Morelli's Gelato, Harrods

 Morelli's used to be on the ground floor of Harrods in the foodhall before they redecorated and moved it upstairs. They've given it a more adult look calling it an Ice Cream Palour and Milk Bar. However on the day of visit, maybe they ran out of milk as Milkshakes were not available. No worries though as I came purely for an ice cream sundae. There are very few places in London that is an ice cream palour, serving fancy and decorative ice cream sundaes, so when I come here I feel like a kid again. The queue to the ice cream palour gives you a chance to eye up the gelatos on offer and also eye up anyone eating an ice cream sundae giving you ideas on what to order. I went for the Nocciolini, an ice cream sundae of vanilla, hazelnut and Nutella ice cream, served with a Reese's peanut buttercup, chocolate sauce, hazelnuts and whipped cream. I had asked for no hazelnuts, I don't have a nut allergy, I love Reese's peanut buttercups but I just don't like the texture of nuts, however my sundae came with nuts (even though when the bill came it also stated no nuts). Still that didn't put me off from the sundae. It was delicious, gelato smooth and creamy. I love ice cream so this was amazing to me, and pretty as a picture. I didn't get it on my sundae but they serve sauces for other sundaes in small chocolate pots so its a double treat delicious ice cream sauce like caramel in an edible chocolate cup. For me it's just a shame they only operate out of Harrods in London, I would love to see them have another outlet in London in an old fashioned ice cream parlour decor.

C & R Restaurant, Bayswater

C & R Restaurant, is a Malaysian restaurant located in Bayswater. They also have a little cafe version in China Town. Me, D & M have been to C & R before, this is our local Malaysian food spot. Their food is spicy so be warned.

We ordered Singapore Laksa, Hainanese Chicken Rice and Nasi Lemak. For those who are unfamiliar with Malaysian food, nasi lemak is a good classic to go for. Nasi lemak is a rice dish cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves. At C & R they serve their nasi lemak with sambal chilli, anchovies, archar, chicken curry, half a boiled egg and peanuts. The sambal chilli is onion and chilli based, almost like a chutney, slightly sweet, spicy and thick. Archar is a pickle, which is sweet and sour, C & R's archar has pineapple giving it sweetness and sesame seeds giving it a nuttiness. The dish as a whole is good, with a wide variety of tastes and textures.

Singapore laksa is a spicy noodle soup dish served in a massive bowl. This was delicious. Very spicy with intense flavour. It comes with fish cake, fish ball, prawns and fried tofu. The fried tofu soaks up the spicy soup so when you bite into it, it bursts full of spicy soupy goodness.

Hainanese chicken rice is boiled chicken, which has been boiled in chicken stock ensuring the chicken is not over cooked and tender and soaks in as much chicken flavour as possible. The rice served in Hainese chicken rice is also cooked in chicken stock. It has a slight sheen from the natural chicken oil and an intense chicken taste. The sambal served with the chicken rice is for me the star of the show bringing everything together. The sambal (not the same as the one served with nasi lemak) is spicy from the chilli but also fresh and zesty from the addition of lime juice. This brings together the mellow chicken and rice to life.    

The food at C&R will be spicy for some but there are other things on the menu on offer. However don't go here for the roti canai (Malaysian flatbread) as this comes out of a packet and there are other places in London serving freshly made roti canai. The decor of the restaurant is a little dated and could definitely do with livening up!!

Mitsukoshi Piccadilly

Mitsukoshi, the Japanese department store has been in Piccadilly for 34 years. In September, the store will be closed. It is unknown whether they will relocate to a different location or whether it will be it for the department store in the UK.

The restaurant is located in the basement of the department store, granted, it could do with updating the decor. The food has never failed to disappoint me.

For lunch I tried the Mitsukoshi Bento; sashimi, simmered chicken and vegetables, tempura and fruit, served with miso soup, rice and pickles. The food here is clean tasting with the sashimi in particular tasting fresh. The tempura wasn't the crispiest or lightest tempura I've ever eaten but it was ok. I do love the Japanese style of serving food in Bento boxes. Not only is it pretty as a picture, but also gives a variety of tastes, textures and a complete meal.

It's sad to see Mitsukoshi close after the numerous years in Piccadilly. The Mitsukoshi closed in Hong Kong many many years ago, they mentioned they were hoping to find another location to open, however this never happened and it has not been opened again in Hong Kong. I have been to the Mitsukoshi in Ginza, it had the luxurious feel like Liberty department store, however the store in Piccadilly doesn't quite live up to the same standard as its Japanese counterpart. It is a shame to see it go. I just hope they don't replace the department store with another shop selling tourist tat, like others around Piccadilly.

Taqueria, Westbourne Grove

I visited Taqueria following its recent review in The Telegraph. I had been here many many years ago, however have forgotten what it was like, since I don't remember it I guess it wasn't much to write about?

My visit to Taqueria was with D & M. It may appear, given the photos that we over ordered, but since each dish was small, it was all about the sharing and picking at each one. It was also Taco Happy Hour (Monday - Thursday 5pm-7pm) so you've got to go Taco crazy. Since we ordered quite a lot of dishes here are my highlights and lowlights from it all (I'll try to be brief).

Highlights: Chorizo quesadilla melted cheese and chorizo is a perfect combo. Tinga taco good spicy kick with depth of flavour. Fried plantain, that was on top of the rice, just because I love fried plantain. Camarones al mojo de ajo; garlicky prawn taco, this was the best taco of the night, the prawns were cooked perfectly, altogether it was slightly spicy, rich, garlicky, naturally sweet of prawn, if you only try one taco here, make sure it's this one!! Lastly Churros con cajeta; churros with toffee sauce. The churros were crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. The toffee sauce is amazing! I even tried to eat the remaining sauce out of the pot **embarrassed blush**. That toffee sauce on top of ice cream would be divine!!  

Lowlights: Specials of prawn ceviche; there was too much lime juice (as you can see in the pic) almost soupy. This was too tangy amd limey and overpowers the taste of prawns, the totopos, like tortilla chips were great, you could really taste the corn. Pollo tostada tasted a little like chicken mayo sandwich filling on top of a crispy tortilla. Arroz a la Mexicana y platano frito; Mexican rice topped with fried plantain; the rice was a little too al dente for my liking.  

The best thing of the night was the prawn taco. If you only eat one thing here it has to be this!!!

M&S Tarte au citron slices

Just a cheeky little treat from M&S; tarte au citron slices. It's tangy and slightly sweet lemon, with short crust pastry. No soggy bottoms here! There pastry remained crisp. All in all another great dessert as usual from M&S

Carluccio's Notting Hill

 I felt particularly beastly and went a little overboard with the food ordering. I've been to Carluccio's many times before and have probably tried nearly everything on the menu, this time I stuck with some of my favourites.

The Antipasto Supremo; a great mix of little things to pick at. My favourite part is the balsamic onions and the chargrilled aubergine. The balsamic onions are the sweet but with a slight tang from the pickling balsamic vinegar and the chargrilled aubergine has deep smokiness from the chargrilling, but is naturally sweet from the aubergine and is slightly fruity from the olive oil. The pancetta wrapped prawns are a little too salty for me. The hams are good but were slightly raggedy from the cutting.

In my beastly state I also ordered their fixed price menu which they offer all the time, which I think is good value. Bruschetta and penne alla luganica. The tomatoes on the bruschetta are amazing, they're wonderfully sweet and juicy. I could happily eat a plate of the bruschetta topping!! Penne alla luganica is penne served with a spicy sausage creamy sauce. The sausage has been broken up so is like mince, gives a background kick against the rich creamy tomato-ey sauce. This is definitely my favourite pasta dish at Carluccio's.

I'm glad Carluccio's permanently offer the fixed price menu, as the penne dish might be just enough for lunch, but for dinner not enough and you would need to get a dessert or starter.

Tenshi, Islington

 Tenshi is a Japanese restaurant located in Islington. It offers authentic Japanese food.

They offer Takoyaki, at the time there, they were being made fresh outside which tempted me, D and M in. I've been to other Japanese restaurants before that offer Takoyaki, but were frozen and just fried to reheat, they only reason I know, because they were cold inside. I've seen these in Japan Centre to buy also. Had to get these here as I saw they were freshly made. It was crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, really tasty.  

They also offer Okonomiyaki, normally vegetarian, but you can add extra chicken, pork, salmon, cheese, or prawns. We went for chicken and cheese. The first place I tried okonomiyaki was in Abeno Too, near Leicester Square which specialises in okonomiyaki. I later tried okonomiyaki in Tokyo, not the birthplace of okonomiyaki but was amazing. The okonomiyaki at Tenshi had thicker cut cabbage than what I've had in the past, I prefer the cabbage to be cut finer as it brings the okonomiyaki together more and you get less of the batter taste. The edges were more crispy than Abeno Too, I think the okonomiyaki at Tenshi has been made in a pan to get the edges crisp. But the okonomiyaki was delicious!!

Tenshi also offer a Bento lunch time menu, so I had to try the sushi bento. The bento look so pretty and colourful, the fish was fresh and had a slight sweetness from fresh fish. The addition of edamane beans and the vegetable gyoza made the bento box complete, it was all delicious.