Wednesday, February 16, 2011

biscuit of the week

every time i visit the grocery store, i am intrigued by the immense variety of biscuits here in the UK.

so i've decided to buy a pack of biscuits each week and blog about it.

this week, it's cadbury's crunchie biscuit. cadbury describes it as, "delicious cadbury milk chocolate biscuits with crunchie bits".

the "crunchie" bits are kind of like a toffee. it was deliciously sweet, and i enjoyed it with a nice cup of tea.

hm... what will be next week's biscuit of the week?

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

pho search continues...

i am still searching for that really authentic bowl of pho (vietnamese beef noodle soup). this past weekend, i think i got just a little closer.

i read some decent reviews on viet grill, so polly and i decided to try out their pho. instantly we both noticed that almost all of the patrons were caucasian, usually not a good sign, but we reminded ourselves of the good reviews we read. however, we were comforted when we saw an authentic bottle of sriracha chili sauce with the rooster label which was made in rosemead, california! definitely a good sign.

we asked the waiter where they get their sriracha sauce. he responded, "i don't know. i just put it on the table."

i love ordering the cha gio (fried spring rolls) as a tasty starter. they were nicely fried accompanied with a few leaves of lettuce, perfect to wrap them and dip them in the fish sauce.

the pho was topped with green onions and chopped cilantro. eventually our waiter brought us a side plate of bean sprouts, cilantro, and lemon wedges. first things first... i sipped a spoonful of broth. not as flavorful as i would have liked, but it was satisfactory. then i fished to the bottom of the bowl for the noodles. strangely, the rice noodles were all short like someone cut them up.

overall, the pho was nicely flavored, but it still wasn't the same as i've had in california. i've decided that i may never find the perfect bowl of pho. so my next mission is to make my own pho.

so the search continues for that satisfying bowl of pho.




Monday, February 14, 2011

valentine biscuit

thankfully here in the UK, we are not inundated with red hearts, flowers and everything else to remind you of valentine's day.

however, today at lunch, a colleague brought to lunch this personalized biscuit (in the UK, cookies are known as biscuits) made by his lovely wife.

it was such an adorable gesture so i immediately rushed back to my office to get my camera. i asked permission from my colleague to take a picture.

i prefer these homemade gestures for valentine's day.

happy valentine's day!