Italian Lunch

I had a 4 hour gap between my lectures today so I decided to go to Durham for lunch at AskItalian. It was a perfectly sunny afternoon albeit a little cold, perfect for an Italian lunch with a window-side table. The restaurant wasn’t too crowded, quiet enough for a nice private lunch but still cozy with the low humbles and hustles of the other diners.

 

The starter was garlic bread with cheese, so crispy and perfectly cooked, unarguably the best I’ve had.

 

 

The main course was Terrina Frutti Di Mare, which was as beautiful as it sounds. The dish consists of a selection of sea food (mussels, prawns, squid, clams and sea bass) with potatoes in tomato and white wine sauce, served with bread. The soup was delicious and went so well with the sea food. I could not have enough of it!

 

After the perfect lunch I came back for lecture and thus concluded another Friday.

Cheers to the weekend!

London Buzz

I got away from Durham and spent 10 days in London, all through Christmas day and New Year’s Eve. After a little more than 3 hours on the train, I finally arrived at the beautiful city that welcomed me with warm sunshine , a pleasant change from the gloomy weather up north.

Korean food near Tottenham Court Road

My Favourite: Korean rice cake in spicy sauce.

The famouse chocolate store Goldiva

I got one of those chocolate-wrapped strawberries and they were divine!

 

Burberry Outlet:

We spent a whole morning at the Burberry Outlet in Hackney. I love Burberry. Passionately. So this was probably the place the looked forward to visiting the most. I got a few things for my relatives back home and scored a beautiful green wool scarf for myself.

 

 

 

Westfield Stratford:

We went shopping in Westfield, which was packed with people on Sunday. I also managed to get myself a bottle of Burberry Body perfume (which shall be my scent from now on, although my DKNY bottle is still half full after, what, 5 years?). After shopping is, of course, feasting. My man went for curry broken rice while I opted for vermicelli with spring rolls and grilled pork from a small Vietnamese food stall in the Westfield food court. Not quite the authentic Vietnamese food, but close enough.

 

 

 

Limehouse – Caribbean Food

We went to Limehouse to meet up with a friend. Below is a badly-lit me.

 

 

We had Caribbean food for lunch. Chicken Jerk and Chicken Salad for starters and Chicken Curry for main dish. They were all delicious though *thumbs up*. With it being the 30th of December no one was really eating out around that area so we had the nice cozy restaurant all for ourselves.

 

Borough Market:

After lunch we went to Borough market, one of the largest and oldest markets in England. This is decidedly the most unique market I have been to in England (I haven’t been to many…). Here you can almost touch the holiday-ish vibe in the air. Nothing beats strolling around the busy market in the chilly air with a cup of warm wine. There is me trying out a scotch egg wearing said green Burberry scarf (<3).

 

 

 

 

Poor babies…

As a Vietnamese, I can say that this is the first time I have heard of such dish. It smelled delicious though! If only I wasn’t too full to try some.

London at dusk:

I can look at this scene for hours.

 

 

Mexican Food at Cafe Sol:

One of the best nachos I’ve had. I would’ve tried their steaks but I was too stuffed for that, so I went for a salad with a non-alcoholic cocktail on the side. Everything was great! Will definitely try the steak next time!

 

 

 

 

 

New Year’s Eve:

We wanted to watch the fireworks, but once we got inside it was way too crowded. We wouldn’t have enjoyed the fireworks very much with people constantly stepping on our feet (my Zara flats were thrown into the bin after the night as a result), so we decided to get out and have some Chinese food instead. Not the way we expected to spend New Year’s Eve but it worked out well for us as when midnight strikes, it started drizzling. So we got home safe and sound while everyone else was stuck in the rain trying to get out of the crowd. They were probably too drunk to mind anyway. My friends and I stayed in and chatted until we drifted into sleep.

 

 

Gourmet Burger Kitchen:

We walked into GBK by chance and were so happy we did so as the burgers were very well done. My man’s was the Taxi Driver (basically lots of meat) and mine was the Avocado Bacon Burger (they had a fancy name for it, I think, but I can’t remember).

 

Greenwich Park:

We got a glimpse at the Queen’s house and took a walk in the beautiful park. The weather was very cooperative. Just look at that blue cloudless sky. The view was breathtaking!

 

 

Cosmo Buffet Restaurant:

I was having a flu that night so couldn’t enjoy the food like I usually do, but I’d give it to the restaurant’s wide selection of cuisines. The buffet area was huge and it took a long time every time we went to get another plate of food. In my ill state I found their sweet desserts so irresistible!

 

 

 

 

Now i’m back in college and will be busy for a while. Already, I’m starting to miss London. See you again in the summer! x