Half Cup

Called as Half Cup, the name was a little bit peculiar and somehow brought my mind to the thought of ‘Half Full’ or ‘Half Empty’. 

It’s actually a coincidence for me ending up at this place, as I was actually not planning to, however just because it’s nearby the place where I was at, then I thought why not giving it a try as the dishes did look appealing. Hence when arriving there at the venue and noticing there’s a long queue in front, I was quite surprised. Then I noticed the sign that they got several recommendations from reputable ‘dining and tourism guides’. Oh well, this time I just unconsciously made the perfect choice! 

It’s quite sad that the space was indeed very limited yet the guests kept coming. The attendants were pretty helpful in trying to arrange the seating so that most guests could be served at the soonest. Besides, it’s just rainy and windy so it just made the waiting time looked quite terrible. 

Most of the dishes offered were very suitable for my kind of brunch, making it harder to pick one to try. As I was trying to make up my mind, I suddenly recalled my last brunch with my friend when she had her dish being the star of the dining session, and at that time it was mushroom-based, so there it went my mushroom on toast landed smoothly on the dining table.

Wild Mushroom on Toast (£11)

For the carnivores, you might think there was much more interesting option than this, but don't dare to mention till you pay a try fella. I would say that I'd love being a vegetarian if I could keep having this kind of dish. Cooked in garlic butter, the perfectly chewy wild mushrooms were so flavorful. I knew I had imagined it to come with truffle, but though it's not, it wasn't any less scrumptious. 

The gorgeous runny yolk wasn't only flawless in presentation but fully complemented the overall taste of the dish. Super in love till the very last bite!

Coconut Deluxe (£3.5)

As I earlier mentioned, it was cold rainy Sunday so what could go wrong with ordering hot dark chocolate? At the beginning I found it a bit odd, mixed with coconut syrup and topped with desiccated coconut. To my surprise, it got me sold at my first sip. As it used dark chocolate, and perhaps the coconut mixture itself, the sweetness level was pretty light. As the texture was pretty thick, it's quite a fulfilling hot drink but I would say I ended my dining session happily bloated.

It's quite unfortunate I didn't have any more space left in the tummy to go for their other stuffs which I was obviously super excited to try. Oreo French Toast, Smashed Avo, Hash Benedict, ohh I could keep going on.... So guess what? I would definitely say yes for coming back ;)

Taste: 8/10

Place: 7/10

Service: 7.5/10

Price: 7/10

Thanks for reading! :)

HALF CUP

Address: King's Cross Outlet (100 - 102 Judd Street, London, WC1H 9NT)

Operating Hours: Mon - Fri 8am - 6pm, Sat - Sun 9am - 5pm

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Ole & Steen

Not a loyal fan of cinnamon, I was kinda picky when it came to this particular ingredient since indeed I ended up loving some of those I tried, but not few cases hating them as well. Given this, when I first spotted Ole and Steen’s iconic Cinnamon Social, I honestly admitted the look was so appetizing yet it took me awhile thinking if I was about giving it a try or not. 

Calling it a coincidence, last weekend I was so excited with my plan visiting Victoria and Albert museum. Then I tried to look for where to spoil my palate nearby  the museum area. As Ole and Steen finally appears as one of the choices, I right away recalled the appealing Cinnamon Social and there I was, being the first timer for this cafe. 

I was happy figuring out the place was sizable and apparently comfy enough for spending longer time. I could see some people chilling, others working, and remaining killing time reading. So far I rarely found this kind of cafe in London as others I’d visited mostly provided petite space where people mostly just took away their foods or did quick dining session. I kinda missed my habit spending my entire afternoon in Starbucks working as I just felt myself more energized sitting out-of-home. 

Not only spacious first floor, they even had the upper level area which was able to accommodate quite large group of people as well. I wished I could have it nearby the office, prolly not to even dine it but simply stopped by, grabbing my breakie. 

The options they provided were literally rich, from savory to sweet ones, from heavy meals to light bites, from pastry to cakes. One of the best things that they made happened was the fact that they served various samples of the pastries, which they regularly changed every time they finished each set. So regardless I only ordered two dishes from the menu, I got the chance to try many others. 

Roast Beef on Open Rye (£ 6.5)

Anyone who’s a fan of beef here?? Oh yeah, I could see many, and for sure count me in! Sliced in just the right thickness and cooked rare, the meat was tender and juicy. The gorgeous ‘pinkish’ slices were succulently seasoned and well-paired to the mushroom and Grana Padano. I would say the proteins were served very generously that there would be no single bite of the rye came without those toppings. Not to mention, the crispy shallots! YES, you heard me right, CRISPY SHALLOTS! If some of you might think they're just like 'final condiments', for me this particular ingredient stepped up the taste and made it even became richer - also given the fact that I'd been a big big fan of crispy shallots even since I was a kid. So anytime you fell into dilemma in picking the savory option in Ole & Steen, you now had the perfect answer to your doubt right in your pocket.

Cinnamon Social Slice (£ 3.1)

Here it comes, the Creme de la creme! The star to the stage, Ole & Steen's one and only Cinnamon Social! Being sold in the whole portion, you needn't worry as it's also offered in slices. Just one reminder, when it's said a slice, the size was actually quite huge. Available in the signature cinnamon flavor as well as chocolate, my pick was surely the cinnamon just because the tester got me sold right away.

While some of you might say you're not a cinnamon lover, well wait until you gave this a try. The fluffy pastry was served in the right sweetness level, and impeccably complemented by that crispy sugar-coating on top. The cinnamon taste was well-balanced by the vanilla custard, and that's also why I thought it would suit all taste buds. If I recommended the earlier dish to be chosen for the savory pick, then here's your sweet ending!

Spandauer (£ 3)

Alternatively, they also had this Spandauer, which was basically the earlier cinnamon social without the cinnamon; so you would have the vanilla custard at the center of the danish pastry. This would be another lovely one to opt for.

All in all, for you who had known me well, you would have guessed it right that this kind of place was surely my piece of heaven on earth. I really couldn't wait to have my other bite on the 'SOCIALS', name it the chocolate, almond, or the favorite cinnamon!

Taste: 8/10

Place: 7.5/10

Service: 7/10

Price: 7.5/10

Thanks for reading! :)

OLE & STEEN

Address: 92 Kensington High Street, London, W8 4SH (and many other locations)

Phone: (+44) 20 3955 7448

Operating Hours:  Mon - Fri 7.30am - 9pm, Sat - Sun 8am - 9pm

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Mamason's Dirty Ice Cream

Dirty ice cream? Is it served with something or somewhere making it carrying the dirty name? That’s what sparked in my mind once I heard the name. Apparently, despite not 100% right, that’s pretty close guess as it did have something related to that. Carrying the concept of ‘dirty ice cream’ all the way from Philippines to London, the ice cream parlor offered what the Filipino called as street ice cream, and added more inventive ideas into the concept itself. 

To add your excitement, the Filipino’s theme didn’t stop there as majority of what they served did feature Philippines traditional sweets, named it Bilog and Ensaymada. Beyond that, you would have Ube as one of the signature flavor carried out by the house. For you who’re not familiar with Ube, it’s basically the purple yam - yep, some of you for sure have been very familiar with this trending ingredient used for many kinds of desserts. 

Actually, I had wanted to visit Mamason’s earlier when I passed by their Chinatown outlet. Sadly they didn’t offer the ensaymada over there while this was my first reason coming to this ice cream parlor as I kinda missed this Filipino’s signature dessert too much. Got the chances to try it in Manila once and brought by a friend once to Jakarta, and even the classic one got me hitched!

Just because I kept thinking over it and really craved for it, that brought me to the Kentish Town branch of Mamason’s, which surprisingly was much quieter than the one in Chinatown which was almost all-time full-house. Prolly the difference was this one was more in residential area, in contrary to the Chinatown one which was at the heart of the shopping and dining complex. 

The petite yet homey space came in natural and calming interior. Just like other typical cafe in London, you could see most tables could only occupy not more than 2-3 people. Still a lovely design I would say, which you could enjoy when spending the afternoon dessert time. 

Ube Ensaymada (£3.5)

While most guests ordered their Bilog, the toasted milk bun stuffed with ice cream, I was more attracted to their Ensaymada. Yep, as I told you earlier, this traditional Filipino dessert had long got me sold to it. For you who just heard the name for the first time, the classic one was soft and buttery sweet bun topped with grated cheese. As this anti-mainstream one came in Ube flavor, the topping was actually not substituted but added instead. I could hear the ‘YEAAAYYY!’. The warm pillowy dough was further accompanied by chilled ube sauce, so do picture how heavenly it was with the play of hot and cold; like literally melt in the mouth. If I could wish for slightly more cheese, it would be surely be way more awesome!

Ube Coco (£5)

Feeling not fair to the throat if only going with the food? There it came the Ube White Chocolate drink, served hot (or cold if you wished). Some palate might think this was little bit too sweet, yet for mine which had above-average tolerance rate to sweets, this went flawless. Again, another pairing of the opposite temperature as the hot beverage was served with cold ube whipped cream. It was so pleasant for me dipping the whipped into the drink and enjoyed them together, such warming cup that I would surely look forward to having the next one!

My next excitement was definitely their Bilog and Ube doughnut. Emm... prolly I would add one more, the red velvet ensaymada! And oh yeah dearest Mamason’s, pretty please add the ensaymada into your Chinatown branch menu list :)

Taste: 8/10

Place: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Price: 7.5/10

Thanks for reading! :)

MAMASON'S DIRTY ICE CREAM

Address: 91 Kentish Town Road, Camden, London NW1 8NY

Phone: (+44) 20 7267 1871

Operating Hours: Mon - Fri 8am - 10.30pm, Sat - Sun 11am - 10.30pm

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L'eto Caffe

'Count the memories, not the calories'... yep, that's what L'eto kept telling all its customers. Well, especially for a sweet tooth like me, this definitely prevailed. The moment I stood right next to the cakes display, I couldn't hold myself from falling into deep dilemma of what to opt for. It's simply like 'Oh dear.. could I just have everything!'

The menu selection itself actually went beyond both the sweets and savory dishes displayed. They did serve various meals for breakfast, brunch, lunch, till dinner. Nonetheless, as I came there for afternoon tea only, hence I needed to 'wave next time' to those tempting choices. 

Sitting in the line of similar cafes in Brompton areas, L'eto was initially not my only option. As next to it there were other cafes offering menu for afternoon tea as well, I walked pass all of them and sneaked from the glass windows on what they're trying to offer as most of them displayed their selections of cakes. It's exactly like window-shopping, just that the items were cakes.

My final decision then went to L'eto as I could see they had the 'richest catalogue' offering longest list of choices. No wonder, they're also the one with longest queue, which was actually the combination of those who just wanted to take away and those who wanted to dine in. The guests really varied, from couples, families, group of youngsters, name it. Yeah, I guessed people in the city did love desserts nothing less than I did.

Luckily, it didn't take that long before my friend and I finally got a seat. It was indeed not a very big space, but the details of the interior did get me amazed. The garden-alike setting especially the food-display corner, reminded me of Alice in Wonderland - such a lovely place to dine in!

As in most cases, visuals did play better role than words. Once you saw the real cakes in front of you, you got more confused on which one to go for. However at the same time, it eased you to know which were which as you needed neither to read long explanation nor to imagine how the dessert would look like. 

Violet & Raspberry Macaron Cake (£5.9)

Belonged to my friend, I would say this was one of the most beautiful piece L'eto offered, gorgeously combining the bold colors. The macaron stacks were pretty nice, despite those who were not that much into desserts might think they're slightly too sweet. For my palate, they're just right *wink*. Good thing, the refreshing and slightly sour raspberry did balance the overall taste. The cream was okay-ish for me, and I might fancy it more in case it came with something tastier like cream cheese. 

Raspberry Ricotta Cheesecake (£6.5)

Okay, looked like the big fan of cheesecake just got what she wished for! I was super excited spotting they had several options of cheesecake flavors. As my tummy surely couldn't afford to take all, my pick went to this ricotta one with refreshing fruit toppings. The cheesecake itself was the creamy yet light type, with not overly bold cheese taste; a lovely option to go for. 

Blue Magic (£4.5)

Unconsciously, my friend picked the drink whose color matched her cake really well - a set of purple delicacy. Named as Magic, you might have correctly guessed that the drink would be a color-changing one, once you poured the mixture into the tea pot. The flavor was mainly lychee, which doubtlessly tasted pleasant and refreshing.

Hot Chocolate (£5.9)

Being an Indonesian who believed chocolate and cheese were perfect combination, as I went for cheesecake, I then opted for hot chocolate as my cup to enjoy. Well, just kidding, I did opt for chocolate drink and cheesecake dessert, yet it actually had nothing to do with the choco-cheese 'concept'. I was hitched by the hot chocolate as I read the menu telling that it featured Gianduja chocolate and the fact that it's served with nuts and rice-crisps made it being even more peculiar. Not only the presentation was appealing, my first sip did get me hooked right away. It became the perfect choice as winter-warmer, and chocolate lover like me surely got blown away by the bold cocoa flavor!

In a nutshell, I could easily imagine myself keep coming back again, paying my first-trials for their other cakes and handcrafted drinks!

Taste: 7/10

Place: 7.5/10

Service: 8/10

Price 7/10

Thanks for reading! :)

L'ETO CAFFE

Address: 243 Brompton Road, London, SW3 2EP

(Other locations in London: Soho, King's Road, Belgravia, Mayfair)

Phone: (+44) 20 7854 2860 

Operating Hours: Sun - Thu 9am - 10pm, Fri 8.30am - 10pm, Sat 8.30am - 11pm

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