Santa Maria Pizzeria

I've been meaning to blog about this place for some time now. I've been to Santa Maria countless times, it's definitely Ealing's best kept secret. It's a pizzeria with the most delicious pizza this side of Tuscany



Their menu is predominantly pizzas with a few side dishes and traditional Italian desserts.
What we ate:
Santa Maria



It's basically a margarita with garlic, but not just any margarita it's probably 20 times better than the one you get from your local takeaway ;)

Calzone San Salvatore






This folded pizza is one for meat lovers, loaded with ricotta cheese, prosciutto ham, salami, Parmesan cheese - I didnt try this one but my friend hoovered it down in record time (don't tell) she loved it!

San Francesco



This is a vegetarian one, with mozzarella, artichokes, courgettes, aubergines and Parmesan. A perfect selection of vegetables.

San Mattia
My absolute favourite! I always order this one, it's the first time I've seen pizza made without tomato sauce!


Its made with buffalo mozzarella, mushrooms, truffle oil, parmesan cheese shavings and fresh basil. Simples! I can't get enough, I mean it's a good thing I don't live in Ealing. I've tried it with olives



With rocket and olives






I think the magical ingredient here is the truffle oil, the smell itself will have you drooling.
I think the food is priced quite reasonably and plus you get that whole pizza to yourself!
All pizzas are made on a traditional wood fired oven



The pizzeria is small and cosy and you get proper cutlery, none of that flimsy butter knife to struggle with





You can watch the masters at work, aka the pizzaiolo


And enjoy your pizza under the watchful eye of St. Mary


Bon appetito!

Location:Ealing, West London

GlossyBox Giveaway: and the winner is.....

Hello my lovely readers
Thank you all for taking part, the lucky owner of my glossbox is:

*drumroll please*

Stephanie - http://missstephanieusher.blogspot.com/

Please get in touch, my email:
khadejah33@hotmail.com or tweet me @hlm1

London Fashion Week AW12

London fashion week has come and gone, well till September anyways. It's always so exciting! Here I'll share with you the shows and looks/trends that I loved.

Day 1
Bora Aksu

This collection stood out for me. It embodies all the main trends for AW12. There were lots of lace, soft pink and grey hues, two-tone clashing prints, Aksu's famous patterned tights. Its all very romantic.



My favourite look:



Day 2
Temperley London



The lace trend continued at Temperley on day 2, I liked this collection, again it's very feminine with a dark edge.

My favourite look:



Day 3
Marios Schwab
This collection dominated day 3 for me, it was all very sexy and seductive. Lace patterned dresses, sheer maxis and t bar shoes.






My favourite look:



Day 4

Every collection shown on day 4 was amazing! Antonio Berardi, Mark Fast, Erdem, Michael van der Ham were all on point. Alexander McQueen McQ was also shown, military-chic comes to mind, I'm not sure I 'get' it.
The star, the unbeaten, hands down show stopper of day 4 has to be Christopher Bailey's Burberry Prorsum collection. Every piece of this collection is exquisite!
Gorgeous belted trench coats






And my absolute fave:



Peplum skirts, studded gloves, lace up ankle boots



Sharp tailoring









It's very rare that you see a collection and like every piece, it just doesn't happen...except for this collection. I could go on and on, I loved it....Burberry killed on day 4.

Day 5
Meadham Kirchhoff
Bringing your inner dancing queen out! what a fun-tastic collection! The hair (orange, silver, yellow) the blue and red faces!
Sequins galore! It's all very fancy dress but I def would!









Credit: catwalking.com

These are my favourite womenswear collections and looks. I will be posting menswear looks that I loved on my next post. Did you like any of the AW shows? Which ones? Let me know!

Glossybox Giveaway

Hey guys, I've decided to give my feb Glossybox away because honestly I'm not too crazy on the contents. I contacted Glossybox to see if they can exchange some of the products and they flat out said no and I should expect that from a 'surprise' box. As you can see from the pics, the 5 products are in a beautiful box. To win this box and its contents all you have to do is follow this blog. As simple as that. Competition ends next sat: 3rd March.

A Slight Change to the blog

Hi everyone, This is just a short post to let you all lovelies know that I've finally decided to include fashion posts in this blog. Initially I was going to create another blog but I think its easier for everyone if I just add on. Would love to hear your feedback! XO In the coming fashion post: London Fashion Week Stay tuned. For now I'll leave you with this picture of David Beckham for his H&M collection! Enjoy. I love this hair style on him, thanks to Bruno Mars?

Photo: http://www.wowwow.me

My Old Dutch

Happy pancake day!

I decided the best day to visit My Old Dutch should be on Pancake Day right? My Old Dutch is a pancake house with restaurants around London. I've eaten there on numerous occassions. I love their pancakes. They have savoury and sweet pancakes and also serve salads, soups, traditional dutch starters and desserts.

Their prices are quite reasonable. We had the Asparagus pancake with spinach, black olives, red onions, mushrooms and cheese. It was divine!As you can see served on the biggest plate you've ever seen!

We also had the the apple and cinnamon pancake with ice cream (also served with cream)

It looks good? It was so good, its hard to finish it all though. I love their plates, very dutch!

They also offer 'poffertjes' small fluffly mini pancakes to you and me. I had the berry compote:

Those mini pancakes are an absolute treat, If you're like me and want to try both kinds of pancakes I recommend the savoury first then the poffertjes. Bring your appetite and an empty stomach! The Deco is nice and simple, with some dutch touch. You get to sit pretty close to your neighbors.

I cant say enough how good the pancakes are at My Old Dutch so it breaks my heart that I have to tell you the service was appalling! I can normally tolerate snotty, slightly rude, sarcastic and I-cant-be-bothered waiters/waitresses. I normally just eat, takes loads of pics, pay, tip and get out. This time however it was just too bad not to mention on here. It was quite busy to the point people had to queue outside and on the door leaving it open so we all had to endure the cold wind blowing in. I ordered Assam tea which came in a pot, after 5mins it was so strong I could drink anymore. I ordered water to wash the taste down, I waited and waited, I asked again and guess what? No water was sent to me! Anyways not a big deal I bought water when I left but the customers on the table next to us had the worst luck. They ordered sweet and savoury pancakes to be served at different times. The waitress very rudely told them they cant do that, it will be served at the same time. The poor American man then decided to cancel his dessert order and only settle for main dish. His drink came (coke) the waiter was in such a hurry whilst pouring his drink he spilt it everywhere! The American customer was so polite during this whole ordeal. They ate so quick and was out of the door before we even finished our fist course. I absolutely feel terrible for this man and his daughter, mainly because he was so nice the whole time. We also had a bad service but again its the sort I can tolerate but we really shouldn't have to! All in all, I will recommend a visit to My Old Dutch but perhaps not the Kensington branch.