Wednesday, February 26, 2020

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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Sunday, February 23, 2020

Brixton Laundry

The nature of human, having no option got you confused, but having too much options drew you even into deeper dilemma. This pretty much represented me on a Friday night, trying to think of where to spend my Saturday brunch. Yes, being a newbie to the city got me exposed to so many choices as I did keep myself opened to all kind of information I could find through all media. With the long long list, I finally ended up 'requesting the help' from some infamous sites in picking which place I should go to earlier. Yep, when in doubt, opt for the ones where the crowd went to. Using this reference, I then got to shorter list of alternatives, from which I asked my friend to make the decision. 

This Saturday was quite special (and I would call it a spirit-booster one) as I met my friend, whom I might haven't seen ever since the graduation day. Well yeah, you wouldn't wanna know how many years I was talking about. Not only because it's another premiere visit I made to a cafe in this city, the meet up itself was indeed another excitement for me. 



Occupying a sizable two-storey old building in Brixton area, Brixton Laundry might take you around 5-minute walk from the Brixton station. In case you're wondering if the 'laundry' in the cafe name did have something to do with its literal meaning, yes that's indeed the case that back then this building was actually used for a family-run laundry business for almost 120 years before they finally closed down in 2014. Five years later in 2019, they opened back the door, only that this time it's to serve all the hungry tummy for all-day meals, starting from early morning till midnight.


I highly appreciated the super warm service from all the attendants, starting from the very first greeting they delivered to you right at the doorstep. If you're the one who could bear sitting in the open space in the midst of this cold winter, they did offer a spacious area of outdoor seating. However if you're not, you needn't worry as the indoor one was even bigger, especially with additional space on the lower ground, which was open for reservation. 



As I earlier mentioned that the building aged more than a century, do expect the classic-style interior with the iconic red bricks. Since they also provided the answer to the wine lovers, you would see the back wall fully decorated with tons of wine bottles, exhibiting the options offered.  



Coming here at around lunch time, I could still enjoy their breakfast menu which was served up to 3pm. If you fancied some pastries, they were also available at the same schedule, being displayed at the bar area.

Beetroot, apple, ginger, lemon, aloe vera (£4.5)
Before having the dishes landed on our dining table, we had our thirst-quenchers being served first. My friend's pick was the healthy one, beetroot paired to apple like what you usually met elsewhere. Nonetheless, I ain't stop there as they did make it unique by adding more elements; ginger, lemon, and aloe vera. If the last duo made the overall juice being more refreshing, the first one did help taking the 'winter warmer' role.

Hot Cappuccino (£2.8)


My pick was my morning caffeine doze, coming in 7oz size in my guesstimate. A bold cup of cappuccino with slight hint of acidity. Great one to accompany my sunny weekend morning!

Sweet Potato Waffle with Bacon and Egg (£10)


Waiting for quite some time before the meals finally came, their presentation undeniably made us not being able to wait any longer to give'em a try. Starting from the golden brown friend, I would say the carbo base of the dish as the one dragged my attention at the first time, and also the one finally made it my choice. Well, sweet potato as the main ingredient for your waffle? Certainly uncommon I believed, and as you might have been able to imagine, it got that natural sweet taste coming from the sweet potato itself. Having the scrumptious base, the toppings played the right role as impeccable complements with their savory taste. Crispy flavorful bacon, sunny side up, and buttermilk dressing made an awesome trio in accompanying my yummy waffle. If I could only make one request to this dish, I would say that I should have requested for half-done egg just to ensure the yolk served more runny. 

Sourdough Toast with Mushroom, Bacon, Cheese, and Egg (£11)


Calling the first dish delectable, this second one was actually the award-winner, and surely my top recommendation for you to try if visiting Brixton Laundry. And yeah, recalling back, the pic of this dish was actually the one I spotted for the first time which got me hitched to this cafe. Like simply reading the dish name could already tell you that those ingredients it featured were just everything you wished have been put together on top of your sourdough. Despite mushrooms were the main actor, I had to admit the idea of combining it with small cuts of smoked bacon, cream cheese, and grana padano made the overall taste being way even better as each of them had their own way in enriching the overall play of flavors. Not to forget, when earlier I wished I had more runny yolk, this time the poached egg came with the precise texture, just like how I wished it to be. And oh yes, the price tag did tell you how abundant the toppings you got fella :)


Having seen how awesome my dining experience was, now you would have one more 'must-visit' place to be added into your London list :)


Taste: 7.5/10
Place: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Price: 7/10


Thanks for reading! :)


BRIXTON LAUNDRY
Address: 374 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, London SW9 8PL
Phone: (+44) 20 8103 9384
Operating Hours: Sun - Wed 8.30am - 11pm, Thu - Sat 8.30am - 0am


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Saturday, February 22, 2020

Creme

Call me Elmo's bestfriend, YESSSS I'M HUUUGEE FAN OF COOKIE!! Simple cookie, cookie dough, cookie spread, well name it.... I simply love'em all. Hence no wonder when I was swiping through pages on Instagram, then suddenly spotting gigantic-cookies picture posted by an account I couldn't recall already, my heart skipped a beat. Then snap! Right away the 'hands crafted those enticing bites', CREME, directly moved to my top list of 'places-to-go'.



Strolling around Soho area hasn't gotten me any less excitement yet. If some people are so much into either the apparels or gadgets shops, I am much more into the restaurants, cafes, and dessert places they offer. Like oh dear, so many of the 'sweets paradise' I'm tempted to visit has at least one of their outlets located around this area. So yes, you couldn't be more accurate if you picture me finding myself again and again being back to this place.

Trying to find sweet ending to my savory meal, cookies out of the blue came into my mind like an unexpected thunder strike. Well, prolly it's unconsciously stuck there because I spotted Ben's Cookies (which was actually just my other favorite ever since my first trial of it in Singapore - and so happy knowing it has much more branches in London). So guess what happened after SOHO met cookies in my mind? Yep, my first trial for CREME!




The outlet was actually kinda petite that I almost passed it without realizing it's just right there. Located in a quite small alley at the heart of SOHO, it's quite packed with people enjoying either their cookies, hot drinks, or soft serve while standing inside the outlet as well as in front. Regardless its girly pinky design, I was kinda surprised not few of the guests were males. Well, I guessed it proved 'taste never lies'.

The selection of the menu was pretty limited as I mentioned earlier and for sure the most favorites were their cookies and soft serve. The regular flavors provided for the cookies were Milk Chocolate, Double Chocolate, White Cocolate Miso, and Banana Dark Chocolate; all of which offered at quite high price of £4 each. For those who might be not that much into sweets, the size was surely for share as when they kept saying that they offered really big cookies, they did mean it. A cookie monster like me, however doubtlessly didn't mind to finish it all myself though.



Freshly baked in the house, my order was served warm and literally fresh from the oven that I could still see the melting milk chocolate. My pick was the best seller of the kitchen; the classic one yet also the signature. Being gigantic and thick, you could imagine that 'ooey-gooey' piece of heaven. Call me over-exaggerating now, then regret later once you give it a try, as the taste's surely mindblowing! CERTAINLY BEST COOKIE I'VE EVER HAD IN LIFETIME!! Right sweetness level, pleasant buttery aroma, precise chewiness - all serving the combination of how I just loved my cookie to be. Having it for takeaway, I kinda regretted not buying their box of 6 (£22), or even box of 12 (£40) package *frowned*



Having had their cookie only, stay tune for my next visit for their soft serve, hot chocolate with generous marshmallows on top, and surely other cookies!



Taste: 8.5/10
Place: 6.5/10
Service: 8/10
Price: 7/10



Thanks for reading! :)


Crème
Address: 4 D'Arblay Street, Soho - London, W1F 8DJ
Phone: (+44) 203 457 2000
Operating Hours: Mon - Sun 10am - 9pm


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Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Mother Mash, Home for Bangers and Mash

Say what for the very first London food-blog post of mine? Yeaaaayyyyy! Yeah I was seriously that happy being able to write this and hopefully it would keep coming. 

Spending my first weekend here as I just moved in by Friday, I didn’t wanna waste the chance despite it’s rainy, windy, and I felt like frozen. After having my Sunday Service, I decided to have something special from this city for lunch. Yep, the kind of dishes listed as the signature ones to try, and this time the choice fell on Bangers and Mash.



The dish was pretty simple indeed, featuring the couple of sausages and mashed potato. This was actually one of comfort food for the British and tons of restaurants did serve it. Making it easy for myself, I tried to find the closest one from the church and that’s why I opted for Mother Mash. 
I surely hadn’t made any reservation earlier but call me lucky, I got the last vacant seat (well perhaps the beauty of being alone). I could see long queue started to pile up outside as the venue was indeed quite petite, prolly able to accommodate only up to 20 people max.


The attendants were very nimble in handling the busy restaurant, though there seemed to be not many of them. The  house gave you the option of pairing the mashed potato with either sausages (£9.95) or pie (£10.95), from which I picked the first. Then next you needed to choose the type of mashed potato, sausages, and sauce you wanna combine into a trio. Mine was Champ (traditional Irish mash with butter, cheddar cheese, and spring onions), Cumberland (classic British pork with pepper), and Farmer’s (red wine, onion, smoked bacon, and mushroom). 

It didn’t take that long to get the dish served on my table, and the real one did look like most pics I saw. The mashed potato portion was super fulfilling for my kind of doze and the sausages which came in two pieces were just right. You always had the option to add more at £1.5 each.



I loved how smooth the mashed potato was, and the buttery hint was so lovely. Being a cheese lover, I just wished the cheese flavor could go bolder. If you didn’t take dairy product, they did serve non-dairy option. The vegan sausages were also available, but just to inform, the meat-based ones were all using pork. Picking the classic one, I really loved my option as it’s flavorful with strong pepper taste. The gravy sauce came as perfect companion, as it made the taste went richer, coming in the right thickness level. For my choice, the small bacon became extra ‘happiness’ to the dish. Apparently this traditional dish has able to got me hitched in the initial meeting!

Honestly I was really interested to try their selections of traditional desserts as well especially the Sticky Toffee Pudding, but sadly my tummy could no longer afford anything right away. This implied I already knew what to order for my upcoming visit *wink*. Besides, I would surely come back for their pies as well!


Taste: 7.5/10
Place: 7/10
Service: 7.5/10
Price: 7.5/10

Thanks for reading! :)


MOTHER MASH
Address: 26 Ganton Street, Soho, London W1F 7QZ
Phone: (+44) (0) 20 7494 9644
Operating Hours: Sun - Sat 8.30am - 10.00pm


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Singapore Airlines Business Class Experience

I knew I might have said that I love travelling as much as I love food-hunting, yet I admitted that I’ve never written anything much about my travelling experience. It’s always the case that the intention’s there, but then I ended up finding myself fallen into another business. This time, I got double pleasure as I travelled without laptop, and I got ‘free content’ as it’s my first business class trip - which I could no longer wait to share! Thanks to some friends who have motivated me to write about this. You guys know who you are, and indeed you're BEST OF THE BEST!

So the trip started from Jakarta with London as the final destination, with a transit at Singapore. Honestly speaking I earlier intended to pick another airline instead of Singapore Airlines, however it’s somehow prohibited due to the route it took. Besides, for Jakarta - London trip, SQ did offer the timing I thought could best work with my schedule. I could depart from Jakarta at around 8pm-ish and arrive at London at around 7am-ish. Yes, it’s around 17-18 hours in total with a transit of less than 2 hours. If I remembered correctly, the longest single flight I’ve ever taken might last for 8 hours only so this was a quite different one for me. Nonetheless, being the one who could right away fall asleep once touching the seat; I was pretty chill about it. As I would share to you on both flights, do wait till the end as the climax would be with the second one!

While waiting for the flight, I could enjoy pampering myself with the foods and beverages at the lounge near gate 5. Actually I was also given the option for redeeming voucher from another restaurant as it’s quite distant from my departure gate - which was 10. Pretty thoughtful one :)



Okay, starting from the departure, the first flight from Jakarta to Singapore. I did enjoy the spacious seat and the wide leg-room, despite the plane itself was not the newest one which you might tell from the design. Undoubtedly, you however must have earlier heard how good was the service of SQ Business Class. This time, I proved it myself as I felt like being a super spoiled kid even since my first second sitting on the plane. First glass of champagne (you needn’t worry if you didn’t prefer to have alcohol-based drink as you did get the options of water and fruit juices), which did help a lot to put me into sleep much quicker. 



As it moved closer toward the takeoff, I started ‘playing around’ with the in-flight entertainment. Similar to those you might prolly have seen, movies, TV series, music, games, and also in-flight shops! Great thing, the movie selection was pretty rich and able to offer some of the latest-released ones; call it Gemini Man, Knives Out, Joker, etc. The headset was my highlight as it’s the one with awesome noise control, letting you to enjoy your entertainment at its best. 


Then it came to the dinner, serving a full-course one. The selections provided were quite accommodating with different proteins and carbs-based. My pick was pasta with tiger prawn and Arabiatta sauce. Coming in decent portion, the pasta was cooked al dente and I wasn’t exaggerating when I said the generously-served prawns were super fresh. The sauce made itself perfect companion that someone like me who usually fancied condiments like chili sauce did think I no longer needed it. Seemed to not yet giving enough happiness, there came the cheesecake in sizable cut, with dense and creamy texture just like how I loved them. Given these, I felt like not just having a dinner on a plane as I got pleasantly full. 

Cutting the short transit part and moving to my next flight, it’s a convenient one as I simply needed to go to the next boarding gate without any connecting-flight reporting needed. Well, they did provide the option if you wanna stayed over nights at Singapore, which you could choose at your purchase. 





Here the amazing experience started once I got to my seat. The flight offered super convenient space, all come with sophisticated hi-tech design. The chair allowed you to lay low with highly-adjustable foot-rest, and even sleep as it could be modified to a bed. Pillows to keep you comfortable and blanket to keep you warm we’re unquestionably there. Even the lightings were on point, serving various needs with how they positioned it and served it with different intensity. 



The in-flight entertainment came in even wider selections with more advanced control tool (read: the remote was much easier to operate!). As the flight was much longer, the attendants did their best to make your 14-hour experience being remarkable. If you’re awake, they would regularly check if you needed anything as there were all-time available foods/drinks, on top of the 2-time scheduled supper and breakfast. If your tummy couldn’t handle them or you simply preferred to just sleep, for sure you could always tell the stewardess. 





As the highlights, the meals served weren’t just regular plane meals which you might have thought of. They’re full-course ones just like earlier, just that this time the presentation even looked very exclusive. As it consisted of several dishes, for me the size was bit too much but those fancying bigger size might love it. Taste was surely not any less compared to earlier flight’s. Fruit slices were refreshing, the granola - my pick for the ‘opening’ was fulfilling, and the main for which mine was French Toast did deliver the satisfaction being so fluffy and well-paired with the mascarpone topping. You did have savory options if your taste bud loved that more. 




Beyond the enticing foods and the coddling facilities, my best appreciation went to the service. From small things like ensuring the amenities were complete, asking if I fancied any drinks/snacks/foods, calling me up and arranging the bed for me as they’re worried I got back pain, till giving me additional masks as the supply might be limited in London. Now I understood when people said you’re served like a king when flying with SQ! Not yet a period, I did get the invitation to take ‘fast track’ for immigration and trust me, this did help a ton as the line was pretty awful. 


Additional info just in case you usually like to get some amenities, they do provide slippers, socks, and sleep mask which you could bring home with you. While to refresh yourself in the midst of the flight, toothbrush and facial wash were all there in the bathroom. 

  

All in all, I guessed despite the business-class flight was indeed pricey, each penny did pay for the amazing service! I couldn’t wait for having my next one.


Service: 9/10
Price: 8/10


Thanks for reading! :)


SINGAPORE AIRLINES


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