London food

Londoners called it a mild autumn, but coming from 35deg+ Myanmar, I felt like I arrived in an ice box. I had done some last minute shopping in Singapore in an attempt to rug up, but I still shuddered every time the wind came (when there were locals in shorts!!) To be fair the weather was mild from 5 - 10 degrees each day, and I was thankful for the lack of rain till my very last day.

The first day in London I suffered from acute disorientation syndrome, as most travellers will experience on arrival to a completely new country. After spending $1-2 per meal in Myanmar, I really didn't know where I was when a coffee cost nearly 3 pounds. There were a bunch of people at the Freestate cafe near Holborn so I thought that may be a goer - but the coffee was too acidic for my taste and I was somewhat disappointed.

I kept walking around the streets looking for somewhere to eat, and in the end the cold got the better of me when I saw the warm and welcoming Chez Mamie  https://www.facebook.com/chezmamielondon. Bright and airy at the front with lots of deli like foods, the old chairs out the back looked just the perfect place to rest my jetlagged weary soul.

I loved the little touches around the place, including an adorable menu and fresh roses on the table. 




This was one of the lunch specials for the day - vegetarian lasagne with roasted eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms. The peppery rocket and sharp parmesan on top brought me back to the western world after eating rice and curry everyday in Myanmar.

London is a strange place in terms of food. I was surprised to see so many chains for food & drink, not just big global fast food chains but also lots of healthy eatery chains such as Pret a Manger and Itsu which always seemed so busy. I adored this Christmas decoration at a popular sushi chain but the menu seemed strangely unJapanese.

Chain store food aside, there are plenty of small hole in the wall poky places to find, and lots of pretty window displays too.

On some street near Bayswater

Delicious meringues near Notting Hill

 Cupcakes in some random shop in soho. 

One day I went to Harrod's food hall which was a somewhat out of this world experience. The tea hall had an insane selection of teas, all packaged beautifully. The fresh produce was so perfect it felt like everything had gone through a beauty pageant. I particularly liked this cute gingerbread house.

Another day I went to Borough market which is touristy but not particularly large compared to fresh food markets back home. I'd snapped a few photos but this was my absolute favourite - a bakery selling a jenga of olive & cheese sticks. This was clearly the favourite item so I had to get one too - had a nice chewy texture

There are so many coffee chains in London (Starbucks, Nero, Costa must be the top 3) and most coffee I had was pretty average, but there were so many people queueing outside Monmouth coffee http://www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk  I had to pause and get something. I ended up with a single origin filter coffee from Nicaragua on suggestion of the lady who came to take order in the queue, which was punchy and fruity - probably the best I had in London.

Crowds at Monmouth. The communal table also had a serve yourself as much crusty bread as possible option which everyone seemed to be happily digging into. The vibe at this cafe was... Sydneyesque. 

I went to East End to wander around Brick Lane. There were so many Indian restaurants here that it was overwhelming - lots of people stood on the street and tried to beckon passerbys into their restaurants - something that many people expressed obvious discomfort at. Most restaurants had printed in their window "voted no. 1 by xxx magazine (or website)" or worse, whole extracts of TripAdvisor reviews. I set out to find a restaurant that didn't have anything like that, and ended up at Dosa World http://www.dosa-world.com/ which was surprisingly good.

 

 A vegetarian wrap at the Southbank winter festival - the friendly lady told me I managed to get there on the very first day of the festival (also my last day in London) - lucky me for trying her chickpea tagine wraps which were made with Himalayan salt and lots of love. 

I walked past Orchard cafe in Holborn a few times and wanted to go in every time, but lamented my lack of stomachs. On my last day I was determined to make it there and had this toasted oat porridge with seeds and blueberry conserve - who knew such a simple combination could be so delicious? They also do lots of inventive sandwiches including a vegan one which sounded intriguing with squash pate. 

My final food destination for London was Ottolenghi. I'd started reading his vegetarian recipes on Guardian but didn't realise how much of a food idol he was in London. Rightly so - his cafe in Islington is light and airy, feels like health embodied. The salads were worthy of food porn and the sweets were so delectable. Who could say no? As soon as I got home I bought an Ottolenghi cookbook. I want to have that wild rice salad with puy lentils and currants.. and the roast cauliflower salad with ginger pickle.. and the grilled aubergine with spiced yoghurt.. and every other thing I saw that day!