Author Archives: vicentesf

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About vicentesf

Exploring life one meal at a time. Cause I'm not a foodie, I just like to eat!

Baked venison puff and sweet potato mushroom mei-si roll – Yauatcha

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Baked venison puff and sweet potato mushroom mei-si roll - Yauatcha
Baked bun filled with venision. Deep fried sweet potato and mushroom covered in fine noodles. A Taste of Yauatcha menu £28.88 for 2 people
Yauatcha, London ENGLAND

This was probably our best London meal during this visit. We were on a tight budget so we didn’t go to any fancy restaurants this time around, but Yauatcha had a really good pre fixe for 2 people. It was a great way to taste a variety of their dim sum items without breaking the bank.

We received these two items first, and they were probably our favorites of the meal. The baked venison puff was SO delicious. The outer crust was warm and buttery, and the venison filling was so flavorful. The mei si roll was really fun to eat because of its crispy fried noodle shell. The sweet potato and mushroom filling was super tasty and I would have never thought to combine those two ingredients. NOMS!

Dipping sauces and pickled cucumbers - Yauatcha
Dipping sauces and pickled cucumbers. Complimentary

Elizabeth Tower with Big Ben

The Elizabeth Tower with Big Ben.

Spicy chicken wings – The Stockpot

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Spicy chicken wings - The Stockpot
Braised chicken wings served with a side salad. £3.30
The Stockpot, London ENGLAND

As an American, whenever I see “spicy chicken wings” on a menu, I automatically assume that they’re going to be deep fried and unhealthy, and super delicious! This dish was neither deep fried nor delicious, but I’m sure it was still unhealthy, lol. The chicken wings were hard and of poor quality and the braising liquid (sauce) wasn’t spicy at all. I was surprised at how much you got for the low cost though.

Random parade procession
Random parade procession along Birdcage Walk.

Caffeine break – 34B

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Latte and Americano - 34B
Latte and Americano.
34B, London ENGLAND

This place was probably the most unrelaxing coffee shop I’ve been to in London (and anywhere else actually). The woman serving the drinks was really pushing the food, so we felt uncomfortable taking up space with only coffee. Hardly anybody else around us was eating, but there was that hanging pressure to buy food to justify your stay. Super lame! I will never go back to the place especially since it’s surrounded by so many great coffee shops.

Victoria Memorial

Man and lion statue guarding the Victoria Memorial, Queen’s Garden.

Tom khar kai soup – Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar

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Tom khar kai soup - Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar
Coconut milk chicken soup with mushrooms. Set Menu A £11.80 per person
Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar, London ENGLAND

Wow, this set menu was a great deal! Unfortunately, the food was horrible. This soup was probably the highlight of the meal. Everything else that follow was poorly prepared and odd tasting. Hmm, I would say that maybe I’m just used to American Thai food but I’ve spent a month and a half traveling through Thailand so I have a decent idea of what authentic Thai food should taste like. And this wasn’t even close! 😦

Water - Tuk Tuk Noodle Bar
Water. Coplimentary

The Sherlock Holmes Pub
The Sherlock Holmes Pub. We were walking from Trafalgar Sqaure to the London Eye when we passed this establishment. I thought it looked charming so I snapped a quick pic.

Valdostana – Princi

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Valdostana - Princi
Ham, cheese, artichoke and mushroom. £4.60
Princi, London ENGLAND

I didn’t know what a valdostana was, but it looked good and hearty in the display case so I thought I’d give it a try. Apparently, valdostana refers to a region in Italy and what I ordered was a torta valdostana. It was very tasty and rich. The inner layers of dough seemed a bit undercooked though. Maybe there was just too much butter in the dough. Look at me complaining about overly buttery crust, lol!

Americano - Princi
Americano. £4.60

Green Park
Green Park.

Peach verbena tarte – Laduree

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Peach verbena tarte - Laduree
Tarte peche verveine. Sweet pastry verbena panna cotta, roasted peach quarters. £6
Laduree, London ENGLAND

This tart was REALLY pretty and the verbena panna cotta and peaches were pretty tasty! I was expecting a thinner and more flavorful pastry shell though. This pastry was too thick and clunky, and very difficult to cut through. I expected a lot from Laduree, but they really didn’t deliver the goods.

Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge.

Lentil and asparagus soup – The Stockpot

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Lentil and asparagus soup - The Stockpot
Set menu £8.20
The Stockpot, London ENGLAND

We wanted to try this no frills eatery located across the street from our hotel. The dining room was basic and cozy, and our waiter was very outgoing and confident. The menu was really eclectic and all over the place so it was a bit hard to decide on anything. I’m always wary of restaurants with large menus filled with random items because I feel like they won’t cook any of the dishes REALLY well. In this case of The Stockpot, I was right. All the food we tried was marginal. This soup looked unappetizing and was really bland.

Cuvee Jean Paul house red wine - The Stockpot

Cuvee Jean Paul house red wine. Half bottle £7.50
At least the wine was really affordable!

Soho Square
Soho Square. This is such a cute park and a perfect location to picnic with friends. We met up with an old SF friend who lives in London now, and along with a group of his friends, partied with too many bottles of champagne at this park. It was a blast from what I can remember, lol!

Chorizo hash browns – The Breakfast Club

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Chorizo hash browns - The Breakfast Club
A BC original, chorizo, mushroom, home-style fried potatoes with peppers and fried eggs. £8.30
The Breakfast Club, London ENGLAND

OK, this was another little surprise and nothing like what I expected for a “hash brown”. It was good though. I think I was expecting for it to be more like an American-style hash with everything mixed together. I didn’t realize that the Spanish chorizo sausages would be separate along with the portobello mushrooms. I thought all the ingredients would be chopped up and cooked together. I will say that I enjoyed the sunny side up eggs; they were nicely cooked. Overall, the dish could have been seasoned better though.

Hahn/Cock statue
Hahn/Cock statue, 2013, Katherine Fritsch, Trafalgar Square.

Cheese and wine – Z Hotel Soho

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Cheese plate - Z Hotel Soho
Assorted cheese, olive, biscuit, raisin and hazelnut bread. Complimentary
Z Hotel Soho, London ENGLAND

The Z Hotel had a great complimentary cheese and wine break available in the early evening. They set it up in their cafe and actually had a pretty good selection of snacks and alcohol. We only made it down for one evening, but we had a great time. I was generally impressed by the professionalism and service from the Z Hotel staff overall. Although the rooms were super small, the central location of the hotel was perfect for this visit! 🙂

Red wine - Z Hotel Soho

Red wine. Complimentary

Palace Theatre
View of the Palace Theatre from my Z Hotel room, Cambridge Circus, West End.

Chocolate twist – Caffe Nero

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Chocolate twist - Caffe Nero
It started drizzling one afternoon so we decided to duck into Caffe Nero to relax and people watch. The coffee was pretty tasty and the chocolate twist was delicious. The pastry was flaky on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. The chocolate wasn’t overly sweet so that was also a good thing.
Caffe Nero, London ENGLAND

Caffe latte - Caffe Nero
Caffe latte.

Americano - Caffe Nero
Americano.

Agatha Christie Statue

Agatha Christie Statue, Ben Twiston-Davies, Covent Garden.

Fresh fruit salad – Laduree

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Fresh fruit salad - Laduree
Pineapple, mango, orange, guava, passion fruit, kiwi, raspberry, strawberry, mint, grapefruit. £6.80
Laduree, London ENGLAND

This was a pretty fancy bowl of fruit! I was very impressed at how many different fruits they included. I was on vacation so that’s why I could justify spending that much on fruit salad, hehe! 🙂

Covent Garden Market
Covent Garden Market. You can spend plenty of time looking through the shops and searching for food at this popular tourist destination.

Eggs benedict – Cote

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Eggs benedict - Cote
Ham and poached egg on a toasted muffin with homemade hollandaise sauce. £7.50
Cote, London ENGLAND

This tasted ok, but it was kinda cold. Cold hollandaise sauce is not appetizing to me especially when it starts congealing, ew! Actually, everything we ordered at Cote was just ok and nothing special. You win some, you lose some I guess…

Bloody mary - Cote
Bloody mary: Absolut vodka (50ml) with spicy tomato juice and celery. £3.95
Ugh, this tasted gross! It was pretty much just watered down, bland tomato juice. There was absolutely no spice (or alcohol) in there! 😦

Condiments - Cote
Condiments. Brown sauce is completely lost on me, lol!

Rugby (BT Broadband) ad
Rugby (BT Broadband) ad, King’s Cross St. Pancras station. And don’t forget to “MIND THE GAP”! 🙂