How my heart already yearns for London! Though I’m officially back and settled in the SF Bay Area, my mind still occasionally wanders to the incredible adventures had and to be had in London. Went on several day trips to different neighborhoods including Islington, Covent Garden, the Strand, and Shoreditch, and each day felt so serendipitous in all the random discoveries and cool sights we chanced upon. When we got off the tube, I only had a list of possible destinations AKA must-eats and everything else just fell into place. (Important sidenote: When I plan my day, I’m very much inclined to do so by planning everything else around what I want to eat. Embarrassing? Maybe. Yes. Oh well!) Here are some of my favorites:
– One of Yotam Ottolenghi’s restaurants in Islington, where I got to see the glorious eggplant, yogurt, pomegranate seed recipe come to life and taste numerous other delectable things! Their flourless confections were perfect for dessert, too.
– Albion in Shoreditch, a cafe, bakery, and shop that has a delightful and bright interior, crazy good scones, and yummy, yummy kedgeree.
– Another gem in Shoreditch, one which I could have spent hours in, is called Artwords Bookshop. I have never seen such a well-curated and well-stocked bookshop before! Especially in those design and art books/magazines. My poor wallet!
– London has a slew of fantastic museums and galleries, mostly all for free, and the photo I included here is from Tate Modern Art Museum. But fun story from the National Portrait Gallery: on Friday nights, they have later hours and planned activities, which I only learned because we were escaping from some surprise rain. We stumbled upon many folks sketching in the hall with all the busts, and some sketches were truly impressive! It’s completely free to join in on the fun, so we grabbed some paper, sketchboards, and chalk for ourselves and had a good time drawing men busts showcasing a diverse range of facial hair.
– If you’re craving Indian food, and want it in a hip environment, pick Dishoom! So many flavors, all so tasty. We went to Dishoom in Covent Garden, but I passed by the other one in Shoreditch and it might have been the cooler-looking space. Conclusion? Shoreditch is just the best.
P.S. I’m quite sad that this will probably be the last of the CIty Squares series from my travels in Europe…time to go back!!
irenekly 