Instagram story viewer> @constralu> Posts

constralu

@constralu

673

followers

654

following

🐢 & 🐚 (sometimes ✌️)
✨ Home made food and restaurant reviews ✨
💌 DM to collab / invite or just say hi 👋
📍: 🇬🇧 & 🇲🇾

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

🍓 Strawberry Lemon Yuzu Tart 🍓

Big sweet juicy strawberries in stores everywhere is such a British summer vibe for me 💕 I had to take advantage of the Berry season and make this strawberry lemon yuzu tart ✨ A super simple tart, it’s made with a shortcrust pastry base, and filled with lemon and yuzu curd, with yuzu for some bitterness to round out the tartness of the lemon 🍋

This is then topped with whipped double cream and strawberries, and dusted with icing sugar 🍓This dessert was made as a contribution to the #theberrybestcollab hosted by @kitchenfulstories and @karen.t.ology - I’ve had such a blast getting to know so many amazing people in the community including @cravingthis1 and @glutenfree_phd (who is also a plant and gardening guru 🌱) Go check out their instagrams for some fantastic food posts 😍

Looking forward to looking at everyone’s contributions as well! 💕

#theberrybestcollab #strawberry #strawberrytarts #londoncakes #desserts #ESEAeats #londondesserts #yum #dessertsofinstagram #baking #londonfoodblog #ukfoodbloggers #londonfoodblogger #foodies #londoneats #tasty #foodporn #baking #bake #foodiesofinstagram #bakersofinstagram #homebaker #asiandessert #subtleasianbakes #subtleasianbaking #sweettreats #homebaking #homecooking #homemade taken in London, United Kingdom by @constralu

282

75

5 years ago

✨Four seasons restaurant 文兴酒家review ✨

We finally took the chance to use our voucher from the @lingoinn cooking and treated ourselves to an amazing dinner at @fourseasons_uk in @chinatownlondon ! Four seasons is one of my favourite Chinese restaurants in London, with some of the best roast duck, rivalled by mandarin kitchen and royal China!

We went to the Gerrard street store (the middle one always as somehow we think it’s the best one 😂 iykyk) and got so much food! 🤤

We got a whole roast duck (of course 🙌), a portion of roast pork, the starters platter, braised crab Yee melon, Japanese tofu with enoki mushrooms, and stir fried long beans in XO mince ✨ The food as always was so good 😍 the duck fat perfectly rendered, nice crispy cracklings over the roast pork paired with the tart mustard, and big juicy ribs which came with the starter platter!! 💕 The highlight for us though was the crab Yee mein - Yee mein had a great texture and with generous amounts of crab meat, and was good even the next day! 👌

We ordered way too much food so this ended up being lunch as well the following day 😂 Our total came to about £65 after 50% off but it was so much good food that we would definitely have been happy to pay full price too 😀

📍12 Gerard Street, Chinatown London W1D 5PR

#roastpork #roastduck #noodles #cantonesefood #chinatown #chinatownlondon #ESEAeats #asianfood #chinesefood #foodiesoflondon #foodiesofinstagram #subtleasianeats #londonfoodies #foodblogger #londoneats #foodporn #ukfoodie #ukfoodblog #ukfoodblogger #londonfoodblog #londonrestaurant #londonrestaurantguide #restaurantreview #eatingout #londoneats #londonrestaurants #review #dineout #eatinguplondon #londonfoodguide taken in Four Seasons by @constralu

287

32

5 years ago

🍚 Steamed spare ribs in black bean sauce (豆豉蒸排骨) 🍚

A classic dim sum dish that also makes for a simple and hearty dinner, steamed black bean spare ribs is surprisingly easy to make! ✨ After a long week, it was the perfect food to make.

All that’s needed is to marinate chopped spare ribs in minced garlic, ginger, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and most importantly, fermented black beans, then top it with some chopped chillis and steam for at least 20 minutes before garnishing with green onions! 🙌 We had this over rice for a simple weeknight dinner but these ribs are good just on their own too!

A super simple dinner for days where standing over a hot stove feels like too much 😂

#food #rice #blackbeanspareribs #londonfood #asianfood #ESEAeats #chinesedishes #chinesefood #asianculture #ribs #dimsum #londonfoodreview #healthyeating #whatsfordinner #deliciousness #asianfoodblogger #londonfoodies #foodblogger #foodies #eatyourfeed #foodpics #londonfoodblog #homecooking #homecook #ukfood #ukfoodblogger #ukfoodie #subtleasianeats #subtleasiancooking #londonfoodie taken in London, United Kingdom by @constralu

293

32

5 years ago

🐷 Bossam (보쌈) 🐷

While it doesn’t sound the most exciting, bossam 보쌈 (Korean boiled pork wrapped with lettuce or picked cabbage leaf) is one of my favourite foods and still super flavourful and fragrant! 🍖 boiled with brown sugar, onions, ginger, garlic, spring onion knots, and doenjang 된장 (Korean fermented soybean paste) - you get super tender, flavourful slices of pork with soft melt in your mouth fat that pairs perfectly with crisp lettuce and spicy ssamjang 쌈장 (flavoured fermented soybean paste) 🥬

As we wanted something light and refreshing we decided to pair this with marinated fish sauce chicken wings made in the air fryer and smacked cucumber 🥒 for a great sharing style dinner! ✨

#food #ssamjang #bossam #chickenwings #chicken #londonfood #asianfood #ESEAeats #koreanfood #kimchi #whatsfordinner #deliciousness #londonfoodie #foodblogger #foodies #eatyourfeed #foodpics #londonfoodblog #homecooking #homecook #subtleasiancooking #subtleasianeats #airfryer #airfry #airfryerrecipes #airfryercooking #ukfoodblog #ukfoodie #ukfoodblogger #londonfoodguide taken in London, United Kingdom by @constralu

306

23

5 years ago

🍪 Blondies Kitchen Review 🍪

Over the weekend I got a @blondieskitchen delivery from my amazing colleague who got us the bite size box of minis and I couldn’t be more grateful not just for the cookies but also for working with such a fantastic team! 💕 I had been raving about Blondies kitchen since trying the movie night nuggets when 🐚 got them from work earlier in the year and I got hooked on the dipping sauces they came with (although I felt like the sauce given needed to be at least twice the size as we ran out so quickly!) 😂

The minis came in the classic flavours - vanilla with a kinder bar, white chocolate biscoff, dark chocolate sea salt, and classic milk chocolate 🍫 They were crisp around the edge with chewy centres - and so so addictive! ✨ we loved the white chocolate biscoff ones the most, which were vanilla white chocolate chip cookies topped with biscoff spread.

They were so delicious and because they were mini they were deceptively moreish so they were finished way too quickly 😭 will definitely be ordering soon 😍

#londonfood #cookies #kinderbueno #cookie #dessertsofinstagram #sweattreats #biscoff #dessertlover #londonrestaurants #londonrestaurant #eatyourfeed #sweettooth #chocolate #deliciousness #londonrestaurantguide #restaurantreview #restaurantstories #londonfoodies #ukfoodblogger #ukfoodies #eatingout #londoneats #londonrestaurants #review #londoneats #ukfood #foodiesofinstagram #dineout #londoneats #londonfoodguide taken in London, United Kingdom by @constralu

260

30

5 years ago

🍅 Tteokbokki 떡볶이 with chicken karaage & fried fish cakes 🍅

For dinner tonight we had the classic Korean street food, tteokbokki - which are gooey, chewy rice cakes stir fried in a spicy umami sauce, sometimes cooked with Korean fish cakes (eomuk 어묵) and served with all sorts of sides ✨🙌

For me, the key to good tteokbokki is cooking it in a broth of dried anchovies, katsuoboshi (dried shaved tuna) and dried kelp 🐟 cooking it in broth before adding the gochujang (고추장 - Korean red chilli pepper paste), soy sauce, sugar, and minced garlic 🌶 I love adding Korean fish cakes to the soup as well, to give that added umami to the sauce.

We had this with air fried chicken karaage and some fish cakes which mopped up the sauce well and provided a crunchy texture to contrast the chewy rice cakes! 🌾

#food #tteokbokki #ricecakes #chickenkaraage #chicken #londonfood #asianfood #ESEAeats #koreanfood #fishcakes #whatsfordinner #deliciousness #londonfoodie #foodblogger #foodies #eatyourfeed #foodpics #londonfoodblog #homecooking #homecook #subtleasiancooking #subtleasianeats #airfryer #airfry #airfryerrecipes #airfryercooking #ukfoodblog #ukfoodie #ukfoodblogger #londonfoodguide taken in London, United Kingdom by @constralu

328

36

5 years ago

🥟 Lotus Garden 金满楼 Dim Sum Review 🥟

My favourite Sunday ritual has to be going for dim sum and ordering round after round of dim sum and tea refills while catching up! 🍵 I especially miss the dim sum cart ladies who come around your tables back in Asia with stacks of steaming hot dumplings and bao or platters of baked and fried items that tempt you to order more even if you’re super full 😂

Last weekend ✌️and I went to @lotusgardenchinatown in @chinatownlondon with @lazybrioche and another friend for dim sum and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was! (My usual favourite is normally Sai kei in Greenwich) We enjoyed fast service, good quality dim sum with generous fillings, both the har gau (虾饺) and siu mai (烧卖) was filled with large chunks of prawn with a nice thin skin! Highlights were the XO turnip cakes which were fragrantly fried with dried shrimps that had us ordering seconds and the custard bun (流沙包) that had the perfect runny salted egg yolk filling (➡️Swipe right to see the ooze). Otherwise, the soup dumplings (小笼包) and egg tarts were okay, I’ve had better at other places but not bad, and the cheung fun (肠粉) was perfectly silky and smooth, which really hit the spot.

Overall, it’s a pretty good dim sum place with great value for money in central london and speedy service. Would definitely come again 🙌

▪️Steamed dim sum items we got (such as har gau, siu mai, baos) ranged between £3.50 - £4
▪️XO stir fried turnip cake was £4.80
▪️Plain cheung fun with the sesame and peanut sauce was £4

In total we ordered about 16 dishes between 4 of us and it was £74.90, including tea and service.

📍Lotus Garden, 15A Gerrard Street, London W1D 8JD

#dimsum #dumplings #eggtarts #brunch #chinatown #chinatownlondon #ESEAeats #asianfood #chinesefood #foodiesoflondon #foodiesofinstagram #subtleasianeats #londonfoodies #foodblogger #londoneats #foodporn #ukfoodie #ukfoodblog #ukfoodblogger #londonfoodblog #londonrestaurant #londonrestaurantguide #restaurantreview #eatingout #londoneats #londonrestaurants #review #dineout #eatinguplondon #londonfoodguide taken in Lotus Garden Chinatown London by @constralu

294

35

5 years ago

🐉 Dragon Boat Festival Sticky Rice Dumplings (粽子) 🐉

Dragon boat festival (端午节) is celebrated every year on the 5th day of the 5th month in the Chinese calendar, where we celebrate by attending dragon boat races or eating / making zong zi (粽子), sticky rice dumplings filled with a variety of fillings and folded into a triangle (swipe right!) 🌾

As my dad told me when I was younger, legend has it that these dumplings were made to commemorate the death of beloved poet Qu Yuan (屈原) who committed suicide in a river after being accused of treason, and while the villagers could not save him, they made these sticky rice dumplings and threw them into the river so they would not eat his body!

Our grandma used to make dozens of these every year and give them out to all our friends and relatives, unfortunately this year, being away from home we were unable to have this and so made do with buying some from @tiantianmarket nearby! There are a wide variety of zong zi eaten across different communities like Hokkien bak zhang (肉粽) filled with pork belly and salted egg yolk (as pictured), nyonya zong made with blue rice, Cantonese gan shui zong (碱水粽) filled with red bean, and many others!

But nothing beats the ones my grandma used to make 💕

#food #dumplings #ricedumpling #porkbelly #zongzi #bakzhang #dragonboatfestival #zong #londonfood #asianfood #ESEAeats #chinesefood #chinese #whatsfordinner #deliciousness #londonfoodie #foodblogger #foodies #eatyourfeed #foodpics #londonfoodblog #homecooking #homecook #subtleasiancooking #subtleasianeats #ukfoodblog #ukfoodie #ukfoodblogger #londonfoodguide #foodhistory taken in London, United Kingdom by @constralu

322

31

5 years ago

🍚 Rice with 3 dishes (三菜无汤) / Bird Takeaway review 🐔

As a Friday treat we wanted to get a takeaway, and so decided to order from @bird_restaurant in Canary Wharf. 🐔 We were super excited to try the fried chicken after seeing the new menu on deliveroo 😮 We got the team goals for 2 (consisting of 2 thighs, 8 wings, a portion of chicken scraps, fries and kaleslaw) for £25 - unfortunately it was one of the most disappointing takeaways I’ve had in a while! While crunchy, the chicken was tasteless and dry, while the wings just tasted old (sort of like when old fried chicken has been reheated a bunch) 😕 not to mention, we didn’t get the sauces we ordered 🤷

While the wings couldn’t be salvaged - we decided to make the most of it and save the fried chicken thighs and scraps to make sweet and sour chicken (咕噜肉)! 🍅 The sweet & sour sauce paired with lightly stir fried onions was able to coat the bland chicken and give it some flavour 🤗 We paired this with rice, steamed eggs (水蒸蛋), and some smacked cucumbers (拍黄瓜) to add some cool freshness to our meal given the hot day! 🥒 (➡️ Swipe right for close ups of the dishes)

I hate wasting food, so any chance I can take to salvage food is still a win for me 🙌

#food #rice #sweetandsourchicken #londonfood #asianfood #ESEAeats #chinesedishes #chinesefood #asianculture #foodhistory #chicken #londonfoodreview #healthyeating #whatsfordinner #deliciousness #asianfoodblogger #londonfoodies #foodblogger #foodies #eatyourfeed #foodpics #londonfoodblog #homecooking #homecook #ukfood #ukfoodblogger #ukfoodie #subtleasianeats #subtleasiancooking #londonfoodie taken in London, United Kingdom by @constralu

269

16

5 years ago

🍦 Gelupo Home Delivery Review 🍦

Nothing beats ice cream on a hot day and what better than some creamy gelato from @gelupogelato ☀️ I love that gelupo delivers so you can have the most amazing gelato in the comfort of your own home 🏠

We got our favourite ricotta sour cherry flavour 🍒 it is a great blend of creamy and subtly nutty ricotta gelato, and the tart sour cherry perfectly cuts through the richness of the ricotta 😍 Perfect for a hot summers day!

Prices have increased a little compared to when they first started doing deliveries in 2020 (where 1 box was £11) but it’s still well worth it for such delicious gelato 🍨

▪️Half litre of ricotta sour cherry - £14.90 (£4.50 shipping)

📍Delivery

#londonfood #gelato #icecream #subtleasianeats #dessertsofinstagram #finedining #ricotta #dessertlover #londonrestaurants #londonrestaurant #eatyourfeed #sweettooth #italiangelato #deliciousness #londonrestaurantguide #restaurantreview #restaurantstories #londonfoodies #ukfoodblogger #ukfoodies #eatingout #londoneats #londonrestaurants #review #londoneats #ukfood #foodiesofinstagram #dineout #londoneats #londonfoodguide taken in GELUPO by @constralu

194

7

5 years ago

🐔 Chicken Karaage Bao 🐔

Everyone’s seen these bao buns all over Instagram and street food markets everywhere but did you know they actually descended from traditional Chinese Gua Bao (割包), which were the same fluffy split bao buns but typically were filled tender braised pork belly (usually 东坡肉 or 红烧肉) and it was in the early 2000s that these began to be popularised in western cultures and filled with other fillings such as chicken karaage or even duck 🦆

How food evolves when people of different cultures are introduced into society together has always been something that intrigues me as it’s fascinating how cultures and food evolve hand in hand ✨ As with these chicken karaage bao buns, before I lived in London I had only ever had the traditional Chinese version with tender braised pork. 🐷

But when you’re short on time, air fried chicken karaage ones works a treat! 🙌 And I can’t wait to find time to make tender braised pork belly for traditional gua bao 😊

#food #bao #hiratabun #steamedbun #japanesefood #friedchicken #chickenkaraage #comfortfood #londonfood #asianfood #ESEAeats #chinesefood #chinese #whatsfordinner #deliciousness #londonfoodie #foodblogger #foodies #eatyourfeed #foodpics #londonfoodblog #homecooking #homecook #subtleasiancooking #subtleasianeats #ukfoodblog #ukfoodie #ukfoodblogger #londonfoodguide #foodhistory taken in London, United Kingdom by @constralu

269

30

5 years ago

✨ Thịt kho tàu inspired caramelised pork belly & Vietnamese spring rolls✨

There’s nothing better to me than a bowl of steaming warm rice, for 🐚 too, his first request after being away a week was also whether we could have some rice for dinner 🍚😂 As I was craving Vietnamese food, we decided to make an air fry some Vietnamese spring rolls (chả giò), filled with rice noodles, wood ear and shiitake mushrooms, minced pork, minced ginger, garlic, and spring onions (➡️ Swipe right for what goes in them!)

The highlight of the dish though was the caramelised pork belly, which I had marinated in minced garlic, shallots, and fish sauce, before quickly stir frying in caramelised sugar in a pan. 🐷 Like Thịt kho tàu this was then braised in coconut water until the liquid has reduced, however I omitted the eggs for this occasion and reduced this further to get a sticky caramel consistency which I also drizzled over the rice!

The result is a tender, fragrant pork dish with a savoury and subtly sweet sauce perfect for pairing with a steaming bowl of rice! 🤤 The chả giò also pairs nicely to give a little crunch and difference in texture to the meal 😁will definitely have to make this with quail eggs next time!

#food #braisedpork #pork #comfortfood #londonfood #asianfood #ESEAeats #vietnamesefood #springrolls #rice #whatsfordinner #deliciousness #londonfoodie #foodblogger #foodies #eatyourfeed #foodpics #londonfoodblog #homecooking #homecook #subtleasiancooking #subtleasianeats #airfryer #airfry #airfryerrecipes #airfryercooking #ukfoodblog #ukfoodie #ukfoodblogger #londonfoodguide taken in London, United Kingdom by @constralu

279

36

5 years ago