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Wing wing, Hammersmith – Tried Chicken

If I had a pound for every time I said I was FINALLY going to get the “tried chicken” section of my blog off the ground, I would have enough money to go on an absolute fried chicken bender at Wing Wing. I recently got promoted at work so I am trying to make a good impression and show them I was worth it, rather than staying up until all hours writing blog posts for this London lifestyle blog.

Although I have had a food section on my blog for a while, which covers places to eat in London, I’ve wanted to do speciality fried chicken reviews for a while. Do you remember m posting my own fried chicken recipe recently? The truth is, fried chicken is a total obsession of mine. I could be having a full-on conversation with you, answering your questions, the lot, and still be thinking about fried chicken in London.

So here it is; the inaugural “tried chicken” post. I selected Wing Wing because of their beautiful pictures on Instagram and because of their proximity to the office (Hammersmith is two stops away on the tube, perfectly doable in an hour lunch break). Wing Wing offer takeaway but you can dine in as well. They often have karaoke nights and have specials on wings and beer. It reminds me a bit of this club near me called the Pink Toothbrush, truth be told, and looks like it gets a bit lively at night.

Nevertheless, I don’t drink alcohol and I very rarely stay in London after work. I was here on official business and that official business was to try their fried chicken. Ordering couldn’t be more simple. The menus are all on the wall (and online if, like me, you like to decide what you are going to have a few decades before you visit). There is a huge cash desk, which also serves as a bar (if you are so inclined you could have a drink while waiting for your chicken. This would certainly be the way I would have been inclined if I still drank alcohol). You simply choose your meal, choose which flavouring you want on the chicken, and then choose aside. I will admit that £9.50 is a little bit more than I care to spend on fried chicken (especially when Jollibee is so reasonable) but as this was for research, I allowed myself the splurge.

After being given a little gadget thing that flashed when my order was ready, I settled on a chair with my coke ensuring I could see the serving hatch. Little flashing gadget things always lead me to believe my food will take a long time and the fault there lies with Icco Pizza. I have been in Icco Pizza on lunch breaks before and leg hair that I shaved off before that day has grown back in the time it took for my flashy flasher to go off.

The waiting time at Wing Wing was more than acceptable. I don’t really think they have the same set up as your regular fast-food places like McDonald’s by having stuff pre-cooked, as my food was hot rather than just warm. However, their production line works, I only waited ten minutes max for my food. The packaging was vibrant and fun and while I have never thought this mattered as long as the food was tasty, but I was surprised by how much the bold colours appealed to me. It’s as if they knew I wanted to take some good pictures for my blog. The portion sizes were generous as well. I got three pieces of chicken with some skinny fries.

One of the weirder flavours you can choose to have your chicken is liquorice. I wish I was adventurous enough to try that for the blog, but I hate liquorice and my tummy was making noises that indicated if I didn’t put food in it soon, I would, in fact, explode. So I chose “hot” but the other choice was “soy-garlic” and I am keen to try that soon too. The hot flavouring was fantastic. It wasn’t too hot, and it didn’t give off a curry powder vibe like Indian food. The closest thing I could relate it too was the kind of spice you get in a really, really decent Pad Thai. The chicken itself wasn’t battered, therefore, even though it was fried it wasn’t greasy. As much as I love fried chicken I do hate it when you get a big bit of batter or you get a super-greasy bit of chicken. The outside of the chicken was crispy and the inside absolutely fell off of the bone. This is quite a hard juxtaposition to achieve with fried chicken, and believe me, I have tried.

The skinny fries were also delightful. Potato is one of my top ten favourite foods anyway, and fries are probably second only to mashed potato. What with the fried chicken, as well it is a surprise I didn’t spontaneously combust with excitement. There are also other sides and other dishes on the menu. Wings seem to be the main thing, although I had drumsticks. Every Sunday they do a “bottomless wings” offer for £15 (and kids eat free). They also sell baps, burgers and wraps and rice boxes as well, so there is something for everyone if you go as a group.

To close the review, the only criticism I could really make would be the price. It is quite competitive if you were to compare it to other “trendy” food places, but for the same amount of money you could go and pick yourself up from one of the restaurants in Westfield, like Pastaio. See below for my tried chicken scoreboard:

Fried chicken = 4/5

Location = 5/5

Atmosphere = N/A

Other food = 4/5

Value for money = 2/5

Speed of service = 3/5

If you enjoy my written content, you might want to visit my Youtube channel and watch travel videos like my video of the Philippines or my interview with a vitamin iv nurse.

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If you want to try Wing Wing, you can book a table online, get delivery from Deliveroo or go on their website to book click and collect.

 

The Big Bakes London

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The Big London Bake

As much as I love cooking, I’m not the sort of person who feels comfortable making cakes. When I got invited to The Big London Bake I quite openly told Tanya, the blogger I went with, that I would be useless. I tried to make Yorkshire puddings for the first time yesterday and they didn’t rise (although I fully blame the gluten-free flour for that), and I realised I just hate baking because you have to follow the instructions so carefully. The thing I love about cooking as opposed to baking is that you can dash a bit of anything in there when the moment takes you.

Nonetheless, I was excited to give The Big London Bake a try, because I love trying new things. You might have seen my review of the pasta making kit from Sous Chef recently and noticed how much I do enjoy cooking. Even if I get it wrong, I still enjoy it. The Big London Bake is at the back of a pub in tooting called The Castle. Anyone who enjoys Bake Off will surely jump up and down with excitement because the tent is the same. There are two-person stations with all of the equipment you need to make whatever it is you are making that session.

The tent is so cool!

We were making “simple” sponge cakes that were Australian animals (The Big London Bake kindly donated money from these sessions to the Australian bush fires). We chose to make a Koala because it looked like the easiest one. I mean, they are pretty simple animals, right? Our class was with the head baker Nyssa and she made the session so fun! It’s fairly easy to follow, as the instructor will give you instructions in stages, and then set a time limit for you to finish that stage. Unfortunately, the reason our cake was a bit below average was that I have the attention span of a five-year-old. I had gone wrong within about four minutes of starting to be honest. If I wasn’t with Tanya, I feel we would have had no cake at all. We had an hour and a half which doesn’t sound long enough, but your time is used so efficiently that you can make an entire sponge cake AND decorate it during that time frame.

You get everything you need to make a really cool cake!

When we were cooking the sponge, I accidentally turned the oven off by leaning on it. So not only did our cake not rise, but it took ages to cook once we turned the oven back on and we also had to put a huge fan in front of it before we were able to decorate it. Another thing I have forgotten to mention is that The Big London Bake cater to food allergies. We had a gluten-free station as it is something I can’t eat during a flare-up of my endometriosis. But they didn’t just have basic gluten-free ingredients, thy had gluten-free decorations, biscuits and loads of other stuff so that you don’t miss out on anything the people making standard cakes get to use.

Ok, so our sponge wasn’t the best.

After the cake had FINALLY cooled down, we got to decorate it. This is the point where I realised how seriously un-artistic I am. I thought that our Koala was cute, in an ugly sort of way. I don’t think there is much chance of me giving up my career in advertising to work as a baker, but Nyssa said it didn’t taste too bad so maybe there is hope yet? One thing I will say is that I haven’t ever enjoyed doing something I am terrible at so much! I’ll be going back with my friends at some point.

You can book The Big London Bake online and see the prices and sessions.

*I was invited as a plus one with Tanya to review this venue for The Live Review.

 

 

Restaurant Rules UK

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So, What are the Rules About Restaurants?

*This article contains affiliate links.

If you love eating out, you have probably been eagerly awaiting last weekends rule-change amid coronavirus that allows restaurants to open. There is only so much making your own pasta you can do before you start to crave a decent carbonara. But as much as we have all been hotly anticipating the re-opening of restaurants and pubs, they are going to look a LOT different to what we are used to. I’ve run down a few of the main change you can expect to see.

You will need to book

With spaces being limited, it goes without saying that it will be highly unlikely you will be able to walk in to a restaurant and get a table. If you are going to walk in off of the street, you’ll likely be made to wait in a designated area so that you are not in a queue less than one mere away from people. There are plenty of online restaurant booking services you can use to find out which one near you has the best availability.

Hygiene will be a HUGE factor 

Government guidelines state that restaurant need to be serious about hygiene. Expect an increase in hand-washing stations, signage asking customers to wash or sanitise their hands, and potential measures in toilets to mitigate the risks of people queuing. People will also be reminded they can only come to restaurants with people from their own households. Condiments will be swapped for packets rather than bottles and masks will be encouraged in communal areas. Waiters will also be required to wipe surfaces frequently.

Public transport is preferred

Restaurants are being asked to work with local authorities to ensure that people can arrive by public transport, for instance having ample space to lock up bikes, etc. Although the use of public transport is still strongly discouraged, it does seem that trains and busses are getting busier with non-essential journeys.

Inside the restaurants

Over the last few weeks you may have seen the bits of perspex separating self-service checkouts at the supermarkets. Restaurants will be encouraged to have these same screens. There will be no live performances, and play areas will be closed. You will also ALWAYS get served at a table (which isn’t a bad thing), as paying at the bar and ordering drinks is out. One way systems will be encouraged, as well as contactless payments.

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Oxford Street Falafel

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Oxford Street Falafel

Like many of you, there are loads of different things I miss about my normal life. Despite the fact I used to moan daily about my lengthy Essex to White City commute, I never realised how much I would miss it once it was taken away from me. Not only did I miss the buzz of working in the office, but I also missed wandering around London buying food and drink, which, as you can tell from this blog, is quite a huge part of my life. 

So once UK lockdown laws were relaxed, I decided to take myself on a little adventure. I decided to take a trip to Oxford Street as I wanted to get some bits from Selfridges. The good thing is, there are not a significant amount of changes required to get here from Essex. Just one overground, one underground. 

Is Oxford Street Falafel, open?

You will be incredibly pleased to know, the majority of the street food stalls in Oxford Street are open. Selfridges opened at 11 am, and I got there at 10.30 am and Mr Falafal was open before I got there. I’m not sure of their exact times, but I reckon it’s safe to say they are probably open around the same times as all of the shops, which are 10 am to 11 pm.

What is Falafel’s menu like? 

Mr Falafal’s menu is quite basic, being a busy street food stall. The good thing is the few things they do, they do perfectly. Oxford Street Falafel is the place where I have experienced the best falafel I have ever eaten. Granted, I’ve never been to any Middle-Eastern countries and tried their cuisine, but it is up there in the UK as the best falafel. You can either choose to have them with tahini or hummus, or you can have halloumi with either of these. I don’t personally like tahini or hummus, so they swapped me with some halloumi. 

What are the prices like at Oxford Street Falafel?

The majority of things on the menu were between £4 and £5. The serving sizes are quite large, so you do get good value for money. You’ll find most street food in London is priced at around £5, so there isn’t any particular price different just because it is in Oxford Street.

Fudge recipe

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Scottish Tablet Fudge Recipe

*This recipe was taken from the BBC food recipe here. However, I will put into my own words the method I used.

What is Scottish Tablet fudge?

A very special fudge indeed, I can tell you. If you know the difference between them, you will understand that Scottish Tablet fudge is the delightful, creamy, crumbly cousin of the fudge you know and love from old-fashioned sweet shops. It happens to be one of my favourite fudges so this is why I wanted to make it.

Do you need a separate fudge recipe?

While I was doing my lurking, all of the fudge recipes looked pretty much the same. That being said, ensure if you do want to make tablet you find a tablet recipe, like the one from BBC Food I used.

Ingredients

175g unsalted butter
450g caster sugar
75g sweetened condensed milk
150ml of water
Method
1. Line a baking tray with baking paper. The actual recipe says 22cm by 18cm but I just used a big pasta dish. Note the bit about the baking paper, you are going to want to make sure you do that, because fudge sticks like shit to a blanket.
2. Put the 150ml of water and the butter into a pan. Start melting this on low heat. If this were a Greek recipe I would tell you to do this “slowly slowly”.
3. Start stirring in the sugar. Because there is so much, you might not need to stir it in all in one go unless your pan is a cauldron, so just try and make sure you get it all in as quickly as you can.
4. Once all of the sugar is in, bring the mixture to the boil.
5. Once the mixture has started boiling, bring the heat down then stir in the condensed milk.
6. Simmer and stir until the mixture darkens in colour. Now this bit is so important: it will take half an hour AT LEAST until he mixture darkens. In this time you will lose faith in your ability to follow this recipe. You will call BBC Food all of the names under the sun. You will be ready to give up. DON’T. The mixture genuinely will darken in colour.
7. To test it, spoon a bit onto a cold plate. It should set and be “sticky” after a few seconds. Alternatively, you can use a sugar thermometer and ensure the mixture hits 115 degrees.
8. After half an hour or so, your newly darkened Scottish Tablet will look exactly as the fudge recipe says it should. Take it off of the heat, and give it another stir until the mixture thickens.
9. Leave the fudge for around half an hour to set. If you are a greedy bitch like me, you’ll want to “lock the spoon”. Don’t. The temperature of cooked sugar is unbelievably high, and you will more than likely fry your oesophagus.

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Turtle Bay to Reopen on 4th July

It’s the one we have all been waiting for. Restaurants are finally reopening on the 4th July, including Turtle Bay. I had my first dose of Turtle Bay when I visited Leicester a few years back, so as you can imagine, I was thrilled when they opened restaurants in Essex in Colchester and Chelmsford. I’ve visited a couple of times and the food really is second to none, so I am keen to see what the new social distancing measures are like, especially if they mean I get to enjoy some jerk chicken and a mocktail.

Turtle bay have put a number of measures in place to ensure they meet government requirements for reopening. Anyway, instead of taking my word for it, I will just refer you to their press release:

BOOK YOUR TROPICAL ESCAPE NOW – TURTLE BAY CHELMSFORD IS REOPENING ITS DOORS ON 4TH JULY

Caribbean restaurant and bar, Turtle Bay, are welcoming guests back to 26 of their 42 restaurants including Chelmsford on the 4th July in the first phase of their reopening plan.  

Bookings are open for brunch, lunch, dinner or drinks, both at the restaurants and on their ‘beachfronts’ – Turtle Bay’s outdoor dining and drinking terraces.


With overseas holidays off the agenda for most, the restaurant’s colourful and eclectic interior, beach shack bars, incredible rum cocktails, beautiful soul food and laidback reggae soundtrack provides a tropical escape on your doorstep.

Of course, there have been a few changes made at the restaurants, which have been operationally transformed to become COVID-secure destinations.

Measures in place in the restaurant for the safety of customers and teams include:

  • Team Health Checks: 
    Daily health checks are in place before team members start their shift to ensure they are displaying no symptoms. Individual risk assessments are completed for each team member to ensure it is safe for them to return to work.
  • Social Distancing:
    Tables are spaced in line with the 1m plus guidelines and teams will be observing this too.
  • Screens:
    Customers can choose to have a Perspex screen fitted to the table – these can be requested on booking.
  • Going cashless:
    Cash will not be taken to reduce risk, contactless payment is available
  • App:
    An order & pay at table App is being trialled with a view to rolling out nationally later this month.
  • Cleaning & hygiene: 
    Hand-sanitisers are available throughout the restaurant & a strict cleaning program will be taking place throughout the day, including frequent handwashing carried out by all team members.
  • PPE:
    Is available for every team member if they choose to use this.
  • Consolidated Menu:
    A pared-back menu will be in place for the time being to reduce waste and enable social distancing in the kitchen

The Turtle Bay grill is being fired up and most of the menu will be available. This includes their famous Jerk Chicken; Curry Goat; Beach Tapas for lazy grazing; and a huge array of vegan dishes and cocktails –  this is sunshine for the soul, right when it is needed most.

Hitting the legendary tropical cocktail collection is something likely to be on the agenda of many a Turtle Bay fan too – and the entire rum-based menu will be available at the restaurants from the 4th July.  Plus, the legendary Happy Hour is back which means that the whole rainbow of rum cocktails including One Love, Reggae Rum Punch, Ting Ray and Marley Mojito are available 2-4-1 from the moment they open till 7pm and then again from 9.30pm until close in the evening.

The 4th July also sees the return of Turtle Bay’s Bottomless Brunch (10am – 3pm daily). For £25pp, their gorgeous Caribbean brunch is served with unlimited choices from the whole tropical cocktail collection (or Red Stripe for those less keen on a cocktail) for two hours of laidback, island-style escapism.

If diners can’t get to the Bay, then the Bay will come to them, as Turtle Bay at Home will continue to bring a slice of island life into the houses of hungry jerk fans around the country. All the below restaurants will serve up their collection and delivery menu…which includes cocktails too. At-home diners can live their best island-style life in the comfort of their own kitchen/dining room/office/back garden/bedroom… anything goes!  Bespoke Caribbean takeaway feasts can be matched with incredible rum cocktails and a soundtrack of reggae specially curated by Turtle Bay through the restaurant’s Spotify channel.

Tom Sullivan General Manager of Turtle Bay Chelmsford said:
“At Turtle Bay, bringing the magic of the Caribbean to the table is what we do… I know these times have been incredibly tough for so many of our guests and our teams. But, as they say in the islands, storms don’t last forever.Now more than ever that sense of positivity and warmth will be a vital part of the Turtle Bay experience and we can’t wait to welcome our guests back to the restaurant. The Turtle Bay family has been working extraordinarily hard behind the scenes to ensure that the experience is a safe one, and we’d like to thank every team member, key worker and all of our guests, who have helped us on this journey.”

Guests can book now at the restaurants below:

  • Bath
  • Birmingham
  • Bournemouth
  • Bristol Broad Quay
  • Chelmsford
  • Colchester
  • Crawley
  • Ealing
  • Guildford
  • Leamington Spa
  • Leeds
  • Leicester
  • Liverpool Hannover St
  • Manchester NQ
  • Manchester Ox St
  • MK
  • Northampton
  • Nottingham
  • Peterborough
  • Plymouth
  • Sheffield
  • Solihull
  • Southampton
  • Staines
  • York
  • Cardiff – is open for takeaway only for now.

Places at the restaurant and beachfront are strictly limited so it’s advisable to book soon for anyone wanting to experience the magic of the Caribbean this July and beyond.

 
 

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Kricket – Tried Chicken

Kricket, White City

The fried chicken at Kricket is amazing.

I’ve already written a separate review covering Kricket in London. But if anyone has ever experienced the pleasure of their fried chicken, they will probably know why I have decided to create a different review dedicated to it. The menu at Kricket is pretty varied, but the fried chicken is the crowning glory. I work for a huge advertising agency and the fried chicken at Kricket is something of a legend.

Kricket is a very trendy venue, decor-wise. I have been lucky enough to visit the Soho Kricket as well. It is very similar to the White City one. When I found out I was visiting the White City restaurant a few weeks back, I’d already started thinking about the fried chicken before I even sent “accept” on the invite.

There were a fair few of us at the lunch so we were all sat on a bigger table, next to the serving hatch. As much as I love Kricket, this is a terrible place to sit. I only had a light breakfast, so I was STARVING by the time we sat down to eat. Unlike all of our previous visits, Kricket took a while to serve our fried chicken. I appreciate we were a big group, but it wasn’t massively busy. We did have to wait around forty-five minutes in the end, which wasn’t ideal when we all had work to get back to. 

What is the fried chicken like?

Thankfully, once we did get the fried chicken it was as good as I remembered it being. You get around four or five pieces in each bowl, so our group had ordered five bowls. The Keralan fried chicken is one of Kricket’s small plates so keep this in mind if you are going to order it with main meals.

There isn’t any “one thing” that makes the fried chicken so good here. One of the things I like the most about it is how succulent the chicken is. Although you wouldn’t think it, because you fry it in oil, fried chicken can very easily come out as dry as a nun’s chuff. This doesn’t happen at all with Kricket’s fried chicken, it is really juicy and tender.

The coating has an incredible flavour. It isn’t spicy or remotely overpowering. but it has a little bit of a kick you don’t get with standard “southern” fried chicken. The Keralan fried chicken is served with curry leaf mayo, you really don’t need any condiments with it.

It’s so nice, I actually ate around three bowls myself, which is a grand total of twelve pieces of fried chicken.

Fried chicken = 5/5

Location = 3/5

Atmosphere = 4/5

Other food = 4/5

Value for money = 2/5

Speed of service = 2/5

If you enjoy my written content, you might want to visit my Youtube channel and watch travel videos like my video of the Philippines or my interview with a vitamin iv nurse.

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If you want to try Kricket, you can book a table online.

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My Favourite Places in London

I have a love/hate relationship with the city. If I am in one of my favourite secret places in London I love it. Catch me on a bad day and I will moan about how rude the people are, how bad the weather is and how busy it is there. Catch me on a good day and I will happily tell you it is the best place on earth and I have always wanted to work there. The trick for me with London is to realise you need to split your work time and free time. Travelling up there for work is a nightmare, but I still go up to London in my free time, because when I do have the time to wander, there are some incredible places. I wanted to share with you some of my favourite places in the city you might not know about.

The Richmond Theatre

Image from atgtickets.com

Situated well-away from the traditional “theatre district”, The Richmond Theatre has a simplicity that is very attractive to someone who enjoys the theatre as much as me. Since I started writing for The Live Review, I have been lucky enough to visit quite a few shows there. I don’t know what it is that makes me feel really at home at the theatre, but this particular theatre makes me feel even more so. Maybe it’s just because it’s a little bit cosier than the bigger London theatres in the West End. The fact this place is so peaceful is the main reason it gets designated one of my best secret places in London.

Great for. . . feeling cultured

Mei Leaf

Mei Leaf is a little slice of heaven in otherwise-heaving Camden. I’ve always been a huge fan of herbal tea and I became an even bigger fan when I gave up alcohol. The thing that makes Mei Leaf so spectacular is that they have a small, sit-in cafe bit at the back where they will serve up a traditional Chinese tea in the pot, on the wooden tray and everything. The staff there know their stuff as well. Most years, some of the staff actually visit China and handpick the tea. Teatulia is another tea bar I really like in London, I found out about them after going to a blogging event at their London tea bar.

Great for. . . forgetting reality

Japanese Garden

When I first heard about it, the Japanese garden was something that was on my list of places to visit for ages. I think in the UK, we are constantly waiting for the “right” weather to do certain things. So I put the visit to the Japanese garden to the back of my mind because it was winter. Then, I realised how close it is to my office. Holland Park, where it is situated is just a couple of stops away from me on the central line.

If the weather is dry, this is a beautiful place for a little lunch-time walk. You can find all of the details you need to visit the Kyoto Garden here.

Great for. . . getting back to nature

Camden Lock Canal Boat Tours

I know you are probably thinking that a canal boat tour isn’t the first thing you would associate with the busy city, but a boat tour along Regents Canal is one of my favourite things to do in London. the London Waterbus Company do tours that go to London Zoo or Little Venice. They are inexpensive, and I can’t think of anything better to do on a sunny London afternoon than hop on a boat to one of the most beautiful places imaginable (Little Venice).

Great for. . . something different

The Churchill Arms

The Churchill Arms is one of the most famous pubs in London.

I’ve already written a review on The Churchill Arms, on my food section, but I thought it was worth mentioning again here. Based in Notting Hill, The Churchill Arms has quite an interesting outdoor and indoor decor. The food is really good as well. Unexpectedly, they do a fantastic Pad Thai.

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A Weekend In London

As part of my birthday weekend surprise from my Mum, she booked up for dinner at Hudson’s House. For someone who is never in London she did really well with all of the planning. Hudson’s House is situated in St Giles Hotel (where we were staying), which was a short ten minute walk from the theatre.

I went for a little lunch time walk beforehand and found the St Giles Hotel before we went and I was amazed at how central it was. It’s about 2 minutes from Tottenham Court Road station and you can also get a bus from Fenchurch Street that takes you really close. I’ll be honest – the outside isn’t impressive. The outside has kind of a cold war vibe so you can be forgiven for not expecting much when you go in. The hotel itself is amazing inside though. We were on the fifth floor which was great as we had a view of the whole of London, we could even see the Shard from our room. The room was lovely and nice and warm which is really what you want when you are trekking around London for the evening. My favourite part about the room was the bathroom because it had a bath, so I soaked myself and caught up on Celebs Go Dating before we went down to dinner.

Hudson’s House, London

The restaurant is located in the hotel so we didn’t have far to walk for dinner. Hudson’s House had a real trendy vibe. They were playing 80s tunes which is a bit random but I’ll always welcome a bit of 99 Red Balloons while I’m tucking into my salmon. The tables were also quite private which is nice as I’ve eaten in places before that put you so close to the people next you you, you might as well be cutting their food for them. Because the venue is so trendy you’d be forgiven that the menu will be pretentious, but it is actually simple, elegant offering that focuses on good, whole food.

Any time I go out to eat I order something I wouldn’t usually have at home. If no one else in the house likes the same thing as you then really what’s the point of cooking something entirely separate. I had the salmon which came with roast potatoes which had a distinctive crunch and tasted a bit cheesy. I have no idea if they did have cheese on them or not but if they did – that is GENIUS. As I ordered, the waitress apologetically informed me there was no kale. Thank heavens I escaped that one! Green beans are far less dreary than kale.

Hudson's House London

Since I’ve been blogging I’ve made it my mission to try as many different cheesecakes as possible. Bring them on! Who cares if I’ll be fat for Marbs, YOLO. So of course, I had cheesecake for dessert. This particular little delight was of the New York variety and it was like a little slab of cheerful. I’d eat there again in a heartbeat, it was a wonderful birthday treat.

Hudson's House London

VQ Cafe, London

When I saw our hotel also had a VQ restaurant I was quite surprised as I know they are quite famous as a restaurant in their own right. To be honest hotel breakfasts are so poor nowadays you are lucky if you get a croissant and decent cup of coffee so after a comfy nights sleep in the St Giles Hotel’s cosy bed I was thrilled to be going downstairs for a full English. We were off to the Chinese New Year parade on the Sunday so I was glad of having a great breakfast before we went. They even did a veggie option which worked out perfect as my Mum doesn’t eat meat. The staff at VQ were so, SO helpful and they were super cheerful for that time of the morning. I need at least three coffees before I put in that level of effort – fair play to them.

The entire experience was fantastic. I’d highly recommend the St Giles if you are spending a weekend in London. It’s so central and really reasonably priced.

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