My places in London
In this article I have compiled some of the places in London for drinking and eating that I have been, and that I recommend, or not. I have also added an exquisite selection of the places I would definitely love to pay a visit while on holidays... and guess what? The list just keep growing! haha
- Places in London I would recommend
- Places in London I would NOT recommend, a once visit only
- Places in London yet to visit
Places in London I would recommend
The Abeno (https://www.abeno.co.uk/) 5' walk from the British Museum, is a great place to eat and try Okonomi-yaki food.This Japanese cuisine would be cooked just in front of your eyes. I suggest you go for the following:
- Tempura Kakiage, a style of tempura with scallops, broccoli, carrots and onions (£8.95) If you are kind of hungry, ask to deliver this dish first, it is great for two people and nice to have just before you Okonomi-yaki
- Tokyo Mix Duluxe, pork, squid and prawn (£14.25) yah, it come with bacon, but once in a while is okay
- Sapporo Mix Deluxe, prawn, salmon, scallops, squid and corn (£18.25) with lovely salmon cooked on your table beforehand
More info about the history of Okonomi-yaki cuisine can be found in this lovely article:
Bobby Fitzpatrick (https://bobbyf.co.uk/) Located in West Hampstead, this is a funky, steezy and quirky place worth a visit for a cocktails night, with a decoration based on the 1970s and areas designed as "rooms" (kitchen, living room, bedroom, etc) that will make you fall in love with this place and its cosy atmosphere at first sight. If I ever have to celebrate my birthday, this would be the place!
Cafe Lavile (https://cafelaville.co.uk/) is the absolute perfect place for a breakfast or brunch, on a weekend day morning; spot on place with lovely view of the London Canal
Clissold Arms; the not so secret place in East Finchley, great local pub for a dinner out of central London, specially in autumn, their garden is absolutely beautiful
Smith & Whistle; by Green Park, Mayfair, in between the Piccadilly and Jubilee line, I recommend this place to take someone for a drink and a chat (and possibly a walk later by the park) in central London, the place is quiet which for me is essential for chatting
Places in London I would NOT recommend, a once visit only
Darwin Brasserie; located just above the sky garden in the Walkie Talkie skyscraper, this restaurant is extremely noisy and hyper-expensive, you however pay for what you get: the views of London are amazing (specially if you managed to get a table by the window) and at least the 21-day aged stake that I ate was massive and delicious.. for £40 that dish it better be. If you can't stand the noisy got and visit to enjoy the views, but it might be worth it just to book on the actual Sky Garden bar, just a floor below but I reckon substantially cheaper as you're gonna have only drinks
Zedel, without any doubts the Bar American at Zedel is a great choice for cocktails, but again very noisy plus you can't actually book in advance, so have a queue on line for a table to be free. The restaurant is worth a visit for their Paris 1920 style, but the food is pretty ordinary and slightly expensive. Just get a bottle of French wine, get drunk and you'll enjoy it all better :)
RainForest Cafe: near Piccadilly, it is a definitely a must-see place is you got kids, with all the deco flashing the atmosphere of a rainforest jungle. I loved the "sound" ambience, with thunders and real emulation of a tropical rain downpour. It is very unlikely that will find any dangerous o poisons animals in this cafe, the only thing that will sting you (and probably very hard) is the bill: on my one visit only that I did to this place we paid over £70 for a meal for two people, fish & chips one and chicken the other. Some nachos that I ordered, and which they serve with beef, very unusual, has the tagging price of £15.95..... for just a plate of nachos...no wonder they call it "lava nachos", its prices melt my wallet. In summary, a nice place to see but expensive to eat, and nothing special about the food either. Keep moving
The Shard,
- Roof top by St Paul's: https://www.madisonlondon.net/
- Lovely Korean restaurant: http://www.arang.co.uk
- Mexican Restaurant https://kolrestaurant.com/
- A-ha video cafe, the location of the famous cafe where the "Take on me" clip was recorded: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Savoy+Cafe/@51.4708261,-0.1383065,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipP-lpEN9DJq1em85D42DH8Mn0iedviqnCdQG3sT!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP-lpEN9DJq1em85D42DH8Mn0iedviqnCdQG3sT%3Dw152-h86-k-no!7i4032!8i2268!4m5!3m4!1s0x487604550f16dd9f:0x932f9e7c3f1cbcda!8m2!3d51.4708525!4d-0.1382873
- Jin Bo bar https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g186338-d13973057-Reviews-Jin_Bo_Law-London_England.html
- Sushi Samba, in the Heron Tower: https://www.sushisamba.com/reservations?venue=london-heron-tower
- https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Ivy+Asia+St+Paul's/@51.5137197,-0.1310972,14z/data=!4m9!1m2!2m1!1sivi+asia!3m5!1s0x487605721216b38b:0xac43e93c468d45b8!8m2!3d51.5137203!4d-0.0960767!15sCghpdnkgYXNpYVoKIghpdnkgYXNpYZIBCnJlc3RhdXJhbnQ
Places to visit for holidays
Europe:
- Blue Lagoon in Iceland, an autumn trip: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/243297961/blue-lagoon-iceland/
- Positano, near Naples; would it a great opportunity to see the Vesubio before it wipes out Europe
- Gardaland Hotel, in Bergamo
- Hotel Puta Tragara, spa, Capry (Italy), spectacular penthouse views
- Dubrovnik in Croatia
- https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/sightseeing/london-attraction/top-20-hidden-gems
- Lovely Romania:
Brasov, Sibiu - Sighisoara, Timisoara
- Bala Mare, Iasi, Sanda from Vaslui
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooTuO043818&list=PLYLi7gA3tKMRa2Jg1v-fmpAfFvDpfazau
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle
Asia:
- Chiang Mia, in Thailand, the place from where Marta gave me a present: a must visit for my next retreat, https://chjango.medium.com/how-i-spent-ten-days-at-a-meditation-retreat-in-chiang-mai-5eeb32ebdc4d
- The isla of Ko Phi Phi Lee in Thailand
- Island of Nusa Penida, in southeast Indonesia
- Shaoling Temple and the Songshan Mountains: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Shaolin+Temple+Damoyuan+%EF%BC%88South+Gate%EF%BC%89/@34.5002587,112.9569383,14z/data=!4m17!1m11!4m10!1m2!1m1!2svaondrago!1m6!1m2!1s0x35d7b7e24b1c51b5:0x46744e52cde8ef4c!2sSongshan+Mountain,+Dengfeng,+Zhengzhou,+China!2m2!1d113.004052!2d34.519664!3m4!1s0x35d7c838350b0c13:0xf01e7db24feaf19d!8m2!3d34.5083425!4d112.9801852
- The Golden Bridge in Vietman, near Da Nang: https://www.dezeen.com/2018/08/09/golden-bridge-vietnam-hands-ta-landscape-architecture/
Africa:
- The Atolom Mnema, in Zanzibar
- Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas. Maldives: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kurumba+Villa+Boutique+Hotel/@3.9368137,73.4860651,1115m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m25!1m16!4m15!1m6!1m2!1s0x3b3f604aa5555531:0xd76b9f422f78ccca!2sKurumba+Villa%D8%8C+Maafushi,+Maldives!2m2!1d73.4889711!2d3.9393557!1m6!1m2!1s0x3b4080368b7ca66d:0x72e03e6d78eaba24!2sThilafushi,+Maldives!2m2!1d73.4438026!2d4.1808598!3e0!3m7!1s0x3b3f604aa5555531:0xd76b9f422f78ccca!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d3.9393557!4d73.4889711
- Merzouga, in the Sahara dessert
Sibiu: Lovely museum, nice forsets, "village museum", traditional houses in Romania, beautiful lake, traditional restaurants and a zoo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rishikesh
Places to visit:
- https://www.google.com/maps/place/Langkawi,+07000+Langkawi,+Kedah,+Malaysia/@5.0207577,99.0459995,7.5z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x304c78da69c4755d:0xe43971dbd7bd6dfe!8m2!3d6.35!4d99.8
- https://elviajero.elpais.com/elviajero/2017/02/01/actualidad/1485962553_433691.html
- https://www.booking.com/searchresults.html?aid=318615;label=New_English_EN_GBIE_5226314545-RnYQj%2AqnIkYg15Re%2ASD5mgS217275181841%3Apl%3Ata%3Ap1%3Ap2%3Aac%3Aap1t1%3Aneg;sid=7f71101d7309ce58ac35772e75155a7b;city=900040048;expand_sb=1;highlighted_hotels=288440;hlrd=no_dates;keep_landing=1;redirected=1;source=hotel&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5oSB3vaW3gIVLrXtCh3t7ArKEAAYASAAEgIKpPD_BwE&
- https://www.google.com/maps/place/Konkordia+Hut/@44.0684306,9.1433793,6z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x478f77012695c6f1:0xbdf6499920e325d2!8m2!3d46.5004589!4d8.0532115
Amalfi Coast, but don't drive there
- https://elviajero.elpais.com/elviajero/2020/02/10/actualidad/1581330435_943825.html
- http://www.taririamazonlodge.com.br/en
- https://www.google.com/search?q=Plitvi%C4%8Dka+Jezera&rlz=1C1GCEU_en-GBGB905GB906&oq=Plitvi%C4%8Dka+Jezera&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l3.71862989j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Useful links
- https://www.intrepidtravel.com/
- https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/sightseeing/london-attraction/top-20-hidden-gems