Benugo

When going for coffee with a friend I saw the Benugo store in Covent Garden so of course I suggested we go inside. I’ve gone to Benugo many times at their St. Pancras branch. I always remember how amazing their sandwiches are and I hoped their drinks were just as good. 

The shop is set up as a deli, you queue for your order, and then you take your order on a tray to the seating area, or you can simply leave with your order. I chose to get tea and a Banoffee Muffin. We headed down the stairs and found a big seating area with loads of cute tables. 

The fact that Benugo is open until 8pm on week days is great, cause you can go for a quick snack or drink before heading home, or out to something else. The Covent Garden store is greatly located because its far enough from the shopping that you don't end up spending all your money on shopping.  

I love their food, their muffins are amazing, lightly crunchy on the outside and super moist on the inside. And their sandwich bar is set up like a gourmet version of Subway allowing you to pick from the best and most tasty ingredients for your sandwich. Just writing about it makes me want to go and get one. 

Here’s their website: http://www.benugo.com/

Mr. Buckley's

Mr. Buckley's is a cafe I found on my way to Broadway Market and I told myself; I have to have to pass by here again for brunch or something. I went there with a friend one day purposefully and all I remembered is that the seating area was up a little staircase that you could see from the window. 

Walking in I hoped they had good food, and drinks. I had a simple ice-coffee for drink, and looking through the menu which wasn't too cheap but neither too pricey I chose the brunch skillet. I didn't want anything with bacon, because I knew I was going to have it again soon. So this was the healthy option. After all there were potatoes and cheese, it couldn't be too bad; the dish had all the major food groups. 

Once it arrived I was really excited to dig in, because they actually serve it in a skillet. And I did, I think I barely talked to my friend throughout the whole meal just because I was so busy eating the food. I think its the kind of place you can even go there alone and relax waiting for an amazing breakfast. Maybe I'll do that next year. I really recommend it, just so you can have a slightly different breakfast experience. It will be a taste-y one, and the staff is really nice too. 

Here's their website: http://www.mrbuckleys.com/

Joe & The Juice

When I was walking around Chelsea with my friend Kristin we decided to stop at Joe & the Juice because we had never been to one before and we really needed to sit down. From the moment we walked in it definitely felt happy, relaxed and friendly. We spent a few minutes trying to figure out our order. I obviously looked at the food first, typical me. 

I got a tuna and avocado sandwich, which they call a Tunacado, which I find pretty cool. Kristin then asked what the barista would recommend, and she got a random one he has talked about. However I was too intrigued by the name of the "Iron Man" juice, so I just had to get that one. 

The two baristas were really friendly, and funny. The younger one was kind of flirty and he jokingly suggested that he'd give us his number, which we just laughed at. We then went over to a table, sat down, and started talking about our assignments. He brought over our drinks and my food, and the sandwich was wrapped in tracing paper which I think was really cool because it stops the oils from getting on to you hands and its somewhat creative and different. 

As we left the two baristas said "bye girls" and blew us an air kiss goodbye. It was just so funny and cliché that it make Kristin and me laugh really hard. Here's their website: http://joejuice.com

Yog

Yog is another one of those frozen yogurt places. But I was happy to go to it because the staff was friendly and they let me and my friends take forever to make our choice. I especially like that their frozen yogurt is made from milk nearby because I don't really like getting food from the other side of the world. I try to eat local food as much as possible and I'm happy to know that Yog's yogurt is locally made. 

One of my favourite things about frozen yogurt is that you can choose all the different toppings you want and you can choose as many as you like. I usually only pick 2 and I rarely put syrup on mine because I like to taste the flavour of the yogurt too. Its a bit weird to me that you can get frozen yogurt in so many different flavours now, because I'm used to there only being a "natural" flavour. That way the toppings stand out more. 

This time I chose granola and chocolate, my friend Kristin chose strawberries chocolate balls and chocolate brownies. What toppings do you like? Here's their website: http://www.yogyogurt.co.uk/index.php?p=home

Am Clubhaus Op Der Spora

Op der Spora is an incredible restaurant in Luxembourg. It’s a little hard to get to, because it’s in a forest and no buses go there. But the food is amazing. My friend once had her birthday dinner there, and since then my family and I go there at least once every time I’m back because their sushi is so good. They have a sushi chef and a normal chef because the restaurant serves European cuisine too. But it’s definitely not a fusion restaurant. The sushi is kept very far from all the other food.

One thing I love is that if you order sushi then they bring you free miso soup before, and hey, who doesn’t love free food? The staff is really nice too, and the place has a really good turnover, they probably fill every table twice per meal. They also do sushi to go, which we’ve taken advantage of a few times.

But best of all, it’s a really calm and warm place, even in winter. The fact that it’s surrounded by nature makes you feel even luckier to be there and sometimes getting away from the traffic of everyday life is good. Even if it’s just for an hour or two at lunch.

Here’s their website: http://www.amclubhaus.lu/

Blackbird Tea Rooms

At the Frock Me! Vintage Fashion Fair there was also a Tea Room set up. The people running it were the people from Blackbird Tea Rooms from Brighton. They came all the way to London for the event. The waitresses were dressed in little polished outfits, and you had to wait in line to be seated. Each table had a perfect frilly table cloth and the bar was lined with different cakes. 

I studied the menu and finally decided to have my first English muffin. It was with ham, cheddar and tomato chutney. It came with a salad and I tried to eat most of the salad before touching the English muffin because I knew that if I ate the muffin first there was no way I was going to eat the salad. 

I drank a ginger beer which I really liked because it had that little kick that sometimes you need. The room the tea room was set up in had a long brown wooden bar, and a sofa for the people waiting. This was a side room of the Chelsea Town Hall. It was nice to be seated near the fireplace of the room because even if the fireplace wasn't on you could look at all the intricate detailing in sides of the fireplace. 

It took us quite a while to be served but we're glad we waited because everything was delicious. Here's their website: http://www.blackbirdtearooms.com/

Leon

I've heard the name mentioned several times, but I never went into a Leon "restaurant" before May this year. I just didn't know what to expect. It looked really nice from the outside, with picnic tables and two ping-pong tables. Walking in you can tell its a chain restaurant due to the long counter, the huge number of seats and the menu shown in photos on light up screens above the counter. It took me a while to choose what I wanted, and the desserts aren't written on the screens, but I chose a chicken mix and a raspberry lemonade which seemed like a good combo. 

I sat down with my friends at a quirky table, and started noticing the cute little details placed around the venue to make you feel more at home and more like "Leon" has a story. Munching through my green salad with broccoli, quinoa, and some chicken I decided I liked the atmosphere. Everyone was busy, but somewhat cheerful, maybe its just cause it was a sunny day. The trays given to us all had cute different fruit designs, and there were books, magazines and board games laying around in case you wanted to stay and do something. 

The dressing on my food was a little over the top, but I really enjoyed the experience of this chain restaurant, because it attempts to be a little different and quirky and not everything is the same inside. I don't know if I'll order the same thing again, just because their fried mackerel looks really yummy too.

Here's their website: http://www.leonrestaurants.co.uk/

Somerset House; Tom's Kitchen

In gross grey weather its always important to cheer yourself up. So I went to the Somerset House to see some art and have some lunch. The day my friend and I went was 2 days before the new exhibitions opened so there was almost nothing to see, just something about Picasso's blue period (I can't stand Picasso anymore, so we avoided that) and something about limited edition designed rugs. So obviously we went for lunch first. 

The biggest eating area in Somerset House is "Tom's Kitchen" which is an incredible restaurant. Its not cheap, I only had a main, and sparkling water and I spent 20 pounds, but the food was just amazing. The flavours are aligned perfectly. I had papardelle (A sort of wide and flat spaghetti type pasta) with butternut squash, roasted pine nuts and roquefort cheese. They also brought us out some bread while we waited and it was really really good, we devoured it. 

The service was impeccable, and they wrote on a pink slip in the menu that one pound would be added to our bill to support cancer research because in the UK May is "cancer awareness month". I think its a good way to make people take part and donate because otherwise we forget, or we don't have cash on us when they ask for our help. 

Anyway, back to the point, the restaurant was incredibly good, I want to go back again, it was one of my best eating experiences in London. 

Here's a link to the restaurant: http://www.tomskitchen.co.uk/somerset-house

Thai Rice

A few weeks ago my friend Daniella and I wanted to go to Notting Hill for lunch, we ended up walking the wrong way, and somehow found ourselves walking towards Edgware Road, at this point we decided we were dying of hunger (I was) so we stopped nearby at a Thai restaurant called "Thai Rice".

Daniella had been here before, and she remembered that the food was good so after a quick glance over the menu we walked in. The place is lined with booths and tables, and we were seated in a booth. There are Ipads at each booth for people to play games, look at the menu interactively as well as look at other things online. There are also a few big screen televisions which at the time were playing a football match. The waiter is polite, friendly and really well composed for such a small restaurant. Our drinks are brought out straight away which is great. I ordered a Thai Ice Tea. They're incredible, I have no idea what they put in them but they're a super sweet tea-based drink with added milk and ice. 

As a main dish I had Pad Thai with Beef. Which I really enjoyed because the contrasting textures and flavours worked together really well. It was a quick but relaxed meal, and I really enjoyed it. Daniella and I had a laughing fit at the end of the meal because she put a mint and two ice cubes in her mouth at the same time and for some reason we thought that was hilarious. Here's their website: http://www.thairicelondon.com/

Due Sardi

Due Sardi is a tiny pizzeria on Shoreditch High Street. Its incredible. If you want your pizza to go, you can watch them make it. Throwing the dough, spreading it evenly on their counter top, placing the right layer of sauce and adding your toppings, and finally sliding it into the pizza oven. 

If you don't want your pizza to go you can eat it next door at Jaguar Shoes. The pizza is amazing and their menu is very varied for a pizza place. They've re-named a few of their pizzas so that they are more personal to the restaurant, which is something I quite like. I ordered a Hawaiian pizza the last time I went there, and it was amazing, they spread the pineapple slices and the ham perfectly so that the flavours overlapped really well. I was really happy with the fact that they cut the slices for me, and that the cheese didn't all come off on the first bite of each slice. 

The place gave me the impression of being really authentic, mostly because everyone was speaking to one another in Italian, and there were a few small rustic details in the venue which are very Italian. I tend to hate eating Italian food when I'm not in Italy because I naturally assume it wont be as good as what my mum makes. This place was really up to my standards and I devoured that amazing pizza. 

Here's their website: http://www.duesardi.com/ (they also do delivery)

Delilah

On Friday I went to Nottingham to visit two of my close friends from high school. Upon arrival we went to lunch, and Katie suggested a place called Delilah. From Nottingham station you have to walk towards the nicer part of the city or as I called it the "suburbs". This place is really nice especially for lunch.

Walking in, it looks like an organic food shop but upstairs on a balcony there are tables for you to enjoy your food there.Depending on what time you arrive you can make you order at the bar below and pay while doing so, or a waiter will approach your table. I think one of the main reason I enjoyed this place was because there was a lot of light, and some how you had the comfort in knowing that all the food was well put together as well as looked after carefully when grown. 

I ordered the same thing as Katie, a roquefort sandwich with red onion chutney and pine nuts. It was incredible. They served 3 sandwiches made with toasted baguette and the onion chutney was on the outside so you can taste it even more. Tatiane ordered a potato raclette type dish which was served in a bowl with small new potatoes and a lot of cheese and ham. Everything smelled delicious and of course we all devoured our meals. 

I might have to drag them back there the next time I visit them because I ate so well. 

Here's their website: http://www.delilahfinefoods.co.uk/

The Deli Downstairs

The Deli Downstairs is a really cute organic shop in Hackney, near Victoria Park. In the summer they have red stools and tables to eat outside. Its decorated really well, with space for all the different types of food, the meats, sauces, cheeses, vegetables and even other food. 

Its not cheap, cause no organic store in London is. Its just the kind of place that give you a really good vibe, and makes you want to buy their food. There are loads of different organic brands that they carry as well as having un-labelled fresh fruit and vegetables, but pretty much anything you need or want is there, and you definitely leave without any guilt. 

What I really liked about it is the amount of fresh cheeses they had as well as their own pesto, hummus  and tapenade. All their food really looks incredible. I want to go back to buy fresh pesto, cause I hate hate hate eating pesto from a jar. 

Here's their website, if you want to go enjoy their incredible food: http://www.thedelidownstairs.co.uk/