All posts filed under: Restaurants

Afternoon Tea at Blakes

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I wish I had known Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, for she is (was) a lady after my own heart. If she hadn’t ordered tea, bread, butter and cake to her room in the late afternoon all those years ago in the 19th Century, we may not have the glorious delights of what has become Afternoon Tea today. As the story goes, Anna used to get so hungry during the afternoon hours and simply couldn’t wait until 9pm for dinner so ordered the sustinance to cure her hunger pangs. Fast forward 173 years and Afternoon Tea is a huge trade for the hotel and restaurant industry. All of the top hotels in London serve their own twist on the quintessentially British tradition. I have tried a fair few teas over the years, some good, other’s somewhat ‘interesting’, but I haven’t even made a dent on the number that I still have to experience. My mum was visiting for a couple of days before Christmas and she shares my love for cakes, dainty sandwiches and …

Ben Spalding roast at John Salt

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Oh. Just as I thought I had found the best location for a Sunday Roast in London, all goes to pot. News broke a few days ago that Ben Spalding, Head Chef at John Salt, had departed from the restaurant. I visited a few weeks ago with friends and we all declared it the best roast we had ever had. I am sad as I was planning on going back in a few weeks but having read the reports, I can understand why Spalding departed. The group that runs John Salt wanted to take the menu in a direction that Spalding simply didn’t, prompting his departure. But it’s not all bad news as he is currently looking at other sites in London to open his first restaurant that will be owned and run by himself. I think it might be a little late to tell you about the roast that we ate that day. But you never know, he may well do something similar at his own restaurant when it opens so I’ll tell you …

Bone Daddies, Soho

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Soho is my favourite part of London for food. I still believe it to be the area that has the most interesting and innovative restaurants in London and almost always the area that most food trends in the capital originate. Enter Bone Daddies, one of Soho’s newest and trendiest restaurants. Along with Tonkotsu, Bone Daddies serves very fine and authentic bowls of ramen. It was freezing in London a couple of weeks ago so I decided to hot foot it over one lunch time and finally see what all the fuss is about. The décor I’m pretty sure doesn’t lend itself to a traditional ramen bar. I am not overly fond of high stools as I can never get totally comfortable. But then they probably don’t want you to get too comfortable so that they can give your seat to the next people in line. And believe me, there are people waiting in line. We glanced at the menu and although the snacks sounded delicious, with …

Inn the Park

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The joys of living in London. There is literally always somewhere new to visit. Despite living only a twenty minute walk from St James’s Park in my first year of university I never visited. And despite having worked no more than a ten minute walk from the park for over a year, I still never visited. Until last weekend. I have heard may good things about Inn the Park, which is a cafe / restaurant from Oliver Peyton of Peyton and Byrne fame. You might also know him off the tele – his face has graced our screens on Great British Menu for a while now. We visited last Saturday at 2.45pm, which was the last lunch sitting of the day. It was a beautiful crisp (very cold!) day in London and the warmth that greeted us as we walked through the door was very welcome indeed. We were seated and provided with the lunch menu. Almost immediately I knew what I wanted to order. Jack and I pretty much always share so that we …

Gillray’s Steak House, Marriott Hotel

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I have just had an extremely busy weekend. It was my birthday on Sunday and to celebrate I took two days off work to pamper myself. Jack and I headed to the Southbank on Friday afternoon to try out Gillray’s, a steakhouse situated in the Marriott hotel just next to Westminster bridge. We were apprehensive about our lunch trip for a few reasons – firstly because the hotel is situated in one of the busiest tourist areas in London, secondly because we had never heard of the restaurant before and thirdly becuase we were unsure whether a Marriott hotel restaurant would be any good. We walked through the grand entrance of the hotel and were shown down the corridor to the restaurant. My mouth opened slightly in surprise as I walked through the door – a beautiful art deco style bar and yellow tall backed sofas stood in front of us. The restaurant, just to right hand side of the bar area, was just as beautiful with light wood paneling and pieces of art dotted …