Sunday, 28 June 2009

How was your Sunday?

26/07/09
Sloane Square

Proper Tea

Big Breakfast

The Saatchi Gallery
'Old Persons Home'
I shot another annoying video here



Weird distorted figures, my loan camera was not at fault

Westfield

Excellent Flat White

Dinner at Asadal
Review to come

19/07/09
Marble Arch is both home to myself and these flying rats.

Nic Fiddian-Green's Mawari Horse Head

Speakers' Corner

The Serpentine

I absolutely love people who do their best for charitable causes

Well done Allison

Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2009

The Albert Memorial

Shitty coffee at Caffè Nero

Dinner at the above

12/07/09
It took me two hours to get here (walking, more or less every Sunday don't you know) from Marble Arch.

Free art is plentiful in London...

...and there's no need to look too hard.

Made an appearance at the very first instalment of the Hidden Tea Room.


I dabbled with architecture at college…

…and it still hits the right spot.

Gatecrashed at The Fantasy Pop-Up Tea party in Hackney...

...and I was the only bloke there. I felt honoured but a tad ill at ease. I meant there were 'Sex in the City' things like stiletto shoe and handbag biscuits, plus the ubiquitous girlie cupcakes and...

...erm, flowers. I'm no Graham Norton but I do like high tea.

05/07/09
Overcast AM, but sunnier from noon.

Seemed to recall Mark mentioning these pianos-for-all. Like him I'm an eighter as well but I can't play for nuts.

Bespoke busking.

Al fresco at the Member's Room (I say, I say...)

A slice of 'Pardon, what was that?'
I sounded like Marjorie Dawes asking Meera that question several times except that I didn't pretend to hear or understand her. Meera in this case was a New EU girl. Whatever it was, it was treacly and ok.

Excellent quencher of Dragon Well Green Tea from Jing.

The view.

What I came for and found pretty boring...

28/06/09
My only form of exercise is walking, I walk a great deal. My usual route is from Marble Arch, W1 to Brick Lane, E1. Sundays usually mean two things; the touristy thing and food (unashamedly loads of). I was well aware of two major events happening simultaneously; Tapas Fantasticas (verily nearby) and Toast Festival (erm…sarf London) but I chose to bask and chill at the Sunday Up Market instead. The gamble paid off, as the food market here was a lot quieter than usual. The number of food stalls have grown substantially, all sorts of international cuisine made an appearance except Kazakh. If I’m honest I will say that a number of them are pretty amateurish and effectively taking the mick. Still this is London, it’ll never be boring and that’s any day of the week.








Brunch of Caprese and Chicken empanadas

Beef empanada, £5 for the three. The Caprese tasted the best.



Stonking Flat White made by Vic at Taylor St Baristas.

Back in W1 to meet daughter.

Snack of salame and chorizo at F&W, Lexington Street.

Hummingbird bag. Gift for daughter...'I'm a teenager and we don't carry bags like this one, I'll give it to Mum'. But...

Dinner at Cafe Japan, Golders Green.
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15 comments:

  1. Su-Lin28 June 2009 at 23:38

    Ah, but that bag is so cute! She'll warm to it in a few years' time, I reckon!

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  2. bellaphon28 June 2009 at 23:57

    Su-Lin- I dunno now, she's a swotty geek who's heavily into The Ramones and The Clash. A punk waiting to burst out!

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  3. thora29 June 2009 at 00:19

    LOL. My daughter would do her "roll eyes and sigh and be patient with old folks" act.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Monica29 June 2009 at 04:24

    I'd love an empanada right this very second. Thanks so much for giving exact names of places--I makes notes of some of them to try!

    http://nevercomehome.blogspot.com/

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  5. Helen29 June 2009 at 08:15

    Well you didn't miss anything at Toast that's for sure. It was terrible. Nothing going on really. You had to pay £2 for a wine glass before you even bought any wine. How rude?! The wine glass had strings attached so that you could hang it around your neck. Enough said really.

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  6. Anonymous29 June 2009 at 10:28

    I was at Sunday Up Market yesterday too! I love wandering around there and popping into Rough Trade East after. It was mighty busy yesterday, wasn't it?!

    Niamh

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  7. bellaphon29 June 2009 at 19:36

    Thora- Surely we're not that old? Have you heard of Peter Stringfellow?

    Monica- You’re welcome.

    Helen- LOL, sounds like a foodie/boozer penitentiary.

    Niamh- I've banned myself from going to Rough Trade records, I've 15K vinyl LPs in my possession (not value but quantity!).

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  8. thora29 June 2009 at 20:49

    You wish. Of course we're not that old. Ask daughter.

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  9. Ben30 June 2009 at 10:51

    We were supposed to go but went to Smith's of Smithfield for brunch instead.

    Food would have been great but it wasn't particularly hot, and the waiter managed to launch a fork at my head...and was generally crap.

    Also, why do normal back bacon with American pancakes? Surely it should be streaky and crispy?

    Good place for a big group like ours though.

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  10. bellaphon30 June 2009 at 19:05

    Thora- Daughter said I still have a full head of hair so that makes me yoof-ful.

    Ben- I sort of swear by the collective reviews of London Eating. Smith's is accordingly hit or miss. Think I'll pass on it unless someone buys me meal there. Back bacon belongs to a butty or a Full English instead; poor. Hope your grey matter is still sound after the fork incident.

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  11. Helen Yuet Ling Pang30 June 2009 at 21:08

    Great photos! Please tell your daughter I'll take that beautiful bag off her hands any time...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Unknown1 July 2009 at 10:32

    I was at Toast on Saturday and found it generally pleasant. I didn't object to purchasing a wine glass, but then again, I didn't have to pay for a ticket, so wasn't already £25 down the moment I walked in.

    I thought the idea of having people pay for the glasses was generally good, as it encouraged people to be less wasteful. But perhaps I'm a radical hippy like that.

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  13. Ben1 July 2009 at 10:52

    bellaphon,

    My head's ok thanks.

    Also tried recently -

    Mandalay - OK but nowt special

    Persian off Marylebone High Street - nice but not as good as Noor on Cricklewood Broadway, esp the bread which didn't have those big bubbles on.

    Some Indian in Borough - generic

    Real Greek - overpriced

    New Japanese restaurant just behind Rauols in Maida Vale. God knows - first time I've had Sushi! (tend to deep fry fish where I'm from)

    Anyone know where I can get Turkish pekmez? Apart from Green Lanes that is..

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  14. bellaphon1 July 2009 at 20:07

    HYL- You Bag-Lady!

    LMR- There's no way I'm going to be forced to purchase a glass just for H2O.

    Ben- Mandalay, agreed. Real Greek, if you want chains stick to Macs, KFC and Nando's; at least they're authentically synthetic.
    Fish...in dripping dare I say. L&G we have a Northerner!

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  15. Unknown2 July 2009 at 00:05

    You didn't need to buy a glass for water. You could buy a 500 ml bottle for £1. Or you could bring your own, which is what my friend did. The glass was for the wine. Not saying the glass couldn't be used for water, but I guess I'm just not understanding your comment properly.

    ReplyDelete