L’ami Malo – French creperie

I recently found out that there are two types of crepes; crepes and galettes. Turns out that what I used to refer to as ‘savoury crepes’ are really known as galettes and the wrap is usually made with buckwheat flour filled with savoury fillings. What I used to refer as ‘Sweet crepes’ are just crepes and the wrap is made with the most commonly known thin pancake with sweet fillings 😅

Having had the most amazing crepe in Paris (just a simple crepe drizzled with homemade caramel sauce, that sauce though 😍) I’ve been trying to find a good crepe/galette restaurant in London.

Let me introduce you to L’ami Malo. 

Starter

Above: Maki roll with avocado , tomato, salsa, baby gem lettuce, cashew nuts & sour cream wrapped with galette.

Such a pretty dish and also tasty too! This was super fresh and great as a small starter.

Main

Above: duck confit galette with braised red cabbage, caramelised pear, tender stem broccoli and red wine jus. 

The duck was cooked perfectly, it was super tender and the meat slid right off the bone, with a crispy skin to boot! You must be wondering where the galette comes in, well, interestingly the galette is rolled up and filled with braised red cabbage underneath the duck 😄 The caramelised pear was the perfect combination with the duck plus, tenderstems are always the better cousin of broccoli 😜

Dessert

Above: crepe wih soufflé lemon, blueberries & raspberries.

This tasted as beautiful as it looked 😍 I’m usually not a massive fan of sour tasting food but this wasn’t too sour at all. In fact, because it’s in soufflé form it was sweet and creamy 😊

We paired the above with a lovely red Pinot. Perfect date place or small-medium groups for a good catch up over delicious food 😄

–Eatsescapades

Sakurado – The most colourful Japanese desserts

I recently had the pleasure to try out this cute little Japanese cafe in Putney. As far as it was from me (I’m based in East London), it was worth the trek! Just check out these super colourful Japanese cakes!

Here we have the Mille Crepes in the forefront. Flavours were (left to right): Raspberry, coconut, matcha and Mango.

In the background we have their cake rolls. Flavours were (left to right): chestnut, matcha, sweet potato and mango.

They taste as good as they look 😍

Sakurado is known for their desserts but their hot food is great too! They do a set lunch for £15 from Fridays – Sundays (no more weekdays!) so make sure you book ahead 🙂

Starter

A lovely mix of starter plates, from what I remember it was miso soup, pumpkin salad, sesame vegetables, pickled vegetables and matcha pudding. The mini bowls they come in is just too cute! My favourite was the pumpkin salad, mmm.

 

Mains

Chicken oyakodon; I only tried a bit of this but my god the egg was tasty. I highly recommend this one.

Salmon teriyaki: at first I thought this plate didn’t look like a lot but the onigiri’s were deceptively filling! The teriyaki sauce was delicious, wish there was more of it!

More dessert

Saving the best for last; the matcha tiramisu! The coffee was quite strong but I love coffee so it didn’t bother me. The matcha creme was strongly infused with matcha, and the combination of the matcha creme and the coffee base was perfect. I’ll honestly come back just for this!

-EatsEscapades

Bumpkin, yum-kin

As a foodie, I’m always on the lookout for new food to try, new restaurants to explore. Situated in South Kensington, Bumpkin is a, relaxed, shabby chic like restaurant for a cute lunch/dinner date or just a chilled catch up with the girls and good wine.

For me it was the perfect end to an afternoon date at the V&A museum.

Sitting inside, it was posh but not in a pretentious way, it made you feel comfortable, and calm, surrounded by shabby chic styled furniture and fresh plants on the window sills.

They served British food so I felt compelled to choose a British dish as well. I ended up choosing the fish pie 🙂

The fish pie was delicious; beautifully creamy and a perfectly baked golden cheese topping.

I didn’t try the burger but it looked pretty great. Just check out the cheese oozing out of it!!

If you’re in the area, you should definitely check it out 🙂

-Eatsescapades

Asian, Fusion, Cuban

Fusion food isn’t a new concept but whenever I do find a fusion food restaurant, they always take me by surprise. Whether good or bad, it’s always so interesting to see and taste how different types of food and flavours combine that are mainly found in specific cultures.

Asia de Cuba serves dishes with a fascinating twist of Cuban mixed with Asian flavours. As a starter, I had the Crispy Octopus Al Ajillo, a delicious combination with lychee; the sweet lychee with the savoury Octopus with a hint of chilli was just the perfect combination!

After such a brilliant start, I was all prepped up and looking forward to my main 🙂

My main was a coffee crusted ribeye with grilled tomatoes on vine, shiso mojo butter and wasabi miso potato purée. It was absolutely delicious. The coffee crust have the steak such a deep, rich flavour it didn’t need additional sauce. However, the coffee flavouring made it err slightly on the salty side though.

The interior design of the restaurant was actually quite interesting as well, three main pillars actung as the centre piece of the restaurant decorated as bookshelves and by picture frames.

Contrasted by the otherside of the wall covered in funky posters depicting Cuban culture and pop art.

All in all a very interesting, fresh dining experience but a great experience 😊

–EatsEscapades

Fairy tale like cake shop

Standing in front of Peggy Porchen was like how I would imagine seeing the forest of Tangled meets Sleeping Beauty would look like: pink, floral and oh-so-charming 💗

This lovely cake shop based in London by Victoria coach station has just one of the most gorgeous exterior design I’ve seen to date.

The beautiful slant of the floral decor; skilfully artistic yet casually framing the doorway makes it seem like by entering, you’ll be transported into a magical, fairy tale land. Oh, and of course, a cute pink bike gently propped on the side of the door, seemingly transporting flowers from said magical land 💖

It is just so pretty! 😍

The interior creates the perfect, charming atmosphere you would have expected from the exterior design, with chandeliers, glass look-a-like chairs, cute packaged confectionary adorning white, victorian designed shelves and deliciously looking cakes is just what a girl needs sometimes 😊

This place is seriously so cute, like I can’t even.

The cakes tasted as delicious as they looked, my friend and I each had a slice of cake and a cooling summer berry ice tea on a warm, summers day in London ☀️

If you’re planning a girly day out in london or just a casual girls catch up, Peggy Porchen is definitely a place I’d highly recommend!

Space wise it is quite small so I do recommend going in smaller groups 😉

-EatsEscapades

Deliciously, Gooey Matcha Fondant

It’s been a while since I posted, but I really wanted to share this quaint, new Japanese restaurant in Piccadilly, London that just opened up not long ago; Machiya

I was originally drawn to the omurice that was on the menu but sad to say it was sold out when we managed to grab a table after the queue. I’ll be coming here again on Saturday so will be updating this again then

For now, I wanted introduce to you the most delicious and gooey matcha fondant I’ve had to date in London

Just look at that beautiful, delicious, gooey goodness oozing out!

Surprisingly I wasn’t extremely hungry so I had the chicken skewers as a starter. It came with such succulent & juicy chicken pieces paired with flavourful mushroom and peppers.

Overall, I was very happy with this place. Great find 🙂

–EatsEscapades