So Much Food, Part 1

I realized that I haven't done a compilation on food since last August! It was a bit too long with everything I've tried so I'm breaking it into two posts. 

My friend Kate loves Ottolenghi so one night we met up with Pamela and Mary for dinner. We all shared dishes so we could try lots of things. I only took photos of four of them, but we tried seared tuna, aubergine croquettes, beet salad, and aubergine salad. Everything was delicious, especially the beet salad!

Most days Piccadilly Market is nothing special. There are booths selling antiques and people who will make you a belt while you wait. But on Mondays the market changes into a bustling street food market. There was a huge queue at the Peruvian booth so I figured it must be worth trying. I got the chicken with rice and it did not disappoint.

While at Piccadilly Market I was introduced to Cakehole, a bakery stand with amazing cheesecake. Yes, this will definitely happen again.

I know I've mentioned the salt beef sandwich at Brass Rail in the Selfridges Food Hall before, but I went another time with my friend Heather to try the reuben. It was even better than the salt beef. I always love the pickle/gherkin at Brass Rail. 

Bloomsbury Farmers Market is my new favorite weekday food market. Even in the middle of winter, there were tons of booths and people there for lunch. I got a mix of three different kinds of pasta from a place with an insanely long queue. I had pasta with red sauce and olives, pesto and mushrooms, and gnocchi with salmon. The pesto was by far the winner in my opinion. 

Molly Bakes in Dalston has gotten a lot of publicity for their freakshakes. It is a milkshake with brownies, cookies, marshmallows, sauces, and whipped cream. Warren tried the peanut butter, Lisa tried the salted caramel and I tried the raspberry. They were all delicious and I loved that the raspberry had pop rocks!

Even though it looks delicious, the food at STAKEhaus was a bit disappointing. I've had better steak and chips in other markets (specifically at Maltby Street Market). Luckily I'd used a half price voucher I'd received from Kerb so it wasn't a huge investment. 

My friend Pamela and her mom wanted to try Top Dog, the restaurant started by Marissa Hermer from the reality show Ladies of London. The hot dogs were really great! I tried a beef hot dog with apple-slaw (bottom left in the photo below). Marissa actually came in while we were there and was nice enough to take photos with us!

My new obsession is the 'biskie' from Cutter and Squidge. I love the salted caramel one that is a cookie sandwich filled with buttercream frosting, marshmallow, and caramel sauce. 

I read about Fischer's kaiserschmarrn in Time Out magazine so Lisa and I went there for brunch one Saturday morning. Kaisershmarrn is a shredded pancake named after the Austrian emporer Franz Joseph I who was particularly fond of it. Ours came with stewed fruit and a sweet soured cream. 

My friend Kate loves salt beef sandwiches and says the best one in London is from Northfield Farm at Borough Market. Warren and I gave it a go and I have to agree with Kate...definitely the best! The mustard is a bit spicy for my taste but overall it was delicious. 

My sister told me about this place she likes in Belgium called Aux Merveilleux de Fred. There is one in South Kensington that I now frequent more often than I'd like to admit. My favorite thing there is the brioche with chocolate but they also have these meringues topped with frosting and covered in chocolate shavings.

La Gelatiera in Covent Garden has these adorable baby cones! And what's even better is that the gelato is delicious. I usually prefer ice cream over gelato but la Gelatiera might make me change my stance on that.