From C&R to C&R Izakaya

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

It has been so long that I've updated this blog, it seemed so rusty now. So, I thought the best way to start again is to talk about food. haha...

Last weekend I met up with a friend, and of course, usually meeting friends equals to food. She suggested that we go to a Malaysian restaurant called C&R at Bayswater. So we planned to meet at Malaysia Hall for Asr prayer since Asr is around 1.30pm now and we walked together to the place. 

I've seen the place before many times, but never really had the chance to eat there. I know where it is located, so we walked and when we passed the store, I asked my friend, 'this is it right?' 

Then we looked up to the sign, it has changed, but I still saw the name C&R. even though the font become smaller and the larger word is Izakaya. According to my friend, the place has been refurbished. Since I haven't actually been here, I took her word for it.



This is what it looks like then....                                                       This is what it looks like now

The ambience of this place has changed since they changed the furnishing. It felt as in a fine dining restaurant, very comfy.

Even the menu has been changed. The main dish is now Japanese, not Malaysian anymore. I thought the price was a bit high at first, but after we received the dishes, the portion was huge and suitable for the price.

These were the things that we ordered. 

These are mocktails. Non-alcoholic cocktails. They do serve alcohol at this establishment, so choose carefully. The pink one is called the pink lady (the only ingredient I could recall is cranberry..haha..) and the next one is with lime, honey and soda. Very refreshing!

This is eel. I've eaten eel before which I love, but these two friends of mine never tried them before. So, I insisted they tried some. It was delicious, but they still need a bit more to get used to it. LOL

This is my dish which is seafood ramen. The dish is in a somewhat huge bowl, filled with A LOT of seafood. Yummeah!!!

This is my bestie's dish, spicy ramen. It is quite spicy but just nice for someone with pallet like ours. Filled with beef.

They also sell my favourite dish here, Takoyaki!!! I've been wanting to find an authentic halal Japanese restaurant that sells these, and finally, I did!! The best!!! Look at all those fish shavings. The portion has five takoyaki. 

Overall damage was about £20 each. Not bad..

Until next time...

Dum Dum Donutterie and Tun M?

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

I once saw a video someone posted one Facebook about cronuts and crones, which is a combination of doughnuts and croissants/pastries. Check out this video of it.

We went to look for it with a friend of mine that lived nearby. She told us that there are actually two Dum Dum Donutterie, one at Brick Lane and one at Shoreditch. We found the one at Brick Lane first, but it was closed, not sure whether for good or just for the day.

 

So we kept walking. The east end has a lot of street art. We managed to capture a few.

 

There's also a mosque at Brick Lane. It's quite big as well. I love this pole. Very distinct that you can see from afar.

  

So if you are ever near here, you'll know that there's a mosque nearby for you to perform your prayer in comfort. 

 

Here's another mural. Underneath it, there's a jerk chicken stall. It smells nice, and it's halal!

We kept on walking and suddenly..

I suddenly smelled something so good, and when I looked up, I saw this store full of chocolates....

Look at these heavenly balls of cocoa..yummmeah!!

There're so many different kinds to choose from. It's a bit pricey, though. 100g for £7.50. fuh!!

We walked around further towards the Shoreditch High Street overground station where the BoxPark is located. The BoxPark is like the shipping container-type building where there are various types of stores from food to clothing. 

The Boxpark has two storeys, we went upstairs to have a look first.

The Dumdums is located downstairs.

tadaa...

Greeted by these heavenly delights.

Luckily as we entered there were no customers, so we get to ask a few questions and had some time to have our pick. While the staff were preparing our treat, the lines started to grow all of the sudden. I guess we attract people..haha!!

Tadaa...this is a giant crones (Donut+Croissant+ice cream). The mighty combo!!! Woohoo...This little baby is called very berry. 

The ice cream was so delish! There were fresh strawberries inside!! and topped with more mixed berries. 

Just to show you how the pastry actually looked like. The white stuff is condensed milk, I think. 

We also bought one cronut, just to taste. It was awesome!!! Not too sweet, just enough that makes you crave for more.

Luckily there were these lounge chairs beside the boxpark for us to sit and relax. There's even a big screen, but it's showing the sports channel.  

I just want to mention also the other day, we went to a dialogue session by the previous Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. I'll discuss his talk in a later post. For now...just pictures!!

We also get to meet and shake hands with his wife, Tun Dr Hasmah. I've always respected this lady. There were so many people. We could've had a chance to take closer pictures with her, but we didn't want to hold her more than it already has. She wasn't able to stand for much longer. 

Another interesting presence there was matluthfi (a famous vlogger). He was in London for a Youtube summit. I didn't notice him eventhough we stayed at the lobby chatting until there were no one left. That's some heated discussion. haha...

Until next time...

Food checklist

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

I had this post in my draft for so long since the last time I was back in Malaysia. Alhamdulillah, the last time I was back, I get the chance to have all of them. Lucky! Everytime people here ask what do you miss most of Malaysia, I would say the food (other than family and friends of course).

Let's go over my list. hehe...starting with the small stuff.

1. Famous Amos Cookies

You may be surprised, but you can't find these in London. I've looked! So good to be eating these again. =P

2. Nasi Kukus

I went to Kuantan just for this. Highly recommended. Nasi Kukus MAMA located at Indera Mahkota, Kuantan Pahang.

3. Limau Bali

This one is special called Limau Tambun from Tambun, Perak.

4. Pau Tanjung Malim

These famous delicacies from Perak are really tasty! Suitable for tea.

5. Cheese Naan

Although there are many arabs and indians living in London, there's no cheese naan. Just some plain ones. 

6. Kenny Rogers Roaster

Not as good as before.

7. Tjantek Bistro

It's located at Jalan Besar, Kuantan. The food is mainly western, either pasta or steak. Recommended: aglio olio pasta and mango juice.

Until next time...

Malaysia Kitchen Spring Market

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته and good day!

On Saturday before my parents arrive, we went to the Malaysia Kitchen Spring Market located at South Bank, London. 

South Bank London is the place of another movie setting. huhu...
Movie: Love Actually
Actor: Liam Neeson

Walk along the pathway towards OXO tower straight to Waterloo bridge, you can see the signs heading to the Spring Market.

Before that, I took my bestie's mum to see the sights in London. 

The market is located near along the Queen's Walk, near Waterloo Bridge.

There were so many stalls opened to share the unique taste of Malaysia.

This event is held every year. So if you missed this year, you can plan ahead to go next year.

The main purpose to come here is to see my Mak Lang. Her store is always involved in these sort of events. She had asked for some anchovies and ulam for my parents and sister to bring from Malaysia.

I bought the roti canai and the char kue teow which are to die for.

The weather that day was not so great. It was too windy and cold, that made us couldn't enjoy sitting by the Thames river while eating our food. 

So we move to go back quickly after finishing our food.

Until next time...

Tinseltown Review

Salam and good day!

I found out about this place from a friend of my bestie when she posted a picture of her eating here. The food seemed interesting enough, so we decided to give it a try.

It's located at Westbourne Grove, near Bayswater station. The place serves full halal menu, and it is clearly stated on their entrance.

I read the reviews online of this place beforehand and most of them talked about the bad service of this place. But we went to try and check it out for ourselves.

When we arrived, a staff greeted us and showed us to our seat. The menu choices are excellent. There are many choices of burgers and grills. This place specialty is their burgers and shakes.

I ordered the chocolate brownie shake (right) and my bestie ordered the ferero roche (left) shake.

They don't look much different though. huhu...I loved mine. It kind of taste like oreo shake, but you can taste the brownie chunks. The ferero shake you can really taste it in the shake. But it'll feel a bit filling because of the taste. 

This is called Texas Buffalo wings. I've been wanting to try one of these for a long time. Finally I found a joint that sells them and halal. 

We also ordered the grill platter that consists of 3 lamb chops, one cajun chicken, two steaks and a sausage. The meal includes two sides that you can choose and a dip. We choose chips and mash potato with peri-peri dip. The dip was excellent.

Overall, the food is actually great with affordable prices. The setting of the place is cozy too. 

However, my bestie told me when she went to pay, she chatted up with the staff a bit and was totally ignored. Rude much!? 

When we were about to exit the store, there were a group of people entered and we overheard them saying to the staff that they were waiting for their seat at the door and no one came. The staff replied rudely for them to go back to the door. I mean..whaat??!! Why can't they just give them a seat and apologize for making them wait. It's not like it was a full house inside the store. 

So my recommendation would be, if you really have a hankering for the food and can tolerate rudeness, then go ahead. Not going to be a 2nd visit from us anytime soon for sure!

Until next time.