Little Blond Bird: LBB in London...Sleeping & Eating

Hello Birdies! As I mentioned in my last post, Hubby and I recently returned from England, which included visiting London for the first time ever! I'm a true city girl at heart, and I could not wait to soak up every inch of the culture, the scenery, and the people watching. I could take pages and pages to tell you all of my favourite parts, but I'll try to keep it to the highlights below!

Sleeping

Hubby and I laid our heads at LA Suite Hotel, a tiny boutique hotel (spread over two old, but gutted, townhomes) in the well-heeled Marylebone area. While our room was teeny, it felt big thanks to the clever design (a well lit vanity built into the closet! An elevated bed on a platform!) and high ceilings. The breakfast picnic basket that was delivered to our room every morning didn't hurt either...

The interior of the hotel

Our daily breakfast - Coffee, fresh OJ, granola, greek yogurt, and pastries

As for Marylebone itself, we really could not have asked for a better neighbourhood. The High street was always buzzing with locals, and there were tons of great little stylish-but- not-snooty cafes, pubs, and restaurants steps from our door! Not to mention we were in close proximity to beautiful Regent park, swanky New Bond Street, and a short walk from Oxford Street.

Our 'Hood

Eat Your Heart Out

When Hubby and I travel, we (ok, maybe I) make it a mission to seek out interesting and delicious restaurants, particularly places that are more suited to locals than to the tourist crowd. Luckily, London did not disappoint. I had S's sister Kelly, who is based in London, as a reliable source and that, combined with some skillful Googling, meant we ate some fabulous meals. I can spend a whole post on London's markets and street food (more on that in my next post!) but in terms of dining, here are my favourite culinary experiences:

As I mentioned above, our own neighbourhood had lots of great places to eat right outside our door. We particularly enjoyed The Providores & Tapa Room, a buzzing small-plates joint. The food was tasty and creative, and we could have ordered one of everything on the menu!

My delish cucumber mojito

The extensive menu

My favourite dish...A deep-fried organic egg with crisp butternut, puffed wild rice salad and red pepper macadamia dressing

Truffled prawn siu-mai with black sesame and ponzu

Also in our neighbourhood was Colony, a Euro-meets-Indian experience where we enjoyed a phenomenal vegetarian platter including Sag Paneer (that's code for giant cube of fried cheese) , mutton (that was a new one for me!) with caramelized onion and tomato, and hands down, the best chicken tikka masala I have ever eaten. The food wasn't super spicy, but the flavours blew my mind.

On our last night in London we checked out Terroirs in Convent Garden. I never thought we'd be eating French food in England but we couldn't resist the extensive wine list and well-priced small plates. We feasted on generous portions of charcuterie, a cheese board, oysters, and anchovie and garlic toast (it sounds frightening but it was phenomenal). The ambience of the restaurant was charming and warm, and the staff were actually French...a little slice of Paris in London.

Finally, no trip to London is complete without a visit to Harrods, and the food hall was by far my favourite part. Nothing could have prepared me for the endless displays of both sweet and savoury offerings. Unfortunately we weren't there at a meal time, but it didn't mean I couldn't feast with my eyes...