Shakka - Dealcloud

As luck will have it, dealcloud are offering an AMAZING offer - 3 course taste of Africa Menu for only £19.95.

Deal only lasts till 24th April, so get it now!!

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Restaurant Review: Shakka Zulu

I haven't done one of these in a while!

For my birthday, my lovely husband decided to treat me to the delights of Shakka Zulu, located in the heart of Camden. Quite fitting to its geographical location, the interiors of the restaurant transport you into another world - a sort of mythical African palace. The walls are ornately decorated with carvings of figurerines stretching across both floors. No detail has gone amiss. Even the furniture screams African King or Queen.

For me the food is lovely, but not worth the price. I have visited it twice and on both occasions had a fish dish. The first was a coconut infused dish served with some piri piri chips and on the second was a half lobster (as they they had run out of the lamb dish that I originally wanted). Both dishes were delightful; light and full of flavour. The lobster was even better than the one we had whilst honeymooning in Mauritius. It was so good in fact that I wished they had given me some pincers so I could have extracted all that juicy meat.

A starter costs around £10.00 and main meals are on average around £25.00. Definitely not for your everyday meal.

I would definitely recommend it however, even if it is just to see the surroundings. They also have a bar on the top floor where they serve light nibbles and after 9pm it turns into a club. If you are lucky, you might get treated to a pup-petted safari show.

Look out for special offers at Groupon.  

The Cocoa Box

Thanks to the generosity of my very besties, I had the opportunity to go to a cupcake decorating class. I've been on the baking thing for a while now, so I guess they thought that I should get some proper instruction.

I went to the class not really expecting too much. It was something to do on a Saturday morning. I think that maybe I should had prepared my creative brain, because when left to our devices, I didn't have a clue what to do. Which I thought is very unlike me. But I guess when you let your gifts/talents go to waste, or you don't spend the time nurturing it, practising it then it's taken away from you. It's like the story in the Bible of the servants and the talents, where they the servant with one talent hides it away instead of investing it and then it's taken away from him.

Ok enough of the downer. The class was indeed fun. I arrived at the Thistle Hotel at Victoria and laid out on the table were an array of goodies: pre-baked cakes and all the lovely lovliness to decorate with.

Our instructor for the day was Natalie from The Cocoa Box. She started with a brief intro into the basics of making a cupcake. Thinking about it now, I've actually lost the recipe. But from memory it's 150g of dry ingredients to 2 eggs.

She then went on to show us how to make a selection of iced toppers from bows to ice cream cones to cupcakes. It was then our turn to make something spectacular. The best I could come up with was a heart and dice. But the lady sat next to me made a hippo, a skull, another made a snowman and petals and yet another a fan!

Overall, the 2 hour class was good. You come away with your 6 delicious creations, and a desire to bake. It would be a better experience if you went with someone I think. Helps with conversation. 

These were my creations for the day!


The Cocoa Box offer a selection of classes from cupcake decorating, to chocolate making. They also do parties!!!

R Reviews: La Tasca

We resumed our dinner dates after a two week gap (we got busy and ended up spending an extended weekend together to make up for it). It was a bit impromptu but sometimes that's the best. I was feeling something light and not too fussy so we went to La Tasca West India Quay. The last time we went there, we ordered WAY too much, our eyes got the better of us. This time round, we learnt from our lesson and only ordered half the amount - Calamari, Aubergines, Chorizo, Meat Balls, Battered Fish.

The food was good, filling and varied. The Battered fish is the best I think. Service is good. The food arrives quite quickly and there's variety. But the tables are a bit small which can get a bit irritating as there are so many plates on them.

Bar 38 was our next stop. Desserts are a must there. I had a Chocolate Mint warm gateau and W had a Bannoffe treacle thingy bip bop. They were both ……mmmmmmmmmmmm. So good!!

Take a stroll along the quay, walk along the cobbled ground and generally chill.

Oh and don't forget to get your discount vouchers from www.discountvouchers.co.uk