I’m fortunate enough to get to travel to London occasionally for my job, but these trips are generally packed full of meetings and business dinners, leaving me no time to actually get to know the city beyond the inside of hotel bars and taxis. So, this year, after our travels in Edinburgh, I was very excited for the opportunity to spend time in London as a tourist for the first time since my study abroad days. By the end, I felt like I knew the city infinitely better and truly fell in love with London and its hustle and bustle (and food!) all over again.
First, let’s start with breakfast. One memorable meal was at The Gallery Café, a vegan restaurant in the Bethnal Green area of East London, where we stayed. An adorable, artsy café with a view of a little garden through the wraparound back window, the café serves up a vegan version of the traditional English breakfast. As an ex-vegetarian, I am fully on-board with vegan food and am a big tofu/tempeh fan, but Brad usually is extremely anti-veg, and regularly uses the phrase, “It ain’t a meal if it don’t have meat.” The fact that he ate this vegan version was a testament to how delicious and unique it was. The plate came complete with the traditional potatoes, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, and thick toast, but substituted the eggs for a fantastic, warmly spiced tofu scramble, and switched out the sausage for a “veggie sausage” that admittedly didn’t taste much like sausage but also had a fabulous, hearty flavor and a crunchy cornmeal-like crust. I feel like this plate represented modern London food at its finest, and it was the perfect way to start our long day of sightseeing!
For the afternoon, I absolutely loved doing a full tea at Harrods. I had done this before when visiting friends while studying abroad in college, and had such a good time; this was the one thing I knew I wanted to do again. Not only is it super fancy and fun, but the food is absolutely delicious. The sandwiches, scones, and pastries come in a triple layer platter with more than enough to fill you up. The sandwiches are served in tiny strips, ranging from the traditional cucumber and cream cheese to my personal favorite, a delicious roast beef and fig combo. Since I love “trying” a bunch of small things, I am all about this kind of situation. The pastries are all beautiful, truly pieces of art. But my favorite, without a doubt, are the scones with jam and clotted cream. The scones are nothing like we have here – creamy, moist, and just begging to be slathered with clotted cream (can someone please explain to me why this is not a thing in America?) and perfectly sweet strawberry jam. I savored every bite of my scone, knowing I wouldn’t quite experience anything like it until my next trip to London.
Finally, my favorite meal in London was at an Indian restaurant called Dishoom. I went there with some colleagues upon the recommendation of a local, and when we found a 90-minute wait on a Thursday night, I knew it had to be good. (I’m sure me being starving by the time we finally sat down only improved my experience.) Dishoom didn’t disappoint – I loved it so much I had to return with Brad when we were back in the city less than a week later for yes, another 90-minute wait. Honestly, my pictures in the dim lighting of the restaurant could never do it justice, but we feasted on what was definitely the best Indian I’ve ever had: plates and plates of soft and buttery garlic naan, warmly spiced vegetable samosas, moist and flavorful chicken tikka, thick and hearty black daal, and spicy and meaty lamb sheekh kebab. My favorite dish was their version of my regular go-to, paneer tikka. Paneer is an Indian cheese with a taste and texture reminiscent of really good tofu, and it is marinated and laced with a lightly spicy sauce; Dishoom’s version was out-of-this-world. Overall, I was incredibly impressed with every dish; Dishoom’s recipes perfectly captured the “subtle heat” of Indian cooking, where the spice comes on in a slow burn that perfectly adds to the complex flavors.
PS – Check out “part 1” and “part 2” of my foodie travel diary!
