza could slide about before adding ingredients and whilst I was adding ingredients I kept sliding the pizza so that it would slide off perfectly when it was time to slide it on to the pizza stone.

The pizza I made had diced purple onions, diced yellow peppers, feta, olives and anchovies.

Since it was my first time making the pizza dough, the pizza base was quite thick like a deep pan but the base was uniformly crisp.

With the experience for the first pizza, the second one was made thinner.

Overall, definitely easy to use and I loved my uniform pizza base but the only difficulty I had was transferring the pizza to the stone because if you're clumsy you end up getting some ingredients on the stone.

I am not sure if this method would work but I am thinking of covering the pizza stone with aluminum foil or baking paper to help protect the stone from getting ingredients all over it to prolong the pizza stone life.

Currently, hans grill pizza stones are available on amazon with free delivery if you live in the UK.

[Review] M & S Food Bramley Apple Victoria Sponge

To be honest, I was going to M & S Food intending to get a Victoria sponge but in front of me there were two to choose from.
The regular Victoria Sponge and the Bramley Apple Victoria sponge.

Instantly, I knew the Bramley apple version one was going to be damn good because I expected the filling to be the same as the filling for their Fresh cream Bramley apple turnovers which are sensationally good.

For me, I prefer eating cakes and sponges as to puff pastry so the Bramley apple Victoria sponge was the perfect combo.

As expected the Bramley Apple Victoria sponge was delicious especially the freshly whipped cream and apple compote which was chunks of crisp sweetened apples.

It is hard to see the apple compote but it definitely is in there as well as the lovely layer of freshly whipped cream which tasted very buttery yet light as well as the fluffy buttery sponge that was not too overwhelmingly buttery.

Eggless Fresh Cream cakes at Cakes & Bakes, Forest Gate

A great selection of eggless cakes.
Compared to other eggless cake shops, they are the cheapest at £1.50 per slice.

[Restaurant Review] Halloumi Burger at Burger King

The Halloumi Burger at Burger King was launched last summer in 2019 for a while to test the market.
It is now back again so I decided to try it.
There are three different versions: Single, Double and Spicy.

Again I went to Stratford's Burger King because it was cheaper.

Halloumi is a Greek Cheese that is white and very different to your regular cheese because the texture is firm with a chew.
Most Halloumi burgers I have tried have grilled Halloumi but the one at Burger King is deep fried.

The Halloumi burger at Burger King looked quite nice with mayonnaise, lettuce, onions and tomatoes.
Taking a bite, the halloumi was quite tough and chewy but tasted good with the creamy mayonnaise and onions so ordering the single halloumi was wise as two would be too much to chew on.

Overall, I liked it more than the Rebel Whopper because it just tasted weird.

[Review] Rebel Burger at Burger King UK and Vegetarian Butcher finds at Coop

I have always wanted to try the vegetarian rebel burger from Burger King since it is an international chain.
You will find that the US uses the Impossible Patty while UK serves a plant based patty by the Vegetarian Butcher.

In a way I was glad that the patty in UK was different because I have already tried the Impossible elsewhere.

Prices are different at different locations for Burger King in UK so it makes sense to try it where it is cheapest.
I don't know what the cheapest price was but I went to Stratford because it was cheaper than the two in Croydon.

Well, the rebel burger looked the part but unfortunately I was disappointed with the patty itself because it was tasteless and I didn't like the texture.

On the topic of Vegetarian Butcher, here are some of their products I found at Co-op.

[Review] Tea at London Tea Exchange

A while ago I discovered London Tea Exchange when I was at Brick Lane so made a mental note to visit it later.
I love tea especially when there are so many blends to choose from.
Brick Lane is an interesting location for a tea house because the rest are smaller coffee shops and curry houses.

I was drawn by the cakes at the window especially the rainbow one which just stood out from the classy wood and brass setting.

As the place was a bit busy I went back an hour later when it was nice and quiet.

The staff were really friendly and showed me the teas so that I could smell them.
There were green, black, white, yellow and other teas to choose from on the menu.
Darjeeling or Breakfast tea is normally my pick with cakes but the chocolate coconut was a must because I always have this whenever I see it.

Ordered the rainbow cake with the chocolate and coconut tea.

The rainbow cake was moist and delicious finished with my favourite chocolate coconut tea which had three types of Belgian chocolate and coconut flakes.
It is hard to explain but I just have an addictive to the taste of cocoa in tea without the sweetness.

To summarize, I really enjoyed my tea moment so I will probably be back for the Fruity blossom tea which has a lovely aroma of cherries and rhubarb.
The staff have a good knowledge of teas which is good but it would have been nice if the cakes were labelled.