Tutti Frutti UK

It's a real blessing to find an eating place in Soho where you can sit down for as long as you like without feeling like you should get up and leave so that you can make room for the people in the queue and escape the accusing stares of the staff.

Tutti Frutti has an entire funky basement filled with sofas, chairs, tables, books and board games which is a huge appeal for people who have time to kill whilst in the Soho area, or those who fancy a lengthy sit-down with friends over yummy dessert which won't make you feel too guilty.

There are about ten dispensers of different-flavoured frozen yogurt lining a wall in the shop, and these flavours vary day-to-day. Some which I have seen are Red Velvet, Blueberry, Kiwi, Soy, Nutella, Peanut Butter, Watermelon, Chocolate, and many more. Peanut Butter has got to be my favourite so far. They've got the full list on their website, but not all of these flavours are always available in shops.

The prices go by the final weight of your cup, at £1.85 per 100g. There are two cups to choose from, and the smaller one has an average price of £3.50 while you could expect to pay an approximate £5.50 for filling your froyo in the bigger one. Students get a discount of 10%, or 15% if your bill is over £10. (That would have to be a big cup of froyo, and no, getting two cups in the same bill wouldn't be very smart if you're a student.)

You can mix and match flavours, and I tend to sway towards those which aren't related to fruit, because the toppings which I choose afterwards are cookies and chocolate – you've got chocolate chips, mini oreos, chocolate chip cookies, buttery shortbread biscuits, Cadbury Flake, coconut shavings, ground peanuts, gummies, and all sorts of other stuff, it's hard to be short of options. Not too far away, they also have a healthier selection of toppings which includes grapes, pineapples, kiwis, and cubes of different fruits in general. I've been apprehensive to try, say, Nutella froyo with a topping of kiwi cubes, but I'll try to be adventurous in my next visit.

There's an app on the app store called Kooki which has a few loyalty cards from various eating places in London, and Tutti Frutti has got a card on there, which enables you a 6th cup of free froyo.

The shop also sells bubble tea, brownies and Malaysian pancakes. It really is a gem in the middle of Soho and I do recommend it, as there is something for everyone!

I just wish that they had awesome topping variations which can be used to make epic froyo architecture like this one which my friend did in Tutti Frutti Canada:

Tutti Frutti
2 Bedford Street
Covent Garden
London WC2E 9HH
United Kingdom
info@tfuk-froyo.co.uk
www.tfuk-froyo.co.uk/

Kit Kat x4! | Chunky Coconut, Chunky Hazelnut, Green Tea (Japan) and Cookies & Cream

When it comes to chocolate, I choose Cadbury over Godiva. I choose Mars over Hotel Chocolat. I choose Nestlé over fancy-schmancy Chöcôlatéei de Poshé (est. 89 BC). For me, a fat chocolate bar under a pounder brings me way more happiness than a skimpy box of chocolates with strange or boring flavours.

When I have a sweet craving, I want a Kit Kat Chunky to munch on, and not little bite-sized, heart-shaped truffles with a ruddy lemongrass filling. (I still have that horrid gustatory memory etched in my head. "Unpleasant" doesn't even cover a quarter of it.)

A shelf of chocolate bars is bound to be available just round the corner if you are anywhere near ample civilisation here in London. You will always find the usual: Mars bars, Aero, slabs of Cadbury Dairy Milk, slabs of Galaxy, Wispa bars, Bounty, and of course, Kit Kat Chunky bars.

Kit Kat Chunky Coconut was one of the four flavours participating in the Kit Kat Chunky Champion Campaign 2013 (Might as well call it the Kit Kat Khunky Khampion Kampaign) which ran from mid-January to mid-March, during which four new Kit Kat flavours were available in supermarkets, and consumers could vote for their favourite flavour online. The most popular flavour would then continue to be sold while the rest would just disappear slowly from our lives.

The coconut flavour came simply from the addition of a taste and fragrance. However, the bar is still no Bounty equivalent yet – much of it is still like any old regular Kit Kat Chunky. Coconut fans would relish, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get one of these, nor would I choose it over a normal Kit Kat Chunky.

Hazelnut and I have a connection. When I was a kid eating Nutella on toast almost every morning, I assumed that Nutella was simply the best-tasting chocolate product ever for a magical, unexplainable reason. I don't know why it took me such a long time to find out that the addition of hazelnut is accountable for bringing a nutty extra to the taste of chocolate in a Nutella jar, but when I did, I worshipped this combination – Ferrero Rocher made so much sense at last, and Hanuta was expectedly divine when I first tried it.

Naturally, the Kit Kat Chunky Hazelnut is my favourite of the lot. There's a creamy layer of hazelnut cream above the wafer layers, and it is all coated in chocolate – nothing can go wrong here.

I didn't bother with the other two flavours, but mint won, while choc fudge retreated into the corner with a crestfallen face that said: 'chocolate within chocolate... I thought I was special...' Like everybody else who was strongly rooting for a flavour other than the mint contender, I started a riot in my bedroom when I found out about the results online. I never eat anything mint, because it reminds me too much of toothpaste. Choc fudge just didn't make any sense to me at all. ('But... I swear I'm special...')

It might be way too late for any of this, but a last word must be put out there for the sake of justice: Kit Kat Chunky Hazelnut is the true winner. And you all know it. Deep inside.

I got Green Tea Kit Kats as a gift from my housemate when returned from Japan, her homeland. The bars are considerably smaller than Kit Kats sold elsewhere.

The bar is completely green, with specks of green tea powder. Nothing chocolate-related in sight so far.

My first reaction when biting into it was thinking: 'this simply tastes like white chocolate...' However, a very mild green tea taste rests on your mouth after a while, which is good, as it can go very wrong when it comes to tea, which can tread into the bitter zone. The chocolate also has a slightly grainy texture due to the green tea powder.

I wouldn't hesitate buying this flavour regularly if it were sold in the UK. White chocolate can tend to be too sweet and sickly sometimes, but the thinness of green tea helps to counter that – a really good combination choice. Arigato, Japan.

I was so psyched after hearing that they sold a cookies & cream flavour of Kit Kat. Cookies & Cream remains my favourite, staple ice cream flavour to date.

I don't really care if each twin bar is 107 calories, I just want to eat chocolate, which is undeniably unhealthy and fattening anyway!

In retrospect, this is a very poor interpretation of the blessed cookies & cream flavour. Eating it was a pleasure, with a combination of white and milk chocolate used in the coating of the regular wafer biscuits – the best of both worlds. But they could have either put in a little bit more effort and actually include cookies or cream in it, or rename the product.

Kit Kat is the first that comes to mind when I think of a chocolate bar. The variety of flavours caters to a wide range of tastebuds too! (not mentioned here are orange, peanut butter and dark chocolate)

Cybercandy | Part Two

Click here for part one.

Moving on, we are faced with a variation of the peanut butter cup by Megaload, which is filled with caramel instead of peanut butter. (£1.15)

From left to right, the caramel cups are topped with Almond 'Buttercrunch', Candy-coated chocolate pieces, and Peanut 'Buttercrunch'. Not as interesting and original as the combination before, with their peanut butter cups. The m&ms are here again, between two very similar-looking 'buttercrunch' variations. This pack doesn't get me as excited as the peanut butter cups. I mean, two out of three of those were slapped on the top with a whole cookie!

The caramel was runny and smooth, and the cup reminded me of a Cadbury Caramello Koala.

There was nothing very special about it taste-wise, but it sure looked pretty as I ate it.

I couldn't tell the difference between the next two. Because the chocolate and caramel combination is already very strong for the tastebuds, the pathetic brittle (almond buttercrunch above, peanut buttercrunch below) doesn't do anything, and it felt like their purpose was unserved.

Likewise, these caramel cups are pretty and unique, and make great gifts. (i.e. pop some into my letterbox please, I wouldn't mind)

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Treats (£1.29) is a snack bar variation of the original Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, much like the Lucky Charms Treats bar. 

My friend, Esther, and I sitting in the middle of Piccadilly Circus on a sunny day, taking pictures and enjoying the weekend. Sometimes, you have no choice but to enjoy yourself in London so much.

We watched La Bayadère at the Royal Opera House and ate lunch at Master's Diner at 4pm in the evening. We even had two minibons from Cinnabon at Piccadilly Circus. No regrets!

American cereal-ness was definitely noticeable here. It took me a long time to recognise the cinnamon taste, because most of it was just sweetness. The yogurt base was really good, and the bar was huge, tasty, and satisfying.

This was the elephant of my purchase, the main act of the variety show.

Oreo Os were the highlight of my childhood. The journey these blue boxes made from the supermarket shelves, into the multi-purpose (yes, hanging on to the handles and riding on it IS a purpose) transportation vehicle of The Trolley, momentarily hidden in one of the many white NTUC plastic bags like a cursed shell game, tucked out of reach in the cupboard, and magically appearing in a bowl the next morning next to a carton of PURA milk – all of this was ritualistic and sacred, and I treasured every aspect of these events up until the woeful year of 2007, when Post stopped producing these Oreo Os.

Where else am I going to get the best cereal marshmallows in the world? Where else am I going to get cereal which tastes like freaking OREOS?

At Cybercandy (Islington) for £6.99, it seems, with a Korean title. I cry a little, but I think about that fact that a) it is the only one of its kind, b) I can earn it back by working at my library for an hour, and c) it tastes like Oreos.

The black, crispy O's are filled with the taste of Oreo biscuits, and speckled with white bits of the stuff present in the original sandwich cookies.

Among the O's are similar-sized, sweet marshmallow circles, which have the best melt-in-your mouth feel one you get past their delicate, icing-like texture.

Like how you dunk Oreos in milk, this moreish cereal also goes well in a bowl with milk. The deep flavour of the O's is complimented so well by the milk, but don't expect any special taste in the leftover milk. You can have Oreo O's in a bowl with milk, you can have it in a box with a spoon in hand – I just wish you could have it for under £3 a box from the local supermarkets. Sam I am.

The Butterfinger (£1.19) is a famous American chocolate bar filled with dense peanut butter flakes, coated with chocolate. It is longer than the average chocolate bar, and rather heavy too. The flaky, puff-pastry like texture was rather unusual, and the peanut butter and sugar filling stuck to my teeth pretty severely. Not something I would buy again, but it was alright.

Cadbury Crunchie Bar and Biscuits

I only discovered about a week ago that, in the world of confectionary, honeycomb isn't actual, hanging-from-a-tree-bees-live-in-it honeycomb. Yes, I have eaten real raw honeycomb before, but no, it didn't occur to me that the crunchy, golden, yellow, aerated stuff in chocolate bars and stuff were not dried-up honeycombs, but heated, risen and hardened sugar syrup.

Revelation aside, here is a review of Cadbury's Crunchie bar (65p), which is a block of honeycomb coated with milk chocolate.

If this sounds like diabetes to you, I assure you that it probably is. It is a sweet, decadent treat, and the crunchy honeycomb melts warmly in your mouth, with a great burnt sugar taste. However, a few bites into it and I started getting an uncomfortable, sharp feeling in my throat, from the sugar overload. It may have 185 calories (just think – half the bar is made up of air bubbles), alright for a chocolate bar, but every ounce of it is sugar, which is too much for one to handle.

On the other hand, the biscuit version of the Crunchie bar has become one of my favourite things ever.

There are 8 thick and round , chocolate-coated biscuits in a pack, which I grabbed at a good Tesco offer of £1. (U.P £1.79)

These biscuits are really ones to try. The chocolate coats a layer of biscuit and a layer of honeycomb, so you get varying textures – smooth milk chocolate, crunchy biscuit, and crispy honeycomb. The flavour in it is also really good. The honeycomb gives the biscuit a lovely taste instead of being overpowering, like in the bar, while the biscuit prevents chocolate and honeycomb combination from clogging your throat.

I often fill half my suitcase with cookies when I return to Singapore for visits during term break – these biscuits are definitely going in there.

Dorayaki Obsessed

Dorayaki refers to a Japanese confectionary, which is made up of two mini pancakes sandwiching a generous amount of azuki red bean paste in the middle – think dessert hamburger.

Before coming to London, I had never heard of dorayaki, and now I'm wondering: how many other great things in life have I missed out on!?

The first one which I encountered was from Japan Centre near Piccadilly Circus, which is a Japanese supermarket and restaurant. Knowing that a combination of strawberries and cream makes everything better, I decided to purchase a Wagashi (brand name) Strawberries & Cream Dorayaki from the fridge. (£1.59, maybe?)

I couldn't help but let my eyelids fall in ecstacy as I took a bite off the dorayaki. The pancakes are just so soft, light and fluffy, while the cream filling with strawberries blended and infused is smooth and delicious. What. A. Treat. It was love at first bite.

For a while, I was worried that I'd have to specially make a trip to Japan Centre every time I had a dorayaki craving, but my worries subsided when I realised that Wasabi, the express Japanese food franchise, sold different types of dorayaki as well. (£1.50 each)

Having had to pass by Hammersmith Broadway Shopping Centre for eleven days straight (long story short, I had rehearsals in town everyday and didn't want to spend £40 on transport in total, so I took a 2-hour bus ride to and fro my rehearsal venue throughout Easter break), I grasped the opportunity to try out the dorayaki from the Wasabi in the shopping centre.

The one filled with red bean was nothing special for me, but it was satisfying and yummy indeed. I'm aware that many non-Asian people are sceptical about red bean paste, and that for most, it is probably an acquired taste. Red bean paste is sweet, has the consistency of mashed potato, and has a very mild level of bitterness to it. (I'm a person who can't take any sort of coffee stronger than a chocolate Starbucks Frappuccino, keep that in mind.) There is a strong fragrance which you have to experience on your own in order to understand the taste of red bean.

I bought a Green Tea Mascarpone dorayaki because I love mascarpone cream cheese (long live tiramisu), and was curious to taste how the green tea would work within it.

This. Dorayaki. Is. Just. So. Good. I. Hope. That. All. These. Periods. Emphasize. My. Point.

Much like the dorayaki with strawberries and cream, the lightness of the pancake compliments the creaminess of the mascarpone, and the green tea powder adds a pleasant fragrance to it. My favourite thus far.

Fuyumi brought some authentic dorayakis from Japan when she went home for Easter break, and promised that they were the 'real' kind.

These are considerably different, mostly in the fact that the pancakes are yellower and richer, probably with more use of egg yolks, which added moisture to the dorayaki, gave it a slightly denser texture, and an eggy smell and taste.

These were nothing too far away from the Red Bean Dorayaki from Wasabi, which is a relief, considering how I've had sweet, un-spicy curry and bland stir-fry noodles here in London. However, I slightly preferred the dorayaki from Wasabi and Japan Centre, mainly because of the stunning, Europeanised fillings and the lighter pancakes.


Japan Centre
Address: 16 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4PT
Phone:020 7255 8255
http://www.japancentre.com/


Wasabi (Hammersmith)

Address: 77 Rannoch Rd, London W6 9SX
Phone:020 8748 8675
http://www.wasabi.uk.com/

Cybercandy | Part One

Somebody was obviously discontented with the array of British chocolates, cookies, candy and cereal, and felt that the five million aisles of sweet items in British supermarkets weren't enough, so they opened Cybercandy, which imports soda, sweets, chocolate and cereal from the USA, Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, and other parts of Europe, and sells them for a doubled price.

Loot:

Clockwise from left: Oreo O's, (the Korean replica version. The original cereal was discontinued in 2007) Megaload Caramel Cups, Megaload Peanut Butter Cups, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Treats bar, Boyer's Smoothie Peanut Butter Cups with Butterscotch coating, Boyer's Mallo Cup. (£1.15)

Lo and behold, a product name which implies a marshmallow filling, containing a description which promises a whipped 'creme' center. Seems like they can't make up their mind on what the mysterious white fluff in their own product is.

And neither can I. It's sort of like a tasteless white mousse similar to the insides of a melted marshmallow. Sounds appealing to some but is really nothing special at all.

The difference between this peanut butter cup (£1.15) and a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is the butterscotch-flavoured coating, instead of the usual milk chocolate. Butterscotch is not as prominent of a flavour as chocolate, and when paired with peanut butter, just causes a confusion on your tongue. After having Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, it is just not the same when having this peanut butter cup coated with butterscotch. Your tastebuds will be wondering where that familiar chocolate and peanut butter flavour-pairing is, and what the hell is this butterscotch doing. It doesn't even go here.

On the flip side, this was a purchase which I fairly enjoyed. (£1.39) The, uh, 'King size' pack boasts three peanut butter cups, each with a different topping, namely a chocolate chip cookie, M&Ms, and a chocolate sandwich cookie.

They look absolutely tempting and adorable when opened. The toppings have held well and nothing has crumbled or fallen off.

The cookie is stuck fast to the peanut butter cup, and the entire treat looks precious. The peanut butter filling, unlike the crumbly texture of the one in Reese's, is creamy and smooth. I personally prefer the crumbly version, because it stands out from the already-smooth chocolate. I guess, in this case, it coordinates well with the crunchy cookie atop the buttercup.

The peanut butter cup with M&Ms is a colourful piece of bite-sized joy which you can hold between your fingers. I like this one – the crunchy M&Ms contrast well with the soft chocolate and peanut butter.

Even though these are not Oreo, I'm glad that the chocolate sandwich cookies are from Famous Amos, and are not some ridiculous own-brand with tastelessly patterned grooves called 'Poreo' or something.

These peanut butter cups are simply delightful to look at, and make great gifts for friends or children – they're all the same kind of people when it comes to chocolates. However, if you want a peanut butter cup for yourself, I'd much rather buy it from Reese's and slam an Oreo cookie atop it – there is nothing spectacular in terms of taste, here.