A Walk in the Park = Holland Park & Covent Gardens on 25Mar2016

granary square @ king's cross

granary square @ king’s cross

after a great brunch at sunday, wife decided to go walk in holland park as there is a japanese garden, maybe we could catch some sakura? ^^

we walked past granary square to king’s cross station. there is a huge multi-billion redevelopment of king’s cross. granary square fronts central st martin university of the arts london.

granary square @ king's cross

granary square @ king’s cross

and cross the regent canal.

i had a nice walk along regent’s canal to camden market & to regent park & primrose hill. that was aug2014.

9 3/4 harry potter's platform

9 3/4 harry potter’s platform

& no one gets tired of taking a photo at the 9 3/4platform in harry potter’s realm.

road to holland park

road to holland park

we took the circle line & exited at nottinghill gate station & walked along holland park ave.

road to holland park

road to holland park

nice trees overcast sky, a mysterious, magical appearance.

road to holland park

road to holland park

we turned into holland park road.

holland park

holland park

it’s a good size park, 22 hectares, about the size of st james park & larger than green park.

by comparison hyde park though is 143hectares & kensington gardens 111 hectares.

holland park

holland park

there wasn’t much to see in holland park

holland park

holland park

we came here though to look at kyoto gardens.

nice flowers

nice flowers

spotted some nice flowers for a good composition.

japanese garden @ holland park

japanese garden @ holland park

found kyoto garden. very limited though.

peacock

peacock

took a photo of the peacock.

squirrel

squirrel

& there was a squirrel.

squirrel

squirrel

nifty fella which made a reappearance later.

japanese garden @ holland park

japanese garden @ holland park

a water feature.

japanese garden @ holland park

japanese garden @ holland park

peace & calm.

solitary sakura @ japanese gardens

solitary sakura @ japanese gardens

nothing to show for sakura, just one solitary plant.

solitary sakura @ japanese gardens

solitary sakura @ japanese gardens

that’s all we got.

japanese garden @ holland park

japanese garden @ holland park

kyoto gardens were constructed in 1991 with funding from japanese conglomerates.

but didn’t look particularly well maintained.

squirrel

squirrel

this fella came back.

squirrel

squirrel

quite a show-off

squirrel

squirrel

strutting around. 🙂

gelato mio

gelato mio 

exiting holland park, we found a gelato place down the road & stopped to have some ice cream didn’t think much of it.

covent gardens

covent gardens 

daughter & i were going to watch a musical this evening at prince of wales theatre, & son & wife were going to have their own tete a tete.

so we decided to go & walk around covent gardens, then have early dinner at burger & lobster.

covent gardens

covent gardens 

we exited at leicester square station & walked to covent gardens.

there were the usual street baskers. this guy was standing on air & he could flipped 90deg to horizontal….probably had some metal platform & braces in the boots & uniform. 🙂

covent gardens

covent gardens 

it’s quite fun living in these places. the street scenes just like in movies.

covent gardens

covent gardens 

we walked through the building.

covent gardens

covent gardens 

the jamie oliver outlet union jacks.

covent gardens

covent gardens 

& the apple market.

covent gardens

covent gardens 

then to the piazza.

covent gardens

covent gardens 

not too busy.

covent gardens

covent gardens

quite a number of tourists.

children did some shopping, daughter bought a dress at zara.

we then walked to burger & lobster at dean street for early dinner beofre 2 of us went to theatre.

c.h.e.f andy

Great Lunch @ Sunday Restaurant London on 25Mar2016

baked eggs, crab, toasted cornbread

baked eggs, crab, toasted cornbread

had a great 4pax family brunch at sunday cafe & restaurant the next day on 25.3.2016. ^^

it’s a place that gets my daughter excited, brunch, bread etc…

sunday restaurant london

sunday restaurant london

we slept late to recover from the jetlag the day before, but was early to arrive at sunday at 10.30am. the location at Hemingford Rd is just a 10mins walk form my son’s apartment. 🙂

this a chill place, obviously popular.

queue at sunday

queue at sunday

by the time we left 1130am -ish, there was a long queue outside.

baked eggs, crab, toasted cornbread

baked eggs, crab, toasted cornbread

we ordered a plate each.

baked eggs, crab, toasted cornbread was pretty nice.

corn fritters

corn fritters

& a corn fritters to share.

corn fritters

corn fritters

the plates were all nicely presented. corn fritters was ok.

 

courgette fritters, lots of avocado

courgette fritters, lots of avocado

daughter had a courgette fritters.

courgette fritters, lots of avocado

courgette fritters, lots of avocado

decent, nothing special, too much avocado.

crispy spiced lamb, flat bread

crispy spiced lamb, flat bread

for me the crispy fried minced lamb was the best.

crispy spiced lamb, flat bread

crispy spiced lamb, flat bread

i am the meat person, & not much excited about all day breakfast & brunches really.

smoked chicken, black beans

smoked chicken, black beans

wife had a smoked chicken, pretty good too, too much black beans.

smoked chicken, black beans

smoked chicken, black beans

i didn’t mind the smoked chicken.

flat white

flat white

we finished off with a cuppa.

not quite my kind of food, but i am learning to enjoy it with my children, and they were not bad really & none too expensive. i guess the london folks voted with their feet too.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Sunday Cafe & Restaurant

Address: 169 Hemingford Rd, London N1 1DA, United Kingdom

Enjoyable Indian Food @ Dishoom on 24Mar2016

dishoom bar area

dishoom bar area

our first meal in london was early dinner at dishoom on 24.3.2016.

this a hugely popular place, and top in many reviews, and rightfully so.

the last time we were here on 15.5.2015 our queue was 1.5hrs.

cocktail

cocktail

this time we went early at 530pm. still the queue was 45mins. but it was quite ok since they have a bar area which is a rather pleasant watering hole.

my family not short of drinkers just that i am not one.

cocktail

cocktail

wife & son enjoyed their cocktail.

mocktail

mocktail

i had some non alcoholic. i didn’t remember what it was, but it was ok. the environment of dim lighting & high ambient noise didn’t encourage me to try to read the menu nor hear what the server said.

still, while i won’t go myself for a drink it was quite pleasant in the company of wife & son. daughter had not arrived yet, & son went to fetch her at king’s cross after our dinner.

dishoom

dishoom

noce place really.

dishoom dining area

dishoom dining area

i was just mentioning to my son that we had past the 45mins waiting when a server came to inform us the table was ready so we went to level 2.

egg plant, calamari, prawns

egg plant, calamari, prawns

we ordered 3 appetisers – deepfried egg plants, calamari, & chilli prawns.

a server came to inform us that as they made us waited a bit longer, all the appertiser were on them.

such excellent service philosophy! the 45mins was just an estimaet & we probably waited 5mins longer. very wonderful of them indeed!

egg plants

egg plants

egg plants were very good, their popular dish.

calamari

calamari

calamari were pretty good, but i had better. prawns ok.

rack of lamb

rack of lamb

the rack of lamb was excellent, another popular dish, very tender & flavourful not so lamby…

chicken curry

chicken curry

the curry was very good. the chicken dices were not that great this time, not so tender.

chicken bryanni

chicken bryanni

we had lamb bryanni last time. this time we had chicken bryanni. the rice was very good, and the chicken were moist & tender.

the last time i said tops. this time i think not as good but still a very nice bryanni.

garlic naan

garlic naan

& garlic naan was good especially to mop up the curry.

we had a very good dinner. i was a bit less wowed than the first time, but still it was very good food for the palate, very enjoyable & more so because they did not charge the 3 appetisers. so a wonderful gesture.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dishoom @ King’s Cross

5 Stable Street, London N1C 4AB
Tel: 020 7420 9321

OPENING HOURS

Monday to Wednesday: 8am to 11pm
Thursday to Friday: 8am to midnight
Saturday: 9am to midnight
Sunday: 9am to 11pm

Bank Holidays: Open as usual
Christmas Eve: Closed from 4pm
Christmas & Boxing Day, January 1st & 2nd: Closed

SQ Lounge Food & Onflight Food 24Mar2016

laksa

laksa

we planned a family holiday, visiting son in london then traveling together to lisbon & porto 24mar-4apr2016. ^^

wife & i left on morning 9am flight to london on 24.3.2016. daughter travelled on a later flight.

SQ 1st class lounge

SQ 1st class lounge

i have not been to SQ 1st class lounge for a very long time.

for long flights i usually redeem business class using my credit card miles. & generally i used the asia treasure lounge which is smaller, quieter & more private.

SQ 1st class lounge

SQ 1st class lounge

the food at the 1st class lounge was very good though.

the laksa, other than not having cockles, was the standard of any good laksa, very tasty.

jui kueh

jui kueh

jui kueh was pretty good too.

jui kueh

jui kueh

not the chinatown jui kueh standard, but pretty good.

roti prata

roti prata

& roti prata was very good.

dimsum

dimsum

dimsum was competent, ok.

pancake

pancake

i also tried the pancake. ok but normally i would skip dimsum & pancake, this time just to try.

expresso

expresso

coffee & the twg tea bags always good la. 🙂

breakfast

breakfast

on board business class, i order a beef burger for the light meal & a chilean seabass for lunch.

croissant

croissant

i picked a croissant off the bread basket, it was pretty good. there were other rolls & bread, only so much you can eat.

fruits

fruits

a plate of fruits.

fruit yogurt

fruit yogurt

after that there was a choice of cereal etc i picked the fruit yogurt.

beef burger

beef burger

the beef burger was very good. i am not a burger guy so i don’t take many but this one would rate very high up, the patty, bun, salad, all good.

chilean seabass

chilean seabass

chilean seabass my favoruite fish for western preparation.

chilean seabass

chilean seabass

this was good, firm, tasty. on par with good restaurant standard.

chilean seabass

chilean seabass

mussels were good too.

cheese & fruits

cheese & fruits

after the main, there was cheese & fruits.

i guess overall, the onflight food on SQ biz class was a pretty good dining experience.

lobster thermidor - return flight 4apr2016

lobster thermidor – return flight 4apr2016

on the return flight on 4.4.2016, for book the cook i picked lobster thermidor.

lobster thermidor - return flight 4apr2016

lobster thermidor – return flight 4apr2016

they served a whole lobster, i think a whole 1 & 1/4 pounder 680g typewith the meat + 2 pincers on the 1/2 shell.

lobster thermidor - return flight 4apr2016

lobster thermidor – return flight 4apr2016

meat was fresh & tasty, sauce was good, just right.

lobster thermidor - return flight 4apr2016

lobster thermidor – return flight 4apr2016

the dish was competent, no wow (like the chilean seabass on my onward flight). can’t expect too much on board so i guess that was pretty good already.

mango jelly

mango jelly  – return flight 4apr2016

didn’t want ice cream. tried the mango jelly…very so-so.

pakthai

pakthai – return flight 4apr2016

pakthai was ok, again competent. anyway pakthai not my favourite, & i only picked it on return flight as the other options were the western food which i had more than fair share over the almost 2weeks travel.

c.h.e.f andy