Afternoon Tea in London: The Knightsbridge Garden Hotel

Hello!

"I was a little disappointed as all they really needed was to stock up on the Twinings"

Living in London my whole life and never gone out for 'Afternoon Tea' - a disgrace? Quite possibly. Well, this is no longer a valid statement as last weekend, I did go out for Afternoon Tea and I can honestly say, I'd do it again.

"a pleasant mix of sweet and savoury to mix and match, and not get too sick of the same flavour"

Take the train to Knightsbridge and a mere 5 minutes walk later, pass the beautiful buildings and a huge poster of Cara Delevingne on the wall of Burberry, you see a white shop which looks calm around the hustle and bustle of the christmas shoppers on the high street. You enter into a room of utter silence. The wooden floors give a natural vibe and the monochrome outfits of the waiters suggest an ordered environment. After being taken to the room, you choose your table and are given an option: Champagne or Juice. From the picture above you can tell, I chose the latter.

"a cake stand with food and a cup of tea - alongside chatting with good company, it was a great day"

The juice tasted something poured out of a Tesco Value carton - not exactly the best thing in the world, but that's okay. The main beverage of the day was the tea, of course. Given a tea menu and asked to make a selection - I didn't know what to choose. Going with a friend meant you could choose and share more than one type of tea, as each order meant an entire teapot of the flavour. She went with English Breakfast and I felt something a little different: How about the Pomegranate White Tea, I asked. A little while later the waitress returned and said they're out. I was a little disappointed as all they really needed was to stock up on the Twinings tea bags, as that is what they used. Earl Grey it is, then, I responded. 

"jam and butter on the side of the scones was a nice touch"

Out came the cake stand with one layer of sandwiches, one of cakes and bakes, and of course a layer of the traditional scones. It was nice to share as it meant getting a bit of everything without having to finish it all and be extremely full! There was a pleasant mix of sweet and savoury to mix and match, and not get too sick of the same flavour. My favourite of them all was the brownie - dense and full of flavour. 

"never gone out for 'Afternoon Tea' - a disgrace? Quite possibly."

A nice little table on the side, with a view of the high street, a cake stand with food and a cup of tea - alongside chatting with good company, it was a great day. Overall, it was pretty simple, with regular service to see if there was anything else we wanted, and the atmosphere being calm, relaxing and just lovely.

"I did go out for Afternoon Tea and I can honestly say, I'd do it again"

Unfortunately my earl grey tasted extremely lemony, possibly because the previous tea in the teapot must have been lemon flavoured and not washed off properly. That tea was undrinkable, but due to an entire teapot being given with each order, we shared the English Breakfast, with still some to spare.
The jam and butter on the side of the scones was a nice touch, meaning we didn't have to ask for anything more.

On the whole, a lovely experience, a relaxing atmosphere and a nice area in London. Although I wouldn't go to the same place again, simply to visit new places. Would I go out for Afternoon Tea again? Most definitely!

Tell me, is Afternoon Tea something you formally have everyday, or do you grab a quick snack if you feel a bit peckish?

Wahaca - Lunch in Covent Garden

Hello! 

"Food comes in various sizes."

As mentioned in Friday's post, last week was my week off, so obviously that means catching up with friends over lunch in London! Duh.. who really relaxes during their week off?! *looks around like she didn't sleep all day for most of the week* 

Wahaca is near Covent Garden station - it's a small, cute little Mexican restaurant inspired by Mexican Market/Street Eating.

"service was great, the atmosphere lovely"

As you walk in, you see this skeleton on a display table surrounded by macaron hearts and gingerbread men! It's so super cute and it decorated for 'The Day of the Dead'. The whole decor in Wahaca is very quirky and full of primary colours!

"small, cute little Mexican restaurant inspired by Mexican Market/Street Eating"

Food comes in various sizes. There's 'Street Food' which is recommended to order 2-3 plates per person, and there's classics with foods such as Burritos. Unfortunately for the one dish meals, there weren't many vegetarian choices. Being a vegetarian, I was a little disappointed. However, they had a few other dishes in the street food section which were vegetarian. I went with the mushroom, corn and cheese Quesadilla and it was exactly what it said on the tin. 

Overall, not a bad place to have lunch with friends, especially if you go for Frozen Yogurt at Snog down the road later, which is what we did! They did have desserts, such as churros, if you want to have your sweet treat in the same seat. The service was great, the atmosphere lovely and not too busy (bear in mind we went on Monday at around 1.30pm) and the food is good.

What's your favourite Mexican Dish?

Chiquito - Dinner in Leicester Square

Hello! 

"As soon as you go in, you notice the lively atmosphere, full of fun and good food!"

Last weekend I went to dinner with two of my lovely friends. The place we decided to go: Chiquito. Having it been my first time, I had high hopes for this famous place! It was super busy and I doubt we would have got in without a reservation. Hint: Make a Reservation!

"When in a Mexican restaurant, the starter to order is obviously Nachos!"

As soon as you go in, you notice the lively atmosphere, full of fun and good food! The first thing they do: give you popcorn! This is a smart idea as popcorn makes you thirsty, so you order lots of drinks! Not to worry - you have a wide range of thirst-quenchers to choose from!

When in a Mexican restaurant, the starter to order is obviously Nachos! They served lovely nachos that went down well. Note: they have very big chips!

In terms of drinks, I went with a piña colada - and it looked super yummy! Plus, the pineapple slice was a nice touch!

"they have a wide range from burgers to fajitas to burritos..."

For mains, they have a wide range from burgers to fajitas to burritos... you know, the usual mexican food! I went with the vegetarian quesadilla. It was good. I tried the vegetarian burrito and was not a huge fan. The filling of both the quesadilla and burrito was both basically the same, but the burrito had a lot more of it.

As for desserts, we chose the 'Mexican Mess' which was basically meringue with churros, brownie bits, ice cream, chocolate fudge sauce and strawberries in a bowl, topped with whipped cream (picture above)! It was a bit of everything and was scrumptious... definitely recommend. 

"Leicester Square, people playing musical instruments, the fountain going and the lights looking gorgeous "

The lovely thing about it was also the view. Sitting on the ledges on Leicester Square, people playing musical instruments, the fountain going and the lights looking gorgeous - it was the perfect setting. We also went to Yates, a club near chiquitos - which is also worth a visit if you go to the L. Square Chiquito's.

The Verdict: To me, chiquitos is like any other mexican restaurant. Nothing special or unique about it, yet a lovely place all the same.

Are you a fan of Mexican Food... or prefer another cuisine?

BerryWeekly: Chocolate Fondue, Food and MORE Flowers?!

Hello!

"looking like a complete weirdo trying to get the perfect shot"

BerryWeekly is such a fun segment on BBXO! You know you're a blogger when you take photos of everything, looking like a complete weirdo trying to get the perfect shot of the things in front of you in a public place - that's what it was like while getting photos for this post, too. I was at the restaurant standing up and kneeling down and whipping out the camera at every opportunity! 

However, due to the likes of Instagram, this is much more usual now than it has ever been... And I'm okay with it! 

"if you had seen the menu you'd understand why we went for the Fondue"

One of the more exciting food-related places I visited was a dessert place in London. Actually, I was taken there as a treat and it was super fun! There were four of us that went and if you had seen the menu you'd understand why we went for the Fondue for Four - there were so many amazing options that it was difficult to decide one each, so choosing this option meant there was a bit of everything! 

"Is your mouth watering already?"

The platter came with a wide array of choices: brownies, cookies, 16 mini scoops of ice cream and a bowl of fruit, all to dip in the melted chocolate! Yummy! And on the side, there's chocolate fudge cake with ice cream and whipped cream. Is your mouth watering already? 

If you have read the previous BerryWeekly earlier this month, you would realise my love for flowers. Having a garden whose blooms are looking beautiful this season, who can resist picking some? I did some more arrangements for the study and the bedroom!

"makes me feel so good inside!"

Seeing fresh flowers as soon as I wake up makes me feel so good inside! I also read somewhere that seeing green, fresh leaves and plants in the morning is great for eyes and I'm a firm believer in this as it also makes me feel more peaceful!

 "lasagne was made from Spinach pasta sheets"

Another restaurant we went to was Pizza Express. Funnily enough, I've never actually been to Pizza Express and when we got a chance to go, we all ordered the Vegetarian Lasagna! It was nice, though and the lasagne was made from Spinach pasta sheets!

Well, that was a few pictures from the week and you can imagine some of the awkward positioned shots taken!

I hope you liked the pictures and do you prefer chocolate fondue or cake? 

Tinsletown - The All American Diner

Hello!

If you know me at all then you'd know I LOVE America. Yes, I want to live in LA. Doubt it's ever going to happen, but a girl can dream ;)

Anyway, so I went out with the girls to have a fun shopping trip - it was around lunch time and so they decided to go to Tinseltown. I had never been to, nor seen, a Tinseltown - ever - but I had heard about their milkshakes (and nachos). I didn't know that it was an American diner but I did like the retro vibe that came along with the restaurant - very 60's, I could just imagine the waiters transporting around the place in roller-skates!

image from here

Anyway, so being a vegetarian there weren't THAT many choices for food, and to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of burgers and such, so I ended up ordering the food keeping in mind I'd order the famous milkshake later on. The only options they really had for vegetarians was a vegetarian wrap, a vegetarian burger and some sides...

We ordered a plate of nachos to share and I have to say: it was good. I liked the guacamole and the salsa, but not so much the sour cream (I think it was)... so the nachos were nice - they were just regular nachos to be honest, the kind you can get anywhere - you know, the kind you order when you go to theme parks and you don't feel like having chips (french fries) - yep.

We did order one plate between 6 of us but we didn't finish them off, and they weren't good enough to take home in a take out box.

The one thing I found kind of weird was that you had to get up to order your food - okay that makes me sound very lazy, but I mean usually there are waitresses/waiters to take your order, right? Well, this time you had to go up to the till - the annoying thing? They didn't have a menu at the till - so it was a bit all over the place by having to carry the huge menus to the counter and then bringing it back and then not knowing where to put it and it was just a confusing thing, but anyway....

So yes, I mentioned I'm not a huge fan of burgers and you couldn't get a side by itself - the sidescome complimentary with any ordered burger/wrap. My friend and I shared as she couldn't eat the entire meal due to the huge size of it, she ordered the wrap and had she got mexican vegetables as a complementary side which I ate. The mexican vegetables were basically like the stuffing of vegetarian fajitas, consisting of vegetables in a tomato based sauce and including kidney beans. I really liked it and would like to make it myself at home. It was quite filling and yummy!

After the meal, we ordered famous milkshakes! They were served in a lovely glass - I'm all for food being served all fancy and I am one that likes to present food nicely anyway (perfectionist side of me coming out there...)!

There were many types of milkshakes too: VIP, Premium, Regular, Chocolate etc...
The VIP had whipped cream, sprinkles, sauce and a wafer as you can see in the picture. This was the 'Ambassador' and 'Brownie Bonanza'. I tried the 'Ambassador' from my friends, and to be honest, it tasted VERY heavy - if that makes sense? It was very chocolatey and to be honest, after the nachos and the meal, I think it was too much.

This is the one I ordered. It was a premium shake in the flavour 'Reeses peanut butter cups'. I have never had the legit Reeses pb cups before - to this day - but I REALLY, REALLY like peanut butter (had some this morning) and so I thought this was a must to try - it was between this or the peanut butter and banana premium shake, then one of the people with us recommended this one, so I went for it. It was nice, and I did end up sharing it, although I had most of it - mwahhaha (fail attempt of an evil laugh.)...
You know what this milkshake tasted of? It tasted of peanut M&M's - the ones that come in a yellow packet. Yes, it tasted EXACTLY like them.

So yes, that was my experience in Tinseltown - would I purposely go again? Probably not. Did I enjoy it, though? Yes, yes I did. However, not enough to make me a convert to a Tinseltown lover. Frankly, I think if you like burgers and chips, and an American Diner experience, I say go for it!

Overall, it was a good experience and I have to say that some of the servers were quite nice, they even bought us some complimentary citrus smelling hand wipes! Although, the lady at the cash register was a bit less smiley, maybe she was just feeling down that day? I don't know, but yes, I had a good time. Oh, and I must warn you, the portions are big... like the way it is imagined to be like in America, so be aware before you order loads, because we were going to order 2 plates of nachos to share but then went for 1 to try first, and there was still more than half left over from that one plate!

There we go, that was my Tinseltown experience! Where do you recommend to try next?

xoxo,
BerryBloomXO