Snack – Page 53 – Elsie Hui

November 29, 2011May 11, 2019

Fernandez & Wells – London, England

While we were in London, we really wanted lunch, and had absolutely no idea what we were wanting to eat – but knowing we had to eat! We just happen to be walking down Lexington Street, and we saw 3 cured legs at the window, and we knew this was the place where we wanted to eat! This lovely location is called Fernandez & Wells which seemed perfect!

This store front is wonderful! It’s small, warm, cozy, and the smell of freshly roasted and cured meats fills the air! When we got to the counter to see what we wanted to eat, there was a pile high of sandwiches on a selection of ciabatta buns or ‘bocadillos’ (crusty flutes) – and they get grilled after you order them.

I ordered the Grilled Chorizo Sandwich which is made of their fresh chorizo, and lined with some roasted red peppers and rocket leaves. After this sandwich was grilled, it was delicious and it was kind of spicy and super tasty!

We also ordered Rare Topside of Beef Sandwich which was a sandwich packed with roast beef and some horseradish. The roast beef was perfectly roasted and it wasn’t tough at all! It was tender and full of intense beef flavour which was very nice! I personally think they put a tad too much horseradish on the sandwich, as it cleared my sinuses and made my eyes water! I ended up scooping off some of the horseradish before finishing up my half of the sandwich.

Fernandez & Wells really keeps things simple. When we asked what there is to drink, they looked at us funny and said “wine or water”, so we opt’d for wine, as it looks like the thing to do! We don’t ever drink wine, so it was kind of funny as we had a nice buzz from it! 🙂 We ordered the Alpha Zeta Chardonnay which was quite light already. I can’t say if it was good or not as I do not know how chardonnay is suppose to taste, or the difference between any wines. But, it was crisp and light – and actually a bit refreshing!

This was one of the best sandwich lunch places we’ve had in a long time! Things are kept basic, simple and rustic and that made for a delicious place to eat! We even went at an odd time, and there wasn’t seating left. Most of their customers take away, or they’re sitting there enjoying cheese and wine or something like that! It was just nice to step out of the busy streets of London and step into their restaurant and we were able to relax and watch the world pass by. This location is truly a hidden gem for us!

Fernandez & Wells

43 Lexington St
Soho, UK
(020) 7734 1546

November 27, 2011November 27, 2011

Jean-Philippe Pâtisserie Bellagio

From last time I went to Vegas, I discovered Jean Philippe Patisserie, and I knew I had to go back. I went back everyday this time, and I don’t regret the extra sugar at all! It’s a wonderful place to go to get delicious baked goods and sweets! This time, I even went to the Jean Philippe at Bellagio, where there is the tallest chocolate fountain, and it was amazing!

After reading some reviews when I got home last time, someone told me that the Jean Philippe Crepes was a must try item, so I had to try it this time. It was a fun experience as they make it in front of you after you order. I ordered a Dulce de Leche Crepe which was a crepe with dulce de Leche caramel sauce, and then topped with chocolate shavings and whipped cream! I didn’t eat it there, I brought it back to my hotel room to enjoy, so it fell apart a little by the time I got it back. But, it tasted wonderful!

The crepe for the most part was in good condition, all except the whipped cream that started to slide off and was half melted as the crepes was hot when I got it. It was good that it was quite cool outside in Vegas so it didn’t do any further damage.

Once I got my fork through the crepe, I knew I was going to love this dessert! The texture of the crepe was warm, soft and chewy with a very subtle sweetness to the crepe itself. I’ve had crepes where it was hard and just not very pleasant, but this one alone was decadent! The batter was perfection and with the Dulce de Leche Caramel Sauce inside, it was really good!

I believe if I ate this on location, the warm caramel sauce would have oozed out a bit and made it even more wonderful – but this is a good excuse to go back next time! 🙂 From this Bellagio location, I bought also a Cinnamon Bun and saved it for breakfast the next morning. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it as I love cinnamon buns.

Jean-Philippe Pâtisserie

3600 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas
(702) 693-8788

November 25, 2011March 24, 2019

BBQ King – Las Vegas, Nevada

Chinese food is no longer a specificity in Las Vegas. We use to go to a Chinese location that was closer to the South end of the strip, and now there seems to be a lot of new options. We came by BBQ King for a quick late lunch, and the place seems quite reasonable! The location of this restaurant is a stand alone building in a strip plaza – so there was a lot of parking spaces and made it easy to get in and out of the parking lot.

I ordered the Beef Stomach with Ho Fun and it was actually on special for $4 only! The portion size didn’t seem any smaller, or if it is, then they have large bowls of noodles!

Another noodle dish that we ordered was a Hong Kong Style Wonton Noodles and these were pretty decent! The best part is, it was also on special for $4! You really can’t complain for a nice hot bowl of noodles for less than what you’d pay for a fast food hamburger combo. The wontons was quite large in size, and it was stuffed with a large piece of shrimp and just a little bit of pork to bind. Sure, the bowl only had 5 of them, but at least it was cheap in price and the quality was there!

After 2 soup dishes, and still wanting “noodles”, we decided to order a lo mein, which is basically taking the wonton noodles and not putting it in the soup, but instead you’re mixing it with flavours of the soup (on the side). This makes for a drier noodle dish and the soup helps mix it. To mix something is called lo in Chinese, so essentially, you’re just mixing the noodles. Anyway, we tried tried Pork and Vegetable Lo Mein from BBQ King and a large plate of noodles came out. The soup wasn’t on the side as they did the mixing for us already. There was a lot of pieces of pork mixed throughout the noodles and vegetables almost as a garnish. The lo mein was really good and flavourful even though it didn’t look like much. They did their lo mein with oyster sauce, sesame oil and of course the soup – and this is quite standard for lo mein. Overall, this noodle dish was delicious even though standard.

Finally, realizing that we needed another vegetable dish, something interesting caught our eye when we saw a dish Fermented Bean Curd with cooked Lettuce. The title is the direct translation of the actual dish, as I have no idea what they called it on the menu (I didn’t see or pick it). Usually when we order the cooked lettuce, it comes cooked and flavoured with oil and oyster sauce. This one was a little more unique as they used the fermented tofu and I quite enjoy the flavour of it. It was subtle and added another dimension of flavour that I wasn’t use to in cooked lettuce.

This is a very decent restaurant especially when it came to portion size and price. There isn’t anything too special – as it doesn’t deviate from the normal Chinese food, but it was good food! Definitely a place I would return to if I was in the area and wanting Chinese food quickly and inexpensively!

BBQ King

5650 Spring Mountain Rd
Las Vegas, NV
(702) 364-8688

November 17, 2011May 14, 2019

Cookie Occasion – Calgary, Alberta

During a visit to see Fiasco Souped Up Food Truck in Calgary Marda Loop, I went to a place for cookies called Cookie Occasion which easily drew me to here as I love cookies.

I got to go get myself another cookie as I promised myself! This time, I got the Triple Sin Cookie and it was sinfully delicious. These cookies are made of the three common Callebaut chocolate chunks – dark, milk and white and they are all mixed into a great cookie dough! There’s really nothing quite like it!

The other cookie we purchased was Amaretto Almond Cookie and within the first bite, my mouth was exploding with almond flavours. These cookies are mixed in with Callebaut milk chocolate chunks, almonds and a splash of amaretto! We’ve never had a more almond tasting cookie before and it was really wonderful!

As much as I like cookies from anywhere, I can not get over how wonderfully delicious these cookies are, and the texture of the cookie is unlike any other. These cookies are a must try if you haven’t done so yet! You’ll see the difference, and you’ll thank me later! 🙂 But, note their hours are Monday – Saturday 10AM to 5PM!

Cookie Occasion

2107 – 33rd Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 246-6700

November 16, 2011March 17, 2019

Fiasco Souped Up Food Truck – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been meaning to try Soup’ed Up from Fiasco once I heard that the Gelato truck was transforming into a soup truck. I finally had the opportunity to try one one weekend while they were in Marda Loop which is somewhere I don’t normally go to – but for them, I do!

We ordered a Lentil Lime Chipotle Chili and it was a hot, hearty, healthy, delicious chili. The lentils was cooked to perfection, as it wasn’t over or under cooked, and the spice in the chili was just perfect. The jalapeno peppers were of course spicy, but it is a jalapeno pepper! 🙂 The wonderful thing about this chili was the fact there was large chunks of bacon in the soup! It not only added a nice smokey flavour – which had a lot of it from the smokey chipotle powder – but it added great texture in the chili with bites to eat. Normally the chili’s have ground meat, and it’s nice this chili wasn’t like all the other ones, it’s something different and special!

I know the chili isn’t a soup, so we did order a soup too! We tried the Thai Chicken Soup and this is a delightful soup! It’s creamy, and coco-nutty, with Thai curry notes. It’s topped with a swirl of organic peanut butter which really enhances the creaminess texture of soup! This soup has got large pieces of chicken, and it’s mixed in with a lot of Thai flavours. This soup has the perfect balance of flavour – sweet, spicy, savoury, and sour – which is typical for a lot of Asian foods. The predominate flavours of this soup would be the lemongrass and coconut milk and it sure makes it delicious!

Each of the order comes with a delicious roll, and a recycled spoon, which is great. The bun was really great to either eat alone or with the soup. It was warm, light and fluffy on the inside, and perfectly crispy on the outside. It is very appropriate for the colder season!