Travelling to London – Part 3: The Treats

This travel log wouldn’t be complete without a report of where we noshed and self-indulged, would it?

Tombo ($)

We had lunch the first day at this Japanese restaurant, in South Kensington, near the museums. They had a nice selection of healthier choices, and we opted for the pokes. Good, affordable food. I didn’t remember to take pictures, unfortunately. It was nice to have something lighter and healthier for lunch in order to legitimate the brownie I had for breakfast (I would have eaten the brownie anyway, but still).

Afternoon tea at Harrods Café ($$)

That day we had 5 o’clock – well, 5-ish – tea at Harrods. The food hall was full of colorful pastries and little cakes designed with a Valentine’s Day theme, which is either adorable or disgustingly cheesy, depending on your taste (or single status), but we didn’t eat there. We picked ourselves up a can of hot chocolate powder and then headed to the Café on the third floor.

Powdered hot chocolate. Snatched one.

Sitting in huge dark green velvet chairs that could have been part of a Slytherin’s living room, with English tea and sugar cubes and a bacon and honey brioche waffle (braffle) – I felt posh. Erect pinky finger while I sipped my tea and all.

Again, I didn’t take photos of the braffle, which was delicious. I only remember ever taking pictures of food when it’s already half eaten, and no longer appetizingly sexy.

Borshtch ‘n’ Tears ($$$)

Oooh la la, the ambience.

We had dinner at this romantic little Russian restaurant, and I tried goulash for the first time – loved that stew.

It ended up forcefully being even more romantic because we were the only two people there for most of the time. I don’t get why – maybe because it was a Thursday night? Because it was the hat trick of restaurants (look at me, doing sports references): the mood was right and the food was great and the staff was nice. The price was a bit higher than your average place, I guess, but nothing outrageous. Go there, people. Highly recommend it.

Gaze at the goulash. Yum.

Chewing in Chinatown 

We spent that morning in Chinatown, ending with lunch at the Le Hanoi ($). It was a Vietnamese restaurant that, up until writing this post, I thought had a restroom with an identity crisis – it had, unlike the rest of the place, a distinct French decor. But that explains the Le in the name. Duh.

Stir fry for me, pho for le boyfriend, and tea. The food was good and it was the least expensive restaurant of the trip – 25 pounds for both. Great spot, and service was fast.

Wandering through the streets we came upon a small pastry shop with these little guys being manufactured by the window.

Carb-loaded fishtank.

These are Taiyaki, a typical Japanese fish-shaped cake with a custard filling – sweet and fluffy. We got a little bag to go.

Benito’s Hat ($)

Benito’s Hat, near Covent Garden. Yes please. They got Sir Boyfriend’s tacos wrong. Yet we would return for another round.

We went on happy hour – 2 margaritas for 1, although they weren’t my favourite – and stayed for dinner. I loved the tortilla chips and the quesadillas – uuuuh, the quesadillas. Have I mentioned I love cheese? I love cheese.

The staff was a bit unorganized and overwhelmed, even though the place wasn’t stacked, but the friendliness made up for it.

The Mac Factory ($)

A small booth in Camden market, I ordered the La Med Babe, with pesto and mozzarella, Sir Boyfriend ordered the Super Mario, with mushrooms and truffle oil. Both were delicious. The served cup looks like it won’t be a full meal but it actually was.

Thai Rice ($$)

The last meal was at a Thai restaurant in Nothing Hill, near Portobello market. Second Asian cuisine restaurant with an identity undefinition – the walls were covered with American themed collections. Different states’ license plates, beer posters, soda brands signs. The theory was that it was an American bar before and they kept the decor – but apparently they have another location with the same decorations, so the mystery remains. The mood was cool and the food was good as well, plus I really enjoyed the daiquiris.

Overall no duds food wise (expressos though, that’s another story). I could gladly return to any of these places.

In case it isn’t obvious, most photos in this post were taken by me, from my phone. One can tell by the severe distinct lack of focus in them. Sir boyfriend took the ones from Chinatown.

You may also like

4 Comments

  1. Awesome! Thank you for posting this. I’ve been to Germany and Romania. I will forever love schnitzel and I don’t know what soup it was I had in Romania, but I could eat it every day…

    I’ve always wanted to go to England. Never could get that far east in Europe..don’t reckon you tried the fish & chips?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *