Posted on

Muffin Man – Kensington, London

We stopped by The Muffin Man as a quick stop for breakfast one morning before heading over to Buckingham Palace and stand in line for the touristy attractions we were planning for the day. The Muffin Man was a great little stop, even though it wasn’t a fast stop. We made an order right from their bakery section and it took the waitress awhile to even put our goodies into a bag to give to us. Instead, she continued to serve the seated customers, and that made is “in her way”. She had to maneuver around us, making it difficult for everyone.

We figured if she just took our order and quickly gave us our goodies, we all would’ve continued on our merry way. Regardless, the baked good from the Muffin Man was extremely delicious.

I ordered the Lemon Cake which was a denser muffin (hence cake) in a muffin form. It was really lemony and refreshing. The cake was quite fresh.

We also had a Chocolate Danish made with dark chocolate filling wrapped in crusty and flaky pastry.

Lastly, we tried their Banana Coffee Muffin, and even though I didn’t try it at all, I hear it was quite delicious, and it had a soft coffee center. This muffin sure sounds delicious, and I’m sure given another opportunity, I’ll try a muffin – as the place is called the Muffin Man after all!

Muffin Man

12 Wrights Lane Map
(0871) 075 7360
Kensington, London

Posted on

The Almanack

After checking into our hotel that was across the street from The Almanack we had to go for a lunch, and found ourselves at the Almanack. The restaurant is large, spacious, bright and just a lovely place to have been. We enjoyed our lunch in a large yet comfortable space.

I tried the Fish Board and actually split it with my sister as I just ate a burger. The Fish Board comes with Smoked Mackerel Pâté, Prawn Cocktail, Marinated Anchovies, Mini Fishcake & Tartare Sauce, Cucumber Sticks & Rye Bread. It was the perfect plate to share, and it was really tasty. Each item on the fish board had its own unique taste and texture which was really fun to experience – as we don’t have this like this. None of the items was fishy at all – which really made me happy! The smoked Mackeral had a really nice smoked taste, and it was firm but flaked off into pieces really nicely. The prawn cocktail was pretty fun – not the best prawn cocktail I’ve ever had, but it was really fun to get my hands dirty and enjoy it! I like anything deep fried, so the fishcake was right up my alley! It was really light and fluffy and cooked perfectly as well. Nothing was bad at all! I don’t know my thoughts of anchovies, but I do like these ones from the Almanack! 🙂 So, it was a very satisfying meal, and one I will remember!

We ordered a bunch of other lunch entrees, which I didn’t try. But, everything was gobbled up in a heart-beat, so I’m assuming it was delicious! The table ordered Potato and Watercress Soup

We also ordered a dish of Caesar Salad to share at the table. It was a nice and fresh salad and it was well received by everyone.

Free-range Chicken & Crispy Bacon, and topped off with Anchovies & Croutons. The last dish that was ordered was Honey & Mustard Roast Free-range Gammon

We went back to The Almanack for breakfast the following morning, and they served a wonderful breakfast selection! From Salmon Eggs Benedict to the All American Breakfast. We had a lot of us, and we had a nice selection of breakfasts ordered.

First of all, everything was cooked perfectly, and that means they looked and tasted good too! I started with the Pancake Breakfast which naturally was pancakes and maple syrup. They did drench the pancake in the syrup and by the end, it was too sweet. The pancakes were light and fluffy and wasn’t cooked until it was a beautiful golden brown colour.

The Salmon Eggs Benedict was really delicious. There was some salmon instead of the traditional ham, and spinach on the eggs Benedict. This really was a nice touch with a nice taste to the dish.

Our table also had the All American Breakfast which was a large and filling breakfast – perfect for a busy day ahead – which in our case was! This breakfast consisted of beans, toasts, mushrooms, sausage, bacon and eggs. It’s truly a hearty meal.

The Almanack

Abbey End North Kenilworth
Warwickshire
(01926) 353637

Posted on

ABC Bakery & Cafe

I’ve been getting up really early in the mornings and heading to the airport to take pictures of airplanes as they take off. I like the early morning take off pictures as they’re quite different. However, afterwards I’m starving… so instead of popping into a chain restaurant, I went back to an old favourite, ABC Bakery & Cafe. I must say, the last time I was there was probably 4 years ago… and before that, I was there weekly!! Usually for dinner though, I’d go straight there after work. I guess I’ve left a job that allows me to pass by for about 4 years now! 🙂

Anyway, we got to ABC for breakfast around 8AM and I was happy I wasn’t the only table trying to find breakfast! There were a lot of their regular customers there – which is great!! The nice thing about these cafes is of course their price! It’s so easy, cheap and convenient to pop in through the day and order food! But, breakfast is always the best. I miss places like this. Calgary just doesn’t have a lot of them, and it’s a bummer.

We sat down and ordered our breakfast specials, and so we ordered Crispy Bun with Condensed Milk with Hong Kong Style Milk Tea. I like to drink either milk tea, or lemon tea with honey, but I wanted milk tea this time! 🙂 SOO GOOD! They always make it really good!! The crispy bun was toasted nicely, and the sesame seeds on the top of the bun add a really nice taste with the condensed milk. When I make it at home, I like to make a mess and put probably twice as much condensed milk in… it’s normally dripping! But, this was really good I didn’t make it or I’d get a sugar high at 8AM.

We also ordered the Pork Chop with 2 Eggs + Toast and with this breakfast, we also had the milk tea. It was pretty funny as the pork chop came out deep fried in dark oil. Clearly, they didn’t change the oil over night, but thats what Chinese places are all about! 🙂 It tasted good – and that’s what is most important!

This place has always been one of my favourite places to go eat. Cheap and delicious! Nothing to like!

ABC Bakery & Cafe

112 3 Ave SE
Calgary, AB
(403) 266-2888

Posted on

Urban Rice

Dim Sum is always something I crave – maybe it’s because I’m Chinese, or maybe it’s because I don’t know how to make it… or, it’s the fact I live so far away from the Chinese communities I feel a little “home sick”. Regardless, dim sum is something I enjoy as it’s part of my heritage.

Urban Rice is a location that was recommended to me by a good friend. I’ve been to their previous location and loved it, so I’ll just follow them around like the hungry person that I am. It’s been really nice with all the festivals at Olympic Plaza downtown as I can fulfill my cravings in Chinatown, since it’s not far distance apart!

We were seated in a pretty big table – a table for 4 people, maybe they knew I’ll eat a lot or something, but I appreciated that! They didn’t try to cram me into the corner or anything like most Chinese restaurants. The place was was quite full when we got in, and we could smell all the dim sum. We quickly sat down and mark off on a sheet of all the goodies I wanted to try!

We had our few favourites such as Beef Tripe, Chicken Feet and Turnip Cake which turned out really well! I pretty much ate the entire dish of chicken feet all by myself! 🙂 I didn’t realize until the end, and I had all the bones on my plate! No questions about it, I ate the beef tripe, and my other half ate all the turnip cake! We had nothing to complain about! (Well, it seemed like the food could use a little more salt, but that didn’t make the food bad.)

Ok, the beef tripe wasn’t as tender as it should be, but it was still tender enough to eat it! The flavour of the ginger and green onion was really nice too! I like to add a bit of hot sauce to my beef tripe, and it was really good. The chicken feet was the most flavourful dish of them all! Soaked in it’s sauce, and cooked till fall off the bone it really wasn’t a surprise when I ate the whole dish!

We also ordered some specialty items on the item as well, and another favourite of mines would be the Shanghai Style Pork Dumplings which I actually get some frozen ones from T&T Supermarket at steam at home for when I’m carving dim sum that badly, and it’s just out of my reach! 🙂 The skin was a little thick, but the dumpling altogether was really good! I of course like to dip it in the vinegar because that’s the way it’s eaten! The best thing about this dish is the fact it came with 5 pieces — which means I got to eat 3 of them!

Overall, I quite enjoy this location, as it’s got big portions of food, and they have lots of items to try out. The best part of this experience was all the dim sum was $3.25, which made the entire experience seem a little extra delicious at the end of the day when our bill was just slightly over $20!!!

Urban Rice

104- 108 3rd Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 984-3380

Posted on

Lido Cafe Ltd – Calgary, Alberta

We made it to Lido Cafe Ltd right before the Sun and Salsa festival started – as I was starving and needed something to eat! We randomly walked into Lido without knowing anything, sat down and looked at the menu. The first thing that popped in our minds was “random”. This menu had American breakfast and lunch menu items and Chinese lunch and dinner menu items. The place is ran by Chinese, so it was really neat.

When we were seated in a booth with a jukebox hanging off the side, we were even more confused! This place is wonderful, as it’s got no specific theme or anything! I’m sure if you want something – anything, they would have it!

All joking aside, we did go for an American breakfast, as we ordered a French Toast with Sausage and a Breakfast Special with Sausage which included 2 eggs, hash-browns, toast and your choice of ham, bacon or sausage. It was a great deal, and since we went on Sunday, they served this all day long!!

The food tasted just fine, the price is just right, so, nothing wrong with that! 🙂

Lido Cafe Ltd

144 10 St NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 283-0131