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Fernandez & Wells – London, England

While we were in London, we really wanted lunch, and had absolutely no idea what we were wanting to eat – but knowing we had to eat! We just happen to be walking down Lexington Street, and we saw 3 cured legs at the window, and we knew this was the place where we wanted to eat! This lovely location is called Fernandez & Wells which seemed perfect!

This store front is wonderful! It’s small, warm, cozy, and the smell of freshly roasted and cured meats fills the air! When we got to the counter to see what we wanted to eat, there was a pile high of sandwiches on a selection of ciabatta buns or ‘bocadillos’ (crusty flutes) – and they get grilled after you order them.

I ordered the Grilled Chorizo Sandwich which is made of their fresh chorizo, and lined with some roasted red peppers and rocket leaves. After this sandwich was grilled, it was delicious and it was kind of spicy and super tasty!

We also ordered Rare Topside of Beef Sandwich which was a sandwich packed with roast beef and some horseradish. The roast beef was perfectly roasted and it wasn’t tough at all! It was tender and full of intense beef flavour which was very nice! I personally think they put a tad too much horseradish on the sandwich, as it cleared my sinuses and made my eyes water! I ended up scooping off some of the horseradish before finishing up my half of the sandwich.

Fernandez & Wells really keeps things simple. When we asked what there is to drink, they looked at us funny and said “wine or water”, so we opt’d for wine, as it looks like the thing to do! We don’t ever drink wine, so it was kind of funny as we had a nice buzz from it! 🙂 We ordered the Alpha Zeta Chardonnay which was quite light already. I can’t say if it was good or not as I do not know how chardonnay is suppose to taste, or the difference between any wines. But, it was crisp and light – and actually a bit refreshing!

This was one of the best sandwich lunch places we’ve had in a long time! Things are kept basic, simple and rustic and that made for a delicious place to eat! We even went at an odd time, and there wasn’t seating left. Most of their customers take away, or they’re sitting there enjoying cheese and wine or something like that! It was just nice to step out of the busy streets of London and step into their restaurant and we were able to relax and watch the world pass by. This location is truly a hidden gem for us!

Fernandez & Wells

43 Lexington St
Soho, UK
(020) 7734 1546

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Giraffe – Waterloo London

During our trip to England, we had to visit London. Our first night in London, we met up with my cousin there and she brought us to Giraffe which was located on the Southbank near Waterloo. It was a beautiful location as it was right off the river, and a great place to stop in for a bite to eat as it was just beginning to pour that day.

I ordered a Smoothie as I wanted something sweet and fun! I tried the Mango Mama which was a smoothie made with mango, strawberry, banana, orange, apple juice. I ordered mine without the banana, since I’m allergic to bananas, so it wasn’t as thick and creamy. It was still a delicious drink though, full of fruit flavours! The best thing about this drink I must say was the awesome giraffe stir-stick standing in my smoothie! The giraffe was just tall enough so it’s head would stick out of the drink! My little nephew loved these giraffe stir-sticks too!

I wasn’t too sure what to try – the menu was massive, so I just picked something I thought I would enjoy instead of venturing off and trying something new. I ordered the Rodeo Chicken Burger which was a huge burger of grilled chicken breast with melted cheddar, fried mushrooms, BBQ sauce and onion ring. It had the usual condiment suspects such as lettuce, tomato and mayo. It was weird, as I’m not normally a fan of chicken breast – they’re normally kind of over cooked and dry, but this chicken breast burger was actually juicy, mouth-watering good! With the crunch from the onion ring, and the extra sauce from the BBQ sauce, it was a delight to eat this burger!

I split my meal with my husband, and he ordered Grilled Mojito Chicken which was something completely different from what we’ve ever ordered or tried to make at home. This was half chicken marinated in mint, lime and rum. Served with sin on fries and a home made poppy seed celery slaw. This half a chicken was really unique as it was infused with mint and lime flavour. It’s like no other roasted chicken, but it was extremely enjoyable.

My cousin enjoyed a Szechuan Sesame Noodles which was basically fried vegetables and egg noodles in a Szechuan pepper sauce with ginger, garlic, fresh mango and fried shallots. It was definitely Asian style and it must’ve tasted good as she almost finished the entire bowl. This bowl of noodles was the best smelling dish, and it looked really good as well!

My little nephew ordered a kids Pasta Pomodoro fresh penne pasta with pomodoro sauce, and of course he had fun eating this plate of food! He actually enjoyed it so much, he ended up eating it with his hands instead of his utensils! The little kid finished everything, and had some of our french fries as well!

Overall, this was an amazing place to eat! The atmosphere was fun, the prices was reasonable – especially considering the location of the restaurant! Best of all, the food was great, and the service was fine. Our favourite course from the evening would for sure be the Grilled Mojito Chicken, and we would order that again!

Giraffe

Southbank Centre
Waterloo
Belvedere Rd
London, UK

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Muffin Man – Kensington, London

We stopped by The Muffin Man as a quick stop for breakfast one morning before heading over to Buckingham Palace and stand in line for the touristy attractions we were planning for the day. The Muffin Man was a great little stop, even though it wasn’t a fast stop. We made an order right from their bakery section and it took the waitress awhile to even put our goodies into a bag to give to us. Instead, she continued to serve the seated customers, and that made is “in her way”. She had to maneuver around us, making it difficult for everyone.

We figured if she just took our order and quickly gave us our goodies, we all would’ve continued on our merry way. Regardless, the baked good from the Muffin Man was extremely delicious.

I ordered the Lemon Cake which was a denser muffin (hence cake) in a muffin form. It was really lemony and refreshing. The cake was quite fresh.

We also had a Chocolate Danish made with dark chocolate filling wrapped in crusty and flaky pastry.

Lastly, we tried their Banana Coffee Muffin, and even though I didn’t try it at all, I hear it was quite delicious, and it had a soft coffee center. This muffin sure sounds delicious, and I’m sure given another opportunity, I’ll try a muffin – as the place is called the Muffin Man after all!

Muffin Man

12 Wrights Lane Map
(0871) 075 7360
Kensington, London

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Le Restaurant de Paul Covent Garden – London, England

While we were in London, we visited Paul twice! The first time, we went in for lunch, and tried delicious PAUL’s Hot Chocolate which was a delicious rich hot chocolate that coats the spoon and coats the mouth and stomach as we digest it! It’s really good, and I would call it “drinking chocolate” more than enjoying “hot chocolate”. What a wonderful treat it was!

For the lunch, I ate mixte crepes which was a perfectly cooked crepe filled with ham, emmental (cheese) and bechamel sauce. It was really creamy with the cheese and bechamel sauce, and once you cut into the crepe, the emmental oozed out. It was perfect! We also ordered the Champignon Crepe which was filled with mushrooms instead of ham.

We also had an order of Croque Madame which was ham, cheese, bechamel in toasted bread topped with emmental and a fried egg. There was a little salad on the side, and some toast! I didn’t try it, but it looked super delicious – and nothing was left on the plate at the end of this lunch (all plates), so you know it’s really good!

The second time, we went in more as a light snack midday! It was a nice treat after doing a lot of touristy events to sit down and relax over a cup of coffee. I had a delicious Mocha Light which was made from the chocolate that is thick and creamy! It was one of the best mocha’s I’ve ever had, and I think it has everything to do with the hot chocolate that Paul’s is famous for.

I enjoyed a piece of Coconut Flan which is ultimately a coconut tart that was really coconutty, light, soft piece of cake. We also had a Palmier A light, crisp sugared Puff Pastry Biscuit.

This palmier was really good, as most of the ones we’ve had was hard instead of crispy… so to my delight, this palmier was one of the best!

petit panier de pains was another treat that was actually shared within the table, and it’s a petit basket of assorted bread. It was good alone, with butter, with jam, and with both! 🙂 Pizza Provencale which was a slice of pizza topped with cheese, tomato and black olives was a vegetarian delight.

29 Bedford St
Covent Garden
(020) 7836 3304

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Baozi Inn – London, England

We went into Baozi Inn for a snack, while we were in England, we ate every meal twice, including snacks — so, this was one of many snack meals that we enjoyed! Baozi Inn is located in London’s Chinatown and it’s a little place, but seats a lot of guests. The service was fast, the food was good, and the prices was very reasonable!

The interior was decorated beautifully – traditional Communist China, which really is quite neat! It is a huge part of China’s history and what not, but I’ve never seen any place do their interior decoration to reflect this time period. It was lovely though.

We ordered a few munchies, of course their bao’s (buns) since that’s what the restaurant is called. We tried their Pork Baozi which was a bun stuffed with juicy minced pork and onion. We also tried the House Special Baozi which for the day was Pork filled. Both of the steamed buns was quite large – especially compared to the ones we get get here at home, say T&T. It wasn’t over steamed where it’s mushy or soggy, and it wasn’t steamed for awhile and sitting there waiting for a guest to order it – as it wasn’t hard either. It just tasted like a wonderful bun that was really fresh.

We also ordered 2 orders of dumplings, and tried Chengdu Dumplings which were pork dumplings in Chilli Oil and Garlicky Sauce. The pork dumplings were boiled and seasoned with chilli oil and crushed garlic. It was extremely tasty, as the strong chilli oil and garlic taste was what we tasted more of, instead of the dumpling. But, the dumpling made a great vehicle for the topping as it was a tasty dish.

Finally, we tried just the Boiled dumplings stuffed with minced pork – served Beijing style with vinegar dip. It looked really plain when it got to the table, but because it wasn’t dressed up with anything, you could really taste the freshness of these dumplings, and it was fresh and delicious. The meat filling was indeed juicy and the skin was rolled quite thin and cooked well as the juices from the inside didn’t leak out until I bite into the dumpling.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience here at Baozi Inn, and I must recommend it to anyone going that way! Not just a snack either, those noodle dishes and what not look and smell great! I would love to go back to get more of everything, plus more!

Baozi Inn

25 Newport Court
London
(020) 7287 6877