NOW Streetfood: An addition to the snack and lunch scene

NOW is quite new as it opened about a year ago. I was really excited when it first opened as they were going to have rice porridge on their menu. I just love rice porridge and besides making it at home or having it as dim sum, you are pretty much stuck for choices that offer this in London.

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NOW StreetFood, Liverpool street station

NOW StreetFoods has been opened for quite a few months now and is located next to Liverpool street station. An expansion from Ping Pong, the concept is to bring street snacks and bites to the busy and time poor lunch time crowd.

I was quite excited as I always love a good Chinese porridge which they offer. Alas! It is only available until around 11am and I left empty handed on my first visit.

No matter, I decided to delve into other delicacies on offer. This is meant to be more of a take away and walking the street type of snacks place as there are only a few stools available for eating in.

The 3 large screens shows what is available for the day and changes quite regularly as noticed during my various visits.

Classic Mixed Basket £3.99

The classic comes with chive dumpling, seafood dumpling, coriander dumpling, chicken Shu Mai, spicy vegetable dumpling and chicken cashew nut dumpling (1 each).

Seafood Mixed Basket £3.99

The seafood comes with Har Gau dumpling, seafood dumpling and coriander dumplings (2 each).

Egg Tart £0.99

Beef coconut rice pot £3.89

Chocolate Pau £0.99

They are all quite reasonably priced and if you are craving for some dim sum at odd hours, both the classic mixed basket and seafood mixed baskets are there to satisfy. I found that they were doughy but still adequately tasty and hits the right spots during those craving moments. Don’t expect awesome dim sum, at the price it is, you get what you paid for!

The egg tart was normal. You get more rice than beef and mushrooms in the beef coconut rice pot, and portion wise is not for the large eaters. I love the chocolate pau, basically the normal buns but instead of pork, you get chocolate. Quite savoury as dark chocolate is used and at £0.99, don’t hesitate!

Rice porridge with banana and sesame £1.99

I finally got to eat my rice porridge and the banana and sesame was the only one available. As much as the menu says that 3 delicious toppings is available everyday, I find that it is not the case as this was the only one available. On another occasion, there was none available, only a pork rice dish was offered which is not rice porridge at all!!

If you like your oats and don’t want to have the whole western bacon and eggs breakfasts, the rice porridge is a good alternative and I really enjoyed my banana porridge although it can definitely do with a lot less sesame.

It may not be as good as street snacks from their origin countries, but at least this is a viable option available to the boring sandwiches scene.

NOW StreetFoods

http://www.nowstreetfood.com/index.html

 

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Afternoon Tea Ceremony at Tea Smith, Spitalfields

There are many UK websites which offer discount deals. These are often used by retailers to promote their services. A lot of them tend to be beauty related deals or are quite restricted which does not make them a good deal. However, once in while, a gem pops up and you need to be quick!

A few weeks ago, I was told about a deal that had me positively excited! This was what it said…

“A four course afternoon tea, including patisserie from the award winning William Curley chocolatiers, for two people at £18.50.


Afternoon Tea Ceremony for two with award winning patisserie and chocolate from William Curley, plus an exclusive sampler pack of tea to take home".

A few clicks and hours later, I was a happy recipient of a voucher. Trying to book a time is not easy though but we managed to schedule in one.

Upon entering, we were ushered to the only table available and was greeted with a glass of cold White Tea that was to be our palate cleanser.

Walnut Palmier

We were served with our first course moments later. The cinnamon palmier is crunchy to the bite with the glaze of cinnamon and sugar coating making it into a hard texture. A dense flavour matching well with the delicateness of the tea that it was served with. I think the tea was the Bao Zhong which is actually an Oolong tea that is very similar to green tea. It is fresh, clear green and with delicate infusions of fresh flowery notes of lilac and lily.

Walnut & Miso Biscuit w Matcha & Honey Dip

Next came the walnut & miso biscuit. I have to say that I absolutely love matcha and when I saw the matcha & honey dip, I was so tempted to consume all of it. The aroma of the walnut hits your senses before you even take a bite, crunch on the biscuit and particles of crumbliness plays in your mouth. I added a layer of the dip after and it makes the bsicuit sweeter and denser. Love it!

Next came the patisserie from William Curley. This is my first taste of a William Curley’s creation and I have to say that I am not disappointed. Silky, creamy and the smooth stickiness of the chocolate...and this is not even describing the tea!

Floral High Mountain Oolong Tea

I am happily anticipating the next course. My sis and I attended a Japanese Tea Ceremony where we learnt the art and ritual of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. I also remembered my first matcha bowl drink and there was so much Matcha in it that as much as I love it, I was temporarily dosed out!

70% Courverture with Matcha

The one from TeaSmith is very light. Not a lot of matcha was used and it is quite diluted. I guess that this is a taster version or an ease of introduction for matcha beginners or non matcha lovers. You are meant to take a bite of the dark chocolate and with it swirling in your mouth, take sips of the matcha. The bitterness teases your palate and brings out the slight sweetness of the matcha drink.

The final course was a selection of William Curley chocolates to be enjoyed with an aromatic Oolong tea known as Oriental Beauty. This is a highly oxidized Oolong which is harvested from young leaves, in summer, just after they have been bitten by the tea jassid (a small criquet). This bite starts the oxidation of the leaves and adds a sweet and sour note that is so characteristic (http://teamasters.blogspot.com/2007/02/study-of-oriental-beauty.html).

Really aromatic and was a perfect match the chocolates from William Curley.

We got three varieties of chocolates (from top to bottom), Raspberry & Tocano, Japanese Black Vinegar and Sea Salted Caramel. My favourites were the Sea Salted Caramel and Raspberry & Tocano. The Japanese Black Vinegar was very subtle and just tasted like a chocolate filling within the chocolate. They are still good chocolates and I enjoyed all of them.

We were also given samples of the teas that we drank as gifts as the end of the afternoon tea. What I took from this afternoon tea experience is a fondness for William Curley creations and new tea discoveries. Really liked Oriental Beauty and the cold white tea that served as a palate cleanser.

The retail price of the Afternoon Tea Tasting Ceremony is £20 and you can go to their website to book it.



Tea Smith
6 Lamb Steet
London E1 6EA
http://www.teasmith.co.uk/




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