Safa

Safa is an Iranian restaurant next to Edgware Road. With many options and an empty stomach, me and my friend Rita decided on this one. YOLO, right? Yes, my life is that exciting.

I love hummus. I could live on hummus. This one was a bit too oily but the flavour was excellent. Very creamy, which, for me is a plus.

The gentleman serving us first mentioned we had to pay to have bread with hummus but all of a sudden said that pita bread was free. I was confused by this change of mind but did not complain. 

We shared a main, which was more than enough. A big portion of grilled chicken, moist and tasty. I was impressed and happy. Reminded me of the taste of chicken in Portugal, which was a good memory.

Then the bill came. We were asked to pay extra money, and the man said it was service charge. But the thing is, it was more than the service charge rate. We complained and the waiter/manager mentioned something about the free bread, which I did not understand, but disliked anyway. Was he charging more because of FREE pita? Funny. In the end, he did take out the extra cost (well, some of it), and we settled. It was definitely weird and the whole ambience of the restaurant does not make me want to come back at all. Luckily, I had the hummus. So I was happy. Really happy.

Giraffe at Spitalfields

Giraffe is one of the most family friendly restaurants, which makes it weird that I was there in the first place. Well, let me tell you, being extremely hungry on a Sunday late morning is no joke. Burger and fries cravings help to the decision: let's just eat. 

London was extremely sunny and warm, which made the whole experience enjoyable. Spitalfields may not be my favourite market but I do find myself there a lot of times. It's convenient and still, very pretty. 

The surroundings are even more astounding. This one would make a great place to live in!

But now, the food. Giraffe surprised me positively. I try to avoid chain restaurants, but this one was actually good. 

My falafel and halloumi veggie burger did not disappoint, specially because of the roasted pepper in the middle, totally elevated the burger. 

The fries were nice and crunchy and I had fun trying out all of the sauces, like brit ones: HP! Which tastes a lot like barbecue sauce, sorry guys.

My date had a good old meat burger which I didn't try but looked good. The best part was the sweet potato fries (not pictured)! 

Giraffe has a good vibe and I heard no children crying around me, so it was even better. The food is not too original but it gets the job done. For what I was looking for, it delivered. 

Giraffe

Spitalfields Market

London

Casa Morita

I want to try a lot of restaurants in Brixton. It's a shame I have to travel all the way across the city to get there... Moving there might be the only viable option.
I was in the mood for Mexican, and I went to Casa Morita. The decoration is really nice, but the food seemed to me as a bit bland. Like something I could actually easily cook at home.

I actually think it's cool how the cutlery is displayed like this. Gotta start keeping empty cans instead of throwing them away.

The soft tacos filling was the star of the dish, tasty pulled pork, but the sides did not make it justice. Specially the boring lettuce salad, which makes me sad. Is it really Mexican? I believe that the elements could have been brought up a notch, because overall it just seemed like a very plain dish. Or maybe it was just me who should've chosen something different from the menu. I still want to find a good Mexican restaurant in London, I won't give up. I admit I can't remember much about the components of the dish, but the overall feeling that I have is: it wasn't memorable. 

Casa Morita

9 Market Row
London
SW9 8LB

Nordic Bakery, or how London's been teaching me to love coffee.

I went to the Nordic Bakery in hopes of getting one of those delicious flat rye bread sandwiches I've been drooling over after a lot of blog reads. Unfortunately, they seemed too expensive for their almost miniature size. I have a big stomach and a small wallet, both in need to be taken care of... This rice pancake seemed to be the right choice, but the real star of the dish was the egg butter. 

Really creamy, paired well with the pancake, and my only regret was to not have asked the staff to heat it up a bit for me. 

The cappuccino was so good, rich and filling. It's hard to believe that 2 months ago I was not a "coffee person" and now I have all these delicious drinks to try and indulge on. Guess working on the restaurant industry, with lots of free coffee to drink, kind of helped to start liking it more and more.

The star of the day was the cinnamon bun. Everyone, literally everyone raves about it, and one thing is for sure: they were right about the size. It doesn't seem too big at first, but the layers are never-ending. And I love it how it gets moister and moister, with a sticky filling. My stomach wanted me to stop halfway through it, but my tastebuds just kept on going. 

Nordic Bakery could have cheaper sandwiches, but the place is so nice and quiet, no big decoration, just a lovely space to hide out when it's raining and you want a nice coffee and have a sweet tooth.

48 Dorset Street

London W1U 7NE

Song Que Café

If you want to see stylish cool people slurping on Pho on a friday night, please go to Song Que. You can also eat some Pho, of course! Hoxton area is so cool, and full of Vietnamese restaurants. After intensive research I figured this one would be the best to take my three friends. 

Now, before we move on to the flavours, I must add one little thing: 1) I believe that, while I am very happy and excited to photograph the dishes, I still am a bit embarrassed and tend to hurry up the process so I don't keep my friends from eating and don't draw too much attention. That's why the pictures are a bit blurry, one of them didn't even make the cut... I promise I will improve! 2) I have to start taking notes on the dishes names and prices so you can know and learn more about what and what not to order! Rules on being a better food blogger :)

Having said this, the food! For starters I opted for a pork roll in a rice leaf. It's not pictured here because it came out way too blurry. It was not the very best looking dish, but the flavour was really fresh and delicious!

One of my friends decided to take a risk and order this shredded duck with pancakes. The waiter arrived and just put all dishes on the table and she was not very sure of how to eat that funny looking plate of duck... The pancakes were on that silver pan and later we found out that some random vegetables that were in the middle of the table must have been for her too.

My other friends chose two noodle dishes, which I've tasted and seemed very ordinary, though good. Although, nothing we haven't tasted before. One of them mentioned that her seafood dish lacked a lot on the seafood, and I agree, looking at it.

I'm happy to have chosen the Pho with beef and tripe. I love tripe, even though most people don't. I wanted something really different, and this is their speciality. I loved the plate of vegetables on the side and tripe. The meat was really tender and the broth was delicious, as soon as I squeezed some lime juice on it. But the best part was the noodles. I could have a whole bowl of noodles and be happy! A big bowl in front of the TV, this is a new level of comfort food. I would like to come back again and taste some other types of Pho!

Overall I really liked it, and I will repeat it! Hopefully my friends were not too let down by their food, as I loved mine. My total was 13 Pounds (4,60 appetizer, 8,20 the Pho and just some tap water!)

Song Que

134 Kingsland Rd, London, Greater London E2 8DY

The Constitution

Hidden in Camden, this pub offers a nice lovely garden with a view to the amazing Regent's Canal, beer (duh!), PIMMS, and a delicious Summer BBQ to make a warm evening get transformed into a highlight of the week. Well, it worked for me!

You can find the most interesting architecture all through the canal.

The dream of living in a boat house...

Starter.

My first Pimms! It was really good!

And the star. Halloumi and Portobello burger. Spicy, tasty. The bread was delicious and I can't get enough of the combination of the cheese and mushroom. The best veggie burger I've eaten. Those Doritos do look sad and inadequate in the plate, I wish there was a different side. 

Beer garden! 

The Constitution is a nice pub with friendly people, that I would be glad to visit again!

42 St. Pancras Way​

Camden

London

NW1 0QT

Borough Market on a Saturday

Visiting Borough Market was always on my top things to do in London, specially on a Saturday. I got lucky. Not crowded at all. Makes me want to be rich and buy all these deli goodies, desserts and street food! Luckily, a lot of free samples compensate my desire, for now.

You can't go wrong with D.O.P Parmegiano-Reggiano. My favorite cheese. And loads of bread.

Vegetables and fruit that make you want to spend a part of your salary. Specially the mushrooms!

My mom loves Paella so this is for her:

Wash it down with some sangria of course.

Bread is never enough.

Dessert that reminds me of home.

Borough Market is certainly expensive, but it's worth a visit if you're a foodie! There's just so much to taste, besides not being a very big market. I'm dedicating my weekends to markets, so more to come :) Do you have any more suggestions? Leave a comment!

Houses I want to live in #2

Alexandra Road Estate. An iconic housing estate that every modernism architecture lover must see. I had a lot of fun visiting this road, and all I wished is that I could have seen the houses inside!

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

Impulse going to GBK for burgers. No, I haven't researched this venue before going. But I've seen it everywhere in London. How risky could it be?
Overall, I must say that it was not my favourite meal in London, far from it. But they do give away free peanuts, which I appreciate a lot!

They call them monkey nuts, not peanuts. Sense of humour, I guess? I went for the Blue Cheese. I really regret choosing this one. The burger was OK, but the cheese was too much of a big chunk. It was too salty and overwhelming, which are common things in a super strong kind of cheese like this, but I believe that there are ways to incorporate strong flavours without them letting overwhelm a dish. This was not the case.

The fries were actually nice, although I like fat pieces of chips, instead of slim ones, but that's more of a personal taste.

In the end, the reasons why I won't be coming back to GBK are simple: 1) There are many many more burger places to try in London and it would be silly to repeat one; 2) They are not really gourmet, but again, maybe it was because I chose the Blue Cheese. The menu had some more interesting options, but I'll never know now!

Gourmet Burger Kitchen

Unit 4, Condor House, 

St Pauls Church Yard

London, EC4M8AL

Golder's Hill Park

It's always nice to take a walk in a distant park. To feel like we're in a different city. To breath fresh air. Wood Green surprised me. I really liked it. I could live there. And Golder's Hill Park is actually very nice.

But then, I saw him. I felt like I was in these enchanted woods. So close, yet so far. Magical. I can say I fell in love with deers. Too bad there was a fence. But I was lost in their beautiful fur. The color and pattern inspired me. Nature can be truly amazing.

They were chillin' like they just don't care, and then an ostrich joined the party. 

 I can't get enough of these pictures.

I also saw some other animals, but the double caging threw me off. I felt too sorry for them. Unlike the deers, these were completely locked. 

I'm sad that I will no longer have a zone 3 oyster card to find gems like these, but I'm sure zone 2 has it's secrets, too. I'll never forget this image, though: