Candyfloss & Dreams

Category: Food

A witch is eating is a category of blog posts celebrating good food and ranting about diet culture

Brunch at Urban Meadow Cafe & Bar, London

Urban Meadow Cafe is a gorgeous cafe attached to a hotel on Bayswater Road, London. It was around a five minute walk from Notting Hill Gate tube station and very easy to find on the corner. We were lucky enough to find a Wowcher offering a two course brunch and a bottle of Prosecco for £25 which was an absolute steal and we were so happy to find such an amazing deal. I was in London for the Big Blogger Expo and knew we would need somewhere that was affordable and provided something filling, the bottle of Prosecco was a real bonus and made me feel really pampered.

We booked a table for 12noon and arrived a little early. The staff were more than happy to seat us though which was nice. There was plenty of seating outside which looked beautiful however we decided to stop inside where it was nice and cool. We headed towards the back which had plenty of lovely comfy bench seating, clean tables and lovely table decoration.

Urban Meadow Cafe is absolutely gorgeous. It was lovely to sit in a light and airy space whilst enjoying our food. The seating was comfortable, it was clean and the staff were really friendly. We did visit the ladies on our trip to brunch which is situated in the hotel reception and is open to guests of Urban Meadow. They were clean and had some lovely soap and hand lotion!

We had already paid for our brunch so we could literally just sit down and order. The croissant came first and it was huge! I was really impressed with the portion size for such an excellent value brunch. We were offered butter and jam which came in individual pots and was absolutely delicious. The only problem with croissants is they can be a little messy, especially when they’re so huge! The Processco came chilled and with champagne glasses topped with a strawberry which was a really nice touch.

We then had our second course which was really filling and again a great portion size for the price paid. I went with the Eggs Benedict which was delicious, the eggs poached to perfection and a delicious hollandaise sauce.

I was really impressed with Urban Meadow Cafe and I would recommend it to anyone in the area as they seem to have a great amount of deals on including a burger and a pint for just under £10! That is a pretty perfect lunch time deal if you ask me! It’s a lovely setting, easy to find and offers really great food. It was the perfect start to our day in London and I would love to return with my family.

July 26, 2016
Pizza Express – Andover – Review

With my boyfriend turning 25 on Monday we started our celebrations last night at Pizza Express. It’s been open in our town for a couple of months now and it’s the second time I’ve been but the first time we’ve all been as a family. Adam was pretty keen to try it and Mini Kat just wanted dough balls. It seemed like a win-win for us all. It’s sort of felt like a ‘last meal’ for me as well as today I am healthy all the way. Well, except for a few things I’m sure but I’m making much more effort to be healthy from now on. Good thing about pizza express is they have plenty of light options on their menu so we can easily return! Adam loves pizza and so it was fitting that we had his favourite cuisine to begin celebrating his birthday weekend.

We booked a table for eight people which included the three of us, my dad and his fiance, my sister and her girlfriend and my younger sister who was going to be taking Mini Kat back to my mums after dinner for a sleepover. We booked for quite late in the afternoon but before the dinner rush so that Adam and I could head over to the cinema afterwards. The table we were given was in the middle of the left side of the entrance and it was a lovely long booth so we could all sit together comfortably and chat.

I loved that a menu for Mini Kat was already out which included some colouring pencils for her which really helped to keep her occupied whilst we were chatting and waiting for our food. As the three of us were the last to arrive I’m not sure if that’s because my dad asked for the child’s menu as I hadn’t told them a child would be coming myself but the fact that it was there before the three of us was great. After we were sat down and a few minutes of saying hellos our drinks order was taken. Adam and I had a bottle of red between us and adding a drink on to the child’s menu was very low cost. This included most of the soft drinks available but as it was a treat my daughter was allowed a coke. We did ask for a straw but unfortunately they were all out.

Our drinks came fairly quickly and then there was a bit of a wait for our food order to be taken but we were all pretty busy chatting away. The young man that took our order was very friendly and helpful however he did forget one of our parties starter and main course order which lead to a slight delay on her food. He did rectify it with some complimentary olives to nibble on however as he admitted and acknowledged that it was his error. Any new drinks ordered came pretty quickly too. We also brought in a cake which they kindly brought out for us and provided with plates for the order after our main meal plates had been taken away.

For our food Adam and I shared the Antipasti Platter as a starter which is just delicious. You can double up and share for just under £13 and you get a big platter of cold meats, dips, cheesy dough slices, olives and tomatoes. We really enjoyed that as a starter, it was really quite filling actually. Mini Kat had dough balls which is the only option on the child’s menu but as she loves them she was happy. It also came with a few salad bits which she could probably give or take. She did happily help herself to our mozzarella and olives though! Our starter did come on a sort of tower thing with the plates underneath so we could share easily. It was a little big but we kind of new what we were going to get as we’ve been to other Pizza Express restaurants before.

Our main meals came very quickly after our starters which I’m sure those of the party that didn’t have a starter were grateful for. I opted for the new Hawaiin pizza which was really delicious. It came with a pineapple chutney which was really sweet alongside the smokey bacon and the cheese. Each pizza came with an individual pizza slicer too which was great although it made them all very accessible to my daughter and one turn of my head saw her waving one around and we helped her cut up her small pizza which was ham, olives and mushroom – Mini Kat really loves her olives! Quite a few went for the American hot pizza which looked good. My dad had the American Hottest as one type of chilli clearly isn’t enough for him! All the pizzas looked great and tasted better.

We were there for around two hours chatting, eating and drinking and had a really great meal. Apart from the small hiccup with the food delay I have no other complaints. The setting inside is lovely and as it’s only been opened for a few months now the decor inside is still new and fresh. It’s comfortable and the service has been pleasant for me each time I’ve been there. As Pizza Express is a chain all the prices are pretty similar around the country and they have plenty of special offers and discounts if you sign up to email updates on their website. Pizza Express is also experimenting with delivery options however this isn’t available in our town yet. For the eight of us our bill totaled £156 which included a few starters, drinks, all main meals and the child’s menu which is priced at just under £7. We enjoyed our meal and it’s really nice to see more places open up in our town. I really hope it stays because we would happily become regulars.

May 1, 2016
Thai Style Coconut Soup

One of my favourite places to eat in my hometown of Andover is Siam Orchid which is a tiny hidden gem of a Thai Resturant. The food they make is fresh, tasty, vibrant and delicious. The staff are friendly and it’s pretty reasonably priced to be honest. We haven’t been for a while but when we do go we opt for the all you can eat menu which is four amazing courses for about £20 per person and you can have as much as you like per course. The courses include starters, shredded duck, soup and then a main course. My favourite on the menu is the Coconut Soup which comes with either chicken, prawns or vegetables. It is delicious. I have been back several times trying a few new things but always enjoying the soup.

Just after Christmas I went around clearing my kitchen cupboards and moving things around and found a recipe book for soups and amongst these recipes was a Thai-style coconut chicken noodle soup. Yesterday I decided to take it upon myself to try this recipe out and see if it tasted the same. None of the ingredients seemed like they would be very expensive and some of them are key ingredients in other Asian flavours. I am looking forward to trying new foods this year as part of project 52. I did have to adapt the recipe a little as couldn’t find Spring Onions, Coriander, Lemongrass or Lime Leaves and I substituted the chicken for turkey, just because it’s cheaper and used the grind of a lime and a lemon, plus the juice. I also used dry noodles rather than the straight to wok kind and didn’t make my own stock but even with those few shortcuts it was still pretty much made fresh and was very, very tasty.

Elli O.

To make you need:
2tbsps sunflower oil,
3 shallots finely chopped,
4 green chillies seeded and chopped,
2 tsp grated fresh root ginger (I used ‘sushi ginger’),
2 garlic cloves crushed,
2 lemongrass stalks chopped,
4 kaffir lime leaves shredded,
400ml coconut milk,
800 ml chicken stock,
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces or your choice of protein – I used turkey
85g baby corn quartered lengthways,
200g fine wheat noodles,
1-2tbsp Thai fish sauce (smells a bit like feet – but doesn’t taste bad, I promise!)
Juice of 1 lime,
bunch of spring onions sliced
and a handful of fresh coriander.

Method
I added the oil to a saucepan and then added the chopped garlic and shallots with the turkey whilst cooking the noodles in the stock – I used a stock cube to make this with boiling water. I then added the chillies, ginger and vegetables to the chicken or turkey, juice and rind of the lemon and lime and once the noodles were fully cooked I added the stock and noodles to the turkey.

I then added the fish sauce and coconut milk and gave it a good stir keeping it simmering the whole time. All together it probably took about 45 minutes to prepare and cook and I was incredibly pleased with the result.

It tasted very nice and I went on to have seconds, and then thirds later that night. Ours was enough for about four servings however the recipe can be very easily adapted to serve more people. I’m going to experiment a bit more and then come up with a perfect Thai menu to share with some family and friends.

January 5, 2014