Lunch on London Road...Fanoush and Cake R us Reviews!

The weather was deceptively cold. Glorious sunshine but bloody freezing!
This could have been due to the fact that I'm at optimum warmth around 10% of the time. Also I have to remember, this is England, we get a handful of days per year where I'm comfortable enough to leave the coat at home, often only to be caught in some freak hail storm a couple of hours later.

London road - watch out for that rain cloud!

My first stop was Fanoush. Minimal decor inside, one wall displays the menu, the other wall holds an array of upcoming Sheffield nights out, gig dates and even a poster I handed in earlier in the month for my charity cake auction!

glorious salads

The salad bar is adventurous and exciting. There's beetroot, olives, two types of hummus and loads more. You can forget your token limp lettuce supplied with a dodgy kebab from most of the eateries around here. This colourful entourage has salivating in anticipation.

I choose a fanoush wrap with extra halloumi. 10 inches of it! I get a mix of all the salads except tomatoes and onions (not too keen on those raw) and spicy hummus, tahini sauce and mango pickle!

I'd spent three hours climbing and another rummaging through piles of clothes at a clothing exchange so my ravenous-ness was perfectly understandable.
I chose a carrot and orange juice to help ease the monstrosity into my gut.
That first bite confirms what I already knew. It's beautiful. A harmony of flavours from the nutty falafel to the spicy hummus and creamy tahini. Contrasting textures make each mouthful satisfying and leaves me wanting more. Crunchy cabbage, dense falafel and squeaky halloumi. Wow and the mango pickle just joined the party in my mouth. This is amazing.
If anyone thinks vegetarian food is dull, hand them one of these. I'd eat this over a steak at every single opportunity. It's practically all my favourite foods rolled together in a nice warm wrap! How can it not be perfect?

Stomach almost satisfied, I head to cake r us for pudding. As I walk in the friendly assistant instantly recognises me and tells me about their newest recipe - sesame seed puffs as she's remembered I'm lactose intolerant and they're milk-free. Plus wife cakes - my favourite- have just been made. I've got to eat quickly before my stomach realises the vast amount of grub I've already consumed and locks the gate.

I go for both, partly out of politeness and partly because I'm plain greedy.
The wife cake is still warm from the oven. The pastry is flaky, perfect for getting all over your scarf, trousers, hair, everywhere. Good  job I don't mind getting messy.
Secluded within the flaky pastry is the soft opaque filling. Apparently this is melon flavoured but that flavour isn't really jumping out at me. To be fair, no distinct flavour is. Only this vaguely fruity, bland gloop, but that's what makes it special.
It's comforting, like a freshly laundered duvet cover. It wraps around your tongue and makes you happy.

Onto the sesame puff. Denser pastry holds a thick, rich and almost cocoa like, nutty sesame seed filling. It's claggy is reminiscent of peanut butter. It's smokey and slightly bitter. Can't finish it though as my stomach has finally closed the hatch. I don't think I'll physically be able to stand up if I eat another bite.

I'd also recommend the bubble tea here. It's the only place in Sheffield as far as I'm aware that sells it and its an interesting experience, plus its delicious. I'm yet to brave the preserved egg puff. I don't think it's going to happen though. I wasn't tempted in shanghai, I doubt I'll be able to stomach facing the challenging snack over here.

They also do delicious fresh cream cakes!

A variety of Chinese snacks

Super cute faces!!

Delicious whole cakes made to order.

I hope you enjoyed my double feature! I'll be updating my blog more frequently now, so please follow me by clicking the link on the right hand side, or just check back often.

Thanks for reading.

The Blue Moon Cafe

Ah the blue moon cafe, it was my favourite place to eat a few years ago when I was a vegan/vegetarian. I remember it as being very good so decided to give it another visit. Its a beautiful building with loads of light shining through. Theres art on the walls and about 1 million little flyers and postcards on the noticeboard varying from 'have you seen my cat?' to advertisements for yoga classes and also one asking anyone if they know who killed their mother which I find kind of strange but fascinating to read through some of them. It smells quite a bit of patchouli but I suspect thats from the diners. I walk in a bit more and smell delicious food. I'm getting hungry! I look at the menu and it has dishes such as pea soup (gluten free and vegan), aubergine and chickpea bake (vegan) cauliflower, cheese and brown rice bake, hommity pie, a couple of quiches and something with sweet potato. It all looks and smells delicious. I choose the cauliflower dish and ask for some salads to accompany it aswell as a hot chocolate and a orangey chocolatey slice thing. It tastes good! It is seasoned well although quite heavy on the cumin but luckily for me I love cumin! The salads -cous cous, rice and peas, lettuce and tomato- are all good, the rice and cous cous also being heavy on the cumin but it doesn't distract too much from any of the other flavours. Its a good meal. I feel full but not bloated. I sip some of the hot chocolate and taste some of the chocolate slice. Its very very sweet. I think because its vegan they have compensated for the lack of tasty dairyness by adding bucketloads of sugar. I can't manage it all but I'm sure someone with a sweet tooth would love it. Altogether my bill comes to just under £10 which isn't too bad, I'll go again but there are other places in town that would definately give blue moon a run for its money.