Breakfast at The Riding House Café

 As I'm writing this, I'm really wishing it was this time last week again, when I was a mere hour away from tucking into this absolute feast of a breakfast. Now I face a day of writing my Masters dissertation. It's significantly less exciting. But we will not dwell on that. Back to breakfast.

Keen to avoid paying the outrageous prices we felt sure would accompany food at Wimbledon, Ben and I decided to fuel up with a huge breakfast and then just have a light snack we could take with us, and pick up the eating again with dinner later. After some extensive googling, I found The Riding House Cafe. It was close to our hotel, and within easy walk of a bakery I wanted to check out (priorities).

I was pretty delighted with my choice, the food was delicious and the restaurant was lovely inside. Ben had pancakes with a side of bacon, because sometimes more is more. I can honestly say the pancakes were the thickest, fluffiest pancakes I've ever seen. I'm not sure I'll bother ever making Ben pancakes again, because I have no idea how to get them this thick. Not a clue. (Do you know? Can you help me master a monster pancake?)  

I had the chorizo hash brown, served with poached eggs, mushroom and spinach. It was really good, the eggs were cooked perfectly and spinach was a great addition, because it lightened up the hash brown, which was delicious but very heavy. I didn't manage to finish it all, partially because it was so heavy but also because the portion was enormous. You definitely get what you pay for here.

We also had a juice each, which were freshly made and all named with a bicycle theme for the Tour de France, which was pretty fun. If you're in the area, or even if you're not, this place is definitely worth visiting. They're open all day too, and if the rest of their food is anything like their breakfast, they are on to a winner.

Where is this smoke they talk about?

The weather was glorious! After I'd dropped Ben off where he needed to be, I had the best part of a day to play with. What did I do? I headed straight to my favourite museum of course, The Victoria and Albert. I have so many memories of visiting when I was younger with my parents, I've been countless times. And yet every visit, I find something new to love. 

This time, I found a wooden front of a house, relocated since I last visited. And with it, an enormous set of wooden steps from a different house, removed from their original home because of damage and replaced in the museum so they can be kept safe and their craftsmanship admired for generations to come. Astounding.

I found a room dedicated to the designer Alec Cobbe, who has produced hundreds of invitations, menus and programmes for everything you can imagine - museum openings, music evenings and even Prince Williams 21st Birthday! His work is stunning, the hours he must spend on every piece are unimaginable. The display is temporary, but is there until April and is well worth a visit.

After a couple of hours I stopped for a drink in the cafe, and taking advantage of the glorious sunshine sat bundled in my coat in the courtyard. There's an installation around the little water feature at the moment, and I have to be honest I didn't really like it or understand it. However, according to my Mum, who was there a few weeks ago, it really comes to life in the dark, so maybe it's worth a late afternoon visit.
 

After my break I went on a hunt for my favourite part of the museum - the theatre section. On the way I stumbled across photography, and particularly liked this early photo of a scientist in a lab. Note the fez. I may start wearing a fez in the lab, see how it goes down...

The theatre section is gearing up for a new exhibition on Shakespeare, so it was a bit noisy with workmen, but I still enjoyed my wander. Having seen War Horse a few weeks ago it was lovely to admire the model of Joey so closely. I also popped into the jewellery section, which is ultra modern, all glass and spotlights. I snapped a picture of this glittering tiara before I noticed the no photography signs, and rapidly stuffed my camera back into my handbag,

Once I was museumed out I wandered down to Harrods to buy Ben something to cheer him up after his long day. You'll have to wait and see what I picked up, but rest assured there is a fun, if slightly silly post coming your way in the near future. Soon enough it was time to meet Ben for dinner. The glorious weather persuaded me to walk, so I had a good wander, taking in the sights and the hustle and bustle of a big city. It was nice to see Chinatown gearing up for Chinese New Year, and the smells wafting from restaurants were almost enough for me to call Ben and make him meet me there instead. Almost, but not quite enough.

Before my visit, I sent out a few pleas to various Londoners to help me out with somewhere to eat. A particular thank you goes to Miho and Caroline for their incredibly helpful lists of ideas. It was a tough choice, and there was a lot of uhming and ahing about what sort of food we fancied. Eventually, the answer was simple. Meat. So we headed to Bodean's in Soho, and didn't regret it one bit. Ben had half a BBQ chicken, which he completely demolished, and I had a half rack of the babyback ribs with sweet potato fries. The ribs were amazing, falling off the bone in the most delicious, sweet sauce. The sweet potato fires were something else, super crispy on the outside but soft and buttery inside. My one gripe with this place was the cocktail I had - a bramble. It was sickly sweet, and didn't have the tangy kick I expected. Overall though, fantastic. Huge portions, great value for money. I've since read that some of their cocktails are fantastic, so maybe I just picked a dud.

We ended our evening at the Aldwych Theatre to see the new Andre Lloyd Webber musical, Stephen Ward. I have to say, we thoroughly enjoyed it, and it got better the further through the show you got. Based on a true story of a London physicians involvement with the Profumo Affair, it has some really catchy songs and the cast is very strong. That being said, it is only based on a true story. Lloyd Webber is clear in his opinion that he thinks Stephen Ward as wrongly convicted, a scapegoat, and the show supports that in the way it tells the story. I don't think this takes away from the show though, it's interesting to see it from this viewpoint. We'll have to wait until 2046 when the papers from the case are released to know the real truth. But in the mean time, go and see the show, and quickly! There were only eight or so rows full the night we went, I don't know if this is regular or just a one off. If it is regular, I'd go soon, it won't be around for long! We bought tickets in the circle but were moved to the stalls for free because it was so empty. A great deal!

Hitting the Big Smoke

When the opportunity to crash Ben's short trip to London presented itself, I leapt at it. I haven't been down for a couple of years, and with my dissertation handed in but no classes until February, I'm at a bit of a loose end. So on Monday lunchtime the two of us hopped on a flight for a little adventure. After a a bit of a diversion (read: we got lost) on the way to the hotel, we dumped our bags and headed out to explore the area Ben had to be the next day. The sun was just setting as we arrived, and London treated to us to a beautiful candy floss coloured sky as a greeting.

  

I think last time I was in London this whole area was a building site. The weather was so lovely that we had a big wander around. What I found really striking about this whole area was the stark contrasts betweens the new and the old, which coexist side by side. I said to Ben when we were walking, imagine if you transported a dock worker from 150 years ago down here now. They'd think they were on a different planet.

I think Ben thought he was on a different planet too. It was only as the plane was landing that he announced he hadn't been to London before, bar one day picking up a visa and another day at Wimbledon. So the pressure was really on me to show Ben the best time I could. Luckily, we'd planned to meet a couple of friends in Covent Garden for dinner, so we meandered down there a few hours early so he could have a good poke around.

When we found my friends we headed to a a restaurant they recommended, Homeslice. I don't know if this is already a thing in London, but if it isn't it should be. They serve thin based crispy pizza, all a standard 20 inches or by the slice. The slices are enormous, and I've never seen a pizza bigger. We had to wait twenty minutes or so for a table, so we sat outside wrapped in our coats and hats, drooling over the menu and the smell. When we got our table, we were ready with our order.

 

One pizza, half salami and rocket, half butternut, bacon, colston basset and smoked onions. Plus an extra slice of the mushroom, ricotta and pumpkin seeds, because it would have been rude not to.

The pizza was incredible, particularly the mushroom. Hands down the best I've had outside of Italy. At £20 for a 20 inch, you can't go wrong. The restaurant is beautifully tiled, and has big tables that you share with other diners. The wine is measured by the inch, and the atmosphere is fantastic. If you haven't been before, I can't recommend it enough. Despite the enormous amount of pizza consumed, we were ready for pudding. As Homeslice is a pizza only kind of place, we went for another wander and found ourselves at la Gelatiera. This must be a thing, it must be. It had so many awards stuck all over it. And boy did it deserve them!

I plumped for a slice of maple and pecan pie with a scoop of salted caramel gelato. A dreamy combination. The pie was moist and sweet, with a perfectly crunchy crust.

Ben had strawberry cream gelato and dark chocolate sorbet. Having stolen a spoonful of each, I can assure you this too was delicious.

With full bellies we wandered back to our hotel. A perfect start to a lovely few days. Have you visited either of these places? Are they amongst your favourites or have I inspired you to pay them a visit?