Bunnychow...Take 2

Awwite guvs,

Back to Bunnychow I went last weekend

Ordered through DineIn as I had a £10 off voucher but when we arrived they said there was an issue as they hadn't updated their menu so all the sides were now £2.50 up from £1 and they would give different quantities. Rather than mess about too much they just gave us half portions but I thought that was a little strange!

I asked about taking the sultanas out of the rice or sultana free as I had asked about that on Instagram and I'd been replied to with a "just ask for rice without sultanas as they aren't in our sauces". Apparently they don't do a separate non sultana'd rice (just an FYI!) so the lady behind the counter said they would do me a bunny with no rice and more meat - woohoo!

The stuff arrives, yay! Foods!

Digging into my pork bunny and then....ew....sultana...dig to the bottom and they gave me rice. With sultanas. ARGH!! I didn't complain as we'd got the whole meal for about a fiver with the free £10 code I'd been given but I did find it really annoying having to pick through the rice again especially after specifically asking. :(

Overall though the Peri-peri  Pork Bunny was good and not overly spicy. I previously had the Durban which I wasn't really a fan of, but I would definitely have this one again the next time I visit. My last favourite (Bang Cluck Bunny) hasn't yet been topped and I am hoping that it will come back soon - that shizz was addictive!

The rib side order was nice (you get two in a portion) but a bit lardy and I did find some chunks of fat in the bunny itself so I had to make a little fat pile to put aside -  lovely picture included for you!

 



I cant remember what these were...but they were nice. Sorry for my lack of detail but it's a tasty photo, eh!?

Until next time Bunnychow.... psst...bring back the Bang Cluck Bunny!!!



Enlighten Tooth Whitening - That time I dyed the inside of my face

Hello!

I thought I would put together a little blog about Enlighten Tooth Whitening as I really can't find much out there in the way of customer reviews. And hey, although this is a (sometimes updated) food blog I figured teeth are also in my face, so it's fine to put here. I think.

I carried out a lot of research on Enlighten before going ahead and got the idea from a friend who had gone through the process before.  There are so many lightening choices out there and to be honest it's a bit overwhelming - LED, laser stuff, home bleaching, different gels, ZOOM, in chair for an hour at the dentist type stuff and countless deals on Groupon and co which seem to good to be true (whitening for £69?! - really?)...so yes I was glad to notice my bud's lovely gnashers in the Summer and ask if she had them whitened. Even after that I looked it all up myself and investigated (yes, investigated) different dental practices, prices and what's actually included in that price.

Prices, I found, ranged from about £200 to 'From £600'. The £200 made me wary so didn't go for that one. I'm still not sure why/how the prices fluctuate so wildly but hey ho.

I eventually settled on K2 Dental (www.k2dental.co.uk) which is a short walk (or a bus and a walk if lazy like me) from Hammersmith tube at the price of £395.  This includes 14 nights of at home whitening plus a 40 minute in chair session to finish me off. My friend paid a similar price outside of London but just for the home whitening so I figured why not go for the extra session too.

I booked up my consultation appointment for 6 November and went along. I made sure I had a normal dental check up before so I was comfortable there were no holes and that my teeth were in good condition. I went to my usual dentist for that, but I am sure whichever place you decide on for Enlighten will be happy to do a check up for you.  So for my consultation the dentist checked my mouth to make sure I was 'suitable' and asked me how much I knew about the process etc. Because of the research I pretty much knew 95% of what went on and I asked a few questions like what can/cant I eat during the treatment etc and got a brief answer but the rest would be confirmed later on. I also asked what sort of mouth wouldn't  be suitable and it was things like gum disease, a mouth full of crowns or large fillings that were different colours and the patient had no intention of changing these afterwards, or general really bad tooth condition. I have a root canal tooth which is pretty grey because of the large amalgam filling but at some point I will sort this out with a crown. When my bank balance recovers maybe some time next year.

As some insider info (because this is so secret you are now an 'insider') my teeth are shade A3 at the moment, with my fangs being perhaps an A3.5 as they are a bit darker.  This is a normal tooth shade though I think I am more conscious of it these days because I am fairly pale (if you are tanned your teeth may look whiter even at the same shade as mine!) but Enlighten guarantees a shade of B1 which is lovely jubbly. I also drink a lot of tea and coffee (hi Starbucks and your seasonal drinky treats).

Anyhoo, so they confirmed the price and the process and asked if i wanted to go ahead. Yus I said! The next step was taking the retainer molds  which was a bit messy. It involved some purple putty stuff in a mouth tray (they measured which size would be best for me first for top and bottom) and doing the bottom of my mouth first then the top. The dentist held the tray in for a while until the putty hardened, then we did the same for the top. It doesn't hurt and is more inconvenient not being able to swallow then I had to clean a bit of putty (then dried) from my face once we were finished. It tasted ok too, a bit like berries.

The retainers/trays take two weeks to be produced so I booked in my follow up session for collection on 20 November. This friday! Woot. I assume what will happen here is I will receive the trays, try them on and be shown how to apply the gel. In this two weeks I have been given a tube of Enlighten Tooth Serum (basically toothpaste) to use in place of my regular toothpaste morning and evening. I think this is to make my teeth a wee bit less sensitive before the gel starts, which is fine with me.

So, to be continued after my Friday appointment!

Orange Buffalo Chicken - Brick Lane

Oof! Now I'd been waiting white a while to go to Orange Buffalo and I'd heard very good things but is often found myself in Brick Lane at a non foody time, or I'd just stuffed myself at the stalls down the Lane itself.

HOWEVER, this Sunday a group of buds and I were there. We sat on a bench in the communal eating piece and the tome was now. My friend got a portion of the Buffalo wings and they smelt super tasty and zingy, so how could I refuse the opportunity?

Grabbed my wings and they were reasonably quickly served with a few celery pieces and a dollop of blue cheese sauce. They looked awesome and there was plenty of sauce all over the muthas.


When it came to the eating instead of the staring, smelling and taking photos, the sauce was fab. Buffaloish as it avoid be and reminded me of the Buffalo sauce that Franks do. Size wise they were good too and for £6 you do get a lot and the chicken meat was cooked nicely.
There was only one thing that kept me from uncontrollably wording there down...the chicken skin. It was covered in sauce which is great, but I like a crispy skin on mine so I did end up leaving a few. Which is criminal really.

These were still a bargain and I ate probably eight or so wings but they didn't hook me as some others have (Bbq lab especially)... I think if I'd have gone to Orange Buffalo sooner I'd have loved them more, but this summer I had some summer chicken wings lovin'... It took my breath away and it may have raised my future wing standards to dizzying unrealistic heights.

I'd still recommend these bad boys anyway because they were lushtastic, and grab some curly fries while you're there.

Twitter: @orangebuffalo

FlatIron Steak - Denmark St, no misteak.

Oh my jeez. Okay. I'd heard of this place and it had been on my 'go-to' radar for a while but for some reason I just hadn't been.

We were looking up places to eat in Soho and came across this name again. Bargain tenner for a flat iron steak and people rave about it, so we thought let's give it a crack.

We stood like idiots on Denmark St for a few minutes trying to find the restaurant front but our eyes started working and we saw this interesting looking restaurant peeping put with it's subtle name sign.

So, I'd checked their twitter before we'd gone in as I heard there were usually queues to get in...but we arrived around 3pm and it was clear to grab a table for four. There were specials up today of wagyu burger (£15) and short rib (£14) and the only main on the permanent menu was flat iron steak (£10). Perfect size menu for me. Sides were £2.50-3.50 which I think is pretty reasonable too.

The server was knowledgeable and told us where the cows came from, which bits the meat comes from and other bits and bobs which was a nice touch. She recommended medium rare for the steaks so I went with her suggestion (though I'm usually a rare kind of gal) and chucked some creamed spinach in as my side. They'd also put some popcorn on the table as a free sharer picky thing which was lush. I thought it tastes slightly beefy and looked it up later to find it was beef dripping popcorn! SWOON!

We didn't have to wait long until the food arrived and PHEWPH it was mouth watering. Awesome steak, little salad cup and the creamed spinach (a first try for me) was ace. I pinched a few chips from my eating companions and the chips were fab too, though I am glad I ordered spinach for something different. The beef was sliced and presented on a flat iron, and each diner had a mini cleaver branded Flat Iron to use during their meal which was a great little touch and a photo point.

All in all I'll definitely be back to FlatIron again and will recommend it to my carnivorous friends. Awesome price and really lovely food, set in a cosy restaurant where everything is presented splendidly. Well done!

Mmm...cow...

Twitter: @flatironsteak
www.flatironsteak.co.uk

Poppies of Spitalfields - Takeaway!

Avast ye!

Last week we were feeling lazy or didn't have anything in, or plans went askew...whatever. We ended up ordering takeaway through the DineIn site. We decided to go with Poppies of Spitalfields as I've heard great things but never actually been. Wah!!!

Order plaicing was fine and dandy, pretty standard through the website so I guess that's now down to Poppies but it took about an hour to show up. Though I probably should appreciate that it is a very busy place! Darn it.

The goodies arrived hot which was a good thing in little cute Poppies boxes.

 

We ordered the groundnut oil fried cod which came with chips and, oh my Cod! Cor blimey!, their reputation is built on very firm and delicious ground. The chips were light and didn't leave you feeling like you'd eaten a block of lard (that's a good thing) and the fish tasted fresh and not over battered. What a ray of light! The meal came with a little jar of tartar sauce too which I am not usually crazy on, but this stuff was really nice. I didn't use any other sauce or any salt/vinegar which is probably evidence to how good the food was by itself.

I was a bit worried about this order as a lot of grease and fish and chips of the past (of the past? what?) has made me feel a bit sicky afterwards but that didn't happen at all with Poppies. Maybe it's the different oil they fry in or something, I'm not sure.  (Hali)But I do know that I will definitely have to visit one of their sit down restaurants for a proper meal there.  And I would advise you to aswell.

End verdict: Poppies are eely good.

Sorry for the fish puns. But not really.

http://poppiesfishandchips.co.uk/
Twitter: @popsfishandchips

Pulled by Morito at Pump Shoreditch

Last Friday before the bank holibobs weekend I toddled off to Pump Shoreditch (www.pumpshoreditch.co.uk) with a chum and immediately the stall (is it a stall? Sort of a little beach hut style thing) of Pulled by Morito lured me in.. probably because it was bright red and had a list of pulled meats outside it.

 

Checking out the options I went for their Moorish Lamb and I am SO glad I did. It came with rice and a salad with a few sauces (no idea what they were but I trusted the guys to know what they were doing!) and phewie...awesome.  This was a dish of lamby cumin awesomeness where the meat was softy softy and full of flavour. They chucked on tons of lamb, rice, salad and a spicy yoghurt dressing and did not scrimp one bit. The dish I had was £7 and they definitely do not rip you off for the food you get, especially the meat which some stalls I have eaten at in the past try to give you less of in place of, let's say, rice.

 

I hadn't even finished my meal and wanted another one because it tasted so good! Lamb is a rare meat for me to cook at home so it was an extra special treat to have it here. Yumser.... A couple next to me asked about it (maybe I was too enthusiastic with wolfing it down?!) and ended up getting pulled meats too after my mad woman style raving. The friend I went with turned vegetarian last year but was drooling over the smell and cursing her meat free ways.

 

I am definitely going to go back to Pulled by Morito before it leaves Pump Shoreditch at the end of Summer so I can try the other meats they have on offer. Highly recommended though and definitely worth a lookee if you are in Shoreditch any time soon.  I'm not sure where they will be after Pump Shoreditch, but at the moment it's on Shoreditch High St near Boxpark and opposite Andina.

 

GO GO GO!!! Totally worth getting in your face. I pulled that night. Ho ho ho ho ho...sorry.

 

www.facebook.com/moritostreetfoodlondon

Twitter: @pulleduk

The Chesterfield - NEW OPENING - Bow

There's a new coffee shop round the corner from my flat, it opened on Thursday 30 April (my birthday, ooh) and it's already been a food filled bank holiday weekend so we thought we'd try it out today. From the outside, it looks nice - all bricky and leathery and wooden which is always welcomed by my peepers.   The tables are sort of random shapes and types, not like a chain where everything matches and there are leather sofas dotted throughout the place, plus a kids section with toys and things in the back to keep sprogs busy.
 

The Chesterfield has a pretty tasty looking sandwich menu and a little cake muffin cookie selection too. We went for their salt beef sandwich and the salami cheese and gherkin to share half of each between us... Both were nice but the salt beef won by miles. The salami didn't really have enough salami for my liking and tasted mainly of pickle and cheese, both of which I like, but that's not what you pay the money for really. The salt beef was thick, a lot of it, moisttttt and tasty... Would definitely order that one again but unsure on the salami. Good but needs mo' meat.
 

The coffee I had was the Brazilian bean thing (as recommended) and servings come in 8 or 10oz. I picked 10 and assume that's a large? Just a mug full which is fine with me but I wonder what the actual difference is.. Is the 'oz' just a 'different' way of saying regular or large? It was nice anyway.

We finished the sarnies and, as it's a nice place to sit, I went to get us some muffins (£1.80 a pop) to chew on. Banana for one and chocolate for the other. Both get a thumbs up! We also got tea and for £2 you get a filter pot thing full which gives you one and a half large cups,  all fresh leaf tea too which is nice to see. The milk is served in maybe a double size shot glass which makes for messy pouring but just have a serviette to hand in case it goes all over the table as it did with us.
 

So far this place gets my approval (wow, I'm so mighty with my approval) and it'll be a treat having this a minute from my doorstep. I'm sure I will try more of their goodies and post follow up soon.

Timberrrrrrr(yard)

Salutations, welcome to the Timberyard! And no, there aren't a lot of lumberjacks here, it's a ruddy coffee shop thing!

This one is another that I'd tried to get in once before and failed because it was too gosh darned popular! A mac user heaven, the computers nearly outnumber the people in here. It makes me envious but not because I'm not an apple girl.
However this time we were lucky and just as we came in a couple were leaving. We ordered stuff and it was brought over quickly to our newly nabbed table.... A chocolate slab thingy, a latte and a pot of tea. Delush.
The tea had a five minute timer to go with it to tell you when your coffee was brewed, which was cute. Tea ponce ahoy!

The coffee was nice (not woooooooow but very slurping) and everything is presented well on a nice little boardy thing. Places these days need to present food and drink on planks of wood..I'm far from complaining but it's probably rarer now without one. Chocolate slab thing was very rich and dark chocolatey. Worth the money..three pounds and something . 

Cool chairs and great atmosphere, could easily stay here all day chatting and I plan to bring a few friends here in future to do just that.
They've got tons more cakes to try next time and believe me...I'll be back.
Moowahaha.

Caravan Kings X

I've tried to get into Caravan before but the first time round we didn't want to wait 40 minutes for a table...however this time it was a 20 min wait and we were offered a seat at the coffee bar.  We were given a coffee bean (I think) bag with a number on and went to sit at the bar.
I ordered a latte and it looked pretty (I'm a sucker for a nice looking latte in a glass). The staff were all enthusiastic too. The atmosphere of the place was nice, not rushed around and just very chilled out and warehousey sort of feel...you know, cagey walls and pipes out, lots of wooden stuff.. Is that shabby chic? Dunno but it's good anyway. Pleases my eyes.  the clientele and staff looked pretty Hipster tastic but I like a good hipster so I'm down with that, son.
The menu is pretty quirky and my dining fellow had trouble picking what to have initially. For me I was picking between avocado on toast(I have an avocado problem at the moment) or baked eggs
.. Felt I should be different so picked baked eggs!

OH MY GOOD GOD THAT WAS AMAZING

Everything tasted awesome, such a good choice with the baked eggs and merguez sausage addition. Eggs. Sausage. Sour cream. Tomatoes. Oh my God. Amazing. One of the best brunches I've ever had. Hopefully that explains how tasty it was.

My boyman went for the caravan fry up and he said from looking at it he didn't think it'd fill him up but, by jove, it did. Fabulous. Strangely he couldn't pick what his favourite piece was and it ended up being between the bread (sourdough) or the tomato! For a big meat eater that's a very very rare thing so shows the quality of the food. I'm very into meat too and could have happily eaten the baked egg without the sausage too. Shocker!

We have brunch planned with my sister tomorrow so we are coming back straight away. Avocado is going in my face for sure!

Really good prices too and I feel fresh rather than greasy and full of yuck.

Coffee is really nice, similar taste to alpress in shoreditch. Less creamy but still all good.

Mmmmm
9/10! And I never give ten so that's saying something....

http://www.caravanrestaurants.co.uk/kings-cross.html

Bunny..how?

Dear no readers. Or myself. Both. I began my relationship with Bunnychow last year and it was overwhelmingly fabulous. Their Thai Chicken bunny rocked my world and made it into my top 10 foods that I wanted to Get In My Face and I thought about the saucy soft bread most days. Sigh. Summer lovin' did indeed happen so fast.

But....then the menu changed. I was hesitant, my Bangcluck Bunny chicken based love was gone. Not a coconutty replacement in sight. But I eventually clucked (see, chicken related) up the courage to go and try their new menu in Soho after a delightful cinema outing at the PCC. I saw The Mask, it was good. AWOOOGAHHH. I tried the Durban Bunny (mutton) - "Slow cooked mutton curry, raita, mango chutney - £5" as all the sauces sounded pretty similar and none particularly grabbed me from the descriptions.

The mutton tasted pretty good and presentation was nice with the poppadum things sticking out the top. It didn't look as fresh as the old menu bunnies but it was presented in a nice tin. Not sure why tins are nice, but you know... the tin was nice. I do like the Bunnychow boxes but as my sister pointed out, they are probably heading to more eco-friendly packaging if you're eating in. Fair doos!

So yes, I tucked in and found it nice but strange. Maybe it's the South African durbanny flavour that I'm not used to? I picked out a lot of sultanas (I think that's what they were) because they tasted too fruity/sweet and focussed on the meat and other bits but I'm sad to say I wasn't wolfing it down. I also left most of the bread bowl as it wasn't as absorby and the sauce just didn't make me want to try and smoosh my face into the food to take as much in as I possibly could.

I treated myself to their new rib side too, which was tasty. That was probably the best part of the meal for me and I will try some more of their sides when I go back.  However, overall I left feeling a bit :( about the experience because I truly loved the old menu, and so did my other half.  He too felt it was lacking a certain something, though liked the spice level compared to the Monkey Gland, preferring that flavour over the new Durban Bunny.  There is a Monkey Gland sauce based side option (might be chicken wings, will have to check) but I'm not sure it will make up for it being gone.

Value wise, Bunnychow always wins.  It's a fiver! A FIVER. Sides are also a pound, what a tasty pound. Especially if you have one of their badges to entitle you to 20% off and the quality is great but the new menu isn't for me so far. I'll be back to try some more  - perhaps the Pulled Pork - but I have a feeling I will be longing for the Bangcluck Bunny for some time. Please bring it back, Bunnychow! I luff you.

I need to get over the menu change though, times change, they have moved on so I need to either roll with it or pipe the frack down. Honestly though, that Bangcluck bunny....oh my lord. So good. RIP, my friend.

So say we all.

What a Tosser

 

 

 

This isn't street food so I'm off to a bad start here, but occasionally I treat myself to a lunch at Tossed. Blah blah it's salad but SUCH GOOD SALAD. Payday was yesterday so this lunchtime I'm in for a muscle builder salad (avocado added in too because I'm obsessed with it at the moment) with a peanut butter protein smoothie. I feel like an utter dick ordering both but the taste makes it worth it!

The kooky ordering system brings banter as you're given a celebrity name on your receipt which is then called out when your salad is ready to be tossed in front of your eyes. Wooooow. Today I was, disappointingly, Katy Perry. My server was a bit shy and had those paedo classic double nose bridge glasses (...are they cool now?) but he still worked those tongs well.

 

Salad tastes splendid as usual and the smoothie is in my face as fast as it can be..I love peanut butter. My arms and shoulders do actually hurt from some good lifting things up and putting them down again during Tuesday's personal training session (check out Michelle Crawford in Bow!) so in my head this will help. It totally won't. I have twiglets for arms.

 

 

So, here's a place I'd recommend if you want a better than average quick lunch from a chain. Very specific, I know. My meal was more expensive because of added shake and avocado but you can expect approximately a fiver for a good size filling salad. The Stratford Westfield one charges way more though, so avoid there! Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

Anyhoo, happy to be a Tosser. Viva las toss!

Oh hai!

Hark at thee, world!

I am creating this blog after seeing a post on Twitter (mine is @stephaniejay_uk, follow me!) asking who my top 5 street food traders are.  There are SO many I wasn't sure where to start, and there are also so many I need to try.  In some cases I can't remember where I've been and where I haven't, so why not list them along with what I ate.  In public.  Because everyone (me) is interested, right?

Good.

Well, there we go then. It begins. A blog of probably two entries which seems all shiny at the moment but will no doubt go under used.

LLAP.