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Cafe Churchill – London, England

It was a cold, rainy London morning in September when we decided to take a walk through the touristy area. When we got towards Westminster Abbey, I realized how hungry I was — and there wasn’t much food options nearby. So, we walked towards the Parliament buildings, we found Cafe Churchill where we quickly popped inside to dry up and fill up on our bellies.

This location was really cute, with little table outside – which I can’t see anyone utilizing in the rain, but probably perfect for the nice days without the rain! Once we walked into the cafe, we saw this pastry display where I got excited! I love pastries!

We both sat down and asked for some English Tea and I wanted mine with lemon. It was so nice to have and anything hot like teas really warmed me up from the inside out! I know it’s just a normal tea, but it was just great timing for this tea.

From entering the cafe, one of the first things I saw was croissants and I noticed a Giant Almond Croissant so I knew that was something I would need to order. The croissant was nice and fresh, crispy layers, subtle sweetness from the powdered sugar, and the sliced almonds made a for a delicious treat!

I thought a croissant for the 2 of us wouldn’t be enough, so we also ordered a Ciabatta Salmone which is a great sandwich of smoked salmon, cream cheese and lettuce on a ciabatta bun. This was a little disappointing compared to the giant almond croissant. This only had 2 thin slices of smoked salmon, and there wasn’t much cream cheese or even lettuce either! The bread was really good as I believe it was fresh. None the less, I ate it up and continued on my journey.

Overall, it was a great experience, and it definitely gave you a small town feel in this cafe! If I’m there, I’d definitely stop by for an almond croissant again though!

Cafe Churchill

Westminster/Millbank
49 Parliament Street, Westminster
London, United Kingdom
(020) 7930 7676

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Belgo Centraal London

My sister really wanted to introduce Belgo Centraal to us in London at Covent Garden, so we all went to eat an early dinner there – which they called Express Lunch. The express lunch was available daily 12-5pm and for £7.95 it came with a choice of Belgo Pils, a glass of house wine or a soft drink with the selected lunch.

I ordered the Salmon Filet with leek mash and mustard cream sauce, and even though the salmon looks like it’s over cooked, it was actually cooked to perfection! It was flaky and still tender inside. The leek mash was divine and it was smooth and creamy. While both these contents sat in some mustard cream sauce, it really tied the dish together. It was a perfect pair.

We also ordered the Pork and Leek Sausages with stoemp mash and berry jus, and I have got to say the stoemp mash was better than my leek mash! It was pretty much a mashed baked potato and it was truly something memorable!

My sister ordered a Bowl of Traditionelle mussels served with frites, and of course I stole a few of both mussels and frites (fries). The mussels – they sure know how to make them here at Belgo, and they were really fresh with absolutely no fishiness to them at all. The portion of this bowl is huge and is a great dish to share!

We were having such a good time here at Belgo, we decided to order dessert! We ordered 2 to share between the 3 of us and it really was the perfect amount! Our first dessert was the Strawberry Pavlova which was not only insanely beautiful to look at, it was insanely delicious as well! The pavlova was nice and crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. I’ve had a few pavlovas and they tend to be very chewy on the inside.

We ended this fine express lunch with the very heavenly Belgian dark chocolate cheesecake! The Belgium Dark chocolate wasn’t so dark that the entire cheesecake turned bitter or anything, and the texture and creaminess of the cheesecake was to die for.

This was one of the best meals I’ve had the entire trip, and I would recommend it to anyone! The location does seem strange as it is in the lower level where it appears it’s the entire building! The concept of this restaurant is phenomenal, and the food is extraordinary!

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Comfort Hotel – Heathrow Airport

We’ve been late for a flight leaving England before, and that was the only flight we’ve ever missed. So now, if possible, we’ll try to be closest to the airport the night before, as we’re paranoid of missing an international flight, and we don’t fly on independent airlines or anything like that – that doesn’t help you out…

This time, we took the London Tube out to Heathrow Airport the night before. We chose this hotel as it’s really close to the airport, and there is a shuttle that takes you to and from the airport for a nominal fee. It was very reasonable, and much economical than taking a cab from the airport. Our day consisted of checking in early, and taking the tube back on to London, and returning that evening to the hotel — only to check out again the following morning.

This hotel offers excellent service, as they allowed us to check in early! They offered free internet for us, as we were apart of their loyalty program.

The shuttle service to and from the airport came quite frequent, and was never off schedule – in fact in both cases, they were early which is excellent if you were running late for your flight. This bus service to Heathrow is only 4GBP one way, or 7GBP round trip! This was an excellent offer and the shuttle was called National Express Hotel Hoppa.

The actual room was quite small, but offers everything you need in a hotel room, especially if you’re not looking to be there for long term – as it’s great for lay-over stays or anything like that. I really enjoyed my stay here, even though the rooms were a little dated, it had it’s fun component to it! It was more of your “standard” hotel room layout, with 2 twin beds, a small CRT TV, and that’s pretty much all you need for hotels like this by the airport! It really is a place for you to rest your head down and get a nice hot shower!

Another thing I really like about this room was the fact there was a towel heater in the bathroom! There’s nothing more relaxing than using a towel that is perfectly warmed to wrap yourself in after your shower. It was my favourite feature during my stay and I know if I’m in the area and doing an early flight the following day, I will be returning to this hotel!

Comfort Hotel Heathrow

Shepiston Lane, Hayes
Middlesex, UB3 1LP

Phone: 020 8573 6162

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Days Hotel London – Waterloo

During our stay in London, we stayed in a small hotel called Days Hotel London – Waterloo which didn’t matter as we were only there for the bed – for a few hours! We were actually expecting the room to look more like a cabin on a cruise ship, so when we checked-in, the hotel met and exceeded our expectations!

The bathroom was extremely small, as you’re staring at yourself in the reflection of the mirror on top of the sink while you’re on the toilet. There was no bathtub, just a tiny stand-up shower. There was plenty of space in the hotel suite itself, and comes with complimentary coffees and teas. The star rating for this hotel is a 3 Star hotel, which is fine of a rating. I may have rated it 2.5 stars, but that’s my opinion.

A few neat things about this hotel though, it’s got no air conditioning, and just offers a fan. It was fine when we went (in September) as it was cool and rainy for a few days. We actually turned on the heat at nights too. A good thing about this hotel, the windows do open for fresh air, and it’s 100% smoke free. I never would’ve thought that would be possible in England as it seems like everyone smokes.

The best thing about this hotel would be the location – being a few minutes walk from Lambeth North station makes it really convenient. For the big Tube station, the Waterloo station is about a 10 minute walk away. On the same street as the hotel – going towards the station, there are little grocery/convenient stores that seemed to be opened a lot and was great for us to pick things up like water and snacks.

It was lovely, and from our window, we were able to see the top of London Eye as we were staying at the Southbank.

Days Hotel London- Waterloo

54 Kennington Road, London, SE1 7BJ GB
Phone: 44-2079-221331

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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