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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Just 3 Days in London? Here are 6 Must Eats that will Impress


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X and I kickstarted our grad trip with a two and a half day stay in beautiful London, and it certainly wasn't enough.

As short as our stay was, we managed to dine at some of the most popular dining venues!


1) Burger & Lobster

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Burger & Lobster is definitely my favourite and, easily anybody's favourite in London.

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It gets really packed in the evening. Do get there before 6pm to avoid having to queue. It's not a guarantee though but we've heard that queues start to form from 6pm!

Expect no menu as Burger & Lobster offers only three items! You can have the Burger and Chips, Lobster and Chips or the Lobster Roll and Chips. We heard the burger isn't exactly fantastic, and the Lobster is quite a tough nut to crack so the Lobster Roll is the best choice. So X and I both had a set of Lobster Roll and Chips!

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Lobster Roll and Chips - £20

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Fresh greens

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Lemon butter sauce! I love lemon butter! They go so well with fries!

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Pieces of cold juicy lobster meat sandwiched between a toasted bun and accompanied with crispy fries and delicious lemon butter sauce. I guess it just doesn't get better than this. It was a really awesome meal! Also, service was top notch. The servers were attentive and did not make us feel like they were rushing us even though the restaurant was full and there was a queue outside.

Don't miss Burger & Lobster when you're in London!


36 Dean Street, Soho London, W1D4PS
Monday to Saturday
from 12 to 10.30pm (last orders)
Sunday, from 12 to 10.00pm (last orders)

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2) Monmouth Coffee Company


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There's a charm about this place that cannot be described. I could sit here all day, with a cup of good coffee in one hand, and a good read in the other.

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It was fully occupied with a long queue at just 10am. It's pretty crazy but we can't help but dig the atmosphere! Also, Monmouth is right beside Borough market so you wont miss it for sure!

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Latte - £2.5

Definitely one of the nicest coffees I've ever had. The aroma of the coffee is quite different from the ones we have in Singapore. Its very slightly acidic and the coffee has this sweetness and a unique texture that I've never encountered. They really should come to Singapore!

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Espresso - £1.50

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Filter coffee with milk - £2.50

This is essentially the espresso with milk!

Needless to say, we finished every drop of our coffee

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Truffles - £1 each

Creamy smooth chocolate encased in a powdery thin hard layer that melts oh-so-slowly in our mouths. We would have gotten more of this if we were not going for more food at Borough market!

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Monmouth Coffee Company also offers a selection of pastries so you could get your breakfast there. How better to start a day than to have a great cup of coffee?

2 Park Street
The Borough
London SE1 9AB
Monday to Saturday
7.30am to 6pm
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3) Borough Market

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Borough Market is the oldest food market in London, and it's a very popular destination for tourists and locals alike.

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Well over 200 years of history and operations!

It was about 10am when we got there and most of the stalls weren't open yet.
After going to Borough Market and a few of their supermarkets, we realised that they have quite an open concept with regards to the display of food. It's something that you will hardly, or never, find in Singapore. The open concept is pretty refreshing and certainly an eye-opener


1) Furness Food Hut

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Gigantic woks of paella!

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Seafood paella - £6

Looks good? Tastes good too! There's quite a generous portion of meat and fresh seafood and eating this piping hot dish on a cold morning is simple and pure bliss. 


2) Shellseekers

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The Shellseekers pride themselves in carrying seafood that are caught in ways that do not damage the ocean and nature.

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3 hand-dived scallops - £5
We waited really long for our scallops as they had problems working the stove so they gave us an extra scallop!

Fleshy and fresh juicy scallops that will leave you craving for more!

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3) Unfortunately, I did not note down the name of this stall but lets call it the Hot Salt Beef Bar

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Hot salt beef on rye bread - 5.95

The mustard overwhelmed the taste of the beef and I guess I shouldn't have said yes to the mustard haha. This is quite a simple sandwich, with tender strips of beef. It's really popular but it didn't wow us 

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Other goodies you can get from Borough Market

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Borough Market is really pretty huge and they offer selections of premium quality and absolute freshness. You can expect a wide variety of cuisine, fresh produce and products that you can purchase. Bring more money because, trust me, you will feel like eating everything there haha. We heard that the duck confit sandwich from Le Marche Du Quartier and chorizo sandwich from Brindisa are really yummy too! We left before these stalls were opened for business so we didn't get to try them. Do let us know if you like them! Also, there's a stall selling Turkish soft candies, you guys should try that too!


8 Southwark Street London SE1 1TL
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4) Hummingbird Bakery


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We braved the rain for the world famous cupcakes at the renowned Hummingbird Bakery and they sure were worth getting drenched for

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I don't know why red velvet seems to be the bestseller in every cupcake shop but it was so for Hummingbird Bakery too! It didn't really hit me that a cupcake actually costs almost $6 sgd until I was eating it. Hahaha

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Each cupcake costs £2.95

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Sticky toffee

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Red Velvet

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Lemon Meringue

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Black Bottom
Dark chocolate cupcake with cheesecake centre and cream cheese frosting

The cupcakes were yummy! I had the sticky toffee and lemon meringue and both were really good except that the sticky toffee one got too sweet for me towards the end. X said that the cupcakes were too sweet for him haha I think we're all just getting old.

155a Wardour Street
Soho, London
W1F 8WG
Monday - Saturday
9.30am - 8.00pm
Sunday
10.00am - 7.00pm

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5) Jamie's Italian


There are quite a number of outlets in London but we went to the one at Greenwich, as it was near where we were staying.

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We were welcomed warmly and attended to by a super friendly waiter, Gary! He recommended the more popular items to us and told us that the wild rabbit tagliolini was his favourite because the meat is absolutely tender.

Here's what we ordered :

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Grilled British Pork Chop - £12.50 
This dish surprised us not only with its size, but also with how soft and juicy the pork chop was. Highly recommended!

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Posh Fries - £3.25
Real potato drizzled with truffle oil and topped with cheese. Definitely a delight!

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Wild Rabbit Tagliolini - £10.95
The rabbit meat was indeed very tender like what Gary told us and the cream sauce was light and tasty but never threatening to overwhelm. Even though I had reservations about eating rabbit meat and images of a cute bunny hopping around did pop into my mind, I guess I'm glad I tried it! It does taste like chicken except that it carries a subtly unique taste

We decided to get some stuff from the bakery side for dessert!
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Chocolate cake 
This was really rich and nice but I'll recommend for at least two to share as it is quite heavy

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Lemon Tart
The tart carried a hint of cheese that I didn't fancy but the tart crust compensated for it

Can't remember how much the desserts cost but they were around £9 I think!


17-19 Nelson Road, Greenwich London SE10 9JB
Monday - Saturday : 12pm- 11pm
Sunday: 12pm- 10.30pm 
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6) The Golden Hind

The 99 year old restaurant dishes out one of the best fish and chips in London.
They will be celebrating their 100th birthday next year so I guess patrons can expect something big!

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Full at 7pm

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Coke - £1.60

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The tartar sauce was creamy and very slightly sour and I really like it!

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Haddock - £9.10

The fish does not come with chips but you can add on the chips for £2. The haddock was sweeter than the cod and the portions were pretty big!

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Cod - £9.10

The chips aren't your usual crispy chips. They were not soggy but they were softer and carried more potato taste. X didn't really like the chips but I thought they were unique and they really grew on me!


73 Marylebone Lane
London W1U 2PN 
Mon-Sat 12pm - 3pm, 6pm-10pm

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the compilation! This will be useful! bookmarked!

    ReplyDelete