[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.

[Review] Vida Bakery

Vida Bakery is another success story, they started off four years ago with stalls at markets and festivals selling cakes free from dairy gluten and egg.
They became so popular that they opened a permanent shop on Brick Lane in the summer of 2018.
Vida Bakery is hard to miss on Brick Lane with its rainbow cake displays.

Inside, you will find captivating cup cakes and cakes to choose from.
The best day to visit would probably be the weekend as they have more cakes to choose from while on weekdays there are only three.

I decided to try the red velvet cup cake and leave the cake for the weekend when there would be more choices.

The red velvet cup cake was shockingly good, the texture was spot on.
I loved the way it was firm yet moist just like your regular cake but this was eggless!!
The cakes are definitely worth trying because they are unsuspectingly eggless and vegan!

Will definitely be coming back.

[Restaurant Review] Roast Dinner at Toby Carvery

Roast dinners and English food are getting scarce these days so the ones that still do it can get quite busy.
At Toby Carvery, they serve the carvery every day but Sunday is the best day to go as all five roast meats are available.

As it can be very busy on Sundays, it really depends on luck as well because the Yorkshire Puddings run out fast and the lines for roast are long.

Although the Yorkshire puddings are refilled, they do take time and the second batch that we saw were not as good as the first as they had not risen.

The roast meat is also like that because it gets dry the longer it sits there.

The location also matters because the quality looks different at different Toby Carvery branches.

Went to the South Croydon branch because the roast and sides looked fab.

To be honest, I was lucky everything was spot on when it was my turn so definitely top marks.

On my plate was Gammon, Roast Beef, Roast Roast Lamb and Roast Turkey should have there but as it wasn't so I got some more on a different plate.
Sides on my plate were Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, mac & cheese, Pork Crackling and beef dripping and plain roasties from the carvery deck.

After you get the roast, the final touch is the gravy and condiments where they have Toby's Special gravy and Vegetarian gravy.

Lashing of gravy and mint sauce make it all delicious.

I was definitely satisfied with the roast especially the gammon ham which had a nice salty kick without being too dry and the turkey was soft and moist.
The best thing was the stuffing, mint sauce and gravy which just makes it complete so that's why I'd rather come on Sundays when everything is there!

The Menu:

Will also be coming back for breakfast because they have the all you can eat breakfast!