Panda Candy

Aawww! How cute are these little guys?! Adorable. My lovely friend Alexis has just returned from Hong Kong and bought the office these candies from a Japanese store called Aji Ichiban. They are little sweets inside a decorated packet; so the sweets inside are just plain white balls, but the packets have different little Panda characters on them. They remind me of Sylvanian Families which are undoubtedly the sweetest things ever. These little cuties are my favourite:

I think it's such a clever idea; easily expandable and fun. Apparently they do ducks too! 

Cute as candy.

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The Lost Angel

What a good name for a venue hey? And even better that it's near my house :) The Lost Angel and The Lost Society are sisters, and they up the South of the river's cool stakes an awful lot.

The Lost Angel is on Battersea Park Road; a pretty lifeless area that makes think you're definitely "lost." But if you keep your eyes peeled, this restaurant-come-bar-come-dance-floor is definitely there. They see themselves as a 'neighbourhood joint' where you can come for a bite to eat in the week, and a party on the weekends. Having done both I can tell you it's true.

The decor is super cool. It has a long bar in the middle of the room that stretches all the way to the back wall. All the colours are very rich; mahogany brown, racing green, with low lighting, faux leather seats, antlers on the wall, and pictures of the Queen to assure you you're in a classy establishment. You feel like you're in a sassy saloon or lodge.

On a week day the atmosphere is really laid back and quite New York. They have a big food menu with a mixture of light bites, starters, sophisticated mains, and pub food. My main criticism would be the service. It was pretty slow... But we can forgive them for that because the food was yummy! I had some delicious red snapper with olive oil mash. Well presented but a small portion (but maybe I'm just greedy!).

My first visit made me think that I have to come back here on a weekend. Luckily my friend had a birthday celebration there last Friday, and so I got to see it in all its glory. This place really comes alive and transforms into a party venue. The bar is heaving, and quite right too because the drinks are great. Their drinks menu is huge, and they do my two favourite cocktails so I was a very happy bunny. The music was great, and the cherry on the top has to be their beer garden. With decking, fairy lights and an outside bar, it's the perfect place to enjoy the hot weather. So bring on the summer I say!

It's a great place for dinner with friends, drinking, dancing and birthday celebrations.

I'm very happy I've found The Lost Angel.

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Andrew Edmunds

Last Saturday I discovered one of London's little secrets. A little nugget of days gone by that makes you wish you had lived 70 years ago when everything was less pretentious and more elegant.

In the heart of Soho, on the ground floor of an old town house, lives the gorgeous little restaurant 'Andrew Edmunds'. Walls clad with Hogarth-esque cartoons, it's so Dickensian that it would make any Anglophile go weak at the knees. This cosy eatery probably only seats about 16 on the ground floor. Low ceilinged, candle lit, understated and intimate, it is a welcome relief from the modern, hectic bars and restaurants on neighbouring streets.

Now on to the food.... The menus are hand written (sweet) and I'm guessing changed on a daily basis. The cuisine is good British fare; Gull's Eggs is the speciality. The menu has an equal amount of fish to meat which is pretty rare, and right up my street.

I started with an amazing Dressed Crab, which came as a crab shell filled generously with meat and some mayonnaise to accompany it. Really simple, but so tasty and clean. Deelish.

For mains I had Sea bass fillet with Jersey Royals, pancetta, broad beans and peas.... The bass was so light, and the mixture of potato with pancetta and beans was yummy. Such a good combination. It felt very summery.

Ashamedly, I didn't live up to my blog name, as I was (dare I say it) too full for pudd.

I was super impressed by the whole lot. The food was amazing - very simple and clean, and really great quality. Good size portions, and great service. And the atmosphere was lovely. The perfect place for a small group of friends or a first date.

Andrew Edmund's is charming, desperately romantic and cute. I thoroughly, thoroughly recommend it.

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Ich bin ein Berliner

I just got back from an amazing weekend away in Berlin. In between the partying and culture we fitted in a rather strange array of food. We had pizza, curry wurst (don't ask), and an assortment of baked goods at 5 am from a conveniently positioned bakery opposite our hostel. We stayed in the Mitte district, which luckily seemed to be the hub of funky cafes, bars and restaurants in the city.

One of my highlights was our supper at a lovely restaurant called Fleischerei on Torstrasse. Very 'Berlin'; dimly lit, sort of run down and edgy. It was there that I learnt what 380g of fillet steak meant. It was HUGE! The size of my head! It was also very delicious, and with a bit of help from my friends I finished with a clean plate and an extremely full tummy! I think I've now had my ration of red meat for about a year.

My Moscow Mule at the super trendy Neue Odessa Bar (also on Torstrasse) was another goodie; so light, not too sweet, and it slipped down very easily from what I can remember.

The St Oberholz Cafe which was right opposite our hostel was a great spot. A very laid back, achingly cool cafe. Can't be seen without your Mac book or wacky glasses. Our hot chocolates, chai lattes and coffee soothed our sore heads for sure.

But the yummiest thing I tasted on our trip was a smoothie from Chen Che Berlin; a gorgeous Vietnamese tea room that we found off Rosenthaler Strasse.

Their menu was amazing and full of unusual Asian ingredients. All of their drinks sounded delicious! So we got a couple to share. The Chen Che Xin Chao, made of fresh lime juice, sweet basil seeds, fresh peppermint-ginger tea, lychee and blueberries, was as good as it sounds. It felt like I was filling my body with nutrients and goodness!

But the Che Dau Do (see above) was even better. It was made of red soybeans in soy juice with coconut milk and ice, refined with yum root and soy milk froth. It looked pretty dodgy; what must have been the soy beans looked suspiciously like frog's spawn. Hoping it wasn't, I took a sip and was amazed by its deliciousness! It was creamy and not too sweet, with a fantastic kick of coconut at the end and a lovely consistency. I have no idea how they made it. Annoyingly my shizer German didn't stretch as far as - please can I have a demonstration? But I will definitely be trying to make this again at home.

Auf wiedersehen

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What the %$£! should I make for dinner?

A very funny website for dinner ideas that needs a bit of anger management. Excuse my French.

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