This last weekend I was kindly treated to a birthday weekend in London where we ate, drank and chilled out all across my favourite city in the world. After living in London a few years ago, London always has a soft spot in my heart and if it wasn’t the most expensive place on the planet, I’d definitely have a second home there!
My main present for my birthday was to have a weekend away. Dan had planned it all out even with surprises and meeting up with friends that I knew nothing about! For a birthday weekend in London I had the best time and the sunshine made everything even better.
Where we ate…
As we stayed from Friday to Sunday, we went out and about looking for our first meal on the Friday before checking into the hotel. We were staying at my favourite hotel in London, the Grange Tower Bridge which is a beautiful five star hotel with spa.
This hotel is only a short distance away from London’s Tower Bridge, Tower of London and St Katherine’s Dock. St Katherine’s dock is a beautiful marina with restaurants and bars that over look some very impressive and expensive boats. With the sun shining down, it was a beautiful place to visit.
We first ate lunch at Ping Pong.
I have eaten at Ping Pong before a couple of times and always enjoy the food on offer. Dim Sum isn’t for every taste but I love trying new food and thoroughly enjoyed our lunch here. We went for the set menu which was HUGE and we left suitably full. The duck spring rolls and the aubergine rice were delicious.
The food is almost like tapas small plates and we tried everything from your conventional safe options like spring rolls but also has some traditional options like dumplings and pork fluffy buns. The set menu was a good way for us to try it all without feeling like we missed something or played it safe. We were surprised at how much you got for two in this menu. I had the strawberry fresh lemonade which came with a hot of strawberry puree which was pretty fun to mix in myself too. You could visit here dinner or lunch and be more than happy.
Dinner was a surprise at Preto, Leicester Square.
I was most surprised by this food choice from Dan. He had booked us dinner in Leicester Square and after walking around China Town and a mooch in Fortnum and Mason’s we ended up in Preto Brazilian Steakhouse! I had never heard of this before but the concept is a salad/side buffet with fresh steaks and Brazilian meats brought to your table.
It’s not fine dining but it’s really good fun and the meats were some of the best quality I’ve had in a while. The peppered steak was so soft it melted in your mouth and the chorizo was proper and fresh. The concept with the cards as you see below tells the waiters who come around with the meat when you want more or less.
We tried everything from various cuts of steak, sausages, gammon and chicken. It’s quite casual dining with the meat coming to your table but you could easily spend some time here trying different meats and enjoying the tasty and exciting salad bar. A real hidden gem and crucial to book ahead.
A surprise trip to Shoreditch!
Nothing makes me feel more ‘uncool’ than Shoreditch. Everyone’s so edgy then there’s me! However, we had the best night out there on Saturday evening. We begun the night at Brewdog for a drink then onto some food. We hadn’t booked or planned anything so I suggested we try Box Park. I have heard lots about these pop-up style street markets. We went straight up the stairs to the food court where it was actually really easy to get a seat. The street food style kiosks are great for quick dining especially when London is always so tricky to get a space.
I love Jamaican and Caribbean food so I instantly wanted to try Rudie’s Jamaican Jerk bar. This served different dishes from my favourite jerk chicken and plantain (plantain is HEAVEN!) and Dan tried coco rolls which were filled with sailfish and ackee. Both seriously tasty, great prices and lots of it. Cannot complain, street food is always a winner.
Where we stayed…
As mentioned, we stayed at my favourite hotel The Grange Tower Bridge, in Tower Hill. This hotel was where we stayed many moons ago and also stayed here for my hen do! It really is the ultimate hotel, it’s not a crazy price per night but is a five start with beautiful rooms and views (see below) and there’s a seriously nice spa.
The spa has sauna, steam, full size pool, jacuzzi and foot spas. Let me tell you after a day of walking around London, the foot spas were the best relief to my aching feet. The hotel provides a full breakfast buffet which is always fresh, hot and plentiful for choice. The Grange hotels are real luxury and we slept like absolute babies both nights. I highly recommend for a trip to London as it’s only a couple minutes walk from the nearest tube and Liverpool Street station isn’t far at all.
Just look at those views! I had the best weekend, we ate and dined well and explored in the sunshine which makes everything automatically better. Sometimes London can be hard work but Dan had done so well and some of the most spontaneous bits we did were the best. Let’s hope the rest of being 24 is just as fun!
Where are your favourite spots in London? Have you visited any of these places?