Last Tuesday I was invited along to a bloggers meet up hosted by mobile app, Nuffnang X. I use Nuffnang X to keep up to date with the world of food by following my favourite bloggers and last Tuesday, I was finally able to put names to faces (or should I say blogs to faces!).The event was held in the spectacular spacious lobby of the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London. The hotel catering consisted of huge bowls of three super strong cocktails and an array of miniature cakes which instantly caught my eye.
To my shame, I managed to make my way through almost every cake (three in fact) but I did of course, make sure there was plenty left for others before the waitress took them away! The miniature cakes were the quality I would expect from a five start hotel such as this. They were flavoursome and beautifully decorated and neatly displayed on a trendy slab of slate. I particularly enjoyed the rectangular almond slice which tasted similar to the filling of a Bakewell tart. The chocolate one was very nice too and unlike some sponge desserts I’ve had at hotels in the past, there was plenty of cream and chocolate sauce to keep it moist.
The evening was sponsored by Chobani, a range of healthy fat free yoghurts, and we each received a cute Chobani goodie bag containing a tasty pot of Chobani and some cranberry and raisin oat bars baked by Eleanor using none other than fat-free Chobani yoghurt. These oat bars were some of the best I had ever tasted and I ended up eating all three, even though I had planned to share them with Sam (he doesn’t know this!). With only 130 calories per bar this was guilt free snacking at its best. I can’t wait to get my hands on some more Chobani yoghurt so I can have a go at baking (yes, me baking!) them myself.
The other bloggers and I got along so well, we decided to go for dinner at nearby Shrimpy’s after the event. I had always wanted to visit Shrimpy’s as I have heard good things and it certainly lived up to its quirky image. The intimate little restaurant is situated within the disused filling Station at Kings Cross. The place was bustling but we were lucky enough to be squeezed on to a corner table.
After cakes and cocktails I wasn’t terribly hungry so I ordered a bar snack of quesadillas. These had plenty of flavour but it was as if Shrimpy’s had tried too hard to infuse flavour in to this dish. The sheer number of herbs and spices meant I couldn’t quite taste what it was meant to be. I presume it had cheese inside but all I could taste was spice and seasoning.
The rest of the girls ordered burgers priced between £11.50 and £13 and a selection of sides which were an additional £4-5 each. The burgers looked tasty but lacked that all important wow factor and value for money. The service was friendly but I did feel like we were slightly pressured into ordering sides for the table and a second bottle of wine as one first bottle was constantly topped up which meant it was gone in a matter of minutes. Shrimpy’s is a great little place with a fantastic atmosphere but I didn’t think much of the food.
All in all, I had a really lovely evening meeting and chatting to lots of different bloggers whilst indulging in cakes and cocktails. A big thank you to Kelly and Christine for organising the event and we must, MUST meet up again soon!
Living life, loving cake,
H x
We loved meeting you! We’d love to send you, or any of your readers who are interested, some of our authentic strained CHO to experiment with – just drop us an email at christine.fung@chobani.com and we’ll get that organised. Can’t wait to see what you create!
[…] a central hub for events such as the Ice Cream Festival and trendy eateries including Caravan and Shrimpys. When I arrived there appeared to be an unusual new art project which involved clothing garments […]