2 months on

Funny, this thing they call time. I’ve been overseas for over 2 months now, it feels like it’s been a long long time since I left Sydney airport, yet I can remember V and I at the airport sharp and clear like it’s yesterday and yet it has only been 2 out of 9 months. I miss Sydney very much, I just really didn’t think I’d miss it as much as I do.

London on the other hand, I’m slowly discovering bit by bit and I’ll have to admit, I’m slowly falling in love with the place bit by bit. It’s sometimes chaotic, often eccentric, and always energetic, which makes the perfect brew for me. Just now I took a walk to Primrose Hill after dinner, a nice warm evening with a nice slow stroll, a few photos, a nice sunset, topped off with a cone of Italian toffee ice cream from a 75 years old shop How could I not enjoy the place.

I do often forget I’m in London though, I may have mentioned this before but the place is so damn similar to Sydney. However earlier in the week I couldn’t have had a stronger reminder. I’ve been working at a small digital agency in London Bridge, at lunch, I got my salad, was about to sit down and eat when a few colleagues spotted me asked me to join them to go and eat on the grass. It was a sunny hot day, we walked between 2 big office buildings and low and behold the grass looks right onto at the London Bridge. Sure I’d seen it from the distance before but I hadn’t seen it up close yet and there I am, eating my lunch while looking at London Bridge! I find myself having surreal moments like that.

Enough of that, let me give you a low down on some of my recent food adventures.

Photos by Yasinta

On my brithday, Jady, Yasinta and I descended onto Taste London Festival and gorged on many many things. It was a huge event for me as I had my first ever truffle and foie gras, unfortunately both were underwhelming. One of my highlights was a cold pea and broad bean soup with almond bread from Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester. Reading their menu, it sounds quite safe and lacklustre but since I can’t actually afford to eat at the Dorchester any time soon and that I can’t possibly pass on tasting an Alain Ducasse creation, I decided to try the soup. It was refreshing, summery, tasty and just simply great.

Another highlight was ash baked celeriac from I can’t remember where… but it was amazingly tasty! Who knew the humble celeriac could be so damn yummy. We also found out that 3 girls ordering 1 single portion meant we got extra large portions! hehehehehehehe muahahahahahahahaha

Last weekend I went to St John at Spitafields for dinner with Sissi and David. I honestly haven’t been this stuffed in a long time, except for the several occasions I at Norman and Joyce’s of course. The spitafield restaurant adopts the same nose to tail eating idea, but the menu had much more than pork. We ate venison, ox heart, lamb breast, quail, fish roe and pig skin, that’s just the meat stuff. It was all delicious. I could barely fit in some peach jelly as dessert, my dessert stomach had almost entirely been used by the savoury stuff. Those who know me will know, that almost never happens, there is always room for dessert. But nonetheless by the end it took us forever to eat our desserts and I had to sigh an awful lot, because I was so full, have to say, sighing doesn’t make room in the stomach.

Note: I just checked the Dorchester website, I can actually afford to eat a 3 course lunch there, hmm, now now, who wants to go with me?!