NYC Tastes

We got back to London around 2:00 Sunday afternoon and had less than 24 hours to enjoy the city before hopping on a plane to Iceland.  Luckily almost everything new I wanted to check out was right in our area; first stop Rules Restaurant. Rules was established in 1798 by Thomas Rule and currently holds the title of oldest restaurant in London. We already had plans for a Sunday Roast elsewhere so we looked around the gorgeous restaurant a bit then headed upstairs to the hidden cocktail bar on the 2nd floor.  I absolutely love anything old and elegant and this place was absolutely dripping with both; plush red couches, thick velvet carpeting and a gorgeous dark wooden bar manned by well suited bartenders.   Since we were celebrating the spirit of the 1800's I ordered a classic cocktail from that era the Clover Club a blend of gin, lemon juice, fresh egg white and raspberry liqueur. I honestly have no idea what Mr. T ordered.  It was defin...

We woke up Sunday and did some touring around our area and then took the train out to Kentish Town. This isn’t a usual tourist stop. It seemed as it was mostly residential and reminded me a bit of some parts of Brooklyn. The reason for the trip was the restaurant and gastropub The Bull and Last. This little place had quite a bustling bar downstairs and then a serene dining area upstairs where the sunshine filled the room and portraits of dogs and horses filled the walls. As soon as we sat down we both knew this was exactly what we had been looking for. London had been so packed the last two days with people it had been hard to think straight. I was ready for a relaxing Sunday. Once again a Rose for me and for Mr. T a pint of Stiegel. We began our meal with some Trotter Wontons with Sweet Chili. Mr. T absolutely loved these. It’s was pig’s foot done Chinese take out style- what’s not to love. Sundays in London are reserved for a nice big roast and who are we to a...

Our second day in London we awoke severely jet lagged and kind of a mess.  We headed out to see the sights and had a quite piss poor meal in one of the pubs.  Note to self- whenever there is an item called the Big Ben Burger on the menu in London, you're probably not in the best food place.  However we stopped in for some wine and snacks at the Wolseley and completely made up for it. The Wolseley is a beautiful restaurant located inside of an old bank with fantastic marble floors, shimmering silverware and quite a group of good looking clientele.  We stopped in the front bar and ordered up a Croque monsieur and some almonds. The almonds had just the right amount of salt and came quite nicely presented in its little silver dish. The Croque was delicious as well. Really gooey Gruyere cheese inside some thick bread that had been liberally buttered and grilled to a crisp.  It was the perfect little midday treat.  For dinner that night we headed to ...