Eating breakfast (like the king)

I take breakfast very seriously. And because I was an absolute slob this weekend (Saturday night highlight was watching Home Alone Part 1 with friends and eating copious amounts of junk food), I went out for brekkie not once but TWICE. And made sure both places were less than a two minute walk from my place. Don't judge, it's (almost) Christmas. 

Brew is a tiny Turkish cafe, you will almost always find a queue here, a favourite haunt of South London cool-kids. I love this place for it's quirky menu. 

I had Turkish eggs, this is a bowl of poached eggs on a bed of hung yoghurt, seasoned with garlic butter and chilies. Served with toasted pide bread.

Mustache opted for toasted banana bread with greek yoghurt and pistachios on the side.   

The smoothies here are great - I had the spurulina with apple juice and banana smoothie.

Tamra is a casual diner, popular for it's breakfast. My favourite things about this joint are:

a) the relaxed atmosphere

b) you can have pancakes with eggs and syrup. A massive breakfast fan, I am always faced with the dilemma of choosing between eggs vs. pankcaes. You can have both here. It's terrific

c) they serve hot chocolate with whipped cream. I know many places do this but I just had this yesterday so let me rant about it, enjoy and drooling over the photo 

I can't wait to go home and have breakfast, Lahore - the land of parathas and sweet milky chai. Expect a breakfast report from Pakistan soon! 

A cosy gastropub to warm the mood

Is there anything better than that feeling when you discover a cosy-as-hell gastropub, equipped with fireplace, traditional English charm and saliva-inducing food? Places like the Bolingbroke pub remind me, on a cold winters day (I've recently brought myself to accept that its winter by switching from my trench coat to full-on winter coat) why I chose to move to London from sunny old Dubai.

The dining room towards the back of the pub is less noisy than upfront, the glass-roof adds a sense of romance to the mood and contrasts the dark-wood paneled floor. Doesn't it sound delightful - and I haven't even mentioned the fireplace yet.

There's a list of specials on the chalk-board but we decided to stick to the main menu. We started with smoked salmon, lemon and coriander sorbet. A simple appetizer which is carefully prepared to ensure the flavors balance each other. It was a light and fresh start to the meal.

Moving on to the main course, I decided to opt for the Viscount seasonal salad - I was tempted by fried camembert and lemon vinaigrette. Instead of telling you more about my rather dull choice I'm going to focus on the great food choice that mustache-man made - Sea trout with steamed clams, tender-stemmed broccoli and saffron cream sauce. Sadly for him he had to continuously give me bites of his magnificent meal. Cooked to perfection, the sea trout had a crispy layer of skin on the top which was a wonderful compliment to the mussels and broccoli. The best part for me was the saffron cream which the food was swimming in, such a settle yet distinct taste to really bring the entire meal together. I'm definitely ordering this on my next visit.

Time for the pudding menu and boy, oh boy, I'm salivating just thinking about it. To make up for my boring choice of main course we decided to order two desserts. The champion of the night was certainly the Lemon posset with passionfruit and homemade shortbread. If you like sour, tangy treats, you're going to love this as much as I do. The lemon posset itself is delightfully creamy and tastes like fresh lemon, there's a passionfruit drizzling on top which adds sweetness and tanginess. The soft, crumbly, sweet shortbread is the perfect balance.

We also had the chocolate pot with white chocolate sabayon. Chocolate hardly ever gives me a reason to complain so chocolate lovers this is a safe choice.

The bill came out to £50 without any drinks. Not a cheap meal but definitely worth it.

Voila, taking about that has gotten me ready for seconds.

Eat, drink and be scary.

'Tis halloween weekend!


Went for a stroll down St. Johns Hill yesterday and stumbled upon a bar/restaurant that has instantly become a favorite, all hail - Power Keg Diplomacy.   


It seemed like we had walked into a time warp. Colonial-style decor, waiters with top hats and suspenders (and such good service), even a pumpkin carved with a mustache. The only thing missing was a piano man (need to find out if they have a piano night, gosh how amazing would that be). Even the music was set in the '20s. Clearly, I'm not a fan of the new millennium and if you aren't either, head down here instantly. 

Started off with a flute of the sparkling Chardonnay.


Dinner was Roasted Venison Haunch (very tender meat), roasted honey parsnips (made meticulously), pink fir apples and mean time stout sauce. A beautiful mix of flavors.

Followed up by the Sticky Toffee Pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla icecream. Not too hot. Not too cold. The toffee slightly burnt to give a much needed crunch.

Love this place. Definitely going back.
London needs more places like this.

You are my heroin.

If you're a fro yo addict like myself you're going to get obsessed with samba swirl. Delicious low fat treat with fresh ingredients... Or you can opt for more indulgent flavors like red velvet. The flavors change every day so its always a little surprise to visit them. Ill be the person asking to try every flavor twice before making my bowl, annoying i know but so much fun. There are even free doggy treats available, what's not to love?


Visit the Clapham junction branch on northcote road (apparently there's a branch in islington too for north London folk).

I could eat my body weight in sushi.

VERY EXCITED TONIGHT.


Mustache man and I have finally discovered a tiny little authentic japanese restaurant which is surprisingly affordable in Clapham - Sushibar Tokiya.

Sorry, Fujiyama (another favorite japanese joint in south london), but the dragon eel roll at Tokiya has killed it tonight. Prepared with such love and beautifully presented, I've inserted a photo for everyone to drool over. The dragon roll is a concoction of eel, avocado, scallops, cucumber, spicy mayonnaise, a touch of sriracha sauce (for that added kick) and seasoned with watercress and roe. It was the highlight of the meal.

You'll notice the soft shell crab roll in the bottom of the photo, we also tried the prawn tempura roll and chicken gyoza which I'll definitely be ordering next time.


Don't miss the green tea.


What I love most about this joint is the authenticity, the service is impeccable, the decor is simple and the food divine. I'd imagine sushi bars in Tokyo to resemble this place. Afterall, the chef has over 30 years of experience and was trained in Tokyo.

Arigato gozaimasu.