Categories
Food Going out Kids

46b

Nicklas and Rafael at 46b
Photo by me

My son was born 6 weeks early, a little on the small side, and not very keen on eating, so he spent 18 very long days in hospital before coming home.

Days are weird when you’re visiting your baby in neonatal care: time flies, but it’s also slow. There are moments when everything happens at once: hold, feed, clean. Then there are hours where you can’t do anything because he’s sleeping or the doctors are doing rounds. For our own health, during those hours we needed to catch a breath of fresh air. I still couldn’t move much, and 46b was right around the corner, so we started going there, and soon got addicted to the delicious brownies.

And we’ve pretty much been going there ever since, as often as we can. We like the Chatsworth Road area: we’re lucky that the hospital Rafael was born in was placed within such a nice setting, and it’s easy enough to catch the W15 bus from Leyton that drops us almost literally in front of the café.

Categories
Food Kids

Fortnum & Mason

Lunch at Fortnum & Mason
Photo by me

This year’s Portugal Day was last Wednesday. I confess I had forgotten about it until my mum sent me an email reminder, but I had already planned to go into town with my son and had been eyeing Fortnum & Mason’s website trying to figure out where to eat. It’s not as straightforward as it once was to eat these days: highchairs are useful and so is knowing you won’t be disturbing the other patrons (at least not too much).

Anyway, we arrived at Green Park at 10am, just when the stores were opening, so I went in to check the place out, see if I could spot highchairs and any accessibility issues, and maybe ask if I needed a reservation. The member of staff I spoke to was very polite and helpful and told me someone would help me with the buggy up the small staircase once I’d come back for lunch.

And so they did. Rafael and I had a very nice lunch in The Gallery. I had a glass of the Portuguese vinho verde to celebrate (about 4 times more expensive than an entire bottle in Portugal, but hey…). We had plenty of space for the buggy and the high chair, the room was bright and not busy (between 11.30am and 12.15pm), and the staff was polite and efficient.

It’s not super easy to find a nice lunch spot where you’ll have top service, a nice setting and where a little baby will not be a bother. We’d like to return at some point with Nicklas.

Categories
Food Going out

Bygga Bo

Photo by netzanette
Photo by netzanette

We’ve been going to Bygga Bo, a Swedish café in Walthamstow, often as a bit of a treat on weekends, for a latte and freshly baked kanelbullar. That way the baby can listen to a bit of Swedish and Nicklas feels a little bit less homesick. We’ve also attended a scandi parents meet up a few times, which is great fun, and I’ve even had a dozen Swedish classes on Monday evenings! It’s a great little hub. Hej då!

Categories
Food Streets

Alexandra Palace Farmers’ Market

Wood Green from Alexandra Palace
Photo by Surreykraut

I live in Crouch End. If I had to pick, I’d say my favourite part of the week is going to the Farmers’ Market in Alexandra Palace on Sunday mornings to grab some delicious treats from the little Portuguese stall. They’re incredibly overpriced compared to what you’d actually pay in Portugal, but I’d pay ten times as much for the pleasure. During the ten-minute walk from my apartment to the park and back, I get to see the beautiful park and the beautiful North London streets I love. It’s just perfect.

Categories
Food Going out Streets

Cask

Cask, Pimlico, SW1
Photo by Ewan Munro

Last Friday, after work, some of us headed to the Cask, one of Pimlico’s locals. Alas, I’m not sure how much of a pub I can evaluate when I only had a glass of tap water and crisps. Apparently the Cask has the best and most unsual beers. The interior looked like somewhere I wouldn’t have minded spending a few hours over a nice pub meal. Maybe some other time.

Categories
Food

Soup

Photo by me

I miss Portuguese food. I miss going to almost any restaurant and knowing that I’ll be able to get a nice soup and a nice steak, with some nice bread, for a reasonable price.

But the soup… that is what I miss the most. Everything is greasy or spicy here.

Perhaps I’ll have to go to Brixton and try one of the Portuguese restaurants that are supposed to be there. That would not be practical to do every day though.

Too bad I can’t make soup.

Categories
Food People

Milk+Tea

Photo by cridling
Photo by cridling

I still can’t avoid the surprising look on people’s faces when I answer “no, thank you” to the question “milk?”.

Categories
Food

Nando’s

Photo by eleanor_d
Photo by eleanor_d

I’ve only recently had the opportunity of trying out a Nando’s restaurant—the South African and Portuguese chain—and their “peri-peri” chicken (it looks funny though, it should be “piri-piri” in Portuguese…).

I was a bit wary and thought I wouldn’t like it—knowing the original well—, but that chicken was indeed marvelous. Everything else was fine.

Nando’s chicken is now my favourite dish in London.

Categories
Food

The Hummingbird Bakery

Photo by su-lin
Photo by su-lin

Following my previous post about food and Notting Hill, I thought I’d mention The Hummingbird Bakery, which, for the second Sunday in a row has been letting me down. I once tasted an amazing cupcake from there, but lately they just taste too sweet to me. Opinions around me are divided.

Categories
Food

Gelato Mio

Photo by chotda
Photo by chotda

Yesterday was the 3rd Sunday in a row that I went to Notting Hill to have 2 scoops of strawberry and pineapple ice-cream at the Gelato Mio shop. Apparently it’s a London franchise and it’s just divine.