how to travel with a smile

london eats

As follow up to my London post, I wanted to tell you guys about some food we enjoyed in London. We spent our mealtimes in London chasing recommendations and stumbling into a few lucky plates on our own. While visiting the land of Anglo, we ate Thai, Italian twice, Indian, and drank loads of coffee to combat the chill. Beyond the amazing breakfast at our hotel, we really didn’t eat anything native to the UK. From what we heard, that was the best way to avoid the likes of black pudding and spotted dick.

Costa Coffee: They are the everywhere coffee chain in London. We stopped at them daily at least. Nearly every cappuccino we ordered in London came with cinnamon on the top. At Costa, they always asked in a flat “seriously?” kind of tone if we wanted chocolate shavings on our cappuccino. It’s nice that they were willing to adjust it to our liking. They have the usual offerings of a coffee chain as well, such as pastry, breath mints, and cold drinks. It’s a safe place to get a standard cup of coffee.

Café Fred: I honestly do not remember the food here at all. Take from that what you will. We ate here because I was about to either flip out or pass out. We had just arrived in London, were jet-lagged, and I looked up to see “Café Fred” floating above Freddy’s head. I pointed it out to make sure I wasn’t the only on seeing it and said “Let’s eat here!” What I do remember is the claustrophobic, winding stairs we had to climb while ducking to get to our table. It proved to be a fun view. We people-watched from our seat overlooking the corner of Argyll & Oxford. I can easily romanticize such things. If you are prone to fancy, you may like the vantage point.

Amalfi: This Italian restaurant on Old Compton Street in Soho is autentico right down to the curt waitstaff. This restaurant has been serving Soho for 4 decades and it is still very popular. We were packed into the joint like sardina. I remember literally rubbing elbows with the table next to us. If crowds and loud restaurants are not your thing you may want to try find a not-so-busy time to eat here. As far as I could tell, that may be a rare moment. It was yummy, but the biggest reason I wanted to mention it is for the caffé. We had the best cappuccino in the world here. We are on a search to prove that to be a false statement. So far, it still holds true.

Masala Zone (Soho): When we told the concierge at our hotel that we would be going out in Soho and would like to find yummy Indian food there, they seemed very confused. However, they did an internet search and found Masala Zone. We got lucky, I guess, because it turned out to be a lovely place. They serve traditional Indian favorites, but the ambiance of the restaurant is modern. The service was super friendly and engaging. It was quiet that evening we were there. We actually might have had the place to ourselves. It was a very chill dinner. We just enjoyed our diner without shouting to hear each other. We left saying that we would tell others about it as a appealing and tasty experience.

I included links to these places when I could find them. We have a wandering style of travel and rarely have a plan. However, if you know a place in London we shouldn’t miss the next time, give me a shout.
Happy travels!
dA

Tags: Amalfi, Cafe Fred, Costa, London, Masala Zone