Smack Lobster Rolls, Dean Street Review

 

 By now I think you know that I am a foodie.

 

But I also always want o be healthy.

 

So, there The Weekly Cheat Meal began.

 

I am so glad I started to do this a while back because it means that I really savour and enjoy my meals out much more as it feels like a real treat. 

 

My real point here is that if you are in London and want to eat out then you MUST go to Smack Lobster Rolls on Dean Street (close to Leister Square Station). 

 

I have never tried fresh lobster before but these are the bomb. If you have never tried lobster rolls before, they are basically brioche type bread (and if you ask me looks like French Toast but doesn't taste like it) stuffed with plenty of lobster meat.

 

I went to dinner with my best friend and the man serving us suggested that we get 2 different rolls and share 1/2 of each because you know.... we are very indecisive people.

 

We had....

 

California

Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, Avocado Mayo with Lime, Chives

 

Seven Samurai

Japanese Mayo, White Cabbage, Cucumber, Pickled Ginger, Spring Onions, Togarashi Spice

 

AND

 

Sweet Potato Fries & Smoke Paprika Salt

 

I was stuffed afterwards and omg I cannot tell you how impressed I was.

 

THEIR LOBSTER ROLLS AND SO DAMN GOOD!

 

We talked for ages and finished 6 packs of mayo and ketchup.....

 

One strange thing was that the lady surving us had never had lobster before. Surely, she's not qualified to work there, right?

 

Share your experiences of lobster rolls and your favourite places to eat in London. I always love to try something new!

 

Priyanka xx

Pizza Express, Covent Garden

I'm not going to lie to you about how terrible I am with directions.....

 

Seriously. I am pretty bad.

 

One of my friends invited me for dinner at Pizza Express in Covent Garden, my internet stopped working (so that I could not use the navigation on it) and there I was, all alone not knowing where the restaurant was nor where to go. Even from asking directions, using the maps and calling my friends I still couldn't make it out by myself.

 

45 minutes later when I was rescued by my friends (who were very tired of waiting for pizza), I found that it was ACROSS THE ROAD and under a bridge from the station I got off at.

 

Urgg. At least I burnt those calories, right?

 

Usually pizza and pasta are not my thing simply because it is such a common food, so when I want to treat myself to something slightly more 'unhealthy' I venture for other exciting foods to full fill the desires of my taste buds.

 

I chose pasta over the pizza because one of the girls were telling me it was really good and her 'go to' choice. The Pollo Pesto Pasta (oh, the alliteration...) was very filling. It had chunks of  chicken, mushrooms, red onions, mozzarella and pesto sauce. The chicken was a little dry but there was just enough sauce and cheese to make up for it.

 

Honestly, it could have been a little creamier or saucy to make it work better. It was a good meal but nothing incredibly special. I think the pasta at Vapiano was of a much higher standard than Pizza Express and you can see my post on that here.

 

Where is the best pasta you have had? I would love to know for another dinner out :)

 

Priyanka xx

Shake Shack, Covent Garden

 Yes, I had work experience the whole week.

Yes, I was tired of filing things away.

Yes, I was craving a cheesy burger.

Yes, I was satisfied after finishing my food that day!

 

Last week some of my friends and I decided to take a trip down to Covent Gardens to meet up and grab some food, since I barely get to catch them for a chat now days.

 

I brought up the idea of eating at Lobster Kitchen since I have never eaten Lobster before but unfortunately one of my friends said they were allergic which was a great disappointment.

 

Then, we decided on going to Five Guys in Leister Square because so many people had told me they do the best burgers ever. I should learn to do my research because unfortunately all the burgers were beef (which I do not eat). One friend got the Five Guys Peanut Butter Milkshake and ohhhhh my godnesssss, it was heaven in a cup. Seriously, I can't express how damn creamy, smooth, thick and oh so good this milkshake was. I didn't get my own but we all shared from one cup. I can tell you now, it was gone in seconds.

 

Eventually, we reached Shake Shack in Covent Gardens, where I waited very impatiently for my 'Shroom Burger £8.50 (which was a crispy Portobello mushroom burger with melted cheese, lettuce, tomato and Shake Shack sauce), with Crispy Crinkle Cut Fries £2.95 and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshake £5.25.

 

I would say that the fries and the burger were pretty good but the milkshake was no where near as good as the one from 5 Guys. Also, the burger and milkshake portions were incredibly small for the high price I paid. I would have also liked a little more cheese in the burger.

 

Where do you think the best burgers and milkshakes are in London? I would love to know!

 

Also check out my previous Shake Shack and burger experience here.

 

Priyanka xx

Two Old Friends Eating Their Way Through Westfield

How cheeky is she?

 

I really wish I could answer that, but I still don't know even after nearly 10 years of knowing her....

A cod burger and sweet potato chips for lunch.

 'Girl, down the goddamn burger already'

 

That's what she was saying to me across the table whilst I continuously took photos of her and my food. Yes, indeed I am one of 'those' people who spend more time taking lovely photos rather than actually eating the food.

 

Well, then I'll be the one with the nicer photo of the food to reminisce upon in low moments in my life right?

 

 Even after all these years of knowing each other, we are both eager to see one another once in a while, even though we haven't been going to the same school since being in primary school.

 

(We were the girls who were perfectly behaved unless found together spending our time doing use less things, of course...)

 

So it seemed that we made our way to Westfield Stratford in the summer and I decided to treat myself to some/lots of unhealthy food.

 

Cos, that's the way I do it honey.

 

So here is a review of the food I consumed that day:

 

Chip and Fish

 

I can't ever make up my mind but eventually I went for the chunky cod burger with sweet potato fries. The burger was pretty oily but crispy and worked well with the crisp bread. I really was craving a burger and this satisfied my carb filled desires.

 

I would have liked the sweet  potato fries to be more thinly cut and crispy rather than just chunky chips. I do sometimes make sweet potato fries at home where I oven cook them and put in some spice which really livens the sweet taste up (maybe I will put up a recipe later for you...)

 

Overall, a good burger but not the best chips. I had to dip the fries into a lot of ketchup and mayonnaise to really get much flavour.

 

Shake Shack

 

Oh, it was beautiful.

 

I looked online before going to Westfield  and found that the Concrete Custard they serve is really good. I'm glad to say, yes; it fulfilled my love for peanut butter, chocolate, banana and ice cream all at once and I can't think of any improvements. I found the chunks of chocolate and slices of banana was really something I haven't seen food places serve before (even though I love doing this at home!)

 

I really would have liked to try their burgers because the cheesiness of them seems worth indulging in.

 

Have you been to these places before? Is there anything in particular you like off the Shake Shack menu? If there is, let me know because I will head over there once I get the chance!

Priyanka xx 

Vapiano Great Portland Street

A couple of days ago my friend and I went out to eat at Vapiano, which is a 5 minute walk from Oxford Circus Station, after it was (very) heavily recommended to us by her cousin. The way she described the pasta there to us completely sold it so we decided a trip to the restaurant ourselves was needed to really understand.

 

Fine.

 

We used navigation from my iPhone to actually get there.

 

But that's only because I'm a little bit oblivious when it comes to directions. If we didn't, I don't know how long we would have been walking around in circles asking strangers where it was. That's no good now is it?!

 

When we first walked in, the man at the front counter asked if we had been to Vapiano before, and as we hadn't, he gave us a card (like a credit card) and explained that we can go to any of the stations to get food and the bill is put onto the card, which you pay for at the end.

 

There were stations for pasta, pizza, salad, sides and a bar for drinks and desert. I choice to have the  Carbonara pasta which was bacon, onions and egg in cream sauce. I usually don't like pasta very much but believe me this was really tasty (and very filling)!

 

The chefs make the pasta in front of you, asking what shape of homemade pasta you would like and if you would like any additional spices.

 

The unique part about this was that all of the staff were Italian or at least looked as if they were!

I really enjoyed my dinner there and would recommend it to everyone to go and enjoy, especially because it's such a reasonable price, and simply as an alternative to the usual Nandos.

 

Which food places in London would you recommend?

 

Priyanka xx

Taylor Swift Concert Hyde Park

 

 

 Yes. It happened. It really did. And it was beautiful.

It was an incredible night and I'm so glad that I could be there with my best friend so we could share our love for Taylor together.

I hope my memories will remain as vivid as the excitement, rush and build up of the whole day.

The venue was perfect (I could smell gorgeous food everywhere) and the day was sunny and hot so we all had to accept that everyone was sweating by the end of the day from jumping around screaming the lyrics of her songs at the top of our voices.

The funny thing is even grown men (in their 30s) knew all the lyrics, of all her songs, off by heart as well as I did. I will happily praise that aspect of their personalities!

We were standing up for more than 4 hours, at a skin tight distance to everyone in the crowd since she also had Vance Joy, John Newman and Ellie Golding singing before her. The loveliest thing is that Taylor not only sang the new songs from her album 1989 but also really old classics as the much adored 'Enchanted' and 'Love Story' (they never get old).

And so the day all ended with hungrily scoffing down a Chicken Legend Burger with chips from McDonalds, at 12 am on the hot and sticky tube home.

Priyanka xx

Spending Summer This Way and That...

Summer is nearly over.

What? That went way too fast for me and to be truthful its completely unfair that I spend ALL year looking forward to summer and making plans for it to play in fast forward.

I'm not going to give up though, I'm going to always make it sunny in my head all the time and nothing (not even the famous British weather) is going to dull my sunshine :)

So here are the exiting things I spend the last couple of weeks doing:

-Made a bonfire and then sang and danced around it (sorry neighbours)

-Watched The Fault in our Stars and came out with my 3 friends all in tears. I'm the sensitive, dreamy type that cries at movies and songs; keep that in mind.

-Drank lots of Starbucks and annoyed my mum by bringing home the plastic cup with my name on every time...more about that here

-Had the most amazing day out in Oxford Street and Hyde Park for my friends birthday which you can see here

-Had a proper picnic in the park ...twice!

- Ate colourful, way too pretty to eat but I'm gonna eat anyway macaroons

-Got my makeup done in mac

-Attempted to skateboard but ended up sitting on it being pulled by my friend

-Went berry picking and tennis playing

-Did way too much baking

-Went to Lake District with my family

-Used my new camera a ton more

-Had barbeques (the most summer-ish thing you have to do)

-Roasted marshmallows on the barbie (she says in a failed Australian accent)

-Splashed my cash in the New Look sales for summer clothes

-Wore shorts practically every day...yes, that makes me very happy 

-Bought a milk frother to make posh looking coffee :)

- Indulged in ice-cream after a long time

- Actually got tanned

-Volunteered at my local library

- Started to get my inspirational wall ready

- And the rest of the time I spent sleeping, eating, watching movies, reading 'The Maze Runner', being lazy, sleeping and dreaming...

Lets all wish that summer comes again soon.

How have you all spent your gorgeous summer days?

Priyanka xx

Summer in the City

On Sunday I went with my friends to Oxford Street and Hyde Park for my friends Hana's birthday. We all had such a crazy time, (getting up to no good) and I even managed to achieve some things from my bucket list...like eating macaroons!

Here are some of the photos from the day...