London - WHAT WE ATE (& DRANK!)

Like many Singaporeans who love to photograph their food.....how can we not do the same for the yummy food we had in London?! We didn't manage to photograph every single meal that we had though....either due to us being too hungry and gobbled all the food before remembering our "task" or there were too little light at some of the places where we ate at (some restaurants were seriously dark - I kid you not!).

Anyway, here are some of our more memorable meals or meals that we actually took photographs of......

There was this cafe called Mimos just a stone's throw from our apartment. It served the heartiest English breakfast and brewed one of the best coffees that I've ever had! We ate there or packed sandwiches from there countless times during our trip. And the prices were very reasonable. A full english breakfast like that was only less than GBP4. It was the ultimate CHEAP & GOOD eating place.

I'm gonna skip the "main courses" and move right to desserts....'cos me being the one with the sweet tooth. There were so much yummilicious desserts to choose from.....dieters keep away!

Crepes were commonly seen at the markets.....these ones were with generous servings of NUTELLA....*screams*

And then there were ice-creams/gelatos of ALL SORTS! Now if heaven is a place on earth as Belinda Carlisle had sang it.....she might've meant the food hall at Harrods. RG took a long while to decide on the ice-cream flavors....'cos there were just too many options.

Our "little" ice-cream treat at Morelli's made quite a dent in our pockets for a price of almost GBP45. It was a nice experience....but we probably won't be doing it again anytime soon! I think in terms of taste, I can get the same satisfaction from my USD5 for 2 big tubs of Eddy's mango ice-cream! oops.....

The dessert that we saw the most.....CUPCAKES!!! Those little cute cakes were like unstoppable wild mushrooms....springing up on us everywhere we went.

These ones were from Hummingbird - a popular bakery in London. There was a super long queue at the bakery at Portobello Market. We got the famous red velvet one, choco-chip and also a savory one. My frank opinion......the cupcakes with their frostings....TOO SWEET for my liking. The only one that I liked was the savory one.

Someone recommended that we drop by Caffe Concerto for English tea.....and we did. However, 'cos we were there shortly after our late lunch.....we did not go for the English tea set which consisted of sandwiches, scones, tarts and teas (all that for GBP25 for 2 persons!!). Instead, we ordered a slice of cake each - strawberry for me & rich choco mousse for RG. yumz......

And of course, how could we not have some english pies! The pies were really good comfort food and warmed us up nicely (it was rainy/cold when we were in London...bleah!).

Thinking that we might miss Asian food (haha!).....a friend brought us to Four Seasons at Bayswater where they claimed to make the "best roast duck in the world" (quoted from a newspaper article at the shop front). Funny thing was.....there were SO MANY Singaporeans at the restaurant....it sure felt like a little Singapore right there. I had roast duck with char siew while RG had roast duck with roast pork. Ok......it was nice but definitely NOT the best in the world! But if I were living in London and miss having roast duck rice or other asian dishes....the restaurant would be a good place to go to.

Now....for the main courses.....we ate mostly western/english-style food i.e. burgers, chicken/fish/steak with mash etc. Nothing too exciting or creative......maybe 'cos we weren't exactly planning to splurge on food.

Knowing that we both like jap food a lot, a friend brought us to Cafe Japan at Golders Green for lunch. The set lunches were very reasonably priced and the servings were huge (as you can see!).

For the budget conscious travellers (like us!)....the english pubs are great places to find some cheap eats....especially for lunch. The following photos show the regular pub grubs.....most were at very affordable prices (usually between GBP5-10 per person for the entire meal - sometimes even with the beer thrown in!). Don't expect great food qualities for that kind of prices though. If you are eating just to fill your hungry stomachs....then pub grub is a good option.

Of course.....the other option for the budget-conscious is fast-food. You'll find your regular BK, Macs, KFC in London. The prices comparable to SG or the states.

The "local" fast food.....take-away fish and chips for less than GBP3. Who says London has the best fish-&-chips.....obviously an urban legend. The best fish-&-chips are here in Boston and Cape Cod!!! :P

There's also Japanese fast food......although nothing that really looked authentically japanese!

Many of the markets had street-side food stalls selling all sorts of food.....

I was buying some "samosas" with lentil fillings.......

The food would get plopped into little aluminium containers like this....not a huge portion of the "very questionable" curries or chinese food for GBP5-6. And the tastes.....usually quite lousy! Good only if you are in a rush and really can't find anything else to eat.

And when it comes to fluid fuels.......we had loads of coffees......

Mimos' coffees were so good that I always went for seconds.....

But our chosen poison.......ciders and beers......LOTS!!! Ok......alcohol was really inexpensive (relatively speaking - compared to SG)......so no harm drinking MORE....hee hee

You realise how beers always taste oh-so-good when you are drinking with your loved ones and friends......really, how often do we drink beers when we are alone???

As some wise man at Doom Bar said (& written)........

.....something for you to think about!