Our first trip to London in 2000 was not a culinary triumph as we had quite a difficult time finding anything more than a mediocre meal from the limited choices of English pubs or low-end Indian restaurants that were available at that time. The one exception was the fabulous fish and chips that we devoured at the since-defunct High Tide Fish and Chips. In our attempt to find an “authentic English dining experience”, we were directed to a place that I not-so-fondly remember as the “soup kitchen”. We were seated with other people in a booth that held four on each side and had to get up in the middle of our meal to let out the people seated on the inside, and then were required to shuffle over into the inside positions ourselves so that more people could join us. We ordered some sort of platter consisting of a meat, vegetables and mashed potato and within less than a couple of minutes, received what can only be described as a TV dinner, and one that was not even heated up properly since my peas and carrots were still cold. Given our lack of success dining in London on our first visit, we did not have terribly high expectations on this return trip.
Things have really changed in the intervening two decades. There is
much more variety in terms of types and ethnicity of food available,
and the concept of “high-end” dining in London is no longer an
oxymoron. Just in our neighbourhood of Earlscourt where we stayed
during our trip, we passed by Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Italian,
French, Indian, Lebanese, Afro-Portuguese and Moroccan eateries to name
a few. We were even just a short walk away from several very good
restaurants and iconic coffee bars.
Harwood Arms is a laid-back gastropub with an upscale, modern British menu that warranted a Michelin star rating. We started by sharing a handmade venison scotch egg and then each ordered the two course Sunday roast special. Rich’s first course selection consisted of Wye Valley asparagus with a soft-boiled pheasant egg, duck ham, juniper cream and hazelnuts. My first course was an absolutely amazing bright green wild garlic soup with brandy, accompanied by a piece of crispy hake collar with chunks of fish to use as the “crouton”. The main course was a platter containing slices of 45-day aged sirloin of Hereford beef, cooked to a perfectly pink medium rare, served with a horseradish cream and smoked bone-marrow gravy. The hollow base of two gigantic Yorkshire puddings contained small shreds of beef and a bit of gravy. Accompanying the meat was an array of crispy roast potatoes, baked root vegetables, steamed broccolini, and battered cauliflower cheese croquettes. This was indeed a meal worthy of a Michelin Star.
Directly across the street from our apartment was a new restaurant that had opened fairly recently and which we could see from our living room window. Although I cannot pronounce it,
The Gojk Restaurant and Lounge is a fabulous European-fusion restaurant that focuses on “sourcing the best quality seasonal produce available, applying the most modern conservation, cooking and regeneration techniques”. The food was so good that we ate there twice, once for dinner and once for lunch. We arrived for dinner on what turned out to be the restaurant’s special “Premium Meats Week” where they were offering specialty meats including a Galician aged beef filet steak and aged beef top loin. As we sat down, we were offered delicious bowl of various types of
olives marinated in Mediterranean herbs and citrus as an amuse-bouche. We ordered the
salmon gravlax infused with Lapsang Souchong tea, gin, tonic and a horseradish mascarpone cream, topped with sweet pomegranate seeds and served with rye bread. This was so delicious that we ordered it again when we returned for lunch, and Rich was able to get the recipe for making it from the very friendly chef. We also tried two types of
croquettes—one filled with broccoli and stilton cheese and the other with monkfish and shrimp.
For our mains, Rich chose the French duck breast from Brittany while I ordered the British venison sirloin steak. Both dishes came with mashed potato, crispy seasonal vegetables and a cabbage slaw, as well as a choice of 3 different sauces—cloves and roses, mushroom or red berries. We could not decide so the waiter graciously offered us a sampling of each. For dessert, we shared a dark chocolate mousse made with dark Guanaja chocolate and Tonka beans and topped with red and blue berries. To top it all off, we were offered some delicious chocolate truffles to end the meal. Everything was heavenly and while Gojk doesn’t currently have a Michelin Star, in my opinion, it deserves one.
For lunch, we chose the 2 course set menu for £15, which was a great deal considering what we were served. The appetizer was a choice between salad, gazpacho soup or grilled scallops with cauliflower and potato cream with coriander oil balsamic vinaigrette. Obviously we chose the scallops which seemed like such a step up from the other two choices. There were two choices of mains and we ordered one of each. I picked the cod loin with piquillo pepper sauce, roast potato and grilled vegetables while Rich had the venison burger with cassava chips and greens. His burger came again with 3 sauces of ketchup, mustard and aioli. We decided not to go for the 3-course meal which included a dessert of violette panna cotta for an extra £5, since I am not fond of panna cotta. To our surprise, we received a wonderful end of meal treat which consisted of two chocolate truffles and two mini ice cream bars, which was much more to my taste in terms of sweets. How lucky we were to have this amazing restaurant located so close to our accommodations and to be able to eat there twice!
Open in 1954 as a coffeehouse and cultural hotspot, the Troubadour became a West-End institution where musicians such as Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Charlie Watts, Sammy Davis Jr, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Elvis Costello performed. The establishment changed hands several times with each new owner preserving its artistic and intellectual roots. In 2002, the two adjoining buildings were purchased and the Troubadour expanded into a bar/restaurant on the top floor and a performance space for live music in the basement. There are free jazz nights on Mondays, Tuesdays and Sundays at 8pm and featured performers on the other nights that charge a cover fee (usually between £6 to £10).
Since the Troubadour was only a half block from our apartment, we decided that we would stop by one night to have a drink and listen to some music. The act that was most appealing to me was the Spanish guitarist Filo Vals so we picked the night that he was playing. He was preceded by two opening acts, Euro-pop singer ANA and the alternative rock group Atlantic Machine. We had a good table and view for the first two acts but by the time Filo Vals came on stage, a crowd of people filled the platform in front of him, blocking our view. I stood on the table to get a glimpse of him and take a few photos but after that, we settled for just listening to him play and sing. It was so late by the time he started that we did not want to stay for the entire set but I liked the few songs that we heard him perform.
Looking out the window of our rental apartment, we could see the Sunday morning Farmer’s Market being set up down the block in the local schoolyard. Checking it out, we found a good variety of fresh breads, baked goods, fruits and vegetables, organic meats and baked goods including savoury pies, rolls and quiches. We bought some sausage, asparagus, lettuce, strawberries and a loaf of bread, as well as a couple of quiches and a Thai green curry pita wrap to eat for dinner at home over the next few evenings. One stall was grilling sausages, hot dogs, bacon and hamburgers and offered a sandwich with sausage, bacon and grilled onions which we picked up for breakfast. Our favourite purchase from the market was a bottle of fresh pressed apple juice (as opposed to apple cider) which was so delicious that we immediately returned to get a second bottle and went back the next week for a third one!
On our last day in London, we booked the “Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea” at the Ruebens Hotel which is located across from Buckingham Palace. Afternoon tea (sometimes called High Tea) consists of 3 courses of finger foods including bite-sized sandwiches with the crusts cut off, scones with clotted cream and jam, and pastries. Our tea offered a special menu in honour of the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle which happened a few days earlier. Because we booked way in advance, we were assigned one of the prime loveseats facing the window with a view of the back of Buckingham Palace. This was a lovely setting to enjoy our “light lunch” while being serenaded by live piano music.
The Rubens Royal Afternoon Tea cost £39 per person and included all the food that you could eat. We did not realize originally that we could ask for extra helpings of any of the treats, but there was so much food in the initial offering that we could not handle much more beyond that. There were five types of mini sandwiches including a Smoked Scottish Salmon and Horseradish Cream Cheese on Beetroot Bread, Coronation Chicken and Toasted Almonds on White Bread, Ham, Cheese and Tomato Chutney on Onion Bread, Egg and Watercress on Basil Bread, and Cucumber and Cream Cheese on Caraway Seeded Bread. Our favourite was the chicken sandwich so we did each get an extra one of those. Then came hot scones in both plain and chocolate flavours with a generous helping of clotted cream and strawberry jam. The pastries were special since they were inspired by the wedding cakes of past royal couples. There was the Elderflower and lemon cheesecake from Harry and Meghan’s wedding, a traditional fruit cake from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s nuptials, a Plum mousse cake chosen by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and a Chocolate biscuit cake from Will and Kate’s wedding. The cookie was a “Queen Jammy dodger biscuit” with a jam filling that was a childhood favourite selected in honour of the recent birth of Prince Louis. We also had special leaf teas to choose from. I selected the “Royal Jubilee Blend”, a bespoke blend created in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II consisting of two famous black teas—Yunnan and Assam. Rich selected the “Ruebens Blend”, a sophisticated blend of Indian and Chinese black teas created by Twinings, featuring Assam, Darjeeling and a touch of Smokey Lapsang, producing a tea that is ruby in colour with deep aromas.
Our elegant and leisurely Royal Afternoon Tea was the perfect finale to a busy three-weeks “Off the Beaten Path” tour of London where we watched 3 plays, took 4 walking tours and included visits to museums, art galleries, a Medieval castle with Art Deco decor inside, canals and multiple neighbourhoods. We took pride in staying away from the major tourist areas for the most part and therefore were able to experience parts of London that many visitors don't have a chance to.
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