Aneeq London

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IceBurg Revisited: They Listened!

IceBurg Revisited: They Listened!

Hi guys,

This review has been a long time coming. It gets so difficult to actually sit down and type (is it obvious my New Year’s Resolution is to blog more?). I visited Iceburg quite some time back (my original review here) and have been a few times since. I was especially excited to hear they had launched a new menu and made quite a few changes to their original concept.

Do you notice…

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New Place in Town? : Tribez (Bolton) Review

New Place in Town? : Tribez (Bolton) Review

Can I just start off with my golden rule. Never ever visit a new place until it has found it’s feet. Like ever. I was sorely reminded of why I never break this rule on my visit to Tribez.

Of course, when you visit a newly opened place, you expect teething problems. Everybody wants to be there and say they’ve eaten there and post it on Instagram and so on. The problem is, I don’t like to…

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Cat Therapy- Lazy Cat Cafe Review

Cat Therapy- Lazy Cat Cafe Review

Hi Guys,

I’m sure you’ve realised it really has been a while. My blog is pretty much a hobby and takes a backseat as soon as life gets busy, which is what has happened recently, coupled with the fact that I haven’t been inspired to write for a while.

Anyway, back to my most recent visit to Lazy Cat Cafe. Cannon Street is probable one on my favourite town centre streets to walk down with its…

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Can You Be Too Innovative?-Flosse Review

Hey Guys,

Now I know it has probably been months since I last posted, but honestly, my motivation to write has been somewhat nonexistent as of late, resulting in my lack of dedication towards my blog in general. This Flosse review is months overdue as I received this a while ago as a gift.

Opening the box (of which I had TWO! Many thanks to the giver), I was overwhelmed by the amount of exciting…

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Hi Guys,

This was probably my most difficult list to date, because let’s face it, it is so so difficult to buy men a gift. They aways claim they don’t want anything and usually don’t even appear grateful when they receive the gift, and then promptly wear/use  the gifted item EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. (you know who you are!) Sorry rant over. Anyway I regularly struggle with buying my husband, brothers, father or any male in general a gift because they always seem to have everything. Please note, this post may contain affiliate links. Although it does not cost you anything to click on these links, it helps run the website.

  The Gift of Nothing:

This gift is perfect for those men who always have everything and keep insisting they want nothing as a gift. Perfectly sarcastic and tongue in cheek, gift this to the man who truly wants nothing! At a mere £5.94 it is the perfect side or even main gift.

The Gift of Nothing

  2. A Weekend Getaway:

This is the perfect cheeky gift for your husband as you can enjoy this one too. Men claim they don’t like going away much, but they secretly enjoy the experience as much as women. Buyagift have lots of options or even Trivago.

  3. Man Flu Survival Kit:

When men have the flu, there is nothing they need more than this survival kit. At £13 it is clearly the perfect kit to get him back on his feet.

4.  Experience Days Out

If he likes adventure or is a thrill seeker, Virgin have hundreds of experience days with anything from driving fast cars, to sky diving and even flying lessons. Starting from around £40 there is something to cater for most budgets.

  5. If he wears traditional thawbs then cutting edge designs from Lawung which range around the £50 mark are a perfect choice.

  6.  A Man Bag

The perfect way to upgrade his work look (especially if he carries documents or a laptop) is to purchase a nice man bag. Now these come in varying sizes, colours and quality but pick one to suit his taste. If it’s in the budget this Coach Man Bag from Harvey Nichols at £640 will certainly do the trick. There are numerous options with many falling well under £50 on Amazon.

Coach Man Bag

  7.  A Hamper from Mubarak London:

These VIP hampers are gorgeous and perfect for those who want to spoil their other half.  At £70 this Coffee Connoisseur Hamper is perfect for Coffee lovers. There are even beard grooming, sweet tooth and scent lover’s hampers available all ranging from £50-£150. If this is beyond your budget, why not make your own hamper filled with all of his favourite things?

  8.  Beard Oil

Beard oils have become a huge market in the past few years with brands like Tom Ford and Penhaligons, producing their own versions.  There are various Beard Grooming Kits Available but the one pictured below is both affordable and rated very highly at £30.

  9. Watch Box or Organiser

Is he an avid watch/cuff link collector? Why not purchase a storage box for him to showcase all of his watches under one box? Highly practical and affordable with prices ranging from £10-£150 a perfect way for him to admire his collection.

  10.  Mystery Gadget Box

If he’s a gadget lover then this mystery box is the perfect gift for him. With some mystery gadgets (which are of good quality) a box containing a gift even you can’t predict is the best kind of gift. At only £25 it is affordable and you get £50 worth of items inside.

  Are there any gifts on your list which are not listed here? Please comment below!

Please note this list is completely original and it really is not appreciated when other websites reuse the work without credit.

Aneeq London

Gifts for Men- 2018 Hi Guys, This was probably my most difficult list to date, because let's face it, it is so so difficult to buy men a gift.

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Hi Guys,

So whilst I was trying to get my Eid Gift List together, I remembered I have yet to post about how to host a good Eid Party/Gathering. People have largely moved on from handing Money Envelopes and sitting around with relatives, just eating all day long.  Now Eid is a largely child centred event complete with child entertainment. I know people who hire clowns and entertainers and even hire out venues so the whole family and extended family can celebrate together without the restriction of the size of someone’s home.

Eid Decorations:

No Eid gathering is complete without Eid decorations. Eidparty.co.uk has the most fabulous selection of Eid Party items with banners, balloons and also themed decorations such as plates and fantastic trays for serving. If you haven’t got any of your Eid items yet, I highly recommend you check this website out. I promise this isn’t an ad, but I’m really glad someone in the UK finally decided to run a website dedicated to Eid.

1/2/3/4

  Bouncy Castle:

Small Child’s Bouncy Castle: £339.00

This is a sure fire way to ensure the kids enjoy themselves outdoors, especially if the weather is nice. You can buy your own from Amazon as pictured above, which is perfect for kids or hire one from a local company. Some smaller Bouncy castles start from around £50 for a day and range upto £150 depending on location and size of the bouncy castle.

  Chocolate Fountain:

Chocolate Fountain

For me, no social gathering is complete without a chocolate fountain. Although large industrial ones are available for hire complete with an attendant, it is far more cost effective to purchase your own especially if you are going to use it year after year. Personally we have the Sephra 16″ Stainless Mini Chocolate Fountain and the Sephra 18″ Chocolate fountain. The size is large enough to cater for upto 30 people and also the motor is relatively quiet and long lasting as we’ve had ours for years. We always serve all the different accompaniments in a Lazy Susan and put skewers and napkins,  and the guests usually help themselves.

  Snow Cone Machine:

A Snow Cone Machine is the perfect way to get kids excited about the hot weather. We regularly take this out when the weather is nice and keep different syrups and cups, with Popping Candy for extra excitement.

  Popcorn Machine:

A popcorn machine is a simple way to keep guests snacking whilst the food is still cooking. A fast and easy way to keep both children and adults entertained without actually getting full. It’s also fun to watch the popcorn popping through the clear glass.

    Candy Floss Machine

Nothing like candyfloss to bring out the inner child in you. There are plenty of home units available (as shown below) or you can hire a commercial one from a local events company which I prefer as the candyfloss is far superior to the home made units.

  Goody Bags:

Goody bags are an excellent way to make sure all your child guests leave fully satisfied and remember the day. There are a lot of options online

  Pinata:

Why not purchase a star pinata and keep your guests entertained. This large star pinata is available on Eidparty and also Amazon.  There are numerous fillers available for £10 on Amazon.

  Eid Games

Why not plan different games such as pass the parcel and ‘musical’ chairs and give out prizes. You can pick up cheap prizes from the local pound store, or places like Tiger and Smiggle. Of course Eid wouldn’t be Eid without the vast quantities of food and desserts laid out for everyone to enjoy.

What traditions do you follow every Eid? Do you have any more suggestions for the perfect Eid party? Comment below.

  Aneeq London

How To Host the Perfect Eid Party Hi Guys, So whilst I was trying to get my Eid Gift List together, I remembered I have yet to post about how to host a good Eid Party/Gathering.

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Hi Guys,

Firstly, Ramadan Mubarak to you all. I can’t believe we’re nearly halfway through already. I signed in to find one of my favourite outfit combining tools has been sold and all my work has disappeared (thank you for that Polyvore). It further increases my distrust of all this online stored data and how companies can just destroy or sell on your data without realising that somewhere in the terms and conditions I probably agreed to this. This means it will probably be a while before I can figure out how to put outfits together and in the meantime I might as well discuss my somewhat mixed experience at Hankies Cafe.

Indian Street food is abundant around London with 2017 being a golden age for cafes such as Hankies to pop up everywhere. As a rule of thumb, I dislike eating Indian food when going out (we have that stuff at home every, single day) and I literally drag my feet whenever anyone mentions Indian food(because let’s be honest, most of the best Indian food usually has a Michelin start attached to it’s name). I have had my fair share of fairly decent Indian street food  and some ridiculously bad experiences (which doubly makes me sure of the reason why I don’t eat Indian when I go out). Unfortunately Hankies Cafe didn’t really do much to convince me otherwise.

Exterior

We almost walked past the unassuming small cafe, not expecting it to be so narrow. On reaching the fairly empty cafe (which was attached to the Piccadilly hotel and has pretty decent bathrooms for Central London I must say), the cafe probably had one table to serve.

Interior of Hankies Cafe

The cafe is quite narrow so definitely not recommended for large groups or families and appears to be geared towards fast food with most of the seating across the bar. There are are a few tables in the back but this is quite limited. We received a single paper menu (which seems to be all the rage these days) and quickly decided on a few starters and mains to get our food day going.

Fairly Comfortable Benches

  Being based on a Delhi cafe, the drinks were typical of an Indian cafe with Lemon Coke and a Lemonade on offer. Both these drinks were quite refreshing and actually started the meal off quite nicely. Unfortunately, we had one of those annoying wobbly tables that rocked every time you attempted to eat something, which was quite off putting.

  Excited on the arrival of our starters we tucked into the grilled Prawns, Juicy Grilled Chops, Chaat and Kachori Poppers. They looked vibrant and were presented quite beautifully for street food (then again it was £5 for a single lamb chop). All the items were flavourful and tasty, but nothing was quite memorable or different enough from the starters to warrant a visit back.

  Prawns

  Chaat

  Kachori Poppers

  The customary Grilled Lamb Chop

  For the main dishes, we opted for the grilled spicy beef which sounded fantastic on the menu. We also chose a somewhat dubious sounding Pumpkin Paneer option, and of course the cheesy Truffle Roomali Rotli. The beef, at £9 a bowl was probably by far the most disappointing dish. It had been cooked possibly far too fast the pieces of rocks masquerading  as beef on that plate, was most definitely not a joy to eat. The sad thing was we had ordered two of these monsters. Even though the flavouring was really nice, the rock solid beef was unpalatable. This was the first time I was sorely tempted to send a dish back. It took all of my willpower, to sit tight and smile when the waiter came to check if things were okay.

The Paneer Pumpkin on the other hand was a pleasant delight although relatively unpumpkin like in it’s taste. It was creamy and soft and the paneer was quite juicy. The cheesy roomali rotli was probably a huge reason why we chose this cafe in the first place. The rotli itself, was pleasantly full of cheese but the overpowering flavour of what we though was dill, overtook the enjoyable sensation of the cheesiness.

  Pumpkin Paneer

  Beef

  Truffle Roomali Rotli

  Overall, this was by no means a bad experience (bar the beef). Although the food was perfectly Instagrammable, beautifully served and quite decent, it did nothing to excite my palate and make me come back again.

Presentation: 4/5  Food: 2/5

Have you been here? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.

Aneeq London

Hankies Cafe-Soho Hi Guys, Firstly, Ramadan Mubarak to you all. I can't believe we're nearly halfway through already. I signed in to find one of my favourite outfit combining tools has been sold and all my work has disappeared (thank you for that Polyvore).

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Best Ramadan Calendars 2018: How to Make Your Own Ramadan Countdown Calendar

Best Ramadan Calendars 2018: How to Make Your Own Ramadan Countdown Calendar

Hey Guys,

So as always, I’ve decided to round up my favourite Ramadhan calendars available in the UK. With Ramadhan fast approaching (not even two weeks now!) it’s high time I did some preparation. We’ve decided to forego the usual prep of the fry up items we freeze before hand, in an attempt to be healthy (and let’s be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan anyway). The only thing I did prepare…

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What Happens When You 'Do It For the Gram'-Chin Chin Labs Soho Review

What Happens When You ‘Do It For the Gram’-Chin Chin Labs Soho Review

Hi Guys,

My Instagram feed has been full of exciting ice creams, desserts and soft serve. Chin Chin Labs with its two permanent locations seemed quite ‘different’ and exciting with its whipped torched marshmallow hot chocolate and ice cream sandwiches. Being ridiculously photogenic (Instagram has a LOT to answer for) and surrounded by rave reviews, I put Chin Chinon my must have list for my next…

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Best Hot Weather Desserts-Bingsu at Shibuya Soho

Best Hot Weather Desserts-Bingsu at Shibuya Soho

Hi guys, I haven’t been updating as much recently because I found it extremely difficult to get out of holiday mode and we had some unexpected sunshine here in the UK! Of course nice weather means only one thing. Ice cream. I do like icecream/gelato/milkshakes and the rest of it, but I desperately wanted something slightly different,  but just as refreshing. Now from my previous post, you may…

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After a Fifteen Year Wait: Dreams Do Come True- Kinkao Korea Review

After a Fifteen Year Wait: Dreams Do Come True- Kinkao Korea Review

It’s no secret that we are huge Korean fans in our family. We absolutely love the culture, food, KDRAMAS, makeup, clothing, everything to do with South Korea. So it was always a huge disappointment, that bar the pan-Asian fusion halal Korean that was available in London, there was no fully Korean halal place. I always felt we were missing a trick here (really have been asking for Korean halal for…

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Spotlight on Uniqlo: What Makes This Brand So Unique?

Spotlight on Uniqlo: What Makes This Brand So Unique?

Hey guys, Uniqlo, which is literally a combination of Unique Clothing combined, has long been revered as both functional, good quality and affordable. However in recent years, it’s high profile collaborations (think Ines De Le Fressange and Hana Tajima who specifically designed clothes aimed at the modest fashion market) and more recently, the upcoming collaboration with J.W Anderson, has take…

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The Shoes by aneeqlondon featuring two tone slingback shoes

Uniqlo grey sleeveless dress, £35 / MANGO two tone slingback shoes / Mango purse / Uniqlo floral print scarve, £7.02

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Navy by aneeqlondon featuring leather watches

Uniqlo cropped sweater, £21 / Uniqlo grey pants, £28 / MANGO embroidered bag, £50 / Ted Baker leather watch, £105 / Lipstick, £14

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Nude Palette: Spring Layers by aneeqlondon featuring uniqlo coats

Uniqlo off white top, £21 / Uniqlo coat, £21 / Uniqlo slimming cami, £21 / Uniqlo stole shawl, £7.02 / Liquid eye liner, £1.42 / Anastasia Beverly Hills palette eyeshadow

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Summer by aneeqlondon featuring a brown bag

Uniqlo white shirt dress / MANGO brown bag / MANGO metal glasses, £28 / Uniqlo scarve, £7.02

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Spring/Summer by aneeqlondon featuring a striped shawl

Uniqlo blue short sleeve top, £14 / Uniqlo pants, £28 / MANGO chain strap crossbody / Ginette NY black gold and pink ring, £495 / Uniqlo striped shawl, £7.02 / Lipstick