Travel

Patisserie Valerie @Paddington Station

Posted on 30 October 2014 by lendeliz

We were meeting our friend, M, and her hubby, who were currently staying in London, for dinner… M promised to bring hubby to a lovely Fish & Chips place, so that hubby can finally announce to he world that he has tried some authentic Fish & Chips :p

We met at Paddington Station, which was near where M was staying and it was also a short walk to the Fish & Chips place. As we were early, we decided to have a mini tea break first… Haha!

We have heard great reviews on Patisserie Valerie, and there happened to be an outlet at Paddington Station, so this was where we parked ourselves.

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Categories: Coffee/Tea Break, London | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

Primrose Bakery @Camden Town

Posted on 30 October 2014 by lendeliz
Pretty bakery deco

Pretty bakery deco

Our spread

Our spread

We were walking and walking till we were so tired, before we finally spotted Primrose Bakery, that was recommended by LadyIronChef!

It was also upon reaching this place that I realized it was the same shop where the gals and I bought some cookies for a quick dinner prior to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

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Categories: Coffee/Tea Break, London | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

Hampstead Heath @London

Posted on 30 October 2014 by weiming
Serenity lake

Serenity lake

Wifey and her friend, Ms M, had wanted to do a forest walk when they were in London, and they had initially planned on visiting a distant forest. But after sharing their plans with their boss, he suggested Hampstead Heath instead, which is more do-able and is nearer to London.

Hampstead Heath (locally known as “the Heath”) is a large, ancient London park, covering 320 hectares. This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate. The Heath is rambling and hilly, embracing ponds, recent and ancient woodlands, a lido, playgrounds, and a training track, and it adjoins the stately home of Kenwood House and its grounds. The south-east part of the Heath is Parliament Hill, from which the view over London is protected by law.

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Categories: London | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

The Regency Café @Regency Street

Posted on 30 October 2014 by lendeliz
Happy couple!

Happy couple!

Another day, another breakfast decision. We Googled for a nearby breakfast place and The Regency Café (opened since 1946) seemed like a good option for some classic, traditional full English breakfast! It was voted as the fifth best restaurant in London by users of the website Yelp in 2013, and was included in the list of the top five less expensive places to eat in the UK.

But we have read many reviews about poor service, so we were also prepared to go elsewhere if things didn’t work out. Getting shouted at early in the morning is not the best way to start the day! (Apparently, the procedure of the day is to order your food at the counter first before you find a seat, or you will be shouted at!)

It was an easy 10-15min walk from our hotel and we managed to arrive close to 9am, and it was almost full, with only a couple of empty tables.

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Categories: Breakfast, London | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Four Seasons Restaurant 文興酒家 @Chinatown London

Posted on 29 October 2014 by lendeliz
Preparing for the rush of customers

Preparing for the rush of customers

We met up with Lao Ban Niang again and this time, she was granted permission to come out for lunch!

She wanted to try this new branch of Four Seasons Restaurant, so we met at Chinatown for an early lunch. However, we discovered that all the Chinese restaurants in this area only open after 12noon, so we ended up shopping at the nearby Chinese supermarket instead. We all paused in surprise in the supermarket when we heard traffic announcement over the radio station informing all shoppers of traffic jam at Upper Thomson… Singapore Y.E.S. 933 station, haha!

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Categories: London, Lunch | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Breakfast Club @Soho

Posted on 29 October 2014 by lendeliz
Bright yellow exterior

Bright yellow exterior

Hubby woke up bright and early today! Because we were going out for a proper breakfast! The wifey was still hiding under the bed covers when he was ready… Haha! What to do? It was very cold this morning!

Anyway, we made it out of our hotel and managed to arrive at The Breakfast Club (Soho branch) before 9.30am. It was almost full because it opens from 8am, but there was still one 2-seater available, yay!

The Breakfast Club Cafe has 7 branches spread all over London and there is always long queues in all its cafes. It is popular for its brunch menu which is served until 5pm. Hubby got the recommendation of this place from his graduate student who became a stewardess, and hence had numerous opportunities to visit cities all over the world and visit nice eateries, like this one!

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Categories: Breakfast, London | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Great Queen Street Restaurant @32 Great Queen Street

Posted on 28 October 2014 by weiming
War Horse play at New London Theatre

War Horse play at New London Theatre

After visiting British Museum, we wanted to spend the evening catching another musical or play. We tried for Matilda but it was full-house, so we settled on the hugely popular War Horse at New London Theatre.

After getting the tickets, there was still enough time for dinner so we wandered around the streets nearby and found this Great Queen Street restaurant which serves modern British food!

There are quite some tables on the ground level and there is also an alfresco area, with a cellar bar that opens till midnight (possibly for post-theatre drinks). There is a pre-theatre menu that serves quite a decent list of food, catering to the patrons of quite a good number of theatres around this area.

Some dishes on the menu were good for sharing for 2 or 3, but we didn’t had enough time, even though the description on the chalkboard looked awesomely tempting!

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Categories: Dinner, London | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

SACRED Cafe @13 Ganton Street

Posted on 28 October 2014 by lendeliz
Popular cafe

Popular cafe

We were quite tired today, having spent the last few nights chasing northern lights and taking a late flight back to London, so today was supposed to be a chill out day.

We continued to roam around after lunch, checking out some shops in the Soho area, and then we saw SACRED Cafe, which is a New Zealand style artisan coffee bar, in front of us. It looked popular, so we headed in… Haha!

This is a cosy place which has both indoor and alfresco areas (which also meant smoker-friendly :(). It has piped-in music and free wifi so you can see people with a laptop and a latte occupying tables around.

We also saw stairs leading downstairs so we were guessing there is also basement seating, or it may just be a toilet. 🙂

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Categories: Coffee/Tea Break, London | Tags: , , , , | 1 Comment

Flat Iron @17 Beak Street

Posted on 28 October 2014 by lendeliz
Flat Iron Soho branch

Flat Iron Soho branch

While doing research for London eateries, hubby came across this new craft butchery (opened in 2012) that serves remarkable steak specialising in the flat iron cut but does not take reservations, and there are always long queues.

So on this day when we just returned from Iceland the night before, we decided that we should go try our luck!

Having just gone to the Apple Store nearby, we arrived 10 minutes before opening and there were already 2 people waiting in line. By the time Flat Iron opened its doors at 12 noon, there were 3 groups, and all tourists… In fact, all Chinese from different countries, haha.

There were a few long tables on the ground level for sharing (there is also an upper level with more tables), but since it was relatively empty, each group had a table to themselves. Decorations were minimal, with the food menu stuck to the wall by each table.

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Categories: London, Lunch | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Iceland 2014 Day 5 – Surprise!

Posted on 27 October 2014 by lendeliz
Beautiful view outside our balcony!

Beautiful view outside our balcony!

Today was our last day in Iceland! We slept in after enjoying the spectacular display of northern lights the night before, and enjoyed the hotel breakfast for the last time. The food had almost no changes in variety during our past 4 days, but was more than sufficient to fill up our tummies. We especially enjoyed making our own waffles for breakfast 🙂 It was also quite hilarious that our favourite breakfast spot happened to be very near the KFC, and we kept checking in KFC on Facebook as our phones kept connecting to the KFC WiFi. So much so that our friends were wondering what was so nice about KFC in Iceland, and why we had to fly all the way there to eat KFC. For the record, we only ate it once :p

[Interesting tidbit: Apparently there is KFC in Iceland but no McDonald’s! There is also no 7-11s, or Starbucks!]

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