See before this year, I never ever owned a propa’ winter coat. I’d just layer up to the max in the colder seasons: gloves, scarves, hats – the lot. You know how some guys boast about their extensive limited edition marvel-g-shock-casio-your-mum-insertNFLteam-collaboration ‘snapback/new era’ collections, you guys need to see my winter hat collection. At least 30 different types of wooly wonders and I keep adding more, strange addiction. However hats are just one part of the winter equation, the real statement piece has to be the knitwear. The final layer in the pile and it’s essential to have a few solid knits in the wardrobe. Especially for those lazy days where you can’t be bothered to iron your shirt! Throw a knit on it.

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The good folk over at Zalando gifted us with a product and I opted for this knitted jumper from Danish brand Jack & Jones. I haven’t previously bought anything from the brand nor have I heard excellent reviews so was taking bit of risk buy purchasing one of their knits. What won me over? The info in that tiny little box that most people overlook. Don’t let the images fool you, fabric material always matters. Yang taught me this! tweet him if you have any questions regarding all that, I’m sure he’ll help you too.

Buy now from Zalando for £70.00 - click here

80% wool, 20% nylon – that 80% won me over. Wool has a natural insulating quality that is WORTH the money to keep you warm – it’s also natural, light and hard wearing. This shawl neck jumper is perfect for both casual and formal looks, depends on how you feel. Some days I rock it with a shirt below and other occassions you’ll see me with a snood. Like in the photographs below. So many people have asked me where I bought the knit from and you should see their reaction when I say Jack & Jones. Priceless.

]]> http://yinnyang.co.uk/2011/12/jack-jones-knitted-jumper/feed/ 0 http://yinnyang.co.uk/2011/12/original-penguin-the-outfit/ http://yinnyang.co.uk/2011/12/original-penguin-the-outfit/#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:45:16 +0000 Yin http://yinnyang.co.uk/?p=37180

We were approached by the good folk at Penguin to come down to their store, pick out an outfit and do what we do; shoot it for the site. In all honesty, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the brand’s collection, all I had my eye on before arriving at the store was the Clondyke boot that I feature a few weeks ago. I headed to the store in hidden away in one of the corner’s of the Piazza, Covent Garden. I was pleasantly surprised by the range on offer inside, a beautifully curated collection of polos, jumpers, gillets, footwear and more.

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Original Penguin – Website | Twitter

Who actually knows much about the brand? Not me, had to do my research before visiting the store, as you do. In fact the manager at the store knew his stuff and gave me a brief history lesson of the Original Penguin story.

Originally created by a salesman who worked for a successful underwear factory, Munsingwear in Minneapolis. Abbot Pederson accidentally came across a stuffed penguin (named Pete)  whilst on a business trip to NYC but somehow enroute back on the plane the penguin’s head was detached. The air hostess who he was flirting with at the time managed to attach it back and dressed it with Pederson’s tie.

She joked that such a lucky, dapper bird surely deserved to be immortalized — maybe even embroidered on a shirt similar to the one Pederson was wearing. Little did she know…On his return to Minneapolis, Pederson, a keen golfer, wasted no time tallying his interests. And so the Munsingwear golf shirt was born.

That’s how the brand started off. They later branched off into a sub brand that we know now as Original Penguin. 60 years on, Pete is somewhat of an icon with his logo on shirts and other fashion garments that are now popular with suburbanites and sports legends alike. They’re renowned for ‘The 55′ polo, you can read more of the brand’s heritage here. What a wonderful story though, just to think the idea came about from a stuffed toy of all things. Brilliant.

Back to my outfit; you all know my style is formal. I like to overdress, well I don’t choose to overdress, it just happens. I feel most comfortable when I’m wearing a blazer, shirt and a pair of smart brogues. However I’ve been switching it up recently because I love changing up my style, it’s fun. Last week I wore a hoody for the first time in 2 years, not just any hoody – a red AA hoody. Paired up with a gillet, I felt like a kid, I definitely wasn’t dressed the way I wanted to be addressed.  I opted for a smart casual look consisting of a checkered cotton shirt, black slim fit chinos and the infamous Clondyke boot.

Untucked shirt. Scandalous. Yes, it’s been a few years since I wore my shirt this way but it instantly takes away the overly formal look and makes even the smartest of shirts work well in a casual look. This check shirt has constructed in pure cotton featuring a contrast all over check with a narrow colour, long sleeves and button fastening the cuffs. Since it’s 100% cotton, it’s extremely soft and the fit is just right. I fully recommend their shirts, for the quality and design. The price isn’t too bad, sitting at £65.

I paired up the shirt with an equally soft pair of brushed cotton chinos – all black to cover up my fat ass legs, joke. Black just works well with shirts like this, any dark plain colour for that matter. Although the fit isn’t as good as Topman’s chinos, the Original Penguin chino has a much better finish. It’s a double the price at £70.

I’ve already written a post on this pair of boots so I’ll just quote myself below:

This AW11 season marks a signification progression for Original Penguin’s fast growing and evolving collection of footwear. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the Clondyke boot. Doesn’t it remind you of Redwing boots? It’s not as heavy duty – it’s a full grain waxed leather boot available in rich Autumnal tones from burgundy to dark chocolate. Certainly comfy and definitely no where near as pricey as the Redwing. You can buy them here for £110. Now hop on after the cut to peep a few photographs I snapped of my colleague wearing them at work.

I didn’t actually tell y’all how COMFORTABLE these boots are in that post. So lightweight! right…leaving you with a few photographs before I head to bed.

All photographs taken by my other half. Post processing by me. It was part of a deal, she shot me and I watched Twilight Breaking Dawn with her. 2 hours of torture but hey – I got my photographs.

So last month, we were invited down to H&M‘s showroom for a style session. What does this entail you ask? Our task was pretty simple – to construct a look that we felt represented our personal style using H&M’s latest Divided collection. To be honest, when I got the email in my inbox about this opportunity, I actually thought it was a joke haha. So we went down, not sure what to expect as we haven’t done anything of the kind before. Sure we’ve done shoots but not a filmed interview/style session – I hate being on camera and hate hearing my own voice played back to me even more! However the results are pretty nice if I do say so myself – continues on the reverse.

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H&M – Website | Facebook | Twitter

I can’t remember the exact items that we’re wearing though :( can’t seem to find them on the online store. The 2 looks – we break down why we chose them in more detail in the video. To be honest, you’d rarely catch me in a hoody but that grey one just worked with the rest of my outfit. In fact I’m not going to blab on too much about what we did or the outfit. I’ll let the video, images and outfit do the talking for a change.

So what did ya’ll think? I smile way too much. Guess I’m just a happy person. Interesting experience being in front of the camera for a change and very comfortable one thanks to the good folk at H&M and Barracuda TV who filmed the video. Also major shout outs to Curtis Gibson who captured these fine photographs of the both us, I know Yang will be changing his profile pic for the next fortnight. Heck, I think I’m going to change mine soon. I’m going to leave you guys with a few photographs…

P.S. Big up Linda!

More images on the Facebook fan page. Click here.

First spotted this restaurant chain a few months ago in Angel, with a broke-ass waiting for student loan to drop budget – it was the best to place to go. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of food and price, this time we were invited to review the new branch of Banana Tree in Soho. Located right next to Byron and Wahaca – my favourite area for lunch after work, the area is filled with great restaurants. We were given £60 credit which is a LOT when you can get dinner for around £10 so we had to go for 3-course dinner + 2 drinks each. They don’t do desserts! More on the reverse.

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Banana Tree – Website | Facebook | Twitter

I met my other half after work and headed for the restaurant around 7pm – it was a Tuesday night so wasn’t expecting it to be too busy. I can’t deal with busy restaurants where you can’t hear each other speak but when we got the entrance to Banana Tree Soho. It was EMPTY which made us quite apprehensive about going in but it was nice to see that they have around 7-10 waiters & waitresses on stand by. Why? Because I’m sure you’ve all wasted a good 20 minutes of your time waiting for a waiter to come around just to give you the bill. Sigh.

The Design & Atmosphere

Look at the imagery above. Dig it? I did. The dimly lit interior was perfect for an early evening dinner and catch up. The industrial interior with concrete tables, piping and ventilation boxes all works well, love the use of wood as it adds warmth to the industry. They haven’t gone over board with the fancy decorations and stayed true to the restaurants in the motherland. The atmosphere was pretty dead at the start but it completely changed by the time we left, the place was PACKED! full of Soho workers.

The Food

I’m going to let my other half take over for parts of this section. Mainly because I can’t be arsed to write and she loves to talk/eat/sleep food.

Thai Tamarind and Garlic Chicken wings:

Amazing. The caramalised glace is so rich in flavour and I wanted more, but I had to stop myself from ordering another plate of it to leave just about enough room for everything else. I’m glad that he ordered this and was so kind to let me have one. – Tin

Hmmph, the wings were mine. You know  I can’t go anywhere without eating chicken. Let’s just say the last time I cheated on chicken with steak…the results weren’t a pretty sight. Gross. These were delicious! nice way to start a meal, I could have gone for 3-4 plates of them.

Vietnamese Lettuce Wrap with Spiced Lamb:

To be honest, I was expecting massively crunchy fresh lettuce leaves as they do in this South London Chinese restaurant where I first discovered lettuce wraps, but no. The leaves were pretty small if you ask me and there was only so much you could stuff it with? The lamb, although dry, didn’t taste bad when mixed with everything else. My favourite part of the plate was the carrots in the bowl marinated in different spices. Oh and the roundish spring rolls that you could dip in the vinegary sauce. - Tin

Tamarind Crispy Fish with Thai Basil Glaze:

It wasn’t as tasty as it sounded – there was barely any glaze on my pan-fried tilapia. Disappointing, ‘cos I was really looking forward to all that tamarind and Thai basil to really sweep me away. I ordered it with the ‘Banana Tree Supplement Special’ along with this main, which had included sesame glass noodle salad – yummy, sweet corn cakes, spicy prawn crackers (which tasted weirdly stale and off to me) and steamed jasmine rice in the deal. The portions are great, but sadly it wasn’t as exciting as expected. – Tin

Ayam Kunyit Chicken Curry:

I always end up going for the item with Chicken in it, definitely need to start experimenting with my food. So I did and guess what I went for? Chicken curry. Strange Malaysian yellow chicken curry that contained a lot of turmeric, lemongrass, shallots and COCONUT MILK. Far from the best curry I’ve ever had but still quite tasty. I recommend you have this with the steamed yasmin rice – perfect combination.

Drinks

Lychee and Lemongrass Mocktail:

THE BEST LYCHEE MOCKTAIL THAT I’VE EVER HAD! The only lychee mojito that I’ve ever had, but still… I love it. The fact that they give you approximately 5 or so actual lychee’s to fish out once your done sipping away is what makes it a real treat. The lemongrass was for decorative purposes, but is useful when trying to get those juicy lychee’s. It’s very similar to the Rubicon lychee drink, but better. Had to order another glass of this. The price is debatable though, would’ve preferred if it was cheaper since it wasn’t priced too far off from some of the main meals? C’mon, it’s not like it had alcohol in it and I’d love to be able to casually afford this when I crave it during the week?

I went back to Banana tree for lunch with some of my colleagues just the other day right, the service wasn’t as impressive compared to when I went with my fella!? I had to somewhat take back all the compliments I had said to all of them about the restaurant and the recommendations that I had made. The food lacked taste, besides the noodles. I think it was the Kway Teow Mee Noodles that one of the other ladies ordered – I had a try only to eventually realise that I had ordered the wrong meal of the Mango and Lime Crispy Chicken dish. My meal was standard I guess, I liked the lunchtime deal where you can upgrade your meal with a £1 – glass noodle salad and jasmine rice on the side. I’ll forever be drawn to dishes containing mango.

The Ginger and Lemongrass herbal tea was not nice I must say. I would’ve easily opt’d for the Lychee Mocktail, but I’m afraid the price and super cold weather gave me no choice. The lemongrass in the tea was really overpowering and made it real bitter right ’til the last sip. I was paying for it, so I had to force myself to drink as much of it as possible. We even requested for some honey to add in… after we finally got our hands on some honey, (yes, the staff had unfortunately forgotten our sweet request) I mixed in 2 spoonfuls to basically cancel out the tea’s taste. Some of my colleagues were not impressed with the food, but were fans of the decor. Ah well, what can you do ey? - Tin

Service

On point. The staff were very attentive the whole way through – always asked us if we needed anything or if we didn’t like anything. They were also very knowledgeable, we did ask them to suggest a starter for us to have. Turned out to be the best one!

Overall

Enjoyuable experience! We’ve never had this cuisine before so it’s great that they’ve picked the best location to add this new branch. In a place swarming with restaurants from all over the world, Banana Tree definitely has something unique to offer. Very relaxed, nice food, AMAZING DRINKS (Mocktails that is) and attentive staff. The prices are very reasonable as you can get a good meal and drink for around £12. I just wish there was a dessert menu :( #fat

 It’s been a little quiet on the Fossil front lately, well from us anyway! Looking through their current collection, they have a solid range of casual watches befitting for the season. We’ve featured one of their casual leather watches here, a dark brown leather and stainless steel combination finished with a chronograph dial for extra functionality and also a trendier look! More photos after the break.

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Fossil Online Store

The Watch
Casual watches are supposed to be worn on an everyday basis so they should be comfortable to wear and easily worn with most looks. This watch has that qualities down; the strap like all Fossil products, is made from pure grain top quality leather and underneath the face is a cushioning for extra comfort. Obviously the main feature of the watch is the dial and I would say  the design for this one is quite sporty but still very trendy. It’s shiny stainless steel face and glass screen glisten in comparison to the tough but smooth strap- the watch is also quite chunky, with a wide strap accompanied by a leaner cuff straight on top for a casual vintage style.

The Collection
Browse the Fossil website and look through their casual watches, you’ll find a range of silver and leather based pieces all at a affordable prices. If you want to go for n even more casual watch, they also have a selection of nylon strapped watches also handy for your everyday movements but also perfectly suitable for almost any look. We’ll be having a look at the ‘Machine Stainless Steel Watch’ next so stay tuned! For now, hit up the Fossil website.

Right. That project I’ve been talking about for a while? I completed my part last night, guess what that means? More posts from me and hopefully way more original content on the site from this day forth. Starting off with a bag from a brand that I’ve been fond of for a while now, Whillas & Gunn, Our friends over at My-Wardrobe just started selling the brand‘s A/W collection on their site earlier this week and my materialistic ways made me instantly purchase a canvas bag. I own more bags than my girlfriend, not sure if that’s a good thing but hey I’m a guy with sartorial needs.

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Whillas & Gunn – Website | Facebook | Buy @ My-Wardrobe

Brand History

Brief bit of brand history before we get moving. The inner lining of the bag has the following stitched onto ‘A family company from Australia‘. That’s exactly who they are, Whillas & Gunn are an Australian heritage menswear brand – known for their remarkably rough, rugged and uncomplicated aesthetic. I’m taking snippets from My-Wardrobe’s interview with the current designer & director, Richard Whillas, who is a jet setting workaholic that doesn’t spend more than 6 weeks in any one place. The company roots lead back to the family’s manufacturing company Kakadu Traders which has been manufacturing outwear for the past 40 or so years. He joined the family company 3 years ago and decided to start his own sub-brand which focuses on more contemporary pieces. That’s Whillas and Gunn was born, with a focus on tailoring rather than just outerwear. Definitely gave the brand a 21st century spin. If you want to know more about the brand, check out this interview with Richard – click here.

The Bag

Lawd. The bag – ‘ Brown Canvas Webbing Trap Satchel Bag‘. I’m not sure if the bag requires that much of a long name, a simple ‘brown canvas bag‘ would have done the job. Anyway, I’m not here to talk about the name of it. The bag is delightful, my intial reaction after unwrapping it from packaging was ‘woah, nice build’. The quality of the brown canvas webbing really stands out for me as I’ve owned a fair few canvas bags over the years which have nicely fallen apart over time. This one doesn’t seem like it will do that any time soon, only time will tell if it will be able to withstand the hustle and bussle of my daily commutes.

In terms of design, I dig it’s simplicity with the 2 contrasting brown canvas – the ribbed handles and the darker canvas used to construct the rest of the bag. There’s also nice leather detailing on the handles, icing on the cake-esque feature. My main worry before purchasing the bag was the fact it might not be able to fit my MacBook Pro + 550d + extra lens + books and all. It can. The inside of this bag is exquisite; again really nice brown cotton with 3 internal pockets and another which is zipped.

Specification:

Brown canvas satchel bag featuring zip top fastening, two large press stud side pockets and a detachable strap. Whillas & Gunn bag has two contrasting cotton webbing handles with brown leather trim with a press-stud tab to fasten, webbing detail to sides, three internal slip pockets, one large internal zipped pocket and a brand label inside. Bag measures 43cm x 33cm x 22cm.

100% cotton. Lining 100% cotton. Webbing 100% cotton. Trim 100% leather. Warm hand wash.

My Styling

I don’t think this bag goes with as many outfits as my Grafea bag does. I’m not sure where I got my chinos from but the patterned jumper is from Topman, Grenson shoes off ASOS, beads from markets all around the world and flatcap from Free Authority.

Overall

I’m definitely a big fan of Whillas & Gunn and the quality of this product has only made me an even bigger fan. At £110 this bag is a little on the pricey side but I think it’s a good investment. Sheesh, I’ve spent almost £300 on bags in the past 2 months. No more till 2012. Have a gander at the rest of the photographs below.

Buy Whillas & Gunn – Brown Canvas Webbing Trap Satchel Bag for £110

The boy from East London to the man drinking afternoon tea in Mayfair. What a picture of growth right? Haha no. I was just there for a special day, an one-off thing with my other half as it was our one year. You know how I do? had to go all out, take the day off and spend some quality time conversating (tweeting/instagram’ing our cheesyness) over some fancy tea and cakes. It came to around £70 in total which in all fairness isn’t too bad if you think about Mayfair prices. All those cakes and unlimited tea was most definitely filling and to think we had dinner straight after that is crazy. I do recommend it guys, take your lady out and make her feel appreciated. Especially on a special occasion, it’s fancy pancy but once in a while it doesn’t hurt to break the bank. More on the reverse.

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Grosvenor House | Park And Library

I should have taken her to the Ritz but I left it too late to book a table and The Ritz was already fully booked. Grosvenor House was equally as good, in fact it’s been awarded the Britain’s best afternoon tea by the Tea Guild. Park Room and Library is in fact the afternoon tea spot situated inside the legendary hotel, overlooking Hyde Park and Park Lane.

If you’re visiting London, this is most definitely one of the finer attractions that you just have to visit. The interior is quintessentially English, the general vibe in the place is very formal – classy is the word. I’m not going to write a detailed review on the afternoon tea and delicious cakes they had to offer. The extensive selection of teas and pastries to tempt even the most healthiest of folks. They had a great selection of teas on offer and me being Indian and all, went for Assam tea. It’s known for its body, briskness, malty flavor, and strong, bright color.

I’m going to leave you guys with a selection of photography from the day. It’s been a while since I featured on here and apologies on the lack of original content as of late. We’re working on something big that you’ll all see soon enough. Who doesn’t love tea?

You know how I raved on about Joe & The Juice being mine and my other half’s favourite chill out spot, well I think we’ve just discovered our new one. I was first tipped off about MADD by one of my friends and me being a Keralite, certainly loved the idea of a Mango-based dessert place. From the exterior MADD may look like your regular funky Soho joint but it’s more than just a pop-in/pop-out joint. I don’t exactly know how to describe the experience, they call it the dessert lounge. It most definitely has a relaxed vibe to it, perfect for dates, meetings and to just chill. More on the reverse.

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MADD – Website | Facebook | Twitter

Location

Right in the centre of Soho on Rupert Street. A great choice of location, I can imagine them getting a good amount of business from all the agencies situated in the area. They need to open up one near my work! Address and opening times at the bottom of this post.

I lust over mangoes. You don’t know about my passion for big juicy exotic mangoes – no dirty thoughts please. They are my favourite fruit, I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of them. We came here after a not-so-great meal at Kua-Aina, a Hawaiian burger place off Carnaby Street. Like always, I’ve asked my beautiful girlfriend/assistant to help me out.

The Atmosphere, Design & Marketing

The entire lounge has a really chilled yet playful vibe to it. It’s ideal for chillaxing with friends. A few local businesses have even made it their go-to choice for team meetings/bonding sessions. I absolutely love the fact that there are old school games to play at each table: Connect4, Jenga, UNO, Monopoly, Scrabble & more – a valuable way to remind people how to socialise the more traditional, enjoyable way whilst stuffing their faces. With MADD being in the diverse heart of Soho, the decor is funky, bright/bold, and being a joint that serves everything mango-infused, you’ll suddenly get that summery feeling. Happy days. They’ve recently just had an internal face-lift, and from what we’ve heard… the newly incorporated themes are far from boring. Can’t wait to see what they’ve done with the place. (words by Tin)

MADD’s website. Click the image to check it out.

As a graphic designer, I truly respect their design aesthetic. The branding is one of the first things I notice about anything – the typography and consistency across all platforms is key. MADD have got it all right, the quirkyness transfers across all their platforms: a fully functional website, facebook page with an app and a twitter. For guys who never used the latter till a few months ago, they’re doing pretty damn well. Like my girlfriend mentioned about the interior design being bright and bold, their digital channels all reflect this. I love the little Mango related facts they’ve put together:

In several cultures, its fruit and leaves are ritually used as floral decorations at weddings, public celebrations and religious ceremonies.

Buddhist monks are believed to have introduced the mango to Malaysia and eastern Asia – They know a thing or two those monks!

The mango is often referred to as the king of fruit. This is because of its taste, color and beauty – and we agree!

I think in future, we’ll also look at the way restaurants and other eateries’ marketing and design aesthetic (both interior and branding). Right going to let Tin write about the food…

Desserts

All hail Mango MADDness: “The amazing selection of panna cotta, mixed fruits, mango pudding, diced fresh mango & delicious sticky rice. Total MADDness perfect for sharing”. Allow me tell you how all of the above just absolutely hit the mango addiction spot  nicely.

Siam: “All time Thai favourite mangoes & coconut sticky rice. MADDness!” – a classic Asian -continental treat that can finally be enjoyed by all. The sweetest yellow mangoes that come on the side really compliment the siam, which is usually served alone where I’m from. They have plans to create a new siam range with a mixture of selected flavoursome twists in the near future.

Mango Ice-cream: this inevitably was my personal favourite! It’s not easy to find a great tasting scoop of exotic mango ice-cream and I would’ve happily rinsed a whole tub of this if they’d let me. Way too yummy.

Panna Cotta: “Luscious panna cotta swimming in a sea of fresh mangoes, berries, kiwi & passion fruit sauce! Mamma Mia!” – creamy, tastes delightful with all the fresh fruit trimmings.

Mango Pudding: “MADD’s awesome mango pudding & fresh mangoes, dressed with a mango raspberry coulis combo” – glad to know that they’ve pulled off a new and improved version. The delicious mango richness has intensified in this one.

Drinks

MADD Smoothie: “Refreshing blend of fresh mango, coconut cream & yogurt, sweetened up with touch of honey” – there was a definite after-taste of honey in this uniquely blended smoothie, MADD aims to make the ingredients easy to recognise for dessert-savvy lovers. How thoughtful!

Mango & Passion Fruit Smoothie: I prefer more fruit pulp in my smoothies but that pretty much defeats the point of a SMOOTHie. By the time I had a sip or two of this, I think I was just so mangoed-out.

The fantabulous mango is undoubtedly the best superfruit ever. Such an excitingly original concept. Who knew you could do so much with this conveniently versatile fruit? We ate so much that date night, it was insane. Utter yellow MADDness. Their entire one-of-a-kind dessert menu is nothing short of impressive, and then some.

Service

On point. Informative and suggestive about the food they have to offer. As we’ve been tweeting Jon and Ralph for a while, they came out to greet us and tell us more about the MADD story. I expected them to be two 40 year olds for some reason but to my surprise, they’re both only 23. My age! :-| <- that was my reaction too. Although I’d never start a dessert joint, talking with them inspired me a great deal. The fact that they’re so young and already have the courage to start such a business, turning any vision into a successful venture is incredible. I want to do that one day, still trying to figure out what to do but it’ll come to me in due time.

In terms of service, their staff is friendly, informative and polite. What more can you ask for? They actually take time to greet as many of their customers as possible, which is nice. I don’t know many owners that do that in London anymore. Nothing beats a good conversation over some great food.

Overall

If you’re a Mango lover then MADD is your equivalent to heaven on earth. For someone with a strong opinion on everything, I actually have zero complaints whatsoever about this restaurant. Head down this week as they’ve teamed up with Europe’s prestigious Raindance Film festival as its official café. Click here for more info on that.

MADD
53 Rupert Street
Soho
London
W1D 7PH

Mon – Thur – 11am to 10pm, Fri – Sat – 11am to midnight, Sunday – 11am to 8pm

 18 years to the day: Cool Runnings released October 1, 1993

I wasn’t old enough to understand at the time, but I would hazard a guess that the idea of a Jamaican bobsledding team would have sounded strange to most people. Essentially, we’re talking about people who leave their homeland, a country where it’s hot almost all of the time, to go and race a bobsled down some ICE?! Suffice to say, you wouldn’t find me doing it. And yet, Cool Runnings comes through the chequered flag in flying colours, resulting in a film which is still enjoyable to watch to this day.

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On the face of it, Cool Runnings looks to employ the standard sports film formula of the overachieving underdogs who face many difficulties along the way, but ultimately triumph. Although most of this criterion is promptly ticked off, the final scene changes the rules in dramatic fashion, simultaneously teaching us a great lesson. In fact, Cool Runnings makes a habit out of teaching us lessons with themes of respect, sportsmanship, and determination prevalent throughout. No doubt these are lessons which we have all heard before, but the way in which they are taught here still resonates with many today.

The standout performances in terms of the cast are Leon Robinson as Derice and the late John Candy as the team’s coach, Irv Blitzer. Derice’s resolve is infectious at times, whilst few can fault Candy’s turn as the initially unwilling coach whose mind is changed by Derice’s enthusiasm. The rest of the cast execute their roles effectively, but this is Derice and Blitzer’s story. Add to this yet another unique, recognisable score from the incredible Hans Zimmer, and you can start to see why Cool Runnings went on to gross more than $150 million worldwide.

‘Any Last Words?’ If you’re looking for a fun, feel-good film that will also inspire you and you haven’t seen Cool Runnings yet, watch it. If you’re looking for a fun feel-good film that will also inspire you and you have seen Cool Runnings, watch it again!

Best Line: ‘I see PRIDE. I see POWER. I see a bad-ass mother who won’t take no crap off of nobody!’ Still gets me as hyped as Junior Bevil was to this day.

Best Scene: The training montage for one simple reason – Sanka doing pull-ups. Hilarious!

Did you know? Cool Runnings is based on a true story of a Jamaican bobsled team that competed in the 1988 winter Olympics. Real-life footage was spliced into the Jamaicans final run.

I have been careful not to include any spoilers in this review. However, if you wish to know absolutely nothing about this film, skip to ‘Any Last Words?’ at the bottom of this page. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is not your typical spy film. You won’t find Gary Oldman’s George Smiley engaging in fisticuffs with evil men, or saying a cool line after offing a villain. Action has been replaced with words – a lot of words – resulting in an absorbing, if at times slow-paced, whodunnit of a film which unfolds in meticulous fashion.

Written by Amon | Follow us on twitter

The synopsis is as follows: Set in the 1970’s during the Cold War, George Smiley is called out of retirement amidst fears that the British Secret Service, aka ‘The Circus’, has been infiltrated by a Soviet mole. The story is very intelligent, adapted from John Le Carré’s novel of the same name. Having not read the novel before watching the film, I found myself in the unenviable position of not fully understanding all the subtleties which I am sure were there. It’s not so much that it will stop you enjoying the film, but it is present enough that you notice.

Additionally, the story plays out in a confusing manner – whilst the flashbacks would have almost certainly made sense in the book, here they feel out of place. This can lead to the audience struggling to keep up with what’s going on, which is particularly frustrating in a film such as this. However, to the film’s credit, it concludes in such a way that even if you had no idea what was happening up to that moment, you are satisfied by the payoff.

That Gary Oldman has not won an Oscar to date is a crime against film. If you don’t agree, have a look at his filmography and watch some of his past works. In a film brimming with exceptional actors, from Colin Firth’s Bill Haydon to Benedict Cumberbatch as Smiley’s right hand man Peter Guillam, Oldman steals the show with an Oscar-worthy turn as the retired agent tasked with finding the mole. The intricacies of his performance alone demand a second viewing. It is a testament to just how good the acting is that you’ll still be engrossed even when you’re lost.

Any Last Words?

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is likely not going to have people flocking to the cinemas. However, there’s a lot to love – the story draws you in, and the star studded cast are excellent. It’s such a shame that, particularly for those who have not read the book, the structure of the film prevents the viewer from appreciating it that much more.