Italian Fruit Desserts - Presented in Fruit, or Flag Colours

The Italian flag colours of green, white and red. 

If you don't want sugary desserts in an Italian restaurant what could you look for or ask for?

 In a Portuguese restaurant a fellow diner asked for a piece of fruit. I thought, that sounds dull. I could buy a piece of fruit from a supermarket. However, the presentation was impressive. The waitress began by deftly cutting off the skin in a spiral which was placed on once side of the desert plate. The core of the fruit was removed. Then the rest of it was cut into neat matching slices which were laid out in a fan shape. 

Fruit-friendly desserts in Italy in the days of the dessert trolley included fresh fruit salad, fresh sliced peaches in syrup, and whole oranges in syrup.

I would suggest

1 Fruit salad presented in a hollowed out half pineapple.

2 Or fruit salad in a hollowed out orange with or without the top half as a cap

3 Three colours of fruit on top of plain yogurt.

4 A tart with concentric circles of different colours of fruit.

5 A platter of discs of kiwi fruit, oranges, and crisp biscuits on a flat, slightly curved platter with a scattering of nuts or seeds or grapes and maybe pyramids of fruit puree or sugar free sorbet.

5 Italian flag or three colours (like tricolour starter) red white and green. For example, strawberries or raspberries or red cherries or a mixture, kiwi fruit or gooseberries or green grapes with mint, and white yogurt, or cream, or white coconut sponge cake or biscuit or white lychees or white almonds or white apple or pear added at the last moment - using lemon juice to stop it going brown, or Jersey milk

6 Three colours of ice cream, red, white, green, could be strawberry, vanilla, pistacchio.

-ends-

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Bubbles and Brownies Dessert Lounge For Brownies In Northwood

Bubbles and Brownies is a pretty pink snack stopoff in Northwood.

The bubbles are bubble tea. The decor is pink and white, with circles and rose motifs.

Child in pink at Bubbles and |Brownies in Northwood. Face obscured by a pink heart at the request of parents. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

BNB logo with neat reversal. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

The brownies are small, flat, dark brown chocolate cakes.

They also sell a small range of ice creams. Our five year old grand-daughter chose mango ice cream. I found it too sweet, with not enough mango taste. Three of us tried it and didn't finish it. But we had just had a three course meal including desserts a couple of doors along at Lomito Argentinian steak restaurant.

That didn't stop Dad from buying a brownie to take home.

Our five year old loved posing for a picture in the circular alcove. It's certainly the perfect backdrop for pretty pictures.

If you drive on to Hatch End, where I hail from, has a huge selection of moreish ice creams with great flavours. Small amount of seating. No atmosphere. Surrounded on two sides by the counters and fridges. Perfect for a quick take away and suck and slurp in, surrounded by crowds in the evenings.

 However, if you are in Northwood, night or day, and want to sit in smart surroundings, Bubbles & Brownies is pretty and peaceful. 

I asked for their business address card. On the back of it is an offer for a free bubble tea after you have had ten, marked on the back on the card.

Parking is free, currently, August 2026, after 6 pm in the small car park around the corner opposite the library.

This is the only branch. No more, yet? They have been in Northwood about 18 months.

Useful Website Links

https://bubblesnbrownies.co.uk/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=disney+princess+in+pink+

https://baskinrobbins.co.uk/locations/

https://www.ice-cream-shops.co.uk/cities/ice-cream-shops-pinner

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Spanish Sherry, Sweet Or Dry - Special Flavours Revealed - where to try and buy

A Suitable Setting For Spanish Sherry Tasting

 I was invited to a tasting of six Spanish sherries at the Spanish Embassy in London. It is not just a building in Belgrave square, amongst the elite of ambassadors residences and offices. It has lovely shady garden of flowers at the back. Inside the walls are adorned with paintings from the prestigious Prado art gallery in the capital of Spain, Madrid. But on a hot day in London, to taste Spanish sherry, we sat indoors around a grand, long table.

Angela Lansbury, left. The Ambassador. Emma, Right.  Photo by Trevor Sharot.

As the lady ambassador, Emma, said, in her introductory welcome, the alliance of Spain and England as trade partners, goes back several centuries. Spain acted as producers and sellers of sherry, the British favourite. England is one of the top three buyers. The greater numbers of Americans being a little ahead of us, although we match the Americans in enthusiasm. I remember as a student going to sherry parties held by the professors, when I was at University College, London, in the late 1960s.

The popularity of sherry goes way back to Shakespeare's time. He mentioned sherry many times in his plays. So did other famous authors. For more than a hundred years poet laureates were paid in advance with a barrel of sherry. Charles Dickens drank sherry, mentioned it many times in his works and gave it to a long-lived pet parrot.

What is special and different about sherry, compared to ordinary wine? A slide show revealed or reminded the audience of how sherry is produced. It's redundant to say sherry is from Spain. That's like saying Spanish wine comes from Spain.  The name sherry comes from the English pronunciation of the Spanish city name Jerez, at the heart of the production of sherry. 

The head of the organization which is charge of defining and controlling the use of location names,  showed us the slides. Wine making in the area now known as Spain started with the Phoenicians who also introduced their alphabet. The denominations of origin started in Spain in 1933.

The three dry sherries are on the left. The three sweet sherries are on the right. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

One of the slides reminded us of the solera method. New wine is poured into the top barrel. In the classic slide, easy to demonstrate and understand three barrels are piled on top of each other and connected. Drip, drip, drip. In the old days they probably relied on gravity. But the solera system can be used horizontally, aided by pumps. 

Only gradually over the years will the flavour change, the good and bad years balancing each other out, but you would select only the best grapes for this lengthy process.  So your bottle of sherry might contain the crops, the vintage, of vines from several years.

The old French oak barrels add more flavour. The oldest wine has the strongest flavour. Older bottles which have corks lose a little of wine to evaporation, so the flavour intensifies. But you are drinking a blend, from the lowest barrel. You have as many as 120 different varieties in your glass!

Dry Sherry

Sherry is not a spirit but a fortified wine. The sherry is made in a bodega, where the wine ages in a cool cellar. 

Yeasts

Each bodega has different yeasts! These yeasts add their own unique aroma and flavour.  So even if you use the same grape variety as your neighbour, the results are different. The best results might come from different soil, being on the right or left bank of a river, lower or higher on a slope, being in more sun for more of the day, benefitting from a breeze or wind. Areas around Jerez have ideal, varied, conditions.

The first three wines were made using the most important local grape variety Palomino.

The first three sherries we tried were dry. Although I am a lover of sweet wines, I found these dry wines very pleasant.

Comparing Colours

We looked at the colours. Ranging from the first two, pale yellow, amber, then red, more intense colour, more intense flavour.

Then we swilled the sherry around and sniffed it. The first fina had a yeasty note. 

The dry wine is drunk before meals as an aperitif to stimulate your tastebuds. Great for tapas, tiny tastes, which was originally a piece of bread or meat or pie across the top of the glass of wine.

Sweet Wines

But the overwhelming delight was the three sweet sherries. Each has its own different, distinctive aroma and flavour. 

First Sweet Sherry

First I tasted, honey, butterscotch, caramel. After comparing colours, aromas, flavours, the lasting finish, I rated each wine out of seven, like we do at the Central London Wine Society, which meets on two middle Wednesdays each month at the Civil Service Club. All the dry wines had reached the level three of acceptable, in fact beyond that, 4 for good, maybe 5 for very good. 

But the first sweet wine surpassed them at 6 for special, superb, interesting, different, delicious. Given an opportunity and need, I would buy it, if it was within my budget.

The last two hit the rare rating of 7. Wonderful. Must buy. If expensive, ask for it for a treat, a birthday dinner, or a Christmas dinner or celebration. Highly recommended.

The Second Sweet Sherry

The second, totally different, more intense, aromatic. Herbal. Flowery. What was it? Oranges. Seville oranges, Bitter oranges. Sweet oranges. Tangy, like lemons. Lip-smacking good.

Third Sweet Sherry - Sweetest - and Best? 

The third sherry came from the kingdom of the Pedro Ximenez grape. Known as PX for short. Pedro is Spanish for Peter. The ending ez means son or offspring, like Peterson is son of Peter. So Ximenez means son of Simon, pronounced Shimon in Hebrew. Maybe he was a soldier, or a Catholic Cardinal, according to which myth, legend or speculation you prefer. 

Colour very dark and dense.

Aroma

Finally, the third, the sweetest. Burned caramel aroma. Rich. 

Flavour,

Raisins, caramel. Unctuous. Syrupy.

Pairing with Food

A dessert wine with dessert? Perhaps PX is better as a contrast with a savoury cheese, a slightly salty blue cheese.  (Like that other famous pair, Portuguese Port and stilton.) 

However, one favourite use for PX is to pour it over ice cream!

Useful Websites

Information on Sherry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Xim%C3%A9nez

Sherry in Literature

https://www.sherry.wine/news/sherry-literature

Buying Sherry

https://www.thewinesociety.com/buy/wines/fortified-wine/sherry

Spanish Food

https://camino.uk.com/menus/

Sherry Tasting Visits

Sherry Museum

https://thesherrygallery.com/

https://www.getyourguide.com/jerez-de-la-frontera-l413/palacio-san-dionisio-jerez-wine-museum

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g227869-Activities-c42-t205-Jerez_De_La_Frontera_Costa_de_la_Luz_Andalucia.html

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Doolchee is open in Hatch End

 

Ice cream corner at the front.

Amusing arch of paper cups.

The same owners as Amore in Pinner.

Date Ice Cream and coffee from Harrods, in London

 

Coffee poured with flair. At the Qinwan stand at the World Travel Market at Excel exhibition centre in London, England, on Thursday November 6th 2025.

Their coffee is sold in Harrods in London. 

They also produce date ice cream with a subtle date flavour. 

Angela Lansbury sampling date ice cream at WTM in London.

Date ice cream makes a change, exotic, different. The company plans to expand to an extra venue. You should be able to try their wares in Mayfair in the spring, probably March, of 2026.

So, if you are planning a trip to London, or live in London, here's what you can do in Harrods. And where you can go, a choice of Harrods or Mayfair next Spring or Summer for yourself or visitors to London.

Useful Websites

World Travel Market

Excel exhibitions

Harrods

Qinwan

The Garden Gate Pub Restaurant For A Great Sunday Roast In Hampstead

 

Garden Gate restaurant, garden. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Why is it called The Garden Gate? A garden is at the back. Probably very pleasant on a fine summer's day. Inside, this traditional British pub has stained glass windows.

Our extended family who live in the area told us their children loved the Sunday roast. You can order a beef or chicken roast. A large Yorkshire pudding is on top. The restaurant also does pork.

The Sunday Roast with Yorkshire pudding. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The apple crumble dessert. You can have custard or vanilla ice cream, or both, with your crumble.

I had taken the precaution of reading their menu online the night  before our visit.

Top Temptations Over all, 4.5/5

1 Sunday roast 5/5

2 Crumble Dessert 5/5

3 Prosecco by the glass 4/5

4 Drawing sheet to keep and jar of crayons to borrow for children 5/5

Toilets 4/5

Would I go back. Resounding yes. A family favourite. The children love it.

Obliging service. Ambience, even when crowded, not too loud.

We reserved a table for six.

The location is near the Hampstead Heath railway station.

Address

14 South End Road, Greater, London NW3 2Q

Useful Website

https://www.thegardengatehampstead.co.uk

Mooncakes to Buy Worldwide, to Choose At Hotels and Supermarkets, Or Clubs, Or Make

Every year Chinese and Asian communiities hold a mid-auttumn festival which is celebrated with moon cakes. In the UK we have apples falling from trees in gardens. In Chinatowns and Asia and online there are mooncakes.

Moon Cakes

Traditonal moon cakes have a baked pastry case.  Inside are dense sugary fudge-like filled The sweetmeats are muffin size. If you have a group, you cut the mooncake into tiny triangular sections like a large cake. A tiny piece, like a dice of fudge, goes a long way. Most are pure sweetness. 

You can buy a variety of flavours. 

Flavours

Red bean. Lotus. Grreen Tea. Ice cream. Durian.

Eggs

More expensive are those with teeny boiled eggs inside. How do they get the eggs so small? Are they baby eggs or shrunk? They are duck eggs. The eggs complement the sweet taste, and provide protein. 

Souvenirs

Hotels sell expensive versions with decorative boxes you can give as gifts to business associates and as a thank you to hosts or guests. Pop-up shops sometimes sell individual ones as well as large boxes of four or more.

You can buy mooncakes online from the websites of supermarkets in Singapore. But watch out for scams on WhatsApp.

DIY

You can find recipes and buy plastic or wooden moulds.

Amazon sells a set of two modern mooncake moulds which push out the mooncake.

Mooncake moulds from Amazon.

Supermarkets

In September 2023 Fairprice supermarket in Singapore was offering online mooncakes, a single moon cake at 15 Singapore dollars, Flavours include lotus paste, green tea. A large number of individual mooncakes and boxes are shown on the website.

Fairprice supermarket also stocks halal mooncakes.

See my previous posts on mooncakes.

Useful Websites

Useful Websites

https://www.fairprice.com.sg/product/prestigio-delights-lotus-paste-double-yolk-mooncake-180-g-90141002?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6_CYBhDjARIsABnuSzqoTmivI4NL7jBe8llIkCAsZKfM6iacogPsvPBRNPxuJEwVoRyr2EgaAs6TEALw_wcB

https://www.facebook.com/toastboxsingapore/posts/these-traditional-teochew-style-mooncakes-from-thye-moh-chan-are-made-with-delic/3213940525320115/

Great recipes:

https://zhangcatherine.com/mooncakes/

https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2021/09/food-and-fun-at-autumn-harvest.html

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Singapore Airlines Flights - feedback

 I took a 13 hour Singapore Airlines flight. Afterwards I wanted to give feedback. In the old days you filled in a form on board and wondered whether the crew would open it, read it, and destroy it if they did not like what they read. Nowadays, you can go online after landing - or even midair. 

I waited until after landing. I did not want to look like a nutter sending updates every five minutes.

I made my report as soon as possible, to be sure I had not forgotten anything.

But before I could start, I needed to logi with the flight number, date, and departure airport. Another reason to do the rport as soon as you can, whilst your details are handy.

How can you keep track? Photograph your boarding pass. Photograph your luggage tag before removing it. Note the date and time or your flight in your diary. 

Write your airline loyalty number in your diary or your vital Information Notebook/file, or email folder, or mobile phone notes.

Compliments

1 The meals were good. The O Brien ice cream was good. (Although it seemed runny around the edges.) The solid bread is a huge improvement on the old flabby buns. 

2 The inflight sandwiches were great.

3 I was glad to see the notice about the toilet basin surface being treated with antibiotic. 

4 It was useful to be reminded that the wastebin alongside the toilet can be operated by a foot pedal.

5 The music choices were great - lots of Country music.

6 The documentary films were good. I watched the discovery of Richard III in Leicester, and Amy Winehouse, and Changi prison series

Complaints

I am allergic to shellfish and the starter contained prawns. 

I had looked at the meals in advance and checked no shellfish was in the main meals. Somehow I did not see prawns in a starter. Perhaps it was not mentioned because there was no choice. I hope they will check that any shellfish in the starter is listed on the website.

I think there should be a choice of starter.

I told the crew that I was allergic. No alternative was offered. I felt the staff should have found me something, or offered something, either from another class, or a salad, or an apple, or a vegetarian sandwich, or even a glass of orange juice or tomato juice. 

I offered it to my husband, but he had had the same starter in premium economy. He also had prawns in his book the chef main dish. He shoulf not have had prawns twice in one meal. 

Suggestions

IN FLIGHT FOOD 

The system should keep a note of the fact that I am allergic to shellfish (crustaceans and molluscs), although salmon, smoked salmon, plaice and cod etc are fine for me. 

 I was not keen on the potato gnocci and would rather have had potatoes. 

I think the three meal choices should include one rice, one pasta and one potato.

Having Jacob's cracker and a piece of cheese after both meals was repetitive. The cheese was good. Maybe a different cracker and a different cheese.

IN FLIGHT FILMS 

I would like a link to all factual films. I also like true crime, murders solved, criminals caught.

FEEDBACK FORMS 

Allow two mobile numbers in this form. Having flown from one country to another, I am on a different number to the one which the system recognizes.

On this form I got stuck on the wording of the city of departure and arrival. I tried entereing what was on the boarding pass, including LHR and Changi. No luck. I tried just the city name for both. No luck. Finally my husband managed to type slowly and bring up the drop down box which turns London to London UK and  Singapore into Singapore Singapore. Maybe add the instruction, click on triangle for drop down box.

Useful Websites

https://www.singaporeair.com/feedback-form/

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Kiyoto Restaurant For Sushi, Soy Sauce And Japanese Surprise in London

Kiyoto Restaurant, Hatch End, Middlesex. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

The Kiyoto sushi restaurant in Mill Hill was already a favourite of one branch of our family for a treat. Another couple have lived in the far east and eat sushi regularly as a lunchtime snack. So we were all agreed that the new restaurant branch, opened in July 2023 in Hatch End, north west London, would suit all of us. 

How do you remember the restaurant name, to look it up on public websites or in your own computer files? Kyoto is a pretty city in Japan, a former capital of the country. The word kyo (京) means capital (capital city) as in Kyoto. Kiyoto, spelled with the added vowel i,  is a boy's first name.

The restaurant menu has changed slightly this year, 2023. For those of us, like me, new to this chain, that made no difference. 

What did I like? Smiling service from two or three girls who helped us and beaming from the manager who came past to ask how everything was three times.

Which food did I like the most?  And least?

Starters - Seaweed!

Kiyoto restaurant. Seaweed. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

My seaweed starter was luminous, moist, translucent green strings. Not the crunchy dried seaweed I used to get in Chinese restaurants. This Kiyoto version is probably fresher and healthier but I have not yet acquired a taste for it. However, another member of the party loved it and finished it off. He said, "It's like cucumber."

Fortunately, the duck dumplings, soft and traingular pasta parcels with minced duck inside, a bit like ravioli, were served at the same time, enough to share. These suited me. They were my favourite and a favourite all round.

Main Courses 

The thick cut raw salmon. Pink. 

All our three set meals were on one large platter so that it looked large and appetising and suitable for sharing.

Kiyoto Japanese restaurant. Main course platter. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Delightful Desserts

The novelty desserts. The biggest success were the oval twisted deep fried fritters - with chocolate sauce. 

Disappointing Desserts

The three ice creams were mango, which did not taste of mango, strawberry which did not taste of strawberry, and chocolate which tasted less of chocolate than the chocolate sauce.

 All three were small, one or two bite size. Not melting like the ice cream I expected. Instead, solid, and, I frown at the thought, were encased in a rubbery, tasteless covering. Japanese food is famous for having subtle tastes. However, I like teriyaki and soy. But when I was expeting melt in the mouth ice cream I was not excited by something so subtle and small and chewy. However, I didn't like yogurt the first two times I tasted it. And when I was younger I did not like tomatoes, pickles, nor olives. Who knows? One day they might be my favourite and yours. 

Even so, both desserts were a novelty for me. Satisryingly,  the chocolate sauce was a good, sweet end to the meal.

Toothpicks, unwrapped, were provided on request.

What more could they have done? 

Something sweet with the bill.

Something memorable to take home, such as a fancy shaped address card. Explaining the namee of the restaurant on the menu or in a frame on the wall. 

A glossary.

Good Toilets

The toilets are on the ground floor, which is the case everywhere in Hatch End, which suits me. Modern, bright, black and white, gleaming and clean. Spacious. With plants. And wonderful sweet-smelling hand gel and lotion in two bottles. Full marks for the toilets.

Noise Level Helps Privacy

The restaurant was echoing and noisy. That suited us because it meant our two-year-old did not cause any annoyance or distraction to other diners. We had the circular window seat which was quite private and isolated with a partition. The tables are down both sides of the long restaurant with a wide space in the middle near the front door. 

Happy Hatch End

They were busy. So was Hatch End, teeming on a Saturday night. Another pearl in the necklace of restaurants circling the high street. A short downhill walk from Hatch End station which is on the Euston line in NW London. Several of the restaurants extended with outside tables for smokers. Then, some of them encased the outide area in glass sides and roofs. The result is double size restaurants, more happy people. 

Frontage

Looking back at my photo, I see the phone number on the restaurant fascia.

The front also shows a pair of chopsticks. You are automatically given disposable chopsticks. Good to learn how to use them. Watch out for splinters. Two of our group of five got splinters in fingers. 

Lessons Learned

1 Check chopsticks for splinters

2 Check Soy Sauce for salt and thickness

Soy Suace bottles come in two colours. Green top for less salt. red top for more salt. 

When buying sushi, you might get free sachets of soy sauce. The sachets given to you might contain watery soy sauce. 

The short pour on bottles contain thicker soy sauce. 

The huge gallon type containers contain a different thickness again. 

When buying or using soy sauce, check the label. Decide if you want the more flavoursome salty soy sauce, or if your diet requires you to choose less salt for health reasons.

Useful Websites

www.kiyotosushi.co.uk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi

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Pumpkin Patch Farm in London - Plus Ice Cream and cut and cook your own pumpkin pie

 

Photo from Sharot family.

Great fun for adults and children at the Pumpkin Patch farm and ice cream shop in Barnet, North London.

Mock graves.

They have pumpkins in wheelbarrows, mock graves with legs sticking out, mock skeletons playing guitars.

And funny little orange hats for children and adults.

Their website lists their regular ice cream flavours which include bubblegum, lemon meringue, rum and raisin, What - no pumpkin flavour?

Lewis of London, Fold Farm, Galley Lane, London. EN5 4RA.

It is in Barnet, North West London.

If you cannot get there, or it is too heavy to carry home, Tesco supermarket delivers pumpkins

Pumpkin Products and food

What can you do with a pumpkin? Cut it out for a lantern.

Use the flesh to make drinks and foods. Pumpkin smoothie. Pumpkin soup. Pumpkin pancakes - alliterative! Pumpkin donut. Pumpkin pie - alliterative! Rice or soup can be served inside a pumpkin which is cut to form a bowl with a lift off lid.

Vegetarian options from the BBC include pumpkin risotto, pumpkin and potato, pumpkin with lentils, pumpkin biriani.

Pumpkin pie with ice cream from Wikipedia. 

The Halloween effects at the farm in Barnet are available the last two weeks of October until Hallowe'en (with the original apostrophe for evening) at the end of the month. However, you can enjoy the ice creams all year. See their website for updates.

Toastmasters clubs worldwide will be celebrating Halloween as their theme for this weekend, in 2022, Oct 21 (Friday) to Oct 23 Sunday, as well as Diwali (also called Deepawali); and Friday Oct 28th, Sat 29th, Sunday 30th and Monday 31st.. Whether or not you are a member of a toastmasters club, you are welcome at most of the public clubs.

Finally, to make a pumpkin hat, use a round orange bathing cap. If you do not want to spoil it by drawing on it or cutting it or sewing on byes and so on, stick or pin on a pumpkin face.

Useful Websites

https://www.lewisoflondon.co.uk/events/pumpkin-patch/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpkin_pie

https://www.wikihow.com/Carve-a-Pumpkin

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/302470977

See my next post about the ghouls.

What We Liked At Sushi Tei Japanese Restaurant in Holland Village

 The first good thing about Sushi Tei is the location. Go to Holland Village which is on the yellow circle line. To find the new (in 2022) Raffles mall you take the first, nearest exit to the ticket office (and platforms), exit A. You come out facing the Raffles mall which is across the car park. 

Raffles Holland Village. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

A few steps and you are at the front entrance. The mall is small and easy to find your way around. You are on the ground floor. The upmarket supermarket is in the basement. On the ground floor you have a Japanese cafe and a bakery (and toilets up four stairs.) The escalators are in the centre. 

Escalators

A narrow one up and beside it a narrow one down. Up one level on the escalator and there's an expensive dress shop. Up a second escalator and you have the Japanese Sushi Tei restaurant.

You have a choice of window seat tables or secluded inside tables. We had a bright, light window seat table.

We were offered two printed laminated menus. One was the larger regular multi-page hard cover picture menu including some more expensive items. The shorter but large one-fold menu showed a few seasonal dishes and one drink and two desserts on the back.

We ordered

Salmon sushi

Chicken in a bowl of rice with sauce

Chicken on rice bowl. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Salmon (with mayonnaise served on the side)

Vegetables

Tempura deep fried vegetables.  The orange was sweet potato. Very nice. 

Except that I got two of them. I would have liked smaller pieces. That way two, three, or four people would get some of each vegetable. 

The dark grey was mushroom. The white was another kind of mushroom. 

I got the stringy white mushroom which I didn't like. Somebody else got the solid grey mushroom which I would have preferred.

To my mind deep frying vegetables ruins their health qualities. But it makes a change. 

 Made a change from salad.

Delights

1 The ice cream was walnut. Nutty. 

2 Being given two spoons to share the dessert.

In retrospect, it should have had a decoration. But at the time I did not notice. You could buy the same or similar in the supermarket downstairs. (I suppose you might say the same of the cold sushi.)

I would have liked to have tried the matcha (green tea) ice cream. I had that at another restaurant and liked it. The matcha would have been more Japanese. 

Summary

1 Location - mall near MRT, restaurant near escalators

2 The chicken on rice bowl in a great sauce.

3 The novelty of deep fried tempura vegetables.  Lots of salads on the menu. 

4  The walnut ice cream was the less expensive of two options and all four of us liked it.

5 Water, warm or cold, provided fast and replenished.

Disappointments

1 Price charge for water. 50 cents.

2 Canned drinks instead of fresh. The grape juice was a Coca Cola brand drink, not freshly squeezed. It was pleasant enough, according to the ingredients list on the can, grape mixed with apple. I didn't mind. The more types of juice the better. I like mixed juice.

3 All the grills were unavailable because, they said, they were short-staffed. Our Singaporean dining companions told us that since the ease of travel restrictions a few days earlier many workers had returned to their homes in Malaysia.

4 Nobody smiled or welcomed us. Nobody smiled or asked if everything was okay or did we want anything extra. (I wanted a spoon. A knife to divide the vegetables. Or knife and fork.)

Toilets

The public toilets outside the restaurant were lovely and modern. Best of all, the shower attachment at knee level behind the toilet. Anything missing? No way to dry your hands after washing them. Those on the ground floor were up four steps, if you have mobility problems, use the ones on the upper floor.

Their other branches include 12 in Singapore. (At Changi Jewel, Nex and more.) Also in Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Myanmar, Vietnam.

Useful Websites

https://sushitei.com/

https://www.facebook.com/raffleshollandv/

Baskin Robbins Hot Treats in Hatch End and cold ice cream worldwide

 

What does an ice cream shop sell in winter? Hot treats. Such as hot waffles with ice cream. 

Warm your winter with our Hot Treats, says the Baskin Robbins window poster. Going Clockwise:

Belgian Waffle

Belgian waffle with ice cream

Chocolate Brownie

Apple Pie

Apple pie with ice cream. That is another favourite food in the UK and USA. I remember in the Sixties going to the USA as a student and being puzzled by pie a la mode. It means pie with ice cream. 

Chocolate Chunk Cookie

Molten Chocolate Cake - sounds wonderful

Rockslide Brownie

What if it is too cold for you. The dark nights are starting earlier. What if you have a cold?

You can order a delivery through Uber Eats.

377 Uxbridge Road, Pinner HA5 4JN UK

In Hatch End, the corner of Tilbury Close, next to Tesco Express.

The Facebook page for Baskin Robbins says the company was founded by Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins, who were brothers in law. They have more than 6,000 stores in 35 countries.

Useful Websites

https://www.ubereats.com/

https://www.ubereats.com/gb/store/baskin-robbins-hatch-end/

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baskin-Robbins

About the Author

I am Angela Lansbury, not related to the actress, nor the other people of the same name on LinkedIn. I am British born. I have lived in Spain (winter home) and the USA. My family has lived in or often visited the multi-racial USA where Spanish is an increasingly prevalent language, in multi-language Singapore which has signs in the four official languages which include English and Chinese, in Spain, and multi-language Switzerland where you see French, German, and Italian.. My interest in languages was helped by having long-term au pair girls from France, Germany, Spain and Italy. I have written travel articles for numerous magazines and newspapers and spoken on radio and TV in the UK, USA and Australia.

You can link up with me on Facebook and LinkedIn. See my books on Lulu.com and Amazon. Or speak to me at meetings of speakers' clubs which are part of Toastmasters International. I belong to Harrovians in the UK, and in Singapore to BHA and TCA as well as Singapore Online. 

Please check about other posts and blogs and share links to your favourites.

Ice Cream Birthday Cakes at Baskin Robbins - and kosher ice cream

 I went back to Baskin-Robbins to photograph their kosher ice cream flavours. A novelty to me. Really useful in an area when you are likely to have friends or family or colleagues or visitors who keep kosher. 35 kosher flavours. 

Whilst I was there I noticed the cakes and it occurred to me that a kosher ice cream cake was a great thing to serve at a birthday party. Or to give as a present. The next birthday party we are going to will have one or two people will be looking for kosher food. I could take an ice cream cake as a gift. If the restaurant allows outside food. The party is in a restaurant. I think a lot of restaurants don't mind. The cake is often served after desserts, and the birthday boy or girl is not expecting it. Then a busy chef doesn't have to spend time writing happy birthday or the person's name. 

The manager was really helpful. Firstly, he asked me how many people would be eating. He redirected me from a larger cake to the one which he said would feed up to six. Why did he do that? Out of kindness? Wanting to give us an affordable cake to secure the purchase and a happy customer. 

Or concern that we should not end up with too much ice cream. We might not want to waste the uneaten part. We might risk trying to refreeze it because you would leave it on display. (You would be less likely to leave out a tub of ice cream, which would go back in the freezer after you served scoops.)

It looked like a regular cake. I wasn't sure whether it was cream which looked like ice cream I asked, 'Should I keep it in the fridge?' 

He said, 'No - the freezer!'

I said, 'Maybe another time. This time we are eating in a restaurant. Would it be safe all that time, driving there and then an hour or so in a restaurant?'

He said, 'Ask the restaurant if they have room to put it in their freezer.'

French

He also speaks French and is keen to speak French!

Other Baskin Robbins branches are in nearby areas.

Baskin Robbins

Uxbridge Road

Hatch End

Pinner

Middx

Greater London HA

Useful Websites

Baskin Robbins

About the Author

Belated Birthday dinner at the Tanglin Club, Singapore

Covid-19 Restaurant Restrictions Eased

The Tanglin Club restaurants in Singapore were closed in early June 2020 because of Covid-19 restrictions. When the restaurants reopened it was only for tables for two. As soon as the previous restrictions were lifted the available bookings were snapped up. We spent ages changing days and trying different times which we didn't want to be sure the restaurants really were fully booked at the popular times and not showing fully booked due to a glitch or the booking site not being updated. 

Time and Space

In the end, we booked for 6.30 although we wanted to eat at 7, reckoning that by the time we ordered drinks it would be getting on for seven. On the night in the large Churchill Room restaurant the tables were widely spaced out and all set for two, very different from the usual layout. The restaurant was never completely full. We guessed that the bookings were limited not because of too many diners, but because of too few staff.

 

Entry

Your taxi drops you outside the front entrance. Up a flight of red carpeted steps. Temperature control past an automatic machine. In the olden days doorman used to open the front door. Now your credentials are checked carefully.

The Churchill Room restaurant has a picture of Winston Churchill by the doorway.

Decor Of Orchids

The Tanglin has an orchid display outside in the hallway. The centre of the Churchill Room has another orchid display. A third orchid display was at the side.

Set Menu Choices

The menu online was not the same as offered in the restaurant, but gives you an idea.  

We started by ordering drinks. I had a glass of Prosecco. My husband ordered a reasonably priced Champagne.Then a glass of red wine.

Complimentary Bread

We were brought a little bowl of breads. The white bread roll with seeds was hot. Melted the butter. The black bread I saved for later. 

The crisp in a tall triangle contained blackened sesame seeds and was delicious, very more-ish. Crispy, salty, tasty.

Complimentary Amuse Guele

Dice size vegetarian mousse with contrasting green peas.

We chose two different starters and main courses and desserts. 

Choices included

Starter

Salmon mousse. Mushroom soup. Foie gras. 

I liked the salmon. That was my choice. 

I was disappointed in the foie gras. Just another smooth pate and less flavour than chicken liver pate. If I had to pay extra for it, I would not.

Main Course

Beef.

Barramundi Fish. 

Pork - excellent. 

Vegetarian option.

Main course - Served Under Domes

Served smartly under domes which are lifted simultaneously. No serving one person who has to wait feeling frustrated for the other person to be served. Nor one person starting and being told off for not waiting.

Dessert

I chose the mango mousse dessert, with ice cream. I thought the fruit was a healthier option.  Mango - excellent choice, looked great.

Why not the chocolate desserts? I admit I hesitated. Mango was a change from chocolate, which we eat a lot of at home and are offered at almost every restaurant and coffee shop location. Chocolate we could eat later at home. 

One of the options was salted chocolate. That must be very tasty, and salt is an ingredient of savoury chocolate dishes featured in a film about France. Sugar and salt does not sound healthy. 

Vanilla ice cream, often tastes of nothing. Or it is drowned by the chocolate flavour.

Nonetheless, I was hoping my husband would opt for one of the chocolate desserts. I told him so. 

He retorted, "It's my birthday dinner. I want to choose what I want to eat."

My husband chose the cheese board. It looked great. Wooden platter. Several cheeses, hard and soft, including a blue cheese. Circular crackers. Some grapes. 

He said the cheeses were a bit industrial. He is a connoisseur when it comes to cheeses.  He buys from speciality cheese shops such as the Cheese Arc. He looks online.

My dessert came up with the happy birthday words written in chocolate and a candle in a blue candle-holder.

More Photos will be added shortly.

Useful Websites

https://www.tanglinclub.org.sg/

http://www.thecheeseark.com/locate-us/

About the Author

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is Vice President Public Relations of Braddell Heights Advanced, and Tampines Changkat Advanced, speakers' training club which are part of Toastmasters International. The USA has several Spanish speaking as well as the English speaking clubs. You can pick up Spanish from buying or reading online their Spanish clubs welcome pages and manuals. 

In The USA, UK, Singapore and worldwide, there are many clubs which are English speaking, as well as Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, French, Tamil, Malay.

The inauguration of Tampines Changkat Advanced was Tuesday 29th 2021, online on  zoom. Their meetings are on the fourth Tuesday evening of the month. They hope to hold meetings with a few people meeting physically, the others online, as soon as the Covid-19 conditions allow.

You can find the club through their Facebook page as well as through Toastmasters International find a club. 

https://www.facebook.com/tampineschangkatadvTMC

The meetings are free for visitors. Visitors can watch, and join in speaking by introducing themselves and volunteering to do a 2 minutes impromptu  speech in table topics.

If you wish to join for a year, it costs about 190 US dollars, to have monthly meetings online, a mentor, a magazine, and one of the 11  Pathways, consisting of 14 projects. Each project starts with 3 speeches of your choice of subject, lasting 4 to 6 minutes, then 5 to 7 minutes. The Pathways include the most popular Presentation Mastery. I chose  humorous speaking as my second Pathway, costing 20 dollars. Then my third was a leadership course. Come and see for free.

The club also has meetings in person in Singapore

You can also contact my other club, smaller Braddell Heights Advanced, which is a cosy little club with more chances to speak.

Login through bha.learncool.sg/meet/bha 

That will link you through to Zoom or googlemeet. 2 pm to 5 pm.

BHA meets the first Wednesday evening each month, starting at 7 pm Singapore time. 

Then an extra meeting on the 3rd Saturday afternoon, starting at 2 pm Singapore time.

To check your time zone,  

https://24timezones.com/difference/singapore/ 

Meetings will be on Wed July 7th and  Saturday July 17th.

Contact either of these or other clubs through Toastmasters International Find a Club.

What To Watch For Walking Around UNESCO World Heritage City, Melaka, in Malaysia

This is the flag of Malaysia, with stripes like the US flag but also the crescent moon of the Muslim religion. You see the flag everywhere in Melaka so you will soon learn to recognize it.



If you are new to Asia and Malaysia, like two members of my family who were our guests, you need to get clear the races religions and geography, later the history of Malaysia and Indonesia.

Singapore is mainly Chinese and did not choose to leave Malaya but was forced out when Singapore was a small place, not the skyscraper city into which it has transformed. After the separation, Malaya  was called Malylsian. Singapore is an island off the southern end of Malaysia linked by a causeay to Johor Bahru (meaning new Johor) in the Malaysian state of Johor, and a bridge.

Malaysia is mailand, Indonesia is islands. M M and I I. Not quite, Because Malysia also has small islands, and half one of the larger islands, but that will get you started visually if you are a stranger to the region.

You can take a 'free' guided walk of Melaka, paying whatever you think the guide was worth as a tip at the end. Same as in many cities. (The one in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, was wonderful.)

However, map in hand, you can proceed at your own pace on a self-guided tour.

Rain and Umbrellas
What if it's raining? Remember your umbrella. Our hotel had large free umbrellas to loan out. That protected our luggage from the car parked in the street outside the front door into the hotel. you can see the rain on the umbrella in the picture.

I took a photo of the umbrella. That gave me hotel's address and phone number. Handy if I got lost.

Our hotel was by the welcome arch at the start of Jonkers Walk.

Jonkers Walk or Jonkers Street
Jonkers Walk is not a riverside walk but a street of shops and restaurants running from a welcome archway, beside the Heritage hotel, down to the main square on the river.

The next day, we had breakfast opposite the hotel, then walked along the street. Remember to bargain. What have you got to lose. We saw a baseball hat with the word Jaguar and the Jaguar logo on it. The asking price was 12 Malay ringgit. Five to the UK pound.We offered ten and the seller immediately accepted and started wrapping it up and held out his hand for the money.

(Not to be confused with Indonesian rupiah which are thousands to the pound. Maybe about 16,000 to the pound.)

Night Market
The night market in Jonkers Walk (street) takes place from 6 pm to midnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, which is why hotels cost more on those days. Kiosks fill the street which is  pedestrian only with one-way systems slowing traffic. You can see the night market and have dinner and still be back in Singapore by midnight or one a.m. if you are lucky.

We stayed and saw the start of the night market. We went to a restaurant, bulldog, which opened at 6.30 and we left about 9.30 ./m. or ten, reaching the crossing back to Singapore about midnight. We had cleared both sides of the crossing (leaving Malaysia and entering Singapore). But we had a puncture which delayed us.


Statue In Courtyard
This muscly man attacted our attention.  His statue drew us in and we also admired the statues of bullocks. The statue shows a man who is also a politician. He was born in the 1930s and now in 2020 is in his mid eighties. He was champion many times including Mr Asia and Mr Universe. His statue is said to be in several other places and I read that his family have control over Jonkers Street. His name is Gan Boon Leong.

Hard Rock Cafe

We took our son and daughter in law for a trip from Singapore to Melaka and showed them all the sights. We passed Hard Rock cafe. I wondered who would go there, with so many local places to try. That night out son and daughter-in-law went out for an evening together. When they got back, I asked, 'Where did you go?'
The answer was, 'Hard Rock cafe.'

After all the foreign sites, relax in the comfort of something familiar.

Christ Church, Melaka


The red Christ Church, in Melaka is the central landmark.Take an umbrella which protects you from either rain or sunshine.

Chocolate Shop
Walk to the right and you come to the chocolate shop. You will not find your usual chocolates but all sorts of unusual flavours and packages. Ginger chocolates,

We took a river boat tour which was fabulous. In addition to a welcome breeze, and a chance to sit yet see a lot of buildings, we spotted unusual places. An ice cream parlour facing the water, enticed our attention. We walked back to it later. It was diagonally across from Hard Rock Cafe.

When we arrived there was a queue of people. just four seats squashed around a couple of tiny tables. My order, durian ice cream, could not be fulfilled. However, I tried three or four different flavours and they were all tangy. we waited forever, because the girl had to keep changing eveyrthing for the different flavours, but it was worth the wait. Strawberry, blueberry and blackberry, maybe lemon or kalamansi which is half way between a lemon and a lime.

Ice Cream

Painted Houses

Decaffeinated Tea

You might get nearly run over by a trishaw. However, mostly they are playing loud music and flashing lights.

Tired of walking? You could catch a trishaw.

Useful Websites
https://www.malaysia.travel/en/us/places/states-of-malaysia/melaka/baba-nyonya-heritage-museum
https://findery.com/ChangesInLongitude/notes/meeting-mr-universe-in-malaysia

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Starbucks In Singapore, Malaysia, England and the USA, Chocolate and opening times

Starbucks in Singapore
Starbucks branches are all over Singapore. Many in shopping malls. So popular it is hard to get a seat at Starbucks in Clementi indoor shopping mall.

Our friendly motorcyclist family member in Malaysia came back with a box of chocolates bought in Starbucks. Dark chocolate, to go with coffee at home.

Starbucks in Malaysia
The Muslim ethnic Malays don't drink they are mostly looking for halal food with a Malay twist so you will find them in the markets and good value ethnic eating places. They are drinking kopi (coffee) out of a plastic bag sweetened with condensed milk.

The Starbucks branches my family found were inhabited more by ethnic Chinese Malaysian nationality graduates and students with laptops doing their homework or thesis. They presumably have more time and money and are more interested in Western food and drink.

A branch outside Ipoh on the road going East is a huge area, easy to find seating. Another plus point, open late, around midnight. Use your phone and Google maps to find coffee places in the area you are travelling through.

Starbucks in England
In London the Starbucks outlets like many other coffee bars are open for the lunchtime office trade. If you want a coffee in the evening you have to go to a pub or an Italian ice cream parlour and order a coffee with ice cream called affogato.

Starbucks in the USA
This is where Starbucks started. Over on the west coast. Read about it in Wikipedia. The Starbuck chocolate is their own label.

Websites
starbucks.com.sg

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. See my other posts on chocolate all over the world, London's chocolate shops, evenings, classes and events, more in York. Also Perugia, Italy. And France.
See my other posts on Starbucks, and chocolate.

Mid-Autumn Festival Starts Sept 24 2018 but mooncakes are already on sale

Moon cake for the mid-autumn festival, with a delicious filling, usually sweet. The moon cake is round, like the shape of the full moon, and the small white boiled egg inside represents the moon.

Problem
When is it a good time to be in Singapore and other countries with large Chinese populations? I was vaguely wondering when the mid-Autumn festival would start. Like Christmas, it's a diet-breaking time of year. I love moon cakes.

Answer
Shangi-la Hotel in Singapore sent me news that they are selling moon cakes in advance of September 24th. Yes, that's the date of the Mid-Autumn festival this year, celebrated in China, Singapore and anywhere with a Chinese community.

Look out for moon cakes in restaurants, supermarkets, ice cream parlours, airport shops, and online from the big sellers such as eBay, Amazon and the Chinese internet sites.

Toastmasters Clubs Festival Talks
In Singapore, I am offered a teeny slice of mooncake in the refreshment break at Toastmasters International clubs. I've had mooncakes at two or three of the English-language clubs. I expect the Mandarin-speaking clubs are equally keen.

If you go to a club, expect to hear a speech about the mid-Autumn Festival. Do some reserach in case you are asked to speak about it, or say how it is celebrated in your country, or the country you have just travelled from.

Buying Cakes
The moon cakes are at varied prices. Some of the shops sell you four in a presentation box for about £24. Mooncakes are often given as gifts to valued business customers, which is why those expensive stiff boxes with drawers and red tassels are found in shops all round the financial district.

I even went to a pop-up shop which was devoted entirely to moon cakes for the moon cake festival season.

Others will sell one mooncake for about 36.

One visitor from Taiwan said that in Taiwan you can buy mooncakes cheaper. Out of curiosity, I shall check nearer the date.

Cutting
Moon cakes are muffin sized, cut in up to 4, 8 or16 bite-size pieces, like a full-size cake. It looks small, but it's very dense and full of sugar and, I suppose fats, so you soon feel you've had enough. Most people have one, or sometimes two slices. Although, I would not say no, if somebody insisted.

That reminds me. I must look out for mooncakes at airports. I must also ask friends and family overseas to bring me some back. If you are en route from America or Australia via Asia, or have a colleague who is, ask them to look out for mooncakes.

You could make your own, which is apparently time-consuming. You also need to invest in a mould to stamp the pattern on top. Many Chinese households will have one. I bought one from a lady who was leaving Singapore for the USA. She had had it lost at the back of her cupboard for many years, until she started to pack up to move house.

Now the mould is lost somewhere at the back of a cupboard in our place in Singapore. Frankly, I think I shall buy a mooncake ready-made. Maybe from Taiwan, a neighbourhood supermarket, or a market.

Moon cakes are an acquired taste. I managed to acquire the taste quite quickly and now I'm an addict.

Flavours
The cakes come in lots of flavours. My favourites are anything nutty. Or like bean curd paste.

Egg Centre
You pay more for a salted preserved egg in the centre. You pay even more for a double egg centre.

Double yolk and lotus seed.

At first I felt aggrieved that my sweet centre had been taken over, like a cuckoo's eggs, by a salted egg.

Later, I could see the point. The sugary centre is overwhelming. A salted boiled egg adds some nutrition and enables you to eat more without it seeming too sickly.

Savoury Centres
For those you aren't keen on sweets, you can find savoury centres.

Unusual Cakes
Ice Cream
You can also get ice cream mooncakes. Again pricey. I went to one shop which had had a sign in the window.

When I went back later, they said the ice cream mooncakes are made to order. Because the products are going to melt in the heat, they are not on display (except as plaster models), and you have to order them to be made and delivered or collected at a precise time.

I like nuts, and lotus seeds.

But not savouries. I feel I've been cheated.

Suzhou style meat mooncake.



If you see a free taste at any shop, make sure you take a couple of crumbs of different flavours.

Shangri La Hotel
The Shangri-La hotel is where Trump stayed (in the exclusive wing, away from the crowds at the breakfast buffet which I described earlier).

We bought items from the small but well-stocked shop. If you are passing, enquire about the mooncakes.

The website told me that the items were up to 30% or more off the usual price for bulk orders. percent price off what? I had to sign in, but wait until the date when items were on order. The website  suggested I might like to buy a few hundred mooncakes. Presumably for somebody with Trump's budget. I wish.

I'll try Facebook next, or Amazon.

Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.
For reservation and enquiries, please email dining.sls@shangri-la.com or call +65 6213 4473.

Expect celebrations and food in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, Vietnam, and Chinese restaurants worldwide.

Useful Websites
https://www.facebook.com/mooncakesonline/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. See my previous posts on mooncakes. See next post for DIY mooncakes.