Food vignettes from a trip- I: London 2012

After years, a nice little break and a first visit to London.

Missed blogging and browsing my favourite blogs; no recipes but here are some colourful treats for you

Little pile of  souvenirs and some old favourites remembered from India. 

And Monty Bojangles hard boiled sweets!

London was surprising with the stream of different tongues and  colours. This was a lovely experience . The city is being spruced up for the Olympics; what was surprising was that ordinary people- from the staff at the hotels, the restaurants, shops and on the streets were very helpful. 

Egg Mayonnaise Sandwich from the British Museum Cafe. 

The least inexpensive of the food choices at  2 pounds. This was not only good but was filling. You can eat in the huge renovated atrium or take it outside to steps in the front of the Museum. A very pricey dinner related to work on Day Two. Not worth, given the choice of multicultural cuisine in London! :-)

Turkish Food at Bloomsbury, Central London

There are several inexpensive eateries: cafes and take-outs around the Bloomsbury area that cater to tourists. We found a Lebanese eatery with wraps, salads, vegetable samosas and falafel. Around 2-5 pounds will give you a good meal. However, we chose to step into this Turkish restaurant, Antalya on South Hampton Row, sit down, talk, people-watch, have something substantial and hot on a windy, cold day. It  turned out be perfect.

Hummus with Bread, Falafel with hummus and salad.

Eggplant and Potato Moussaka with Rice and Crisp Vegetable Salad.

Orange and Apple slices: Perfect little palate cleanser.  

2 appetizers: Falafel  and Hummus with a lovely basket of bread. In retrospect that would have been enough for us. However we decided to have moussaka: mine was an eggplant, potato and tomato stack- lovely flavours and texture. My friend ordered Lamb and it was equally delish. Accompanied with rice and a nice crisp salad. We ended up paying a total of 18 pounds plus 2 for tips.

Portobello Street Market, Notting Hill, London

Italian Food Stall at Portobello Market at Notting Hill 

Baked goods on sale. Italian food stall.

Ghanian Beans and Red Rice. Spanish Paella.

 Russian ? Eastern European? Crepes filled with Nuttella.

And we  realized that we should have left some space to sample some of the above!