Where to eat in London: Tokemeite

Jesse has been pestering me to eat here since I shared Tokemeite's Instagram account with him.

There are just so many places to eat in London and sometimes we are just so spoilt with choices.

Jesse is a lover of Japanese food. He can eat Japanese food everyday if he could. So when he saw this place, he wanted to go there.

We went post-theater after watching Book of Mormon. We literally ran there as they were closing at 10.30pm and our booking was 10pm. 

Tokemeite

The ambience was quiet. The food and service was good but we can tell the members of staff were tired. And it is perfectly reasonable given that we were the last booking of the night.

There were other diners but they were close to finishing their meals.

Without wasting any time, we scanned the menu and quickly decide what we wanted.

We ordered:

Wagyu Truffle Maki and Snow Crab Avocado Maki

The Wagyu Truffle Maki was good. I tasted the smokiness in the wagyu and it was a perfect paring with the white truffle shavings.

The Snow Crab Avocado Maki was very mediocre. It was fresh but nothing special.

Scottish Scallop

This is pretty good. Very fresh and big scallop.

Tempura Langoustine

This was quite nice. I am not a fan of tempura but this was light and pretty good. Langoustines taste like a cross between prawns and lobsters.

Teriyaki Eel

There's nothing special about this dish other than it being very fresh.

Chargrilled King Crab with Aubergine Sauce

This was quite special. I never had anything like that before. It was a very fresh and clean dish.

To be honest, I think Tokemeite is not very creative and special but they rely on good and fresh seafood. And I think they are doing well because of that. This may just be another restaurant in Asia but in London, it is good to know you can get such fresh and high quality Japanese food here.

We spent £163 (including a sake).

More info here: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-d9456170?m=19905 

One day in Cartmel - Lake District

This is our first UK roadtrip as a family unit and we are staying at The Lymehurst Hotel in Grange-over-Sands. Our drive was long due to the holiday traffic and we were knocked out after dinner last night. All 3 of us. 

We had a room service breakfast before lazing around in bed before heading out to Cartmel as recommended by our hotel host. Cartmel is 10 mins drive away from Grange-over-Sands.

Full English Breakfast. 

I am really struggling to stay on my Keto diet but I tried to omit the bread this morning. I totally went off track but oh well, I AM on a holiday. And I will be good while enjoying myself as much as I can.

So, Cartmel.. According to Wikipedia, Cartmel is a village in Cumbria, England, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) north-west of Grange-over-Sands and close to the River Eea. The village was once known as Kirkby in Cartmel, as it was the location of the church for the large parish of Cartmel. It is the location of the 12th-century Cartmel Priory. Historically in Lancashire, boundary changes brought it into the newly-created county of Cumbria in 1974.

So there you go. Bam! History!

But these days, they are known for their very famous and delicious Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding. And dieting or not, I had to try it.

I like how most places are very dog friendly here. And Dug was welcomed at this famous cafe.

You won't miss it. It is right next to the village public car park.

We ordered the Sticky Toffee with clotted cream and Chocolate with ice-cream to share and swap.

It was super good to tuck into the warm gooey pudding in this weather. 

It wasn't particularly cold but the wind really made it felt worse than it really is. It was like 9°c today and quite sunny at some point.

He liked his so much that he was shielding it from me. Lol 

Unhappy dog. Look at his bratty face. He had a snack just before entering the cafe as well.

We bought 3 of these sticky toffee puddings to bring home with us.

Please note that when you enter, it is a village shop with local produce and the door to the stairs to go to the cafe is next to the fridge area. You will be waited on but you pay downstairs on the way out.

More info: Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding Upstairs Cafe

After pudding, we went for a walk around the village. It is very pretty but you can explore the whole place within 2 hours (or less..). So go there specifically for your meals and time it well so you are not just walking round and round like we did.

The reason why I said that is because we booked a table for an early dinner at The Cavendish Arms. Our host highly recommended it. We had slight difficulty looking for things to do to kill time but we just about managed. We could bring forward our dinner but we weren't hungry enough for it.

So we went to the Unsworth Courtyard where you can try locally made beer and cheese. We did a tasting but we didn't buy any cheese or beer because we didn't want to ruin our appetite for our early dinner. On hindsight, if we arrived earlier perhaps we could but I don't regret it as we get to relax and not rush this morning.

Crazy selection. Love it!

More cheese 🧀🧀🧀

Locally brewed beer. Not a beer fan so we didn't get anything.

Loads of selections though..

The sun decided to show itself. This place is really quaint and I liked the view here. But will I move here? No, is the answer.

We went for a walk and Dug really wants to dive into the river. We were trying to stop him all day.

Look at these brattiness.

There were some vintage and gift shops with interesting stuff too.

Fat Dug.

Anyway, there are loads of good restaurant in this tiny village. They have 2 Michelin restaurants here by Simon Rogan but we can't dine there because they don't allow dogs. So we will have to come back in the future without Dug if we want to try it. 

It's then finally time for Cavendish Arms. I was still very full from pudding but when it's time, it's time!

Always love a cheesy photo of my boys!

I liked the ambience here and the service was very good too. After the sticky pudding, I caved for a G&T. They serve The Botanist and I've always wanted to try it before I buy the whole bottle. J had a whiskey.

I didn't go for a starter as I am not that hungry but J did. He ordered calamaris.

It was pretty good. I tried 1.

The waiting staff kindly offered to take a photo for us and included Dug hehe

And me!

I ordered the Hake and it was very fresh and seasoned beautifully. Really liked it. It was light and flavourful.

J ordered Lamb rumps. I had a tiny bite as I am not a big fan of lamb. It was very tender and J said it was delicious. Tad bit too lamb-y for me but I can see why he would enjoy it.

I think that the food here was good but the prices are slightly beyond even London prices if I have to compare, for what it was. It wasn't special or different from other similar places that serves good pub food. My only justification is that this is a tourist spot. Will we come back again? Yes, if we have no other choices I wouldn't oppose it as it was still a decent meal after all. So, I will recommend it if you brought your pet to Cartmel with you as it is probably the best restaurant who allow pets. Otherwise, probably better off trying Michelin star Rogan & Co for £20 per person for 2 courses. Almost the same price (if not more value for money) but probably better.

After the meal, we decided to call it a day. The 3 of us were knackered and just want to go back to the hotel to laze around. 

Thanks for everything Cartmel!

Banana Tree - Soho, London

I've probably walked passed this restaurant over 50 times when I am in Soho and didn't think twice about going in. That is until I saw an Instagram post (which is not an ad) posted about how good the food was. 

So when James wanted to meet up for dinner, this place popped into my head. 

We managed to arrive before 7pm on a Thursday so we managed to get some good 2 for 1 cocktails. 

We were all famish when we arrived so we trusted James to order almost EVERYTHING. And we loved it. Everything was spot on. Even J and James liked it. So I know it is not because my expectations has lowered since I've moved here. Lol

We ordered so much that the waitress had to ask us to stop. 😂

If you are in London and fancy some Asian fusion, I would recommend this place.

See you soon James! 

What to do in Bucharest for 36 hours

It was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend of sightseeing, laughing and above it all, eating.

Over the years, my passion for food has slowly topped my passion for just travelling. When I was younger, all I care about is going to see as many places as possible but after being with J for so long, he has definitely influenced me to appreciate good food more (and movies!).

So now, food and travel goes hand in hand. Without good food, I will probably feel unsatisfied with my holidays. How #FOMO of me. Wahahaha.

Anyway, our trip. Bucharest may not be on many people's travel list but it was definitely mine. I love to see and soak up different cultures. So it was an ideal destination for a city break for me.

Flights

Our trip started off by flying with Wizzair. Many thanks to Celeste who made all the plans and bookings for us. Apart from the usual slight delay, everything went perfectly. None of us wanted to take time off work, so we travelled after work on a Friday. Oh, also thanks to Jo for driving me to laugh so hard that my belly hurts! 😂

Flight faces!

We touched down at 5am and Emilia came to the airport to get us. Sad to say, I couldn't sleep on the plane so I self-entertained with a lot of Hell's Kitchen that I've downloaded. It felt like a really short flight and I was more awake than ever. 

Accommodation

Emilia picked the quaintest apartment for us. It's a Pintrest/Instagram dream. 

Tad bit dark in this one. But you can see more photos here: Luxury Dream Apartment

I had about 2.5 hours nap time before it was time for breakfast and to go out for sightseeing.

What an awesome breakfast spread. The only way we knew how. 😋

I think the fact that we once worked together made us a pretty good team. I think being friends with workmates can be really beneficial...first of all, you still want to be friends after seeing them everyday at work. 😂

Food and Coffee

First stop was an obvious one. We needed some strong coffee to help us get through the post breakfast coma and the lack of sleep.

Chocalat Creatuer De Gout

This place serve some serious fancy coffee and cakes.

We liked it a lot and it definitely fueled us to start our walking tour with our favourite local. 😅

I wasn't kidding..these were just some of their selections.

After our coffee, we just went for a big walk to see where Emilia hangout usually.

Not going to bore you with sightseeing photos. 

Ahahaah maybe just one. We didn't dined here but this is kinda funny since Romanian most famous vampire is Count Dracula. 😄

After a few hours of walking, we were very ready for an early dinner.

We voted for some serious traditional Romanian cuisine and Emilia really delivered.

Caru' cu Bere

Link: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-d739896?m=19905

This place is truly amazing. According to Wikipedia,Caru' cu Bere means "the beer wagon". This building is a gothic revival building built in 1899. This majestic building is clearly still standing strong today, though there were come renovation happening outside the building.

Famous pork knuckle. Must order this. The pickled cabbage was to die for and the melt in your mouth pork is...omg. I am hungry just reimagining that feeling of that in my mouth.

Not a big fan of lamb chops and we all agreed that it was pretty standard lamb chops, so I don't recommend this unless you really want lamb.

I am sooo not a fan of beans but this, omg it was amazing. Beans and pork. You will not regret this.

Emilia's top tip is to order the garlic sauce as they won't readily bring this to you.

Try this place, please. It was amazing but remember to make reservation. Most good restaurants in Bucharest get booked out quickly so best to plan ahead unless you are dining outside lunch and dinner rush.

Cremeria Emilia Romania

Wanted to include this even though I only tried a tiny bit of ice cream but it is incredibly popular whenever we passed the shop and I had a little taste of Emilia's pistachios ice cream. Definitely think it is one you can give a go. It is a chain, so you will see it at most malls.

Emilia outside Emilia.

Caju by Joseph Hadad

Another place I'd like to recommend is Caju by Joseph Hadad. He is a celebrity chef in Romania. Friendly dude. We caught him on the way in the restaurant and exchanged hello.

Trendy location.

You can't miss him. This place is pretty upmarket but a cocktail cost around £3, so it is really cheap.

Butternut Squash Risotto with Calamari

Fettucine with fresh veg and calamari - this was my choice and it was amazing. Handmade pasta. 😋

Apparently Joseph Hadad is half Lebanese so we could definitely see it in his cooking. This is a Kofta dish.

Beautifully plated salmon dish.

The food was once again, amazing. I feel like I repeated the word amazing so many times but that is the only way I can describe everything I ate.

One for the road.

French Revolution

Last recommendation for my short but sweet trip are these lovely eclairs.

It was one of the best eclairs I've tried. I think the Romanians really nailed the whole dessert and cakes thing.

Spoilt with choices but at the end we picked what we can manage after a big lunch.

Last group photo before we left this beautiful city. What a great group of ladies to be going on a holiday with. 

Hope to see you in another country soon, Em!