tea time

On our last day in London, we made reservations for afternoon tea at The Lanesborough hotel. It was pretty pricey (around $60 per person), but it felt like a truly unique, old-time London experience—complete with crust-less finger sandwiches and fancy-dancy pastries. Plus we had to dress up, which is always fun once in a while.

Assam supreme tea

Pre-dessert of vanilla panna cotta with chocolate cream, chocolate biscuit and mango  

Three tiers of goodies

Savouries: chicken and sundried tomato, egg salad on brioche, cucumber and cream cheese, smoked salmon with herbed cream cheese on beet bread, ham and sharp cheddar on cranberry bread, mini caramelized onion and blue cheese quiches

Cakes: red velvet with cream cheese, blueberry with white chocolate and lavender, chocolate with ginger 

Pastries: sorry, I can't remember exactly what these were (but they were yummy!)

Scones (plain + raisin) and toasted raisin tea cake

Clotted cream, lemon curd, strawberry preserves

The scones were definitely the highlight for me. They came to the table warm and I spooned generous amounts of the thick clotted cream on each bite. When the waiter asked us if we wanted seconds, we did not hesitate to say yes. I was tempted to eat the leftover cream straight off the spoon—but classy ladies don't do that kind of thing.

The Lanesborough

Hyde Park Corner

London, U.K

the harwood arms

One of my favourite meals in London was at The Harwood Arms. It's in a residential area and a bit out of the way, but it's also the only pub in London to hold a Michelin Star and well worth the extra travel time. Even though you need reservations to get a table, the space still looks an feels like a pub (they even hold a quiz night once a week like a lot of traditional pubs).


Now, on to the food. The menu is kind of a modern take on British cuisine with an emphasis on game meats and local produce. We enjoyed everything. And those desserts! Those desserts were heavenly. We were lucky in that strawberries were just coming into season in London and Paris (sweet strawberries in May? Yes, please.)

Potato bread and soda bread + butter

Cornish crab with raw fennel & green apple

Grilled salted ox tongue with turnip & mustard croquette, bread & butter pickles and dandelion

Grilled lamb chops, crispy pork shoulder croquette, duck sausage and roast potatoes

Poached cod with cauliflower puree, brown shrimps, chanterelles and sea purslane

Chilled rice pudding with first of the season English strawberries and Grassmere biscuit

Sticky toffee and date ice cream with caramelized brown bread and lemon curd

The Harwood Arms

27 Walham Grove

London, U.K

borough market

London's Borough Market is awesome. We loved it so much that we went two days in a row. It had a great vibe, friendly vendors that were really passionate about their products, and obviously some of the best eating options. 

Neal's Yard Dairy has an extensive selection of British cheeses. I ended up bringing home a chunk of Harbourne Blue, a goat's milk cheese that's tangy yet subtly sweet, and Westcombe Cheddar, a firm, crumbly, sharp and nutty cheese. 

We stopped by fish! kitchen's take-away stand for a fried mackerel bap (left) which was the perfect mix of crunchy, battered fish, tangy homemade tartar sauce and a pillowy soft bun. Followed by a pork belly sandwich from Roast To Go stuffed with juicy pork, crunchy crackling and smeared with sweet applesauce.

We weren't through though. We also shared a steak and kidney pie from Pieminister. The crust was flaky; the filling rich and saucy. A perfect combo.

The next day we started with a fatty, salty and delicious duck sandwich from the Market Quarter. I actually think it was duck confit that was then sauteed on a paella pan until hot and slightly crisp.

And finished with a sit-down meal at fish! restaurant. The fish and chips were just ok, but Joe enjoyed the fish pie.

Borough Market

8 Southwark St.

London, U.K

fifteen + st. john

We visited two "celebrity" restaurants while in London. Jamie Oliver's Fifteen and Fergus Henderson's St. John. I'm not that into Jamie Oliver these days, but I do have a couple of his older cookbooks and his recipes are always simple and delicious. As was our lunch at Fifteen. Here are some of the dishes we enjoyed.

House-made focaccia + olive oil

Mozzarella di bufala campana w/ char-grilled aubergines, chilli, mint, mixed leaves and aged balsamic

Linguine w/ shellfish broth, rope-grown mussels, courgettes and air-dried mullet roe

Eton mess with meringue and English strawberries

Selection of British cheeses

Dinner at St. John was quite the experience. Famed for it's focus on nose to tail cuisine, we were excited about what we would find on the menu that night. And we were not disappointed. This was one of my favourite meals of the entire trip.

Pig's spleen rolled with bacon + cornichons, red wine vinegar and red onions

Lamb's tongues and white beans

Pigeon, green beans and pickled walnuts

Peach jelly and jersey cream

Raspberry ripple ice cream

St. John

26 St. John St.

London, U.K

Fifteen

15 Westland Place

London, U.K

london: day 1 & 2

After many delays (an impromptu strike at the Reykjavik airport and circling Heathrow for an hour), we arrived in London very tired and a few hours later than planned. It basically meant that all we wanted was to shower, eat something and sleep. And for our first meal: fish and chips, of course. Nothing fancy (we were in no shape to be in public for a long time), so we went to The Laughing Halibut since it was close to our hotel in Westminster. I had the haddock and chips which was surprisingly not greasy at all.

The next day, we began with a ridiculous meat-laden breakfast at Hawksmoor Spitalfields. Below is the Hawksmoor breakfast for two, a take on the traditional full English breakfast. So good, but so heavy. We walked it off in the Old Spitalfields Market and nearby Brick Lane where there were two Sunday markets happening. 

2 fried eggs, smoked bacon chop, pork/beef/mutton sausages, bury black pudding, short rib bubble & squeak, grilled bone marrow, grilled mushrooms, roast tomatoes, dripping toast

Trotter baked beans

The Laughing Halibut

38 Strutton Ground

London, U.K

Hawksmoor Spitalfields

157 Commercial St.

London, U.K

home sweet home

I'm back. Still a little jet-lagged and missing being on vacation, but happy to be sleeping in my own bed again. Our flight home was cancelled due to the volcano eruption in Iceland (we flew Icelandair), but luckily they re-booked us on the next Air Canada flight to Toronto. I'll be posting more about my trip and all the eating that went down, but first a shot of all the goodies I brought home with me. Mostly chocolate and sweets (not all for me, I swear!), but there's also some cheese and wine chilling in my fridge.

bags packed

Joe and I booked a 10-day trip to London and Paris way back in January. We found some good deals on flights and hotels and figured the advanced planning would give us something to look forward to. Well, we're finally leaving! There will be lots of eating on this trip, so expect to see too many food pics when I return. 

new camera

Meet my new camera. I am so excited. I've been eyeing this guy since Christmas and it's finally mine. I really wanted the advanced features of an dSLR without the bulkiness. Just in time for my upcoming London/Paris trip!