They say that London is not known for its food, but if you know where to look, there is a lot of good food to be found. Here are some of those, not including what I already blogged about previously.
Nandos
One thing I missed from living in Singapore is Nandos peri peri chicken, so I was determined to eat it in London when I was there in May. I had an opportunity to do so when we had lunch at AA and Melvin’s home and we ordered it for lunch.
There’s a branch within walking distance from them, but we decided to order in so that baby Matteo (who turns 1 year old today, by the way!) could be comfortable eating his lunch. I mean, he’s a cutie, but I’m not sure how restaurant patrons would react to seeing him like this:
I was so happy to have Nando’s peri peri chicken with corn on the cob and liver. 😋 So happy, in fact, that I insisted on having it again for lunch days later. 😅
AA had just come from Portugal with her friends, so she gave us her pasalubong – Portuguese egg tarts. We did a funny review reel of it below.
Sloane Square
On our day out with AA, she brought us to Sloane Square because I said I really wanted to eat my favourite Bread Ahead doughnuts and they had a branch there. I had never been here previously, I had tried Bread Ahead in Borough Market and Sourced Market.
My favourite doughnut is the salted caramel. I love the generous stuffing of Bread Ahead doughnuts and have not been able to find a better doughnut of this kind in Singapore or Hong Kong. I’ve been craving for this doughnut for 7 years, and I was so glad that it did not disappoint after all this time!
The doughnuts were just our pre-game food before brunch at Granger and Co, which had a bit of a wait before they could let us in. We had delicious fluffy hotcakes, sweet corn fritters, and fried chicken.
Gelle realized that the food tasted like one of her favourite brunch places in Sydney, Australia, where she is based, and we discovered that it’s from the same company but with a different name.
Then we just walked around the area, taking pictures with the beautiful buildings and shopping for clothes, shoes, makeup, and jewelry in Zara, Allbirds, and John Lewis. Look closely at the picture of us with sunglasses – someone is wearing baby sunglasses. 😆 Then we got photobombed in one of the pictures! Thanks for the laugh, stranger!
Before heading home, Joey, Gelle and I had a light dinner at Ottolenghi. I really loved their hot chocolate and the plate of mixed vegetables that we had. The waitress was also very helpful. When we asked her to help us take our photo and the lighting wasn’t that great, she surprised us by popping off somewhere and coming back with a ringlight!
High School Reunion @ Canary Wharf
Chi and I were classmates in high school. We have two other former classmates in London – Tina and Kat, so we met up with them for dinner at Canary Wharf Market Halls, which is a food court.
We each grabbed some food and gabbed for a bit, but the very noisy place wasn’t really conducive for a catch up, so we left and headed to the The Ivy, which was nearby. Luckily they had a table for us. This place was so much nicer than the food court! We had tea/coffee and desserts there. Joey and Gelle also dropped by later.
Last August 3, it was Kat’s turn to visit Hong Kong, so we met up again for lunch at a restaurant called Dynasty. It was my first time to that restaurant and I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful it was, with awesome views of the harbour.
A Filipino Buffet @ Romulo Cafe
Chu booked spots for us at Romulo Cafe & Restaurant, a Filipino food restaurant which had All You Can Eat Fridays. The restaurant was tastefully decorated inside. Apparently they have branches in the Philippines as well, and they are decorated the same way.
The buffet was also a fancy kind, a sit down one where you can order whatever you want from the menu and they would bring it to your table, without you having to queue for it.
The food was quite delicious with a genuine Filipino taste. My favourites were the lechon kawali and sinigang. The desserts were good, too. Warning – don’t try to eat the fancy-looking design on top of the ube cake, because I don’t think it’s edible. Learn from my experience! 😅
My friends said they would definitely be coming back.
Saturday Roast
My last day in London was a Saturday. We had brunch at Chi and Punch’s home and then had this one last photo at the door before I said goodbye to my friends and headed to the airport 3 hours before my flight.
I had plenty of time to spare before my flight, so after going around the shops for last minute shopping, I went into a restaurant which served Sunday Roast. It wasn’t the standard one, but a variant that had the Yorkshire pudding wrapped around the meat like a kebab. Still, it was not bad.
I really enjoyed my trip to London even though I was sick with a terrible (Non-Covid) cough through most of it. It was the company that made it really fun.
I missed my friends terribly once I got back to Hong Kong, and I had a realization that I was actually lonely here and just didn’t realize it. 😢 It feels different to hang out with found family.
I wish someday we could be together again, and more often. Universe, do your thing.
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