London Fashion Weekend

After London Fashion Week is over, there was an aftermath event open for public called London Fashion Weekend. 

What it is is basically an event for everyone to experience how it feels like to be in Fashion Week. There were fashion shows, talks and showcases of the catwalk clothing. Of course, it wasn't exactly the same duplicate and as elaborate as the real fashion week. But it's worth giving a shot if you were curious and you can feel like a fashionista.

I went there with my girls on the very last day, which on Sunday, and apparently the weather decided to blow wind everywhere and hid the sun somewhere :(

The catwalk that we attended was the trend catwalk and it was presented by theoutnet.com, which is a sister site of netaporter.com. 

xo, 

N

Corinthia Afternoon Tea

There are so many things to do here in London.

Being in London is such an amazing once in a lifetime experience I could ever ask for. Despite the unpredictable weather everyday or the annoying tube delays, this city never fail to make me fall in love over and over again. That, to me, is kind of beautiful.. :)

Afternoon tea is on top of among many things I want to do whilst I'm here. There are so many high tea places all over London, but the really good ones are apparently rare and always fully booked. The booking could take weeks or even months. Last Saturday, my friends and I decided that we have to start our very English habit, therefore we visited the Corinthia London for a proper high tea for the first time.

There were 3 different packages we can choose from, whether you fancy your tea along with a glass of champagne or traditionally with just tea.

My first choice of tea was Jasmine tea. It was very fragrant, light and very floral fresh. I could almost bottle the scent up and use it as my new favorite perfume, no kidding. ;)

The first finger bite was the savoury; sandwiches.

Left to right: 

Egg Mayonnaise and Watercress , Severn and Wye Smoked Trout and Cucumber, Roasted Buccluech Beef and Creamed Horseradish, Coronation Chicken, Loch Var Smoked Salmon and Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese and Piccalilli.

The bread on each sandwich was different and they were so good we had to order them again! 

My second pot of tea was something fruity, Pomegranate tea. This time it was lighter than the first pot I had and it's a type of white tea. 

After we were done with our sandwiches, here comes the part where we were very much waiting for... the English Tea Fancies.

The sweet treats came in three plates, in three level. When the waiter came to brought them in, our eyes were literally glittering in sugar-coated beams! They look so yummy don't they!

They were:

Warm scones

Amarena

Layers of moist dark chocolate sponge, Kalingo chocolate 

cremeux, amarena cherry compote and chocolate ganache

Cappuccino

Crispy top round choux with a coffee infused 

Dulcey chocolate cream

Winter Sun

Vanilla mascarpone mousse, exotic fruit jelly, toasted passion 

fruit meringue and vanilla sable

Cassis

Blackcurrant and manjari chocolate macaroon

Jivara Spaghetti

Caramelized pecan tartlet with thick Greek yogurt, spicy candied 

ginger and jivara milk chocolate spaghetti

Marzimon

Lemon drizzle cake, lemon marzipan and coconut daquoise. 

Topped with Lemon and white chocolate feuillentine, 

lemon curd and almond streusel

Cranachan

Scotch Whisky and white chocolate mousse, 

honey roasted oats and raspberries

Savarin

Citrus soaked savarin, Kalamansi and lime curd, 

candied kumquat and clementine

Unfortunately, we ended up so full and stuffed we didn't manage to clean them all out into our tummy. On a side note, these sweet treats were not all yummy as I expected. Some of them I like, some I don't. But it was nice to try everything because they were unique and I have never tried any of them before (but the scones, obviously.)

Overall, my friends and I had an amazing time, and we are looking forward for our next afternoon tea experience soon!

xo,

N

Hakkasan

I went to Hakkasan for a late Chinese New Year dinner with my friends on Tuesday night. The restaurant is located in Mayfair, just off New Bond Street. I have been wanting to visit this restaurant for quite a while for the fab review and the posh atmosphere it seems to have.

The entrance was quiet discreet. It was just a black door with tiny sign next to it and a bouncer. We entered and greeted nicely with the receptionist, and we had to go downstairs to our table, through stairs with water reflection on it making me feel like walking on water.

Great first impression!

For starters, we ordered salt and pepper fried tofu and soft shell crab. They were good. To me, they tasted like a very posh fried tofu and soft shell crab, compared to the same usual I always have elsewhere. 

The fried tofu is garnished with crispy floss and they blend really well combined together.

Next, for main course we had scallop and prawn. It tasted like.. something new. My friend couldn't decide whether he should like it or not; whether it is yummy or not. My verdict was this is a fusion taste, and it was good. It didn't beat the similar ones in authentic Chinese restaurants but Hakkasan tried and did pretty good!

Truffle roasted duck. Must I say this. is. very. yummy.. Period.
I'm up for anything with truffle, so when I saw this on the menu, I just know I had to try it rightaway. I've never found roasted duck cooked with truffle anywhere else before, and this one didn't disappoint me at all.

We also had a deep fried seabass with mango sauce. It was decent.


Since there is always room for dessert, we each ordered one ourselves and shared them. The best part of this dining experience was the dessert (surprise, surprise!).

I forgot the name of all of them because they were quite complicated, but let the photos do the talking!

One thing about Hakkasan though, the service is.. meh. It's a Michelin-star restaurant, it's a fine dining, and too overpriced to be having their level of service right now. I had everything perfect when I first arrived, until a waitress came up and started taking our order. Her attitude wasn't very nice and it was a clear message she didn't care if we are satisfied with our experience that night but the food. Which is to me kinda rude?  :|

Other than that, it was a different experience I have in Chinese cuisine dining, as this was my first Chinese Michelin star restaurant. I'd come back for dessert and wine, since I won't be craving for the main dishes that much. :)


xo,

N