Going on a Bear Hunt...

Into the Den...

I was first introduced to Bear's Den at Bushstock in 2011 (where we also spotted a sparkly vampire!). Their amazing beards equaled their folky musical talents and I was keen to hear more.

I saw them once again at Barn on the Farm in the summer and that performance left me wanting even more. So much so that as soon as we got back (and I'd had a proper shower) I logged on to see when they would be playing next. A gig was lined up for November so I purchased tix quick smart and counted down the days... (about 4mths)

On the 6th, the night finally arrived and we made our way to The Village Underground in Shoreditch. The venue itself was pretty darn cool - cavernous, exposed bricks and beams and surprisingly, great acoustics!

From the opening bars and the first note sung, I was hooked. These guys are amazing and will be big. For selfish reasons I hope they don't get too big but no one can really stop that from happening.

Back from a North American, Australian, UK and Europe tour, the boys (Andrew Davie, Kev Jones & Joey Haynes) were glad to be back in their home town and boy did they show it. At the risk of sounding like a nana once again, they were the cutest and sweetest band I had seen in some time. Their surprise at people turning up, their humility and even slight shyness made them all that much more endearing.

To top it all off, they did a cover of Drake's 'Hold On We're Going Home' - the link is to their performance the night before on Birmingham. (noone seems to have filmed and/or uploaded the London version.

Bear's Den have recently released an EP 'Without/Within' - get yourself a copy. You won't regret it.

Tea with Mr Wilde...

From Napolean III's Chef...

After one visit to Kettner's a year or so ago, I fell in love with the place. Every opportunity I could, I would try to go there - dinner, 30th birthday celebrations, brunch, anything and everything. I even tried to get everyone else on the band wagon! Alas the opportunity never truly presented itself till last weekend...

A friend wanted to do afternoon tea and as I had been wanting to try the Kettner's version, it was my first suggestion. We were not disappointed.
 
Arriving at our table on a cold Saturday afternoon, we were keen to tuck in quick smart. At 3pm the place was buzzing and we were surrounded by like minded couples and groups. Picking our teas (English Breakfast & Rooibos Breakfast) from the list, we sat back ready to devour all that arrived on the 3 tiered display. How pretty it was! Almost too pretty to  eat... almost.

Break it down now:

TOP TIER: Homemade scones with clotted cream & preserves, apple and cinnamon macaroon and orange posset with pomegranate. Scones were a lovely texture, the preserve yum and the clotted cream... mmmm. The macaroon wasn't the best I'd tasted (there was too much 'feet') and the texture was too crunchy. The orange posset was lovely and resembled a softer cheesecake without the biscuit base.

MIDDLE TIER: Traditional finger sandwiches: smoked salmon & cream cheese; cucumber, ham & English mustard, and egg & cress. So delicately put together and cut, these went down a treat with their well balanced flavour pairings.

BOTTOM TIER: milk chocolate and violet profiteroles, millionaire's shortbread and coconut & white chocolate rocher. All of these were pretty damn tasty. Absolute favourite? The profiteroles which had what almost tasted like a coffee/caramelly centre. Should have saved this one for last!
 

I love Kettner's for it's history (Oscar Wilde, Edward VII, Lillie Langtry, Agatha Christie and Bing Crosby have all been known to visit!), it's beautiful surrounds and surprisingly for the place that it is, it's ambiance. It's casual yet fancy, grown up and fun. The food has always been pretty damn good, the pricing surprisingly affordable and the service top notch. Nothing to really complain about in Central London!

What about the price you ask? For such a fancy place surely it'd be a mint. Nope, Traditional Afternoon Tea was £18.67 - the year Kettner's first opened. Were we full? Arriving on an empty stomach, I absolutely was. One thing for next time, add a tea inspired cocktail to the mix - they looked delicious!

Would we come back? Yes. Yeap. Yuh-huh.

Christmas Sunday Lunch has already been planned as well as a visit to their Gin & Jazz Tuesdays... I don't see Kettner's coming off my fave list anytime soon...

-----------------------
Kettner's can be found at:

29 Romilly Street
Soho, London W1D 5HP

Tel: 020 7734 6112
Email: reservations@kettners.com

Brasserie Opening Hours:
Mon to Wed: 12noon - 10.45pm
Thurs to Sat: 12noon - 11.15pm
Sun & Bank Holidays: 12noon - 9.15pm

They don't get CRAZY busy but they do suggest booking a table just incase.

Even better, they are on TasteCard deals so even more of a bargain!

Autumn delights...

Blue skies, crisp air and orangey leaves greeted me this morning en route to work...

Got to love days like these...

Calling in on Cologne...

Cologne, Germany.

Key things:

• 3 days was too long - 2 would have been enough
• The Museum Ludwig was a bit meh - didn't love it but maybe as I'm not a huge modern art fan?

• Visit the National Socialism Documentation Center of the City of Cologne museum but make sure to spring a few Euros for an audio guide - we realised too late there were no English translations and had to make do with looking at pictures. Be sure to head downstairs.. it's quite unsettling and on the upside English translations on the images.
• Go to Bei Oma Kleinmann for a schnitzel as big as your head - I have a big head and yeap... it was even bigger. Go early if you can't get a booking and they'll squeeze you in. The service is quick and friendly.

 

•  Once you've visited the Cathedral and feeling the need to warm up, visit Cafe Reichard for a cake and hot chocolate. Admittedly it has a bit of a tourist trap vibe but it's a sweet little place with a load of nana's meeting for cake and tea/coffee. The pricing isn't too bad and the service quite good! 

Take a day trip to Bonn:

• U-Bahn #16 or #18 takes you straight there from central Cologne - the train ride will take about 30-45mins if not a little more
• Visit the Haribo factory but bare in mind it closes at 2pm on a Saturday. If you can't be bothered going that far out, there's a store right in Bonn.
• Still craving schnitzel? Visit Brauhaus Bonnsch - come for the food, not so much the service (though perhaps our grumpy lady server was a rare occurence?)

• Have tea and cake at First Flush Tea Room, it's the sweetest little place and everyone gets a different tea set and tea pot. (the cakes aren't bad either!) Great looks (candle lit, mis matched and kitschy) with good service!

Lastly... don't expect to be able to waste time at the airport. There's nothing to do, not many food options and that's pushing it... it feels wrong to even put Subway in the 'food option' column.

Would we go back? Probably not... lovely place and a handful of things to do but it's one of those places you visit, tick off the list and that's it. Unless something special comes on like Christmas Markets which I'm told are pretty amazing!

En garde!

Return to base...

The Garrison has fast become a favourite place to go not only for it's good quality food but also it's general vibe and good service.

On a recent evening out, we were faced with hunger and nowhere to go. (we were walking in circles in Southwark) Having previously been to The Garrison and being relatively close by, we headed to Bermondsey.

At about 9pm on a Tuesday night, the place was still buzzing - a good sign in what is a rather quieter area mid week. Having made a booking en route, the team welcomed us and we were seated in minutes.

 
The Garrison always provides a menu of interesting dishes. I don't mean interesting as in 'in-ter-esting' but actually wow, this is different and in a good way! All dishes are paired up with ingredients you wouldn't usually put together but they just seem to work. Be sure to checkout their 'specials' board too as there's always something (or few) you'll want to try on there!

After much deliberation and mind changing coupled with fear of food envy, I opted for the salmon special which was pan fried with a black sesame crust. In it's simplicity, it was delicious and perfectly cooked. Others opted for the grey mullet, venison and guinea fowl and by the end, not a thing was left on any of our plates.

The Garrison has a great vibe that's casual, homey but still a little bit fancy. There's mismatched furniture, rustic tableware and vintagey decor all around. The staff are friendly, helpful and pretty much know 'their stuff'.

 Pricing isn't the cheapest but it's not exorbitant either. Considering the quality of the produce and the actual taste of the food, I'd be more than happy to cut back elsewhere if a meal at The Garrison was an option.

On top of it all, The Garrison also has a screening room downstairs that can be hired out for private dinning. More tempting, they run film screenings every Sunday evening from 7.30pm for FREE! Checkout their website for what's coming up next and get there early - it's a first come first served policy!

Would we go back? The gang have raved about it since and we've all made suggestions to go back soon. Enough said.


-------------------------
The Garrison can be found at:
99 - 101 Bermondsey Street
London SE1 3XB
Tel: 020 7089 9355
Email: info@thegarrison.co.uk

Opening Hours:
Mon to Thurs: 8am to 11pm
Fri: 8am to midnight
Sat: 9am to midnight
Sun & Bank Holidays: 9am to 10.30pm

Cooking up a recipe...

Brunch gets fancy...

The Cookbook Cafe has been on my list of places to go for the following reasons:

• It has a brunch buffet on the weekends
• It has a brunch buffet
• Did I mention the BRUNCH BUFFET?

At £49 a pop on a Saturday and £55 on a Sunday, I had to wait for the right time to go. Hungry and not poor.

 

 A couple of weekends ago my sister and I finally managed to go. Being a thrifty bargain hunter, I managed to find a deal on toptable that got us the discounted price of £37. (the deal ends on 30 November so get in quick if you want to try it yourself)

We booked in for 1pm (when the special price starts) and made sure to keep our bellies relatively empty in preparation. We had 2.5 hours of eating ahead of us afterall. En route, we planned our strategy - would it better to go cold, hot then dessert? Or maybe all savoury then sweet? Maybe cold, hot, cold then dessert? Which would yield the best results? i.e. most amount of food eaten in the allocated time.

Being such a fancy schmancy establishment, you simply cannot fault the place on it's customer service. The host was efficient and our particular server amazingly sweet, helpful and efficient. As high as it was, I didn't feel too upset at paying the full 12.5% discretionary service charge.

But what of the food? Let me break it out for you:

Breakfast & Starter Table - this included the likes of eggs (scrambled, omelette or poached), pancakes and waffles. We each had an eggs benedict which was ok. The poached egg itself was a little over done as it was sitting in a pot ready made... The sauce however was amazing and we wished we just had a pot of it on our table to slather over everything.

Seeing as pancakes are rather normal, we instead opted for the waffles. Made right before you, they really hit the spot. There were numerous topping options but I opted with chocolate sauce, chocolate curls and coconut flakes on one and maple syrup, almond flakes and pistachios on the other. (berry compote on the side just incase!) This served as our dessert and definitely topped the list. 

 

 

Cold Market Table - this included smoked salmon, marinated prawns, a variety of salads, cold meats, cheeses and sashimi. Nothing too amazing (besides the smoked salmon which was amazingly fresh and almost creamy) to write home about - this table was probably the most disappointing of all. The produce itself was good - fresh and all of that but it lacked the variety you would expect from a renowned buffet establishment.

Traditional Main Courses - this changes daily but on the day we went included venison casserole on creamed parsnip puree, roasted carrot and pickled chicory leaves + steamed sea bass and crab with soy beans and orecchiette pasta + romanesque and pumpkin curry with roasted cashew nut and corriander basmati rice. You can order 1, 2 or all 3 and multiple servings too! We decided to opt out of the venison casserole instead focusing on the sea bass and curry. The sea bass was presented well but was relatively flavourless. The curry was the winner of this category not only because it was the last one standing but because it was actually rather tasty. Best way to tell? My sister who is not an Indian curry fan at all had two helpings!

Desserts - these too change but on the day there were fresh fruit, treacle cakes, strawberry cheesecakes, chocolate tarts, pistachio cakes, chocolate mousse, creme brulee, cookies, raspberry mousse slice and an apple brulee concoction. We had a try of most options and were left a little unimpressed. Some of the cakes were a little dry and others a bit 'meh'. Nothing to write home about either sadly... On the upside, the waffles were good?

The setting wasn't all that special leaning much more towards a generic hotel restaurant. It lacked character and the semi empty Ikea Expedit bookshelves scattered around didn't do much to help. As for the vibe, it's definitely one that's dominated by women having a girly catch up or hen do. Saying that, there were a number of groups celebrating birthdays so if you don't mind a a squeal and mad rush for the desserts when it's restocked (guilty...) then you'll be fine!

Would we come back again? For that price, I certainly wouldn't be rushing back. Yes the service was great and the produce mostly good but the variety left me wanting. (even if I was close to popping point by the end of it) Save this one for a special occasion or if someone rich was paying. For that price, I wanted/needed more variety (rather than quantity). At least it was unlimited bellini's for 2 hours - only 1 glass at a time though. No matter how many times you try to get more as our table neighbour found out.

--------------------------------

The Cookbook Cafe can be found in the InterContinental Park Lane Hotel:

1 Hamilton Place,
Park Lane,
London W1J 7QY
Tel: 020 7318 8563

Email: hello@cookbookcafe.co.uk

Opening Hours:

Mon - Fri
Breakfast: 6:30 - 10:30am
Lunch:12:00 noon - 3:30pm
Dinner: 6:00pm - 10:30pm

Sat - Sun:
Breakfast: 6:30 - 11:00am
Brunch: 12:30 - 3:30pm

Remember, remember...

Pow! Pow! Sparkle... sparkle...

Having grown up in Sydney (rather than Queensland and Canberra),  Guy Fawkes Night or Bon Fire Night was a foreign concept to me. Why celebrate the death of a man with fireworks?! I could never quite understand the reasoning nor a friend's excitement and her determination to celebrate it in Sydney while she was away from London.

Then I moved to London. I was converted. I have a childlike amazement and fascination with things blowing up and lighting up the night sky. Missing out on celebrations in 2012 (as I was in Sydney at the time!), I was determined not to let 2013 past me by minus fireworks.

So, a Facebook event was made and we all made plans to head to Southwark Park.

Southwark Council always puts on a good show and this year was no different. (with added fun fair this year!) Here's some questionable photos...

Here's to next year! Already counting down the days...

Like a big pizza pie...

...that's amore!

When I first moved to London I used to walk past ICCO (Italiano Coffee Company) every morning on my way to work and once again every night on my way home. It's not the fanciest looking place but always had the most amazing smells coming out of it. Regardless of the smell, I was deterred by the £3.95 pizza advertised on it's shop window. Pizza just can't be any good at that price! 

I was finally convinced to go and I'll be honest, I've not looked back since! Granted most of our visits have been when hunger pangs attack when we've been at the pub on a Friday night, it doesn't take away from it's appeal. We've been at lunch (it's a quick walk from work), for a cheap dinner at the end of the month and even opted for it to take away when working back late.

Straight out, it's not the best pizza place in all of London but if you're after something quick, cheap and pretty tasty, you can't go wrong at ICCO. There's quite a few pizza options to choose from and all under £6! My personal favourite... (don't judge) is the vegetarian with added pepperoni. Where else are you going to get the joys of sweet corn with the tastiness of meaty pepperoni?

Never forget to search out the chilli flakes, garlic oil and sometimes random Italian herbs. You'll find them at the cutlery stand or on one of the tables around the place. It's always awkward to go up to a group of people to ask about the garlic oil but more often than not people are really lovely about it! One big happy pizza munching family!

Would I go back? I do, and often! I was there just last week and I'm sure will be back in the next couple of months! Let's not forget the fact that they have a living hero working there! (he looks like Vin Diesel by the way!)

----------------------------
ICCO can be found at:

46 Goodge Street
London
W1T 4LU
Tel: 0207 580 9688
Email: info@icco.co.uk

Opening Hours:
Mon - Fri: 7am - 11pm
Sat - Stun: 8am - 11pm

You can't book but every time I've visited there's been no issue getting a seat or involves a sort wait. 

Spread your wings...

... fly away...

I was first introduced to Birdy last year when someone sent me a link to her versions of Bon Iver's 'Skinny Love' and Ed Sheeran's 'A Team'. With her hauntingly emotional voice, I was intrigued to find out more.

The fact she's born in the 90's totally threw me - how can someone so young be so damn talented?! One song led to another and next I knew I was a fan.

Missing out on tix the last time she was playing, when the opportunity came up again, a few of us decided to go. Last Thursday, 31 October, we made our way to The Forum in Kentish Town.

It's not a bad venue and quite large. I have also since learnt that it's best to get tix for the standing area as the acoustics are much better. The 2 times I've been there, I've had tix for the 'seated area' upstairs which doesn't have enough seats for every ticket sold which means we always end up standing anyways (yes, we may only have ourselves to blame for not getting there early enough but that's another story...). The acoustics up top are also horrendous which means you never quite hear everything properly... vocals too low, music too loud and everything too small.

 I would say the concert was good but I wasn't left excited or wanting more. Don't get me wrong, she still has a beautiful voice and the sweetest personality but I was expecting a bit of pizzazz. From what we've decided, she needs more of a stage presence - perhaps it'll come with age, experience and confidence but till then I'll have to admit I was left a little bored. The songs were good - a mix of old, new and covers but after awhile they tended to sound same-same-but-different. Maybe being on the ground floor standing area would have been better being closer to the action but this was no issue for another gig I saw at the same venue.

All in all, her songs are a good listen but not something I would seek out and play on repeat. I'll keep listening to her new album just in case I warm up to them a little more... I already sense a more up tempo beat to a few so perhaps the next show won't be so same-same.

-----------------------------------
If you're interested in seeing her for yourself, Birdy has already lined up another tour in February/March 2014. She'll be playing at The Forum once again and you can grab tickets here.