An afternoon tea with an Indian twist is what 3 Oceans provides! Gone away are the traditional scones and in come the vegetable samosas!

It made a refreshing change to have many savoury items and less of the sweet ones! Instead of small finger sandwiches, we were given two whole sandwiches, cut into triangles! The cheese and tomato one had thick slices of cheese and was on granary bread. The egg mayonnaise one was made with wholemeal bread! There were the options also to have smoked salmon, prawn and ham sandwiches, but we decided just to have the cheese and egg ones.

For the Indian snacks, we were given vegetable samosas, crispy bhajia and kachori. None of these were greasy or oily and all had a mild spice level! The vegetable samosas had a crispy pastry and were filled with mashed vegetables. The kachori also had a similar sort of a filling but were made with a batter outer rather than pastry. The bhajias were sliced potatoes cooked in batter too! All were very moreish and went well with the mint, yoghurt chutney and the tamarind chutney!

As if that wasn’t all filling enough, there were also the chocolate based desserts! There was a rich chocolate cake and also a brownie style cake. Both were very rich and had pieces of nuts in them!

3 Oceans had a lot of teas to choose from; the list spread over two pages! I had the lychee red tea which was a black tea! It had a wonderful sweet subtle fruity flavour! The tea was served by the pot! It was really nice that the staff did not mind giving us additional pots of hot water to replenish the tea through our meal!

The restaurant area was clean and spacious! There were cream cushioned high backed chairs and dark wooden tables. It also has a separate bar area.

The staff were absolutely fantastic and so friendly! They made sure everything was to our liking all the time that we were dining here. It made us feel that we were getting such personal service and made us enjoy our time at 3 Oceans. Even though there was a private event going to happen that evening, the staff in no way made us rush. They let us take our time and did not make us feel uncomfortable or that we were getting in their way!

3 Oceans is a lovely friendly place to go to, with great attention paid to the food and service!

3 Oceans, 4 Lodge Lane, Off North Finchley High Road, London, N12 8JR

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The Highgate Pantry has a big display of tempting sweet things in its window! Cupcakes, fruit tarts, macaroons, fruit crumble slices, egg custards and the list goes on!

An afternoon filled with tea, cake and the girls brought us to this bakery! We were spoilt for choice so we decided that the only way around that was to pick a few cakes and to share them!

Two fruit tarts, one lemon and one cherry, and a plum crumble slice were our final choices! The cherry tart had plump cherries bursting with flavour. The lemon tart was tangy but also sweet! Both had good pastry! Big slices of plums mixed with a cake like filling made up the crumble slice. It would have been nice to have had a little more crumble topping.

The tea was served by the cup. The English Breakfast tea was a good accompaniment to the cakes!

The staff were friendly and did not rush us. The Highgate Pantry also serves hot dishes such as jacket potatoes and it also does various bakes, pastries and sandwiches.

The interior of The Highgate Pantry is quite small which means that the tables are close together. Also, customers queuing for takeaway items are waiting around the seating area. This is a sweet little shop but would definitely benefit by having a larger seating area.

The Highgate Pantry, 57 Highgate High Street, London, N6 5JX

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Just a few minutes away from Old Street tube station, down a small side street, is GRAB Thai Street Kitchen! GRAB opened its doors in the summer but it has taken me a few months to finally go visit!

Fresh, tasty, authentic, quality Thai food is what GRAB is all about! The decor is based on creating a scene from the Bangkok markets! Big lightbulbs hanging from coloured wire from the ceiling and wooden tables with small plastic stools make up the casual dining area.

Just inside the entrance are the open fridges, with boxes of salads, iced coffees and drinks. Next to this, is the unit with the tubes of hot food, all neatly labelled!

As soon as we entered GRAB, we were welcomed by the friendly staff! They asked us if we had been here before or if it was our first time! After stating that we were newcomers, the staff explained that all the hot food was ready to go, except for the curries.

For the curries, we just needed to choose the type of rice (white or brown jasmine) and then bring it to the counter for it to be topped with the curry of our choice! I wasn’t sure if the curry would be too spicy but the staff were more than happy to give me a sample of it before I ordered!

The green curry was slightly spicy so I went for the Pad Thai Crispy Tofu! It was great that this came in a mini size as well as regular. The mini portion was perfect and surprisingly filling. It had plenty of rice noodles, tenderstem broccoli, egg, crispy tofu, coriander, beansprouts, crushed peanuts, all topped off with a wedge of lime! Just writing about it now makes my mouth water! The Pad Thai was absolutely delicious! All the flavours were well balanced and had the right sweet and sour tastes going on! It was easy to tell that this food had no additives and no MSG in it!

Instead of the Thai iced coffee and Thai milk tea, freshly squeezed carrot and apple juice was had! A very refreshing drink and there was a slight heat to it due to the addition of some fresh ginger!

GRAB Thai Street Kitchen was extremely busy not only during the lunchtime hours but well into the afternoon! Even so, the staff were so efficient with their service that they seemed to get through the queues of customers very swiftly.

The hot and cold food displays were constantly being refilled with all the freshly cooked food from the kitchen downstairs!  GRAB provides a casual eating experience with diners happily munching on their pots of food standing up, when all the seats were taken!

Even though I was definitely full, I was still intrigued and tempted by other items on the menu, especially the Mushroom Fresh Rolls! So, I decided to have these and the Mango and Coconut rice dessert as a takeaway order, to have at home in the evening!

The Mushroom Fresh Rolls were a big portion of three rice wraps with a chilli and lime dip. The rolls were filled with Chinese mushrooms, cucumber, carrot, lettuce and rice vermicelli. The rolls were jam packed with the fillings and even without the dipping sauce, they tasted wonderful!

The sweet treat had fresh slices of mango topped with sesame seeds! The coconut sticky rice was not too sweet and it had a subtle flavour!

All of the food at GRAB was perfect and it’s going to be difficult to resist going to this Thai Street Kitchen on a regular basis! GRAB has hit the nail on the head with its great food, fantastic friendly staff, clean cafe and relaxed atmosphere!

Speaking to one of the owners before I left, I was told that they had plans to expand the dining area so that it would accommodate more people. They were also going to try and have seasonal specials on the menu! It was nice to see that all the hard work and effort of the management and staff at GRAB was paying off! All the long hours and many months of planning was making this restaurant a success!

GRAB definitely had their regular loyal customers and it’s easy to see why! It’s great that a good honest business has got off the ground and I’m sure that GRAB Thai Kitchen will continue to thrive!

GRAB Thai Street Kitchen, 5 Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4AQ

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