Walking, Eating, and Drinking
Foodcapades | London Edition
Oh, heyyyyyyy there, I am in the UK! I have been walking, eating, and training my way through England and Scotland for the past few weeks. It has been incredible to say the absolute least. Traveling is a huge priority in my life (so is eating); it opens up your mind, palate, and heart to things and places that are different from you. Getting out and seeing the world is incredibly important for our confidence, as it allows us to be proud of where we come from and curious about others. There are hurdles, upsets, surprises, and purely magical moments that you can never plan for. I love how Stanley Tucci created an entire book about his travels and daily life through the food lens. I would like to do the same💞 I will spare you my routine counting grams of protein, and we will do all the fun stuff as I am on vacation! No hotel recs here, just a pure exploration of daily life one meal at a time.
Welcome to Foodcapades London Edition
Day One: It’s travel day. A past version of myself would prepare a slew of homemade snacks to satisfy me through the 8-hour flight. Buuuut now-a-days I really lean into the travel life and eat what is served to me and buy whatever overpriced snacks at the airport that come calling. I have been getting a real kick out of eating airplane food. Could I try to explain it, maybe, but we will save that story for another time. Behold the spinach lasagna, pretzel roll with w/butter, chickpea salad, and a lemon blondie for dessert. It was below mediocre, but it satisfied.
Day Two: We made it to London! I kind of slept, and we hit the ground running, with a mission to ward off jet lag and see every square inch of this city (impossible in 3 days, but we tried). First coffee! Found the cutest coffee shop a short walk from our hotel, and we made it a staple for the duration we were here. I will refer to it as our coffee shop from here on out. Don’t you love creating little routines when you are traveling, imagining what your life would be like if you actually lived here, oooo, the daydreaming possibilities are endless.
By the end of the day, we had been on a plane, train, boat, and done a ton of walking! We needed a quick fix for our hunger that was turning into hanger and pure exhaustion. (I didn’t pack any snacks, very unlike me. I misjudged our vigor for the city life.) It was the perfect scenario for fish and chips. They did not disappoint, but for the record, as far as chips go, I like mine triple-fried. Lots of mayo for me and just a little splashy splash of malt vinegar.
I think I bought a cup of candied street nuts while we were waiting for the bus this evening. I ate a couple, then almost cracked my tooth on one, so I chalked those up to a loss.
Day Three: Started the day with a little instant coffee and THEN headed to our coffee shop for a little brekkie and an americano - black. Avocado toast w/ a fried egg. This is when I realized it’s better not to do the conversion from pounds to American dollars, because then everything just feels like a deal. (A little delusion is ok.) It was a delicious avocado toast eaten outside on a busy little street corner in our Kensington neighborhood. Due to a new and very annoying health condition, I drink my coffee with a straw. The other option is not to drink it. The horror!
After breakfast, we jumped on a bus to see more cool old shit, the goal being to end up on the south side of the Thames at the Borough Market. A street market with ENDLESS vendors, you name it, they've got it. We did a little food tour, if you will, and shared a few things as we walked and shopped. First up. The sausage roll. Can’t think of anything better than eating pork wrapped in a pastry. Would have loved to smother it in a gallon of mustard, but it really was amazing on its own, and it was girthy. As we walked around, I spotted more appropriately sized ones.
Next was dessert. A creme brûlée donut😍, I have been talking about these since I stumbled across them in Iceland. This was a different interpretation, BUT it still was amazing. The cream inside was perfectly light and fluffy, not too sweet, with a touch of vanilla. The brûlée on top was everything you could ask for, a little char, and the sugar crunched when you took a bite. We couldn’t wait for the photo and dug right in.
The last course was a Mac and cheese that rivals any Mac and cheese I have had in a long time. It was CREAMY, ooey, gooey, and rich. Topped with some crispy onions for a little contrast in texture. We ate it on a dirty step outside the market next to some pigeon poop. We wanted to walk off the indulgence, so we headed over the Tower Bridge (not the London Bridge, that bridge is actually not cute at all). And eventually, after many, many more steps found ourselves cozy and back in our hotel, taking turns to do feet up the wall to get some relief for our legs.
Day four: Had Notting Hill goals today, so we stopped at our coffee shop with a protein bar in hand and then took off on a meander in the direction of Portobello Market. No plan for food other than a cute-looking cafe, which there were plenty of. We hit the jackpot and tucked into a small table on the patio out of the wind and promptly ordered another coffee (when in Rome). Unintentionally, it turned out to be a vegetarian lunch which considering the MASS amount of meat and gravy I ate since this lunch, it was necessary. Caesar salad with/ like 10 anchovies, garden salad (that I wanted nothing to do with but looked tasty), confit potatoes, and cauliflower cheese, which I found on lots of menus. It was a very nice meal, and we left happy and satisfied.
It was time for the Palace. We walked, we trained, we had an emergency bathroom situation. WHY are there no bathrooms anywhere?! I packed snacks this time, so there was some trail mix, and we bought some local apples in Whole Foods so we could use yet another bathroom. (Just forget about drinking your scheduled gallon of water when traveling, I had pee anxiety most of the trip.) Apple was meh, but it made a nice snack stop in the park before we trudged back to our hotel.
For dinner! It had been a lot of walking the last few days, and we were dying to tuck into a cozy pub for a beer and a meat pie. We found just that with this stunning pub a stone’s throw from our coffee shop. I went straight for the Steak and ale pie with a side of mash 😊 paired with a local lager that I drank from a straw. My mom got a burger; it looked good, but I can never order a burger if I have the option for gravy with my dinner.
Believe it or not, we did save room for dessert, and on the stroll home, we found a cute little bakery (open late) and grabbed an eclair to enjoy in the comfort of our hotel room because we were pretty beat. Forget about bedroom eyes, we want bedroom eclairs! Chocolate on chocolate.
Day five: I woke up with a cold. It wasn’t a gradual onset, I swallowed normally on minute and then the next swallow was like razor blades going down my throat, it hit me good and hard. We were traveling to Bath today by train and had plans to get brekkie at our coffee shop before catching the 11 am train. Unfortunately, the best laid plans. I opted for an extra hour of rest and some bone broth instead. My mom ran to the pharmacy to get something to hopefully save the day. I loaded up on cold medicine, and we made our way to the town of Bath!
Next week on Foodcapades, we are hanging out in Bath, where we explore very old shit and eat mediocre food, then three trains and a smelly cab ride to Stoke-on-Trent, where we stay with my friend and her parents in a very cute English cottage in the countryside. There are coursed breakfasts, lots of rambling, cream tea, and more meat pies with gravy🤤!
Did you drool over these London adventures?! Well, I did, and I have already lived it! Please share this with someone you want to take a trip to London with!
Cheers,
Nicole | Butter Cult
