01.12.16

It's been 3 weeks since I last blogged. On one hand I feel guilty for not keeping my lovely friends updated and on the other I am pleased that I have been quite a bit busier, thus the delay in this post.

Going off my last blog post, Samir is finally here in the UK! The first day he arrived, we went to Nandos! The good news is that Nandos is actually decent compared to what we get in Canada, but Nandos in Malaysia is still better. That week was also the first time Samir brought me to Camden, located in north London, where we ate really nice burgers at a place called Honest Burgers.

The burgers were slightly pink in the middle and I was skeptical because of that, but damn it was really good (I'm not even usually big on burgers). Of course, if you ever get a chance to try it and aren't convinced, you can still order it cooked all the way. That same day I met Samir's friend Gary, which I shall now claim as my first non work and didn't-already-know-you friend in the UK.

More food funsies in between:

Lemonade from Honest Burgers

Scotch Eggs from Whyte and Brown

Sangria and seafood paella from Hola Paella

Nasi Lemak made by my family friends

One of my biggest problems with living in Canada is that none of my friends ever visited me. It was far, expensive, and for most the boring version of the States. That is a problem no more, I have been meeting up with so many friends it is insane. For example, last week my cousin flew into London and we met up for dinner. Last Saturday, my university friend Yung Xin visited London. So for the lack of being repetitive, we brought her to Camden and had burgers from Honest Burgers. We also went to Cafe Chula for drinks, I personally got a drink that is kinda like a caesar with beer and a lot spicier. I actually really liked it but there were some sips throughout that did feel like drinking chili juice. 

Again I'm Malaysian, spicy is my friend, but I do not recommend it for everyone. We also went to the Leicester Square Christmas market and Winter Wonderland, which was pretty much a carnival with a somewhat Christmas theme.

Last Sunday, my long time high school friend Noel was in London with her boyfriend! In fact, we also met up today for dinner after their Harry Potter Tour. But Noel, Nat (her bf), Amelia, Samir, and I went to Chichetti, yes the same restaurant in my previous blog post, I swear I'm not crazy, but it was really good!

Octopus (that's literally the name on the menu)

Cannaloni

Veal Cutlet

Braised Duck

Mussels

Parma ham with Buffalo Mozzarella & Truffles

We also went to Covent Garden Market (which Samir and I actually brought Yung Xin to the day before) and we had tea at Whittard's Covent Garden Tea Bar (which we also did with Yung Xin the day before). We had scones and clotted cream the day before (which was actually really good, I never thought I could like scones when I had them in Canada, but these are good) and the day we went with Noel, I ordered the scotch eggs, which is always fun.

Christmas Tree outside Covent Garden

This week, I met up with yet another university friend, Keny! She works for the Four Seasons in Toronto, and when she stayed with the Four Seasons in London, she also gets a nice discount for food. As you may have already figured, Keny asked if I wanted to join her for a lovely dinner at the hotel's restaurant, Amaranto, and coming from hospitality, I will never reject good food at a discount.

We had some Prosecco to start, which we already know is a great start. Keny and I shared a starter called Culatello di Zibello, which consists of air dried ham, smoked aubergine caviar, and gnocco fritto. The English translation = bloody delicious.

Complimentary bread

For my main dish I got grilled fish and shellfish platter and gosh, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it again. My plate had salmon, tuna, a white fish, scallop, prawn, squid, and a bunch of vegetables. They even put the lemon in a pouch, which I thought was next level fancy because I might have seen that maybe one other time in my life.

By the end of it, we were super stuffed so we didn't order any desserts but they still gave us some palate cleansers. On the left, we've got this almond macaron / meringue thing and on the right was the most beautiful walnut (I'm pretty sure) mini muffin? I feel like my food vocabulary is failing me but all you have to know was it was an amazing dinner.

Thank you so much to all my beautiful friends who took time out of their holiday to see me, all these visits keep me super excited and gives me something to look forward to! I do apologize that the photo quality isn't the best, all photos in this blog were actually taken on my phone!

Listening to "Lonely" by 2NE1    #ThankYou2NE1
Images by Me