Saturday, April 21, 2012

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!

23 comments:

  1. Wow...very lovely post..

    foodydelight.com

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  2. Thankyou Pranjali and Aruna.

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  3. Seems u guys had loads of fun..Beautiful foods..

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  4. Lovely post dear,great tour,seems you had lots of fun..

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  5. I did! It was a really nice break cum work. Thanks Priya and Suja.

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  6. Beautiful clicks, some super yummy stuff too..

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  7. Enjoyed this post..Shri,u have inspired me..

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  8. Hello Shri! This is my first time here and this looks fab! Love the virtual photo tour of London and the pics too!

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  9. Un séjour culturel et gourmand. Le bonheur.
    A bientôt

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  10. Hi Shri! I had so much fun reading and checking this post! I wish that I've been to London but not yet. My husband has been and I'm always jealous when he goes on business trip to Europe! One day I want to visit with my kids! Thanks for sharing wonderful pictures and experience!

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  11. Thankyou Biren! This was first visit to London.

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  12. i love portobello market! next time you are there again, do check out borough market too. i love going to the UK!! looking at your pics, i wish i could go there again soon but fat hope, slim chance!

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  13. :-) Wish I had more time there!

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  14. What a lovely post! So nice to see London through your eyes :) It's been a while since our last visit - have to go back soon - on an aside, I thought you were a ghas pus like moi :) Fish and chips - the ole english tradition continues, even if they have adopted the Indian cuisine as their own! Cheers :)

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  15. We are ghas pus eaters on a daily basis! :-)
    The Fish and Chips was a let down but the pie was good; but bland and not spicy.

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  16. The first time I went to London, I was a little disappointed and was below my expectations. But the second time, it was an all different story. I was there for almost 10 days and explored the city to the core.

    Thanks for stopping by my my photo blog.

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