FOOD CORNER

HELLO LONDON | CIRCOLO POPOLARE

Buon Natale, beautiful souls! You are in luck today because here is another Hello London blog. So many exciting options I found for you here in London to visit in 2022. [And way in advance so you can book them in time, you are welcome] 

When I booked a table at Circolo Popolare my heart skipped a beat. This place is usually fully booked within a few minutes when they add some new dates online. [Kind of proud of myself] I finally managed to book us a table for lunch. [H*ll yeah, I think I checked the booking site on a rainy Friday some weeks before the actual date] No worries, book here and plan everything around it. You will be fine. 

Why is it so special? Circolo Popolare is a stunning Sicilian Trattoria. [Take a look at their Instagram posts, the walls with all those bottles, the flowers and authentic decoration takes you back to Sicily, Italy] 

If you are early, as we were, wait for the “normal” lunch menu around 11:30 am. [Thank me later] The “normal” menu has all the pizzas and a lot of pasta on it. I have already decided to eat as many things as possible during lunch. The next time I get in might take ages.

As starters, we went for some Proscuitto di Parma and Truffle Salami. I added some mussels and bread to the starters. All delicious, a bit too much. [I forgot I ordered a main he he] For the main dish, I had an impressive Truffle pasta. [Truffle heaven again]

The Truffle pasta was very impressive. I ate a bit too much, but I had the best time. Places like this make me smile. The food tasted authentic and made with love. No one rushed us to get out, which is always great. If you love Italian food, definitely try out Circolo Populare. 

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MEI MEI – BOROUGH MARKET

Another place to try when it is not so busy is Mei Mei in Borough Market. [Completely different than Italian food] If you know Uncle Roger, you know. It is a food stall with traditional Singaporean food. Easy to take away or eat at their stand. 

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Hi you beautiful soul. Thank you for reading till the end. I hope I got you inspired to visit any of my Hello London suggestions when you are in London. No worries, there must be something for everyone, go through them here. 

#circolopopolare #meimeiboroughmarket

 

DRINKS TABLE

HELLO LONDON | CAHOOTS – DISREPUTE – SOHO

Merry Christmas, beautiful souls! We are back with another Hello London blog. I hope you had some quality time with your loved ones. [This Christmas is slightly different for me due to covid, but I enjoyed my QT via zoom]

The city keeps on surprising me. There is an infinite pool of options to discover here in London. Each place you go will take you back in their world for a few hours without worrying about anything else. Through the vineyards [dating], I heard about this 1940 themed Tube station vintage bar called Cahoots. I am excited about this one as it has three different experiences with their Ticket Hall, The Control Room and The Underground. The location of this bar is perfect, as it is on Kingly Court in Carnaby, Soho.

So far, I have been to two out of three. The first stop was The Control Room. If I am honest, the room was a bit too small for me. It feels like you are underground, deep under the ground. [It is a bit too claustrophobic for me sometimes, but that is me, only taking the Tube if I have to]

I like the newspaper menu they have. We even got a cocktail on the house this day. [Note to self, not go out when you already had a full day of fun activities, because when we finally arrived at The Control Room, we were tired] From this day, I can’t recommend any of the cocktails we tried. Not that they were not good, but also not the best. Or maybe I just forgot the names. [Fun fact, we had some time to eat a pizza from Pizza Pilgrims in Kingly Court, which was the best and fast service as well once you have a table] Another note to myself is to go early and plan nothing before, so I can fully emerge in the atmosphere.

So second time, I did plan it better. [Yeah] The Underground is a much more fun and slightly bigger room. It feels like you are on an old coach in 1940. [Perfect for a date or with friends and family as well, if you want to impress anyone] The cocktails here I remembered because they were very inviting. If you like citrusy and fresh like me, go for the Rebel Rebel and Vera Lynn. The atmosphere in this place is perfect, and excellent staff.

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If you like to try it out, you can book on their website or here. I might go for the afternoon tea at some point and the Ticket Hall. If it is your first try, I suggest going to The Underground first. [Thank me later] They offer some live music as well, not sure when they do. Both times there was no live music, but it was still amazing.

DISREPUTE – D.R.P.
Another hidden gem in the same street/alley is Disrepute. It is a small luxurious cocktail & lounge bar in a basement. [Another perfect dating spot, more intimate so, not for a first date, I would say]

The cocktails in this bar are more sophisticated. I had some delicious cocktails with Champagne. [If you know me, you know] The music was lovely. They played one of my favourites, Heart of Glass and many more similar songs.

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Finding all these new bars in London makes me exciting about what 2022 will bring for us. Hopefully, the pandemic will be under control. We then can enjoy being out and about more and more. There are so many lovely places to discover. I can’t wait!

Don’t worry. I love sharing my experiences with you here. Just keep an eye out for new blog posts here or on Instagram. [So if you are in London, you will know exactly where the locals go 😉 ]

[Thank you for sticking around. I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas holiday]

#Cahoots #Disrepute #PizzaPilgrims #Misswidjaja2021 #Londoncity #Londonlife #Localsguide #Livingabroad #Soho #Carnaby #KinglyCourt

DRINKS TABLE

HELLO LONDON | THE NIGHTJAR

Hello beautiful souls, welcome back to my Hello London blogs. I am so excited to take you to this secret vintage cocktail bar called The Nightjar. Super grateful I discovered this venue through a lovely date I had. [Thank you for the dreamy experience]

I have been at the Nightjar a few times already. Every time, I feel like I am in a secret glamorous bar in 1920 with astonishing live music. [If you need to impress anyone, let me tell you, this is the place to be]

First of all, this place is hard to find, so if you are looking for it, go to the door next to the KFC on city road and you will find it. [There is a small sign on the door, but not very obvious, thank me later]

It seems that there is always a different jazz band playing. If you go for the music go late evening in weekends. [The music is best then] I felt like I was transported in a movie, enjoying the music, drinks and company. [Best combination ever]

The Nightjar has given new life to forgotten cocktails. I quite like the selection they have. One of my favourite cocktails is Soul Kiss. [ok, this cocktail got me already by its name, but it truly honours its name, trust me] If it is your first time and you like [heavy] cocktails, try the Zombie. [This cocktail is quite a spectacle, a bit of fire and lots of alcohol with a cake drenched in rum, I think] The cake in Zombie reminded me of a Surinamese cake. [That is always a good thing]

So if you are in for a date with friends, family, partner or date, this will score some points. To book is very easy go to their website here. There is no need to book in advance.

The Nightjar will always have a special place in my heart. I liked the atmosphere in the bar, the live music, the cocktails, the location and of course the company. It feels like a secret classy jazz club where you are taken back in to the past.

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#nightjar #cocktails #soulkiss #zombie #london #londonnightout #perfectdate

FOOD CORNER

HELLO LONDON | THE GLADE – SKETCH

Hello beautiful souls, Welcome to a new Hello London blog post. This post is about a day to never forget, a wonderful fairytale lunch at The Glade. Fairytales do come true!

As you know, I have been to the magical Gallery in Sketch for the afternoon tea. Little as I know, this place has much more to offer than already the excellent experience I had during the afternoon tea.

I had some great company which made the experience in The Glade hunderd times more exciting and more intense than it already was. [Always great to share with people who are open to new or similar experiences] Thank you, cousin, for sharing this experience with me. What a lovely weekend we had together. A weekend to remember and something we need to do more often, don’t you think?

The day finally arrived. [I was super excited ] It was a beautiful day to walk to this mythical fairytale forest – The Glade. As soon as we stepped into Sketch, I felt so much joy, gratitude and excitement. I couldn’t wait to take it all in and enjoy it.

We had a lovely table in the back of the room overlooking the complete Glade. Perfect spot to be swept away and relax. The service in general in Sketch is top-notch, but the sommelier that day did an excellent job pairing the wine and port to every course we had. [Thank you, Henry, for your exquisite service that day!]

My philosophy is if you go to Sketch, you go all in or not. On the Glade Garden menu, we went for the three dishes at just 40 pounds with for each course a complimentary drink. [Drinks are excluded.] I think this is the ‘more affordable’ room in Sketch, nevertheless, a dreamy fairytale experience is a guarantee. I felt I was taken away from the Sketch portal into a mythical forest. [Just like that.]

As an aperitif, I had one of their lovely champagne, a Louis Pommery, England. This champagne turned me directly into a champagne lover for real. We had some tasty appetizers with our first drinks.

For the first course, the Bavaroise of violet sweet potato with the orange reduction was what I went for. A fancy name for sliced and slightly fried vegetables on top of the Bavaroise. The Bavaroise was a bit too much for me, but not bad at all.

The main course was one of my favourites dishes. The truffled gnocchi with truffled parmesan cream. If you like truffles like me, you will be in truffle heaven. The wine I had with this course was the 2019 Borge Red, Dedham Vale vineyard, Essex, England. [Great red wine from the UK and very light.]

The dessert was a surprise as we thought we needed to pick just one. [I did plan to make room for just one in my belly] Instead, we got all three, a trio of desserts. The desserts paired well with the White port, Quinta do Infantado, Portugal. [Slightly full of all the delicious food, but I made some room to try all desserts.]

The highlight of the lunch was the performance of a ballerina who did a piece of the Swan Lake I believe. Beautiful to have seen the ballet performance four times. [We stayed for more than four hours without being told to leave] Amazing staff, the sweetest thing was that they felt how much we were delighted for having this experience together that they brought us a little surprise. [My heart melted when we got the below, so sweet]

If you are planning to go to The Glade or any other room in Sketch, please book in advance. More or less like a month in advance, to book click here.

Sketch will always be one of my favourite experiences in [fine] dining. They do their best to make you feel you can leave all your worries outside and enjoy dining next level. The next stop will be the Lecture Room. I can’t wait to go to this experience in the near future.

For the lunch, complete with drinks, you can count on 110 pounds per person more or less. It all depends on what you drink with each course, but I would say it is worth every penny. I would do it again in a heartbeat when possible.

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#Sketch #Sketchlunch #SketchLondon #SketchTheGlade