Dinner at Momo

Just got back from a lovely weekend in the Cotswolds (yes, it snowed buckets but nothing unlike what we saw growing up in good ol' Calgary)!

Photos of the trip coming soon, but in the meantime, some shots from my birthday dinner at Momo in Soho. I've been wanting to go to this Moroccan spot for awhile (not to be confused with the Japanese restaurant of the same name here in London), and I was not disappointed:

Lovely room. We sat on a raised, loungey bit near the back, then moved to the main dining area for drinks with some friends afterward.

The best lamb tagine (left) and cod and clams tagine I've ever had, with couscous and curly kale on the side.

Yummy sweet tea for afters. Does anyone know where I can buy this type of tea in London?

New day!

Not feeling so sorry for myself today... birthday day is always better than the night before your birthday (unless you're under the age of 23, I think). Thank god for that.

Yesterday, I had cupcakes; today, I had a cupcake and got a few lovely presents. Tomorrow, we're heading to the Cotswolds (a kind of weird, icky name for a supposedly beautiful part of the country) for a little weekend getaway. Yay!

Yummy cupcakes from yesterday. These weren't for me but, instead, for a soon-to-be-mother (hence the adorable, little sugar feet).

Another delicious cupcake with cream cheese icing from Konditor and Cook café at Curzon Cinema in Soho.

Part of my present from Elliot - a cute little shirt with bows all over it. Duh. I picked it out at Portobello Market. Happy birthday to me!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is my birthday and I feel old. :(

Not so happy birthday!!!

This photo was taken when I was much younger. Two years younger.

But no, I take that back—I am happy to be living in a new country, I am grateful for my new, fun job (more on that later), and going through a new adventure that this time last year, I didn't really think would ever happen. But right now, I don't want to think about my age. I am not in the mood for aging gracefully!

Eating with my hands

My good (crazy, utterly insane, and totally admirable) friend Stephanie was in London last week, preparing to do the Tough Guy obstacle race....

Photo: Tough Guy

So to get her nice and ready and protein-ed up, I took her to Meat Liquor, a burger bar in Marylebone that I had read about and been wanting to go to. Actually, she just happened to be staying in the area and I had no idea if she ate meat or not, so it's a good thing she did.

It's a bit of a funny place. Apparently, one of the owners (two guys named Yianni and Scott) had a pop-up meat truck last year and another pop-up of sorts, called #Meateasy, in New Cross (I was told his original truck was stolen); Meat Liquor is his permanent location. 

There's also been, apparently, a trend to American-style food in London. A friend of mine suggested that this is because the English haven't traditionally liked eating food with their hands, but it's becoming more widely accepted and liked—hence the increase in burger bars and Mexican taco places. I can't believe this is true, though, because another English girl I met told me one of her favourite foods is SANDWICHES! And there is definitely a sandwich culture here—and not just for children. Supermarkets, bookstores, cafés: they all sell sandwiches. Also known as "sarnies."

Photo: Found on Flickr, courtesy of a guy named Toban Black... who, get this, happens to be Canadian and posted the photo because he was also surprised by how many SANDWICHES there are here!

Anyway, Meat Liquor is definitely a take on an American diner, but the décor (dark, with red blood paint splashed all over the animals painted all over in black) is, IMHO, much more slaughterhouse-inspired. The food is served on cafeteria trays and there are paper towel rolls (which they call "kitchen roll" in the UK) instead of napkins. 

Regardless of what you think of the space (and the clientele... a bit too "City"—banker type boys—for my liking), though, the burgers were very tasty. I also tried deep fried pickles for the first time! I thought they'd be whole pickles in a crumbly, chicken finger-type batter, but these ones were sliced pickle in a thicker batter (almost like the outside of a spring roll). But very delicious.

Don't be surprised if you visit me and we go here, too.

Tay's Eatery

It's the weekend!

Hoping for a chill one... ("chilled one", as they say here... why past tense?)

But first, some Friday fun:

Thanks to Joy for this photo, snapped in Kincardine, Ontario! 

Open House

Apparently, it is impossible for me to take some nice photos of my house in a way that actually conveys what it looks and feels like (the rooms always look crappy and small!), so here, instead, are a few random detail shots.

After you enter the flat, there's a narrow set of stairs, at the top of which you're greeted by this little cat decal by Parisian graffiti artist, Miss.Tic. 

Kitchen! We have a mini dishwasher (which I love), a mini fridge (which are apparently relatively common in London flats but are SO ANNOYING!), and a washer/dryer combo next to the fridge (it's actually a washer AND a dryer, although I have never used the dryer setting. It just seems a bit wrong.)

The only basil plant I never killed. I just ate it all! Does anyone know if these are supposed to regrow?

I know you're thinking, "thanks for showing us your garbage can, Rebecca", but these are interesting because (a) they are HELLA expensive (this sucker cost £60!!!), (b) it seems like EVERY house in London has one of these! Brabantia, the brand, has really cornered the "bin" market in the UK, and (c) if you ask someone (in a store, for example) if they have a "garbage" (as you pass them an empty coffee cup), they might look at you strangely. They understand you better if you use the word "bin".

The chandelier that cost £5000 (it's made of about 200 triangle-shaped crystal. REAL crystal!). It reminds me of the house that Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer live in in Scarface.

My very packed shoe rack. It is organised by designer, and this is one of my favourite mini-sections of it.

A frame left by our landlady = the perfect frame for my Pyrrha necklaces! Kudos to Danielle and Wade, the designers of this amazing line, for getting their stuff into Liberty. It's been there forever, I think, but it's my favourite department store here and a $180 Pyrrha necklace in Canada costs about £200 here! Wow-za! 

I miss being able to go to their studio-house and look through case after case of Pyrrha seals. Discovering a bracelet or ring style you hadn't seen before was THE BEST.

The very extensive record collection left in our care by our landlady friend. She also left her decks, but no amps. No amps = no fun, although I wouldn't know what to do with them anyway. I'd probably try to figure it out, though.

Tiny little bathroom. I got the same map of the world shower curtain here as I had in Vancouver. The tiny little radio actually works (thanks to Brit and my friends at Aritzia for gifting it to me!) and I like to blare it when I'm in the shower.

The white "componibilli" storage thing (I trained Elliot to say that word because it's fun to say) is a Kartell piece by Anna Castelli Ferrieri. I coveted it for two years when I worked at Caban (remember CABAN?!!!) about a million years ago. I aways remembered it being much more expensive than it ended up being, like one of those things I thought I'd buy when I grew up. I guess I'm grown up now.

Although, that said, another thing I always thought I'd buy when I grew up was an Eames Lounger. Still don't have one of those.

Our mini fireplace.

Random finds from the last Granger & Hertzog film prop hire clearance sale. In England, when you rent something, you say you "hire" it. As in, "we got a hire car for the weekend" or "we hired a car for the weekend".

Anyway, Granger & Hertzog specialise in unique and bits of furniture that can be rented for set decoration. Once a year (generally in November, I think—I'll let you know later this year), they have a big warehouse sale and some people line up in advance because it's mega cheap.

We got this random fretwork acrylic table for £5 and the bulbous lamp next to it for £10. I also got this cool, stacking container thing which stores some of my jewellery, and a round, silver TV bench. Everything cost £50 altogether. The colourful thing on top of the table is a pompom garland I bought for our Christmas tree. I decided it could stay out since it's not red and green, but haven't quite decided what to do with it yet.

Come visit and see it all in person!

My favourite places to eat in London so far

Last week, after months of liking British cuisine but not LOVING it (minus a few amazing Thai "takeaways" / takeout and a really delicious Indian NYE meal), I ate at what very quickly became my two new favourite places for food.

First is the Riding House Cafe, which reminds me a bit of Vancouver's Café Medina—they both have that friendly-and-cool-but-not-pretentious atmosphere that is perfect both for brunch with the besties and a work meeting. I had eggs benedict, but I've been dreaming of the chorizo hash brown that my dining buddies Jessica and Fiona both had. I sense another visit coming up this week.

Photos: Riding House Cafe. Next time I'll try and take my own, although I do hate disrupting the flow of a meal to snap a photo.

For dinner on Friday, we went to Polpo, a Venetian bacaro (a term that is, apparently, hard to define—but it's basically a meeting place with a warm, friendly atmosphere). The room reminded me a bit of Café Medina's older sister, Chambar, except that it serves cicheti (side dishes) and small plates.

Best part, though, is that it is completely reasonable. We had olives, a plate of three different crostini, all piled high with various delicious toppings, lamb chump, flank steak, a beetroot salad, roast potatoes, three cocktails and a half litre of wine, and two desserts, for around £80.

The only downfall to Polpo is that they don't take resos... and, not surprisingly, reasonable prices + great atmosphere + a cool but not try-hard-y crowd = 90-minute waits.

Photos: Polpo. Again, I'll try harder next time.

Both restaurants are in Soho and are part of a family of successful properties (another similarity to Medina / Chambar). If you come and visit me in London, don't be surprised if I take you to one or both of them.