Innovative Croissants

Open the packaging, slightly twist the paper tin and the dough expands!

"Jus-Rol" into your favourite croissant shapes...

13mins and Voilà...Très Bon!

(I couldn't resist having a bite before remembering to take a photo of my quick and easy breakfast :p)

Backstage at the Theatre Royal Brighton

It's been a busy week/month for Brighton and what a big party weeked. The 2011 Food & Drinks festival with live food shows, wine, champagne & tea tastings, cheese bowling, chilli eating and our very own Oktober fest is on-going until 4 October. It was also the Heritage Open Days this weekend with historical architectures opening to the public, providing free tours and walks around these heritage buildings in locations nationwide. 

The Theatre Royal in Brighton reveals its secrets to the public as part of the Heritage Open Days. I was lucky enough to not have to work that day and got a ticket to this free tour. Jade who works at the theatre  gave us a very informative tour packed with interesting history of Brighton, the theatre and stories of its owners, workers (fishermen), actors & actresses and the audiences...I don't think this is a running tour, hopefully after seeing Friday's big demand they will do this more regularly - should increase ticket sales for the shows too.

Are you dog friendly?

We have been looking after Oscar (the family dog, a tiny Jack Russell) on and off for the last couple of years. Normally we leave him at home when we need to do some shopping, as it's sad to have him tied up all alone outside windging. So when I took him to Wickes yesterday it felt like a mission. There wasn't any signs outside saying dogs aren't allowed (do "dogs are allowed" signs exist anyway?), but still I was whispering to him when we were in. I think he got the idea and was on his best behaviour. Even the cashier guy seemed to be impress with my ability to get Oscar to sit and wait while rummaging through my purse. The Chinese foods shop and my local pharmaist however weren't so fond of Oscar, but that's another post.

Other than shops, another big problem is of course finding dog friendly pubs and restaurants. We have yet to find a restuarant but here are the pubs we tried and liked:
1. The Lion and Lobster (near the seafront) with two beer gardens, three (or is it four? five?) floors of bars and mixed sunday roast (must add them to my list of best sunday roasts in Brighton).
2. The shakespeares head  (7 dials) and their self claimed best bloody mary in Brighton.
3. Park View (Preston Park) with a big terrace seating area
4. The Farm (Tavern) (Hove) they even have a log fire in the winter
5. The windmill with its cool art work and I just realised that they have a facebook page.
6. The Hampton (Arms) with a beer garden and sunday roast (photos)

(Of course most venues on the seafront let you sit outside with doggies but you'll have to brave either the wind or the tourists).

Just saw that the latest Edible (issue 4) magazine has a page on dog friendly pubs & restaurants. We should be able to venture out to just the above then, the search for Oscar's favourite venue continues, watch this space.

"The barefoot investor"

I picked up a copy of The Barefoot Investor from a local library.

If you are looking for in depth investment strategies, this is not your book. But it is a really good book for finance 101 in layman's language. It covers the fundamentals like, financial goals, inflation, debts, compound interest, asset classes...etc. In my opinion, all schools should include financial education. I always think it's ironic that schools are suppose to prepare you for life - University, getting a job, ultimately becoming "rich"...but they don't think to educate kids about money and what to do with it. The book might not have taught me anything new about money but it raises a few good questions, time for a reality check!

- My financial goal is to earn as much as possible. But why?
- Does a big pay check means that you are wealthy?
- Are millionaires the happiest people on earth?
...etc.

"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very very pissed off."

- Tyler Durden from Flight Club (played by Brad Pitt)

Luxury cream tea for two

I am a Devonian, I spread on the cream (clotted cream is essential!) first then the red jam. Apparently this allows the cream to soak into the half scone. Aren't we a clever bunch.
(In case you were wondering, the Cornish style is to spread the jam first then cream. At this point, Dan saids "Just turn the scone upside down then...")

The other day we found this lovely little cafe just opposite the big Tesco in Hove. Mind you, its windows are quite dark and hard to look inside, if you are focused on the big supermarket its easy to miss the cafe. Now everyone knows that its a silly thing to do, going to a supermarket on an empty stomach. So I salute the cafe owners for picking the best location for their cakes heaven. There were easily ten different cakes to choose from (around £3 a piece) and many more cup cakes lying about. We saw a tag on top of the scones saying "Cream tea for two with a pot of tea £4.50". When the waitress came back with four warm scones, a honey pot of homemade strawberry jam, a generous cup of clotted cream and a pot of English tea, we thought "Bargain!" but of course, it turned out that the price was per head.

Another "feature" is their collection of vintage cups, saucers butter knifes with fainted yellow colour handles.


Location: Church Road, Opposite the big Tesco in Hove.

The best Nasi Lemak in Brighton

There seems to be an unlimited supply of takeaway restaurants, new menus are dropped into our post box every day. I always write little comments on takeaway menus, its an efficient way to remember the good ones. Last week, the new kid in the box was a self claimed authentic Indonesian restaurant Warung Tujuh. Now this is very exciting as there's no other Indonesian restaurants in Brighton. Studying the menu, you'll find that they actually do a mixture of Indonesian, Malaysian and Balinese cuisine.

They don't currently do home deliveries. So we made a trip to the centrally located newly refurbished venue. The first thing we noticed is their shiny clean cutleries, "its a good sign." Dan was impressed. The drinks menu though could be improved by adding some authentic teas, coffee and fresh coconut juice(?)..etc.

The Nasi Lemak (£10.95) caught my eyes. (Its regarded as the national heritage of Malaysia so if you haven't tried it, should definitely give it a go.) The last time I had it was 2yrs ago in Sydney China town at a Malaysian restaurant that does all sorts of roti canai! The verdict? The little salted fishes and peanuts were impressive, the satay sauce was just what it should be. But the salad has been westernised, it would be better with some leafy greens. The rendang daging was a bit tough. Its a good effort overall.

The other main dish we ordered was the Ikan Bumbu Bali (£8.95). It is a Balinese pan fried Sea Bream with a red hot sauce. Personally I'm not a big fan of slapping sauces on fishes. The taste of a fresh fish is so divine no other sauces should be required to disguise it! Anyway, the verdict? The Sea Bream was really fresh and nicely cooked (not over cooked making the meat tough). The sauce tasted homely with lemon grass and ginger. The dish tasted better than it looked!

Dan's wine suggestions for this style of cuisine: A Pinot Gris or a Sylvaner from the producer Hugel. The wines from Alsace are fresh, floral and complement the spices and herbs typical of these dishes. 

The restaurant have a 20% off promotion on at the moment. No home delivery yet though.

Address: Warung Tujuh, 7 Pool Valley, Brighton, BN1 1NJ

Best Sunday Roasts in Brighton

When I came to Brighton 5 years ago, I heard that there are 360+ pubs in the city. Being foodies, we started a regime of trying out Sunday roasts around town.
Our favourite was The Park View on Preston Drove, its a lovely building with board games and a stone throw away from Preston Park, perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon. The food was superb, especially when Fruli beer was available on the tap (Belgian strawberry beer). 
Another favourite used to be Fiddlers Elbow on Boyce's Street (before they changed the chef). They used to serve all the trimmings and the exotic veggies (e.g. butternut squash, beetroot, fennel...etc) inside a super-size Yorkshire pudding. Even their Veggie roast was fantastically different, I had a lovely mushroom monster there once. We've never been back so maybe next time we should revisit this one.
The Eagle on Gloucester Road was another good pub, their gravy is gorgeous plus the Nemo and Dori in the fish tank are cute!
On Easter Sunday, we went to the revamped Hampton Arms on Upper North street. They've moved the main entrance to the side instead to keep out the chills which would be great when the "summer" is over (very soon). The food was still good quality but the beef was very under cooked on that day. While usually this is preferred, they gave us big generous slices of meat so it was a bit too pink and bloody. But at least the portion was good and the veggie roast was great. So we won't write it off just yet. 

This week, after reading some reviews we picked the Shakespeare's head on Chatham place. The beef was yummy pink and when it comes with creamy cauliflower, it really can't get any better! I spotted a sign behind the bar "Virgin Mary - the best in town?", later on saw two chaps holding theirs complete with a celery stick and lemon. A revisit for the best Virgin Mary is a must I think ;-)

I wish I was sponsored by No.7

Last week I blogged about the "Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser" and the "Lash & Brow Perfector". But I've decided to change the Title as the last one was a bit misleading, I'm not paid or sponsored by No.7 to write these reviews! I also bought the "Total Renewal - Micro-dermabrasion exfoliator" as I'm attracted to products that promise "smooth, refine and renew" due to the acne scars on both of my cheeks :( 

Well today I managed to get off work earlier than normal and the pampering mood kicked in. I started with the Hot Cloth Cleanser again and then the exfoliator scrub. The micro-crystals are fine but without too much pressure you can already feel them working, all my black heads were gone (not that I had that many to start with though). The amazing thing is that although effective, the cream base scrub didn't leave my skin feeling tight or dried out. It's more moisturising than any cleanser I have used before (and I have very sensitive skin). So for once, I skipped the Toner and head straight to my moisturiser.

My beautician mum said eventually my scars will go, as skin cells (take ages to) renew themselves. If I scrub once every week it helps sweep away the old cells helping new ones to grow easier. SO I am starting to feel hopeful with this exfoliator..Yay :)

By the way Boots is still doing 3for2 on No.7 products for those who want to try these without using (2 times) your lunch money!

I wish I was sponsored by No.7

The other day I notice that almost 80% of the beauty products on my dressing table is from the Boots No.7 range. It's not really my preferred brand, especially when they are not cheap. But like many who live in the UK, I bought my first No.7 product with a Boots £5 off voucher; then their 3for2 offers; another £5 off voucher...etc. Every time I would try something new, so I have actually tried quite a lot of their products over the years. 

My mum was a beautician. I guess subcontiously I picked up her beauty routine of Cleanse-Tone-Moisturise and the occasional exfoliation. However, fate caught up with me and while studying for A-levels, stress and hormonal imbalance caused a massive acne breakout. The redness has gone now, but they left me with a few significant scars on both of my cheeks. :(  And my skin has been super sensitive ever since. So I particularly like the fact that No. 7 is Hypo-allergenic.

The 3for2 offer is on again! So yesterday I bought the "Radiance Boosting - Hot cloth cleanser", "Total Renewal - Micro-dermabrasion exfoliator" and "Lash & Brow Perfector". The mascara is a clear gel definer, I never noticed that its got a special brush - half of the brush is short like normal and the other half is kind of trapezium shaped, gradually increaseing in length for the brow hairs. (Check it out next time you're in Boots!)

As soon as I got home from work, I gave myself a well deserved facial. The Hot cloth cleanser was very mild, it felt a bit like washing my face with Aqueous cream with a lovely fragrance instead of that mediciney smell. The cloth is 100% cotton but a bit too thin. As soon as I scooped it up from the sink of warm water it's already cooled down, let alone being able to open my pores. All in all, it did leave my skin feeling soft and looking radiantly clean.

For reviews on the scrub, watch this space!