About two weeks ago, I was at Stansted Airport in London waiting for a flight back to Dublin after five days of really enjoyable holidays. We were welcomed there by our lovely Australian friends and among all types of fun times together, I have to admit I did have some real tourist moments. The last time I had properly visited London was more than twelve years ago so it has effectively changed a lot in the meantime. Apart from a couple of rain drops, and me stepping right into a huge puddle of water (because I was marveling at the Anthropologie shop windows, so it's a good excuse), we were very lucky with the weather and managed to fit a lot of things in.
We started our holiday with an epic evening run through the many types of transportation London has to offer on a strike day. Our friend R. was in the Irish play 'Translations' by Brian Friel at the other side of town and we wanted to make sure we would be there and see him on stage.
What ensued were a few days filled with food, sight seeing, theatre, sunshine, happiness and friendship. What could you ask more of a holiday?!
We started our holiday with an epic evening run through the many types of transportation London has to offer on a strike day. Our friend R. was in the Irish play 'Translations' by Brian Friel at the other side of town and we wanted to make sure we would be there and see him on stage.
What ensued were a few days filled with food, sight seeing, theatre, sunshine, happiness and friendship. What could you ask more of a holiday?!
On our second day, after a morning of visiting the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, we stopped by Sticks'n'Sushi for lunch. I had read about this place in The Londoner's blog and was eager to try it since Japanese food is one of my favourites. We were really not disappointed by the food served at this restaurant founded by two brothers with a half-Japanese, half-Danish background.
We even managed to sneak in a couple of cheeky cocktails with our lunch session. Mine was a yuzu lemonade that besides yuzu also included some white rum, honey and calpico (a Japanese soft drink). We also shared a few small dishes such as warm edamame beans with lemon and sea salt (I could honestly eat entire bowls of those, they are so delicious), ebi bites, spicy pork wraps, lamb chop sticks, marinated duck breast in rice paper and a few avocado hosomaki. The à la carte menu has a big range of dishes, and I would happily go back there and try a few more of those.
We even managed to sneak in a couple of cheeky cocktails with our lunch session. Mine was a yuzu lemonade that besides yuzu also included some white rum, honey and calpico (a Japanese soft drink). We also shared a few small dishes such as warm edamame beans with lemon and sea salt (I could honestly eat entire bowls of those, they are so delicious), ebi bites, spicy pork wraps, lamb chop sticks, marinated duck breast in rice paper and a few avocado hosomaki. The à la carte menu has a big range of dishes, and I would happily go back there and try a few more of those.
The following day, I had booked a table at Nopi, one of Yotam Ottolenghi's restaurants in London. I really love his recipes and was excited to try the lunch menu at one of his restaurants. Our friend L., E. and I made our way for an early lunch that day and decided to share a few small dishes over cocktails and a good chat.
Ordering cocktails proved itself difficult as everything sounded so interesting! I opted for a kumquat and passion fruit cocktail, which was very tasty and refreshing. We chose a few plates to share and went for: pork belly with crushed squash, pickled walnuts and sake; mackerel with cucumber gazpacho and salsify; courgette and manouri fritters with cardamom yoghurt; and a side of rainbow chard with a mustard vinaigrette and almonds. It was all delicious and flavoursome. The pork was cooked to perfection and so tender that it somehow reminded me of succulent duck meat. The combination of courgette with manouri cheese in the fritters accompanied by cardamom yoghurt was really my favourite of the dishes. if I had not had my eyes on a delicious dessert, I could have easily eaten a lot of those. And speaking about dessert, I am very glad I left some room for one. I chose a delicious peanut ice cream with a dark chocolate sauce and peanut brittle to add on top. I can admit I hesitated a bit when the waitress offered to bring two extra spoons for sharing for E. and my friend (I guess that's understandable...). It was a wonderful dessert, not overly rich and sweet. The bitterness of the dark chocolate and peanut brittle was a great balance with the sweetness and creaminess of the peanut ice cream.
After some coffee for the boys and green tea for me, we were all set to walk to the 5th floor of the Photographer's Gallery and start our visit. As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed by the amazing work of Irish photographer Richard Mosse. His exhibition called 'The Enclave' is worth a look as the images are quite stunning and vibrant with amazing colours, the photographer having used a type of infrared film.
I also spent a bit of time looking at the amazing portraits taken by John Deakin. His street life scenes were particularly interesting.
If you are in London in the area of Soho, I really recommend a stop by this gallery if you have an interest in photography.
Ordering cocktails proved itself difficult as everything sounded so interesting! I opted for a kumquat and passion fruit cocktail, which was very tasty and refreshing. We chose a few plates to share and went for: pork belly with crushed squash, pickled walnuts and sake; mackerel with cucumber gazpacho and salsify; courgette and manouri fritters with cardamom yoghurt; and a side of rainbow chard with a mustard vinaigrette and almonds. It was all delicious and flavoursome. The pork was cooked to perfection and so tender that it somehow reminded me of succulent duck meat. The combination of courgette with manouri cheese in the fritters accompanied by cardamom yoghurt was really my favourite of the dishes. if I had not had my eyes on a delicious dessert, I could have easily eaten a lot of those. And speaking about dessert, I am very glad I left some room for one. I chose a delicious peanut ice cream with a dark chocolate sauce and peanut brittle to add on top. I can admit I hesitated a bit when the waitress offered to bring two extra spoons for sharing for E. and my friend (I guess that's understandable...). It was a wonderful dessert, not overly rich and sweet. The bitterness of the dark chocolate and peanut brittle was a great balance with the sweetness and creaminess of the peanut ice cream.
After some coffee for the boys and green tea for me, we were all set to walk to the 5th floor of the Photographer's Gallery and start our visit. As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed by the amazing work of Irish photographer Richard Mosse. His exhibition called 'The Enclave' is worth a look as the images are quite stunning and vibrant with amazing colours, the photographer having used a type of infrared film.
I also spent a bit of time looking at the amazing portraits taken by John Deakin. His street life scenes were particularly interesting.
If you are in London in the area of Soho, I really recommend a stop by this gallery if you have an interest in photography.
Our next stop was the British Museum. I do not know if there is a day during the week that might be quieter to visit this amazing museum but the day we chose clearly wasn't it.
We quickly regretted wanting to go and see the mummies in the Egyptian exhibition. While trying hard to read the descriptions and explanations about the process of mummification, we were very often pushed against the glass displays by a horde of tourists whose only aim was to get as many photos as possible of the mummies.
When our friend was nearly knocked over by someone's elbow, we decided to make our way to the top of the museum to a quieter exhibition as we realised we had not brought protective equipment (such as helmets for example) and also that our patience clearly had limits.
The exhibition of Japanese artifacts happened to be the most peaceful place in the whole museum and we ended up staying there for a little while. I really loved the prints of Noda Tetsuya's 'Diary' series. The way he altered the photographic images gave the portraits and landscapes another dimension altogether. A very beautiful exhibition well worth a visit.
We quickly regretted wanting to go and see the mummies in the Egyptian exhibition. While trying hard to read the descriptions and explanations about the process of mummification, we were very often pushed against the glass displays by a horde of tourists whose only aim was to get as many photos as possible of the mummies.
When our friend was nearly knocked over by someone's elbow, we decided to make our way to the top of the museum to a quieter exhibition as we realised we had not brought protective equipment (such as helmets for example) and also that our patience clearly had limits.
The exhibition of Japanese artifacts happened to be the most peaceful place in the whole museum and we ended up staying there for a little while. I really loved the prints of Noda Tetsuya's 'Diary' series. The way he altered the photographic images gave the portraits and landscapes another dimension altogether. A very beautiful exhibition well worth a visit.
On our way to the theatre from the museum, we all got very distracted by the most British of clothes shop, which I decided to call the 'Very Dapper Gentleman Shop'. I am ever so glad none of the boys left the shop wearing a three-piece tweed suit, a monocle and smoking a pipe, but I could see the tempted look on their faces.
That evening, a great night of theatre was awaiting us as we were going to the National Theatre to see our friend as the lead role in the Irish play The Silver Tassie, by Sean O'Casey. The South Bank was hosting the Campo Viejo Streets of Spain festival that evening so we stopped for a bit of sangria and a few slices of Spanish ham before going to dinner and head to what happened to be a fantastic play. I am not exactly a theatre reviewer but I know a few things for having done a bit of theatre photography back in Melbourne, Australia. The acting was really great and I was absolutely amazed by the stage and the change of acts where the decor was incredible each time. I always have a lot of respect for set designers who create such decors. A quick note though if you go and see the play: do not choose seats too close to the stage if you are easily scared by pyrotechnics. Those were unbelievable and worthy of a First World War movie.
The next day was Saturday, hence market day on Maltby Street. One of my high school friends who now lives in London recently contacted me and mentioned the Maltby Street Market as being particularly lovely. We were meant to meet that morning but there were a few problems on certain tube lines and it made it impossible for her and her husband to join us. But C., merci beaucoup for the recommendation!
The moment we arrived at this great little market, I regretted having had a consistent breakfast as the temptation of eating a lot of food became permanent. There was a lot of choice, a lot of sunshine and happy faces. I loved the feel of that market which had a strong sense of community.
I could not resist buying one of Fergus Henderson's St John's famous custard doughnuts, A friend of mine was recently raving about them and once I spotted the stall, I knew I had to treat myself to one. And what a doughnut! It was light, fluffy and the custard was really out of this world with its amazing vanilla flavour. The lady beside me at the stall told me that every Saturday after her yoga class, she treats herself to a custard doughnut at the market. And she had the biggest happiest smile on her face. I guess this would happen to me too if I could treat myself to one of those wonders every Saturday (yoga class or not!).
After grabbing a few doughnuts (yes, I can be of 'bad' influence to my friends), we spotted the Little Bird Gin stall and decided to have a small cocktail each before spending an afternoon of walking in London. Each cocktail was beautifully presented either in a vintage glass or a quirky paper cup. All were adorned with cute little birds cut out of lemon or orange peel. E. had an Early Bird gin martini, K. went for a Rose-Berry Collins and her sister J. chose a non-alcoholic cocktail called the 'I'm not drinking'. My cocktail of choice was called the 'Bluebird' with gin, blueberry grenadine, lemon juice, blueberry shrub syrup and a favourite of mine: crème de violette. It was the perfect drink for a beautiful Spring day in London.
We were meeting some of our friends for lunch at the Borough Market that day. As soon as we arrived there,we realised that Saturday was probably the worst possible day for a visit of the Borough Market, trying to find some food and not losing each others there. We all headed for a quiet bit of lunch and catching up in a pub nearby instead.
If you feel overwhelmed by the huge crowds of the Borough Market on a Saturday, the Maltby Street Market might just be the best alternative for you. It happens to be not really far from it and is only opened on Saturdays and Sundays.
The moment we arrived at this great little market, I regretted having had a consistent breakfast as the temptation of eating a lot of food became permanent. There was a lot of choice, a lot of sunshine and happy faces. I loved the feel of that market which had a strong sense of community.
I could not resist buying one of Fergus Henderson's St John's famous custard doughnuts, A friend of mine was recently raving about them and once I spotted the stall, I knew I had to treat myself to one. And what a doughnut! It was light, fluffy and the custard was really out of this world with its amazing vanilla flavour. The lady beside me at the stall told me that every Saturday after her yoga class, she treats herself to a custard doughnut at the market. And she had the biggest happiest smile on her face. I guess this would happen to me too if I could treat myself to one of those wonders every Saturday (yoga class or not!).
After grabbing a few doughnuts (yes, I can be of 'bad' influence to my friends), we spotted the Little Bird Gin stall and decided to have a small cocktail each before spending an afternoon of walking in London. Each cocktail was beautifully presented either in a vintage glass or a quirky paper cup. All were adorned with cute little birds cut out of lemon or orange peel. E. had an Early Bird gin martini, K. went for a Rose-Berry Collins and her sister J. chose a non-alcoholic cocktail called the 'I'm not drinking'. My cocktail of choice was called the 'Bluebird' with gin, blueberry grenadine, lemon juice, blueberry shrub syrup and a favourite of mine: crème de violette. It was the perfect drink for a beautiful Spring day in London.
We were meeting some of our friends for lunch at the Borough Market that day. As soon as we arrived there,we realised that Saturday was probably the worst possible day for a visit of the Borough Market, trying to find some food and not losing each others there. We all headed for a quiet bit of lunch and catching up in a pub nearby instead.
If you feel overwhelmed by the huge crowds of the Borough Market on a Saturday, the Maltby Street Market might just be the best alternative for you. It happens to be not really far from it and is only opened on Saturdays and Sundays.
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The rest of our Saturday consisted mostly of sight seeing, walking past some very famous spots of London and enjoying the sunshine and great times with our friends.
Those few days in London were all I needed to relax before the next weeks of busy work and events that were awaiting me back in Dublin. I am always grateful for great food, good weather, beautiful cities and most of all amazing friendships.
Those few days in London were all I needed to relax before the next weeks of busy work and events that were awaiting me back in Dublin. I am always grateful for great food, good weather, beautiful cities and most of all amazing friendships.
