Heather T.'s Profile

MADD is a dessert lounge, a concept mostly known in Singapore and Thailand. This is the perfect place for someone with a sweet tooth. It's theme, as you can tell by the name, is mangos. Mango puddings, cakes, dessert bowls, cocktails and smoothies. The front of the shop glows with it's yellowy-orange flesh.

I thought the coffee was spot on. I like it strong and the brownie, was gooey in the middle and crispy on the outside. I'm going to assume anything mango flavoured was even superior. It also has free-wifi and retro games, like Connect Four and Jenga, on every table. The one thing lacking in my eyes, is a bit of the savory stuff. Something bready would hit the spot. But as it's a dessert lounge, that's only my tastebuds talking.

Do say hi to the man with the beard and glasses. That'll probably be Jonathan and he part owns the place. He has some great stories about driving around America. If you can tear him away from talking about mangos, he may tell you about that.

After a photography exhibition at a coffee shop near Madison Avenue, I headed to Korea town with some filmmakers (and the photographer whose show we were at). We all went for kimchee cakes to share and the specialty - soup.

I had the seafood combo which is a combination of long noodles and "dough flakes" which are square flat noodles. I liked the noodles but there was way too much broth and the squid was a bit overcooked. I'd try it again mainly because I was jet lagged and food never tastes quite right when you are out of sorts. So I'll reserve my main judgement for another time but will rate it 3 stars for my experience that night.

I happened to just walk by on a Saturday on the way to MOMA so decided to pop in. Though it was cute and everything looked beautiful, I have to admit I wasn't a fan. I ate a bit of the cake itself (red velvet if you please). A bit dry to be honest but as I couldn't eat that much icing, maybe it would have added more moisture. But for me, it was too much icing and the cake was dry. Not quite what I expected from the mecca of cupcakes. Please don't hate me everyone.

So far my hands down fav for coffee around Union Square (so far) is Joe's Coffee. Too small really to plan to meet someone there but great for a take away. And your 11th coffee is free. As it's near The New School, I'd probably avoid 3 onwards if you're in a hurry. It took almost 15-20 minutes to get an Americano Misto. But it sure was tasty.

Oh and don't forget to bring cash - they don't take cards!

I'm giving it 5 stars just on the selection alone. It closed a bit early for us so when we went for dinner and came back it was closed but I'm still glad to know it exists! Think I'll be a regular customer.

A few years ago a lot of sushi restaurants in the East Village had all their sushi on 50% off. Luckily for us, more than one place still has this amazing deal including the fantastic Village Yokocho in Japan town. We over indulged to point of sleepiness on quality fish and whatnot. Everything was extremely fresh and the shrimp Tempura roll was to die for. We even went for a second order! I can't wait to try the adjacent streets of Thai, Indian and my personal favourite, Ukrainian!

Tried this place last week as it's around the corner from work. There are a few seats upstairs but most people queued at an open window for their sandwich. They are a bit on the pricey end but were surprisingly filling.  

I couldn't resist trying the catfish. Ever since my first encounter with Cajun food and especially after my time in New Orleans, I have to order catfish if I see it on the menu. The sandwich was small but tasty - more coriander than I thought would be good, but it was lovely and fresh with the grilled fish. Yep - all grilled and not fried. Bonus in my books.

I grew up most of my life in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada which is known to most as festival city. Summer is a buzz with festivals celebrating food, comedy, theatre, music, cars - you name it, Edmonton has it. Despite this plethora of festivals on offer, I have been to relatively few of them which made my trip to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival my first visit ever.

Normally the festival experience starts with colours. People come down for 6 in the morning where they are alloted a number and are grouped with 25 other people. Once the numbers are allocated, one group at a time are allowed to walk (not run or god forbid, skip) down the hill and place their tarp down in front of the main stage. This is then their spot for the the rest of the day.

For me the festival didn't start until well into the evening at stage 6. This is where workshops are on throughout the day. I, being a newbie to this folk festival, was confused why they would have a workshop on a dedicated stage. Were they going to teach us to sing? Should I have brought a guitar?

I soon found out how wrong I was. Workshops are where the festival brings together different artists who are performing throughout the weekend to basically jam. So we had the pleasure of seeing the group dubbed "Talkin' About My Generation" made up of The Waifs, Patrick Watson (without the rest of his group The Wooden Arms), Lucas Chaisson and Kate Reid, take to the stage.

After sampling the festival food (the Indian food stall was supurb) and watching the latern parade, we joined our friends on the hill by the main stage to catch a bit of Calexaco. I heard them back in May at ATP in Minehead. I wasn't overly impressed by them then but maybe the indoor Butlins venue wasn't the best to hear them in. Out under the stars, their Mexican inspired spread an air of romance over the hill and more than one person in our group commented on how cute the lead singer, Joey Burns, was.

Though I only caught a part of the day, as a first experience, I can see why this is such a popular festival. I'll be back tomorrow to catch the wonderful Sarah Harmer who I've been listening to for the past 9 years or so. Now that I've stuck my toe in, there's no going back.

During a recent visit to Cardiff, I was told I wouldn't have truely had a Cardiff experience unless I ended my evening in Chip Alley. We hit the street at 2 am and Chip Alley was right. There was more than half a dozen shops with various chips on offer but which were the best? After a few disagreements from my Welsh hosts, it was decided that the two best shops for chips were Dorothy's and 6 Fingers (it's actually called Capital Takeaway but supposedly the owner/ a worker has 6 fingers on one hand, hence the nickname). In a little bout of midnight fun we called forth a chip off.

So first up is Dorothy's. Dorothy's has doors on either side with two counters so that double the people can enjoy their chips on offer. One of our group got chips with cheese and mayo. As I can't eat cheese, I had to have one from the bottom of the pile. I found them to be quite soft and a bit mealy in texture on the inside. We all tried one without cheese and the verdict was: they're OK.

Next up...Six Fingers. The chips were hot and crisp but not too hot so no tongues or mouth roofs were harmed in the conduction of this chip off. The insides were cooked to perfection and still had a fluffy inside. They did have a touch of salt and vinegar on them so there were comments that it would make them taste better. As I was more convinced by the texture than the taste, we delegated Jamie to have a chip from each with the addition of some cheese since Dorothy's was covered in the stuff. Jamie's verdict came back resoundingly in favour of Six Fingers.

Our true Dorothy's fan didn't want to admit it, but Six Fingers did make the superior chip. She is convinced that it was a one off but for my Cardiff experience, Six Fingers wins the 1st annual Cardiff Chip Off.

This is a little deli that caters to your Italian craving without skimping on quite English choices like egg and chips. Tasty and fast.