On our last evening in London, we stayed a little closer to home base. Instead of hopping on a train again, we took a walk to see the sights nearer to our hotel.
North of The Ampersand is the National History Museum (we would have loved to go, but it was closed at the time), and then a number of consulates.
From there, we made our way through the gorgeous Imperial College London.
At the college, they were setting up for filming of “Pan”, which was fascinating to see.
(It almost made me wonder if we’re really in London, or if we’re at Universal Studios.)
Across the street from the college are the Kensington Gardens.
That is one heck of a statue.
In the Kensington Gardens, they were also setting things up to film.
I’m pretty sure that poofy thing means somebody’s going to fly.
After leaving the film sets behind (and getting lost a couple of times), we sat a while in the Italian Gardens.
After that, it was a quick jaunt on the Central Line, from Lancaster Gate station (which has so many stairs!) to Marble Arch station, and a short walk to our dinner destination.
Roti Chai!
This is the kind of restaurant with a lot of little dishes, so we went a little crazy and tried as much as we could.
We’re not really alcohol people, but luckily for us they have an awesome non-alcoholic drink list. We got the Kovalam Beach – a non-alcoholic blend of lychee, coconut, guava, and ginger ale. It was fantastic. I really wish I could figure out how to replicate it.
For food, first we tried several dishes from the “STREET” portion of the menu.
The Papri Chaat consisted of crunchy wheat crisps, potato, chickpeas, yogurt, and hot & sweet chutney. It was very delicious.
Next we tried the Parsi Chicken Farsha, which had a light masala marinade and came with with curried ketchup. It was tasty, but has the kind of heat that creeps up on you from behind.
The Imli Wings were addictive but messy, with their sticky tamarind glaze.
I’m a sucker for anything bread, so of course I loved their Roti.
After that we had their Maher Jhol from the “ROAD & RAIL” portion of their menu – traditional Bengali fish curry with kasundi mustard, served with rice. I only had one bite of this one, because it was OHMYGOD SO SPICY, but Son enjoyed it.
Lastly for the savory portion of our meal, was the Bun Kebab – a mini Indian-inspired lamb burger. Flavorful and delicious.
It was such an amazing meal of fantastic Indian food. We were both very happily stuffed.
But wait… can’t forget dessert! We tried the Almond and Saffron Phirni – “a delicately flavored ground rice and milk dessert”. It sounds like maybe not the most amazing thing ever, but it really was the perfect ending to a fantastic dinner.
Thank you, Roti Chai, for the best meal we had in London!
Next… we’re off to Paris!
My wanderings around my world this second week of 2017 started with…
A slightly overstuffed slow cooker.
Rock sugar looks like jewels.
My house smells SO good.
Gumbo! It turned out AMAZINGLY.
Gone.
RAIN!!!
Take a bao.
My favorite kind of edible flowers. 😀
Sunlight in paradise.
Mr. Broom is slacking off…
XING
Boat-watching.
Stay out.
Standing guard.
Cheese!
Yes, my waxed paper does have snowflakes on it.
Desk dinner.
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I NEED ONE OF THESE IN MY LIFE. Obviously.
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Where are you wandering this week?
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After visiting Chelsea Stadium, we took the District Line to Notting Hill Gate, then the Central Line to Marble Arch station.
From there, we walked a few streets, in search of a restaurant Son had found online.
After a bit of, “wait, it should be here…,” we finally found The Golden Hind.
Because you can’t go to London and NOT try fish and chips at least once!
Son got the steamed cod and chips.
Whereas I went for the classic fried haddock and chips.
(And look, it’s the jacket! So cozy.)
For dessert, we had treacle and syrup with custard, which was SO good, but so sweet.
After that, it was back to the hotel for a nap (yeah, we’re totally still jet-lagged), before heading out again for dinner – the best Indian food ever!
The Lunar New Year is coming up soon, which means it’s an excellent time to post all the New Year’s recipes that I’ve accumulated photos for over the years… and never posted.
Oops.
This one comes from back in 2013. Really, it’s the same recipe I posted waaaaay back in 2009, except this time I made it with a whole, just-killed catfish… and have slightly better photos.
We had the bright idea this time to head over to 99 Ranch and get a fresh catfish, and have them catch, kill, and gut it for us.
First of all, that took FOREVER. The lines there were insane.
Second of all, nobody tells you that even an hour later, once you’re home and ready to cook it… IT WILL STILL BE MOVING. EVEN AS YOU’RE CUTTING INTO IT.
Yeah, I definitely got a huge case of the heebie jeebies when I grabbed it out of the bag and it moved.
But I did it! And it was delicious. 😀
Vietnamese Whole Grilled Fish with Crispy Skin (Cá Nướng Da Giòn)
Ingredients
- 1 whole catfish, skin on
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 4-inch piece of ginger, peeled
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 2-3 stalks green onions, chopped
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- crushed peanuts
- fried onions
Cooking Directions
- Heat the oven to 350° F.
- Make thin cuts diagonally along the fish, almost to the bone.
- Lay the fish flat on a sheet of foil.
- Rub the fish with the salt, then the sesame oil. Rub the fish with the garlic and onion powders.
- Thinly julienne the ginger, then lay on top of and underneath the fish.
- Wrap the fish in the foil, and make a few small holes in the top of the foil to allow steam to escape while cooking.
- Depending on the size of the fish, cook for half an hour to an hour. Keep an eye on the fish to make sure it doesn’t overcook.
- When the fish is fully cooked, remove it from the oven and carefully open the foil, taking care not to burn yourself. Heat the broiler.
- Pour the liquid that has pooled in the bottom of the foil into a bowl, and set aside.
- Mix the honey and lemon juice, and brush the top of the catfish with it.
- Put the fish under the broiler, just until the skin turns golden brown.
- Mix the green onions and vegetable oil with the drippings, and microwave for 10-20 seconds. Pour over the fish.
- Sprinkle the crushed peanuts and fried onions over the fish, and enjoy!
- We ate the fish in spring rolls with lettuce, vermicelli, cucumber, onion, Vietnamese herbs, and pickled carrots, but you can enjoy the fish by itself as well.
On our second morning in London, we woke up to a chilly – but not raining! – morning.
After noshing on our leftovers from our midnight Pret a Manger snack for breakfast, we headed out to South Kensington Station again.
This time, we took the District line to Fulsom Road station.
And stopped at Krispy Kreme!
Okay, Krispy Kreme wasn’t really why we were there. But we weren’t about to say no to a doughnut opportunity!
Our real destination was Chelsea Stadium.
Son’s a huge soccer (ahem, football) fan, so this is one of the few places he really wanted to make sure we visited while we were in London.
It was also REALLY COLD AND WINDY there. I attempted to take shelter behind a statue. It didn’t work very well.
We didn’t have time to go on a stadium tour (although I’m sure we would have if we were in London for more than two days).
Instead we just ate our peanut butter chocolate Krispy Kreme (SO GOOD)…
…and did some shopping.
It might surprise you to find that between the two of us, Son is the one who always wants to go souvenir shopping.
I can’t stand shopping.
Yeah, I’m weird like that.
However, I can’t complain too much, because Son ended up buying a very nice jacket that I got to wear the rest of the day. IT WAS SO WARM.
Come back Friday to see it!
