London in May - food

We were sooo impressed with the food offerings in London and area. The quality of food has improved so much in the past 5 years I couldn't believe it! Many more places serving real food - organic, sourcing out local ingredients, fresh fruits and vegetables readily available, flavourful recipes... we had many wonderful meals here. I have to say it beat Paris in this department!

At Spitalfield Market - SQUARE PIE - we had a lamb and rosemary pie with puff pastry crust...

MADE IN ITALY for ham, sausage, mushroom, artichoke pizza and spinach ravioli...

For 'fast food' of the freshest kind, there is LEON, located in train stations and all over. I had porridge for breakfast (organic oats, blueberries and toasted seeds) at Kings Cross Station that was "of the gods". Leon is popping up all over and worth looking for.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT is a Covent Garden institution. This basement vegetarian restaurant has been on Neal Street since 1974 and has a well deserved reputation for good hearty food at reasonable prices.

In Notting Hill, we had breakfast at TOM'S, in a backyard sunken garden with a fig tree spreading its branches across the whole yard. Delicious omelettes...

For lunch we searched out OTTOLENGHI, which I had discovered online. Cuisine magazine describes Ottolenghi's recipes as 'effortless, simple yet surprising and utterly appealing'. Or as I say, "OMG good!" This was the best of the best. Although most of his four stores are set up as delis for takeout, the Notting Hill location has a communal table in the back for 10 - a white table in a white room with a huge skylight overhead - all the focus is on the food. Loved this place!!

Mains, mainly salads, available for takeout, displayed as if in a middle eastern market. Nothing is refrigerated as the entire philosophy is make it fresh and consume it immediately...


His selection of desserts. Yet another thing he is famous for...


Our best evening meal was at  SOFRA, on Saint Christopher Place (a quiet little restaurant row just off Oxford Street). It was Turkish cuisine, done by a 'nutritionalist chef' and we had 12 different taster dishes (each!) that included the most flavourful falafel, hummous, tabouleh, lamb and chicken kabobs, fried cheese, walnut+celery+hazelnut+herb salad - everything was soo good!

At Borough Market, from CINNAMON TREE BAKERY - the cutest 'owl' shortbread cookies...

and gelato at 3BIS GELATO...

At Camden Market, CHIN CHIN LABORATORY for instant handmade ice cream using liquid nitrogen, right before your eyes! And it was sooo good! We had chocolate, made with Valrhona 80% chocolate which was so thick it qualified more as a ganache, and mango upside-down cake, made with mango puree and cake batter.

This is a great posting that shows photos of the step-by-step process that is fun to check out... click here.

  *** WINS BEST ICE CREAM OF THE TRIP! *** and that is including lots of tastings at many different gelato places in Paris...

And then there were the FOOD HALLS in the major high street stores - Selfridge's, Harrod's, John Lewis, Harvey Nichols - always good for photo ops!

chocolates...

marzipan...

fudge...

dates...

olives...

savories...