2009 has been a hugely gluttonous, but productive year for this website and for me. For those of you piling on the pounds along side of me, we’ve definitely had some memorable meals no? And my, my have our ranks been swelling. This time last year, we were 200 odd regular subscribers, today we’re 600 strong. You should know that you mean the world to me. There will be no more new reviews in the festive period as I plan to take it easy over the next ten days, but fear not, new content will be back with a bang on the 4th Jan 2010. In the mean time, let’s reflect on the highlights on what a great year it has been.
Here’s 9 of my most memorable meals in 2009.
St John
Let’s kick things off with something British. I like restaurants which push the boundaries, and Fergus Henderson’s ‘nose to tail’ concept was certainly something that appealed to me. For such a well liked restaurant, I was delightfully surprised to find an easy going feel about the place: no ponciness on the menu, what you see is what you get, and just brilliantly cooked offal slapped on a plate. I tried their legendary roast bone marrow, sipped some of the most tremendously hearty veal broth (ever), and witnessed the bloodiest pigeon ever to be presented. I don’t think St John applies to everyone and one has to be pretty brave (or have ordered a strong shiraz) to wash down all the gaminess some of the dishes will throw at you. However, if you’re up for a totally alternative experience, I can think of no better restaurant in London to try than this one. You’ll certainly remember it, as I did.
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Posted in: London Restaurant Reviews, eating&reading
London does not always have bad weather. Sometimes, it really is awesome. Like this weekend for example. Spring came early and yes, while it’s a breezy 13C , the sunshine is just awesome. Just the colours… the vibrance… I had to do it, the internet deserves to know what a truly awesome place London morphs into … when the sun comes out.
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Technorati Tags: hyde park, spring, sun
Posted in: eating&reading, london, photography
Coming back from a two week break can be a disorientating thing. It’s long enough for one to almost forget what home really feels like, heck even the weather seems to have changed since I was last in London. Ah yes, at least I have not forgotten how (and where) to eat (reviews coming on Tuesday) but I did want to get out to appreciate the other parts the ol’ Smoke, the first weekend back. It certainly helped that the weather was particularly beautiful and it gave me the perfect excuse to shoot some breeze.
My port of call is usually the Gloucester road bus stop, though we start our little photo tour just outside Hyde Park Corner for the number 9. The sky was doing amazing things on that particular Friday and it allowed me to grab this shot of the golden lights seemingly opening it’s arms to the Mandarin Oriental. What a lovely sight.
Riding on the No.9, one of the last remaining routes to still be using the old routemasters (that’s what they are called, right?), I lay witness to a beautiful day and all the vibrance of Green Park’s lush greens, colours so rich I might have mistaken it for one of the paintings for sale just outside the fences.
Final destination was the National Gallery in Piccaddily for a spot of Debussy. On that friday evening, a recital was organised in room 18 and put together by the Royal college of music … no Claire de Lune though. I realised how I’ve never really photographed the London landmarks before. Well, all in good time I suppose, and with this trip, Nelson’s column at Trafalgar Square.
Of course, how can I go sightseeing and not include a photograph of the weekend’s sins…
On the way back westward, I was in Whiteleys for some glorious Belgian waffles.
Ahh… that’s another great weekend’s worth of me and the Smoke. I got a nod from Charz at Timeout (Thanks Charmaine!), sitemeter shows you still care enough to read my stuff and I’m still stinting at Qype.
Hope your weekend was awesome, folks.
Posted in: eating&reading, london, photography
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