Tag Archives: ice-cream

Hot on the Highstreet Week 269

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This summer Magnum have set up shop in the centre of Covent Garden offering visitors the chance to design and devour their very own personalised ice-cream.

The concept is proving to be extremely popular with a long queue outside of sweet-toothed fans. The bespoke ice-creams are freshly dipped and topped with treats of your choice. Indulgent, delicious and completely unique.

Choose your own selection of tempting toppings from thousands of flavour combinations from rose petals to black lava sea salt. Magnum’s specially trained Pleasure Makers will then sprinkle your toppings over deliciously luxurious chocolate as it sets. Each ice-cream creation will be perfected with a drizzle of chocolate and the finishing touch – a classic M coin decoration – all for only £4.50.

The Magnum Pleasure Store has been designed with the Magnum Dipping Bar at its core surrounded by a mix of seating and standing areas. It is the perfect pit stop for shoppers, especially in the unusual warm British weather!

I opted for the vanilla ice-cream, dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with rose petals, coconut flakes and pastel pink crunchy balls and finally drizzled with milk chocolate with a white chocolate motif. It was decadent enough to substitute dinner!

The Magnum Pleasure Store is open in Covent Garden until 30 August, more information here.

#MagnumLdn

Pizza Union, King’s Cross

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King’s Cross is booming with new food and beverage outlets. Pizza Union has just joined the crowd, an industrial style restaurant with neon lights and Italian tiled tables. Despite its recent opening the restaurant is already popular with locals. The Pizza Union team pride themselves on offering super speedy service and incredibly fresh food so it is an ideal lunch choice for those working nearby. I took along two of my most discerning foodie friends to try out the extensive pizza menu.

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We barely had time to say hello… Within 5 minutes of ordering, three delicious pizzas were in front of us and the prosecco was poured out. The 12 inch pizzas are thin-crusted and generously covered in the toppings of your choice. We tried a few different varieties, but it was the Calabria that we all fought over. A luxurious pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, mascarpone, n’duja spicy sausage and rocket. It was a lovely combination of creamy cheese and spicy meat, topped with fresh peppery rocket leaves. If you are a meat fan, the pepperoni is also nice with a plentiful scattering of pepperoni. There are accompanying salads, should you desire a little extra greenery, and we also tried the indulgent sauces (creamy garlic is the best), which are ideal for dipping crusts into.

The staff were keen for us to try a pudding pizza. This consists of a warm dough ring filled with Nutella and mascarpone. As you cut the circuit a gooey creamy chocolatey interiors oozes out… we thought we were full, but obviously not as we were soon staring down at a clean empty plate. It is a delicious and simple dessert, but if you have had enough dough for the day opt for a pistachio or salted caramel gelato instead.

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Pizza Union is a cheap and cheerful venue to enjoy great pizza and prosecco, it was the perfect setting for a girl’s evening catching up.

More information about Pizza Union here: www.pizzaunion.com

Perfectionist’s Cafe, Heathrow T2

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Forget Terminal 5, it is Heathrow’s Terminal 2 that impressed me on my last visit to the UK’s biggest airport. Known as ‘The Queen’s Terminal’, this departure area is truly fit for royalty with the finest British luxury brands (the likes of Smythson and Burberry) and a range of innovative cuisine choices to enjoy before your flight.

Recently international airports have been offering more exciting and prestigious restaurants with some of the world’s most famous chefs opening establishments and, since June, passengers travelling through Heathrow Terminal 2 have had access to The Perfectionists’ Cafe, from multi-award winning chef Heston Blumenthal. Heston hopes to offer Brits the chance to satisfy their stomachs with nostalgic British classic, but fast, food that is tasty and good quality. Inspired by the chef’s TV series ‘In Search of Perfection,’ the menu features fun and familiar dishes like Fish and Chips, Pizzas and Burgers.

The futuristic design is instantly recognisable in the smart and shiny new Terminal. We took a seat and quickly ordered a burger and pizza to share. Both arrived within ten minutes, smelling delicious. The burger was disappointing however, with under-flavoured meat and limp salad. Having tasted Heston’s triple cooked chips at his London restaurant ‘Dinner’, I was hoping for a reminder of these crispy delights, but the fries were plain and unimaginative. The pizza was thin crusted and fresh out of the pizza oven, it was topped with rocket and salami and tasted great.

For dessert, diners can design their own ice-cream sundae which is then made in the Nitro Ice-cream Parlour adjoining the restaurant. Served in a biscuit basket and topped with chocolate sauce and popping candy, it is a child’s dream come true. I love that the ice-cream concept is so different to any other desserts you would find in an airport, and this part of the restaurant is definitely the most original.

Flicking through the Heston cookbooks at the table, I could see how much the great chef has had to compromise in this airport scenario – the food certainly isn’t exceptional but it is much better than anything else I spotted on offer. If you haven’t got time for a whole meal I’d recommend popping by for a sweet treat at the Willy Wonka style parlour.

More information here.