Mei has never held a firm interest in gardening with the extent of her 'green thumb' talents limited to the occasional weeding of the front and back yards in our London house. Luckily, London winters usually kill off any persistent grass growth for six months of the year and we hired a local duo of gardeners to make the place presentable when ever had to entertain. But after some inspiration from visiting amazing formal gardens at the palaces of Europe - Mei decided to make more of an effort with loving flowers and plants. First step - a trip to the Chelsea Flower Show.
The Chelsea Flower show is a cultural institution that has been held annually since 1912 and attracts visitors from all around the world. The event takes place over five days in May, coincidentally timed to when Mei's parents were visiting London. Tickets had to be booked in early as demand is high. If you are unable to get your hands on these golden tickets, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) hosts other garden shows at other venues including Hampton Court Palace.
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| A display of an outdoor table and chair set |
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| Only the English would think of a floral arrangement based on afternoon tea |
Travelling to the show site at the Royal Hospital Chelsea was straight forward using the London Underground. Immediately on arrival at Sloane Square station, a mob of ticket scalpers were actively seeking spare passes and a queue of 'waiting list' attendees that hope for returned entry tickets had already swelled at the front gate. Although the weather was a typical overcast and drizzly for a London Spring, we walked around the displays and watched the BBC presenters inteview the exhibitors - one favourite was an arrangement completely devoted to potatoes and bouquets made to look like ice-cream cones.
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| Who wants to cook chips tonight? |
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| Colourful enough to lick up |
A tip for first timers would be to collect a 'free' map and devise a strategy for seeing the main sites. There are many paths but the popular award winning gardens were quite crowded. Also avoid the food areas during lunchtimes. We were impressed by the outdoor furniture and decorations section including a very unique 'band' made up of instrument playing frogs; and drift wood statues of horses and dragons.
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| A frog ensemble |
The featured small garden displays included water features, rock gardens and even building structures - difficult to believe the amount of effort applied to build these exhibits.
Larger garden displays incorporated vegetable plots and meadows of native grasses. In the brief moments when the rain ceased, bumblebees were enjoying the treasure trove of pollen. Our final and most enjoyable part of the show, was at the central pavilion as the covered roof made conditions more comfortable. Displays were rich in colour and variety of flowers - maples, peonies, irises and orchids to name a few of the species.
Trying to be healthy
Throughout our stay in London, we fluctuated between trying to 'be healthy' by cooking at home, eating salad, reducing our alcohol intake and purchasing a Nutribullet for daily smoothies of kale, banana, orange, grapes, yoghurt and cocoa powder.
Also in anticipation that we would need to improve our fitness for some of our activities in South America, we went on weekend walks to Hampstead Heath, Greenwich and around Southwark. However, as the next section will testify, as the days left in London counted down, we decided we couldn't say no to indulging in further gastronomical treats.
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| Weekend urban hikes |
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| Kenwood House, Hampstead Heath |
London Food
When we first arrived in London and perhaps as a result of us originating from a foodie rich city like Melbourne, we were initially put off by the available cheap food options. At that stage we were on a tight budget as paying 6 months rent upfront had curtailed our funds and we had no local knowledge of food markets. We lived off 3 pound supermarket deals that consisted of a cut sandwich, drink and packet of fruit. But we prevailed and got jobs; discovered the 'Time Out' 100 best restaurants list; joined OpenTable and stumbled upon the 'Real Food market' at the Royal Festival Hall in Southbank.
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| Simple fresh pasta with sauce. Amazingly delicious at Borough Market |
Things were looking up. After over 4 years of navigating the foodie scene in London, there are definitely places that we fell in love with. Our blog chronicles the highlights that we have encountered along the way. Great food is not restricted to Michelin starred restaurants and good street food is on the way up.
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| Street food from Maltby Street market |
Be warned, the following photo list of memorable meals over our last few months in London may trigger hunger pains and plenty of nostalgic memories.
One of the places in central London to visit for mussels and beer. Not at the standard of what you can get in Brussels, but a decent feed at a decent price.
Brindisa, London Bridge
Located in prime real estate at the corner of a lane-way leading to Borough Market, Brindisa was also one of those places we passed by but always looked too full of people that we headed to the paella stand around the corner for our fix of Spanish food. When we finally took the effort to queue for a seat, we discovered that the squid ink cuttlefish and fried spanish peppers brought us back to many weekend trips to Spain.
When Mei asked a colleague for a recommendation for the 'best steak' in London, the response was to try the Bull Steak Expert ahead of the usual list of Gaucho, Hawksmoor or Goodman. We decided to have a try and instantly fell in love with Argentinean steak and the highly addicted chimichurri sauce.
Goodmans, Maddox St
Of course shortly after declaring support for the Bull Steak Expert as the number one steakhouse, Mei's other colleague insisted that we needed to visit Goodmans just for comparison. We had tried Hawksmoor on an unfortunate occasion when Olie was already feeling the effects of food poisoning from dodgy fish he had eaten early that afternoon but we wanted to keep the booking. Shame really to waste good food and we were supposed to fly off to Italy that weekend but had to postpone at the last moment. Our sampled dishes from Goodman included a lovely piece of foie gras, lobster bisque and of course the steak. Back then, we then changed our vote. Now that we have been to Argentina...we have concluded that nothing beats their steak.
We had a list of 'must-do' Michelin star restaurants when we arrived in London. Fat Duck was on the list but sadly we never got around to making the effort to travel there, although friends have said it was worth every pound spent. Restaurant Story in Bermondsey made it onto our list only because we passed the place so often on the bus, that it stuck in our minds. A small venue, Olie put our name down on the waiting list and even though one Friday night we had made bookings to eat at Alyn Williams at the Westbury hotel (one star venue), a phone call came through of an opening for 2. We jumped at the opportunity and were seated for an 8pm booking. The food was amazing, although we miscalculated that duration of the tasting menu. With about 16 different dishes presented, we left the restaurant at midnight. Tip: Don't do Friday night work drinks before you try a marathon menu - we were guilty of almost dozing off while trying to eat dessert.
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| Candle made of beef tallow to dip the bread into |
Gordon Ramsay is legendary amongst the food industry for his restaurants and tv shows. Mei had been to Maze when it was at Crown Melbourne, but we hadn't been to any of his London restaurants. One of Mei's colleagues had recommended Petrus for the melting chocolate ball dessert - one highlight of a tasty, nicely executed menu.
How to eat at Michelin star restaurants without paying huge prices? In London, some Michelin starred places are not of the 'fine dining' variety. One was Barrafina in SoHo where Mei sat at the bar solo to taste the amazing tapas. Another strategy is to check if the restaurant does cheaper set menus at lunchtime. Lima, a Peruvian restaurant offered 'Sunday brunch' for under 40 GBP per person and the waiters offered us top-ups of menu items that we liked.
Peruvian food is extremely popular in London and now that we have visited Peru, we can see why - Pisco sours with ceviche. Match made in heaven. Venturing north to Essex Road in Islington, we ate at Tierra Peru. A restaurant with a family feel, big servings and very decent prices.
Bavarian Beer House, Old Street
For comfort food, you can't go past the German beerhall. One Saturday whilst engaging ourselves in a cultural activity at the British Museum visiting the exhibit 'Germany Memories of a nation' with our favourite German, Bastian; we ate lunch at the Bavarian Beer House - sausages, pork knuckle and beer. Perfect.
The Holly Bush
We visited English pubs with good food menus (also known as 'gastropubs') on occasion. One that came with recommendations as it has fireplaces and a really cosy feel was The Holly Bush. Highly recommended for a pie or fish and chips.
St James of Bermondsey
For the first few years that we lived in London, our impression was that the pubs in our local neighbourhood were strictly for locals and/also Millwall supporters. Dim lighting, a very unwelcoming feel - we did not dare to walk in for a pint. That was until the St James of Bermondsey (located near a train underpass that is regularly closed for film productions) was renovated and gentrified. One day Olie decided to try it out and we discovered that they sell an amazing range of locally (in Bermondsey) brewed beers, including The Kernel.
Vinoteca, London Bridge and Farringdon
Date night was usually once a fortnight when we weren't travelling that weekend around Europe. If we didn't have any particular restaurants to try out, one of our fallback favourites was Vinoteca - a chain of wine bars that served decent food and a great range of cheeses to accompany their extensive wine list.
Another option for lazy people that don't want to sift through extensive menus - grab a lobster from one of the branches of Burger and Lobster or the Big Easy. Tender meat (get it boiled, not grilled), melted butter, chips and salad. Easy feed.
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| Lazy lobster dinners |
C and Rs, Chinatown
For occasions when we have met up with friends for drinks in the City or SoHo or gone to a musical in the West End, later than night we generally start looking for the closest thing to Melbourne's China Bar. How to describe this South East Asian food gem tucked away down an alley that always attracts crowds of loyal customers? Not in a position to review the menu, as every time Mei visits the order is always the same things on the menu - teh tarik partnered with a steaming bowl of Assam Laksa.
Il Bordello, Wapping
The photo is of a perfectly done scallop linguine. One of the most amazing dishes where the salty shellfish partnered perfectly with garlic in the sauce. However, due to the passing of time and memory, the source may not have been Il Bordello - but credit will be given anyway. One of the best places in London for Italian food.
Filipino Food
We once thought that you can never have too much roast belly pork in your life. However a trip to the Philippines proved us wrong, after eating it consecutively for many days and putting on the kilos. However if you want to find lechon in London, head to Earl's Court for the selection of Filipino restaurants.
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| Lechon - yum |
Riviera, Gabriel's Wharf
Tourist trap restaurants should always be avoided in any big city around the world. They are the ones on the main crowd corridors, near attractions and often have set menus with limited variety. This may not be the case for all restaurants around Leicester Square but there are definitely examples. Eating in Southbank can also be a hit and miss affair. Gabriel's Wharf is an area of shops that is along the embankment between Millennium Bridge / St Paul's Cathedral and Festival Hall / London Eye. As such, it gets a lot of passing tourist trade. As a local, we should have picked up the warning signs. The food at Riviera wasn't overly bad. It just wasn't that great either. Tip: Only eat mussels in Belgian restaurants preferably in Belgium.
Random Foods
Trying to decipher food photos taken greater than six months ago is a challenge. These pictures have been described on a 'best endeavours' basis - just like the time we visited a restaurant in Zagreb and three successive courses were 'red meat and vegetables' so after the meal, we looked at the photos and couldn't work out if what we ate was beef, duck or lamb. |
| Scotch eggs - a great British food |
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| A Swiss roll coloured bright green is never a great idea |
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| White anchovies - straight from the tin to the plate with a hefty mark-up |
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| Pulled pork on corn tortillas - bite sized fun - Condesa, Soho |
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| Chili stir-fry from the unassuming local Chinese restaurant |
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| Walking halfway across London just for good gelato - Gelupo |
And although a lot of this blog post has been devoted to food, let us not forget about the beers.
Saying Goodbye
So after all the eating, saying goodbyes and leaving work - we soon became an unemployed couple with a lengthy laundry list of administration activities related to packing up the house and packing for the trip. Reflecting on the first blog posts we wrote about settling into life in London, we were now reversing all those activities: routing mail, canceling memberships, getting council tax refunded.
The most difficult task was packing up the house. Unsurprisingly we underestimated it - thinking that 'moving out' would be a simple exercise, we then realised that as we had not moved since arriving in London, we had accumulated 4.5 years of 'stuff' that became 18 boxes for shipping to Australia and covert trips to the nearby rubbish skip to throw away things that could not be given away. The local charity shop benefited from clothing, friends were given household items, gym equipment and an extensive collection of 1 and 2 pence coins that we had intended to bring to the bank but somehow in those 4.5 hectic years we just never got around to doing it.
And there were probably a lot of London things still on the 'never got around to doing it' list. But we know we will be back. So until next time. Farewell London, time to say goodbye.
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