The Best Meal I've Had in a Long Time--London Style

The crowning food glory of my Olympic trip to London was definitely the meal at The Orange Public House & Hotel.  Located on Pimlico Road, it's surrounded by art galleries and interior design firms.  Window shopping was never so fun or outrageous!

If I ever move to the Belgravia neighborhood in London, (I'm talking hitting the Powerball multiple times) I have a few design firms in mind--not holding my breath though.

My parents discovered this restaurant while searching out a place to enjoy an Easter meal.  In fact, while at this restaurant my mom fell in love with their champagne braised rabbit.  The irony isn't lost on me.

After spending the afternoon shopping around Regent Street, including my favorite--the largest Anthropologie store I've ever been to, we decided to head there for dinner.

*Side note, did you know that one my favorite chefs, Giada De Laurentiis is married to a designer for Anthropologie?  I'm telling you, it's all connected people!*

When I meet with those aforementioned designers to go over my new Belgravia home, I will explicitly share my vision as a cross between Pottery Barn, Anthropologie, Restoration Hardware, and the house in the movie Something's Gotta Give.

Back to The Orange and dinner.

This place made a big impression on me.  If I'm ever lucky to get back to London one day, I will make it a point to eat here again.

It was one of those meals where you left and realized you LOVED every single thing that crossed your lips.

It's also the kind of place that has light, delectable sounding desserts that you KNOW you can make room for after an amazing meal.

Here's the breakdown:
Appetizer: Crispy fried baby squid & prawns with chili & lime dressing
*no picture, sorry!  We devoured it before I realized what happened*

My Dinner: Spelt base white pizza with Bresaola, sun blushed tomatoes, olives, & rocket (radish, tomato, & cucumber salad with feta & mint dressing)

Dad's Dinner: Champagne braised rabbit, spinach gnocchi, green olives, & parmesan

Mom's Dinner: Mackerel with beets

Desserts: Eton mess with cherry ice cream & mango, blackberry, & mint salad with elderflower sorbet

As if the food wasn't enough, one of the best parts of The Orange are their drinks.  The Basil Fawlty to be specific.

Even if the drink wasn't named "Basil Fawlty" I would still be head over heels for it.  If the name does ring a bell for you, you'll understand why it would make the drink even better.

Basil was a character played by John Cleese in the British TV series, Fawlty Towers and it is one of my all time favorite shows.  There were only 12 episodes made but they never get old.

The drink has vodka, apple juice, passion fruit, and homemade basil syrup.  What's not to love?

All in all it was a memorable meal and very delicious from start to finish.

Now, off to buy that Powerball ticket...

Meze, Tapas, and Street Food...Oh My!

Continuing the culinary adventures of London, I've decided small plates are the best thing since sliced bread.

Or peanut butter and dill pickles together.

I know small plates aren't a new trend, but this trip was the first time I'd had them several times and it confirmed my love for them.

If you're anything like me, you look at a menu and can never decide what to order.

"Hmm...I feel like fish but that steak sounds so good. No, wait.  I want that salad.  Maybe the salad and the steak.  What are you having?  What do you recommend?"

The best part of having a few small plates is getting to try and sample so much.

That sounds good.  So does that.  Oh, that too.  You can order it all and try it!

*Now would be a good time to mention all these stops did not occur in one day.  Someone would have had to roll me onto the airplane home.*

The first small plate excursion was to The Real Greek where the small plates are know as meze.

There isn't much about Mediterranean food that I don't love.  We ordered tiers of hot and cold meze that included flatbread, htipiti (feta dip), revithia (chickpeas with herbs), watermelon with mint and feta, grilled halloumi (amazing cheese), and pork belly with paprika & red onion.

Then it started to rain. What do you do when it rains in London and you don't have umbrellas for the walk home?

Tell the waitress to keep the meze coming.

Round two consisted of Loukaniko country sausage with smoked chili relish, grilled calamari with a honey & paprika marinade, and grilled asparagus with honey & saffron.

It was so good I wanted to start smashing plates and shout "Opa!"  The only way to top that meal would have been to have some Bonk cake.  If you've seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding you understood that.

Next stop on the international small plates tour was Tapas Revolution.

I think Spanish tapas might be the best known small plate tradition.  My mom and I split the shared menu of bread with garlic mayo, Spanish omelette with potato & garlic, paella, chorizo, spiced lamb meatballs, and roasted potatoes in tomato sauce.  Check out this spread!

I'm on the lookout for little ceramic dishes like this and foresee a tapas party in my future.

After a jump back to North America, the final stop on the small plates journey was to Wahaca, a Mexican street food restaurant.

The name is just so fun to say.  I could see myself naming my next dog Wahaca.  Just kidding.

You should know that my middle name is Mojito.  Not really.  It's actually Kate but I love mojitos.

Therefore I have radar precision when it comes to spotting lime and mint together, especially on a drink menu.  Since it was 11am in London and only 5am in the US when we ate at Wahaca, I went for the the citrus fizz which was crushed lime, mint leaves, and sparkling water.

For lunch I had the chorizo & potato quesadilla (do you see a chorizo theme here?).

Chicken tinga mini tacos

And grilled corn with lime, cheese, sour cream, and chili powder.  I really love Mexican style corn.  It needed to be said.

You know what else is cool about Wahaca?  You get this with your bill.  Any guesses?

My mom thought they were matchsticks the first time my parents ate there, only to find out they are jalapeno seeds to plant at home.  How cool is that?!?

So there you have it.  All those flavors and dishes with little bites along the way.  I think it's a really refreshing and casual way to eat a meal as opposed to a large, over sized portion!

Now if I could just find chorizo, grilled Mexican corn, and revithia in one place...

Back From London & Considering a Move to Borough Market

Hello everyone!

Boy, do the last few weeks feel surreal.  I still can't wrap my brain around the concept that I attended the Olympics.  Lots more to come on all of our adventures but I wanted to share the "foodie" highlight of the trip.

Borough Market.

I'm considering a move.

Not just to London, but to the market itself.

All I need is small corner.

We stepped off the Tube and into heaven.

This market was buzzing and loaded with pure foodie euphoria.

If you don't live nearby and visit, be prepared for the biggest tease of your life.

I seriously weighed the consequences of trying to bring back half the market in my suitcase but came to the conclusion that several hours in customs wouldn't be the best finale to my vacation.

Instead, I brought back what I could in the form of sauces, chutneys, fruit butters, and preserves along with a few tote bags.

And it all captured with these photos.

I'm in serious talks with my software engineer husband to develop scratch n' sniff computer screens.

Until then, you'll have to trust me on how I wanted to bottle wonderful smell lingering everywhere.

The market is located in Southwark, London and has been in some form of existence since the 13th century.

It's filled with all sorts of vendors selling everything from local, artisan products to international items.

A person could wander and sample for hours!

During our visit, we split a chorizo roll from Brindisa that was out of this world!

Front Door to Brindisa

Toasted Rolls, Greens, and Roasted Red Peppers

Sizzling Chorizo

Delish!

To cool off the heat from the spicy sausage, my Mom and I split a Summer Spritzer from Borough Wines.  It's a refreshing combination of red wine, lemonade, mint, and a secret liqueur.  It was gone in about 5 minutes.  I might be a market lush.

The rest of the day was spent resisting the urge to buy this.

And these.

A few of these.

All of this.

And a whole hunk of that.

When you finally realize you've spent hours wandering only a few city blocks and life is passing you by...you may be able to build up the courage to leave and continue on with your day.

When you do, you'll pass under this sign.  Which is very inadequate in terms of capturing the despair you feel.  It should really say, "We understand.  This is a very hard step for you.  The market will always be here.  You'll be ok."  There should be at least free tissue boxes to dry your tears.  

Now I want a chorizo roll for lunch...great.