Believe it or not, I went to London immediately after my Iceland trip. And believe it or not, I’m just getting around to writing about it.
It’s rare that I get to just hang when I’m visiting a city. Typically I’m on a mission to see everything, do everything, eat everything, which is pretty much an impossible task. Since this was my fifth trip to the motherland, I primarily focused on the later… eat everything.
Lucky for me and my sister, our cousin is a food writer in London so he knew where to take us for our our first pint. And after a day spent at Heathrow, I was dyingggg for a bev. We headed to Stags Heads Hoxton which is down the street from our cousin’s flat. After a few drinks with friends, we headed to Berber & Q for dinner. This was one of the most interesting BBQ restaurants I have ever had the pleasure of dining in. The flavors are inspired by the Middle East and North Africa but the chef/owner is from Brooklyn, NY. The combo did not disappoint. I literally rolled out of the restaurant. If I was in London a bit longer, I probably would’ve gone back a second time. We were staying in Shoreditch so Berber & Q was around the corner from us, but I think it’s worth the trip even if you’re staying across the city.
Post dinner drinks were imbibed at Happiness Forgets, which, IMHO, is a badass name for a bar. Fairly exhausted after a full day of traveling, including my 4am wake up call in Iceland, we head back to the apartment and call it a night.
Day two is full of tube riding and walking. We decided to head towards Notting Hill via the Bond Street tube stop. Now, if you look it up on Google Maps, it looks like an insane decision, but we had been traveling for a while, felt run down, and needed to just walk. But first things first, FOOD.
Once we hop off the tube in Marlebone, we head up the road to Daylesford, a chic organic and sustainable restaurant. Daylesford is actually an amazing business model. Not only do they have multiple restaurant and shops around London, but they have been sustainably farming for 35 years. AND they have a massive organic farm in the Cotswolds a couple hours outside London… AND they run a cookery school. (Sidenote, I love that they call it a cookery school. Cookery school. Cookery, cookery, cookery. So fun to say.)
Linds and I had a couple caps, chugged a fresh juice and shared a few entrees. I highly recommend stopping at Daylesford whenvever you’re in town. The smoked salmon is to die and the chose your own salad trio is the bomb. Even if fish and chips are more your style, consider stopping in to grab a gingershot to ward off jetlag or sickness.
Now that we’re feeling good, we decide to embark on our cross city trek to Notting Hill. (Full disclosure: we walked to Lancaster Gate, and then took the tube to Notting Hill Gate. Walking is a great idea until you don’t want to walk anymore. Feel me?) We spent some time hanging in Notting Hill but, to be honest, the one thing I regret is not spending more time there. The neighborhood is absolutely adorable with so many cafes and shops to peruse. I wish we had made more out of the hike to Notting Hill. Ah well, next time. PS – there’s another Daylesford in Notting Hill, if you’re so inclined. PPS – this post is not sponsored by Daylesford. Though if they need a full-time evangelist or taste-tester, I’m available.
As we make our way back towards city center, we realize that we need two things: a bev and more food. We stopped in a pub, grabbed a couple drinks, inhaled a burger, and fish and chips. We’re exhausted but we rally on.
After our afternoon “snack”, we walk around the Leicester Square area and realize that, guess what, we’re still thirsty. The Restaurant at Leicester House has a pretty good happy hour so we grabbed a table outside, people watched, and drank a carafe of red.
That night we met our cousin at Giorgio Locatelli’s Pizza Locadeli pop-up restaurant. Locatelli, a Michelin-starred chef, took over an old post office space in Islington for a month or so, and Linds and I were lucky enough to be in London to experience it. I was so excited that I neglected to take pictures of the pizza, but I did manage to get a shitty picture of a neon sign that says “Fuck you pay me” which I’m not posting. But yeah, the pizza was dope.
That’s it day one and two. Day three is coming up. It’s the most eventful day and deserves a little special attention, hence, a separate post. To be continued…
