Sunday treat- Creamy inn

Sundays are even more exciting when you know there's dessert involved. I've been having a sore throat on and off for the past few weeks (thank you weather, and immune system), so it felt so good to eat ice cream today. I'm a big ice cream fan if you didn't know, ready for it anytime, anywhere, even before my meal, and even better if I could have it instead of my meal. I don't eat it as much as I love it though, owing to the fact that I get a cold pretty easy after. It's been getting quite warm in nairobi lately so it felt good to indulge together with my family. The pictures probably speak for themselves. I'm not sure words would do them justice.

Ice cream Sundae with smarties and 4 different sauces-chocolate, strawberry, banana and peppermint. I wasn't too keen on the banana and peppermint, but it was delicious regardless.

The waffle was probably our sole reason for going to creamy inn. After a long day of contemplating where to go for dessert, we decided on waffles which I've literally not had in years, and i absolutely loved it! They initially said they didn't have waffles, but when the lady at the counter noticed our highly disappointed faces, she said she would make the waffle if we would wait for 30 mins, which we readily did-true sweet toothed people here! (my sister and my mum-were somewhat in shock and my mum had to say ' what, no waffles? How can there be no waffles? What will be eat then?') 

It was absolutely delicious, even more because it was so fresh I think. Warm and soft on the inside, slight crunch on the outside. I rediscovered my love for waffles, and so did my sister I'm sure. Rest assured this was devoured within minutes.

I'm now having my second cup of tea because I'm a little afraid of getting a sore throat again, but I'm also aware of how worthy it was. I'm always up for dessert, absolutely no regrets! 

We did notice a new chocolate fudge pizza they've started making. Going to think about trying it next time!

                                                                -risha-

Tiramisu treasures

When I was a child, my mum had to man handle me to drink my cup of milk, as some of you may know, not much has changed in that department! Everything about milk revolts me, the taste, the texture, the smell, the color, it all triggers my instincts to projectile vomit.

Recently while grocery shopping, I came across a branch of Tiramisu,which is a bakery, dessert bar and coffee house all in one!

I was so impressed that I decided to go to a larger branch today.

I ordered the hot chocolate (I know...i'm surprised I did so too!), and boy oh boy, wasn't I in for a treat! This would definitely rank on my list of best life decisions.

They give the option of having it with or without whipped cream, and I obviously chose with.

The cream perfectly complements the chocolate, and elevates the taste beautifully! The chocolate is thicker than any other hot chocolate I've tried. The viscosity of it was perfect enough to be scooped out with a spoon and also to be drunk. It's an absolutely delectable drink which is priced well enough for my student pocket.

It is the perfect dreamy hot chocolate for me, and I definitely recommend a visit.
                                                                          -Priya-

Rice cakes

I've always seen rice cakes in the supermarket near the bread section. I was intrigued because firstly they aren't expensive, and they look pretty interesting with all the different flavours. I decided to try the plain ones since it was my first time.

Pretty bland when you first bite into it, but very crunchy! I'm not very sure I could eat the rest the same way, and so decided to put some topping (a million times more delicious in my opinion).

With Nutella and banana. Highly recommend. So much better than you'd think.

With some pizza toppings. Corn, olives, tomato paste and Parmesan cheese and oregano. Delicious but making it hot for too long makes it soggy. (Rice inside is fluffed up and filled with air)-not sure what the solution for this is.

I'm thinking of trying them with some guacamole (an all time favourite of mine), maybe even hummus another time! It's a very versatile, and healthy breakfast food or snack. You can eat it any way you wish to. The Nutella and banana is definitely my favourite so far. I'm definitely trying the flavoured ones next time.

                                                            -risha-

Breakfast Bowl

I'm on holiday, which to be honest means an increase in my intake of junk food with about zero exercise. I've experienced what that kind of lifestyle can do in my last holidays, so trying to break the trend i'm trying to eat healthy, which leads me to making my own food. This also keeps me more active, so that I don't sit around all day catching up with tv shows and movies.
I made a healthier breakfast that's quick, easy and gives me enough energy to start the day.

It's pretty simple if you want to try it out ,some vanilla yoghurt, half an apple which I chopped with my superb knife skills(sort of like a ninja), half a handful of macadamia nuts(though I prefer almonds), and bran flakes(because my mum bought them and no one wants to eat them...they're sort of tolerable in yoghurt). Banana is always nice to add, but I ran out of them. 

I feel happier when I eat healthier, so hopefully I manage to keep up with this.

                                                                   -Priya-

Lemon bars

I was in the mood of trying something new baking wise for a while now. I just never had the time and the perfect recipe to make something I would enjoy. I love trying new things, hence the lemon bar recipe which I kept seeing all over the internet, I watched a couple YouTube videos and read a few websites and decided on this specific recipe. It's delicious, with a soft cookie like base and a chewy middle, and a crunchy top layer. The only thing I would change the next time I make it is the sugar content. Slightly sweeter than I had expected, and that's saying something considering I'm the self proclaimed queen of all the sweet toothed people out there. They're delicious regardless and not as time consuming as I'd thought, and would go perfectly with a cup of coffee in the nairobi weather we've been having lately. Warning: This May just be a picture heavy post.

Step 1-make base

Combine 1/2 cup soft unsalted butter (make sure it's room temp!) with quarter cup confectioners sugar, 1cup all purpose flour, 1/8 tsp vanilla essence and a pinch of salt. (I used salted butter so didn't add any salt).

Then mix with a wooden spatula, no whisk needed at this point! Mix until all flour is incorporated. Ultimately ends up looking like cookie dough.

Lightly grease a slightly deep pan, and spread out the doughy mixture evenly, then use a fork and make holes throughout to ensure even cooking.

Then put this in the oven for 22 mins at 180 degrees.

Step 2-make lemon mixture

Fresh lemons are the best for this! Use a grater to get some of the lemon rind. Then juice the lemons until you have a quarter cup of lemon juice. I used the rind from 3 lemons.

In a separate mixing bowl, put in 2 large eggs, and 1 egg yolk alone. Then put in 1 tablespoon of flour and 1 cup of confectioners sugar. 

Mix using a whisk until everything is incorporated. (Don't get scared if mixture is too watery looking, it's supposed to be!).

Then put in the lemon juice and the lemon rind and mix well.

Dough base is probably ready now. It should look slightly browned at the edges.

Get it out of the oven and simply pour the lemon mixture over it.

Put it in the oven for another 25 mins at 180 degrees.

Should look like this once its out of the oven, browned at the edges and slightly over the top.

Wait for it to cool completely. (Which I couldn't do since I was in such a hurry to try it, hence me ruining the cutting it into perfect slices , but I just had to try it while it was hot). 

See the slice missing? Already eaten.

Sprinkle on some icing sugar or even some glaze (half cup icing sugar with 1tsp milk/lemon juice can do the trick). 

Really glad I made this and definitely having it for breakfast tomorrow. (Not healthy but not sorry either).

It's not complicated to make at all and it was so much fun too! I might try a different fruit next time I make this instead of lemon. The lemon taste isn't too overpowering, but you can definitely taste it. Highly recommend if you have a sweet tooth!

                                                                         -risha-

The Corner Affair

I wrote this post before and deleted it in my delirious state at about midnight. I'm going to re-write it, because it was technically my first post.
            Last week was my grandmas 77th birthday, so to celebrate her still looking 20 years young my family and I decided to hit up a coffee shop/restaurant nearby called The Corner Affair.

It's rather a shabby looking place from the outside but the decor inside is beautiful. It had a nice chilled out vibe, which is always welcome in our hectic lives. 

    

             

           After we settled down we took a look at the menu, which I personally found overpriced and highly limiting. A menu that consisted of 3 types of cakes and about 6 types of hot drinks gave me quite the shock to me. Out of a lack of options and my dislike for milk , I opted for the watermelon and basil juice. Sounds enticing right? Oh, but do not be fooled! This juice was for lack of a better term, disgusting. It was pretty much stale watermelon juice diluted in water. Any hope of saving that drink was tossed out the window the moment water was involved. Oh, did the menu mention basil? That's right, it did. There was no basil in sight! No basil! The sole reason I bought this juice was to give my taste buds a sensation they has not had before but, no basil, not even a random leaf floating astray in the juice, not even as a decoration piece, nothing.            

           I think that they need to be more honest with themselves and rename the drink as flavored water, It was pretty much water with a hint of stale watermelon, or even better, take it off their menu. 

I now know that if I ever want watermelon juice, I can make it for myself and guess what, I can actually afford to add a few leaves of basil from the garden.

If anything could be more disappointing than their juice, (which I don't think is a long list of things with the standard of their drinks), it's their service. 

An impatient waitress tapping her pen and sighing to serve the other waiting non-existant customers did not improve my take on the place. As a first time customer I generally want to go through the menu, to see what I would like to order, but according to her the order should be on our finger tips. It's fine if the waitress is in a hurry to serve other people, but considering we were the only ones in the place she didn't have to be so pushy.

After finally placing an order, which she got wrong while re-reading it because of her haste to serve all the people seated in the restaurant, we waited. 

I got my disappointment of a juice, and after I was done with it, my mum went to check on the coffees, after asking the waitress if it was ready she replied with "we haven't started". She was busy hanging around with another waiter chatting and laughing, which by all means, go ahead and do, but at least be professional enough to do so after the customers have got their drinks. My mum obviously cancelled the order and we headed over to java.(my sister has reviewed that).

I feel that when a customer pays for over priced food or drinks, the least the restaurant can do is deliver on quality. This experience was one I would not like to re-live, and keeping true to at least it's slogan, my view on the restaurant did truly change there. 

                                                                   -Priya-

For you restaurant

I've always loved family style restaurants. The ones where you don't have to necessarily worry about talking too loud because you'll disturb the people at the table next to you. I love the environment and the fact that you can somewhat feel at home, because you're that comfortable. It's always a plus if my little brother gets to jump on a trampoline or a jumping castle. Ever have that one place that your family absolutely loves, and is the first place they can think of whenever you want to eat out? The one where all the owners and the staff know you? There's this little Chinese restaurant called For You, that my brother talked about here. My family goes there pretty often, I'd say about 3-4 times a month, not including birthdays and anniversaries and new years eve (that's how much we love it!). With good reason, it just never fails your expectations. There was a time when it closed down for a while a couple years ago, and we all just felt so lost during that time. We could never think of places to go to then.

Recently they opened up a new branch, we all got pretty excited to try it out (same food, same staff, but still!). It was such a surprise! A big upgrade to the place we've known, fountains and waterfalls and beautiful paintings everywhere, whilst still maintaining the whole family feel to it.

Waterfall at the entrance. (Famous photo taking spot from what I witnessed whilst waiting to take this shot).

As soon as you come in you're given these crispy bitings, which are basically the outer covering of spring rolls, cut into triangles and fried with a bit of sugar on them. So delicious! I usually add a bit of chilli, sweet and sour and soy sauce, together with onions in vinegar.

 And the crispy vegetable spring rolls. A must have every single time.

A relatively new favorite- Salt and pepper vegetables. I feel like I could eat this alone for a couple of days and i'd be perfectly happy.

Chinese tea. Another favorite of mine.

Sizzling vegetables in sweet and sour sauce.I wasn't too keen on having this at first. I did try some and I was pleasantly surprised.

Tofu in black bean sauce. Always delicious and pretty much my staple order, especially since I became vegetarian. If anyone loves tofu as much as me, this is a must have!

The usual stir fried rice.

This chocolate ice-cream was so so delicious! And did I mention on the house! Just look at the quantity. Never saying no to free ice-cream! Unhealthy, I know, but you only live once, right? Ice-cream will always be an exception for me. So.Good.

The waiters came in singing happy birthday for my grandma, and the owner of the restaurant gave my nan this beautiful chinese comb and mirror set. Something totally uncalled for. It's so beautiful! I'm sure my nan will treasure this for years to come. We also got a 20% off because it was our first time at the new branch. It's worth every penny!

All in all, a must visit! I highly recommend this place. Especially good if you go early, e.g for lunch go before 1 p.m so it's not too packed and the service is even better. I already know where i'm having lunch next sunday-and i'm definitely looking forward to it!

-risha-

For you Spring rolls- {Guest post}

My little eleven year old brother has written his first food review, and he has done a stellar job in my opinion. Anything to encourage him to write a little more!- R

Oh my god, have you eaten at the new For you Chinese restaurant? It is the best. Today I ate the best chicken spring roll ever and the way the chicken spring roll was served just made my mouth water out of happiness. When I opened my spring roll a very scrumptious filling of chicken and vegetables was in it. It was a perfect ratio  of vegetable to chicken. It was crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked from the inside. I am so glad that I ordered that, and that I was planning to have it as my main course. Our waiter was the most spectacular waiter on earth, he did not delay our food and waited patiently to take our order. And this awesome Chinese restaurant also has a wonderful play area for kids with a ball pit and a maze, and did I mention that at the end you get a souvenir or a toy to take home with you. How wonderful is that! This restaurant has a very friendly environment and I would highly recommend it for a relaxed family day out.

-Vishnu-

Nani's birthday and ice-cream sundae

My sister and I have a tendency to use every opportunity available to go for a treat (who's going to say no to dessert?). It's my grandmother's birthday (77 years!), so we went to java coffee house, one of the most popular coffee sites in Nairobi. Great for a relaxing time with a cup of coffee and even better if you want a burger or a quesadilla or a heavenly breakfast to go with it (i'm drooling already!). We decided to share the chocolate chip cookie ice cream sundae, which comes with 3 scoops of ice-cream, and so we chose the chocolate chip cookie ice-cream and a scoop of the vanilla brownie. Topped off with honey coated nuts, which add just the right amount of crunch, and a warm chocolate sauce. So great for a treat! I assure you I enjoyed every bit of the chocolately goodness without a doubt. They didn't disappoint with the quantity either. It's a rare treat for me so it definitely made my day a thousand times better. A 5/5 for service today.

Look at the size of the cookie! I could barely finish it.And the amount of chocolate chips just made me happy :) (And the little sis in the back).

It's just so beautiful. *sigh*. Definitely blog worthy.

-risha-