Eating Our Way Through London

I'm slowly getting through my holiday posts .. bare with me ... 

The only Saturday we had in London we headed over to Spitalfields Markets. For lunch we met up with another of my former colleague from CFS M and her husband D. They suggested meeting at a restaurant called Pizza East.

This place has a lively ambiance and could probably seat about 150 people, it was a vary big restaurant. Apparently this place also gets very busy and bookings are recommended to avoid disappointment.

Obviously the menu predominately had pizzas however they did have other options for those who want something else. Actually our friends didn’t order any pizza opting for a few sides instead. We had the pepperoni, mozzarella and chilli. It was wood fire baked so the dough was light none of that Pizza Hut crusts. The servings are generous definitely could share one pizza between two.

They also had a large selection of wines. M choose a bottle of red for us to share and it was so nice to drink that we had finished the bottle (and quite tipsy) before we knew it.

For dessert the waiter suggested we try their salted caramel tart. The restaurant has been recently reviewed positively for their tart on Timeout London so of course we had to try it and it did not disappoint.

After lunch Ian and I walked around the area some more. Unfortunately half the market was closed already or maybe wasn’t opened that day? Only a section seemed to be trading by the time we got there.

That evening we met up with E & S for dinner at Dishoom. This indian eatery also very popular with the locals and international guests, doesn’t take bookings so expect to wait in a queue if you get arrive during peak periods and surprisingly it is s a vegetarian restaurant. 

The restaurant served famous local Bombay indian street food so it was like a tapas style concept where you ordered several plates to share. I strongly recommend the fried okra … I love okra so having it an a form different to what I’m use to …. amazing!!

After dinner we headed over to a local pub for a few more beverages. I got to taste strawberry flavoured cider. Very sweet and refreshing perfect for a hot summer’s day. They really need to bring all the various cider flavours in Australia cause we have the weather and appetite for these kinds of beverages.

Where's your favourite place to eat in London?

Finally Some Sun in London

We had lunch at Automat with E on our third day in London. Prior to getting here Ian and I took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to take some touristy photos.

We then walked from here to Green Park station where we were meeting E. What I love about London is everything is actually walking distance but there is still a tube station somewhere within 300m of wherever you may be.

From the station we headed to a brasserie called Automat. Apparently this place is very popular due to its quality tasting American food. The overall ambiance also had that American diner feel too but not the cheesy 70’s diner but more like an older period say 1940’s. When we arrived we were the first one’s there and by the time we left the place was full so obviously it’s a very popular spot.

We ordered the famous macaroni and cheese with truffle to share. I had the lamb rack, Ian had the smoked brisket roll and E had the fish. My rack actually 3 lamp chops but it was cooked perfectly. Ian’s brisket looked very appealing with the pulled pork and melted cheese oozing out of it. I was tempted to have the same thing but was feeling a little over meat after dinner at Meat Liquor the night prior. 

After lunch E gave us his walking tour of London. We walked through Green Park up to Buckingham Palace, half way down the mall, looped around Westminster Abby, House of Parliament and Big Ben.

Then we cross the bridge heading towards The London Eye. Originally we were going to ride massive ferries wheel but the queues were extra long that day (we figured because it was sunny) with waiting times up to an hour and a half so we decided to just leave it for another day.

We crossed the Hungerford Bridge and walked up to Trafalgar Square. Due to the Para Olympics this usually open public space was blocked off at certain parts to control the crowd flow. They set up large screens; food stands and seating areas so that public can watch and enjoy the olympic games coverage.

This was the first of many key tourist monuments that had something blocking its view. For some reason throughout our holiday at various cities many major tourist sites were going through some form of renovation or construction blocking half the view with scaffolding. At first it was annoying … towards the end of our trip we just found our luck to be hilarious.

From Trafalgar Square we walked to Covent Garden. Did a spot of shopping and then met up with my old colleague from BT, AM. She moved back to London, her home town about 12 months ago. After several pints of cider and catching up on all the goss we headed to Chinatown for some asian food.

I mean or should I say “oriental food”. FYI: in London Indian’s are considered Asian and what we call Asians here are called oriental there.

They say that the food in London is terrible, I disagree. We had some of the tastiest meals in London and most of them were cheap eats. However when it comes to asian food, London seems to miss the mark. They say its due to the geographic – London is too far from the asian/oriental spices. Their menus seem to have all the stock standard asian dishes, it looks like it but, it just doesn’t taste that great.

Walking around is a great way to see many of the sights in London, once you know your bearings. Its actually doable on foot to get to one area to another. It's always a great way to get off the beaten track and see parts of London you weren't expecting to see.

First Full Day in London

Our first full day in London and we decide to go hard on the sight seeing despite the gloomy wet weather that day. On the agenda Borough Markets, London Bridge, Tate Modern and St Paul’s Cathedral.

From Earl’s Court we had to jump two lines before we could reach Borough station. From memory I believe we got lost in the process, we caught a train heading in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go …. twice! Once we arrived at the markets the weather got worse. It was miserable, cold, windy and the rain increased. It was only 11am and a lot of the shops had only started cooking food at this point. So we thought we’d walk to the London Bridge to kill some time.

Borough Markets is on one side of the station and London Bridge is located on the other side of the station, pretty much across the road, just behind the office buildings. We didn’t bother crossing or climbing the bridge, I blame the cold weather as a factor. We took some snaps and then headed back to Borough Markets.

Upon our return the place still felt like it was setting up with vendors still cooking meals. The markets were running 7 days a week during our stay because of the Para Olympics.

The place in general isn’t very big. Most of the stalls there sold produce or food and the location of the market itself is very unique. It kind of felt secluded under a bridge but they had all these tables and chairs in random spots set up. The variety of food is amazing. You can have some good British food, delicious desserts, spicy curry, various (and smelly) cheeses, freshly squeezed juices, pimps and ciders. We noticed people did their groceries here arriving early to get in on the fresh produce before the masses arrived.

 Brownie tower

 Salted beef with pickles

 Freshly squeezed juices

After we stuffed our faces we headed over to Tate Modern Museum . If you walk along the side of the church you will see foot paths that take you towards Bankside which is a walkway along the river. Here you can stop by more restaurants and cafes if the food from Borough Markets didn’t fill you up. Actually walking towards Bankside there are also many restaurants to tempt you. Along the way you will walk past Shakespeare’s Globe and then finally reach the Tate Modern museum.

The building itself is a bit of an eye sore but that’s art right? Entry to the museum is free however there are exhibitions that require an entry fee. You can also hire audio guides so you know what you’re looking at. The floor guide / map is not free as I learned after I took one without paying. Technically they ask for a donation but I didn’t see the sign until I was leaving. The museum is filled with lots of modern art pieces (hence the name), and after a while everything seems like they’re blending into each other. I guess I don’t find broken bicycles spray painted black, art? There is free wifi within the building so you can google map your next stop if you don’t have a map, check in on Facebook or Instagram a new picture while you’re there.

After walking aimlessly through Tate Modern we walked back out to Bankside and crossed the Millennium Bridge to get to the other side of the river.

View of the Millennium Bridge and St Paul's Cathedral

About 100m on the other side you’ve reached St Paul’s Cathedral. It’s actually quiet an impressive church building. What appeals to me is the height of the church which still holds services everyday. To enter there is a fee however if you’re there for worship its free. We didn’t go in. We did take lots of photos outside the church and joined the locals who sat by the stairs to enjoy their lunch.

By this stage we were over sight seeing and needed to do some retail therapy. We headed back to the shopping district of Oxford Circus and did our bit for the UK economy. Unfortunately most stores at this stage were stocking winter fashion and I really wanted to buy clothing I could wear in the next few weeks.

At 6:30pm we were meeting our lovely friends again for dinner. We headed to this famous burger joint called Meat Liquor. OH MY GOD … they were unbelievably tasty, mind blowing burgers! My mouth salivates just thinking about those burgers. The dinner seating opens from 6pm by 6:30pm there is a queue of people waiting to be seated - the place does not take booking. They do bring out trays of complimentary food (appetisers) regularly to the waiting patrons just to get your appetite wet for what’s in store.

After 45 minutes waiting in the queue we were finally in .. the door! They have this smart herding process where they let you in, bring you to the bar and get you drinking cocktails (or non alcoholic beverages) for another 10-20 minutes before you are seated at a table. The alcohol drinks are on the generous side not measuring the alcohol portion in the cocktails they create.

 
Generous mijito's

The venue inside isn’t very big and probably adds to the queue time. The lighting inside is very dim and the room emulates this red light glow. Not sure whether its to create lighting or impact your subconscious mind, but I found it very odd.

We all ordered burgers, I had the cheese burger, Ian had the swiss and we also ordered a side of fries and onion rings to share. What I do recall was not being asked by the waiter how you would like your meat cooked. The reason why is they have already mastered cooking their patties for a perfectly delicious burger. I think what adds to the experience is the size of their burgers. They are proportional enough for you to finish and be satisfied. What makes you contemplate for a second serving is the taste. The onion rings were also mind blowing! Obviously it’s the batter that they use to coat the rings that sets it apart. At the time I was convinced they use tempura batter but I don’t know if that was the mojitos taste buds talking.

Photos don't do these bad boy's justice

After dinner we head over to The Social. Every Thursday they host hip hop karaoke. It’s a night where randoms can come up and sing to the crowd their favourite hip hop song. The party starts at 9:30pm, 5P per person entry fee and get your name on the guest list to avoid disappointment. You were aloud to get up as an individual or if you’re a little on the shy side sing as a group. There is an MC who mediates the concept and there is a no “boo-ing” , “disrespecting” or banging on the walls?? rules everyone must adhere to.

The funniest moment for me was after a male and female duo finished their performance the MC says “I’ve never seen someone hold a microphone so well before” cause they barely did any singing.

For me it was a cool and funny experience seeing people from various cultures, career background and ages get up in front of a crowd full of people and sing (usually out of tune) a fast pace hip hop song. Someone needs to bring the concept back ti Sydney if it's not already being done.

Out & About in Old London Town

As I stated in a past post I wanted to put some effort in writing a detailed account of our recent Europe holiday.

We arrived to a gloomy and rainy London on the 29^th August roughly around 1pm. We were lucky to have some close friends living in London at the time and really looked after us while we were there. We spent majority of our time in London hanging out with the recently engaged E & S. So within hours of landing we were meeting up with this lovely couple.

The first night we had dinner at Dehesa. A Spanish and Italian inspired charcuterie and tapas bar.

The restaurant itself is relatively small and has a cosy atmosphere to it. We were the loudest one’s there – what do you expect having pre dinner drinks and over 12 months of catching up to do. We ordered many dishes each one was deliciously made.

Afterwards we headed over to the china town side of town, which is actually close to the theatre district. We walked over to this building that seemed unusd and no indication that it was even open / functioning. At the door stood a girl with a clip board. E has our names on the guest list so we could get in. We had arrived at ECC – Experimental Cocktail Club. Upstairs was a 2 level bar serving a range uniquely inspired cocktails. We got our allocated table which we reserved and enjoyed a few more drinks, laughs, shouted at each other over the loud rnb music. If you’re looking for a trendy under ground place to have a few cocktails ECC is where to go. 

Streets of China Town 

In London to avoid the disappointment of being turned away at a decent restaurant, club or bar you have to book in advance. Don’t get me wrong we book tables in advance in Sydney too but it just seems very common even for lunch time meals.

Dehesa and ECC was a great way to start our first day (night) in London and got us very excited for what’s install for the rest of the leg …