old style dining

More food. As we were entertaining visitors over Easter we had booked to eat at same places which for a tourist would be nice to experience.

We firstly booked to have Sunday lunch at Simpsons on the Strand. It probably offers the most decadent  and showy lunch you could ever have. It used to be an old men's club and now is open to the public serving food to which it has done for many many years. It is most famous for its Sunday Lunch which is carved by Chefs at the table. A man in the corner is playing the piano and its pure culinary theatre.

On to the food. The food is ok and it is very traditional but the meat was cold as it was constantly being wheeled from one table to another for carving. I would not go back specifically for the food but I would be happy to take someone there if they wanted to experience old style dining the British way.

 The old booths where the men used to play chess

The ornate decor

Traditional roast beef with yorkshire pudding.

We also went and had breakfast at probably my favourite breakfast place  The Wolseley. I love this place and I try and take all my visitors here. The food (especially the breakfast) is just amazing and the art decor interior, which is all original, is just gorgeous. It used to be the showroom for Rolls Royce back in the day and then Barclays Bank. It is now a restaurant that is open from 7am till late. The atmosphere is always buzzing and you are likely to see some celebrities. My favourite star spot was Roger Moore at this place. Anyway, celebrities aside the service and food is great which is why I always go back. The only problem is you need to book. You can walk in and chance your arm at a free table but more than likely during peak times you will not get this. The prices are also reasonable. Breakfast for 4 including a main breakfast plus a pastry and drinks was £50.

Eggs Benedict

The art decor interior

The grand ceiling

notting hill

Sorry about the lack of posts of late but I have been busy with Easter. Easter brought eggs but also visits from family. Anyway prior to all this , OH and I went for a walk around Notting Hill and Portobello Market. This part of West London is just lovely but it also quite touristy. So here is a diary of our day. Note the weather, it was gorgeous.

The street where I would love to live. George Orwell lived in one of these houses.

I love this shop and I always love looking around. Unfortunately, though lovely it is, it is also very expensive.

Resident "guard" dog

"The" bookshop

Pizza East for lunch

The best pizzas in town..seriously they are.

le gavroche

I love food. Its pretty evident in the number of posts so far. As mentioned I and the other half will eat anything and anywhere as long as it is good. It was my birthday recently and as a treat I was taken to Le Gavroche website. You have to book months in advance (3 at least) as it is so busy. This probably is not helped by the fact that the patron chef, Michel Roux Jr, is on TV a lot especially with Masterchef.

I don't want to bore you with the history ( find out more here ) of the place but it has a long and established one in London.  It is somewhere where I have always wanted to eat. 

Anyway the restaurant has 2 Michelin stars so there was high expectations. We decided to go for the dinner taster menu which comprised of 8 courses and cost 100 pounds. It is steep but at the end of the menu and having enjoyed every course it was well worth it as the quality was so high. The cheeseboard alone was like the shop display of Neal's Yard Dairy. So much cheese, so little space left in the tum (for the record I love cheese).

We even got to meet Michel Roux Jr ourselves and he came to chat with us after our meal. This alone made my birthday. 

Le Gavroche also does a reasonably priced 3 course lunch for 52 pounds but again if you can get the booking its worth it. 

Course 7 or 8. Dessert. 

liz earle cleanse and polish

I love this stuff. I have been using this for many years and it is just the best. Prior to this discovery I used cleansing wipes which were very drying on the skin. You know, the feeling when your face feels really tight and stripped of its natural oils. I had heard lots about this product via customer reviews mainly from the beauty media world (just google Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish to see what I mean). Find her website here. This stuff takes everything off your face including waterproof mascara in one easy moisturising step. The cream is thickish and you put this on your face and then you clean it off with hot water and the linen cloth that comes with the cleanser.


I purchase mine always from her flagship store in London at the Duke of York Square near Sloane Square. The main reason is because if you purchase anything from her main store you always get a complimentary travel size item. These travel sizes in there own right are around 5 pounds so its a good deal and the samples are indeed great for when you go away. Her other outlet where you can purchase is John Lewis.

I also use her moisturiser which is also very good. I like her products as she uses natural ingredients. I highly recommend this skincare range and I have already have got 3 fellow female colleagues using the product.

yorkshire parkin

Yorkshire parkin is basically a ginger cake but is milder than the Jamaican kind. This cake is the easiest to make and only takes 10 minutes to weigh, mix and get the combined ingredients in the oven....this is only because I have made this cake so many times and know the recipe really well :).

This is the cake straight out of the oven.

We normally have it just with tea but we served it with ice cream above as it was a good contrast with the warm cake straight from the oven.

When the cake is completely cooled a sticky layer forms on the cake due to the golden syrup. In my opinion the stickiness makes the cake even more of a winner.

Ingredients:

225g/8oz self raising  flour

110g/4oz caster sugar

1 tsp ground ginger 

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 egg

200ml/7fl oz milk

55g/2oz butter

110g/4oz golden syrup



Method:

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2. Line a 22cm/8in tin.

Sieve the flour, sugar, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl.

In a small pan gently heat the butter and syrup until melted.

Beat the egg into the milk.

Gradually pour the butter and syrup into the flour and stir. The mixture will be thick.

Pour in the egg and milk and stir until smooth and pour into the lined tin.

Bake for 45min or until golden brown

mimi berry

I have been on the look out for some leather pouches for my bag. I usually carry around my daily essentials in my bag, like all girls, but I don't like things floating around in my bag.

After some time searching I found these pouches from Mimi Berry website. They were the right price, size and are handmade. Mimi Berry used to have a really quirky shop that used to be on Cheshire Street off Brick Lane. I have been in and had a look around en route to the Beyond Retro vintage clothes warehouse. Unfortunately, this shop has now closed and she now has a showroom near Bethnal Green.

So these are the pouches that I picked.

The top one is called Alice and is in the colour grape. The pouch is much more deeper in colour than the photo shows and looks good with the gold zips. The purse below is called the Dotty Penny in Taupe. I bought the last one as it was in the sale and I believe is no longer available.

You can fit a lot in these pouches. Below is what I carry in the purple one.

I could probably fit more in but the above is all I need. 

The taupe dotty pouch is to carry my phone and my keys as they are a nightmare to find in my bag sometimes. This pouch will also double up as a mini clutch as and when I need it.

I have to say that these pouches are really well made and the leather is soft and gorgeous. Mimi Berry is having a sample sale soon and definitely plan on going to grab some bargains.

tokyo diner

Met the OH (other half) in Covent Garden yesterday after work. A little incident whilst washing a delicate cardigan the night before and an uncouth drying technique = ruined cardigan. So went to get a new one. We were lucky we found a replacement half price in the sale so to celebrate the saving we went to get some Japanese food in Chinatown.  There are not many Japanese places in Chinatown compared to the Chinese choices as you would expect but I have always walked past Toyko Diner and wanted to try. Once sat down and looking through the menu I realised there was no Japanese people eating there which in my view means the food isn’t that good. I ordered the Katsu Curry and OH ordered the Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box.

Katsu Curry (Pork)

Chicken teriyaki bento box

Not feeling optimistic, I actually found the Katsu Curry quite good though I have had better. Its better than the Katsu served at Wagamama which is weird shade of yellow. The Bento box, in my opinion was lacking in some oomph. I just felt everything looked a bit sad in their individual compartments. Again I have had better and at £16 it was not worth the money. The Katsu curry by the way was £10.60.

I would go back for the curry if I needed a quick eat but with the Baozi Inn and Leung's (which are both great) round the corner I don’t know how likely this would be…but at least I know it’s an option.