Coming up

Since my blogging is sporadic at best, I thought I’d add a list of upcoming posts for any interested readers.

Fondue at St. Moritz

Wine Tasting in Napa

Lunchtime sushi

A happy meal?

People say food doesn’t cure what ails you, but you know what…they are so wrong. Sometimes food is the answer and today it definitely was. After a gruelling session at the dentist, I was feeling disturbingly low and also hungry. After contemplating sushi takeout, sandwiches etc, I spotted the food Mecca of the civilised world… Mc Donald’s. First, can I preface that I never go to Mc Donald’s, sometimes on a long drive to Sligo we would stop off there at the halfway point, but normally never! So I went in (on my own, another rarity) and ordered a Happy Meal, as ordering an adult meal is very un-me! And you know what, I DID feel happy after it, more relaxed and less low. Maybe it’s the simplicity of the food, jovial atmosphere or perhaps just plain trans fats… Whatever, it truly was a happy meal!

making the most of it

I have started to suspect recently that I may have a food allergy, surely the worst fear of any food blogger. I was told before that I am allergic to gluten, wheat and should only have dairy once a week. As a vegetarian and self confessed food glutton, I cannot imagine a world in which I couldn’t eat cheese, breads, cakes, cookies… Apparently 1 in 100 people in the Uk are gluten intolerant, this is not a group I want to be a part of.

As much as my first instinct is to run away and eat a cream cake, I have decided to go and get checked out. I tried to go off these foods before and lasted a day…a miserable day in which I was starving. Fruit, people, does not fill you up. I’m not sure how I am going to manage not eating all the foods I love. Till then I am going to make the most of gluten and dairy…

blog lethargy

Recently I have been suffering a bit of blog lethargy, while I had places to write about, I just could not summon up the energy, or even photograph things I’ve eaten. I’ve read about this kind of writer’s block on other blogs so it is nice to know I’m not the only lazy one. We have moved into a really nice new flat in Borough, near London Bridge, so I have been a bit complacent and too relaxed to write. The good side of the move is that I will be blogging about different places, like the Borough market, Bermondsey Street and surrounding areas. Bye bye Camden, hello South London!

Camden

Borough Snow

Comfort Eating

Afternoon Tea.

Eh a burger? Can’t remember what it was called, as I didn’t eat it.

This Easter weekend has truly been a pisser, not only could we not afford to go home to the bosom of our families, but we thought we had found a really gorgeous apartment to live in and it fell apart. Since we assumed that this place would work out, we didn’t look at any other places and now face the prospect of imminent homelessness. Sh*t! As you can tell I am very annoyed and frustrated and even the mass quantities of chocolate eggs I’ve eaten, have done little to calm me.

The two pictures above are of a lovely lunch we had in the John Lewis brasserie on Saturday, when we still had hope of a beautiful apartment to think of. The brasserie decor isn’t much to write home about, but our waiter could not have been more pleasant and helpful. The afternoon tea was exquisite, fantastic little cheese and onion, and prawn and salmon sandwiches, incredible mini scones and the tastiest cream I have ever had. The verdict: Needless to say I will be back at John Lewis for more of those scones, the tea pot was a bit small though. The cost: about £24 and surprisingly they didn’t include service charge. After paying for some really crappy service recently, it was a pleasure to be able to add it ourselves for so lovely a waiter.

This is a shot of the view from our table, really funky fittings and all those escalators made for excellent people watching.

London goes Irish

This morning it was all sparkling sunshine, now hailstones and thunder…so I said ‘well that’s Irish weather for you’. Except it isn’t, is it - it’s London!!

Birthday Food

So yesterday I turned 25 and this is what we ate for lunch!

Charcuterie plate of meats and cheese.

Mushroom Ravioli.

Strawberry and Raspberry Frozen Yoghurt.

Kiwi Cuisine

To celebrate cake day this week, we went to a New Zealand run cafe called Fernandez and Wells. H’s cousin N and friend L became Honourable Cake Day members, both found the concept of food blogging hilarious and kept asking funny questions about it.

Fernandez and Wells is a cute cafe at 73 Beak Street, they specialise in rolls, desserts and say that their aim is to make a really excellent cup of coffee. With all their menu on display, it is seriously tough to decide what to choose. As I have proven myself time and again to be an absolute glutton, I had to go for both a roll and a cake! Yumtastic!

Most of the rolls were meaty, with gorgeous looking fillings like Mortadella, Prosciutto, Salami and Parmesan. I chose one of the few vegetarian options, Buffalo Mozzarella, Plum Tomatoes and Rocket, they offer the addition of salt and pepper or olive oil. As I’ve already mentioned my dislike of salt and pepper, I just went for the olive oil. It gave a much needed moistness and taste to the roll, but was especially messy. I would really recommend this roll as even though it is simple, the mozzarella is buttery and delicious.

As it was cake day after all, I chose the Bourbon Vanilla Cheescake. A serious hit of vanilla bean, this cheescake was the real deal, baked to perfection - it was definitely not your usual boring restaurant  concoction. Though it was a unanimous verdict that no one could taste the bourbon, so I can’t say if it was actually in the cake - perhaps just a name? Excuse the blurry photo, my camera is always letting me down at tantalising times like this.

You can also choose from a delectable selection of smaller cakes, including Portuguese custard tarts. H insisted that we order a flat white coffee, as it is the cafe’s speciality. The barrista adds a silver fern design to the top of the coffee, this I have been told is the national tree of New Zealand. Very cool!

The verdict of Fernandez and Wells is that I would definitely go back, fantastic sandwiches and fabulous cakes. The only downside is the terribly uncomfortable bar stool style seating. The price tag: £10.70 for a roll, cheescake and tea. Priceyish for lunch, but you do get what you pay for. Plus the Kiwi staff are adorable, but H will kill me for saying that!

making do

Status: Exhausted and hungry

Thinking: that when you are hungry, Sainsbury’s sushi is damn tasty!

what we ate

C had a steak sandwich with Chipotle ketchup, but the picture was blurry, so I won’t post it. His verdict was that it was perfectly cooked, the ketchup gave it a hint of spiciness and he would definitely order it again. I had a pitta pocket with salad, it was okay - bit messy, nothing special, wouldn’t really order it again.

We also had dessert, of course. Waffles with chocolate and strawberries, and chocolate dipped marshmallow and strawberries, with a coconut topping. Yum!