Tag: Reviews

Trying a Shampoo Bar for the First Time

Trying a Shampoo Bar for the First Time

In the hipster household, we value sustainability and are acutely aware of the issue of single use plastic packaging.  While trying to help combat those evils, I decided to try a shampoo bar for the first time. They are readily available from many companies now. 

Favourite Gins You Need To Try

Favourite Gins You Need To Try

Gin is the summer tipple of choice here in the Hipster House. This popular alcohol allows for a versatile range of summer cocktails, including (but not limited to) the refreshing gin and tonic. It also comes in a wide range of flavour options to suit 

Whisk Dessert Bar Pop-Up

Whisk Dessert Bar Pop-Up

Last Wednesday, after a bit of a mix up, we headed to the brilliant pop-up Whisk Dessert Bar. Being locals, we had passed the place many times and kept thinking we needed to try it. After all, the idea of a three course dessert seemed genius, at least to CBK and RDJ who have what some might term a mild obsession with sweets. When we found out HAT and his lack of sweet tooth was interested as well, all bets were off and we made a reservation and headed down.

Whisk is the brain child of fellow local, Randon Burns, who is so incredibly welcoming we almost didn’t want to leave. He has filled his team with equally friendly people making the service feel like a super posh restaurant mixed with a visit to a friend’s house. 

The concept behind Whisk is to create a full dessert experience like you would get from fine dining but with the focus on the desserts that are not your typical end of night nosh. In fact, to get the true taste we didn’t have dinner beforehand, obviously that was more driven by CBK and RDJ. The meal started with an amuse-bouche of gooseberry and cream with a biscuit crumble for crunch. The gooseberries were wonderfully tart and offset well with the cream. HAT is not a fan of tart desserts but said that he found the use of gooseberry refreshing. Kicking off the meal with something that was not too heavy on the sweet was an excellent way to ease into a three course dessert adventure. 

Gooseberry and cream amuse-bouche

For your main, you have a choice of one of six delicious desserts. We only wish we could have tried them all and so took an age to make our selections.

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Little Viet Kitchen

Little Viet Kitchen

Originally intending to spend the night dining exclusively on desserts (stay tuned to find out what happens!), we explored more of Chapel Market and stumbled upon the Little Viet Kitchen. We had seen it featured before on food shows and figured we’d give it a 

Brunch Blurbs: Galley

Brunch Blurbs: Galley

Their house made brown sauce made me actually like brown sauce! COLD BREW KOMBUCHA From the outside, Galley can look a bit small, but the floral exterior is hiding a gem of a venue behind it. The modern diner style decor, complete with bar over 

Cheshire Chocolate Porter

Cheshire Chocolate Porter

Produced by: Unicorn Brewery, Type: Porter, ABV: 6%

Do you go coo coo for Cocoa Puffs? Do you like dark, spicy, and delicious beer? Then this porter is for you. As a fan of darker brews, this porter brewed at the unicorn brewery lives up to the chocolate part of its title. It’s not as heavy as what I would deem a traditional porter, but the levity is a great contrast to the richness of the chocolate flavor. It has a malt heavy front, and a smooth chocolate finale that just doesn’t quit. It has the feel of a beer that a genius put a chocolate bar into. Don’t be fooled by the aroma, this has all the chocolate punch the labelling promises. All in all, as a chocolate and beer lover (especially darker beers), this is pretty much as good as it gets. Will be calling all my mates about it to extol it’s virtues while simultaneously trying to find if they will deliver a keg to my flat.

Rating: Would call my mates to tell them about this

Purchased from Marks and Spencer

Hiver. The Honey Beer

Hiver. The Honey Beer

Produced by: Hiver Beers, Type: Blonde, ABV: 4.5% This beer is delicious.  The honey flavour comes through in spades without overpowering the mellow blonde base.  The imbiber is transported to a country meadow to mingle with the majestic British honey bee and their urban cousins.  

St. Patrick’s Day Drink Review

St. Patrick’s Day Drink Review

St. Patrick’s Day was always a family day in the Cold Brew Kombucha house growing up. We didn’t do anything fancy or have a big party, like with many other holidays. Instead we kept it simple, and stuck to our own family traditions. Mom would 

Taproom @ Islington

Taproom @ Islington

Taproom interiorThe full Hipster team went for an outing. To avoid the Sunday scaries, we ventured forth to find a cozy haven. Unfortunately London weather was not cooperating and we stumbled out into a torrential downpour. With our mission of experiencing a fresh atmosphere firmly in mind, while staying slightly dry, we decided to stay somewhat central. This led us into the doors of the Taproom. We were going for a drink, maybe two, which of course turned into a few more and some dinner.  

The Taproom on Upper Street is the perfect local pub, small but great selection, comfortable atmosphere, and simple yet tasty food, specifically pizza, just pizza. Ace's Pizza at Taproom

The space isn’t large but rather than feeling crowded it feels homey. The basement has a space that is often used for comedy shows or private events.

Our chosen day of Sunday was perfect as there is both a deal on cask beers and their tasty pizza menu.

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