Saturday on the Market

 

Yesterday was a great day in London. Like this past week, the weather was warm with a chilly breeze, crisp air, and clear blue skies. We may not get the same Fall colors as you do in New York, but it was a lovely Fall day for London. After an intense week in the office following LFW, I decided to unwind with great company and try new food on Broadway Market. Here's what we had.

Started the day with brunch at the Market Cafe, which surprisingly got a good review by Guardian's Jay Rayner. It's sweet inside and reminds me of Dorothy's house in the Wizard of Oz complete with old school granny wallpaper and could use a wrap around porch. My sis-in-law discussed the future and our dreams over ham hock hash with roasted potatoes/poached egg and chorizo/avo/egg on toast. I'm kind of on a chorizo kick at the moment and I love sopping up all that red oil with bread. YUM. 

We decided to walk off our food babies with a stroll around Victoria Park and Hub joined us. It's getting livelier and livelier in our neighborhood and while cyclists might complain, I like the crop of floating shops that are lining up Regent's Canal. We had a bit of gander and I took it as an opportunity to see what a boat house looks like. 

Afterwards, Hub and I got the munchies so we stopped into the schoolyard market and picked up some arancini - fried risotto balls in wild mushroom & pecorino, chorizo & saffron or goats cheese with sundried tomato. AMAZING. 

We also picked up the best vegetarian samosa you'll ever have. These ladies also have a vegetarian restaurant on Bradbury street. I'll let you know when we check it out.

Bottle Apostle

Good wine shops are hard to come by. Especially near Broadway Market, which is odd. My dear friend Laurene, who has one of the most amazing palettes, recommended Apostle to the Hub and I in neighboring Victoria Village. She is a sommelier and everything she introduces us too is delicious so we had to give it a go. The owner, who does come across a bit high brow, is very nice and gave us great recommendations within our budget.

So far we've tried the following, which I highly recommend:

The Travesia Merlot was lovely, easy drinking and fruity.

Quinta de Lagoalva was rich and intense, like a Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon. So good. I'm dying to taste the following based on the labels alone.

Lucky Chip: Yummy Burgers Just on our Door Step

For months now, my husband and I have been getting a good whiff of beef from the Netil Market across our apartment and we finally decided to get our hands on whatever was coming from the street meat cart.

So last Saturday, after hours of bathing in some rare London sun , the hub, my good friend Heather, and I headed to the Lucky Chip cart for some much sought after burgers. We went for bacon burgers, el chappo, one order of truffle fries, and one order of wasabi mayo and ginger sweet chili fries.

Let me just say delish! It kind of reminded me of Corner Bistro because it's a dirty burger; forgo the knives and forks here. The Ginger Pig patty seeps right into the buttery brioche bun and then there's the toppings - pickles, cheese, bacon...It was well worth the reasonable $6.50 plus it's BYOB.