REVIEW : VIDA E CAFFE'S CHOCOLATE FRIO (BAGATELLE MALL)

Yet another review, 

so let's get started, some weeks back during the study break, I went to Bagatelle with some friends to have lunch, so I wanted to do a quick review of Vida E Caffé which is a very famous Café in Mauritius found in Bagatelle Mall, Grand Baie, La Croisette and Londay Way supermarket. More information can be found on the Café's Facebook .

As drink, I ordered the usual which is also my favorite, Chocolate Frio which is consisted of blended ice, lindt chocolate and milk. Personally I hate drinking stuffs that contain milk but this one is the bomb. It costs Rs 130 and totally worth the money.

Here is a picture of what it looks like :

Yummmmmmmmmmmmy, I feel like eating my screen right now haha. When you are drinking it you feel the crushed chocolate bites which is really good. So delicious

These are the specific chocolate they give you as extras with every drink you buy. I absolutely love this chocolate. You only get one chocolate per drink, these chocolates are only for the purpose of the picture of course.

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The verdict :

The service : 10/10 

The atmosphere : 10/10

The drink : 10/10 

Shona

REVIEW : AH YON SNACK

Hello everyone,

sorry for being so late in doing some more reviews, assignments and group works' been taking my time these past few weeks. Today i'll be reviewing Ah-Yon Snack which has recently been opened at Labourdonnais street in Port Louis. It is a small chinese snack with delicious snacks like fried "wonton", Oeuf Roti (Egg roti), Ahkien and so much more. 

My mom and I, were looking for something cheap and something that would be enough to fill our belly haha. So Ah-Yon snack has fried noodles for only Rs 35 which is crazily cheap given that most snacks or even restaurants sell fried noodles for about Rs 70-85 which is still affordable yet sometimes a bit expensive if you are looking for something to eat under Rs 100. Without forgetting that the kind lady at Ah-Yon snack offered my mom and I, soups along with our fried noodles.

Here is a picture of the snack from the outside :

Could not take a picture of the inside on that particular day as we were in a hurry to get home haha ;)

The fried noodles were packed in a plastic bag as I live near the snack but the food was very well packed

A rather clear picture of the shredded chicken that was delicious i have to admit !!

The picture of the soup that we got as extras, the pictures are not doing justice to the quantity that we received, but it was more than enough for both my mother and I.

So here is how much you really get, see there is so muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuch. Totally worth the Rs 35.

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The verdict *drum rolls*

The service : 10/10 (They are so kind and always have a smile on their face and gave us the soups as extras)

The atmosphere : 10/10 (Pleasant, even if we did not spend too much time there, as it only took them 5 minutes or so to prepare the fried noodle)

The food : 10/10 (Oh my god, so delicious that i could keep on licking my fingers!)

If ever you are near Labourdonnais street, do look out for Ah Yon snack, you won't be deceived i promise ;) and don't forget to share your opinion as well in the comment section below, i would love to hear about your experience there!

Shona

My experience on Twitter

It took me two to three days to experience Twitter well for understanding retweets, because I normally do not retweet tweets of other people on Twitter at all, I usually just tweet about random stuffs I do throughout my day or sometimes I do not tweet at all. During the past three days, I discovered that I can find interesting tweets by clicking on the hashtags, as my topic is about food, I went through practically every hashtags I could think of, #foodreviews, #foodlovers, #food and #foodie and I found so many interesting tweets that is linked to my blog’s topic. Hashtag clearly makes the use of twitter easier. There are so many tweets from people who love food that is linked to interesting articles and also what I found is great is that the sometimes people attach their blog in their tweet to promote their blog in a way. 

Photo : Printscreen from Twitter

This retweet is related to one of the reviews I did on chocolate chip cookies from Montréal Café on my blog and by far this cookie seems so much more delicious whereas the one I reviewed seemed delicious but was too sweet for my liking. I believe that the picture attached to the retweet will attract the attention of food lovers to my blog.

Photo : Printscreen from Twitter

This retweet is a motivation for food lovers/foodie like me who sometimes do not want to wake up in the morning, but in the end when I think about the food that is waiting for me which is normally breakfast, it makes it all worth it. In a food lover’s life, food has a very important place which in a way becomes his/her motivation when they have to get up or when they are feeling lazy.

Photo : Printscreen from Twitter

These two tweets about the articles found on my blog, are by far the most interesting articles online because I feel like I know a lot about shaved ice and bubble tea, and I can go on talking about these two articles, specially bubble tea because I have tried every bubble tea that exists in Mauritius so far and the shaved ice dessert, I tried it so many times and all the different flavors that exist. Also, these two articles have many information including my very own opinion for people who like me would love to discover this new beverage called bubble tea and this new desert that is shaved ice which is one of the famous one so far in Mauritius because Mauritians have never experienced this type of desert.

REVIEW : MONTRÉAL CAFE

 Hello, sorry for being MIA (Missing In Action) for so long, was kinda busy with assignments and so on.

So i'm back today with another review, this time I am reviewing the famous Montréal Café found in Rose-Hill. I don't know if you had a chance to go there but if you do, do leave a comment in the comment section and let me know what you ordered and how you found it :)

The atmosphere is wow, by wow i mean it is very cosy and comfortable, here are some pictures of the café and its decor which i find is quite vintage and creative of course :

I ordered the famous cookies that was recommended by the owner, those cookies were at 3 for Rs 100 which i found was a good deal of course as the cookies were rather big and chewy on the inside BUT was too sweet. OH MY GOD! The sweetness of the cookies made me feel nauseous. Some might not share my opinion of course but this is what happened to me it was TOO sweet which made the taste disgusting. I believe if you have a sweet tooth you'll definitely love it but for me it was not a good experience at all.

The cookies ( when the picture was taken i had already eaten one)

The service : 10/10 (they are sweet persons and warmly welcomed me)

The atmosphere : 10/10

The food : 5/10 (unfortunately only because of the cookies)

This is the outside of the café (the picture was taken at night because i forgot to take the picture of the outside when i went there, it looks so beautiful at night ♥ )

Please note that my opinion is my very own and some of you might not have the same opinion as me, so if you had a good experience there, do comment in the comment section, i'd love to hear about it. And if you have any recommendation, do not hesitate, drop a comment ;)

Shona

Creating Generative Value

Article : http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140924-the-biggest-ally-of-gay-rights

Some months or even years ago, being gay was considered as being a sin by so many people especially elders because for them the same sex cannot be in love with each other, they had to be of the opposite sex to be together, to get married and have children. Ellen DeGeneres’s news about being gay in 1997 went viral simply because being gay at that time was considered as being something abnormal, people were having difficulties to accept it. But recently, slowly and surely people are accepting the gays as well as lesbians because I believe they are human beings just like ourselves and they deserve to be treated like a normal human being instead of being treated as if they were rejects of the society. Lgbt community have so much support nowadays from everyone, people are creating association to help protect the lgbt community as well as their rights.

In this article, http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140924-the-biggest-ally-of-gay-rights , it is shown that nowadays, more and more film producers are allocating gay roles in movies and television shows so as to show that not only are the gays or lesbians normal human beings but also kind hearted persons who might help you out if you have a problem more than heterosexual persons. I guess everyone must know the famous television show called “Glee” and also others like Six Feet Under, The Good Wife, Orange Is the New Black and Modern Family, these famous television shows feature gay and lesbian roles to make the lgbt community (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) feel more at ease but also to make the society accept them as they are.

I believe that anyone has the right to show publicly his/her own sexual orientation, if they like the same sex, there is nothing alarming in it, it is normal, it is not our opinions that are going to make them change but sometimes harsh opinions about the lgbt community drive some of them to suicide which is sad. I personally have gay and lesbian friends, but that does not mean I have to criticize their choice about their sexual orientation, it is their problem, as long as they are happy, I am happy. 

Introducing my topic

In the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Philippines and France, there are so MANY food/restaurant reviews blog, where you find all sorts of information you need to know before wanting to visit a particular restaurant. The information are really important due to the fact that there are some people who are very choosy when it comes to choosing restaurants.

I try my very best to deliver my honest reviews about the food and the restaurant itself but sometimes, what comes to my mind is that not everyone will agree with my point of view about the food or restaurant. There might be people who will come and say the contrary of what I am saying but this is why I want people to visit my blog and leave a comment with their opinions about the restaurants or cafes they visited.

The main purpose of my food/restaurant review blog is to help food lovers like me who love to discover new place to have breakfast/lunch/dinner or simply for food lovers who love not only the food but also the atmosphere. Sometimes it is the atmosphere of a restaurant that makes the food more delicious I believe. The idea here is to help people through my experience with different food/restaurants.

What I want is that people get to know what to expect when they will go to this particular restaurant, this is the objective of my blog. I want people to take my experience and then see by themselves if it is the same for them and then come back again to share their thoughts; whether they encountered the same problem as me if a food or restaurant was not worth it or if they actually did enjoy the food/restaurant. 

A blog about restaurants/cafes review? WHY? What is the purpose of all this?

Many might be wondering, why a blog about restaurants/cafes reviews, well, to start one year ago I was looking for reviews about a particular restaurant found in the North of Mauritius, more precisely in Mont-Choisy, named The Sagamore which is an all-American restaurant specialized in American breakfast as well as lunch and dinner. I could not find ANY review about that particular restaurant, I tried my best to look for blogs or even websites talking about the restaurant but I found NONE. I was so disappointed that I thought someday I should maybe create my very OWN blog about restaurant and cafe reviews and help people like myself, who are looking for reviews before going to visit a place for breakfast/lunch/dinner. I personally believe that there are so many people going on the Internet everyday looking for places to go have lunch or dinner but finally do not find any reviews about those places and they end up going to usual places they are used to. I believe that some diversity is needed if you love eating.

Another point to be noted is that, if you are a food lover, you would not like to be disappointed when you go eating somewhere, because somehow you do not want to waste your TIME and MONEY when going to eat somewhere, where the food is not worth it at all. Browsing the Internet and looking for reviews will help you to get a better idea of what is waiting for you if you are choosing a particular place to have breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Given that I am a food lover who loves to discover new places to have lunch mainly, this gave me an idea about creating my own blog where I would not only make you discover new places to eat at but also to share my bad experiences with some restaurants' food that made me sad/disappointed, due to the fact that when I visit a new place to eat at, whether it is a restaurant or small cafe, i have a lot of expectations about the food, the place and the atmosphere. Most of the time I am disappointed during the first visit but while visiting it a second time, sometimes the food gets better or worst.

I do not know if any of you have noticed but I am a big fan of bubble teas but when I get news about a new bubble tea place opening, i get so excited because in Mauritius, there are very few bubble tea places and each of them have a different taste and different specialties and doing such reviews do help people who are looking to try bubble teas but who are unaware of what exactly is a bubble tea.

What does she look like?

© Photo credits to myself (This selfie was taken by myself)

Finally a picture of me, a selfie, though you can find it in a smaller version in the avatar section at the start of my blog. I chose this picture for the simple reason that, this is me, the real me, the foodie part of perksofbeingshona. The fact that I have "Roasted Corn" snacks on me shows that I am ALWAYS surrounded by food whether it is meals or snacks, which clearly shows my passion for eating.

 Well, basically I live for eating good food.

REVIEW : MOY ZHOU CHINESE FOOD

Hello people :)

I'm back after some months with yet another review, this time I am reviewing a "simple" restaurant named MOY ZHOU CHINESE FOOD which is found in Port Louis, more precisely in the Heritage Court at Arsenal Street.

So let's jump right into the menu, we ordered 

1) Sa Ho Fan (Noodle stir fry with eggs, vegetables and chicken)

2) Boiled chicken Wonton 

3) Sao Mai, Niouk Yen and Meat dumpling

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Some pictures of the fast food are as follows :

The outside :

The inside  :

The fact that the restaurant is inside the Heritage Court, makes it more cosy and very peaceful to have lunch there.

The atmosphere is fine with some background sound of a television playing so as to entertain the persons waiting for their food.

So overall, i would rate this restaurant 4/10, i did not really like the food but they do offer a great service, the food came in not more than 5 minutes of waiting which is actually a good thing.

Let me remind you people, this is MY opinion about the food and the restaurant, some might find it the opposite :)

That's it for the review, see you in my next post, and brace youselves MORE posts coming soon ;)

Shona

REVIEW : CUPPA BUBBLETEA

Hello everyone, 

I'm back after one month or so, i apologize for being absent for such a long time, 

today i'll be reviewing  CUPPA BUBBLETEA found in Rose-Hill near the Rose-Hill stadium.

First of all, let me tell you, my friends and I had a lot of difficulty to find out where it is situated as it is find near the Rose-Hill stadium which is quite far from the bus station.

As you all know, I am a big fan of bubble teas, and this love for bubbletea makes me want to try each and every bubbletea shops found in our small country, Mauritius.

So let's begin with the reviewing, i ordered the PEACH FRUIT TEA (Jasmine Green Tea) overall i was not that pleased with the taste of the bubbletea, i was rather disappointed and also the tapioca pearls were not that chewy as i would expect them to be. The tapioca pearls were kind of falling apart when i was chewing them, they were not that "yummy", i would give it a 5/10.

I think the quality of the bubbletea at CUPPA will change for sure as they have recently opened, ( Practice makes perfect, right? ;) 

Let me remind everyone of you that this is MY opinion about the bubbletea, someone else could find it tasty!!

BUT what i really loved there, is the fact that you can either order a regular (500ml) or a Large (700ml), both cost Rs 69 and Rs 79 respectively which is a good price range.

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UPDATE : 24/08/14 : I am definitely giving CUPPA now a 10/10, the taste of the bubbleteas has improved and really surprised me, they are doing a great job, do go check this fabulous bubbletea shop when you are in Rose-Hill or near.

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Here are some pictures i took at the CUPPA BUBBLETEA, here's a bit how it is inside, couldn't take more pictures.

This is what the plastic cup looks like, this is the large one (700ml) 

Here are the tapioca pearl 

REVIEW : HI BUBBLE TEA & FRIED CHICKEN

Good evening everyone,

Today i accompanied a friend to Rose-Hill, as he had to do some printing stuffs, so i seized that occasion to go get myself a drink at Hi Bubble Tea & Fried Chicken, which originally sells Bubblea Tea; it is a drink with Tapioca pearls which is originated from Taiwan. I chose to take a Passion Fruit Bubble Tea with Tapioca Pearls since the owner told me it is the best seller so far, i said "Why not?". I do not regret spending my Rs 69 on it. It is worth the price!

As i'm a huge Bubble Tea lover, i will definitely give it a 10/10

Sorry for the bad quality of the pictures :(

This is how it looks like :

It is sealed with an Angry Bird sticker, I totally am in love with the packaging :)

This is how the Tapioca Pearls look like! They are like marshmallows. I love eating them while drinking my Bubble Tea!

So that's it for today. 

Take care and see you guys next time :)

Shona

REVIEW : SNOWOW

Hi ♥

I hope everyone reading my blog is fine and having a nice start of the weekend :D

Today i'll be reviewing a place called SnoWow, which is found in Port Louis. You'll find mainly deserts there, and the deserts are yummy. Yesterday after having lunch, a friend of mine said why don't we go and have a desert at SnoWow, since we never got to go there and only heard of it from friends.

The atmosphere is awesome, no noises just people eating, talking and laughing which i appreciate! 

I grabbed the menu which looks like this :

On the first page you have some words about SnoWow.

Here starts the menu and the prices. The prices are affordable!

and you also have the option of creating your own SnoWow which is really amazing!

Here are their contact details and the address :

We took these two delicious SnoWow, Choco Dance and Passionately Chee.

This one is the Passionately Chee

I'll definitely give this a 20/10

Shona

REVIEW: MUGG & BEAN - BAGATELLE SHOPPING MALL

Good morning people,

Here I am with another review, this time with MUGG & BEAN, which is situation at Bagatelle Shopping Mall and also at La Croisette in Grand Baie. 

Atmosphere : very nice/cool/with nice music in the background

Service : 10/10 (the waiters are kind)

Quality of food : 9/10

As soon as my friend and I went in, we looked for a place for two, some seconds later a very kind waiter came to take our order for a beverage.  As we were thirsty, we took two Ice Teas, lemon and peach flavour. I'm a huge Ice Tea lover :$

The left one is the lemon flavoured ice tea and the right one is the peach flavoured ice tea. 

Drink : 20/10 (It's toooooo good) 

As main dish we took a salad which consisted of cherry tomatoes, lettuce, celery, boiled eggs, boiled potatoes and bacons. 

Salad : 10/10 (we couldn't finish it, there was so much in it)

We took a SWEET CHILLI CHICKEN, CHEESE & PINE BURGER (A juicy chicken breast, grilled pineapple ring, melted cheddar cheese & a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce.)

Burger : 10/10 (It was huge and delicious)

If ever, you are near Bagatelle Shopping Mall or La Croisette Grand Baie Shopping Mall, do go have lunch or dinner there, the food is awesome as per my own opinion.

Shona