Prezzies, Cupcakes, Pancakes and Shakes...and the birthday hasn't even begun yet!

It's been a busy few days around here! Last Thursday was Tamara's birthday and so we ventured to Waterloo to check out Bangalore Express.

One of the main reasons I brought Mara here was because I thought the upstairs bunk seating was super cool! You had to climb up a little individual ladder to get to your booth!

...but it wasn't just aesthetically pleasing, the food was the best Indian I've ever had! Usually I always pass on poppadoms as I'm just not a fan of them but I devoured their poppadoms in no time!

Mara had a chicken and rice dish...

and we were particularly impressed with presentation, check out her tower of rice!

I got duck Korma, which I have just been loving recently and the peshwari naan was homemade, and filled with warm yummy coconutty goodness!

I was definitely enjoying my meal here!

Afterwards we headed to Preston Road to check out Flirtease - a dessert and cocktail bar.  We were loving the decor of canvases showcasing the cheesecakes we make at our work, The English Cheesecake Company!

but since we eat cheesecake all week long we opted for a choc fudge cake and a trio of banana and coconut ice cream - two of the birthday girls favourite flavours!

They also had a rather extensive range of milkshakes but we were too full (for once!!) to try one.

and here's Mar with the birthday prezzie I got for her, some Melt chocolates.  She rather generously shared some with me and they were the best chocolates ever!! Truffles filled with banana, passion fruit and coconut and peanut butter and jelly! and the salted caramel and raspberry, mint and white chocolate went down pretty well too! We got them a day late, after the courier failed to deliver them on time but one of the employees from the shop hand delivered them to us on Friday evening in the pouring rain! and after being given a complimentary slab we certainly weren't complaining!

On Saturday we got down to some serious present opening, once Mom and Dad arrived. 

For the tennis fan...Mara got this amazing tennis ball, made out of chocolate!! It almost looks too good to eat, almost - it's filled with liquid salted caramel!

and we got tons of new baking tins to keep us busy and whipping up Bundt's and brownies for weeks to come!

I had a sneaky present opening session too even though technically it was a little early!

Even though we'd agreed that perhaps I didn't need any more cupcake stuff, it just wouldn't be a birthday without getting a few cupcake presents...I am cupcake crazy after all!

but the highlight of my present opening had to be this awesome Kings of Leon tee and being united with my tickets for their gig that I will be at when you read this!!

It's now a Gem tradition that on my birthday cupcakes must be consumed, so since it was our celebratory weekend we headed to Bake-A-Boo just down the road from where we live in West Hampstead.  Raspberry and lemon cupcakes were the order of the day. 

We headed to Knightsbridge to check out the Harrod's sale and I rediscovered my love of their food hall! Check out the singing pizza chef who sings opera while he makes the pizza dough!

and I couldn't resist snapping this pic: I carried a watermelon!!

Lately it's all been about Selfridge's for us but Harrod's food hall definitely is worth a mention! Check out the bunches of grapes hanging from those chandeliers...everything they do they do it in style that's for sure!

After that we headed to another of our favourite areas - The Kings Road.  We got some delicious cookies and brownies courtesy of the Saturday food market outside Partridge's and then we pancaked it up at My Old Dutch.

Nothing beats an enormous pancake to fill you up after a tiring day of shopping!

and of course it has to be accompanied by a milkshake! That's just how our family rolls (I overheard this being said by a 5 year old girl on the bus this week!!!)

We discovered much to our surprise M&M world had opened in Leicester Square after seeing many of their famous yellow bags pass us by! so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to check it out!

4 levels of fun, I couldn't have said it better myself! There was a buzz of excitement in the shop, and my dad commented on how all the employees must have to be qualified dancers to work there since every one you passed seemed to be busting out some moves!

There were lovely little hints all over the shop that reminded you that you were in London! like this giant Union Jack sign.

and there was a giant m&m character with a busby on his head too!

Everyone wanted a piece of the m&m road zebra crossing action, there were queue's of people wanting to take their pictures posing! It was funny to see their imitation of the Abbey Rd shot because our flat is just down the road from Abbey Rd and everytime we drive past that Zebra crossing, no matter what time of day it is, there's always a group of tourists recreating the classic Beatles shot!

and now we move onto the sweets!! There were walls and walls filled with every m&m colour imaginable. 

We opted for some purple and turquoise - as they're our fave colours and I'm sure they tasted better too!

We rounded off a lovely weekend by celebrating Father's Day, looking at Dad's smile in the above picture I'd say our present went down pretty well!

Here he is checking out just what a world class traveller he really is, I had marked on the map all the countries he's ever visited and it was pretty extensive!

Now I'm gearing up getting ready for round 2 of the birthday fun! Byron arrives in to London tonight and then my actual birthday will be filled with more cupcakes, Mexican and lots of rocking out to Kings of Leon...and hopefully no rain - fingers crossed!

Tex Mex Tuesday: Chilango...might be a bit of a no go!

So you may have been noticing since moving to London I have mainly been eating tacos, enchiladas, tostadas and chimchangas...and you may have been wondering why no burritos??

Well...to be honest, I'm not that into burritos.  They're essentially just a wrap filled with meat and salad/veg and since I'm not the biggest lover of salad and veg my burrito always ends up being just a tortilla filled with chicken and cheese!

....but I have been waiting to try Chilango for a while now mainly because I love their story! and a good story really gets me on side! Eric was a Mexican loving American who came to the UK and was disappointed to see how lacking we were in the Mexian food department (oh how times have changed now!) He met Dan, a Mexican loving Englishman and the two of them quit their jobs and travelled to Mexico City and a few other big U.S cities who know how to make good Mexican, and they picked up enough tips to come back to the U.K and start up Chilango.

So you see I was rooting for them...and I wanted to fall in love with Chilango, but I didn't.  I was obviously never going to be their biggest fan, considering my lack of appreciation towards burritos.  They do sell Taco's and I could have tried one of those but since burritos seem to be 'their thing' I really thought I ought to give them a go.

I love the feel inside of the shop and the decor is fun, and you are constantly reminded all around of great reviews and how they won the best Mexican of the year in London! One of the good reviews advertised on our table said 'you won't find a bigger tastier burrito'.  They were right about one thing, you probably won't find bigger and that was one of my slight negatives - I could not eat my burrito gracefully, and it wasn't through lack of trying.  I ended up with black beans all down my jeans and found bits of rice on me even on the tube ride home! I feel they are perhaps verging on a little 'too big' and they could have cut mine in half and charged me a much more appropriate price.

I felt £20 for 2 burritos, 2 juices and a bag of tortillas was a little on the steep side considering we've paid that amount to eat Mexican in a proper sit down restaurant recently and it's been far nicer.  My other problem with my burrito was distribution.  Besides the fact that I was apparently given the two people behind me in the queue's helping of black beans too, I just ended up with the top half full of rice and the bottom half full of black beans with a few pieces of chicken somewhere in the middle.  So I would either get a mouthful of rice, or one of beans and if I struck lucky a piece of chicken and a sprinkling of cheese.

I know there are alot of great reviews of Chilango, and people do seem to love it, and I did really want to love it like I said but it just didn't wow me.  One thing I will give to them is that yes they do have 'great fresh flavours' and my chicken was really tasty but the whole experience wasn't enough to make me want to go back, I have eaten waaaay better Mexican recently and so I don't see why the trek to Chancery Lane would be worth it in the future.

Now onto a much better dining experience! On Monday I met up with the lovely Jade.  We arranged to meet in Soho and were planning on going for some shakes so there were a few different options, but with the thoughts of corn dogs in my head I knew there could only be one and we headed to The Diner.

For those of you who follow my cupcake blog, you will know I've been on a bit of a coconut kick recently and so I ordered a coconut milkshake without hesitation! There is nothing better than a thick American diner style shake served to you with refill in the silver container, but in one of my fave flavours right now - what could be better! It was delicious, and Jay-dee was pretty pleased with her chocolate malt she picked too.

We gossiped for ages and caught up over some corn dogs and cheesy fries. It was a perfect night, except for the fact I forgot my camera so excuse the poor quality phone photos!

In other blog worthy news, I had my first skiing lesson last Saturday at Sno-dome in Milton Keynes.  I saw a discount on groupon for a beginners lesson and decided while I'm sort of around Milton Keynes for the summer, now would be a good time to learn...who knows when it may come in handy - within the next few years hopefully!

Here I am with my instructor Tom, listening very carefully to the tasks he was asking us to do - like performing heads, shoulders, knees and toes on the way down the slope to get us to work on our balance! I was certainly better at that than my taller counterpart was!

and in this picture my task was to go as slow as possible, so I'm actually right on task! It was pretty fun, and not as scary as I was anticipating and actually much easier to pick up than I had imagined...so I'm excited for my next lesson in a few weeks time where I'll get to learn how to turn left and right!!

Tex Mex Tuesday: Tequila - where the chips are free and the mocktails are sweeter!

So yet again I've veered off 'the list' and I'm beginning to question my Trip Advisor list altogether.  Some of the Mexican restaurants in the 'top 20' only have like 2 reviews so I'm not sure how they got their rankings! I've decided I'm a better judge of character so I'll pick them from now on....like this week, I stumbled upon Tequila Tex Mex in Notting Hill and their extensive range of mocktails made me think they were worth a visit.  

Prior to finding them, I had been trying to google if there were any Mexican restaurants in London that gave you free tortilla chips while you were waiting.  I didn't come up with any results, my sister Mara had told me that would be her favourite kind of Mexican! so imagine our delight when shortly after ordering we were brought these goodies...

yes completely free! the Salsa was delicious and it certainly made our wait far more enjoyable! 

Being the non alcoholics we are, I always love a menu that has interesting drinks.  I had an amazing virgin pina colada and Mara had the most delicious passion fruit smoothie.

Mara had a stuffed chilli, and look at the size of it! We came to the verdict that if you're feeling very hungry and in the mood for Mexican then Tequila Tex Mex is definitely for you because their portions are massive, especially after the bite size portions we've been experiencing at the last couple of Mexicans we've been too! 

I had a Chimchanga, which I was pretty excited about.  They are rare finds on Mexican menu's so when I see one I can't help but order it.  It was served with refried beans, which I wouldn't touch growing up but I've since grown to love and the rice and salsa were equally delicious.

The service was fanastic, all of the staff were super friendly - even down to the waitress who offered to take a picture of both of us when she saw us with the camera.  I had seen the 'Taco Lover Zone' sign and had to have my photo taken with it! Unfortunately she also hit on the idea of bringing us both sombrero's and in the process they have blocked out the very sign I was trying to be snapped with! but you get the idea, and you've got to appreciate her effort for trying!  

All in all it was a great Tex Mex Tuesday, unfortunately no Churro's on the dessert menu so we went without, because we had bought some cupcakes on the way so we knew we would be feasting on those later! 

After, we went to a bargain showing at the Coronet Cinema.  Every Tuesday night they show films for £3.50 - I'm pretty sure that's unheard of in London! and it was quite a cool old theatre inside but if you are going to go book early.  The screen was completely full, and we were glad we had pre booked tickets and didn't have to wait in the long queue.  We saw 'Last Night' which was okay but I'm not really sure I particularly related to the morals in the film so maybe it wasn't the best choice in hindsight but for £3.50 it wasn't a bad night out! 

A weekend in the country

So the great thing about my life right now is that I get to enjoy London living all week long but then still get to come back here on weekends. 

Last Friday night, after being reunited with Byron after an oh-so-long week apart (and Byron  must have thought so too since he even met me at the train station with a bouquet of flowers!) we headed to Weston Underwood.  It's a little village just beside Olney (the village in Buckinghamshire where Byron and I met).

It is very English! check out this cute little brick bus stop with the red postbox perfectly situated beside it...it was calling out to be photographed!

and it is a beautifully kept village.  In fact it has won many awards year after year for being the best kept village and after seeing that little snapshot above it's not hard to see why!

The real reason we came to Weston Underwood though, was to visit this little spot.  It was a favourite of ours whilst we were dating.  I had always just known it as 'The Alcove' so was surprised to find this sign this time around, although I had known that Cowper was known to write some of his poetry from this very spot so it makes sense.

and with a view like that, it's clear to see where his inspiration came from! I thought my mom would especially like this pic, you can see the spire of the church in Olney in the distance and that was one of the things that made her want to move to Olney!

Here is a shot of the Alcove from the front, it's looking a little shabby these days and could do with a lick of paint but I still love it...mostly for sentimental reasons!

Here we are, it's been 6 years since we first met and since we used to frequent 'Cowper's Alcove' yet it still brings a smile to my face...as does Byron - always!

We drove through Olney just for old times sake after, and I got a close up shot of that little church that my mom loves! and we even drove past my old house too.

This cute little sign has pancake running ladies on it because the village has an annual pancake race that it's quite famous for!

Also I must blog about a lovely little night I spent with some friends recently.  We went to Pizza East, which I was thrilled about, since I'd just been reading a great review of it in the metro paper on my underground on the way to meet them and was thinking I must try that place and little did I know we would be trying it that very night!

         

It is located in Shoreditch and I loved the interior! It is located in an old warehouse and everything is very cool, from the lampshades to the clientele!

 

but rest assured Pizza East is not just a pretty face, they do very delicious food as well! Gourmet pizzas is what they do best, and my spicy sausage and brocoli one was amazing - check that crust! and my old fashioned lemonade was a welcome change to boring soft drinks menus too!

 

We were all suitably impressed, salads and all! and it was lovely to be able to have a girly gossip even if it didn't end in sweet treats.  Apparently Shoreditch don't deliver on the dessert front...maybe next time - Tinseltown anyone?!

I did also go for some fantastic Mexican this week, as usual, but will have to blog about that at the weekend once I am reunited with our Mac and with lightroom so check back on Saturday to see where we went this week!

Tex Mex Tuesday: Crazy Homies & Lucky 7 Diner, Westbourne Grove

This week I deviated off my Top 20 list, but for good reason.  I stumbled upon Crazy Homies online and I instantly knew we needed to pay this place a visit, not only for the original and inventive flavour contributions on the menu, but because it was located right next to this place: 

Lucky 7 Diner...anyone who knows me well will know that, to me, this is a perfect combo!!  

Situated side by side on Westbourne Park Road, just off Portobello, you might miss these little Gems since the neighbourhood has so much else to offer but I would invite all of you to pay them a visit because they are awesome!!  

We decided since Crazy Homies only opened at 6pm and we came straight from work that we would try out a triple thick milkshake at Lucky 7 while we waited.  At £5.50 a shake, it doesn't come cheap but too often I am left disappointed by milkshakes that aren't thick enough for my liking and so it was a few extra pounds definitely well spent! I had tried to order the mint choc chip, yum, but was told they would only be able to make it medium thick (I presume they had run out of mint ice cream) but that wouldn't do, I had come to sample the triple thick! so I opted for a strawberry, you know it's going to be delish when it's so thick it won't even pour out of your extra refill! and it was! We had planned to both get shakes but as soon as we saw ROOT BEER FLOATS on the menu we just had to order one of those too so we shared! 

I totally didn't plan to be the walking A&W advert that day! I had just thrown on my brown converses and looked for a tee that matched, so we thought it made for a funny photo op! This has got to be one of the best Root Beer Floats we've had in the UK, perhaps second only to All Star Lanes.  We might have ordered a sneaky hot dog too, I didn't photograph it as I wasn't planning to share what fatties we truly are but it was too delicious not to mention.  So as the clock struck 6 we headed over to kick off our Tex Mex Tuesday...

and Crazy Homies has got to be the coolest Mexican we have tried so far.  With a name like that, how could it not be! It's tiny inside, I think with extra seating downstairs, but that adds to the appeal! It has a bench seat all the way around with cool little cushions that you can chill out on, and is very bright and colourful inside...

Check out that cute bunting and the crazy spider light! plus it's menu is called The Bible...and I think that's a testament to just how many different delicious offerings are available to you...

I, for one, have never heard of or even imagined Butternut squash and Chorizo Tostadas, but luckily for me Crazy Homies dreamt them up and they were amazing!! Butternut is one of my favourite foods ever and it complimented all the black beans underneath it perfectly, and the salsas were all incredibly fresh too.

It got more exotic too, Mara relived her Caribbean days with some Mahi Mahi Tostadas! which came with a pineapple relish! How they got Mahi Mahi here, I'm not quite sure.  It was a fish I had never come across until we lived in Turks and Caicos where it was one of the most common Caribbean fish offerings you would find at restaurants.  However they managed to get it here, we're glad they did because we both devoured our meals (yes after the shakes, floats and hot dog too..oops!) 

Unfortunately, just as it was going SO well for Crazy Homies, we had to go and order Churros - our fave Mexican dessert! and after raving about the ones we had last week at Lupita I knew they were going to have to be pretty spectacular to compare...

spectacular they were not, and actually cooked they were not.  Even from this picture I think you can see the glossy wet like sheen is not normal! When we bit into them they were still gooey inside, not gooey in a good way, gooey in a raw batter sort of way! I called the waiter over and asked him if this was how Churros were meant to be, he assured me it was, but obviously he didn't know my love for all things Mexican and how I know what a Churro should taste like!! We sent them back, he took them off the bill, we didn't want to chance ordering any more.

It was a sad end to the evening, dessert is usually my fave part! So my advice would be definitely go for some amazingly delicious Mexican at Crazy Homies but perhaps pop next door to Lucky 7 for some all American dessert or a milkshake to finish off the night with in the future!